Do Not Chastise The Dove (4) ✧ Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Jake Lockley

Let's go, Kieraaaaan

do not chastise the dove (13) ✧ steven grant, marc spector, jake lockley

do not chastise the dove ✧ a royal moon knight au | ao3 | pinterest board

pairing: knight!steven grant x fem!princess!reader x knight!marc spector x knight!jake lockley

series summary: you were a princess who would rather be anything but a royal; he was the knight her father forced her to marry—a true match made in hell if there ever was one. but, as the wedding inches closer and closer, it seems that, perhaps, your father had finally done something right by you. 

chapter summary: the hearing begins, and things aren’t entirely what they seem. (but that is not a bad thing.)

word count: 3,980

warnings?: inaccurate depiction of legal proceedings, a plot twist perhaps, pet name (dove)

Continuar lendo

Oh, I loved it. Poor Steve and Eddie freaking out 😭 y/n absolutely satisfied with both and the two of them unfortunately don't remember a thing.

Now I need a fic with the redo.

Luck

Eddie Munson x Reader x Steve Harrington (Fluff)

| Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: After a wild night out at The Hideout, Eddie Munson wakes up in bed with some unexpected company and no memory of what happened.

Rating: General Auidences

Author Note: Gender neutral reader, no pronouns used.

CW: Recreational alcohol and marijuana use; tobacco use; heavily implied sex (no details); could be seen as dubcon due to the use of mild altering substances, but I tried my best to address it in the story that this is something they all wouldn't done sober, too.

Word Count: 4,345

Eddie Tag List: @eddie-swhore

Waking up after a hard night of drinking was always strange and unpleasant. In all honesty, that was why Eddie Munson preferred weed. Sure, getting drunk could be fun with the right people, but the next day was always a little slice of hell on earth.

Today was no exception. Rather than gently lifting up into consciousness as he woke up naturally, he was instead woken up by a severe pounding in his head.

Eddie opened his eyes briefly and groaned in pain before closing them again. The open curtains allowed the late morning sun to illuminate the room. The bright light sent bolts of pain through each of his eyeballs, making the headache worse. It was a steady pounding feeling, as if someone were in his head playing a drum solo.

Rolling onto his back, Eddie brought his ring clad hands up to his face to rub his eyes for a bit before attempting to open them again. While it still hurt, at least he expected the room to be so bright this time. Still though, it made his stomach turn a bit and his head throb even more. He knew if he tried to get up right now that his stomach wouldn’t be feeling too good either. Eddie decided his normal hangover cure was in order.

Shutting his eyes again, he rolled over towards the center of his bed, fully intending to go back to sleep. He threw his arm out to stretch across the empty space next to him.

Instead of stretching out like he intended though, his arm landed on something that cause it do bend at an awkward angle, as if draped over something. Eddie cracked his eyes open again and lifted his head slightly. It took him a moment to process it, but he eventually realized there was someone else laying under the blankets with him, still sleeping peacefully.

While bringing someone home with him from The Hideout wasn’t a completely uncommon occurrence, it didn’t happen very often. And, when it did, he was always sober enough to remember it once he woke up in the next day. Right now, though, Eddie couldn’t even remember how he got home from the bar last night, much less remember bringing someone home with him.

Though Eddie’s head was still pounding, the idea of sleep was forgotten. He started wracking his brain, trying to piece together the previous night.

Corroded Coffin had a Saturday night gig at The Hideout. That much he remembered. It ended up being a fantastic show. All of their friends came out for it, and they drew in a fairly large crowd since they were playing on the weekend. Granted, the bar was still under half capacity, but it was one of their largest crowds to date and that was something to celebrate. And, after the show, that’s exactly what everyone had done.

Eddie remembered Steve buying a round of drinks after the performance. He remembered you and him sneaking off to a stall in the men’s room to share a joint. He remembered Gareth ordering a round of shots when the two of you got back. Then Robin ordered a round of drinks after that. And then Jeff ordered another round of shots after that. At some point, he vaguely remembered tequila getting involved. But, after that, there was nothing until just a little bit ago when he woke up.

After thinking on it for a while, he gave up on trying to remember, figuring that would come back later. But Eddie was curious now. He reached over to gently pull the blanket down a bit to see who it was he ended up taking home with him.

Eddie froze, still holding the blanket.

You. You were lying next to him in bed.

Eddie’s mind whirled, his heart pounding as loudly as his head by this point.

You’d never been in bed with him before, even just to sleep. There were only a few times you’d ever stayed over, only on nights when you couldn’t drive home or the weather was bad, but he always slept on the couch those nights so you could have the bed to yourself. There had to be a logical explanation for this.

Out of curiosity, he lifted the edge of the blanket and looked down.

Eddie’s heart stopped.

You both were completely naked.

He stared down at your bodies as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing.

You were laying with your arms folded against your chest and half on your stomach, which blocked your private areas from his view. All he could really see the full length of your bare leg all the way up past the curve of your ass to your hip.

Your hip that currently had a hand on it, which was neither his nor yours.

Eddie sat up hurriedly. It was quite a shock realizing there was a third person in bed with you two, but that was nothing in comparison to the shock of seeing who exactly it was.

Curled up on your other side was none other than Steve Harrington.

Once again, it took a moment for Eddie to comprehend what he was seeing.

The section of blanket on Steve’s side had slid down some, revealing that he was shirtless. Though, another peek under the blankets revealed that he was just as naked as you and Eddie were.

Fully in shock now, Eddie slowly laid back down. He stared at the ceiling, wracking his brain again in a desperate attempt to remember the night before.

The fog of alcohol and the headache from the hangover blocked off his memory still, so he gave up again and debated on what he should do next.

He supposed he could just leave and come back later after the both of you had left, but that would only delay the inevitable. You two would still be waking up naked in his bed even if he wasn’t there to see it. Eventually, this would need to be addressed if you all wanted any sort of friendship after this. It was going to be awkward when the two of you woke up. That much he knew for sure.

Now in desperate need in of a smoke, Eddie carefully slipped out of bed, trying not to wake either of you. He found a pair of sweatpants among his laundry scattered about on the floor. As he pulled them on, he noticed your clothes and Steve’s flung haphazardly around the room, along with the clothes he had been wearing last night. He swallowed heavily, quietly heading from the bedroom.

As he made a pit stop in the bathroom, Eddie was still trying to figure out how you all ended up in bed together. He knew what it looked like. He was well aware of what it looked like. But it couldn’t possibly have been that. No way. He’d never been drunk or high enough to act on his attraction to either of you. The only thing he could think of was that all you all started feeling hot from the alcohol, stripped down to cool off and just fell asleep. That had to be it.

But then as he went to leave the bathroom, he glanced in the mirror and did a double take. Scattered along his upper chest, neck and shoulders were hickies and bite marks of various sizes and shades.

Stunned, he stared at himself for a moment. He turned slowly then turned to get a good look at the rest of his body. While there wasn’t any more hickies that he could see, streaked down his back were several dark pink welts that were clearly nail marks. In addition to that, just above his shoulder blades were a few crescent shaped bruises, like someone had dug their nails into his back while holding onto him.

Eddie’s jaw dropped. He met his own gaze in the mirror.

“What the fuck did you do?” he said softly to his reflection.

In the living room, Eddie found evidence that you three had hung out here for a while before migrating to his bed. A few empty beer bottles littered the coffee table and a half-smoked joint sat in the ashtray. Eddie slipped on his jacket and sneakers before grabbing the joint on the way to the front door.

This morning called for something stronger than a cigarette now.

Trying to stay quiet, he left the front door partially open and gently closed the screen door. The sun was even brighter now that he was outside, which immediately got in Eddie’s eyes and made him wince. His head was throbbing even more now that he was up, which, as predicted, was starting to make his stomach queasy. He lit the joint first, hoping to calm his nerves as well as the effects of the hangover. Once that was gone, he fished his cigarettes out of his pocket and began chain smoking.

Not too long after Eddie started on his first cigarette, a very groggy, and very hungover, Steve sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes and squinted as he looked around the room. Confusion sat in as he didn’t recognize where he was at first. But then after his gaze landed on a couple of guitars and one heavy metal poster after another, he slowly came to realize he was in Eddie’s bedroom.

This didn’t come as a surprise to Steve though. The plan the night before had always been to come back to Eddie’s place at the end of the night. Nancy had picked the three of you up from there since it was her turn to be the designated driver, so you all had left your vehicles there. While he didn’t remember coming to bed, he had vague memories of sharing a cab with you and Eddie once the bar had closed, well after Nancy and the others had left. He remembered you three wanted to continue partying and you two decided you were staying the night. Wayne was out of town that weekend for work training, so Eddie was all for having you two over for the night.

As Steve went to swing his legs out of bed, a sudden throbbing in his head made him double over slightly, his elbows resting on his thighs, eyes squeezed closed and slightly watering.

Getting drunk is always a good idea until the next day.

Halfway through his third cigarette, Eddie heard someone stirring in the trailer through the screen door. Whoever it was, be it you or Steve, was trying to be quiet, but the creaky floor wasn’t having it.

Eddie wasn’t any closer to figuring out what he was going to do. Leaving still seemed like the best idea, but it was too late for that now. The keys to his van were on the kitchen counter.

Fortunately, whoever was it was didn’t come outside, giving him some more time to compose himself. He listened to them shuffle across the living room, pick up the phone and dial a number.

Whoever they were trying to call didn’t answer because Eddie heard them hang up then try again.

“C’mon, pick up,” a voice muttered from inside.

Eddie couldn’t tell who it was until whoever the person they were trying to call finally answered.

“Robin! Finally!” they whisper yelled. “I’m freaking out over here!”

Eddie finally recognized the voice as Steve’s and some of his nerves eased hearing it was Steve, but he still wasn’t quite ready to face him just yet. Creeping closer to the door, he listened in on Steve’s side of the conversation.

“You’ve gotta help me out, I don’t know what to do!” Pause. “I can’t calm down! I just woke up next to Y/N in Eddie’s bed!” Pause. “Robin, we were both naked!” Pause. “No, I’m not joking!” Pause. “Seriously, Robin, now is not the time for jokes!” Pause. “I don’t know if I had fun, I don’t remember anything after leaving The Hideout!”

Knowing that he wasn’t the only one in the dark made Eddie feel a little better about the whole thing. But then a thought occurred to him, and all of his nerves came back.

In a way, he hoped you wouldn’t remember any it either. There was no telling what your reaction would be to all this. There wasn’t any use trying to deny what happened anymore. The three of you had a threesome last night. Or, at the very least, you and Eddie fucked. That much was obviously for certain judging from the way his own chest and back looked. But, then again, it wouldn’t make much sense why Harrington would be in the same state as you both unless he was also involved too. At least if none of you remembered what happened, that way you would all be a blank slate and could pretend it didn’t happen.

Granted, he didn’t know how that would be possible since you all would know it happened, regardless of whether or not any of you remembered it. But, if that’s what it took to still be friends after all this, he was willing to give it a shot. He didn’t want to lose either of you due to some stupid drunken escapade.

Eddie sighed and took the last drag off his cigarette as Steve was finishing his call.

Time to face the music.

He stepped back into the trailer as Steve was hanging up the phone. Steve didn’t hear him at first, giving Eddie the chance to get a look at him.

While Steve had pulled on his jeans, he was still shirtless, giving Eddie a good view of his torso. He could see some nail marks down his back, as well as a few hickies on his neck and shoulders.

There was one question answered, at least.

The sound of the screen door closing made Steve finally turn around, revealing more hickies across his chest. A sheepish look came over his face when he saw Eddie.

“Uh, hey,” Steve said, running his hand through his hair nervously. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Eddie said, fiddling with his rings nervously.

A brief silence fell over the two men.

“Y/N’s naked,” Steve suddenly blurted out, and then pointed towards Eddie’s bedroom. “In your bed. Back there.”

Eddie nodded slowly.

“Yeah,” Eddie said, swallowing heavily. “Yeah, I saw.”

“So was I,” Steve said, and once again run his hand through his hair. “Completely naked. Next to Y/N. In your bed.”

Eddie nodded again.

“Yeeeah,” he said slowly. “I, uh, was naked, too. With you two. In my bed.”

Steve’s eyes widened and he swallowed heavily. He looked in the direction of the bedroom then back to Eddie.

“Do you think we…you know?” Steve asked, gesturing between the two of them and the bedroom, then gave the air a little thrust of his hips, as if he didn’t want to say what he was thinking.

“Obviously,” Eddie said, and gestured between the two of them. “Look at us, man. We had a pretty wild night from the looks of it.”

At Eddie’s words, Steve looked down at his chest. His eyes were wide as he slowly looked back up at Eddie.

“What the hell should we do?” Steve whisper yelled, looking close to panicking.

“I have no idea!” Eddie whisper yelled back. “I can’t say I’ve ever woken up like this before, much less with either of you!”

The two men stared at each other for a moment before Steve sighed.

“Man, this is crazy,” Steve said, which Eddie nodded in agreement with. Then Steve sighed, his arms crossing over his chest. “Maybe…we should see how Y/N feels about it first?”

Eddie brightened.

“Good idea,” he said hurriedly, feeling somewhat relieved the overall outcome wouldn’t be on his shoulders. “If Y/N’s fine with it, then I’m fine with it.”

Steve nodded readily in agreement. He opened his mouth to say something else but cut himself off when the sound of the toilet flushing came from the bathroom down the hall.

Both men whipped their heads around at the sound. Neither of them had heard you get up. Soon, they heard the bathroom door open.

Now it really was time to face the music.

Since facing Steve had gone easier than expected, Eddie braced himself for your reaction. He was fully prepared for a meltdown. He expected you to be upset, and even braced himself for tears. He expected some yelling, possibly some screaming. There might even be some accusations, though the possibility of you thinking anything like that made Eddie’s stomach clench. He hoped you would know that he would never take advantage of you while you were drunk…but, then again, could he really say that since he didn’t even remember what happened? The very idea alone made his stomach clenched even tighter.

When you came out of the bathroom, you were dressed in your clothes from the night before. You were humming softly, which struck Eddie as strange considering the circumstances. You usually didn’t hum all that much, just when you were in an exceedingly good mood. This didn’t really strike Eddie as an occasion where you would be in a good mood though.

As you started to turn into the kitchen, you looked up and saw them in the living room.

“Morning fellas,” you said, smiling brightly at them both before ducking into the small kitchen.

They could hear you start to open cabinet doors. Eddie and Steve both looked at each other, deep confusion on their faces. It didn’t seem like you were bothered by the state of things at all. Maybe you hadn’t put two and two together yet? You woke up alone in bed, so it was possible.

You came back a moment later and stood in the doorway to the living room. A box of cereal was tucked under your arm, and you were eating it dry right out of the box with your free hand.

Aside from the crunch of cereal and the sounds drifting in from the outside, the room was silent. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable silence but wasn’t really an uncomfortable one either. It was just a silence.

Eddie started rubbing the back of his neck nervously, his gaze flicking repeatedly between you and Steve. Steve was in a similar state, one of his feet tapping anxiously and he kept crossing and uncrossing his arms, his eyes looking between you and Eddie. You seemed to be the only one relaxed, munching on your cereal and looking between the two men.

It seemed like everyone was waiting on someone else to start talking first.

After some time of this, you cleared your throat, which made them both look back over at you.

“Uh,“ you finally said, smiling shyly at them. “Hi.”

“Hi,” said both Eddie and Steve at the same time.

“I, uh,” you said, then stopped to clear your throat. “I had a lot of fun last night.” you said.

Before either of them could process what you just said, you started laughing nervously and shook your head.

“Sorry,” you said, your cheeks flushing a soft pink. “That was a really weird thing for me to say after everything. I mean, obviously, I had fun.”

Eddie exchanged another look with Steve, then back to you.

Now you were the one who looked nervous, taking their silent exchange of a look for something else.

“Did, did you two have fun, too?” you asked, shifting on your feet.

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Well, um, that’s the thing, Princess,” he said, then stopped, unsure of how to phrase things.

“We were, uh,” Steve continued after a moment. “Actually trying to figure all that out. What happened last night, I mean.”

Your eyes widened at their words, and you looked back and forth between the two again.

“You guys don’t remember?” you asked.

Both men shook their heads.

Your mouth dropped opened in shock.

“Exactly h-how drunk were you two last night?” you asked softly.

“I don’t remember leaving The Hideout,” Eddie confessed, with a shrug.

“I barely remember the cab ride here,” Steve said. “Nothing after that though.”

Your hand flew to your mouth, an expression of horror on your face.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” you said, your voice remorseful and you looked on the verge of tears. “I had no idea you guys were that drunk, I swear!”

“No no no!” Eddie said, taking a few steps forward so he could rest a hand on your shoulder. “You have nothing to be sorry for. This isn’t your fault.”

All of a sudden, a very sheepish look came to you face and your cheeks flushed a bright pink.

“Actually, um,” you said. “I kind of initiated the whole thing.”

There was a moment of silence.

“What whole thing?” Steve asked, voice quiet and tinged with awe.

There was another moment of silence.

“You know,” you finally said, then gestured between the three of you, as if you were hesitant to say it. “Us. Having sex. It was my idea.”

There was a lot longer than just a moment of silence after that one.

Steve nearly fell over where he was standing but managed to catch his balance.

Eddie’s hand dropped from your shoulder in shock to hang limply at his side.

Now that it was confirmed, Eddie tried once again to remember the night before. Squeezing his eyes shut, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. The fog of alcohol was still too thick to penetrate with his head in the state it was and straining to think didn’t do anything but make the headache worse.

“So, um,” Steve said, finally breaking the silence and making Eddie look up. “H-How did it happen?”

“Well,” you said slowly, swallowing a bite of cereal. “We’ve all been flirting pretty heavily with each other for a while now, and I’ve had a thing for both of you for a long time before that.” A bashful grin came to your face then. “So, I may have gotten a little buzzed and handsy at the bar, and you both were into it. After we came back here, we had a few more drinks and, well…” You cleared your throat and looked down shyly. “I decided to try my luck and asked if you two wanted to have sex with me.”

Both Eddie and Steve stared at you in shock.

“You’ve had a thing got us for a while?” Eddie said when he finally found his voice again.

You nodded.

There was a short pause in the conversation as they processed this.

“Well?” Steve said after abit. “What’d we say?”

Eddie looked over at him with a raised brow. As if their answer wasn’t obvious already.

“Truthfully, not much,” you said as you looked up. “It escalated pretty quickly after that. Though, you both did double check to make sure I fully understood what I was saying after the alcohol and weed.” A warm smile came to your face. “I thought that was really sweet.”

Now it was Eddie’s turn to look down shyly.

The room was got quiet again.

“But you said you had fun, right?” Steve suddenly asked. You nodded in confirmation. “Then that must mean we did good, right?”

Eddie looked over at Steve, gawking at him. While this was an entirely new situation for him, Eddie was pretty sure it was in poor taste to ask for a report card after having a threesome.

To his surprise, you didn’t seem to mind. Biting your bottom lip, you grinned and nodded.

Eddie couldn’t help but grin himself then, a boost of confidence suddenly coming back. It briefly made him forget about the oddness of this situation.

“Yeah?” he asked, then decided to be bold. “How good?”

Now you were blushing again.

“Well, I’m pretty sore today,” you said, your voice going a bit higher pitched, so you had to clear your throat before continuing. “You both were pretty enthusiastic all night.”

It wasn’t too long after that you had to leave since you were supposed to meet up with family later on. The three of you kept conversation light as you and Steve finished dressing, talking about your plans for the day.

Once you got ready to leave, you gave them each a soft kiss on the lips.

“Hopefully once the hangovers go away you guys will remember some of it,” you said with a smile as you headed for the door.

“I sure as hell hope so, Princess,” Eddie groaned before he could stop himself.

While he turned red at his own words, you giggled at him as you opened the door to leave. It was the first time Eddie had ever heard that sound from you and it made his heart speed up. It gave him even more of his confidence back.

“If we don’t remember, any chance there could be a redo?” Eddie asked before he could talk himself out of it.

You froze in mid-step halfway out the door and turned quickly to look at Eddie. The shock on your face was almost comical. A quick glance over at Steve showed him staring at Eddie in horror. Looking back at you, Eddie gave you his biggest grin and winked at you, which he was delighted to see made you blush.

“Um, I-I don’t know,” you said, and then a grin of your own slowly spread across your face. “Maybe. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

You sent a wink back at Eddie before leaving then. Steve wasn’t too far behind, heading out himself just a few minutes later.

Plopping down on the couch as he listened to Steve’s car driving away, Eddie sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Initially, he didn’t have plans for today, but now he knew what he was going to spend the rest of his day doing.

Trying to remember fucking his two very hot best friends.

do not chastise the dove (17) ✧ steven grant, marc spector, jake lockley

do not chastise the dove ✧ a royal moon knight au | ao3 | pinterest board

pairing: knight!steven grant x fem!princess!reader x knight!marc spector x knight!jake lockley

series summary: you were a princess who would rather be anything but a royal; he was the knight her father forced her to marry—a true match made in hell if there ever was one. but, as the wedding inches closer and closer, it seems that, perhaps, your father had finally done something right by you. 

chapter summary: you take your position as queen.

word count: 4,331

warnings?: fluff, mention of sex trafficking, mention of benjamin, pet name (dove), not proofread

Continuar lendo

Avoidance

summary: you’ve been friends with steve harrington since freshman year in highschool. and you’ve also been in love with him since then. but you realize he would never love you back, so you decide to put some distance between the two of you without explanation.

warnings: cursing, self esteem issues, attachment issues, abandonment issues, emotional angst to fluff !

A/N: ignore nancy in the gif 💔 this is not proofread cuz i’m tired and lazy. also it’s been quite awhile since i’ve written but i’m feeling extremely attached to steve still and also needed to get some of my own emotions out lol

word count: 3.3k exact :)

It was yet another sleepless night. Your brain too wrapped up in anxious thoughts to even let you think about closing your eyes for more than a few seconds. So you listen to the rain hitting your window and let the thoughts take over, deciding you needed to stop pushing them away. You weren’t sure how long you’d been staring at your ceiling for, but you were shaken out of your thoughts by the phone ringing. It’s one in the morning who the hell is calling? You thought as you went to answer the loud device.

“Hello?” You sounded drained.

“Couldn’t sleep either huh?” Steve sounded almost as drained.

“Nope. Why’d you call?” You hadn’t meant to sound so short but you’ve had quite a rough day at work and didn’t feel like talking. Usually Steve would make you feel better immediately but lately being around him, even hearing his voice, has just made your heart hurt.

“Figured if I was awake you probably would be too.”

“Okay… So why call? Just to test your theory?” You joked but there was hardly a joking tone present.

“I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. Helps me clear my thoughts sometimes,” he ignored your joke, “are you alright?”

“Yeah Steve. Just peachy.”

God why am i being so rude to him? He didn’t do anything?

“Was work bad today?” He knew better than to take your tone personally.

“Yeah. Nothing new though. Just being being assholes.” You didn’t feel like talking about how your day at the video store went. You’re pretty sure you even scared Robin with how irritated you were getting, considering Robin was silent half the shift and she always has something to say.

“I’m sorry princess. Anything specific-“

Princess… A name he initially used a joke, to call you dramatic or pretend like you were asking for so much as if you believed you were royalty, that he’s been using on a more regular basis lately. God you hate that name.

“Steve I’m really tired. I gotta go.” You felt bad for cutting him off but you couldn’t pretend to give a shit about work right now. Not when you knew that’s not what was really bothering you.

There was a beat of silence, Steve being surprised at you cutting him off and the tone you had, “okay. I hope you sleep well. I’m here if you need me.” He knew you weren’t sleeping soon.

“Yeah you too. Goodnight.”

When Steve hung up he couldn’t shake the awful feeling he had that he had done something wrong. Usually he doesn’t worry about that with you. You’re always so kind to him and reassuring, knowing he blames himself easily for really anything he can. But tonight just now, that was new. He hated it. He hated not being able to make you feel better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After falling asleep sometime around four in the morning, your alarm went off at six thirty for work. Needless to say you ended up flipping off your alarm clock and going back to bed. You woke up again to the phone ringing, but you decided to ignore it, completely forgetting why your alarm went off. About your shift at Family Video.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say Steve was anxious when he arrived at work to see Keith instead of you, was a huge understatement. Not even because he hated working with him, but because you were weird last night and now you didn’t show up to work. You haven’t missed a day since you started there.

“Hey Keith. Where’s y/n?”

“Thought you would know Harrington. She decided not to show up today.”

“She didn’t say why?”

Keith laughed, “she didn’t even call.”

Steve’s anxiety only grew. He immediately went to the phone in the back, calling you. If rang for what felt like an eternity. No answer. He called again. Okay, he called a few more times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your phone wouldn’t stop ringing. You looked to your clock, it was twelve pm. You reluctantly got up to answer.

“What?” You already knew it was Steve. He was the only one who would call that many times in a row.

“Y/n what the hell?” You could hear the panic and slight relief mixed with a hint of anger.

“Mind telling me what i’m being yelled at for?”

“Yelled at? I’m not-“ you heard him inhale, you knew he was pinching the bridge of his nose, “does your shift at work today ring a bell?” You couldn’t even tell which tone he had that time.

“Shit. Sorry. Slept in.”

“…That’s it? That’s all you got?”

“Jesus Steve I’m so sorry you had to work with Keith. I’ll get ready and head over there, calm do-“

“I don’t give a shit that I had to work with Keith, y/n. I thought- I was worried something happened.”

Shit. Now you were really being an asshole. You know how anxious he gets when someone isn’t where they’re supposed to be and don’t give a reason. Not after all the scary shit you’ve been through. He immediately assumes the worst. Even if it does seem slightly irrational, neither of you are sure what exactly is rational anymore.

“I’m sorry. Seriously I just went to bed so late and i stopped my alarm without thinking. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m really sorry.” You felt like crying. You know the panic he was feeling when he didn’t see you and when it took ten calls for you to answer. Steve could hear that through the phone.

“It’s okay. Sorry I got a bit too anxious over nothing. Take your time, yeah? I’ll be alright with Keith for a little longer.” His voice was much softer again.

“I get it Steve. Please don’t apologize, I think you’re allowed to feel that way after everything you’ve been through.” Steve felt himself relax a bit, your reassurance made him feel better after worrying all night about doing something that had pissed you off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You arrived at work thirty minutes later somehow. Steve smiled when he saw you and you tried to smile back but you knew it wasn’t very convincing.

“You’re lucky you’re good at knowing what movies customers would like. Otherwise you’d be kicked to the curb y/l/n.” Keith pointed at you, sounding surprisingly less angry than you’d expected.

“Sorry Keith. Won’t happen again I swear.”

“Better not.” He mumbled and walked through the back door to his car.

“Hey. Would you rather sort and restock or check out customers and rewind these?” Steve held up a handful of tapes.

“Doesn’t matter to me.” You shrugged. Steve knew you preferred to sit and rewind the tapes when you were tired and / or anxious. So he stood up and gestures towards the chair he was previously on.

“the rewinding is all your princess.” He did a funny bow and attempted to sound british. Though it was definitely Australian. It actually would’ve been really impressive if Australian is what he was going for.

“Do I get a koala too?” You smirked and it took Steve a second to realize the jab at his accent.

“Wow ok I see how it is I do something kind and you repay me with a snarky comment.” He put his hand over his heart and pretended to be offended. But his grin gave him away.

“Oh I’m sorry. Thank you Steve Harrington! My savior!” You put your hands together and pretended to fawn over him, laughing.

God Steve loved your smile and your laugh. He’d sell a kidney to see it 24/7.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Steve was away stocking the romance section, your thoughts came back. Your depressing mood resurfacing. You were trying to keep your distance a bit, but he kept pulling you back in with his warm smile and his stupid Harrington charm.

You joked every now and then for the rest of your shift, but Steve could tell your mood had changed again. You knew he knew by the look on his face. A weak smile that you knew was the same you were giving him.

“Try to get some better rest tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“No promises. And yeah.” You lied. You had already decided halfway through your shift that you wouldn’t come in to see him on your next days off, including tomorrow, like you usually did. You were going to make it four days without seeing him. You were going to try not to call him too, but you knew better than that. You knew he’d end up calling you. If not to talk then to check you’re alive.

You waved goodbye and drove home. Deciding to watch a comfort movie before falling asleep earlier than you thought you would. Probably from the lack of sleep from the previous night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve looked up every time the bell on the door rang, waiting to see you. The highlight of his day. Except every time he looked, it was never you. Robin noticed of course.

“Alright Steve. This is getting a little pathetic. Even for you.”

He gave her a confused look.

“I know you’re waiting for y/n to walk through the door. We have fifteen minutes till we’re closed. I don’t think she’s coming in today dingus.”

“She just- She usually comes in.”

“Steve you saw her yesterday. She’s probably busy. Maybe Eleven is making her build a fort with her again.”

Steve just shrugged and worked on rewinding the last few tapes. It was oddly a comforting thing for him to do when you weren’t there. It reminded him of you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Steve got home he called you just like you thought he would.

“Hey Steve. Sorry I didn’t stop in today. I am alive and I’m fine. Just had a lot of shopping to do.”

“No it’s okay. You have a life outside of that store.”

It was silent. Neither of you having much to say. Then you spoke up, “You okay?” You could hear something off with Steve.

“Yeah. I just hope you’re okay. You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know Steve. I’m okay. Just in a bit of a rut I guess.”

“If you need anything just call. Please.”

You swear your heart cracked at the way his voice sounded. You know he hates not being able to help, “I will. Promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The third day you didn’t show up to say hi to Steve and Robin, Steve decided to not call. He decided to leave you alone, assuming you needed distance or something. Even Robin was confused and a bit worried. Mostly worried for Steve.

“Steve?” He jumped a little when Robin put her hand on his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah? Sorry, was thinking.”

“I can see that. What’s going on?”

“Y/n’s been… weird. She’s been quiet. Which is normal for other people who are around her, but not for me. She’s always making so many jokes when we work together and she always comes in on her days off just to mess with me and pick a new movie to watch. She always calls too. To tell me about whatever movie she watched. But she’s basically been ignoring me. Did I do something? Please tell me if I did something stupid Rob.”

Robin felt her heart sink when he looked up at her searching for answers. He looked like a kicked puppy. She couldn’t find it in herself to tease him.

“She hasn’t said anything to me bud. I’m sorry. I can talk to her though if you-“

“No!” He cleared his throat, “no, it’s okay. I don’t want her to think we’re talking about her when she’s not here.”

“But we are-“

“You know what I mean. Just… Maybe see if she’s okay. But don’t bring me up.”

“I’ll drop by her place tonight then I’ll call you. I’m sure she’s just stressed or something.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were surprised to hear a knock on your door at ten that night.

You opened the door to see Robin.

“Robin? What are you-“

She barged in.

“Okay just come on in then…” You mumbled confused.

“What’s wrong with you?” She didn’t sound angry, but she didn’t sound happy.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on. That shit doesn’t work on me. You know what I mean. Why are you avoiding Steve?”

“Avoiding Steve? I’m not-“

“Almost not showing up to work when you worked with him, making your phone conversations hours shorter than usual, not coming in to say hi,” she was listing evidence on her fingers.

“Okay, okay I get it.” You threw your hands up in surrender.

Robin raised an eyebrow waiting for your explanation.

“Look, you know I have feelings for him. I’ve just been… Thinking about it lately and how I need to move on.”

“Move on? Why?”

“He obviously doesn’t feel the same wa-“

You were cut off by Robin’s laughter.

“What is so funny to you?”

“You really think that dingus isn’t head over heels in love with you too?”

“Woah woah woah first off I never said I was-“

“Oh you don’t have to.”

“Can you please stop cutting me off?”

“Can you please stop being so oblivious? Steve has been sitting there for the past three days sitting there rewinding tapes and watching that front door line a goddamn hawk. He misses you y/n.” This was probably the softest you’ve ever heard Robin talk.

“I know he cares about me. I know we’re close. And I don’t wanna lose him. But I’m tired Robin. I’m tired of reading into every little thing he does and trying to make my feelings obvious to him when I know he doesn’t feel the same way!” You spoke softly at first, but then your voice betrayed you. Cracking at the end as you raised your voice unintentionally.

“I think you need to talk to him. Seriously.” Robin was still speaking softly but she was more stern this time.

“Fat chance.” You mumbled.

“Y/n, I love you, but if you hurt Steve I swear to god… He’s been through enough as it is and you of all people know that. Too many people have left him. I genuinely don’t know what would happen to him if you left him too. He trusts you more than anyone. More than me. More than any of the kids, even Dustin. Don’t fuck this up. Don’t fuck him up.”

And with that, she left. Left your house and left you to think.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On your fourth and final day off you were planning on how to talk to Steve when you worked with him tomorrow. Unfortunately you didn’t get too far when you heard an aggressive knock on your door. You opened it expecting to see Robin.

“Robin I get it I’m going to-“ You stopped as soon as you saw Steve. A very upset looking Steve.

“Y/n I didn’t wanna bother you but this is killing me. I can’t stand not being able to call you and rant about whatever Dustin or Robin did to piss me off that day. I can’t stand not listening to you rant about whatever movie you just watched. I can’t stand not being around you everyday. I don’t even know what I did and I’ve been trying so hard to figure it out but I can’t. I’m sure I did something really fucking stupid per usual, but please tell me what it was so I can fix it.”

“Stevie you didn’t do anything wrong.”

He looked so lost and confused. You gestures for him to come inside. Your parents weren’t home yet.

“Then what- What happened?”

“Fuck.” You muttered and Steve looked so anxious you just wanted to hug him and tell him everything is fine.

“Would you just trust me if I said it’s me and my brain and has nothing to do with anything you did?”

“Y/n that’s not a good enough reason and you know it. Why can’t you just talk to me-“

“I couldn’t stand being so close to you all the time knowing how strongly I’m in love with you okay! And knowing you don’t feel the same.” You didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. But there it was. And you couldn’t take it back.

“How would you know that i don’t feel the same?”

“Because why would you?” You laughed like he just offended you, “you could have any girl you want. Why on earth would you choose me?”

“Because you actually give a shit about me. You’ve been there for me when my so called friends weren’t. When my parents weren’t. Hell, you were there for me when Nancy wasn’t. You stuck with me even when I was a total asshole-“

“You were never an asshole Steve. Not to me. You know that.”

“And that’s what I love about you. You always see the good in people even when literally everyone else knows- thinks they’re an asshole.”

You couldn’t hold back the tears welling up at this point, “You know how much I hate everyone who made you feel like that right?” You weren’t even upset about exposing your feelings, you were upset over the fact that Steve still sees himself like that sometimes.

“I know. And if it weren’t for you I’d probably never forgive myself for how I was. But you showed me that I’m really not that guy. I’m not that “King Steve” everyone talked about in highschool. If you weren’t there for me throughout that time up until now, I’d still be such a mess.” He chuckled a little. You didn’t find it humorous however.

“Please don’t give me the credit for that. I just pointed out what you already knew was behind those walls. Fuck! I’m so sorry Steve. I know everything you’ve been through I know about all of the assholes who left you and here I am avoiding you for such selfish reasons!” You were fully crying at this point. How could you do what you hated so many others for doing?

Steve just quietly walked up to you and out your face in his hands, wiping the tears, “It’s okay y/n. I’m okay. I didn’t think you were abandoning me. I just thought I’d done something stupid to upset you.”

“I’m still sorry for making you anxious about it. For the record I don’t think you could ever upset me. at least not for more than ten minutes tops.” He laughed which made you smile.

“You know how much I look up to you yeah?”

“Y/n you don’t have to-“

“I know. But I need you to know. I mean I already blurted out that I love you, so I might as well keep going,” you paused to look into his beautiful dark eyes, making sure he absorbs your words, “you’re the most selfless person I know. You’ll do anything from letting someone rant to you for hours over something silly that upset them, throwing yourself into portals to hell. You pay such close attention to people you care about that you know every little tell-tale sign that somethings wrong. You know I get quiet when I’m anxious, you know what sings to play to help Max when she’s in a mood, I think you’re the only person Mike has ever gone to for advice. You’re so-“

Steve must’ve understood your point because suddenly he was cutting you off with a kiss that took you by surprise, but you quickly reciprocated.

“God I love you so much y/n.” He smiled against your lips.

“I love you so much too Steve.”

“Yeah you made that pretty clear.” He chuckled and you playfully slapped his arm.

omg this is gold! 

My friend is always sending me Marvel stuff 😂😂

Don't ever hesitate. Reblog this. TUMBLR RULE. When you see it, REBLOG IT.

The original post only has US helplines. I've added UK helplines underneath. It would be great if people could add numbers from everywhere in the world.

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453

UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem): 08457909090 e-mail jo@samaritans.org

Childline (for anyone under 18 with any problem): 08001111

Mind infoline (mental health information): 0300 123 3393 e-mail: info@mind.org.uk

Mind legal advice (for people who need mental-health related legal advice): 0300 466 6463 legal@mind.org.uk

b-eat eating disorder support: 0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: help@b-eat.co.uk

b-eat youthline (for under 25's with eating disorders): 08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

Cruse Bereavement Care: 08444779400 e-mail: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Frank (information and advice on drugs): 0800776600

Drinkline: 0800 9178282

Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999 1(open 2 - 2.30pm 7 - 9.30pm) e-mail info@rapecrisis.org.uk

Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02 every day, 6pm to midnight

India Self Harm Hotline: 00 08001006614

India Suicide Helpline: 022-27546669

Kids Help Phone (Canada): 1-800-668-6868, Free and available 24/7

suicide hotlines;

Argentina: 54-0223-493-0430

Australia: 13-11-14

Austria: 01-713-3374

Barbados: 429-9999

Belgium: 106

Botswana: 391-1270

Brazil: 21-233-9191

China: 852-2382-0000

(Hong Kong: 2389-2222)

Costa Rica: 606-253-5439

Croatia: 01-4833-888

Cyprus: 357-77-77-72-67

Czech Republic: 222-580-697, 476-701-908

Denmark: 70-201-201

Egypt: 762-1602

Estonia: 6-558-088

Finland: 040-5032199

France: 01-45-39-4000

Germany: 0800-181-0721

Greece: 1018

Guatemala: 502-234-1239

Holland: 0900-0767

Honduras: 504-237-3623

Hungary: 06-80-820-111

Iceland: 44-0-8457-90-90-90

Israel: 09-8892333

Italy: 06-705-4444

Japan: 3-5286-9090

Latvia: 6722-2922, 2772-2292

Malaysia: 03-756-8144

(Singapore: 1-800-221-4444)

Mexico: 525-510-2550

Netherlands: 0900-0767

New Zealand: 4-473-9739

New Guinea: 675-326-0011

Nicaragua: 505-268-6171

Norway: 47-815-33-300

Philippines: 02-896-9191

Poland: 52-70-000

Portugal: 239-72-10-10

Russia: 8-20-222-82-10

Spain: 91-459-00-50

South Africa: 0861-322-322

South Korea: 2-715-8600

Sweden: 031-711-2400

Switzerland: 143

Taiwan: 0800-788-995

Thailand: 02-249-9977

Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800

Ukraine: 0487-327715

Text Crisis US only: 741-741

Teen suicide hotline: 800-852 8336

Ooh, so precious! 🥹😭 If you're planning on writing more parts and doing a tag list, can I be added to it? Thanks! Loved your fic 😍

Mrow

Bakugou x roomate!reader

Summary: you've gotten yourself into a quirk accident & were now..?? a cat??

A/n: if there's one thing i like about the mha universe is that the existence of quirks make up so many plot possibilities to play with. i had a lot of fun writing this & i hope you enjoy reading too!

🌟

You were a cat.

Your day most certainly could not get any weirder than this.

You were chasing after a petty thief down the alleyway when it happened. You almost felt bad for going after what could be the most skittish crime offender you've ever encountered.

Then she struck you with her quirk.

The force of it knocked you to the ground & your sight went blurry. You vaguely heard her apologized profusely, swearing it was an accident & stammering that you'll be able to figure out how to undo it on your own, leaving you to slowly black out.

When you came to, you found yourself absolutely drowning in a mass of clothes that you soon realized was your hero outfit. Horrified at the discovery, you looked down at your naked body only to find out you weren't exactly naked.

You were covered in fur.

Cursing out in confusion, you heard your own voice rang through the alleyway. But it didn't sound like your voice & what came out was most definitely not coherent words.

Panicked you scrambled to get out of the alley, almost plopping face first into what seemed to be a ridiculously huge puddle, barely catching yourself as you fell on your furry butt. Peering into the muddy water, you felt your heart sank at the sight of your own reflection.

You were a cat.

🌟

You've sat at your front door for approximately 15 minutes, glaring at the wood, willing it open with your mind.

You decided quickly that heading to your agency will do you no good, already concluding you aren't getting a productive two-way conversation with anyone while you were in this form. Trying to alert other pro heroes on your way did not work out, unless them cooing & making baby voices at you counted.

The familiar sound of heavy boots approaching your door made you perk up. Your roomate was home.

You padded aside to make way for your roomate to open the door, you little body slumping in relief. You didn't notice Bakugou skeptically raising an eyebrow at your presence but saying nothing otherwise.

The click of the door unlocking had you sighing inwardly. Ugh. Thank fuck. You thought as you padded in tiredly. Curling up in bed after the day you had the only thing on your mind.

You barely made it two steps in before your feet were no longer on the ground, making you squeal in surprise.

"Oi."

You heard your own angry mewls as Bakugou grabbed you by the scruff, holding you up to his face.

"Who the fuck do you think you are waltzing in like you own this place?"

You wanted to scream. You were too tired for this shit right now.

Oh my god. Bakugou! I do own this place. Its me! Y/n!

You tried explaining to no avail as you thrashed in his hold. Bakugou muttered something about you being 'a loud little fuck too' & started heading for the front door.

This made you bristle in irritation even more.

There was absolutely no way you were turned into a cat & getting kicked out of your own apartment on the same day. Not fucking happening.

The moment Bakugou dropped you off out the front door, you launched yourself onto his pant leg before he could close the door in your face, clinging on to dear life as the blonde yelped in surprise at feeling your little claws dig into the fabric of his sweatpants.

"Are you fucking kidding me??" He yelled, swinging he's leg around, jostling you with the movement, trying to get you off of him.

No! Thats my line, you bastard! Don't fucking kid with me!

You yelled profanities at him. All of which, to your dismay, came out as high pitched wails while Bakugou stumbled around as he tried to pry you off his leg while you held on with all your might. In his struggle, he bumped into the front door, cracking it open just a smidge. Seeing this opening you leaped off of him & made a mad dash inside, hearing your angry roomate shout after you. You dove for the living room sofa, barely wiggling your way through the narrow space underneath, only just escaping the angry blonde's grasp.

You heard Bakugou yelling at you to get out, to which you yelled right back at him- non-threatening little mewls be damned. You weren't standing for this bullshit.

Fuck.

There was no way of communicating with him like this. Where the fuck was a convinient scrabble board game when you needed one.

🌟

"Oi. Come out. You must be hungry. I got you food."

No! You'll try to throw me out again! Out of my own home may I add!

You heard Bakugou snicker at your yowls from under the sofa, making your tail puff up in annoyance.

"Calm down, brat. I won't throw you out. Promise. Just food."

You contemplated your options for a moment before relenting to his offer. Bakugou chuckled at the sight of you poking your head out of your hiding place, looking up at him with doubts written all over your furry face.

You watched him place two saucers by the table, one of steamed fish, the other filled with clean water before moving on to set his own meal & take a seat at the table. Trotting over nervously, you looked up at him one last time, just in case he was bluffing, only to have him roll his eyes at you. "Hurry up. My foods getting cold."

You tilt your head at that.

His food? Was he waiting for you to eat together?

You wanted to ask but your tummy growling & confirmation that you could hold Bakugou to his word had you making your way to your dishes. Plus your questions would only come out as mewls & squeals anyway so.

Sitting on your haunches you meowed out a 'thanks for the food' before digging in, making the blonde laugh.

"At least you have some manners for a feral little thing."

🌟

You didn't have time to worry about getting kicked out after dinner, having seemingly become the least of Bakugou's problems after a phonecall left him agitated & fidgety.

You watched Bakugou pace the living room back & forth, whilst holding his phone up to his ear, seemingly getting more & more frustrated by the minute as he grumbled under his breath ever time the call went to voicemail.

"Mrow?"

Bakugou barely acknowledged your presence with a glance before he's dialing the number again.

"She's not fucking answering."

Who?

"The other dumbass that lives here. She should've been home ages ago. Its getting dark."

Oh. Oh, he's worried about you.

Cursing under his breath at another voicemail, Bakugou muttered something about calling your agency again while you watched him barely contain his distress as he learns no one has seen you since your patrol.

"This fucking dumbass. Where the hell are you??" Bakugou growled while tugging on the boots of his hero outfit, the worry underlying his voice made your gut churn with guilt.

You scurried over to where he sat at the door, swiftly lacing up his boots. He paused when you meowed, peaking around his side.

Keeping your eyes on his, you tested the waters by perching up on his thigh, front paws on his tummy with those red eyes watching your every move. When Bakugou didn't push you off, you continued wiggling your way up his chest, his hand instinctively coming under your legs to support you.

Face to face with him, you see the distress on his face, the expression making your heart heavy. Pushing your little body on your hind legs, you bring a paw up to the wrinkles between his brows.

I'm right here, Bakugou. You mewled quietly.

The blonde huffed out a quiet laugh at that. "Whats with you? You're way too perceptive for a regular fluffball." You perk up at his words. Maybe he'd finally notice!

Thats 'cause I'm not a cat! Its me! Y/n!

To your dismay, he only chuckled at your frantic meows. "Alright, alright. I have to go now," he rumbled out with an amused grin overlaying his worry. He stood up slowly, picking you up in his large hands to set you on the ground. "M'bringing that idiot home so I can introduce ya. I'd bet she's gonna love ya."

You could only watch as Bakugou stepped out into the night to search for you, knowing he wouldn't find you out there tonight.

These were the best drabbles I have read in my entire life. I think I'm fucking in love! Thank u so much for this preciousness!!

Typos - Drabbles

All requests made by fellow Typhoes are listed down below!

NOTE- THESE ARE NOT HAPPENING THE SAME TIME AS THE MAIN SERIES, ONLY THE ONES MARKED WITH A ‘+’ 

Catch up with the rest of the series here: Typos Masterlist

Continuar lendo

Omg, I caaaaan't. Eddie is the cutest boy! And Wayne being protective and caring. My heart just melted reading this

My Favorite Person | e.m.

A/N: This author is a sucker for a good slow burn and what could be slower than that which spans a whole freakin decade. I mean, who doesn’t love baby love? Also, the prices of the toys mentioned in this fic are based on actual toy prices from the ‘70s bc I did a ton of unnecessary research for this.

Thank you so much @mxcheese for beta-reading this!! You’re the best!

CW: potentially inaccurate portrayals of children’s conversations, brief mentions of Eddie’s shitty father, two curse words (i think???), heavy idolization of Dolly Parton, the reader’s dad is kind of a jerk to Eddie

Eddie watches you skip joyously around your fourth grade classroom, handing out the invitations for your birthday party this weekend. He’s already made peace with the fact that he isn’t going to get one this time around. Your party’s at your dad’s house this year and, due to his dad’s reputation, he isn’t exactly welcome over there. So, the way he sees it, Eddie stands about as much of a chance of being invited to your party as he does getting a date with Faye Dunaway. Despite his resigned acceptance, he can’t help but feel jealous of your other friends.

Eddie tears his gaze from you and puts his head down on his desk, using his crossed arms as a make-shift pillow. He tries to think about something other than you and your stupid birthday party, conjuring up guesses as to what his dad might serve for dinner tonight and picturing what it might’ve looked like when the mean aunts got flattened by the peach in James and the Giant Peach; the latter causing him to giggle to himself. However, Eddie’s thoughts are soon interrupted when he hears a familiar voice call out his name. Almost immediately after, he feels a tiny finger gently poke his shoulder as the smell of your apple-scented shampoo fills his nostrils.

Eddie lifts his head up out of the dim fortress created by his arms to see you standing next to his desk, smiling at him sweetly. Only then does he notice how your braids have begun to unravel and your jumper has gotten a bit of dirt on it, most likely from the exhaustive play you did at recess. He resists the sudden urge to look down at his own clothes, wondering if they got as dirty as yours did today. Probably dirtier, he thinks.

“Hi, Eddie,” you greet him cheerfully, “you wanna come to my birthday party?” You ask simply, albeit with a slight lisp due to having recently lost one of your front teeth, as you hold out an invitation to him.

“Really?” Eddie asks in disbelief as he hesitantly accepts the invitation from you, half-expecting you to yank it back from him and announce that you were just kidding.

“Yeah, of course! Just don’t get me a present that costs more than ten bucks; my daddy says that’s the only rule,” You explain, causing his eyebrows to furrow.

“Why not?” He asks.

You shrug, “I dunno, something about him not wantin’ other parents to spend all their money on me.”

“Oh, okay,” Eddie doesn’t really get that, but he nods anyway.

“So, you’ll come?” You ask giddily.

“Yeah, if my dad says I can,” He replies, causing you to flash him a grin that’s just about a mile wide, a grin that he couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“Great! I’ll see ya then!” You exclaim blithely as you start skipping back to your desk. He still wears that grin on his face as you go.

In fact, that grin doesn’t leave Eddie’s cherubic, freckled face until later that afternoon, when he comes home to find his uncle sitting at the kitchen table wearing a somber expression and nursing a mug of black coffee, his dad nowhere to be found.

“Uncle Wayne?” Eddie asks as he drops his backpack off by the door.

Wayne sighs, rubbing a hand over his scruff, “Hey, kid.”

“Where’s dad?” Eddie asks curiously.

“Your dad’s in a little bit of trouble right now, so I’m gonna be lookin’ after you for a little while,” Wayne informs him as he offers him a sympathetic smile.

Eddie, however, seems a bit apathetic about the whole situation, simply asking, “For how long?” This is the third time his dad has skipped out on him this month alone, so he’s not really phased by his sudden disappearance.

“I don’t know, pal,” Wayne says truthfully.

Eddie’s brow furrows, “I got invited to a party today. I was gonna ask dad if I could go,” he informs his uncle.

“Yeah? Whose party?” Wayne asks, offering his nephew a happier smile. His smile gets just a bit wider when Eddie tells him that it’s your birthday party. He’s well aware of who you are; you’ve been friends with Eddie for a while now and he can tell you come from a good family. Or, at least, he knows that your mom’s a good lady, she’s offered to take care of Eddie many times when his dad’s gone off to do god knows what without him. Unfortunately, Wayne’s had to take her up on that offer far too many times for his liking, but she’s never minded.

“If you still wanna go, that shouldn’t be a problem, bud. Her mom’s place is only a short walk away after all,” Wayne informs him.

Eddie nervously chews at the collar of his shirt, only stopping temporarily to say, “‘S not at her mom’s. It’s at her dad’s.”

Shit, Wayne thinks.

“Can I still go?” Eddie asks, his rich brown eyes silently pleading to his uncle to say yes.

How could Wayne ever refuse him?

“Yeah, bud, you can go. I’ll take ya,” Wayne tells him and, despite having just learned about his dad ditching him once again, Eddie’s face lights up with a brilliant smile.

“Thank you, Uncle Wayne!” Eddie exclaims as he wraps the man up in a warm, grateful hug.

Wayne chuckles, “So what do you wanna get her, kid?”

The question catches Eddie off guard as he was in the middle of internally celebrating that his uncle said yes.

“What?” Eddie asks after pulling away from his uncle. Wayne gets up from his place at the kitchen table and drops his now empty mug off in the sink before turning to lean against the counter and look at Eddie.

“You got any ideas for what you’re gonna get her for her gift?” Wayne asks.

Eddie begins to panic. In his eight year old mind, this is the end of the world; he finally gets invited to a birthday party and doesn’t even know what to get the birthday girl.

“W-what- What do kids like her even like?” Eddie asks as he begins to nervously wring his hands together.

“What d’ya mean? She’s your friend, kid, surely you’ve gotta know what kind of stuff she likes,” Wayne says as his dry, cracked lips curl up into an amused smile.

“I just- I don’t- She already has so much. I mean, she gets two Christmases, you know? What if I get her something that she already has?” Eddie asks, his face scrunching up adorably as he looks up at his uncle.

Wayne chuckles, “Yeah, I know, bud. You know, you could always ask her what she wants,” Wayne offers as he moves back to the dinner table and slowly lowers himself back into his seat, Eddie mirrors him as he moves to sit in the seat just across from him.

“But then she’ll know exactly what I’m gonna get her. Doesn’t that kinda ruin the surprise?” Eddie asks, causing Wayne to sigh.

“Fair point,” Wayne pauses as he eyes his nephew carefully, “What’s the toy we kept seein’ on tv around christmas time? The one with the doll that drinks and stuff?”

Eddie snorts humorously, “Baby Alive?”

“Yeah, yeah, that one. We could get her that.”

“Too expensive, there’s a ten dollar gift limit,” Eddie sighs.

“Says who?” Wayne laughs in disbelief.

“Her dad,” Eddie grumbles.

“What kind of dad puts a dollar limit on his kid’s birthday presents?” Wayne scoffs. Eddie simply shrugs in response.

“Well,” Wayne trails off before continuing, “does she like to read? We could get her a book.”

“I- I don’t know,” Eddie sighs. He does know, you love to read and you’ve told him that many times before, but his mind draws a blank under pressure.

“I’ll tell you what… How about you do some investigating this week, find out what kinda stuff she wants. Then, when I get paid on Friday, we can go to the toy store and see if we can’t find something that she might like. How’s that sound?” Wayne asks.

“Okay,” Eddie sighs.

“Yeah? Sounds good?”

“Yeah, that sounds good, Uncle Wayne,” Eddie confirms.

“Alrighty then, use those detective skills and report back to me, alright?”

Eddie does just that. For the next four days at school, he pays extra special attention to you. So much so, that you’ve begun to take notice. Sometimes you think you can feel those rich coffee brown eyes on you and every time you catch his gaze, the abrupt flush of his cheeks lets you know that you’re right. At first, you chalk it up to him being excited that he got invited to your party. After all, the two of you didn’t get to celebrate it together last year because you’d gotten your tonsils removed a week before your birthday.

However, when you continue to catch him looking at you later on in the week, you begin to worry. And, given the fact that you’ve yet to fully learn social cues, you decide to confront Eddie on it. On Friday, after school dismissal, you catch him on the bus, sliding into the seat next to him before anyone else can take it. He suddenly looks up at you, his eyes widening slightly in mild shock.

“Hey,” you said somewhat breathlessly as you had to sprint to the bus after nearly getting on the wrong one; you were forgetful like that sometimes.

“Hi,” Eddie replies hesitantly.

“Did I do somethin’ to upset you?” You ask abruptly, catching Eddie off guard.

“W-what d’ya mean?”

“You’ve been lookin’ at me a lot, but not, like, talkin’ to me or anything. Are you mad at me or somethin’?” You ask innocently, your head quizzically cocking to the side a bit as you look at Eddie. In that moment, you remind the young boy of a puppy dog, all curious and cute.

“No! No, I’m not, I swear. I just,” Eddie trails off with a sigh, pulling his shirt collar up to his nose to hide his embarrassed blush before shyly admitting, “I don’t know what to get you for your birthday so I’ve been watching you to see what you like.”

“What I like?”

“Yeah, ya know, what kind stuff you like to do for fun and stuff like that.” He explains, his blush now spreading to the tips of ears as he lets his shirt collar slide off his nose before catching it in his mouth so he can gnaw on it nervously.

You giggle and he finds himself wondering if someone can actually die from embarrassment.

You nudge him gently with your elbow and smile at him sweetly, “Eddie you already know all that stuff!”

“Y-yeah, but I just, I don’t know what you want,” He sighs, “I don’t wanna get you the wrong thing or somethin’ you already have.”

“You could’ve just asked me what I want for my birthday, silly billy.”

“I know, but I didn’t want you to know what I was gonna get you beforehand.” He explains and you giggle some more.

“You really are silly, Eds. I would’ve just given you some general ideas, not told you exactly what to get me! I’m not dumb,” You tease.

“Oh, r-right,” Eddie stutters.

“I s’pose you don’t really need to anymore now that you’ve been spying on me,” You tease him some more.

“Well, I didn’t really come up with much. I mean, at best, I was thinking about getting you a new bookmark,” Eddie admits sheepishly.

“Well,” You trail off, thinking of some options to give him, “I like drawing, so you could get me a coloring book or stuff to color with. I also really, really like playin’ board games, so you could always get me one of those. I already have Candy Land, Boggle, Mouse Trap, and Operation, so don’t get me those games. Or you could get me a new doll, my brother ripped the heads off a few of mine, so I need to get some new ones,” You ramble on about gifts that he could get you for the majority of the bus ride home while Eddie just stares at you with comically wide eyes, desperately trying to follow along.

Finally you inhale a big breath, slightly winded from your incessant talking, and flash him a warm small. “Really, you could get me just about anything and I’d still be your best friend for life, Eddie,” You inform him.

“For life?” Eddie asks, tone laced with uncertainty and disbelief.

“Mhm. Forever and ever, amen,” You reply while doing your best imitation of a pastor on sunday morning; your tone a theatrical combination of pomposity and nobility. Eddie giggles in response.

All too soon, the bus turns onto your street and pulls to a stop near the curb. You let out a dramatic sigh, disappointed that your conversation is, in your opinion, cut short, before flashing Eddie a smile so bright it nearly blinds him. “I’ll see ya tomorrow!” You remind him cheerfully before hopping up from your seat, grabbing your backpack, and rushing off the bus with all the other kids that live on your block.

The scent of apples stays with him until he gets off the bus at his own stop later on. Even then, he swears he can still smell it a little bit. In a way, that smell actually helps him remember what you’d told him; he mulls over the ideas you’d given him as he walks the rest of the short distance to his trailer.

Eddie wouldn’t mind having a best friend for life, especially if it’s you. He remembers that, keeps it in the back of his mind as he coaches his uncle on what to look for at the toy store during the car ride there. Technically, he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to get you yet, so he simply tells Uncle Wayne to keep an eye out for something that fits any of the suggestions you’d given him. At that, Wayne can’t help but feel like he’s in over his head.

When he was a boy, Wayne would gravitate more towards sports, mostly baseball, so all of these modern toys and games were really unfamiliar territory for him. Nonetheless, Wayne tries his best to find something that you might like because he can tell how important this is to Eddie.

They’ve only been perusing through the aisles for a measly fifteen minutes when Eddie spots the gift. An art set chalk full of all the supplies a kid could ever hope for, water colors, a few brushes, a tiny pad of multi-media paper, oil pastels, colored pencils, and even a vast array of markers, all contained in a cardboard case that’s been painted to look like it was made out of a rich, earthy wood. It’s perfect. Art class had always been your favorite in school and you’d even mentioned wanting some colored pencils to him, so it certainly checks all of his boxes. Even better, it’s only seven bucks.

Score.

Eddie’s practically vibrating with excitement as he rides back home with his uncle, hand tightly clutching onto (and crinkling) the roll of treasure map wrapping paper they’d also picked up at the store. You’re gonna love this, he knows you will. He can’t wait for you to open his present tomorrow.

When Eddie gets home that night, he sets in search of the second part of your present; a tiny little elven figurine that came in one of the boxes of mismatched toys, individuals missing from their sets, that Wayne had gotten from a garage sale a few years ago and gifted to him for his birthday. Last summer he’d shown it to you while the two of you were playing on the playground situated at the front of the park, and the sight of your eyes lighting up with wonder as you gazed at the figurine has remained engraved in his memory ever since. It’s one of his favorite toys, but he's willing to part with it so long as he gets to see that gleeful expression of yours again.

The next morning, Eddie wakes up bright and early to start getting ready for your party. He’s practically buzzing with excitement as he quickly wolfs down a short stack of smiley-faced pancakes prepared by the world’s greatest uncle, Wayne, for breakfast.

Said uncle chuckles at his nephew’s giddy excitement as he frantically searches for the perfect outfit to wear to your party, finally landing on the navy sweater that he had worn to picture day this year and his nicest pair of blue jeans. He then makes you a card out of some plain white paper, decorating it with the generic-brand crayons that Santa got him for christmas and taping it shut with the Fred Flinstone sticker he’d gotten at his latest doctor’s appointment. Eddie finishes the card in the nick of time, as not long after he’s put away his crayons, Wayne’s calling his name to let him know that it’s time to go. He grabs your presents and rushes out to Wayne’s car excitedly.

Wayne follows him out, shutting and locking the door behind him, before sliding into the driver’s seat. Eddie tries his luck at sitting in the passenger seat, but Wayne flashes him a disapproving expression and motions for Eddie to sit in the back. The young boy sighs and reluctantly climbs back there before buckingly up. Wayne then turns the key in the ignition and peels out of the makeshift driveway in front of their trailer.

The drive to your house isn’t terribly long, at least not by rural Midwestern standards. Your dad’s place is situated in the outskirts of Hawkins, so Eddie has the absolute pleasure of getting to see all the cows and horses roaming the pastures on the way there. Wayne, however, is sort of desensitized to the wonder of livestock after having lived in Appalachia for most of his childhood.

“Hey, did you know cow farts are bad for the ozone layer?” Eddie asks, offering a random, not fact prompted by the sight of the roaming cattle. Of course, it’s not entirely true, but it’s close enough.

Wayne snorts humorously, “You know, son, can’t say that I did.”

After passing a few more pastures and cornfields, the two finally arrive at your house, only to be met with the sight of a long, narrow, gravel driveway which leads past a dense patch of spruce and pine trees and up to a house with pretty blue siding. Eddie’s never seen your dad’s house before, so he’s pretty shocked at the sight that greets him. While your home certainly isn’t as big or ornate as some of the houses clustered in the local neighborhoods, it’s still pretty nice, and the plot of land it sits on is much bigger than he was expecting. Frankly, Eddie’s a little pissed that you didn’t tell him you lived on a Christmas tree farm. Not to mention, he’s starting to get the impression that you’re filthy stinkin’ rich.

Little does he know, your grandpa bought this once undesirable plot of land for dirt cheap back in the 30s and spent years fixing it up, even building that quaint little house that you call home with his own two hands. Truthfully, the house’s only luxuries are the octagonal above-ground pool your dad installed in the backyard a couple of years ago and the few acres of land that it sits on, though most of it is taken up by the rows of spruces and pines. Other than that, it’s really nothing more than a modest little ranch house, nothing too out of the ordinary for rural Indiana.

However, in Eddie’s eyes, if this is the kind of luxury that carpentry, with a side of tree farming, can get you, then he now knows exactly what he wants to be when he grows up. He even tells Wayne as much while he’s driving up the long driveway to your house, to which the man huffs out a laugh.

“A carpenter, huh?”

“Yeah, like that Jesus guy,” Eddie says nonchalantly to which Wayne lets out a proper laugh.

He’s still laughing as he pulls into the patch of short, sparse grass where the other parents have parked their cars. When Wayne unbuckles his seatbelt and turns the key, taking it out of the ignition and shutting the car off, Eddie’s filled with a mild sense of dread.

“What are you doing?” He asks his uncle as he unbuckles his own seatbelt.

Wayne looks back at him in the reflection of the rear view mirror with an expression of sheer confusion. “I’m gettin’ out the car, what’re you doin’?” Wayne asks teasingly, causing Eddie to sigh.

“Uncle Wayne, please, don’t. I promise, I’ll be fine by myself,” Eddie pleads.

“Nuh uh, I’m coming in, bud, at least for the first few minutes,” Wayne refutes. The man just wants to look out for his nephew. He knows why Eddie’s never been allowed to come over here before, knows how your dad and the rest of the adults in this godforsaken town feeling about all who carry the Munson family name, so, the way Wayne sees it, he’d be an idiot not to be apprehensive about how your dad and the other parents might treat Eddie when he’s not around.

“C’mon,” Eddie groans exasperatedly.

“C’mon,” Wayne mocks him, “I paid for that gift, the least you could do is let me see the look on the birthday girl’s face when she opens it.”

“Fine,” Eddie grumbles.

“‘Sides, having you around all these trees is a hazard, someone’s gotta make sure you don’t try to climb one and break your arm again,” Wayne teases as the two of them hop out of the car, shutting their doors behind themselves.

Eddie flashes him a look of pure annoyance as they begin to walk up towards the house, “That’s not funny.”

Wayne grins, the outer corners of his eyes crinkling with the change in his expression, “It’s a little bit funny.”

Eddie rolls his eyes before walking up the few concrete stairs leading to your tiny front porch. He walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell politely with his free hand, the other one holding your gift, Wayne follows his lead. Your older sister answers the door and, honestly, Eddie and Wayne are both extremely grateful to be met with the sight of a familiar face.

“Well hey there, Sunshine,” Eddie greets her warmly by her nickname; it’s an ironic nickname, one given to her by your mom the minute she hit puberty and morphed into a mass of pure teenage angst.

Despite her perpetual moodiness, she flashes the two of them a warm grin before calling out to you, “Hey, dweeb, Eddie’s here.” She then invites them both to come inside.

Eddie barely makes it two steps past the threshold of the front door when you suddenly emerge, seemingly out of nowhere and adorned in a nice, pink dress that your mom had made for you and a cowgirl hat that, despite being the same color as your dress, is too glitzy to actually match it. Just as suddenly as you appear, you’re abruptly flinging yourself onto him, wrapping him up in a warm, albeit tight, hug. He stumbles back with the sheer force of it, but Wayne reaches out and steadies the two of you before you can go tumbling to the ground.

“You made it!” You cheer excitedly.

“Happy Birthday,” Eddie says as he reciprocates your embrace with the same level of enthusiasm, his face lighting up with a grin that seems to stretch from ear to ear.

“Hi, Uncle Wayne,” You greet his uncle politely while releasing Eddie from your crushing embrace.

You then grab one of the young boy’s hands and begin to pull him into the other room while saying, “C’mon, everyone’s downstairs. My dad decorated our basement to make it look like one of those dance halls you see in the movies, the ones with all the square dancing, and it… looks… amazing!”

You practically drag the poor kid down the stairs as you excitedly ramble on about all the decorations and party games that your dad and his girlfriend set up for your party. Wayne and your sister aren’t far behind, following you downstairs; the sound of children chattering away and country music softly playing in the background fills their ears as they descend down the stairs.

“This party has a theme?” Wayne asks your sister. All the birthday parties that he’s ever been to have been just that, a birthday party; nothing more than a cake and maybe one or two party games just to keep the kids entertained. This party, however, is impressively elaborate; from the detailed decorations to the surprisingly on-theme games, you’ve even given each kid a cowboy hat of their own to wear, though none of them are as ornate as yours.

“Yeah, she’s been begging my dad for a Dolly Parton-themed party for months now, he figured a hoedown-themed one was a good compromise,” She explains, causing Wayne to chuckle. Really, he should’ve expected that; you’ve been obsessed with Dolly ever since you heard Coat of Many Colors on the radio a couple summers ago.

As you and Eddie run off to go join your other friends, your sister leads Wayne over to the side of the basement that the adults have congregated in.

“Dad, this is Wayne, Eddie’s uncle,” She introduces him, “Wayne, this is my dad.” Having fulfilled her greeting obligations, your sister soon ditches the party to go do angsty teenage things with her friends upstairs, abandoning Wayne with your dad and the few other parents that chose to stick around.

Your dad offers him a nod of acknowledgement before asking, “You want a beer?”

Wayne curls one of his eyebrows up and eyes your dad suspiciously, “Is that a trick question?”

Your dad chuckles, “God, no, it’s just the only way I can get through these things,” He says, referencing the hoard of nine and ten year olds gathered in his home.

Your dad then heads over to the cooler sat atop the card table that the other parents are sitting around and fishes out two bottles of beer, one for him and one for Wayne. As he hands Wayne one of the beers, both men settle into a conversation about the latest NASCAR race, prompted by the Richard Petty baseball cap that Wayne’s wearing. It’s awkward at first, given both men’s preconceived notions about each other, but the tension dissipates as the party carries on.

Your dad lets you and your friends bounce from activity to activity for a couple of hours before deciding that it’s time for cake and presents. So, everyone gathers around the long folding table set up in the middle of the room, Eddie sat right by your side, all watching as your dad brings out your homemade birthday cake and begins to light the candles. Once each waxy stick is topped with a delicate flame, everyone begins to sing to you and excitedly wiggle in your seat, too gleeful to contain it. When the celebratory song finally comes to a close, you blow out your candles with the encouragement of all your guests.

Apparently no one’s ever told you how wishes work before, or perhaps you know and simply don’t care, because you immediately turn to Eddie and excitedly inform him, “I wished for a corner piece of cake and to meet Dolly.” Unfortunately, Eddie notices that, in making your wish, you failed to account for the fact that your birthday cake is round, but he still hopes that the other part of your wish will come true.

In the rare, fleeting moment of calm that settles over the party after your dad has distributed a piece of cake to each kid, you slide your seat even closer to Eddie’s before digging into your slice. Eddie flushes at the sudden closeness and tries his best to ignore how nervous it makes him as he begins eating away at his own slice of cake.

“Eddie,” You softly call out to him, getting his attention without alerting your other guests.

“Yeah?” He replies through a mouthful of sugary sweet cake.

“Are you having fun?” You ask him suddenly, your bright eyes drilling holes into the side of his head as they stare at him unwaveringly.

“Y-yeah, I’m having fun,” Eddie replies as he bashfully meets your gaze.

“So you,” you trail off nervously, your fingers dropping your fork down on your plate in favor of picking at your cuticles, “You like hanging out with me?”

Eddie turns slightly in his chair, now facing you and fixing you with a quizzical gaze, “Yeah, you’re my friend,” He reassures you.

“Good,” You practically breathe a sigh of relief, “I think next year I might just invite you to my birthday party,” You confess, whispering your words so that the other kids won’t hear them.

“Why?” Eddie asks.

“Cause I really just wanted to hang out with you today, but that’s kinda hard when all my other friends are here too,” You explain as if it makes perfect sense, which, of course, it does to you.

“Me? Why’d you wanna hang out with me?”

“Because,” You sigh, “We don’t really play together much anymore, not since school started. But we used to hang out all the time last summer.”

Eddie frowns, “Yeah, I know.”

“Why don’t we hang out anymore, Eddie? Did I do something wrong?” You ask softly.

“You didn’t, I promise. I just- You have so many friends, so you don’t really need me,” Eddie reasons, causing your lips to turn down in a frown as well. His gaze falls to his lap as he swallows around the lump in his throat.

“But, Eddie, I like you more than them,” You confess, your tiny hand, with nails painted bubblegum pink, reaching out to grasp his own for the second time today.

Eddie’s head snaps up out of shock, his gaze meeting yours once again, “You do?”

You giggle sweetly, a smile breaking out on your cherubic face, “Of course I do! Eddie, they’re not good friends, not like you are. They all think I’m weird and sometimes they pick on me because of that, but not you, you’re always nice to me. Plus, you read all the coolest books and you’re so good at everything,” You confess.

“I am?” Eddie asks.

“Yeah! Like you’re really good at skipping rocks on the lake and you play guitar, which is so cool! Oh and you always draw the coolest stuff in art class.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, silly billy, you do. Eddie, you’re like the coolest person I know, besides my momma, of course,” You tell him.

While Eddie certainly agrees that your mom is really cool, he’s never really thought of himself as being cool before.

“I’m cool?” He asks doubtfully.

“The coolest,” You reassure him, wearing the cheesiest smile on your face all the while. Eddie can’t help but mirror your gleeful expression; the two of you now grinning at each other, lost in your own little world. The two of you are suddenly pulled out of that private little world when your dad walks over and gently rests a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, honey, go on and finish up your cake now so you can open your presents,” Your dad says in an odd hybrid of a midwestern accent and a slow, almost southern sort of drawl, the kind of accent you get when you spend your whole life living on a farm in the rural Midwest, the kind that makes it sound like he’s perpetually speaking with a toothpick in his mouth and a couple beers in his system. He squats down beside you to plant a kiss on your cheek.

“Daddy.”

“Yes ma’am?”

“This is my friend Eddie,” You say enthusiastically, gesturing to the boy sitting to your left.

“Yeah, I know, pumpkin. Hurry up and finish that cake, alright?” He says in a tone that’s plenty nice, but still dismissive all the same, your smile falters at the sound of it and Eddie deflates just a little bit too.

Eddie doesn’t know what he did to make your dad hate him so much, but he finds himself wanting to apologize to him anyways. However, your dad walks away, rejoining the adults, before Eddie can even utter a word. Perhaps it’s for the best, though, because, as soon as your dad’s gone, you’re turning back to face Eddie and flashing him another megawatt smile. This smile, however, is a bit more devious than the ones you’d sported earlier on.

“Go on now, honey, finish your cake so I can open my presents,” You jokingly tell him in a near perfect imitation of your dad, one so good that it makes you both giggle.

Nevertheless, the two of you do wolf down your slices of cake fairly quickly, both eager for you to open your presents. After everyone else has finished too, you move to sit at the chair that your dad has positioned by the table that everyone had set their presents on, and all of the other kids circle around you, including Eddie. Then you finally start opening your gifts, beginning with the ones sitting closest to you on the table. You end up opening a few gifts before you finally get around to Eddie’s. They’re nice gifts too. Ellie Wilkinson got you a brand new doll house and Isaac Donaldson got you a chemistry set.

So much for that ten dollar limit, Wayne thinks.

After seeing all the nice gifts that the other kids got you, Eddie’s left feeling a little insecure about what he’d gotten you. However, the pure joy that radiates from your entire being as you rip off the treasure map wrapping paper of his gift, along with the mile wide smile that lights up your features as your gaze rests on the art set he got you, serves as the perfect source of reassurance. Your joy increases tenfold when you spot the wizard figurine that Eddie had snuck in with the art set.

Wayne immediately recognizes that little figurine and fixes his nephew with a look of pure disapproval from across the room. However, Eddie can’t find it in him to feel guilty or ashamed for going behind his uncle’s back, not when you’re smiling so sweetly.

“Who’s it from?” You ask excitedly, your feet tapping against the floor in a speedy, energetic rhythm.

“Read the card, honey,” Your dad tells you as he hands you the card that Eddie made for you this morning. You grab it from him eagerly and open it, reading the words written on the inside of it aloud, “Happy Birthday,“ you read your name as he’s written it on the card, following it with, “Love, Eddie Munson.”

In a flash of pink, you’re hopping up from your chair excitedly and bounding over to the curly-haired boy dressed in blue.

“Eddie, you are my favorite person alive right now!” You cheer gleefully as you catapulte over to him with your arms outstretched; once again, nearly knocking him over with the force of your hug.

While that’s not exactly the lifelong best-friendship you’d promised, Eddie thinks being your favorite person for even a moment might be worth losing his favorite action figure.