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probably a controversial opinion but I think screenshotting someone elseâs fic and posting it elsewhere because itâs âobviously aiâ is also harmful to the writing community youâre trying to protect. because
every single time I see these posts, there are always writers who say âthis looks like how I writeâ and âwhat if my works sound like aiâ. itâs discouraging to genuine writers to see a screenshot of a fic that is âobviously aiâ and then wonder if their own human-made works âlook like aiâ too. itâs discouraging to genuine writers to have to live in constant fear and worry if someone will screenshot their human-made fics and put them on blast for being âobviously aiâ too.
no matter how âobviously aiâ a fic looks, unless the author says they use ai, you can never know for absolute certainty that itâs ai. you assume. based on vibes. and thereâs always a chance of you wrongly accusing a genuine, innocent writer and encouraging people to harass them. âreal humans donât write like thisâ do you know literally every single human being to say for absolute certainty that none of them write like the machine that was trained on millions of human-made works to look and sound like humans? âmost people can tellâ no, no one can tell unless authors disclose their use of ai. most people guess. based on vibes. every ai telltale is something humans actually write, otherwise ai would never have been able to mimic it in the first place. short sentence stacking? some people prefer it as a stylistic choice. ânot x, not y, but zâ type of sentence? people have been using this for ages, way before gen ai became a thing. Iâve been using it in my writing for almost a decade, way before gen ai became a thing. em dash? you mean proper grammar? not to mention how often people who are autistic and people whose native language isnât english are wrongly accused of using ai in their fics because âreal humans donât like write thatâ â itâs super offensive and harmful.
even if someone says they use ai, the right thing to do is to not read their fics and leave them alone if it bothers you. I donât like ai fics. I donât agree with people who let ai write for them. but I will always condemn harassment. no matter what. also not to mention, if you harass someone for being honest about using ai and tagging their fics as such, chances are that they will stop tagging their future ai-generated fics as ai, meaning no one can know for sure if the fics are ai, meaning itâs impossible for anyone to filter them out. if you want to be able to effectively avoid ai fics by filtering them out, youâll have to make sure people who use ai are comfortable enough to be honest about it.
I also want to say that no one âwrites like aiâ. itâs the other way around. ai writes like human, because thatâs what it was trained to do. saying a human-made fic âreads like aiâ is saying a work looks like its copycat.
last but not least, harassment, accusations, speculations and witch hunt harm the writing community as much as ai does. if not more.
Iâve got two books to finish reading and a whole load of laundry and decorating to do.
my living room is 70s themed yet has 1930s coloured walls, my kitchen and downstairs bathroom is 1940s, my bedroom is 1980/90s MTV rockstar, upstairs bathroom idk even know what to do with it.
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fandoms: star wars, supernatural, stranger things.
Star Wars (Kylo Ren only)
the arrangement smut 18+
summary: Kylo and the reader in an arranged marriage, there is some friction at the start then it blossoms into love and acceptance with some smut sprinkled through.
Supernatural
Sam Winchester
rare and precious fluff
summary: when Sam stumbles into a library to research the local history of the wendigo, he meets his match; a librarian.
Dean Winchester
finish the stitches angst + fluff
summary: dean has to come to terms with his feelings when you get brutally hurt by a werewolf.
Stranger Things
Dustin Henderson x1
four dollars or a date fluff
requested: Dustin Henderson x Buckley reader where they meet at Scoops Ahoy and she works at the (Barnes and nobles type) book store a couple stores down and Dustin goes almost every day after he visits Steve to go see her and look at comics and board games, eventually she gets fed up and tells him âeither buy something or ask me on a dateâ
Steve Harrington x4
I've finally had enough angst
summary: when your boyfriend Billy abuses you again, your friend Steve decides that enough is enough - he is getting you out
just friends part 5 ,
summary: when Steve vanishes and Eddie gets caught up in a secret, you find a way to force the three of you to put your cards on the table.
six little harringtons part 10 , part 11 ,
summary: your daughter, Rose, struggles with missing her dad and your ex-husband, Steve, makes another drunken mistake.
Eddie Munson x6
But I donât want to go home
summary: when you try to avoid going home after spending another night at Eddie's, he becomes worried about what's going on in your home.
breed you smut 18+ mdni
summary: Eddie was the type who never wanted kids, yet when you're in the middle of looking at baby cribs, he finds himself with a suffocating breeding kink.
time of the month fluff
summary: you come on your period when your boyfriend, Eddie, comes over, and panic. He doesnât quite understand why until you tell him how your ex treated you on your time of the month.
anonthebanished smut 18+ mdni
summary: when your husband, Steve, leaves you sexually neglected for another business trip, you meet up with stranger from a chatroom for a one time hookup... but the stranger on the other side of the screen is closer to home than you thought.
just friends part 5 ,
summary: when Steve vanishes and Eddie gets caught up in a secret, you find a way to force the three of you to put your cards on the table.
come back to me angst
summary: When you witness Eddie's death, you are plunged into the downward spiral of grief, guilt, and paranoia. Your life takes a turn for the worse when you enter a state of catatonia and your parents have no choice but to admit you to a mental institution. When Eddie turns up from the dead, everyone but you has hope that you'll make a recovery.
fandoms: star wars, supernatural, stranger things.
Star Wars (Kylo Ren only)
the arrangement smut 18+
summary: Kylo and the reader in an arranged marriage, there is some friction at the start then it blossoms into love and acceptance with some smut sprinkled through.
Supernatural
Sam Winchester
rare and precious fluff
summary: when Sam stumbles into a library to research the local history of the wendigo, he meets his match; a librarian.
Dean Winchester
finish the stitches angst + fluff
summary: dean has to come to terms with his feelings when you get brutally hurt by a werewolf.
Stranger Things
Dustin Henderson x1
four dollars or a date fluff
requested: Dustin Henderson x Buckley reader where they meet at Scoops Ahoy and she works at the (Barnes and nobles type) book store a couple stores down and Dustin goes almost every day after he visits Steve to go see her and look at comics and board games, eventually she gets fed up and tells him âeither buy something or ask me on a dateâ
Steve Harrington x4
I've finally had enough angst
summary: when your boyfriend Billy abuses you again, your friend Steve decides that enough is enough - he is getting you out
just friends part 5 ,
summary: when Steve vanishes and Eddie gets caught up in a secret, you find a way to force the three of you to put your cards on the table.
six little harringtons part 10 , part 11 ,
summary: your daughter, Rose, struggles with missing her dad and your ex-husband, Steve, makes another drunken mistake.
Eddie Munson x6
But I donât want to go home
summary: when you try to avoid going home after spending another night at Eddie's, he becomes worried about what's going on in your home.
breed you smut 18+ mdni
summary: Eddie was the type who never wanted kids, yet when you're in the middle of looking at baby cribs, he finds himself with a suffocating breeding kink.
time of the month fluff
summary: you come on your period when your boyfriend, Eddie, comes over, and panic. He doesnât quite understand why until you tell him how your ex treated you on your time of the month.
anonthebanished smut 18+ mdni
summary: when your husband, Steve, leaves you sexually neglected for another business trip, you meet up with stranger from a chatroom for a one time hookup... but the stranger on the other side of the screen is closer to home than you thought.
just friends part 5 ,
summary: when Steve vanishes and Eddie gets caught up in a secret, you find a way to force the three of you to put your cards on the table.
come back to me angst
summary: When you witness Eddie's death, you are plunged into the downward spiral of grief, guilt, and paranoia. Your life takes a turn for the worse when you enter a state of catatonia and your parents have no choice but to admit you to a mental institution. When Eddie turns up from the dead, everyone but you has hope that you'll make a recovery.
this genuinely makes me so mad. some of you really donât deserve fanfics. at all.
comment like this, besides the ai witch hunt, is one of the reasons why fanfic writers donât want to post their fics anymore.
we write for free. whenever we can. whenever we have time. whenever weâre not too exhausted by life and responsibilities. we write for our own enjoyment. as a hobby. not a job. we update whenever we can. whenever we want. we do not owe anybody anything.
one of my favorite fics was updated after literal 13 years. but the point is that fanfic writers do not owe you anything. whether a fic was abandoned forever or updated after a decade or two is not something you as a stranger has a say in.
stop being entitled. stop treating fanfic writer as a content farm or a machine that produces contents for your enjoyment.
weâre not your employees. weâre not your slaves. weâre kind enough to share what we write for our own enjoyment with you for free. so either respect and appreciate us or be quiet.
the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be a part of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.
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had to tell my mum it's me or her boyfriend after the abuse he yelled down the phone at me today.
when i was 14, her boyfriend at the time was abusive towards me, and she chose him over me repeatedly... told myself if any of her boyfriends did the same and she didn't choose me, i was done!
thank you for the tag @autumn-rain-embers and @gem-writes <3
Eddie Munson: Stranger Things
LET ME TELL YOU, I DATED GUYS LIKE EDDIE IN MY TEENS. METAL HEADS WITH LONG HAIR AND BATTLE VESTS. I fell for this man harder than I have fallen for any man in my entire life, he's perfect and my type down to a T. I'll NEVER get over him.
2. Steve Harrington: Stranger Things
I never expected to fall for Steve, although my attraction for him has ALWAYS been there, but my god, during my rewatch juuuust before ST5 came out, I fell hard and I've never recovered. He's soft, he wants kids, and lots of them. I CAN GIVE HIM THAT.
3. Kylo Ren: Star Wars, Sequel Trilogy
Adam Driver fan here, so seeing him as a damaged lad with daddy issues who redeems himself because of a girl who believed in him?? YES.
4. James Patrick March: AHS, Hotel.
He's vintage, he's stylish, his voice, his hair, his obsession with Countess... he's dramatic AND dreamy. My favourite AHS character played by Evan, always.
5. Johnny Storm, Human Torch: Fantastic Five, First Steps
Now, I'm not usually into blue eyed blondes but Johnny?! He has me in a chokehold at the moment! He's charming and such a loveable idiot:') I hadn't been able to get back into the MCU since No Way Home, but Johnny was one of the reasons I rekindled my love for Marvel again <3
no pressure tags: @strangegirl26sff , @sunshinereaderx , @riddlersoupwrites ,
this is a 13 part series, currently ongoing, updated weekly. 18+ MDNI.
series created on March 4th, 2026
summary: you and your husband, Steve, are inching closer to 40, and as you continue to struggle to conceive your sixth child, Steve cheats out of frustration and stress; only to come home to his dream coming true.
warnings are detailed in each part.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8
Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11
Part 12: coming soon
Part 13: coming soon
other works: masterlist, navigation, request rules, taglist
anon in my inbox said fanfic writers who wrote about dark and taboo topics were not âreal writersâ because of what they wrote about.
reblog if you believe anon is wrong and writers are writers, no matter what they write about. no matter how they portray these taboo topics.
reblog if you believe art can be about topics that are controversial, taboo or outright disturbing, and artists who create controversial, taboo or outright disturbing art are as valid as artists who create art of conservative values.
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Heyy girl, I absolutely adore your style of writing and I was wondering if you could do a fluffy Eddie x reader where she always seems really sad and reluctant to leave Eddieâs place whenever sheâs spent the night or after a date. Then Eddie starts noticing and worrying because he doesnât know whatâs up and when he tries telling her about it she confesses itâs because she doesnât feel truly appreciated or loved at her dadâs house, so Eddie is her only safe place that feels like home. And I donât know, just a lot of comfort and fluff at the end.đĽš
If you donât feel like writing it, itâs totally fine but thank you anyway and keep up with your amazing writingâźď¸đŠľ
- A really supportive and appreciative anon đđ¸
Hello my supportive anon đĽš
Thank you so much for such a lovely message and request in my inbox, it means a lot to me that you like my writing style!
You can read your request here
I really enjoyed writing this, it felt so cathartic. I hope I did your request justice.
but I don't want to go home - eddie munson x fem!reader
masterlist, navigation, request rules
pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader (established relationship)
summary: when you try to avoid going home after spending another night at Eddie's, he becomes worried about what's going on in your home.
warnings: mentions of child neglect, deadbeat dads, emotional instability, reference to Paige but she isn't named.
word count: 3.4k
âYouâre doing it again,â Eddie hummed, holding your hands in his, the two of you feet away from the front of his bedroom door.
You were supposed to leave fifteen minutes ago, Eddie had to get ready to leave for work and it wasnât part of the agreement for you to spend another night. Sure, neither Eddie or Wayne would mind, and your dad never seemed to or care where you were if he even paid enough attention to know, but your relationship with Eddie was still in the early days, six weeks in, still fresh.
âCâmon babe, Iâve gotta get ready for work, you know I canât speed with the Chief watching round here.â
âCanât I just stay one more night?â You asked, slightly shy.
âAnd have you wait around all night in my room for me to finish work when you should be wrapped up in your own bed and fast asleep?â He raised his eyebrows, tucking a stray hair behind your ear, âNah, that doesnât sound fair for you. Next time, sweetheart.â
But I donât want to go home.
You frowned but didnât argue against him, you had already left your toothbrush at his place last week after you managed to convince him to let you stay another night, and now you kept it beside his, reassuring him that itâs the one youâll always use when you sleepover.Â
âOkay, promise?â You asked, slowly dragging your feet on the carpet out of his room.
âYeah, yeah, I promise.â Eddie pulled his door shut and followed you out of his trailer, Wayne was passed out on the couch so the two of you kept it down until you climbed in his van.
Eddie noticed that the closer and closer you got to your home, the quieter you became and your smile faded,pressing the side of your head into the window, watching other cars drive past before Eddie eventually turned right and drove down your street, stopping his van outside your home.Â
âIs everything⌠are you okay?â He asked, his doe eyes watching you carefully.Â
Being this clingy will scare him off, we havenât been together that long.Â
Donât tell him, not yet.
You cleared your throat and blinked, âYeah, Iâm just tired,â you lied, âprobably a good call you dropped me off.â
Eddie hesitated for a moment, âyou sure?â he watched as you slowly unclipped your seatbelt and picked up your bag by your feet.
You nodded, âMhm,â you opened the van door and got out, âyouâll call me tomorrow when you're awake, right?â
Eddie smiled, âYou know I will.â
You gave a small back and waved before shutting the van door and walking towards the front door of your home, already dreading walking in and being without Eddie for another week.Â
Eddie always waited until you were inside before he drove off but something didnât feel right tonight but he couldnât quite put his finger on what it was.
He sighed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes focusing on the road as he went back, his eyes quickly glancing through his rear mirror to take another look at your house.Â
Eddie returned to the trailer to brush his teeth and get dressed, his eyes glued to your toothbrush.Â
âYou workin tonight, Edward?â Wayne asked, walking over toward his nephew with a cigarette between his teeth.Â
Eddie spat his toothpaste and saliva mix into the sink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, âYeah, wonât be home âtil late, you know how it is,â he replied, rinsing his toothbrush before placing it next to yours.
Wayne nodded and took a drag, âYour girlfriend, sheâs a good one, Edward.â he turned around, shuffling over to the couch.
âWayne?â Eddie called out, following him, âCan I ask you something?â
Wayne blew the smoke from his mouth and fell onto the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table, âSheâs not pregnant is she?â
Eddie smirked for a moment, laughing lightly but quickly shook his head with a sigh, âNo, no, nothing like that. Itâs justâŚâ He walked over and sat next to his uncle, knowing heâd be late for work. âShe never, uh, wants to go home. She always stalls me and begs to stay another night.â
"What's so bad about that, kid? Sounds like she really likes you,â Wayne muttered, continuing to smoke, the ashtray resting on his stomach.Â
âThereâs nothing bad about it at all, I guess Iâm not used to it, you know, having a clingy girlfriend.â Eddie held his hand out to Wayne, his signal to borrow a cigarette.Â
âClingy isnât a bad thing,â Wayne passed him the cigarette, âbeats having a girlfriend who ditches you after promising a record label or whatever that mess was.âÂ
Eddie lit the cigarette and placed it in his mouth, taking a drag and letting out a thick cloud of smoke, âIâd rather have clingy any day over that but.. Something just feels off, you know? Iâm kinda worried about her.â
Wayne rubbed his back into the cushions and fabric of the couch, getting himself comfortable for another nap. âHave you talked to her about it?âÂ
Eddie shook his head.Â
âWell Iâd suggest you get talkinâ to her,â Wayne crushed his short cigarette in the ashtray and shut his eyes, âthink it over during your shift.â
The moment you walked through the door, the heavy weight on your shoulders and the grey cloud above you returned, you kicked your shoes off and focused on making a swift escape upstairs.
âWhen did you leave the house?â Your dad called out, his eyes fixed to the TV, âDid you get any beer from the store?â
Typical.Â
âI didnât go to the store, dad. I was at my boyfriends, remember?â
You wish you could remember a time when your dad remembered you, even acknowledged you with his two eyes and a warm hug, but the truth was you couldnât. Your dad was emotionally unavailable, and part of you at times was sure that he didnât even know who you were.Â
When your parents divorced, you werenât given the option to choose who you lived with, and living with your mom wasnât an option you were given after she was deemed too emotionally unstable to be left responsible for a child.Â
It started off with being late for school, not because you ran late for the bus or because your alarm clock didnât go off, but because your dad would be so hungover, sprawled across the couch or bed, too out of it to wake up and get you ready.Â
Then when you did make it to school and managed to get yourself home, you werenât being fed. Heâd whack a meal in the microwave to eat himself, but you were left to take care of you.
It had always been this way, you forced yourself to just get used to it.
He still didnât look at you, âBoyfriend? Since when did you have a boyfriend?â his eyes were still on the football.
You huffed quietly, careful so that he couldnât hear you.Â
âEddie. The guy Iâve been dating for over a month now, Iâve told you about him, Iâm at his place every week.âÂ
Eddie felt like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, he remembered the little things about you and went out of his way to indulge in your preferences, like which side of the bed you felt safer and comfier sleeping on, or exactly how you liked your coffee, all within such a short time.
Your dads eyebrows knitted slightly and he hummed, sipping the last of his beer, âI didnât even notice you were gone.â
No, you never do.
You went on to walk up the stairs when he called out to you again, âHey, do me a favour, later on can you go through that big fabric pouch and pull out whatever change you can and get me some beers? Need them for the game.â
You glanced down at your wrist watch âCanât dad, itâs getting late.âÂ
Get your own fucking beer.
âFucking useless.â He grumbled, tossing his empty can across the room, still in the same dirty, stained shirt from before you left to see Eddie.Â
You wanted to sleep but you couldnât. Your thoughts about Eddie consumed you and your paranoia over being too much or too clingy began to eat away at you.Â
He didnât want me to stay an extra night, was I coming off too strong?!Â
Itâs not like I stalk him or anything, I just wish I could tell him, maybe heâd understand⌠his dad isnât around either.
You tried to tell Eddie about your dad and how he treated you since he got custody but you never found the right moment, something would always come up or get in the way. Either Eddie would unintentionally start getting excited over a new album release, unable to control his outbursts of high expectations for certain tracks and tours, or Wayne would peek his head through Eddieâs door, getting to know you a little better or trying to embarrass his nephew.
The phone on your bedside table woke you up, you didnât remember falling asleep but it didnât matter. Eddie said heâd call you, and youâd never risk missing an opportunity to hear his voice, no matter how sleepy either of you were.Â
âHello?â you answered, holding back a yawn.Â
âHey babe, itâs me,â Eddie smiled on the other end, sounding just as tired as you were.Â
You pressed the phone a little closer to your ear, gripping it protectively, âHow was work? Iâve missed you.â
Eddie dampened his lips with his tongue, he stayed quiet for a moment before finally sighing down the phone, âAh, you know how it is. Same drunken assholes starting fights, finishing later than usual with no overtime payâŚâ he paused for a moment, âI was wondering, are you available later? I was thinking we could go for a drive, maybe pick up some greasy food and just chill for a bit.âÂ
Eddie didnât sound cheerful but you didnât think anything of it, you assumed he was just tired from his shift.
Your ears pricked up and the relief of being able to escape these four walls and the roof ran through your system, waking you up.Â
âOh Eds, Iâd love to!â you smiled down the phone, âWhat time were you thinking?â
âWell, I kinda haven't figured that out yet,â He paused again and you didnât like it, he didnât pause like this on the phone âwas thinking like half an hour after Iâve woken up? Gives me enough time to have a shower and a quick smoke.âÂ
Iâve ruined it, havenât I?
Iâve been too clingy.
Cancel on him, make it seem like you arenât desperate to get out of the house.Â
Donât cancel! Are you kidding? Youâll rot away in your room all day!Â
Just play it cool. Take it easy.
âSure,â you replied, trying to tone down your excitement, allowing your intrusive thoughts to drown you, âwill you call ahead of time or?â
âWhatâs better for you, sweetheart?âÂ
Sweetheart. See? He canât be mad at me.
You weighed up the options for a moment and realised either would be fine, your dad wouldnât care or notice anyway.Â
âHmmm, call me beforehand? Just so I know when youâre about to leave.âÂ
âAlright, you sound almost as tired as I do, get some sleep and Iâll call you when Iâm coming, got it?â Eddie yawned down the phone, rubbing his eyes.
You nodded, sinking back into your bed, âGot it.â
By the time Eddie woke up and began to get himself dressed, a thought drifted into his head that he couldnât shake, a reality he hadnât considered before; what if you werenât safe or happy at home?
It made perfect sense, you always changed the moment it was time to leave, stalling him with your shoe laces or peppering him with kisses when you werenât looking for something that was secretly in the bottom of your bag. You always went quiet and seemed queasy when heâd pull up outside your house when dropping you off.Â
You werenât being clingy.Â
Things werenât good at home.Â
You felt safe with him.
Eddie hurried outside, catching his uncle sitting in the afternoon sun, putting his carton of cigarettes in his pocket before he left for his shift at the plant.Â
âWayne, do you have a sec?â He asked, âI did some thinking, like you said.âÂ
Wayne raised an eyebrow, âWhat is it?â
Eddie took a deep breath and sighed, shrugging, âI donât think sheâs happy or safe at home, going back there⌠it makes her shrink into herself, I recognise that now.â
Wayne thought for a moment, wiping the building sweat from his brow, âI know youâve not been together long and all but if this is the case and you really love her, she can always stay with us. She might hate it once she gets used to it, but I donât have a problem with it.â
âAre you sure? I donât want to add more on to your plate-â
âI took you in, didnât I?â Wayne approached Eddie, placing his hand on his shoulder.Â
Eddie rarely thought about his dad, doing so usually came in phases on Fathers Day, at Christmas and on Birthdays, but Wayne managed to take the edge off in the beginning, and as time went on, the pain seemed to dissipate for Eddie. Sure, his dad was a deadbeat, but he had an uncle that loved and care about him; Wayne made up for his dads shortfalls.Â
âYeah,â Eddie nodded, his heart hurting from the thought of his dad and missing his mom.Â
âIf her moving in would be good for her and will keep you happy, then itâs no issue for me.â Wayne tapped Eddie on the shoulder and walked away, not wanting to be late for his shift.
Eddie didnât need to think about you moving in for a moment longer. It wasnât a risk.Â
âFuck,â Eddie sighed, rubbing his face with his hand, âI gotta buy a better bed.â
You managed to get some extra sleep once you were reassured that Eddie wasnât mad and woke up an hour before he called, giving you enough time to get yourself freshened up. After Eddie called, you slowly slipped downstairs, the smell of mouldy food and grease making you gag as you reached the bottom step.Â
Your dad was in the same spot as he was yesterday, the TV on but replaced by MTV now that the football game was long gone. More beer cans were dented and scattered across the floor, your dad was nodding and humming away, not hearing you coming down the stairs.Â
âDad?â you called out.Â
He didnât hear you.Â
âDad?â You repeated, a little louder.Â
Still nothing.Â
You turned and walked towards the door when your dad finally leaned forward and tilted his head, catching you. âHey,â he raised his voice, âWhere are you off to?âÂ
âOut,â You replied, slipping on your shoes.Â
âWhere?â He picked up the beer next to him, swirling it for a moment before tossing it across the room in disappointment. âYou know what, donât tell me, I donât care. Do me a favour,â he began to cough, âget me some beers, will you? The walk is too far for your poor dad.âÂ
Eddieâs van pulled up outside, KISS blaring from his tape deck.Â
Your hand hovered over the door handle and you quickly turned around, looking at your dad in the eyes, âItâs not even a five minute walk, Dad. The fresh air will do you some good.â
Your dad began to scowl and he scrunched his mouth up into a tight ball, grumbling under his breath. Frantically, you grabbed the handle and pulled it, opening the door and slipping out without experiencing his rage. Each step closer to Eddie felt like coming to the end of a long marathon in the exhausting heat, with a table full of ice cold bottled water waiting for you.
Eddie turned the music down slightly, Paul Stanleyâs voice and the instruments now faint background noise. He waited for you to climb in.Â
âAfternoon, Sweetheart.â He smiled, his eyes still a little heavy, âFood?â
You didnât bother to clip on your belt, your heart rate already steadying at being in his presence, âFood sounds wonderful.â
Yesterday you were the one who went quiet in the van, fading into the window as Eddie dropped you off, but today Eddie wasnât his usual self. You noticed he wasnât raving about the new music video, probably the same one your dad was humming along to and how crap it was shot, or complaining about his shift. Instead, he just kept quiet, his eyes occasionally chancing a quick glance at you.
When he pulled into the parking lot rather than going straight to the Drive Thru, you knew something wasnât right.Â
Heâs brought me here to break up with me, hasnât he?
Eddie didnât cut the engine, he knew that no music in the background would only make things more awkward.
Eddie cleared his throat, âBabe, can we talk?â
Oh no.Â
Here it is.Â
Heâs going to end things here, isnât he?
âWh,â your voice died in your throat, âWhat is it?âÂ
He sighed, shifting in his seat to face you, âSince we got together, Iâve uh, noticed more and more how you never want to go home.â
You prepared yourself for the inevitable.
Heâll tell you youâre too clingy, that youâre too much and too fast, and that he canât be with someone so⌠intense.
Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat, looking away for a moment before forcing himself to meet your eyes again. âIs everything okay⌠at home?â He finally breathed, âYouâre not being⌠are you?â
The air left your lungs for a moment, your eyes widened from expecting the blow but you werenât expecting this. Your lips parted and wobbled, tears filled your eyes.Â
How do I tell him?
What do I even say?
âOh baby, come here.â Eddie murmured, pulling you into him over the gear shift, his hands wrapping around you.Â
You buried your face into his neck, your tears running down his skin with your hands resting on his chest. He held you, stroking your hair until you managed to wipe your eyes and pull away.Â
Taking a deep breath, you looked at Eddie, engulfed with the concern in his eyes.Â
âItâs my dad, he⌠since he got custody heâs always been so emotionally, well, just completely unavailable. He doesnât notice when I come or go, when I was a kid he neglected me. Forgot to get me up for school, never fed me, it was⌠itâs as if Iâm invisible to him unless Iâm about to walk in and out that door,â you shook your head, âand you know all he seems to care about? His drink.â
Eddie took your hand in his and squeezed it, âYou feel like youâre just wasting away in that house, donât you?âÂ
You nodded, âYou make me happy, Eds. You actually acknowledge me and donât make me feel like Iâm a burden. You get me out of that place, that dark pit. I love you for more than that, I mean, Iâm not with you so I can get out if that's what youâre thinking.â
Eddie let out a light laugh, stroking the top of your hand with his thumb, âI know, babe, you donât have to reassure me.âÂ
A temporary silence filled the van, the KISS tape that was in looping back to the start.Â
âI know weâve not been together long and people will think Iâm either crazy or youâre pregnant, but..â Eddie dampened his lips again, his eyebrows pulling together, focusing on your hand and tracing circles into it, âyou could move in with me and Wayne.â
The offer came out as a nervous mumble but you knew he was serious.
Your eyebrows shot up and your hand twitched in his, âOh my god, youâre serious.â You murmured, âAre you sure?!âÂ
âI spoke to my uncle about it and uh, he likes you, thinks youâre a sweet girl and he took me in, you know,after my old man failed to be a dad..â Eddie presses a kiss to your hand before running his soft lips against your skin, âSo what dâyou say, wanna get out of that hell hole and stay with us in our cramped trailer?â
Youâll get to be with Eddie, always.
Youâll never have to go home.Â
You can be invisible to your dad without it hurting anymore, living a happier life, in a happier place.
âOh, Eds, I want that more than anything,â you smiled up at him, your eyes full with tears of relief.