welcome... I guess

“Come on, sweetheart, you can do it”.

“I-im scared…”

“I know it is dear but daddy's here, daddy's not gonna let you get hurt, okay?”

Jason had been trying to get your two year old daughter to jump in the shallow end of the pool for around ten minutes now. She wanted to upgrade from the baby pool to the big kid pool, except she was terrified. She stood at the edge looking down at what seemed like an ocean when in reality it barely reached Jason's thighs.

“Hey don't look down Ivy, look at daddy, just jump at daddy and I'll catch you, I promise” Just then your seven year old son came over and immediately ran and jumped into the deep end, making a splash. Unlike your daughter, your son on the other hand took to water like a fish, he loved when summer came, it meant the pool was out and could spend his days swimming. “Come in Ivy! It's not so bad!” He tries to cheer her on by swimming over to the pair. Ivy still looks unsure, looking down at the water.

“How's our new water sprout doing?” You ask as you walk out, juice and drinks in hand. Jason looks over and smiles at you. “Still a bit nervous but slowly getting there” Jason says before looking back at your daughter. She had her minnie mouse arm bands on, red with white polka dots and two black circles on top to make the ears, and a matching swimsuit, her tiny feet going around the edge. “Daddy catch?” Jason nods, arms out “Daddy will catch you tadpole, promise”. This gave her more confidence before she looked back down at the water and got scared again.

You suddenly appear next to her, in your blue bikini, sitting with your legs in the water.

“Don't look at the water darling, look at daddy, daddy always catches you doesn't he?” You ask the small child, she nods. Jason kneels down so the water goes up to his neck, arms still out. “And daddy's gonna catch you this time as well, okay?” He says, your tiny daughter looks up at him, the same blue eyes he had. Her eyes looking back and forth between her dad and the edge before she finally does a tiny leap, straight into her father's arms, Jason wrapping them around his kid.

“Yay! Well done tadpole!” Jason says as he spins around with her in his arms. Her giggles seem to overthrow any fear she had before. You smile, cheering on your kid, Jason looks at you, love in his eyes just as much as the day he first fell for you. He could see the small scar on your abdomen where you had to have a c-section when having Ivy, and even when you were self conscious about it, he showed he still loved you no matter what.

Your son, Adam was happily swimming around, swimming back up to the edge and jumping back in, trying to make as big a splash as he could.

You slide into the pool as well as a small “Oh!” Escaping you as you didn't realise how cold the pool was. “MOMMY! MOM! WATCH ME! You hear Adam yell as you turn, you see him run and jump in, attempting to dive in. You clap watching him resurface “well done Adam”. Your son beams as he swims over to you, your hands grabbing him and gently pulling him over.

Jason was still holding Ivy in the water going slowly towards the deeper end, now the water reaching his waist, he could feel Ivy tremble a little as she looked down at the water, seeing it rise further up her father's body, her tiny hands gripping his arm. “Hey, it's okay, tadpole, daddy's got a hold of you, I'm not letting go”.

You watch how gentle he is with her, how patient, that was till you feel water hit your head, you turn to see your son with one of his water guns aimed at you.

“Why you little!” You swim up to the edge, get another water gun, fill it up and start spraying at him. The boy giggles, his blonde hair getting dark with every spray of water that hits him, hitting you back with his own water weapon. As he tries to fill up his water gun you swim up silently like a shark towards him, your arm wrapping around him. “Ahhhhh! Got you!” Your son squeals as you twirl him around before dunking you both into the water together.

Jason in the shallow side holding Ivy points at you two “look at them Ivy, being all silly, mommy and your brother”.

“Silly!” She responds with her little feet kicking in the water as she watches her mom and brother play in the water.

As the day goes on Ivy slowly gets braver wanting to go to the deeper part with Jason holding her, then soon Adam wanting him to jump in, Jason passes Ivy to you, you hold her on your hip, making sure her hat stays on to keep her face covered from the sun. You bounce her up and down in the water before Jason and Adam jump in together, Jason teaching him to dive.

Lunch arrives and you make some wraps for everyone, small chicken wrap for your son, along with an apple cut in slices and some juice, a chocolate spread wrap cut into small pieces for your daughter with some dried mango cut into small slices along with a small cup of juice. And two wraps of beef slices for Jason and turkey for you, both of you having a banana.

Once lunch is finished Adam immediately runs back out to the pool while ivy starts getting tired. “Nap time, ill go take her up you go play with Adam” you say already picking up your toddler, who's falling asleep in your arms. You change her into more comfier clothing for her nap before putting her to bed, you lean down giving her cheek a small kiss and rubbing the skin softly.

As you lean up, two arms wrap around you from behind, the feeling of an all familiar beard against your neck. Jason smiles longingly at you before looking down at your sleeping daughter. “We made her…” you say, remembering back to when you were pregnant with her, with Adam, the pregnancy was easy so when you two found out you were having another you both thought it would be easy again, but you had complications all that lead to her being born three weeks before her due date, having a c-section and her being in the NICU for a while. You remember Adam going up to her and commenting on how small she was, and how he would be the best big brother to her. You loved both your children dearly, and you loved the man who helped you along the way just as much.

You feel Jason's lips on your neck, kissing soft and slow. “I love you, I love our daughter and our son, he definitely gets his love of summer from me” he says making you giggle softly. “Told him to go get his inflatable crocodile and the machine to blow it up, these old lungs aren't what they used to be” you smile as you feel him pull you out of your daughter's room, making sure the baby monitor was on so you could hear her when she wakes.

You two head back into the hallway, him stopping, pulling you back into him. “You're as beautiful as the first day I met you, Mrs. Hochberg”. He says before pulling you in for a kiss. Your relationship wasn't always so easy but you two always made it work, always talked things through and always had each other's back.

Your peaceful moment was disturbed by your son yelling for help as he couldn't get the machine on making you both chuckle. “Duty calls Mr. Hochberg”

You walk into the now empty club, it wouldn't be open for a few hours. You were hired for the night as a singer for the guests and wanted to arrive early to prepare yourself. You were still an upcoming performer and managed to get a few gigs here and there, but when you heard the word ‘club’ this was not what you were expecting. It was actually a very nice club, definitely more high end than other places you'd performed at.

What you weren't expecting was the stranger sitting at the piano, playing a melody. You couldn't quite get the song, thinking it was something more traditional, classical. As you slowly make your way towards the stage the figure stops playing, not turning around, and with a slight accent says “the club isn't open yet”. Simple and direct.

“Oh no, sorry i-im y/n, I'm the opening performer tonight?”. You say almost uncertain, as if you'd somehow said something wrong. The figure finally turns around, his blue eyes strike you first, looking at you, almost through you as if to see into your mind, the orange lights around make his blonde hair look more orange, like fire. His hair swoops up and back in a quiff, a small flick of hair at the side. He gives you a soft smile as he gets up, moving towards you, his suit definitely designer, and definitely more expensive than anything you could ever afford.

He makes his way off the stage towards you, his hand stretched out to shake. “Apologies, I'm Dmitri Kravinoff, we spoke on the phone, I believe?” You shook his hand, once again, that accent creeping out as he spoke, you nod and shake his hand realizing this was the boss of this place. “Yes Mr. Kravinoff-”.

“Please, call me Dmitri”.

“Uh, yes Dmitri, I just wanted to set up early to prepare. I'm guessing from your piano skills that I'm opening for you?”

“Da, you catch on quick, here let me show you to your room backstage”.

You follow him, your bag over your shoulder. He reaches a back room with a nice looking vanity, some drawers, a small rod to hang clothing, a few coat hangers, a stool for the vanity and a bench nearby.

“This is where you can prepare, we have all the equipment ready on stage later for your performance, I must admit, I was a little skeptical to let a random stranger perform at my club, but then I heard that beautiful voice from that video you sent and knew it would be a wasted opportunity.” He gives you a charming smile, you could feel your cheeks heat up at his compliment. He leaves you to get ready for the night, you'd be on stage for half an hour before he went on, you'd already prepared your set list of songs and would hand them to the technician before your performance, all you knew now was you couldn't mess this up, to impress Dmitri and hopefully further your career.

You'd prepared yourself, a deep blue navy dress, form fitting with a bit of sparkles on it, your heels that were fine earlier suddenly feel too tight to walk in. You flatten your dress down as a staff member walks in “5 minutes miss. L/n” you nod thanking them as they leave. 5 minutes left before you go on stage and hopefully don't make a fool of yourself, and try to make sure you don't mess up in front of Dmitri. You look in the vanity one last time, making sure your hair and make up were perfect. You make your way out the room, heels clicking as you walk towards the stage, Dmitri already up there, oozing confidence as he works the crowd a little, setting you up. His charm seems almost second nature, drink in hand, he finally introduces you, that slight accent peeking in again, was it Russian? Maybe. You don't have much time to think about it as soon you hear the crowd clap as you make your way on stage. Dmitri goes past you and whispers “Good luck milaya”, you had no idea what that meant, but hopefully it was good. You walk across the stage, a big bright smile on your face, hopefully big enough to cover the anxiety you felt being there.

The music starts to play as Dmitri makes his way to the bar for another top up of his drink, he hopes he made the right decision letting you perform, and as soon as that sweet melody from your voice starts, he knows he chose right. Your voice is radiant, truly, he couldn't take his eyes off of you, the way you worked with the mic, the seamless way you followed the music, everyone listening intensely to your voice, the words flowing effortlessly. He could hardly tell you were nervous beforehand, he'd never seen his club so enthralled by a performance like this, not even for his own.

The next half an hour flew by, he hardly noticed it was time to go back on stage till he heard the applause of the crowd, his signal to get back on stage. He quickly heads backstage to take you off for him next. Your dress shimmers as he climbs on, “Ladies and gentlemen, y/n l/n!” He watches you bow with a smile on your face before getting off stage. He goes back behind his piano, drink resting on top as he starts to play his music for the night, having to follow up an excellent performance by you, for once he felt nervous.

You make your way to your room backstage, the thrill of performing with you as you wipe off the bits of sweat off your face, you hoped Dmitri liked it, but what you didn't know was he adored your performance, couldn't take his eyes off you the whole time. You walk back out into the club, some people catching you saying how brilliant your performance was, how amazing you were, how natural you were on stage, you could hardly believe it and thank people as you go past towards the bar. You ask for a drink, finding it on the house as an entertainer for the night.

You look over and see Dmitri working the piano as he had when you had walked in hours ago. His voice soothing, setting the atmosphere for the night, you listen and watch in awe, if people thought you were a natural on stage, then Dmitri must have been born for the stage. How he quietly commands the room to listen to him play, the smooth keys notes working with his voice. You watch in awe as he sings. Each song flowing from one to the next, not one feeling out of place. How you wish you could be like that, you had no idea you were already there, thinking yourself too much of an amateur to ever pull off a performance the way he did.

After a few hours the club finally closes, you finish packing your things in your bag, taking your makeup off, changing back into comfortable clothes and shoes. You exit back into the main club, staff walking around to collect drink glasses and plates, Dmitri still on his piano playing a few quiet songs. He turns to see you, and his face brightens. “Ah, y/n, your performance tonight was incredible, amazing. You could have fooled me into thinking you were a professional had you told me.” You beam with happiness that you had impressed Dmitri.

“Thank you, it's a wonderful club you've made here and thank you again for the opportunity”. Dmitri smiles, a genuine smile, before he starts counting out money, handing you more than you agreed to. You go to hand it back till he puts his hand out to stop you. “Net, no, you've earned this, in fact how would you like to perform here, more than just an opener, having a night here? Keeps a steady income for you, and can grow your audience more”. You stare at him in shock, a regular gig? Here? A dream come true for any struggling artist.

“That… that would be amazing, y-yes thank you Dmitri”.

“It's no problem really, actually…” he suddenly felt himself get nervous, “ I was wondering if at some point you'd like to do a collab? A duet as it were, with me? You could sing and ill play piano or we can both sing, you know?” You nod instantly, to perform with someone like Dmitri would be great, amazing, a duet with a real performer. “I'd- I'd love to, thank you”. Dmitri smiles. “Then it's settled, we'll figure out a contract for you so that we can sort out pay, what day or days you'd be performing if needed but that can be sorted out later for now, have a good night y/n”

You had been a maid for the Roman Palace, working beneath the twin emperors Caracalla and Geta. You mostly work for Caracalla, having recently become his personal servant after the last one… Well, no one really talks about it, but everyone has their thoughts. It was tiring having to watch for the emperor's explosive side, making sure you weren't in the wrong spot and having a vase thrown in your direction, or a goblet of wine, or anything in his hand really.

This tiredness was starting to catch up with you, you had to hide your yawns as if they were coughs, found yourself falling asleep in the hallways, even got scared with Dondus climbing on top of you once as you had fallen asleep standing. You tried hard to sleep at night but was always woken up by something wrong with the emperor and having to deal with it in the early hours of the morning.

However, to Caracalla, he wanted you as his personal servant as you were the only one to not look at him like a monster, or even a god, just a man. You didn't pity him or go out of your way to avoid him like the others, even before you were given the job. He… he appreciated it, in a way he never realised. You give him a feeling of just, normality, no pity, or burden, he didn't even get that look from his very own brother. But here you were, a simple servant who made him feel things he doesn't think he's ever felt. He just didn't realise how tired he'd been making you.

One morning you'd been woken up again, the emperor demanding for a bath after dealing with the senate meeting in the morning. You trail along the hallways, eyes barely open, the sky a warm pink and orange as the sun rises peeking over Rome. You trail over towards his private baths, the water being brought over, boiling hot water being poured into the tub, you collecting his favourite oils to bathe in and soaps. As you're left alone, you pour in the drops of lavender and rosemary, however as the lavender scented steam hits you, it makes your sleepiness worse.

You kneel and sit by the bath stirring in the scents, your sleepiness starts to win the battle. Try as you can you end up with your head resting on the edge of the bath, your hand emerging in the hot water adding to the sleepiness as you finally pass out next to his bath.

After around thirty minutes, the doors open to see a stressed out Caracalla storming into the room. He yells for the guard to fetch you to help him, the poor guard having no idea where you'd gone but nods running to find you, not realising you were in the room next door. As Caracalla paces the room like a caged animal, his pet dondus enters the room immediately climbing on the emperor's bed, sensing the stress of his owner. Caracalla calms down slightly, sitting next to his pet monkey, giving him small pets. Just then something catches the small creature's ear, a small noise, coming from the private bathroom. The monkey climbs down going over to the room, scratching at the door, chittering to get the door open. Caracalla looks at him confused, wondering what is going on. He gets up to go to the bathroom and opens the door to find… you. Kneeling on the floor, your head resting on the side of his bath, your hand now wrinkled, soaking on the water, your hair having followed your arm into the water as well.

Caracalla stands there watching your sleeping body, Dondus climbs over onto the tub and gently crawls over checking to make sure you were okay. A quiet chittering comes from his mouth as he looks over at Caracalla. He stands there almost in shock, he should be waking you up, he should be angry, grabbing and punishing you for sleeping while working, but, he can't bring himself to do it. He watches your body gently move with every even breath you take, your curly dark hair, falling over your face into the now warm water.

He gently moves over towards you, careful to not wake you, he gently kneels next to you, head tilting to get a better look at your face. Your eyes had dark eye bags underneath, ones he'd never noticed til now, how exhausted you were, how pale you were from not sleeping, he hadn't realised he'd been using you to your bones. Concern falls over his face, a look he hardly ever gave anyone, let alone a servant like yourself. His hand slowly moves your hair out of the water and out of your face. He can't help but trace the edge of your face with his finger, his touch lightly grazing your skin before you start to shift. He quickly moves his hand not wanting to wake you, and luckily for him, you settle back down again, your sleep much deeper than he had anticipated.

He takes a deep breath before he stands next to you, walking over to grab a towel before walking over to lightly pull your now wrinkled hand out of the bath and carefully dries your skin. You feel the cloth around your arm, your eyes slowly open a little as you move your head. Your brain is still filled with sleep as you hear a voice tell you to go back to sleep, not thinking anything of it you let your head rest back down on your arm this time, resting against the bath. You have no idea that voice belongs to the emperor.

He dries your arm and carefully brings it down beside you, before putting the cloth away. He then does something he never thought he'd do, he carefully wraps his arms around your body and picks you up bridal style, your soft body pressed to his chest as he carries you to his bedroom, Dondus following behind out of curiosity. He gently places you down on the bed before wrapping the silk sheets around your body. You look a lot more cozy in his sheets than against his tub. As he stares longingly at your sleeping face, the door bursts open, the guard from before finally having the guts to come back to say he couldn't find you. Caracalla's face immediately turns thunderous as the guard speaks “My lord, I apologise but I can't find-”. He quickly shuts up from seeing both, you asleep in the emperor's bed as well as the current look said emperor is giving him. If looks could kill he would have been burned in a gulf of flame rather quickly. He bows before quickly stepping out of the room while he still could, carefully shutting the door behind him.

Caracalla sighs before looking back down at you, thankful that idiot didn't wake you up, he should have his head just for that.

He looks down at your sleeping body, completely out cold, Dondus sits next to your body watching the pair, having never seen his master act so gentle with anything besides him. Caracalla can't help but be tempted to climb in next to you but doesn't want to risk waking you, seeing you need your sleep. He made a promise not to rely on you as much as he had, to call someone else before you. God he must look like a fool, if his brother saw him now he'd never let him live it down. He stands back up and carefully walks around to the other side of the bed, he lies down next to you. He watches you hold onto his pillow, how soft it felt compared to your own bed.

There was at least one good thing about dating a man tied to the mafia, and that was he was super rich, which meant Dmitri would throw his money at you anytime you asked. Not that you were dating him for the money, but a small spending splurge was always fun. Even before you two moved in, he gave you money. You needed a new sofa because the old one had gotten lumpy? Here's more than enough to get a new one along with some matching furniture. Wanted to go on a trip with friends but just short on money? Here enough to cover to rest and get some gifts and souvenirs. Want to take him out for dinner only for you to realise you had no spare cash on you? He'll sneak you his card and make it look like you paid if it made you feel better. The point is to Dmitri, money did buy happiness, and if it brought a smile on your face, then there was no such thing as ‘too much’.

One thing that Dmitri loved to have you spend money on was clothes. You remembered back before you two started living together, he came by to your small one bedroom apartment and you remember that look of shock and horror on his face seeing your small wardrobe for the first time. Dmitri never judged you based on your style but that poor excuse for a wardrobe would not cut it. A tiny space that barely had enough room for your jackets, hoodie and maybe a couple of dresses? That wouldn't do for you, not at all. He wanted you to walk out into the world feeling like royalty, to feel confident, to have people see you two together and go ‘Damn!’. This hole would not be enough, he vowed when you moved in with him, you'd have a walk in closet with more than enough space for you to delve into your styles of what made you feel good. He didn't care what style you had, just as long as the space was more than efficient. And true to his words, as soon as you were moving in, so did your new walk-in wardrobe, with more than enough space to have an excuse to go out and buy more.

So you can imagine the approving look on his face when after spending a few days getting rid of old clothes you didn't want or wear anymore you had more space to get more clothes, as soon as the words fell out of your mouth, the hard plastic of his card was already in your hand. His way of going “get whatever you want, can't wait to see it all when you get home”.

You spend the day out and about. Going from casual clothes to luxury brands even getting a few things as a treat for Dmitri. As the late afternoon arrives you return with more than enough bags to fill your wardrobe. Dmitri sticks his head out his office heating the rattle of bags and smirks seeing you carry them towards the bedroom. “You better be ready to give me a fashion show, I want to see what my baby brought”. You smile, handing him his card back and giving him a kiss as a thank you.

Dmitri was also into fashion, even making his brother become a model for him to figure out different styles, colours, textures, the man loved it and although you weren't as big on it, he was still always willing to help you out when you didn't know what to wear. You nod knowing that Dmitri would want a small fashion show with his favourite model. You two eat your dinner before the show begins, Dmitri holds a glass of whiskey as he sits on the bed, waiting for you to come out in your new clothes.

You first come out in a simple everyday outfit, a white t-shirt, black blazer and black trousers, a short brimmed hat on your head with some necklaces to top off the outfit. Dmitri nods in approval, knowing you like to keep things simple with your clothes, adding small comments here and there. Next is a more elegant evening gown, a square cut maxi dress in a deep berry red, a slit up towards your thigh with new black heels. Dmitri's eyebrow raises as he watches you twirl for him, taking a short sip of his drink, his eyes following the flow of your body. “Mmmm… a beautiful colour my dear, definitely shows off your… best assets”. He smirks a little as you chuckle before going back to the wardrobe to change.

This continues for a while, you coming out in new outfits and clothes, Dmitri making comments on what he thinks would go well, or how to make it fit more for your style and body shape. Always having an eye on how to make you look your best, even with the most simple of outfits. Finally it's Dmitri's ‘treat’. “Okay so this last one I may have brought more as a thank you for letting me use your card and even if I can't pay you back with money, I'm sure this will more than make up for it”.

Dmitri starts to go off about how you shouldn't be buying things for him to please him, that he doesn't mind letting you use his card or his money to buy things, that you deserve to treat yourself every now and then, but all that fall flat as he see you in the new chemise set. A plum purple and black lace set that follows the curves of your body, a lacy bra to hold your breasts just right for him to admire, the black lace pattern going down your front to the bottom of the chemise, reaching just the top of your thighs, the purple thong peeking out just below, garterbelts holding up the stockings that cover your legs and surprisingly soft. You swear you see Dmitri's hand grip his drink a little harder as you twirl for him, the lace doing very little to hide your body underneath the set.

The seasons were turning, going from the warmer seasons, meaning summer was coming up, meaning for Eddie, exams were coming up. He'd been actually trying, studying, books out, homework mostly being done, Wayne couldn't believe it, his nephew was actually trying? Who was this person, and what had they done with his nephew? He was glad Eddie was taking more initiative with his school work, but still, it was pretty unnerving.

This also meant that Heather wasn't able to go as many Hellfire meetings, which she was pretty upset with. You explained to her that with everyone being busy with exams and school, there weren't going to be as many. She understood, she just missed everyone, all the fun meetings and screaming “HIT” or “MISS” with Eddie. Instead, she was playing with the other kids in the trailer park or with her toys.

One Saturday, you and Heather decided to do some finger painting, teaching Heather colours while putting down a bunch of plastic all over the place. A sudden knock hits the door before opening, Eddie peeking in “Hello ladies”. Eddie announces, Heather's face lighting up running over to him “Uncle Eddie!” He picks her up, holding him onto his hip. “Hey little one, how've you been?”

Heather starts babbling about everything she's done since she last saw him. You finish setting up, getting up, and walking over. “And to what do we owe the pleasure?” You ask, Eddie looking over, wrapping his free arm around you.

“Well it had been a while so I came by to see my favourite girls, plus I think I'm scaring Wayne with the amount I've been studying so I thought I could spend a day with you two for a break. So what are we doing here?” As he asks, he gently puts Heather down.

“We were gonna do some finger painting today, hence all the plastic, Heather, you wanna go get some old clothes on?” Heather goes rushing into her room to change. Eddie looks you over.

“So mama, how have you been? I know its been a while”.

You chuckle, “I'm okay, Eddie. Works same as usual, Heather's okay, she misses all the hellfire d&d nights though.”

“Yeah, figured. Hopefully once everyone is available we can have a few here and there, just everyone's busy with school and stuff”.

“She knows, she just misses it. However you been? With all your studying and everything?”

“Honestly I'm trying but I don't know if any of it is staying in though. For once I'm actually nervous, I'm genuinely trying for once but what if its not enough? What if I have to repeat this year for a third time?”

It's clear this is the first time Eddie has genuinely been worried about exams, his anxieties and worries slowly rising, bubbling to the surface.

“Well, I was the top of my class, if you need tutoring, and I mean actual tutoring, then I'll see what day I have spare to help”.

He smiled, grateful you were willing to help him.

“Thanks dear, I might take you up on that, maybe I need my pretty lady to motivate me” he gets this smug look on his face, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you close, as your arms glide up his biceps, he leans in and kisses you.

“Missed these soft lips, those pretty eyes. Once all this exam crap is over, I'll take you out again, have a whole night together, maybe rent a hotel room this time. As fun as it was here, you do not have a lot of space here and I'd rather not risk stepping on a Barbie”. You chuckle at his words, but it was true.

“Fine, once you're all done, you own Heather a hellfire night, and me a date night”.

“And so it shall be, my love”.

As you chuckle Heather comes running back out in some old clothes she doesn't mind getting paint on.

“Ypu ready to go Heather?”

She nods very enthusiastically as you go to get her new paints from her birthday.

“Uncle Eddie, are you painting with us?” Heather asks, looking up at him, he smiles and nods before taking his jacket off.

“But I'm not getting paint on this, this stays clean, got it?” He leaves his jacket by the door, Heather smiles as you put her hair up. You get your hair up before getting the paints out, paper and brushes and paper.

“Ready Heather?” She nods excited to let her fingers and hands paint free. You dig a brush into the pink paint and brush it on Heather's hand, once painted she slaps it on the clear canvas giggling. You pour out the paint, enough for her to use as she goes crazy, you let her have fun splatter paint all over the canvas as she pleases.

Eddie grabs a canvas and a paintbrush and starts to paint out his design, and you do the same. Heather every now and then asks for more paint, or what paint to mix to get a colour she wants, helping her learn colours. You start painting, making random colours and patterns while Eddie is looking very concentrated on his piece, his tongue sticking out while he fights to keep his hair out of the paint, it was adorable.

After a while and a few messy painted canvases later, heater has done plenty of finger painting, attempting to make a dragon to go along with Roary and her newest dragon plush, now named Blaze. Heather runs over to see your paintings and says they look pretty. As she goes over to see Eddie's there's an unknown expected knock at the door. Eddie looks at you. “You expecting someone, love?” He asks as he stands up, being careful of the paints. You shake your head as Eddie goes to answer the door.

There were two older looking people, maybe around his uncle's age, standing at the door. They definitely were not from around here, looking like they could own some fancy looking house, maybe even a mansion. “uhh… can I help you pair?”

“Oh sorry, we must have the wrong address, we're looking for y/n”.

“Ohh, sure, uh baby? There's some people here to see you”. Eddie can't help looking at the pair like they were aliens. You appear at the door and look and see the two people you were least expecting to see. “Mom?... Dad?” You ask, you feel like your eyes are bulging out of your head, why were they here? After four years, they decide to rock up like they hadn't been around for four years!? They lean in to hug you in your shocked state, if it weren't for Eddie pulling you back, they would have.

His face was stormy, looking ready to shove them out if needed. As soon as those two words leave your mouth, he immediately goes back to the date night where you told him what happened, how they practically abandoned you, ready to leave you out on the street, all because you got pregnant.

Your parents look a little put off by Eddie pulling you away back in his arms. “You're her parents?” He asks, his voice low and stern.

“Uh, yes, we're her parents, I'm Mary and this is her father Robert.” Her mother tries to introduce themselves. “And you are?” She asks, her eyes trailing over Eddie's appearance, a look he's seen and gotten used to seeing over and over. The look of instant dislike and distrust. “I'm Eddie, her boyfriend”. He says it so matter-of-factly that you almost missed this being the first time either of you have mentioned being girlfriend/boyfriend.

The disapproval is almost instant on your parents' faces. “Oh, y/n really? And here we thought you would have grown out of this by now. I mean you're how old now? 25? 26?”

“...I'm 22 mom… turn 23 in July…” That really proved to Eddie just how little they knew of their own daughter. Before he could get another word out, another voice came from inside the trailer.

“Mommy, who's that?” Heather had pushed her way through your guys legs, she looked up at the two strangers at the door, your parents eyes brightened. “And this is our little granddaughter? Oh how precious, come give your grandmother a hug”. Your mother opens her arms expecting Heather to run into them, when she doesn't she leans in, causing Heather to hide behind you.

“Mommy says to not go near strangers”.

“Oh honey, I'm not a stranger, I'm your grandmother and this is your grandfather, come here”. She leans in to go pick up Heather, scaring the poor girl. “MOMMY!” You hear her scream, something about your daughter yelling for you brakes you out of your shock. You grab your daughter's shoulders and pull her back into your arms like Eddie did with you, holding her close. You pick her up as she cries into your shoulder. That displeased look on your mother's sour face hits again. “What's the matter? I was only saying hello? So dramatic for absolutely no reason”.

“Just like you were when you were younger y/n, you need to teach her about respecting her elders, and her manners”. Your dad chimes in unwanted. You glare at the pair of them, for making your daughter cry, for insulting Eddie, for making you feel right back at home.

“Come on sweetheart”. You mutter softly to Heather, bringing her to her room. You see Eddie's face soften as you go to Heather's room, as soon as the door closes, his face immediately hardens. He glares at the pair, crossing his arms over his chest, he asks “what the fuck did you pair want anyway?” The two are appalled by his language, both looking annoyed.

“We decided to visit our daughter and her child, we haven't seen them in a while-”

“You mean when you kicked your kid out for getting pregnant? When she needed you pair most and you threw her out? I mean, I'm a fuck up and not even my uncle wouldn't dream of doing that. How did you even find her address?”

“We asked one of her friends since we couldn't find her ourselves”.

“Well maybe that was for the better. You haven't been in your daughter's life for four years, you've never even met your grandchild till now, and you expected them to just lovingly embrace you cuz you're blood related? I've heard some dumb strategies in my time but that actually might be a winner.”

“Look young man, this has nothing to do with you. This is our family-”

“Not anymore it isn't. You gave up on that the moment you abandoned your daughter. You don't get to call them your family, their my family, my girls, you've upset them enough, now get out, before I give Hopper a heart attack by calling the police myself for once”.

He interrupts your mother as the two stand there shocked before he slams the door in their face, sighing. How could her parents do that? Not be there for her then show up like nothing has happened? He leans against the door before hearing soft sniffles come from Heather's room. His expression softens hearing you two crying, he sees Roary and Blaze on the table and grabs them, bringing them over before lightly knocking on the bedroom door before walking in.

Inside the scene breaks his heart. Heather has her face buried in the curve of your neck sniffling, shaking a little, he can see her small hands gripping your shirt, her sitting on your lap as you sit on the bed, not doing much better. You hold her close to you, your foot tapping, a nervous habit he recognises that he did when he was younger, tears building in your eyes but never falling, wanting to stay strong for your daughter.

Eddie sits next to you and holds you both, your head hides in his chest as you finally cry, you couldn't believe it. And in the shock of everything, it all came flooding back, the anxiety, the fear, everything. All you could do was gently rock your little girl in your arms while Eddie held you together. Eddie says nothing, he just holds you both tightly to him, as if your parents would return and snatch you both away from him.

After a while your cries die down to sniffles, you move your face away, red, tear stained along with Eddie's shirt. “S-sorry about that…”

“Hey…” he gently takes your face in his hands. “It's okay, you have nothing to be sorry for”. He presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, your eyes closing as you concentrate on the softness of his slightly chapped lips. Heather moves her head away from your neck, looking over at Eddie before jumping into his arms. He holds her close, gently rubbing her back. “It's okay, princess, big scary uncle Eddie got rid of them. If they know what's good for them, then they'll leave you both alone.” As you sit up, wiping your face, the trailer phone rings, you get up to answer it as Eddie stays with Heather.

You answer, hearing the familiar voice of your old friend Jackie. “Y/N! DONT ANSWER THE DOOR! YOU'RE PARENTS ARE LYING!” Is the first thing your hear screeched down the phone at you so loud, you have to move away.

“Jackie, Jackie… what are you talking about, mom and dad they've… they've already been”.

“What did they tell you?”

That they wanted to see me, why?”

“Okay, don't be mad but I might have given them your address, but it's cuz they lied to me, they said someone in your family was in hospital, critical condition or some shit I can't remember, so I didn't think and gave them your address, and then I only found out its cuz your family's asking about you, since they haven't seen you in so long, they wanted to invite you somewhere for dinner or something, I don't know. Point is your parents basically lied so they could try and get in the good books with the rest of the family”.

“So… it was just appearances again? Play pretend happy fucking family again?” You feel your annoyance growing, god you wish you didn't freeze and yelled at them, screamed, even slamming the door in their face would have sufficed, but you froze.

“Yeah, again I'm so, so sorry, I know I should have checked but I thought there was an emergency and I didn't fully think and god… I feel terrible”, you could hear the genuine remorse in Jackie's voice.

“It's okay, they seem to have that affect where they damn well go, match made in hell and all that”. You hear Jackie huff out in relief that you weren't mad at her.

“So now that we're actually talking, how's things with you and Heather?”

“They're going well, great actually. She'll be at school next year and Eddie's been a great help”.

“Eddie? Who's Eddie?”

Oh yeah… “He's, uhh, he's my boyfriend-”

“OH MY GOD!” Another scream down the phone.

“You have a boyfriend!? Like an actual boyfriend!? Why am I only hearing this now!?” Before you know it, Jackie hits you with question after question about Eddie, making you smile, forgetting about your parents.

Meanwhile back in Heather's room, Eddie holds Heather to his chest, rocking her back and forth like you did.

“Was that lady… gonna take me?” Heather asks through her last tears.

“No sweetheart, your mama and I would have never let that happen. You know your uncle Eddie is big and scary, like a dragon, keeping his princess and queen safely away from the monsters”. She smiles softly thinking of Eddie as a dragon. “Would you breathe fire?”

“Of course, fire to scare the locals but keep you two nice and warm during cold weather, and wings big and mighty to fly you around the land”, he raises his arms like a pair of wings, making a roar noise, Heather smiling. “And along with my trusty companions Roary and Blaze”, he held up the two dragon plushies, “No one will hurt my princess or queen”.

Heather giggles softly, her earlier distress now forgotten. “W-would that mean you're a dragon king? Because you're with mommy?” He smiles.

“We would have to be married first before I can become a dragon king Heather”.

“Then get married!” Heather chimes like it was the easiest thing in the world, considering she was part of the help to get you and Eddie together, Eddie was not risking this. “Uh-uh not yet, and don't you and Dustin start plotting again”.

“But do you want to marry mommy?” She looks up at him as he glances at the door, hearing a soft chuckle from you as you talk on the phone, a slight smile on his face.

“Maybe one day Heather, but it's too early, we've not even been together a year yet and I've got enough on my plate with school as it is, speaking of which as soon as we can, we will have a hellfire night once again, so you get be my little DM assistant” Heather smiles jumping for joy at that.

You pick that time to walk back in, promising Jackie that at some point you two would meet up to have a proper rally about your new boyfriend, and walk in seeing Heather smiling and jumping.

Eddie turns to see you. “Hey gorgeous”. He says moving towards you and giving you a proper kiss, his hands resting on your waist. “Hello handsome, everyone feeling better now?” Eddie nods as Heather has Blaze and Roary in her hands. “Yeah, I think we're good now, though she's probably gonna want a nap later, big emotions happened so the little one will need to sleep it off”. He says.

“Look at you, almost sounds like an actual dad”. You tease as you walk out the room deciding to get some snacks and juice for Heather so you can clear up the paints. You don't see the slight blush on Eddie's face as he thinks about us, Eddie Munson, being a stepdad… or just a father figure in general… he never thought he'd live to see the day.

You cut up some fruit with some juice for Heather to sit and eat while you start to clear up, Eddie helping alongside you when you finally ask, “Oh yeah, what did you paint Eddie? We never got to see yours”.

“Yeah!” Heather chimes in as Eddie looks at his painting in hiding. “Alright I guess it's only fair”. He turns to grab his painting and shows it off, it was a poster like paint with a dragon and guitars. “I wanted to try and see how some ideas would be for the next corroded coffin show and since I haven't had the chance to actually design any posters yet I figured this would be the best chance with what I had, I'll have to show it to the guys and get their opinion on it first but, not bad for a first draft”. He looks down at his painting, genuinely proud of it.

“I never took you for an artist”. You say looking over the picture.

“Well who do you think came up with the hellfire club t-shirt design? Did it all myself, managed to find a studio that would let me print the shirts, which reminds me, I should make one for Heather at some point as our newest member”. Heather gasps at that.

“You know if you don't she won't want to take it off for like a month, right?”

This wasn't how you thought you'd be spending your Saturday off but here you were, in Eddie's room, with Heather helping him clean out his room after Wayne told him to “get rid of some crap”. You'd take the liberty of helping him go through his clothes, see what didn't fit, what he didn't wear and what he was keeping, while Heather was carefully making sure his mini figures for his d&d campaigns were safe in all the mess, having her dragon plushies watch over them. “There, now no one can come and hurt your figures”.

She proclaims, proudly. Eddie walks over to her smiling, talking about how he would get her a mini figure of her character once she could play along with the group, how someday she could have her own collection like he does.

You smile, listening to the two as you go through his drawers finding more old clothes you've never seen him wear before. As you go through, you find something at the bottom. A cuddly bat plush. Clearly old, being ratty in a few places, some of its fluff missing, a couple mysterious stains that never fully washed out, but clearly well loved. You see an old tag that had some damage, and see the writing. As you read it your eyes soften. ‘To my little bat, happy 5th birthday, love mom’.

Eddie turns to you, not hearing you and sees you holding his beloved bat toy his mom gifted him. The smile falls from his face, quickly going up to you and carefully taking it from you. He was very protective over that plush. His eyes stay to the ground holding that plush for dear life.

“Eddie…” you don't know what to say, you knew he must have cherished that plush. Heather looked over wondering if something was wrong. She sees the plush in Eddie's hand. “What's that?” She's curious about the plush.

“It's a plush that Eddie's had since he was a kid” you say beating around the bush of Eddie's mom. She looks at the plush, seeing Eddie slightly tense and carefully looks at the plush, reaching out slowly to feel the fluff.

“It's nice and soft”. She smiles feeling the old plush. “Do you think I can have Roary for that long?” She asks, looking between you two.

“Maybe, if you look after him carefully. Why don't you go get Eddie's d&d stuff out so we can get to the other stuff behind it?” Heather nods, being given some responsibility, very careful taking the stuff out the room, not realising you needed an excuse to get her out the room. Eddie continues to look at his plush in his hands.

“You know… it's been so long since I last saw this thing, let alone held it.” He didn't know what to do. He usually hid all of this, anything that was too painful, that reminded him too much of his mother. He loved her, missed her, but sometimes it was just too painful. You look down at the plush, “your mother had good taste you know?” You smile softly.

He looks over at you, seeing no pity, no awkward questions he didn't want to ask, just acceptance, that he was still a boy who missed his mother dearly. His arms wrap around you tightly, holding you close. Your arms slowly wrap around him too as his face buries into your neck.

“Yeah, she did… she would have really loved you, you know?” His voice was shaking more than he wanted to admit.

“I hope she does”. You mutter into his neck. He smiles, pressing a soft kiss against your neck. “Yeah, she does”.

He truly did believe his mom was watching over him and that she sent you to him, knowing he needed someone good to keep him on the right path. He hugs you a little tighter, “thank you… for loving me despite… everything”.

You pull back, making him lift his head. “I will always love you Eddie Munson, no matter what, what anyone says or thinks, I will always have you in my heart.”

You confess to him. You can see the tears in his eyes building, he buries his face back in your shoulder, not daring to let you see him cry. Instead you hold him close, letting him gently cry into your shoulder, the battered up bat plush in a tight grip, not wanting to get rid of it.

After a few moments he finally pulls away, wiping his face clear of tears before looking down at his old toy. “Perhaps it's time old batsy finally comes out of his cave”. He jokes, a smile slowly growing on his face. He turns and puts the bat on his drawers, next to his beloved guitar. “There, right next to the other thing mom gave me, my love for music.”

It was the final few days of camp, the kid rearing to go home and show their parents everything they had done over the summer. Meanwhile you and the rest of the councillors couldn't wait to go home and not have to deal with screaming children, arguing and more accidents than you could count. Including yourself. Yes you loved working with the kids but even you needed a break from kids painting each other's hair, or nearly getting lost in the woods. Your main salvation in all of this was your boyfriend, and camp leader, Jason. He loved the camp more than anyone and loved dealing with the kids, even if they didn't always listen to him.

With the end of summer came the annual big bonfire, kids making smores, telling ghost stories and just having one more good night before going home… however mother nature had a different idea. As the sky starts to go dark so do the clouds rolling in, all grey and stormy and before you know it, rain starts to hit and ruins the bonfire, though while most of the younger kids don't seem to care and run around in the mud, the older ones stay inside not wanting to deal with getting wet. That was till the thunder started to rumble badly and now all of the kids are inside, heading back to their cabins to dry off as best they can. You and Jason with your crappy umbrellas go around making sure all the kids are fine and that they'll try the bonfire fire the next night, once everyone is all safely inside you two head back to your cabin together.

“Think that storm will let up tomorrow?”

“Hopefully, at least we have a bit of entertainment, not every summer we get a thunder-”

Jason is interrupted by another rumble of thunder in the clouds.

“Like that?” You ask. Both of you covered in rain, your clothes sticking to your body, Jason turns watching out the window to give you some privacy. Despite being together and him seeing you naked a good amount of times, he still always did this in the cabin, why? You weren't sure but it was still sweet.

“Too bad we have no showers in the cabins, could go for a hot one right now” you mutter as you finish changing into your pj's, a simple shirt and some shorts. You join Jason at the window, towel rubbing over your hair before throwing it over him.

“Here, dry off or you'll catch a cold before the summer ends”.

He smiles at you as he starts to dry off, as he changes his clothes a sudden flash fills the window before disappearing just as quickly.

“Ohhh lightening”, you say staring outside.

“Aww man did I miss the first lightening?” Jason moans from under the towel currently still over his head as he dries off and changes. He soon joins you in a hoodie and shorts throwing the towel onto the floor. You both stare up at the sky, another roar of thunder rolls over the camp, the rain pouring harder, hitting the window like hail.

“Anyway as I was saying before I was interrupted, hopefully tomorrow the sky will be a lot clearer tomorrow so we can actually get the bonfire on… if we can find some more wood” Jason says, already planning ahead the next day to set up the bonfire again. Soon another clash of lightning flails over the sky, the electricity bolts stretching out in wild directions. Jason's eyes widen finally seeing the lightning bolts before looking at you, the same excited expression on your face as you lean against the window sill. His gaze softens at your face, the flash against your skin, the way your eyes follow the raindrops, racing down the window that little bit of giddiness with every growl of thunder, every blaze of lightning. His arm wraps around your shoulders pulling you close to him, you rest your head on his shoulder.

“Too bad we don't have any hot drinks, some hot coco would be really good right now” you mutter watching out the window. Jason huffs at your words.

“Unfortunately the best I can do is trail mix and a packet of mints”. This both makes you chuckle a little. “Maybe next time, instead we hide out in the mess hall and grab some snacks and drinks”. He mutters before leaning in and kissing the top of your head, he grabs a nearby blanket and wraps it around you two, holding you close.

Anyone who knew you knew your first love was space. Even as a little kid you'd run around with your space helmet made of cardboard and plastic, running around the backyard, making whooshing noises as you go, pretending to be in a spaceship, making up life in space that little you would find. That love only grew when your parents brought you your first telescope to see the moon, you got all giddy seeing the rock in all its glory that first night, it was like the moon put a show on just for you, being a full moon. You never forgot that night, your dad sat next to you as you giggled over seeing space up close, your mom coming out with a hot chocolate for you to keep you warm as the night grew deeper.

As you grew, so did your interest in the vastness of space. Getting more and more advanced telescopes starting to get into astrophotography, you even tried getting a scholarship into the countries leading astronomy course, but your parents couldn't afford that kind of money, so when you moved out you made your own little photography studio, taking all exposure photos of whatever was up in space. That's why you were glued to your TV when you'd heard about this Marvel-1 rocket test, all of this being done to win the ‘space race’. Seeing the crew of four get into the rocket, you lived vicariously through this experience. They were doing the one thing you wished and dreamed about, being in awe as the rocket finally blasted off out the atmosphere, you were so happy to see people finally break through for the stars… that was till things went wrong.

Everyone knew it was a risk, sending people into space, but they didn't realise how bad it could get. From what reports could gather, they'd been hit by some cosmic rays that passed through the shields and caused the crew to become exposed to the radiation. You and everyone else had the same questions. Were they okay? Would they get sick? Would they come back alive? Would they be back at all? Luckily, that last question didn't go unanswered for long as their space craft finally landed back on earth, much to the relief of everyone, including yourself. However, when they opened the craft, no one could have expected what they'd seen.

They group had changed, the man named Ben Grimm was now looked like he was completely made of rocks, Johnny storm could fly and make his whole body on fire, Sue storm, Johnny's sister, could make shields and forcefields as well as go invisible, and the commander of the crew, Reed Richards had the ability to stretch out his whole body to lengths that were impossible. You watched in utter astonishment, what had happened up there? Sure space was weird but you didn't think it had the power to do this. Where most people saw this change and thought of never going back, it filled you with even more curiosity.

You started spending nights out at the edge of the city to see clearer skies to capture more with your telescope. And that's exactly where you were, out on the city edge, a hot chocolate in your thermos, and your telescope aimed for the stars. As you take a peek through a blaze of orange shoots across the lense, what you first thought might have been a meteor was actually just the Human Torch, flying through the sky. He must have been on patrol or something. You don't think much about it going back to making sure your telescope is still on track when you hear something behind you.

“Hey, you okay out here?” You turn around recognising the voice and find Johnny stood there.

“Oh, y-yes, I'm fine thanks”. You respond back, not really expecting to see him out here. Johnny walks closer seeing your telescope out, along with a smaller one for you to look at other things.

*I see you got a little set up here. What are you doing exactly?” He asks, curious about what you were doing out here, alone.

“I uh, do the whole astrophotography thing, you know, taking images of the planets and stuff, got a galaxy there that this one”, you point to the bigger telescope, "and this other one is just to see other stuff of interest. So yeah”. He hums listening in.

“Caught anything interesting?” He's genuinely curious, despite having been to space himself.

“I guess the typical things? Nebulae, planets, galaxies, you know, space.”

“Got anything out in deep space?”

“No, unfortunately, my telescope isn't that advanced, I wish I could, though. So many places out there, I mean, you must have seen so much out there that I couldn't begin to imagine”.

Johnny looks up at the sky, remembering what he saw before everything changed, before he had powers, and was just a man. “Yeah, I guess we did see a lot out there”. He looks back over at you. “Do you have any pictures of what you've taken so far?”

“I don't have it on me, but I have a folder at home. That's where I develop and make those images. I can, uh, show you some time if you'd like? I mean, you've already been out there, so it's not like you haven't seen them-”

“I'd like that. Not very often I come across a space nerd like me”. You smile a little at that. You tell Johnny that if he shows up the next night, you'll show him the other pictures you have. He nods, saying he'll see you tomorrow night before his flames engulf him, and he blasts off back towards the city. You couldn't stop the smile on your face as you sat there, a bit giddy that a superhero like Johnny had taken an interest in what you were doing.

After a few hours, you decide that was enough for the night, packing your things into your car and heading home. Once home, you spend the next few hours editing the footage, making sure the colours all match, the photos went together nicely, and finally, you had the perfect picture of your galaxy. Being proud of yourself for another amazing photo, your exhaustion soon hits you like a truck, making you collapse in bed, falling asleep quickly.

Soon the next night comes quicker than expected as you haul your telescope back out to the edge of the city expecting a ball of flames to appear beside you soon after. You keep your folder safe with you making sure to have brought the best ones with you, he was a space boy, you wanted to make a good impression. You didn't wait long as he flew across the sky landing near you, only in normal clothes instead of his usual hero suit. “Hey, you uh, actually came”. You still couldn't believe he wanted to spend a night out in the cold, though you weren't entirely sure how much the cold affected him anymore.

“I uh, brought the pictures, if you still wanted to look”. You hold out the folder to him, and he takes it gently, opening up the folder. You watch his reaction suddenly nervous. You've given a guy who has been out to space, your little photos of galaxies and nebulae. Maybe you didn't think this through as well as you thought. However, his face says otherwise as he looks through them.

“You got all of these? They're incredible. Have you ever thought of publishing them or going to school with this?” He looks at you. He couldn't believe you captured all these from your little setup in a park.

“I uhh, I couldn't afford to go to school, and I don't think they're at any you know, publishing level, so I just do this for fun”. You explain. He looked at you, you just did this for fun, look out at the night sky and see what was out there. “I mean, maybe if I had a better telescope, but this second hand one was all I could afford so”. He looks back at your telescope. It wasn't a beginner telescope by any means, but it definitely wasn't the most advanced. He didn't know why but he wanted to help you, he knew what it was like to look up and wonder what's out there, what was beyond our atmosphere, beyond the little planet and to see someone hold that same passion, it made him want to make it somewhat come true for you. He hands the folder back, your fingers lightly grazing each other's as you take it.

“So, what are you looking at tonight?” You bring him over and explain what was out tonight and which galaxy you were focusing on. You two take turns looking through the telescope together, every now and then you go off on a tangent about some fact or planet or something and Johnny just looks at you, and sees the same enthusiasm he gets with the depths of space. It was like he was looking back at himself before the mission to space. He couldn't help the little smile as he watched you.

Soon, it gets late once again, and you start packing up, Johnny helping you pack up your things so you don't have to stay so long in the cold. “So when are you coming out again?” He asks, you say maybe in a couple of days before you come back here, having to process the new photos and you don't fancy going to work more sleep deprived than you already are. He nods understandingly and tells you he'll be flying out, looking for your car out here and stopping by if he's not too busy. Once you're all packed, you say goodbye and drive home. Johnny flies back to Baxter, nearly everyone asleep. Of course, Reed was up in his lab, and Johnny obviously had to go see what he was up to. Mostly to be annoying.

In the lab, he sees Reed having finished working on… something. He walks over, “So, is this what's been keeping you up here all day then?”

Johnny asks, Reed sighs, slightly annoyed at the interruption. He turns over and sees Johnny now next to him.

“If you must know this is an advanced telescope, supposed to give us the clearest look we can get in the skies, maybe see deep space galaxies, planets and who knows what else out there, maybe even find the radiation cloud that gave us powers”.

Johnny listens, and can't help but think of you and your little set up, and how you'd love this, the clearest look at the stars rather than using your telescope.

“Hey is uh, there is a chance I could let a friend use this. They like all the space stuff, you know, own a telescope and sit out by the park with it.”

Reed looks at him confused. He thought he was on patrol… Oh. “So this little friend of yours is who you've been sneaking out to, huh?”

“It's not like that Reed, not this time. They're genuinely a friend. They own a telescope, but it's nothing compared to this, so I thought spending a night up here would be a surprise for them. See further than what their telescope can, you know?” He was trying desperately to show that this wasn't some fling or anything like what it might have been in the past. He just remembers the way your eyes lit up when talking about space.

Reed sighs. “Fine, but I'm being there as well, one because someone needs to know how to work it and two someone needs to make sure you two don't get too handsy with my equipment”. He teases. Johnny rolls his eyes and leaves Reed to do… whatever it was he was doing with that thing.

The next time you see that flying flameball in the sky, he lands next to you, though this time in broad daylight while you were shopping. “Hey so I know you're busy, but I've got something that might interest you. Reeds got a new toy I think you'd like to have a go with”. He says, walking next to you as if he wasn't just a flying flame mere seconds ago. You're a bit shocked, not expecting to have seen him till your next outing at night.

“Uhh what kind of ‘new toy’ are we talking about here?”

“Oh hes been tickering away on some new machine and I asked if I could bring you over to Baxter to try it out, trust me you will love it, also Reeds gonna be there as someone has to know how to work the machine, so tomorrow night, 8pm be at baxter and ill take you up”. Before you could say or ask anything else, he shot off like the rocket he was leaving smoke where he was once standing. What the hell just happened. Leaving you no choice, you continue your day, slightly nervous for what the next night would bring.

You arrive at the Baxter building at 8pm sharp as Johnny said, he greets you at the door and heads upstairs with you. You can't help but marvel at the building, and the fact that you were about to meet The Reed Richards as well as the rest of the Fantastic Four. You soon make it to the living area of the building, seeing Sue and Ben, Johnny tries really hard to hide you, but of course, his keen eyed sister spots him bringing a new person over and automatically assumes this was another date night. He's lucky he managed to get you out of the room before Sue or Ben could embarrass him in front of you… not that he cared or anything… definitely not.

Reed has the telescope up and ready for Johnny and his mysterious friend, doing some last minute checks before stepping back. As he does Johnny and this new person show up, they seem… actually they were definitely not what he was expecting Johnny to bring. He thought he was bringing some new model up here to show off to but you just… seemed normal. As their eyes find him they widen, He goes to them, shaking their hand. “Reed Richards, nice to finally meet Johnny's friend".

You could barely get your words out. “Uh, h-hi hi. I'm y/n. It's nice to meet you Mr. Richards, I'm a huge fan”.

Reed smiles at your nervousness. “Please, Reed is fine”.

“Yeah and don't go around inflating that ego of his, his head's big enough already”. Johnny teases.

“Uh Johnny said you had been working on something I'd be interested in?” You weren't exactly sure how to say it.

“Yes, come, it's all set up for you two”.

Reed brings you two over to a giant cylinder shape, even if it was way more advanced than anything you had, you could still recognise a telescope. You gasp seeing the giant equipment in front of you. “This is…”

“Yes it's a giant telescope, figured you'd like a more in-depth look into the sky than you usually get with your stuff.” Johnny says, he can't help the smile on his face as she sees you looking at it in awe, you start asking Reed questions about the device. Reed answers, waiting, even expecting a dig from Johnny at any point, but when he looks over, he sees Johnny's eyes are purely on you. He recognises the look, the same look he would give Sue when they first met and fell for her, Reed can't help the small smirk before you bombard him with more questions, not noticing out of excitement.

Soon it's time to finally have a look up at the sky, with Reed moving the telescope with a computer to the correct coordinates. “I think this would be a nice view first, go on take a look”. He encourages you as you look through the telescope and see Jupiter, to a size you've never seen it before. You can see the circles on Jupiter's atmosphere clearly, even the giant red spot, it was so clear and… you couldn't believe it, you could even see a few of Jupiter's moons as well. You let out a gasp of excitement, not noticing Johnny looking over at you seeing your excitement, that gleam in your eye, the same look he had when they went up to space.

Reed smiles seeing that look on Johnny but says nothing to not ruin the moment. He moves the telescope to look at something new, the helix nebula. You'd never seen it like this, you could barely see it with your own telescope. The burning red around the edges mixing in with the blue in the centre, a nice yellow and orange, all to resemble an eye. You were blown away, feeling like you were really floating up there, seeing such a clear image of space.

This continued throughout the night, Reed moving the telescope, you looking through in amazement and Johnny looking at you like you were a star right in front of him. Reed decides he's gonna head to bed early for once, showing you how to work the telescope and letting you know that you're free to come back at any time. You tell him thank you for the hundredth time that night. As you settle to look for things to find in the sky yourself, Reed walks over to Johnny.

“You're not really going to bed early, are you?” Johnny asks knowingly.

“No, but I at least trust her to not break my stuff and clearly you want a bit of time alone with them so, here you go, just, don't do anything that will damage the equipment, okay?” He jokes as he leaves, Johnny having an annoyed look on his face watching Reed leave as his brain figures out what he's insinuating. That look quickly leaves when he hears you call him over, wanting him to look through to make sure you actually got to correct. He walks over and looks through, seeing Saturn and its rings. “Was it Saturn you wanted?” You nod glad that you got it done right before walking over. He's still looking through, taking a moment to stare at the planet, letting that feeling of wonder and excitement fill him like it did you.

You stare up at him, and feel weird, like your heart beating faster, and a slight blush on your cheeks as you look over his features. Your eyes widen before you quickly look away, not wanting to be caught staring. He moves away for you to have a look, seeing you looking down.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, y-yeah I'm fine”. You answer a little quicker than you probably should have. He moves away for you to look through and see Saturn, that faint blush still on your face.

The night continues like this til you start to feel tired. “I should probably head home for the night, I didn't realise it was so late.” You check the time seeing it was just past three in the morning. Yep, definitely should have gone home sooner.

“Oh well you could just stay here for the night, and go home tomorrow, I'd rather you stay and be safe than have to walk you home out in the cold”. You couldn't help but be a little surprised, not just offering you to stay but saying he'd walk you home if you wanted to.

“Uh, yeah that works”. You close the telescope for the night before leaving with Johnny following behind you. He leads you to the bedrooms and brings you to a spare room they had. You walk in and see a bare spare room, a bed, desk, cupboard and a small toilet and shower room to the side.

“Yeah, these don't get used a lot but nice to have just in case”. He explains. “Well I'll uh, let you get settled, goodnight y/n”

“Goodnight Johnny… and thank you for tonight, it was genuinely probably the best night ever”. Before you can think or stop yourself, you hug him, taking him aback, but he slowly holds you to him, wrapping his arms around your back. It's a little while before you two finally pull away. Johnny looks down at your eyes, quickly flickering to your lips before he moves away. “I'll see you in the morning then”. He quickly says quietly.

“Yeah… see you in the morning”.

Caracalla was lying in bed, soft panting from his lips as he was surrounded by both men and women, his concubines. He'd just finished his own ‘nightly activities’ with them, but specifically his favourite concubine, you. He holds you close to his chest from the side as you trail your fingers up and down his chest. “Are you okay, emperor?” You ask your voice soft and quiet against his shoulder. He simply nods, currently too tired to speak yet.

As you two cuddle up together, you feel it again, the stares. Ever since becoming Caracalla's favourite, you've felt the stares of the other concubines, jealousy. Some, however, were happy to not be the favourite as it meant they didn't have to worry about Caracalla's episodes, being so close by and possibly hurt, while the others only saw the good side. You were brought with him practically everywhere. You got to sit on his lap during the games, feeding you fresh fruit and the finest wine, join him in his baths, and actually feel cared for. They were jealous of you taking his attention away from them, not having enough time in bed with him.

Your attention is taken away as Caracalla moves, opening his eyes and looking down at you. “You were exquisite as always, my dear”. That gentle tone of voice is safe for you and you alone. As he looks at you, another brave or stupid concubine crawls over, daring to try and have him, only for him to glare at them, making them stop in their tracks and moving back away. That glare was the only warning they'd be getting, dare interrupt his time with his favourite, and it would end worse.

He turned back towards you, the glare immediately dropping as his eyes trail over your body, how good it felt to hold you, how soft your skin felt, he wanted to pamper you, dress you in silk, rub his favourite oils over you so everyone knew who you belonged to, who owned you. That was one reason you were his favourite. He refused to ever share you with his brother, Geta. You were his, no one else's, the one thing he owned, besides his pet Dondus, of course.

Soon, he lies back down next to you, holding you close. “Sleep my little moon”. He mutters against your hair, his little nickname for you, for how your eyes shone in the moonlight, making you look ethereal. He watches you close your eyes, and soon he does too, leaving the rest of the concubines to each other.

As you two sleep some of the others rest as well, a few stay up, staring daggers at your unconscious body, how they wished to take your place, to be the one he looked after and held so softly like they were glass. They knew the dangers of possibly getting caught, but the jealousy at this point was higher than the consequences. You had to go.

Over the next few days they tried to come up with an idea to get rid of you, they couldn't just stab you or anything like that, it had to be slow, over time so they decided on poison. Slowly working and would be a painful death for you.

They started being weirdly nice to you, handing you cups of wine that had a few drops of the poison in, not enough to kill you, but enough to make you feel sick. You didn't think anything at first. You just thought maybe you'd eat something bad and had a bit of food poison, but then the stomach pain got worse and worse. Eventually it got to the point you could no longer leave the bed, Caracalla having never left your side, getting more and more frustrated as you kept getting worse, your only comfort being caracalla with dondus being told to stay by your side when he wasn't able to stay around. Having the palace physician work day and night to fix whatever was wrong with you, all the while, a few of your fellow concubines had been slowly killing you.

One night, you'd finally fallen asleep after being in pain and throwing up. Your skin is pale and dry, barely able to hold any food down. Caracalla wasn't able to stay with you that night, so as usual, Dondus was told to stay by your side for comfort. The monkey fell asleep by your side once you'd fallen asleep too, that was until part way through, he heard the door open, thinking Caracalla was back, he peeked at the door and recognised one of the concubines. He stayed where he was not thinking anything until he saw them pull out a small bottle and open it, putting a drop of whatever it was in your water. They looked down at you gently saying “not long now, then emperor Caracalla can be ours again”. They turn and leave the room without them realising Dondus had seen everything. That's why you were getting sick. They'd been putting something in your drinks.

He stirs, causing you to wake up. Your throat was dry, and you went to grab the cup of water by your bed only for Dondus to knock it out of your hand and on the floor. “Dondus!” You yell at him, thinking he was acting out instead of saving you. Your yell sounds throughout the palace, Caracalla rushing in thinking something had happened to you. “I'm okay, emperor, dondus just knocked over my water”. You explain. Caracalla quickly picks up the cup, getting a servant to clean up the water. He turns to Dondus about to scold him for his behaviour when the same concubine walks in, acting worried.

“I heard screaming. Is everything okay?” Before caracalla could speak, Dondus runs up to her and climbs up her dress, making her scream. Caracalla screams his monkey's name, confused by this wild behaviour, before the creature reaches for a hidden pocket and pulls out a small bottle. The concubines' eyes widened. “Give that back, you little monster!” She yells, trying to catch the small monkey, and it dodges her hands, after many years of dodging the cooks in the kitchen when stealing food. He scurries over holding the small bottle, handing it to Caracalla. He takes the bottle, opening it.

“What's this?” He asks, looking at her before smelling the liquid, odourless. The concubine quickly panics.

“I-its just some medicine the physician gave me to give to the-”

“The physician would have told me if they needed any medicine…” Caracalla stops her in her lie. He goes to taste it, making Dondus squeal out his erratic behaviour again. You watch confused. It finally clicks for Caracalla. “This is poison. You tried to poison them, you have been poisoning them… that's why my moon has been sick. You've been killing them”. Before anyone could stop him, he threw the bottle to the ground, smashing the bottle, the poison splitting everywhere as he went for the concubine's throat. She freezes in fear before hearing you call Caracalla's name. He freezes, staring deep into the eyes of the woman, now looking at him fearfully. “GUARDS!” He calls. They soon barge into the room, ready at attention. “Take her to the dungeons for now, I'll deal with her myself later”. The concubines eyes widened, now scared as she started getting dragged away, kicking, screaming, cursing your name. Caracalla ignores her turning back to you. “I'll see if the physician can help find out what poison they had used. Hopefully, it's not too late to save you my moon”. He's sitting next to you on the edge of the bed, his hand gently caressing your cheek. You nod, knowing he'd do what he could to save you. Dondus once again sits beside you lying back down. You gently pet him. “Good monkey. I'll see about the cooks giving you some fresh fruit”. You say hearing a little purr from the creature, happy to hear about the food.

Over the next few weeks, you gain your strength back, able to finally move out of bed, have food, and finally feel normal again. As far as you know, the concubine who tried to murder you was ‘dealt with’. You can only imagine what Caracalla had done to that poor girl, the others having a warning of not doing that same or they will follow her in her footsteps on punishment, a warning they all listen too. Soon, you are back in Caracalla's arms again, continuing on as usual, the simultaneously heartwarming and terrifying thought of how far Caracalla would go to keep you with him. True to your promise, you give Dondus a plate of fresh fruit to eat while you and Caracalla cuddle up together in bed, him being gentle, not wanting to upset your body in any way just in case of any effects from the poison.

It all seemed so simple to start off with, you wanted a job role but saw that your maths grade wasn't helping you much, so you signed up for an advanced adult math class to help you, thinking it would show you were dedicated or something along those lines, anything that was better than just saying ‘because the job needed it’.

That was until you got to the actual building and realised how big it was… but it was fine, just ask at reception for directions or even find a map. That was until the instructions weren't going into your head and you'd already asked them to repeat themselves so many times that you eventually gave up. Okay so map next, just look at the map and… what the hell? How does anyone read this? All mish-mash lines going from here to there, was there even a maths department here? You decided to try your luck and look for the elevator, just go through all the floors and hopefully find the room, you suddenly felt very glad you got here early. Two floors down and still not luck, a science area, English majors, psychology, cooking, still no maths. You're never going to find the class at this point, maybe someone was around who could actually show you where to g- oh! Your train of thought is interrupted by you hitting something and nearly falling on the floor. You hear a crinkle as you see a packet of chips hit the floor, a few spilling out, you look up at see a guy, maybe a bit taller than you, long blonde hair, a bit of a beard growing around his jaw, really… really pretty eyes… sorry what did he say?

“Uh, are you okay?” He must have asked again.

“Oh uh yeah I'm fine, uh sorry about your snack”. You say picking up his chip bag.

“No i-its fine really, don't worry about it. You uh, seem a little lost”.

You hand the chip bag over. “Uh yeah I'm trying to find class 3-6, adult or advanced maths.”

His eyes widen, “Oh no way, I'm trying to find it to, yeah i-i uh asked if someone could help me but the instructions weren't too clear, but luckily I found someone else and hopefully I can find my way now… hopefully. I'm Danny by the way”. He holds out his hand to you to shake.

“Oh I'm y/n. Glad I'm not the only one lost”. You say as you shake his hand. He starts to guide you the way he was going towards the class, handing you a bit of his snack every now and then. He told you a bit about himself, that he was looking to improve since him and his last girlfriend were broken up now, so he wanted to actually change and make an improvement on himself. You explain how you really wanted this job but your maths wasn't at a great grade so you thought extra classes would help out. He nods along and after a few twists and turns you two finally make it to the class. What you didn't realise was the class had already began, your tutor looking less than impressed.

“Ah, I see our two new comers have finally shown up”. She looks at Danny's now empty chip packet.

“Uh sorry, we got lost trying to find this class, won't happen again”. You two quickly sit down together at the back and get your stuff out. We'll at least you didn't have to worry too much about making new friends, with Danny here at least now you knew you wouldn't be alone.

You find out that you'd be studying in pairs with other people to help each other through the year, and with everyone else paired up, it was only you and Danny left.

“I guess we're tutoring partners now, please be patient with me when it comes to algebra, still don't understand why letters and numbers should be mixed like that”. You say, causing Danny to silently laugh.

“As long as you don't lose it when I struggle with the whole shapes and angles business”. You chuckle softly, seeing as you both have your struggles with this subject.

Throughout the year you two meet up and study together, becoming even closer, meeting up when you can to study at each other's places, him telling you stories of his grandma and at some point, you'd gained a crush on him. You didn't know how to tell him but there was something about him, he was so soft and sweet and kind, patient and genuinely good person. What you hadn't realised was Danny felt the same way but neither of you wanted to possibly ruin your friendship so you both never said anything.

That was until you were both at his grandmother's, you'd learned her name was Thelma, once again studying together, cracking jokes while Thelma did her embroidery in the other room. She suddenly yells out, “if I didn't know any better I'd think you two were a couple”.

This makes you pair stop, a slight blush on both your faces. “G-grandma!” He says embarrassed, making Thelma chuckle. You look at him, his face flushed red and decide, fuck it, what's the worse that could happen. “Y-you know… I.. uh… god why is this difficult? Maybe next time we hang out it could be…. More like a date”. Danny goes quiet after that, d-did you just ask him out? Your looking down at your notes, not daring to look up at him.

“I-im just- forget I said anything I'm just gonna go”. You quickly get up mistaking Danny's silence for rejection rather than shock, which slaps him out of it.

“Wait waitwaitwait”. He grabs your arm to stop you from moving as you pack your things, and finally look at him.

“I'd… I'd actually really like that. A date.”

His voice is so soft you barely hear him over the TV Thelma has in the other room.

“Yeah?”

A few weeks had gone past since that third date, and your night with Eddie staying over, that morning waking up to Eddie making you some breakfast before you went to go pick Heather up. Since that night, Eddie and you had been more touchy with each other, Eddie holding your hand, giving each other little kisses when you thought no one had noticed, but of course everyone did.

Heather could tell something had happened, but being a young child just thought since she had been caught in your guys' love life, you two no longer hid it. Of course, she was keeping tabs up with Dustin, but now that it was clear, you two were a thing they weren't needed as much.

It was once again Hellfire night, and this time Heather was extra excited, as in a couple weeks' time, it was her birthday. The day before you two had spent the day making invitations, pink, and purple cards covered in stickers with your writing saying they were invited to Heather's fourth birthday. She made more than usual, knowing she wanted to invite all the kids in the trailer park. She also wanted to invite the ‘big kids’ aka, the hellfire club. So excitedly throwing them on her bag,she sits excitedly waiting for Eddie to come get her. The fated knock hits the door, and she jumps up full of energy as she struggles to open the door. Once she does, she immediately jumps into Eddie's arms, him catching her, surprised by her amount of energy “Woah… hey, little flame, you're very excited for the campaign today”. He carefully put her on the ground before she took off towards the van. You leaned against the door watching her, chuckling. “And how are you today, sweetheart?” He asks, that boyish grin immediately on his face when he sees you, his hand reaching out and taking yours, swinging it back and forth.

“I'm good. Still got some sticker residue on my fingers and paint that's never coming off a sweater, but apart from that, I'm good. " You joke.

“Ahhh, doing some arts and crafts? Sounds messy”. You nod.

“But she enjoyed herself, that's all that matters, also she'll want to make an announcement at the club today, nothing bad or anything but prepare for a lot of unicorns and dragons and princesses”. You warn him, making him chuckle.

“I'm sure our group can handle that, I better go before she crashes out before we even get there.” You smile as you look back to see her looking in her bag, checking she has all the invites. Eddie leans in and kisses you back of your hand before leaning in and giving you a proper kiss. “I'll see you later” he mutters against your lips.

“Bye, have fun”. You watch him step back jogging towards the van as Heather zips her bag back up, helping her in the van. You watch as he climbs in, Heather's little hand sticking out of the window, waving goodbye as Eddie toots the horn twice to say bye as well.

As he drives, he looks over at Heather. “So, your mama said you had an announcement to make tonight”. Heather nods, the energy rising again.

“Yep I'm having my birthday soon!” Eddie's eyes widened.

“Wow, and how old is our birthday girl going to be?”

“I'm turning” she looks down at her fingers as she tries to remember if the pinky finger was needed, “four!" She yells, holding up four fingers, showing Eddie.

“Wow, so you're growing up to be a big girl then, soon you'll be playing alongside the rest of the club”. She smiles, getting giddy again. “And I'm assuming your dear, helpful, handsome uncle Eddie”, Heather chuckles at that, making him smile. “Is invited to the big birthday party?” Heather nods her head.

“Yep I have your invite too”. He smiles as you two make it to hellfire. He helps her out carrying her inside as the rest of the group are ready to play.

“Right you lot, before we begin today, Heather had an announcement to make”. He stands her on her own little chair next to Eddie's as she nods.

“Yes I have an announ-announnun… I need to talk to you all about something”. She looks around the group before digging into her bag, grabbing the envelopes and jumping down carefully. She goes around the table, handing out each one to the group, finishing with Eddie. One by one, everyone thanked her before opening the envelope to see an invitation covered in paint, glitter, and stickers, your handwriting saying they had all been invited to Heather's fourth birthday party. “Oh, your birthday’s coming up?” Dustin asks as he looks over her card. She nods.

“Mmhmm. Mommy said that presents aren't mandy- man-di-tor-ry, but are welcome”. She sits back down on her chair, Eddie sitting in his.

“Well, you heard the child, birthday's in a couple of weeks, and I'm sure our future DM will have a great time”. With that the group begin with their campaign night, with Heather still not quite getting how damage works, but it's slowly getting there, once again on Eddie's lap, getting giddy at his descriptions on the villains the group face.

And once again, after a few hours, the night is down, with the group being victorious in their battle. Everyone starts to leave with Dustin, saying he'll see if any of their group will come along to her birthday party and will seem less inclined to tell them. Heather says goodbye, but clearly, the excitement has gotten to her as she starts to get sleepy, everyone quietly awww-ing as she rubs her eyes. Eddie grabs her bag and picks her up, bringing her to his van and putting her seat belt on. “Listen, I'm not saying you guys have to stay the whole time for her party but I'm sure it would mean a lot to have you all there, even if it's only for cake, and like y/n said, presents aren't mandatory so don't worry so much about that”. Eddie explains to the group.” The group nods understanding.

“Yeah we get it, still getting her a present, I'm sure she'll love her first set of dice” Dustin says before he and Mike walk home together. The rest of the group leaves, each with their own pink and purple glitter filled invitations. Eddie climbs into the van and sets off to bring Heather back home, her dark hair covering her face, tiny snores coming from her that Eddie quietly chuckles hearing. Once back, he carefully carries her out along with her bag, walking towards your trailer, knocking before entering, seeing you chilling out of the small booth area of the trailer. “Hey” he says quietly. You stand up, smiling at the tiny child, leaning her head on Eddie's shoulder, sleeping comfortably on him.

You take her carefully not to wake her, walking to her bedroom, carefully taking her shoes off, and putting Roary in her arms as she sleeps. She nuzzles into the dragon plush. You kiss her forehead before leaving her room. “I take it everyone got their invitations?” You ask, sitting next to Eddie. He nods.

“Yep, I'm pretty sure those invitations should count as glitter bombs. They'll be finding it for ages now.” You chuckle at the thought.

“Yeah, probably should have held back on that glitter, still finding it on the floor”. Eddie smiles.

“Oh, also Dustin said he'd be bringing some of our group over, I don't how many or who is coming so probably prepare more food if you're sorting food out, I can help”. You smile at the idea, though it will be a story to explain why a bunch of teenagers are at a four year olds party.

“I'll have to get another cake for everyone to have a slice… maybe two more… got her a princess cake, a princess in a castle, and told the bakery to add a little round dragon in Roary's colours so he can be on her cake too”. Eddie smiles.

“Damn right, that dragon deserves to be the centre piece of her cake”. He jokes. “But seriously, if you need help at any point setting this party up, don't be afraid to come round, maybe I'll even drag Wayne out so he can at least meet the kid”. You smile at the thought, Wayne surrounded by kids, a party hat on his head, the thought seemed too ridiculous.

“I don't think he'd be too happy with the noise”.

“Ehh he'll be fine. He lives with me, remember?” You two sit in the booth together, talking softly about Heather's birthday coming up, a few kisses shared here and there, soon it gets late and Eddie says he should go, back home, doesn't need Wayne on his case about not telling him he wouldn't be home like after your guys third date. Oh yeah, he got shit for that, Wayne knowing exactly why he stayed over.

The next couple of days, you and Eddie plan out Heather's party. You'd thankfully gotten the days off for her birthday and told them you couldn't do emergencies either. You were not missing your girl's big day. You plan the food, the party games for the kids, Eddie offering to use his van for the music, the cake arriving on time, a simple sponge cake with vanilla buttercream frosting with a picture of a princess in a tower, and of course a Roary cameo.

Finally, the big day comes, and Heather's energy is off the walls. She wakes up and finds you already in the kitchen making pancakes, a treat you rarely made as you usually didn't have time. “Happy birthday, Heather!” She comes running up to you, jumping into your arms

“Thank you, Mommy!” She yells back, making you laugh before putting her down to sit and wait for pancakes. After breakfast and cleaning syrup from her face, you give Heather a few of her presents, some new clothes you managed to get on sale, a few new toys and a costume for her, a princess gown so she can be the belle of the birthday party. She squeals in delight at her new dress and rushes to her room to put it on. After a few minutes, she comes out in it, Roary in her arms. “Don't I look pretty, mommy?” You smile softly at your daughter.

“Absolutely gorgeous sweetheart”. You pick her up and tell her she can play with the kids outside while you get her party set up.

She runs off to the direction of the other trailers to play while Eddie walks out, seeing a flash of pink and purple running. “I take it she's happy with her dress then?” He asks, walking over to help you get the tables out.

“Oh yeah, squealed in absolute delight”. You say, you two get the food out of the fridge, Eddie grabbing the drinks as you both decorate the outside of your trailer, having a small ‘street party’ as it were for your daughter. Once it's all put together, Eddie mentions he's gonna leave for a minute to pick everyone up, giving you a kiss before he takes off in his van.

After he leaves the party begins, with Heather running with the kids towards the make shift party place, cardboard cut out and painted to look like a castle, the parents showing up, some staying, some dropping off their kids to collect later. Heather realises Eddie isn't there and asks where Uncle Eddie is. You tell her he's gone to go pick up the rest of the dnd group for the party. She smiles again, remembering the big kids coming and going back to playing with the kids. You couldn't help but notice a few scoffs coming from a few of the parents.

You'd completely forgotten about Eddie's reputation from some of the people who lived here. They'd probably blow a fuse to find out you were dating the man now. Luckily, the awkwardness doesn't last long as Eddie's van shows up in the distance, his two toot horn to say hello to everyone.

“Heya love” he yells out the window. You notice Dustin in the passenger seat, giving you a wave hello, which you give back.

“Okay, do you want the good news or bad news?” Eddie asks, making you groan.

“Do I really want to know?”

“Well bad news is I don't think we brought enough food. The good news is everyone also brought their own”.

“Everyone? Who's everyon- oh my god!”

Your question is answered as the back of Eddie's van bursts open with a group of people all falling over each other, a guy with thick brown hair also landing on his face as he's pushed out of the van, yelling can be heard along the lines of “Watch her present!” And “Stop! You'll kick the food!” You watch as a mixed group of teenagers and young adults around your age all start piling out of the van together. You realise you recognise some of them, Mike, Nancy, and Robin, a few you vaguely remember from Halloween all those months ago, Lucas, Steve, Max and a couple you've never seen, you assume are the other hellfire members.

You don't get to think long before hearing “UNCLE EDDIE!” As Heather rushes past the party members and runs straight for Eddie. He beams as he kneels down, picking her up as she jumps into his arms. “There's the birthday girl! And look at you all dressed fancy, I'm starting to feel under dressed”. He jokes as she smiles at him.

The group soon swarmed the table, adding more food and presents for Heather, even seeing Nancy bring a second cake, which was good as you definitely wouldn't have had enough slices to go around. You're reintroduced to a few people as well as to the other members of the hellfire club you hadn't met yet.

Once everything has calmed down a little you start the party games for the kids, it's the standard type of games, duck duck goose, pass the parcel, musical statues, all of which Eddie helps with the music, having made a mixtape of kid friendly songs as he didn't think rock music would be entirely appropriate for a four year olds party. Hell even some of the older lot play along with Dustin, Will, Mike, Lucas, Max and El getting dragged to play some games at the birthday girl's request, yes, she really pulled that card. Steve, Robin, Nancy, Gareth, Jeff, and Eddie are dragged to play musical statues, Robin cheating by annoying Steve between pauses, and Eddie having a dance with Heather.

Soon it's present time, Heather sat on her makeshift throne as everyone hands her their presents, Nancy having got her some new paints which you internally groan at the idea of the mess she'll make, Dustin having got her her first dice set, all the ‘pretty colours’ with specks of golden and silver glitter in them, some colouring books and pens, a few new dolls and Eddie even getting her another dragon plush to match Roary, but instead of being red and yellow this one is blue and purple, and just like Roary, she instantly falls in love with it, hugging him. “Thank you, Uncle Eddie” She says, beaming. You smile before hearing another ‘tst’ come from some of the parents almost as if disapproving of Eddie's gift. How could they, could they not see how much joy and happiness it brought her? Luckily, Heather didn't hear this, but clearly Eddie had, shaking it off as he focused on Heather.

Once her presents were out it was her big moment, you and Robin head inside to get the cakes, you didn't have enough candles so you put two on each to make a four, lighting them before walking out, everyone singing happy birthday to Heather. You two carefully place the cakes in front of her. She has the biggest smile you've ever seen on her face before she blows out the candles. Everyone cheers for her as you and Robin remove the candles, Steve grabbing whatever plates he can as you start to cut up the cake.

Even at this point, to everyone's surprise, Wayne comes out the trailer and starts walking over. “Oh, hey Wayne, surprised you'd come out here to see us”. Eddie says, just as surprised as everyone else to see him.

“Yeah well, as you two seem to be getting serious now, I figured it would be about time I introduced myself to my future niece… or grandchild”. He says the last part quieter, making you and Eddie blush at the idea, I guess if you two did want to be that serious, you would be. Wayne walks over, greeting Heather and introducing himself as Eddie's uncle Wayne. Heather gets a little confused, asking if that makes him her uncle uncle Wayne. He can't help but smile at that, reminding him a lot of Eddie when he was her age. He says hello to a few more people before returning back to the trailer. “Well… that was unexpected." You say, watching as the door closes to the trailer.

“Yeah, you're telling me, I mean I told Wayne, I didn't think he'd actually show up”. Eddie says. You decide not to dwell on it, continuing to cut up the cake and handing out slices, making sure everyone got a piece, you making the sacrifice to go without. Eddie spots this and cuts his cake in half, handing you a slice. “Nah, ah ah, not on my watch dear, a queen should get to indulge in cake just as much as the princess”. He says, making it clear he isn't taking no for an answer. You smile and dig into your slice.

A few more games before it starts getting late, the kids start getting picked up and taken home to their trailers, each saying goodbye and happy birthday to Heather. Once all the kids have gone, it's just you two and Eddie's friend group, though you guess now they also count as your friends too. Music plays in the background, lucas, max and mike and el dancing together having a waltz, Heather has somehow ended up on Steve's lap as Dustin tries to teach her how her dice work, Robin sat next to them eating the last of the food claiming “She isn't letting this go to waste”, You see Eddie talking to the other hellfire guys, he looks over at you before winking, making you blush again. Nancy walks over towards you. “hey, so I take it the talk worked?”

“Yeah, yeah it did… god were both idiots”.

“Yeah, you are, but now you're both idiots in love” She smiles at you, genuinely happy that everything turned out well. Your conversation is soon interrupted by Heather's yawning at the other side of the table. “Dude, I think your lessons are boring her” Steve jokes.

“Shut up, no they're not, she's just tired, she's had a big day today” Dustin says defensively. You chuckle as the pair bicker, Heather jumping off Steve's lap and walking over to you, her little feet stomping slightly. You pick her up as she rests her head on your shoulder, sitting in your lap.

“Tired baby?” She shakes her head despite the clear signs that she's sleepy. Everyone around awws at her, and very soon after, Heather falls asleep against you in her princess dress. You chuckle, picking her up. “I think it's time for the birthday girl to go to bed. I'll be back out in a minute” You grab the two dragon plushies, Roary and the one yet to be named as you head inside, lying her down and tucking her in. You place both the dragons in her arms and kiss her goodnight. “Happy birthday sweetheart” you mutter softly before heading back out. You saw everyone was helping put everything away, Nancy and Robin cleaning up the food, mostly so Robin could take some home, Steve, Eddie and Dustin move and fold the tables up, Mike, El, Lucas and Max moving the castle decorations and Gareth and Jeff helping carry in Heather's gifts, everything is cleared up before you could even start.

“Thanks guys you really didn't have to do that”.

“Hey, it's no problem really, happy to help out Eddie's little girlfriend”. Steve teases, Eddie playfully shoving him. Eddie offers to take everyone home, Dustin loudly calling shotgun once again, making everyone groan at the fact that they're about to be stuffed back in the van. Steve muttered about why he didn't bring his car, Robin telling everyone they better leave her snacks alone. You and Eddie watch them as they haul themselves back inside, chuckling. He hugs you, “thanks again for being here and for bringing everyone along. It genuinely means so much to her that you would do this”. You tell him, your voice muffled into his chest. He smiles “no problem, no one would want that little girl to be upset that we didn't turn up”.

“And I'm sorry about the other parents, they shouldn't have acted like that just because you were here”.

“It's okay, nothing I haven't heard before, it'll be okay”. He says, wanting to make you more comforted. Your little moment is interrupted when Dustin honks the horn, sticking his head out the window, “You two can make out later. Eddie, hurry up before they start a riot!” he yells. You chuckle against his chest, Eddie muttering about killing him one day.

“Go before they actually steal your van”. He smiles leaning in to kiss you properly as he hasn't done all day.

“If I don't see you tonight, I'll see you tomorrow”. He says before pulling. “alright alright I'm coming, Jesus Henderson”. He climbs into the driver's seat, Dustin waving goodbye to you, and you wave back before heading back inside.

This wasn't how you'd imagined tonight going. Danny had invited you to spend the night with him and his parents. His mom and dad, Gail and Alan, were very sweet, a bit odd but sweet. You could tell they loved Daniel very much and wanted to protect him. They shared stories of him when he was younger, him and his grandma Thelma, who you'd already met. All in all, it was lovely to finally meet his parents.

He took you up to his room, there wasn't much there: his bed, laptop, some clothes here and there, and Danny looking adorably embarrassed as he tried to hide the mess in his room. “So uh, if you want to, we can share my bed” it was like he'd forgotten the two of you already share a bed when he comes over to see you, you nod. You see Danny relax a little before he walks up, giving you a sweet kiss, his hands against your cheeks.

Later that night, his parents had already gone to bed for the night. As they went past, they called out goodnight to the pair. You two say it back as you cuddle up on his bed to watch a movie on his laptop. You're dressed in some sleep shorts and one of his shirts that cover up to your mid thighs, Danny in a shirt and sweatpants. It soon reaches past midnight when you start to get hungry and mutter between films about getting a snack. You move away from Danny's arms as you carefully go downstairs to the kitchen, seeing what's to eat.

You decide to make a sandwich, get some bread, butter, and chicken slices, and you start making your food. You hear footsteps come down making you freeze, thinking you've accidentally disturbed his parents when it was Danny turning up in the kitchen “hey baby” you say before turning back to your sandwich. You feel him behind you, his head resting on your shoulder, his hands wrapping around your waist holding you against him. He just felt really touchy right now, feeling your back against his chest, your heat against his, how pretty your hair looked messy, how cute you looked in his shirt, and how good your legs looked in those sleep shorts.

His mind soon starts to wonder, your arms wrapped around his shoulders, his hands holding your waist in place as your legs wrap around his waist as he - oh god! He can feel himself get hard behind you, pressed against you. He can't control himself before he starts kissing your neck. You can feel his lips softly press against your neck, his beard slightly brushing against you. It felt good, really good. You bite your lip softly, a small moan from your throat. That was all Danny needed.

His hands begin to wander up and down your body, slowly going under your shirt, teasing your skin as his fingers trail over your soft skin, slowly moving towards your chest. They move to gently squeeze your breasts, his lips moving slightly rougher against your neck, biting it softly. You clutch the butter knife in your hand as you try to hold back your moans. His hands pinch at your nipples making you gasp, pushing your chest out into his hands more.

He goes back to playing with them before one of his hands trails down your body, playing with the waistband of your sleep shorts. “Can I, baby?” He asks against your skin, you glance behind at him and nod. His lips hungrily kiss your neck again as his hand slips under your sleep shorts. You don't wear panties to bed, so all he can feel is your soft skin as he goes further between your legs til he finally reaches your folds.

His middle finger slowly moves back and forth between your legs, lightly teasing your clit, not yet entering you. His other hand still plays with your breast, his lips having moved to the other side of your neck, marking that side up now. You breathlessly moan, careful not to wake his parents upstairs… oh god if they came down and saw you two like this… that thought quickly leaves your head as you feel two of Danny's fingers rub your clit in circles, causing a soft moan to leave your lips.

Danny moans against your skin, god he loved seeing you like this, barely holding yourself together, he can't help but slowly grind against your ass, his cock rubbing against you through your clothes. You bite your lip hard, soft whimpers leaving your lips as his fingers speed up, rubbing your clit faster. “Oh fuck…” you moan out breathlessly.

“Shh baby, stay quiet, and you'll get something more than just my fingers”. He moans into your ear, making you blush at the idea of what he'd do to you. His fingers leave your clit alone before slowly going back between your legs, your legs spread a little giving him better access. He rubs up and down your entrance before slowly sliding the two inside you. Your head falls back against his shoulder, giving him more room to mark up your skin. “That feel good, baby? My fingers inside that pretty pussy of yours?” He says softly, biting your earlobe.

You feel his thumb now rubbing your clit as his fingers pick up speed making your eyes roll back. Whimpers and moans leave your lips as you bite your lip hard, your hands gripping the edge of the counter. His fingers slide deeper inside you now, taking both fingers fully inside, he finds that one spot inside you that makes you crazy and hits it, making you gasp, one of your hands moving back to grip him. His thumb rubs faster, your toes curling in pleasure, his other hand still against your breast, holding you against him, his cock still rubbing against your ass, it's all too much. “Baby… i-im close…” You moan out softly.

“Do it sweetheart, cum on my fingers, just for me”. That was all you needed to hear, your hand quickly covering your mouth before a loud moan escapes, your body shakes as you cum, covering his hand in your juices, your body shakes in his hold, the muffled moans against your hand as your orgasm dies down. You pant softly against his chest, you head against his shoulder, before you two could move on you hear a noise from upstairs making you both freeze, having forgotten his parents. Luckily the noise soon stops and you both relax again as he pulls his fingers out of your shorts, sucking them clean.

You blush watching him, your chest still panting slightly before Danny turns you around, moving your half made sandwich out of the way and putting you on top of the counter. He leans up to kiss you softly, his hand against your cheek. “Are you ready for more baby? Or did you need a break or stop?” He asked, wanting to make sure you were okay. You nod, desperate for more.

“Yes baby, please”. You beg softly, making him smile, kissing you again. He moves his sweatpants down enough for his cock to come out, you bit your lip looking down at it before he moves your shorts to the side, enough for him to press himself against you.

“You ready?” He asks, having one last check, you nod, your hands around his shoulders. He slowly slides into you, his thickness stretching you a little, both of you gasping as you try to stay quiet. His hand wraps around your thighs, pulling them against him, wrapping around his waist. He starts to thrust into you, your face buried in his shoulder muffling your gasps of pleasure as he thrusts in and out of you slowly. You're still slightly sensitive from your last orgasm making you tighter around him, causing his eyes to roll back in pleasure as you both hold each other.

You two grip hold of each other, lost in your own world as he takes his time, feeling you clutch around him with every thrust inside. Small whimpers and moans muffled against his shoulder as you can barely speak. He has one arm wrapped around your back, the other in your hair, holding you so gently. As much as he'd love to thrust nice and hard into you, to feel you cum hard around him, he can't, not wanting to be caught like this by his parents.

He starts to feel you flutter around him, making him bite his lip as he feels you get close again and so soon. “You sensitive baby? You gonna cum on my cock?” He says softly into your ear, you nod not trusting yourself to speak, being so close to cumming again. He speeds up a little with his thrusts making you shake, biting down on his shoulder as you get closer. “Come on baby, cum on the cock, wanna feel you fucking lose it around me, that pretty pussy clutch around me, come on darling”.

That dirty talk was all you could handle before you cum again, your moans loudly, muffled into his shoulder as your body shakes hard in his hold, your eyes rolling back as you cum, your wetness against the counter. He holds you against him as he starts to feel close to, pulling out of your overestimulated pussy and jerking off soon coming against the counter as well. Both of you panting messes as your head rests against the cabinets behind you, his head against your shoulder. He looks up at you, kissing you softly, knowing you need a bit of time to calm down. He quickly moves his sweatpants back up, as well as moving your shirts back in place. He gets some paper towels to wipe the counter, cleans of your messes, double making sure he's gotten everything so nothing looks suspicious that morning. He pulls you off the counter slowly, your face flushed by what just happened. He holds you, his arms back around your waist. “You okay?” He asks, you nod. He softly kisses you again. You two are so caught up in your kiss that you didn't notice his dad in the hallway. “You two - oh sorry”. You both jumped, moving away from each other. You hoped to god he didn't see anything from earlier. “I uh, just thought I heard something down here and came to see if something was wrong”.

“N-no dad, we're good just, getting some snacks”. Danny says embarrassed, at least it didn't seem like he knew anything about what happened moments ago. His dad nods, telling you two to not stay up too late before heading back upstairs. You both relax. “Okay, we're clear… fuck if he'd come down five minutes earlier”. He says making you huff out a laugh.

“Maybe for now we keep the bedroom activities in the bedroom, or at least wait til your parents aren't around before doing anything”. You say, and you try to compose yourself and finish making your sandwich. He smiles, grabbing a couple of drinks as you finish making your sandwich. You two head back upstairs to his room, his laptop having gone off from how long it wasn't in use. You both climb back into bed like nothing had happened downstairs, his arm back around your shoulders, your head back against his chest as you dig into your snack, and he gets the movie on again.

At some point, the pair of you had fallen asleep, and you weren't sure when, but you both woke up, cuddling each other the next morning. Danny wakes up, and the first thing he notices are the dark marks he left all over your neck… shit. “Uhh, baby? I really hope you brought some makeup with you because i uh… may have gotten carried away last night”. You're confused, still half asleep, looking puzzled before getting up and looking at yourself with your phone camera. Your eyes widen as you wake up, seeing all the marks across your neck.

“Danny!” You whisper-yell at him throwing a pillow at him.

“Look I'm sorry I didn't mean to, I just, I got caught up in the moment”. He explains. You roll your eyes, thankful you remembered to bring some foundation with you, whether or not it worked that was a different story. “You're not mad, right?” He asks.

“No Danny I'm not mad, but maybe next time, don't act like a vampire who had their fangs filed down”. You say half jokingly, making him smile.

You'd just arrived at Danny's place, well, technically Danny's parents place, that Danny still lived with, but you'd come over to drop something off for him, so after making a quick conversation with his mother you quickly made your way upstairs to his room.

His room always had some kind of mess going on, and this time, it was his clothes. According to his mom, he'd been going through which clothes to keep and which ones to throw away. You went through a bag you assumed were to throw away to see what was in there. While looking through out of curiosity, you found a familiar looking sweater. You knew Danny loved this sweater, so why was he… Oh.

As you felt around the sweater, you noticed a couple of holes with one big hole in the back. That was why it was going, but you knew Danny cherished his sweater.

So he decided to do something for him. You've recently gotten into fabrics crafting like sewing and crocheting, so why not fix up his sweater? You hid it in your bag and made your way back downstairs, quickly leaving the house saying goodbye to Gail. You head into your car and drive home prepared to start your restoration on his sweater.

As you get home you look at the yarn to see the issues, and start trying to colour match, you find the best you can do, not an exact colour match but it's close enough and starts working, following the stitches to make it look at slick as possible and after a few hours it's complete. The sweater is once again whole.

After a few days you and Danny meet up at a small cafe, you two go together for lunch, and you decide to bring the sweater with you, you get there and see him in the window and waves. You wave back. You get inside and go and sit with him. He starts telling you about how he has so much room in his closet now but realised he was missing something. “An old sweater I wore, I stopped cuz I kept getting holes in it and decided as I haven't worn it in a while I'd get rid of it, except I swear I had it ready in a bag but, I can't find it”. You decide now would be the best time to reveal your present.

“Did you mean like this?” You pull out the sweater from the bag, holding it up, Danny's eyes widen seeing the missing sweater.

“Yes oh my god, how did you… you fixed it.” He stares at the sweater, slowly reaching out to touch it, feeling the fabric, the softness of the yarn. “Thank you… You didn't have to… wait, how did you find it?”

“I went over to yours and found you going through your clothes and found it, I remembered how much you loved that sweater so I decided to take it with me and surprise you”. Danny's smile slowly grows across his face before he leans over and kisses you.