Part One

Author's note: I have always been more of a reader than a writer on here. The last few weeks have been draining on me with my anxiety and I feel like I needed to create something. My usual go to hasn't been cutting it for me(makeup) and I have been lacking the inspiration on that front. SO I thought maybe I would give writing about one of my favorite characters a go. I'm not sure where this will take me, possibly a two-three parter if I go through with what I have in mind. This may end up being the only piece I put out there since this is mainly me trying to work through this episode I am going through at the moment. And Venom(2018) has become a comfort blanket of sorts for me whenever I need a pick me up. If you have read this far and end up giving this fic a shot, thank you. I know I am not a writer like those who put out amazing pieces each week or month or even daily so I appreciate you giving what I have written any of your attention. Any and all feedback would be appreciated. I'll end this ridiculously long author's note now and hope you enjoy what I have written so far!

Disclaimer: I do not own Venom, Eddie Brock or any of the characters within the franchise. I own the original characters and the plot that are not directly tied to the movie.

EDIT: I have been going the first chapter a bit throughout the day and tweaking bits here and there. Mostly spacing and some wording. Nothing drastic like any plot change or anything.

Love was not something Emma found much luck with. A few dates here and there. One or two VERY short lived relationships. Nothing ever lasted long enough for her to ever even consider what love really was to her. Especially romantic love.

But this year was going to change that.

About 6 months ago, Emma moved all the way to California with her best friend, Raya. San Francisco to be more exact. The duo moved into a cozy 2-bedroom apartment with Emma's cat, Ragnar, joining them. The apartment wasn't in the best neighborhood but it was safe enough and the rent was reasonable. Not costing nearly as much as both an arm and a leg like her old apartment back on the east coast.

Exploring the city in the first few weeks Emma found herself a sanctuary of sorts. A quaint bookstore conveniently placed next to a coffee shop. Her Saturday's and any time not at work or with Raya, Emma spent getting herself a sesame seed bagel at the coffee shop and then reading for an hour or two at the bookstore. Sometimes she would change it up and buy a book and spend those few hours in the coffee shop.

It was on one of those days that she met Eddie Brock. The Eddie Brock, as he is known to almost everyone else in San Francisco. It was about as cliché as any first impression/introduction could be in a coffee shop. Girl picking up her order while not paying attention and walking into the guy trying to fix his coffee. It was about as messy as you could imagine with both parties being covered in Eddie's coffee.

What may have been a bad start had it happened to anyone else, ended with Emma buying Eddie another coffee and the two talking for those few hours before Emma would head home. Emma learned that Eddie was a pretty big deal in the city being an investigative reporter turned journalist who even had his own show, The Eddie Brock Report, at one point.

"You wouldn't believe how refreshing it is to meet someone who doesn't already know my name." Emma couldn't believe how easy it was talking to Eddie. She didn't have the best luck when it came to talking to anyone new and here she was, talking to Eddie about whatever came to mind for almost two hours now. She felt like she had known him for years. "It probably helps that I've only been living here for less than a month." Emma chuckles as she finishes her bagel. "I hardly know anyone besides the person I share an apartment with, Mel who owns the bookstore and the guy who takes my order here every week," she said while holding up three fingers.

"Well now we make four," Eddie smiles. Emma didn't think much of it, probably because she was too busy staring at how nice his smile was. Maybe she had heard him wrong.

Brushing it off, Emma decided to make a move for the first time ever in her life. "It's getting late and Raya is probably expecting me home for dinner at any moment now. I really enjoyed your company. Do you think I could get your phone number? Maybe? If not that's fine I'm not a stalker I promise." Emma rambled as Eddie sat chuckling while already pulling his phone out and sliding it towards her.

Emma never ran so fast in her life than she did home to tell Raya what happened. Not trying to get ahead of herself but she couldn't have guessed that a change in scenery would possibly lead to her finding someone. "Move to the other side of the country and you find yourself a man within the first month," Raya was almost squealing. "Ray please."

Emma was really trying to not overthink this, "what if I'm wrong about this? It almost feels too good to be true." Eddie really was almost too good to be true. An attractive, really attractive, guy who could hold a conversation better than any other guy she's ever met before and wasn't just talking to hear his own voice. Even though he had a really nice voice to listen to. "A guy who spends two hours talking to a girl he just AND exchanged numbers with her," Raya rambles, "yeah I think he's at the very least a little bit interested."

Not even two minutes after Emma's phone goes off. Raya gives her a knowing look.

Fast forward two months to the middle of October. Ever since Eddie texted Emma the night they met asking her if she would meet him for breakfast the next morning, they had been almost inseparable. Slowly moving through the "awkward" phase of getting to know one another better, though they would hardly call it that, Emma found she was spending more free time with Eddie.

You could find the two walking around the city, at their coffee shop or at Battery East Vista. The two would talk about anything from music to movies, books to work and even makeup which Eddie found Emma was more passionate about than anything else.

"My office job isn't terrible," Emma started "my boss is great. I barely know he's even there unless something urgent comes up. The pay isn't too bad and can't beat having weekends off." Eddie nodded, "that's hard to come by these days. Especially having a boss who's not an asshole." Emma laughed, "exactly! Which is why I try not to complain too much because it could always be worse. But, I keep getting this feeling that I should've done something different, ya know? Something more fulfilling for myself and I shouldn't have listened to everyone else around me about how what I really love wouldn't get me anywhere because it wasn't practical enough."

"It's still something you could try pursuing, it's never too late," Eddie said.

That's when Eddie decided to dive into the still uncomfortable topic of what happened to him no more than a year ago. "Ya know, I was blacklisted for months." Eddie began. "I went from being THAT guy, who was on top of the world and thought nothing could touch me to being out of a job, a relationship, and a home."

Without realizing it, Emma grabbed Eddie's hand as he continued. "I had an interview with the head of Life Foundation, Carlton Drake. The guy was a complete asshole. I found out information that would expose him for awful and unethical his practices in the foundation were. I thought what better way to do that than in the middle of the interview. Having no thought to the consequences of my actions I lost everything because of him."

Eddie hesitated before continuing. "While I was trying to take down one asshole, I ended up being an even bigger one. My fiancé worked for the law firm representing Drake's case and I logged into her email while she was sleeping and used the information in her emails to try and hurt him. I ended up only hurt myself and hurting Anne even more." Eddie laughed while squeezing Emma's hand and lacing their fingers, "it was a reality check if I've ever seen one. 6 months later though and Drake got what was coming to him. Exactly what he deserved."

"You're back at your old job now though?" Emma asked. Eddie chuckles, "yeah my asshole of a boss offered me my job back once he figured out that I was right all along." Emma couldn't stop herself from snuggling into Eddie's side as they spoke. "It sounds like you've grown a lot since that situation," Emma said. "I may not have known you then but the Eddie you talk about before all of that happened sounds a lot different than the Eddie in front of me right now. You seem like less of an asshole now." Emma laughed as Eddie shoved her playfully.

Not a second later, Emma could have sworn she heard Eddie grumble something under his breath. Eddie brushed it off saying he had a tickle in his throat causing him to cough and that was probably what she heard. Emma shrugged as the two walked hand in hand as they continued their walk.