Eddie leaned on his elbow as he woke up, yawning and stretching the best he could. Ellie was resting in a deep sleep, her chest rising and falling, occasionally her breath hitched in her throat. Her ribs weren't fully healed. The bruising had faded to pale yellows and greens, her eye had opened back up.
The boys in Corroded Coffin had jokingly called her a pirate a few times, fanning her ire. They had made it up to her by attacking the drunks for her, knowing that she couldn't get anymore roughed up and accepted she wasn't going to leave Eddie's side while his father might still be in town.
They had waved them off as the drummer of the band left for college. The other two had opted for community college a few towns over and would be in Hawkins.
He ran his hand along her arm, hearing little giggles from her. It was late morning and he had the day planned out.
"Stop," she whined out, a small smile onto her face and her eyes scrunched up.
He knew she wasn't herself still, she had begun seeing a shrink and took a few pills every morning. After Wayne had left the morning following the fight she sat at the kitchen nook with a small compact.
He watched her as she stared at her face in the mirror and poking the black bruises and winching. Her face twisted into an expression he couldn't describe as anything but agony.
"I don't remember what I did," she was quiet, meek. He saw small tears rolling down the unblemished side, her hand covering the other. He sat with her, explaining everything in detail to her, he told how no one had ever stood up for him the way she did.
"It was a mistake, Eddie," she put her face in her palms. "I don't want to be that person again." That was the day they called Dr. Kaufman and had her first session.
The pills were wreaking havoc on them. She could be groggy for no reason or occasionally just angry, chalking it up to her body adapting to it.
She had cussed him out last week for pulling the driver's seat in her car too far back and then erupted into a fit of tears when he screamed back at her. They had refused to look at each other, quietly sniffling until they reached for each other's hand.
The stigma she felt around getting help leached into their lives. It was not a common thing for the people of Hawkins and when Jason began telling his church that she was 'mentally unstable' and 'no amount of help would stop her from spilling blood' after he caught her sneaking out of the shrink's building. The guys from her job who normally enjoyed her company pulled away, whispers began, and Ellie collapsed in on herself like a neutron star. No amount of grounding helped, she couldn't get her mind to allow her to think of anything else.
He would find her crying on her pillow or aggressively demoing the once spider filled bathroom with a sledgehammer.
She had said it needed new tiles but he was unsure if that was the correct way to go about it.
It pissed him off, he'd leave the house when it became too much for him and smoke in the quarry or have an impromptu band practice with what was left of the band. Wayne had told him that she would take time to sort herself out, that she for-the-most-part had a good head on her shoulders.
At the bare minimum Jason Carver was now in college and ruining someone else's life.
He gently nudged her shoulder.
Her tired green eyes looked up at him, her black hair bouncing as she sat up. She quietly yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.
"How're you feeling?"
She twisted to the nightstand, grabbing the glass of water on it and two small orange bottles. His copies of The Lord of the Rings sat there with dog-eared pages. She had been reading them to help her sleep and to get her out of her head. It had helped him when his father had been sent to prison and his mother had passed away. He just wanted to help in whatever way he could.
Last night had been 'crying on the couch until she fell asleep' kind of night. He had woken her up, carried her upstairs and stripped off her dirty work clothes.
Most of Hawkins knew her as the weird girl who had shacked up with the weird satanist who told everyone who didn't like her to fuck off. Eddie was the only one who saw this side of her.
Seeing her this vulnerable was hard. Their relationship was still new and already it was getting a new curveball constantly.
Today he was going to cement everything that he felt for her. He itched his nose with his thumb and sighed.
Eddie 'the freak' Munson was scared shitless.
He took her to a clearing outside of Hawkins, he had spent most of high school driving around for spots to avoid the jocks. This was his favorite one and to his knowledge a complete secret to the rest of the town. It was deep in the woods and down a long dirt road. There were wildflowers in all different colors and a few apple trees from an old orchard that had been abandoned for years. She slid out of the passenger's seat and fixed the long white dress she wore, straightening it out.
"Holy shit, Eddie, this is beautiful."
He jumped into the back of the van grabbing an old comforter and laid it out on the tall grass, he plopped down on it.
"Date picnic, baby," he grinned. She smiled warmly at him before turning away, her attention elsewhere.
She could hear the sounds of water rolling over stones. She asked him if there was a river nearby and he pointed to a section of trees.
He could see the mischief in her eyes as she turned to him, she went into a full sprint as she darted through the woods. He could see her holding her ribs. He called out her name as he went after her. He wanted to be frustrated but there she was laughing at the little game she had started.
She stopped once she got to the babbling brook, stepping on a pile of dead sticks and leaves that crunched under her boot. She jumped onto a small mossy rock that jutted out from the water, she reached her hands out to balance herself as if she was walking a tightrope.
"Jesus Christ, be careful!" He shouted with his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder, she was unsteady as she moved from rock to rock. When he got down to the edge of the water she had already flung her boots onto the ground and was walking barefoot in the water with her dress in her hands.
She looked like Arwen with her dark curls and fair skin, the pale green of her eyes catching the sunlight. Her hands carried the hem of her wet white dress as the water reached her knees.
"The water's nice," she kicked it towards him, grinning. He put his hand up and swatted the water away.
"Ellie, let's go back by the van," he begged as she watched him from the water. She dropped her dress from one hand and reached out to him.
"C'mon Mr. Munson, let's go to the shire," she spoke in a bad British accent. He laughed as she bent down and began looking at the river rocks.
"I don't think you're gonna find the one ring in there," he kicked his shoes off with a sigh and rolled up his jeans.
She continued to shift through the rocks. He reached around her waist and held her to him.
She turned to him and placed a wet hand on his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Eddie," she began.
"I love you," he blurted out, too scared to open his eyes. She kissed him softly on the lips and nuzzled her face into his chest.
"I love you too," she whispered so quietly he barely heard it. He put his hand in her hair. She looked up into his amber, doe shaped eyes and watched his expressive face. He pulled her into a kiss, guiding her onto one of the large river rocks with the hand around her waist. When they pulled away they were both breathless.
"I've wanted to say that for a while," he smiled, pushing a curl out of her face. "In my head you've always been my girlfriend but I was always so scared to say it."
She questioned him, her hand on his cheek rubbing circles into it. He closed his eyes.
"I didn't think you felt the same way," he shuddered. She pulled his head down and kissed the tip of his nose.
"I fell for you the minute you talked me out of Krokus," she said with a giggle. He laughed back.
"Well, they are bad." He held her hands to his face and kissed each one. She sat on one of the larger rocks. He placed a foot on one and kept the other in the water. She braced herself for the theatrics that were coming her way.
"This fair maiden will be," his voice boomed as he placed a hand on his chest," my girlfriend!" She laughed, her head going back.
"Ok, ok my turn," she got up and grabbed a long stick, she found a river stone that would make her about Eddie's height and gestured for him to stand in front of her. "Kneel, noble dragon slayer!"
He did as she commanded, kneeling on one leg. She placed the stick on his shoulder. "You who have out ridden the fearsome red dragon, Sir Edward Munson, will from henceforth be my boyfriend!" She finished tapping his other shoulder. "Rise mighty warrior!"
His eyes beamed with glee as he wrapped his arms around her and carried her off the rock. The stick fell to the forest floor and he brought her back to the comforter, and she held their shoes on the way up.
As they started to exit the trees and return to the cleaning he looked at an old apple tree. "I think we should commemorate this occasion, Milady." He gently put her down and took out a small utility knife from his back pocket. He began carving into the bark.
'E + E' stood there surrounded by a lopsided heart. She placed her fingers in the grooves tracing it as he put his knife away. Her cheeks flushed and her face hurt from the smile he had stamped on it.
"I don't think there's anyone like you," she muttered. "My own angel."
He held her close, burying his face in her hair. "I don't care how long you take to be okay. I will be there every step of the way, Ellie. Mordor and back."
She felt something snap inside her, something she didn't know she had. She looked up into his amber eyes, the warmth consumed her and made the world spin as he smiled down at her.
"Mordor and back," she repeated, hugging him tight; she ignored the pain in her ribs. She hid her face in his vest and heard a small sob.
He froze, scared and rested his hands on her shoulders, pulling away from the hug. "Ellie, babe?" Her hands reached up to him.
"I love you," she cried, her fingers digging into arms. "I fucking love you, Eddie."
"I fucking love you too," he cooed back. She realized in that moment; he saw her for her, not the black and metal and music but the person who broke in that alley and against his father. He saw the rage; she would fight her way through hell for him because he was worth it.
He knew she was also worth that same struggle and though the demons were inside her head he would be the knight who safeguarded her, shield and sword in hand from everything in this world that wanted to harm her.
They rested on the comforter, gently running their fingers along each other. Small kisses and tender words were all the world was in that moment, nothing could break the sanctity of this clearing. The flowers swayed in the breeze and birds sang only for them.
If you had told Eddie he was in the shire he would've believed now. It didn't feel real to him. The sun began to set and they watched as the world became dark and starry, crickets starting their orchestra. They could count every star in the whole galaxy if they wanted to.
It started to get cold, autumn was around the corner and he let her rest in the backseat, wrapped in the comforter. He played his music gently and smiled to himself.
This was the first time she had peacefully slept and it was all him. When he pulled in the driveway he saw that someone had graffitied the house, the black paint illuminated by his headlights.
It read "FREAKS" in chunky letters.
And it didn't matter. He scooped her into his arms and brought her up to the bedroom, she wiggled a bit as his hands slid out from under her as he placed her on the mattress. He went into the basement and grabbed the paint she had used to fix the outside, plopped down on a folding stool and painted over the words in navy blue paint so she would never have to see it. He then crawled into bed and rested against her, the sounds of her gentle breathing lulling him to sleep.
AN: I needed some fluff so sweet it could give me cavities.