TW: mentions of physical abuse and injuries

Distant Early Warning - Rush

On February 6th, Beck told Eddie that she had finally submitted her petition for legal emancipation from her mother.

He had been elated and could not figure out why she was not happier. She had worked on this for as long as he had known her and now it was done.

When he said as much, she shook her head and looked as worried as he had ever seen her.

"Things are going to get worse before they get better and I can't celebrate until I'm rid of her."

And he hated how quickly she was proved right.

Together in his bed, Eddie ran his fingertips across the tiny pink scars on Beck's back.

She had been cagey as hell when, the day after she had submitted her petition, he had figured out she was hurt. She wouldn't put on her backpack, instead carrying it around in one hand, and she sat weirdly upright at all times. Only after seeing he was not going to relent had she had finally shown him her back. He had hissed in sympathy pain when he saw the scrapes and bruises, and his stomach had dropped when he realized he could see the prongs of an engagement ring outlined in some of them.

Beck had refused to discuss what had happened or why her mom had done this but it seemed obvious that her mom had learned of Beck's petition. He had seen bruising and injuries on her before but that had been the worst he had seen yet. Even though she tried to hide it he could tell Beck was scared and that frightened him; she had always been the one insisting that things were under control.

Her back was now healed but Eddie had decided he was going to get Beck out of this. There was no way he could just ignore what was in front of him, no matter how many times she asked him to, and he had a plan.

Beck turned her back away from him so they faced one another and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him back to her and kissing him softly. The biggest downside to his constant transparency was that she knew with absolute certainty that he would not let this last "interaction" with her mom die. No matter how many times she asked for patience, for him to just wait for the system to work, he would not.

"Beck…"

She sighed and turned her face into his pillow. Sure enough, she could hear where this was going in his pleading tone.

"Beck," he continued, determined. "you can legally move out at sixteen in Indiana. I looked it up. You could move out and your mom wouldn't be able to stop you."

She pulled away from him, getting out of bed and starting to get dressed. "And go where? I can't spend what I have on rent now because I have to show I can support myself when the petition is heard."

"I was thinking..." Eddie sat up and bunched the sheets in his lap, feeling literally and figuratively exposed, "you could move in here. You could live with me."

She stopped, shirt in her hand, and turned to face him. He was dead serious. The thought of a path out made her lightheaded. But Sarah had already offered the same thing and Beck would have to turn him down for the same reason.

"What would you tell your uncle?" she asked, pulling on her turtleneck and grabbing her sweater from under his jeans. She knew full well that he knew what she considered to be the right answer here.

"He's not like that. We could tell him you need to be somewhere safe and he wouldn't -"

"How many times do I have to tell you no?!" she said, trying hard not to yell but it was so FRUSTRATING. He and Sarah were trying to help but people trying to help could do a shit ton of damage. "I know what I'm talking about damn it! My mom and I moved here because she was fired when my doctor called child protective services on her! And nothing changed! I'm still with her!"

That was information he had not known and it caught him off guard.

"How is that even possible?" he asked.

"She's in law, remember?" Beck sighed. She was so sick of talking about her mom. She just wanted to have spaces where she could exist without having to talk about the thing that haunted her and caused her so much stress her stomach hurt from it.

Eddie pulled on his boxers and moved to her, holding her shoulders. How could he get through to her that this could be different?

"Uncle Wayne wouldn't ask questions," he said and he knew it was true. His uncle was not his father and while Wayne held the line with him about school he had always been pretty lenient with Eddie; he suspected his uncle was trying to make up for the way his brother had raised Eddie.

"Your uncle would not question a minor that is not related to him living in his home? Seriously?!"

"He knows we're together and–"

"High schoolers don't just live together when they're dating! That's not a good enough reason and you know it!"

Eddie's heart was so loud in his own ears he was sure she could hear it too. He was so fucking sick of this whole situation: of her being hurt by her mother and him being told to just stand by while she hid things from him. He cared about her SO MUCH and she was being so stubborn and he could fix this if she would just let him.

"Then we can just tell him it's because I'm in love with you!" he shouted.

They both stopped, frozen by what he had just said.

Holy shit… Eddie thought. He had just told her that he loved her. Fucking months of holding those words back for them to come out like that. Yelling that in her face because he was pissed off had been a huge mistake. What was wrong with him?!

Beck watched Eddie's face and when she saw his instant regret it felt like someone had stomped on her heart. He didn't mean it. It just another stupid plan of his, another big, dramatic reaction. But she did love him and the cruelty of saying something like that was too much for her.

"Fuck. You," she hissed, and then, knowing that she was going to start crying, she shoved past him, rushing to the front door to start pulling on her shoes.

Eddie panicked, blindsided by a reaction that seemed to have no context with what he had said; still in just boxers, he grabbed for pants and sneakers, pulling them on as he heard the door slam behind her. Following her outside, the cold pounded him like a wave but he caught up. Blindly he grabbed her arm to slow her down and immediately knew it was a mistake.

She tore her arm out of his grip and spun on him.

"Don't fucking touch me," she hissed, moving up to him so fast that he tripped trying to back away from her.

Eddie watched her knock on the door of the trailer across from his, ask to use their phone, and disappear inside. Fifteen minutes later, he watched through the blinds in his room as Sarah picked her up and drove her away from him.

It had taken a few rounds of calling different people but Eddie was eventually able to track down Sarah's address, but a few hours after Beck had walked out he was knocking on Sarah's front door.

As he waited for someone to answer, he felt like he was going to throw up. Eddie knew he shouldn't have shouted at Beck but he couldn't figure out why she had left. The idea that he had finally pushed her past her limit and that this was it... He could not physically take the panic that created in him.

He heard footsteps and then Sarah opened the door. Beck's best friend looked annoyed and stayed in the doorway, not allowing him in.

"Is she here?" he asked, trying to peek behind her but Sarah was fairly tall.

"Just leave her alone, Eddie," she said. She had been pissed as hell when Beck had asked for a ride, not because she didn't have the right to ask but because she knew it meant he had finally done something unforgivable. And indeed when Beck had burst into tears in the car and explained what he had said, Sarah had been ready to turn the car around.

"I need to talk to her. Please!"

"Yeah and maybe she doesn't want to talk to you."

"But why?! I don't know why she's mad!" He felt like he was losing his mind.

Sarah scoffed despite her attempt to stay a neutral middle in this conversation. "Because that was a fucked up thing to say!"

"Why is that fucked up? I shouldn't have yelled at her but I meant it!"

He watched genuine surprise flash on Sarah's face and pieces started coming together. He wording had been we can just tell him and she must have taken this as a sign he didn't mean it. Which yeah, would have been really fucked up.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I DO love her! I love her so fucking much!"

Sarah glanced to her right, where Beck stood out of sight against the wall. She looked as shocked as Sarah felt. Sarah turned back to Eddie, still on her front porch and looking a bit hysterical.

"She… thought you meant it was a good lie. She didn't think you were serious."

Eddie was so frustrated he felt like he could burst as he covered his face with his hands and roared into them. Goddamn his inability to say what he meant! This was so, so bad.

"Hey…"

He felt Sarah's hand on his shoulder and he looked up, dragging his hands down his face.

"Just… give her a break okay? Give her space this weekend."

"Till Monday?" he moaned. "I don't even know if we're still together."

Sarah felt Beck grab her hand behind the door and met her friend's violet eyes, wide with urgent pleading.

"She's not breaking up with you," Sarah said, turning back to Eddie. "Okay? You always find her at school anyway."

Sarah shut the door and watched him get into the van, where he repeatedly slammed his fist into the dash before finally driving off.

"Well now you know he loves you, I guess," she said as she turned back to Beck.

"Yeah…" Beck said, twisting hair around her finger and staring aimlessly.

Sarah did not like what she saw when she looked at her friend.

"You cannot be seriously thinking about living with him," Sarah warned. "It's a bad idea."

"Is it though? If his uncle doesn't care and my mom can't stop me legally…"

"Beck!" she exclaimed, frustrated that she had to explain this. "You think it's bad at school now? Wait until you're the teen live-in girlfriend of the weirdest guy in Hawkins! Getting beat up by the assholes at school isn't better than getting beat up by your mom!"

Sarah watched Beck's face fall and felt guilty, but she was just as worried for Beck as Eddie was and she could only guess what fresh hell would erupt if Beck lived with him.

"Come on," she said, wrapping Beck in a hug. "You don't have to worry about it until Monday at least. Want to drown your sorrows? Scoops Ahoy apparently hired Steve Harrington so two for one there."

Beck laughed darkly. "Sounds good." Anything that wasn't a metal head that had taken over every corner of her brain sounded good right now.

Forgive me for leaving things there but I could not resist! :P