Tonight is What It Means to Be Young - Fire Inc.
By the end of the month the entire school knew they were living together. Beck had told Ms. Kelley who had informed the administration but their peers had to puzzle it together though it wasn't particularly hard to do.
Mercifully, there wasn't a lot that any of them could say or do that would have much of an effect as their public story was that she had moved in because they were in love. It was hard to argue with that after Eddie had spray painted that he loved her on the school itself so it went unquestioned.
Occasional bitchy remarks or looks of disgust didn't really phase either of them at this point and it was very clear in some cases that the contempt was thinly veiled jealousy. But because Ms. Kelley had gotten involved, Beck was under close watch by the teachers and that added a layer of protection from physical harassment that she sincerely appreciated.
Their lives, remarkably, settled into comfortable routine and winter finally started to give way to spring.
Bored in the school library, Beck idly started listing the pros and cons of their current living situation now that they were a month in.
Con - It was entirely possible she would break some of Eddie's fingers before she moved back out just to get a respite from hearing the same solo so often she could probably have played it herself. He was nothing if not single minded and dedicated as she well knew but there was only so much Metallica a girl could hear the same ten seconds of before desperate actions were needed.
Pro - Eddie was, which should not have surprised her at all, a sleep talker. This was an unexpected pro though because while she already knew that he was aggressively cuddly and that was cute, waking up to somebody whispering about an orangutan in the closet that they would almost certainly have to fight was hilarious.
Con - On the other hand, he had also woken her both crying and laughing in his sleep and that was fucking terrifying.
Related Con - If he didn't tone down the ways in which he decided to wake her up, she was going to start screaming. Beck could not even fathom waking up with that much energy and having a little song sung two inches from her face only sounded cute. She needed a solid twenty minutes of standing in a shower to wake up so he was definitely trying to kill her.
Pro - There were some methods of waking her up that she had found appreciation for, however. You would never hear her complain about being woken up with kisses that sometimes turned into more than that. His boundless energy first thing in the morning definitely had a direction it liked to take if she was game.
Related Pro - Beck had been raised with the general belief that if girls talked to guys about their periods they would burst into flame or (somehow implied to be worse) stop seeing them as desirable. That was definitely not Eddie. How it had not occurred to her, Eddie, or Wayne that two guys living together did not own a single period product was beyond her but it turned out that caring for someone in pain with something her boyfriend excelled at. And while Midol was great and all that, it was hard to beat multiple orgasms that were given without pressure for reciprocation.
Con - There may or may not have been a small confrontation between her and Wayne in the past week though he seemed to have moved on. He had stormed in as they were getting ready for school, demanding an explanation for why every cat in Hawkins was screaming at him and trying to trip him when he tried to leave or enter his damn home. When Beck had admitted she was feeding them, he had told her to stop and when she refused because they looked hungry and needed someone, Wayne had glowered at her in complete silence for a full minute. The compromise had been that she feed them somewhere else so they didn't try to kill him, which she took as a win over his original suggestion that they get chased back off into the woods where they belonged.
Pro - Beck had finally given the gift of a new obsession to Eddie which she felt was long overdue since he had shared metal and D&D with her. Beck had brought her cheap black and white volumes of X-men comics with her and they caught Eddie's eye when Beck had been unpacking her things. Bored one night when Beck was gone for drama showcase rehearsal, he had dug out her volume of the Dark Phoenix Saga. When he picked her up, she had immediately been bombarded with excited questions about the Hellfire Club. It took her a second to realize he was talking about X-men and not his D&D group but the rest of the night had been filling in backstory and recommending other plot arcs he might like. She had always teased him for getting so turned on when she would talk about Iron Maiden but she had to admit she definitely found his new interest to be quite attractive.
Pro and Con - All of her things smelled like him. Unfortunately that could be a lingering cigarette or weed smell though he had been remarkably conscientious about that. But her clothes also smelled like him in the best ways. They were using the same shampoo, soap, and detergent now and the woodsy cologne he used lingered as well.
Pro - Eddie wasn't a bad cook and usually cooked for them, including a very cute late night "breakfast food feast" after the student play showcase finally wrapped up.
Beck rubbed her forehead, knowing that there was a last big con that she had been avoiding. She jotted it down and then snapped her notebook shut, staring at the stacks with unfocused eyes.
Con - He was a constant cyclone of mess and it had led to Beck learning a secret Eddie had been keeping.
While the end of the semester meant that the drama showcase was over and Beck had more free time, it also meant that third quarter grades had gone out. When they got home, Eddie had thrown his disaster backpack onto the desk in their room, contents flying across the surface, and started digging in a shelf for his extra strings for band practice in a half hour.
Biting back her annoyance, Beck had started shoving things back into his backpack so she could actually use the desk for a math assignment. But one of the papers felt noticeably different than notebook paper and when she gave it a second look she saw it was thick cardstock with Hawkins High letterhead. She smoothed it out and her stomach rolled.
"What the fuck is this?" she asked and when Eddie looked up to see her holding his report card he went paler than usual.
"Why are you going through my stuff?" he snapped, tearing it out of her hand and shoving it back into his bag.
"Because your shit is everywhere all the time so there's really no avoiding it," she retorted, pushing herself to her full height, which wasn't much but usually worked on him.
He had backed off and gone back to looking for the guitar strings, ears and neck bright red.
"Eddie, you're not going to graduate with those grades."
"Well look at it this way," he said, trying to sound chipper as he found the paper packet of strings, "we get to graduate together! Don't have to worry about that year until you graduate now!"
"You know that isn't what I want."
"Well," he turned to her, his eyes cold in a way she hadn't seen before, "it's what you're getting. If you decide to stick it out another year in high school with your idiot boyfriend that is."
And there was the explanation for why he had been hiding from her. The way he always misconstrued everything to fit inside a secret insecurity of his would really never stop surprising her.
She moved to him and held him still, hands gripping his biceps. "Eddie… You are absolutely one of the smartest people in your class. You're not stupid so it's just confusing."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said, pulling away from her. "I have band practice."
And that was the last time they had talked about it. She had assumed, as probably many people had, that his flippancy was the cause of his school difficulties but she was starting to think it was more of an effect.
The bell rang and as Beck packed up her things, Jean – one of the student directors she had worked with – jogged up to the library desk.
"Hey! Ms. Kelley said to pop in before you head to class!" she said with a wave before heading off.
Beck's stomach flipped and she jogged off to find the school counselor.
"Beck Beck Beck Beck Beck!"
It was the end of the day and Eddie looked ready to burst with excitement as he rushed toward her. She was grateful he was distracted because she needed time to process after her conversation with Ms. Kelley.
"What's going on?" she asked, laughing as he hugged her tightly from behind and buried his face in her neck.
"I can't believe that Gareth swung it but, Beck, this is big!"
Eddie felt her take his face in her hands and pull his focus back down to her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked slowly and deliberately.
"Sorry!" he said, forcing himself to focus his racing thoughts. "We have a gig! Like outside of the Hideout! Like an actual music event!"
"Shit! Are you serious?!" she exclaimed, growing as excited as he was. "What event? Where?!"
"Muncie has a spring music festival. Gareth submitted a tape and we're in! The slot is late at night but still!"
He was so full of adrenaline that when she kissed him she also had to pry him off of her, reminding him that they were in fact still at school.
"I was wondering," he said as they walked out to his van, suddenly growing shy, "if you would come with us. I mean it's a long day but it'd be nice to have you…"
Eddie watched her face closely and when she didn't reply immediately he could feel his ears starting to heat with embarrassment.
"You know don't worry about it–"
"Eddie!" Beck laughed, grabbing his arm, "I'm definitely coming! You've just never wanted me to see you guys before. I was surprised."
"Yeah well playing at the Hideout isn't worth watching. But this…," Eddie said, his grin returning as he met her eyes again, "this should be fucking metal."
"How's our groupie?" Gareth teased before giving Beck a side hug.
It was six in the morning on a Saturday and they were loading Jeff's car and Eddie's van with the people and gear they needed for the show. Eddie had not slept and had been so restless that Beck finally snapped and sent him to toss and turn on the couch before murder happened. And true to form, Eddie was hummingbirding his way around the group, making sure all the amps, cords, and accouterments of the performance were there.
"Please," she teased, elbowing Gareth gently in the ribs, "I'm a roadie, not a groupie."
"Is that so?" Jeff asked, loading an amp into the back of the van with a huff. "Because I don't see you carrying anything."
"Being your lead guitar's handler is a full time job. Got to save my strength," she teased back. Jeff belly laughed and gave her a high five before heading off for the mics.
"What's going on?" Eddie said, popping over to see what everyone was talking about as Gareth left to start loading his drums.
"Talking about how good this performance is going to be," she said, "especially if you take a couple breaths."
He smiled sheepishly and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. "Thank you."
"Just remember to worship me as a goddess and we'll be even," she said with a wicked little grin that made his heart flutter.
"Oh I have plans for that, don't you worry," he purred into her ears and felt her fist her hands in his shirt.
But that also reminded Beck of something.
"What are you doing?" he wheedled as she went digging around in her overnight bag. In response a shirt hit him in the face and then she was moving off, handing out shirts to each of them.
Eddie shook out the shirt to see Corroded Coffin written across the chest in Def Leppard like letters with a skeleton hand bursting out of a coffin lid. The hand was holding aloft a guitar that was positioned between the two Fs in Coffin with one flipped the wrong way.
"Holy shit!" Jeff exclaimed, speaking for all of them. "Beck, how did you get these?"
"I made them," she said, and Eddie watched her go scarlet at the looks that got from the guys. "It just seemed like you didn't have band shirts. I didn't have time to run a design by everyone so I'm sorry if it's not–"
"Stop apologizing!" Todd cut in. "They're perfect!"
Gareth said they needed to hit the road and so everyone loaded up, with Beck and Eddie driving the instruments and amps and the other three guys in Jeff's car.
Beck stayed quiet through the entire drive while Eddie playing solo after solo on his unplugged guitar. They all arrived in time to check into the motel they had found and grab food before the guys crammed into her and Eddie's room to practice their set for the night.
She took advantage of the time to wander the different stages alone, enjoying the range and being able to listen to Madonna covers without narrative in her ear. As the sun was setting, she headed back to meet them for dinner where they all wolfed down burgers and fries before changing into their performance attire and rushing off to set up at the bar they were playing.
Ten minutes before they were to take the small stage, it was clear Eddie was starting to wear on his bandmates so Beck grabbed him and pulled him over to a stool.
"Sit," she commanded, pulling black eyeliner out of her purse. She caught the back of his head and forced him to sit still as she started lining his eyes.
"You've prepared as much as you can," she soothed, smoking out the line she had drawn under his eye with her pinky finger. "You've got this. Look down."
He obeyed and she continued to murmur soothing things to him as rimmed both eyes in smoky black. When she was done, he felt like the fire ants that always ate him up from inside out when he was nervous had been exterminated.
"Where the hell did you learn that?" he asked, checking out his appearance.
"Applying eyeliner?"
He gave her a look and she laughed.
"I realized when I started doing stage makeup that most people chill pretty fast when you have their face in your hands and things near their eyes. Plus I thought it would be really hot so it wasn't just altruism," she said.
"Evil genius," he teased, kissing her deeply until Todd yelled for them to break it up and for Eddie to get on the damn stage.
As Eddie walked out onto the stage with his bandmates a chorus of cheers went up and his skin prickled. This was it. All or nothing right now.
Beck had watched from the wings and knew without a doubt they were fucking killing it. It was evident after the first song that the crowd was living for what they were playing and only after two encores did they allow Corroded Coffin to exit the stage. The guys came rushing off looking like they'd run a marathon but band life was far from over yet.
They packed everything up and were surprised to find a small but very ardent crowd waiting for them outside the bar. Beck had watched with amusement as several girls tried their very hardest with Eddie. The boy was a natural flirt and she would have been more jealous if he had not been so obviously trying to get her to come over and rescue him.
It was long past midnight when they got all their shit back to the motel and another hour was spent decompressing as they all relived every epic moment from the show together. After Gareth fell asleep sitting up, they all agreed on a time to meet up the next morning before Beck and Eddie left for their shared room.
The second their door clicked shut, they were on one another, stripping clothes off and mouths meeting in needy, hot kisses.
"You are so goddamn hot with that guitar," Beck panted as Eddie worked off his jeans while trying to keep contact with her lips. "And that fucking eyeliner."
She shoved him back onto the bed they were sharing and straddled him, appreciating how surprised he looked when he hit the mattress before shoving himself upright to kiss her again.
"And you look so goddamn hot in my band's shirt," he groaned as she ground her hips against him. But as much as he loved the shirt on her it had to go so it hit the floor, shortly followed by her bra.
"I could watch you like that every single day for the rest of my life," she sighed between their kisses.
"Should I be so lucky," he murmured before gasping loudly as she reached between his legs.
Beck grinned and grabbing a handful of his hair, pulling his lips back to hers. "Speaking of getting lucky, I have a surprise for you."
They had all appreciated sleeping in and were grabbing breakfast at a diner on their way home when Jeff caught a hold of Eddie's arm. Before he could pull away, he shoved up the sleeve of Eddie's jacket.
"Dude, what happened to your wrist?!"
"Wrists," Gareth corrected, grinning ear to ear. "Both it looks like."
Eddie blushed scarlet as Beck snorted with laughter into her coffee, not making contact with a single other person at the table.
"And here we thought those cuffs were all show," Jeff teased.
"Guys!" Eddie snapped, looking red enough to stop traffic.
"Don't mind him," Beck said, kissing his burning cheek. "He might be cranky. He didn't get a ton of sleep last night."
Even Eddie could not resist laughing as their food arrived and mercifully ended the conversation.
Struggled to find a way to transition back into our normal more episodic structure but I think this turned out well. Reviews appreciated so let me know what you think!