shadows of the night. // Eddie Munson x OC

013 ✧ Things Lost in the Fire

A/N: Hey hey. Do these two ever get out of bed?? Smut and roleplay as a treat. Enjoy this one bc the next is...Super Fun Time. Pretty please comment!! Words, votes, and recs are so appreciated. I'm hunnybee038 on Tiktok. xx

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Phoenix thumbed through crisp pages when the door opened and shut down the hallway. Eddie's usual call made her smile at her chapter of Little Women.

   "Honey, I'm home!" He appeared at her doorway lightning quick. Saw her curled up in the corner with her book."That's not old, is it?"

   "Give it a few million more until I decide your voice box is mine," she only shrugged, eyes scanning the page she was finishing.  A dark flannel loose to her thighs.

   "That looks like my shirt." Frankly, they shared clothing often enough, it was running together.

   "How many of my scrunchies are in your room and van?" She closed the novel and set it in her window. "Your kid has me picking up books I was neglecting for a few years there."

   "I've a good eye for my sheep," Eddie shrugged, crossing to sit opposite her. He eyed her easel that was covered and peered at the dark clouds rolling. "How's the hand now?"

   "Oh, I may just keep it," she flexed. "Been a beat since I had a fight. I've had my share, the secret is surprise. And jerk guys with egos the size of the moon never want to admit they lost to a girl."

   "Something tells me this wasn't your worst one."

   "No, before we moved...after I was out of the hospital and all messed up. Still healing. This kid who used to poke fun at me started up when I was out for a walk. Used to just ignore him before and not even bring it up cause I was so consumed with being perfect But, I dunno, this day...I turned around. All padded and bandaged while he was jeering. Pilled up to hell so I didn't feel a thing," she rubbed her eyes. "I told him to eat shit. I was gonna go and then he called me fucking Pocahontas. So I wheeled back around with a fist and I broke four of his teeth."

   "Shit," Eddie's brow rose. He tried to picture her breathing smoke. Picture her with mighty wings stretching and dangerous eyes closing in.

   "And I knew it wasn't just the fire that made me angry, it was everything. Every lie I told myself. Every little injustice I just watched. I get mad about lost time, I think. Mad that people just...fucking suck sometimes and you can't force the world to make sense. Mad that what I put into this world wasn't valued," she huffed, legs curling up to her chest. Tired, Phoenix lulled her head to see him. Listening. Caught utterly as she reeled him in.

   "Don't look at me, I process my emotions with high fantasy roleplay. That's how I fight and survive all of this. Strategic, no? A world I built so it always makes sense," Eddie's honesty had her cracking. Fi sighed and put her chin on her arms, shoulders rolling. "Maybe it doesn't need to all make sense, you know? Maybe you just find some people that are just as confused as you are. Least you're not alone when you have that."

   She processed that, perking to exhale into the space they shared. Her voice lowered but it kept its power.

   "I'm glad I'm not alone anymore, Eddie." The confession scorched. She felt all her nerves prickling. Eyes panning from him to the corkboard full of photos and back. Not so distant flashes that filled her with life again.

   "I'm glad to have you in the party, Fi," he reclined on his elbow. Eddie was glad that he made his friends feel less alone. They both seemed to relax there under the flooding night sky. "Want to know something?"

   "Hm?"

   "I was terrified of graduating so I screwed my grades on purpose the second time. Anxiety got the best of me. I stopped trying," Eddie chewed on his bottom lip and she hummed, brows lifting in question. "Yeah, I had my own little world and the thought of entering a new one. Thinking I might end up like my old man, just...it fucking terrified me."