Holidays were coming and going faster than Delilah seemed to be able to keep up with. Halloween had gone off without a hitch as she spent it with Dustin at Eddie's trailer. She made food, stew if she remembered right, and the three of them all watched horror movies and ate candy Delilah had bought everyone. It was the first time she had seen her brother smile in what seemed like forever. Christmas was going to be another animal she assumed. Delilah had accepted her mother's invitation to family Christmas, Eddie included. She was promised that Charles wouldn't be anywhere near her and was told to keep everything civil. For once, Delilah felt like she had her family on her side. Maybe the distance really was helping them realize how easily Delilah could shut them out. This brought her an unnecessary amount of comfort. To think that she could guard herself so carefully made her feel safe.
Something that didn't make her feel safe was how fast she was falling for Eddie Munson. Sure, /he/ made her feel safe, but the idea of breaking down another wall to him seemed so scary. Things had seemed to continue on their normal path after she confessed her nightmares to him. That had been a scary night for her but more so because for once her mind was silent. There wasn't a gnawing sense of fear in her heart. Eddie and her were trying to get ready for the Christmas party that had developed per Dustin that morning, letting her know that the Wheelers and Mayfields would be joining them that evening. This made Delilah want to dress a little nicer since there would be other families around. She put on a pair of skinny, black, denim jeans without holes in them and an oversized navy blue sweater. Eddie was sliding on his red and black flannel and buttoning it up over his Iron Maiden t-shirt.
"Are you okay?" Eddie asked, his hands twirling away at tying the laces of his boots up as Delilah fixed her hair in the mirror for easily the fifth time.
"Yeah I just . . . I don't know . . . I'm nervous I guess," She said, a lit joint hanging from in between her lips. There was no way she was dealing with this much social interaction without being blitzed out of her mind. She had even packed a flask in her side bag that she intended on taking.
"I get it, I'm pretty sure the last time I saw your dad I told him off pretty good so . . . " He finished tying his boots and stood up to wave himself around, turning on his boot heels and asking how he looked.
"You should let me put your hair in a ponytail!" Delilah gasped and bounded towards him. He began to resist as the two fought for a moment, Eddie's hands around Delilah's wrists.
"No way! I gotta let my freak flag fly!" He said, trying to push her hands away from his hair.
She moved her hands to his side before sneaking in to place a quick kiss on his lips. Eddie's defense waived and the grip on her wrists loosened as his hands drifted to her hips. "Fine but next time, you're letting me play with your hair," She added, kissing him once again.
"Deal, princess," He spoke before he noticed Delilah's twisted look on her face.
"I thought that name was reserved for your guitar?" She asked, perking her brows in confusion at him.
"Maybe this knight's eyes have shifted to a new . . . prospect?" He asked, sounding medieval.
"Oh my, a man has come a courtin'!" She said in a thick southern accent with a wide smile on her face. She couldn't speak in a renaissance tone so she went with what she knew best.
"Damnit, Janet," He started to sing Rocky Horror Picture Show before he stopped and looked directly into her eyes. Her hazel orbs were getting lost in those chocolate brown hues boring into her own eyes. "Delilah, I-"
"Kids, it's snowing, you all better head on out!" Eddie's uncle Wayne shouted to them from the living room.
"Thanks Wayne!" Eddie breathed out back to his direction before smiling back at Delilah. "Ready?"
"Of course, my handsome prince," She said with a wide smile on her face. The two engaged in a small kiss before heading out to Delilah's car. She had better tires so the two were obviously going to take hers.
The car ride there was filled with one of Delilah's mixed tapes which consisted mostly of The Cure and Depeche Mode, bands like that. She liked more alternative music and it was honestly growing on Eddie as much as he probably hated to admit. Delilah sang almost every word of every song on the tape as they pulled into the Henderson driveway which was full to the brim. Delilah was wrapped up in Eddie's leather jacket and he was in his denim one with patches all over it. The two shared another kiss before heading into the house. Claudia always did the house up for Christmas and this year was no different. The Christmas tree was brimming with presents and even the family cat had a ribbon tied around it's collar. Tews bounced across the floor as Delilah and Eddie closed the door behind them.
Almost everyone seemed to be gathered in the living room, Charles immediately locking eyes with Delilah who glanced over to Nancy, who she hadn't seen since . . . well, she couldn't even remember. Delilah was quickly embraced by the head of the Wheeler household, Karen and asked who the strapping man accompanying her. She obviously knew Eddie from Hellfire Club but she embraced him like he was family as well. The Wheelers and the Henderson family considered themselves as very close. Mostly due to Nancy and Delilah being friends in elementary school and then Mike and Dustin shortly there after.
The two worked their way to the kitchen where Delilah noticed a punch bowl for the kids and then one for the adults. Delilah quickly poured herself and Eddie two glasses of the mixture, knowing if it was Claudia's recipe, it was damn strong. She had been letting Delilah drink that stuff ever since she was fifteen and it used to be the only way Delilah would get a good buzz going. As Eddie took a sip, he choked back a little , not expecting how truly strong it would be. He wiggled his brows playfully at Delilah though as he took another long sip. Delilah smiled at him, enjoying his company since her nerves were still on edge. She hadn't seen Claudia or Charles yet but was thankful for it. She took a sip of her own punch and the two bumped into Mike and Nancy. The conversations were civil and pretty calm, Eddie and Mike rambled about Hellfire and Nancy and Delilah talked about what they had been up to lately. Thought Nancy's life was a little more busy than Delilah's which was filled with work, smoking weed, watching movies and hanging out with Eddie.
"Delilah! Eddie! You made it!" Charles voice rang through the room as Delilah's skin seemed to crawl at the sound. "I thought the snow might slow you down. Hey kids, merry Christmas!" He said, flinging his arms around Eddie almost enough to make him spell his punch.
Eddie shot Delilah a confused look and didn't return the embrace of her father. She couldn't blame him. He went in for a hug with Delilah but she extended her hand and stopped him from getting any closer. She definitely wasn't ready for any of that, despite it being a holiday or not. She was struggling to get into the holiday cheer that particular event. Her dad let out a small sigh and let his hands drop to his sides before turning back to Mike and Nancy.
"Are you all hungry? Food is coming up! Claudia really outdid herself this year!"
Delilah took another stiff swig from her glass, trying to find Dustin over him. Eventually, while Charles was rambling about all the food that was being made, she spotted him. He was in a Christmas sweater their mom had no doubt made him wear, a pair of baggy jeans and a santa hat adorned his curly hair. Without even saying excuse me, Delilah grabbed Eddie's hand and slid past them, heading straight for Dustin. When he spotted the two of them, his face lit up magically. Delilah dropped Eddie's hand to hold her brother in a tight hug. She felt like crying, it had been so long since she had seen him. Sure they were siblings, but she considered Dustin one of her best friends. She cared about him more than anyone else and would protect him at all costs.
"Henderson, merry Christmas!" Eddie said, embracing both of them in a group hug.
"Ah! You guys are going to suffocate me!" He yelled from being buried in the hug.
The hug disbanded and the three smiled at one another, Delilah snuck some of her punch to Dustin who immediately regretted taking a sip. This caused the group to laugh lightly and Delilah wished this moment would last forever. She liked spending time with Eddie and Dustin all at once. She wished that they were just watching movies or something, but if she had to endure her father's Christmas spirit, she would. The three discussed what they had been up to, Dustin talked about school and so did Eddie who was apparently squeaking by in his classes. Delilah felt a sting of guilt since the two had really slacked on studying lately. Every time they tried they would wind up starting to kiss and once that happened, it was game over and nothing was getting accomplished.
"Just a heads up Delilah, I think dad got us something," He said, gulping lightly at the thought of Delilah being forced to open a present from him.
"Well isn't that something?" She said, trying not to sound overly disdained at the fact.
That's when she spotted Max. Her red hair in braids over her shoulders and sitting by herself on the couch in the Henderson living room. She hadn't really spoken to Max since everything had happened. She had heard rumors of her struggling to connect with people lately. Dustin said she kind of shut herself away. She could understand that for sure. She informed the two that she would be right back as she made her way to Max. She polished off her punch but kept her glass for a refill that she would definitely be needing. She sat down beside the girl and offered her a small smile.
"Hey Max, how's it going? Merry Christmas," She said, softly.
"Oh hey, Delilah," She said, pulling her headphones off of her ears and hitting the stop button on her cassette player, "Merry Christmas."
Her voice was soft and reserved and her eyes kept dancing away from Delilah's nervously. Delilah didn't really know what to say now that she was here. She wanted to say something about Billy, but how did she bring that up? From what she understood, Billy had made her life a living hell. She never understood his disdain for Max. She seemed like such a good kid, but she didn't understand half of Billy she figured. She only got to see a couple of sides to him and luckily, it was his good sides. FOr the most part.
"Look um . . . If you want to come and hang out with us, you can. I'll even sneak you some of the grown up punch if you want?" She said with a kind smile, seeing a small one peak through on Max's face.
"Thanks I . . . I think I'm good here for now," She added, unable to look Delilah in the face.
"Yeah, no problem," She said, setting her hand on Max's knee for a moment, "I never um . . . I never got to tell you how sorry I was. That I . . . The mall . . . I couldn't do much. You were a regular hero though. You seem really tough, don't let go of that, okay?" Delilah removed her hand from Max's knee, worried she had crossed a line before running a hand through her curly locks, "Stay tough, Mayfield."
With that, Delilah got up to her feet and made her way back to the boys who Mike had joined up with for a moment as well. She watched as the three of them smiled and laughed and discussed their campaign being half way over with already. As she rejoined the boys, she wrapped her arms around Eddie's waist and pulled him close, earning herself a quick glance and smile before he went back to talking to his fellow adventurers. It was moments like these that she felt she would remember the most. Silly, little, insignificant things that she would hold dear to her to outweigh the big bad in her life. Despite the situation she was currently in, she still felt at peace with things. As long as she could steer clear of her dad, things would seem to maintain some form of balance. She made her way into the kitchen where Miss Mayfield and Claudia were, finishing up some last minute side items it looked like. At the sight of Claudia, she took a firm gulp and emptied her cup, desperately wishing her glass had been full when she entered. They locked eyes and Delilah's immediately shot down, embarrassed that she had ostracized the woman she deemed her real mother.
"Oh! Delilah, right?" Miss Mayfield called out to her, pointing in her direction, "You were Billy's girl-" She stopped dead in her tracks before clearing her throat, "You were Billy's friend, right? You were there the night everything . . . well, when the fire happened. Max said you were there and helped her," The moment seemed so fluid, though Delilah felt uncomfortable talking about that night in front of Claudia.
"Really? I can't remember much to be honest," She lied. She remembered everything about that night. She had been reliving it as of late through her nightmares at least twice a week now.
"Well, thank you, really," She said, her hand covering her mouth with the back of it, looking as if she was about to cry, "Can I refill your drink for you?" She asked, nodding towards Delilah's empty punch glass.
"Um, sure, that'd be great, actually," She said, desperate to be out of the conversation with her. She handed Max's mom her glass and then slowly looked up at Claudia once she was out of the room. "Do you um . . . do you need any help?" She offered, trying not to sound as high as she was. And uncomfortable.
"No, no thank you, I think I have everything ready to go!" She said, excitedly before clearing her throat, "You look thin, have you been eating enough>" She asked, biting the bottom of her lip as if she'd said something more heinous.
"Yeah, I'm fine," She said, knowing her meal choices hadn't been the healthiest lately, "Lots of spaghetti," She chuckled, moving slowly towards Claudia, "How've you been? Dustin driving you crazy?" She asked, knowing damn well that that probably wasn't her biggest issue.
"Always," She chuckled back in response before turning to face Delilah, "He's been off since you've been gone, ya know?" She confessed and Delilah practically winced from the sound of Dustin being so effected by her lack of presence, "We all have really."
"Yeah I hear Charles is back on the couch," She said, looking down at her converse covered feet, "Wonder why that could be," Delilah winced yet again, hating that her mom was even in that sort of position.
"Delilah," She started, getting Delilah to lift her head from the floor, "You have to know I am not okay with what he did," She begged her daughter for understanding.
"Well that's reassuring," She said, tears stinging the corner of her eyeliner covered tear ducts, "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"Don't you dare apologize for what he did to you," Claudia said, grabbing Delilah by the arms. Delilah stared in disbelief at the sight of Claudia's eyes welling with tears as well. Delilah never handled emotional situations very well so she pulled in for a hug.
She heard footsteps behind her and assumed it was Miss Mayfield back with her punch glass, but she didn't care. She held her mother while she cried in her arms and Delilah couldn't help but do the same. She let her tears fall more silently though, afraid that she would encite more attention that they were already receiving. Eventually, Delilah felt comfortable enough to pull away and she quickly wiped at her face and around the corners of her eyes, smudging carefully away at the tears around her makeup.
"Thanks," Delilah said as she took the glass from Max's mother and headed back out to the living room area.
The night went on fairly well. Dinner was delicious as always and everyone seemed to have a really peaceful time with one another. Delilah did manage to steer clear of Charles the rest of the evening, even though he included her in his big speech he gave about family. Needless to say, she had been sipping on that punch all night and when Eddie and her left, she was feeling pretty good. Her and Eddie sang to a mixed tape that she had made him a while ago on their way back to his trailer. She was on cloud nine. She had gotten to make some kind of peace with Claudia, she got to spend the day goofing off with Dustin, and now she was going to end it with Eddie. Not to mention the moment she had been waiting weeks for; the gift exchange. She had gotten Eddie something she knew he was going to die for.
When they pulled up, Eddie had to help her out of the van due to how inebriated she was. She stumbled across the snow covered stoop and into the trailer. Upon entering, she noticed Uncle wAyne on the couch, passed out while It's a Wonderful Life played softly on the television. Delilah stumbled over her own feet and almost fell, Eddie barely catching her by the arms. She started to giggle before she put her finger to her lips and made a 'shhhhh' sound through her soft laughter. Eddie couldn't help but smile and snicker at her as he assisted her to the bedroom. Once there, he closed the door behind them and Delilah immediately shot for where she had hidden his present.
He wasn't the cleanest person so there was a pile of half empty boxes inside his closet that he had never bothered to move. In fact, when she had first hidden his gifts, dust clouds puffed from the cobweb covered boxes. She removed the massive box out of the corner of the closet and pulled it out, turning to face Eddie whose jaw was dropped as he held a couple of small boxes wrapped in festive paper.
"What the fuck is that?" He asked, pointing to the large box she had removed, also wrapped in red and green wrapping paper.
"A dildo, isn't that what you've always wanted?" She snarked at him, setting it gently down on the ground.
"Hah hah hah, very funny," He rolled his eyes before sitting on the ground across from Delilah. He tucked his legs under one another before he handed her her first present.
"Here, while I open this, you open /this/ one," She handed him a much smaller package which he quickly ripped apart.
Inside was a guitar strap with the words 'Corroded Coffin' on the shoulder. His face seemed to light up as he chuckled the more he unfolded it, "This is so bad ass!" He put it around himself as if he had his guitar strapped into it already before he nodded towards her, "Your turn."
Delilah quickly tore off the paper to reveal a folded up denim jacket. As she unfolded it, she started to see various patches covering it. Joan Jett, The Smiths, Led Zeppelin, but on the back was a full size patch of her favorite Cure album. She gasped and it dropped to the ground, "Eddie! I love it! Now we match!" She wiggled her brows, alluding towards his infamous Dio vest.
"Before I open that monster, I wanna see what this strap looks like on the princess," He nodded towards his guitar as he started to push himself to his feet.
"No Eddie! Seriously," She said, eyeing him carefully, "I really think you should open this first."
He stopped in his place before returning to his original sitting position, taking one end of the large package and placing the thing over his lap. His eyes were filled with wonderment as he tore off the wrapping paper, anxious to see what was on the box. It was revealed to be stark white but opened at the corners. He slowly did so before flinging the lid of the box completely off. There in his lap laid the most beautiful guitar he had ever put his eyes on. It was shaped like sharp flames and the two points almost looked like devil horns on either side of the neck. It was a work of art. Delilah was biting the corner of her lip as she wondered if he really liked it or not. She had saved up for months to get it, but she knew it would be worth it. She had talked to the guy at the music shop about it for weeks before she made her first down payment.
After what seemed like forever, Eddie looked up at her, tears squeaking out the corner of his eyes. She supposed that was as successful of a response as she could have asked for.
"This is the most metal thing . . . anyone . . . has ever done for me," He said, slowly setting the box with the guitar down on the ground next to him.
He was quick to crawl across the space between them and his hands cupped her cheeks. Their eyes matched intensity as he pulled her into a soft kiss. His lips worked against hers and Delilah's mind fluttered. The day had gone so smoothly and now it seemed to be ending her kind of way. They eventually moved to the floor where he laid on top of her and the two continued to kiss, this time a little more roughly. Needless to say, it wasn't long before the clothes started to peel off. They left them in a slump beside them, both her sweater and his shirt, now they were working on one another's jeans. His hands were tracing across the curves of her body as he slid his pants off, pulling at hers in the process. Delilah's head swelled as his lips traced across her neck, leaving small nips and bites on the way down.
She was wearing lacy black underwear as per usual and Eddie was quick to remove her bra, tossing it away. "You're so beautiful," He whispered out, his hot breath dancing on her collarbone.
"No Eddie Munson," She grabbed the sides of his face, pulling his head up to look deep into her eyes, "You are a beautiful person," She engaged in a kiss before he pulled away quickly and his hands began to tangle in her curly hair, the red streak almost completely faded into a soft pink.
"Delilah," He breathed out, his hands shaking a little bit, "I'm falling in love with you."
Delilah froze, never expecting to hear those words come out of his mouth, but she knew she was in the same boat. She had never felt this way about anyone else, not even Billy. She closed the distance between them, her hands wrapping around his shoulders as she kissed him softly. "I think," She took a moment to steady her breathing from the intense moment she was in, "I think I love you to." The two went back to kissing one another before Delilah broke the kiss this time. "Please don't leave me," She spoke out, seemingly out of place.
Eddie's eyes searched hers for where this moment had come from, but Delilah just held onto him tightly. "I won't. I promise," He said, gently returning his lips back to hers.