Trigger/Content Warning - Sexual content
"I'm not really much of a swimmer," Eddie said, trying to hide his very real anxiety with a partly-true comment.
"Come on, Eddie. We're safe. I promise," Chrissy pleaded with him. She was holding his hand and tugging him towards the water.
"Oh, well, if you promise." He couldn't help it, he smiled at her and let her pull him along.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you," she said. "Now, give me your shirt."
Eddie was scared to go in Lover's Lake. The last time he'd swam in it he'd followed his new friends through a gate into hell where he'd almost died. The gate was closed, he knew that, but he was having a hard time shaking off the lingering fear. But Chrissy was waiting for him, hands on her hips, looking adorable, so he was trying to get over it.
Come on, he pushed himself. He pulled off his T-shirt and tried to avoid Chrissy's eyes as he handed it to her. He didn't want her to see that he was afraid. Not after everything she'd been through. "Here," he said sheepishly.
"Eddie!" he heard her gasp his name.
"What?" he asked, looking up, concerned. She stepped closer to him, a frown on her pretty face. He tensed when her fingers touched his torso gently.
"Your scars," she whispered. Little goose bumps rose on his skin beneath her touch.
"Oh... yeah," he said awkwardly. He rubbed his face, hiding from her gaze. "Not very pretty, are they?"
"Did the monster do this?" Chrissy asked, her voice shaking. They hadn't talked about what had happened to her, not since that day at school when he'd told her the monster was dead. Eddie didn't know how much she really believed was real. He couldn't know exactly what she'd been through, but Max and Nancy had both described what it had been like; to be under Vecna's spell. It had been horrible for them. Eddie noticed Chrissy's fingers were trembling as she started to pull her hand away. He caught her wrist, gently.
"It's ok," he said soothingly. "I'm ok."
"You almost died." Chrissy looked up at him, wide-eyed, and said it like it was a fact. Somehow she knew. Only his friends knew how close it had really been. But Chrissy had just guessed.
"So did you," he said.
"But you saved me," she whispered.
Eddie didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't, not really. They didn't really know why Chrissy had survived Vecna but they had guessed there were probably a lot of reasons. Maybe Vecna had been distracted. He hadn't killed in a long time, he'd been unprepared for her to escape, he'd chosen wrong, etc... With a lot of luck Chrissy had managed to find a way back on her own, even without music, and Vecna hadn't come back for her.
"How about..." Eddie drawled, trying to lighten the mood, "if you keep me alive in the water then we can call it even."
Chrissy looked at him carefully, then shook her head and smiled. "A promise is a promise," she said. Then, "Can you turn around?" she asked, pointedly.
"Oh, yeah." Eddie spun around quickly and felt himself blush. He busied himself stripping down to his boxers and tried his hardest not to think of Chrissy half-naked just a few feet behind him.
"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Chrissy screamed, running towards the water. Eddie ran after her, trying not to drool at the sight of her smooth, grabbable legs. When Chrissy was waist deep in the lake the shirt she was wearing, his shirt, floated on the surface and for a moment he glimpsed her perfect bum before she dove under.
Get it together, Eddie scolded himself, before diving in after her.
The water felt so good. When he'd met Chrissy that morning for breakfast he hadn't known what she had planned for their day. They'd left her house in his van and she'd directed him along an old dirt road to a secluded part of the lake. He'd followed her like a puppy until he realized she wanted to swim. Then he'd been nervous. But just being around Chrissy, doing anything with her, was distraction enough.
They swam in circles around each other and when Chrissy splashed him he splashed her back and it was a war that left them both laughing and floating on their backs, staring up at the blue sky. Eddie forgot all about the gate that had once been at the bottom of the lake.
"Eddie," Chrissy said after they'd been floating awhile, their fingertips touching.
"Hmm?"
Without warning, she dunked him under the water. He came up spluttering to the sound of her laughter, carrying over the lake. "That's no way to treat someone you've sworn to protect," he laughed and grabbed her, holding her as she squirmed to get free, his heart soaring at the sound of her screaming with delight.
Failing to free herself from his arms she twisted in them instead until she was face to face with him. Quick as a lynx, Chrissy wrapped her legs around Eddie's waist and pushed against his chest to unbalance him. He was forced back, bending his knees to stay on his feet he found himself half-sitting in the shallow water. Without thinking he grabbed her waist and pulled her down onto his lap. She inhaled sharply, just as he did the same, both of them surprised. He felt the electricity again, like the night before. The change in the air between them, and this time he didn't ask. He leaned forward and took her mouth in his. He hadn't intended to kiss her long. Just a peck, before checking to see if that's what she wanted, but she responded instantly, kissing him back passionately.
Chrissy rolled her hips forward and tightened her legs around Eddie's waist, pulling herself flush with him, and he gasped into her mouth at the feeling of their bodies touching everywhere. Her hands on the back of his head and neck held him tight. She kissed him deeply and he kissed her back. He moved one hand from her waist and lifted his shirt that she was wearing, touching the side of her stomach and feeling a jolt of desire as she tensed under his fingers and moaned, softly. He moved his hand up to her bra and felt the softness of her breast above it. He kept going, tracing the curve of her throat. He couldn't stop kissing her. His mouth was needy, their breath came short and fast.
Chrissy clung to him and rocked slowly on his lap, water sloshing between them as they moved. Her hands explored his chest and back and when she rubbed against him she let out another soft moan, the quietest sound that nevertheless vibrated through his whole body. He felt like he was going to explode. Nothing had ever felt this good before.
"Chrissy," he groaned her name. If she didn't stop he was going to come and he didn't think he wanted that. Not yet.
Gently he pulled his lips away from hers and lay his head against her chest, holding her tight so she would stop moving. He could hear her heart beating hard and he listened as it slowly began to slow down. She seemed to understand what he needed. She bent her head over him, her wet hair draped around his face, and she gently traced her fingers across his back.
"It's ok," Chrissy whispered. He squeezed her tighter in his arms when she said that and burrowed his face deeper into her chest. She laughed and the sound was like music in his ears.
"You drive me crazy," he murmured when he felt calm enough to speak again. She laughed again and started to extricate herself slowly from his arms. He released her and she swam back from him.
"Good," she said. "I think that's how it's supposed to be."
"It is?" he asked, searching her face. He didn't know. He didn't know how to do any of this.
"Yep," she said, and then she splashed him.
***
They swam under the hot sun a little while longer, chatting idly about work and the people in their lives. Chrissy wanted to know how Eddie had become friends with Nancy and Steve. They didn't strike her as the type of people who would normally hang out with someone like Eddie. Or, Eddie didn't strike her as the type of person who would normally hang out with people like them. Eddie laughed at her as she tried to explain what she meant. "I get it," he reassured her. "I used to put people in boxes and sort of write them off, you know? But I'm learning."
When they got out of the water they lay the towels Chrissy had brought down on the giant slabs of rock on the lakeshore, in the sun. Chrissy sat first, pulling Eddie's T-shirt down to keep herself covered. Eddie lay on his back beside her, arms beneath his head.
"If I take your shirt off will you promise not to look?" Chrissy asked, timidly.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Eddie said. She looked down at him and he squeezed his eyes shut.
Eddie heard the wet slap of his T-shirt hitting the rocks and felt Chrissy stretch out next to him. Gingerly, she lay her head and her hand on his chest. He flinched as her still-wet hair touched his warming skin. Her fingers traced his demon tattoo, and then, the scars below it. Eddie kept his eyes closed and thought very hard about things that weren't nearly-naked Chrissy pressed against him. He was painfully aware that he was only wearing a pair of thin, not to mention wet, boxers.
"Eddie?" Chrissy asked, after a while.
"Hmm?" he answered.
"Why do you like me?"
Eddie hated to hear the previously warm and confident Chrissy sounding so insecure all of a sudden. Even more than that, he hated the idea that somehow he was the cause.
He started to open his eyes, then remembered he was supposed to keep them closed and squeezed them shut again. He felt for Chrissy's hand on his chest and took it in his. "Because you're not what I expected you to be," he said. "You're not mean and scary." She giggled and Eddie went on, "You're kind, you're brave, you're smart, I like making you laugh..." he swallowed, nervously. "You're so gentle," he said, feeling intensely vulnerable. What he was describing was how gentle he felt she was with him. He squeezed her hand. "And you're beautiful."
Eddie heard Chrissy inhale deeply then he felt her turn her head and brush her lips against his bare chest. He sucked in a breath of his own when she did that.
After a moment he cleared his throat. "What about you? Why do like me? I'm not really your type, am I?" He hated to hear the same insecurity in his own voice, but there it was.
Chrissy kissed his chest again and Eddie's heart skipped a beat. "I like the way you make me feel, Eddie Munson," she said, simply. It was all Eddie could do to keep his eyes closed. He wanted to pull her on top of him and kiss her for saying that. Her sweet voice echoed in his ears. Was it possible that he, Eddie the Freak, was actually good enough for Chrissy Cunningham?
When their skin was dry and the sun was starting to feel uncomfortably hot again, Chrissy rose slowly. She shook her head and sprinkled Eddie with water droplets. Forgetting her request, Eddie opened his eyes and saw her, wearing only a pink bra and panties, sitting next to him. He snapped his eyes shut again. "I'm going to get changed," Chrissy said. He felt her stand up and move away from him. "No peeking."
Feeling guilty that he had already peeked, albeit accidentally, Eddie sat up and turned his back to Chrissy. Then he opened his eyes and looked out over the lake. It didn't look scary like this, with the sun glinting off of it. After a few moments, he felt Chrissy's hand, soft on the top of his head, her fingers twisting in his hair.
Eddie stood and went to pull on his jeans, socks, and shoes. When he was ready, Chrissy handed him his wet T-shirt. He wrung it out and slung it over his shoulder. Her eyes lingered on his bare torso and he felt a surprising sense of satisfaction beneath her gaze.
They walked back through the woods to where he'd parked his van and Eddie helped Chrissy climb in.
"I'll take you home?" he asked, sliding into the driver's seat.
"Yes please," she said. "I should get back before my parents. I don't want to walk in like this." She gestured down at her white shirt, where her still damp bra and hair had soaked the fabric, making it see-through. Eddie smiled and leaned over and kissed her.
Author's Note:
AHH! I hope the leap to this much sexy makes sense. It's only going to get worse (better) from here, lol.
I think the way Eddie really disarms Chrissy and makes her feel comfortable so quickly the first time they hang out in the woods would really translate into their romantic relationship. Like, I imagine she'd be way more confident and forward with Eddie than she was with Jason because she feels so comfortable with him. Do we agree? Let me know what you think!