Eddie Munson - A Collection of One-Shots!

038. Betty

No one expected it, but it happened.

No had ever thought that the middle school talent show band, Corroded Coffin would make the big time, but they did.

Eddie had made it. 86 had finally been his year.
He'd graduated, and they'd been scouted by an agent the following weekend.

One year later, they were playing at the Garden, like he always wanted.

None of us had seen him for those twelve months, we hadn't seen any of them.

But in the summer of 87, we'd all excitedly travelled down to the edge of Indiana, to surprise them at their scheduled, sold out concert.

What I'd hoped for, was to see the guy I'd known all through highschool, the guy who'd been hard but sweet, the guy I'd missed my chance with.

And the person I met, sadly wasn't him.

******
Flashback.

"Oh man, you should see my house." He said, as he ushered us all into their dressing room.

"You should see all of our houses." He added, flopping down onto the couch.

"Finally living in the mansion you always wanted?" I asked, airily.

It was clear he hadn't even really noticed me until I'd physically spoken.

"It's not a mansion..... not yet." He said, with a grin.

Speaking to me like just another adoring fan, and not one of his supposed, closest friends.

It was a little disheartening and disappointing, but in order to try and celebrate their success, their whirlwind success, I chose to momentarily quash it down.

But as the conversation flowed, it became very apparent that out of them all, one had failed to stay grounded. Jeff, Grant, Gareth and Freak, were all just exactly how I remembered them.

Laughing, joking exactly like we used to at lunch.

The former Hellfire Dungeon Master?
Not so much. In fact, not at all.

"Got myself the dream car I wanted, too." He said, talking over me, as I was talking to Jeff about a small, high school memory.

"Okay, what car?" I asked, a little annoyed.

Recognising that he clearly needed to and wanted to be heard.

"Dodge charger, matte black." He said, pretty pleased with himself, as the very air left my lungs.

It wasn't his dream car though.
It was my dream car. It always had been.

I was still driving a beat up, worn out blue mustang. I was nowhere near my dream car.

"If you're free tomorrow, I could take you for a spin in it?" He offered, as Steve eyed me carefully.

"That's okay." I said, politely declining.

I was threatening to burst, at any given second.
I couldn't be the only one seeing this.

Seeing the arrogance, the materialism, the bragging.

"What about you Henderson?" He asked, as Dustin looked at me, before a forced smile spread across his face.

"Sure, I'll take one for the team. Sounds great." He said.

"What hotel are you staying in?" He asked us.

"Hotel? You mean motel." Steve said, with a playful scoff.

"Oh we can't be having that. I'll get you rooms at ours. No biggee." He said, waving Steve off.

"That's okay Eddie, some of us still like our beat up cars and shitty motels." I said, forgetting myself.

He looked over at me in surprise, and the air grew very tense.

"Alright, suit yourself." He said, with a casual shrug.

"Unless you guys wanted to go?" I asked Steve, Dustin and Robin.

"Don't feel obliged to say no, because Blaire has her cranky pants on." Eddie remarked with a sarcastic smile, as Steve's jaw clenched.

"No, I'm good at the motel." Steve said, with a forced smile.

"Same, it's paid for." Robin reasoned, with a shrug.

"Yeah, we're good, Eddie." Dustin said.

And when it was finally over, I couldn't wait to leave.

And as we drove back to the motel, Steve stopped at a set of lights and turned around briefly towards me.

"It wasn't just me was it?" He asked, as I shook my head sadly.

"No. He's changed." I said.

"Massively." Robin said, sighing with relief that she wasn't feeling this alone.

"I felt like an asshole for thinking it." Dustin said, in agreement.

"Pretty shady that he bought himself your dream car too." Dustin added.

"My mustang isn't so bad, Henderson." I reasoned as Steve grinned through the rear view.

"You're still in the best club." He said, referencing his own.

"I know." I said, with a slight smile.

"But you'll get your dodge someday." He said, smiling sympathetically.

"I'm sure I will." I said, before looking out of the car window, pensive and saddened.

This newfound fame, had changed my friend.
Our friend.

And not for the better.

*****************************
Ten Years Later.

Corroded Coffin had been successful until roughly 1990.

Then, they had suddenly disbanded for various reasons, confirming an indefinite hiatus.

Jeff wanted to pursue his dream of being music producer, Freak had sought an opportunity to teach bass guitar to underprivileged kids, Gareth had been offered a career opportunity in gaming, and Grant had met a wonderful girl, and was happily married.

Eddie, the Dungeon Master, well.

The first thing to go, had been the house.

Followed eventually by the beloved dodge charger, approximately a year ago.

Money always did burn a hole in his pocket, and so he was back living with his Uncle, at his childhood home.

I'd seen the dodge in the local dealership, and I'd been to see it more times than I wanted to even admit, remembering the day he took Dustin for a spin in it.

Today, was just another day where I went into see it.

"Blaire, you're here every week." Jerry said, chuckling.

"She's still a beauty, Jerry, even after ten years. Can't help it." I said, running my hand along the bonnet.

"Eddie comes in too. Stares at it, and then leaves." He remarked.

"He does?" I asked.

"Yeah. He didn't want to part with it. But he couldn't afford to run it." Jerry said, smiling weakly.

"It's been here for a while." He noted.

"Twelve months, two weeks and three days." I said, with a heavy sigh.

"That sounds about right yeah." He said, chuckling.

"But.... It also might be because I took the sale sign off of it a while ago." He said, as I frowned.

"Why?" I asked, as he dangled a set of keys infront of me.

"Sweetheart, I've known you since you were seven years old. And that little seven year old girl once told me that her dream car was a matte black dodge charger." He said, with a broad smile.

"What are you doing, Jerry?" I asked.

"Blaire, I'm gifting it to you." He said.

"Eddie would lose his actual shit if he saw me driving around in this." I said, shaking my head emphatically.

"Listen, I'm giving it to you. He sold it to me. It ain't his car no more." He said, chuckling softly.

"How expensive is it to run?" I asked.

"You're what, 28 now? Been driving since you were fifteen so insurance won't be a problem. And so long as you don't drive it like a boy racer like Eddie did, she actually runs very well on fuel." He said.

"She's an old girl, but she's pristine. The only good thing he did for her." He added.

"I dunno....." I said, but my hand was inching towards the keys.

"Blaire, sweetheart, you've come in here once a week for twelve months, two weeks and three days, just to look at it. If he says anything, send him my way. I'll explain everything to him in my office." Jerry said before pushing the keys into my hand.

"I've not had the heart to sell it." He added.

*******************************************
The first place I drove to, was Steve's house, where I knew he, Dustin, Robin and Nancy would obviously be, and the minute they heard the engine they were rushing outside.

"You bought it?!" Dustin asked, excitedly, as I climbed out of it.

Clearly, very conflicted.

"It's Eddie's." I said.

"So? He sold it." Steve said.

"I think I'm just gonna drive around in it, fulfil the dream and then hand it back over to Jerry." I said, as Nancy stared at me, hard and motherly.

"It's not his car. It was at the dealership, available to anyone and everyone to buy. It wasn't on a buy back scheme. He flat sold it, and the minute he took the cheque, it wasn't his. It's yours." She said.

"I didn't buy it." I said, pressing my lips together in readiness for the barrage of questions.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"Jerry gave it to me." I said.

"Oh my god.... Seriously?" Robin asked.

"I mean, I have gone into the dealership every week for over a year and just stared at it pathetically for that long. I think I guilt tripped him into taking the sale sign off of it. Told me that he's known since I was seven just how much I've wanted a car like this." I said.

"He ain't wrong, we've always known." Steve said.

"So?" Dustin asked, with a grin.

"So, it's mine, I guess." I said, as Steve chuckled softly.

"Out of the Mustang club at long last." He said, as I smiled.

"I was overdue on my membership anyway." I said, playfully.

Steve approached and hugged me, laughing in my ear.

"You deserve it. Enjoy it." He said.

"Uhm, is that my old car?" Someone asked as Steve released me, his eyes looking past me.

Shit.

"It is." I said, slowly turning around.

"You bought my dodge?" He asked, unimpressed.

"Yes, she did." Nancy replied, on my behalf.

"Saved up for it, she's always wanted one." She added, as my shoulders sagged slightly, with the lie.

"Since when?" He asked, annoyed.

"Since she was around... Seven." Steve said, equally as annoyed.

"You never told me that." He said, addressing me with a cold stare.

"Oh no, I did. We spoke about it a few times, actually." I confirmed, finding my voice and my feet.

"Did you buy it to rub my face in it?" He asked, as I scoffed loudly.

"Please. Eddie, I haven't seen you, what? A handful of times in ten years." I argued.

"I've been trying to save to buy it back." He argued back.

"Yet it wasn't on any form of buy back scheme. It was for sale, to the general public. And considering I'm a member of the public, I saw it, wanted it, I finally earn enough to run it, so it was a no brainer." I said.

"Exactly." Nancy said, folding her arms across her chest, unimpressed.

"I still think it's a dick move, Blaire." He said, as my anger boiled over and I unfortunately, gave him the satisfaction this time.

Jerry was going to be disappointed.

"I'll tell you what's a dick move, Munson, you washed up, broke little rockstar. Is the very fact that you KNEW this was the car I've wanted for a long time, and it was one of the first things you bought. And when we came to see you in 87, you couldn't wait to rub MY face in it." I snapped, before throwing the keys at his feet.

"Blaire, what are you doing?" Steve asked, as I spun around to face him.

"Jerry gave you that car. He wanted you to have it." Steve pressed.

"He GAVE it to you?!" Eddie thundered.

"Fucking take it. Have it! You're a fucking asshole. I'll stick with my Mustang, the old reliable. Because unlike you, I'm not so far up my own ass that I'm okay with having a beat up car. Enjoy, Eddie." I hissed, before storming up the driveway.

"Blaire wait!" Dustin cried.

"Come back Blaire!" Steve yelled.

"Not whilst that washed up mouth breather is in the same space as me!" I yelled back, storming home on foot.

******************************************
The dodge appeared on my driveway the next morning; I heard the throaty engine before I saw it.

And public enemy number one climbed out of it, looking pretty sheepish.

I was by the front door when he knocked on, and I didn't want to see him.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Blaire, open up. I'm returning the dodge." He said, through the door.

"No, I'm don't wanna open up." I said.

"I had Jerry cuss me out last night. Wheeler called him." He called.

"So here it is, as I promised him. Your dodge." He added.

"Just post the keys through." I snarled, before walking away from the door.

Seconds later, I heard them drop on the doormat through the letterbox.

*********************
"And what are you doing here in that fine piece of machinery?" Steve asked as I pulled up outside of his house.

He leaned against his car, having emerged from under the bonnet, and tossed a rag over his shoulder.

"Wanna grab a coffee?" I asked, as he grinned.

"Absolutely." He said, closing the bonnet of his Mustang. He tossed the rag ontop of it, and raced around to the passenger side.

"Shit, it's so nice in here." He said, climbing in.

"It is. I love it." I said.

"Eddie brought it back then? Jerry was not impressed at all." Steve said.

"None of us were, really." He added.

"Money, it made his head spin. And now he's got that entitled, spoilt, do you know who I am attitude all the time. The same attitude he had in 87." I said, sadly.

"Yeah, it's definitely changed him. Sometimes I wonder if he had pursued a different dream, would it have changed him as much as this one?" Steve asked, messing with the dials on the dashboard.

"You know, for a ten year old, she is in pristine condition." Steve said.

"Look at the log book." I said, with a coy smile.

Suspicious, Steve rummaged in the glove compartment, and pulled out the log book.

"Third receipt at the back." I said, my eyes on the road.

"Okay, what am I looking at?" Steve asked.

"Interior refit and refurbish, dated two weeks ago. Replacement dials, vinyl fittings on the dashboard, again dated two weeks ago." I said, glancing at Steve momentarily.

"Okay?" Steve asked.

"Jerry told me that the one good thing Eddie had done with this car, was look after the inside, said it had come to the shop pretty pristine. That was a lie. Jerry had this whole car redone..... and I think it was done.... To then give it to me, exactly how it would have looked ten years ago." I said, as Steve gasped.

"Shit, no I think he did. The parts, the vinyl, the leather, it's all been sourced specifically to look like it would have in 1987." He said, as I smiled broadly, nodding.

"Jerry really went a mile for you, to give you this." He added.

"It sure seems that way." I said, really touched and chuffed.

"She is pristine, and she'll be well looked after." Steve surmised, as I sighed.

"I'm not saying that Eddie trashed it, but obviously it was likely worn and you know, general wear and tear." I said.

"No, I know that's not what you're saying." Steve said.

I pulled into a parking space on the parking lot of the cafe and we both climbed out.

"Jerry. He's such a good guy." Steve said, still blown away.

"I mean, he did sell our parents both of our mustangs. He's known us all since we were kids." I said.

"Speaking of Mustangs.... What are you doing with yours?" Steve asked, as we stepped inside of the cafe.

"Oh I'm gonna give it to Eddie." I said, grinning.

"Really?" Steve asked, surprised.

"No!" I said, with a belly laugh.

"I was actually gonna see if Henderson wanted it." I said.

"You know, match with his best friend." I added, as Steve grinned broadly.

"You know that would seriously rattle Eddie." He said, as I shrugged.

"I'm counting on it." I said.

******************
"So, what do you think his actual problem is with me then?" I asked, stirring sugar into my coffee.

"Who?" Steve asked, mirroring me.

"The dungeon master himself." I said, as Steve sat back against the leather booth seat and sighed.

"Honestly? No idea. He has changed though, and it's not just you he's like that with. He's like that with all of us sometimes, Nance quite easily puts him in his place, Robin..... she just tends to talk at him and he pipes down real fast." Steve said.

"The fame, the success..... he got what he wanted, and ten years later he literally has nothing to show for it. He lived hard, played hard and he's back where he started." He added.

"Thats his general problem. I had nothing to do with how he squandered his millions away." I said.

"Of course you didn't." Steve said.

"Don't you think he has a little more of a problem with me? I mean, he claimed to not know that my dream car was a dodge, bought one and couldn't wait to tell me. At the time, and to be honest, ten years on it still feels like it was done spitefully. I just don't know why." I said, as I too sat back against the booth seat.

"And to think, I really liked him in highschool. Missed my chance completely, or at least that's what I thought back then." I added, running a hand through my loose, honey brunette hair, sighing deeply.

"You liked him?" Steve asked, as I nodded.

"I did. I thought he was wonderful, really attractive.... Gorgeous. I thought he was funny, goofy and boy could he make me laugh and get me into so much trouble." I said, as Steve grinned.

"How come you missed your chance?" He asked.

"Never had the guts to ask him out. I considered it when we drove down to see him in 87, but he'd changed drastically..... I don't even think he acknowledged me until I made a comment about getting his mansion." I said.

"He was a real ass that day. Not the Eddie I thought I knew." I added.

"He came from nothing. He was as grounded as you got back then. Sure he wasn't happy with his lot sometimes, but I figured that he'd spend his money wisely, sort out his Uncle, get him out of that trailer and somewhere nice. It surprised me and disappointed me when he didn't. I know that it was his money, his to do what he wanted with, and he did exactly what he wanted. I just... I suppose..... I just believed he'd see his Uncle right, too." I said.

"I don't disagree with you." Steve said, sighing sadly.

"What did he say, or do, after I left.... Yesterday?" I asked.

"Before or after we all rounded on him?" Steve asked, with a grin.

"You can tell me about both." I said, as he laughed.

"Before..... he picked up the keys, opened the car, looked inside, shut the door and he seemed annoyed. Didn't think much of it at the time, but seeing the receipts today and knowing quite safely that Jerry actually restored it before he gifted it to you, now makes total sense." Steve said.

"Was he annoyed when he drove it around before he gave it back to me this morning?" I asked.

"It never left my driveway. We came down on him quite hard that I don't think he'd have dared. He handed Nance the keys and she called Jerry. Jerry popped over, told Eddie that it was your car and he needed to stop crying about it, and he vowed to return it to you today." Steve said.

"Wow. I would have painted him as taking it and driving off with it, refusing to give it back." I said.

"I think he was going to. He hasn't handled losing everything very well." Steve said.

"It hasn't humbled him either." I mumbled.

"No, it hasn't. If anything it's made him more crass, harsh and even more spoilt." Steve said, in agreement.

"I just don't get why he's mostly like this.... Mainly like this, with me." I said.

"Okay. I'm gonna play devils advocate. Dya think he maybe thought he missed his chance too?" Steve asked, as I choked on my coffee.

"Are you kidding? No." I said.

"You're sure?" Steve asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Very. He was never interested in me. Not like that." I said.

"And I'm not interested in him either." I added.

"What do you want?" Steve asked.

"Honestly? My friend back. I've wanted that since 87, Harrington." I said, sadly.

"Not the guy who bragged, the guy who bought flashy, material things and just wanted us there so he could rub our faces in it. Not the guy who didn't remember how much I wanted a dodge. Not the guy who bought a dodge and literally ripped my heart out when he did." I added.

"He's in there." Steve urged.

"He probably is, he's just buried very, very, very, very deep." I said.

"And not the guy who went ballistic when I was gifted his old car, out of the goodness of someone else's heart." I added, as Steve chuckled softly.

"I hear you, Blaire. We want the old Eddie back too." He said.

*********************************************
Eddie's POV.

"I can't believe that Jerry gave Blaire my old car. I saw inside, he'd completely restored it back to how it looked when I first bought it and everything." I snapped, as Dustin rubbed his face in frustration.

"You sold it, Eddie. You had to. You weren't the only one who went into the dealership every week to look at it. Blaire did too." He said.

"She did?" I asked, in mild surprise.

"Yes. She told you years back that was her dream car. We visited you in 87, and it was one of the first things you bought." He said.

"Don't you realise how much of a blow that felt to her?" He added.

"I wanted to take her out in it. I asked her back then and she said no." I argued.

"You were too busy bragging about the damn car to notice that she was a little crushed." Dustin said.

"She came to see you. She came to celebrate your success, with you. We all did. And what we got was a list of flashy things you'd recently bought. Which is fine. You just weren't listening to us. You didn't want to. Just wanted to talk about you." He added.

"So you're saying I was an asshole?" I asked, heatedly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Dustin replied, calmly.

"Oh." I said, relenting.

"She deserves that car. I shouldn't have ragged on her about it." I said, sinking into my sofa.

"No, you shouldn't." Dustin said, relenting too.

"You were salty because you didn't want to sell it. I get it. But your circumstances meant you had to. She didn't ask for Jerry to give it to her, he did that off his own back. She was as surprised as you were." Dustin added.

"Why is it so bad that she has it now? At least you know she'll look after it. You know she'll treasure it." He continued.

"My life is upside down right now. Has been for a while. I'm back home, and I barely have two cents to rub together." I said, sullenly.

"Only you can turn it around." Dustin remarked.

"I know." I said.

"And there's no time like the present." He noted, before sliding a newspaper across to me.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"The job section." He confirmed, simply.

*******************************************
One Week Later.

I pulled into Surfer Boy Pizza, and wasn't necessarily expecting the server infront of me, waiting by the till.

"What can I get for you?" Eddie asked, his eyes wary.

"Just a Hawaiian, and a stuffed crust pepperoni please." I said, just as wary.

"Coming right up." He said, before ringing it up on the till.

"How are you finding the car?" He asked.

"Honestly? She's great." I said.

"They're always a she to you, like ships." He said, with a weak smile, as he took the bills from my outstretched hand gently.

"Yeah, she's a she." I confirmed, with the same weak smile.

"Got a name for her yet?" He asked, handing me my change.

"Betty." I said, as he realised the reference.

"Of course. It had to be." He said, chuckling softly.

"She's definitely a Betty." He added, before passing the check through to the kitchen staff.

I stood back to let the next customer passed and his eyes met mine during their exchange.

They were sad, and he looked a little regretful.

I stared down at my feet, waiting patiently, unable to do anything else.

"You're up, Blaire." He said, sliding two pizza boxes across the counter.

"Thanks." I said, picking them up.

"I clock off in an hour, I'll be heading there too. Is that going to be okay?" He asked.

"We're all friends. Why wouldn't it be?" I asked, before turning and walking away before he could answer.

********************************************
Eddie's POV.

When I arrived, Blaire and Steve were talking deeply about something, and I'd noticed that they were close these days.

I knew that after I'd returned the car, she'd gone to his house and she'd driven them to the coffee shop. I couldn't mistake the car, as it had drove past the trailer park, and I hadn't been able to mistake Harrington's pristine hair.

His greatest feature.

The more I observed, the more they seemed like a good match to me.

"I know what you're thinking." Robin said, perching down next to me.

"They're just friends." She added.

"You sure?" I asked, as she chuckled softly.

"You say that like you're seeing something I'm not. But they're just friends." She said.

"Platonic with a capital P. Just like me and Harrington." She added.

"I'll take your word for it." I said, with a raised eyebrow.

"You can." She said, with a wide smile.

"Another beer?" Steve asked, a bottle outstretched to me.

"Sure. Thanks." I said, taking it from him.

"Anyway, why Betty?" Steve asked, as I listened in.

"Come on, it's not lost on you, surely?" Blaire asked, sounding amused.

"Clearly, that's why I'm asking." Steve said.

"Black Betty?" She said, clearly hoping he'd get it.

"Ram Jam." I confirmed, when he didn't.

"See!" She said, pointing to me.

"He's a metal head." Steve argued.

"I'm not. So that theory doesn't really check Harrington. Look it up. All will become clear." She said, surprisingly in my defence.

Sort of.

"I don't get it, but it's cool." Steve said, as Blaire rolled her eyes.

"Literally hopeless." She muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, you used to love this song." Dustin declared, as Blaire turned to him, straining her ears to listen.

"Through the echoes, straight to me. Over and over, over and over...... over and over, again." She sang softly, swaying.

Dustin smiled broadly.

"Yeah, I still do." She said, as she took his hand and spun him around in a circle.

She struggled a little; Henderson was tall.

"This was alot easier ten years ago." She said, giggling girlishly, as they danced together.

My heart skipped a beat as Nancy, Steve and Robin all gathered around her and Dustin, singing with her along to the song.

Whilst I remained on the sofa, watching.
Robin pulled me up eventually, and it just felt awkward.

I had changed, and they all knew it.
This was easy for them, their friendships never changing over the years.

There was a clear change in me, and my relationships with them.

"It's been a long time since I sang a song." I said, as another Paolo Nutini song began to play.

"I was perched outside in the pouring rain, trying to make myself a sail...." Blaire sang, as they all began to sway again to the beat.

"You know this one." She said, her eyes boring into mine.

"Let yourself go Eddie." She urged.

And after the next few beers, towards the end of the evening, they were all gathered around me, at my feet, merry and happy, as I played Candy on the guitar.

"All together now." I announced.

"Darling, I'll bathe your skin, I'll even wash your clothes, just give me some candy, before I go.....

Darling I'll kiss your eyes, and lay you down on your rug, just give me some candy, after my hug...." We all sang.

"But I'll be there, waiting for you......" I sang softly.

Realising soon after, that I'd sang the line prominently, to one person.

Her.

Blaire.

We all joined in for the last parts of the song, before falling about in genuine, happy, laughter.

She too was laughing, but her eyes were on me.
There was something in them.

The glittering piqued my curiosity and for a moment our eyes met, and for a moment I couldn't tear mine away.

And it felt like she was speaking with hers.

"Play another, please!" Nancy said, giddy and merry.

"Yeah, play another!" Steve said.

"Okay, okay. Any requests?" I asked, relenting.

"Hmmm....." Robin said, as Blaire smiled coyly.

"James Bay. Hold Back the River." She said, as I found myself smiling, and also reminiscent.

"God, you used to absolutely love James Bay." Dustin said, as Blaire laughed.

"Used to? I still do." She said.

"James Bay it is." I said, happily.

This was what I wanted.
I'd missed this. I'd missed my friends.

I played a few more songs after that, and it was nice to see them drunkenly dancing around Nancy's living room. I even stood up and played the guitar whilst they danced around me at one point, and for the first time in years, I felt part of something again.

"Nance, I'm gonna have to leave the dodge here. I definitely can't drive." Blaire said.

"I've had two beers. I can drive it and you home." I offered.

I braced myself for the firm no, as did everyone else, but she nodded.

"Sure." She said,

"I promise I'm not gonna take it." I said.

"I know." She said.

We walked slowly to her car, bading everyone goodbye, and she slid into the passenger seat, a little wobbly on her feet.

"It's official. I'm a lightweight." She said.

"I won't tell anyone." I said, as I reversed out of Nancy's driveway.

Damn, I missed this car.

"You miss it, don't you?" She asked, as I nodded.

"I miss a lot of things I lost in my life." I said, sighing softly.

"I didn't expect him to give me the car, you know." She said.

"I know. I had no right acting out like I did." I said.

"No..... no, you didn't." She said, bowing her head slightly.

"I know she's in the best hands." I said, as a small smile crept across her lips.

"You're more suited to a Betty. I couldn't pull that off." I added, as she chuckled softly.

"I saw him tonight. It was nice." She said.

"Who?" I asked.

"The old Eddie." She confirmed, as my heart stopped.

*******************************************
I pulled onto the parking lot the following Monday, to the primary school where I worked, and the kids went crazy.

"Miss Blaire!! Miss Blaire!"

I climbed out to see Mason, my favourite little guy, and he ran over to me, his arms curling around my legs.

"You got your dream car!" He said, as the rest of my class all gathered around us excitedly.

"Wow!"

I turned to Aubrey, with her little blonde pigtails and chuckled softly.

"So, what do you all think?" I asked, as they all squealed.

"Your dream car!" Aubrey cried.

"I got it." I said, as we all walked to class, talking excitedly.

How was it that Eddie couldn't even recall me saying it was my dream car, but my class of five year old kids could?

"You're so cool, Miss Blaire." Mason said, as he hung his coat up on the coat rack.

"Thanks Mason. I think you're the only one who thinks I'm cool." I said, smiling.

"My dad names his cars." He said.

"I do too." I said.

"Really? Wow." He gushed.

"What did you name your car Miss Blaire?" He asked as I led him to his seat.

"Betty." I said, as I sat down at my desk.

"Black Betty, bam a lam, woah black Betty." Mason sang, dancing in his chair.

"See, you get it." I said, remembering Steve.

********************************************
Tonight, tonight, we run into the sun.
We run into the corners of, the love we used to make.

Tonight we show, we show where we belong,
The places I have never been,
The places we are strong......

I'd decided to go on a drive, and I was listening to the wonderful sounds of Odesza and RY X.

The last of the summer sun for the day was upon me, but a nice, gentle, even breeze blew through the open windows, lapping at my face and I sighed softly.

Betty was a dream.

I pulled into a nearby gas station, needing to refuel, and as I climbed out, I was met immediately by a guy with his hood over his face.

"Get out, and pass me the keys." He hissed.

"I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen." I said, quietly.

Holding onto the keys tightly.

I subtly spread them out in my hand, slipping the various keys in between the spaces of my fingers, weighing up quickly how to potentially defend myself.

"Theres no need to make a scene. Hand me the keys." He said, as I calmly shook my head.

"Listen. If this was my Mustang, I'd have handed you the keys the minute I saw you. But this car? For how long I've gone without it, not a chance." I said, explaining calmly, keeping my voice even.

"It's ten years old. What do you want with it?" I added.

"I'd get a fuck ton of cash for it. It's vintage." He said.

"It's mine." I confirmed.

And as he went to make a grab for the car door behind me, I pushed my fist out towards him, punching him in the eye.

I felt the keys embed in his skin and he cried out in pain, doubling over.

"Get away from her!!" Someone shouted, as I scrambled to get back into the car.

I heard a scuffle and a familiar face appeared at the window.

"Lock the door. Do not get out." He urged, his breath misting the window, his eyes wide with concern and anger.

I watched helplessly, locking the door as he'd instructed and I watched him grapple with the car thief.

Punches were exchanged, which startled me, and it ended with the hooded guy running off.

His face appeared at the window again, and he quickly looked around us. Once he was satisfied that we were alone, he nodded for me to unlock the door.

I climbed out hurriedly, into his arms and he held me tight, the two of us unsettled and breathless with shock.

"How are you here?" I asked, as he released me.

"You okay?" He asked, holding me by my shoulders.

"Yeah, just a little shaken up." I said.

"Are you okay?" I asked, inspecting his already bruising cheek.

"It stings, but I'm fine." He said, with a crooked smile.

"And to answer your earlier question, I was getting gas before I went to work." He added.

"You work at Surfer Boys." I said, frowning.

"And the bar in the next town." He said, chuckling softly.

"That was quite a punch you socked him with." He added.

"Yeah, I uhm, punched him with my keys in my hand." I said, as he smiled.

"Smart move." He said.

"Am I destined to keep this damn car?" I asked, as he squoze my shoulder.

"He was just trying his luck." He said, with reason.

"Which didn't work." He added.

"Only because you were here." I said.

"Oh, I think if he'd have demanded the keys again, he'd have been punched again." He said, chuckling softly.

"Thanks for helping, Eddie." I said.

"No problem." He said, with a sympathetic smile.

"You gonna be alright driving back?" He asked.

"I need fuel first." I said.

And without even having to ask, he stood by whilst I filled the tank with gas, and he stood by the car whilst I headed inside the station to pay.

"The guy in there, didn't even fucking notice that, didn't even see you fighting, or him trying to take the car in the first place." I said, irritated, as I walked back to him.

"I'll call Hopper when I get to work." He assured me.

"I got a good look at him." He added.

"Right then, lock the doors before you pull off here and drive straight home. Don't stop for anyone or anything. Get home safe." He instructed, as I nodded.

"Thank you." I said, as his hand reached out to gently stroke my cheek.

I noticed the fondness in his eyes, something I hadn't seen in years, and my breath hitched slightly, in my chest.

He noticed, and withdrew his hand quickly.

"Go on, get on home." He said, barely able to look at me; he was awkward suddenly, and so was I.

"Yeah, of course..... see you." I said, before climbing into the car.

He waited until I'd gotten back onto the road, before he crossed the forecourt to his trusty van, climbing inside of it.

All I could think about, was that he'd been there, I'd been fortunate enough that he'd noticed something was wrong, something was happening and he was immediately there, helping me.
He'd made sure I'd been locked in the car, and he'd defended me.

And then that look he'd given me.
I hadn't seen him look at me that way, since high school.

His eyes had sparkled momentarily, and he'd looked like the Eddie I'd known, the Eddie I'd missed.

The Eddie I'd once been head over heels for.

My mind whirred all the way home, and as I pulled onto the drive, my chest was heaving with deep breaths as those old feelings resurfaced before I could even do anything about them.

I still had it bad. But there were still vivid reservations, there.

He would flit so easily between the two versions of himself, that I wasn't sure I could trust him with my heart.

And as my heart leapt happily in my chest, and the once dormant swarm of butterflies fluttered madly in my stomach, I breathed deeply through my nose and shook my head.

"It's gonna take more than that." I told myself.

********************************************
Eddie's POV.

Apparently, Blaire had a surprise for Dustin, and I'd been trying to contain him all morning.

It had been difficult, but I'd managed.

Steve, Nancy and Robin had arrived, and Steve had this goofy wide grin on his face, that had begun to irritate me.

"Okay Harrington, what's going on?" I asked, huffing with impatience.

"You'll see." Steve said, with a boyish grin.

"All in good time." He added, as Robin clapped excitedly.

"Does he know?" I asked, referring to Henderson.

"No, he just loves surprises." Robin said, with a smile.

I didn't need to wait much longer.
A familiar blue mustang suddenly pulled onto Dustin's driveway, and it looked shiny, new, almost like it had been given a new lease of life.

And when Blaire stepped out of it, and Dustin's jaw dropped, true to Harrington's word, the realisation came to me in good time.

"Okay, you're old enough to get your own car, but I know you didn't have much luck with the first one. And I know that you've always liked Harrington's mustang.... Secretly." She said, as we all watched.

"No....." Dustin said, as Blaire nodded.

"I literally only had it like..... super valeted. Figured if you wanted to get it repainted or whatever, that could be your choice." She said, as she took his hands and pressed the keys into his hand.

"You've gotta be shitting me." I said, breaking our silence as onlookers.

"Welcome to the mustang club buddy." Blaire said, as Dustin literally screamed.

"Steve! Steve, I'm in the club with you!" Dustin cried, and for some reason, it riled me up.

It shouldn't have. But it did.

"That's just great." I said, as Blaire raised an eyebrow.

"You realise I had money on you acting like this? I literally was counting on it." She said, as I looked over at Steve incredulously.

"She did." He confirmed, with a shrug.

"So this is at my expense then?" I asked.

"No, Munson. It's not. It's for Dustin. Get over yourself and shut up." Blaire snapped.

"Thank God he's too busy sitting in there, excited and happy. So he can't hear you throwing a tantrum." She added.

"This was never about you." She continued.

"Clearly it was. You had bets on me that I was gonna react this way." I argued.

"Okay, because you're literally so predictable." She said.

"Sure forgot about me saving your ass last week huh?" I asked, tilting my head to one side, a sarcastic smile plastered across my face.

"Hey, that's not fair." Nancy said.

"Regardless of it being Blaire, you'd have stepped in." Robin said, in agreement.

"Can we just let Dustin have this?" Steve asked.

"Of course you'd say that. He's in your little club now." I said, sneering.

"Jealousy really isn't a good look for you." Blaire commented.

"Blaire, I love it. Thank you." Dustin said, appearing at her side.

"You happy?" I asked him, quashing down how I really felt.

"I really am." He said, giddy.

"I know she's old, but she's never let me down once." Blaire said, as I rolled my eyes.

"And it has nothing to do with the dodge, whatsoever." I muttered.

"Come on Henderson, take me around the block." Harrington suggested, clearly taking him away from the pending argument, threatening to ensue.

And the minute that Dustin pulled away from the curb, she rounded on me.

"It has everything to do with the dodge. I have two cars. Because a kind man gifted me a car I've always wanted. And that was my mustang, that was bought from that same man, by my parents. His car was a write off, and he needed another one. It made perfect sense to pass it onto him. I wanted to give it to him. That was my choice. And it was and is not any of your business." She said.

"I'd have taken it off your hands." I argued, flouncing down onto the garden sofa on Dustin's veranda.

"Of course you would. Because you're back to using your old van. That's on its last legs. But the thing is, if I'd given that car to you, what lesson would you have learned? You had more money than all of us put together, and the rest. And you weren't careful. You flashed it, and you spent it. You spent every last cent because you thought that the cash flow would never come to an end. You weren't careful at all. It was just a bragging right to you." Blaire snapped, coming to stand over me.

"Tell me what you really think." I said, sarcastically, staring up at her.

"Okay, I will. You didn't deserve my old car. You didn't deserve the fame, the success, and you didn't deserve that fucking dodge. Because you squandered all of it. You did nothing good with it. You just became the arrogant asshole that's in front of me right now. You say that Henderson is your best friend, but you just can't be happy for him can you? You had to make it about you! Like always. We felt sorry for you when it all came crashing down, we did. At first. But it's never humbled you, it's never taught you perspective. It's just taught you to feel fucking sorry for yourself, and you expect everyone else to do the same. I do feel sorry for you. Just not for that." She said, furiously.

Nancy and Robin were quiet, silently agreeing, letting Blaire say her peace to me.

"What do you feel sorry for me for then?" I asked.

"That this is who you are. This is who you became. Woe is me, I lost everything. Yeah you did, and it was your fault!" She cried.

"Today wasn't about you. But good job Eddie, because it became about you after all." She continued, sarcastically.

"What is your problem?!" She cried, when I didn't answer.

"Why can't I ever get a break huh?!!" I cried back.

Her eyes widened with sheer fury and her next words were cutting, harsh and brutally honest.

"YOU HAD YOUR BREAK! You had it! And look at what you have to show for it. Absolutely nothing. Except a bad fucking attitude and an entitled chip on your shoulder. You had your break, and we were all happy for you. We drove down in 87, to celebrate with you. You didn't hear us, you didn't see us, you just wanted to be heard. That's what you wanted. To be heard. Well, we heard you. We saw you. And I see you now. If I ever thought you couldn't disappoint me any more than you have done, my god.... You've outdone yourself this time." She snarled.

I was stunned. Gobsmacked. Speechless.

"You weren't happy for me." I said, trying to keep my voice even; I didn't want to show any weakness of any kind.

"I was happy for you. Right up until the moment you ripped out my heart and stamped on it. All it took, was you buying my dream car and pretending you and I never had a single conversation about it." She said, calmer.

Blaire's eyes grew glassy, and Robin and Nancy stepped aside, both looking at me with sadness in their eyes.

"Time for you to go." Nancy said, sounding as disappointed in me as she looked.

"Of course it is." I mumbled, rising to my feet abruptly, storming past them both.

*******************************************
Eddie's POV.

"Talk to me. What's happened?" Wayne asked, handing my a coffee and two Advil as I rubbed my forehead.

I was hungover, and my head was pounding.

"I got drunk. The end." I said, as he sighed.

"Before that." He said, sitting in the armchair opposite me.

"I had an argument with Blaire." I said, fighting with my emotions.

"About the dodge again?" He asked.

"Sorta." I mumbled.

"Son, it's hers." He said, sounding tired.

"I know that. It wasn't entirely about the dodge." I said.

"What was it about then?" He asked.

"She gave Henderson her mustang. I was annoyed because he's part of Harrington's shitty little mustang club, and I was a little too obvious about it. Blaire wasn't happy. Tore me a new one." I said.

"Real good too." I added.

"So she said exactly what's been coming then." He said, as I stared at him incredulously.

"Don't look at me like that. This has been a long time coming, son." He added.

"Is there a hate club about me or something?" I asked, as he raised an eyebrow.

"No there isn't. Son, you had a real break ten years ago, you made some good money. You made a lot of good money. And you can't deny that you didn't invest it wisely, or invest it at all. You spent it all. And then when the band broke up, you had to sell your house, your belongings and your car.... Son, you moved back in with me. And you didn't do much about it, until Dustin put the job section page in front of you. Now, you have two jobs, and you're trying to save from scratch for a place of your own. But at the same time, you believe you're owed some form of sympathy." Wayne said.

"You sure there isn't a club?" I asked, not convinced.

"That's a problem too. You don't listen. As soon as someone is honest with you and points out exactly what's going on with you, you shut off. I have no problem with you being here, I love it, missed having you around, kid. But I don't recognise you some days. The boy I raised, didn't feel sorry for himself like this, he dusted himself off and he tried to find his place. You? This version of you? You've forgotten that place. And you spend every day penalising your friends for their lives, their successes, their careers, their choices..... you didn't care what they did when you were ahead of them. Now you're behind them, you suddenly care so much that you're pushing them away from you. Blaire, in particular." He said.

"And the million dollar question to that, is why." He added, as I felt his words swim through my head.

"Why Blaire?" He continued.

"Okay. I knew about the dodge, I knew about the dream car. I remember every single conversation. I bought it, to impress her. I wanted to take her out in it that night, in 87. And I wanted to tell her that. She didn't take it how I imagined, and looking back, how else was she going to take it? I didn't think, I was impulsive and I expected her to understand the reason why. Instead..... instead I just trampled all over her, to show off, to make her like me." I said.

"I did invest. I invested in that." I added.

"Finally. Some actual honesty." Wayne said.

"I give her a hard time, because she's never seen that for what it was. It's my fault entirely, but I guess I've been angry at her for years for not seeing what I was actually doing." I said.

"She's not going to know that if you never tell her." Wayne said, as I nodded, smiling weakly.

"No, I know that." I said, as he slid an envelope across the coffee table towards me.

"This came for you too." He said.

I opened it and I scanned the paper, before looking up at Wayne in surprise.

"They want Corroded Coffin to perform an acoustic live lounge set." I said.

"Do you want to do it?" Wayne asked.

"I mean, I haven't played or sang properly in years." I said.

"It's something to think about, isn't it? Something to work towards." He said.

"They want to interview us...... I don't have anything good to talk about." I said, immediately wary.

"Okay, when are they looking to schedule the performance?" Wayne asked.

"Two months from now." I said, tossing the paper down onto the coffee table, rubbing my face in frustration.

"Which gives you a target." He said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For doing things and putting things into place that you'd want to talk about, that you could be proud to talk about in that interview." Wayne said.

"I work two jobs and I'm broke." I said.

"Put the work in to change that then." Wayne barked, a little unforgiving.

*******************************************
Two weeks later.

I hadn't spoken to Eddie in a couple of weeks and I was happy for it to stay that way.

Nothing I did was good enough when we did talk.
This way? Neither of us were disappointed.

We had no reason to be.

Dustin was happily driving around in his Mustang, going to car meets with Steve, their friendship blossoming over their matching cars.

It was cute.

Nancy was busy being a journalist, Robin was busy at Family Video, and I was just as busy, with a classroom of five year olds.

Eddie? I wasn't sure what he was doing and frankly, I didn't really care.

It felt better not knowing.

I'd said my peace, I'd said things I'd waited years to say, and I did feel as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I hadn't considered how he had felt, not really.
I didn't feel as though I owed him that.

He'd always appeared to have some kind of problem with me, and for a while, I'd considered that he just didn't like me much anymore.

I just didn't understand why.
What had I done?

"Penny for them?"

I looked up from the gin and tonic in front of me to see Marcus, Fridays usual bartender.

"Oh I'm not sure you'd want them." I said, chuckling softly.

"You don't normally nurse a gin like this." He said.

"I don't exactly knock them back either though." I said, as he smiled.

"You all in a tizzy for Corroded Coffins's live lounge performance that's coming up?" He asked, as I stared at him blankly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"You haven't heard? You're friends with them all aren't you?" He asked, amused.

"No, I haven't." I said, as he turned from me to grab the rolled up newspaper on the bar behind him.

He laid it out infront of me, and I peered down at it.

"That section there." He said, pointing to a small article.

With Nancys name next to it.

"God dammit Wheeler." I said, shaking my head.

"The girls gotta earn a living, what's wrong with that?" Marcus asked, chuckling at my disdain.

"I'm more friends with the arrogant, miserable lead singer and lead guitarist. That's what's wrong." I said.

"Eddie Munson?" Marcus asked.

"For all of my sins, yeah." I said, with a sigh.

"Although, I wouldn't say we were talking right now." I added.

"I love a bit of drama." Marcus said, letting me know he was all ears.

"I'm sure you do. You probably hear enough." I said, chuckling softly.

"So what's going on?" He asked, leaning across the bar.

"It started probably back in '87. Jesus I sound like a broken fucking record. Always talking about that day, I sound fixated on it. Basically, we drove down to see them, they were doing so well, they were famous, adored, and we were happy for them, for him. We got there and it was just the Eddie show. Talking over us, interrupting us, purely to talk about himself. He told me that he bought a car. The one car I'd always wanted. Told us that he'd get us rooms at the hotel they were at, couldn't have us staying at the motel we'd paid for." I said.

"What was your dream car?" He asked, smiling coyly.

"Marcus, let's not pretend that you don't already know it's sitting on the parking lot." I said, as he chuckled.

"She's a real beauty." He said, as I nodded.

"But what you don't know...... is that it was his car. I'm driving that same dodge, that he bought in 87." I said, as Marcus' jaw dropped.

"You have his old car?" He asked, laughing in disbelief.

"Yeah." I said, simply.

"God..... how salty was he?" Marcus asked as we both giggled.

"Was? I think he still is." I said.

"Reckon you'll sort things out?" He asked, his eyes on the door, as I shrugged.

"No idea. Sounds harsh, but I feel better after not talking to him for a couple of weeks. I feel lighter." I said, as Marcus cleared his throat loudly.

"So you'll probably mind if I sit here then?"

I died inside, before turning to acknowledge him.

"Be my guest." I said, as he shrugged out of his jacket, his modest arm muscles flexing in the low light of the bar, the black T-shirt clinging to him in all of the right places.

He perched on the stool next to mine, and I felt tense already.

"Beer please, Marcus." He said.

"Coming right up." He said, swallowing hard as I threw him a small glare.

'Nice one.' I mouthed.

"You're a hard woman to track down." Eddie said, as I shrugged casually.

"Am I?" I asked.

"Blaire, I know you've been avoiding me." He said.

"Of course I have." I said, as Marcus set a bottle of beer down on the bar in-front of Eddie.

"I don't blame you." He said.

"I'm relieved." I said, flatly.

"I wanted to apologise." He said, as I sighed deeply.

"For which part?" I asked.

"For all parts." He said, before taking a swig of his beer.

I curled my hands around my gin glass, feeling awkward and a little vulnerable.

"I've got this gig coming up.... And I feel like I need my friends." He said, sounding nervous.

"You have your friends." I said.

"I don't have you." He said.

"You had me Eddie. By god, you did." I argued, feeling my temper flare slightly.

Marcus turned and eyed me with a raised eyebrow, and I pressed my lips together, silencing myself momentarily.

"I know. And I lost you through no fault other than my own. I've lost count of the times I've lost you, for something I've done or said. But I want to make that right." Eddie said.

"And is this gonna be the time where you actually get it?" I asked.

"Get what?" He asked.

"That I have tried and tried to be your friend. We used to be so close. Always laughing, always goofing around. You hit the big time, and everything changed. And when you hit rock bottom, lost everything, we were all there for you. I was there for you. Only suddenly, there was some kind of issue between us. An issue with me." I said.

"Blaire, I care about you, so much. I care about you above all of our other friends." Eddie said, with emphasis.

"So why are you always so hard on me?" I asked.

"Okay, in 87, I bought the dodge. I bought the dodge because I remember every single conversation we had about how much you wanted one. It was your dream car. That's why I bought it. I got it, to try and impress you. To show you that I'd listened to you, hung off your every word, because I always did. I wanted to take you out in it. I didn't want to take Dustin. I wanted to take you. I wanted you to like me. I guess.... When you turned me down, when you didn't see why I'd done it, I was hurt, and mad. I've been mad about that for years. Mad at you. Which you didn't deserve. You never have." Eddie said, as my jaw dropped.

I couldn't deny that it was the truth.
He'd looked me dead in the eye whilst he'd said every word, every syllable.

It sounded like something he'd have thought, something he'd have done.

And it sounded just like him, that his gesture had wound up getting lost in translation.

"But you were so mad when Jerry gave it to me." I said, as he sighed deeply.

"It was something else I'd lost. I know I've changed over the years, Blaire. I know I'm not the guy any of you used to know. But I want to find him again." He said.

"I've seen him a few times. There's glimmers. But something always seems to pull this version of you back." I said.

"This version that feels sorry for himself all the time. Has done for years." He admitted.

"Are you planning on doing anything about that?" I asked, as he nodded.

"Theres this uhm..... performance coming up. They want to interview us beforehand..... and I don't feel like I have anything worth saying, about my life. My life as it is at the moment. So I'm working on that, so that when I'm there, when they ask the questions I know they're gonna ask..... I feel like I can hold my head up high and tell them confidently that I've achieved something." He said.

"There's this kid in my class..... Mason. I drove into school, in the dodge, and he told me that he thought I was so cool. I told him that I'd named her Betty, and he sang Ram Jam all afternoon." I said, as he chuckled.

"All I did, was drive into the parking lot, like I always do. And he sincerely thinks I'm the coolest person he's ever met." I continued.

"It has nothing to do with your vintage car?" Eddie asked, as I chuckled a little.

"It was a little to do with it. No, it was the fact that I'd told him and his peers that it was something I'd always wanted. And he thinks I'm cool, because I achieved it. I achieved something I wanted." I said.

"So what are you saying?" He asked.

"Achieve what you want to achieve. People will be proud of you, for that." I said.

"It doesn't matter what it is." I added.

"You're thinking that you have to have particular achievements to talk about, when you don't. You just need to be yourself." I continued.

"Be myself? Bit of a dangerous past time." He said, poking fun at himself.

"It is. But I actually prefer you, when you're authentically you. You had dreams when we were kids, you had dreams when we were teenagers. And you were always proud of them." I said.

"I'm not proud of my life right now." He admitted.

"You can be. When you stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually go after what you want." I said.

"And whatever you do, talk about it proudly during that interview. No matter what it is. It's not what anyone else deems as a good dream, or an achievement. It's what you deem those things to be." I continued.

"I'm sorry, for how I've acted. I'm sorry for what it looked like, when you came to see us." He said.

"You really did that to impress me?" I asked, as Marcus squeaked slightly, before pretending he wasn't listening.

"I bought a thirty thousand dollar car, to impress you." Eddie confirmed, as I choked on my gin.

"Thirty thousand dollars?" I repeated, shocked.

"Does it make sense now, why you were almost robbed of it at the gas station?" Eddie asked, a little amused.

"Blaire, it's worth far more than that now." He added.

"Does Jerry know this?" I asked, as he nodded.

"Yeah, he does. He did when I sold it to him." He said.

"It's limited edition." He finally admitted, as my jaw hit the floor.

"Only 150 were made worldwide. First of their kind to be painted in black matte. It seemed like the perfect gesture to me, to impress you." He added.

"Oh my god....." I said, unable to believe it.

"It felt like an injustice, that I didn't perhaps get to give it to you myself, I guess. It felt like a gut punch because the reason I'd bought it, was completely misunderstood. Which was my fault. I was an asshole, so it was no wonder that you didn't see why." He said.

"You're driving a car currently worth half a million." He added.

"Currently?" I inquired.

"It's ten years old. The older it gets, the value will just continue to go up." He said.

And that's when I slid off the bar stool, in complete shock.

Eddie caught me with cat like reflexes, and helped me sit back onto it, his eyes cautious and glittering with concern.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you that part." He said, holding me upright.

"I knew that it would eventually be vintage. It was an investment, that I made.... For you." He added.

"Back then, you'd only have had to have asked, and I know I'd have given it to you, in a heartbeat." He continued.

"I wouldn't have asked you for it." I said.

"No, I know that." He said.

"But if you had, I would have." He added.

"I've robbed Jerry." I said, in a moral crisis.

"You haven't. He knows this. He knew it when he gifted it to you. Because he believed you deserved it. I believe you deserve it. I was just too busy feeling sorry for myself to tell you. Too busy moping over the fact that I blew my money, behaved like a complete moron, lived and played hard and lost everything." He said.

"When you sit in the interview..... tell them about this." I said, suddenly.

"What?" He asked, in disbelief.

"Tell this story. Tell them what you've just told me." I said.

"Tell them that I liked you so much, that I bought your dream car, to impress you? To plan to eventually give it to you?" He asked, which took my breath away a little but I concealed it for the most part.

"And then I had to sell it because I was broke?" He added.

"Yes, and tell them what happened after. How I ended up with the car after all." I said.

"And then, tell them what you're doing now. What you've achieved." I continued.

"I have to achieve those things first." He argued.

"You do." I said, before raising my glass.

"So, what are you still doing sitting here?" I asked.

*******************************************
Hawkins Radio Live Lounge.
Guests: Corroded Coffin

"Ssssshhhh! They're on!" Wayne cried, silencing us all as we all sat in the trailer, watching the TV intently, waiting for Corroded Coffin.

"Okay, so tell me..... at the height of your careers, what was the biggest thing you did? What was the most impulsive thing you did?"

I waited with bated breath, watching Eddie on the screen, shifting nervously in his seat.

"I became a happily married man. Besides the band, it was the biggest thing I did. Shes an amazing woman, we have two beautiful kids and I'm good, I'm happy." Grant said.

I smiled so wide that my face hurt.

"Awwwww, Grant." Robin said, touched.

"I went onto work with underprivileged kids, teaching them guitar. I now have my own teaching school." Dream said.

"I always wanted to produce music. I can say that I'm still doing that, that's very much still the dream. I've worked with some amazing artists and I still do. Very lucky, very happy." Jeff said.

"I'm still in gaming, and absolutely loving it." Gareth said, with a grin.

Leaving Eddie, as the last and only one who hadn't answered.

"What about you, Eddie?"

"I bought a thirty thousand dollar, limited edition, matte black car, to impress a girl I went to school with." He said, with a casual shrug.

"Okay, what?!" The presenter asked.

"I did, it was her dream car. And so, I had this grand gesture in my head to buy that car, to show her how much I liked her." Eddie said.

"Did it work?"

"No." Eddie said, as they all laughed.

I saw him relax a little, but I also saw everyone turn towards me, apparently not knowing that either, and in my peripheral, I could see that they were all stunned; Wayne not so much.

Because it was clear that Wayne already knew.

"What happened?" The presenter asked, very intrigued.

"My life changed and I had to sell the car on. Life happened in some of the worst ways for me I guess. One of us had to have the bad luck, and I'm glad in a way, that it was me. Grants blissfully, happily married, has two of the best kids going, Gareth and Jeff both have careers that they wanted following the band and I'd never want them to not have those things, you know?" Eddie asked.

I watched the screen, mesmerised with his newfound, refreshing honesty.

Watching his lifelong friends and band members, acknowledge his words, visibly touched and appreciative.

Gareth, squoze Eddie's shoulder reassuringly.

"But. She has the car now, in some funny twist of fate. She has the car, and damn, does it suit her." Eddie continued.

"Wow. So she has the car you originally bought to impress her?" The presenter asked.

"She does." Eddie confirmed.

"And what's going on with you now?" The presenter asked.

"I recently met with the guy I sold the car too, and we're actually about to venture into investing, restoring and selling on vintage cars." He said.

That, shocked us all.

"Hey, did you know about this?" Steve asked me.

"No. But he's doing what I suggested." I said.

"What did you suggest?" Nancy asked, as Wayne smiled broadly.

"Did you know about the real reason for the dodge?" Dustin asked.

"He told me. Recently. I told him to tell that story." I said.

"And I suggested that he put himself out there, go after what he wants to do, so that he would feel that he had something worthwhile to talk about." I added, as Nancy smiled, touched.

"That's really nice." She said.

"He was nervous. Nervous about what people would think about his life. So I told him to go and do what he wanted, so he could talk about it, proudly." I said.

"He sounded proud." Robin said.

"Because he is. He's found his place again." Wayne said, before giving me a subtle wink.

'Thank you.' He mouthed to me, as I gave him a nod in response.

"He does love cars. Always was good with them." Steve said.

"Has a keen eye for a good car." Dustin said.

"I'm proud of him. The old Eddie is coming back." Robin said, sighing happily.

"He is." Nancy confirmed.

"So, how did you feel when he told you why he bought the dodge?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I mean I was shocked. But I was more shocked at how much it had cost at the time, and how much it's now worth. Because it's limited edition." I said.

"Spill." Steve demanded.

"Thirty thousand. Ten years on? She's worth half a million." I said, as they all gasped.

"Slid off the damn bar stool when he told me." I said, agreeing wholeheartedly with their reaction.

"Seriously. I think he might love you." Dustin said, as my eyes widened.

"He said he liked me, back then." I argued.

"Okay. You can pretend that he doesn't still like you all you want." Steve said.

"He would have known that the car would just increase in value over the years. That was quite an investment. It was a grand gesture." He added.

"I know." I said, trying to keep a poker face.

"Was he a little mad because he perhaps had wanted to give it to you some day?" Nancy asked.

"Can't you just fucking tell you're a journalist, Wheeler?" I asked, a little annoyed but also amused.

"I'm right?!" She asked, shocked.

"Pretty much. It hadn't mapped out how he'd wanted it to. He wanted to take me out in it, he wanted to tell me he'd bought it for me. I misinterpreted it, all of it. Turned him down." I said.

"He was wallowing." Wayne interjected, as we all turned to look at him.

"When he was ahead of you all, he had no worries, no cares, he was happy. When he suddenly found himself behind you, he found it hard to be happy for what you'd all achieved. Blaire, you more than anyone else here. Dustin is right, and I think you know he is. My boy? He's mad about you, he always has been. He's just been a little too angry at the world to properly communicate that to you." Wayne continued.

"And if there's a conversation that needs to be had, we'll have it, I'm sure." I said, trying to sound breezy.

"Blaire, you liked Eddie in school. You told me that." Steve said.

"I did." I said, on both counts.

"Do you still like him?" He asked.

"It would explain the tension between them." Robin mused, as I glared at her.

"What? I'm not wrong." She said, as Dustin grinned.

"Blaire." Steve pressed.

"Yes. Okay!" I cried, caving in.

"Alright, you don't need to shout." Dustin said, wide eyed.

"You're all incessant." I said.

"Yeah, we are. Because we're your friends." Steve said, chuckling softly.

"Are you gonna tell him?" Wayne asked, with a grin on his face.

"Maybe?" I offered, as Nancy rolled her eyes.

"You have nothing to lose." She said.

"Is it wrong that I would want him to prove himself to me? Prove that he's not the asshole we've known for ten years?" I asked.

"Sorry." I added, quickly glancing at Wayne.

"None taken. That's accurate." He said.

"He drastically changed. I need to see the Eddie I knew, who I liked, laughed with, goofed around with years ago. I like that Eddie. Not the Eddie he became." I said.

"Tell him that then." Nancy said, simply.

********************************************
Eddie's POV.

We'd played an acoustic set, and I knew that they'd been at the trailer, watching us.

I did as she had suggested. I told our story.
I hoped that I'd conveyed it in the way she'd have wanted, and I hoped that I'd done her proud, somewhat.

We'd ended the set with a cover of Candy, an ode and a reach out to my friends on the other end of the TV. From the night that we were all friends, singing happily, laughing like we used to.

My pitch to Jerry had given me incentive, purpose, something to work towards, and I was grateful when he'd agreed.

I was a little rusty on the mechanic side of things, but over the last week, Jerry had been teaching me, refreshing me, eventually giving me the chance to fix a car independently that had come in for repairs.

I'd thrown myself into this, to show her that I wasn't wanting to wallow in self pity anymore.
I didn't want to be angry, jealous of everyone and feel sorry for myself. I had a purpose again, I was finding my place. And I was doing it for myself, and her.

I hadn't seen her since the night in the bar, but I'd driven to her house tonight, two tickets in my hand, preparing myself to ask her to come with me.

It was a night festival.
A festival with pretty fairy lights, lanterns, music, beer, a bonfire and fireworks.

I knocked on her front door, nervously bobbing on my feet, taking a deep breath.

When she opened the door, her long brunette hair was in a neat braid, snaking down her torso, the tones of blonde running through the ends, her cardigan hanging off one shoulder.

She had hair for days.
Hair I wanted to get lost in.

"Eddie.... Hey." She said.

"Sorry to drop in on you like this." I said.

She wrapped the oversized, grey marl woollen jumper around herself, her eyes glancing over my shoulder momentarily, her gold necklaces glinting from the street light at the top of her driveway.

It had started to rain.

"You wanna come in?" She asked.

"That'd be great, thank you." I said, as she stepped aside to let me in.

As soon as I walked into her living room, it felt cosy, warm, safe. She had various candles lit, scents of sandalwood and vanilla filling my nose.

"They're autumnal kind of smells I know, but we are getting to the end of summer." She said, watching me breathe them in.

"They smell great." I said, chuckling softly, as she sat down on her sofa.

"You gonna sit, or just continue to make the place look untidy?" She asked, as I grinned and sat down next to her.

"Okay, so I know that we're sort of.... Building bridges. Unless I've gotten that wrong?" I asked.

"No, you haven't gotten that wrong. It would be nice to fix whatever is going on." She said, calmly.

"Okay, so I was hoping to do that.... With these." I said, producing the two tickets from the back pocket of my jeans.

"The Luna Festival and Car Meet?" She inquired, her bangs falling around her face as she peered down at the tickets in my hand.

"Yeah, it's an evening music festival. Car meet is during the day. I wondered if you wanted to take Betty and show her off? Drive down there? See the fairy lights and the lanterns." I said.

"I can get more tickets if you want the guys to come along." I added.

"You had me at fairy lights. I mean, I'd really like to go." She said, with a nice smile.

"You would?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah." She said, as I immediately relaxed.

"Okay, great." I said, chuffed.

"You want a coffee or anything?" She asked.

"Only if you're making one for yourself ." I said, as she flashed me a beautiful smile.

"Sure. I'm a tea belly after all." She replied.

********************************************
Luna Festival - Morning

I let Eddie drive, happy to be the passenger.

He was happy for me to be the traditional passenger and DJ, and I chose the music for the way down there. He was receptive to my choices, asking me questions about the artist playing, talking about the melodies, the arrangements of the instruments, and so on.

It was nice to have a conversation without tearing into each other; and the invitation to the festival had definitely been an olive branch.

I was taking it as that.

We arrived after three hours, and we were guided to the spot for the dodge. There were already cars parked, the owners standing proudly next to them, talking to festival goers, smiles on their faces.

That turned to sheer shock, when we pulled around the corner.

Eddie immediately began to laugh.

"You knew this was gonna happen, didn't you?" I asked, as he smirked, parking in the designated spot.

"Yeah. I wanted you to have your well deserved moment with Betty. But be prepared, you're gonna be fawned over all day. Betty too." He said, as he began to wave at people already gathering around, waiting for us to get out.

I was nervous.

"Blaire, take the moment." Eddie urged, sensing my reservations.

I took a deep breath and opened the car door, slowly climbing out, met with a rush of excited car fans.

"Holy shit, she's a beauty." One guy said.

"Thank you." I said.

"Wait, it's yours?" He asked, as I nodded.

"She is." I said, as I ran my hand down the side of the bonnet.

"1987, matte black dodge charger." I confirmed.

"I knew it!" Another guy said.

"Only 150 made worldwide." He added.

"God you're a lucky lady." Another said.

"She's a real beauty." Another said.

"Thank you." I said, as Eddie climbed out.

"Holy cow. Eddie from Corroded Coffin!" Someone cried.

"Hey." Eddie said, nervously.

"I saw your interview, on the live lounge. The story, oh my god." A girl said, as I chuckled softly.

"Wait. You're the girl from high school?!" She asked me.

"The very one." Eddie said, chuckling softly as he nudged me playfully.

"Guilty." I said.

"Can we have a picture with you? And the dodge?" She asked, as I stepped aside, letting her come to stand next to Eddie.

"Sorry." She said, chuckling softly.

"I meant you and the dodge." She added, to me, as Eddie belly laughed.

"Hey, I've never been famous." I argued.

"With that car, after today you will be." She said, as I closed the gap between us. I smiled and she took a photo, squealing with joy.

"Can I have one with you?" She asked Eddie.

"Sure." He said, and he came to stand the other side of her; we posed for a second, and she went off happily talking to her friend.

"Can we have a photo?" The first guy asked.

"Sure." I said, with a smile.

********************************************
Eddie's POV.

Luna Festival - Afternoon

We'd taken photos all day, and Blaire's apprehension had eased the more she spoke to excited car enthusiasts.

The music fans spoke to her too, and myself.
Mostly about the recent interview.

I'd anticipated that I'd be judged for my life not turning out like the other guys, but everyone was just so hyped about the story I'd told.

They loved the romance of it.
I wasn't sure if Blaire had seen the romance or could see it, but it had been a big gesture I'd wanted to make back then.

We walked over to a nearby food stand and sat at one of the benches, enjoying a cheeseburger and fries, with a shake.

"I don't think I've talked to that many people, in my entire life." She said, as I smiled.

"I dunno, you were pretty popular in school." I said, as she screwed her face up.

"I really wasn't. I hung with you weirdos." She said, as we both laughed.

"Okay, you were popular than me, at the very least." I said, as she weighed that up.

"Yeah, I think that's more accurate." She said.

"Are you having fun?" I asked.

"I am. I told Nancy we were coming here, she was a little surprised." She said.

"Harrington was too." I said, as she chuckled.

"Are you having fun?" She asked.

"I am." I said, sincerely.

"I'm looking forward to the concert later. I couldn't see a line up anywhere though." She said.

"I think that's the beauty of it." I said, as she smiled.

"Can you believe we spoke to so many people?" She asked.

"Yes and no. I wasn't expecting anyone to really wanna talk to me per se, about music. I expected them to want to talk about the dodge." I said.

"And photos too." She said, in disbelief.

"Not something you ever get used to, trust me." I said, chuckling softly.

"You haven't?" She asked.

"No. I'm a washed up rockstar, remember?" I asked, as she paused momentarily.

"I didn't mean that." She said, bowing her head slightly.

"You did. That's what I am. I needed that honesty." I said.

"That brutal?" She asked.

"I needed to wake up." I said, confirming.

"And have you?" She asked.

"Working with Jerry is great. We have two cars already that we're working on. It's given me a sense of purpose again." I said.

"Plus, I'm also doing repairs, MOT's, services. I'm officially a grease monkey." I said, as she smiled.

"I'm proud of you." She said, as my heart swelled.

"Thank you." I said, sincerely.

***********************
Luna Festival - Evening

Eddie's POV.

We were quite close to the stage, much to Blaire's excitement, and during the first few sets, I could only watch her, her eyes completely fixed on the stage, a cup of beer in her hand.

I heard her gasp a little while later, and I turned to her, in surprise.

"Are you okay?" I asked, as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really good." She said.

"That's Alba August." She added, her eyes wide with wonder.

"You like her?" I asked, drunk on her childlike awe.

"Yeah! She was in a tv series that I really liked. It was called The Rain." She explained.

"Wow. I can't believe it." She added, a beautiful smile spreading across her face.

Her lips parted, mouthing the words, that hit me like a dump truck.

I see the light, I see my life.
Passing by, my love........

We're not gonna make it through the night....
I will follow you into the light,
Now it's time to cry, it's only you and I,
We're not gonna make it through the night.....

Blaire's eyes were fixed towards the stage, before they moved to the sky, and she gripped my arm in sudden awe and surprise, as one by one, lanterns began to float all around us.

"Oh wow." She said, as I gently moved my arm from her grip, to slowly snake it across her shoulders, finding the courage to pull her closer to me.

She leaned into me, responsive to me, her hand pressed against my chest and we stood close together, eyes on the sky as it filled with lanterns of all colours.

"It looks just like Tangled." She said.

"Of course it does. You're a Disney head." I said, chuckling softly, glancing at her briefly.

To find her already looking at me.

"You were too, once." She said.

"I still am." I assured her.

"What's my favourite Disney movie?" She asked.

"The Little Mermaid." I said, as she smiled.

"What's my favourite Disney movie?" I asked her.

"The Lion King." She said, without hesitation.

I looked down at the concealed unlit lantern at my feet, smiling to myself.

"Would you want to light one of your own?" I asked her, as her mouth formed an O shape.

"Yeah, I'd love to." She said, gasping as I carefully picked up the lantern.

I lit it for her, and when I was sure she was holding it secure in her hands, I released it, leaving her to let it go when she was ready.

"You're like my own Flynn Rider." She said, as I chuckled softly.

"Make a wish." I said, and she closed her eyes.

When she opened them, her hands let go and the lantern began to immediately float upwards to the soft, warm sound of Alba August.

"I prefer Eugene." I said, hinting to her that I'd watched Tangled.

And that I also knew Flynn Rider's real name.

"It's a strong name." She commented, with a smirk as she watched her lantern continue to rise.

I smiled broadly, watching it with her, and we both turned back to the stage in comfortable unison, as the next artist came on.

RY X.
Fumbling prayer.

Which hit us both in the feels, with the words and the sounds.

To hide all the hands
That tied me down
Hide this will,
Hide this will

Tied to sin,
To guard herself
Hide this will,
Hide this will

Feel cold
Speak out
Feel cold
Speak out

And we both turned to face each other, the words completely resonating, eyes locked, hands reaching for each other.

I heard her breath hitch slightly in her chest as I bundled her up into my arms, craving her warmth, her scent, everything about her.

"I'm sorry that I had so many bridges to mend. I'm sorry I let it get that far. I'm sorry for every time I've spoken badly towards you, and I'm sorry that I never really told you, just how proud I am, to have you in my life. Because I am." I said, her wide, green, childlike eyes staring into mine.

"Every time you haven't been in my life, I've noticed. I've noticed, I have. Because of the sadness I've felt. Because of the hole you always seem to leave." I added, as her bottom lip trembled, her eyes growing glassy.

Feel cold, speak out.
Feel cold, speak out.

"He's right. When you're not in my life, or when we're not talking, it feels cold. So, I'm speaking out. I don't think I could go another day, without talking to you, being around you." I continued.

She responded, just not with words.
She responded, with an unexpected, tentative peck on my lips.

She drew back, to gauge my reaction, nervous and afraid.

I wasn't afraid. Nervous perhaps, but not afraid.
I'd put myself out there. I'd told her how empty and cold it always made me feel, without her.

I inched my face back towards hers, and gently plucked her lips into mine, kissing her softly, feeling her melt into me, with relief.

I wasn't sure how, but we found ourselves on the backseat of her Dodge, steaming the windows with our breath and our body heat.

Leonardo DiCaprio? Kate Winslet?
Eat your damn hearts out.

Clothes were hurriedly peeled off or shrugged out of, hands explored places we'd only dreamed of going, and her soft, hushed moans were like music to my ears.

My favourite music.

And as I thrust against her, I felt like I was finally home.

She was home, to me.

We missed the fireworks, but we heard them.

They duly quashed any sounds we made, and the lights danced across her eyes as she stared into mine, faces close, bodies even closer.

I kissed every inch of her skin that I could, with the time that we had, and I held her to me as her orgasm shuddered through her like a rocky wave, her mouth the perfect O shape as they expelled a series of delicious, satisfied moans.

I followed soon after, redressed, and after a little light fingered robbery from a vacant tent nearby, I returned to the car.

After we'd shared a satisfying after sex cigarette together, we climbed back inside, and I draped the pillaged blanket and sheet over us both.

Someone at the festival was gonna have a chilly nights sleep; we weren't though, and that was all I cared about.

We fell asleep to the silence of the night, curled up together on the back seat, and I felt a sense of calm that I hadn't felt in a long time.

********************************************

I awoke the next morning, and he stirred as I sat up, yawning softly as I stretched as much as I could, in the limited room of the Dodge.

"Morning." He said, yawning too.

"Morning." I said, with a soft, nervous smile.

"Did you sleep good?" He asked, as sighed deeply.

"As good as I expected." I said, chuckling softly.

"Did you?" I added, as he nodded.

"Like a baby." He said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

He met my eyes, and I expected him to hold my gaze, but sadly, he didn't.

His eyes flitted from me seconds later and he seemed to grow awkward, suddenly.

"Uhm, I'm gonna go try and find a coffee. Want one?" He asked, as I nodded.

"Sure." I said, the sadness evident in my voice.

"Are you okay?" He asked, as I pressed my lips together.

And before I could stop it, it feel from my lips, with fear and urgency.

"You can't pull away from me after last night." I begged, knowing that my eyes were full of fear, and rejection.

"I'm not." He said, as I shook my head.

"You are. I can see it." I said.

"Please don't pull away from me. Not after that." I pleaded, as he fought with himself.

"You were there with me. You felt the same things that I did. You felt them. You were as present as me." I continued, as he pressed himself against the car door, clearly conflicted.

"Did I deserve to experience that with you?" He asked, as my face creased with sadness.

"This isn't about me, is it?" I asked.

"No." He said, sadly.

"I chose to do that with you. I made that call. If you didn't deserve it, it wouldn't have happened." I urged, fretful, my voice painfully hushed.

I was slowly breaking in front of him.

"Do you regret it?" I asked, as he panicked.

"No, no.... Not at all. It was the best night of my life, all of it. Seeing your face light up when you saw Alba August. When you saw the lanterns, when you remembered my favourite Disney movie. Watching you send your own lantern up into the sky. Hearing Fumbling Prayer...... that resonated with me more than any song ever has." He said.

"So did Alba August's." He added.

"I just..... I just had a wobble." He continued.

My eyes were glassy, and wordlessly, I climbed into his lap, pinning him against the car door. I crushed my lips against his, my hands in his hair, my body pressed against his.

There was a flurry of hands, the urgency too great to fully undress, but just enough for zips to be undone, just enough for me to shuffle out of my jeans, just enough for the swift manoeuvring of underwear, before we both gasped in unison, breathing into each others open mouths.

I didn't and I couldn't wait, immediately rocking my hips against his, as he moaned deeply and gruffly.

"I need you." I whispered, breaking my silence.

"Not as much as I need you." He whispered back, wiping away the tear that had rolled down my cheek.

"Stay with me." I begged, as he held me to him by my hips, encouraging me to roll them deeper, faster against his own.

"I couldn't go anywhere...." He said, his voice strained with desire and pleasure.

"Not after this....." He added, a deep sigh leaving his lips.

He lay me down along the backseat, arching over me, my raven hair fanning out against the leather.

He searched for me, in the sheets, pushing my jumper upwards, bundling it at under my arms, eventually locating my naked chest, leaning down to press deep, urgent kisses on my skin, my body arching underneath his lips.

"Theres..... there's people outside...." I said, as he smiled when he heard a minute tone of amusement in my voice.

"Yeah, the windows are tinted." He said, smiling mischievously against my skin.

"But they're not soundproof....." He added, thrusting hard against me.

I cried out in high pitched pleasure and he sighed deeply, as though it was the sweetest sound, that had ever graced his ears.

And when we eventually emerged from the Dodge, dishevelled, awkward and breathless, there was plenty of applause, laughter and wolf whistles.

I buried my face into his shoulder, practically crimson.

"Thank you. Thank you." Eddie said, taking a dramatic bow, a grin the size of a planet on his face.

I hadn't been this happy in a long time.
Maybe ever.

And I knew that I didn't want to let it go.
I didn't want to let him go.

*********************************************
Monday hadn't been manic necessarily, as the Bangles had once sang, but it had been an eventful day.

I'd spent the afternoon making lanterns with the children, telling them about where they originated from, the meaning of them, and how they were interpreted today.

I'd made the wire baskets, for the tea lights to sit inside, and had sent them home with one each, all of them promising to make a wish before they sent them into the sky.

I walked to my car, my hands aching from handling the wire baskets, my skin a little raw from the sharp metal, and I sighed with contentment.

The kids had been full of wonder as always, and had been really engaged with me.

"That's the look of a teacher who's had a good day with everyone kids before sending them home to be absolute monsters to their parents." A familiar voice purred, as I opened my car door.

I set my bag inside, before pausing, smiling excitedly to myself.

"I don't think so. Not when they'll be setting lanterns off tonight." I said, before slowly turning around, to see him casually standing next to an unfamiliar car.

It wasn't his van.

It was a Chevy.

"New car?" I asked, as he shrugged.

"Sorta. I bought it to restore and sell on, but I've decided to restore it and keep it. So the van, the legend that it was, the horror it's seen over the years, is officially gone." He said.

"Wow. The legendary Munson Mobile has gone to pastures new." I said, as he grinned.

"Come on, come take a spin in it with me." He said, beckoning me over.

"And then we'll go for dinner." He added, chuckling softly as my stomach rumbled loudly.

************************
"Shit.... That was good." I said, sitting back after eating the final bite of my steak salad.

I sighed with contentment, as he watched me, amused and almost..... reminiscent.

"Okay, what are you thinking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, as I reached for my glass of red wine.

I brought the glass to my lips, and he smiled broadly.

"I was just thinking about this whole set up. How I wanted to ask you on a date, when we were in school. And if I'd ever been brave enough, it would have been here. At this restaurant. I'd pictured that you'd have had the steak salad, and I'd have had the spaghetti. This is what I pictured. It's just happened a lot later." He said, as I chuckled softly, lowering the wine glass from my lips.

"Any regrets?" I asked.

"None." He answered.

"So, this was the date you had planned." I mused, as he chuckled softly.

"If you'd have said yes, then yeah it would have been. But..... I missed my chance back then, didn't I?" He asked.

"You did. But then again, I did too." I said, as his eyes burned with curiosity.

"You did too?" He asked, as I chuckled softly.

"You're hopeless, Munson. I had the biggest crush on you, in school." I said, as he gawped at me.

"Wow, I did not see that." He said.

"I know." I said, laughing into my wine glass.

"You liked me?" He asked, unable to believe it, smiling mischievously.

"That's what I said. God, you made me laugh all the time. You were so goofy, dramatic..... clever but didn't always use it. You were just fun to be around." I said, with a shrug.

"I don't honestly know how you didn't see it." I added, smiling fondly at him, taking another sip of my wine.

"I always thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen." He admitted, as I choked on the contents of my glass.

I set my glass down, as he chuckled softly.

"Sorry." He said, wincing slightly.

"But I did." He added.

"Even more so, now. Sometimes, I think that made me angry too." He continued.

"Being beautiful made you with angry with me?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Wanting you, made me angry." He corrected.

"Wanting you and not being able to stand it, made me angry." He added.

"Why not ask me out sooner then?" I asked.

"Come on, you know this. I didn't have anything to my name, I was losing everything, selling what I had just to get by. I hadn't nothing to offer you, nothing worthy of you." He said.

"Ed, I wasn't expecting your best pig, or a dowry." I said.

"You know what I mean." He pressed, some firmness to his tone.

"I'm not trying to offend you." I said, a little regretful.

"I'd have been happy with you. Just you." I added.

"I just wanted to be worth it." He said.

"It's probably a good thing that I'm really the judge of that then, isn't it?" I asked, with a smile.

"Your worth isn't measured by material things, Eddie. Gestures, words, they all count." I added.

"Remember that." I finished.

*******************************************
"Okay, it's been too long. I want the details. All of them." Nancy demanded, as we sat in a cocktail bar, having an overdue girls night.

"Yes. Please." Robin begged.

"The festival. How did it go?" Nancy pressed.

"Sweet Lord have mercy on my soul." I said, rolling my eyes.

"It was good, the festival was wonderful. Eddie got me a lantern to light and set off. It was literally just like Tangled." I said.

"Aw that was sweet." Nancy said.

"And I spoke to a lot of people about Betty. They literally came in droves. Had photos with me, with us. Honestly." I said.

"Was it fun?" Robin asked with a grin.

"That part was intense." I said.

"Were the fireworks pretty?" Nancy asked.

"Probably. I didn't really see them." I said, as Robins eyes narrowed.

"Why?" She asked.

I huffed, and just figured they were waiting for the juiciest bit of the weekend, and it was obvious I couldn't keep them waiting any longer.

"Because I was in the back of the dodge with Eddie between my legs." I said, putting them out of their misery.

"I'm sorry..... WHAT?" Nancy asked, completely stunned, her cocktail sloshing down her shirt.

"You heard me." I said, as Robin giggled like a naughty child.

"Finally. I've been waiting for this. Screwed each other in the back of the world's sexiest vintage car. Can I just live precariously through you?" She asked.

"No." I said, as she chuckled.

"Why? You're naughty." She said, with a grin.

"But. The next morning, he was off with me." I said.

"I will murder him." Nancy said.

"Steady on, just wait a minute. We spoke about it. And slept together again in the dodge." I said, pressing my lips together as Robin almost lost her mind.

"I love you. Honestly, I love you." She said, giddy.

"I love you too, but you're a dingus. Seriously." I said, laughing.

"Why?" Nancy asked.

"The whole worthy of me scenario. Did he deserve to have slept with me." I said.

"He needs to get it together. You've never been materialistic. He knows that." Nancy argued.

"And, this week, he was waiting for me outside on the school parking lot. Took me for a spin in his new Chevy. And took me for dinner. Where we spoke about the whole worthy thing. Told him to calm down about it. I'm not looking for his best pig or a dowry. He understands now." I explained.

"Good. We're not in the 17th century anymore." Nancy said.

"Is that the right century?" Robin queried.

"Oh it doesn't matter. It's not the dark ages is it?" Nancy asked, waving her off.

"No, it's not. He gets it. Scared me a little when he pulled away, but we talked. Which is a big step, all we've done is argue every time we've been in each other's company. So it's progress." I said.

"Oh it is. It wasn't fun." Robin said.

"I know it wasn't, for any of you." I said.

"It also wasn't fun for you." Nancy reminded us both.

"No, I know that." Robin said, swallowing hard.

"I just want you to be happy, and him." She added.

"I know. It's early days, but we're on the right track." I said.

"You're happy?" Nancy asked, as I stirred the small straw around in my cocktail.

"I'm happier. We're getting along, and I guess we're dating." I said, smiling coyly.

"He did take you to dinner." Robin bargained.

"Yeah, the date he'd pictured when we were in high school." I said, as they both gushed.

"Now that's romantic." Nancy said.

"Same restaurant and everything." I said.

"Did you know he had no idea that I liked him in school?" I asked, as Nancy gawked at me.

"God he was blind." She said, shaking her head.

"He didn't know." I said, chuckling softly.

"Oh I'm sure he realised when you were bumping uglies in the dodge." Robin mused, with a crooked grin.

"Are you going to forget that any time soon?" I asked her, as she laughed loudly.

"Honestly? No." She said, simply.

********************************************
One Week Later.

There was a knock on my door, as I lay on the sofa, watching some true crime documentary, a bowl of popcorn resting on my stomach.

I crossed the room to the front door, and when I opened it, Eddie was standing there, armed with a Chinese.

"Okay, I have Chinese and a question." He said, with a smile.

"I have popcorn and true crime." I offered, as he chuckled softly.

"Sounds good. You wanna share this with me?" He asked, holding the brown take out bag up.

"Sure. Come in." I said, my smile hurting my cheeks.

I closed the door behind him as he shuffled out of his trainers, and as I came level with him, he planted a soft kiss on my lips.

"Hey." He said, smiling when he broke from me.

"Hey." I said, a little flushed in the face.

"You alright?" He asked, as a breathy laugh left my mouth.

"Yeah, fine. You?" I asked, as he grinned.

"I'm alright now." He said, as we migrated slowly into my living room.

His promise of a question was burning through me; so was the curiosity.

And as I watched him plate up the Chinese, I could feel it rippling through me.

Was it going to be a good question?
A bad question?

What?

He settled on the sofa next to me, and we both started to eat. But I just couldn't cope.

"Okay, what was your question?" I asked, unable to wait any longer.

He grinned as he stared down at his chow mein.

"Well, basically it's one that I'll either get a yes or a no to." He said.

"Okay. Hit me." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"I was wondering if you wanted to maybe, consider us..... this, as you know, official? Exclusive?" He asked.

"Ask me how Eddie would ask me." I said, as he giggled.

"That's not how I'd ask you?" He asked, as I shook my head.

"Ask me how the Eddie I know would ask. That was far too formal." I said.

"Okay. I want to know, if you'd be my girl?" He asked, as I grinned.

"Much better." I said, as he swallowed hard, apparently nervous.

"Yes." I added, as his eyes lit up.

"Absolutely. One hundred percent." I continued.

"I've been waiting for you to ask me out since highschool." I said, as he chuckled softly.

"So you wanted me to ask you how you pictured I'd have asked you back then?" He asked.

"Exactly. In true Eddie style. See, the Eddie I know wouldn't have asked that formally. Exclusive? Official? Nah." I said.

"And how I did ask you?" He asked.

"Was perfect." I confirmed, as he chuckled nervously.

"Okay then." He said, seeming satisfied.

"You coming under here and watching this documentary with me?" I asked, lifting the blanket.

"I'd be out of my mind to refuse that. Scoot over." He said, moving from his end of the sofa, armed with his chow mein.

He settled behind me, and I draped the blanket over the both of us, my shoulder against his chest.

He came to rest his bowl on my head and chuckled to himself, finding himself amusing.

I remained where I was though, hearing him snigger every so often.

"I get a girlfriend who doubles up as a lovely little table." He said, more to himself.

Girlfriend struck me though; it sent a welcome warmth through me.

Something I hadn't felt in a long time.

"And I get a boyfriend who is a complete and utter goof." I said, as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"You do. Now don't move, I haven't finished my noodles." He said, whilst rubbing my arm softly.

"I like this." He added, sounding content.

"My heart is happy." He continued, as the warmth simply spread through me like wildfire.

"Can we watch The Rain?" He asked, as I beamed.

He'd remembered.

"Absolutely." I said.

"We're not gonna make it through the night....." He sang softly.

"The last piece of the puzzle, wasn't right....." I sang back.

*****************
"Okay, that's a good series. Seriously good." He said, after three episodes.

"Wow." He added.

"It is good, isn't it?" I asked, as we lay curled up together, my table services long over.

As we had watched the first couple of episodes, he'd wrapped an arm around me, completely horizontal, lying behind me, and occasionally he'd buried his face in my hair, placing the odd butterfly kiss onto the nape of my neck.

By the third, he was hooked, and absentmindedly held my hand, stroking it idly with his thumb.

He was completely content, and so was I.

By the early hours of the morning, we'd watched the first season, he'd asked questions, he'd pointed out things in scenes, things people had said that touched him, made him angry, made him sad, and his favourite character so far was Martin. Mine were Leah and Simone.

"Are you staying?" I whispered, as he arched over me on the sofa, his hand gently caressing my cheek.

"I don't wanna go home." He whispered back.

"Then stay...." I whispered, as he nodded.
My hand reached outwards to cup his cheek, and he turned his face into my hand, eyes closing at my touch.

"I don't wanna be anywhere else." He said, his breath warm on my palm.

We both sleepily headed upstairs and as we both crawled to the top of my bed, sliding under the covers, I could feel it between us.

We hadn't been intimate since the festival, and I couldn't deny that my soul hadn't been aching for another time; my body ached too.

Lips met first, eager hands following, exploring, touching, caressing. I came to straddle him, his deep brown eyes staring up at me, staring into me.

I pulled my jumper over my head, and he bit down on his bottom lip at the sight of my naked chest, his thumb tracing a soft line along my bottom lip.

I parted my lips and nipped the tip of his thumb; he groaned softly, grinding against me once. He was hard underneath me, and the friction alone seemed to set every part of my skin on fire.

I undid his belt, and he helped me with the button and the zip; I tugged his jeans and his boxers off his hips and down his legs, his erection springing free. The ache in me seemed to grow deeper, and I became all the more desperate.

He sat up slightly, kissing the valley inbetween my breasts, as his hands tugged at the hem of my joggers.

I lifted slightly to pull them down and we were both suddenly naked.

"No panties?" He asked, breathless.

"No." I said.

"You've not been wearing underwear all night?" He asked, needing me to say it.

"No." I said, as his head pushed back against the pillow, a deep groan leaving his mouth.

"You drive me crazy." He whimpered.

And just as I was about to position myself, he sat up again, his face coming level with mine.

"No." He whispered.

"No?" I asked, breathless.

"I want to take my time. Our time. We're not in the dodge. We're here." He said, his voice low.

And with that, he rolled me underneath him, arching himself over me, his mouth finding mine.

His hands blindly reached for my knees, his body positioned in between them, and he gently pushed them down towards the bed, completely opening me up to him.

And he stared into my eyes, his gaze practically burning as he suddenly slid down the bed, his face coming to rest in between my legs; my breath caught in my chest and his eyes grew awash with mild concern.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Mhmm....." I said, nodding feverishly.

"Talk to me." He urged, softly.

"It's just been a long time since..... since anyone has done what you're about to. Just a little nervous." I said, with a breathy laugh.

"If anyone should be nervous, it's me." He said, with a wide smile.

"Why?" I asked, as the wide smile spread into a devilish grin.

"Because I need to pray I'm on my A game. Make it worth your while." He whispered, before I felt his tongue press against me, his eyes still locked with mine.

Shit. His eye contact was always intense, but this?

This just filled me with a warmth I doubted I'd ever felt. And that warmth turned to a raging fire as his tongue danced against me.

This kind of act had always seemed personal to me, very personal. Close, intimate, intense.

And he was making it worth my while.
Every second was worth my while.

I shuddered hard, my chest heaving deeply and I flew up right, climaxing hard and loudly.

"Shit...." I whispered, lying back down, hearing him chuckle softly.

He snaked back up the bed, coming to arch over me once more, his eyes cheeky but intense, a nice smile on his face.

A happy smile.

"Now, you can sit on me." He said, as we both chuckled.

"I mean, I ought to return the favour." I said, as he shook his head.

"Tonight is about you." He whispered, before coming to lie next to me.

I wasted no time in straddling him again, rubbing my wetness against him, and he groaned, the sound coming from the deepest part of his chest, it felt like. It vibrated through him like a low rumble and I shuddered against him.

There had been urgency the first time, increased urgency the second time, where I felt I was staking my claim, reinforcing within him that he couldn't let me go, couldn't pull away from me.

Tonight, it was different again.
Less urgency, more desire.

And as I slowly eased myself down onto him, my hair fell around my face, as my head bowed, a soft moan creeping through the O shape of my mouth.

"Baby girl......" Eddie whispered, his hands weaving through my hair to grip my shoulder.

I leaned down, arching over him, eager to meet his soft, plump lips, my hair surrounding our faces like owls wings, the blonde and the brown hues encasing us both.

"You have hair for days." He continued, as he wrapped his arms around my back.

And as we kissed, I rolled my hips, his moans snaking down my throat like liquid laced.

We were lost after that.

We collapsed together a while later, breathless, exerted but happy. No one could say we hadn't taken our time.

No inch of my skin had been left untouched, there was no part of me that hadn't been kissed or explored.

The same for him.

And as we lay together in a comfortable silence, I sighed softly, happy, safe and warm.

In the still night air and the dark of my bedroom, I made an internal prayer. I sent a prayer out into the universe.

Please don't take him, please don't let anything ruin this. I needed this, I wanted this.

I wanted him.

********************************************
Blaire

I wasn't sure how it started, but I felt like something was going to happen.

I felt it in the bottom of my stomach, a real deep, anxious feeling.

I trusted my judgement finally, when a Range Rover had been tailing me for some time.

For a suspiciously, long time.

All became clear, when I saw a head poke out of the passenger side window, the face obscured with a balaclava.

A hand came out next, waving a gun and the dread consumed me whole in a matter of seconds.

This was about the dodge.
They wanted it.

Thinking quickly, I had to stay on the road, but somehow, call someone and tell them.

I slowed enough to continue to maintain distance, but enough for me to grab my cellphone and dial a number.

"Chief."

"Hopper, it's Blaire. I'm being followed." I said, my eyes on the rear view mirror.

"By who?"

"Not sure. Ones wearing a balaclava and I think he just waved a gun out of the window." I said, panicking.

"Where are you?"

"I'm on route 87. If I stop off anywhere, they're gonna take the dodge. That's what they want Hop." I said, almost frantic.

"I'm coming, kid. Don't you worry, I'm coming, stay on the road. How much gas do you have?"

"Half a tank, well a little under." I said.

"Drive steady, no harsh acceleration or braking. That eats gas. Maintain a good speed, keep on the road."

"I'm coming kid."

The phone clicked and I knew he'd gone.

And for now, I was on my own.

*****************************************
Eddie

"It's going good man, honestly." I said to Steve, a little distracted by Henderson, who was flapping in the corner of the room.

"Henderson, what's your deal?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

And when he turned around, his face was pale and his eyes were wide.

"Henderson, what is it?" Steve asked.

"Eddie..... Hopper, he's on the radio. Something about a high speed chase, on route 87." Dustin said, his voice grave.

"Dustin..... what's going on?" I asked.

"Eddie, it's Blaire." He said, as the air left my lungs.

"What?!" I cried, as Nancy clung to me.

"The police are there, trying to catch up to them." Dustin said.

"Them?" I asked, my heart racing.

"She's not alone. There's a car following her, they've been tailing her for over two hours. They're after her....." Dustin said.

"For the dodge. It's the guy. The guy from the gas station." I said.

"It has to be him. I went to see Hopper about him. Reported it." I said.

"They searched. Found nothing." Dustin said.

"They want the dodge." I said, as I sank onto the floor, my head in my hands, my eyes wide with fear.

"They'll run her off the road to get it." I continued, as Nancy gripped my shoulder, a whimper escaping her lips.

"So far, she's kept a distance, she's kept going. But she's gonna run out of gas and if the police can't or don't keep up....." Dustin said, before trailing off.

"She's gonna be on her own." I said, understanding.

"We have to go." I added.

"We might not have time to catch up with her, catch up to them." Nancy said.

"No, but I have an idea." I said, rising to my feet.

"What?" Robin asked, as I turned around.

"Radio Murray." I said.

"Murray?" Dustin repeated.

"He's off route 87. And we need El." I said.

"She can help." I added.

"No, we promised her that she'd never need to use her powers. Literally no one knows about her, except for us. If there's a police helicopter there, and she uses her powers...... she's discovered, she's seen, it's out there." Dustin argued.

"Blaire doesn't know about her." He added.

"Hopper can tell the police chopper to pull back. Murray and El, and us, we can approach in his chopper and she can stop the vehicle chasing Blaire. It gives her a chance to pull over somewhere safe." I said.

"There isn't enough room for us all." Nancy said.

"I'm going." I said.

"I am too." Nancy said.

"Okay, Dustin, Robin, I need you both to tell Murray and El what's happening. Tell Murray we're heading over to his right now." I said, swiping my keys from the side.

*************************************
Blaire

I didn't know how much longer I could do this.
I checked the gas gauge again, and the panic washed over me in yet another cold sweat.

I could see the police vehicle behind, struggling to keep up with the Range Rover in the middle of us.

The minute I pulled into a gas station, they'd take it.

They'd take the dodge, and lord knows what they'd do to me. I couldn't risk it.

Which gave them a slight advantage, depending on if they had more gas than me.

I leaned forward, looking through my windshield, just in time to see the police chopper fall back.

"No....." I whispered, in sheer horror.

Why were they falling back?
Were they giving up? Leaving me?

"No.... No, don't go." I begged, panicking.

I heard another rumbling engine, and when I looked up again, I could see another chopper above me.

It wasn't a police chopper.
It looked residential, private.

I looked through my rear view mirror, seeing the range suddenly gain on me.

I slammed my foot down on the accelerator, gaining space again, looking all around me quickly for any turns, turn offs or traffic.

"The road is still straight." I told myself, sweating and scared.

Who was in the chopper though?

******************************************

Eddie.

"Okay, now's your chance, El. You have to stop the Range Rover." I begged, as she nodded.

I opened the door of the helicopter, Murray's concerned eyes glancing at me briefly.

"Keep it steady." I urged as he nodded.

"Hoppers called the police chopper back. No one is gonna know this is you." I said to El, looking down at the dodge.

"She's scared, I can feel it." El said, upset.

"She will be scared. But from what we've seen, she's controlling that car pretty good. She's going to be fine." Murray interjected.

I smiled weakly at him, and Eleven outstretched her hand, and I watched with bated breath and the nauseating apprehension swirling in my stomach.

Eventually, the Range Rover slowed, swerved precariously before swerving completely off the road.

It overturned once and Eleven safely settled it down.

The moment I saw the dodge slow, and the police car draw closer, I signalled to Murray.

"Set us down." I said, as Eleven wiped her nose.

By the time we were on the ground, the dodge was at a complete stop, and I saw her nervously step out, her hands in the air.

She looked terrified, upset and her eyes were wide and brimming with relieved tears.

"Officer I....." she started to say, as Hopper climbed out of the police car.

She hadn't seen us approaching from behind her.

"Hopper?" She inquired, as he nodded.

"Put your hands down kid. It's alright." Hopper said, walking over to her.

"They wanted the car, I didn't want to stop. One of them, they had a gun." She said, as we drew closer.

"It's alright, Blaire." Hopper reassured her.

"It's this fucking car." She said, her hands weaving into her hair as she tried to make sense of it all.

She lowered her hands, and I watched as Hopper nodded towards us; she followed his gaze and when her eyes met mine, she sighed with the utmost relief and the tears fell.

Real heavy sobs.

She broke off into a run towards me and I ran too, meeting her halfway.

"They swerved off the road! I don't know how. Oh my god, I thought I was gonna die!" She cried in my ear, holding onto me tightly.

"I've got you. I've got you." I repeated, over and over. I stroked her hair, relieved myself, and trying to comfort her.

"It's okay. You're safe." I urged.

"I've got you, Blaire." I said, as she clung to me.

We stood by, as Hopper and his team recovered the Range Rover, and the occupants, securing all four of them in cuffs.

One was immediately recognisable.
The guy from the gas station.

"You stupid fucking bitch! All you had to do was give us the car." He snarled, as I pushed Blaire behind me.

"What you get now, is justice." I snarled back.

"Oh, and call her that again.... And it won't just be a cell you get." I added, incensed.

"Alright. Take them in." Hopper announced, eyeing me carefully.

*****************************************
Blaire

One Month Later.

Things had majorly settled down, the guys who'd been trying to ride me off the road were charged, sentenced and had recently been jailed.

I still had no idea how they suddenly swerved off the road, and whose residential helicopter had been flying over me at the time.

It was driving me nuts.

"Alright Munson, out with it." I ordered, as he tinkered under the hood of his Chevy.

"I'm sorry?" He inquired, wide eyed.

"Whose chopper was flying above me that day?" I asked, as he sighed.

"The cop chopper pulled back and that took its place. Why? Who was it?" I asked.

"You may as well know." He said, sighing again.

"Okay, you're seriously riling me up. Tell me." I said, vexed.

"It's Murray's. I was in the chopper." He announced.

"What?" I asked, perplexed.

"Wheelers girlfriend was in it too." Eddie continued.

"El?" I asked.

"This is gonna sound strange..... but she has powers." Eddie said, pressing his lips together.

"You're joking me, right now?" I asked, unimpressed.

"No, he's not." Dustin said, appearing at the garage, with my mail in his hand.

"I will bang your heads together, I fucking swear." I said, as Dustin settled the mail down ontop of Eddie's open toolbox, raising his hands in surrender.

"I promise. He's being completely serious. He's not lying. El has just never wanted many people to know. As soon as we heard you were being chased, rode down for the dodge, we contacted Murray and El. They were in the chopper, Eddie too. El flipped the Range Rover, to help you." Dustin explained.

"And these powers?" I asked.

"Telekinesis." Eddie confirmed, cautiously.

"Was there acid in my coffee this morning?" I asked, unable to take it in.

"No. What we're telling you is true." Eddie said.

"It was the only way..... you were running out of gas. It was the only way I could think of, to stop them. To save you." Eddie added, suddenly a little emotional.

"I was afraid they were gonna run you off the road, or cause you to crash. We didn't wanna lose you." He continued, as I relented, feeling guilty.

"It's okay....." I said, rushing over to him, throwing my arms around him.

"I believe you. I'm sorry..... it's... it's just a lot to take in." I said.

"We're not lying to you, or playing a prank." Dustin said.

"I know." I said, as Eddie buried his face into my hair.

I eyed the mail on the toolbox, and broke from him, frowning slightly.

When I caught Dustin's eye, he was smiling.

"Looks important. Wayne passed it over when I was making my way here." Dustin explained.

"And it's for you, Ed." He added, as Eddie turned around.

"Me?" He asked.

"Mhmm." Dustin said, with a goofy smile.

"Open it." I urged.

Eddie did as instructed and I waited nervously and impatiently as he read the letter.

"They wanna make.... I don't believe this. They want some merchandise.... Souvenirs. Of Corroded Coffin." Eddie said.

"Who?" I asked.

"The Rock Hall of Fame. They want to create a section for Corroded Coffin." Eddie said, completely floored.

Me? Already concocting an idea that made perfect sense.

Where she'd be admired, never be stolen, she'd be safe, and after all, she had belonged to Eddie first.

"What would you want them to display?" Dustin asked.

"I have no idea." Eddie said, gobsmacked.

"You may not have realised this until now, and maybe the interview didn't quite spark that realisation for you...... but you made an impression, all those years ago. You did, Corroded Coffin did. And the Hall of Fame wants to recognise you guys, for decades to come." I said, as he smiled fondly at me.

"Thanks, Princess." He said, touched.

"I can think of one thing that definitely should be in there." I said, as Dustin caught on immediately.

Eddie, was a few seconds slower.

"I bought for you, Peach." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Eddie, she's nearly killed me twice. What better way for her to be remembered, for you and your story to be remembered? Honestly. I want her to go in the Hall of Fame." I said.

"It does make perfect sense." Dustin said, happily.

"You can find me another treasure, restore it for me." I offered, as Eddie grinned.

"You're absolutely sure?" He asked.

"I'm positive. She's your story, as much as she's mine. Let people remember you, for the grand gesture that I totally missed ten years ago." I said, as he finally accepted, and nodded.

"Maybe there's another, less valuable dodge out there for me." I reasoned.

"I'll make it my own personal mission to find it, I promise you." Eddie said, as he took my face into his hands, peppering my face with kisses.

"Thank you. I love you." He said, as my breath hitched abruptly in my chest.

"I'm sorry?" I inquired as Eddie's face grew crimson.

"I mean.... I do. It just, slipped out." He reasoned as my face broke out into a grin as big as a planet, my face growing warm.

Dustin squeaked with excitement.

"I love you too, Munson." I said, as Dustin jumped for joy.

Eddie smiled at me coyly, pulling me to him, before planting a soft kiss on my mouth.

"No going back now. I'm done for. Hooked, completely. Forever." He said, as I chuckled softly.

"Forever it is, then." I answered, with certainty.

*****************************
THE END