Eddie
Eddie's work in journalism took him different places. He'd taken the chance to briefly 'interview' Cletus Kasedy, also your much older step-brother, without you knowing once he was transferred to San Quenton. Putting it that way, it seemed like he was going behind your back, but he wasn't sure how you'd react to that information.
Cletus asked about you, and he just ignored it, keeping on a sly smile while talking to the asshole in prison.
Of course, that's not the only thing he picked up in the last two and a half months. Journalism allowed him to interview other people, do his own research at home and with the things he wrote about, Eddie also picked up new leads about his goal at the moment- the criminal mob in San Francisco. He supposed being in this kind of work had its perks. It certainly made it easier than having to interrogate criminals all the time and only low-key interrogate other people.
His recent findings had lead him to a warehouse where he found that a group of criminals were kidnapping kids, all of them around the ages fourteen to nineteen.
One could assume he did this for a noble reason, and that was partly the reason. As one of the assholes who lived in the city, he should be someone to act when no one else would. He only hoped his niece could follow in his footsteps someday.
Speaking of his niece, you were also the reason he took a stand against the shit going on. Being a foster parent wasn't particularly easy, but he couldn't imagine you being the foster-child of anybody else.
Well, except maybe Anne, but that was beside the point. There was a responsibility he felt towards you. He'd felt it before, a few years back when he tried to look after you because of your family situation. His brother was in prison, and your step-brother was a psychopath that no one did anything about. Your mother was innocent enough, but she had her moments of unintentional accession.
If you were gonna be in his city, he and Venom would be damn sure to make it as safe as they could for you.
"Ready?" asked Eddie, hands in his pockets as he snuck around the terrain.
"Whenever you are," Venom engulfed Eddie's body, and the black muscle covered him all over.
It was one AM, late at night. It was around this time he'd gotten used to doing things like this, when he'd make sure that you were asleep and the door was locked. The window had been replaced weeks ago, and he bought curtains to cover it up. If he had to leave any earlier while you were still awake, he'd take you to Anne's to stay for the night.
Despite the family situation you'd been in, you had miraculously not turned into a delinquent child. For a long time Eddie was worried that would be the case when you were older, but so far it hasn't come true. He would do everything to make sure it stayed that way too. Especially since you were gonna start high school soon, which he knew from expirience could be a rough time period.
Goodbye Summer, hello Fall, he thought to himself. You were already registered for high school, and it would only begin in three days from now. Eddie wondered how life would change for you both when you would enter.
The week before, Eddie had managed to find out information from a victim (whom he'd managed to rescue as Venom from some gang the previous night) where he'd learned the crime syndicate responsible for the kidnappings and latest crimes was called the Maggia. He and Venom thought that that title was kinda lame, but they proceeded anyway.
They tracked down one of the criminals involved and also found out their leader, who the guy only called. Mr. H. Apparently, his real surname was unknown. When he asked what the H stood for, he was only told "you'll see."
Back to the present, Venom stalked the group that came in from the top of a crate in the shadows. The group was primarily of troublesome looking men and they all held weapons.
"This should be fun," murmured Venom.
Usually, you would be watching TV or reading a book or something in the middle of the night, since you felt uneasy without your uncle and Venom with you. The inflatable bed he had on the floor next to you still had the blanket on it.
Tonight though, you were convinced by Felicia Hardy, yeah, that Felicia, to join her on her little midnight adventure.
Whoa, you might be thinking, why the fuck? Because she wouldn't leave you the fuck alone, that's why.
After that donut shop incident she would conveniently run into you on different occasions when you were out alone. Like the laundry place, the park, on the goddamn sidewalk. But over the last few months, the time you spent talking increased and you'd start having full conversations; she'd even asked to exchange phone numbers.
It took her a while, but Felicia finally got you into accompanying her into the city at night. You had your (fully charged) phone and pocket-knife you'd purchased, just in case she decided to try anything. After all, she was still someone new to you. You had no choice but to be cautious.
Just outside the grocery place next to your apartment is where you chose to meet up since you didn't want to risk her finding out where you lived. At about 1:12 AM, Felicia had made her appearance.
"You're late," you said.
"You're early," she replied. "Anyways, were you able to get away?"
"No one's home, no one to find out," you shrugged. "They'll be here in, maybe an two hours. That's usually when they come back."
Felicia and you began to walk together down the sidewalk. You didn't realize you'd been seen by a certain Ms. Cheng, and continued to talk to her calmly.
"Say, we're practically best friends at now, and I don't know a damn thing about you," said Felicia.
"What's your point?" you said, maybe a little bit too coldly.
"I don't know, I was thinking maybe we could play truth or dare, but without the dare," she shrugged.
If you said no, which you would've rather, she'd keep finding ways to try to make you talk. Why fight it?
After a couple seconds of running through scenarios in your head, you replied,"Sure, why not."
"Alright, you can go first."
"Okay. Truth or truth?"
"Definitely truth. So?"
Felicia told you a lot of things about her life. Things that could probably be a big secret. Yet you had no idea why she put so much faith in you in that way.
"Why do you trust me so much?" you decided to ask.
"Well, when we first met, it was one hundred percent by chance, but I still feel like it was meant to be, you know? Me, an assertive loudmouth and you, the quiet and shy nerd. I feel like you and I could do great things together in the future," she smiled. You gave a half hearted laugh. It was starting to get a little weird.
"What do you mean?"
"Nuh-uh, my turn. So, who exactly do you live with?"
Both of you came to a stoplight, Felicia about to walk ahead. You stopped and pushed the button instead. She looked at you in surprise and decided to wait with you, despite how little cars were in the area at the time.
"My uncle," you answered. And Venom. But it's not like you could tell her about the alien that shared the same home as you.
"Ooh, how old is he? Nevermind, I'll save that for the next one. Your turn."
Finally you got the signal to cross, so you did. Even with the lack of things to live for, if you got hit by a car and lived, you'd have to explain to Eddie what you were doing in the middle of the night with an older stranger.
"Is there things you hide from me?" You chose to ask this, because her earlier comment confused you. It was odd. "Or more like, something you're not telling me?"
Felicia hesitated. "Yeah," she said. "There is one."
You waited, but she didn't add onto that. "What are you not telling me?"
The lights on one of the houses next to you flickered on. When you turned instinctively, you realized this was Anne's fucking place.
Shit, was she up? Had she noticed you?
Deciding not to take any chances, you took Felicia's wrist and started to run away.
"What's wrong?" she asked, though not hesitating to follow your lead.
It looked like you were right, because her little blond head poked out the door and called out your name, confused about what she'd saw.
"Who is that? Is that your mom?" Anyone could have thought of that, but you still found out an odd question. Why would you be living with your uncle and not mom? Well, there were a number of reasons, so it wasn't far fetched. But you wouldn't be if you didn't have to.
It was technically your turn to answer, so you said,"No, that's more like my... Uncle's ex."
"Oh, is that a confirmation that he's single?" she asked with an excited tone.
"Why would you care, you haven't even met the guy," you retorted, once you two finally came to a stop far away enough to not be seen.
"Well..." She began to scratch her cheek and look away. Felicia knew she'd slipped up and activated one of your deathly glares.
"What are you not telling me?"
"Mmm... Okay, so I might've seen you in your apartment before, alright, but I may have also seen a attractive but in a rat kinda way looking man with you when you go out sometimes... Of course, I was never noticed by him," she put her hands up nervously.
"You knew? You followed me? You stalked me?"
"Well it sounds pretty illegal when you put all those follow up verbs, but I knew a little bit," she pressed her thumb and index finger to make OK hand. "Alright, maybe I shouldn't have peeked into your life a bit, I'm sorry, but I don't think I really did anything wrong here. No need to get offended."
Felicia realized she did an oopsie, a fucky wucky, when she said that. If looks could kill, she'd be dead over and over again as your (e/c) eyes stabbed into her.
"This was a mistake," you hissed. It started to feel like you two were just strangers in the night now, and you didn't notice your hand was in your pocket, clutching onto the pocket knife. But you turned and began to walk away, your footsteps a little heavy. If Anne told Eddie about this, you'd be fucked for sure.
Felicia had upset you, and that made her feel instant regret. She hurried to you and put a hand on your shoulder. Instantly, you reacted defensively and smacked it away. Your body tensed up, like you were about to get in a fight with her.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm serious. And I was joking about what I said with your uncle," she apologized. In her head, she added Mostly.
Your glare was still kept, but your gaze softened a little bit. You frowned, eyebrows furrowed, and sighed lightly. You were cautious to believe it was genuine, and that she wasn't desperate to not be alone. Then again, maybe you were too. There wasn't any reason you had to cut ties with your only friend because of this. Perhaps you were just being petty.
"Whatever. Let's just forget about it." You put a hand on your temples. "Let's just go home now. I don't feel like dealing with this right now." That, and you didn't want to admit you were starting to feel a little nervous about getting caught by Anne or Eddie, or hell, even fucking Dan.
"Yeah. Whatever you say, (Y/n)," she shrugged. A part of her was afraid, and another part was relieved that you had forgiven her, sort of. She kept up the hope you'd talk to her later that day.
The two of you parted ways shortly after. Before entering the apartment, you figured it wouldn't hurt to get a little midnight snack from the convenience store next to it.
The bell dinged when you entered and you began to search for your money. The pants you wore still contained a few dollars, enough for (fave candy). Surprisingly, Ms. Cheng was still open. Then again, it might benefit having a few extra business hours after all.
After collecting what you wanted, you took it up to the front to pay for. You were sure your uncle would understand if there wasn't anything a child would want to eat in the kitchen in the middle of the night. With a bit of luck, he might never have to know about it.
"(Y/n), honey, what can I do for you?" she smiled sweetly. Over time, she must have taking a liking to you. Ms. Cheng greeted you a little more nicely than your uncle Eddie.
You placed the items, nervous about speaking directly, and put the dollars on the desk for her. She accepted it and wished you a good night, like she knew better than to make small talk with a nervous wreck like you.
Even then, you were able to quietly slip back to the apartment, lights off, and stayed in the bed, waiting for your uncle. You were sure he'd had a hectic night as well.
When Eddie did come back, he took a drink and a pack of ice. He stumbled slightly over to his room, and threw himself on the end of the bed. You noticed this and tried to pretend to be asleep under the covers of the blanket, not wanting to take the chance that you'd slip up and let him find out what you were up to. He'd be mad about it, no doubt. You also expected him to pick himself up and sleep on the inflated mattress instead, like he usually did.
He didn't, and remained there until morning. All you heard was the sound of his light snores the rest of the night.