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WHO: Eddie Munson & Chrissy Cunningham
WHAT: Clearing the air.
WHEN: .September 19, 2022
WHERE: Apartment 302

It had taken almost three months, but Eddie was slowly carving out a place for himself in Eglaf. He played four nights out of the week at the Crowbar with guys that were at least a decade older than him, but at least loved the music as much as he did. The pay was shit, and barely covered the drinks he bought for himself or his friends when they came, but it wasn’t about that, anyway. He was keeping a steady supply of weed on hand in case he needed it to sleep, or chill out when he freaked out, but he was relying on it less and less.

Overall, things felt like they might get back to normal. Or a version of normal, since there was really no normal part of being dead and displaced to another version of Earth. But at least he wasn’t miserable. He had friends, drugs, cash and a musical outlet. It felt like things were getting slightly easier.

The walk home had been uneventful and he was in good spirits as he unlocked the apartment door and let himself in. A pleased grin spread over his face when he saw Chrissy sitting on the couch. If he was honest with himself, which he tried not to be very often, there was always a secret part of him that was relieved when she was there when he came home. If only because it meant neither of them had to sleep alone.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he says, shrugging off his denim jacket and tossing it on a chair. He smells like cheap beer, cigarettes and sweat, but when she stays over, he’s always careful to shower before crawling into bed next to her. He leans over the chair, something in her expression catching him off guard. His good nature fades instantly. “What’s wrong?”

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Chrissy is nervous. Serious talks were hard with Jason and the one that she's had with Eddie thus far wound up in a lose/lose situation where neither of them could manage to agree with the other. They both just felt differently - and there's a big part of the cheerleader that feels like any conversation about Jason and what he put Eddie through, mixed with her own apologies and feelings - and everything swirling around her head - won't go well. He doesn't blame her but she can't quite get that out of her head completely at this point, even with the fact that she has an awful lot going on.

Chrissy is sitting on the couch and she's got the throw blanket over her, the yoga pants and off-the-shoulder dance t-shirt with peeking through sports bra not exactly keeping her warm enough. Between both of the Eddies she knows there's a lot of worry going around, honestly.

Enough so that when Eddie Munson comes through the front door of his apartment she jumps - even though she was well aware that he'd be home. She's been waiting, actually, but her resolve to talk to him about the icecream, Jason, about everything isn't exactly strong even though she wants answers. She doesn't know where to start, or what to say, though. "Hey, Eddie." Chrissy lifts her chin up, but doesn't pull her arms out from under the blanket at the moment, instead watching him - the weight of everything clearly written on her shoulders - and face - because it doesn't take him long to go from puffed up to faltering. And there's a part of Chrissy that feels really bad for it, that wants to tell him it's nothing and see the good-natured smile from a moment before. That won't help anything, though, will it?

"I just have a lot on my mind." Chrissy starts, and she could just leave it there, just dismiss it and try to leave it at that but talking has, apparently, become something that she's trying to do more since her roommate opened the floodgates. and Eddie here too. "And I don't really know how to do this - to bring this up or talk about this, Eddie, but I don't want to lie or hide that I know now that I do... Steve told me about what Jason did to you for me... because of me... however he put it." Chrissy feels a little nauseous along with he disgust at what she's saying - her stance quite clear. She's repulsed by the very idea. "The mob and the satanic cult thing, anyway... And what he put you through." Chrissy's eyes are already stinging and she tries to take a deep breath and looks up for a moment before back at his face.

"I'm so sorry that he did that, that what happened with me caused that... Why didn't you tell me, though?" Her eyes are shining, her emotion is peeking through her voice. and Chrissy Cunningham's full attention is on the boy leaned against the chair that she cares so much about. She looks and feels guilty and there's no real hiding that she feels responsible for this, and where Eddie wound up just like she did before with the bonus of shame for how much she's been leaning on Eddie to get through the day-to-day with the baggage left from Vecna and Hawkins.

He probably should've picked up on something being off just with her body language. Under the blanket she looks smaller than she already is, an air of vulnerability around her that isn't new, but feels raw.

When she says she has a lot on her mind, Eddie raises his eyebrows slightly as if to encourage her to go on. He wants to cross the room to her and sit beside her on the couch, but he's unsure if that's what she wants right now. Something feels closed off, but open too. Or maybe he's still slightly buzzed and his brain is looking for trouble where there is none, the way it always has.

He feels his throat begin to close up as she starts, knowing without a doubt that she's figured out how he feels about her and she's trying to let him down easy. He takes a deep breath, trying to brace himself for the blow that never comes. Instead, she talks about Steve and Jason and he closes his eyes briefly as he exhales.

When he opens his eyes, he's surprised to find hers abnormally bright. This time he doesn't hesitate to move to the couch and sit beside her, pressing his shoulder against hers slightly.

"Hey, that had nothing to do with you. That was all Jason and his cronies. Don't you think I know you would've stopped them if you were there?" He sighs and looks down at his hands. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry about it."

"But it did - he did it for me, in my name - and I never would want anyone to do something like that because of me, Eddie." Chrissy melts, almost, the second that Eddie's shoulder touches her's, leaning into him as if getting closer will somehow solve something. It hasn't yet, but it always seems to work as a way to feel better. It works on nights when she can't sleep, it works when she's having nightmares, it works when she's feeling a number of things. The proximity alone is soothing. And after a moment she reaches over to put her hand over his where his eyes are cast downward, squeezing.

She's not... mad. Not at Eddie, anyway. If there's anybody that Chrissy is mad at in this situation it's Jason. And it brings a lot of the thoughts she's been having about her mother and the awful decisions and choices that she's been pushed to by Laura Cunningham come to light all over again. She's mad at Jason too - realizing that there was more possibility there that maybe Laura had seen, and found kinship in, than Chrissy ever realized before.

"I hate the idea that hunting you down is something that I'd be remembered by - that it was about or for me." Chrissy admits, shifting enough to lean her cheek against his shoulder - not minding the smell of stale beer, cigarettes, and various other elements. Eddie still smells like him to Chrissy. "I don't know if I'd have been able to stop them even if I'd been alive, but I would have tried." Chrissy agrees, sniffling lightly because all of this has her worked up - she has a lot on her mind. And the urge to go back to her empty apartment and purge is there, but the urge to stay right here where she is, and as close to Eddie as possible is a pretty strong urge as well.

"I wish you had told me. You don't have to protect me... and I worry because I care, Eddie." She admits softly, looking down at her hand over his now too, pressed up against his side with the throw blanket having fallen down and bunched over her lap. "You can't really stop me from worrying about things, or about you." Chrissy shrugs, not sure if she should have admitted that or kept it to herself, but maybe he won't see through it entirely.

Though... Steve said he's crazy about her, but how much does Steve really know? And would she ever really be Eddie Munson's type? He probably wants someone smarter and more badass than her, she's sure.

"I know," he says softly as she leans into him, relieved at least that she can still do that without second guessing it. Being close works for him too. He has less nightmares when she's there beside him. They've never done anything other than sleep. Separate covers, a safe distance between them unless they need to cross it to offer comfort. He knows she thinks he does it for her, but he's more selfish than she thinks. It's for him too.

He takes a deep breath, looking over at her when she puts her cheek against his shoulder. "People are always scared of what they don't understand. They may have used you as an excuse, but it had nothing to do with you. It was just easier to blame the Freak than to try to understand something they knew even less about."

He smiles faintly when she says she cares, even if she can't look at him when she says it. He turns his hand over under hers, wrapping his fingers around hers. "I was trying to protect you, but only because I knew you'd blame yourself. And that's bullshit, Chrissy. I don't blame you for his actions and you shouldn't either."

He pauses, licking his lips thoughtfully. "But if you want to worry about me, you're right. I can't stop you. Even if you might be the only one doing it."

"Though, far be it from me to strike down any kind of rebellious spirit," he says, his voice rising and dipping playfully. "I like that you don't want to stick to the norm."

"It just... Eddie - it hurts that someone I care about would use me, make me an excuse, for something so bad. Especially against someone innocent - who I care about a lot now too." Chrissy explains. There's more baggage than that, but how do you explain to someone the sort of baggage she has without losing them or becoming a bigger freak than they think they are in the process? Chrissy is almost positive that Eddie could easily want to run if he hears about how bad things were with her mother, or knowing that her mother basically hand-selected everything from the way she wore her hair to the clothes she wore, and all the way up to who she dated - Jason.

And Jason had been the one thing that she had thought her mother couldn't have gotten wrong, surely. He seemed so perfect. She was the imperfect one - and here they are discussing just how bad, underneath it all, Jason could get when the opportunity arose.

"It feels like an excuse to act on awful thoughts and urges. I used to think Jason was perfect and I was just trying to measure up to him, but he's really not. My mom loved him - I think that was the biggest reason that he and I were together." Chrissy explains, tentatively, distractedly rubbing her jaw along his shoulder as she works up the courage to actually say the words. It's not in-depth but maybe it'll be a start. Holding things in or purging them out in the bathroom hasn't helped her thus far, after all. "Can we blame her instead?"

It's playful, and accompanied by Chrissy managing to look up at Eddie with her round, doe eyes with the tiniest bit of a smile pulling at one corner of her mouth, tinged in the sadness of what was done to him, but at least he's safe here?

Chrissy doesn't pull her hand away, happy to leave it where it is - though it makes it hard not to have her brain cycle and move around Steve's words over and over again. Surely Steve wasn't right. Eddie's just sweet, but he needs someone more outgoing, more rambunctious. More on his level. Right? He wouldn't like a boring, flawed cheerleader. Or former cheerleader considering she never picked it back up here. "I care about you so I can't help but worry sometimes." Chrissy admits, and she manages to not look away before a smile breaks through.

"Worrying and caring are rebellious? I don't think I've ever heard rebellious spirit and me in the same sentence ever." Chrissy scoffs a little - even if she was going to buy drugs - even if she's not what people seem even she has trouble getting passed the facade - passed the expectations and Laura Cunningham would not like rebelliousness. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me? In a good way..."

"I know you..." He runs his tongue over his teeth. He definitely doesn't want to give Jason any credit, especially when he'd seen murder in his eyes out on the lake. "I know you probably loved him and he let you down." He bounces his knee. "I know what it feels like to find out someone you love isn't who you thought they were."

He looks over at her when she goes on about Jason. He huffs, shaking his head. "You were always out of his league. Even I knew that." He grins and nods, squeezing her hand. "Yeah, I'm good with that. This is all your mom's fault."

He bumps against her shoulder playfully. "Listen, if it makes you feel any better they didn't actually catch me. Almost, but I got away. Steve and the others came to my rescue."

He smiles back at her. "I care about you too, Chrissy." Maybe too much for the way he craves her touch, or the nights he lies awake acutely aware of her presence only a few inches away. He needs distance to clear his head, but he's incapable of making himself get it. "Maybe I am. Would that be so bad?"

"I didn't love him - I don't love him." Comes tumbling out of Chrissy's mouth before she can actually think about what she's saying, before she can consider if that's something she shouldn't say. Before considering... anything, really. She probably shouldn't jump to that conclusion, or admit that. She shouldn't say things without taking the time to process them, but in reality, she isn't sure she ever loved Jason. He was a way to please her mother, he fit the image that her mother wanted her to fit into to a tee. She couldn't trust Jason with anything real, though.

And realizing that is almost freeing in a way. She's different from Jason - she'd never react like him. And she's different from her mother too, no matter how much Laura Cunningham imparted on Chrissy.

"I did care for him, I thought I liked him, but I'm disappointed and it makes me realize that there was probably a reason that I couldn't talk to him, or trust him with... everything." Chrissy admits, her mouth pulling into a smile as Eddie says she was out of Jason's league - she's not sure if she buys that. "I don't know about that. He's the 'perfect' all-American guy." Chrissy says and, probably in a surprising gesture she rolls her eyes. "I think that's why my mother liked him, but he's not so perfect now."

And perfect is stupid. Exhausting. Wrong. And not real.

"It only makes me feel a tiny bit better, but it's something." Chrissy admits, her cheeks beginning to glow with the pink blush pooling there. It's nice to hear that Eddie cares, even if she doesn't think that it's in the same way that she'd like him to. But Steve did say... but what does Steve know? Does Steve know anything? Steve did save him, but it's nerve-wracking still even considering broaching the subject or anything else.

"It's not bad at all - the more the better." Chrissy admits, timidly, playfully (after a beat) rubbing her cheek on his shoulder again before she pulls back, the remnants of her smile still on her mouth as she stares up at Eddie. "I like who I get to be when I'm around you." The cheerleader admits before turning away and whetting her lips. Should she bring it up? Should she ask? It yoyos back and forth in her brain for a moment before she lands anywhere.

"I never did thank you for the ice cream - the girls loved it. You're pretty much their favorite. You know you're spoiling them - and me, right?"

Eddie's eyes flick up to her face when she says she didn't - doesn't - love Jason. He swallows as she goes on, his lungs forgetting that he needs air for a moment. He takes a breath finally when she smiles back at him.

"I know..." he says, bumping her knee with this. "And you definitely were. Are. There's no such thing as perfect people, just bald faced liars. Real people are messy. Confusing. Unpredictable. Sometimes they turn out to be worse than you thought they were and sometimes, they turn out to be better than you ever imagined."

He gives her a grin when she says it's not a bad thing for him to be rubbing off on her. His knee bobs again when she says she likes who she gets to be with him. He can't help but wonder if she means she gets to be herself, or another version of someone else. She rubs her cheek against his shoulder and he feels the ghost of her there when she pulls away to look at her, face pink and pretty.

He tries to rally his courage. He told himself he was done running and after dying, he can't justify holding back any longer. Especially now that he knows she had only been with Jason because of her mother. "I'm glad I'm their favorite." He says, flashing her a smile. "But, I was really hoping I was yours."

Edited 2022-09-25 20:59 (UTC)

There's a part of Chrissy that is scared about Eddie finding outa bout her baggage, her defective elements. If he finds out will he somehow think less of her? Maybe not - after all he knows that she was going through enough that Vecna came after her... because she was vulnerable enough. She's genuinely not convinced that she was really out of Jason's league, but Eddie is so certain. Maybe because he doesn't realize how damaged she actually is underneath the exterior that she's had to have a fair bit of help trying to figure out since getting out from under her mother's thumb. "You sound so sure - I don't know how you do that."

Chrissy admits before she can hold back the words, feeling a little silly for it, but she gives Eddie a small smile, cheeks tinged pink. He's right, though - there isn't perfect. Every single attempt she's made to be perfect has resulted in lying and struggles which doesn't feel perfect. "But you're right - and underneath all of the pretending and trying to be perfect we're a lot worse than we seem, but you... you never pretended to be perfect. And you're so much better than I think anyone knew." Chrissy speaks in earnest. If her mother knew the sweet way Eddie treats her, the kindness - well she'd probably worry about how she'd control him because in reality Eddie is too unpredictable and he would never be like Jason... simpering and appeasing.

So she wouldn't like him, but that almost makes him better because Chrissy herself can't help but see the way that Eddie is and better for her than Jason ever was, even if their relationship isn't romantic. Though there's definitely a piece of Chrissy that would like it to be. She's not sure if she's ready. She's not sure if he wants her, really - Steve seems to think so, but he could easily just be misreading the situation. Eddie is outgoing and flirty with everyone, after all.

Watching the bob of his knee, Chrissy's very aware of their proximity, but it's both comforting and intoxicating, truth be told. She doesn't want him to move. Doesn't want to move too far away herself, but sometimes she wonders if she's torturing herself too. A small giggle escapes as Chrissy looks down, flushing a bit more before looking up through her lashes at the boy she's come to care so much about. "You are... hands down with not competition," Chrissy admits, timidly, feeling her heart hammering in her chest and like she may be being too forward.

But... it's the truth.

“I sound so sure because I know enough about you and enough about him to know that you actually care about people. “ He huffs and shakes his head. “Do you think someone like him would sit here apologizing for what their boyfriend did to me? Do you think they’d care about a drug dealer from the other side of the tracks?”

He knows the answer. He’s known the answer as long as he’s known what the Munson name meant around town. As long as he’d known that not everyone lived in trailer parks. He’d leaned into it because it’d been easier than fighting it. At least that way, they left him alone to do whatever he wanted to. But it had definitely come at a cost.

So when Chrissy says he’s better than anyone knew, he feels something slot into place in his chest. He’s told himself he doesn’t give a shit what people think for so long, that actually hearing what he wants from one of the few people who do matter feels like a dream. His expression softens, and he smiles, impulsively reaching out to take her hand.

“You’re my favorite too,” he says, squeezing her hand. He pauses for a moment before going on. “You know, that day at the studio - with the donuts - I was talking about you.”

He swallows down his nerves, his brow furrowing as he tries to find the right words. “Chrissy, I know we’re fucked up. But whether or not you know it, you’ve been my lifeline here. You’ve kept me from falling apart even more than I have because I can’t think of anything worse than disappointing you. I kinda live for your smile. I don’t know if it’s possible to sleep without you there beside me and I honestly don’t want to find out.”

“What I’m trying to say is, I’m falling for you. “ Eddie sighs, his free hand curling in on itself nervously. “And if there’s any chance that you might be falling for me, I’d kick myself for not saying it. And if you’re not, that’s okay too. Nothing has to change unless you want it to.”

“I’m here, either way, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Chrissy shakes her head - she and Eddie both know that there's no way that Jason would ever apologize to someone else. Realistically, Chrissy's not sure if she's ever heard Jason apologize for his own actions, let alone feel bad for them - or anybody else's. Jason would have been very happy to lean into the perception about Eddie as a piece of trailer trash, drug dealing - apparent satanic cult leader. And the thought is enough to make Chrissy wants to slap him - not that she would, but she can feel her palm itching lightly at the audacity that Jason had to not only treat someone he didn't know that way, but the fact that he did it all in her name makes it all the worse for her. "I don't think Jason's ever apologized for anything, not really."

Chrissy admits - having trouble seeing Eddie not owning up to his own shortcomings, which is... reassuring in an odd way. There's not an air of pretend or fantasy that he's perfect. Eddie's just... Eddie. A flawed, but an amazing human being that Chrissy feels comfortable around and admires, even. Though she's almost positive she didn't fully realize that before - but that's been a part of the appeal of Eddie. It's just a little part of what makes him the best.

Squeezing his hand back, Chrissy can feel her cheeks heating as she looks down. She'd been so caught up in the food and in the idea that he might like someone else in the moment - she didn't let herself entertain that he might have thought that he was talking bout her when he'd brought the donuts. "I guess I just didn't think I was your type." Chrissy breathes out the words - in earnest, but her smile grows with every word that comes out of his mouth. Jason may have been all about words - telling everyone else how he felt and painting the perfect picture, but Eddie... with just the two of them here - and Lydia maybe somewhere else, Chrissy's not actually sure - he's the one that manages to say the perfect thing.

Her cheeks are tinged pink, a smile is pulling at the corners of her mouth, doe eyes alight as Chrissy looks up at the boy that her mother would never (not in a million years) approve of, but is the only person that Chrissy actually feels like she wants, that understands even a little bit - and that can pull her out of the depths that she's felt trapped and stuck in for so long. "I... was jealous when I thought that you might like someone else, disappointed too." Chrissy admits, squeezing his hand and bringing the other one up to his face as she turns her body to face him rather than lean into his side, thumb sliding over the apple of his cheek as the tips of her fingers feel the tickle of the curls at Eddie's hairline and the texture of his jaw beneath her palm.

"I don't really care that we're fucked up - you make it feel okay to not be perfect all the time, and like I can fall apart and try and.... get myself back together. You make me feel like I don't have to be ashamed of who I am - and you care about what I'm feeling for real. You make me safe enough to smile for real. You make me feel period - I've been falling for you too... and I'm exactly where I want to be." There's so much more she could say, but her voice has kind of run out with the feelings swirling around in the moment and instead of trying to go on her doe eyes look into his and she tentatively leans in to gently brush her lips against Eddie's in a tentative, but sweet kiss.

When he finally has the nerve to look at her, he's pleasantly surprised to see her smiling at him the same way she had that day in the woods when he'd made her laugh. Luckily, she's not laughing at him this time, but the smile is real.

"Jealous." Eddie repeats with a crooked grin as she reaches up to touch his face. He leans into the touch, despite himself. It's been so long since anyone has touched him like this, with tenderness. There's something vulnerable and boyish in the way he looks back at her. A momentary glimpse of that scared shitless eighth grader with a buzz cut stepping out on stage to play for an audience for the first time with Corroded Coffin.

Eddie's hands reach for her, ringed fingers settling on her arms as he kisses her back. He pulls back and looks at her, brown eyes wide before he leans in for another kiss, this one much more confident. The kind of kiss he's been thinking about for weeks, despite his self proclaimed cynicism about love.

When he pulls back, he doesn't go far. "I like that we're not perfect. It's more metal."

There's something sweet, endearing, and adorable at the grin on Eddie's face. And Chrissy can feel her stomach flutter at the boyish tilt to his grin. She can still remember the little boy who had awkwardly shuffled out on stage to perform metal at a middle school talent show. she'd thought he was brave for doing something that was going to stand out so much then... and she can't help but find him just as brave to this day.

He makes her wish that she didn't care about what other people thought.

And there's something that is intoxicating about the way that his lips feel against her's - it's not performative. It's just warm, sweet - and she can smell the faint remnants of the dive bar as she's up this close. And somehow that only makes Eddie smell and feel all the more himself to her. Chrissy Cunningham can't help but feel smitten. There's a big difference between the way she's always felt when Jason stopped to kiss her in front of people, but here - warm and comfortable and safe with Eddie it makes all the difference and she knows that the way she feels isn't something she can help. And she's pretty sure that based off of his response he cares about her in much the same way.

"Oh - we're metal?" Chrissy grins, her hand sliding from his cheek and over his ear and hair, fingers tangling in the curls - something she's wanted to secretly do for a little while, but never felt like she should. "I don't feel very metal, but you're a little more of an expert in what's metal than I am." Chrissy comments, cheeks pink and unable to stop grinning - unwilling to pull away even more. "I thought before that you might be better off, or want, someone much more... metal than I am." Chrissy admits in earnest.

"So metal," he says, smiling back at her, squeezing her shoulders before sliding his hands down her arms. He huffs at her self assessment, shaking his head slightly.

"You're a freak, Chrissy, just like me. You don't fit the mold. You think for yourself. That's metal." He reaches up to cup the side of her neck lightly, thumb brushing over her skin. "And I'm crazy about you. I don't want anyone else."

He swallows, pressing his lips together before speaking again. "I haven't wanted anyone else since that day in the woods."

There's something that is oddly comforting about the fondness in Eddie's face, the familiarity and warmth of his hands sliding down her arms, and the fact that he's not using the words that she's used to hearing. He's not calling her perfect. He's not calling her good. He's not calling her sweet. He's not piling pressure onto her with his descriptions. Instead, he's taking something that has always been bad - always been a fear - and he makes it sound like the best possible thing that she could ever be... right along with him.

And that sounds like a pretty good place, to her, to be.

"I don't mind being like you - I'd rather be a freak than be miserable," Chrissy admits, half leaning into his touch. That faint blush is still painted across her cheeks and nose and she half tries to dampen her smile down, but that's easier said than done. "I'm crazy about you too, you know - I feel like I can just... I don't know. I can just be with you. And that's a feeling that I really like. I've never felt it with anyone other than you." Chrissy admits. And looking up she can't help but let out a little huff, that same smile from the woods half cropping up on her face.

"I was being so weird that day, though - you made it better, but I don't know how that was the moment." Chrissy half laughs, but is clearly touched - it's written on her face and she can't quite hide it. "You made me laugh and smile in the woods for the first time in... a long time - you make me laugh and smile a lot more than I used to." Chrissy admits, idly brushing her fingers through his hair, playing with the bits that are forming waves and curls.

His grin spreads into a smile when she says she's crazy about him too. He'd played out all the bad scenarios in his head, knowing that even if she did reject him, she'd do it gently, but he'd been too scared to imagine her actually feeling the same way about him. It warms his chest, expanding it and making it easier to breathe. She looks so pretty like this, with her cheeks pink because of him, he has to fight the urge to kiss her immediately again. "That's good for me. It means I get the best of you."

He chuckles when he calls her out on falling for her in the woods. "No, not the being scared out of your mind. It was that smile of yours." Not the one she gave to Jason, or wore during pep rallys, but the one he'd managed to surprise out of her by falling back on his ass. "I knew, I'd do pretty much anything to see it again."

He laughs. "You're already making me go soft. I'm going to have to find another way to keep my edge."

There's a part of Chrissy that knows that there's no way that he's getting the best of her - she's still such a work in progress. He doesn't know everything, but maybe he wouldn't care. Maybe he wouldn't really mind - Lydia definitely didn't seem to think that he would... and she can't help but begin to feel herself wanting to believe, and even maybe seeing that she is probably right. the way that he looks at her sometimes makes it almost easy to believe - almost.

"Something like that, anyway. Or getting there." Chrissy decides on, looking down - though the small smile is still pulling at her mouth. There is a sense of relief to actually have this out in the air rather than talking about it with Steve and then Lydia. There's less question now. "Though I don't think it takes much for you to get me to smile - I feel like after I settled in I've been constantly doing that here. With you." Chrissy admits, finally making herself leave Eddie's hair alone and moving to put her arms around him as she hugs Eddie - it's taking a liberty, but she doesn't think he minds.

"I like your soft side, but I don't think your edge has gone anywhere, it's still there, somewhere." Chrissy responds, looking up at Eddie with a bit of a grin.

Eddie hugs her back, his hands and rings rubbing her back. It's not the first time they've hugged since getting here. Most nights they're together, they end up spooning for comfort. But it's different because she finally knows that he wants more than just her friendship. Not that he's going to push her into anything she doesn't want to do, but it feels good to finally have it out in the open. To try not to hide the way he looks at her, or the way he wants her, or the way he wants to make her happy.

"Good," he says, pulling back enough to look down at her, brushing his hair behind his shoulder so that it doesn't tickle her face. He leans in, pressing another soft kiss to her mouth, soft and pink.

He swallows and then loosens his grip. "I'm glad we're here together, even if it means we can't even leave. My biggest regret was not getting a chance to know you."

For as much as there's still things to be tense about... there's nothing more relaxing and comforting than the feel of Eddie's hands rubbing over his back, the mixture between the smooth, hard feeling of his rings through her sweater and his fingers - softer and light through the material. Chrissy can't quite help the satisfied sigh that escapes. She's lost count of the number of nights that the lull of his hands rubbing over her pack like this - or her arm - are the entire reason that she manages to even get to sleep.

Chrissy never would have pegged Eddie Munson as the person that would make her feel safe and warm and comforted, but now that they're here and she can't help it she couldn't imagine being here without him. And she doesn't want to. Squeezing him a little tighter, for just a moment, her own fingers feeling the tickle of the ends of his hair, Chrissy gives in to the urge again to rub her cheek lightly against his shoulder - her own version of the comfort that his hands on her back provide for her.

Pulling back there's a soft smile on Chrissy's face and she doesn't hesitate to kiss him back, hands sliding over his ribs and settling on his sides - palms warm. There's no casualness about this that makes it feel like he's taking this feeling for granted, which is all she felt from Jason half the time when he'd sling his arm around her shoulder and then lean down to kiss her... especially if people were watching, as if for show. There something much more... intimate and special about the fact that it's just the two of them and Eddie doesn't care about people seeing them. In fact, the vast majority of their time isn't spent in front of others to show off, but just... is them being them whether with roommates and friends around or not.

Eddie doesn't know it. Doesn't realize it. And Chrissy only barely is starting to, but she's absolutely crazy about the metalhead.

And as he loosens his grip, Chrissy moves to tuck herself into his side, curling up close, an arm going around him, not ready to lose the proximity yet. "I think that's kind of the best thing bout this place." Chrissy looks up at the boy from across the tracks - the one her mom wouldn't approve of, but who makes her feel safer than her mother ever did (or anyone else) - and there's a smile on her face, sweet and loving. "It's not too late and we have plenty of time here. I'm not going anywhere, Eddie."

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