Whispers.

      Whispering is what caused Eriam to stir around in her sleep, waking her up slowly, and a voice quickly hushed someone and she groaned as she didn't want to wake up at all. "Be quiet! Do you want to wake the sleeping bear?" The voice harshly whispered out, and Eriam was now awake at that comment.

      Raising up in bed, she scratched the back of her head as she begrudgingly opened her eyes, squinting rather quickly as her eyes hadn't adjusted to the lights. "Look what you did, you woke her up." Looking to see who was speaking her eyes landed on a timid Dustin, who slowly waved a nervous grin on his lips. "Good morning, Eri." He greeted cautiously, and Eriam rolled her eyes as she looked over to Eddie who had his fingers pointing at Dustin.

      "Why are you here so early?" She complained, her voice scratchy as her throat gave away the fact that it needed water. "We had plans today, and I didn't think Eddie would have company. We were supposed to discuss our next campaign." Dustin said, as Eriam got out of the bed and slowly walked to gather her clothes and just nodded her head. "What- What are you doing?" Eddie hesitated on asking, as he watched her slip her shoes on.

      "Leaving? Isn't that obvious?" She muttered, slightly irritated at the fact that she only got a couple hours of sleep and Dustin just awkwardly looked between the two as she finished tying her converses. "Why are you leaving?" Dustin curiously asked, and Eriam looked up at Dustin before she stood up, her clothes in her arms. "To get away from him." She muttered, as she slid past the two boys.

      "What did you do now?" Dustin quickly blamed Eddie, as he slapped his arm and Eddie scoffed putting his hands up defensively, "I didn't do a thing, she was the one who came here in the first place." He defended himself, and Eriam sarcastically laughed as she shook her head, "I'm going to Steve's." Was all she said as she walked out of the trailer and found herself walking down the road not even bothering to look back.

      "Hey! Eri!" Hearing the younger teenager's voice, she stopped in her tracks and turned around to where Dustin was riding to her on his bicycle, "What? Don't you have plans?" She questioned, and Dustin slowly nodded his head and she crossed her arms expecting him to say why he stopped her. "Will you try and get along with Eddie? I feel like I'm having to choose between either of you because you guys hate each other." Dustin finally said, and looked away nervously, "Get along with him? Seriously?" She quipped, growing angry.

      "Well, not like that, I mean- I just... Fuck! I don't know! I wouldn't be able to choose between either of you if it came down to it." Dustin said, growing frustrated and Eriam scoffed at that, as she knew Dustin longer than Eddie, and she has had loads of near death experiences with Dustin. "Wow, okay." She said, nodding her head, her body racing with emotions again. "I didn't mean it like that."

      Dustin quickly tried to back track, and Eriam began walking away, Dustin quickly peddling after her, "Eri! Eriam!" Dustin tried to get her attention, but Eriam was trying to calm herself down, she was not in the mood to be bothered right now. Not with all the built up emotions she's had trapped inside for months now. "Enough!" She yelled, turning around to face Dustin, and as she did an invisible force pushed off of her and Dustin stumbled back on his bike, and the trees around them fell to the ground.

      "Holy shit." Dustin whispered, as he fixed his hat and looked around at all the fallen trees, "Shit- Dustin, I didn't mean to." Eriam quickly apologized, as she looked down at herself in horror, here lately she hasn't been able to control her powers or emotions. It's like she was growing stronger without realizing it. "It's fine. We really need to learn how to get you to control yourself more." Dustin said, as he looked around, and Eriam started picking at her thumb in guilt.

      "I don't know what's happening to me." She confessed, as Dustin got off his bike and walked over to her, bringing her into a hug. "I know, we're gonna find a way to help you. I promise." Dustin told her truthfully, "Now, can I trust that you'll make it to Steve's in one piece?" Dustin jokingly asked, and Eriam rolled her eyes as she patted his shoulder, "Leave the babysitter role to Steve."

      As Eriam began to turn around and walk, she stopped and looked to him, "Are you excited for spring break in two weeks?" She questioned him, "Well, technically speaking, we got a week off of school this week because of flooding." She added, and Dustin nodded his head, grinning from ear to ear, "Sucks that Mike's going away but at least we'll have you still!" Dustin said cheerfully, and Eriam smiled at him as she shook her head.

      Sitting atop Steve's bed, she sighed as Steve was pacing back and forth in front of her as Robin was sitting at the head of the bed. "So you pushed down trees, as in plural?" Steve questioned, and Robin rolled her eyes, "That's what the 's' stands for, dingbat." Robin spoke up, and Steve just ignored her as he stood in front of Eriam, his hands on his hips.

      "Hold on, wait, backtrack. Where were you last night if you weren't with Robin or at home?" Steve asked, as Eriam cleared her throat and Robin tossed the pillow that she was holding to Eriam, "Yeah, where were you?" She voiced, and Steve put his hand up, "My house doesn't echo, so hush." He told Robin, and Eriam looked up at Steve, "Doesn't matter."

      She whispered, and Steve rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, "It could matter, what if whoever you were with or whatever you were with is causing all of this. All of your emotional whirlwinds." Steve said, and Eriam groaned as she looked away from him, "Munson..." She whispered, and Steve's eyes widened.

      "You stayed with Eddie?" Steve yelled out, and Eriam groaned as she knew a lecture was soon to follow. "Roro." She whined, and Robin put her hands up, "I'm out on this one, you did this to yourself." Sighing, she looked to Steve who's forehead vein was popping out, "You stayed over night with a boy!" He yelled, as he began pacing back and forth.

      "You really want to go there?" Eriam asked, as she stood up and glared at him, "How about all those times you'd sneak into Nancy's house? Hm?" She asked, and Steve's mouth opened and closed a couple times, and Eriam crossed her arms and grinned, "You aren't no saint either. Plus, nothing happened between Eddie and I like it did between you two."

      She added and walked around him to walk out of his room, "Do not walk away from me!" Steve finally said, walking after Eriam, and Eriam just slammed the door behind her with her powers, causing Steve to slam into the door and Robin's muffled laughter was enough to satisfy her. "Eriam Carver, get your ass back here!" Steve yelled, as he opened the door to see Eriam leaning against the wall.

      "Apologize for budding into my personal business." She told him, and Steve scoffed before he looked away and groaned, "Fine. I'm sorry, whatever you and Munson do is not my business." He said, and Eriam rolled her eyes as she kicked off the wall and walked back into Steve's room, where Robin was still laughing.

      Sitting back on the bed, Eriam looked between her best friends and groaned as they were now sharing a look. "Admit it, you at least like him a little." Robin pitched, and Eriam faux gagged and shook her head, "I can't stand him. He was the closest person and Max is usually home alone so I didn't want to put her in any danger."

      Humming, Robin shrugged her shoulders as she threw Steve a look who only nodded his head, "Have you been practicing for the Pep Rally next week?" She asked Robin, and Robin groaned, "I completely forgot about it, dammit. I gotta run, Steve give me a ride home?" Robin said, and Steve nodded his head as Eriam followed after them.

      "Will you drop me off at Family Video?" Eriam asked, as she slid into the backseat and Steve slowly turned to look at her from the driver seat. "Why? You don't work today? I'm the only one on the schedule today." Steve asked, genuinely confused, as he slipped on his vest and Eriam rolled her eyes, "I forgot my clothes there and I'd appreciate them back."

      "Fine, yeah." Steve muttered, as he pulled out of the driveway of his house, and started driving towards Robin's house first. "So, do you know when you're going to try and talk to Vickie without going mute?" Eriam suddenly asked, as she grabbed the magazine that was in the back and started flipping through it.

      "The day you finally admit that you like Eddie." Robin quickly said, and Steve laughed as the two girls looked at him, "At least I'm not in love with someone who is dating someone else." Eriam said, and Steve looked at Robin shocked. "Did you hear her? That was absolutely uncalled for." Steve muttered, and Robin looked back to Eriam, "Did you just admit that you love someone that isn't in a relationship?"

      Looking away from Steve and to Robin, Eriam gave her a blank stare and scoffed, "You're reading between the lines way too much. I really need to keep you from watching romance movies while on break." Eriam said, rolling her eyes and Robin flipped her off, "For the last time, I do not like Munson. He's just my plug who I can tolerate at times, mainly when I'm high."

      "Or in danger, clearly." Steve added, before he groaned out in pain as Eriam hit him in the back of the head with the magazine. "He was the closest one, shut up." She said, and Robin sighed as she saw her house, "I really don't want to practice." She whined, and Steve grinned, "Then come to work with me." He offered, and Robin fake gagged, and opened her door.

      "I'll see you guys later, love ya." She said, saluting to her best friends as she began walking away. "Love you, Roro!" Eriam yelled, as she climbed into the front seat and groaned as she opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a joint. "Whoa, hey! When the hell did that get in there?"

      "It's not like I can keep it at my house, Jesus, calm down." Eriam muttered, as she tucked it into the waistband of her pants, the shirt she was wearing still being Eddie's. "Just don't smoke that in my car." Steve said, and Eriam waved him off  as she quickly got out of the car as soon as Steve parked in front of their work.

      "Is there a moment whenever you aren't high?" Steve asked, as he began unlocking the store, and Eriam flipped him off as she walked inside instantly going into the back office and grabbing the bag of clothes. "I'm not always high, Harry." She mumbled to him, as she pushed him out of the way as he was standing in front of her snack cabinet.

      "I disagree with that statement." Hearing his voice, Eriam sighed to herself as she grabbed a couple bags of food and raised up shutting the cabinet door. "You're only saying that because every time I'm around you, I'm high." She said, as she placed the snacks in the bag with her clothes and shook her head. "Were you high last night?" He asked, and Steve covered up his laughter with a cough.

      "Shut up. I'm headed home." She said, adverting her attention to Steve, who nodded his head waving to her. As she walked outside the store, she turned to look at him as she crossed her arms. "Why are you here, Eddie?" She asked him, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve move the poster slightly to the left to get a better view of them.

      "I wanted my shirt back, happens to be one of my favorites." Eddie told her, and Eriam scoffed as she began walking towards his van, and opened the door as she walked into the back and stripped off his shirt. Eddie, who slowly followed her, halted his movements as he saw Eriam shirtless for the third time in twenty-four hours.

      "There, all yours again." She told him, as she threw his shirt at him, and dug around in her bag for the other shirt and pulled it over her head. "You really haven't seen boobs before, have you?" Eriam asked, as she shoved him into the driver seat and sat down on the passenger side seat. "I really don't feel like going home, so just, I don't know." She muttered, and Eddie looked over at her and smirked.

      "I have beer at my place." Eddie suggested, and Eriam looked at him in silence for a couple seconds before she rubbed her temples, "Let's go." She mumbled, as she saw Steve looking at her in shock as he gestured to her shirt, and she shook her head at him and sighed again as she knew Steve would come up with a wild scenario to tell Robin tomorrow.

      Looking outside the window, Eriam sighed as she watched the tree's go from clear to blurry in a span of seconds as Eddie began picking up the speed. "Did you see those tree's on your way out? Apparently a shit ton of trees fell from an earthquake." Eddie spoke up, and Eriam didn't bother to look at him as she looked down at her lap shaking her head.

      "I didn't feel any earthquake." She muttered, and began picking at her thumb, before she pulled out the joint she had and Eddie slowly looked over at her in control, "The fuck? Did you just whip that shit out?" Eddie asked, and Eriam smiled slightly as she reached over slipping her hand into his pocket as she groaned, "Where is your lighter?"

      Eriam asked, growing impatient and Eddie pointed to his other pocket with his hand, and Eriam looked down at it and grimaced, "Really..." She whispered to herself, before she leaned over more, and slipped her hand into his left pocket grabbing the lighter. Pushing off of him, she settled back down to light the joint as she began rotating the joint to ensure it was thoroughly lit.

      As she put the lighter down in her lap, she took a long drag and as she was about to blow the smoke out, her face was grabbed and pulled towards Eddie as she blew out the smoke in his face. "Have fun with my apocalyptic symptoms." Eriam said, grinning sarcastically as she looked away from him as the joint was snatched from her grasp and she glared, "My weed, my rules." He told her, and she scoffed crossing her arms.

      "Whatever." She said, her tone laced with sarcasm and snatched the joint back as she quickly got out of the van once they were at his trailer. Looking over to Max's house, she waved at her as Max was feeding the neighbors dog, and it was just a routine. Max was used to seeing Eriam being over there at times knowing Eriam was there only for weed.

      Walking into the trailer, Eriam walked over and plopped down on the couch as she watched Eddie grab two beers and walked over plopping down beside her on the couch. "How come your uncle hasn't been home lately?" She asked, as she opened the beer taking a sip of it. "Work's been keeping him busy." Eddie said, uninterested in the topic of his uncle.

      Nodding her head, she grabbed the joint from in between Eddie's lips and took another hit, as she blew the smoke out. "Have you ever snuck into another person's house and been caught?" Eddie randomly spoke up, trying to start up a conversation that would soon turn into a game between the two. "I have, and I have not." Eriam grinned out, as she looked at him knowing full well his answer.

      "Here have it, I'm going to try and cut back on constantly being high." Eriam piped up, as she handed him the joint and placed her beer on the table as she moved around and sat upside down on the couch, and sighed out. "Have you ever..." She started, before she stopped in her tracks thinking, "kissed someone and instantly regretted it?" She finished, and Eddie chuckled as he looked at her.

      "I have, I will be a gentleman and not say who." Eddie told her, and Eriam smiled slightly at his generous gesture, "I have as well, I also won't be sharing their name." This caught Eddie's attention as he heard the word, 'their' and Eddie hummed as he just simply nodded his head not wanting to bombard her with questions. "Have you ever lied to someone and felt guilty?" He asked, and Eriam scoffed as she looked at the ceiling.

      "Obviously, I think everyone that has a soul has." She muttered, and Eddie nodded his head, scratching the nape of his neck and sighed, "I guess that's true." He shrugged out, and Eriam just quietly laughed before she slid off the couch, thankfully not breaking her neck in the process. "What snacks do you have?" She asked, as she began walking around looking for any stray snack bags.

      As Eddie watched her walk around, looking for snacks, he took the moment to actually look at her. Her long black hair had slight curls to them, she seemed to always scratch her wrist whenever she's anxious, and he picked up on the fact that she'd bite her tongue whenever she'd lie. He's not even sure if she knew that about herself, but it was a habit that he picked up on.

      He noticed whenever she'd start to lie to Steve and Robin about what she was doing if she had spent time with Eddie, she'd always bite her tongue after lying about where she had been. "Hello? Earth to Edward Munson." Blinking into reality, Eddie's face scrunched up in confusion at the name, "Edward?" He asked, as Eriam nodded her head, "That's not my name."

      "That's a damn shame, Edward is a nice name." Eriam said, shrugging her shoulders and Eddie didn't know if it was the weed in his system but he got butterflies at the slightest things she'd do. Obviously, since he was high, he just blamed the butterflies on the weed. "Seriously, Edward. Where the hell are the snacks?" She whined out, and Eddie chuckled as he got up off the couch walking over to her.

      As he stood directly behind her, he reached up and grabbed a bag of chips as she turned around to look at him, almost gasping at how close their proximity was. "Maybe if you were taller, you would have seen it." Eddie whispered to her, and Eriam looked up at him, her eyes holding a swirl of emotions, ones he couldn't decipher. "Whatever." Eriam muttered, as she broke eye contact, shoving him away as she walked and sat back down on the couch.

      As she opened the bag, the door to Eddie's trailer swung open and she looked over to see someone walk in, she recognized him but could never remember his name. "Oh, what's up, Gareth?" Eddie asked, and Eriam realized it was one of the Corroded Coffin band members and a member of the Hellfire Club. "Oh, uhm..." Clearing his throat at the sight of Eriam, Gareth fidgeted under her gaze as she looked him up and down.

      "Hurry, I don't have all day." Eddie said, using his hands to motion for Gareth to hurry up, and Gareth slowly nodded his head and turned his attention away from Eriam to Eddie. "I got us a gig at another bar, just wanted to make sure you were okay with it." As she heard them start to talk about their band, Eriam spaced out as she subconsciously began scratching at the scar on her wrist.

      "You should come." Gareth randomly said, now talking to Eriam, and this caught her attention and she looked over at him again as she looked between Gareth and Eddie, the two staring at her anticipating her answer. "I may." She shrugged, and she could tell this lifted Gareth's spirits as his face lit up and he nodded eagerly. "Well, I'll leave you two to it." He said reluctantly, as if he didn't want to leave, and Eddie shooed him out.

      "I think Gareth boy has a crush." Eddie said, smirking and Eriam rolled her eyes as she began eating the chips that were on her lap, "He's cute." Eriam nonchalantly said, and Eddie's eye slightly twitched at her answer and the swirl of jealousy threw him off guard as he quickly covered it up with another smirk, "I can always set you two up." He offered, and Eriam hummed as she shook her head, "No, but he is cute."

      Eddie felt relieved at her words, even though he wouldn't admit it. "Your choice." Eddie said, and Eriam just nodded her head as she watched him as he walked over sitting down on the couch a growing smile on his face, "You freak me out sometimes, freak." She said, and Eddie shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "I'd rather be a freak as it can mean many different things." He said, his tone turning into one of a suggestive tone.

      Fake gagging, Eriam threw a couple chips at him and Eddie chuckled as he snatched the bag of chips away from her, "You're so grotesque." She told him, and Eddie just casually grabbed a handful of chips before he threw them at her. "Oh, it's on." She said, a small grin on her face as she stood up on the couch and grabbed the bag of chips dumping them over his head, and Eddie grabbed her legs as he carefully slammed her down on the couch.

      "You're going to lose, give up already." Eddie warned her, as he had her pinned down and Eriam looked up at him and sighed as she gave up, laughing quietly. "Fine. You win this time." She muttered, not wanting to accept defeat. "I shall cherish this moment forever." He said, and Eriam rolled her eyes before she groaned as Eddie now sat on her lap as she was laying down.

      "Did you, you know... disappearing cause you to grow close to all of your friends?" Eddie suddenly spoke up, his voice wary as if he was scared and contemplating, Eriam looked at him, deciding on whether or not she should answer him. "Yeah. They saved me." She told him, and Eddie looked at her confused, "Saved you? I'm guessing they were there for you when you needed them most?" He asked, not realizing she genuinely meant that they had saved her from the Upside Down.

      "Yeah, and when the mall fire happened months ago, I, uh. I guess you could say we're all trauma bonded by it as we were there during it." She muttered, and Eddie frowned as he nodded his head, "I'm sorry you all had to go through that, it's like you never get a break." He said, and Eriam sighed, "You have no idea." She said, a whole lot of truth behind her words as she never really got a break all her life.

      As he slid off of her lap, he offered his hand to her and Eriam grabbed it looking up at him confused, "Just know, any moment that you are with me, consider it your time to get away and have a break from reality." He told her, and Eriam smiled as she stood beside him and she sighed, "That means a lot, Edward." She said, and Eddie rolled his eyes at her and looked down at her. If you had told past Eddie that he'd be bonding and having genuine conversations with Eriam Carver, he wouldn't believe it. But now, here they were, enjoying the others company.

author speaks !
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i feel bad for giving
them a  slight bit  of
hope thinking that it'll
all be okay between them
but it builds to the plot
and their relationship.