EDDIE MUNSON IMAGINES

NIGHTMARES

at night, you got no more sleep. it was only nightmares of what had happened to him. they broke you, they caused you so much harm. every time you closed your eyes, he was there.

tonight was the same as any other- you tossing and turning in bed constantly until the early hours of the morning. you were unable to get any sleep.

sitting up, the time was around three in the morning.

none of your friends would be awake, but you had to try, right?

you picked up your phone, dialing steve's number as you heard it ringing, and ringing, and ringing. the annoying sound of the ring, the anxiety of waiting to hear his voice.

"hello?"

"steve," you said, the anxiety dripping off your tone and he could easily pick up on it. you two had dated a couple years ago before you began dating eddie after you both broke up. he knew you well.

"______, is everything okay?"

"i'm having my nightmares again," you mumbled, tucking some hair behind your ear as you leaned against the headboard of your bed in your large t shirt and pants. you could hear steve sigh into the receiver as you closed your eyes and tried to keep youself calm. "i really need somebody right now."

"_______, it's so unsafe right now," he muttered into the phone as your teary eyes glanced towards the picture you still had of the two of you. 

"steve, please," you begged. "i need you."

"you still miss him, i understand that. but don't you think it's not a good idea to call your ex-boyfriend for comfort?" he asked awkwardly as you felt your heart breaking. 

"just because you're my ex doesn't mean that you aren't my friend," you replied, still staring at the picture of the two of you. "i called you because i thought that you would understand." 

"i do. i do understand, _______. but this is a dangerous world and it feels like a dangerous situation for the both of us to be alone together," he responded. 

"eddie isn't here anymore, but he would want me to call somebody that i trust to help me through the situation. i'm calling you from the position of a friend needing help because i need comfort from the nightmare, steve." 

there was silence on his end of the phone call and you wanted to hang up, to put down the conversation right then and there. steve didn't say anything for a good, few seconds and you were about to put the phone back down and force yourself to sleep when you heard a slight noise on his end of the phone. 

"what happened?" he asked. 

"what do you mean?" you asked him, twirling your finger anxiously around the phone cord. 

"with you. what happened with you?"

"what the hell is that supposed to mean, steve? my boyfriend died, if you want me to put it bluntly," you told him, confused as to why he would ask that question when he knew it all. you had told him, he knew. dustin had told him. you knew that he understood the situation. 

"i know, but what happened to you? it feels like there's more hurt buried underneath that you're now digging up because of what happened to eddie," he said, wondering. 

"steve, eddie was my guy. he was the one, you know? you've understood that feeling before, you still do. i know you do, because you make it so obvious. but i lost the one person that i knew would protect me at any cost," you said, feeling your heart tightening once more. "i lost my eddie." 

steve was silent for a moment.

"i'm sorry that i can't come over, but i still respect the two of you too much," he replied after a moment of silence. "i still want to help, so can you explain it from over the phone?" 

you were stuck in a thought, in a flashback memory of him. it's like you could feel his hands on your sides still, his lips pressed to the side of your head. it's like the ghost of him was still with you, and that was comforting to know that he was still loving you, even in his afterlife. 

"_______? ________?" 

you snapped out of the thought, listening to steve. 

"yeah, sorry," you muttered back in response. 

"explain the nightmare to me," he said. 

"it's okay, steve. it's fine." 

"it's clearly not, you've been trying to get me to listen. now, i'm listening." 

"i'm not trying to get you to listen, i'm trying to get you to come over here so i can talk." 

"what's the difference?"

there was silence on your end now. you knew he was right, but you hated admitting it. 

"i just don't know if telling you over the phone is the best option, steve. we don't know who's listening."

he sighed.

"i know, i just wish we didn't have to meet up at this hour," he muttered. "and under these circumstances." 

you nodded, looking down towards your blankets as you began feeling the urge to sleep again overcome you slowly. 

"thanks for talking with me, steve." 

"is everything okay? you're feeling okay?" he asked as you nodded to yourself, laying down and still holding the phone to your ear. 

"i think that just talking to somebody helps. i miss having him around to talk to. he would always stay over," you muttered. "and if he wouldn't stay over, i would go over there."

steve sighed to himself, you could hear it and picked up on it. 

"it sounds like us, doesn't it?" you muttered, playing with a thread on your blanket. 

"yeah, yeah, it does. always at one of our houses at night. sneaking in, staying the night."

you smiled briefly to yourself, thinking about eddie still. 

"thanks again, steve."

he nodded, even though you couldn't see it. 

"i'll talk to you tomorrow, _______."

you hung up the phone, letting out a sigh as you thought about everything that had happened. your mind was running wild, but as you looked at a picture of you and eddie, you felt comforted by him being there. not physically, but you felt comforted with him still exisiting in your room. 

"i'll love you forever," you said softly, touching the guitar pick necklace briefly before closing your eyes and trying to get yourself back to sleep.