The Eddie Munson Tape Dates

Judas Priest, 'British Steel'

You flipped the selected tape over in your hand, "Well I sure hope it's not Breaking the law or Grinder" you say a little horrified.

"What about rapid fire?" He teases from the other side of the trailer rustling around in the cupboards

"Oh he's a comedian tonight?" You say getting up from the couch towards the kitchen.

You are immediately met with two bowls of snacks being thrust into you hands, "I'm a clown for you every day of the week!" He smirks, filling his own arms with drinks and snacks, and bustles you out back to where you were sitting.

He fills up the coffee table with the items he's carrying and then yours, finally taking the cassette away from you and putting it away neatly on a nearby shelf and retrieving a vhs tape and holding it up, "Metal Gods" he says with his eyes twinkling at you, before scampering over to the player to put the video on.

"Metal God's? A concert?" You say excitedly.

"Sure is, virtually hot off the press too. Iron Maiden's Live after Death" he grins back at you still fiddling with the vhs player.

It was so incredibly adorable how much Eddie enjoyed sharing his special interests with you, and whilst you didn't love all the music he was into, it was always worth it, just to see how the music moved him. It was like it injected him with life, and seeing that made your heart soar.

"Iron Maiden, huh? We've listened to these before I remember" you say recalling your first date, well the first date you knew was a date before you got there anyway, you smile to yourself. A night that could have easily ended very differently if it hadn't been for Eddie's quick thinking.

You stroke the deep scar on your arm, a weird dull sensation forms within your forearm. The look of Eddie's face as you'd clung onto him for dear life, swims into your head. You grimace and squeeze your eyes shut to prevent any tears from forming. 'He's here now, and you're here now. Everything is ok', you repeat to yourself.

You hear the vhs tape clunk indicating it had fully been rewound, interrupting your trip down nightmare memory lane. Eddie presses play and walks over to the sofa.

it's like he can sense it in the air, "Everything alright my angel?" He says as he spins around and drops down beside you on the couch. His arm above you ready to wrap around your shoulders.

"Yeah I was just thinking about that song, and the row boat, and then my brain decided to remind me about all the pit stuff" you say awkwardly.

You'd been practicing, and trying really hard to be more open with Eddie, especially with your darker thoughts. He'd asked you so many times to just 'talk to me about it', which usually punctuated a disagreement or weird interaction you'd had between one another.

He takes your hand in his, "Well that's just not gonna happen again, Babe. So I understand thinking about it, but it shouldn't ever worry you again. Those things are long dead." He lifts up your arm and like a.mind reader kisses all the way along your scar, looking up at you the whole time, and finally utters "My hero" and smiles.

"And you mine" you say snuggling into his chest letting his arm drape around you. As you both sit back into the couch he kisses and pats the top of your head, and you hear and feel him sigh lovingly, whilst the trailers and as at the start of the video play.

You hear the crowd before you see them, a war time speech plays over the top of them and the music start, the stage in darkness...Pyro explode the stage into illumination and the bad members rush out onto the stage.

"Wait...I know this one...live to fly, fly to live" you try saying along with the song, looking back at Eddie for reassurance. You hadn't realised immediately but the abrupt opening had launched you forward, away from your comfort zone, onto the edge of your seat.