Take Me Home Again (Eddie Munson X OC)

Chapter 20 - The Bittersweet End

After the two returned to Hopper's cabin, the rest made a plan to try and find the cure for Eddie's vampirism. Eddie didn't care to help right away, carrying Phoenix back to their room and cuddling up with them for the night. 

"How did you remember?" Phoenix paused their hand, twirling the ends of Eddie's curls between their fingers, to look down at him. His head had been laying on their chest, now lifted to meet their eyes. "When we were all fighting, I was going to attack Dustin... but I smelled him, thanks to the super senses I now possess. It made me remember things, but I didn't fully come out of it until I saw you killing Vecna. Which was super hot by the way." He smirked, leaning up to connect their lips again.

Phoenix chuckled, smiling into the kiss before pushing him back slightly. "Seriously, though. Was it him dying or... seeing me?" They felt cheesey, suggesting the idea that their vision alone could bring their lover back from his feral state. That was a thing of fantasy and somewhat egotistical. "Maybe both. When he died, his trance was released, but I wouldn't have remembered anything that quickly, at least I don't think. But seeing you up there, all decked out in your armor, his head in your hand, I remembered everything." Had he still been alive, his cheeks would've glowed pink under the pale moonlight washing over the two. 

Phoenix, who was very much alive, did blush, however. Giggling as they covered their face with their hands. It was honestly too good to be true. He was back, he was really here. The others even confirmed it when they found their way back, he was standing right beside them, real. He wasn't alive, but he was undead, and Phoenix would take what they could get. 

Two weeks went by in the search on how to bring Eddie back to human life, the two sneaking away in the night. Most times, they would end up at Lover's Lake or the hill adjacent the trailer park. They spent the hours in the moonlight laughing and getting back to how they used to be, laying and watching the stars. Phoenix had purchased a book of constellations for this specific night, pointing them out to their other half. Something tugged at the back of their mind, even still. They had him back, but his last words echoed through their mind in the silent moments. Did he even remember what he said? And, if he did, did he mean it? Were they his true feelings that he had been waiting to unveil or were they simply the words of a dying man who thought he'd never see his sweet again? The questions swirled around their head like dark clouds before a tornado, fingers twisting the cold ring that sat around their thumb.

Eddie took notice of their far off gaze and fidgeting, looking down to take their hand and noticing their jewelry. "You kept it.." His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough to snap Phoenix out of their rocky state of mind. "Huh?" They followed his gaze. "Oh, yea. Duh. You gave it to me. I told you I didn't move on." They chuckled as his eyes looked up at them in awe, something hiding behind the shine of his gaze.

"What?" Phoenix's smile relaxed, eyebrows furrowing as they held his stare. "I love you so much..." His tone was dripping with love. That's what was behind his eyes, Phoenix understood now. Their cheeks pinched bright pink, gaze glancing back at the stars above them. "You meant it?"

"Of course I meant it, Phoenix." Eddie moved so he was propped up on his elbow, hovering over Phoenix's face. "I meant it with every fiber of my being. I will always mean it. Every time." A look of confusion crossed Phoenix's face, Eddie chuckling at their soft features now darkened by his looming shadow.

"I'm going to tell you I love you everyday for the rest of our lives together. Which, hopefully, will be solved soon." He smiled as Phoenix tried to hide behind their hands, his hand coming up to cup their face lightly before they could.

"I'm gonna say it so much, you're gonna want to stake me." Phoenix laughed at this, fingers sliding around his wrist gently. "Never." Breathy whispers passed between them, Eddie leaning down to kiss his lover. "I love you too, by the way." They smiled up at him as they separated. "I was hoping so." Another fit of laughter expanded between the couple, echoes of their joy spreading out through the trees.