Starting Over (Eddie Munson x FEM!OC)/Nothing Was Ever As It Seemed

Part 2- Nothing Was Ever As It Seemed

***Eddie's POV***

Word Count: 1,007

Turning on the water he filled a glass, leaning against the counter. Jesus Christ. Here he'd had an entire evening planned, and instead he'd just let his fear of Vecna taking her fuck it all up. He'd just acted like a goddamn caveman. He'd be lucky if she even wanted to be near him after that fuck up.

"You hungry, Montgomery?" he called out, digging through his cupboards. There had to be something here he could feed her.

"Dani, baby?" He called again, brow furrowing when she didn't answer again. Maybe she fell asleep.

Ignoring the fear gnawing at his insides he grabbed her water, making his way down the hallway. She fell asleep. That was all. There was no way something had happened in the 30 seconds he'd been in the kitchen.

"You fall asleep, Montgomery?" he laughed nervously as he pushed the bedroom door open, the glass of water falling from his hand.

There was Dani, in his Hellfire shirt, standing there just as Chrissy had been. Eyes white, eye lids fluttering rapidly. Ice flooding his veins he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.

"Dani, baby, I need you to wake up now." Small tap to the cheek. "Come on, baby. Wake up!" Cursing he dove for the walkie-talkie, pressing the button, as he rushed to find his Walkman.

"Henderson, Wheeler One and Two? Anybody?!"

Eddie dropped the walkie, digging through his collection of tapes. All he needed was Judas Priest. 'Screaming for Vengeance' was her favorite song. He just had to find it. Radio silence on the walkie. Christ. Where was everyone when he fucking needed them?

Slamming the cassette into the Walkman he plugged in the headphones, pressing play as he settled them over her ears. He picked up the walkie again, pressing the button down as he put his hand on her cheek.

"Somebody fucking answer me!"

He waited what felt like an eternity, his hands on her face, willing Dani to wake up. The music had to work soon. It had to. He couldn't lose her.

"Eddie? It's Nancy."

Took them long enough. He snatched up the walkie again, refusing to take a hand or his eyes off of Dani.

"He has her. Vecna has Dani." He paused, drawing a shaky breath, fighting back tears. "The music. It-it's not working." He stepped closer to her, his voice now a whisper. "Come on, Dani. Fight. Please."

"Keep the music playing. I'll try to get El."

Help was coming. But would they get here fast enough? Would El be able to get inside her head and help her? There were too many questions and not enough answers.

"Dani, wake up. Please, baby. Come back to me. I-I can't do this without you, Dani."

***Dani's POV***

'Screaming for Vengeance' blasted in her ears as her legs gave out from under her, a pair of arms wrapping around her, catching her as she fell. The music finally stopped and all she could hear was Eddie.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I've got you." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Everything was blurry. Even Eddie's face was hard to see. Her eyes burned something fierce. It wasn't until she felt his hands, fingertips rough from years spent playing guitar, brushing against her cheeks that she realized she was crying. It had all felt so real.

"Eddie?" She couldn't hide the shaking in her voice, her hands clutching his shirt. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"That's not important right now," he whispered, lifting her in his arms.

Eddie turned, sitting on the edge of his bed, holding her firmly in his lap. Shaking. He was shaking. Lifting her head she saw an empty glass lying on the floor by the door, the sight making her breathing turn shallow, fast. Hadn't he already brought that to her? What was it doing across the room? The front door slammed open, bringing the terror back full force. Screaming she covered her ears, ducking her head.

"Make it stop! Please, God, make it stop," she sobbed, barely registering Eddie's arms tightening around her as he started to rock.

"You're safe, Dani. Everything's okay."

"Eddie! El's on the way in!" Henderson. What the hell was he doing there?

"She's okay," Eddie answered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Dani could hear others, but she couldn't make out who everybody was. All she could think about was how scared Eddie had been earlier, what she was starting to think may not have been a dream, and how terrified he'd been when she woke up. Now Henderson was there with others, and they wouldn't have shown up over a nightmare. Would they? Something else was going on. Sitting up straight she looked between him and Eddie, already connecting the dots.

"Eddie, what the fuck is going on?" she demanded, her stomach churning.

"I'll explain everything soon." He paused, clearing his throat. "Tonight soon. Right now, right this second, I just need to make sure you're okay."

"I'm obviously not! What the fuck is going on?" Dani glanced back toward Henderson to see he'd already disappeared.

"Dani. Please. I just-I thought I'd lost you. Can we please just sit here for a minute?" The way his voice broke, his face dropping down to avoid looking at her, something about it broke her heart.

Reaching out she grabbed his face, tipping it up until he was looking at her again. His usually happy eyes were filled with tears, the fear still evident on his face. Wrapping her arms around him she squeezed as tight as she could, burying her face in his neck. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was hold onto him just as tight as he was holding onto her.

"Jesus Christ, Dani. You have got to stop scaring me like this," he laughed, pulling her back to drop light kisses all over her face.

"You act like I'm doing it on purpose."