Mixed Pov’s. Hopefully easy to catch on.
Warnings: 18+, angst, mentions cheating, swearing, mentions drug use, almost overdose. Y/n used. She/her pronouns used.
Song reference and aerial stunts: Try by P!nk (love that woman!)
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September 8 1989 - Your Wedding Day
“Do you remember the very first day that we met? I knew the very first moment I saw you. I knew we were meant to be together for all of our days. You have become my lover, my companion, and my best friend. There's no one else I'd want to build a life with. I get to have you by my side, my love and my wife, for eternity.
How lucky am I to call you mine? Your love and trust make me a better person, each and every day. For all those times that we've been together, there's always been a mutual understanding that's only shared when two people love each other truly. You were there for my greatest challenges. You encouraged me to grow. You helped me believe in myself and become the person that I am today. I know I can do anything in your arms and by your side. I'm proud to call myself your husband.”
“Today I say, "I do" but to me, that means, "I will." I will take your hand and stand by your side in the good and the bad. I promise to be your honest, faithful, and loving husband for the rest of my days. I dedicate myself to your happiness, success, and smile. I will love you forever, til death do us part.”
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They say there are five stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
You had gone through two stages within twenty-four hours of being shown those photos.
Denial. The shock and confusion were definitely there for the world to see. Your mindless behaviour was controlled by the numbness you were feeling. You needed to get out of here. You needed to get as far away as possible. Avoid him. You needed to run away.
Anger. It thrummed through your veins, resentment growing inside you like a tumour. Your heart still races when you think back to seeing those photographs. Your husband, with another woman in your bed and again next to the pool. She was wearing your favourite bikini, on her knees before him. His hands were on her shoulders, hair covering his face as he looked down at her. You couldn’t see his facial expression, but seeing as Eddie loved getting his cock sucked, you probably guessed he was enjoying it.
You needed Eddie to hurt just as much as he hurt you. So you filed for divorce—impatience to just have it over and done with. You decided just to let him have everything. He couldn’t contest it if there were no assets to fight over.
This then causes you to feel embarrassed. You were twenty-two years old and about to be divorced. Most girls your age were getting engaged or married now, their new life beginning for them. How you wished it was you again.
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June 12 1991 - five days after Eddie's exposure.
Robin was right. She was going to need a new number. Eddie hadn’t stopped calling her or Rez, Y/n’s manager. He even tried your band and concert crew, hell, he even called Billy. He needed to talk to you, and he won’t sign the papers until you hear him out. He won’t sign the papers at all. You both vowed to stay together no matter what.
Is he being a hypocrite saying that knowing he broke it in the worse possible way - yes, a big fucken hypocrite - the biggest there ever was. But he can’t lose you.
For better or worse. Til death do us part. He needs you to forgive him at his worst because if there is one thing Eddie will do, it is to love you until death parts you both.
Of all the people Eddie didn’t think would break and tell him where you were, it was Nancy. Actually, she didn’t tell Eddie, she told Steve. Steve, who was staying with Eddie, made sure he didn’t do anything else stupid, like jump on the first private plane to Prague.
Which is where they were heading to now. Eddie should have known. You always said you wanted to come back here after your honeymoon. Robin had hired a small chateau on the outskirts of the city. It was quiet, with a beautiful view of the forest surrounding it on one side and a lake on the other. But the most important part was there was no paparazzi. No one but your close friends and manager knew where you were.
No one, until Eddie knocked, more like banged on the door.
Robin attempted to close the door the moment she opened it, laughing. “Noooo”.
Eddie pushed it open further, letting himself in. Calling out your name.
“No, there is no way you are seeing her, Eddie. She doesn’t want to see you.” She put her hands on his chest as she tried to stop him from coming further into the house. “You can’t just come in here and - hey, Steve, stop him.”
Eddie continues to walk through rooms, continually calling out to you. He runs up the stairs when he doesn’t find you in any of the downstairs rooms or out on the back patio. When he comes to a room he believes is your bedroom, Robin runs in front of him, putting her hands out, attempting to block his entrance.
“Eddie please, don’t go in there. Trust me, it’ll only hurt you.” Robin pleads, voice low.
“I’m already hurt Robin, just let me in there”
“No, Eddie,” blocking the door handle, a pleading look in her eye as she shakes her head no.
“Is she in there with someone?” Eddie asks, thinking the worst.
“Billy’s in there, but it’s not -” Robin doesn’t finish what she saying before Eddie picks her up to move her out of the doorway.
Eddie is fuming at the thought of you being alone in your room with Billy.
Billy, your bodyguard. Your protector. Not, Eddie, Billy.
Billy, who you’ve always told Eddie not to worry about - he’s one of my best friends.
Eddie was your best friend, too, before you started dating each other.
Billy, who drunkenly and highly confessed to Eddie that he once had a crush on you back in high school - before and during your relationship, but it stopped the day Eddie proposed to you.
Billy, who Eddie finds sitting in a chair next to your bed, holding one of your hands with his, the other patting a damp cloth on your forehead while you faze in and out of consciousness.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Billy asks, rising from his chair.
Eddie isn’t sure if you’re drunk, high or both. He just knows that you’ve gone on one hell of a bender in the last few days, one he hasn’t seen since the early days of Corrid Coffin’s first tour. One that you said you never go on again after nearly breaking your ankle during an after-party once. No one could remember why you were in the tree, just that you slipped and fell, hitting the ground and the loud crack when you rolled your ankle. Eddie promised to keep it in moderation after that night, too. A promise he actually kept.
“Hey ba-by” You’re sluggish voice draws Billy’s attention back to you.
“Where you be rockstar?” Your words are slurred as you point to Eddie. “Though you be busy getting your dick sucked next to the pool.” You sit up, a contempt look towards Eddie.
“Don’t, don’t you even think about calling me any nickname you used with your whore.
“I said don’t.” Unable to keep yourself up, you flopped back down onto your pillows, arm covering your eyes as you tried to hold back the tears. “I’m not ready to see you, Eddie, let alone talk with you. So please go away.”
Eddie rushes over to you, sitting next to you on the bed, removing your arms to look at your face and hopefully your eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, I’m not signing any papers, and I’m not leaving until you hear me out - Please, sweetheart, please let me explain everything. You’re my whole life, and I can’t - I can’t bare the idea of you not in it, please, please forgive me.”
“Billy, get him out of here. I need him to go away,” you wailed, turning your face into the pillow the furthest away from Eddie. You can’t look at him. You can’t see the pain he’s showing you because if you do, you’ll cave. You’ll grab and hold onto him for dear life and never want to let him go. You feel the weight of the mattress next to you lift as Billy grabs Eddie by the arm, dragging him out of your room.
“Let me go, Billy, I’m not leaving,” Eddie’s annoyed voice hit you from across the room. You hear the door close and muffled voices outside.
“Seriously, Eddie, you need to leave; I’ll call the cops if I have to.” Billy says sternly as he escorts Eddie down the stairs from your room. Eddie doesn’t reply. He knows he deserves this treatment, but it doesn’t mean he won’t stop until he talks to you. They find Robin and Steve talking in the living room.
“What did she take?” Eddie asks, looking at Robin, his voice low but angry.
“We don’t really know, coke maybe; we don’t even know how she got her hands on it. We haven’t even left the house!” Robin says panicked. “I mean, we knew she was drinking more than usual, and we tried to slow her down, Eddie, I mean, we really tried, but we don’t know who gave her the drugs. Billy found her passed out in the bathroom. Took five minutes under a cold shower for her to start being conscious again - Eddie, what the hell happened? How could you do this to her?”
“I don’t know. I seriously don’t fucken know, and I don’t understand why I did it.” Eddie breaks down, falling to the floor. “Y/n was gone for months and we couldn’t find any time to be together. I was lonely, really fucking lonely and, then one night, Vanessa came over, and she looked and smelled just like y/n, and - and I got lost, Robin, I got lost, and now I don’t know how I’m meant to find my way back to y/n.”
“How long were you having the affair, Eddie?” Robin asks, sitting in front of him, “because going by those photos, it wasn’t the first time you and that woman have slept together, was it?”
“I only slept with her three times. The night the photos were taken, I planned to break it off, but she came over to the house. She must have known that Y/n was leaving. I was breaking it off with her, I swear. I actually thought I was fucking y/n that night, not Vanessa.”
“What do you mean you thought you were fucking y/n? You knew she had left,” Steve asks, concerned.
“I was high that night. No hard stuff, only pot.”
“Yours or hers?” Billy asks this time, seeing where Steve is going with this.
“What do you mean?” Eddie replies, lifting his head to look at his friends.
“Who’s pot was it?” asks Steve.
“Mine at first, I was halfway through a joint when Vanessa arrived.”
“At first?” interrupts Robin.
“Yeah, she asked if we could share a joint before saying she would leave. Said she understood why I needed to break it off.”
“Had you two already fucked at your place before?” Billy asks,
“No, the other two times were in my hotel room - why?”
“Did you ever give Vanessa your address?” Billy asks again.
“No,” Eddie replies, finally seeing where Billy, Steve and Robin are heading. “FUCK, that bitch set me up”
“Eddie, did you two ever use condoms,” Robin asks now.
“The first two times, she had condoms on her, but the last time - FUCK!” banging his fists against the walls. Gritting his teeth. “Y/n and I never use condoms, haven’t since we got engaged, so there was never any in the house. I thought I was having sex with my wife. How could I’ve been so stupid? When I woke up the next day and found her by the pool wearing Y/n’s bikini, I lost it. I told her to leave, and she got on her knees. I told her to get out, and she left - I didn’t connect of what we did the night before until Tony brought me the photos.”
“Eddie, look at me,” Steve says, grabbing the man's cheek, “Hey man, look at me, we’re going to get the sorted, okay? Do you still have Vanessa’s number?”
Eddie looks in at Steve, shaking his head no.
“Deleted and blocked her number when I told her to fuck off.” Eddie says. “Didn’t even bother to get her last name. Shouldn’t have even done it the first time.”
Steve continues to hold Eddie’s face, looking directly into his eyes. “You’re right; it should never have ever happened. But Eddie, this last time, better be the last time you ever hurt Y/n like this again. I’m still here. You still have friends to help you overcome this, and we will. We will find a way, but you must give Y/n her space right now.”
Eddie panics. “But, but.”
“No, buts Eddie. You saw the state Y/n is in. She’s not ready, Eddie and she may never be.” This causes Eddie to panic more, shaking his head wildly, “But once we know for sure, once we can prove this was all a set-up, maybe, just maybe, y/n will listen to you. But you need to let her be. Just know that she is fine and safe”.
Eddie’s panic turns to anger hearing this last bit from Steve. “Safe Steve, safe? How can I let her be when they” pointing at Billy and Robin “don’t even know who or how she got the drugs? She’s up there alone now, coming down from a fucking high that she could have - could have…” Tears reforming in his eyes. “If you guys haven’t been out, then who’s been here?”
Robin twists her fingers in her hands, a nervous tick she tends to show when she has an idea. “Me, Billy, some house staff and - “
“And who?” Eddie asks, standing up again. “Who, Robin?”
“Rez,” answers Billy. “He was here two nights ago,” looking over at Robin.
“The night we tried to take away her alcohol, but Rez said she needed to get it all out of her system; this was going to make her more popular than we realised - Jesus Billy, how could we have been stupid not to connect the dots together.” Robin grabs her head.
A painful scream erupts from upstairs, causing everyone to freeze on the spot. Eddie goes to run up the stairs again. He hated the idea that you’re in this much pain. Even though it’s been nearly two years for him, he remembers the pain of withdrawal like it was yesterday. He remembers how you both held each other as you went through it together, and he wants to comfort you more than anything. Robin stops him before and takes that first step up towards you.
“Steve’s right, Eddie, you need to give her space. Once she’s sober, Billy and I will try and talk with her if she’ll listen, but you have to respect her wishes and leave her alone right now.”
With reluctant steps, Eddie allows Steve to pull him towards the door. The sounds of your screams echo in his ears as they walk out. “You’ll get her back, Eddie. One day”.
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Bargaining had come before the week had ended. Wishing everything that you left a day later, bringing Eddie with you. Then, you could have remained in ignorant bliss.
As promised, Robin and Billy tried to talk with you during your sober moments. It almost brought you back to anger, accusing them of being on Eddie’s side. Their reasons were that they only wanted to see you happy again. That it really was a mistake. They believed this woman was setting Eddie up. Eddie truly loves you and wants to make things right again.
Eddie sends you flowers every day the entire time you remain in Prague, not knowing that he, too, is not far away, buying a house nearby in the hopes that one day in the future, it will be a little getaway for the both of you.
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Depression is described as being the longest stage of grief. Let this not be true. Let it still be a bad dream to wake up from. You still reached out for Eddie in the morning, wishing he was next to you.
You live your life on autopilot, making yourself as busy as possible. Songwriting for a new album, rehearsals for upcoming concerts and the new fantasy movie you had been cast in. You keep moving and don’t stop being active, because when you do, the thoughts and questions come back to plague your mind.
What did you do for Eddie to hurt you like this?
Were you not giving him enough attention sexually? You thought already had quite an active and ambitious sex life. Was there something that ‘she’ gave or did with him that you wouldn’t?
You have been gaining more media attention with your solo music and movie career. Was he jealous, thinking you were more popular than him? Always telling you at the beginning of your relationship that you were to go for him, that you deserved better.
Was he getting tired of you? High school sweethearts rarely stayed together. You were each other’s first sexual encounter. Maybe he was tired of monogamy and wanted the rockstar life of sex and drugs.
But, if that last one was true, if he was tired of you and your life together, why was Eddie still fighting so hard to get you back nearly 12 months later?
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IT WAS ALL A SET-UP! - THE WOMAN BEHIND EDDIE MUNSON'S EXPOSURE SPEAKS OUT.
Vanessa Rogers, the woman caught in the photos with Eddie Munson back in July last year, spoke out about how it was a set-up conceived by her photographer boyfriend Randle Jones to blackmail the rockstar to help further their careers.
Mr. Jones was arrested in late December on trespassing charges after Munson’s team pushed investigators to find the photographer. Ms Rogers, who was present in the house, was also charged with drug possession. Mr Jones has claimed that it Ms Rogers, an amateur pornstar who has been known to resemble Y/n Munson, idea to drug Mr Munson on the night the photos were taken. See page 3 for more details.
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Acceptance. You told yourself that you had accepted that it was over with every drink, pill, and snort of drug handed to you.
Why did you keep running from him instead of getting the answers you desperately craved even after it was disclosed that Eddie had been set up?
You already knew from what Robin, Billy and Steve had told you that this woman was trying to set Eddie up, and that was why there were photos of the last time. You couldn’t think about how Eddie had betrayed you twice already. One time, you could probably forgive. One time - if he was drunk or drugged like last time, but it seemed that each other time he was with her, he was sober and willingly consented to it. If he truly loved you as he claimed every day with the flowers he sent, then there wouldn’t have been a first time, right?
Every bone in your body still wanted to reach out to him. You wanted to be held by him again. You knew he was coming to some of your concerts, having seen his silhouette through the darkened windows of the VIP room. At the concerts, you knew he was there. You reached your hand out towards that same window during your new song ‘Try’. It was your way of letting him know that you missed him and didn’t want him to stop trying, but you still weren’t ready.
God, how you fucking missed him.
At least you could say that you remained faithful to your husband even when drunk and high out of your mind. You hadn’t had any sort of sexual encounter or orgasm that had resulted from your own hands or toys. At least not until you started filming this new role.
You knew Eddie would be excited when he hears what it’s about. You also know he will be fuming when he discovers how you removed your no-nudity clause and body double for the sex scenes in the film, too. While your horror franchise had been rated MA15, this movie was rated R.
You also knew that the paparazzi would start going crazy over the relationship between you and your new co-star.
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‘Welcome back to MTV studio. I’m Adrianna Townsent’
"And I’m Tom Newton coming to you live from L.A, and Adrianna, I’ve just heard the latest news that Y/N Munson has been spotted back in this great city"
Eddie’s ear perked at the sound of your name. For the past year, he was grabbing any and all information about you. Some are more heartbreaking than others, such as when Billy carries you out of a club, head in his shoulder, clearly intoxicated, barely able to stand. It killed him that the way you chose to deal with this was to drink and take anything handed to you. He knew Robin and Billy tried to prevent you from getting drunk and high so you couldn’t stand up. But it all seemed to stop once he found a way to get your manager, Rez, fired. Steve stepping up into that role instead.
Eddie remembered how he stopped breathing when he heard you had started doing aerial stunts in your shows. He went to every concert he could, watching from a dark, private VIP room. Watching swing from ropes without a harness. Steve kept in touch with him, promising that you were safe and that precautions had been implemented. Steve told Eddie that you knew when he was there, and by the third concert, he realised that each time you sang ‘Try’, you would swing towards his window, almost reaching out for him, but also not reaching out.
‘That’s right, Tom, Y/n was spotted leaving Sony Studio’s last night. Where filming for her latest movie, Ravenloft, continues. All we know about the movie is that the plot focuses on a vampire named Strahd von Zarovich, who pines for his lost love.’
Eddie knows that character's name and that movie title. It was one of the first campaigns he ran as a DM back in ‘83’. The first game where you played the character Ireena, whose appearance matched that of Strahd's lost love, Tatyana. Were you actually staring in a movie based on a DnD module? This was probably one of the better news stories he had heard about you in months. And for the first time since you left, he actually smiled - maybe you were starting to get better.
‘Y/n was seen leaving with her co-star Sebastian Evans. Both have been photographed several times in the past month, getting close recently. Sources claim that Sebastian and Y/n are just friends, and he’s been helping her with her sobriety after the rocky year she has had since separating from Corroded Coffin frontman Eddie Munson after his exposure scandal with amateur porn star Vanessa Rogers, who admitted early this year that it was an extortion attempt to advance her career.
Eddie’s heart drops into his stomach, seeing the photos of you and Sebastian. Also known as Hollywood’s heartthrob. His arms around your shoulder, fingers entwined, and worse, his hands on your hips and face, almost looking intimate at what appears to be behind-the-scenes photos. He stops taking in the words being said by the presenters now that they’ve moved on to the next tidbit of gossip. As much as he hates these photographs, he prefers these pictures to the type early in the separation.
He had hoped that after it was proven he was set up, you would see him, or at least speak with him, but you refused - and Eddie continued to send you flowers every day, no matter what country or city you were in. Always the same messages.
I can never love anyone as much as I love you.
The ringing of Eddie’s doorbell draws his attention. He leaves it for Ms Hudson, the elderly housekeeper, to answer, most likely something from the studio.
“Mr Munson, special delivery for you,” She says in a thick English accent. The last thing he expects is the large vase of flowers placed in front of him by the elderly woman. The same type he has been sending you.
Eddie doesn’t finish the sentence before she passes the white envelope to him. His name is on the front, written in your handwriting. His hands shake as he opens it. He’s waited for this day since he left you back in Prague, at every concert he saw. He exhales a shaking breath as he pulls the piece of paper out.
Ms. Hudson sees the paper fall onto the table, and Eddie’s ringed fingers quickly cover his mouth, holding back an almost cry. She doesn’t know if it’s a happy one and continues to be confused as she watches him jump up from the lounge and call out for his car keys, leaving the house moments later. Looking down to read the paper her employer has dropped, a smile appears on her face. Your message gives an address and the following words:
