Summary: Being the lead singer of Corroded Coffin had it's pros and cons. Pro, you get to make great music with your best friends. Cons, your boyfriend Billy hates how much of your time rehearsals take up, he especially hates the fact that you're spending that time with Eddie Munson of all people
Warnings: Swearing, unhealthy relationship
A/N: ok so uhhh, second time posting my writing,,,, again it's another Part 1 since I seem incapable of writing anything short enough to be a one shot
Being the lead singer of Corroded Coffin was fun, it meant you got to spend time with your closest friends playing the heaviest music you could manage. It was even better when you started getting gigs down at the hideout playing for an actual live crowd, even if it was just a handful of old drunks. But everything has its pros and cons, even Corroded Coffin. Getting to perform live meant having to practice a hell of a lot more, ever since you guys started the gig you found a major chunk of your free time spent in Gareth's garage rehearsing. You didn’t really mind it, Gareth's mom always provided great snacks, it gave you a chance to chat about whatever campaign you guys were playing through in Hellfire and of course it just meant more time bantering and goofing off with Eddie. But just because you didn’t mind the extra practice sessions didn’t mean no one had complaints, in fact someone had more than a handful of complaints about the whole situation. Your boyfriend Billy was not shy when it came to voicing his opinion and that did not change when he starting commenting on your sudden lack of time to spend with him. To be fair you still spent almost every spare moment with him but that just didn’t seem to be enough.
“You’re seriously turning me down to hang out with those dorks again” Billy was angry, he always got angry when this subject came up.
“Billy you knew I had practice today, I’m not turning you down I’m just sticking to my schedule” You said, sighing as he leaned against your bedroom door frame and threw you a harsh glare. Usually that menacing glare was enough to get people to do what Billy wanted but it barely fazed you, it never really had. Billy didn’t intimidate you, it’s the reason he was so intrigued by you in the first place and a major reason he loved you as much as he did. But in moments like these it got on his nerves, not being able to get you to forget your dorky friends in favor of staying with him all day really ticked him off.
“You know I’m starting to think you just don’t want me around anymore” His glare simmered into a soft, sad expression that struck you with a pang of guilt. “Never make time for me anymore, always talking ‘bout your band, ‘bout him”
This got you up out of your seat, abandoning the homework you were rushing to finish. He lowered his gaze, looking down at the floor as you walked over to him, only increasing the guilt you felt. Raising your hand to his face you gently brought his gaze back up to meet yours and offered him a small smile.
“Billy, I always want you around. I love you, you know that. There's one more important to me than you, no one ” You spoke softly, gently resting your other hand on his chest. You knew this was another ploy to get you to blow off practice but you could read Billy well enough to know there was also some truth to his words. “But you also know I can’t just skip practice outta the blue, I made a commitment to the band, to practicing. I’m not the kind of girl who just blows off important stuff like that.”
Billy just let an annoyed huff at your words, but his expression softened and you saw his lips start to curl up into a small smile. Keeping your hand on his face you stood up on your tiptoes to kiss him softly, you felt one of his hands wrap around the small of your back to pull you closer as his other hand grasped onto your hand still resting on his chest. You hummed softly as he deepened the kiss, losing yourself a bit in the tenderness of it all. Tender moments were far and few between with Billy and as much as you loved his brash chaotic energy you cherished these small exchanges. But you knew you were on a time crunch, taking one last second to savor the sweet kiss you pulled yourself away, smiling to yourself at the way Billy leaned forwards to chase the kiss.
“You’re welcome to stay while I get ready” You said, moving back to your desk where you quickly shoved your half finished homework back into your backpack before pulling out your makeup bag. You always practiced in the dramatic makeup you wore on stage, it helped it feel less daunting to wear it on stage. “But it’s only like another 20 minutes, I don’t wanna be late”
“Works for me” Billy agreed, flopping down on your bed before turning to watch as you applied the bold eyeliner, dark shadow and black lipstick with a deft hand. He had to give it to you, you made it look easy and he had to admit he found it really hot. The makeup made you look like one of the heavy metal chicks on his posters, only hotter because it was you wearing it and you were his girl. His girl was a heavy metal chick and that was a fact Billy absolutely thrilled about. He wasn’t so thrilled when you were already packing sheet music and crumpled lyric sheets into a drawstring bag and tying the laces on your beat up sneakers.
“Alright Billy times up, I gotta get going” You said smiling as you stood up and slung your bag over your shoulder, grabbing your car keys off your bedside table. Billy groaned but didn’t get up. “Come on don’t be an asshole, I gotta go”
“You sure you couldn’t be just a bit late?” Billy asked, propping himself up on his elbows and offering you his trademark mischievous smirk. “I’m sure they’d understand, I mean look at you, who wouldn’t wanna spend some extra time up close and personal with you looking like that”
“I’m not sure Eddie would be thrilled if I showed up late and told him it’s cause my boyfriends got no self control”
“Don’t need an excuse if you’re not there” Billy countered, his voice deepening low and sultry “You seriously telling me that you’d rather sit in a garage all day than spend some time with your boyfriend?”
“What I’d like to get some practice in before the gig this friday, and trust me Billy I need all the practice I can get” You said rolling your eyes, his antics were always entertaining but had a tendency to get old real fast especially when he dragged them out far too long. “You can crash in my room while I’m gone but I doubt that’d be any fun”
“I doubt you’d have any fun at practice either” He was officially dragging this out far too long. “You’d just be sitting in the corner listening to our shitty music”
Billy finally got up from the bed and walked over to you, using the height difference to tower over you. He knew it wouldn’t intimidate you or get you to relent and stay but he still enjoyed seeing just how small you were compared to him.
“Now babe don’t go talking ‘bout yourself like that, I’m sure you sound lovely” He gently brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear, leaning in a little closer while doing so “ Is it so wrong that I wanna watch my girl sing in that nice makeup?”
“Billy,” You hesitated, weighing your options as you took a glance at your alarm clock, it was already 4:45, shit you were going to be late if you didn’t get going now. “Ok listen, we take a break around 6:30ish and we end around 7:45-8ish. If you wanna drive me there you can stop by during the break, and I could give you your own private concert on the drive home”
“Shit dollface you’ve got yourself a deal” Billy said as he broke out in a wide grin, throwing his arm over your shoulders before you both made your way out to his Camaro. You still weren’t exactly sure how you’d explain this to the guys but they’d just have to deal with it if they wanted you there on time. And if you were being honest with yourself, getting to ride with Billy in his camaro was more than worth the complaints you’d be getting from the guys later.
It didn’t take long to get to Gareths, he lived just a few neighborhoods away and thanks to Billys signature reckless driving you arrived a couple minutes early and somehow both in one piece. From the driveway you got a clear view of the weird looks the guys were shooting you, and you didn’t blame them given how shocked you were when you first saw the way Billy drove. You offered them a small wave and smile, which they reciprocated before going back to tuning their instruments and talking amongst themselves, though a glance was occasionally thrown your way.
“Thanks babe!” You said cheerfully as you reached for the car door only to feel Billy grip your arm tightly, pulling you back towards him.
“That anyway to say thank you?” He joked, rolling your eyes you leaned in and kissed him. Like at your house he quickly moved to deepen the kiss, using his grip on your arm to keep you close for just a few moments more before he finally let you push away.
“Billy!” You felt your cheeks heat up with embarrassment, a quick sideways glance confirmed your fears as all the guys were once again staring at the two of you.
“What? Can’t I kiss my girl goodbye?” He feigned ignorance, even laughing a bit at you for blushing so aggressively.
“Not in front of the guys Billy, seriously!”
“But it's so fun getting you all riled up, you look cute when you get all flustered like that '' He went to pull you in again but you forcefully pulled your arm away from his grip making his grin fall into a tight frown. “Hey what's the problem, thought you liked kissing me”
“I like kissing you, I just don’t like making out with you in front of all my friends” You said grabbing your bag and opening the car door but you paused before getting all the way out, you didn’t want the guys to hear this less than stellar conversation. “I told you that already, if you’re gonna act like this you probably shouldn’t be back during break and I’ll find another ride home”
“Jesus princess, you sure have a fucking attitude today”
“Billy I’m being serious” You hold yourself back from snapping at him but your annoyance was clear as day to anyone listening, clear as day to the guys who were still staring at you. “I’ve told you this shit like 5 times already. If you wanna make me and my friends uncomfortable just don’t show up,”
“I’ll be here at 6:30, I’ll visit you during your break like a good boyfriend and then I’ll swing back around at 7:50 to drive you back to your place.” Billy snapped each sentence out with the same restrained harsh voice he used whenever he got angry at you and had to stop himself from saying something worse. Sometimes he didn’t stop himself, sometimes when he started using that voice the things he said kept getting worse until both of you were red in the face and screaming. Usually he’d avoid you for days after only to show up with chocolate or flowers and a sugar sweet apology. You were thankful that today he actually had some self control and didn’t start a screaming match in Gareth's driveway, though you knew he was still a ticking time bomb that you weren’t in any mood to diffuse.
Instead you just got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind you, as you made your way into the garage you could hear Billy curse and slam his hand against the wheel but you didn’t turn around until you heard the sound of his rumbling engine far off in the distance. As soon as you could no longer hear it you let out a breath and started setting up your music stand with the lyric sheets you’d brought, thankfully one of the guys had already set up the mike for you and even got it at the perfect height.
“So what song are we starting with? Cause I’d like to go over the chorus in Witch's Curse a couple times, the latin spell part keeps giving me trouble” You ask turning to face the guys who all made a piss poor attempt at hiding the fact they’d still been staring at you, each of them turning their heads to look at something random as you felt the blush creep back up in your face. You knew what they saw, what they possibly heard and that this certainly did not help improve their less than stellar opinions of Billy.
They all looked at you but were clearly avoiding direct eye contact, it was Eddie who quickly swooped in to break the silence and ease some of the tension as he gently put his guitar back onto his stand before making his way over to you.
“Which parts giving you trouble?” He asked leaning over your shoulder to look at the lyric sheet, his long curly hair falling over your shoulder and nearly onto the sheet of paper. He was overexaggerating how far he had to lean, but Eddie over exaggerated nearly every move he made. It was one of your favorite things about him, how he could so effortlessly make a room full of people burst out laughing or sit in horrified silence as led a session of D&D. You found yourself staring at him as he edged a little closer, squinting his eyes as if he could barely read the large writing on the paper. You giggled at his antics, finding yourself distracted and staring at him, he was so close to you you couldn;t help but feel a little star struck. It felt weird, reacting like a blushing school girl when it was just your best friend leaning over your shoulder. It’d just been so long since Eddie and you had been this close, you guys used to be the kind of friends that would cuddle or roughhouse but after Billy came around it all sort of stopped. You missed it, just being close with your friend.
“Don’t go zoning out on me man, I can’t be that boring” Eddie laughed as he noticed you staring at him silently “Come on what parts giving you trouble, I can always try and rewrite it for you if its too tricky”
“Oh, uh, no no you don’t have to do that. It’s a great song, it's just the latin line” You said pointing to the lyric in question. “I just have trouble pronouncing it right, I didn’t take Latin”
“I know, we had Ms. Mortens Spanish class together your freshman year, remember?” you nod, smiling at the memories. “I had to use this shitty latin dictionary for this part so I'm not entirely sure on the pronunciation myself”
“You wrote the song but you can’t pronounce part of the chorus”
“Hey latin always sounds creepy can’t blame a guy for wanting a dark sounding chorus” He raised his hands in mock defensiveness as you yet again found yourself giggling “just say it however is easiest to say it, I don’t think anyone listening to us will know latin”
“You make a fair point” You shrug, turning your attention back to the paper as Eddie makes his way back to his guitar, swinging the strap over his head and getting ready to play.
“Maledictio arescit Sed mea erga te fuit semper verum” You mutter to yourself, repeating it a few times as the guys start going through last minute preparations before playing.
“Alright guys, Witches Curse from the top!” Eddie shouts, giving you a small smile and brief thumbs up as Gareth starts clashing his drum sticks together in a steady count and on three you burst into song in unison.
An hour or so passes and you’ve perfected Witches Curse and a handful of other songs that just needed one or two more play throughs. You were already tired, it was surprising how much energy it took to sing along and keep pace with how fast the guys would play but you found you loved the challenge and the adrenaline rush you got as you continued to nail each note right on beat. It was invigorating but right now all you wanted was a piece of the Pizza Gareth's mom had brought out for you guys and some cold water.
As you were shuffling around the lyric sheets just to be ready to start right up after break Eddie snuck up behind you, grabbing your shoulder so suddenly you nearly jumped out of your skin. This sent all the lyric papers flying as Eddie burst out laughing, the guys joining in as you scrambled to grab all the papers. Only you weren’t annoyed at all, you were laughing right along with them, just happy to have this moment of ease and humor with your friends. You were still chuckling as you stood back up to set the sheets down, turning then to Eddie who was stifling even more laughter as he held out a slice of pizza on a paper plate for you to take.
“Thanks man” You took the plate from his hand, hungrily taking a bite.
“Yea no problem” Eddie said shifting his weight from leg to leg as he stood, he’d never really been able to stay still. “You killed it with the latin by the way, sounded metal as hell”
“Really?” Eddie nodded again, smiling brightly “Shit that's a relief, everytime the chorus came up I was so sure I’d blow it. Latins tricky man, it’s a dead language for a reason”
“Doesn’t change the fact it sounds sick as hell, Especially when you’re the one singing it” Eddies smile grew wider as he watched your own smile grow “seriously you killed it, I can’t wait to actually watch you sing it on stage”
“What’s it mean by the way?” You asked between bites of the pizza, you’d been curious about the meaning of the words since you first saw the lyrics
“Oh it's nothing important, just picked out words that I thought would sound cool” He shrugged off your question
“I call bullshit, you’re really trying to tell me that Eddie Munson, the king of overthinking every last lyric he writes, just picked out random words that looked cool?” You scoffed at this, you had a point after all. Eddie put so much effort into making sure each lyric of his songs had some sort of meaning, he always said the song didn’t sound quite right without a deeper meaning.
“It’s boring, trust me the song sounds cooler if you don’t know”
“Again I call bullshit, seriously you gotta tell me” You countered, finishing your slice and setting the paper plate on your music. Crossing your arms over your chest you tried your best to strike some sort of domineering pose. “Come on spill, what's it mean?”
“Ok ok I’ll tell you, just not here” He glanced over his shoulder at the guys who were currently competing to see who could eat the most pizza in under a minute. “Come on”
Eddie grabbed your hand and led you outside, the sky was just starting to turn pink and orange as sunset was just beginning. Once the garage door was securely shut behind you Eddie glanced around a second time, jokingly ensuring you were safe from evesdroppers.
“No ones listening Ed no spill!” You giggled at his antics
“Alright hold your horses sweetheart” He chuckled leaning closer to whisper into your ear. “The curse is withered But my love for you has always been true”
“Are you telling me it’s a love song?” You asked, feigning extreme shock as Eddie leaned back against the wall of the garage already blushing. “Eddie Munson wrote a love song?”
“Yea yea it’s a love song” He waved your mockery off with his hand as if that’d get you to stop prying. “You see why I don’t want the guys hearing that shit?”
“You’re probably right to keep that little detail away from them, I don’t think they really appreciate love songs” You said, still stifling giggles at how embarrassed Eddie was acting “Whose it about?”
“Who’d you write the song about?” You asked “Love songs are always written with someone in mind so who’d you write the song about?”
You didn’t think Eddies face could get any redder
“You got a secret crush Ed’s?” You pried further “Come on who is it? You gotta tell me”
“Nope, my lips are sealed. I shared enough dorky secrets for one day” He said crossing his arms “Sorry Y/N you’ll never know, it’s a secret i'm taking to the grave”
“You won’t even tell your best friend? Come on this is exactly the stuff you’re supposed to tell your best friend, you know I can keep a secret!” You were practically bouncing as your curiosity grew “Please, I’m so fucking curious”
“Curiosity killed the cat you know” Eddie quipped with a smirk
“Yea but satisfaction brought it back” You countered with a smirk of your own “People always forget that part of the saying”
“Can we drop this for now?” Eddie asked starting to look serious, some of the goofy energy beginning to dissipate
“Is it Chrissy?” You asked before you could stop yourself “You’ve always had a thing for cheerleaders”
“Me? A thing for cheerleaders?” Eddie attempted a laugh but his smile continued to fall “never. And I'm never telling you who its about”
“It’s totally chrissy isn’t it” You said with a triumphant grin
“It’s not chrissy Y/N” Eddie nearly snapped, the jovial mood almost entirely gone now “Seriously can we drop this for now?”
“Eddie it’s just a song and a crush, it can’t be that embarrassing can it?” You wouldn’t drop it, not now when you were so sure you could get the secret out of him
“Why’re you dating Billy?” His question stunned you, left you scrambling to process it as you stood there mouth agape.
“He’s an asshole Y/N, you always seem uncomfortable or pissed off when he's around and it's just worrying” He explained himself but only succeeded in further confusing you.
“He’s just not good around other people, never knows how to act and it just gets frustrating after a while alright?” Now it was your turn to explain yourself “He’s not always like that, when we’re on our own he’s a total sweetheart”
“Aren’t boyfriends supposed to be like that all the time, not just when you’re alone?” Eddies question left you speechless, you had nothing to counter with and again were left just standing there
“I’m just saying that you’re a really sweet girl and you shouldn’t let a guy treat you like that just cause he’s shitty with social situations” Eddie continued “God knows none of the guys, or hell even me, know what we’re doing when it comes to meeting other people but do you see us acting like assholes?”
Again speechless, you were still trying to process his first comment as he continued speaking and you just couldn’t seem to keep up fast enough to respond. In fact you never even got the chance as the rumbling engine of Billy's camaro could suddenly be heard, and in what felt like moments the shiny blue car was pulling up and parking in the driveway just ahead of you.
“Sorry I’m late sweetheart” Billy said as he climbed out of the car, making his way over to you and eddie. His voice still had that low gravelly touch of anger, you didn’t know if he’d just stayed angry the whole time or got angry again seeing you outside alone with Eddie. “But it seems like you found a way to entertain yourself just fine”
It was definitely about Eddie.
