Tuesday night, Willow had no excuse up her sleeve to avoid coming to The Hideout. For the last few Tuesdays, she always had something to excuse her from her rule number five: Spanish homework, helping her mom around the house, working a shift at Family Video - anything and everything that the Universe could throw at her. But this Tuesday night? Nothing.

And Eddie knew that the moment he had called her and pleaded with her for a thousandth time to attend his show, to come watch him 'shred like a guitar god', in his words.

Really, even if Willow had been graced with an excuse, she still would have come. Maybe Sunday night had swung her bias, had wrapped her just a little bit tighter around Eddie's finger, but she found herself having a harder time to say no to him in the 48 hours since they'd had their impromptu sleepover. She had all but heard his puppy dog eyes over the phone, and her chest turned to mush as she said yes without hesitation. She'd had no reservations about letting Eddie Munson occupy her time now. It was an excuse to see him. It was a reason to get out of the house. Those facts alone were good enough for her.

"What can I get you to drink?" the bartender asks gruffly from across the bar she'd parked herself at.

The smoke was thick in the air from all the drunken smokers around her, stinging her eyes. "Just a coke, please."

Corroded Coffin would be on stage soon enough. They'd already set up their drums and mics, and a crowd had already gathered in the lower level area to watch them. There were a few more people here than last time Willow was here, a group of girls who were clearly too young to be here were standing particularly close to the stage, clad in leather and giggles that could be heard across the room.

Willow was trying to ignore them.

She'd overheard bits of their conversation. Discussing if the band would be as cute as a friend had claimed, noting that there were four members of the band and four members of their group.

Groupies. They're groupies. Eddie Munson has managed to acquire goddamn groupies.

She nurses her coke patiently, fighting off the burning in her chest when she hears one of the girls squeal something about how 'guitarists are always hot!'. No , she wasn't jealous. She knew logically that even if Eddie wanted to take one of the girls home, he couldn't - they were going to have to play pretend for his friends tonight. And it was far too early in whatever they had going on for a cheating scandal. It was fine. She had no need to be jealous, and even if she did, she had no right.

This wasn't real. The longing ache in her chest every time she caught sight of Eddie's curls might be, but whatever was happening between them wasn't.

The shrill sound of a guitar plugging into an amp interrupts all of Willow's useless thoughts. She doesn't hesitate to push her coke away, and when the bartender gives her a look as she's gathering herself to head closer to the stage, all she can do is call over her shoulder, "Put it on the Munson tab!"

She wasn't jealous. She was just going to get closer to the stage to play the role of the supportive girlfriend. The supportive fake girlfriend.

The harsh spotlights are illuminating Eddie's bright smile as he introduces the band as per usual, and his eyes quickly find Willow's as she situates herself at one of the standing tables. She didn't want to make herself too obvious - she also didn't want to hear anymore fawning from the girls up front. She could tell by their giddy body language as the boys stepped out that it was all squeals and gasps that yes, the band was hot.

She could imagine their conversation now.

"Oh my God, do you see the lead guitarist?"

"See him? I want him."

Her nose was scrunching up at the imaginary conversation that had her too busy to notice the way Eddie couldn't look away from her. She was so all-consumed with her unjust jealousy that she didn't see the effect her presence had on the poor metalhead, just by her standing there in his leather jacket, a little more makeup on than usual in an effort to fit in with the crowd.

It was cute. And it was lost on Willow.

She tried to focus; she was bobbing her head along to covers of songs she didn't really recognize while she fiddled with the safety pins holding together one of the sleeves of his jacket. She felt out of place. Even in her attempt at an outfit that fit this scene more, she knew she stuck out like a sore thumb. Black jeans that weren't littered with holes and a black tank top should have let her blend into the darker corners of the room, but anyone with eyes could see she wasn't comfortable. She couldn't even bury herself into Eddie's leather jacket for comfort - it didn't smell like him at all anymore. She was definitely forcefully returning the jacket tonight. She doesn't know what excuse she would use, but that was a later problem to solve.

As their set progresses, she tries to focus on letting herself just enjoy the show, the way she had the night she'd joined Robin and Steve at the bar. The night before everything had changed, really. It was easier to become mesmerized now because she knew the boy on stage who was currently killing a clearly impressive solo. She had held his hand as he laid on her bedroom floor, she had danced in the rain with him like a fool, she had attempted to smoke his cigarettes to no avail - she knew Eddie Munson now. The hands that were flitting his fretboard had been intertwined with her own one too many times now.

Her shameless staring doesn't go unnoticed. The moment Eddie catches her as he sings unfamiliar lyrics, he winks at her.

The only issue is that the group of girls had migrated directly between Eddie and Willow, and although she knew the wink was directed at her, the girls clearly did not.

Their excited voices were impossible to miss.

"Oh my God, oh my God! He winked at me!"

"What? No way, he winked at me!"

Immediately, Willow moves from her table. The fact that her jealousy was unreasonable be damned - she was getting closer to that stage, and she was going to let the flame in her chest make all the bad decisions it craved.

The song they were currently playing ended, and as they began to set up for the next one with Eddie's back to her, she maneuvered herself to stand beside the girls.

"They're really good," one of the girls sighs. She had smokey eyeshadow and cherry red lips, a short skirt on with ripped fishnets and a band shirt that had homemade cuts made into it. She looked like she belonged here, unlike Willow.

Willow tugs the leather jacket closer around her.

Jeff sees her first. He turns and is adjusting the strap of his bass as he faces the crowd, looking bashful until he catches sight of Willow. Something inside her soothes when the sweet boy waves at her, looking excited to see her. She musters up her own feeble wave back. He wastes no time in turning and clearly telling Gareth that she's here, and she can see his faux disgust on his face even behind his drum set. Eddie and Craig turn to them instead of the audience curiously, but all Gareth does is nod into the crowd.

Eddie whips around too quickly for his own good. The girls beside Willow are convinced the excited looks are for them. But his eyes find her, wide and sparkling, and she just smiles and ignores them for the time being.

"Before our last song, we just want to say thank you for everyone who came out tonight," he begins into the mic, not breaking eye contact with her, "It means a lot that you came all the way out here, middle of fucking nowhere, to see little old us."

Most of the girls continue to giggle, but the blonde that fits right into the atmosphere turns to look at Willow, who was blushing and rolling her eyes.

Idiot , she mouths Eddie's way. He shrugs his strap into a more comfortable position, grinning like the fool he was.

"Do you know them?" the blonde suddenly leans her way and asks over the first few notes of the next and final song. Willow isn't expecting to be addressed, turning and looking shocked at the girl.

"Huh?"

"The band, do you know them?"

Jealousy. It clips the girl's tone. The same way it had been prying at Willow's ribs.

"Oh, yeah. Sort of. I go to school with them," Willow explains carefully, forcing her eyes not to keep flitting to an energized Eddie.

The guitar, drums, and bass are far too loud for them to continue the conversation, so the blonde hmphs before turning back to her friends and jumping around exaggeratedly. Her reaction shouldn't have been so satisfying to Willow.

Yeah, also, I'm dating the lead guitarist, so there's that , Willow wants to add smugly. She knows better, though.

She doesn't even attempt to humble herself mentally, to correct herself internally that she's fake- dating the lead guitarist, as the song ends and the girls migrate to the door that the band is sure to come out of from backstage.

"Thank you! We have been Corroded Coffin, have a good one, fuckers!" Eddie yells into the mic before he's trampling off stage with the boys.

Willow turns on her heel to return to the bar, but she doesn't make it far before she hears a loud whistle come from across the room. There's a commotion from the gaggle of girls, and Willow is sure that it's just the boys entertaining their sudden fans, until she hears it.

"Hey! Red!" Eddie's voice is bellowing now. She stops in her tracks, turning slowly. The girls are all silent as Eddie leans into the doorframe, crossing his arms and smirking at her.

He looks good. Damn good. She can't even blame the girls as she gazes at him, eyes tracing over his biceps that are straining against the sleeves of the Metallica shirt he's wearing, denim vest snug on his shoulders as it always is.

Maybe she should come to more Corroded Coffin shows.

The blonde notices Willow's hesitation and snaps right into action, stepping in front of Eddie to break the spell, "You guys are really good."

Eddie looks startled as his stare breaks from smugly staring down Willow to glancing down at the girl, "Oh, uh, thank you."

"Where'd you learn to play like that?" she eggs on, reaching up to curl her straightened and frizzy hair around one of her fingers.

"Been playing since I was a kid," he explains with a smile. It's not reciprocating in any of the poor girl's flirtiness, and Willow can tell it's mostly fake until he's leaning around the girl's figure and looking at her again, addressing her once more, "C'mon, princess. You just gonna stand there and stare all night or are you gonna hang with the band?"

Princess. The nickname has her feet moving to their own accord, taking tentative steps until she's right behind the group of girls. "I dunno, if I hang with the band does that mean I get to meet the bassist? He was pretty cute. Oh! Or the drummer-"

Eddie interrupts her with a classic fake stabbing in his chest, and steps around the blonde girl to get closer to Willow, "You wound me. Remind me to never invite you to one of our shows again."

He keeps walking until he's close enough to touch her, a hand falling to her waist as he gazes down at her with pure entertainment.

"Kind of in our contract, big boy," she murmurs now that they're close enough to lower their voices. The group of girls are watching the spectacle that is the two of them quietly.

"We can renegotiate," Eddie pips, leaning his head down closer to Willow. She can see the sweat across his forehead and smell the cigarettes on his breath.

"Yeah? You're right, I want to renegotiate Gareth as my boyfri-"

"Don't you dare."

"Or what? You'll fake breakup with me?" she taunts, leaning up on her tippy toes. She can see the blonde girl over his shoulder and revels in the frown.

Christ, she was a horrible person when she was jealous.

"I'll make you not only have to attend Hellfire, but participate," he threatens with a smile, quirking up an eyebrow, "How's that sound, sweetheart? I think you'd make an interesting mage."

"What the fuck is a mage?" she questions seriously, breaking the moment as he leans his head back in laughter, "Why are you laughing at me, Munson? I'm serious! What's a mage?"

He doesn't answer her as his hand falls from her waist and grabs her hand instead, their fingers slotting together naturally. She follows without any resistance as he turns and pulls her along behind him, skirting the girls and heading back through the doorway.

It's not the blonde, but one of her brunette friends that calls out, "Hey! Are you guys going to come out here soon?"

Eddie stops and looks over his shoulder, nodding eagerly, "Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Just give us a second, sweethearts."

That makes something snap inside Willow. Sweethearts . She didn't like to be clingy, or stubborn, or too possessive, but that was her nickname. She'd never heard Eddie refer to anyone besides herself and his guitar as sweetheart. And now, suddenly, he was calling these girls, all red in their cheeks from the nickname, the one name she thought might only be reserved for her. The jealousy burns her throat and makes her pull her hand from his immediately.

He looks at her the moment she does, eyebrows slowly furrowing as she turns from him to hide her emotions. It was stupid, ridiculous. She was being a child, but she decided to just continue her way down the hallway, following the sound of the boys' voices she could hear coming from the back.

Eddie almost has to jog to catch up.

"Hey, you alright?" he asks breathlessly once he's back at her side. His hand brushes hers as if he had the intention of holding it once more, but she swipes it away with ease, bringing it up to brush some hair off her shoulder as an excuse.

Sweethearts.

She had seen the smile overtake the blonde's face. She could probably guess what was running through the girl's mind - that Eddie was just flirty, that he referred to every girl with a sweet nickname, and that any claim Willow had managed to lay with the special attention he paid her had evaporated.

"Just fine," she quips, hardly glancing at him, "You guys were really good up there."

She doesn't catch the confusion still flooding his features, "You really think so?"

"Oh yeah, you've managed to gather quite the crowd, too."

He doesn't recognize the comment for what it is; a green-eyed monster managing to peek through Willow's waning composure.

It wasn't her place to feel this way. But the familiar emotions were choking her up, the same ones she had every time Steve had flirted with a girl at Scoops or brought up Nancy.

They enter the backroom with the other boys before Eddie can reply to her, and they all light up at Willow's presence.

"Hey!" Jeff is the first one to call, and Willow has to admit she can feel a soft spot growing for the boy as he comes up to her and offers a side hug without hesitation. Gareth is the next to shoot her a smile and wave from where he's preparing to lift a part of his drum set out through the backdoor. Willow can see Eddie's van parked and backed up to the door, back doors wide open.

The blanket they had once laid on was gone spread out with a few other pieces of equipment already placed on it strategically.

The last member, Craig, is the shyest, barely mustering a wave to Willow from his seat on an old couch.

She won't have it, really wanting an excuse to not have to face Eddie, meaning she would interact with these boys as much as possible to avoid it, "Hey, Craig."

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good. You guys killed it!" she moves to sit beside him, putting on her best excited act. Eddie is still standing and still looking puzzled at her, but no one brings it up as the boys continue to load the van.

Craig ends up indulging Willow in conversation, telling her about how long it took them to curate their setlist and how many arguments there had been. She tries to focus for his sake, but when Eddie brushes past her knees and bends over to pick up a very-clearly heavy amp in front of her, it catches her attention.

His arms, their veins and the muscles bulging, were fascinating to her at that moment.

"Eddie almost overrode all of us and said we were just going to play the entire Ride The Lightning album front to back, but we said we needed more variety..." Craig trails off as he notices her staring, "But I'm sure you've already heard all about that."

"Hm? About what?" she refocuses her attention, turning to look at him instead of Eddie.

Craig shrugs, "The Ride The Lightning album, all our arguing - I'm sure Eddie's pillowtalk this week was just complaining about us."

Pillowtalk. What the fuck was pillowtalk?

"Oh! Yeah, yeah. Not too much complaining, though," she assures even though she is totally lost on what it all means. Eddie hadn't mentioned any of it, "I haven't really listened to that album, if I'm being honest."

That catches Gareth's attention, him nearly dropping his final cymbal he had to pack up, " What ? Munson's girl not having listened to his favorite Metallica album? No fucking way."

Eddie comes back through the door, confused at the sight in front of him, eyes flicking between a shocked Gareth and Craig before landing on a sheepish Willow, "What did I just miss?"

"You haven't made her listen to Lightning?" Gareth turns to face their lead, face dropped in shock, "Damn, maybe you aren't as whipped as we all teased you."

She knows it's playful banter between the boys. Harmless, meant to target and offend Eddie and not her. But between those girls, the sweethearts , and now this, Willow is finding her emotions out of check.

She's frustrated with herself. She needs a moment alone.

She stands up suddenly, taking all three boys off guard, "Hey, is there a bathroom around here?"

"Only one is out in the main bar, to the right of the stage," Gareth explains to her.

Eddie immediately puts down whatever bag he was about to take to the van, "Here, I can show you-"

"I'm good," she immediately declines. He looks so wounded she can't help but attempt to soften the blow, "I'm a big girl. You guys just finish packing up, yeah?"

She can hear whispering and muttering coming from the boys as she exits the room, but she doesn't care enough to eavesdrop.

Why the fuck am I so jealous?

Or better yet, why was Willow so upset at the prospect of Eddie not being 'whipped' for her, as Gareth had put it?