LAURA

I was all too familiar with how I should be approaching this so-called fragile situation. It was honest, hit-the-nail-on-the-head direct. Or as my health insurer had put it, kiss and makeup. Of course, it was filthy to refer to that between Eddie and I, since such a concept never existed. Whatever oddities that attempted to strike us, we used the palimpsest custom. 

Where we would sit down, level it out like normal adults. There were physical boundaries that could be trespassed and tequila was a no-go so in the end, it was a win-win.

When I reached for the keys in my coat, I spotted the door open in the periphery before I could even holler. Eddie stood between the door and the frame with a face which I could describe as deer in the headlights. His forehead was lined with stress wrinkles and lips tucked into his teeth. 

I forced a smile on my face, however eager I was to know what the hell he was hiding from me. 'Hi.'

'Hey! What - what're you - where'd you go?'

This was when I confirmed that Eddie was definitely withholding from me. His hands were a jittery mess through his hair and his feet not touching the ground. He looked behind his shoulder when I answered after a moment.

I cocked a brow. 'I just stepped out. For fresh air,' I drawled and breathed out loud when I got to the point. 'Thinking about us.'

Eddie sighed in defeat and closed the door behind him. Before I could peep in through the cracks to see what was behind the door, Eddie's arm had corded around mine to pull me towards the hallway. 

Leaving it be, I approached the more important situation at hand. Shrugging his tight grasp off my shoulder, I placed both my hands flat over his chest. He cast it a weird glance and then at me. And at that moment, I could almost hear garbled Venom's thoughts in my ears.

'I shouldn't have doubted you, Ed. I just jumped to conclusions and it was so vile of me to accuse you of something terrible when I know you're the sweetest, most genuine guy I've met. You would never do such a thing and-and,' I took a deep breath to calm myself finally gaining the courage to face his curious glimpses. 

'What I'm trying to say is: sorry. I'm really, really sorry.'  

His dark eyes pulled me in, my hands playing with the drawstrings of his hoodie. Eddie's gaze was swimming with so many emotions I couldn't decipher, his lips pulling up to a half smile. When I felt his hands cradle my cheeks, I knew I was home.

'It happens, Laur and I don't blame you. It's okay.'

Well, that was swift and highly unexpected. I had thought of him as someone who stands his ground. I let that go and focused on forgiveness. My hands stopped their rabid shaking when he let out those words. His hands felt too warm against my cheeks, meaning I was freezing from the fright and guilt. His hot breaths managed to warm me up slowly. 

'Woah, hey!' He exclaimed all of a sudden, pulling away from me like he'd been burnt and latching a hand over the entrance door's handle. He gulped hard, raking a hand through his hair. I stood frozen with confusion.

'She's not you - she's bad news!' I heard him hiss under his breath obviously, to Venom. When he caught my perplexed eyes, he smiled like everything was alright. 

'Eddie?'

'You can't come in, okay?' He growled at me. 'Just don't.'

I scoffed. 'What?'

Eddie's response was cut short when the door flung open on its own. My breathing hitched when a strange woman retracted from behind with a neutral expression and looking like she escaped the runway. This woman was the epitome of sultry. She graced a dark, lace-hemmed V-neck tank top and pleated formal skirt which complemented her tender curves and bronde colored hair. She easily towered over me, in her legs that seemed like they never ended and skin that fashion industries would kill to make. Her sharp hazel eyes that looked pencil drawn were set to boredom and then widened when they fell on me.

When my sudden inferiority complexes kicked in, I felt myself go on full lockdown. I didn't cast Eddie another glance, my eyes locked on this beautiful specimen of a female. Suddenly, my five feet ten and my sad excuse of a varsity hoodie seemed like a hapless decision.

'This is your Laura?'

Her voice was stern and cold even when questioning naturally. In the fringes of my vision, I saw Eddie speak up, obviously flustered. 

'Laura, this is Beck Underwood. She's a defense attorney at Anne's firm and my ex,' he waved to the woman, introducing me next. 'Beck, this is Laura. My girlfriend and a junior reporter under Barnum.'

His ex?  My god, her name did her no justice. Like her gene pool needed a bit of cleansing with chlorine. A sudden hatred for this woman sprouted in my heart. That meant the judgemental and snarky side was at play. When she reached out to give me a handshake, I blatantly ignored it. Turning to Eddie, I folded my arms over my chest with a stunted raise of my eyebrows.

'Explain, Brock.'

'Oh, we weren't doing anything - ' Beck started with an offended tone and I raised a hand over her face to stop her blabbing. I darkly smiled up at her, burning on the inside at the oddest time to not wear heels. All that hatred and stress combined into a fireball of sass.

'I asked him, grunge Elle Woods. Walk yourself out of this before I make you.'

She was unmistakably shaken by my outright disrespect, taking a step forward with a killer smirk. 'I'm sorry. Am I making you insecure?'

'Oh yeah,' I scoffed, not perturbed the slightest. 'Next time I need a gratis opinion, I know where to go.' 

'Eddie,' she frowned at him clearly unable to construct a retort. She pinched the bridge of her nose and asked, 'What is the matter with her?'

'Beck, I,' he sighed and stopped short. He looked at me pleadingly, knowing my words to cut wood. 'Just relax, doll. Nothing was going on. She was here for help.'

'I expected that,' I pointed to her, instead. 'You look like you've got more issues than Vogue.'

'Timeout, Laur,' I heard him murmur and pull me inside the apartment, locking the door behind us. I was so close to Beck, my claws itching to be let out. Eddie turned to Beck and let out a large breath.

'I'll call you later, Beck. I've got things to sort out - '

'Got it. I'll see you soon,' she said relieved to leave, patting Eddie's shoulder and leaving hopefully, as soon as she came. When the apartment was left only to the two of us, I craved to be alone for a while. 

Seeing that Eddie wasn't going to allow that, I brushed a frustrated hand into my hair. He was in front of me before I could walk into the bathroom, blocking my path with an arm. The ink tatted onto his arm danced with every move of his hands, just like they'd captivated me from day one.

'Laur, we need to talk this.'

I was quick to answer. 'I don't want to.'

He breathed heavily. 'I know you don't. But, I do.'

I pulled away begrudgingly, letting a good span of distance between us. I stood by the cabinets as he settled himself ahead of me, unwilling to let me stand away from him. When he reached out to hold my hand, I yanked it away with a glare.

'Talk first.'

'Fair enough,' he said, scratching the unshaven beard on his chin. 'So, Beck. '

I stayed reticent, inwardly curious to know where their relationship stood. 'Beck was one of the first links I had before my show. I pursued her and then, dated for a few months and then, I met Anne.

'Anne didn't know I was seeing Beck, but I felt something for her. Something different from what I had with Beck; a level higher. We went out for a bit and Beck found out, leading to a whole lot of drama and she threatened to expose me with a case at that point in time. We broke up obviously and years later, here she is.'

'And, what does she want?' I murmured.

'She knows something about the murders at Twin Peaks. And about me.'

'As in ET?' I asserted.

He nodded with a shrug. 'That's about it. She tracked me down and said that she needs my help with the case. Nothing else, I promise.'

I shook my head, clearly embarrassed to have gone for her throat for such a stupid matter. Beck was seeking Eddie's help for an essential matter and I was such a bitch about it. But my jealousy was justified, I comforted myself. Any girl who'd see her man with his ex in their apartment would have questions. 

'I'm so sorry,' I said, keeping my egoistic self at bay and apologizing. One thing I was, is being down-to-earth. I looked down at my feet with an ashamed look. 'Oh my god, what's the matter with me? I shouldn't have spoken like that. For everything.'

'I accepted your apology already,' he said, crossing his forearms over his chest in a minute gesture. His lips quirked up into a smile. 'You're good.'

My mind raced with incidents from last week with all the killings that were set aside for investigations and how Eddie's secret alias was the prime suspect. If they found out Eddie was the one behind the mask, they'd hurt him without fail. And I couldn't lose him again. So that meant, proposing a diversion on this situation. To bring Venom away from the limelight.

It couldn't have been Venom. There was someone else playing a murderer in this case and I had to find out for both our sakes. Before the killer struck again. One of the theories could involve another symbiote coming to play - which meant, I'd have to approach Beck. Eddie said she knew something about the murder at Twin Peaks, that means she must have some evidence to prove that it wasn't Venom and in this case, definitely a wow factor. Talk about adding fuel to the fire.

I didn't realize I'd been staring at kitchen flooring for a minute straight until Eddie's feet blocked my train of thought. I was stunned by the sudden distortion until his face came into view.

'Something is bothering you. And you won't tell me.'

I gulped. Not this conversation - this was bound to end in an argument. Did he find out about my secret position as a lab-rat to the Tony and Banner? Of course not, the trail was cleared and everything was concealed. At least, that's what Stark had convinced to me. Dr. Banner had specifically mentioned that tablets were legal imports from a European company that invested in these procedures. So if Eddie were to poke around, he'd be left in a blind spot.

I slipped on a confused mask, my gut twisting about lying to the one person I loved more than everything. 'Nothing's going on. I need to take my meds and get some sleep.'

'That's the thing,' he prodded. 'Ever since you started taking meds, you've been acting out. Sleep-talking, irritable, losing weight and appetite - I'm just really worried.'

I'd been sleep-talking, that was a first. I mentally jotted it down to ask the duo at my next appointment. 'Side-effects,' I shrugged calmly. 'They're a package deal.'

'I don't want to be left in the dark especially if it concerns you,' he said, his eyes dead set serious. 'All this mystery sponsor hoo-ha has to stop. I can't trust this guy 'cause look at you! You're half-dead - '

'I'm fine, goddamnit! I'm fucking fine!' I snapped, agitated by his constant tweaking. He craned his neck to prove his point. I dropped my shoulders in the weak effort of trying to make him understand suavely when he raised his voice again.

'Y'know what, I'm calling off this bullshit,' he said walking away from the conversation and me, to the living room to find something. I stomped my feet, following his trail. He grabbed my phone off the stashed coffee table and my eyes widened in fear.

'You're canceling health check-ups from here on about and I'm going to take you to a legal and well-known doc outside town,' he said and thrust my phone into my hands. 

Relief swirled with anger in my head. I glared up at him, shaking my head in refusal. My hands shook as fists on my side, my irritation returning. I threw my phone back on the table with a bang.

'No! I told you, he's one step ahead in making me better. These tests are necessary.' Instead of tough and stern, my voice came out pleading. I clamped my hands over his shoulders, shaking him out of it. 'Listen to me, let this matter go.'

'You're sick, Laura! I know you are, you're not telling me something and I'm scared! I'm scared you're going to do something to yourself so please,' he begged. 'Please, let me in.'

My hands went limp on my sides at his revelation because not only was it the one thing I was worried to tell him about but was also the ultimate truth. I could not even give him the validation, tell him for sure that I was going to be by his side so, in this circumstance, I didn't know how to react.

Our lives had come to a halt the moment all this superhero bullshit came into existence and for once, I wanted that thing gone. I just wanted Eddie Brock. Not his alias, not his fame - just him. And it was going to a hell lot of work to accept the fact that it was never going to happen.

Amidst all this mess, my phone started to ring. I knew the only way to cease this conversation was to abandon him for the call. I stepped past him to retrieve my phone, answering it without checking the caller ID.

'Sharp, it's me,' I heard Paul's voice ring through. 'We got another dead vic at a pub downtown.'

'When?'

'Get down here asap. We've got government officials and they're having an immediate sit-down with the press. I'm sending you the street, right now.'

I couldn't help but glance back at Eddie. He had a mask of scorn, somehow managing to curve his lips into a sneer. He choked out the next words.

'Duty calls, Sharp.'

My acceptance and disappointment were immediate. My heart trapped with guilt once again as I grabbed my set of scooter keys and my coat, heading out the door for the second time that night. I tossed one last glance, who stood deserted in the hall and obviously, baffled. He shook his head, walking into the bathroom, with a loud crash of the door.

'I'm on my way.'

- ♣ -

[ w/n: sorry loves. i had too. anyways, what do you think is Beck's character here? nice or naughty? and ooooh, snarky Laura i love. don't worry, Eddie and Laura always make it work. always. ]