Archive of Our Own ^beta

Truly, Eddie Brock must be fucked in the head.

All things considered, he could probably get that as a professional statement too.

With everything that’s gone on in his life, he already knew he was a little messed up, not right in the head, that he needed help mentally because there was just so much wrong with him.

Self-centred, egotistical, an asshole, a life ruiner, pathetic, a loser, ruthless, narcissistic, pompous, cruel. Names and names he’s been called as early as middle school. Thrown at him in the halls, screamed in his face, drunken admissions, thought to himself in an empty room.

He was just awful even before everything had happened. He wasn’t a person many wanted to associate with, talk to. 

And then the Life Foundation happened, and he and Anne split up, and Venom happened, and then Riot happened, and then Carnage happened, and then Venom stayed. Venom stayed and Eddie was okay with it.

And Eddie became even more fucked in the head.

Fucked in the head because anyone else would be terrified at the thought of an alien parasite-- symbiote --sharing their body, their food, eating humans, having monstrous strength, their body slowly decaying, only being fixed by the alien inhabiting the vessel, feeling so sick all the time because it was two beings from different planets meshed together.

Anyone else would hate it, try to get rid of it, excited when the parasite left to be on its own, run experiments to be free of this thing , wanting to be one and alone in their own body again.

Not Eddie though.

No, Eddie felt strong with Venom, he no longer felt lonely, he felt safe and protected, he liked the other sharing his body.

To make it all worse, Eddie had to go out and develop feelings for the symbiote. He felt heartbreak when they split, he felt giddy when Venom took over, he felt happy, safe and comfortable just sitting with Venom settled deep in his chest.

Just completely fucked in the head.

He thinks he can get over it, ignore it, that it’s not as serious as he freaks himself out to be sometimes.

That he isn’t in love with a parasitic symbiote alien that shares his vessel, that maybe there’s hope for him that he’s not as fucked up as he imagines.

Except it apparently is.

Eddie .

Venom’s deep, gruff voice stirs him from his deep sleep.

“What?” Eddie grumbled, face buried in his pillow, curled up in on himself as he tries to lull himself back to sleep.

Something is wrong .

Eddie groans and rolls over onto his back, opening his eyes. Venom’s face materialises before him and the sight would terrify anyone else, but it just makes Eddie happy to see the other.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked sleepily and Venom rumbled a little. 

“In you. There’s something wrong.”

“So fix it.” Eddie mumbled turning on his side now to try and catch another hour of sleep.

“That’s the problem, I can’t.” Venom sounded a little… scared, worried.

“What?” Eddie asked, wondering if he was too tired to process things or if Venom just wasn’t making sense. “V, man, do you mean like mentally or physically.”

“Physically. There is something physically wrong with you and I can’t fix it.” Venom sounds frantic now and Eddie sits up, rubbing his face. Guess he’s awake now.

“What are you talking about?” Eddie asked and Venom sighed.

“There is something inside you. Making you… broken? Hurting you, I can’t fix it.” Venom said and Eddie honest to God had no idea what Venom was talking about.

Until Venom moved to rest on Eddie’s shoulder, nuzzling against his face out of concern, worry drawn tight on his face and Eddie felt a panging, a longing in his chest.

And then he was coughing.

“Eddie?” Venom asked as Eddie had coughs wracking through his chest and in a panicked frenzy, he realised why Venom couldn’t fix it. As he stumbled to the bathroom, choking, gagging and coughing, he realised that there quite literally cannot be a single human alive more fucked up than him.

“Eddie what is wrong?” Venom sounds worried, panicked, desperate to know what is wrong with Eddie and Eddie just directs his cough into the bathroom sink, wincing in pain as blood pours out of his mouth into the sink, and nestled neatly in the glob of blood, is a small, almost miniscule, petal.

“What?!” Venom moves to look closer at it and Eddie looks away, trying to ignore what the petal means.

“Anne,” Eddie spoke, voice raspy from the coughing, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand to be rid of the blood still there. His mouth tasted metallic and awful. “We need to… see Anne.”

And then he promptly passed out.

When he came too, he was sat on Anne and Dan’s couch, sat upright and he could feel the tingle of Venom retreating from his physical form to sitting deep in Eddie’s chest. Anne and Dan were on his either sides and Eddie turned to meet Anne’s face.

“You okay there?” Anne asked and Eddie rubbed at his eyes, blinking. “Uh, depends on what your definition of okay is.” He said.

Anne gave him a sympathetic look, placing her hand comfortingly on his bicep. “Venom told us about what happened. He doesn’t know what’s wrong.”

“Did you tell him?” Eddie asked a little panicked.

“We figured that was your job.” Dan said and Eddie turned the other way to look at him. “I mean, it’s him right?”

And good god, if the whole situation wasn’t already so goddamn terrible, Eddie thinks it could’ve been made worse by the fact that not only was he fucked up but he wasn’t secretive about being fucked up.

Eddie groaned in shame, burying his face in his hands and bending over.

“Eddie, it’s okay,” Anne said, rubbing a hand on his back. “I mean, it kind of makes sense actually.”

Why are you all speaking in code? Venom asked, a little frustrated at obviously not knowing what they were talking about. 

“It’s none of your business.” Eddie mumbled and shook his head. “ How is any of this okay Anne? It’s like- God I mean, this makes me a freak you know.”

“Eddie, it does not make you a freak.” Anne said, moving off the couch to crouch in front of Eddie, trying to get him to look at her. “Eddie, there is nothing more human than falling in love.”

What is she talking about? He sounds upset now and Eddie brushes it off.

“But with him? I mean, Annie, this is like, borderline narcissistic, you know.” Eddie grumbled.

“Nothing about you two is normal, why would this be?” Anne asked. “There’s nothing wrong with it. But if you hide this from him? If you keep going, withering away, wasting away because you think that- That it’s an impossible option? I think it’d leave him more broken when you’re finally gone.”

Venom materialises again and Anne leans back away from Eddie a little, Dan doing the same by scooting over some as Venom moves to float in front of them all.

“What are you talking about, why would Eddie be dying?” Venom has never sounded more worried, frantic and scared. Eddie wants to pass it off as him just being worried about losing his perfect match but after all of what they’ve gone through the past year, he knows it’s more than that. But it’s not more in the way he wants, needs.

Anne and Dan are silent, looking at Eddie expectantly and Eddie groaned, leaning back on the couch.

“I have a disease,” Eddie grumbled and Venom frowned. 

“I can fix those though.” Venom informed. “I can’t fix this, why?”

“You can’t fix the cause ,” Eddie told him. “As long as the cause still exists, the disease still exists.”

“Then I’ll destroy the cause.” Venom informed and Eddie chuckled weakly.

“I’d actually really prefer you don’t,” Eddie said, putting a hand over his face. “It’s called Hanahaki disease.”

Eddie doesn’t explain anything else after that and Venom bristles, turning to Anne for an explanation.

“When someone falls in love with someone, like, really deep love, but they think it’s an unrequited love, this sort of flower pit grows in their lungs. It’ll keep growing a garden until the person chokes on all the flowers and petals and dies.” Anne explained.

“In some cases, the flowers that grow have thorns and that can sometimes kill the person faster than the disease would’ve.” Dan piped in and Venom glared at him like that was the most unhelpful answer.

“So… Eddie is in love?” Venom asked and the room is silent. When neither Anne nor Dan reply, Venom turned back to Eddie. 

“Yeah, yeah bud, I’m in love.” Eddie mumbled defeatedly.

“With who, you are a loser who has no friends.” Venom informed and Eddie scoffed at that.

“Says you , the loser who has even less friends.” Eddie shot back and Anne and Dan laughed at their shenanigans. “It’s unimportant who I’m in love with.”

“It’s very important, I need to kill them, then this disease will go away.” Venom said and Eddie scoffed.

“Don’t do that,” Eddie said.

“Besides, killing the object of Eddie’s affection wouldn’t help much anyway,” Dan said. “There’s many cases of someone’s love dying and then the infected still dying. Most often due to heartbreak but just because the love dies doesn’t mean that persons love for them dies. It could actually accelerate the speed at which they die.”

“We will not kill them then. We will show you how pathetic they are. That way your love for them disappears and you are fine.” Venom said and Eddie just rolled his eyes.

“Venom, it’s not easy to get rid of something like this. I’ve had it before and lived, I’ll be fine.” Eddie said and both Anne and Dan straighten up in alarm at that admission.

“What? When?” Anne asked and Eddie shrugged.

“When I was like 15, I swore I was in love with everyone. Some girl who was older than me, she was like dumb strong and I thought she was awesome.” Eddie said. “She didn’t even know I existed, I was suffering like half a semester until I finally just got over it. I’ll get over it this time.”

“Did you confess to her?” Dan asked and Eddie shook his head. “You kidding me? She could’ve killed me in her sleep, I was terrified to confess. I think I just stopped loving her.”

“Okay, well just because you got over it once for a stranger you barely knew, doesn’t mean it’ll be that easy this time.” Anne said, staring at him like he was an idiot. “You should just confess.”

“Are you actually kidding me?” Eddie asked. “I would actually be killed if I did that. Either by this or him.”

“Oh, he wouldn’t kill you.” Dan said and Eddie turned to give him a deadpan stare. “Or… he would?”

“Whoever this loser is you should move on,” Venom informed. “If he would kill you he is pathetic then. Actually, confess then we can eat his brains. You’ve not fed us for a while.”

“Mrs. Chen just gave us an entire shipment of chocolate, you’re fine.” Eddie said, shaking his head. “And we cannot kill him.”

“Why not, would solve your problems. Not hungry anymore and once he rejects you, you can move on. Two birds, one stone.” Venom said.

“Omigod, it’s-” Eddie groaned and shook his head. “It’s not that easy.”

“Just tell him,” Anne said, desperate. “Eddie, please, we don’t need you dying on us.”

“What, you’d miss me and V randomly crashing into your apartment Wednesday nights at four am because we have a problem?” Eddie asked and Anne shrugged.

“You’re our friend, Eddie. We’d miss you.” And she sounds so genuine, and it only hurts a little that Anne only thinks of him as a friend when they had been so ready to tie their lives together forever only a year or so ago. 

It hurts only a little because Eddie has moved on and Venom is gently headbutting his arm to get his attention. There’s a tickling in his throat that he swallowed down as he looked down at the alien. 

“You will not die.” Venom said, but Eddie is pretty sure he will. And judging by Anne and Dan’s expression, they seem to understand he’s not fucking telling Venom and therefore going to die as well.

“Eddie,” Dan said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “If you’ve… had Hanahaki before, it’s a much faster process the second time. The petals, flowers, it’ll happen twice as fast. And depending on how strong the love is, that makes it even faster.”

“How long do you think I have?” Eddie asked. Venom wrapped a tendril around his bicep, resting his head on Eddie’s shoulder, trying to comfort him and Eddie swallowed down the cough that wanted to crawl up his throat. 

Dan’s eyes flickered over to Venom then Eddie with a regretful expression. “A month at best.” Dan said and Eddie sighed deeply, nodding and averting his eyes.

“That should be enough to tie up any loose ends, amirite?” Eddie said, voice a little watery.

“Eddie, please just tell him.” Anne begged, moving back to the couch and placing a hand on Eddie’s leg. “Please.”

“I can’t .” Eddie said, shaking his head. “Cause when he rejects me, this will kill me instantly. I’d rather have the month.”

“You don’t know he’ll reject you.” Dan added. “I mean, you two are practically perfect for each other.” 

“I can’t ,” Eddie forced out and they both go silent then. “I’m… sorry. Thank you, we’ll be going now.”

“Eddie,” Anne said tearfully as Eddie stood up, following him and wrapping him tight in a hug, holding him close to her chest. “We love you, okay? Please don’t be stupid about this.”

Eddie hugs her back, feeling his own tears well up but he forces them back.

They pull apart and Eddie barely gets a second to collect himself before Dan is enthusiastically pulling him into his own hug. Eddie chuckled wetly before hugging him back and then pulling away.

Eddie leaves then, Venom slinking back under his skin, buzzing with worry but he doesn’t say anything until Eddie is down the road to Mrs. Chen’s place.

They know who it is.

“Yeah, they do.” Eddie said, passing someone on the street who gives him a strange look but he could care less.

But I don’t .

“You threatened to kill him like five times,” Eddie said and Venom huffed.

We are not serious about that. We will not kill him. Tell me who it is.

“I can’t,” Eddie said, clearing his throat a little. “I’m sorry V. You’re just gonna have to trust me with this.”

You’re dying and I can’t fix it. I want to at least know who it is that’s killing you .

“V, I’m killing myself , okay?” Eddie said. “This is my choice, don’t push.”

Venom is silent for a moment.

Eddie can feel the other’s hesitance, the slight bubble of concern dies down some, but is still there, resting just beneath his skin.

Eddie bumps into a person who gives them a sharp glare that Eddie just brushes off before Venom finally speaks.

I trust you Eddie. But this scumbag doesn’t deserve you, you could do much better.

Eddie laughed loudly at that but it quickly turned into a choking cough. He paused, leaning against one of the buildings and turning to cough into his sweatshirt elbow, blood spattering with the force of his cough..

A petal wrenches itself free from his throat, tumbling to the ground. Eddie stares at it, covered in blood before he bends down and grabs it.

It’s already way bigger than the first one was in less than twelve hours and if Eddie hadn’t already known he would be dying in a month max then he’s be worried.

For now, he shoves the petal deep in his pocket and enters Mrs. Chen’s store.

“Hey Eddie,” She greets. “I thought you guys just got your chocolate.”

“Uhm, we did.” Eddie said, clearing his throat. “I came by to tell you something.”

Mrs. Chen’s normally expressionless face morphs into curiosity. “What’s up?” she asked.

Eddie places the petal from before on the counter and Mrs. Chen frowns deeply, looking at it.

“Eddie,” she said, almost scoldingly and Eddie is realising that even she knows. Shame fills his chest as she shakes her head. “How could you let it get this far?”

“I’ve only had it for a day,” Eddie said and Mrs. Chen’s eyebrows shoot up her forehead. 

“A day and you’re already at full petals?” She asked, looking down at the wilting petal. “Eddie, you need to tell him.”

Venom takes over in a flash then, Eddie being surrounded in black ooze as Eddie stands before Mrs. Chen.

“Who is it?” He asked her and Mrs. Chen gives Venom a sympathetic look. “Everyone knows who it is but Eddie won’t tell me. ”

“If he won’t tell you, then I can’t.” Mrs. Chen said. “That’s his choice for you to know or not.”

V,  just stop. Eddie says and Venom moves back away from Eddie’s face so Eddie can talk to Mrs. Chen, but stays surrounding his entire body.

“I came by to you know, say goodbye and stuff.” Eddie told her.

“You should have months , Eddie.” Mrs. Chen said. “Some people have even gone years with it.”

“Yeah, well, not me.” Eddie said. “I’ve had it before. And it’s- It’s bad.”

Mrs. Chen’s face morphs into something softer, an unshown expression on the older woman as she leans forward. 

“Eddie,” She says gentle. “Don’t be ashamed of it.” 

Eddie scoffed at that, rolling his eyes. “You’re kidding right? This- It makes me… I don’t know, fucked up. A mental patient or something.”

“Eddie,” She’s more firm this time. “You’ve always been different, of course this would be different too.”

Eddie shakes his head and is silent. If he was in full control of their body he’d cross their arms but Venom stays standing still. “I came to you know, say goodbye, you’re a stubborn old lady but you’re pretty cool. I know you’ll be able to handle your own when I’m gone and you don’t have monster protection.” 

Mrs. Chen is silent for a long moment and nods. “You’ll be missed Eddie.” she said. “I’ll miss you.”

Venom leaves it alone for a week. An entire week before he starts bothering Eddie about it.

Eddie is bent over the toilet, coughing blood and vomit and an assortment of petals that all tumble into the toilet water, splashing as he heaves.

Eddie. Venom sounds sad, voice gentle and soft despite his gruff deep voice. I want to fix this .

Eddie leans back, gasping for air as he finished clearing his lungs.

“You can’t.” Eddie said. “You should probably be out, I dunno, trying to find a new host.” 

The thought of Venom finding someone new, another host he can become one with, makes him feel ill and he’s quickly upheaving another batch of petals into the toilet.

I don’t want to find someone new. You are mine, I am yours. Finding another perfect match would be hard, complicated. I don’t want to find anyone else.

Eddie felt warmth in his chest as he coughs, flooding his body and he felt giddy with the love that's climbing up his throat.

He’s coughing even harder, choking as something lodges in his throat, tears springing to his eyes with how hard he’s coughing and clearing his throat to be able to breathe again.

Whatever's in his throat finally pushes past and Eddie is gasping and shaking as he inhales the air.

Eddie . Venom sounds frantic, forcing Eddie’s neck to bend so he looks down into the toilet.

At the flower that sits in the water.

It’s progressing much faster than Dan had predicted, Eddie realised as he stared at it.

“Oh shit,” Eddie mumbled as he realises blood is still dripping from his mouth. He feels lightheaded again and just like the first time it happened, he passed out.

Once he finally woke up, he’s surrounded by Venom, floating in the velvety smooth liquid that is the symbiote. It’s one of Eddie’s favourite feelings, being completely surrounded by Venom, truly being part of him, acting like a visitor to Venom’s body instead of the other way around. 

It’s nice too, not being the one in control all the time. It’s nice to let someone else move his limbs, to be a person (alien) for him, to walk and live through life and not bother him with menial tasks.

If he could, he’d stay like this forever. Unfortunately, it can tire Venom out, especially if he hasn’t eaten any brains recently, so he can’t stay like this forever.

Eddie can tell they’re in Anne and Dan’s place again, but they’re sat at the dining room table instead of in the living room. Eddie wants to stay tucked in the warmth of Venom for just a longer and the other seems to catch on, not retreating back into his skin.

“He’s awake now.” Venom informed Anne and Dan. 

“Eddie,” Dan said. “This is progressing much faster than I had anticipated.”

Yeah no shit .

“He said yeah no shit.” Venom relayed since when one of them is in full control, outsiders can’t hear them. “Can you fix this?”

“He doesn’t want to confess.” Anne said and Dan held up a finger.

“Anne, there is another way.” Dan said.

No. Eddie quickly refuses.

“Why no? If he can fix it, he should.”

No. The side effects are too serious.

“Side effects? What side effects would happen? What is the other way?”

“It’s a surgery.” Dan answered. “To remove the pit in the lungs. It’s very risky, there’s a lot that can go wrong and the survival rate isn’t too big, but I was thinking that maybe with you there, you could fix anything that goes wrong.”

“I could. I can. I will fix Eddie.” Venom agreed and it sounds like a promise.

No, I don’t want the fucking surgery.

“Why not? You are being a stubborn dumbass!”

“The side effects are pretty serious.” Anne told Venom. “Once the pit is removed, it also removes the feelings the person had. It can also remove memories as a self-protection form, sort of like how when you have a serious trauma, your brain will forget it. And removing the pit can cause the person to not just lose the feelings they had for the other person, but all feelings. They’ll be an empty shell. The suicide rate for people who’ve survived the surgery is higher than the success rate for the surgery. People get tired of feeling nothing.”

Venom is silent for a long moment and Eddie feels nerves crawling his skin.

“But if he did the surgery, it would make him stop dying?” 

“Yes.” Dan said. “All surgeries that have been successful have completely removed any romantic feelings for their person of interest.”

“I could stop the side effects.” Venom said, like it was a fact even though he wasn’t sure. “Make sure Eddie doesn’t become an emotionless husk. And he should forget this asshole. If he doesn’t love Eddie back he’s not worth being remembered.”

Anne huffs amused and Eddie wants to glare at her but he enjoys the feeling of floating in Venom more than he would being petty. 

“We aren’t sure that would work. And we don’t know if this person doesn’t feel the same, he could definitely love Eddie back, Eddie is just refusing to confess.” Anne informed.

“Pathetic coward.” Venom insulted and Eddie knew it was just him joking, teasing like always, but it hit him hard in the chest and he choked a little. Venom is silent for a moment and Eddie can feel regret wash over the other, over them . “Sorry.” Venom apologises gently.

It’s okay. Eddie thinks back as he tries to swallow down the flower he can feel inching up his throat. Sorry, this shit is just making me dumb sensitive.

“You’re always sensitive, you’re a baby.” Venom’s tone is a lot gentler this time and Eddie snorts. 

Yeah it’s a human thing, V.

“It’s dumb, humans should stop being so emotional. World would be easier that way.”

I don’t think so, bud.

“If you weren’t so emotional you’d get this stupid surgery.”

Eddie is silent then, focusing on his breathing rather than literally anything else.

“Eddie,” Dan said, voice serious. “You should. Get the surgery, it’ll help.”

Eddie sighs and takes over then, Venom slinking back under his skin and that feels nice too, Venom crawling around just under him.

“I can’t .” Eddie said, turning to Dan, leaning forward on the table and resting his face in his hands. “There’s too much at risk. And if I do forget him? What the hell do I do then? It’ll basically be the same as confessing once he realises I don’t remember him.”

Dan and Anne exchange a look, talking almost with telecommunication and Eddie groans at that. 

“Eddie, you should just tell him.” Anne presses again . “ Please , he might surprise you.”

“ Might being the main focus here.” Eddie said. “And when he doesn’t? When I die on the spot because he said no, he doesn’t feel the same? When he despises me for falling so hard that this is killing me faster than it should? I couldn’t live with that.”

“You’re dying anyway,” Anne hissed. “At the rate you’re going you have a week at best, two days at worse left.”

Eddie looked over at Dan for confirmation and Dan nods, looking almost guilty in a way.

“I recommend surgery if you don’t want to confess.” Dan said. “Eddie, please don’t be stupid about this. We don’t want to lose you.”

Eddie is silent, looking down.

I don’t want to lose you either.

And then Eddie is coughing violently and loudly, stumbling out o his seat and rushing to the kitchen sink. Anne rushes to his side, eyes wide and panicked, rubbing his back as he coughs like he was a hungover chic at her first frat party.

Eddie is gasping and heaving as flowers, flowers, multiple , tumble from his lips into the sink filled with dirty dishes. Eddie almost blacks out again, black spots filling his eyes and he stumbles backwards, falling on his ass and Anne and Dan rush to sit on the floor next to him, making sure he’s okay as he shakes.

Eddie’s coughs tamper off into half bursts of air, his throat ripped raw and eyes red and teary, face blotchy as he evens his breathing, leaning back into where Dan holds him.

“Surgery or confess,” Anne said the moment Eddie’s breathing returned to normal.

Eddie stares at her silently, teary eyed and shakes his head.

“Eddie,” Anne pleaded and Eddie moved forward, gripping her bicep gently. 

“Annie,” Eddie said firmly, desperate. “I can’t .”

He can’t because saying it out loud, confessing it, it would kill him. Even without this whole mess. It would kill him because he’s so fucked up, he’s ashamed because he knows it’s unrequited, he knows Venom would hate himself for being the cause of Eddie dying and Eddie doesn’t want Venom to ever feel like that. To feel like the piece of shit Eddie did for the months before meeting Venom. 

Eddie wants Venom to move on, find a vessel who won’t fall in love with him, find a vessel who’s fucking normal and not a goddamn freak like Eddie.

Anne stares into Eddie’s teary eyes, fierce with desperation and she sighs sadly, tears beginning to stream down her face.

“Eddie,” she sobbed. “We’re gonna miss you.”

NO!

No you are getting that surgery, you are not dying!!!

“Venom, this is my choice.” Eddie grumbled as Anne brings him into a hug. He grips tightly onto her, knowing this could be one of the last time he ever hugs her. “You can’t change that.”

I could take you to the fucking hospital and get the surgery myself!

“You’d definitely get arrested first actually.” Eddie informed, not wanting to let go of Anne but feeling bad talking in her ear but not to her.

I don’t care!!! Eddie, you need that surgery!

Eddie pulls away and grumbles.

“Venom, no. ” Eddie argued back. “We aren’t getting the surgery, end of story.”

Dan pulls Eddie into a hug right after, and since they’re still sitting, Eddie kind of ends up in his lap but he could care less back, returning Dan’s hug.

SURGERY! Venom shouts so loud that Eddie flinched, bringing a hand up to cover his ears like that could do anything to deafen a sound coming from inside him. 

“Venom, no .” Eddie grumbled and Venom forces them to their feet. Dan and Anne quickly follow and before Venom can do anything else, Anne grabs Eddie by his shoulders.

“Venom,” Anne said firmly. “This is his choice.”

Eddie can feel as his face shifts some, Venom’s eyes covering his own so he could speak to Anne without forming completely. 

“But it’s my body too!”

“It’s not,” Anne said. “It’s not your body. It’s Eddie’s, so it’s Eddie’s choice.”

“But he will die!”

“And that is his choice. We don’t like it either, we can’t force him to do something he doesn’t want to.” 

“ I can!”

“Venom,” Anne said scoldingly. “I know you don’t want this to happen, if we could change it, make this disappear without the surgery and the side effects, we would. But we can’t. And Eddie doesn’t want to go any other route. If you truly care for Eddie, you will listen to his wishes.” 

Venom is silent for a long moment, just staring at Anne.

He slinks back into Eddie without saying anything, silent and Eddie can almost feel him crossing his arms and pouting.

“V,” Eddie said, but Venom says nothing and it hurts . “Come on, don’t be like that.”

Still nothing.

Anne smiles a little sheepish, a little sad. She pulls him in for another tight hug.

“I love you Eddie, I’m gonna miss you.” She tells him. Eddie sniffles, nodding into her shoulder.

“I’m gonna miss you too.” Eddie said.

Venom continues to refuse to talk to him, despite how much Eddie pleads and begs him too.

And hour after they leave Anne’s, Eddie is watching one of Venom’s favourite shows, trying to coax him out, but Venom says nothing, doesn’t even materialise to watch with him.

Two hours later and Eddie is making them tater tots, one of Venom's favourite foods and Venom loves to take over so he can actually taste the food, but now Eddie can’t even feel Venom.

He feels almost hollow, empty, now that he can’t feel Venom nestled in his stomach or chest, can’t feel him crawling under his skin. It’s making Eddie antsy and he worries that maybe Venom actually left him.

Except he can still feel anger that isn't his stirring in the back of his mind. And it should be reassuring to know Venom is still there, but it just makes him feel awful that the only sign he’s still there is blind rage directed at Eddie.

Five hours later, Eddie is showering and there’s nothing still from Venom despite the fact the other likes to make fun of Eddie’s showering process, bully him for it and tell him it’s ineffective. Eddie misses trying to explain to Venom that how he washes himself is in fact completely normal for humans and misses Venom’s jab that he was being xenophobic.

Eddie sleeps after, hoping he will feel Venom tugging at the edge of his brain as he sleeps. One of Venom’s favourite times is when Eddie is sleeping because Venom doesn’t need sleep meaning he’ll poke around in Eddie’s brain, peek in on his dreams, gliding across organs and make a tier list of which organ of Eddie’s would be the best to eat should he ever need to. But tonight, Eddie can’t feel anything, none of that strange tickling along his intestine, not that tingle in the back of his head. His sleep is dreamless.

When he wakes up, Venom is still giving him the silent treatment, still not making his presence known and now the feeling of anger is gone and Eddie hysterically panics, worries that maybe Venom left when he was sleeping, but somehow, even with zero signs Venom is there, he knows the other is still with him.

The day goes on and Venom keeps ignoring him, refuses to talk, or make himself known.

 And it hurts, it’s not like they haven’t had days or weeks of silence before, they often get pissed at each other and will ignore the other. But right now? During what could possibly be Eddie’s last days alive? When his entire situation is like this? It hurts, it stings, it burns, it feels like he’s being eaten alive and he wants to scream and cry because it hurts so goddamn bad.

He tries to stay strong, not act like a fucking baby because the other won’t talk to him, but he breaks twenty hours in, curled up on his torn and tattered couch, hugging his hands to his chest because it hurts there the most, throat raw from how much he’s coughed and choked and thrown up the past hours. 

Tears are streaming down his face and it hurts so goddamn bad as he sobs.

“Venom, please ,” Eddie sobbed, pressing his face into the couch. “Please stop ignoring me.”

He’s met with silence, but he can feel Venom prickling under his skin which is more than he’s gotten for almost a day and he’s crying even harder now. 

“Please stop,” Eddie sobbed again, voice broken, barely heard.

He feels like he’s dying honestly. He thought that the flowers consuming him would hurt more than anything but this right here? The pain as Venom ignores him, treats him like he’s nothing, giving him the silent treatment? It hurts worse than that time they almost burned alive.

Eddie’s sobs are broken, barely heard now because he feels so weak with heartbreak. He’s choking again, flowers gently falling to the ground, all stained red with his blood and he’s heaving again.

Eddie grips the edge of the couch as he shuffles to turn his face over, tears streaming down his face and joining the pool of blood and flowers on the ground. This is it , Eddie hysterically thinks, these were his final moments.

He’s desperate, choking with the hurt and love in his heart and he grips the couch cushion.

“Venom… Please.” His voice is small and broken. He wants to just see Venom at least once more before he fucking dies cause this truly might be the end. “I think… I’m dying.”

The words are out of his mouth as a massive flower lodges itself free from his throat. He’s desperate and broken and thinks that Venom is gone or real, doesn’t care anymore.

But before he can even blink, he’s wrapped in Venom everywhere except for his face, the other holding him tightly inside, liquid heavy on his skin, squeezing him like a hug and Eddie is crying even more now out of relief. A tendril slips up from his neck and gently caresses his cheek, Eddie leaning into it like it’s a hand holding him.

“Sorry,” Venom apologised, sounding worried, sad, apologetic, dsperate. His face appears before Eddie and a few petals tumble from Eddie but he doesn’t care. He was deprived of Venom for what felt like years, he’s allowed to be relieved. “I wanted you to feel how much it would hurt me if you die. I didn’t mean for it to get this far.”

“I think-” Eddie has another flower come out of his throat. “I’m dying.”

“Anne said two days at worst. It’s barely been one.”  

Yeah well Anne didn’t account for Venom ignoring him and causing ten years of psychological distress either. 

“Anne’s allowed to be wrong,” Eddie forced out, words barely legible with how rough his voice was.

“Not about this.” Venom said, frowning. “I can’t lose you Eddie.”

“Too late for that.” Eddie said and he’s feeling lightheaded, there’s so much blood on the ground, he can barely breathe with how many flowers are in his lungs. 

Eddie’s suffocating in his own love. How poetic.

But, Eddie thinks it could be worse. He’s here, wrapped up in the safety of Venom, Venom caressing his face with gentle concern and care, pleading him to stay with him. This is probably the best way for him to go out.

“Can’t lose you Eddie.” Venom said. “Stay.”

Eddie can’t answer because he’s coughing so hard. His vision is going black, he’s so, so tired, and he feels a little giddy. Because he loves Venom so much it’s killing him. Because he’s surronded by Venom. Because Venom’s here.

He’s almost gone when he hears a deep gruff voice, sad and pathetic and desperate to keep him alive.

“You can’t die. I love you.”

The world goes black, and Eddie has no thoughts. 

Everything around him is black, he doesn’t… He doesn’t feel anything anymore. He can’t feel any of his limbs, he doesn’t feel anything touching him.

But-

He feels loved .

Death is weird, Eddie thinks as he exists in the empty black space.

He never really believed in anything, not God exactly, not gods, not Heaven or Hell, not reincarnation.

So he’s not entirely sure why he’s surprised that once you die there’s just nothing.

It’s pitch black for miles, almost like a dreamless sleep except for the fact he can remember it.

On the bright side of not feeling anything, he doesn’t feel like his throat is on fire, he doesn’t feel a heavy weight in his chest.

Eddie Brock is dead.

Or so he thought.

Because then before he can even process, he’s blinking awake to a bright light.

He’s still on his couch, there’s still a pool of blood next to the couch, flowers and petals across the floor. 

Eddie feels weak though, he feels like he was just beaten to death and left in an alley to rot. His eyes are having trouble focusing, but once he blinks hard enough, he comes face to face with Venom.

“You’re not dead.” Venom noted, sounded elated . “You didn’t die, you’re not dead.”

“I still only have a few more days,” Eddie informed and Venom gets even happier.

“No, no, Eddie, it's gone.” Venom informed.

“What?” Eddie asked. The whole near death experience is making things not make sense.

“Eddie, the disease. It’s gone. Your lungs are fine, breathe.” Eddie does just that, taking a huge deep breath of air and his brows raised when he found he could without hacking up a lung.

“What?” Eddie sat up and groaned. He still hurt all over. 

“It’s gone! You’re not dying anymore!” Venom said and he is smiling bigger and bigger each moment. Eddie loves their smile despise how many teeth there are. It would look terrifying to anyone else, but Eddie just loves seeing them happy.

He braces himself for a petal or flower to try and force its way out at this thought, but he’s fine. 

Eddie is… So very confused. He can’t remember much that happened right before he blacked out, just cough and praying that his landlord finds his rotting body quick.

“How?” Eddie asked, frowning and Venom movs more in his direct line of view.

“It was me.” Venom said. “It was me you loved.”

Eddie feels panic swallow his being and his eyes widen as he backs up some, which does nothing to put distance between him and the floating face attached to his shoulder.

“I- How did you-”

“Before you went out, I said I love you. And then when you were sleeping, the flowers wilted. They died and then you were fine. I called Anne and the idiot to ask why.” Venom informed. “They said if the recipient of the persons love made a declaration of love, it would end the disease. You love me. I love you back. You’re an idiot.”

Eddie is trying to process, he’s really trying to, but he’s just-

Venom loves him back.

Venom loves him.

And he is an idiot.

“Omigod,” Eddie buried his face in his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs. “I never thought- I…” Eddie doesn’t have any words.

He feels relieved, happy, a little scared, ashamed, but mostly-

He feels loved.

“You never thought because you are an idiot. A dumbass. Complete moron.” Venom insulted.

“I deserve that.” Eddie said and he’s crying again . “You love me.”

“Of course.” Venom said, bumping his head against the side of Eddie’s. “You are a pathetic loser. But you are my pathetic loser.”

Eddie laughs wetly, sobbing even more out of relief and he lifts his head to tearfully smile at Venom.

“You’re such a fuckface.” Eddie said and Venom scoffed, head butting him a little harder. “But my fuckface.”

“Yours, always yours. ” Venom reassures.

“My symbiote.” Eddie said, moving to rest his forehead against Venom. “My love.”

“Yours.” Venom reassures. “You aren’t allowed to do that shit again.”  

Eddie laughed wetly, throat thick with tears. “Okay, I won’t.”

“Promise. ” Venom grumbled and Eddie rolled his eyes. “I promise.”

“Good. You are mine now and forever. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”  

“That sounds a bit like a wedding vow there.” Eddie teased.

“We are married.” Venom said a little proudly. “Bonded with love, bonded to each other. That is like marriage. So we are married.”

Eddie smiled warmly. “I don’t think that’s how it works. There’s normally rings and a ceremony.”

Venom wraps a tendril around Eddie’s ring finger, a few more tendrils moving out to hold him tight and close. 

“Now you have a ring,” Venom said. “And ceremonies are for pussies. We are not pussies.”

“Nah, we’re not.” Eddie said and smiled again. He-

He was so happy. Only moments ago he thought he was dying, he was suffering in pain thinking Venom didn’t love him back, despised him for choosing to die.

And now here he was, alive and with Venom in every way possible.

Eddie’s crying again and Venom frowns.

“You’re crying again. You’re such a baby.”

“Sorry,” Eddie said, wiping away his tears. “I’ve just… I’ve never been so happy.”

Venom purrs deep in their chest, and then he’s covering Eddie all over, happy and feeling proud of himself.

“I make you happy?” 

Of course. Eddie replies. You make me annoyed, mad, pisses off sometimes, but most of all, you make me happy.

Venom purrs rumble deeper in their chest and Eddie sighs, closing his eyes and floating in Venom.

“You are a sap.”

Your sap. Eddie thinks a little giddy.

“My sap.” Venom repeated, just as happy back.

And maybe, Eddie is a little fucked in the head, but there's really no shame in that.