**Anne and Dan invite Eddie over for dinner and discover he's not as alone as they thought he was. Enjoy!!**

In the aftermath of the explosion, Dan and Anne had been pretty involved in Eddie's recovery. Dan was the one to treat Eddie's burns and other injuries, and Anne had helped him file a story with a local paper which turned into a steady job covering local politics, business, and other issues Eddie had experience in.

So yeah. Eddie was now sort of friends with Anne and Dan. It wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be - Anne and Dan were never overly affectionate to begin with, and Dad was an angel of a man who was immune to embarrassment - and Eddie had always known that Anne was... well, he still loved Anne, but he had always known they wouldn't work out together. This was better. This was more comfortable.

Which is why Eddie was knocking at his old apartment door at 5:30 on a Friday night. It was a standing thing now, where they would all have dinner together on Fridays.

"Eddie!" Anny opened the door with a happy smile and a waving arm. "Come in. Dan's just finishing up dinner now."

Eddie shuffled by the door, toeing off his shoes and shrugging his jacket off.

"Behave," Eddie whispered, barely audible.

"What was that?" Anne asked, turning back to Eddie as she passed him in the hall.

"Nothing," Eddie said with a smile. In the aftermath of the explosions, Eddie had learned that being relieved of his alien symbiote was supposed to be a good thing, no matter how lonely Eddie was. Even when Venom had recovered and found his strength again, Eddie didn't tell anyone.

Anne and Eddie headed further into the living room, where Eddie could see the dining table was set and there was a bottle of wine out. "You got a red? You shouldn't have picked up something special for me."

"Oh, Dan likes reds, too," Anne said easily. "He picked it out."

Eddie grinned. "So it's expensive?"

"Eddie!"

Eddie cackled while Anne gave a fond smile, and they both settled at the table, talking about Anne's most recent cases and Eddie told her about a piece he was working on about the school board and the superintendent's little investment in a tech company that made over a million dollars off a deal with the schools in the areas.

"That's right up your alley," Anne said, swirling her wine in the glass. "You've been sniffing out the good stories since you were a kid."

Eddie gave a chuckle. "I've been working on this one for a while. I've almost got the story wrapped up, but I have a meeting with the super next week. Going to try and weasel a confession out of him."

"Well, you can be very intimidating when you want to be," Anne said. "I'm sure he'll tell you whatever you want to hear."

We can be very intimidating, Eddie, Venom's voice echoed in Eddie's head. Eddie fought the urge to flinch in surprise.  We could always help you get what we want.

Eddie bit his lip and thought long and hard about how bad of an idea that was. He was just hoping Venom would get the hint, but he made a mental note to rehash this conversation later, back at the apartment just in case.

"That's what we're hoping for," Eddie said to Anne, then mentally kicked himself. It had become natural to use the royal we again, but not everyone noticed. Not right away.

Dan poked his head out of the kitchen just in time to save Eddie from the barely-there look of confusion and suspicion on Anne's face. "Dinner's ready! Hope you're in the mood for some Italian food, we made garlic bread and spaghetti, chicken, and a cream sauce."

Eddie's stomach made a very opportune grumbling, and for a split second, he wondered if Venom was trying to be helpful. "Sounds amazing."

Everything was going fine... until about halfway through the meal, when Eddie felt the tell-tale signs of nausea that he'd come to associate with Venom disliking something. He did a silent and subtle sweep around the room, trying to figure out what it was making Venom freak out. Anne and Dan were known and trusted people, so it couldn't be that. The windows were clear. Eddie could hear a single thing from the hall outside, or from the street. The only thing he could even consider a possible issue might have been the salad on the table, and he realized he was halfway reaching for it.

"Oh. On second thought," Eddie said, pulling his hand back. Anne and Dan were staring at Eddie from the other side of the table. Eddie blushed a little. "Sorry, I just remembered that- uh... That I don't like spinach. Yeah."

"Eddie," Anne whined. "You literally suck down spinach puffs."

Eddie blushed harder. "I- Yeah, I just changed my mind on the whole thing." Venom rumbled under Eddie's skin, and Eddie shuddered. "I'm eating high-protein."

"Just have a little," Dan said, getting up and leaning over the table to serve Eddie some salad.

"We don't want this disgusting plant," Eddie said, but it wasn't Eddie. It was gravely and deep and Anne and Dan both went pale.

Eddie cleared his throat. "Sorry, I just mean that- We mean that we don't eat plants."

Anne gasped, and Dan was wearing that face he wore when he was shocked by something but didn't want to show it. Eddie closed his eyes to let out a sigh and relax his shoulders. The game was up. "V, it's fine. You can come out now."

A small, almost adorable head grew from behind Eddie's shoulder, and Anne almost cooed. Almost. Venom looked so much more sweet in that form, almost like a little cartoon devil on Eddie's shoulder. Eddie put a hand up and Venom nestled into his palm, like he was getting a hug. Eddie moved his hand down to his face, pausing to hold his own palm over his mouth.

"I know. I know what you're going to say, but-" Eddie took a deep breath. "I was lonely after everything that happened and I didn't mention it because I knew it was wrong to miss the alien symbiote that might have killed me but then he came back and he needed time to refuel and rest so we kept it a secret because I was scared you would try to take him away from me again."

Anne opened her mouth, but the sound of crunching cut her off, and both she and Eddie looked over at Dan, who was chewing a piece of garlic bread happily.

"Well, I'm happy you two are reunited and happy," he said. "You seem pretty healthy, so I assume you're not actively dying."

Eddie shook his head.

"Good then." Dan pushed the bowl of pasta over towards Eddie. "Have some more pasta. I know Venom likes meat."