LAURA

My eyes snapped open to the sound of deep mumbling: grating and hard. I blinked at the piercing rays from the blinds as the light struggled its way through the window that probably has a decade of grime covering it. The walls of the bedroom had a shade I couldn't put a finger on, something like curdled milk. It stunk of vapor, ten bucks says that if I were to walk across the room without proper footwear, I'd probably attract a dermis disease. Eddie had no regard for house maintenance. He was most likely sharing his apartment with a family of rats.

'You stay outta this, 'kay? I can handle it.' Eddie's brackish voice hit my ears from behind me. I curled the covers tighter to my chest, trying to slow my breaths and make it seem like I was still asleep. Before I could wonder about who he was talking to, it hit me.

He was talking to that thing. The thing from last night. Yesterday's events came racing to my head, screening faster than necessary. I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth. It was an alien. An extraterrestrial.

'Okay, what the actual - ' His growl stopped midway. Maybe because of the inevitable sneeze that wracked my body. It was a prompt response for me to shield myself from thing/Eddie with my blanket which would be my shield. Yeah right, like a flimsy blanket was going to keep that alien away.

I squeezed my eyes shut and awaited impact. His sharp voice cut through. 'Are you seriously hiding under that blanket?'

I refused to speak back. What if it ripped my throat right off? 

'Laura, c'mon.' A hand slithered over the opening hear my head and tore it off me. Immediately, my upturned palms slapped over my eyes and I buried my head into my knees. What I screamed next, truly puzzled me. Even Eddie.

'Don't eat me! Please don't put your progeny in my chest, please! '

His answer came after a long beat in the tone I expected. 'We, uh, won't eat you and ay, that's a notion created by the film enterprise.'

I peeped from the edge of my fingers hesitantly. Eddie's assessing eyes were on me, dark welts embedded under them. His hair was greasy from sweat and the obvious stench hit my nose. Setting his elbows on his thighs, he sent dirtied fingers to comb his hair back and rub his jaw.

'Eddie. It's you, right?'

'Last I checked.'

'No pranks?'

'Nada.'

I dropped my hostile stance. Pushing my hands onto the mattress, I backed into the headboard and pulled my legs to my chest. We settled in silence for a while, my eyes glued to his hands. The sound of his rough palms scraping against each other lilted my heavy feelings.

'Whatever you saw last night,' Eddie started with a tough swallow, 'it's best if we keep it between us.'

I scoffed with what was left of my senses, coughing up dry humor. 'Sure. I'll just stay quiet so that no one needs to know about this extraterrestrial thing living among us. What an A-class plan.'

'I ran right into that one,' he mumbled under his breath and something else. Probably to dearest ET. Sending me a sideways glance, he shook his head. 'Look, I really don't know how to go about it so you gotta work with me.'

'I deserve answers. If you believe leaving me in the dark is going to fix this, think again.'

He sighed in acceptance. 'Promise you won't think I'm crazy?'

I deadpanned. 'Really? Really? '

Taking a deep inhale, he rolled his shoulders nonchalantly as he was telling me something definite. 'I have a parasite in me.'

The most natural thing to do would be to raise my eyebrows and look offended. I did so. 'Parasite? Puh-lease. It didn't look like one.'

'Okay uh,' he shuffled closer and the bed dipping with weight. I jumped when he reached for both my hands, wrapping a cold fist around them. 'Remember that episode on my show? With a closer look into Life Foundation's miscreancies, after the shutdown? It - '

'- was stopped from release because the projects on uncharted science and subject deaths served to be futile after they put a seal on them. You stopped them. Ed, that was ages ago.'

'Exactly!' he blew and tightened his grasp on my hands. My stare turned weirded out when he looked like he was struggling with himself. I acted on instinct and extricated my hands from his. Falteringly, I traced a warm hand over his back and crawling closer. He released a deadly amount of cold, almost enough to make me shiver. 

'The projects had something to do with Venom. The symbiote in me,' he said. 'it's no ordinary alien. It made me its host and we, er, openly achieved symbiosis. He made me do violent things, only ate food that breathed and killed . . .  many times. But yeah, we brought down Drake together - '

'Hold up. Killed many? That parasite made you kill?'

'We're not a parasite!'

It was out of this world. To any other casual viewer, it would look like Eddie was undergoing some sort of an eerie seizure. It was so fast; gone in a flash. Eddie's soft brown eyes were replaced by vast stretches of white that extended into his hairline like arrowheads and a black amorphous substance coating his face, creating spiderweb-like textures. His human teeth elongated to piercing canines, his voice sounding like something out a horror movie; dusky, deep and insidious.

I screamed in spurts and plastered my body against the headboard. Eddie leaped to soothe me, his hands going to my cheeks and brushing the hair out of my face. 'Hey, it's okay! Look at me, I'm back to normal!'

I inhaled generously when his hands grazed my arms comfortingly. 'W-wha - '

'That was Venom. And he gets insulted when someone calls him a parasite.'

My reflexes kicked in and seeking comfort. My arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, sinking my nose into his neck. He smelt of grease and perspiration but it didn't bother me at the moment. 'He - Venom. Doesn't hurt you, does he?'

 'Laur, I'm fine. Just have an addition to my system otherwise, I'm good as new.' 

I crushed him harder. He snaked his hands over my waist, tugging at the base of my hair. The skin on his throat drummed with a sigh as if the heat was pleasuring him, the facial hair scratching my temples. 

'Have you found a way to take it out of you?' I said in the smallest voice I could muster.

He cleared his throat. 'There is a way but I - '

I reeled back with hopeful eyes. 'Let's do it then, Ed. We'll get it out of you and - '

'You're not getting the idea, babe,' he groaned and pushed his hands through his hair in frustration. 'I chose to leave him inside me!'

This got me confused. Unmistakably, this Venom creature was making his life hell. He looked like he was born in the sewers but somehow managed to pass as 'brooding' to the Eddie Brock Show viewers. Eddie was dealing with life and death here and clearly being a dick by choosing to die with that thing sucking the life out of him.

'He's a part of me. Venom is what is keeping me from mutually combusting,' he explained slowly. 'Besides, I'm his host. There are very minimal chances of survival in other host bodies. So, I let him be.'

In a nutshell, the approach I should be going for is calm and coercing. Rather than shake him by his collar and bring him to his senses. Taking my chances, I slid out the covers and examined myself from head to toe and hoped my organs were intact. I mean, I slept with an alien in the room. 

Getting onto the balls of my feet, I kept my balance by bracing my palms on either of his knees. I grazed the crook of his thigh with my thumb to get him to look at me. It worked and my lips quirked to a smile.

'I care about you. More than that, I trust you with my life. And I trust that you will take care of yourself. Because of this Venom,' it was so hard to come to terms with ET, 'I can't lose you. You may think this is something to take lightly but damn it, if something goes wrong and that black shit gets you in trouble, I swear to god I'm going to burn it to ashes.'

That did it. Eddie's papery skin lightened with color and his lips pulled up to a humble grin. Leaning forward, he pressed a cold kiss at my widow's peak and relished the moment. 

'This doesn't mean I accept ET.'

He chuckled into my hair. 'ET?' He laughed louder at something Venom said. 'He doesn't adore it but definitely likes it better than 'parasite'.'

Grunting as I stood up, I walked to the window to fold up the blinds and let some light in. It looked like a deathbed, the light and warmth ought to make it a bit more homely.

'You need a makeover, Ed. It's like Dracula's having his beauty sleep in here.'

He breathed out deeply. 'Yeah. A bit caught up at the moment. Work and . . . all that.'

'So,' I drawled, trying to prolong the conversation. Eddie didn't toss me another look, patting his pockets constantly. I decided it was best if I leave.

'I'm gonna get home. I have to - '

'Yeah, you should.'

I bristled. 'Call me when you're in your right mind, Brock.'

With that, I drew out an irritated sigh and marched to the door, letting him revel in his thoughts. Something that was worth changing his mind. And actions.