RandomParanoid

It wasn't like I wanted to, either —I wasn't exactly a fighter—, but what was I supposed to do when my fourteen year old brother was about to enter the Upside Down and fight an otherworldly evil? Let him go by himself? Fuck no.

Plus, Eddie was going in, too.

Maybe it had happened over one of those chilly winter afternoons I had spent tutoring him because Dustin had begged me to do so. Or maybe it had been that time he had nonchalantly quoted an entire 'Lord Of The Rings' paragraph without batting an eyelash.

Eddie. In which exact point I had fallen for the endearing mess of a person Eddie Munson was, I didn't know.

Maybe, just maybe, that one time he had fallen asleep on my shoulder after pulling an all-nighter was to blame. Or the oddly specific compliments he threw at me across the cafeteria. Or the hug he had engulfed me in after we had found them at Reefer Rick's boathouse.

Maybe it had been all of the above, or maybe it was none; it didn't really matter. The point was that they were walking straight into their death, and I couldn't just sit still and watch.

So there I was, gripping the trailer's door with one hand, and the metallic mesh drilled to the vehicle in the other, holding both open as if my life depended on it —and it did—, feeling them juddering to Eddie's cover of 'Master Of Puppets'.

I didn't hear Dustin's T-minuses, but I did see the demobats in the horizon getting dangerously close. They were too close, and Dustin and Eddie were still on the fucking roof.

'Stick to the plan', Steve had ordered, but it was difficult when I believed the plan to be an absolute fuckup.

Just as I was about to cross the camper's threshold, a series of thundering hits from above made me come to a halt.

Thud. Please let it be them. Thud. Bang. Cling.

Boom.

Dustin's form dropped in front of me. Fast as lightning, I took a hold of his attire and, stepping aside, I impelled him into our barricade.

"C'MON C'MON C'MON!" An adrenaline ridden Eddie who had been shoving my younger brother, clutched the sleeve of my jacket, yanking it for me to enter with him as soon as the mesh was locked.

A high-pitched scream tore from my throat when two— three— five demobats viciously collided with our fence while my digits were still securing it, making me stumble backwards. Lucky me, Eddie was still behind me, so instead of tripping, I was briefly lifted from the floor, leather-covered arms quick to snake around my middle and pull me deeper into our safe haven.

"Holy SHIT! that was a close one." He breathed, shutting the trailer's front door and putting the latch on it, one of his hands never letting go of my jacket. "Y/n, did you hear that?!" Eddie exhaled a relieved laugh.

"Dude! Most. Metal. EVER!" Dustin jumped excitedly, staring at Eddie in adoration.

"Are you two mad?!" I chided them, giving the older boy a not so gentle shove, something that put a concerned frown on his face. "The hell took you so long?!"

"Uhhh Eddie's riff?!" Dustin puffed with an proud beam, drawing my attention to him.

"Eddie's r— you could've DIED!" I shrieked, smacking the back of his neck.

"Hey, we're safe and sound here!" The long-haired senior piped up with no hostility whatsoever, only raising his voice due to the demobats battering against the boarded up windows. "Don't take it out on the kid, I got carried away!"

"You can't get 'carried away'!" I rebuked him. I felt myself getting riled up, and I was almost certain that it had little to do with Eddie losing himself to his guitar solo and a lot to do with being pinned down by interdimensional monsters.

"Y/n! I get you're stressed but—"

"No!" I warned my younger brother with a menacing index finger. "You're the kid and he's the adult." I turned to Eddie, whose hands were already raised in surrender at my angry demeanor. "You call the shots, Eddie! You can't just..." his eyes flickered with something similar to... guilt, which made me instinctively tone down the reprimand. "I'm—"

THUMP!

Silence.

I shared a taken aback look with Eddie, argument forgotten in favor of listening closely to the sudden peace outside the Munson's house.

"Hey dipshits!" I jumped at Dustin's shout, throwing daggers at the boy. "You give up that easy, huh?!"

"SHHH!" I hushed him.

"Was that really necessary?" Eddie bitterly added, worry being read in his face.

"What's—" I pointed the spear at a small circle nearly above my head. "what's that?"

The peace was soon disturbed by claw-like steps over our heads.

"They're on the roof." Eddie announced in a low tone, cueing the three of us moved in sync back-to-back, shields slightly tilted in the ceiling's direction and spears ready for an imminent attack.

"A vent." Eddie response was accompanied by his forearm gently pushing me to walk back.

"They can't get through that," Dustin whispered from behind us. "can they?"

No sooner said than done.

I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for having such a quick reaction time; as soon as the coverage of the vent came off, my spear impaled a demobat.

Dustin's was just as good; between horrified screams and gibbered curses, we kept them at bay until Eddie situated himself between us and the aperture. I didn't have time to verbally question his actions, since, in the blink of an eye, his shield was being nailed into the ceiling by sheer force.

"Damn." I breathed out exhausted. My widened, impressed eyes found his. "Good call."

"Thanks." He probably didn't even notice the way his face briefly lit up at my words, but neither did I acknowledge the small smile dancing in my parted lips.

"Do you have more vents?" Dustin's ominous inquiry made Eddie's cheerful visage fall, his shoulders tensing up. His reaction was certainly a response— just... Not the one we hoped for.

"Fuck." He muttered, walking backwards with a sorry look on his face. "Fuckfuckfuckfuck." He repeated, stretching his arms out to me just as I threw him my shield and doing a 180 as soon as he had it secured on his hand.

"Climb up right now!" I ordered the youngest of us, vaguely gesturing at the tied sheets hanging between worlds before following Eddie's lead.

"But—"

"DUSTIN, CLIMB!"

Even though we raced to the room, we were clearly not fast enough; a heavy 'clonk' was heard on the other side of the door.

Knowing the risk was higher than the possibility of success, I tried to pull Eddie back, but the boy was quicker and more resolved than me.

The air got caught up in my throat at the nightmarish sight. If Pandora's box was real, it would look like that room.

"FALL BACK!" I tried once more, this time successfully since Eddie himself seemed to realize there was no use on trying to cover the vent instead of fleeing.

"To the gate!" He urged me, shutting the door and staggering back, shield high, facing the place where we were coming from until the very last second, in which we found ourselves having to follow Dustin into our world.

"C'MON, GUYS!" The freshman vociferated, seeing us right under the gate.

"You first." Eddie gestured at me to move closer to him, letting his weapons fall to the floor in order to help me up.

I gave my friend a fearful look while he got down on one knee, finders interlaced for me to plant my shoe on them. "You better hurry." I warned him, voice trembly from the adrenaline.

"I'm right behind you." He reassured me. With a grunt, he propelled me up far enough for me to go through the gate without much effort.

With a muffled thud, I was back in Hawkins —our Hawkins— lying on my back, eyes fixed on an upturned Eddie who... Had stopped climbing.

"The hell's he doing?" I mumbled at Dustin, who was kneeled down beside my head, focused on the exact same thing as me.

"I... I don't know." the younger kid rised to his feet. "Eddie, c'mon!" Our friend looked at some unknown point at his left. "What are you doing?!"

His left. Propping myself up with my palms, I let my head mirror Eddie's movement, searching for what was stopping him from joining us.

But I saw nothing, apart from... the room's door.

"Oh no." It was a soft, dreadful whisper, the one that accompanied my realization.

Dustin's yells for Eddie to climb couldn't quite reach my ears, as the only thing I could hear was that damn conversation Eddie and I had not even an hour earlier.

"Here." I stood on my tiptoes half way through the ladder, arm stretched at a crouched Dustin, who stood on the trailer's rooftop, passing him the buddle of leads for him to connect to the amplifiers. "Eddie said this one" I wiggled the red wire in one of my hands.

"Is for the big one, yeah." Dustin finished, taking a hold of them. "I'm not a child, Y/n, I know where to plug each lead." He explained in a brazen tone.

"You're a smartass, that's what you are." I retaliated, shoving his head back and consequently making him fall on his ass, which earned me a whine and a couple of insults.

"He's got an attitude." I commented, noticing as I climbed down Eddie's amused smile at the bottom of the ladder.

"Seems like it runs in the family." He teased, his grin growing wider at my vexed expression.

"Excuse you?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He laughed, letting go of the ladder's base once I had hopped off it.

"You better be." I exhorted him, wiping my hands on my pants with a quirked brow. " 'Cause I'm, y'know, armed," I pointed at the bowie hanging on the side of my belt. "so you wanna be nice to me."

"Oh, your benevolent majesty," he kneeled before me, taking my hands in his —something that, unbeknownst to him, made my skin tingle and heart skip a bit—, "spare my life, I beg you."

"Alright, your life's been spared." I chuckled, giving his hands a gentle tug. "On your feet, my brave hero." His face, carefree and jovial mere seconds before, dropped into a distant frown which he quickly attempted to hide. "What was that?"

"What was what?" He feigned confusion as he got up, a laugh that left his lips parted aiding his lie.

I tried not to lose eye contact while I crouched to grab the ends of the leads I had just handed to Dustin, but Eddie could be very elusive when it came down to these topics, so his eyes were averted as soon as he had the chance to look away.

I furrowed my brows, backtracking to my latter sentence in order to decipher what had bothered him. "Is it because of what Steve said?" He shrugged, ambling around, gaze casted down. "He said that because—"

"He doesn't want us to take any risks, I know." Eddie finished my sentence, toying with the pick around his neck. "I just—" he sighed, throwing hus head back. "I dunno, it be nice to be a hero at some point, I guess." He cleared his throat, muttering the next words for me not to get them. "Or at least not a coward."

"Eddie, c'mon." He gifted me a forced smile and, taking the leads from my hands, entered the trailer.

"EDDIE!!" Dustin's broken scream brought me back to reality.

"I'm buying more time." He resolved with a nod.

Time seemed to mock us during the following few seconds, elongating them and therefore making the course of action much more frustrating.

My body had shot up, hands clawing the knotted sheets in order to start climbing, just for my back to hit the mattress a second after, when the metalhead's spear slashed the fabric with a scream. Mouthing a 'sorry' to us, he took back his shield and disappeared from our line of vision.

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK— W-WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" Dustin's pitch was desperate while he ran around the trailer, searching in vain for something that might help us save Eddie.

My buzzing mind was working just as hard as my younger brother's. Lucky me, I found a solution sitting right in front of my eyes.

My body was most likely in autopilot while I got up to put the remainders of gasoline Steve and Robin had left unused in a single container before throwing it up the gate.

"What are you doing." Dustin halted, coming to me while I dragged a chair to stand below the gate, the part of the makeshift rope that remained in our reality in my hand.

"Rolling the dice." I stated, sparing the teary eyed boy a resigned glance whilst climbing onto the chair, tossing the clothing as an aid to go back without breaking a bone. "Wait here."

"Y/N NO— WAIT!"

THUD!

It took me a hot second of groaning to rise up and get to work; a hot second in which Dustin decided to follow me into a certain death. I should have seen that coming.

"DUSTIN!" I helped my brother up, momentarily forgetting we were in a rush after hearing him wince.

"I'm okay." He lied, eyes shut in pain. "What's the plan?"

I opened my mouth, about to scold him and assure him there was no plan, about to beg him not to get involved, but we knew each other too well for him not to know what I was about to say.

"If you tell me to stay back, I'll flip out."

"I..." I cursed myself, fighting the urge to curl up in a ball and cry because how was I supposed to attempt this with my brother nearby? With a sigh, I took a step back, grabbing the gasoline from the floor. "Count to ten. Then go get Eddie and hide."

"Where are you going?!"

"To the roof!" I trotted to the entrance, only looking back once my hand was gripping the knob. "Hey, smartass! I love you, okay?"

It took him a silent instant to connect the dots, and, even though he didn't comment on it, I knew he knew, and that pained me so much.

"Y/n—"

"Go get him!" I cut him off, sprinting out, down the stairs and to the ladder.

Once I got to the top of the trailer, I spotted the demobats flying in circles around something, as well as Dustin limping towards that same place, which made me feel sick to my stomach.

Get down to business for fuck's sake, I thought, uncoiling the fuel container.

Pricking up the ears, I caught faint screams that simultaneously made my blood boil and my heart sink, wondering if it might be too late.

No, don't think that.

"Please, let this be worth it," I muttered, my shaky hands pouring the fuel leftovers all over the vines slithering on the rooftop. "Let this be fucking worth it."

After tossing the empty tin away, I dug on my back pocket for the lighter Eddie had gifted me on Christmas.

"I know you don't smoke much," He began, folding his arms over his chest, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "but, uhh, you said you really liked the design and— well, I got more lighters so you can keep that one."

Breathe in. Light it. Breathe out.

Throw it.

As soon as the vines caught fire like dry straw, an ear-piercing screech echoed on the upside down; just as expected, the dark cloud of bats found me much more interesting.

The momentary happiness from my success was rapidly eclipsed by a terrifying truth; the price of that little stunt was going to be my life.

EDDIE'S P. O. V.

I was going to die.

I was going to die a slow, gruesome death, and I would be alone.

You're so stupid, you're so so so stupid.

It kind of sounded like Y/n's voice, like something she would tell me —and Jesus H Christ, I wanted her to tell me I was stupid. I wanted her to scold me and to stop talking to me for a couple of days because I gave her a heart attack, do I ever think, like, at all? And I wanted Dustin to sneak me into their home on the third day to apologize, to tell her that I was, in fact, stupid, that I didn't think ever, that she was always right, and that I loved her.

But that wouldn't happen because I was going to die. At least that's what I thought, until something surreal happened.

The bats that had been restlessly whirling around me, holding me down, suffocating me, digging into my skin with their teeth and claws, shrieked and contorted for a moment before flying away, allowing me to retract my limbs and roll to the side with a gasp.

"EDDIE!!!" Was I hallucinating? Because that was Dustin Henderson's voice yelling my name... While he trotted in my direction. "Eddie!"

Oh, no. It really was him.

"Holy shit..." His voice was shaky when he kneeled by my side, hands moving my vest and leather jacket out of the way to check the bites and gashes —and goddamnit did that hurt. "Can you breathe?" I nodded at the boy, biting the inside of my cheek to prevent the tears from spilling.

He came back for me? Y/n would murder me.

Y/n.

I tried to prop myself up, but the affliction didn't let me do much before wanting to curl up and cry. "W—where's your sister?" I asked in a soar whimper, my heart sinking at Dustin's distressed expression. "Henderson."

His lower lip quivered as he took a quick peek over his shoulder. With a tilt of my head, I too could see the flock of bats fiercely winging its way to my trailer which was... On fire? And—

"Y/n." I choked out, seeing the girl's figure running on the rooftop. My terrified eyes shifted back to Dustin and found him trying to hold back a sob.

This couldn't be happening.

When I saw the monsters start to revolve around Y/n, I used all my willpower to sit up and bring Dustin to my chest, wrapping my arms around him while guilt weighed on my stomach, heavy enough to make me want to throw up.

The sound of a bat slamming atop the trailer made us flinch. Then another one, and another one, and then it felt like it was hailing rocks.

I loosened my arms around the kid for him to witness a miracle if I had ever seen one; the bats were sprawled all around the trailer, and either Y/n was running towards us or I was delusional.

"DUSTIN! Fuck..." Y/n threw herself to the ground, breathless, much like her younger sibling had done. She scrambled to situate herself behind me, gently moving me to lean on her chest. "Help me take of his jacket!"

"W-What happened?" The boy asked, speechless yet compliant at his sister's words.

"They— they just dropped dead." She explained, her fingertips stripping me from my vest with some struggle and a few grunts from me. "Lift his shirt."

"It's... It looks like Steve's."

"Shit— Alright, swap places with me." The boy limited himself to take on the spot of his sister while I did my best to stay upright.

"You're... Not gonna stab me, are you?" I didn't quite know if I meant it as a joke or not, since she was pulling out her machete.

Ignoring my question, Y/n discarded her jacket, tossing it aside; her knitted sweater followed lead, and, to our surprise, she proceeded to remove her shirt, which left her in her bra.

"Woah."

"What the—"

"Shut up, both of you." Y/n demanded, her welled irises flickered at me, using the blade to tear the tee's fabric to create several bandages. "Hold this."

With Y/n's skillful hands, Dustin's help and a series of hisses falling from my lips every time pressure was put on my wounds, I was patched up in no time.

"Okay," Y/n threw her sweater and jacket back on and circled my body, kneeling right besides me. "let's go—" without warning, she tried to pull me up, only to fall back down with Dustin's taken aback yells and a distressed gasp that accompanied my body stiffening.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Dustin scolded her. "You think we can carry him?!"

"You got a better idea?" Though Y/n's question appeared to be rhetorical, Dustin's expression shifted as he pondered our options.

"Guys, leave me here."

"Shut up!" The both of them shouted back in unison.

"Okay I think I got it." The youngest Henderson whispered to himself before getting up with difficulty. "I'll be right back." He declared, tossing my vest and jacket in Y/n's direction.

"Wait!" The girl reached for her weapon and handed it to the freshman, who gave her a puzzled frown. "There's a literal pile of demobats."

"They're dead, genius." He reasoned in a condescending tone.

"We don't know that." She countered as if she was talking to the dumbest person in the world. "Just take it and shut up." With a huff, Dustin obeyed and took off as fast as he could towards the trailer park. "You're a fucking idiot, you know that?" She grumbled, accommodating my upper body against her chest as carefully as possible.

"Me?" I pointed my index finger at myself, tilting my chin up to meet her gaze while she reached for my jacket to throw it on top of me. "Weren't you the one commiting arson on my rooftop?"

"And whose fault is that?" The light banter I was attempting in order to cheer her up banished, leaving room for yet more guilt. "I didn't mean it like that." She explained, regret staining her face. "It's not on you, I'm sorry." Her forearms wrapped tenderly around my shoulders before she leaned forward to bury her face on the crook of my neck. "You're right, I was the stupid one this time." She mumbled, shattering my heart a little when I felt a tear fall on my uncovered skin.

"You saved my life." I pointed out, my ring clad hands traveling up to give her forearms a reassuring squeeze. "My hero." Looking to the side, I was able to meet her watery gaze, as she lifted her face from the safety of my shoulder. "My stupid, stuuupid hero." I added with a toothy grin, which only grew brighter when a soft, bittersweet laugh escaped Y/n's lips.

"Look who's talking." She quipped. "Mister 'I'm buying more time'." She parroted my words, making a bad impression of me. "Fucking Idiot."

"You love this idiot." I teased, making her look away, a reddish hue staining her cheeks. "And this idiot loves you." I finished in a tone serious enough for the embarrassment to leave her face and be substituted by a content gleam. "He really does."

"Even if I lost his lighter?" She sheepishly questioned, motioning at the still burning rooftop with a tilt of her head. She clearly felt repentant about it, but I could only beam at her in surprise.

"You had the lighter on you?"

"Duh! I loved that lighter." She noted, her eyes staring straight into my soul with such fondness that it alleviated the splitting pain of my wounds. "You were very brave, by the way, but don't that ever again."

"I can't promise anything." I joked, making her sigh exasperated, her forehead falling onto my shoulder, one of her hands slipping down to squeeze my bicep.

"This should do!" Dustin spoke, breathing heavily while rushing in our direction, driving a wide wheelbarrow full of bedsheets and cushions. "We'll move you here and then push. And I was thinking" He began, stopping by me to help Y/n get me up. "trying to get you through the gate's gonna be hell, so," He paused, using all his strength to move me; I didn't my best to help, taking laboured breaths to mitigate the pain I was under. "we can carry him to the place where Fred died."

"That's" Y/n huffed, relocating my weight against her to walk me to the makeshift stretcher. "actually very smart."

"Don't sound so surprised, the kid's a genius." I spoke, letting myself fall into the fluffy vehicle with a grunt. "Hey Dustin? I love you, man."

"I... love you too Eddie." The siblings shared a bemused smile. "What's gotten into him?"

"He's in a sappy mood." Y/n whispered in a teasing tone, giving my shoulder a pat. "Might be the loss of blood." She added, taking on the task of pushing the wheelbarrow. "How's your ankle?"

"It's alright."

"You know? This butthead" Y/n leaned forward for me to see her point at Dustin. "threw himself through the fucking gate."

"You did the exact same!"

"Uh no? I didn't fuck up my foot."

"It's not my foot, Miss smarty pants."

My attention jumped from one siblings to the other, finding their bickering as entertaining as any other day. No one would have guessed we had just gone through a near death experience.

Hearing them laugh and periodically check on me, making sure I was doing alright, had me thinking about how smart I had been taking Dustin under my wing, and how lucky I was to have entered Y/n's heart.

Two Hours Earlier

"Okay, bad news." Dustin announced from the kitchen, head buried in the fridge while I lounged in his couch, legs sprawled on the cushions.

"No beer?" I guessed, my attention put in some action figures the freshman had sitting around.

He shook his head no with disproportionate grief. "I got... Yoohoo?"

"Fuck yeah, I love Yohoo." I jumped up from the couch and waltzed to the adjacent room where Dustin was pulling out a couple of chocolate drinks. "So—"

"DUSTIN?! IS MY SKETCHBOOK THERE?!"

The younger boy and I froze, our bodies tensing up; the terror in his wide eyes rivaled with mine.

"I thought you said there was no one home?!"

"DUUUSTINN?!"

"She's supposed to be out!" Dustin hissed back at my whisper-yelling through gritted teeth. "I'm so dead."

I rushed back to the living room, basically throwing myself over the coffee table to get my metal lunchbox and my van's keys.

I had been banned from the Hendersons' house by Dustin's lovely mother at the beginning of the school year. It was somewhat understandable; if a scary looking senior had driven my son back home late at night, nearly mowing down my mailbox, I also would have been pissed.

So, had I known there was a remote chance of us not being alone, I would have declined Dustin invitation to hang out at his place after bringing him back after the campaign.

"Gogogogogo!" The kid hastened me, his hands pushing my back, as if I wasn't already half sprinting to the door.

"Y'know, when someone calls your name—" We all came to an abrupt halt at the hall; Dustin, me... and Y/n. "What. The fuck." I took a step back in fear, even though she limited our interaction to giving me a mildly bemused look.

"Why are you home?!" The younger sibling attempted to divert the attention from me, stepping further into the hall that, I supposed, led to his sister's room. "You're supposed to be at Stacy's or something!"

"Why am I home? Why's he home?" She inquired, eyes wide and hand motioning at my form. "You know the rules. Mom's gonna kill you."

"I was just dropping him home." I prevaricated, my hands raised in surrender.

"Oh God, please." She scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "You've been here for at least an hour, I heard the door."

"Oh c'mon, Y/n!" Dustin groaned. "Can't you be a cool sister for once?" The girl's mouth gaped in vexation, but the curly-haired kid opted for another approach before she could chastise him. "Listen, look at him— look at that face. You think that's the face of someone who should be banished from our house?" Y/n looked over Dustin's shoulder to examine my face, her head tilted to the side, arms folded and lips pursed. "Look at those big brown eyes, Y/n."

Half to help out Dustin and half to make a joke out of it, batted my lashes at her, chin casted low and arms behind my back.

Y/n's brow quirked at me, eyes darting at the metallic lunchbox with a shrewd look that screamed 'I know what that is', which triggered an anxious, almost sheepish giggle on my part.

I shared a few classes with Dustin's sister. We were far from friends, but I had talked to her enough times to know that she not only didn't despise me, but was also a decent person.

She was, however, quite scary too, and having her staring down at me wasn't helping the situation.

"Please, Y/n," Dustin begged. "He was about to leave."

She evaluated us both with squinted eyes, pondering her words, "what do I get out of it?"

Dustin eased at her sister's question, which allowed me to release some anxiety of my own. "What do you want?"

"I need a ride." Despite being her brother the one she was negotiating with, her gaze was fixed on me, her eyes holding ulterior motives.

"A rid—" Dustin scoffed, peeking at me. "A ride? From him?" He pointed his thumb at me over his shoulder.

"No, Dustin, from you." She retorted. "Since you clearly have a license and a car now."

"Ha ha. So funny." Y/n exhaled with the ghost of a confident grin at the younger Henderson's bitter tone. "Eddie's not driving you anywhere."

"Where to?" I jumped in, shocking Dustin but not so much Y/n. A spark of pride did cross her face, though.

"I'll guide you." I gave her a nod in agreement. "Gimme a second."

As Y/n disappeared into what I guessed was her room, Dustin stalked in my direction. "Don't."

"'Don't' what? I'm doing you a favor here, man." I spun the van's keychain in my index finger. "Taking one for the team so you don't get grounded."

"Ha! 'one for the team'. Sure." he narrowed his eyes at me. "I bet you're gonna suffer by giving Y/n a lift."

I gave my head a nonchalant shake, a mischievous half smile tugging on the corner of my lips. "I dunno what's that supposed to mean."

Dustin's menacing index finger raised to my face. "She's off limits."

Before I could wisecrack anything, Y/n was out of her room, jacket on, strolling to the front door. "Don't cry, Dustybun, he can come back any other day, these lips" she pointed at her mouth, rotating to stare at her baffled brother. "are sealed. C'mon!" Y/n gave my hand a tug and, soon enough, we were out of the house and in the van.

It took Y/n five minutes in the road to tense up. At first, she didn't comment on it, choosing to focus on the music playing. Then, I hit a curb.

"Do you even have a license?" She inquired after clearing her throat. "Turn left here."

"Are you implying I can't drive?" I obeyed, turning my face to her with a frown.

"I don't need to imply it." She retorted, knuckles white from gripping the grab handle too tight. "Show me your license."

"Can't you take my word for it?" Though her eyes were shut, I knew very well she could hear the amused smile twisting up my lips.

"No."

"Alright." With a dramatic sigh, I let go of the wheel with one hand, leaning to the passenger seat's side to reach for my license; I wouldn't confirm nor deny, that I momentarily forgot I was the one driving.

Y/n's yelp, along with the van briefly sinking into some kind of pothole, brought me back to reality.

"Woah! Okay my bad." I sat back upright with a nervous chuckle, eyes darting at a livid Y/n. "You're such a scaredy-cat."

"Erase that grin from your face, Munson!" She demanded, making me gnaw on my lower lip in order to comply. "You're gonna get me killed!"

"You literally asked for this." I quipped with a laugh, slowing down the van for the sake of Y/n's heart. "Straight ahead or to the right?" I consulted her, seeing the crossroads ahead of us.

"Your choice." Exhaling as if she had just ran a marathon, she eased up in the passenger seat. "I just wanted a ride."

"What?" I did a double take on the girl, processing her words. "I'm just aimlessly driving you around?"

"Yup." She responded, popping the 'p'.

"Couldn't you, I dunno, go for a walk?"

"At night? in Hawkins?" She raised her brows at me with a snort. "Hell no. Plus," She spared me a glance. "if I can get myself a night ride, I will."

"You're so damn weird."

"You're one to talk." She laughed, making me smile in the process. "I wouldn't have snitched, by the way." Y/n confessed. "I just wanted to give Dustin a hard time."

"Oh so you're actually 'a cool sister'." I teased, recalling her younger sibling's words.

"Not as cool as you or Harrington, but I try."

"I'm cool?" I scoffed in surprised, my attention as fixed on the road as it would ever be.

"Dustin says so." My head spun to her once more; her elbow supported by the window, temple resting on her palm. "I kinda agree— Eddie!" Her hand shot to reach for the steering wheel, giving it a swift turn. "Eyes on the road!"

"Y/n, calm down." I urged her with a laugh, correcting the van's direction whilst mentally scolding myself for scaring the girl. "I've never had an accident, and first one isn't gonna be with you here, 'kay?"

She muttered something I couldn't quite catch under her breath, giving her head a slight shake. This was followed by a short silence I was about to break, but Y/n was faster.

"Since when have you been selling?" She inquired with apparent innocence, quickly following her question with, "If it's not too personal— I don't wanna overstep any boundaries."

"No, it's fine." I side eyed her, my attention still on the road, even when my whole body begged me to turn to look at her. "Three years now. Why?"

"Just curious." Oh, that was a lie. She pondered for a second before asking yet another question. "Do you just sell it, or do you...?"

"Both." Silence. And another question.

"How is it?" I responded with a confused 'huh', to which she clarified, "Smoking weed. How is it? Like," her position shifted in a way that her whole upper body was now turned to me. "is it fun?"

"I mean, kinda" I shrugged, noticing how her voice carried that ulterior motive once more. "It's more, like, relaxing y'know?"

A shared, expecting look was what it took for her to spill the beans.

"What are your prices?" Shocked to my core, I pumped the breaks almost instinctively, making her form dangerously jolt forward. "Jesus Christ, Eddie!" Her right hand clutched the collar of her sweater in terror. "Wanna kill me?!"

I disregarded her last two sentences, still stuck on her previous question. "You wanna buy weed?" My tone was high pitched due to the disbelief, and when she nodded, an anxious laugh escaped me. "Absolutely not."

"Excuse me?"

I snorted, eyes open wide at her confusion, as if the reason for my panic wasn't obvious. "Dustin will have my head on a fucking platter."

"I'm the big sister here." She countered in a stern tone, leaning back against her window.

I groaned, throwing my head over the steering wheel at her expectant, defiant glance; she was right and she knew it. But I was, too. Her younger brother would murder me with his bare hands if something happened to Y/n because of me.

"You don't know how to do it." I stated, hoping to find a starting point to convince her not to make a drug deal with me.

"Teach me, then." I lifted my head again, even more taken aback than before. "Walk me through it." She suggested with a careless shrug.

"Are you asking me," I took my pointer finger to my chest. "the scary freak who's not allowed in your house" my brows raised so far up that they would surely meet my hairline. "to walk you through getting high?"

"It's not like you're dangerous." She pointed out, unbuckling her belt to sit sideways and be able to stare at me.

This girl kept leaving me speechless —which was not unusual, it just hadn't happened whilst talking one-on-one. "How do you even know that."

"We share classes, dude, you're a goofball." She snorted, titling her head to the side. "So, how much is it?"

"I'm not selling you anything."

"Eddie!"

"I... Mmm— okay, you just wanna try?" her head shook affirmatively. "We can... smoke together." her eyes lit up in a way that screamed trouble, which terrified me and excited in equal parts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Fucking—"

"Shh!" She hushed me from the inside, tiptoes on her mattress and hands on the windowsill.

"Stop sushing me and give me a hand!" I urged her, my upper body into the room and my bottom out in the open.

We were not supposed to be there. The initial idea —crafted by me—, had been to drive her back home, share a joint in the back of my van, and then go back to the trailer park.

Y/n had voiced her concern about this; she believed I would most likely crash if I attempted to drive stoned, and insisted on sneaking me into her room for the night.

Not having the heart to tell her that it wouldn't be the first time I drove stoned, and finding very appealing the chance of spending alone time with Y/n Henderson, I caved in rather quickly. Plus, it was Friday, what could be the harm? I would just leave in the early morning and no one would ever know I was there.

"You're gonna have to roll." Her hands took mine, tugging them down to the bed while she simultaneously climbed off it. Her palm pushed my back for me to be upsidedown while gravity forced my body to slide in.

"I-fucking-hate-this-I-fucking-hate-shit-FUCK!" With a yelp and a thump too loud for anyone's liking, the struggle was over. "Okay. That wasn't so bad." I announced with a thrilled grin, pushing myself off Y/n's blankets to sit up properly on the edge of the bed.

"Uhm," she jogged to put the door on the latch. "How do we do this?"

"We should do it near the window," I tilted my head up. "for obvious reasons. Get comfortable."

"Sure," she kicked of her shoes and prompted me to do the same. Our jackets and my vest ended up poorly discarded at the foot of the bed by the time that Y/n and I found ourselves sitting against her wall, her legs crossed and one of mine pulled to my chest while the other laid sprawled on the soft surface. "So— uhhh..."

I spared her a side glance, my expertise hands pulling out of the lunchbox an already loaded joint. "You nervous?"

"No?" I felt her curious eyes on me as I twisted the end of the rolling paper. "Kinda. In a good way."

"In a good way?" I questioned with a mildly confused half smile, placing the joint between my lips in order to light it.

"Yeah, you know, like" her words paused as she focused on analyzing how I took a drag out of it. "Excited."

I breathed out the smoke, giving her an understanding nod. "I think I get it."

And I did get it; that was exactly how the last two hours with her had felt for me.

"Your turn" I took the reefer between my index and my thumb and handed it over to the girl besides me. "Take a short puff but—" Too late for warnings; by the time I was about to finish the sentence, she was already coughing her lungs out, which made me snort in mirth. "Take it easy."

"You could've" she tried to hold back the coughs as she handed me back the joint. "said that earlier."

"You didn't let me!" I defended myself, taking the rolled up weed from her grasp, eyes never leaving her form, shaky, first from the coughing, then from quieted laughter. "The key is to start slow." I breathed in the weed, holding it for a second before releasing the smoke. "And, since is your first time, just take a couple of puffs— Shit," I cursed, seeing the ashes in my jeans. "You got an ashtray by any chance?"

"Nope but—" She threw her torso over my lap, stretching out her arm to reach for a small bowl on her desk. "We can use this."

All from sudden the ceiling was very interesting to me, my body tensing up under hers. "I could've gotten it for you."

Y/n was quick to retract to her original position, placing the bowl between us. "Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"Pffft— No?" I half lied, taking a long drag while my eyes roamed the room, because, yes, the ceiling was very interesting, but having her figure pressed against mine was just...

"You sure?"

"Mhmm." I blinked myself back into reality, stopping my mind from wandering too far. You're here for a reason, I told myself. "Okay, try again, but this time," I placed the weed back on her lips. "Take it slow. Short puff. Aaaand hold it for a sec." She did as I instructed her, her fingertips brushing mines while we switched the hold of the joint, sending shocks all the way from my digits to my spine.

Maybe getting stoned with her in such a private, intimate place had not been the best idea ever.

She released the smoke with closed eyes and no coughing this time. "Like that?"

"Yeah." She passed it too me with her eyelids still shut, and I wondered if the weed was already taking effect for her. "You alright?"

"Uh-huh." She rested her head on the wall.

A few minutes passed before Y/n spoke again, sounding as confused as ever.

"Why is it... not kicking in?"

"I—" I gave her a puzzled look, examining her features before stating, "I think it... May be kicking in, Y/n."

"Uhhhh nnno?" She dragged the 'n', accompanying the rhetorical question with a snort.

"You sure about that, sweetheart?" I teased, offering her to take another puff, not without reminding her to by prudent with the intake.

"Pooositive." Oh, it definitely was kicking in. She noticed that too, her eyes opening wide at the realization, perplexed gaze turning to me. "Woah."

I tried to keep myself grounded, despite starting to feel the effects too, since I was supposed to be aiding her. "You feelin'... okay?"

She gave me a slow nod. "My body feels funny." She frowned at her own words before letting out a soft titter.

"This is gonna be hilarious." I declared sliding down the wall to a pretty bad yet awfully comfortable position on Y/n's bed. "Take it veeery slow now, though." I advised, looking up at the girl, whose posture had changed too.

She bobbed her head, smoking once more before handing me down the reefer, her eyes squinted at me for a hot second.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I play with your hair?" A silly smile twisted up the corners of my lips before I could mask it, which triggered a giggle from the girl above me while I moved to lay my head on her thighs. "Ughhhh it's so soft." She dramatically groaned, burying her fingers on my scalp and consequently making my eyes roll into my head. I could barely hold myself from moaning. "Oh wow."

Realizing I had, in fact, not held it back at all, I clapped my hand over my mouth, feeling the heat creep up my neck.

"That was... a reaction." She teased, carding my locks with an amused smile, fingers slow and clumsy due to the weed. "You good?"

"Mhmmm." I shut my eyes, trying to keep it cool.

"You sure?"

"Yea—hhh" in panic, I instinctively grabbed her wrist when her hands dove deeper into my mane, scratching my scalp. I didn't know what was more mortifying; Y/n getting those reactions out of me, or the fact that she snickered. "I'm—"

"It's okaaay." She gave my head a pat, leaning back on the wall before taking her last drag for the night.

Time seemed to stretch and contort, at some point, Y/n had decided to blast an Abba cassette as a background noise to muffle our giggles and disconnected conversations.

Our position had pretty much stayed the same, and now Y/n's fingertips being tangled up in my locks felt like white noise to my body; a very, very pleasant one.

"I like this. Mmmm yeah, I like this." She affirmed to herself in a satisfied manner before letting her eyes look down to me. "Tell me your prices, baby."

"I'm not selling you aaanything." I repeated my words from earlier, waving my hands before my face as an emphasis.

"What if" she folded to face me. "I stroke your hair hmm? What 'bout that?"

I struggled to peel my eyes off her inviting lips. "You, Y/n Henderson," I took her face on my hand to shove it lightly. "Are a minx."

She only laughed, going back down, this time closer. I would only have to prop myself up a few inches and—

"Nope." This time, it was my face the one covered by my hands. "You're—"

"Off limits?"

"High." I corrected, peeking through my fingers at her once her words reached my mind. "Off limits?"

"I heard Dustin." She sat upright with a scornful laugh, fingers leaving my hair. "My fourteen year old brother has you on a chokehold."

"Excuuuuse me, m'lady," I jumped on the bed knocking the ashtray down on my way to invade her personal space. "Who said I'm listening to your literal tadpole of a brother about who is and who isn't off limits?"

I only managed to appreciate the look on her face once we were inches away. That proud, satisfied, borderline cocky look she sported when she got what she wanted.

"You. Are. Goading me!" I announced in shock, seeing the slyness twist her features— goddamnit why was that so attractive?

"Is it working?" She whispered the question with a lewd smirk.

It was. It really was, but it wasn't right. "I... Have principles. And you" I pulled away, leaning back. "are horny 'cause you're high."

"I. Am. Not." She declared, accompanying each of her words with a thump on the mattress.

"Horny or high?"

"Screw you."

"You should thank me." I traveled further away from her until my back hit the side of her desk. "I'm saving you the embarrassment of making out with me."

Whatever playfulness we had going on dropped. She seemed almost offended by my words. "Eddie, for fuck's sake." She tugged my wrists, making me scurry back to her before cupping my face with her palms. "That's ssso fucking dumb. Are you dumb?"

"Am I dumb?" I queried, words mushed due to my cheeks being squeezed together. I am for not kissing you, I thought to myself, dilated pupils falling on her lips.

"Yup." She confirmed, letting me know I was thinking out loud for the nth time that night. "Can I... uhh... ask you somethin'?" I gave her an affirmative hum, sighing at the loss of contact when her hands dropped from my cheeks into the bed. "Do you... Nevermind."

"What? No!" I shoved her shoulder before she lied on her back, hands over her head. "C'mon! what is it?" She shook her head 'no', jumping when I poked her side. "C'monnnn!" Another poke, another jump. "Y/n!" Another one.

"Eddieee!" She squealed, trying to push me away in vain due to the giggles.

"Tellmetellmetellme!" I mashed the words together as I climbed on top of her, tickling her until she was a mess of laughter.

"Eddie stop!" She managed to sputter out, setting for tugging my flush against her body before wrapping her arms around me, which turned out to be just the right way to get me to cease my attack, because her embrace was warm and gentle and loving— so loving that I found myself forgetting about whatever question she was going to ask, melting into her hold instead.

If someone were to ask, I wouldn't be able to respond how long we stayed like that; what I could pinpoint, however, was the exact moment that sobered me up.

The violent knock on the door.

Still coming down from the peak of her high state, Y/n didn't quite register what she was doing when she pushed me off and rushed to the room's entrance, unlatching the lock.

"Y/n wait—"

"Hey there Dustybun." She attempted to hold back a snort at the sight of her horrified younger brother, of which I was able to catch a glimpse once I got up from the bed. "Did I wake you?"

"What—" once he spotted, his eyes went so wide that it looked like they would pop out of his skull. "What are you doing here?! Why was she yelling your name?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

"It's not what it looks like, man, I swear." I whispered, getting closer to the door.

Dustin shoved us out of the way and his gaze traveled from the messy bed, to our discarded layers of clothing, and to our toulsed hair and disheveled appearance. "Oh, I bet." He hissed. "Get out." He demanded from me, pointing his index finger at the front door's direction.

"He can't," Y/n moved to stand between us and whispered, "he's high."

Dustin, whose brain was going surprisingly slow considering how smart he was, managed to put two and two together. "Y/n, please tell me you are not high."

"He can't go home, he's hiiigh. He gotta sleep here." Y/N whined, blatantly ignoring her brother's inquiry, which was an answer on its own.

"I swear." He pinched his nose, shaking his head in disappointment. "Okay, Eddie you come to my room. And you" he pointed at Y/n. "be thankful I don't feel like waking up mom."

"You're an angel." She sighed in contempt, planting a loud smooch on Dustin's forehead, which made him shove her away with a disgusted face.

"Do I get a kiss too?" I blurted out without giving my words a second thought. "I'm sorry I—"

"Excuse you?" The curly haired boy seemed so outraged that I wouldn't have been shocked if he had punched me in the spot. "I swear on my mother's life— Y/n!"

Dustin was shocked. I was shocked.

Y/n clearly wasn't, since she had been the one to take a surprisingly firm hold of my face in order to plant a kiss on my mouth.

Her lips felt so divine that I would have sworn I had died and ascended to heaven, and the weed was not helping that feeling, only alienating me further from reality.

It was short lasting, and left me wishing for her to kiss me silly.

It was Dustin's yank on my arm the thing that snapped me out of my trance. "No more sucking face, okay?!" He scolded us both, wrenching my form in the hall's direction. "Go to sleep, Y/n. Now." He ordered as we left the room.

She gifted me an apologetic smile before mouthing a 'night, Eddie', leaning on the door frame. Our eyes stayed locked until Dustin shoved me into his own room, not so far from Y/n's.

"What is WRONG WITH YOU?!" he seethed, shutting the door behind him. "My sister?! Really, Eddie?! And she's HIGH!"

"I'm sorry, man—" I tried in vain to apologize, Taking a seat in the freshman's armchair while he paced.

"No! Shut up!" He pointed a menacing finger at me. "I explicitly told you she's OFF. LIMITS. Do I have to spell it..."

My attention, sooner rather than later, drifted from Dustin's tantrum to a way more compelling topic; whatever had happened in the last hours.

It was just starting to dawn on me how surreal the situation had really been. Y/n and I had gone in one night from exchanging a couple of words in class to... To that.

And what the fuck was that exactly? Was it a one time experience? Would we go back to have simple interactions, such as greeting each other in high school halls and commenting Mrs. Click's class while she waited for Dustin at the cafeteria? Because I didn't know how awkward would that be.

I felt like I knew Y/n in a way I would have never expected to know her, and that had transformed my dumb high school crush into stupid fucking butterflies in my stomach at the thought of her.

"...Are you listening to me?!"

"Y-yeah." I shamelessly lied, fidgeting with my rings. Just like Y/n had been animatedly doing for a little while, earlier.

Why had she kissed me?

Fuck, I had way more questions than answers. I couldn't help but wonder whether she had done it because she was high or... Maybe because she... Liked me?

No way.

I buried my face in my palms, completely unaware of what Dustin might have been saying. I doubted I would obtain any answers to questions I would never have the guts to ask, so the best thing to do was to focus on the positive side of it all.

Y/n had turned a boring, borderline depressing Friday night into what would most likely be the best night of the year.

Thanks to the internet, people are certainly more open and flamboyant when it comes to the exploration of new things, and they certainly aren’t afraid to admit their deepest and most taboo fantasies. So when he reveals his fangs to you mid-thrust— the woman he purchased from the depths of the dark web— he’s a little surprised you don’t cower. 

“You’re not scared?” he asks, kitten-licking at the seam of your lips before giving them a little nip with his sharpened teeth. 

“Ohh,” you groan, eyes fluttering closed as he snaps his hips a little harder, “I’ve fucked things more monstrous than you.” 

“I don’t doubt that.” James smiles down at you, musing internally that his idea of monsters and yours must vary greatly, but he can’t deny he’s impressed, even though he knows he’ll miss the little thrill he gets from the fear twinkling in the eyes of his victims when they realise what he is. 

“Who would’ve guessed you’re into this?” he chuckles, almost proud as he runs the tip of his nose up the curve of your throat, inhaling deeply at the scent of your blood pumping beneath your skin. 

“Do it,” you whisper with a croak and James lifts his head in amusement.

“Say it again,” he urges, thrusting harder, and your eyes flicker open long enough to lock with his— pure azure crystal with the slightest hint of gold.

“Make me yours, Master.”

***

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