#emeangf

She almost never used the word ‘please’—unless it was used for selfish reasons or just mocking him. But the way her shoulder slouched and her eyes dropped earlier says otherwise.

Moments like these were rare. It wasn’t normal for her to feel down because she always made things interesting. Either laughing with her girls, rating clothes of unsuspecting students, tormenting teachers, or bluntly just making fun of Eddie—those always uplifted her spirits. But apparently not today.

“You seem down, babe. Care to tell me what’s wrong?” Eddie beckons as he starts up the van. When she shows no response, his palm comes over to her forehead and neck—to feel some sort of warmth. “Are you sick? Not feeling good?”

She sharply sighs and slaps his hand away. “Geez Eddie! Just drive! Alright? How hard is that to do?”

Eddie’s lip purses and stuns, not expecting this at all in a near light. But seemingly as it’s here, he’ll do his best to cheer her up even if he doesn’t clearly know what happened in the first place.

Without another beat, he begins backing up his van and drives off. The wind lets itself in as she dips her head to the open window—feeling the breeze slapping her face. Eddie looks at her and he can feel his heart break into pieces by then.

The last time she was in the same bent temper, they argued hard about it and didn’t talk for a whole two days. Eddie still hasn’t cracked the secret on what to do if your girlfriend is in a bad mood and won’t tell you what’s wrong. She always seemed to handle it quite fine on her own and come to her senses to look for him then—all right and all fixed. But the fact that he wasn’t able to be helpful on her situation didn’t gave him the satisfaction of a ‘good boyfriend’.

And he definitely wouldn’t let today be another wasteland.

She hasn’t told him where she wanted to go so Eddie parks where he wants her to be at the moment; his trailer. The moment the van parks, she hastily grabs her bag and heads inside first—leaving Eddie still unbuckling his seatbelt.

As he comes inside sooner after her, she was out of view and the trailer is dark. The musky smell still lingered as Wayne seemingly had forgotten to let it out before he went to work. Eddie clinks his keys to the table and takes off his shoes—her pink pumps on the ground and disheveled.

Now something so drastic definitely had happened. She wouldn’t throw around her babes carelessly even if she was paid millions for.

The door to his room was wide open and he comes in to see her lying flat on his bed, arms and legs sprawled and face down. He softly knocks on his door, “Babe? What’s wrong?” A grumble passes her lips and muffled on the mattress.

“What? I can’t hear you.”

She lifts her head stiffly and glares at him, “I said shut up.” She drops again and Eddie walks over to her. “Awe! Is my baby in a bad mood?” He sits down and rubs on her clothed back, soothingly. Her response was merely shaking her body in attempt to stop him but Eddie smiles, “Come on, you want this. You want me to comfort you, yeah?”

Despite conflicted, it’s the ultimate truth. She does want him to love on her, comfort her, brush her hair, dress her in his shirt, or perhaps kiss on her. Lately, the days have been heavy and the pressure of a lot of things came dawning inevitably. It wasn’t something easy to confide to Eddie because she didn’t want it to be serious. But now it’s clear that her problems can only go away if she allows Eddie to help take it away.

Her first tear falls and her cries unheard on the blankets—but still audible enough to send Eddie into panic. Not knowing if it’s true, he leans in close to her.

“Doll? Are you––Are you crying?”

“What the fuck does it look like meathead?”

She lets herself loose and begins sobbing hysterically, reaching for him. Eddie immediately pulls her and cradles her in his arms, still in a state of sudden shock over the events that conspired in the span of roaring seconds. His neck is now drenched and her cries vibrates through him. “Awe my love. What’s the matter?” he plants a kiss on her head.

Her palms rub harshly on her eyes, leaving no trace of the stinging tears she shed. “Fuck. It’s nothing––Just tired,” she says, looking down and tangling her fingers on his dog-tag. “From being a mean bitch to your boyfriend?” Eddie jokes and she lets out a chuckle before shoving her hands to his face.

“I’m only kidding! Now what’s wrong? Tired of what?”

She sniffles and hesitates, eyes meeting his full of assurance and pleas—more so that she might be reluctant to say her problems but knowing that it’s him, she’s comforted over the fact that he’ll never judge.

“Y’know. School? Everything’s just a pain lately. I’m barely holding up.”

Eddie listens intently. “And I didn’t wanna tell you because you have problems on your own! But sometimes it’s just so hard to be––alone? I guess?”

“Alone?!” Eddie springs up, “When have I ever left you alone?!” She chuckles and pulls him close, “Fuck you Eddie. Fuck you and your stupid friends too.”

Even though that’s not the main reason, Eddie still feels responsible because of it. Sure he had priorities and things that he does outside of their relationship—he always made up for it any chance he gets. Eating lunch together, always hanging out after school, going to her house after DND sessions, or bringing her along to his gigs.

When she notices the shift in his expression, she immediately shoots up. “I mean! It’s not about you! I just said it but it’s not the reason why!” she rambles and Eddie nods, “I know babe. But you should complain. I know you don’t technically tell me everything but you’re my girlfriend—you are entitled to grab and toss me around when you feel like it.”

Her body is still pressed on him as her crying no longer left an obvious trace. She loved being like this no matter the condition. And she loved him no matter what.

“Yeah, whatever. I love you.” She leans in for a kiss, to which he follows eagerly. “Now are you okay?” Eddie asks and she nods shyly in response, biting her lip in the process.

“Good! ‘Cause you were too silent for my liking!”

nancy stops reading the newspapers and enters their conversation, "no offense eddie. i just dont think she'd go for someone like you know", her voice trails. eddie beckons for her to finish but its already clear to steve and robin about what she means. "what the fuck does that even mean?", he says to which nancy shrugs to.

"ask henderson, or your brother, or lucas, even red! red definitely hears us every night", he rests his case. nancy shrieks in disgust.

"and surprise, she's the one that asked me out", eddie points to himself in all grace, "she. asked ME out. the eddie munson"

"and how long have you had this reoccurring dream for?", robin jokes, steve laughing in and softly punching her shoulder.

"it doesnt make sense. i have never seen you two together. last time i checked she's dating this guy from another school who is by far wayyyyy different from you. and she's totally super hot and would date someone like—", robin rambles.

"like me", steve cuts her off, smirking and checking himself out in the small hanging mirror on eddie's living room wall. nancy rolls her eyes at his statement. robin keeps in her laughter. and eddie is baffled and clearly raging in his seat.

"take a look around idiots. her clothes. her perfume. PINK SLIPPERS?", he stands up from his seat and darts towards his room. like a madman, eddie begins pointing out different items in his room that clearly belongs to her.

nancy, robin, and steve hears him rummaging through his drawers in frantic. soon, he emerges from his room and shows out a purple underwear with a white ribbon on the waistband. "this, this is hers", he announces. the three look at each other, either weirded out or garnering more things to say about eddie.

"more like stolen from a mannequin", robin comments, sending the two to suppress their laughter.

eddie's expression falls in distress. "fine! fine! you annoyi—", before he could finish, the front door of his trailer slams open. their attention darts towards it and their mouth gaps open.

there she was. eddie's realistic and definitely not a 'wet dream' relationship. but she looks angry as ever.

"eddie!", her shout dies down upon seeing the faces of his friends. the four of them stare at each other—the three in disbelief, while she's in annoyance.

"who's that?", eddie jogs to the living room, stops in his step as he sees her. his face lightens as his arms spread open, willing to pull her in a hug—"baby! sweetheart! the love of my life!"

before he could get close to her, she nags like a maniac. "WHY ARENT YOU ANSWERING MY CALLS?! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT TIME IS IT RIGHT NOW?!", eddie pulls his arms to his own embrace, eyes wide open as his brain tries to piece everything together.

time. day. wednesday. shopping spree. 1 hour late.

he looks at his friends, then back to her. "RIGHTTT! I WAS ON MY WAY WHEN THESE IDIOTS CAME IN! YOU KNOW WHAT LETS TALK ABOUT IT OUTSIDE", he laughs nervously, grabbing her waist and pulling her outside the trailer.

"wow", robin mutters as the couple exits the trailer.

"what the fuck!", she yells and pries eddie's arm away. "sorry! sorry! i forgot and we were hanging out", he reasons, hoping she'll somehow be kind this time.

"FORGOT? how could you forget and ditch me for your loser friends!", she kicks his knee. eddie groans in pain, looking aside and catches glimpse of steve, robin, and nancy eavesdropping on their conversation from the slightly ajar door.

"get up, go inside, get your keys, and lets go to the mall before i dump your ass so hard", she cows on him.

eddie nods and forces an obedient smile, limping back to his trailer as the trio scramble upon seeing him coming. he enters and grabs the key hanging on the wall, "what'd i tell ya? we're totally dating".

"yep! and you're gonna be single tomorrow"

eddie could feel like dying right now. in his living room where steve, robin, and nancy wait for him has battled against his girlfriend who's oblivious to everything.

"babe, you're assuming things again", he chuckled nervously. "no other girlfriend here, just playing guitar", eddie imitates floozy guitar noises and he could feel her cringe from the other end.

"okay? whatever loser", she says bitterly before shifting in her bed. "anyways, you wont believe what chrissy did earlier", her voice sings for another call about things she had seen early on. eddie knocks the phone on his forehead, cursing himself on the inside as her rambling voice echoes.

nancy peeks in his room, silently telling him to cut it off. "EDDIE GET OFF THE PHONE", she whispers. eddie looks at her in disbelief, "I CANT! MY GIRLFRIEND IS ON THE OTHER LINE!", he whispers back. they argue about it comically while little miss oblivious stays rambling.

"eddie? are you listening or what?", she suddenly asks. eddie returns the phone to his ear, swatting nancy away from afar, "hey! yeah of course! definitely couldnt go on a day without hearing your voice"

"then repeat what i said"

"uhm what?"

"if you're listening and not fucking your other girlfriends, repeat what i said"

eddie's lips presses into a thin line. "something about chrissy! yeah! so crazy right?", he laughs it off only to be met with a silent line. "I KNOW RIGHT?! ISNT SHE SUCH A DORK", she replies and eddie feels like he was lucky enough.

"eddie! can we just go and not do all of this stuff?"

"NO WE CANT BECAUSE A MONSTER IS TAILING US RIGHT NOW!"

"why the fuck are you yelling at me bitch"

- will somehow be close to max especially with the whole she's a target thing

"nightmares. i get that"

"do you get nightmares too?"

"i mean, everyday is a nightmare with eddie even if im not asleep. so yeah, i get nightmares too"

- will ask nancy to repeat instructions every second

- TELLS EVERYONE her favorite song in case 'she's next' but then her narrative changes cause she has sooo many favorite songs

"so my favorite song is every breath you take by the police–"

"i know babe, im your boyfriend"

"wait. why'd you tell me that your favorite song is _______"

"you told me yours is ________"

"so you guys would have like many selections. doesnt it work like that?"

- will try to operate a gun but settles with a baseball bat instead

‧˚꒰🐾୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

IN THE UPSIDE DOWN —

- "this is so not happening!" – her when everyone's jumping off the boat

- locks arms with eddie in the upside down and he finds her cute

"you're so cute all snuggled up on me"

"we're literally in the alternate dimension and you both are still like this"

- screaming and crying when they were getting attacked by the demobats

- KNOWS HOW TO RIDE A BIKE BUT DOESNT BECAUSE OF HER CLOTHES, so she's riding with eddie

- leads the group to her house

"well shit if my mom saw this she'll definitely yell at me because its dirty"

- wanted to communicate on the lite-brite when everyone stopped her

"B. I. T–"

"and we're done!", eddie says and pulling her away from the lite-brite

"WAIT! WHAT WAS SHE TRYING TO SAY?" – dustin

- literally tweaking when the stain on eddie's mattress was mentioned

- eddie: i dont know what those stains are

- her: 🧍🏼‍♀️

- screams 'oh my god' every second during the whole nancy ordeal

‧˚꒰🐾୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

PRE-BATTLE —

- wanted to wear pink clothes before the battle

- "why does the color matter? just wear this!"

- "well sorry ms. wears-whatever-she-finds-in-the-dumpster. im not dying wearing clearance like you"

- chitchats while everyone is getting ready in the field

- dustin and eddie jokes about her all the time

- "oh my god guys we should totally have dinner after this"

- everyone: 🙂..

- will totally have this heartfelt conversation with eddie

- "whatever happens down there, im so happy i get to do it with you"

- "me too. im happy i get to go on this crazy adventure with you"

- "are you two done or you need a minute to makeout or whatever"

- "a minute's not enough"

- was supposed to be on team max but stuck with eddie and dustin instead (per eddie's request to nancy cause he's hella afraid that they wont see each other again)

‧˚꒰🐾୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

POST BATTLE —

- stays in touch with the others

- often helps lucas take care of max whenever he has school

- decided to take a gap year while eddie focuses on his band

- meets el after awhile and totally gets stoked about her

- "so like tell me, does your scalp itch?"

- "itch..?"

- she's balls deep in this family now and wouldnt trade it for anything else

- joined steve and robin during their job hopping (didnt last long in the radio station because eddie FINALLY got gigs outside of hawkins)

- contemplating whether helping them on their final mission or move on completely and move away with eddie

Locals called it ‘The Hideout’ and it was where a few drunkards frequent. It was also a place for bands to come and play their music—something quite unheard of for her. When they arrived, the music had already started and there’s no stopping what comes next.

A group of young guys emerges out in dark clothing; already sweating even if their time hasn’t started. They proudly introduced themselves as ‘Corroded Coffin’.

“Wait? Isn’t that Eddie Munson and his geek friends?” her friend points out. She looks at the stage and see him up front, hair all disheveled, a bright red guitar squeezed in his ringed fingers.

“What the fuck?” she laughs in amusement. Also in embarrassment, not for her, but for them.

Eddie was notorious for a lot of things and never one good thing. He was deemed as a freak for his activities—i.e that D&D game, his friends, their music, his non-conformist attitude, and that nasty behavior. She also heard that he’s a drug dealer and knows a lot of people that buys from him.

She was weird to him. Always have and always will be weird to him. But tonight might be a different kind of weird in courtesy of her friends.

“You know, Eddie’s kinda cute. You and him would look good together,” one of them says. Definitely on purpose to make fun of her and not in a genuine manner.

“Get bent! There’s no way in hell I’d touch that boy even if it’s in my dreams,” she spats back while taking another drink, his band still deep into their chaotic juncture.

“Come on! He might charm you out. You both would look good together––a freak and a princess.” They laugh easy about it but by now, there’s a simple knot in her stomach. But somehow, it’s not discomfort or disgusted of Eddie—maybe a hint of curiousness that she doesn’t want to admit.

She’d be lying if she said that he doesn’t catch her attention when that’s all he has done ever since. Whenever Eddie’s sounding out his shenanigans at lunch, how riled up he’d be during his D&D sessions, or the way she’d catch herself staring at him whenever he passes by.

“Just admit it, you definitely have the hots for him,” her friend says and gives her a slight nudge. Maybe? Maybe not?

“I don’t. . .I think.” She doesn’t want to get shamed for admitting it but even if she does, she gets to control how it gets out. “Okay! Maybe I do! But it’s because he’s so obnoxious that it’s hard to ignore him!” They immediately start up upon her rambling, cheering loudly, saying ‘i knew it’.

Soon, they’re pointing at her and calling out Eddie’s name. “Hey! My friend has a crush on you!” they tease.

This seemingly had caught his attention as he squints to the crowd and lock eyes on her. A smile etches on his lips as he began head-banging to the beat of his own song.

Suddenly, he mistakenly steps forward and falls off the stage—cutting off the energy and show with him.

“Holy shit!” Now it’s true and done. She definitely has fallen for him.

⋆.˚♬⋆.˚

After Eddie’s accident, they left the bar immediately as more people started coming in. During the whole car ride was talking about him possibly splitting his head and then daring her to ask Eddie out on a date.

That thought hadn’t left ever since.

Third period had gone by and she was in front of her locker. The news of what happened in The Hideout reached everyone at school somehow. Jason and his friends were already making fun of them even before the day had begun.

From first period, she didn’t see Eddie at all. Figured his injury might have been too serious. Somehow, Eddie came rolling to school only a few hours later, looking fine and fine. He was trotting around with Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson—his pals from D&D. From where she’s standing, she could hear them talking.

“Dude, everyone’s talking about you! What the hell happened?” Dustin asked in concern. “You fell off the stage? Are you alright?” Mike chimes in.

She figured now’s a perfect time to talk to him as the other kids seemed preoccupied and won’t have time to notice her asking Eddie Munson out of all people.

“Hey boys! Hey Eddie!” She smiles and leans to the locker next to him. Eddie stops and shuts his small door, looks at Mike and Dustin, before back at her. “I was at your show last night, at The Hideout? How’s your head?” She asks innocently. The three boys seemingly can’t find the words to say.

Why the fuck was she talking to them—to Eddie?

Flustered over the silence, she clears her throat. “Anyways, do you have any plans today?" By then, Eddie had come to his senses and asks a dumb question, "Uhm. . .are you talking to me?"

Their awkward encounter had people walking by in suspicion, gossiping, and laughing with themselves. This is too humiliating, she thought.

With a grumble, she pushes him back lightly. "Who else am I talking to then you fucking loser! 7:00 pm at Enzo’s! Don’t be late or I’m so gonna regret this.” She got to walk away before he even had the chance to comprehend things.

The countdown has started and they’re both nervous.

⋆.˚♬⋆.˚

She’s confused why she spent hours getting dolled up for Eddie Munson. Six spritz of perfume instead of the usual four, layers of lipgloss, and hair more kept than how she used to do it. There wasn’t any doubt that she’s pretty for him—but this was a date after all. That is if Eddie ever remembered or took her seriously.

It was almost 7PM when she arrived out and gave herself a pep-talk. From the window, she can see Eddie occupying one of the booths—biting his nails, restless, and looking jittery. Good, she thought. He’s as nervous as she is.

He did come. Earlier than she did imagine which took out one worry off her list. She was unsure if Eddie took it genuinely or thought that she’s messing or pranking him. But here they both were, alive and willing as ever for this so-called date.

“You can do this,” she tells herself as she opens the door and walks in. The wind chime tunes out and Eddie looks up in anticipation. She smiles and waves at him, “Hey! Sorry if I’m late––my mom had to drop me off.” She sits across him and shrugs her shoulders. Meanwhile, Eddie looks still—shockingly staring at her with that beady doe eyes. Never blinking once or looking away from her.

His gaze sweats her off so she taps on the table and hides behind the menu. “What are you getting? I can do a burger and a milkshake.” Eddie snaps alive and softens, “Uhm yeah! Sure! I’ll have––I’ll have what you’re having.”

The waitress comes over and takes their order. Then the chaos begins.

It took a while before their food had arrived and by then, she’s starting up conversations. “Soo, how’s your. . .head?” Eddie blinks rapidly and runs his hand through his hair, “It’s fine! Minor injury! No biggie! I’m fine!”

Then silence for the both of them.

If someone was watching them on their first date, the only word to describe it was awkward. Or uncomfortable. Tight. Skittish. For two interesting people, they don’t quite work confidently with each other. Eddie would rub the back of his neck and shrivel away whenever her gaze lands at him.

The waitress arrives and they eat on their own accord. “I like your song by the way. . .before the accident then,” she smiles nervously and felt brave to wink at him playfully. Eddie catches this and freezes, bottle of ketchup in his hand.

“Eddie?” she calls out, motioning to grab the condiment from him. When her skin touched his, Eddie felt electrified and suddenly squeezed it enough for it to shoot on her.

“FUCK!” he exclaims. “SHIT! I’m so sorry!”

She rushes to grab tissues and clean the ketchup from staining but it was too late. Eddie reaches over to help her but she stops him, “No! It’s fine! It’s already ruined––Just stop.”

Eddie grumbles and sputters apologies. The date barely got any good and he already came undone in front of her. “Jesus. You’re a mess aren’t you,” she hisses.

“I know––I’m sorry! I was just. . .nervous.”

“Nervous? About what?”

“The way. . .you looked at me. . .”

A chuckle can’t help but pass her. She’s still angry about the spilled ketchup but he’s too cute. Knowing that she had some sort of effect on him—it kind of gave her some sort of satisfaction. At least now it’s confirmed that things aren’t one-sided and Eddie Munson also has the hots for her.

“I mean—why did you even ask me out on a date? We barely know each other and I really never thought you like me,” Eddie asked in amused confusion. Her eyebrow raises and snorts quietly, holding her palms out. “Woah! Who said I like you?”

Eddie’s smile vanished and he goes small, “Sorry, I thought—“ She rolls her eyes. “You can’t take a joke can’t you? No wonder why you’re a dog.” Her arms cross and leans in to the table, “I asked you out because. . .well. . .I can. Can’t I?”

Eddie blinks and nods immediately, shifting in his seat. “Of course! I mean! I’m here right now am I?” She smiles and starts going through her food, “Now can we eat? I’m dying to get out of here.”

The night started long ago but it only got interesting. Eddie still can’t help but apologize about the ketchup and she’s already starting to get annoyed. “If you say sorry one more time, I’m gonna have second thoughts about not being mad at you.”

Eddie strikes up a conversation about her classes, to which she bluntly replies on how boring it is. “How about you? How’s your classes?” she asks. “I don’t know. I barely go,” he’d say.

During their date, they’d find little things about each other and shared interests. She likes music, he likes music. She likes dogs, he does not BUT pretended he does just to talk about it. She likes shopping and hanging out with her friends after school, he does not like shopping and also hangs out with his friends after school.

“You know, you’re really nice Eddie,” she says after laughing at Eddie’s story about the time he almost got arrested. If Eddie had a tail, it’d be wagging by now as he eagerly accepts her compliment. “You’re pretty nice too––and pretty! And nice!” He hides behind his palms in all shyness.

She sighs and checks her watch, “I should get going. It’s pretty late and. . .we have classes tomorrow.” Eddie straightened fast, bumping his knee below the table as he scrambled to stand up. “I can drive you home! If you want!”

“Oh really? Or do you just wanna have your way with me at the back of your creep van?” she chuckles. “Uhm. . .If you want to––I don’t mind?” he says. A sly smile lines on her face, “Sure. I’d like a ride.”

⋆.˚♬⋆.˚

It took a good ten minutes before Eddie let her inside his van. He was going back and forth throwing trash out and spraying cheap cologne to hands out the smell. The moment she sat down, stains started showing up on her skirt—complimenting the red on her blouse.

“What’s that smell?” she asks and gags out the window. “Sorry! I smoke here––and eat, and y’know.” Eddie looks at her innocently and her gaze travels down his pants. “Ew! You fucking beat your shit here Munson!?” Her nose wrinkles and Eddie looks away.

Great! Now she thinks I’m gross AND a pervert, he thought.

He starts driving after she almost reluctantly gave him her address. The drive was silent and the tension was palpable. Suddenly, Eddie looks at the radio and decides to use one of their common ground: music.

“Why don’t we listen to music?” The first channel was a drama. “Next!” Commercial about a toaster. “Next!” Music station playing ‘Friday, I’m In Love by The Cure’ Eddie tries to take initiative to skip for her when she excitedly stop him. “Are you insane!? That’s one of my favorite song!”

She starts singing through it loudly, feeling the music swaying intently between the both of them. Eddie doesn’t listen to these kind of music. If he was in charge, he’d find the next Metallica song on the radio. But seeing her in this light shifts something in him that he never knew was dim.

Eddie definitely would not complain to be on her and with her after this.

They arrive at her house, basic local but much better than where he’s living. She tries to open the door but it’s stuck. “Crap! Sorry!” Eddie jogs out of the car and opens the door from outside. “This is a crappy car and I definitely don’t wanna see this on our second date,” she chuckles.

His lips parted in fond surprise, “Second date? You mean––we’re doing this again?”

“If you don’t want to then I guess not!” she walks past him but Eddie catches up and pulls her back. His hands rested on her shoulders as he leaned down, letting out a nervous chuckle. Eddie stared at the ground for a beat, gathering the courage to finish his thoughts before he meets her gaze again.

“No! I want to!” he hastily reassures her. “It’s just that––are you sure this isn’t a prank? If it is, please tell me! I’m gonna shit myself over here—“

Eddie nearly finished his ranting when she grabs him by the collar of his denim jacket and pulls him for a kiss.

It was still, long, and melting him off. He doesn’t know where to put his hands and so it stays to rest gripped on her shoulder.

She pulls away and Eddie’s half-lidded. “This is not a prank. I like you and yeah, I’d love to go on a second date with you.” She smiles and he’s down for another one.

Eddie stares at her for a beat, dazed and blissed. Then on pure instinct, he dives again for another kiss too fast and rapidly—bumping his face into hers.

“OW! THAT HURT!” she screams, lip busted and bleeding, courtesy of Eddie.

“SHIT! I’M SORRY!”

Weeks after that, Melissa Mackay jumped off the quarry. Her body was found days later, resurfacing from the depths. No one was there for her funeral other than close friends, her father, and few associates from the church. It was the talk of the town after that, but just like any other—nobody cared enough for the chatter to last. Melissa's father had been advocating and seeking justice for his daughter's fate outside Hawkins High—and somehow, she can't seem to shake the guilt.

Now it has been three years since the incident. She's still friends with those people, she's striving, and willing to leave everything behind. It was only recently, days close to when Melissa Mackay died, that guilt found its way back eventually.

"I feel bad for Mr. Mackay, it's been three years and he's still out there seeking justice for his daughter", Mike comments after reading the excerpt from today's newspaper. "Give me that", Eddie stops midchew and steals the newspaper from Mike. "Sucks too, I heard her father requested the school to broadcast her story every month but no one seems to care", Dustin says, digging his fingers through his lunchbox.

"Today marks the 3rd anniversary for the death of Melisa Mackay who jumped off the quarry in 1983. Close friends says she's been bullied, ultimately leading to this tragedy", Eddie reads and looks at his younger friends. "I wonder if her bullies ever feel guilty about this", Lucas says. Suddenly, Dustin recalls something he heard from some chatter, "I heard that your girlfriend and Melissa used to be classmates, has she ever tol–", before he could finish, the door of the clubroom slams open.

She walks in, her heels clicking on the dirty floor. "Hey guys", she greets them. They all turn to her collective, a smile on their faces. Eddie wipes his crumbed lips and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Ready for the show later?", she slumps in a seat and nods to Eddie's questions. He notices her unusual mood and can't seem to shake it away. "You doing okay there babe?", he asks. She lets out a heavy sigh and massages her forehead, "Yeah, just a headache".

"You sure you wanna go to the show later?"

"I can make it. Clinic already gave me tons of tylenol for it"

Mike begins reading the newspaper once again before she reaches over the table and snatches it from his hand, "You too? Unbelievable", he protests. "What's on the news today", she sings to herself, flipping pages to pages. "There's a new article about Melissa Mackay, the girl that died in the quarry", she stops due to Dustin's word. Her breath hitches as she tosses the newspaper back to Mike. Eddie notices this odd behavior—her reaction hinting at a long layer of history with the girl.

"Weren't you classmates with her?", Dustin asks. "Yeah, but we never really talked", she responds casually. "I wonder who's the people that bullied her. I asked Nancy about it and she can't seem to recall a thing", Mike converses with the others, setting his own take on the situation. "Steve said that he knows who it was and th–", before Dustin could finish, a slam on the table interrupts them. "I gotta go", she says in a hurry. Eddie shifts in his seat, alarmed by her, "Go where? You barely ate your food", he points to the takeout he bought her.

But she was long gone, exiting the room without ever looking back. They look at each other and shrug their shoulders but Eddie feels like it's something different.

She stumbles out of the door, heavily breathing as the pain strikes in her head again. Panic bubbles up inside her upon the mention of Melissa Mackay and her timely death. It was as if her headache and that girl came in one pack. It started days ago, when her mom had mentioned Melissa's father during dinner. It came by again, pulsating earlier in the hallway as she could feel dozens of eyes on her during the broadcast of Melissa's story.

She was responsible, but she wasn't a monster.

✼༶｡.:✽・ﾟ

It was nearing 6PM in Eddie's trailer and the show in the hideout was 30 minutes from now.

"Eddie! Come on we're gonna be late", she pulls away from him, Eddie desperately chasing her lips. "Fine, but only if this continues later", she nods and playfully pushes him away to get dressed. "We don't have to go to the show y'know?", he negotiates. "So you're ditching your lame ass friends", she stands up and walks to the mirror. Eddie creeps behind her and scoops her in for a hug, "That I'm 75 percent willing to do for you".

She breaks his embrace and walks out of the room, her heels greeting her from the entrance. "If we can get there by the time they open the doors, maybe we can stay a few hours or so and get back", she says, already envisioning the perfect night for them. "Maybe buy a few fries for a movie night?", her head turns to the dark, Eddie's rummage seemingly unheard of. "Come on Eddie! Let's go!", she calls out to him—but no answer.

Just then, the lights in the living room started flickering. She furrowed her eyebrows, slightly freaked out by this. "Eddie?", her feet bind her slowly back in the hallway, softly cowering. But before she could reach his room, a tall and dark figure appeared—catching her off guard. Her body drops to the floor as she lets out a blood-curdling scream. The figure begins slowly walking to her, revealing its almost fleshy-like state and a face too horrifying to describe.

"It's time for your suffering to end"

She manages to pick herself up from the floor and make a run for it. The change of Eddie's trailer was noticeable; colder, darker, and unfamiliar. From what was a short hallway from the bathroom to the entrance stretched further until it no longer resembled the Munson's abode. It felt like entering multiple doors, opening new entrances of an unknown house—all leading her in circles.

Eddie leaves his room, fingers trying to find his car key from the pile of conjoined keyrings. He looks up and sees her in the middle of the living room—just standing. Thinking that she's furious about the time, he chews the insides of his cheeks, "I told Wayne it was totally a bad idea to put all the keys in the same ring", Eddie chuckles. But as he approaches her, he realizes she wasn't anywhere furious—the flutter in her eyes says otherwise.

"Babe?", he calls out in confusion. "You alright there?", he asks again. His attempts not snapping her out, Eddie places her hands on her shoulders—giving her a shake. "Woah! What's wrong!", he exclaims, thinking it might be poisoning or something else. Suddenly, the lights in his home start flickering; not a familiar faulty wiring situation but an eerie realization.

"Alright! Time to wake up! This isn't funny anymore!", he claps his hands together close to her face.

Eddie's frantic voice seemed to have reached her. She can hear him in the depths of where she is—but unable to see him anywhere. "Eddie!", she calls out to him desperately, "EDDIE! HELP!".

"Eddie can't help you", a voice catches her attention. She turns around in hopes to find someone willing to save her; but what she says makes her stop—Melissa Mackay, wearing the same clothes back in 1983. "No one can help you silly", she laughs, "You couldn't even help me".

"Melissa", she mutters out. "But I- I thought you were dead", her voice chokes. Melissa starts walking to her slowly—mirroring her as she stumbles to walk back. "I am dead. You killed me, remember?", Melissa's voice sounded distorted; haunting and sick. Seeing her face to face, all the memories during junior year came flooding back. She sees herself and her friends in the hallway with Melissa, pleading for them to stop. But all she did was stand there and let her friends have their way—no matter how much she wanted to step up, there was nothing that she could and would do.

"Melissa please! I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't mean to do what? To ignore me? Torment me? Kill me?!"

Melissa snaps, tears escaping her eyes as they face each other. She can't help but feel guilty—that was it. The emotion, the questions to herself, all the sleepless nights after Melissa died—she is guilty. Her eyes closed out of fear, letting her sobs tune out as much as possible.

"It's time for your suffering to end"

She wakes back up only to be met by that same figure that followed her earlier. Her scream pushed forcefully out of her throat, only to be cut off by a long vine wrapping around her throat. "Please stop!", she barely chokes out.

Eddie's desperate, shaking the dear life out of her. The intense flicker of lights caught him off guard—like a loose energy surrounding him that he can't seem to pinpoint. His eyes wandered back to her, only to see her body floating in mid-air; slowly and away from him. He steps back, "Jesus", Eddie blurts out.

The figure reaches its long arm out, hovering over her face—seemingly trying to drain the life out of her. The hold on her neck gets tighter, everything has been blurry and too overwhelming. Her small desperate pleas fill the tension between her and the monster.

Eddie doesn’t know what to do. His eyes widen at the sight of his girlfriend in the state of no return—almost like she’s possessed by something wearing her face wrong. Then her body slams flat against the ceiling with a violent crack, the entire trailer shuddering, and Eddie stumbles backward, the shock knocking his breath clean out of him. He hits the shelf beside him hard, and everything goes at once—old tapes, boxes, loose junk raining down in a mess of plastic and dust. The stereo tumbles with it, smacks on the floor with a tumble; and suddenly Every Breath You Take floods the trailer, loud and distorted and so painfully out of place it makes his ears ring.

Eddie doesn’t move. He just helplessly sits there, frozen, staring up at her like if he looks away she’ll be gone for good. His hands hang useless at his sides, fingers twitching like they forgot what they’re for. His brain won’t catch up to his body, won’t tell him to turn it off, won’t tell him to do anything except watch. She looks wrong—limbs pulled too tight, eyes rolled back, chest not rising—and the music keeps playing.

Somewhere else, where the world is cracked and rotting and the monster's grip is crushing the life out of her, the sound bleeds through. Her eyes look forward, a vision of some sort in the distance—her and Eddie in his trailer. It pulls at her through the pain, through the fog, and something in the monster's hold falters—just enough. Her fingers jerk as she rips herself free with a scream. She drops, hitting the ground in a heap—even with the pain in her spine, she gathers the energy to run.

The distance slowly eases on, using the remaining will she has to continue. Never looking back and never stopping despite the unfamiliar pathway—all reaching to the light that awaits her. She throws herself to the opening, disappearing through it completely.

Her knees buckle as her consciousness finds herself back in the trailer. Before she could hit the solid ground, Eddie managed to crawl to her and catch her in time. Engulfing her figure in his arms, their helpless breaths mixed in with one another; full of terror and worry. "I got you, I got you", he breathes out and lands a messy kiss on the top of her head. Her, still desperately clawing onto him in fear that all of this is just another nightmare.

Eddie looks around, riding the high of his adrenaline. The lights, the messy clutter, the stereo spewing her favorite song, and her heavy breaths. It was all unexplainable—like a story that speeds up to the ending. In the dead of night, in the empty trailer, the song keeps playing—echoing. He doesn't focus on it, just on her as she cries from the horrors they both have seen and witnessed.

their eyes darted towards eddie who was flustered in embarrassment, "uhm.. have you seen–", before he could finish, chrissy stands up from her seat, "her audition's already done, i think she went outside", she says simply.

eddie nods to this, running out with a trail of thank you and sorry behind him. it was in the afternoon to eddie's luck—no one can see him looking like a lost dog and make fun of him afterwards.

his eyes squint from the sunlight, looking around the grounds to see a potential sight of her. from a distance, a girl sits on the flight of stairs leading to the main entrance of the school—wearing a familiar cheerleading uniform, pompoms still in her hands.

eddie jogs towards her direction. she sits there sulking, hand holding an icepack to her cheek. this near he could observe what happened to her—a bruise on her bicep, another one forming on her cheek, and a small cut on her lip (like the one he gave to her on their first date). "what happened?", he asks, kneeling in front of her and taking the icepack.

"flunked the audition. fell pretty hard", she mutters, energy all out from her voice. eddie cups her chin, facing her face left and right to assess possible more damages.

from a few moments, eddie thought it was a few broken bones, head split open, or maybe a dislocated shoulder—but this is fine. (he thinks)

"what were you even doing? b-boying?", he attempts to joke, only to be met by her lifeless eyes that makes him clear his throat. eddie presses the icepack softly on her lips, "i dont know! i thought my routine was good!", she sulks.

it was her long time dream to be part of the cheerleading squad. often sidelined when watching games, seeing chrissy and her team dance around kinda made her jealous. so when chrissy came up to her to invite her for an upcoming tryouts—she was thrilled. practicing in the trailer park, having eddie be his 'coach', investing in expensive shoes; she thought it would be her chance.

but during the last part of her routine, she slipped and fell on her side—landing a bruise on her bicep, cheek, and a busted lip. the cheerleaders were kind enough to help her back up on her feet, give her an icepack, and escort her out of the gym. but she felt like they were laughing at her when she left. that's when dustin saw her alone and went to tell eddie.

"it's okay babe. as long as you're not seriously injured", eddie reassures her, wiping the sweat on her forehead. "you'll get 'em next time", she smiles at his words. "i kind of like, think it's my fault though", she confides.

"why so?"

"i think its payback for talking bad about chrissy, and tiffany, and rebecca, tina, addison, olivia", she rambles on.

eddie chuckles, "well, i think thats valid. youre a greater cheerleader than all of them combined". she rolls her eyes playfully, "you should carry me to your van, im not willingly walking"

eddie stands up and takes off his rings, "with pleasure"

EXTRA SCENE:

"so like, when i was gonna do my final step—my leg slipped and i fell on my side", she rambles to wayne sitting across her with a confused look on his face.

eddie walks to both of them, holding two different mugs with one contained chocolate milk and water in the other. he places it down in front of his uncle and girlfriend as they continued their conversation.

he walks behind wayne and drinks his beer, looking at olivia who was all patched up and couldnt wait to tell wayne every single thing that had happened to her.

"like omg can you believe that?", she says, an unbelievable expression on her face that depicts her glee. wayne and eddie look at each other before chuckling, "i cant believe that"

"if you dance with me"

"didn't you hear me earlier dimwit? i said no"

"why nooooot?"

"because i'm not a tipsy creep at the bar, and a man in his underwear"

eddie plays a sad smile, stopping in his tracks to stare at her. "not even for a little bit?", he cooes. she stares at him in awful shock, "eddie what the fuck", eddie places the frying pan on the counter before coming up to her slowly, "come on sweetheart, dance with me for a little bit".

she hitches her breath and glares at him, "i swear to god if you touch me i'll leave right now", eddie inches closer to her—his arms out ready to catch her if she tries to run away. "leave? we both know you wont leave me", he grins.

before she could walk away, eddie grabs her softly in the waist—dragging her to the middle of the living room where the music can be audible heard clearer.

"i totally hate you right now", she mutters, hands on his wrist. "same here", eddie plants a quick kiss atop her nose.

the radio cackles, ending the melodies from eddie's favorite band. soon, a familiar tune plays—

♪ every breath you take ♪

totally everyone's favorite—but especially hers. eddie turns his head from the radio to her, a knowing smile etched in his lips. she chuckles, one of many that he can witness in a day.

"now will you dance with me?", he reaches his palm out, a sly gesture. she rolls her eyes merrily, "i cant breakdance to this moron", her palm lands on top of his with ease.

"so silly of me babe", eddie playfully slaps his forehead.

"will you slow dance to your favorite song with me?"

"absolutely"