#softspaceboibrian

The only reason he ever really enjoyed English was Y/N Henderson. She sat in front of him in English and History, and they had PE together. Eddie hated every single one of those subjects, but her presence made them less terrible. Not that they were friends or anything. She’s Dustin Henderson’s older sister; she’s the smartest person in the entire school, hell, possibly in all of Hawkins. And he was just Eddie “the Freak” Munson. She wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Of course, she was the kindest person in school, and she always smiled at him whenever they crossed paths. But still, he was the school’s freak. And she deserved better than him. Yet, he couldn’t help himself but smile back, or get a little bit excited when he remembered they had class together. He would never, for the love of God, admit the feelings he felt for her. He was completely sure that, if he just ignored them, they would simply disappear. It wasn’t like a tested theory, but he was sure it worked like that. It had to work like that.

“Bullshit.” Eddie was pulled from his thoughts by a soft voice. He quickly looked round the classroom, only to notice Y/N shaking her head. “Pardon me, miss, but it’s all bullshit.” Eddie was not sure what he had missed, but was now all ears.

A blonde girl from the first row snapped around to look at Y/N. And if looks could kill, Eddie was sure Y/N would be well on her way to the hospital now. “Do you have something to say, nerd?” He never really understood on what basis people used nerd as a mean name. As if being a nerd was a bad thing. Also, being good at school doesn’t make you a nerd.

“Actually,” Y/N sat up straight. “Yes, I do have something to say.” Eddie always found Y/N’s will to speak her mind fascinating. She always said what she believed in. And she always tried not to hurt anyone’s feelings in the process. “I think it’s bullshit that you think- actually, that everyone thinks that Romeo and Juliet is the epitome of love. I mean, let’s be real, that story is unrealistic. I know that Shakespeare had to stick to time a certain time frame and everything, but who falls in love on sight, immediately decides to marry each other, and not even three days later kill themselves because of the stupid decisions they took? Because, in this regard, we have to remember that Friar Lawrence plays a major role in their dooming end, since he is the one that suggests the whole poison gimmick.” Eddie could not help but smile. He found amusing the hurt look on the blonde in the front row as Y/N dismantled her beliefs, or at least he thought, he wasn’t really paying attention before. “I mean, I get how appealing the trope of the star-crossed lovers is. Really, I do. But are you really telling me that Romeo and Juliet’s is a better love story than Beatrice and Benedick’s, or even Rosalind and Orlando’s? I would so love for someone to carve love poems for me into trees so that our growing love could forever live in nature.” Did they read about that in class? Eddie had no idea who those people were and was more than confused at that point, but still extremely intrigued.

“That’s not what I was saying!” The blonde replied, obviously offended that someone had told her that she was wrong.

“Then what were you saying? I’m open to clarifications.” Y/N smiled kindly, but it was obvious that the other one didn’t take it as so. Eddie looked at the girl, waiting to hear her answer. But then the bell rang and everyone started gathering their stuff. Lucky girl, saved by the bell, he thought. He would have loved a bit more drama, it always made classes more interesting.

As everyone was rushing out into the corridor, Eddie included, the teacher tried to get everyone’s attention one last time. “Please, remember that next week we are moving all the way to the gothic novel and that you have to prepare a 3-page essay on any book you want from that genre.” He stopped in his tracks, right in the middle of the entryway, and was pushed aside by two guys who wanted to get out. What? And essay? When did she say that? If it had been any other time of the school year, he would have not cared, but Eddie knew that, with spring break coming up, he had to start working seriously if he wanted to graduate that year. Fuck, he thought. I’m fucked. He quickly looked around the room, as if a miracle could just fall into his lap.

Y/N was still at her desk, struggling to close her ever so full pencil case. “Miss Henderson” the teacher walked over to Y/N’s desk. “I know you’re passionate about literature, but you cannot answer like that to your classmates.”

“I know, ma’am… it’s just, they don’t understand it. They don’t understand literature and why it is important.” Y/N sighed, fidgeting with her hands. “You know I try my best to stay calm, but sometimes I just… I just can’t.”

The teacher smiled kindly at her. “I understand. Don’t worry.” She walked back to the front of the class and started cleaning the blackboard, before turning once again towards the girl. “Just, try to avoid using bad words next time.”

Eddie was standing right outside of the classroom, still panicking over the assignment, when Y/N eventually walked into the corridor. And that’s when an idea came to his mind: if Y/N was actually so passionate about people knowing more about literature, then maybe she would be so kind to help him. Yes, that made perfect sense. She would do what she loved, and he would become one step closer toward graduation. Also, on an even brighter note, he would have to spend time with her, which never hurt. He shook his head, trying to shove that thought in the far back of his head.

He looked around, his eyes scanning the corridor until he found Y/N’s figure walking alone towards the cafeteria. He started walking, almost running, trying to catch up with her. “Y/N! Wait up!” He found himself calling out for her, something he never really thought he would do. But he did. When Y/N eventually realised she was being called, she stopped and turned around. However, at that point Eddie was walking so fast that he didn’t stop in time and completely ran into her. “Oh, Jesus, I’m so sorry!” He started apologising immediately.

“It’s okay! You didn’t hurt me” Y/N laughed, looking up at him. He had never realised how tall he was compared to her. “Did you have something to ask me?” He couldn’t believe how kind she was with him. Any other person wouldn’t even have stopped for him, they would have just flipped him the bird or exclaimed something along the lines of fuck off, freak, and went on their way. But, yet again, she wasn’t any other person.

“I, ehm… yes, actually. I…” Then and there, Eddie thought about turning around and running away. But that would have been too embarrassing. So, he just went for it. “I was wondering if you could, maybe, help me with the English assignment. You see, I’m not really the best at English, but I cannot flunk this class, so-”

“Of course!” Y/N cut him off, still smiling. “Just know that you are the one that is going to do all the work, I’m just going to help. I may be kind, and you may be cute, but I won’t let anyone take advantage of me, alright?”

Cute? Did she just call him cute? Was she for real? Did she really think that? And why did he feel like he was a middle-school boy talking for the first time with his crush? What was that feeling in his chest? Also, why did he feel warm on the face and ears? Was he blushing? Fuck, how embarrassing! But still, cute? Did she find him cute?

“Hey-oh!” Y/N waved her hand in front of Eddie’s face. “Earth to Munson. Are you still there? Are you having a stroke?” She said playfully, pinching his arm as in a further attempt to gain back his attention.

Eddie shook his head, and then nodded. “Yes, sorry. I just… I really expected you to say no, so…”

“Okay, so it has nothing to do with me calling you cute, right? Because I wouldn’t want it to be a problem.” She chuckled, and Eddie was completely taken aback.

Come one, dude. Concentrate. You cannot get lost in your head whenever she smiles at you, or she’s going to think you’re a creep. “It’s not going to be a problem, I promise.” He laughed, raising a hand to the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. Definitely not a good first impression, Munson.

“Okay, so, I know you have Hellfire Club tonight, right?” She asked, and Eddie simply nodded in response. “You could come over to our house for dinner, which would mean I don’t have to drive back here to pick up my brother and I can get ahead with my assignment, because you would take him home. And then, after dinner, we can start talking a bit about what you’re going to work on.”

“Are you sure for dinner? Like, I don’t want to be a bother.”

Y/N put a hand on his arm and shook her head. “Not a bother, trust me. Plus, Dustin will be more than happy to have you over for dinner. He talks about you constantly, about your campaign and how cool you are. Like, really, if I didn’t know he was in a relationship with that Mormon girl, I would have sworn he was in love with you.” She laughed, and so did Eddie. “But really, if you want and can, come over for dinner.”

“I mean, it’s not like I have plans…” Eddie said under his breath. Or that many friends, for that matter.

“Then it’s decided!” Y/N smiled. “So, let’s recap: after school you have your D&D meeting, then you drive Dustin home, we have dinner, and after that we’re going to start working on your assignment. Sounds right?”

“Perfect!”

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“You have actually invited Eddie “the Freak” Munson over to your house? You’re not joking!?” Like every other day, Steve had picked Y/N and Robin up after school to drive them home. But today he was complaining about what Y/N had just told them. “I’m telling you, he’s not good news!”

“Oh, come on, Steve! He’s nice!” She replied, throwing her hands in the air.

“How do you know that, uh?! His reputation precedes him! Everyone at Hawkins High knows about him and his dealing!” Steve kept moving his eyes between the road in front of him and the rear-view mirror to look at Y/N sitting in the back.

“Steve, calm down. Y/N is a grown-up woman. She can defend herself.” Robin tried to help her friend. “Plus, she’s a pretty good judge of character. I mean, she decided to be your friend when everyone else though you were a douchebag.”

“I still think he is a douchebag.” Y/N whispered, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Listen, it’s my life, and I make friends with whomever I want, okay? So, whether you like it or not, he’s going to come over to my place, he’s going to have dinner with my family, and then we’re going to work on our English assignment together.”

“Yeah, and it’s not like they’re going to fall in love!” Robin added and Steve raised his hands from the wheel for a couple of seconds, as in a sign of surrender. However, Y/N did not answer to that. Obviously, that wasn’t her plan, to fall in love with Eddie Munson. But she could not deny to herself the fact that she found him charming in his own way. Yes, fine, he wasn’t the conventional pretty boy her mom would want her to end up with, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t find him cute. Hell, cute was probably an understatement. She thought he was hot. Maybe it was the hair, or the leather jacket, but she couldn’t help herself, and whenever he walked by, she would just find herself smiling at him, deep down wishing he would stop and talk with her. Yes, her brother being part of his D&D party had its perks, because she then had to see him every time she went to pick up her brother from school. Also, having a few classes together was something. Not that he paid much attention, but that also meant he wouldn’t notice whenever she turned around to steal a glance. Fuck, she thought, I have to keep my feelings under control. She shook her head in an attempt to push away the thought of Eddie, and tried to make small talk with her two best friends, but her mind wasn’t of any help, and the image of Eddie looking down at her with his big, chocolate eyes in the corridor a few hours prior kept popping up, distracting her from whatever the other two were saying. I’m screwed.

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When Y/N’s mom called her into the kitchen, it was about 7:30 in the evening. “Darling, please, help me set the table. Dusty and his friend are on their way home.” Said the woman, handing her the plates. Y/N fought very hard the urge to tell her mother that Eddie was also her friend and that he was going to be there for her and not Dustin. But instead, she simply took the plates from her and started placing them on the clothed, round table. She hummed to herself as she moved back and forth between the cabinets and the table, stealing, every once in a while, a piece of bread.

A few more minutes went by, when she finally heard the front door open and Dustin’s voice announce their arrival. Their mother quickly left the kitchen to go greet them, whereas Y/N stood frozen for a moment. She looked at her reflection in the small mirror hanging on the wall, and tried to fix her hair and her clothes – a simple t-shirt and a pair of loose jeans. Yes, she could have definitely changed into something a bit nicer, but there was no time now. So, she sighed and stepped into the front hallway, hiding a little behind her mother’s figure, as if hoping they would not pay that much attention to her. However, that didn’t last for long. “Y/N!” Eddie smiled, taking a step towards her, but then stopping. They both looked at each other for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Should she hug him like she does whenever Robin comes over? Or nod like she does with Dustin’s friends? A similar thought process was going on inside of Eddie’s mind too. When he first had taken the step towards her, his intent was to give her a kiss on the cheek, but he had immediately changed his mind, thinking that might have been too much. Afterall, it was the first time they were actually hanging out.

Luckily, Dustin stepped in and shouted. “Y/N/N! You would never believe how cool today was! Remember the villain I told you about, right? Vecna. The one we thought had died. Well, yes, I said we though because, plot twist, he was still alive!” She looked at her brother and smiled, wrapping her arms around him for a moment, before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Dusty, go wash your hands! It’s ready in here! You can tell her more about it as we eat.” Mrs. Henderson shouted from the kitchen, and Eddie could not believe how close the two siblings actually were. Like, yes, Dustin would always talk about her in the cafeteria, but he would have never thought they actually were that close. So close that she knew everything about his campaign, the one that himself, Eddie, had spent days preparing.

Dinner went on smoothly: the food was delicious and Dustin spent most of the time talking about Hellfire Club and the assignments he had to prepare for the following week. Eddie and Y/N would, every now and then, exchange a look or a smile, without saying a word. But both of them were fine with that. However, things changed a bit when Dustin turned to Eddie and exclaimed. “Dude, you should ask my sister to help you write some of the one shots for Hellfire! She’s a great writer!” Eddie turned to look Y/N, wanting to ask her more about that, but instead he found her with her head hanging low.

“Oh, yes! I never read anything of hers, but Dustin has read everything and loved every single bit, so I suppose that means she’s good.” Her mother added, obviously wanting to contribute to the conversation. However, Eddie couldn’t help but notice Y/N’s discomfort.

“Can we please talk about something else?” Y/N’s voice was soft, and her eyes never left the almost empty glass of water in front of her.

Dustin tried to gain back Eddie’s attention by exclaiming. “She writes a lot of fantasy, stuff with vampires and faes and all of that. I think you could use that in a stand-alone quest.”

“Dustin!” Her voice was now louder, and the girl was visibly upset, but the younger boy would not stop talking about that. “Dustin, stop! You know I don’t want you to talk about it!” Y/N got up from her seat, still not looking anyone in the eyes. She had her hands closed into tight fists as she walked towards the corridor.

“Come on, Y/N! Don’t be mad! I was just trying to-”

“I know, what you were trying to do, Dustin. And you know I don’t want you to do it. That is personal stuff and I don’t want you going around telling people about it.” Her voice was cold, but Eddie could ear it tremble slightly. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to my room.”

And with that, Y/N left the kitchen, leaving her tablemates speechless, with their eyes glued to where the girl was standing a few moments before. Mrs. Henderson sighed and tried to explain to Eddie that Y/N had always been very proud of her things, especially of the ones she made herself. She explained that ever since she was young, she had always been a very reserved girl, not sharing much with others, and that was the reason she found so surprising the friendship between her and her two best friends, Robin and Steve. She told Eddie about how hard on herself she was, how much she studied everyday wanting to get the best marks possible. She explained that she had no idea why she acted like that, since no one ever asked her to get straight As or to get into the best colleges. But as Y/N’s mother talked, Eddie couldn’t stay still. He wanted to make sure, he needed to make sure she was okay. So, as soon as they were excused from the table, he asked Dustin which room was hers and went straight to her. He walked down the corridor, the carpet softening his steps, and stopped in front of the last door. He knocked gently on the door, waiting for an answer. “Y/N…” He called, turning an ear to the door, trying to understand if she had moved at all. “Y/N, it’s me, Eddie. Ehm… can I- can I come in?” He stayed quiet for a moment, but still no answer. “I promise we will only talk of the English assignment or whatever you prefer. Promise.”

“Okay” A voice came from behind Eddie, making him jump.

He turned around and found Y/N laughing at him, a hand on her stomach, one in front of her face. “Damn, Henderson, I thought you were in your room!” He exclaimed, laughing a little himself.

“I was, but then I had to go to the bathroom.” She moved past him and opened the door to her room. “Come in” She smiled, standing aside to let him in.

The room that Eddie walked into was far from what he had imagined Y/N Henderson’s bedroom would have looked right. Not that he had spent that much time thinking about it, but he definitely did not expect the giant posters on the wall of David Bowie, Labyrinth, Queen, or the beautiful drawing of The Lord of the Rings. What he did expect to see, on the other hand, was the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall library. “Wow, Henderson. I must say, you’re not what I thought you were.”

Y/N sat on the edge of her bed; her arms crossed. “What did you think I was?” She asked, more curious than anything.

“I don’t know, actually. I thought you were going to have pictures of, I don’t know, Johnny Depp, John Cusack or some other heartthrob girls love. Definitely not them.” He walked over to the side of the bed and pointed to the Queen poster.

She got up from her seat and walked next to him. “Well, I do like Johnny Depp.” She smiled. “But he is my kind of guy, actually.” She tapped her finger on Brian May’s figure.

“Not Roger Taylor?” Eddie brought a hand to his mouth, as if to fake shock.

“He’s alright.” She raises her shoulder. “But you see, Brian is tall, has dark, long, curly hair, plays guitar. There’s nothing sexier than that to me.” She replied, eventually turning around and leaning against the wall. It wasn’t until she finally met his eyes that she realised what she had just said. She bit the inside of her cheek, quickly moving her eyes everywhere but on him. Fuck, fuck, fuck. So much for “try keeping your feelings under control”.

Eddie, on the other hand, couldn’t help the smile that lingered on his lips. He nodded, biting slightly his lower lips, trying to conceal the pleased look on his face, but it was too hard. I mean, I am tall, I have Brian May’s hair, and I do play guitar. Does this mean that I am sexy to her? He was very close to asking her, but decided not to, wanting to avoid making her feel frustrated or embarrassed. Afterall, it was very much possible that, even though he perfectly fit her description, she still did not like him like that. Hell, it could even be that she did not like him at all.

So, after a few moments of silence, he turned to the Lord of the Rings poster, studying it. “This is very beautiful.” He said, changing the topic to make her feel more comfortable.

She looked at the poster herself and smiled. “Oh, ehm… Dustin and his friends got it for me for my birthday last year. You see, I used to read it to Dustin before going to bed when we were younger. Actually, I read him The Hobbit, but still. After that, he started telling his friends about it and they all wanted to know more about it. So, when they were old enough, I got everyone a copy and put up a small book club for them. It only lasted a few months, until everyone was done reading the book, but I think it contributed to their passion for D&D.” She finally looked at him with the softest look anyone ever gave him, and he swore he could have melted right then and there.

“I wished someone read me Tolkien when I was younger.” Eddie murmured, going over to the bed and sitting there. “My parents, they… – he sighed – and my uncle… he was always out. So, I spent most of my evenings and nights alone. I still do. Unless I’m out for a deal…” Y/N sat next to him, so close that their legs were brushing, and if she leaned a little to the side, their shoulders would touch. But this time neither of them said or did anything. Eddie enjoyed the closeness, the warmth that came from her body, and a part of him wanted to reach for her hand, to hold it, to play with her fingers. Whereas Y/N realised only then that she actually knew nothing about him, about his parents, his family, if he had any siblings or cousins. “But I read Tolkien.” Eddie broke the silence. “I have a very old copy of The Hobbit back at my place. I think I found it at a yard sale a few years back. I could show it to you, if you want to.”

“I would actually love that” She smiled.

“But my favourite author is King. Man, I love his stuff. Shining was great, but I also liked Carrie and Pet Sematary.”

She never thought she would, on day, spend an evening with Eddie Munson, let alone talking about books. Still, she wished that evening would never end. “Well, if you’re into horror stuff, I think I have idea about what you should do your English assignment on.” Eddie had completely forgotten why he was there in the first place, and that sentence brought him back to reality. He looked her figure get off the bed and followed her to the bookshelf. She browsed it for a few moments, her fingers gently caressing the spines as she looked for the book she wanted. “Here it is.” She exclaimed, picking out a very thick book, with the spine completely cracked. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to read all of this.” She chuckled when she saw the fear in his eyes. “It’s called Night Pieces and it’s a collection of stories by Hoffmann. There is one in particular I love which is The Sandman.” Eddie carefully took the book in his hands and observe it. He obviously wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having to read something he knew nothing about, but he trusted Y/N, so he nodded. “I promise it’s good. If it’s not, then you can… I don’t know, force me to watch a horror movie.”

“I like the sound of that.” He laughed, laying on the bed, his back against the soft duvet that smelled of fresh laundry. “Do you think I could start reading it here? Or do you want me to go?” He looked at her, propping himself up on one elbow for a moment, wanting to look at her better.

She found herself thinking, please, stay for the whole night if you want. But instead, she simply nodded, grabbing her own book before lying next to him, this time leaving a bit more space between them. And they spent almost an entire hour like that, each reading their own book. Y/N could swear that she caught him staring at her a couple of times, but so could he. Eddie went on reading, eventually turning on his stomach, and in doing so he got closer to her. Y/N, however, kept staring at the words on the page in front of her, unable to concentrate enough to actually understand what she was supposed to read because of that closeness. A little voice inside of her kept telling her “Reach for him. Lean on his shoulder.” But she was too shy to even just move a little closer to him, let alone do any of that. And if they were characters in a story, to any omniscient reader, a situation such as this one would be extremely frustrating: the two of them, lying together, their arms or legs brushing against each other’s every now and then, both of them pining for the other, but neither of them realising their feelings were reciprocated.

Eventually, Dustin walked in on them, wanting to bid goodnight to his sister, but remained dumbfounded when he realised Eddie was still there. “I thought you had already left. It’s 10:30. On a school night.”

“Dustin, we’re old enough to stay up late if we want to, you know that?” She replied, getting up from her spot, immediately missing the warmth irradiated from his body.

Dustin looked at his sister, then the man laying her bed, and left without saying anything. “Yeah, maybe he’s right. It is kind of late, and you probably want to go to sleep.” Eddie didn’t really want to leave. On the contrary, he wanted to stay with her for as long as she let him.

And the same went for Y/N. But she nodded at him and put her book on the desk. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, though, right?”

“Of course! Plus, I only have like 10 pages left to read, and I am completely enthralled. I really thought I wasn’t going to like this, but hell, was I wrong!” He smiled, putting the book in his backpack as slowly as possible, almost wanting to take everything out only to have to spend more time there putting everything back in. but he resisted the urge and put the backpack on his shoulder.

“So, no horror movie then?” She smiled, leading him out of her bedroom and down the corridor.

“Well, I mean… we could still watch a movie together some time… if you want, that is.” Eddie scratched the back of his neck, trying hard to play it cool. “It doesn’t even need to be a horror movie, really.”

Y/N stopped in front of the front entrance and turned towards him, smiling. “I would love that.” She opened the door for him and stood aside to let him through. She watched him walk down the driveway to his car, hoping he would turn around and come back to her. But he didn’t. He just got inside his car and started the engine. Fuck it, she thought, as she started running down the driveway too. “Eddie, wait!” She called for him. She jogged to his car and stopped for a few moments, before pushing herself on her tiptoe to reach his cheek and leave him a kiss there. Eddie was visibly caught by surprise, s much so that his cheeks started turning a soft shade of reddish pink, like they did that morning in the hallway at school. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

He smiled, gently placing a hand on her cheek, the cold metal of his rings sending shivers down her spine. “I won’t, princess.” He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

After that, he waited for her to go back inside her house to do anything. But as soon as the door closed, he started basically dancing inside the car, humming the “Oh, love… oh, lover boy!” verse from Good Old Fashion Lover Boy by Queen as that was the song that had been stuck in his head for the entire night. Hell, what a day!

Steve looked at Robin and then turned towards the girl in the back seat. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, perfect! Why?” She smiled, her eyes moving between her friends.

Robin shook her head and turned towards her too. “Dude, you are never this happy in the morning.”

“Yeah… it’s… weird” Steve said quietly.

She didn’t really know why she was that happy, or why she felt like hugging her friends – which, should be noted, would be completely out of the ordinary for her, since she wasn’t big on hugs and touching people, especially in the morning. She wasn’t like germophobic or something like that. She just wasn’t great at showing affection to people. She tried, but a part of her always felt like people didn’t want her to hug them or say I love you and such. She usually felt like a burden to others, which was why she spent most of her time in middle school alone. But then Robin came along and things changed a bit. Robin was always asking her to hang out, to go to the movies or get ice cream, which was fun and she loved it, but a small voice in the back of her head kept whispering “She’s only doing this because she pities you!”. They were friends for a long time, and when Robin got the job at the Scoops Ahoy, she was sure that was going to be it. Instead, she met Steve. At first, the dynamic was weird, because she felt like she was the third wheel, Steve was all over Robin and, on her part, Robin enjoyed being able to make fun of him. But then the thing with the Russians beneath the Starcourt Mall happened, and that changed everything. Not only she found out that her little brother had been fighting creatures from a sort of parallel dimension for years, but that Steve was involved too, and now her and Robin were officially part of the gang. After that, after everything that happened and all they did to protect each other, she never for once doubted them and their feelings toward her again. But still, it was hard for her to show affection properly. She was working on it.

“Earth to Y/N! Are you still there?” Robin snapped her fingers in front of her face a couple of times.

Y/N shook her head and looked at the girl. “Sorry, got lost in my head for a moment.” She smiled.

“I asked you how it went with the Freak yesterday” Steve looked at her through the rear-view mirror, and only then she realised they had started driving.

Y/N’s expression changed, and her smile faded. “I would very much appreciate it if you stopped calling him like that. I get it that you’re not fond of him, but still, I would rather you call him Munson than that.” Her lips were pressed in a thin line and her eyes were deadly serious, so much that Steve felt shivers travel down his own spine.

“I don’t understand why you defend him, or why you even like him… it’s not like he’s a good person, and you know that. I mean, drugs! That’s bad enough on its own!”

Robin couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips. “Dude, you literally used to smoke weed until like, a year ago!”

“Yeah, then I figured out it was bad and I stopped!” Steve replied.

“Steve, I’m not going to start doing drugs. I know better, and you know it. But still, even if I know that drugs are bad, that doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with Eddie!” Y/N crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, her eyes now following the view outside of the window. “Eddie is not as bad as he is painted. He’s kind and caring.”

Steve huffed, shaking his head slightly. “Y/N, you barely now him!”

“And still, I know him much better than 99% of people in our school!” Y/N was no longer as chirpy as she was when she entered the car, and was glad to see the familiar building appear outside the window. “If you would just stop being a whiny, prejudiced bitch, then you would realise that people may actually be different then how you painted them in your head.” As soon as the car stopped, she ran out without even saying goodbye to Steve. She just needed to get away from him.

She started making her way inside the school, and a few moments later Robin appeared on her side. They stayed quiet on the way to their lockers, neither of them unsure of what to say. It was stupid, because Robin hadn’t said anything bad to her that morning, so she shouldn’t be angry, not even grumpy with her. But luckily, she didn’t have to say anything, because the other girl spoke first. “You know, as long as you say he’s cool, I’m okay with him.”

That put the smile back on her face. She knew she could trust Robin because she knew Robin trusted her. “Thank you.” She said, bumping her shoulder against the other girl’s. They walked for a few more moments until they reached their lockers, talking about this and that, when suddenly the calm of the hallway was disturbed by someone.

“Y/N!!” Eddie’s voice echoed through the hallway, catching basically everyone’s attention. He ran, bee lining between all the other students. “Y/N!” He called out again.

“I think someone is looking for you” Said Robin sarcastically, leaning against the locker right beside Y/N’s open one.

Not that she hadn’t noticed.

“Y/N!” Eddie eventually reached them and Y/N couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her own book in his hands. “I have been looking for you!”

“I just got here.” She smiled, closing her locker and fully turning towards him.

Eddie looked at Robin and gave her a quick, awkward smile, before returning with his eyes on her. “This book. God, this book was amazing!” His smile is now bigger and more sincere.

“You mean the novella” She giggled, which caught Robin attention. Giggles? Get a grip girl!

“No, I mean the entire fucking book! I stayed up all night and read every single one of the stories because I couldn’t get enough of it!” He flipped through the pages of the book, showing her little pieces of paper with stuff written on them. “You need to recommend me something similar, please!”

Y/N had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling too much. What was Robin thinking of that? And what would Eddie think if he realised she was actually excited by that idea? Fuck, she had to keep her feeling at bay, she has to take a deep breath and calm down. “Yeah, of course. I would love to.”

“Cool” He smiled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

The real reason Eddie had stayed up all night was, yes, because he was intrigued by the stories he was reading, but most importantly because he could not understand how someone like her, who had barely even spoken to him before yesterday, could give him such a perfect suggestion. How did she know exactly what he liked? Yes, he had told her he liked King, but this was different. Was he predictable? Or maybe he was just overthinking this and she could have just suggested him something she liked, and the fact that he liked it too was a complete coincidence, but still.

“I also wanted to ask you if you had a free period at some point today. I have to… talk to you.” Dude, that pause was so creepy! Even Robin Buckley is looking at you in a weird way. Wait, has she been listening to the conversation this all time?!

“Uhm, I have a free period at third but, me and Robin-” Y/N was abruptly cut off by Robin.

“Oh, shit! I forgot to tell you; I have to practice during third period! Sorry, but you know, with the championship final and everything… Hope it’s okay.” Robin said, looking at her friend. “But luckily, you won’t be alone, because you can meet up with Munson, right?”

Eddie looked at Robin, then Y/N, waiting impatiently for an answer. “Yeah, of course.” She smiled, a bit confused at Robin’s decision, but not mad about it. “Where should we meet?”

“Meet me at the exit that leads to the football field” He smiled, biting his lip slightly, trying to contain his excitement. However, the bell rang, interrupting their conversation. Both Y/N and Eddie sighed, looking in opposite directions, and right then and there, Robin could swear that was a scene out of a romantic comedy: the boy and the girl, a metalhead and a bookworm, two people you would have never imagined together, were very obviously head over hills for each other but completely oblivious to the other’s feelings. She wanted to say something so badly, play match maker and nudge them in the right direction, but the river of students rushing towards class ruined the moment.

“So, I’ll see you later, then” Y/N smiled, and moved slightly towards the boy. Robin really thought she was going in for a kiss or a hug, something. But instead, she stopped, and smiled awkwardly. “I have to go to class, bye!” The words rushed out of her mouth, just as fast as she took off in the direction of their first class together. Robin was so confused by that scene that she was taken completely by surprise when she felt herself being pulled away from her place. She waved goodbye to Eddie and then quickly turned in the direction they were walking in, sure she would have otherwise fallen straight to the ground.

When they finally reached the class, they took their seats in the third row, and immediately Y/N buried her face in her hands. “Dude, that wasn’t so bad!”

“I’m so embarrassing!”

“No, Y/N, don’t say that!” Robin said, letting a small laugh leave her laugh. “Yes, it was an interesting interaction, especially the final part, when you were obviously going in for a hug and-”

“A kiss”

“What?”

Y/N sighed, turning her head towards her friend. “A kiss. I was going to give him a kiss. On the cheek, obviously. But I don’t know… I blanked. And so, I ran.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Yesterday, when he was leaving my home, I gave him a kiss on a cheek, and he seemed cool about it.” You should actually specify the fact that you actually ran after him, and basically pushed yourself through his car’s window to give him said kiss. “So, I thought it could become a thing. But then something inside of me told me it was wrong and that would only embarrass him or that he would hate it. But it was too late.”

At that point Robin couldn’t help but laugh. Laugh so hard that even the two boys in varsity jackets sitting in the row before them turned around confused. “I never in my life thought I’d be witnessing you catch feelings for someone, especially someone like Eddie!” She continued laughing. “Not that there’s anything wrong with him, I just didn’t think he was your type. Even though, now that I think about it, your celebrity crush is Brian May, so that matches up perfectly.”

“I’m not catching feelings!” No, you’re not. You’re just completely unable to form a coherent thought when he looks at you with those big, puppy eyes, or you go weak in the knees when he laughs, especially if it’s because of something you said. “I’m not catching feelings.” She said again, as if she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

“Okay, fine, you’re not. I’m just saying, it’s nice. This version of you, all bubbly and giggly.” Robin got closer to her, and whispered. “Yes, I saw you giggle. It was amazing.” She laughed.

Y/N was ready to say something back, but the teacher entered the class and started the lesson, leaving her thinking to herself about Robins words: this version of you. Was she that different from how she normally was when she was with him? She noticed all of that in just a few minutes of a random conversation that she witnessed?

That morning went by so slowly. Whenever Y/N looked at the clock hanging above the blackboard, it kept showing the same time. And Robin wasn’t of any help, constantly asking her if everything was okay, or what she was thinking about. I’m fine, she kept saying. Nothing, just thoughts. Her answers were so vague that not even Robin believed her. But she couldn’t tell the truth, she couldn’t admit to Robin that she was in fact thinking of Eddie, and wanted so bad for those two classes to be over, so that she could go and meet with him, because she was electrified just at the idea of spending a bit more time with him. No, she couldn’t possibly admit any of that. Also, Eddie was most probably only using her to get a good grade, so it was stupid to even get excited to see him. And yet, she could not help but look for his familiar figure in the corridor whenever they were changing classrooms.

Eddie, on the other hand, didn’t have a Robin to support him or ask him if he was okay or what he was thinking about. He was alone most of his classes because that’s what happens when you’re held back two times. Yes, sometimes he had classes with Jeff, but it wasn’t like they talked that much about things that weren’t D&D or the band. He didn’t have a best friend. And he spent most of high school thinking he didn’t need one, that he was just as good by himself, with just a few people to share a laugh during lunch in the cafeteria. But now, now he wished he had someone that he could talk to. Not that he would have told them about Y/N and the feelings he definitely didn’t have for her, but just to have someone to spend the afternoons with, talking about this and that, watching movies and stuff. But he didn’t have anyone like that. That’s why classes were so boring to him, and that’s why he skipped most of them. Until that last semester: a part of him, the one that hated school the most, told him that he had to try if he wanted to leave that place once and for all. Another part of him, a soft voice that he kept pushing deep in the back of his head, told him that it would help him make a good impression on Y/N. Obviously, he didn’t care. But still, he started skipping fewer classes each week, until he arrived at a point where he even started moving deals to lunch break or after school so that he could attend class. If he had a best friend, they would have told him that he had changed, and maybe even that they liked this new “scholarly” version of him. But he didn’t have one.

However, that day was different. The previous evening, when he was over at the Henderson’s for dinner, Dustin insisted he tried and talk with Y/N about her writing. And he couldn’t help but be curious, because if Henderson was so fond of his sister’s writing to the point that he wanted her to write something for Hellfire, then it must have meant that she was actually really good. Nonetheless, after dinner, when they were alone in her room, he didn’t have the heart to force her to talk about it, having seen the reaction she had at the dinner table when Dustin brought it up. But maybe, if he brought it up in a completely different context, with just the two of them, then maybe, just maybe, she would be more open to talk about it. It was a stretch, he knew it. Just like he knew that could then make things very awkward between the two of them. But he wanted to get to know her better, and if she was actually so passionate about writing, then he wanted to know more about it. And that is why, for the first time in weeks, he skipped class. Yes, he obviously could have asked her to meet him after school like he did with clients. But she wasn’t a client. It was Y/N.

So, as soon as the bell that signalled the end of the second period rang, he ran towards the door to the field. A part of him hoped to see her already standing there, leaning against the wall, ankles crossed as she read from a book. At least that is how he imagined her. But when he got there, she was nowhere to be seen. It’s early, we have a few more minutes before third period starts. Maybe there were too many people in the corridor and she was still making her way there. A couple more minutes went by and he was staring at the bell on the wall on the opposite side of the corridor, begging it to wait a bit longer before ringing. But it rang nonetheless, and she still wasn’t there. She must have forgotten we were meeting, he thought to himself. Or maybe she didn’t want to meet with you in the first place and she agreed just to sound nice, but now she’s not going to show up and the next time you see each other she’s gonna give you some stupid excuse like “Sorry, turns out I had to do homework” or some other shit. But as he was completely absorbed by his own thoughts, he didn’t realise the girl had just appeared right beside him.

“Eddie? Are you okay?” She put a hand on his forearm, trying to catch his attention. However, Eddie was so lost in his thoughts that it not only caught his attention, but startled him, making him jump a bit.

“Shit, Henderson! You have to stop sneaking up on me like that!” He said loudly, bringing a hand to his heart, as if he was having a heart attack because of the scare.

Y/N smiled, and all the bad thoughts left Eddie’s head. “What if I like it? Seeing big, scary Eddie Munson get scarred by little ol’ me?” She smirked, tilting her head to the side, her arms crossed in from of her chest. Was she flirting with him?

Eddie took a step closer, taking advantage of the height difference. “Well, don’t get too comfortable, or you won’t see it coming.”

“See what coming?”

“Payback!” He replied, quickly moving his hands and reaching for her waist. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, slightly tickling her sides. That was a risky move, he knew, but he didn’t really think before acting.

Y/N started laughing, kicking the air and trying to get free from his hold. “Please, Eddie! Stop!” She screamed, unable to stop laughing. After a few more moments, he put her down. He was smiling, but at the same time he was studying her face, trying to get a reaction from her.

When her feet touched the ground, she was completely out of breath from all the laughing. “I hate you” She whispered, and Eddie froze for a moment, afraid he might have ruined it all. But when Y/N leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his chest, he felt like his heart was going to explode.

He smiled. He was sure he had never been this calm, this happy in his entire life. He moved his hands, laying one on her back, while the other reached for her head, where it began gently stroking her hair, in an attempt to help her calm down and catch her breath. “Well, now you know what payback looks like” He said quietly.

Neither Eddie nor Y/N wanted to move, both of them afraid to lose the magic of the moment. But a few moments later, a distant clicking of heels started making its way down the corridor. “Shit, we shouldn’t be here!” He whispered-screamed, quickly grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him and out of the door. “I shouldn’t be here!”

Y/N was taken by surprise by his reaction, but ran after him, nonetheless. “What do you mean you shouldn’t be here?!” But she didn’t get a response. Instead, Eddie kept running, first across the football field, then towards the woods behind it, and he didn’t stop until he reached the familiar wooden table in the small clear. Once there, he slowed down until they eventually stopped, leaning forward, his hand on his knees, struggling to catch his breath. Shit, I’m completely out of shape.

No one spoke for a few moments, both too breathless to talk. Y/N leaned against a tree, and kicked her head back, her eyes closed, as a hand moved rogue strands of hair out of her own face. “What did you mean when you said you shouldn’t be there?” She broke the silence.

Her eyes were still closed, but Eddie knew he couldn’t just not answer her. So, he took a big breath and took a seat on one of the benches. “I should be in class right now…” He said quietly, almost hoping she would not hear him. Y/N remained quiet for a moment, and Eddie was sure he had fucked up. He knew she cared about school, and attendance, and getting good grades. So, him skipping class must have been terrible in her eyes. Good job, moron! You ruined it, he thought to himself, burying his face in his hands.

“You skipped class to spend time with me?” She asked him. When he eventually looked up, his eyes met hers. She looked serious, but not mad.

He looked down, almost embarrassed. “Ehm… yes” It almost sounded like a question, as if he weren’t sure about that. But he was sure, he deliberately chose to skip third period because she had told him that she had a free period at third. He wanted to spend time with her. He needed to be with her.

“Why?” That question took him by surprise. He was ready to be scolded by her, he was 100% sure she was going to tell him that it was stupid, that he had to attend class if he wanted to graduate and so on. But she didn’t do any of that. When he looked up, he realised she had moved closer, and was now standing right in front of him. “I mean, why would you skip class to be with me? You could have just come here alone and smoked all by yourself, completely unbothered. Or you could have come here with some pretty girl to, I don’t know, make out. So, why? Why me?”

But I am here with a pretty girl. That is what he wanted to tell her. He didn’t care about anything else, or anyone else, for that matter. He just wanted to be with her, and in his head that didn’t need explanations. But she wanted them. So, he stood up from where he was sitting and moved away. He walked around the table, kicking some leaves off the ground. “You give me way too much credit if you think I could pull any pretty girl.”

“So, you don’t think I’m pretty?” She asked.

Fuck, no. I don’t think you’re pretty, actually. I think you are one of those beautiful creatures from a Tolkien story. Fuck, in my head you are what Arwen looks like. “That’s not what I said” He replied, leaning against a tree.

“Well, you said you cannot pull any pretty girl, but I’m here, so you must not think me pretty, right?” He wasn’t sure if she was flirting with him or she was just trying to challenge him in some way.

“If you really must know, I think you are much more than just pretty.” He said, looking down at his feet, his once white sneakers not completely worn out and dirty. “But I cannot go around the school saying it, because if your brother heard me talking about you like this, he would probably kill me on sight.”

“Dustin would never kill you. Especially not because of me.” She said, taking a seat at the table.

“Then you obviously don’t know your brother and how protective and jealous of you he is.” He said, a soft smile appearing on his lips, as he pushed himself off of the tree, to go sit at the table, right across from her. “I saw him almost throw a punch at Wheeler one time because he said you were hot” He laughed at the memory.

“And what do you think?” She asked, looking at him, fidgeting with her necklace.

“What?” He knew what she was asking him, but he couldn’t answer. He had already said too much. Also, he didn’t know how to tell her that he did not find her sexy. I mean, he did find her sexy, but not like that. He didn’t want to have sex with her just because she was hot, just for the sake of it. He thought she was beautiful, and he wanted to hold her hand. He wanted to stroke her hair, move strands of hair out of her face and tuck them behind her ears like they do in those stupid, sickeningly sweet romantic comedies. He wanted to pick flowers for her and listen to her read for him in the evenings. Fuck, he wanted to kiss her at her locker before class. He wanted to drive her home and kiss her goodnight. He wanted to hold her in his arm as she sat in his lap while they did their homework in the afternoons. But he couldn’t say that. Not to her face. So, instead, he played dumb and pretended not to understand what she was asking him.

“I’m sorry, it’s stupid…” Her voice was soft, and she wouldn’t raise her eyes off of the table. “I don’t even know why I’m asking you any of this. I’m ruining the mood.”

“You’re not.” He quickly replied, so firmly that she was almost startled. “You’re not ruining anything.” He added, a bit gentler this time. “I skipped class because I wanted to be with you. Not because I didn’t want to go to class, because I wanted to smoke or meet up with someone. I wanted to be with you, Y/N.” She finally looked up to meet his eyes, and Eddie felt his heart fluttered. “I want to get to know you. Like, yeah, you helping me with English is great and all, but I don’t want us to go back to strangers as soon as the project is done.”

“It wouldn’t have happened.” She almost looked hurt.

Eddie sighed, looking off into the distance. “Yeah, it would have, Y/N.” He started tapping his leg, knowing full well he was going to open up to her, and hated the idea of being vulnerable in front of people, especially someone who held so much power over him like she did. “Me and you, we don’t really move in the same circles here at school. I am the freak, and most people are disgusted by my presence. You… you’re lovely, and people smile at you when you walk down the corridor. You have friends-”

“I have one friend.”

“But people like you.”

“Most people don’t even know I exist, Eddie.” She tried to get back his attention. She wanted him to look at her in the eyes. “I’m a nerd and a brainiac. People know me as the one that knows always too much. Because that’s who I am. I have Robin and Steve, yes. But they have a job, and I cannot spend all my afternoons at the Family Video watching them rewind VHSs. So, most of the times I stay at home, I do my homework, I study, and then I read. I read so much. And I always end up absorbing information that serve no purpose to me in real life. But I absorb them and end up knowing how to make a bomb at home or knowing way too much about sword fighting.” She sighs. “Still, that doesn’t explain why you think we would have stopped talking after the English assignment was done.”

“Because, generally speaking, people don’t really want to have much to do with me.”

“And yet my brother worships you.”

“Your brother is stupid.” A soft laugh leaving his lips, as a signal that he wasn’t being serious about that comment.

“My brother is not stupid, and you know that.” She replied, reaching out for his hand. “Eddie, I think you’re a good person. A great one, even. And I like spending time with you. That’s how I know we wouldn’t have stopped hanging out.” Eddie’s hand shifted beneath Y/N’s, until he was holding her hand properly. “So, please, stop being stupid and thinking I’m like everyone else at this school. If they don’t see you for who you truly are, then it’s their loss. More Eddie for me.” She smiled, squeezing his hand tightly.

She never in her life thought she would have talked like that to someone who wasn’t her brother. Sometimes it was hard even to talk to Robin like that, and she was her best friend. But, somehow, things with Eddie came so easily. And sitting there, holding his hand, didn’t really make her feel uncomfortable like she would have expected to.

Eddie’s thumb started rubbing her knuckles as softly as possible, scared to move or to speak. He didn’t want things to change. He just wanted to sit there for hours, exactly like that, holding her hand and her smiling at him. If the Eddie of three years before saw him like that, he would have laughed so hard he would have needed to hold onto something. He probably looked pathetic, head over hills for a girl that deserved much more than him. And yet, he was there. And she was there with him. She could have chosen not to come, but she did.

“So,” Y/N broke the silence, still holding his hand. “you said you wanted to talk to me.”

Fuck, right. “Yeah, I did…”

“Was it just an excuse to get me to come spend time with you or were you for real?” She smiled, propping her head on her hand.

“I… I was for real, but now I’m thinking I shouldn’t ask you what I was gonna ask you, because I don’t want to ruin this moment.” He said sincerely, looking down at the wooden table between them.

She gave his hand a quick squeeze to try and get him to look at her again. “You can ask me anything. If I don’t feel like giving you an answer, I’ll just say so.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay… but, for real, don’t feel like you have to give me an answer. It’s just, your brother kept talking about it, and I was curious-”

“It’s about my writing.” She said. And he was ready for her to say that it wasn’t something she really felt like talking or something like that. But she didn’t. “I started doing it when I was 13, I think. At first, I did it because it helped me with my anxiety. I would invent fantastic worlds where I could run off to with my head whenever I was having a panic attack. Then it became a passion. I kept writing about fantasy lands, with elves and druids and creatures that communicated through runes, but it no longer was for my anxiety. It was for me.” He listened attentively; his head slightly tilted to the side. He never would have thought she had problems with anxiety. But, after all, he didn’t really know much about her. “One day, a couple of years ago, Dustin was having a bad day, and I wanted to help. Nothing was working, not even “The Never-Ending Story”, which is one of his favourite movies. So, I took him to my room and picked up my notebook. I started reading him my story, and ever since that day, he has always been my one and only reader. He has read every single page, he has given me notes, and even asked me to write him as a dwarf in my story.” She giggled at the memory. “I was ready to write him as a high elf, or a druid, a pirate even. But no, he wanted to be a dwarf. And so I did.” Eddie couldn’t help but smile, wanting to walk around the table to go and sit right beside her just to be closer to her. “But with the support, also came the stressing part where he kept pushing me to send my story to an editor, or to enrol in some kind of contest for teen writers. But, as you could probably imagine, I refused. So, he started begging me to write something for D&D. At first it was for his party with Mike and the others; then it was for you.”

“And did you?” She looked at him confused. “Did you write something for D&D?”

She shook her head. “I barely know anything about D&D… what would the point be?”

“I’m pretty sure you know a lot. As I understand, Dustin tells you everything about our campaign, so you should know stuff by know. And, you don’t need to know much about the rules to write a story.”

“I disagree.” She replied.

“Let me rephrase: if you were to write for Hellfire, you wouldn’t need to know the rules, because you would have me.” He smiled. “I’m not saying that you have to do it, but if you ever changed your mind, you could just write the plotline and I could take care of everything else.”

She looked at him in silence, biting the inside of her cheek. Eddie could not really decipher what she was thinking. Maybe he offended her. Did he say something? Fuck, maybe he insisted too much. He knew it, he shouldn’t have said anything about the writing in the first place. “We could try” She said.

Eddie was shocked. Did she actually agree to do it? “You don’t have to.”

“I know.” She got up from her seat, leaving Eddie with his hand open where he once was holding hers. “But, I mean, Dustin has wanted me to do it for so long, and I think it could be good for me to write something different, you know?” He kept looking at her, unsure if he should answer, if he should say something. “And, if you’re really going to help me, then yes. Why not, right?” Eddie nodded; his eyes fixed on her figure. “But I have two conditions.”

“Anything you want, princess.” Princess? Really?

She smiled, a soft tint of pink rising to her cheeks. Princess? I like it. “Number one: we’re not going to say anything to Dustin, or he’s never going to let me leave my room again until it’s done.” Eddie laughed, nodding. “And second: I want to tell the story.” Eddie looked at her confused. “I mean, I want to be there when you play it out, and I want to tell myself as much of the story as I can. You would obviously do your Dungeon Master thing, but I want to be able to tell my story.”

He smiled, finally getting up from his seat. “We can definitely do that.” He walked closer to her.

She was going to do something, she was going to hug him, maybe even kiss him like she did the previous evening, but, in the distance, she heard the school bell ring. Fuck, they both thought. “We should head back or we’re going to be late for class.” She said, obviously disappointed that third period was already over.

“Or we could skip the rest of the day…” He said, knowing full well she wasn’t going to accept the proposition.

“No skipping school on my watch, okay?” She smiled, moving a finger in front of his face.

“I was just kidding, I swear!” He smiled back.

They started making their way back to the building in silence, both unsure what they should say. Neither of them was happy to leave the other, but duty called. Once they got back inside, Eddie walked Y/N all the way to her locker, so that she could pick up her textbook, and then walked her to class. “I had fun” She said, bumping into his side to get his attention.

He smiled, walking with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Yeah, we should do it again.” She look at him, giving him the look, and he already knew what she was going to say. “I meant spend time together, not skip class!” He laughed.

She smiled, nodding. “Yeah, I would love that.” They walked for a little longer, until they reached Y/N’s class. “So… this is me.”

Eddie nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Fuck, he wanted to kiss her so bad.

They stayed there for a few moments, in silence, looking at each other, until Y/N took control of the situation. Fuck it, she thought to herself, before pushing herself on her tiptoes. “Meet me outside after school.” She said, before quickly pressing her lips on his cheek. It only lasted a moment, but when they moved away from each other it was impossible to tell who was blushing more. Y/N quickly bid goodbye to Eddie and ran inside the classroom, taking her seat at her usual desk.

Little did she know Robin was already sitting there and had witnessed everything. “What the hell was that?”

Y/N jumped, scared by her friend’s voice. “Shit, Robin, how long have you been here?”

“Long enough to have seen whatever that was.” She laughed. “Why did you run away?”

“It was embarrassing! I shouldn’t have done it! Fuck!” Y/N buried her face in her hands. “It’s something to do it when it’s just the two of us; but it’s completely different when I do it in front of everyone!”

“I don’t think people really care…” Robin said, trying to make her friend feel better. “Anyway, I assume it went well.”

“Yeah, we had fun” Y/N smiled, raising her head to finally meet her friend’s eyes. “How did your rehearsal go?”

“What rehearsal?”

Y/N looked at her, eyes wide open. “Didn’t you have band practice or something?”

“Nope” She replied, trying to hold back the laughter that was building inside of her.

“Robin!” She yelled, but deep down she was glad she did it, or she wouldn’t have spent all that time with him. “Thank you.” She whispered.

“Call me Cupid” She laughed.

Yes, she loved her best friend.

“Y/N?” He called out her name. When she turned around and realised who it was, she smiled, and Eddie was taken aback for a moment. “What are you doing here?”

She waited for him to come and take a seat next to her. “I refused to vivisect a frog during science.” She replied, putting a bookmark in between the pages she was just reading.

“You were kicked out of class?!” He looked sincerely shocked.

She chuckled and shook her head. “No, I was excused!”

“How is that possible? If I refused to do something in class, I would probably be sent to the principle straight away.” He leaned backwards, propping his elbows on the step right above and kicking his head back.

She turned slightly towards him, crossing her legs. “Well, for starters, I have one of the highest GPAs of the entire school.”

“Are you saying they would treat me differently if I had higher grades?”

“Well, I don’t know, but it’s possible.” She sighed. “But I think that the biggest thing was that I explained my reasoning behind my decision. Meaning, I explained why I didn’t feel comfortable putting a knife in a frog, despite the animal being already dead.”

“I never really cared about frogs; you know? That’s probably why I liked that activity.”

“Well, I care about frogs. Frogs and all other animals.” She explained. And Eddie found comfort in her love for all creatures.

There were a few moments of silence, Y/N toying with the laces of her forest green Chuck Taylors, and Eddie simply trying not the stare at her hands, her hair, or at her in general. He thought about taking out a cigarette and lighting it, but imagined she didn’t like the smell, maybe she was even bothered by it, so he thought it better to just resist the urge. You know, for her.

“We should probably move from here.” She broke the silence after a few moments. “The bell is going to ring any moment now and I wouldn’t want us to get walked over by everyone.” She stood up from her spot, putting her backpack on her shoulders, and then putting out a hand as a way of helping him get up.

He stared at her for a second, before taking her hand and pulling himself up. However, neither of them had taken into consideration how close together their feet were, so when Eddie stood up, he literally crashed into her, making her stumble backwards. “I got you.” He said almost under his breath, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her back closer to himself. Useless to say that Eddie didn’t want to let her go ever again. Being so close to her made his heart thump, and he didn’t feel comfortable with that sensation, but still, from this close he could smell the perfume she put on every morning. Creep, he told himself, trying to force his own hands to let go of her, but unable to do so.

On her part, Y/N didn’t mind the closeness at all. Actually, she enjoyed the warmth that radiated from his body, from his hands on her hips, and almost wished the bell wouldn’t ring, so that they could stay like that forever. But that moment, which felt like minutes long, was abruptly interrupted by the odious bell, echoing from inside the building. Without thinking, Eddie grabbed Y/N’s hand and pulled her away from the stairs, already hearing the buzz of teenagers ready to go home.

“So,” Eddie said, as he stopped somewhere far from the river of students pushing and yelling to get away from that place. “Why did you want me to meet you here?”

Y/N looked at him, a soft, almost embarrassed smile forming on her lips, as her cheeks slowly turned pink. “I just… wanted to spend a bit more time with you.” Eddie couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, unable to look away. She wanted to spend time with him. “I mean, I was going to use the English assignment as an excuse, but we could also work on the D&D story, if you prefer. Or we could just… talk. Maybe eat something, watch a movie…” Was she asking him out on a date? Was that a date? Or just an afternoon between friends? “I mean if you want… I didn’t even ask you if you were free.”

“I was supposed to meet with my friends.” He really did have band practice that afternoon.

“Fuck, sorry.” She immediately said, taking a step back a looking away. “Ehm… we, we could do this another time, if you want. I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry.” He chuckled, taking a step towards her. “But don’t worry. I had already cancelled.” No, he didn’t. But his mates would understand, right? “I’m free.” She looked at him, waiting for him to say more, as if she needed him to say it out loud to be 100% sure. “We could go to my place.” The smile that formed on her lips was the best reward. Fuck, he thought, I need to stay calm or else I’m going to fuck it up.

Eddie was ready to grab her hand and take her to his car, to get going, but they both heard a familiar voice. “Dude!” They turned around and noticed Robin jogging towards them, followed by someone else. “You did the right thing by leaving the class. I almost threw up at one point!” She laughed. “Hey, Munson!” She smiled at Eddie.

“Buckley” He replied with a quick smile. A smile that faded just as quickly as it had appeared when he realised who was following Robin.

“Y/N, are you ready to go?” Steve Harrington took off his sunglasses and Eddie immediately felt the same urge he had felt until the previous year: the urge to punch him in the face.

“Actually,” Y/N looked at Eddie, then Robin, and finally Steve. “I’m not coming with you today.”

“Is your mom picking you up? I thought I saw your brother leaving on his bike.” Steve hang his glasses on the collar of his t-shirt.

Y/N took a deep breath, as she already knew how he was going to react. “No, Steve.” She shook her head. “I’m leaving with Eddie.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re going… out.” She said, not really sure what to say.

“But you always go out with me and Robin when we have a free afternoon.” He almost whined. Why was he acting like this?

Y/N looked at him for a few seconds, confused. “And? That doesn’t mean it’s mandatory or anything. I like going out with you. But today I want to go out with Eddie.” Eddie’s heart leaped at that sentence. Did you hear that? She wants to spend time with me.

After a few moments of silence, Steve walked up to her and took her by the wrist, pulling her away. Eddie was so ready to throw himself at him, to stop him, but thought it better to just let them talk. “What kind of game are you playing here, Y/N? Huh? You can’t go out with him.”

“Why? Is there some kind of law that prohibits me from doing it? I don’t think so.” Even though she tried to keep her voice as quiet and as low as possible, Eddie could still hear everything they said.

“Y/N, you don’t get it, do you? He’s not a good person.”

“Fuck you, Steve! You’re not my mom. Actually, my mom likes Eddie, so I think that means it’s not a problem to her if I go on a date with him.” A date? Eddie was shocked, just like all the others present. So, that was a date!

“A date? Really?” Steve was now raising his voice, no longer caring whether Eddie Munson could hear them.

“Yes, a date.” And as she said that she could feel warmth raising to her cheeks, knowing full well Eddie was looking at her. They hadn’t said anything about a date, and she hope, she truly hoped he was okay with it. “So, now, if you’ll excuse me, you’re making me late to my date.” With that being said, she freed herself from Steve’s hold and walked back towards Eddie and Robin. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” She said to her best friend. And as she nodded back to her with a smile, she grabbed the raven-haired boy’s hand and walked away.

Eddie simply followed her. A part of him wanted to stop her right there, in the middle of the car park, and kiss her, but he didn’t. He just walked beside her, squeezing her hand just to let her know he was with her. When they reached his car, neither of them said anything. They just got in and sat there for a moment.

She was the one to break the silence, eventually. “I’m sorry about that.” Her voice came out almost as a whisper, and when Eddie turned to look at her, he realised her eyes were now glossy. “I truly am sorry. I hate him when he acts like this.”

Eddie reached out his hand, placing it gently on hers. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it. At least once a day I hear people calling me a freak, or making fun of me and stuff. So, I’m used to it.”

“But it’s not right.” She whispered, closing her eyes. “You shouldn’t be used to it.”

“Don’t worry, okay? It doesn’t hurt me anymore.” He smiled softly, trying to get her attention by briefly squeezing her hand. “Hey, I’m okay.”

“But I’m not.” She still wouldn’t look at him. “I’m not okay with it. I know I can’t do much about other people, but Steve is supposed to be my best friend, for fuck’s sake. He should support me! So, if I like you, he should at least try to like you as well, right?”

“He obviously doesn’t like me. And I can’t blame him, because I don’t like him either.” It was only then that she finally turned her head to him. “I mean, look at me and look at him. We’re polar opposites. He was on the basketball team, while I played D&D in a room in the basement. He had girls all over him, while I barely have friends. He probably listens to Duran Duran and Bon Jovi, while I love Dio and Metallica.” He chuckled. “You know, I’m surprised you would even want to go out with me instead of going out with someone like him.”

“Why is it so hard to believe I may like you?” Her voice was still soft, a whisper. “Why can’t I just go out with whomever I want?”

“Oh, princess, you can go out with anyone you like, really. And if that someone ends up being me, then I’ll be the luckiest motherfucker in Hawkins.” He smiled, one hand still holding hers, while the other found its way to her cheek, stroking it ever so gently. His eyes stared into hers as she melted into his touch. And right there he swore he could drown in those eyes, he could live like that, if she only gave him the chance. “Should we go to my place?”

Eddie’s voice was so calm and soft, his smile gentle. Y/N felt the urge to throw her arms around him, to pulling him close and just lay her head on his chest. But she didn’t. She simply nodded, laying her back against the leather seat. However, she did not let go of his hand, holding it tight, and hoping Eddie would not let go as well. And so it was: Eddie drove for most of the time with only one hand on the wheel, and if he needed to also used his other hand, he would then put it immediately back on hers.

Neither of them said much on the drive to his place, finding comfort in the silence, in the sounds of the car’s engine and the nature around them. Eddie would never admit it, but he had always hated silence. He hated being left alone with his thoughts for too long. Which is weird, since he geneally spent most of his time outside of school by himself. Not by choice, obviously, but he was alone most of the time. That’s why he spent so much time listening to music and trying to learn how to play new songs on his beloved guitar. Like Master of Puppets by Metallica. It had just come out a couple of weeks before and he had already listened to that tape for who knows how many times. But with Y/N it was different, it was a different kind of silence. He enjoyed that kind of silence. That was probably why he was disappointed to see the trailer park appear in the distance. He entered the park and pulled up in front of his own trailer. Well, his uncle’s. And in that exact moment he started regretting inviting her over. What was she going to think? She lived in a beautiful home and he lived in a trailer with his uncle. As soon as they got out of the car, Eddie sprinted towards the door, trying to see if it was okay to let her in. It wasn’t a tidy place. He wasn’t a tidy person. But it could have been worse.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” He said, opening the door and moving to the side to let her in. “I know it’s not the best, but… it’s home.”

Y/N looked around briefly, a smile on her lips. “It’s nice. Cosy.” She said, turning to look at him.

“You don’t have to say that. I know it’s terrible-”

“I’m not just saying it.” She interrupted him. “I truly think it’s nice!” She walked past him, still looking around the space. "When I was young, I remember I wanted to live in an RV.” Eddie chuckled at the idea of a small Y/N telling her parents she wanted to live in an RV. “I thought it was so cool, you had everything you need, no stairs, no great distances between your bedroom and the kitchen. And the coolest part was obviously the fact that it wasn’t permanent.” She laughed. “I was so excited at the idea of moving around the country, and not only during summer vacations. If one day I woke up and decided I wanted to wake up the next morning in front of the sea, I could have just moved to the seaside and parked my house on the beach.” She eventually turned back to face him and blushed when she realised that he was looking at her like that. “Sadly, we never even spent a week in an RV. My parents hated the idea. Then, when it was just my mom, she even stopped wanting to go away from Hawkins for a couple of days.”

“Well, now you can come over here whenever you want and pretend you are in and RV.” Eddie laughed, as he walked closer to her. Fuck. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so bad. He wanted to put his hands on either side of her face and pull her in. He wanted to press his lips on hers. He didn’t need an aggressive kiss, like one from those scenes in movies where the lovers finally realise that they are meant for each other, so they run to one another, their bodies crashing together, as they engage in a passionate kiss, biting lips and tongues dancing. No, that’s not what he needed nor wanted. He wanted a gentle kiss, one that transpires every single emotion, every single feeling, every single word. All the I need you’s and the I love you’s that had been hanging there, in the air, flowing in that kiss. But he could not kiss her like that. So, he just stood there.

“Show me you room” She said. And Eddie panicked. Why would she want to see his room? His room was messy. He barely liked his room himself. “Come on! I need to know more about you! You saw my room and found out I have a major crush on Brian May. You show me your room and maybe I’ll find out whom you have a crush on.” She chuckled, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “Please!”

She somehow made her eyes bigger than they usually were, and Eddie lost his words for a moment. Fuck, don’t look at me like that. “Fine.” He sighed. “Just, don’t judge me, okay? It’s… it’s messy.” Still holding her hand, he walked her to his room. When he put his hand on the doorknob, he took a deep breath before opening the door. “This is it.”

Y/N walked pass Eddie and into the room. She looked around, like she did when she first entered the trailer, but this time he could tell she wasn’t simply “looking”. She was studying. He kept his eyes on her, scared to death she might just turned to him and laugh. Her room was much bigger than his. She had a whole collection of vinyls and an entire wall stacked to the top with books of every size. He had a chest full of tapes, most of them sneakily recorded as he “borrowed” them from the music store. He had a few books scattered all around the room. His bedroom was a mess. He was a mess. And he was scared she would notice it. But instead, she took a seat on his bed.

“You still play?” She pointed to the guitar hanging on the wall.

Eddie's eyes followed her finger, looking briefly at the instrument, then back at her. “What?” How did she knew about him playing? He had never talked about it with her. Did Dustin say something?

“Corroded Coffin, right?”

He looked at her obviously confused, but mostly surprised that she knew that name. “How do you know about that?”

“We went to the same middle school.”

“Impossible! I would have remembered you!”

“I was very different back then than I am now.” She sighed. “And I was good at blending in the background.” She looked down, almost embarrassed. “But I remember you...”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes…” Her cheeks turned slightly red. And at that point Y/N couldn’t help but think back to her middle school years, those terrible years. It had been hell for her. She looked very different, but she liked the same things she did now. And people made fun of her because of that. People made fun of her for dressing up as Bowie for Halloween. People made fun of her for wanting to read during lunch break instead of talking about boys. Not that she didn’t like boys. She liked boys. And girls too. And maybe that was the reason she tried to avoid talking about crushes and stuff. She was afraid people might start bullying her for that too. But she did have a crush on someone. There was this kid, he was two years older than her, he had a buzzcut. She remembered going to the school’s talent show and watching him play with his band. Many thought they were lame because they weren’t very good. But she thought they were awesome. She thought he was cool. But when, after the show, she had finally gathered enough courage to go and talk to him, maybe even just to become friends with him, she heard him talk with his bandmates about that blonde girl in her year that was doing that cheerleading number. He heard someone say that she was pretty, and she took it for granted it was him. So, she just ran away. Then he moved to high school the next year and she no longer saw him for some time. Until she moved to Hawkins High. And he was there. He no longer had a buzzed head, and tattoos had started appearing on his arms. He obviously didn’t know who she was or even if she existed, but still, she couldn’t help but look at him in the cafeteria, or smile when he walked down the hallway and their eyes met for a split second. She was head over hills for him. She had been for a long time. But he had never even talked to her until two days before. And now she was sitting on his bed. On a date with him? If she had told Steve when he was still in school that she had a crush on him, he would have made fun of her. He would have reacted similarly to how he had reacted the day before during their car ride, calling her crazy because he was not a good person, because he smoked and was a freak. But she knew him better than he did, better than anyone did. She had watched him for so long, hoping that he would just look at her, smile at her even. And in the meantime, she had learned things about him. She had learned that he played an invisible guitar whenever he was bored in class, moving his hand under the desk and moving his fingers like he would on the strings. She knew that he bounced his leg when he was stressed because she saw him do that during tests. He would always put his tongue out a bit whenever he was concentrating. He enjoyed spending time with his D&D friends, but he really had a soft spot for her brother: she had noticed the change in his demeanour when Dustin had joined Hellfire, and how he acted differently whenever Dustin was around or not. That was something that drew her even more to him. She loved her brother with all her heart, and the guy she had feelings for – feelings she would never admit to have – treated her brother like that. She had won. Well, not yet at least, since he had started talking to her only the day before. But they were on a date now. And that must have meant something.

“Y/N? Is everything okay?” Eddie took a seat next to her, close enough so that if either of them where to slightly move their leg, then they would be pressed against one another’s.

“Play something for me, would you?”

Her request took him by surprise, especially after that long moment of silence. “You don’t like the music I know how to play.”

She turned to look at him and smiled. “Try me.”

He looked at her for a moment before he got up from his seat to go and take his guitar off the wall. “Any request?” He asked as he leaned against the chest of drawers, putting the guitar strap around him.

“Play a song you like. Any song.” She moved a bit back on the bed, crossing her legs and propping her head on her hand. “Maybe I’ll surprise you with my knowledge.” She winked at him.

Right then and there, he wanted to run outside and scream. He wanted to scream because the woman of his dreams was sitting on his bed, asking him to play her a song. He had dreamt about that moment a million times, and now that it was actually happening, it didn’t feel real. Please, someone, punch me in the face. Actually, no, don’t do it. If it’s a dream, don’t let me wake up. He took a stray pick from his jacket’s pocket and cracked his neck, before shifting around a bit, trying to find a comfortable position. He had to play something cool, something that she would find cool. He took a look around the room, looking for inspiration. That’s it, he thought. And so, he began playing.

He played for a little over three minutes, just standing there, and Y/N couldn’t take her eyes off of him. She had played the image of him playing his guitar at the middle school’s talent show over and over in his head, trying to imagine how he would have looked today. But no imagine that she had created in her head could have compared to what she had right now in front of her. That wasn’t just cool. He looked hot. He was there, with a concentrated look on his face, his little tongue slipping out, but then moving to biting his bottom lip. Fuck me. She thought. And she meant that in every possible way. When eventually Eddie finished the song, she didn’t know what to say, afraid that if she spoke too soon, she might actually confess whatever she was thinking in that moment. So, she waited for him to put back the guitar and come lay on the bed next to her.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment, before turning his head slightly to the side, catching a glimpse of her smile. “So, did you enjoy it?”

Hell yes, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that, if I didn’t have a bit of self-control, I would be all over you right now. “Very much.” She replied, moving her hair behind her ear. “I love Too Young To Fall In Love.”

Eddie propped himself up on his elbow, a surprised look on his face. “You know Mötley Crüe?”

“I must say, I may be a bit mainstream, but I really like Shout At The Devil.” She smiled. “And I also enjoy Too Fast For Love.”

A song about sex. Did she just explicitly told him she liked a song about sex? “How do you know about Mötley Crüe?” He was still confused about that first fact, about the fact that she knew that band. “I thought you listened to Bowie and Queen.”

“Yes, and they are my favourites! But they’re not the only artists I like!” She laughed. “I told you I would surprise you with my knowledge!”

He had spent so long thinking she was so different from him, that they would not have much in common, and then, in less than two days he found out not only that she like the same authors he did, but she also enjoyed some of the artists he loved. Marry me. And if that wasn’t enough, she understood him more than anyone had ever done in his entire life. He had never been a big fan of theories such as that of soulmates, linked to one another by an invisible string. He had always thought it was stupid and that soulmates didn’t exist. But in that moment, lying there on his bed next to her, he could feel his heart change. He felt like he had always known her in some way, or that they were destined to meet, maybe even to be together.

“I think you’re really good, by the way.” She said, eventually lying down as well, rolling onto her side so that she could look at him.

“Nah, I’ve played for so long, I should be better than this by now.” He rolled on his side as well, now facing her.

“Maybe you just have to learn how to play something from a different genre. It might give you a fuller experience and you might even learn something from it.” She smiled, only a few inches dividing them. “That’s what I did when I found myself writing the same things over and over. I wrote something completely different, and that helped me find a new perspective.”

He looked at her, fighting with his entire body the urge to touch her, to kiss her. “I could learn to play something you like.”

She bit the inside of her lip, trying to keep herself from smiling too much. “You would? For me?” She asked, thinking he was just making fun of her.

Anything for you, he thought. But the words didn’t come out of his mouth. So, he simply nodded.

“Well, in that case, my favourite song is Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears” She said, moving forward to place a soft kiss of his cheek.

Eddie’s heart started racing, leaping, and he felt like his stomach was all tied in knots. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t say a word. Fuck, he thought to himself. I’m fucked. He kept looking at her. Am I falling in love?

“Please, don’t leave me alone.” Eddie’s voice was shaking just as much as his body was, and Y/N’s heart broke. She had no idea what could have happened and she wasn’t sure forcing him to talk about it would be a good idea. So, she turned back around and walked in front of him. In all of those years of observing him from afar, she had never, ever imagined she would have ended up seeing him this shaken.

She stood there, in front of him, almost between his legs. She wanted to look at his face, to make sure he wasn’t hurt, but he kept hiding it from her. “I’m here, okay? I won’t leave. I promise.” She whispered, as she moved her hand to his hair, brushing them gently, trying to calm him down. Next thing she knew, Eddie’s arms snaked around her waists, pulling her closer to him and burying his face against her stomach. Y/N’s heart sank at the sight of the man shaking uncontrollably right there in front of her, and there wasn’t much she could do, so she just kept stroking his hair and his back, humming a random lullaby that came to her mind, in the hope it could help him calm down. However, she was completely shocked to feel wetness touch her skin through her t-shirt. At first, she was scared it might be blood, since he still hadn’t given her the chance to make sure he was okay, but soon she realised he was crying. “That’s it, love, you’re safe now.” She whispered and moved around in his embrace so that she could take a seat next to him, but he protested, too worried she was going to leave. “Hey, I’m not going anywhere, okay? Let me take a seat here, next to you.” She had never been this calm in her entire life. The previous summer, when all that shit with the Russians and the Mind Flayer went down, adrenaline had kicked in and she had acted like she was the daughter of Sherlock Holmes, G.I. Joe and MacGyver all together. But now, seeing Eddie like that, some sort of motherly impulse had taken control of her, and all she wanted to do was to make sure he was okay. Yes, she also wanted to know what had happened, so that she could kill whoever had done that to him. But first, Eddie. “How about you lie down and you put your head here, on my lap?” She put her hands on Eddie’s shoulders and guided him, until his head was on her legs. “That’s it. Good.” She whispered, moving hair out of his face, more as a way to make sure he wasn’t hurt. “Take deep breaths. You’re safe.” She could feel his hand gripping onto her leg, but she didn’t mind, he wasn’t hurting her. “Good. Very good.” She kept talking to him, to let him know she was still there, that she wasn’t going anywhere.

They stayed there, in that position for probably 10 minutes, Eddie’s head lying in her lap, him holding onto her legs, as she ever so gently caressed his cheek. Her hands were so soft, her fingers always a bit cold, even with the warm weather that spring had brought that year. But he didn’t mind the coolness as long as it was her hands. They stayed in silence, and he tried to match his breath to hers as much as possible. Eventually Eddie stopped shaking. The images were still there, the sounds so vivid, so alive in his head. But her presence grounded him enough to be able to stop whimpering whenever a sound came from outside her window.

At one point, her voice broke the silence, as soft and gentle as ever. “If you want to talk about it, just know that I’m here. When you’re ready.”

“You won’t believe me” He whispered. And he could already feel tears pooling at the corner of his eyes. Not again, please.

“Try me.” Her reply was quick, which confused Eddie.

He stayed there with his head on her legs for a few more moment, but then decided to sit up. He immediately moved closer to her, leaving no room between their bodies, the urge to feel her body next to his was too strong. She was the only thing keeping him sane at the moment. Eddie took her hand in his, intertwining his fingers with hers, his thumb stroking the soft skin of the back of her hand. He took a deep breath. He wanted to tell her. He needed to tell her, or he would go insane. “Her body was just, like, lifted into the air.” He spoke quietly, words coming out of his mouth almost like a whisper. “And, uh… and she just, like, hung there. In the air.” His eyes filled with tears just at the thought of what had happened. “And her bones… uh, she…” He whimpered. “Her bones started to snap. And her eyes. It… it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling.” A tear slipped down his cheek. “I… I didn’t know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there.” He scoffed. “You think I’m crazy, right?”

Y/N shook her head, raising a hand to wipe away the tear from his face. “No, I don’t think you’re crazy.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Y/N! I know how this sounds!” He raised his voice. Why was she being this calm? Why wasn’t she disturbed or freaked out by this?

“I’m not bullshitting you, Eddie. I believe you.” She whispered. Her hand was still on his cheek, stroking it gently in a hope to calm him down. “And I know a few other people that would also believe you, starting with my brother.”

“Don’t bring your brother into this.” He almost begged. It might have been hard to believe, but he actually cared for Dustin Henderson. He cared about all the members of the Hellfire Club, they were his lost sheepies, as he would jokingly call them. But with him, with her brother, something had clicked, something different that he couldn’t really explain. And that was why he didn’t want to bring him into this. He was already risking way too much by telling her. But he needed her. He needed her like hell.

“Oh, honey, trust me: if you knew what my brother has been though in the last few years, you would want him to be here.” She said, offering him a kind smile. “As crazy as it may sound, Dustin’s my hero, and him and his friends have already saved this town three times at this point, but no one really knows that.” Eddie was extremely confused, and Y/N could see that. “Listen, what I’m about to tell you may be… difficult… to take in, okay? But you know how people say that Hawkins is… cursed? Well, they’re not… way off.” The confused expression didn’t leave the man’s face. “But I can’t explain it to you myself. You have to trust me, we need Dustin. He… he could explain everything to you. And I mean everything. He might even help you make sense of what you just went through. I know it’s sounds crazy but-”

“I trust you.” Eddie interrupted her, squeezing her hand and trying to move even closer to her. “But not right now, please. Right now, I just need to be with you. Only you.” He whispered, pressing his forehead against her shoulder, a wordless way of asking for a hug.

She smiled, placing a quick kiss on his head, before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and pulling him in. “Then we’ll ask him tomorrow, okay?”

“Thank you.” He whispered into her hair, pulling himself as close as possible to her for a few moments, before letting go.

“Hey, how about we make ourselves comfortable, uh?” She said, shifting around the bed, sitting up with her back against the headboard. Eddie didn’t need much convincing, and immediately followed her, setting himself right next to her. He knew he had to give her space at some point, but at the same time he had to feel her presence, he had to have some sort of contact with her. Both their legs were stretched out over the covers, their shoulders pressed one’s against the other’s. “So,” She spoke after a few moments of silence. She didn’t really want to force him to talk about what he had just witnessed, but she was curious about one thing. “I don’t want to sound jealous or anything, but… could I ask you who this girl was?” She turned to look at him. “You obviously don’t own me anything, we barely went on a date. So, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s not-”

He interrupted her by grabbing her hand. “Chrissy Cunningham.” She knew she must have made a weird expression or something because of the face the man pulled in reaction. “She had approached me during lunch time to buy some… you know…”

“You can say it, it’s fine with me.” She reassured him.

“She wanted to buy weed.” He continued, starting to absentmindedly play with her fingers. “At least that’s what I thought she wanted. But then she asked me for something… stronger, and I don’t bring that kind of stuff to school, so I had to sell it to her tonight, after the game.” She nodded, and he wanted to die. Talking about his business in front of her made him feel ashamed. How could she want anything to do with someone like him? With a drug dealer? What did she see in him? “That’s why she came round to my place. I wasn’t cheating on you, I swear.”

“Eddie, we’re not together. You can do whatever you want.” She said, and it hurt her to say that. She obviously didn’t want him to go around and flirt with other people, she wanted him to spend time with her, to flirt with her, to kiss her. But that first part was true, they weren’t together.

Little did she know that Eddie was going through a very similar thought process. Yeah, well, I know we’re not together yet, but I don’t want to do whatever I want. Or, actually, I do want to do it, but that’s the thing. You are what I want. Not some other girl. He sighed. “Right…” He whispered, obviously disappointed.

After that, silence fell on the room. The only sounds were those coming from outside, the wind rustling the leaves, birds singing. Y/N shifted slightly so to be able to lay her head on his shoulder. But then Eddie moved too, opening his arms, as a way of inviting her to lay her head on his chest. She quickly raised a corner of her mouth in a half smile, before setting there. As she laid her head on his chest, she could hear his heart beating. And it was beating like crazy. He must still be in shock, she thought to herself, as she wrapped her arms around his torso. She had imagined a moment like that hundreds of times, especially in the last few days, but she never thought it would have come after Eddie had witnessed a girl being possessed and killed by some invisible forces in mid-air. She had hoped it would have happened during a date, maybe a night-in at his place, watching a movie. He would be sitting at the end of the couch, leaning slightly against the arm rest. It would be late and she would start to feel sleepy. And he would notice, so he would call her name and gesture her to move closer, to settle against his chest. Then they would go on watching the movie like that, her arms around his waists, him playing with her hair, until she fell asleep. And maybe she would even stay over for the night. But that wasn’t a date. He was there because he needed comfort and support. And that was what she wanted to do: help him.

Her hands had found their way under his jacket, and were now lying on his side. She started to absentmindedly draw circles on his t-shirt, as she took in his now familiar scent. She forced herself to keep her eyes open, afraid she would otherwise fall asleep, but when eventually Eddie moved his hands to her hair, brushing them and playing with them, just like she had imagined, a shy smile appeared on her lips, and only then she allowed herself to close her eyes, enjoying the moment.

However, at one point, the air seemed to change, to get colder. At first, she blamed the window which was still open from before. But then, Eddie stood up from where he was sitting, leaving her lying there, confused. She turned to look at him, trying to understand if he needed anything or if he wasn’t feeling alright. Maybe the images from before are still disturbing him. He had is back to her, so she couldn’t see what he was doing. “Eddie?” She called his name, getting up from the bed. She took a few steps, until she was close enough to put a hand on his arm. “Is everything okay?” She asked.

“You don’t understand it, do you?” He snapped around, grabbing her by the wrist. She looked at him confused, scared even. “Y/N, I don’t like you. I’m only here because I need you to graduate this year. You’re a means to an end to me, can’t you see it?”

She tried to free herself from his grip, wriggling around with her arm. “Eddie, where is this coming from?”

He tightened his grip on her. “You really think anyone would want to be with you for who you are? Really? You’re pathetic.” His eyes grew darker, his voice louder. “You think you’re so smart and quirky because of all the books you read, don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. You’re just pathetic.”

“Eddie, I… I’m sorry…” Tears started filling up her eyes. “I thought… I thought we were becoming friends…”

He finally let go of her. “Friends? You really thought anyone would want to be your friend? You thought I would want to be your friend?” He laughed a dry, almost evil laugh. “No, wait.” He started walking towards her. “Don’t tell me you thought I was getting feelings for you.” She took a step back, and another, until her calves were now pressed against the frame of the bed, and tears started falling. “No one wants to be with you, Y/N. Not even your friends.”

“Eddie, please…” Her voice cracked. What had happened? Everything seemed so peaceful only moments ago, and now… what was happening?

“Those people you call friends… they pity you.” He kept getting closer to her, and somehow his figure seemed to get bigger and bigger with every step he took. “Oh, and you should hear the things your brother says about you behind your back!” He laughed again. She looked at him and she couldn’t recognise him: it was him, or rather, it was his body, but something in his eyes was different.

“Eddie, stop, please…” She cried.

“Eddie, stop, please!” He mocked her. He was now standing only a few inches away from her. Tears fell uncontrollably down her cheeks. That wasn’t him.

Eddie had closed his eyes only for a few seconds when he started hearing sobs coming from the girl. She was still there, lying against his chest. At first, he thought he must have imagined it. He was tired after all. He kept looking at her in silence. The room was dark, but a light came from the street and through the window, shedding just enough light on her face to allow him to see tears rolling down her cheeks. “Y/N” His voice was soft as he tried to call her. But no response. The girl was now wincing, kicking even. “Hey, Y/N, I’m here.” He tried to call her again, a bit louder this time, but still no response. “Y/N, wake up!” This time his voice was clear as he shook her physically.

Finally, the girl opened her eyes, but she was so scared, that she immediately started to back away from him. Tears were now falling uncontrollably down her face, and she got up from the bed, hands in front of her as if she was trying to defend herself. She murmured something, but he couldn’t really make out the words.

“Y/N, it was just a bad dream.” He said, getting off the bed and trying to get close to her, but she wouldn’t let him. She obviously thought she was still in dreaming.

“Please, stop.” She cried, tripping over something and falling to the floor. “Please…” She looked away, hiding her face.

Eddie had not clue what to do, how to wake her up. A part of him told him he should’ve gone and called Dustin, because he would have known how to actually wake her up. But no one could know he was there, especially not Dustin, or he would start asking millions of questions and they would never get out of that. So, he kneeled, trying to get as close as possible to her. He opened his hand, putting them up in the air as a sign of surrender, hoping that it would help her understand he didn’t want to hurt her or anything. “I promise, Eddie, I’ll leave you alone from now on.” She cried. And at those words, his heart dropped. He was in her nightmare.

“I don’t want you to leave me alone, princess.” He said, still kneeling in front of her, but keeping a safe distance, not wanting to freak her out even more.

Princess. As a trigger, the word brought her back to reality. It was only then that she realised she was on the floor, crouched in a corner, with her back pressed against the wall behind her. Eddie was on the floor just like her, kneeling a few inches away from her. She looked around her room, trying to look for other signs that she was awake, that she was no longer dreaming. A bird chirped outside her bedroom window. It must have been a good sign, right?

“Hey, princess. It’s okay, you’re awake.” Eddie’s voice was now back to normal, warm, reassuring. She sighed deeply before launching herself into his arms. “There, there.” He whispered, closing his arms around her small, shaking figure, pressing a kiss on top of her head. “You’re safe, love.” He whispered the words she had said to him when he had burst into her bedroom, those words that made him feel at home.

“You said mean things to me.” She cried into his chest, holding tightly onto his t-shirt.

He sighed, sitting properly on the floor and pulling her into his lap. “It was just a bad dream, love. I promise. The Eddie you saw wasn’t me, and whatever he said, it’s not true.”

“It felt so real.” She couldn’t stop sobbing. He could feel her struggling for air at that point, but even if he tried to give her some space to breathe, she still kept her face buried in his chest.

“I know, princess.” He rocked her gently, placing now and again soft kisses on top of her head.  “But it was just a nightmare. Everything’s okay now. I’m here. The real me.” His voice slowly calmed her down. “I want to be here with you.” He reassured her.

Eddie didn’t know how long the stayed on the floor for. He set his back against the side of the bed, and held the girl in his lap with so much care, as if she were a child. His fingers moved carefully between her hair, brushing them, braiding them, as he kept rocking her ever so gently. With his mouth pressed on the crown of her head, he hummed Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, being it the only Queen song that came to his mind. At first, he wasn’t sure that it could help her, but when he stopped after a couple of times of humming the chorus, he felt her grip on his shirt tighten and a soft voice whisper against his own chest “Don’t stop, please.”. And so, he kept on humming. They stayed there on the floor, in that position, until Y/N was calm enough to move back to her bed. But even then, she still kept her arms around Eddie, his t-shirt in her hands, not sure she really wanted to let go of him. She laid once again her head on his chest, an ear pressed on the left side, his heartbeat a lullaby to calm her nerves and keep her grounded.

It was crazy to think how that night had gone. That evening at Hellfire Club had possibly been one of the coolest Hellfire Club’s meetings they had ever had: everyone had loved that last mission; even Sinclair’s little sister, who had swept in last minute and, in an unforeseeable turn of events, had saved the squad from certain doom. Everyone complimented him on the great campaign he had created, which made him happy. But then when he went home the thing with Chrissy happened. He had run, he had abandoned her there. He could have called the police. He should have called the police. Instead, he had run to her. He had literally thrown himself through her window just to be able to hug her. And when he had started to finally relax, her nightmare happened. Could he have caused her the nightmare by telling her what had happened? Did she have a nightmare because she was already feeling guilty for keeping his secret? Was she in danger now because of his impulsive choice? Also, apparently, he was in her nightmare. What did she dream about? What did he do in her nightmare? Did he hurt her? Why did she say she would leave him alone? He didn’t want to be left alone, especially not now, especially not by her.

With his arms still around her and those thoughts running through his head, Eddie tried not to fall asleep. He wanted to stay awake, alert for the rest of the night, he wanted to be there, ready to help her in case she might have another nightmare. However, when Y/N started to gently trace abstract figures on his side, it was it for him. His eyelids became heavy, he could barely keep his eyes open, and not even twenty seconds later he was sleeping.

When he opened his eyes again, it was morning. He was lying on his side, facing the window. Sunshine came in the room, softly washing over the dark-wood furniture. He blinked a couple of times, his eyes taking time to adjust to the new, warm light of the morning. He stretched his legs and arms, realising only then that he had slept with his jacket on, which he didn’t mind, since they had forgot to close the window. He looked around the room, smiling when he recognised the posters on the walls. He rolled over; a smile already present on his lips at the thought of her lying beside him. However, the smile quickly faded when he realised that she wasn’t there. “Y/N?” He called her name, sitting up and looking around, thinking she might have been sitting at her desk and maybe he was still too sleepy to have noticed her. But she wasn’t. What the hell? He quickly got off the bed, confused. Where is she? He kept asking himself, still looking around the room as if she would just magically appear out of nowhere, or hoping he could just realise she had been there the entire time, and he simply hadn’t noticed her. But as he slowly woke up, he came to terms with the fact that he was alone in that room. Her deep green Converse were still there, on the floor, where he had noticed them the previous night. Everything seemed to be how he remembered it from the night before. So, where the hell was her? He rubbed his eyes, moving hair away from his face. He wasn’t sure what to do. His gut told him to go look for her outside of the bedroom, but another part of him was terrified at the thought of meeting her mother in the kitchen or something. He took a quick glance at the alarm on her side table. 7:18. It’s pretty early on a Saturday morning, especially on the first day of spring break. She should still be in bed, it’s her right. He thought, maybe she’s in the bathroom. Yes, that seems like a logical explanation to why she isn’t here. That must be it. He took a seat at the end of the bed. His eyes were fixed on the door, as he bounced his leg up and down. He didn’t know for how long he stayed like that, staring at the door handle, waiting for it to move. He turned to look again at the alarm on the side table. 7:31. I need to look for her. What if she went in the bathroom and felt sick? What if she went to the kitchen and something happened? It must have been the anxiety related to the Chrissy-accident talking, but he had to make sure she was okay.

He got off the bed and walked to the door, opening it very quietly. He stuck his head out first, just enough to look both ways and make sure he could walk out. He silently made his way to what he supposed was the bathroom. The door was closed, so he ever so gently knocked on it, whisper-shouting her name, and then staying quiet for a few moments, waiting for an answer. Nothing. He tried once more, but still nothing. He sighed, looking again both ways down the corridor, now paying attention to the other doors. The one he remembered being Mrs Henderson’s room was closed, which he took as a good sign, she must still be asleep. Dustin’s room, on the other hand, from what he had gathered, was on the other side of the house, meaning he couldn’t really make sure whether he was still asleep or not. A teen boy on vacation? He has to be sleeping, he thought to himself. So, quietly, he tiptoed down the corridor, aiming for the kitchen. However, he immediately froze when he heard sounds coming from there. Fuck, fuck, fuck, maybe Mrs Henderson wasn’t still asleep? He stayed there, still like a statue, even holding his breath, trying to understand who it was. Something clinked, like silverware against a dish or something. Then someone hummed. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. He smiled, allowing himself to breathe again. He took a few steps until he was standing in the kitchen doorway.

The TV in the corner was turned on, the volume was a low as possible so that she could barely make out the words, and it was showing re-runs of Scooby-Doo. Y/N was sitting at the table, as she ate a bowl full of Cocoa Krispies and milk. A glass of dark red orange juice sitting in front of her, right next to a very worn-out copy of The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett, open page-side down to keep track of the last page she must have read. She was sitting with her legs crossed on the chair, her hair in the messiest bun he had ever seen on anyone. He hadn’t really had the opportunity to look at her the previous night, and now he couldn’t help but smile at the already oversized t-shirt that she was wearing, which, on her, looked as if it had belong to giant. She looked so… soft. A part of him wanted to stay there, in silence, lean against the doorpost and just admire her. But he chose against it, not wanting to seem like a creep. So, he simply walked in the room. “Y/N?” He spoke quietly, not wanting to startle her.

The girl turned her head in his direction, and smiled when she realised it was him. “Eddie!” She stood up from where she was sitting and walked to him, wrapping immediately her arms around him. “Sorry I left you alone there, but you were sleeping so soundly.”

He smiled, hugging her back and placing a soft kiss on top of her head. “Don’t worry.” Just imagine waking up like this every morning. Imagine waking up to her every day.

“Do you want some breakfast?” She asked, reluctantly pulling away from him. “We have cereal, I can make you some PB&J, scrambled eggs. Anything you want, just ask.” She said, walking towards the cabinet to take out what she needed.

He chuckled as he took a seat at the table next to where she was previously sitting. “Cereal is fine. It’s what I would have had at my place anyway.” He said, stress coming over him as he thought about the trailer. His uncle would be home any minute now.

“Then, cereal it is!” She took out a bowl and a spoon for him, placing them on the table in front of him. “Did you sleep well?” She asked him as she sat again in her chair, immediately pulling both legs up: she was sitting similarly to how she was when he had first walked in, with her legs almost resembling a pretzel, but now a leg was higher, her heel resting on the edge of the seat, using her knee as an armrest. He had noticed it in class too, that she would always be sitting in some unusual way. But now, seeing her there, in her own habitat, he noticed that she actually sat in the weirdest positions. And how she managed to, he had no idea? He was barely flexible enough to cross his legs once in a while, whereas she looked like some contortionist from the circus. He loved it.

“Actually, yes. I thought I wouldn’t be able to even just close my eyes after what happened last night. But it turns out you have quite a relaxing effect on me.” He smiled, as he poured some cereal in his bowl, before drowning them in milk. He could see her blush in the corner of his eye. “How about you? Did you manage to fall back asleep?”

She shook her head. “Nope. But I didn’t really want to. So, I stayed up all night.” He now had his mouth full of a spoonful of cereal. But he stopped nonetheless to look at her confused. Why didn’t she want to sleep? “But don’t worry, I re-read most of this.” She said proudly, picking up the book from the table, and showing him how few pages left she had to read.

“You could have woken me up, I could have kept you company.” He said, feeling bad for having slept the entire night as she struggled to keep herself awake.

“You looked too peaceful to wake you.” She said, looking at him straight in the eyes. And he was the one blushing. But he didn’t hide it this time. He was done hiding his emotions from her.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes, as they both finished their breakfast, distractedly watching the new Scooby-Doo episode. However, neither of them really could care less about what was on TV. Y/N’s leg, the one that was previously propped up, was now slowly swinging in front of her chair, while Eddie stretched his legs out in front of him, so they were now invading her space. Eddie felt like a child as his heart beat louder whenever their legs made contact under table. He wanted that every day. He wanted to drive her home on school nights, but then wake up next to her on the weekends. And maybe she wanted it too. Eddie could feel his entire body pushing him closer to her, his own lips starting to move, as if he was going to tell her something. But something else interrupted that moment. When he turned around, Dustin was walking into the kitchen, his curly hair all over the place, the signs left by the pillow still on his face.

“Hey sis” He yawned, walking to the fridge. “Hey Eddie” He added, opening the fridge door. Both Eddie and Y/N froze in their seat, looking at each other. What the fuck? Eddie mouthed, hoping the girl would just talk for him or tell him what to do. But when they moved back their gaze to the boy, he was now turning slowly around, like one of those comic scenes in a sitcom. Dustin looked at the man sitting at the table, then his sister, he blinked a few times, and rubbed his eyes, thinking maybe he was still dreaming or he was seeing things. When he opened his eyes once again and met Eddie’s, he knew he was fully awake. “What the fuck? Eddie? Why are you here?”

“Darling, your friends are waiting for you.” Y/N’s mother said, peaking behind her bedroom door, as a car was honking insistently outside of her house.

She huffed. “I know, mom. I can hear them.” She finished tying her shoelaces and got up from the bed, picking up her backpack and making her way outside. “Oh, by the way, tonight I’m at the basketball final. Robin is playing with the band, so I’m going there as moral support.”

“No worries, I’ll see you when you get home.” Her mom gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, brushing a few rogue strands of hair out of her face. Y/N hated when her mom did it, but also found it endearing. Afterall, it was her way of taking care of her, and, well, she didn’t allow her to do much else for her, so she let her do that. “Say Robin ‘good luck’ from me, will you?”

“Sure, mom!” She yelled, already making her way out of the door, not before grabbing a slice of toasted bread from the table. She ran outside and into Steve’s car, the piece of bread hanging from her mouth as she put her bag on the seat next to hers. “Sorry, guys.”

“It’s okay, just…” Steve turned around and handed her a tissue. “Don’t get crumbs inside the car, I had it washed yesterday.”

With a confused look on her face, Y/N moved her eyes between Steve and Robin. “He has a date tonight.” Robin explained, looking at her through the vanity mirror, as she put on her mascara.

“What? I thought we were going to go cheer on Robin!”

“I am! I’m just going to take a someone with me. You know just in case you were taking your boyfriend…”

Y/N didn’t need to look at Steve in the face to know he was mad. He obviously still wasn’t over her date with Eddie from the day before. “He is not my boyfriend.” She sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Not yet!” Robin chuckled, winking at her. Thanks, dude, for the support, but you’re not helping right now.

“And he’s got Hellfire Club tonight, so he wouldn’t have been available nonetheless.” She raised her shoulders, leaning back on the seat. Steve’s car felt nothing like Eddie’s. Eddie’s van was tall, with dark leather seats that almost hugged her and begged her not to leave. Steve’s, on the other hand, was low, so low that she hit her head at least 40% of the times she tried to get in or out, and the polyester seats weren’t exactly the most inviting. A part of her, a big part of her almost wished she had accepted Eddie’s offer from the prior night.

“You know, my offer still stands” Eddie smiled, holding her hand in his and gently playing with her fingers.

“Which offer?” Y/N’s back was pressed against the leather of the back of the passenger seat. They had been parked in front of her house for almost 40 minutes at that point, neither of them really wanting to let the other go.

“I could drive you to school, if you wanted to.” He wouldn’t look up, but she could tell his cheeks were turning slightly red.

Y/N bit her lip, trying to keep a smile from exploding on her face. “You know I would love that, I have already told you, but…”

“It’s late and you have no way of telling Harrington not to come and pick you up without waking up his entire household or having him yell at you because he hates me and he thinks I would do things to you.” Eddie was disappointed. And she could hear her own heart breaking at that sight.

“But, on Saturday, we can spend the entire day together.” She squeezed his hand, trying to gain his attention. “We could stay in at my place, or at yours – we can decide tomorrow.” She smiled. “We can watch a movie, we can order pizzas, we can write the story for Hellfire.” She moved closer to him, placing a hand on his cheek. And only then she realised how soft his skin was, despite the shy stubble making its way on his face. And warm. His skin was warm. “You could even teach me how to play D&D or guitar, if that’s something you’d like.”

He finally looked up. And when their eyes met, a bashful smile appeared on his lips. Y/N fought with all of her body and all of her will the urge to jump on him and kiss him. “I would love that.” Eddie’s voice came out almost like a whisper, as if he didn’t want to wake up an invisible person laying on the backseat.

“So, his stupid club is more important to him than to spend time with you? Wow, Y/N, you found yourself the perfect man.” Y/N hated Steve’s sarcasm, especially when it was directed towards her.

“Dustin and Mike are also part of the club.” Y/N raised her voice.

“And they’re 14! Munson is like 20! And he still plays that stupid game!”

Y/N was on the verge of exploding, but luckily, Robin stepped in right at the exact moment. “Guys, can we please talk about something else for a moment? It is 7 in the morning, we have this stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse!”

“Oh, you’re worried about a basketball pep rally? You expect us to believe that?” Steve said, sarcastically.

“Yeah, so?” Robin acted as if the two sitting in the car with her weren’t her best friends.

“So, we all know what this is about, okay? We’re not going to buy that bullshit. This is about Vickie!” Y/N moved to the edge of the seat, trying to get as close to the other two as possible.

“Absolutely not!”

“Yes, it is!” Steve and Y/N exclaimed in unison.

“And you know what else I think?”

“I really don’t care what-” Robin tried to stop Steve from talking, but they all knew that when he started, he was like a train, and there was no way of stopping him.

“I think you gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you’re around her. Okay? You just gotta be yourself.”

“You’re literally quoting me to me. You do realise that?”

“Well maybe you need to listen to yourself! You ever think about that, smarty pants? I listened to you, and now look at me. Boom, back in business!” Y/N couldn’t help but smile at that interaction. It was moments like that which reminded her why she loved Steve.

“It’s not the same thing. And you know that. You ask out a girl and she says no. Big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego’s a little bruised. But I ask out the wrong girl and, bam, I’m a town pariah.” Robin wasn’t wrong. Outside of the three of them, no one really knew about Robin’s sexuality, or hers, for that matter. When it was just the three of them, it came easy to talk about it, maybe to even joke about it. But they all knew that other people wouldn’t be so accepting if they found out. So, Robin had every right to not agree with Steve.

“Yeah, I’d buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl.”

“We just don’t know that; do we?”

“She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds. Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes, 5 seconds?” Steve moved his eyes between Robin, Y/N’s reflection in the rear-view mirror and the road. “People who likes boobies, Robin!”

“Ew, gross. Don’t say boobies!” Robin exclaimed, mimicking a disgusted face.

“Not a big deal, okay? I like boobies, you like boobies, Y/N also likes boobies sometimes, right?” Y/N chuckled, nodding. “Vickie likes boobies. Definitely!”

Robin continued shaking her head, constantly repeating that it wasn’t a good idea, that they weren’t sure about that. “I know, Roro.” Y/N put a hand on Robin’s shoulder. Roro was how she had started calling her for fun the first summer after they’d met. At first, Robin hated it. But then it started to grow on her, and it had eventually become her nickname. No one except for Y/N could use it. “But, as much as I understand your fear, Steve is not completely wrong.”

“Did you just say you agree with me?!” Steve put a hand on his chest, pretending to be completely surprised.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Harrington.” Y/N stuck out her tongue, then immediately returning her attention to her best friend. “If you really like Vickie, you could try and hint to her that you may be interested.”

“And how would I do that? You know I’m not good at flirting!” She exclaimed.

“Nor am I.” She sat back on the seat. “But he is, apparently.”

They both turned their heads towards Steve, and he smiled. “I’m better at something than both of you!” He said triumphantly, and Y/N didn’t want to blow out his flame, so she just let him be himself and gloat for a moment.

The rest of the ride was spent with Steve trying to teach Robin “tactics” on how to flirt with someone without making it seem obvious, but Y/N couldn’t care less about learning how to flirt. She just wanted to get to school as soon as possible, hoping to see him before class. So, as soon as they stopped in front of the main entrance, Y/N quickly bid Steve goodbye, before grabbing Robin by the hand and pulling her inside the building.

“Do we have somewhere to be?” Robin asked cluelessly.

“No, I just… I want to get to class quickly. I didn’t have time to finish my homework yesterday.” That last part came out almost like a whisper, and Y/N hoped her friends didn’t catch that, but she hoped in vain.

“You didn’t do your homework!?” Robin stopped in the middle of the corridor, looking at her, unable to hide the smile creeping on her lips. “Is it because of Eddie?” She smirked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down, or at least trying. Yeah, she wasn’t exactly the most coordinate person ever.

“I did do them! I just didn’t finish them…” Y/N grabbed once again her friend’s hand, starting to walk again. “And yes, it’s because of Eddie…” She tried to hide her blushing cheeks, but nothing escaped Robin’s radar.

“I knew it!” She laughed, doing a little dance that caught a few people’s attention. “How did it go? Tell me everything. I need to know if I was a good matchmaker.”

Y/N chuckled and shook her head, but told her about the date, nonetheless. She told her about the ride to his trailer, how he had tried making her feel as comfortable as possible; she told her about him holding her hand multiple times. She told her about him playing his guitar for her and him suggesting to learn how to play a song for her.

“Then it must be love!” Robin brought her hands together in front of her chest, as if she were a character out of one of those romantic comedies from the 50s or something.

“Shut up.” She laughed, giving her a gentle push with her shoulder. However, when their lockers finally came into view, Y/N froze on the spot, the hand that was holding onto her backpack’s strap tightening its grip.

“I’m just saying, I’m a great Cupid.” Robin chucked, and turned to look at her, but it was only then that she realise she had stopped walking a few meters back. “What are you doing?” She asked, trying to follow her gaze. But when she finally realise where she was looking, or rather who she was looking at, she smiled. “Prince Charming is waiting for you, dearie.” She linked their arms together and pulled her towards their lockers.

Eddie. She didn’t know why she had reacted like that, especially after spending a good part of her morning wishing to see him as soon as possible, or after having spent a good part of the night awake thinking back at the previous evening spent together, thinking about every word they had said to each other, his hand on her waists, him laying a few inches away from her, his hands, his fucking hands on that fucking guitar. Maybe that was it. Maybe that was the reason she froze when she saw him. She had spent the night fantasising about him touching her – not sexually, just touching her – his warm, calloused hands with all those cold metal rings on her cheeks, on her arms, holding her own hands. And now that they were there, together again, she didn’t know what to expect, she couldn’t predict what he was going to do.

“Munson! Fancy seeing you here!” Robin said, making their presence known not only to Eddie but to half of the people in the corridor.

Eddie looked up from whatever he was holding in his hands and smiled as soon as he met her eyes. Was he reading a book? Fuck me. “Ladies.” He slightly bowed his head, moving to the side to let them get to their lockers.  

“Thank you, sir.” Robin replied, immediately fiddling with her own padlock.

Y/N walked to her locker in silence, with a shy smile on her face, but still unable to look at him in the eyes. “Hey.” She said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“Hey, princess.” He smiled; a smile so big and bright that made her heart dance. She couldn’t deny the fact that she loved when he called her that, princess. It made her feel special. However, her heart stopped beating altogether for a few moments when she felt his arms around her. “I’ve missed you.” He whispered, so softly that only she could have heard him.

Needless to say, that not only her cheeks turned bright red, but so did her ears and neck, which luckily were hidden inside Eddie’s embrace. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his torso, burying her face in the space at the base of the neck, where it meets with the shoulder. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. Fuck, she loved that mixture of smoke, aftershave and leather. “I’ve missed you too.” She whispered against his skin, and could feel shivers travel down the man’s body.

That hug, which felt like it lasted forever and nothing all at once, eventually ended, and they both took a step back. Y/N tried to play it cool, as if that was completely normal and she didn’t feel weak in the knees, but when she turned to look at her best friend, she found her smirking and, once again, trying to wiggle her eyebrows up and down. Y/N wasn’t sure if she wanted to die right there or run away. But she didn’t do neither of them. She simply took a deep breath and opened her locker.

“So, Buckley, I hear you’re playing at tonight’s basketball game.” Eddie tried to make conversation with the other girl, as Y/N collected her stuff from the locker. However, when she briefly glanced at him, he was now leaning with a shoulder against the lockers, ankles crossed, arms crossed in front of his chest, and he was still holding a book in his hand. Fuck.

“Ehm, yeah. Being part of the band means cheering on the school’s teams at sport events.” She said. “I didn’t really realise that when I first signed up for band, though.”

“What did you think you would do?” Eddie looked at her, a mixture of confusion and amusement on his face.

“I don’t know, I just wanted to play an instrument.”

However, Y/N couldn’t help but keeping glancing at Eddie, trying to figure out what he was reading. It wasn’t King, because she knew he had already read every book he had published up until that moment, and she knew it wasn’t one of those she had suggested to him because she still had to take them to him. So, what was he reading?

“Princess?” Y/N was brought back to reality by his voice calling out for her. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, perfectly fine.” She smiled, closing her locker, frustrated by the fact that she still wasn’t able to read the title of the book. She needed to know. For… research purposes…

“Want to eat together during lunch break?” He tilted his head slightly to the side, studying her figure. It didn’t take him long to realise she was curious about his new book. But he wasn’t going to just show it to her, not yet at least.

She looked up to meet his eyes. “I would love to, you know that. But, as I already told you yesterday, Fridays during lunch break I have my sessions with Ms. Kelly.”

“Right, sorry.” He couldn’t help but smile when he noticed her eyes travelling back to the book. So, he took it as a game, and moved it under his arm, tilted just enough so that she could barely make out the name of the author on the spine. “This means that I won’t be seeing you until tomorrow then.”

Finally, she gave up, and moved her eyes to meet his. “Yeah… but we have big plans for tomorrow, right?”

“Oh yeah!” He smiled. “Buckley, did you know that tomorrow Y/N is starting her guitar lessons?”

Robin’s eyes widened. “What, really? With whom?”

“With me.” Eddie said proudly, and Robin couldn’t help but smirk. Again.

Sadly, that moment was interrupted by the ring of the bell echoing down the hallway, and warning everyone that the first period was about to start. Robin quickly bid goodbye to the two of them, running to her own first class, leaving them alone for a few last moments. Y/N looked at him in silence, with a soft smile on her lips. She didn’t want him to go. She wanted to stay there and talk with him. She wanted to sit on the floor, backs against the cold lockers, maybe her head on his shoulders, and him playing with her fingers like he did the night before in the car, when neither of them wanted to leave to go to bed. But if the previous night they could stay there, together, past her curfew, now they had to go to class. Y/N opened her mouth, as if she was going to say something, but no word came out.

So, Eddie took a step towards her, leaned forward and left a soft, warm kiss on her cheeks. His lips lingered there, on the side of her face, for a few seconds, moving towards her ear. “The book I’m read, it’s Howl’s Moving Castle.” He whispered with a smirk. When he pulled away, he saw her surprised look and couldn’t help but be proud of himself. “You like it, and my uncle had brought it home last week for some reason, so I thought I would give it a try.” He knew she was trying to keep herself from smiling. “So far I’m really liking it.” He winked.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck me. That was fucking hot. Just the idea of him reading in general was hot. But him reading a book just because she had told him she had liked it? That was too much for her. Definitely too much. Fuck. “I’m happy.” She smiled, forcing herself to keep calm and not just throw herself at him.

“Maybe tomorrow you’ll read a few pages to me.” He smiled. And that was it. That was the moment she realised there was no turning back. She was head over heels for him and there was nothing anyone could say or do to make her change her mind. “Now I have to run, tough.”

“Ye-yeah, sure.” She shook her head, trying to come back to reality completely. “Have a nice day.” She smiled, putting her books in the backpack and closing it, before placing it back on her shoulder. “Oh, and I hope you have a great final meeting tonight at Hellfire!” She exclaimed.

He knew Dustin had probably reminded her that tonight it was going to be the final chapter of their campaign, but the fact that she remembered that just made him go crazy. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to push her against her locker and kiss her. But he couldn’t. He wanted. But he couldn’t. “Yeah. Maybe I’ll call you when I get home and I’ll tell you about it.”

“Can’t wait.” She smiled. And he knew he had to go or else he would be late for biology, again. But he just wanted to stay there with her. “Okay, now we really have to go.” She laughed. He expected her to turn and walk away. Simple as that. But she didn’t. Instead, she pushed herself on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his cheek. “Bye.” She whispered, before actually turning around and walking to class.

Bye. The word never left Eddie’s lips, too lost in that warm sensation left behind by her lips pressed on his skin, to actually realise whether he had actually spoken the word or not. Fuck. He was falling in love with her.

When the bell that signalled the beginning of lunch break rang, everyone ran out into the corridors, jumping around, talking with their friends. And who could blame them? Not only it was Friday, but it was the last school day before spring break, which meant it was only a few hours left before an entire 10-day vacation. So, it was only right for them to be happy. However, Y/N wasn’t as happy as everyone else at the moment. She sighed, putting back her books in her backpack, then walked out of the classroom and made her way to Ms. Kelly’s office. She dreaded that moment. She hated going to sessions, especially there at school. She knew people were watching her every time she went into the office, and she knew people were also talking, because, as much as she had tried to keep it a secret, some people found out what had happened, nonetheless. But that’s the problem with living in a small town like Hawkins, right? Everyone eventually finds out. So, keeping her head low, Y/N reached the school’s councillor’s office and knocked, waiting for the signal to enter.

“Come in, Y/N” Ms. Kelly was kind as always, something she almost couldn’t stand anymore. “Take a seat.” The woman said as she took out her folder and a pen. “Tell me, how are you?”

Y/N let her backpack fall to the ground, before sinking into the chair right across from the woman. “’m good.” She wasn’t a fan of questions like this. What did she expect? That she would just blurt out everything that was on her mind? Did she actually remember why she was there?

“How have you been sleeping lately? Have you had any nightmare?” The woman asked as she took note of something on a paper. She hated when she took notes.

“Nope, no nightmares.” Her answers were cold.

Mr. Kelly looked up from what she was writing to look at her. “No nightmares because you’ve been sleeping well or no nightmares because you haven’t been sleeping at all?” Y/N sighed. It was obvious that the answer was that she hadn’t been sleeping, only taking power naps every now and then, but never really allowing herself to fully relax. “You know it’s not good for your health. You have to sleep.”

“If I sleep, I dream of that. Every time I fall asleep, I see the accident.” She started bouncing her leg. “Everyone blames me for the accident.” Her hands were now closed into tight fists. “It’s my fault if he’s dead. Everyone thinks that. And I can’t stand the memory.”

“No one blames you for your father’s death, and you know that.” Ms Kelly finally put down the pen she was holding in her hand. “That car came out of nowhere.”

“But I was there with him!” Y/N screamed, and she didn’t care if people in the hallway could hear. “I wanted to sing with him, and he got distracted.” Her eyes were now glossy, tears threatening to spill out. “He died. And I’m still here. Why?” Her voice broke.

“The car was hit on the driver’s side.”

“If I hadn’t insisted on singing that stupid song, he might still be here.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Yes, we do. He would have had enough time to notice the other car and he could have hit the brakes in time.” A tear rolled down her cheek, but she immediately stopped it. “It’s my fault.”

“Y/N, we have talked about this. It’s not your fault. And no one is blaming you for it.” Ms. Kelly sighed, getting up from her chair to move closer to her. “You have a wonderful family that loves you, and that is doing everything in their power to help you overcome this trauma. And you have friends, friends who love you and care for you.”

“What if my friends stay with me only because they pity me?” That was probably one of her biggest fears: people not being real with her. She loved her friends and her family; they were her strength. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if they actually felt the same about her.

“Have you ever tried talking to them about it? Have you ever tried asking them?”

“I’m not going to ask them, it’s stupid. They would just realise how fragile I really am and will want to leave me.” She kept her eyes fixed on her own shoes, not sure she wanted to look at the woman in the eyes.

Ms Kelly returned to her seat on the other side of the desk. “That’s the thing with friends: if they really love you, you can be vulnerable in front of them, and they will never judge you.” Y/N’s leg kept bouncing uncontrollably. But she knew the woman was right. She had read about it, and she had wrote about it. Robin came out to her and told her about her family problems. Steve had done the same. And no one had judged them. Why couldn’t she do the same? Why couldn’t she just tell them everything that was on her mind? Tell them about her fears, about how she felt about the accident? It was stupid. They would obviously look at her differently afterwards.

“You said you feel good. Is that true?” Ms Kelly’s voice interrupted her stream of consciousness.

Y/N eventually looked up, meeting briefly the woman’s eyes, only to move them immediately on the picture on the wall behind her. “Yes, in the last couple of days I’ve felt good.”

“Any reason in particular?”

There were two options now: she could either stay quiet and say a simple ‘no’, or she could tell the truth. She took a deep breath. “I’ve made a new friend.”

“That’s good, Y/N. Very good.” She could see in the corner of her eye the woman opening once again her folder and picking the pen back up. “Are they from school?”

“Yes. But I’m not going to tell you who they are.”

Ms Kelly chuckled under her breath, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to ask you. I just wanted to know if they are friends that you hang out with only at school, or someone that you can spend time with outside of school.”

Images from the previous evening popped into her mind, and she could feel her entire body start relaxing. It was only then, with the image of Eddie in her mind to calm her down, that she realised she was still squeezing her fists, so tight actually that she could now feel her palms burning where her nails pressed into her skin. She let go and licked her dry lips, hoping to bring back some hydration. “We hang out.” She said quietly. “We have plans for tomorrow, actually.”

“That is wonderful, Y/N.” She could feel the woman smiling. “Maybe this new friend will help you take a step forward.”

“Yeah, maybe.” A shy smile appeared on her lips, and she was glad the woman was too busy writing away to notice it.

Thankfully, the session didn’t last much longer, and soon she was free to go back to being her own anxious self, without someone studying her and taking note of her every move or word. She glanced at the clock on the wall, hoping to have enough time to go to the cafeteria and maybe say hi to Eddie and Dustin. But she didn’t even manage to take a few steps to get closer to the clock that the infamous bell rang and the hallway was once again flooded with the river of students rushing to their next class.

The rest of the day went by quite calmly; the teachers gave them a bunch of homework, as if they expected everyone to not go out and have fun during spring break to do them. Soon enough, the last bell  of the day rang and she met outside with Steve and some girl, whose name she couldn’t really care about because, if she knew one thing, it was that whoever that was, she wasn’t going to last, especially given the fact that Steve was obviously still in love with Nancy Wheeler. But that was a talk for another day. Now they were there for Robin and Robin only, to support her and cheer on her. Yes, people would normally go to a basketball game to support their school, but Y/N didn’t really care about that, or the school in general. Being academic didn’t mean she had to like her own school. However, she did care about her best friend, and that was what was important.

Once she had enough of Steve’s flirting, she was lucky enough to sneak away and get a seat next to Robin, where they could talk without having to hear some random girl asking stupid questions or laughing without reason. Why Steve enjoyed going on dates with such dull people she would never understand, but she was never going to be the one to bring it to his attention. Not for now, at least.

Luckily, the end of the game came sooner than she could have hoped for, and Steve drove her home immediately after. “I have a terrible headache, Steve!” She lied. She just wanted to go home.

“Well, that’s what you get for sitting among the band.” He sighed, keeping his eyes on the road.

Sitting there, in the car, just the two of them, she couldn’t believe he had actually left his date to take her home. “You know I don’t hate you, right?” The words came out of her mouth without any warning.

Steve stayed quiet for a moment, biting down on his lip. Things between them hadn’t been the best in the last couple of days, and the main reason was Eddie. “I just want to protect you.” His voice was calm, warm. “You’re my best friend, Y/N. And I care about you. But you’re so reserved. I wish you would just talk to me more.” Y/N’s muscles tensed up. It was exactly what Ms Kelly was telling her a few hours before. “I’m not going to judge you. And it was wrong to get mad at you for going on a date with Munson, I know.” What was happening? Did Robin put him up to this? “It’s just… You’re right, I don’t know him. I only know what people say about him, and it’s not good things.” Y/N turned to look at the man sitting in the driver seat. “So, if you say he’s a good guy, I trust you. And if, one day, you would like to actually introduce us, I will be glad to change my mind about him.”

Y/N stared at Steve for a few seconds, a smile forming on her lips. “Thank you.”

“Just one thing.” Steve added, stopping the car in front of her house. He turned off the vehicle and turned to face the girl. “Good guy or not, if he hurts you-”

“You’re going to kill him, I know.” She smiled, before throwing her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Yes, that was the reason Steve Harrington was her best friend.

Once she got inside the house, she checked on her mother, to see if she was already asleep, and then Dustin’s room, only to see if he was already back from Hellfire or not. However, his room was still empty, and so was the bathroom, so she assumed he was probably on his way home. She made her way into her bedroom, letting her backpack hit the carpeted floor with a muffled thud. She changed into some more comfortable clothes, a thrifted Sex Pistols t-shirt which looked way too big on her, and a pair of sport’s short. She then let herself fall on her bed, taking a deep breath. She was exhausted. And it wasn’t difficult to see or to understand why: she had been avoiding sleeping for quite a few nights at that point. She didn’t know if it was because the anniversary of the accident was coming up or if it was the stress of the upcoming exams, but the nightmares had started coming back. And she hated the feeling that was left there whenever she woke up in tears from one of them more than she hated the tiredness and exhaustion from the sleepless nights. So, she had deliberately chosen to not sleep, or at least try. However, that night it felt particularly difficult, she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and threatening to shut, she could feel her mind become absent like when you’re about to fall asleep. But she couldn’t let it happen. So, she got up from her bed and sat at the desk, pen and paper in front of her, ready to write something. But the inspiration wouldn’t come. She was too tired. She heard her brother come home, the floor creaking when he tried to be as quiet as possible, the soft thud of the door to his room closing. She looked around the room, looking for inspiration. Anything will do, she thought to herself. I’m up to writing a romantic story if that means I won’t be falling asleep. And she kept searching, looking for ideas. When, all of a sudden, she heard a car stop outside of her house. She didn’t think much of it at first, thinking it might have been the neighbours, or maybe Dustin had forgotten something in the Wheeler’s car, so she just brushed it off and went back to what she was doing. However, not more than two seconds later, she heard footsteps, someone running outside, through their lawn, getting closer and closer to the house, closer and closer to her room’s window. Fuck, what if it’s a burglar? Or worse, a murderer? Shit, is this how I’m going to go? With a t-shirt from a band I don’t even listen to? The sound got louder, and then it stopped. Fuck, fuck, fuck. That’s it, I’m going to die. She wanted to scream but she was too afraid. So, she grabbed the first thing she found, that being a copy of War and Piece by Lev Tolstoj she had recently gotten and left on the desk hoping to get to read it over the break. It’s not much, but if I aim right, I could knock him out for a few moments, she thought, as she took a few steps back from the window, which she was just realising she had left open. Good job, genius. That’s how you’re going to die, as someone so stupid to forget to close their own goddamn window. The door of the bedroom wasn’t that far behind her, so she could throw the book to distract the intruder and then run. Yes, that could work. Another sound came from right outside of the window, and she was ready to run, when a figure appeared and launched himself throw the opening. She was about to throw the book, when she recognised the bushy mane of the man lying on her bedroom floor. “Eddie?”

“Eddie, what are you doing here?” Dustin stood there, in front of the two, with the most confused expression Y/N had ever seen on his face.

“Listen, Dusty, I can explain.” She said, getting up from her seat, and taking a few steps towards him.

Dustin kept his eyes fixed on the raven-hair man who was now standing on the other side of the table. Y/N had never seen Dustin like this, possibly because he never had a reason to be jealous of his own sister. When, the previous summer, she became friends with Steve, Dustin was fine with it because he was the one that had introduced them and he wanted them to be friends. But with Eddie, for some reason, it felt different. It had already been suspicious when she had invited him over for dinner a couple of nights before, but it was for a school project, so he let it go. But he wasn’t oblivious to the way that the guy looked at his sister whenever they met in the corridors at school, or when it was her turn to pick them up from Hellfire. Don’t get him wrong, he wouldn’t have been mad if the two of them became friends. It was just suspicious to find them in their kitchen, alone, having breakfast. “Yeah, explain.” He eventually moved his gaze to his sister, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

She opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, but Eddie spoke before she could even say a word. “Something happened to me and… well, you guys were the only ones that came to mind.”

Dustin looked intently at the man, tapping his foot a few times. “And couldn’t this wait until, I don’t know, 10 in the morning? How long have you been here?!”

Eddie looked at the girl, unsure of what to say. “He’s been here since last night.” She spoke, looking down at her own feet. She wasn’t sure why she felt guilty, but maybe seeing Dustin’s reaction made her feel like she was stealing his friend, and that wasn’t something a good sister should do.

“He’s been here all night?” Y/N nodded, still not looking up. “And where did he sleep?”

She sighed. “In my bedroom.” That was it. He was going to tell mom, and god knows what would happen then.

Dustin’s eyes, which now looked more like slits, were fixed on Eddie: he was studying him. And Eddie knew he needed to say something, to say that nothing had happened, that he respected Y/N and cared for her, but wasn’t sure that could help. However, he was surprised when Dustin turned around and opened the fridge again, taking out the milk. “What has happened?” He asked, as he set his bowl on the table and took a seat across from where Eddie was sitting. Neither Y/N nor Eddie could really understand what had just happened: one moment it felt like Dustin was going to tear Eddie’s limbs from the rest of his body, and a moment later, he was completely fine.

The couple sat again in their chairs, looking briefly at each other. “Dustin, it… it may be related to the upside down.” Y/N whispered, almost too scared that saying it out loud might cause some sort of short circuit or it could summon a demogorgon.

“Shit,” Dustin sighed, as he set the cereal box back on the table. “Can I at least eat my breakfast first?” He grabbed the tv remote and turned up the volume.

“S-sure!” She said, immediately turning her head to look at the man sitting next to her. We’re fine, she mouthed, giving him a soft, reassuring smile. Eddie looked at her and couldn’t help but smile back. A part of him wanted to grab her hand and hold it tightly. But he couldn’t. At least not right now, and especially not in front of Dustin.

So, they spent a few minutes in silence. Now the sun was getting higher, and the light was coming through the window in the kitchen. Dustin was watching Scooby-Doo, while Y/N had picked her book back up. Eddie didn’t really know why, but he felt safe there, with them. He knew he could trust them.

“So,” Dustin broke the silence once he was done eating his cereal, getting up from his seat to go and place his now empty bowl in the sink. “What happened?” He asked.

Eddie glanced quickly at the girl, who had now closed once again her novel and placed it back on the table. She smiled at him and he knew he had to tell him everything, and so he did. He told him about going back to his trailer with Chrissy, but omitted the part where he was going to sell her drugs. He figured he would already know, but if he didn’t, he didn’t want to ruin his innocence. He told him how he had found her in some sort of trance when he had walked back in the living room, how he had tried to wake her up, about her eyes rolling in the back of her head. But when the hard part came, he stopped. His eyes filled up with tears at the thought, the images reappearing in his head. He wasn’t sure he would be able to go on. But suddenly, a soft, cool hand touched his own, and squeezed it tightly. He turned to look at the girl, who was offering him a reassuring smile. You can do it, she mouthed. And he nodded. He took a deep breath and turned back to look at the boy sitting across from him. And he told him about Chrissy being lifted into the air, about her bones snapping and her eyes popping. And, finally, he reluctantly told him about how he ran.

Dustin brought a hand to his chin. “Okay…” He mumbled. Y/N could tell he was thinking really hard about what he had just heard. “We might need some back up.”

“What? No, we’re not dragging anyone else into this.” Eddie protested, getting up from his chair, immediately starting to pace the floor.

Dustin got up as well, and calmly walked around the table to go and stand in front of the man. “Listen, Eddie. You’re new to this. Me and my friends, we can help you.”

Eddie shook his head. “I don’t care that you guys have saved Hawkins before. I’m already risking everything by being here. I’ve put you two in danger… I can’t risk putting any more people’s lives in danger.”

Y/N sighed, standing up and moving closer to them. “Eddie, you have to trust us on this one.” She stopped his pacing by taking his hand in hers. “Please.” The raven-hair man still wasn’t 100% on board, but he trusted them, he trusted her. So, he simply nodded.

“Y/N, call Steve and Robin, I’ll try and see if I can get a hold of Lucas.”

Dustin spoke like he was some sort of sergeant, and Eddie looked at him with a surprised look on his face. “And what do I do?”

“Follow me, I need to ask you a few more things.” Dustin replied, and disappeared in the direction of his bedroom. Eddie turned around to look at the girl who was already standing next to the phone, and sent her a smile. Maybe they really know what they’re doing, he thought, before following the curly-haired boy in his room.

And just like that, Y/N was alone in her kitchen and could barely hold back the tears. Everything was happening so quickly. That day she was supposed to meet with Robin in the morning, and then spend the rest of the day with Eddie. She was going to learn how to play the guitar. She had spent the previous day buzzing with excitement at the idea of spending more time with him. And, yes, they were spending time together even now, but it wasn’t exactly what she had hoped for. She sighed, wiping away the tears, before picking up the phone and jumping on the kitchen counter to sit there. She dialled the number to Steve’s house. The phone rang. Please, pick up. Please, pick up. She brought her hand to her mouth, biting her nails.

“Harrington’s.” Steve’s voice rang through the phone and Y/N couldn’t have been happier.

“Steve! Thank god you’re awake!” She exclaimed, resting her head against the cabinet behind her.

“Y/N, it’s barely 8 in the morning.” Steve protested. His parents must have left him home alone to go on one of their last-minutes trips, that must have been why he had picked up himself.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s urgent. I need you to go and pick up Robin, and then come here straight away.” She explained, omitting the part where Eddie was there and that he was the one with the problem.

“Robin is most definitely going to be still asleep.” He yawned into the phone.

“I’ll call her and wake her up. But please, Steve, I need you to come here as soon as possible. It’s very urgent.”

“Can’t you at least explain to me what it is?”

She sighed. “It may be related to the upside down.” She said very quietly, scarred to say those words out loud.

Steve stayed quiet for a long time. But, in the background, she could hear steps and a drawer opening. “Tell Robin I’ll pick her up in 10.” And with that he hang up. He could have at least said bye.

She shook her head, immediately dialling Robin’s number. She remembered learning Robin’s number by heart the second summer they had been friends. In case you have a nightmare and need someone to talk to. I’ll keep the phone in my room. She remembered feeling safe at the idea of Robin being there for her even in the middle of the night. She smiled at the memory, until a voice brought her back to reality. “Who is it?” Her voice was low and raspy. She had obviously woken her up.

“Robin?” Y/N’s voice was quiet.

“Y/N, did you have a nightmare?” Robin’s voice immediately changed.

The corners of her mouth slightly moved upwards. “Yes, tonight, but it’s not why I’m calling.” She said. "We have an emergency, and I need you to come here at my place, like, right now.”

She couldn’t even finish the sentence that she could already hear Robin running around her room. “If I get ready, like, immediately, and leave in five minutes, I think I could be at your place by 8:50.”

“No, Robin, Steve is picking you up in less than 10 minutes.”

“Oh, thank goodness, I hate running.” Robin rejoiced, which made Y/N laugh. “Okay, babe, I’m hanging up now so I can get ready. I’ll see you in a bit. Love you.”

“Love you, Roro.” She smiled as she hang up the phone.

She was glad Robin was a part of her life. She was always there for her. She could call her in the middle of the night, and she would run 2.5 miles to get to her house. No questions needed. If she accidentally killed someone and called Robin, she would help her hide the body right away, and create her an alibi on the way. Robin was her best friend, a sister, her person. And it was crazy to think they had come this close to going on a date together, but immediately realised they were way better off as friends. They were partners in crime. So, it didn’t come as a surprise when Robin didn’t ask her what the emergency was, but just acted. Robin hated any form of physical activity, she dreaded it. But she was willing to run 2.5 miles for her. That was why she loved her. And she would do the same for her.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by the two curly-heads walking back into the kitchen. “Lucas isn’t answering the code red.” Dustin put three walkie talkies on the table. “Any luck with Steve and Robin?”

“Yep, they’re on their way. They should be here in around 15 minutes. Hopefully even sooner.” She said, jumping off the kitchen counter and putting back the phone on the wall.

Eddie took a seat at the table, looking down at his own hands as he fidgeted with his rings. “I have to thank you, Henderson’s.” He said quietly, catching the siblings’ attention. “You’re doing all of this for someone you barely know. Most people would have just called the police thinking I did it.”

Y/N took a seat next to him, moving her hand under the table where she found his lying on his knee. She quickly grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. “Hey, you’re not just anyone.” She smiled. They both really thought Dustin wouldn’t notice.

But he did notice because nothing gets away from him. He just decided not to say anything. Whatever was going on between those two, now wasn’t a good time to question it. “Also, don’t thank us just yet. If what we think is true, then the worse part still has to come.” He said in an ominous voice, and Y/N could feel Eddie’s muscles tense.

Finally, someone rang the doorbell and Dustin went to open. Y/N seized the opportunity to gently squeeze his hand, trying to catch his attention. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise. I will do everything I can to make sure you’re safe.” She whispered, leaning forward to place a quick kiss on his cheek, sitting back in her chair immediately afterwards, but never leaving his hand. However, when she turned to see the people walking in the room, she did not expect to see a head of red hair. “Max?”

The redhead stopped in her tracks when she realised someone else was there with them, and Y/N could tell she already knew something by the way she looked at Eddie. “You guys may want to put on the news channel.” She said, turning around to look at Dustin, who had already the remote in his hand. As the channel changed, Y/N felt once again Eddie’s muscles tense up. Interviews to different people around town were shown one right after the other, everyone saying that the town was cursed, that it couldn’t just all be a coincidence. His hand was now gripping hers tighter, as the tv showed the outside of his trailer and a police officer speaking. “They are not saying who it was yet.” Max said, breaking the silence.

“But you know it…” Eddie’s eyes were now on the table, studying the pattern of the tablecloth, trying to remain as calm as possible.

Dustin looked at his friend, waiting for an answer, which only came in the form of a nod. He was going to say something, but he was stopped by the doorbell echoing through the house.

“I’ll go get that.” Y/N briefly squeezed Eddie’s hand before getting up from her seat and leaving the room. When she eventually got to the door, and opened it, she was immediately crushed by Robin’s embrace. She breathed in deeply before wrapping her arms around her body. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“We did the best we could.” The girl smiled kindly, as she pulled away.

When Y/N turned around to greet Steve, he was no longer standing there. Instead, he was already in the kitchen along with the others, joining in as they watched the news. The two girls walked in the room in the exact moment when Chief Powell spoke. For the moment, we will not be disclosing the identity of the victim. But, as of now, our main suspect is Eddie Munson. A picture of Eddie appeared on the screen. And everyone stayed quiet. No one wanted to say anything, no one knew what to say. Y/N took a few steps and walked behind Eddie, putting a hand on his shoulder, which he immediately took and held as tightly as possible. In that moment, she was the one person that knew him better than anyone else, and she knew that, if it had been just the two of them, he would have probably started crying, crying because he was angry, because he was being wrongly accused of something he didn’t do, something he could never do. And he had every right to be angry. How could anyone think a human being could do that to another person? How could they think he did that?

“So,” Steve turned to look at her. “The emergency for which we had to rush here at 8 in the morning was to cover for a murderer?” Y/N felt Eddie’s grip tighten on her hand. “Y/N, I’m not going to say ‘I told you so’, but I did tell you that it wasn’t a good idea to hang out with him.”

Eddie snapped, standing up so fast from his seat that the chair slid back and hit her legs. “I didn’t do it, Harrington! Okay? I didn’t fucking kill her!” Eddie was shouting, and she noticed how tightly he was clenching his fists. She wanted to say something, to do something.

Max’s voice took everyone by surprise, especially Eddie. “And I think I can prove it.” Eddie’s head snapped around, looking at her as if he was begging her to speak. “Last night, I was watching tv with my mom. At one point, the lights started flickering and the tv turned off. At first, I just thought we were having a power outage or something, since it happens a lot at the trailer park. But then, I heard someone scream. I looked out of the window and I saw… you.” She said looking the raven-haired man in the eyes. “I don’t think it was you. That’s why I’m here. This… the lights, it’s something we’ve already seen.”

Dustin took a step forward, propping his hands on the table and leaning against it. “Eddie, I think you should tell them what happened.” He tried to be as collected as possible, but deep down he knew that would hurt him more, to tell the story again.

Eddie shook his head, his eyes low on the ground. “I don’t think I can do it again…”

“I’ll do it.” Y/N’s called for everyone’s attention, as she moved closer to Eddie, placing her hands on his shoulders and guiding him to the chair, where she sat him down. “From what Eddie told us, she looked as if she was in some sort of trance, and then she lifted in the air, almost like she was possessed. And then her limbs started snapping and her eyes… popped…” She said, her hands still on the man’s shoulders, trying to bring him comfort as she was forced to bring those images back into his head.

“And, if you don’t mind me asking, who was this girl?” Robin asked, moving closer to the table as well.

Y/N looked at her brother, then Max, and finally stopped her gaze on Eddie. “Chrissy Cunningham.” When she eventually looked up and met her best friends’ eyes, she could see they were shocked. She also could tell everything that was going on inside Steve’s head, so she spoke before he could. “She wanted to buy drugs.” That wasn’t any better in Steve’s eyes, but at least they all already knew about Eddie selling; and he couldn’t accuse him of seeing two girls at the same time. Steve sighed, turning around on himself, not sure what to say. Robin took a seat next to Eddie, putting her hands in her own hair. “We have to find a place for Eddie to stay.” Y/N spoke again. “Because, as much as I would love to keep him here, I can’t put my mom at risk. So, put your little minds at work and think of a safe place. It should be a place isolated, where he can stay as long as possible, until we find a way to prove his innocence.”

Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone else to come up with the solution. In a small town like Hawkins, it was nearly impossible to do anything without people knowing. They would notice if someone randomly popped in and started living in an abandoned house. So, it had to be something else. “I may have a place.” Eddie spoke, taking everyone by surprise. “It’s a… friend’s house, let’s say. I know he’s not home and that he won’t be for… a while…”

“Good! Where is it?” Y/N asked, moving to his side and leaning against the table.

“It’s near Lover’s Lake, it’s in the woods and there isn’t really a road to get there, just tracks.” He didn’t look anyone in the face as he explained, too worried they might ask whose house it was. How could he have explained that it was his dealer’s house and that it was empty because he was in jail? It wouldn’t have sounded good, and he wasn’t already looking the best, especially in Harrington’s eyes, who he knew hated him.

“That’s perfect.” Said Dustin. “I say we go there immediately. I wouldn’t want mom to get up and find all of us here like this.”

“I’ll go get changed!” Y/N exclaimed, running out of the kitchen and straight to her own room, changing out of her pyjamas and into the first comfortable clothes she found in her wardrobe. She quickly grabbed the keys to Eddie’s van which were sitting on the side table, before running back to the others. “Okay, I’m ready.” Y/N took Eddie’s hand and pulled him gently, trying to get him to stand up. “Dustin and Max, you go with Steve and Robin. I go with Eddie.”

She was already dragging the man towards the door when Steve grabbed her by her free arm to stop her. “No, you’re not. It’s too dangerous. He’s a wanted man. If they see you two together, who knows what might happen.”

“Steve, if you’re not okay with the plan, then just don’t come, okay?” She jerked her arm, freeing herself from his grip. “We’ll go there alone. It’s not a problem.” And with that being said, she walked out of the kitchen and the house, followed by Eddie who just wanted to get away from everyone as soon as possible. In his heart, he knew Harrington was right, that it would have been better if she drove there with the others or if he went there alone all together. But, as far as he knew, that could as well be the last time that he saw her, and he needed to spend as much time as possible with her.

When they walked outside, the sun was just beginning to get warm, the cool morning breeze still gently blowing. Y/N passed Eddie his keys, taking her hair out of the bun to tie them in a low ponytail. However, they were stopped by Steve’s voice running out of the house. “Y/N, wait!”

“What now, Steve?” She was obviously hurt by her best friend’s words and actions. Why didn’t he understand her?

He jogged up to her, and handed her a walkie talkie. “We’ll be right behind you. Just… be careful, please.”

She smiled, taking a step forward to get closer to him and gave him a hug. “Thank you.” She whispered, holding tight to him for a few moments, before pulling away and grabbing the walkie talkie. “Let’s go.”

The ride there was longer that she had expected. She didn’t exactly live downtown herself, but as they drove, she looked outside the window and noticed how the woods became thicker and thicker with every mile. That’s good, she thought to herself, the more isolated and further from town it is, the safer it should be. The ride was also quieter than either of them had anticipated. Eddie kept his eyes on the road most of the time, as silence filled the vehicle. Neither of them wasn’t sure what they should say. So, they both kept to themselves all the thoughts that were going on in their minds. Y/N wanted to tell Eddie that everything was going to be okay, that she was going to do everything in her power to keep him safe, to protect him and to prove he was innocent. However, she was afraid to speak the words, scared of what might actually happen. She could make all the promises she wanted, but nothing in the world could guarantee that. The situation was more complicated than they realised. Anything could happen. But, if she knew one thing for sure, it was that she didn’t want to lose him. And nor did Eddie. He glanced at his side, briefly looking at the girl, who had her head against the window, as she held her knees to her chest. Seeing her like that, he regretted going to her in the first place. He should be the one protecting her, taking care of her, like he did that night after she had her nightmare, not the other way around.

After a while, Eddie took the walkie talkie, which had been sitting between the two of them, and warned the others that they were going to go off-road any moment now. And not even a minute later, Eddie turned right, following a set of tracks on the ground for a while, until they reached a house. It wasn’t the best-looking place she had ever seen, definitely not a place where she would willingly decide to stay, but they didn’t have a choice. Eddie drove past it, looking for a spot where to hide his van. When they eventually walked back, the others had already scouted the place.

“It seems safe enough.” Said Dustin, walking towards the two of them.

However, Y/N did not answer. She walked past everyone, going closer to the house. Something wasn’t exactly right: there was a grandfather clock on the outside. Why would someone want to hang a clock like this outside? She got even closer, studying it, until it chimed. Y/N froze. It chimed again, three more times. Something was clearly wrong, something felt wrong. She wanted to run, but for some reason her body wouldn’t let her. She could barely drag her feet across the dirt and the leaves on the ground. And in doing so, she tripped. She felt her entire body collapse, like when you have one of those dreams where you think you are falling, and then you wake up. Next thing she knew, Eddie was holding her.

“It’s okay, princess, you must have tripped.” He whispered, helping her get back on her feet.

“Did you see it?” She asked, turning to look at him.

“See what?”

“The cl-” She turned back around to point to the house, but they were not even close to it, they were still next to the car. What the fuck? “I thought… Nothing… I thought I saw something… It’s probably just stress.” She shook her head, her heart beating like crazy, as she couldn’t understand what had just happened.

“You haven’t really slept tonight, you’re probably exhausted.” His voice was calm, his tone reassuring. But as he looked at her, he knew something wasn’t right, and it wasn’t just because she was tired from the sleepless night. Deep down he felt guilty. He thought everything was his fault, including whatever had just happened to her. He had dragged her into this, and now the stress was becoming too much for her to handle. “Let’s join the others.” He whispered, placing a hand on the small of her back, as a support as they walked over where the others were waiting for them.

When Steve noticed them, he exhaled. “There you are.”

“Yeah, sorry… I tripped.” She said as an excuse, even thought it wasn’t true and both Y/N and Eddie knew it.

“Anyway, we have already checked and this seems like a safe enough place.” Dustin had taken the reins of the situation, as she had expected him to do. He led them to the dock house, explaining that he had already thought of a plan as they were driving there, but his own sister wasn’t really paying attention. As they walked past the side of the house, she looked at it intently, her pulse rising, as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen: how could she have seen a clock on the side of a house she hadn’t even really seen yet. Yes, they had briefly driven by, but that wasn’t enough to take in and memorise the details. And yet, when she saw the clock, she also saw the bird nest picking out from the roof, and the mouse trap in the corner where the stairs met the outside wall. How was that possible? Had she already been there? She kept her eyes on the house, until she felt Eddie’s hand move from her back to her hand, which he took in his, giving it a quick squeeze.

The man leaned closer to her, and whispered. “Is everything okay?”

She nodded quickly, taking a deep breath. “Yep, I think so.” It was probably nothing, everything is fine, she tried to convince herself, as she walked inside the dock house.

Once they were all inside, Dustin started presenting his plan. “We have to find Lucas and Nancy; they can definitely help us. I’m sure that Nancy, through the school paper, can help us find out more. There must be a reasonable explanation that we can give to the police as to why Eddie is innocent. We will keep in contact with Eddie via walkie talkies the whole time. We’ll check in with him every hour or so, and tomorrow we’ll come back for a food delivery. If everything goes to plan, maybe he will have to stay here only for a couple of days.” Dustin went on, explaining every detail and answering everyone’s questions. However, Y/N still couldn’t wrap her head around what had happened. She took a seat on a crate, looking down at her own shoes. What was wrong with her? Should she tell them? No, they already had enough on their hands. It was probably just sleep deprivation. She had read that it could cause visions. That was probably it. Not that it was a good thing, but at lease she knew. “If that is all, I think we should get going.” Dustin’s voice called her back to reality, interrupting her self-diagnosis.

She finally looked up. “I’m not coming with you.” She said, and she immediately felt everyone’s eyes on her. “I’m staying here with Eddie.”

“No, you’re not.” Eddie’s and Steve’s voice echoed in unison inside the small wooden building. They both looked at each other.

“One thing we can agree on.” Steve said, and anyone could have noticed the look on his face. He didn’t know if he should be happy that he was on his side for this one, or angry because he still was the reason why they all were in that situation.

“Well, good for you.” Y/N stood up from where she was sitting and walked towards Eddie. “But I don’t care. I’m not going.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and planted her feet, as if she thought someone was going to pick her up against her will to take her away from there.

“Y/N, I can’t let you do this.” Eddie took a step closer to her. “It’s too dangerous.”

“They’re right, Y/N/N.” Robin knew it was a lost cause, trying to make her change her mind, but it was her best friend they were talking about, and she at least had to try and convince her. “It’s not a good idea. This place seems safe, yes. But what if someone finds it, huh? What would you do then?”

“We would run together.” She said as if that was the most obvious thing. “Listen, it’s nice to see you all on the same page, I must admit it. But really, I don’t care.” She turned to look at Eddie. “I’m not leaving you here alone. I told you I was going to make sure you were safe, so let me do this, okay?”

Eddie was going to say something, but Dustin spoke first. “She’s not going to change her mind.” He sighed. “I want her to be safe more than anyone here, trust me. But I know my sister, and if that’s what she’s decided, then no one can change her mind.” He finally looked at his own sister. “Just, please, be safe, and check in with us every single hour.”

“I promise.” She smiled, wordlessly thanking him for backing her up in that decision. She knew it wasn’t a good idea staying there, that she would be running a big risk, but at the same time she couldn’t risk losing him.

At that point it was time for the others to go. Y/N walked out with them, wanting to spend a few moments to thank them privately. She hugged her brother as tightly as she could, thanking him once again for letting her stay with Eddie. She thanked Max, and then Steve, who still wasn’t on board with that decision, but knew better than to go against her will. So, he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her, and telling her to call them on the walkie talkie if they needed anything, or even just if she wanted to talk. Lastly, Y/N turned to Robin, who was already waiting for her with her arms open. She didn’t lose a single second, and immediately crushed her entire bodyweight against her best friend’s, hugging her as if that was going to be the last time that they saw each other.

“Thank you again, Roro. I don’t know what I would have done without your support.” She smiled in the embrace, as her best friend tightened the hold around her figure. “Ro, not so tight, or you’re going to take all the air out of my lungs.” She laughed, trying to push her away slightly, but the other’s grip didn’t change. Contrarily, it felt like it was getting even tighter. “Robin, please…”

“It’s your fault we’re here.” The girl’s voice was cold, and the air around them seemed to change.

She sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.” She was still struggling for air, still trying to free herself from that hug.

“We’re all going to die because of you.” When she finally managed to get away, she looked at her. However, what she saw was not her best friend, but some sort of creature, something out of her nightmares: it had long fingers that were now pointing at her, and the darkest eyes she had ever seen, which almost looked pitch black. “Your friends are going to die, Y/N, and it will be your fault.”

She took a step back, and just like when she saw the clock, she wanted to run, but her feet seemed to be glued to the ground. She wanted to scream for help, but her voice got stuck in her throat. She felt tears pooling at the corners of her eyes, and a tight sensation at the pit of her stomach.

When Eddie eventually walked out of the dock house, he found Y/N standing there, almost frozen, with her back to the house, looking in front of her. He took a few steps and put a hand on her shoulder. “Everything alright, princess?” He asked quietly.

As soon as she felt Eddie’s hand on her shoulder, she snapped out of it. She looked around and noticed that the others had now been long gone. She turned to look at him, trying to hide as best as she could the terror she was feeling. “Huh?”

“I said, is everything okay?” Eddie asked her again, studying her. Something was wrong.

“Yes, everything’s fine.” She lied.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Don’t be stupid, okay?” She nodded at Steve. And as she stood there, watching her best friends walk away, a strange feeling settled at the bottom of her stomach. She kept her eyes in front of her, trying to shake the feeling away, but she couldn’t move. Fear had once again taken over her, paralysing her. And then, suddenly, the air around her changed. Everything became cold, so cold she began shivering. Maybe she could ask Eddie to lend her his jacket, she thought, but before she could turn around, she heard someone call her name. The voice was familiar, yet not at all. It felt distant and close at the same time, as if it came from every direction. The voice was also deep, and freakishly gruesome, so much that it filled her with horror. A clock chimed in the distance. The voice called for her again, becoming louder, deeper, so much that she could feel it in her bones.

“Y/N.” The voice came from right behind her this time. It’s not real. It’s just my mind playing tricks on me. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, her lower lip trembling. “Y/N, why won’t you look at me?” And as those words hit her ears, she felt a tight sensation in her stomach, as if someone had just wrapped their hands around it and squeezed as hard as they could. “Come on, little dove. It’s me.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Dad?” She whispered, still unable to move. It can’t be my dad. My dad is… my dad is dead. A tear rolled down her cheek, leaving behind a wet trail.

“I know you don’t believe it’s me, but it is. I came back for you. I had to talk to you.” She could hear the voice smiling. And the voice, it sounded exactly like her dad. “Please, little dove, look at me.” Those words. Those two words. The words that her father had always used to call her, the words that always brought happiness to her, now felt like a punch to her heart.

“I’m sorry, dad, but I can’t.” She whispered through the tears.

“Y/N,” The voice changed once again: it became inhuman, atrocious. “I said” She felt a hand lay on her shoulder. “Turn around.”

Y/N slowly looked down to her shoulder, but what she saw wasn’t a human hand. Unnaturally long fingers were slowly closing around her arm. She felt as if her legs were going to give in, as tears kept on falling uncontrollably down her cheeks. But all of a sudden, she felt another voice, something that came from within. This voice was kind. This voice told her one simple thing. Run. And without thinking, without even looking back, she sprinted towards the woods. And she ran. She ran faster than she had ever done, she ran until her legs burned, she ran until she couldn’t run anymore. And when she felt like her legs were about to give out, she hid. She took a quick glance behind, before stopping in front of a big, hollow tree. She curled up, pulling her legs as close to her chest as possible, closing her eyes tightly and trying to hold her breath. Maybe I lost him, she thought, trying to make as little sound as possible. She wanted to scream, to call for Eddie, Dustin, Steve, Robin. She wanted to cry her friends’ names, she wanted them there. But when she opened her eyes, none of them was standing beside her. Everything was quiet. Uncannily quiet. The only sound she could hear was her heart beating in her ears. But as loud as that was, it didn’t cover the sound of someone, or something, approaching. Her fists were so tight that she could feel her palms begin to burn. I don’t want to die.

“Y/N, please, stop running.” The voice was back, and she could feel it resonating in her bones. She could feel the voice trickle down her back like a drop of freezing water. “Let’s talk.” The long fingers appeared, gripping tightly onto the side of the opening in which she had crawled into. “I know you still think about me every day, little dove.” A head came into view, and when she looked at the face, she saw her dad, or someone that looked exactly like him. He slowly walked in front of the opening in the tree, and crouched down to look at her in the eyes. She looked at him and she saw the spark in his eyes, the one that she had loved so dearly, the spark that he’d had whenever he’d spend the day with his children, the spark he had the morning of the day he died. “I know the accident haunts you. I know you blame yourself.” She knew it wasn’t him, and yet a small part of her wanted to crash into him and hug him. She missed her father so much. She missed his smiles, and his kind and encouraging words. She missed his hugs and his singing voice. She missed the warmth that perspired though his voice whenever he was with her and her brother, with his kids. She missed everything. “And you know what? You’re right. You should blame yourself.” In that moment, she realised it wasn’t him, it had never been him. She slowly looked away, and that was when she noticed his grotesque hands. As she kept looking, she noticed that his appearance was slowly changing, and was resembling more and more the creature she had seen in her vision a couple of days prior. Her heart dropped to her stomach. She tried to push herself back, to run away, but her back was stuck against the inner wall of the hollow tree.

She had nowhere to run.

“I told you not to let her out of your sight!” Steve came running as fast as he could, wishing he hadn’t completely given up sports after he had left high school. Y/N was just standing there, completely still, if it wasn’t for her eyes shuttering like the wings of a butterfly. But the sight was far from beautiful. Her eyes, her big, beautiful eyes, eyes that always offered him warmth and love and understanding, were white and empty.

“I was right here!” Munson was now screaming at him. “I was standing right next to her. She was fine. She was...”

Steve put his hands on either side of Y/N’s body, shaking her, as if that could be the key, as if that could bring her back.

“I swear, I kept my eyes on her all the time! I-” Steve glanced to the side. He wanted to shut Munson up, he wanted him to stay quiet. But when he looked at him, he couldn’t help but notice a tear running down his cheek. He had his hands in his hair, and he was pacing back and forth. “She was fine a moment ago.”

“Eddie, it’s not your fault.” Robin approached the raven-haired man, kindly placing a hand on his arm, trying to help him calm down.

Was he crying? Eddie Munson? Eddie “the Freak” Munson? The guy he had seen having fun while vivisecting a frog? The guy that spent most of his time playing a stupid game of make-belief and smoking? That Eddie Munson? Crying? For her? For his best friend? He had no right. He had had one job, he was supposed to stay with her and make sure nothing happened to her, but he didn’t. He failed. And now she was standing there, in a trance. And he was crying.

Steve scoffed, returning immediately all his attention to her. “Please, Y/N. Don’t leave me.”

And seeing her, there, like that, that’s when it hit him. That’s when he realised how important she was to him. Ever since they became friends, ever since the events of Star Court happened, he knew Robin and her were his best friend. They would spend most of their days together, just the three of them. He would pick them up every morning and drive them to school just to be able to spend time with them, to make sure they were okay and they had a good night of sleep. He would wait for them after school to either drive them home or to take them to Family Video. And even there they had fun. Y/N didn’t work there, but nonetheless, if it was busy, she would help them by winding back the tapes, or by mindlessly walking among the different costumers and giving them suggestions, tell them which film she thought they should watch based on the last one they’d seen. And Steve couldn’t help but smile whenever he caught a glimpse of her and Robin laughing at something a kid had just said. Steve loved being invited over to the Hendersons’. Mrs Henderson cooked a mean grilled cheese and she made the best pasta. He loved spending time with her family, it made him feel welcome and loved. It made him feel like he could be part of a family. But he also loved spending time just the two of them, lying on the floor of her bedroom, distractedly listening to Duran Duran while talking about their future, about going away, leaving Hawkins and moving to Chicago, where she could go to university and study, while he and Robin would work in some shop or restaurant, waiting tables and getting bored while she was in class, waiting for her to come home and just spend time together. She had such big dreams. And he was proud of her for that. Steve loved Y/N. He loved her with all of his heart, but not in a romantic way. He loved her like someone loves their best friend, or a sister. She had never looked at him as an object of desire, and she had made it clear that, as much as she thought he was handsome, she wasn’t interested in him in a sexual way. He could distinctively remember the day she told him, and how shocked he was. The news had shocked him to his core, but he wasn’t disappointed. He felt seen, appreciated. She was there, with him, she spent time with him just for the sake of it. She spent time with him because she liked his company. She wasn’t interested in getting something back other than mutual respect and love. Steve cared for her, and he wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her safe. And yet, now, she was there, under Vecna’s curse.

He had left her alone when she needed him the most.

All of a sudden, a wave of sadness and self-anger washed over him. He froze. His eyes were still on her, he couldn’t look away. The last week came back to him like a cold shower, all the times he had yelled at her, all the mean things he had said. Everything came back to him, and he wanted to scream. He had treated her so poorly. And now she was fighting for her life against a creature from a parallel reality. He couldn’t remember when the last time was, he told her that he loved her, that she was special. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream. But he couldn’t leave her side.

“Please, Y/N.” He whispered. “Don’t leave us. I need you.”

Y/N was running again. She was running for her life, as tear streamed down her face. What previously seemed to be her father, now looked nothing like him. A tall creature was constantly behind her, a creature that looked like it had just walked out of a fire, with skin completely burned off. It was tall, slender, with terrifying long limbs.

Y/N was running, but wherever she went, she couldn’t seem to leave him behind. Whenever she changed direction, whenever she turned behind a tree, it was there, waiting for her. She had nowhere to run or hid.

“Stop making this harder than it is.” The creature’s voice filled her ears and resonated in her bones, making her come to a halt. “I don’t understand why you’re so set on staying alive. With everything that you’ve done.” The creature was now standing right in front of her, taking slow steps, one after the other, coming with each of them closer to her.

“Think of a happy thought.” She took a step back, while her heart beat so fast and so loud, she could feel it in her throat. “Think of Dustin. Think of the day you first took him for a ride. Think of that day. Think of the smile on his face when you showed him around town as if he hadn’t grown up in that place. Think of your birthday the previous year, when he and his group gave you that wonderful poster of Lord of the Rings and the card that Will had handmade for you with each of you drawn as a different character from Tolkien’s stories. Think of Robin and Steve and that weekend you drove all the way to Chicago with the excuse of going to see the university and take information, which you did, but then ended up spending most of the time running aimlessly around the city, just breathing in the freedom, the non-Hawkins air. Think of Eddie. Think of the way he held you when you woke up crying from your nightmare, think of his kind eyes. Think of your friends, your found family.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand, while holding the other one tightly closed in a fist.

But the images in her head were wiped away by a villainous laugh which echoed through the woods, but at the same time stuck to her skin like molasses. “Do you really think those memories can keep me out of your head, Y/N? Do you think I’m so weak?”

She didn’t answer. She just kept taking careful steps back as he advanced in her direction.

“Take for example the memory with your brother. Such a cute, adorable memory. And yet, do you remember how anxious you were at the idea of going in a car with him? You thought it was going to happen all over again, right? What happened with your father…”

And then, all of a sudden, she could no longer retreat. Now her back was once again pressed against a tree. She quickly glanced around, trying to study the area. She could run again; she could try and find some other place to hide. Maybe she could even find a way out. But before she could even move, something that looked like a vine but felt like a wet tentacle slithered between her feet, and then wrapped around her legs, making it impossible for her to move.

“Stay with me, Y/N. I want to talk.” The creature’s heinous voice filled every inch of her body, making her tremble with terror. “I can see you think highly of him. Of your brother, I mean. You really care about what he thinks of you, right?”

Another tentacle was making its way around her middle, securing her to the trunk, her arms stuck on either side of her body. But she didn’t let it win so easily, wriggling around, trying to free herself from its hold.

“I hope you know he doesn’t always tell you the truth. For example, he hates you for stealing his friends from him.”

For the first time after so long, she spoke. “That’s not true. He’s the one who introduced me to them.”

“He thought he was being kind and doing his brotherly act of kindness, you know. Your mother couldn’t stand seeing you at home all day, because you reminded her of you father, and she never really forgave you for what you did, for what you took from her. So, she asked him to introduce you to his older friends.”

“That’s– that’s not true.”

The creature was now standing only a few feet away, its cold, empty eyes fixed on her. “They all blame you, Y/N. For the accident. Your brother especially. It’s your fault if he grew up without a father who could teach him how to be a man. It’s your fault your mom stopped wanting to go out, to go on vacation, because you took away from her the only thing that really made her happy. It’s all your fault.”

Y/N’s heart dropped. She had always thought they all blamed her, that they all pitied her. But no matter how many times she had told herself saying it was her fault, hearing the words come from someone else, gave them a different weight. Now those words were heavy on chest, which struggled to rise and fall properly under the pressure of the tight grip the vine had on her stomach.

And so, she stopped fighting. She stopped resisting. Maybe she deserved it. Maybe she should die after all. It would make things easier for everyone.

“We have to play her favourite song!” Nancy’s words were clear, as she stood by Y/N’s side, trying to keep her eyes fixed on her. She hadn’t been there when it had happened to Max, and neither had Robin. The sight was terrifying, even more so when it was their friend, the person they had grown up with. “Robin, Steve, which is her favourite song?”

Robin was completely panicking. She was crouched down, her hands in her hair, as she tried to think. “I don’t know, I can’t remember a single song title!” Tears were filling up her eyes. “I’m blanking. I- I can’t think of anything.”

Then, someone moved. Someone started running. And when Steve turned to look in that direction, he noticed a mass of dark, long hair leaving the group. What the fuck? He thought to himself as he turned on his heels, running as well in the same direction. He ran as fast as he could, doing everything he could to catch up to him. And when he was only a few feet behind him, he almost threw himself at him, a hand grasping his jacket and pulling him back. “What the hell, Munson? You can’t just run away! We’re in a fucking emergency!” Steve fought the urgency to punch him. “I don’t know what you two are, but whatever it is, you cannot leave her.” He hadn’t notice how hard he was gripping onto the other man arm, until he yanked it, freeing himself.

“I know her favourite song, Harrington.” He sounded collected, and yet Steve could clearly see the fear in his eyes, and he was almost sure that the thudding sound he could faintly hear was his heartbeat.

“Then what the hell are you doing?”

Munson turned around and walked inside his own trailer. “I need my guitar; I don’t have it on tape.” He quickly made his way to his room, glancing inside his uncle’s bedroom, releasing a deep sigh of relief when he noticed it was empty. The last thing he wanted was to involve his uncle as well. He slammed the door open, grabbing the guitar, his beloved guitar off the wall, and the small, battery-powered amp he kept in the corner beside the chest of drawers, before running back out. When he came back into the sunlight, Harrington was waiting there for him. He showed him the guitar, as a way of proving he was telling the truth, that he wasn’t just going to bail on them. He put the instrument over his shoulder, nodding in the other man’s direction, a wordless signal that he was ready to go back.

When they finally made their way back to the rest of the group, everyone was too busy trying to talk to Y/N, to call for name, to notice the two men setting up the instrument right there in front of them. He connected the guitar to the amp, pushing a button on the small box. The static sound that followed, which quickly filled the air, caught everyone’s attention. And now the rest of the group was staring at him as he took the pick he had around his neck, immediately beginning to strum the first few notes of the song, just to make sure it was working.

“Turn it up.” Eddie’s voice was determined, confident, as he swiftly moved a few strands of hair out of his face. Steve, who up until two minutes ago wanted to kill Munson, blaming him for putting his best friend in danger, was now standing on his side. Now, for the first time, he was beginning to understand what she saw in him. Steve complied with the order, crouching down to better see which knob to turn. The static sound became loud, and that was the signal.

Eddie’s fingers easily found their way to the strings, immediately beginning to play the song he had spent entire nights studying, just for her. If anyone had told him that the song from a band he could barely stand was going to save the life of the woman of his dreams, he would have never believed them. And yet, right now, he was standing there, in the woods, with his guitar and his amp, playing in front of people he never thought would look at him as anything other than a freak. The melody of Everybody Wants To Rule The World filled the woods, bouncing off trees, and resonating in everyone’s bones. Eddie played as if his life depended on it, which, in his head, was the truth. He could never live with himself if he lost her. He couldn’t live with himself if she did and hadn’t been able to save her. So, he kept playing. He kept playing until he reached the end of the song, only to start over again. He played it even when her body slowly rose off the ground. He played so hard that his fingertips hurt, and he could already feel cuts forming, breaking his skin. But he kept on playing. He kept playing because he couldn’t allow her to suffer the same end as Chrissy had. He couldn’t allow her to die. He needed her. He needed her safe and alive.

Now Vecna had her. The tentacles were wrapped around her body, tightening whenever she twitched, keeping her pinned to the tree. However, when she looked around, she no longer could see the woods she had been running in, the woods where she had stopped with the others. A red hue now coloured the sky. The trees were now gone, and as her eyes looked around, she could clearly see different piece that seemed to have once been part of a house floating in the air. There were stairs that led to nothing, and pieces of walls that lost their sole function of separating rooms. A clock was flying in the air, slowly, and as she studied it, she was sure it was the same clock she had seen outside Reefer Rick’s house. It chimed, and its sound echoed in her ears; as a trigger response, her heart started beating faster. In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a door with a beautiful stained glass. A door she had seen before. It looked exactly like the one from the abandoned house in front of which she had stopped one too many times to write, sitting in the old playground which had fallen out of use. And it was there that she had spent her afternoons alone, trying to write the most difficult, most terrifying passages from her stories. She knew that place. But it looked nothing like it did in real life. Now, with the red background of the sky, it looked like a bomb had gone off in there, and she was now watching a slow-motion replay of what had happened.

The clock chimed one more time. And when she turned her head to look in front of her, the creature was standing right there, with its eyes fixed on her. If she looked close enough, she could almost see what once might have been a man. And yet, now, in front of her, there was no man. Because no man would do such things.

“Be very still, Y/N. It will be over soon.” The creature spoke, and its voice inhuman voice felt like dozens of spiders crawling down her skin. A single tear found its way down her cheek, leaving behind a wet trail that, when it came in contact with the cold yet humid air, she shivered. “You know it’s the right thing.” A tentacled raised from the ground, slithering up her body and around her neck. “They all blame you, and you know that. Do you really want to continue living knowing that your friends and your family pity you?”

Words just stuck in her throat, as the tentacle tightened around her neck, cutting her breath. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But she was too scared to even breathe. She had been seeing Mrs Kelly for two years at that point. She had gone to her office every Friday since… since her accident. Once a week after she had gone back to school. They had talked for hours about her, about her family and her friends, about how nothing was her fault, about how her friends were with her because they loved her and cared for her. And yet, hearing someone else say out loud what she had feared for so long, gave the thoughts a different weight. Maybe it was right, maybe she had always been right.

She took a deep breath, struggling because of the tightness from the tentacle. She was ready. She was ready to give it all up. “There, good girl.” The creature’s penetrating, gravelly voice made her stomach writhe, and as a hand moved to her face, she closed her eyes, another bead of water rolled down her face.

But then, all of a sudden, a familiar melody started playing. At first it was distant, barely perceptible, so much so that she really thought she was imagining it; but then, slowly, the sound became louder. And as the chords progressed, her breathing accelerated. She looked over the creature’s shoulder, and immediately, she felt her heartbeat pound in her head, and a tingly sensation travel to her hands. Through what looked like a tear in the fabric of reality she could see herself in the real world, in the woods by the trailer park; she could see her body hanging in the air, and on the ground, there were her friends calling her name. Among them, she recognised a mass of dark, curly hair. And the more she looked at the scene, the more she concentrated on it, the louder the music became.

“Not again.” She could hear the creature speak; she could hear it protest. “You’re not going to be so luckily like your friend was.” But her eyes were fixed on the background.

As the chorus hit her ears, she felt a wave of confidence wash over her, a wave of awareness. They were there, all of them, by her side. They were calling for her, trying to save her. They didn’t just leave her; they didn’t give up hope. They cared for her.

She jerked her hands, fighting against the wet tentacles that kept her pinned to the tree, trying to get free. She kicked her feet and tugged her arms, until she felt the hold get looser. “Stop fighting. It will be less painful if you stay still.” The creature spoke in a gravelly voice, but Y/N couldn’t be bothered to listen and comply. She kept her eyes on the scene, as the tear in the background grew larger. Now she could clearly see Eddie playing her favourite song on the guitar; she could see her brother and her best friends standing at her feet, jumping and screaming her name; she could see Nancy standing right beside Eddie, supporting him, telling him that he could do it; and she could see Max holding onto Lucas, fighting the tears as she knew how much Y/N was hurting.

And then, suddenly, she felt her feet hit the ground. Her body was free.

Without thinking much, she began running. For the first few meters, she struggle to stay on her feet because of the pain she could feel in her limbs. But she ran, nonetheless. She ran despite she could still feel the tight sensation of the tentacle around her neck. She ran as fast as she could. And not once she looked behind. She could feel the creature scream, a low, inhuman growl, which only pushed her to ran faster. And she kept running. She ran in spite of the burning sensation in her already tired legs. And as she ran, the tear on the horizon became larger, the voices closer. Please, Y/N, come back to us. She could hear them cry out. Come on, Y/N/N! You can do it! Their voices ringed clearly in her ears, completely covering the screams that came from behind her.

She was close. She was so close she could almost touch it.

Tears fell down her face copiously. Her chest hurt from the lack of oxygen. And she could feel a sharp, staggering feeling in her side. She wanted to give up. She wanted for it to be over. But she couldn’t.

And then, beneath all the screams, she heard it. Please, Y/N. I need you. The voice was low, barely perceptible in all the chaos. But she heard it. And as a trigger, the words sent a wave of adrenaline through her body, which gave her enough strength to take the last leap. She pushed herself off, and everything around her seemed to slow down. She could feel the exact moment her soles left the ground, she could feel the cloud of dirt sticking to her trousers, she could hears the creature’s guttural screams reverberate in her bones.

And then, nothing. For a few moments, everything was dark. For a few moments she was sure she didn’t make it. For a moment, a part of her believed she was gone. And then, her body hit the ground. The impact sending a wave of staggering pain throughout her body. Every single part of her hurt.

Eddie had been playing that song over and over again for he didn’t even know how long. Tears had been pooling at the corners of his eyes, so much that he struggled to see the strings on his guitar clearly. But now his fingers were on auto-pilot, they moved on their own, as if controlled by an external force. His fingers hurt; his hands hurt. But nothing in this world could make him stop, not until he was sure she was back, not until he was sure she was safe. So, he played on. And he was sure that, if she had been there, next to her, she would have made fun of him, saying that he had gone all soft. He could almost hear her voice, see her smile. All of this for me? You really learned a Tear for Fears’ song just for me? And he would have rolled his eyes. And maybe he would have even kissed her.

He sniffled with his nose, blinking a few times, not caring whether people could see the tears roll down his cheeks. “Please, Y/N. I need you.” His voice was low. He was sure she couldn’t hear him, but he said it, nonetheless. And he kept on playing, glancing every now and then in her direction. He had never been a religious person - with everything he had been through, he had stopped believing in God a long time ago. But still, he prayed. He prayed to whomever was there, listening, to bring her back to him.

And then, the next thing he knew, she was gasping.

When he looked in her direction, her body was falling, racing towards the ground. His heartbeat accelerated, and he stopped playing all together. His eyes were fixed on her now, and everything seemed to move in slow-motion. He knew he couldn’t break her fall, but while everyone froze or still hadn’t realised what was happening, he threw his guitar to the side – something he never, ever would have done in a normal situation; but that wasn’t normal. With tears falling down his face, he threw himself in her direction.

She was panting, struggling to catch air. She screamed, a cry that rose from her guts and that froze everyone’s blood. She looked around; panic painted all over her face. She cried, tears copiously streaming down her cheeks.