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When Robin joined the group, she tried to warm you up more to it. Despite warnings from the group, whispers of she doesn’t like that, she’d continued to offer you her friendly physical affections as long as you reassured her it was fine. It worked, to an extent. You would now at least return the hugs received (even if it took you a few moments to do so), and you wouldn’t hold your breath at a friend’s head on your shoulder or lap. It was all baby steps — timid movements in the right direction, an accomplishment of letting your softness flow through your fingertips as you tried to adjust. 

Argyle also tried to wear you down. A casual arm around your shoulder in greeting, frequently sitting close enough to you on movie nights that your side would press into his as you both enjoyed the pizza he’d brought. You still froze, still struggled to thaw, but you never shooed him away. You’d only exchange a secret smile with him, a private acknowledgement between you two that you knew what he was trying to do, and it was okay. Maybe it would work. Robin had, after all, made some baby steps. Maybe Argyle could help you take fuller strides. Maybe, just maybe, this could propel you. 

The night you drunkenly braided Argyle’s hair had been a memorable success, but it never progressed past that. The roots remained, the timid natured reigned, and so your friend group simply celebrated what little victories they’d earned and moved on.

They’d accepted you may never be a touchy person. And that was fine — all that you lacked in physical touch, you more than made up for in every other avenue in expression of your fondness. 

Until Eddie.

The moment he’d joined your circle, Argyle and Robin were already exchanging knowing looks. Eddie was touchy; the boy was practically starved for it. Overexcited hugs as greetings and the way his hand would reach for the nearest shoulder when he was overcome with joy for the small things. He couldn’t sit alone during movie nights, he’d often lounge with his legs stretched out over the nearest laps, he’d jokingly cuddle into people without a second thought.

And even more than that, his touch was wild and burning. Embers never to be contained. He was overwhelming, they all knew this and so did he, and they feared that if he attempted to embark on the same journey that they had that he may scare you away. That all the baby steps in the right direction would become leaps backward, sending you right back to where you started. 

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

You’d first noticed that Eddie treated you differently, more restrained, during a movie night. Argyle on one side, a small empty space on the other. You’d witness everyone endure Eddie’s cinematic cuddles on multiple occasions, and amongst your roots had bloomed buds of wistfulness. A strange yearning every time he’d tuck his face into the neck of whichever friend was nearest, jokingly squealing how he needed them to protect him. They saw him as a pest (a lovable one, but still) — and you’d never wanted to be pestered more in your life. 

That small space beside you was the last open seat. You thought surely, he’ll sit here. You were optimistic at the likelihood of Eddie sharing your space, of feeling his curls tickle your cheek and neck, at his breath on your shoulder. For the first time in your life, you were painfully giddy at the prospect of someone touching you. When he entered the room with Jonathan, carrying bowls of popcorn and loudly telling everyone to turn on the horror movie chosen for the night, your entire body had buzzed. You would have leapt off that couch and crawled inside his chest right then and there if it wouldn’t have been so startling to not only him, but your entire circle.

He took one look at the empty seat, a pitiful excuse for space, and had paled.

Please sit next to me. Please, please, ple-

“Spread your legs, Harrington,” Eddie had suddenly bursted out, throwing himself on the floor in front of Steve at the opposite end of the couch, “I’m using your knees as collateral from Krueger.” 

He chose the floor over sitting at your side. And it ached. 

You were unaware of the spiel that Robin and Argyle gave him, the staunch warnings from Nancy, the (sort of) joking threats from Steve and Jonathan. Eddie Munson had been warned off from touching you, was obeying those warnings, and it just left you miserable. 

You didn’t get it. You didn’t understand — his choices nor your feelings. 

But that night, the burn of Argyle’s arm brushing your shoulder from where it laid along the back of the couch became overwhelming. Until you’d scooted yourself into that space you’d carved out for Eddie, and pouted, like a goddamn child.

Argyle assumed it was just a bad day for touch.

No one realized the yearning blooming within you. You’d never wanted to take a baseball bat to Steve Harrington’s shins more than when you watched Eddie Munson wrap his fingers around them and bury his cheek against them. 

The second time, it stung even more.

Months passed and the yearning never faded. You told yourself, over and over, this will pass. This is temporary, and it will pass. 

But it didn’t. The more time you spent with Eddie amongst your friend group, the more you craved the same casual touch from him that he extended to everyone else. He wouldn’t even brush past you in enclosed spaces — he treated you like a traumatized dog, bound to snap and bite him if he made the wrong move.

You fucking hated it. You hated that you hated it.

You’d gone years without needing touch, so you cursed that unexpected sting in your chest that night at the bowling alley. When Eddie rolled his first strike (and reported it was his first ever), he’d hugged everyone.

Everyone but you.

When it came to what should have been your turn for a bear hug, your mind was buzzing with adrenaline. This was it. You pictured him wrapping his tattooed arms around your chest, lifting you at least a little bit, swinging you a little due to the force of his affection. You were convinced his high off of the strike was going to make him forget his mission to never touch you. Maybe he’d be embarrassed after. Maybe you could finally offer a small smile that said it’s okay, I’m okay with it.

He only stopped dead in his tracks, arms freezing for a second before they dropped, his lips pressing tightly together before he let them spread back into a smile, and only lifted his brows at you excitedly. 

That’s it. That’s all.

Fuck. 

“That was pretty metal, Eddie,” you tried to egg him on, bouncing on the soles of your shoes a little, practically begging him with your eyes to just hug you. 

He’d been bashful, grinning and hiding his face behind a random curl, nodding, “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it was.” 

If you’d known of the talks behind your back then that had ruined that moment, you would have wrecked absolute havoc on your friends. The need, the yearning, the want became impossible to handle. You used his strike as an excuse for him to cover your turn, saying he was on a roll right after exclaiming that if you didn’t go to the bathroom right that second, you’d piss yourself.

When you were alone in the stall, you’d silently screamed and tugged at the roots of your hair. 

You wanted him to touch you. You wanted him to catch you off guard in larger than life hugs. You wanted to feel every emotion that thrummed beneath his skin and you wanted to breathe in his cologne, to finally know how sturdy his chest felt beneath his shirt and if his rings really were as cold as Nancy always complained. 

You’d finally returned to the group, not able to have a full breakdown in the bathroom without worrying your friends with your absence. Subtly, you’d tried to tuck yourself into Robin’s side when you returned, sitting down a bit closer than you normally would have, just to fill the void. It was almost as if you were encouraging her to reach an arm around you, to let you curl up and press a cheek to her collarbone. Try to alleviate the need for human touch clawing its way through you.

“You okay, babe?” she questioned suspiciously when she felt you squished entirely up against her. There was plenty of space on the bench, there was no reason for your proximity.

No, you wanted to scream, I’m not okay. There is an itch beneath my skin right now that can only be scratched by the affectionate touches of the metalhead sitting across from us who’s joking with our friends, completely unaffected and unaware. He won’t even look me in the eye. And so now I’m trying to get you to just touch me, to just put a goddamn arm around me, to do anything to fill the gaping hole inside of me. But you can’t. 

It was an unfair situation to every single party and bystander involved.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you lied. 

You can’t, because the only person who can fill this gaping void inside of me is Eddie.

You were the farthest from fine. You were in flames. And no one would understand it, least of all you, because this wasn’t like you.

You didn’t crave touch. You didn’t need it to survive. So, what the hell was this that you were feeling? 

The craving for Eddie’s touch evolved into something more, and that’s when you knew that you were surely in trouble. 

Audible denial only worked for so long. Festering, longing, and yearning could only be withheld for so long until suddenly, with your mind on fire and your bones aching to the core, you realized that it was more than wanting Eddie to reach out for you. The want became a two way street. More often than not, you find your hands to be fists at your side, shaking with the effort to not bridge the gap. 

After a year of friendship, he had had no choice but to occasionally brush past you. Touches that must have been fleeting to him, but lingered for you. They’d settle into your skin, tender like a fresh bruise, ghosting over you at night when you couldn’t sleep. It was more than just touch, at this point. You wanted everything from Eddie. The denial of his touch had led to you missing out on more than just hugs and movie night cuddles — Eddie didn’t joke with you as much as he did the others, didn’t always turn to you in crowded rooms for comfort, wouldn’t call you up if he was up late and bored like he would Nancy, Steve, Robin, Argyle, fucking everyone in Hawkins except you. The distance was unbearable.

Because you did. You did look for him at every quaint hang out. You did seek him out in every room you entered and you did resist the urge to call him when sleep evaded you. You could imagine his voice over the line, a lullaby over the receiver as he’d ramble about his day. It was like a poison, infecting those roots you’d long since made friends with rather than try to dig up. 

You were fucked. Plain and simple. You had a big, fat crush on Eddie, and for once in your life, you’d learned of the panging hunger to be touched. 

“Does Eddie have a girlfriend?” you asked as you sat with Robin at a diner, having completely zoned out with the conversation between her and Steve, lost in your daydreams, “Or boyfriend? Just- Is he single?” 

Both of your friends went dead silent, staring at you in awe.

Robin cleared her throat, but remained choked up until Steve spoke, “Uh, yeah. He’s single. Why?” 

The way your eyes darted down to the table of the booth you three occupy gave it away.

Robin suddenly squealed, “Oh my gosh! You have a crush on him!” 

“Do not!”

“Oh, you so do!” she grinned wildly, leaning in close, “Tell us everything — now.” 

“Eddie?” Steve’s nose scrunched up, “Really?” 

“I don’t have a crush on him!” you uselessly defended yourself, “I just- Look, no, I know that look. You can’t tell him or meddle, Robin.” 

“How would I tell him or meddle if you don’t have a crush on him?” 

Steve was still confused, and Robin’s eyes glittered with mischief. You would have been better off keeping your mouth shut. 

You noticed the way Steve had gone silent, pointedly sipping on his coke rather than looking you in the eyes. As if he had something to say.

“What is it?” you asked him, furrowing your brows, already defensive. A stark contrast to the light-heartedness you usually treat your friends with, “You’ve got something to say. Say it.” 

“I just…” Steve sighed, looking off into the distance, “I don’t know. It’s a weird pairing, y’know?”

Your stomach threatened to sink. “What does that mean?”

“You two are just… different,” he continued on, and your stomach really did sink. Right along with your heart, “I mean, he’s really big on physical touch — it’s definitely his love language. And you…”

You don’t like being touched. You actually hate it. Avoid it ardently.

The unspoken ending to that sentence could have shattered your bones that day. You knew. You knew.

You stayed silent, unsure of what else to say. You couldn’t find the words to explain the yearning that invaded your chest all those moons ago, you couldn’t physically bring their hands to your chest and force them to feel the hunger that had begun to eat you alive. You couldn’t scream at your friends, I can change! I can change! I can change!

“I think they’d make a cute couple,” Robin finally broke the tense silence. Steve looked a bit regretful, but you both knew he was right, “Besides, touching is overrated.” 

To emphasize her point, she scooted away from Steve until she sat on the very edge of the vinyl seat they shared, a narrow air of separation between them. 

You smiled and laughed, and so did Steve, but the fact of the matter still remained.

Your roots have been there since the beginning of time. And maybe, they ran so deeply that you were a fool for thinking you could ever excavate them. 

“I need your help.” 

Robin looks up at you shocked. You’d never looked quite so determined, so one-track minded as you did in this moment, right in Steve Harrington’s kitchen. 

“You need my help?” she nearly yells, fumbling with the empty bowl she was about to fill with chips, “Are you sure you need my-“

“Positive,” you cut her off, “I need your help because you didn’t laugh in my face when I said I liked Eddie.” 

Her shock fades, an awful trace of pity in her eyes as she looks at you, “Oh, hon — Steve wasn’t laughing at you. He’s just a dingus, y’know? Doesn’t always think before he speaks, but he has the best of intentions-“

You wave a hand, physically dispersing her words into the air. That conversation at the diner last week didn’t phase you anymore. In fact, it fuels you the more you think about it.

“I know, I know,” you reassure her, walking closer so you can lower your voice, “But he was right. And I’ve been thinking a lot about it.”

“That sounds dangerous. Whatcha’ been thinkin’ about?” 

This is it. Now or never. Once you say it outloud, even to just Robin, it was cemented in fact.

“It’s not that I don’t like being touched,” you blurt out, heart racing at the admission, “I just… I don’t know. I’m not used to it. It wasn’t something normal growing up. And… okay, no, this is not meant to be a depressing deep dive into my childhood,” you pause and scowl at the way her face contorts with even more pity, “I’m fine. There’s nothing to be done to change what’s already passed. My point is, I don’t want to stay this way. I don’t want people treating me delicately. I’m tired of you guys not feeling like you can just- fuck, I don’t know, hug me. Like you can throw an arm around me while we joke around like you do Jonathan. Like you can’t take the seat beside me at the booth instead of Steve. Like you can’t be clingy and beg me to play with your hair like you do Argyle when everyone’s smoking.”

Throughout your speech, the pity transforms. With each word, you only grow more passionate, because it dawns on you just how much you miss out on. Your friends love you, you love them — that’s not up for debate. But sometimes, you see those small touches between them, and you feel like an outsider looking in. 

“I know I freeze up and I know I get awkward,” your voice finally chokes up, and you have to squeeze your eyes shut to silently curse yourself for finally letting all these larger than life emotions wrap around you, “I know you guys think I’m better off if you leave it be. But I’m not. I’ll never get over it if you guys don’t push me. I’ll never get used to it if no one ever touches me.” 

“We know!” Robin starts enthusiastically, reassuredly, “We know that! And me and Gyle really do try, but we just don’t want to make you uncomfortable-“

“Do it,” you stop her in her tracks, eyes not wavering from hers, “Make me uncomfortable. Put your head on my shoulder, even if it makes my breathing stop for a couple seconds. Grab my hand when we cross a street, even if my palm’s clammy. I can’t grow without a little discomfort, Robs.”

There’s a standstill in the air. A realization settles deep in your bones — growth. That’s what you were craving. Eddie had opened up something entirely new for you, cracked open an age old wound in your chest you’d been unaware of. It left behind a hole, and you’d been so preoccupied with yearning to fill it, you hadn’t seen that the solution was the most obvious one: you had to outgrow the hole. Not fill it with others, but with yourself. You couldn’t live forever as nothing more than roots, buried deep beneath soil and always hiding in their solitude. Eventually, you had to bloom. 

“Okay,” Robin nods slowly, taking in your words and the deep breaths that are following. It’s obvious how much this means to you, how much it’s been bothering you, “You’re right. But… you’ve just gotta promise us, if we get overbearing, that you tell us-“

“Not just you and Argyle,” your mouth goes dry. Because this is where the road was leading the entire time, this was the end destination in mind for the entire drive of this conversation, “I want… everyone to do it. I know Nance, Jon, and Steve aren’t as big on the whole touchy thing as you and him but…” your voice finally breaks, and you can’t look her in the eyes now as you whisper, “Eddie is.” 

There’s a light behind Robin’s eyes that you’ve never seen before, but you can’t even bear witness to it, eyes zeroed in on the shiny packaging of the chips on the counter, “So this really is about Eddie?” 

You could keep denying it. Pretend like the boy hadn’t watered the first sprout that caused this entire revelation, like he hadn’t been the first to shine a light on all the things you’d ignored for years. But he was. He had built a fire inside of you without even realizing it, just by tending his own embers. 

You take a deep breath, “It’s like it burns him to touch me. Even just shuffling past me. I don’t think he’s ever sat beside me when we all hang out. I don’t… I don’t even know what he really smells like, Rob. Besides the weed and cigarettes when he smokes with you guys. How fucked is that? I’ve known him for a year and I couldn’t even tell you what kind of cologne he wears. Isn’t that… that’s weird, right?” 

“You know the things that matter, though, don’t you?” 

It hadn’t occurred to you, that perspective on the matter. “I… guess?”

“Tell me about him. Tell me about Eddie.” 

The others will be worrying about how long you two are taking in here soon. Eddie will probably be arriving with Argyle soon. But Robin waits patiently until your eyes finally find hers again, and she lifts her brows, encouraging you to tell her about your mutual friend as if she’s never met him. 

And so you do.

Once you start rattling off the minute things you noticed, they pour out of you, watering away at that once withered crush. You tell her about his favorite music, an easy thing to know about Eddie when he’s so loud and passionate about it. You tell her the first song he ever learned on guitar, Little Things by Willie Nelson. It had been encouraged by how much his Uncle Wayne enjoyed the singer. And he’d learned it on a worn acoustic guitar from his uncle. He’d never even performed it in front of the man, always either too choked up or too embarrassed for an audience. You tell her how his favorite subject in school was history, because it always gave him ideas for his DnD campaigns. His favorite color is red, deep and pulsing and eye-catching. The same shade of his electric guitar, lovingly nicknamed Sweetheart, but actually named Elvira. He’s a picky eater, probably the pickiest of your group, and yet also will eat just about anything the moment you propose it as a dare. He knows what he should do to take care of his curls, he just doesn’t, probably due to preferring to take his showers at night. He’s complained of falling asleep with wet hair more times than you can count. He had a lisp as a little kid. He buys a new mug for Wayne every Christmas, and the man acts surprised every year, as if he never saw it coming. He likes sour candy best. He hates movies where the dog dies. He loves musicals, and he would sooner die than admit that to the rest of the group. 

All devilish details that Eddie had revealed to you at some point or another, over drinks and over quick cigarettes. Over random bursts of trust and rare moments alone.

By the time you’re done with your rant, Robin is just smiling.

“God, you really like him,” she murmurs, looking across your forlorn face, as if each piece of him that you’d handed over willingly had actually been forcibly torn from you. As if it hurt to share him. 

You take another deep breath, and you can breathe a little bit easier, but you still feel the wisps of your roots still dug stubbornly into surrounding ground, “Yeah. I really like him.” 

A plan is devised. It turns out Robin was the perfect person to approach about this, because she has no shame — she’s willing to seem like a ‘bad friend’ for the sake of helping you reach your goal.

The first step is to guarantee that no matter what, Eddie sits next to you during the movie. 

The best way to accomplish this is to not make it a seat only beside you as you had that first time he’d rejected you, but between you and another person. Because then, if Eddie was still adamant on not indulging you, he’d have someone else to cling to. For now.

The second step would be for you to leave for the bathroom right before you all started the movie. Leave the room, leave all your friends to be gathered without you so that Robin could make an executive call with them all. She would bring up the fact that they all should try to push you a bit more with the entire notion of physical touch, that it’d be good for you, that you’d brought it up casually rather than as dramatically as you really had. 

During her explaining of this part of the plan, you discovered the conversations already had behind closed doors about this topic and you. 

You couldn’t even blame your friends. You were irritated, but it would pass. They couldn’t change it now, but Robin could help undo what those seemingly beneficial conversations had done. The distance it had created between you and Eddie.

“Who should be on the other side of Eddie?” you ask once you two have your plan and full bowls of snacks. 

“Me,” Robin declares, “I have a plan there, too. We’ll sit side by side at first, take up enough space on the couch so that Eddie thinks he doesn’t have a seat. Just trust me and play along when the time comes, yeah?” 

You nod.

There’s a knock at the door, perfect timing as you and Robin sat down the bowls of snacks on the table, ignoring Steve’s expected complaint of how long you two took. He runs off, going to let Eddie and Argyle in, as Robin takes her seat on the couch. 

Nancy and Jonathan are curled up on the loveseat. Steve had been sitting at the end of the couch that normally could easily seat four. Argyle’s favorite recliner was wide open, and you both knew he’d be jumping into it once he came to the basement. Everything was set perfectly.

Robin manspreads, an entertaining sight but one that forces you to try and do the same, lounging across the remaining space of the couch as casually as possible to make it seem as though another person could absolutely not fit.

You pray to God her plan works.

“Hello, brochachos!” Argyle yells as a greeting when he bounds down the stairs, immediately tossing a box of snow caps in Nancy and Jonathan’s directions before doing exactly as you and Robin had predicted, “Oh, fuck yeah! You guys saved my favorite chair for me!”

He specifically winks your way, as if you had been the one to do so. And you had, technically, but you appreciated that small effort to greet you specifically. 

You smile at him, shaking your head lightly as he throws himself down roughly. You can only imagine how on board he’ll be with Robin’s suggestion.

Argyle’s energy had you wondering if the boys had even smoked as they usually did before arriving, his eyes hardly pink rimmed and his smile not quite as dopey as usual. It became clear that they had smoked, but one of them had likely babysat their shared joints, when Eddie descends into the doorway behind Steve.

He’s all half-lidded eyes, lazy grin, comfort wrapped up in a worn band shirt and sweats. 

Yes, you wanted to break this stubborn boundary of yours with all your friends, but as you earned your first glance from Eddie, you knew that he would be the greatest reward. You don’t even care if the crush aspect of the entire ordeal never comes to fruition; you’d just like to imagine burying your face into his warm chest like you are now, and not feel weird about it. Not worry if he’ll push you away or be uncomfortable, or taken off guard, by it.

“Hey, losers,” he greets in a rough voice, no doubt gravelly from how much he might have smoked. 

You share a quick look with Robin, worried. High Eddie was always extra affectionate, but wouldn’t it be wrong to use that against him? Maybe you two should try another night, postpone the plan for another movie nigh-

You hadn’t even noticed that Steve had taken his original seat back and Eddie was glancing around the seating arrangement, seemingly lost, until Robin was suddenly shoving at you, “Babe, I love you, but scooch. C’mere, Eds. I’m in a cuddly mood.” 

And oh, that hurt. Which is why you suppose she didn’t tell you what exactly this part of the plan was. That hurt needed to break through your face, even if only for a moment, so that when you left the room, it made sense to discuss. 

Argyle catches that micro-expression the moment it graces your features. Even furrows his brows in response. Eddie even opens his mouth to argue, but you move too quickly for anyone else to comment.

You fumble with pulling up your body, scooting over as she requested until there was an Eddie-sized space left between the two of you. When Robin opens her arms wide, Eddie has no room to argue. 

“Well, if you insist, Buckley,” he teases, stepping carefully, hesitating for a second as he glances back down at you. Even through pink tinged eyes, you catch a flash of concern. “I’m always down for some cuddles with my favorite girl.”

And that also stings, reverberates like a slap to the face that had landed just a little too harshly. 

Robin scoffs, muttering a stern correction of, “Platonic cuddles, dipshit,” just as Nancy also laughs from where she’s tangled with Jonathan.

“Didn’t you say I was your favorite when I bought you a coke last week?” 

He probably did. He constantly made those jokes with Robin and Nancy. He never made those jokes with you. 

Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t about respecting boundaries for Eddie. Maybe he just didn’t like you-

“You both wound me,” he sighs out as his body lands directly in that space you and Robin had organized, clearly favoring being close to Robin so that his thigh wouldn’t rub against yours, “I’ve officially changed my mind.” 

It almost happens in slow motion. Slowly, carefully, he lazily turns his head towards you, lips half lilted as his eyes sparkle in your direction, tongue darting out between his teeth before he drawls, “You’re my favorite, now.” 

For the first time in a year, you’re very clearly smelling his cologne, and the look in his eyes is setting you ablaze. The softness you are so used to bargaining out is being returned, an expression so delicate being aimed at you that you don’t know what to do with it. Senses overwhelmed with something woodsy, something musky, and something yearning. 

“How charming,” Nancy muses, leveling you with a soft and amused look. Not nearly as gooey as the look Eddie had given you, but still adoring, “Don’t listen to him. Clearly, he says that to everyone.”

“Yeah, but I mean it this time,” he argues. 

“Sure, you do,” Steve laughs from his end of the couch, “She’s not gonna go grab you a soda just because you’re kissing ass.” 

“Hey, you know what?” Argyle sits up in his chair, leaning towards you and pointing his finger in your direction, “You really are my favorite, and I’m a man of my word.” 

“I’m not getting you a soda, either, Gyle,” you flatly joke, narrowing your eyes.

He pours briefly, but shrugs, “Fair enough. I meant it, but fair enough.” 

On a limb, you stretch out a hand, and deliver a gentle smack at his hand still hanging limply in the air between you two. Robin is watching on proudly as Argyle looks taken back.

“Shut up,” you giggle, shimmying in your seat to get more comfortable. 

Eddie looks wildly around the room, completely stunned, wearing a look of betrayal, “What, you guys don’t believe me? She really is my favorite!” 

Lord only knows you were melting into the cushion of that couch. You weren’t used to this amount of attention, certainly not from Eddie, and certainly not so clearly in front of your friends.

If you could hardly handle his words of affection, how would you handle his touches of affection? 

“I believe you,” you finally say. Something in your mind screams at you, tells you now is your chance. All you’d have to do is shift your knee, and you could bump it to his in a joking manner. The perfect excuse. The perfect guise. You stare at your two knees for an eternity, though, and before you know it, the moment has passed. 

The ache echoes out across the hollow of every bone inside your body as he smiles, satisfied with your response before everyone moves forward with conversation.

You hate yourself. You should have bumped your knee to his. 

You don’t hear a single word exchanged amongst your friends. All you can hear is the roar in your ears that scorns you for another missed opportunity. 

Now is as good as ever to enact the second phase of the plan. 

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom before we start the movie,” you announce, standing a bit suddenly but trying to keep your voice even so it doesn’t seem to Eddie that his words had made you uncomfortable. They didn’t. They’d only fed that hunger, making you suddenly need more. It was your own stupid indecisiveness, what you didn’t do, that was upsetting you. 

Robin looks up knowingly, “Sounds good. Don’t miss me too much, babe.” 

Babe. Another thing your friends sometimes didn’t include you in — all the pet names, all the terms of endearment. It makes you smile. 

If anyone thought you might be rushing out due to the entire conversation that had just taken place, that smile would erase all their fears.

“I always miss you, baby,” you cockily reply, making a joking kissy face in her direction to seal the flirtatious manner of the interaction. 

Steve looks pleasantly surprised, Argyle is clearly mentally cheering you on, and Nancy looks plainly proud. 

But Eddie is looking up at you, doe eyes almost… sad. 

You try not to think of it too hard. 

You try to take your time once you reach the top of the stairs, rushing up but slowing as you walk to the bathroom.

You didn’t really need it, obviously, and you highly doubt anyone will be listening in on your footsteps above once Robin proposes the entire debate of it treating you so fragile anymore. In the middle of the hallway, your mind is made up. Instead of continuing on to that bathroom, instead of hiding away and feeding into the panic attack currently brewing despite your full faith in Robin, you retract to the kitchen.

This is what you wanted. You want more than to just offer soft words and soft motivation, you want more than to be seen as the friend with a heart of gold, as the pedestal Argyle constantly puts you up on so eloquently. You want to be felt as it, too. 

To give Nancy well-deserved hugs when another one of her publications receive recognition, to give Steve’s hand a firm squeeze when he’s confiding in you about his home situation and the loneliness that follows. You want Robin to hide her face in your shoulder for safety during jumpscares and you want to occupy that recliner with Argyle when you both decide to succumb to snacking while your friends endlessly debate where you should all have dinner, making whispers of commentary jokes before Jonathan would decide to sit on the arm and join you two in the audience as he gave up the battle for Nancy’s sake.

You want Eddie to touch you. You don’t even care how at this point. You want brushing shoulders and knocking knees, you want knuckles bumping into each other on the street and you want him to cling to you when it gets late and he’s tired, but not too tired to keep himself surrounded with his favorite people. You want to truly be his favorite. Favorite person, favorite hug, favorite conversation. 

God, you want it so bad that your seams nearly burst. Your composure nearly breaks. 

What if he doesn’t want that? 

The moment your footsteps on the stairs have vanished, Robin springs into action.

“Okay, group meeting,” she says, clapping to garner everyone’s attention. Eddie jumps slightly at her side, Steve offers her a side-eye, and Nancy shifts her entire body in Jonathan’s arms to look at her fully, “We need to talk about her.” 

She doesn’t even have to say your name.

Unfortunately, Argyle takes it the wrong way, nearly leaping out of his chair, “Her? Nah, dude, we need to talk about you. Why would you shove her around like that? I bet if you had just asked politely, she would have cuddled yo-“ 

“Oh, I know she would have.” 

Everyone’s attention is now sharper on Robin.

“Yeah? Then why did you just toss her to the side for Ed-“ Argyle starts up again, and once more, Robin is quick to interject.

“Because she needs the push,” a slight lie, but small enough in the grand scheme of things, “We’ve gotta stop treating her like she’ll shatter if we touch her.”

Nancy finally moves to full sit up, face full of concern, “Robin, I get what you’re saying, but she’s never been the touchy type. And that’s okay. We’ve never minded.”

“What if she minds?” Robin persists. She hasn’t failed to notice Eddie’s silence, and turns to him, focusing her attack and determination, “Have you ever even sat beside her before tonight?” 

Eddie’s eyes widen, “You guys told me to take it easy at first! And I did, but I- it would just be weird now to change, wouldn’t it?” 

It’s in the way he says it. Not just as if he’s keeping your best interests in mind, but as if it pains him to say it. As if the worst possible thing would be to admit that things should stay the same.

It’s Robin’s in. A falter in his cool guy exterior he only seems to care about maintaining for you.

“She wants it to change,” Robin quietly confesses. Another half-truth, “Me and Argyle never fully got through to it, but we also… we just gave up on it. Like he was saying, if I pushed tonight, she would have said yes. But Eddie has never pushed her.”

“Where are you going with this, Robs?” the one person who could blow this speaks up. Steve, the man who had been there at the diner and heard your practical confession to liking Eddie.

Don’t blow this, Dingus.

“I think we take the leash off of wolf boy, here,” she jabs a thumb in Eddie’s direction, “Lay him on her.”

“I don’t want to make her uncomf-“

“You won’t. And if you do,” Robin remembers your speech from earlier. Those wet eyes and the way your voice cracked at the prospect of growth, “It’ll be good for her.”

He’s not convinced.

So Robin pushes, because she made a promise to you to aid in this self-gardening journey, and damn it she was going to keep her promise, “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. You being the dog in this metaphor might be the wrong choice, considering how she looks like a kicked puppy every time you don’t sit next to her.” 

A bit harsh, but the truth. You were always brimming with such hope when Eddie entered the room, only to wilt when he kept up the same exhausting routine of avoiding you. 

“She does?” he’s clueless, a goddamn blinded fool, “I- Gyle, does she really?” 

Eddie looks to his friend for backup, but Argyle only shrugs from his seat, “If you don’t give the poor dudette a hug tonight, I am. If Birdie here is being honest, and she wants it, then I’m first in line. She’s way gentler on my scalp than all of you.” 

“You just want your hair braided by her again,” Jonathan pipes up finally.

“So?” Argyle defends, “That shit stayed. My little skittish friend does not come to play when it has to do with hair.” 

They all fall silent, holding their breaths and listening for a moment if you’re heading back down to them. 

The house is a ghost town from above.

“I’m just saying,” Robin finally whispers, keeping her tone low and gentle, almost defeated, “We can’t put her in a box. She told me she’d like the change, so I’m changing. She’s a big girl. She can handle it. Besides, she smells really good.” 

Robin gives Eddie a pointed look at that, and sees the pink that rushes over the bridge of his nose and up his neck.

You had no idea. No fucking idea. But she did. She’d watched Eddie withhold himself, she’d caught the longing glances, and she’d listened to his endless rambles about you. 

“Okay,” is his quiet reply just before your footsteps sound on the stairs. 

When you appear in the doorway, you’re holding three cans of coke.

“I bring gifts for taking so long,” you offer, holding up one of the cans as you cradle the other two in the ditch of your arm, extending it to Argyle as you pass by him.

He takes it greedily, appreciation loud and unfiltered, “Thank you dudette! At least someone here loves me.” 

You turn your eyes wide as moons, almost comical, fighting back a smile, “Oh? Were they being jerks while I was gone?” 

“You have no clue.”

A warning glare comes from Robin.

Even if you were in on the plan, it was dangerous territory. 

When you approach the couch, Robin sees the first sign of the plan working when Eddie doesn’t shift out of the comfortable position he’d sunk into. He isn’t jumping to leave an entire cavern for you. He’s leaving just enough space for you, enough that when you sit, you’re closer to him than you were before the bathroom.

Baby steps. Silently, she is screaming at him to keep it up, all while your brain bursts into flames.

He didn’t flinch away. He didn’t shift to be further from me.

Whatever Robin had said was working.

“Movie time?” you ask as you settle into that comfortable space, the unfamiliar yet indulgent warmth of Eddie’s body heat now wrapping around you. 

Your roots stretch, apprehensive, but desperate for that sunlight. 

It’s one of your group’s usual scary movies. You enjoyed horror, and could handle your own pretty well. If you ever got too scared, you’d usually cling to pillows or blankets that you were left with rather than another person as the rest of the group would. But there were no pillows, no blankets, no security cushions aside from the boy sitting between you and Robin. 

When you hand him his coke, his fingers brush yours, and you don’t pull back immediately. Baby steps.

When the first tense moment appears on screen, Eddie mutters a soft “shit” and jumps a little, leaning more into your space rather than Robin’s, lifting some of his curls to curtain his eyes.

You glance at him rather than the screen, narrowing your eyes in the dark, “Does that really work?” 

Eddie looks at you quickly at your whisper. Normally, everyone scolded him to be quiet during movies, never entertaining his small comments.

You weren’t the only one taking baby steps tonight.

Tentatively, he drops the curl blocking his vision, before grabbing a thicker one, boyish grin as he offers it to you shyly, “Wanna find out?” 

“She’s here!” Argyle shouts as he opens the front door to you, hardly giving you warning before he’s leaping forward and gathering you into his arms, nearly crushing you into a hug.

Warmth. Tender. Softness.

Argyle’s hugs are always bone-crushing, and always welcome. And they always linger as he leaves his arm around your shoulder to guide you into the foyer and shut the door behind you two.

“She is?” another voice shouts as she comes barreling out into the entryway, greeting you with an excited squeal as she rushes forward to pull you out of Argyle’s arm.

Robin. 

She’s dressed up for the night — an impressively well put together Robin outfit, complete with yellow spanx and a black mask across her eyes.

“Jesus, Robs,” you laugh as she tightens her arms around you, almost as if she was trying to crush any bones that survived Argyle, “I can’t breathe.” 

“Don’t care,” she mumbles into your shoulder before pulling back, “Nice costume.” 

A bat onesie. Cheesy, but comfortable, and warm enough to battle against Hawkin’s autumn chill. It’s even complete with a headband that has two small, perky ears attached to it, peeking out between tufts of your hair atop the crown of your head. 

“Thanks. Wait till you see the killer fake teeth I packed.” 

“Eds will be pissed if your fangs are better than his,” Argyle notes as he starts to walk into the living room. You follow, Robin close behind, to find the rest of your friends all waiting.

A scary movie is already on the TV, a classic slasher revealed by the high pitched scream that rings out into the room from it. There’s a few indoor decorations about — plastic jack-o-laterns and fake webs that will no doubt give Steve hell when he tries to take them back down — and you can see a punch bowl on the counter by where Nancy and Jonathan reside. 

And the man of the hour is lounging on the couch, a high mountain of pile already in front of him on the table as he munches on a family pack of candy corn. 

“Eddie, isn’t the candy supposed to be for trick or treaters?” you question teasingly as you make a beeline for him. His previous focus on the movie vanishes, full attention now on you.

He’s dressed like a vampire. If the cape didn’t give it away, that small blood line marked from his lower lip in a shade of lipstick you would guess he borrowed from Nancy does.

“I am a trick or treater, sweetheart,” he retorts, popping more candy into his mouth for emphasis, “Besides, Harrington has full-sized candy bars.” 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

He snaps his jaw closed jokingly, the clicking of his teeth making you huff out a laugh as you collapse next to him. 

That woodsy cologne is there, one you’re so happily familiar with these days. 

Unlike Argyle and Robin, he doesn’t greet you with an overwhelming hug, or palpable excitement. His way of greeting is more subtle. His arm slowly lifts, going to rest on the back of the couch behind you, but quickly falling to your shoulders when you waste no time scooting closer into the space he’s opened up in his side.

You fit kind of perfectly. Like a void always meant to be filled. 

“So, Dracula,” you hum, warning your beating heart to slow from its racing when his palm cradles your shoulder farthest from him, “What are we watching?” 

Baby steps were a thing of the past for most of the group. They had become great leaps of faith after that fateful movie night. The way Argyle and Robin had crushed you was normal now. Passing touches and flirtatious jokes were regular between you and your friends. They had seen your boundary for what it really was, a roadblock, and bit by bit, they had broken it down. 

Eddie’s hesitation isn’t because he can no longer touch you. His hesitation whispered of something more, something different, something still delicate. Just as delicate as the fragile wings of the butterflies in his stomach that fluttered to life every time you entered a room. 

They weren’t new. And you still didn’t know they existed — that they had always existed. From the first moment he’d met you.

“One of the Halloween movies,” he tells you, leaning down to keep the conversation more private.

You felt his breath on your ear.  A new touch that happened more frequently now. One you sought after almost as vehemently as you had those first few points of contact. 

“Oh?” you play along, staying hushed, “How fitting.” 

“Very.” 

“I’m surprised you didn’t make them put on a vampire movie. You know,” you cut off, and motion to his costume. You bump your knee to his as you do it, “Given your attire.” 

“Zee night iz ztill young,” he puts on an obnoxious accent meant to mimic Dracula himself, pronouncing all his ‘s’s as ‘z’s.

You only smile, wide and generous and soft and tender, before you lift a hand to punch at the flared collar of his cape. You don’t even hesitate, not even when your knuckles brush the side of his neck.

“Pretty killer, right?” he jokes, trying to ignore the warmth flooding his cheeks.

“Very,” you hum in approval, hand dropping as you lean back into the heavy warmth of his arm around you. You almost reach the hand up to his bottom lip to trace that makeup there, slightly smeared and edges rugged already from his snacking, but you do withhold yourself at that line, “I like the makeup.” 

“Yeah?” he lights up with pride, “You know, I did the eyeliner all by myself.” 

You squint pointedly, leaning in just an inch closer to inspect the feathered charcoal on his waterline, “Really? Very impressive, Eds.” 

“Stop flirting,” Steve demands as he leaves the kitchen, “You’re going to give him a bigger head than he needs.” 

You both break apart slowly, letting space settle between you two and slowly fading back into the real world and out of that little bubble between you two. Eddie’s arm remains — his palm never leaves you, going so far as to give you a playful squeeze as his finger trails down your bicep.

A pathway of spring roses feels as though they bloom along that trail. Vibrant, full of life, open to possibility. When it came to you, Eddie had one Hell of a green thumb. 

“Stop ruining the fun, big boy,” Eddie looks up at your friend, poking his tongue out as his nose scrunches. Adorable. Painfully so.

Steve is dressed as Batman. His mask is discarded somewhere on the counter beside the punch bowl.

“We have plenty of time for fun,” Steve waves off the comment, coming to stand in front of the TV with his hands on his hips, “Am I forgetting anything? I have candy for any kids that come knocking, we’ve got punch thanks to Nance, I ordered our pizza-“

“You better have ordered one with pineapple,” Eddie interrupts, tilting his head sideways in your direction, temple brushing against one of your fake ears, signaling how it was your favorite. You burrow yourself deeper into his touch.

Steve subtly ignores him, “-I have the big speakers set up if we wanna listen to any music in the backyard. Am I missing anything?”

Predictably, he wasn’t. Steve always thought of everything.

The last few months had been nice. Finally getting to enjoy Eddie’s touch had been more than you ever planned for, reveling in the way the boy was so gentle with you even as he finally gave in. Once he started, it was as if you both could finally breathe. A weight had lifted from Eddie’s shoulders just from the simple adjustment of now getting to sit beside you at every function, his bouncing knee always pressing into yours. It had become a silly tradition for him to offer to share that wild head of hair during scary movies, demanding if someone else tried to sit beside you during horror movies in particular that you needed him and his curls to protect you. 

You had gone from yearning for touches, yearning for that contact, to your friends arguing over who would be indulged that night. 

They had taken it slower than you thought you wanted (save for Robin), but in the end, it had all worked out. You didn’t freeze anymore. Your aversion to touch had slowly, slowly, withered away with each hug, with each clasp of their hands on you, with each casual cuddle session they pulled from you. You no longer felt like an anomaly. And it wasn’t that your friends had ever meant to make you feel like an outsider, but it felt like finally being let into a club you’d mourned being left out of for years.

The day that Eddie had grabbed your hand during a casual conversation amongst everyone while out for lunch, letting his thumb trail back and forth over your knuckles in a soothing motion, you’d nearly cried.

Something so delicate yet so telling. A quiet action of affection you’d spent so long telling yourself you couldn’t have. Back rubs during hugs, letting Argyle braid your hair in return, resting your head onto Robin’s shoulder instead of only vice versa. They were all things you’d denied yourself of for so long. You regret it, but you couldn’t change anything in the past, only the now.

And now, you had the boy who had first sprouted such affectionate want within you wrapped up against you, leaning into you for comfort as he started to ignore Steve again.

“Wanna go out back and smoke while he mother hens?” 

He doesn’t have to ask you twice. 

You both slip away out the back door unnoticed, a new banter sparking up between Robin and Steve being enough distraction to allow it. Eddie wastes no time digging into his jean pockets once he’s outside, throwing the cape out widely before he pulls out his pack of cigarettes. 

“Want one?” he offers, flipping it open in your direction.

You just smile, shaking your head, “No, thanks. I don’t smoke.” 

You’d never really said that before to anyone in your group, only politely declining up until now. A small detail, but Eddie looks pleased to learn it all the same.

“Huh,” he curiously hums, pulling his own cigarette from the carton before tucking it back away, “I never knew that.” 

“I’ve never really told anyone,” you shrug.

“It is some big secret?”

“Nope.”

“Hmph.” 

This hum is muffled by the tip of the filter in his mouth, his hands now busy patting down his body for his lighter. 

“What?” 

His lips struggle to stretch around the tip of the cigarette without dropping it, solely from how wide his smile is, “I like learning new things about you.” 

For every thing you had once spewed at Robin that night, Eddie had learned of you tenfold. 

It was far past learning how your fingers fit between his or the smell of your perfume. He’d wanted it all; to know the inside workings of your mind, to be privy to all of your beautiful thoughts. The softness set in stone inside of you bled far past what could be felt in your fingertips or the care that shook your hand when you’d brush back stray curls out of his eyes. It fed deeper into you, into parts of you that Eddie could spend hours exploring without once growing bored. 

“You say that like I’m interesting,” you murmur half-heartedly, suddenly reaching out beneath his cape and tucking into his back pocket he could have sworn he already checked. His breath is the one that catches at your arm brushing against his waist from the reach, his body is the one that freezes up entirely just from proximity. A change of roles that you had never seen coming, but he’d always figured existed. You never understood the effect you had on him, and that was in part his fault. 

You produce his lighter like magic.

“You are interesting,” he insists as he plucks the lighter from you, flicking it three times to get a steady flame to burn the tip of his cigarette to life, “Don’t sell yourself so short, batty.” 

“Batty?” you snort, not moving away from him, even as he blows a thin and ghostly stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

He can only shrug, wrinkling his nose, “Yeah, I didn’t like it either. Had to give it a chance, though.” 

In the quiet solitude of Eddie nursing his cigarette and you watching the trees rustle with the last remnants of daylight, something sharper invades the soft space you two seem to brew whenever together. Between your innards that are gentle by nature, and Eddie’s silken attitude not only in actions but attitude towards you, the spaces occasionally left between you two were always something dulcet. Calm. Welcoming. You’d come to discover that maybe, that’s why you’d always yearned to burrow yourself so deeply into those spaces. It was a feeling of comfort and a feeling of home that you had always seemed out, but never found that fit quite as right as these moments.

“Hey Eddie?” you ask aloud as he finishes off the cigarette, stomping it out on the ground with his boot.

“What’s up?” he answers, making no move to go back inside.

You always liked these moments alone best. From the very beginning. Even before he felt comfortable enough to step closer to you, shoulder to shoulder with you now. He’s trying to squint and see what you’re finding so interesting in the array of colorful leaves in the distance, slowly being covered in blue shadows rather than golden light, without asking. 

You liked that. You liked it a lot; the way he always seemed to seek out your perspective on things. “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did-“

“Fuck off,” your hand flies up, and smacks his shoulder. You never would have done that before. But you do now, relishing that contact even in the briefest of moments. The freedom to reach out and touch.

Once he stops laughing, clearly amused with himself, he turns to face you. Whatever he had been searching for in the trees is long gone, and your focus has moved onto him now, so it’s futile.

“Ask away, sweetheart.”

A deep breath for bravery, and you’re blurting out, “Did you really only avoid touching me when we met because... the others… they told you not to?” 

He wasn’t expecting that question. The crease between his brows makes that clear. You almost take your thumb to it, try to smooth out the worry. But you’re not quite there yet. Maybe one day you would be. 

It’s not as loaded of a question as he thinks it is. It’s cute to watch him assume it is, though. 

“I mean,” he starts his words slowly, carefully, “I guess.”

“You guess?” 

“I guess,” he repeats.

Your smile is sending him into a tornado of emotion. He almost curls his hands into fist, just as you used to do. 

When you broke down your boundary, it had split a crack through his dam. He knows he can reach out and touch you. He knows you’ll accept his physicality without complaint now. It doesn’t make it any less scary. 

For the same reason you don’t press your thumb into his eyebrow crease — having a crush just makes you hesitate like that. 

“I’m obviously a touchy guy,” he throws his arms out, aimlessly, and when they return his side, they almost nick yours. You wish they would brush yours, “But… between you and me, I always get nervous around pretty girls.”

The world slows. It doesn’t stop, it can’t stop for two youths who are trying to explore new and giddy feelings — but my God, can it slow to an absolute crawl, if only for the two of you.

“You think I’m pretty?” you tease, swallowing down just how much those words mean. You always have to remind yourself it’s worth it; being just friends is worth it now that you’ve learned the exact brand of cologne he wears and recognize the weight of his arm around you. 

“The absolute prettiest,” he breathes out, “I always have. Even if they hadn’t told me to hold back, I would have- Hell, I still do,” the Autumn air makes him honest, makes him brave, “I am- I would be- I just- It’s terrifying, the thought of fucking it up because you turn my brain to… mush.” 

Your eyes lift up to his forehead blanketed in his bangs, squinty and entertained, “You’re telling me it’s all just soup in there right now?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

Your friends are inside. There is candy to eat until your stomachs ache, and hugs to partake in until your bones have been crushed and pieced back together by threads of platonic affection.

Right now is anything but platonic. And it is time for something else to break, not your bones and not your boundaries. Something more. 

“I’m pretty sure your hand on my shoulder when we first met would have ended my entire world,” he confesses, starting the first crack.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If you had hugged me every time you saw me, I don’t know if I would have ever found the nerve to leave my house.”

Another crack.

“And if I sat next to you every time we went out for dinner?”

“Wouldn’t have been able to eat a bite, I’m afraid.”

A spiderweb of cracks, all widening.

“And if I had laid my head on your shoulder during movie nights?”

“What the Hell is a movie?” he jokes, chuckling a bit nervously now, “Who knows? Certainly not me, certainly not when my favorite girl is curled up next to me.” 

One more crack, and the entire thing will finally shatter. You’re begging it to shatter. 

You bite your tongue on any remark about still being his favorite, because since that goddamn night, he’d never said Robin or Nancy were his favorites again. Never. He’d meant it. You were his favorite. 

“And if I just…” you pause as you step forward, leaning in slowly, and it takes everything in Eddie not to turn and run as your lips brush over his cheek as you whisper, “Kissed your cheek? Right here, right now?” 

He doesn’t respond, your lips press together and then press down. 

It shatters with a resounding snap that must be heard across Hawkins. Across Indiana. 

One moment, your lips are on his cheek, and the next, they’re on his lips. He turns his head quickly before any doubt or nerves or roots can interrupt the moment. 

Endless. Endearing. Warmth. Tenderness. Soft.

His lips are soft. So goddamn soft.

His hands are foreign things for a second, as if he’s in shock that he’d actually done it and kissed you. But they come back to life when your own lift to his neck, wrapping behind his neck and beneath the collar of that cape, pulling him in even closer to you. 

He kisses you. And kisses you, and kisses you, and kisses you. Till you’re both dizzy and it doesn’t matter that the earth won’t stop spinning long enough for you two to live in this moment. 

It should be unfamiliar, especially to you, but it isn’t. It’s as if the two of you have done this dance before. In another life, in another world, on another Earth far away from here. Your lips know his in this lifetime, and they will know his in the next — this first meeting only allows for a sigh of relief in the Universe, and in you. 

He paused the kisses briefly, palms cradling your face with care and intention, “Do you know,” he places his lips onto yours one more time, as if fearful that spending too much time apart will let you vanish, “how often,” another kiss, deeper this time, “I’ve wanted to do this?” 

A final peck. A period to the end of a sentence that the two of you had taken your time writing.

“No,” you laugh earnestly, fingers digging into the soft skin at his nape, reveling in the slip of his curls between your knuckles, “Maybe you should tell me about it.” 

“Tell you about all the times?” he’s leaning back in, lips brushing against yours. Just a touch, but it shakes you to your core, “All the times I wanted to touch you, hold you, kiss you?” 

You capture his lips in yours, unable to resist anymore. You’ve spent months resisting — his lips and kisses, his touches and brushes, his warmth and sunshine. You’re done resisting.

“Every,” you pull back and catch the glint in his eyes. He’s done, too, the rubble of the shatter, “Single,” you peck one cheek, “Last,” you peck the other, now rosey, “One.” 

You finally kiss his lips again. Your fingers tug harshly on his curls, and his mouth falls open at the unexpected sensation. Instead of taking this any further and starting something you’d never want to end, you do the adult thing — you nip at his bottom lip, a bite of adoration that leaves him with a sting to remember. 

“Fuck,” he sighs out, chasing after you, but your hands press into his chest to keep him into place, “I- Sorry, was that too much?” 

“Too much?” you laugh breathlessly, shaking your head immediately. Once upon a time, it might have been too much. But now, it wasn’t enough. “No such thing, not with you.” 

“Careful,” his hands came up to cover your fists balled into the front of his shirt, moving so that his cape brushes against your sides now, “I’m known to be quite a handful, sweetheart.” 

You snort and grip his shirt even harder. “God, I sure hope so. You’ve been holding out on me, dracula.” 

“Oh, have I?”

His smirk and your smirk are perfect mirror images of each other. 

“Look, I’m gonna tell people we fucked, so you might as well just come upstairs with me.” The idiot crooned, as if he were making a tempting offer.

Eddie’s brows furrowed in disgust, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach, a scared voice in the back of his mind telling him to intervene before the situation in front of him got out of hand. But the sound of a bitterly sarcastic laugh stopped him in his tracks.

“If you tell your friends you fucked me, I’ll tell the entire school how small and useless that thing between your legs is. And I can be very detailed.”

The jock flinched, finally taking a step back from the girl and allowing Eddie to see the fiery look on her face that made even him take a cautious step backwards. 

“Come on baby-”

“Don’t fucking try me, Dave. Piss off.” She interrupted sharply, staring venomously at the jock, as if she could will him six feet under with a mere gaze. 

The jock scoffed as he finally backed away, muttering a petulant curse at her expense under his breath as he sulked back to the party. 

Eddie was left to stand in the dark backyard, his face slack with shock at the way the situation had turned on its head, at the way she so effortlessly stripped the douchebag of all spirit. 

In the darkness of the dimly lit patio recognition settled over him. He remembered when she moved to Hawkins, when his awkward, seventh grade self developed an even more awkward and childish crush on the shy new girl, one that never developed into anything but had merely retreated to the back of his mind.

He found himself blushing as he looked at her a little too long, her beauty making his already loud mind go a little crazier.

He remembered the moment he heard her quiet voice tell him ‘good job’ as he and his band walked off the stage of the talent show, leaving behind a symphony of awkward and unsure claps and scattered boos. 

She was someone he had admired for years and her venomous tongue was one he was both enamored by and terrified of. She was fiercely sharp and while it turned him on to no end, it was also what made him keep his distance in fear of ever finding himself on the receiving end of one of her cold scowls. 

She was icy and standoffish, the reason he never invited her to join his ragtag group of outcasts like he normally would for someone sitting alone and rejected by the popular crowd. It was something he toiled with for years.

He cleared his throat and stepped forward slowly, mustering up the courage to finally speak to her. “Are you ok?” 

Her eyes met his and he froze, his breath catching in his throat. He didn’t even think she knew he existed and to have her full attention on him so suddenly made his stomach twist with nerves. 

“I’m fine.” She replied coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively. Her eyes fell to his hands and she shifted slightly. “You mind sparing one?” 

“No, no, of course not.” He fumbled for his pack of cigarettes and stepped closer to her to hold one out to her, close enough to smell the intoxicating scent of her perfume. 

“Thanks.” She mumbled quietly, her gaze averting from him once again, though his heart continued to race.

He watched, feeling completely out of his element, as she lit up one of his cigarettes. He watched the delicate way her lips curled around the cancer stick and as they parted enticingly with a puff of smoke. 

He cleared his throat and forced himself to look away. 

“I’m sorry about what that guy said to you, it’s fucked up.”

Her expression turned cold again and her gaze turned icy as she glared up at him. “I said I’m fine.”

With those stern words she turned on her heel and stomped back into the house, leaving him alone in the dark backyard. 

Eddie let out a long breath and hung his head. 

She was complicated, more complex than he was qualified to ever figure out. But even knowing his chances with her were most likely in the negatives, it didn’t lessen his affection for her. 

He admired her fire and he was drawn to it every time he saw it ignite. Despite her icy demeanor, he was intrigued, wanting nothing more than to attempt to get close to her, to gain her attention that he’d been craving since he was an awkward twelve year old who felt seen with one little compliment from her.

He’d probably make a fool out of himself in the process, but that wasn’t exactly new to him.

By Monday, his eyes fell effortlessly onto her - like they did most days - as she made her way through the crowded cafeteria, ignoring the judging looks from the table of cheerleaders she passed by. Eddie watched, irritation suddenly washing over him as some douchebag from the basketball team approached her, his smile charming as he schmoozed her.

Eddie’s expression twisted, the harsh reminder that there were much more popular guys who wanted her making his shoulders slump in defeat. 

“Dude, you good?” Gareth asked, staring up at his Dungeon Master in confusion at what had put the sour look on his face.

Eddie just hummed vaguely in response and his eyes torturously fell back to her.

He watched as the jerk’s hands fell to her waist and slowly lowered, tantalizingly close to her ass in some idiotic form of flirting. Irritation quickly turned to rage and he felt his foot twitch, seconds from getting to his feet to storm over and rip that asshole's hand from her - most likely getting his ass beat in the process, but he wasn’t exactly thinking that far ahead. 

He hadn’t even been able to stand before she had taken matters into her own hands - as she always did - and tilted her lunch tray, letting the food fall to the floor carelessly and smacked the obnoxious jock across the face with the tray.

Eddie could’ve sworn he was in love there and then. He was sure if anyone had been looking at him he would’ve had hearts surrounding his head and stars in his eyes. 

He watched, absolutely smitten as she was escorted to the principal’s office and his plan was in motion. Skipping the next period, he made his way towards the front office, pulling a sharpie out of his pocket. He looked up and down the hallways, usually to make sure he was in the clear and wasn’t about to get caught, but not this time.

He coughed loudly, gaining the attention of the secretary at the front desk. He smiled cheekily and quickly turned on his heel, hastily drawing devil horns and a forked tongue on the portrait of the captain of the basketball team that was displayed proudly.

“Mr. Munson!” A shrill voice cried out. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Eddie turned around and pointed to himself as if to say ‘who, me?’, feigning innocence. 

It was almost too easy to land in detention nowadays. 

As he strolled into detention at the end of the day, he was delighted to see her slumped in a seat in the back row, staring out the window with a scowl. She looked up as he took the seat directly beside her, causing her to look at him coldly.

The dots connected and her brows furrowed further as she realized the one sitting next to her now was the same guy from the party who’d given her a cigarette. 

He smiled widely, his expression a direct contrast from hers, and held his hand out for her to shake.

“Hey, I’m Eddie.”

She looked at him incredulously before scoffing lightly. “I know who you are, Eddie.”

His chest tightened and his eyes widened in surprise and his hand fell to the desk in front of him. The thought that she’d known of his existence for all those years and hadn’t just ignored him completely like everyone else suddenly made him nervous. “Y-you do?” 

“We’ve been in school together since we were kids. Of course I know you.” 

He laughed and prayed to god it didn’t sound as pathetic and nervous to her as it did to his own ears. 

“Well, I’m a big fan of yours.”

She felt the urge to laugh, only allowing a brief twitch of her lips. She hadn’t really been thinking too clearly when she’d decked Jesse Parker in the middle of the cafeteria, she just wanted to get his hand off her ass as quickly as possible. 

“You saw that, huh?”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Honestly, I’d pay good money to watch that on a loop for the rest of my life.” 

She laughed slightly, though it was more of an amused sounding scoff, but the sound made his head spin.

She looked over at him, her eyes roaming over him curiously. Based on his outward appearance, she hadn’t been expecting such a charming smile to follow. 

She knew the bad rep he got, she knew the rumors that were whispered behind his back in crowded hallways, she knew he was public enemy number one in the eyes of the preppy popular crowd.

And she knew it was all bullshit. 

Seeing how Eddie was treated by the people at this school made her blood boil. It was exactly how people treated her and every other person who didn’t fit the traditional mold. It made her want to slam each and every one of those pompous assholes’ heads into lockers. So far she’d only done that to two cheerleaders this year and it was nowhere near enough.

For the duration of detention, Eddie tried to start a conversation, bringing up anything and everything he could think of in an effort to talk to her. 

But the one word answers and noncommittal hums she gave in response were making it difficult. 

He had asked her about her favorite movies, what music she listened to, what she thought of Mrs. Elgin’s latest assignment in history class and he was no closer to getting to know anything about her.

He was so desperate he was ready to ask her what her favorite color was. 

They had been sitting in silence for the last few minutes, Eddie anxiously tapping his fingers against his desk annoyingly. He felt the pull towards her, his eyes drinking her in as they did in every class they had together.

She could feel Eddie’s eyes on her. From the corner of her eye she watched as he looked at her and then moved his gaze back down to his hands at his desk and then, mere seconds later, looked back over at her. She felt her spine stiffen straighter each time until she finally turned her attention towards him. 

She felt something inside her soften at the way he cowered slightly at the sight of her hard glare. She didn’t mean to act like such a bitch, at least not to everyone, but she didn’t regret it enough to open up to anyone, so the fire inside her, the fire she threw at everyone around her, remained.

“What do you want?” She asked abruptly and Eddie’s eyes widened slightly, knowing he had been caught staring at her.

“Uhh…nothing… I-”

“Look, I don’t care if I ruined your chance at being a hero at that stupid party and you feel like you need to make it up to me, but you don’t owe me anything, ok? And I sure all hell don’t owe you shit either.”

Eddie’s eyes narrowed in confusion at how quickly her neutral tone towards him had turned so cold. He didn’t understand what exactly she assumed he wanted from her, it certainly wasn’t to prove some masculine power over her. 

While he wouldn’t have minded knocking that asshole Dave on his ass for what he’d tried to do to her, he was more than happy to see that she had handled it all on her own. It had made him admire her even more. 

“No, no, that’s not- I wasn’t - I don’t need anything.” He stammered, his mind racing wildly as he tried to put a sentence together, but it was hard with that steely scowl of hers locked onto him.

He felt like she could melt his soul… and not in a good way.

Her eyes moved behind him to the clock and seeing that her time in hell was finally over, she hastily grabbed her things and stood from her seat, striding out of the room like it was on fire. 

“Shit.” Eddie hissed under his breath and scrambled out of his seat after her. 

He jogged down the hallway to catch up to her, ignoring every instinct that told him to leave her alone, lest he allow her to smite him to hell. 

He caught up to her and the second he placed his hand on her shoulder, her head snapped over to him and he was lifting his hand from her the second he saw the warning in her gaze.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… I was being a creep, I’m sorry.” 

She almost stopped in her tracks in pure confusion. The admittance that he had made her uncomfortable and was apologizing for it gave her pause. No one in this hell hole had ever apologized to her. It made her glare soften and she slowed her quick pace so they were walking beside each other in tandem, much more casually.

“You’re not a creep.” 

Eddie looked surprised at her words and he flushed slightly. “I mean… I was staring at you. I wouldn’t exactly say that isn’t the behavior of a creep.” 

“Compared to the other guys at this school, you’re practically a saint.” 

Eddie remembered Dave’s words and the way Jesse had grabbed her ass in a cafeteria full of people who had done nothing but watch. The unease that swelled inside him made him begin to fiddle with his hands anxiously.

“Does that happen a lot?”

“What, guys thinking they can do whatever the fuck they want with no consequence? All the time.” She spoke bitterly. 

It was tiring dealing with petty boys that were dying to finally crack the Ice Queen’s heart, or at least get the chance to see if they could fuck the attitude out of her.

Eddie sighed with a wince. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry, you haven’t done anything.”

He stiffened at the confrontational manner of her voice. He wondered if she ever didn’t speak to people that way. Hawkins was a small enough town that everyone knew everyone’s business and he’d certainly heard about her childhood. He knew that her past wasn’t the easiest and he wondered if that was why she was the way she was, so on edge and cold all the time.

“No, I just stare.” He shrugged shyly and was relieved when he saw that smirk back on her lips, knowing she had realized his jest.

“Well, that’s better than grabbing my ass.”

He smiled lightly and nodded. “Noted.”

She looked over at him again, the coldness back in her eyes and he straightened, his eyes widening slightly. 

“That was a joke.” He defended quickly before she could strike for his blood. 

She stared at him incredulously for a moment, as if she couldn’t understand just what this conversation was or why they were even having it. This was probably the longest conversation she’d had with a guy from school that didn’t broach the subject of a possible date or romp behind the bleachers.

She was hoping this conversation wouldn’t lead to a kick in the dick like most did.

No more words were said as they approached the parking lot and she saw her dad’s car sitting in wait. She bit back a curse, having forgotten that he would be driving her home today. 

She began to push the door open when Eddie’s voice stopped her.

“Hey, I uhh, I really liked hanging out with you.” 

She looked over her shoulder at him and noticed how he shifted on his feet, how his eyes couldn’t meet hers, how he hung his head so his long hair would cover his face, most likely to cover the reddening of his cheeks. But she still saw it.

It only confused her more.

“You think having detention together is ‘hanging out’?” 

He looked like a deer caught in headlights and his mouth opened but he didn’t have any words. A braver man would’ve taken their shot, ask her to hang out properly, ask to take her on a date, but the calculating way she was looking at him kept him quiet, knowing rejection was imminent. He wasn’t about to make her uncomfortable like the dumbass jocks do.

He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head nervously. “Well, no, but I, I dunno, I still had fun.” 

Her eyes narrowed, as if waiting for the punchline, waiting for the inevitable moment he treated her like every other guy at this school did, like an object to conquer for notoriety. 

But it never came.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smiled and he hoped she couldn’t tell how fast his heart was racing. 

“I guess.” Was all she said before turning and leaving the school. 

Eddie let out a harsh breath as soon as the door closed behind her. He felt like he had said something wrong, but his nose was still intact so that was at least a good sign.

“Could’ve been worse.” He mumbled to himself. He moved to leave before realizing he had walked with her all the way to the exit and not in the direction of his locker where he had needed to go.

~~

Jim Hopper was stern as his daughter jumped into the car.

“Did you forget what time school got out? I’ve been waiting here for 45 minutes.”

“I got detention.” She said plainly.

“What?”

“I got detention.” She said again, much louder than was necessary. “Do I need to buy you a hearing aid for Christmas this year?”

“Zip it. What did you do?”

“I hit a guy in the face with my lunch tray.”

Jim’s face fell slack for a moment before twisting with a mixture of disbelief and anger. “What?!” 

He stopped himself before he could fly off into a ten minute rant and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily.

“Why?” Was his only question, already sounding exhausted and she had only been in the car ten seconds.

She slunk further into her seat and crossed her arms over her chest, allowing a few seconds of silence to pass as she mustered up the courage to inevitably spike her father’s rage. “He grabbed my ass.” 

Jim Hopper was never known to be a patient or gentle man and the way his face reddened and his jaw clenched in anger was exactly why. He was seconds from scouring the town to murder whoever touched his daughter.

“Who was it?”

“Dad-”

“Who?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Why not?” He yelled back, his rage palpable. 

“Because you’re going to kill him and I don’t have enough money to live on my own if you go to prison.” 

“Don’t make jokes right now.” Jim warned, looking at his daughter sternly. 

“I’m not.” She defended. “You don’t need to get involved, I took care of it.”

“You took care of it?”

She rolled her eyes and looked over at him plainly. “Did you not hear the part where I hit him?”

Hopper huffed, his face still twisted with anger. “Punk deserves to be six feet under.”

She rolled her eyes again, as she always did wherever her dad was so blatantly protective over her. 

Sighing heavily, Hopper started the car and began to pull out of the parking lot. 

“Was there at least blood?” He asked after a long moment of silence.

She snickered, a genuine smile finally breaking out over her face, the sight warming Hopper’s damaged heart. 

“A little.” 

He smiled proudly and looked over at her fondly. “That’s my girl.” 

~~

The next morning was hectic, as always. 

After spending so much time together, the father and daughter duo still could not figure out a productive morning schedule and it almost always ended up in a fight over who got to shower first, who used up the last of the eggs, or who forgot to put the pot of coffee on.

“You’re such a slob.” She muttered as she cleared up the empty cans that littered the living room. 

From his spot in the kitchen, Hopper glared at her, though he knew it could never measure up to hers and he quickly turned back to his coffee to avoid getting one thrown his way in return.

“I’m gonna be working late tonight so make sure you tell your mom she needs to drop you off here, I don’t want you walking home in the rain.”

She paused, the can in her hand denting slightly in her tightening grip. She felt her throat constrict and a sting in her eyes as a familiar wave of disappointment settled within her.

“She’s not coming.” She choked out quietly.

“What?” Hopper asked in disbelief. “What do you mean, she’s not coming?”

“It means she’s not coming. What else could it mean?” She snapped back at her dad who sighed and gave her a pointed look, one that told her to cool it with the attitude.

He was the only one who could successfully navigate her demeanor and she deflated quickly, the tensity of her shoulders falling in defeat. 

“She called last night.” She explained, her voice quiet.

“Did she say why?”

She just shrugged in response, all fight left from her. There was only a feeling of abandonment left, one that made her feel empty. She didn’t want to tell her dad that Diane had canceled because she was too busy with her new baby. She didn’t want to be the one to break his heart with the news. 

Hopper chewed on his lip, not knowing exactly how to handle her sudden sadness. It wasn’t an emotion he saw her with often and he felt way out of his element to be the one to comfort her.

But he had been her father since she was four and he would be damned if ever let her down. 

“I can call her and-”

“No, don’t bother.” She interrupted quickly, her voice back to that usual sharp edge.

He said her name softly and winced as she resumed throwing the cans into the trash, now with much more force than before. 

As soon as she finished, she tossed the half full bag to the side of the room and quickly stomped to the back of the trailer to her room to get dressed for school.

Left alone, Hopper hung his head and felt an inkling of failure creep upon him. 

His heart broke for the kid. His heart broke for what she’d had to endure in her short life. 

Hopper had loved her the moment she was born, even when she wasn’t his. He was only the godfather, a mantle he never thought he’d actually have to step up to.

His best friend from highschool had knocked up his girlfriend and it was clear how terrified they both were. The two of them were not fit to be parents, that much was clear. They enjoyed partying, they were young and reckless and the birth of their baby didn’t change them. They didn’t want to change their ways, even though they had a young life that depended on them. 

When she was only two years old, her father disappeared. He skipped town, not even bothering to leave a note.

Her mother was devastated. They were highschool sweethearts. In her mind, they were soulmates, and he had left her behind. 

She blamed her daughter for it.

Hopper had always been in her life and the moment he saw the state she was living in, the neglect her mother showed her, he knew he had to step in. 

He began spending more time at their house, looking after the kid when her own mother refused to, when she would rather go out with friends or lay on the couch watching tv, stating that she needed her rest. 

When it became clear that her mother was unfit to look after her child, Jim had begged Diane for them to do something, practically getting on his knees to convince her. 

But he barely got the chance to persuade her. 

That night, as he pleaded his case to his wife, there was a knock on their door. Jim opened the door to see the four year old sitting on the steps of their porch as the headlights of her mother’s car sped out of the driveway.

“Hi, Jimmy.” Her young voice spoke sadly and Jim could’ve sworn he felt his heart break into a million pieces.

He knelt down to her height and opened his arms. “Come here, Sweetheart.” 

She wasted no time in jumping into his arms. Hopper swore in that moment, as he felt her little body shaking against his, his neck becoming wet with her tears, that he would do anything for her. 

The couple got legal custody quickly and her last name had changed to Hopper. From then, she knew her dad was Jim and her mom was Diane. He could still remember the moment she called him dad for the first time. He couldn’t control his tears and all he could do was bring her into his arms, hug her tightly and tell her how much he loved her. 

Things were wonderful, they were a real family. Their lives were filled with happiness.

Until Sarah. 

Jim knew his first daughter felt slighted at the birth of Sarah. He knew at the birth of their biological daughter that she suddenly felt like she didn’t belong, like she was an imposter in their family.

He tried his best to show her that he loved them both equally, but it was Diane that made her favor clear. She doted on Sarah hand and foot and left their first daughter in the dust, treating her as if she was only a visitor in her own home, as if she wasn’t actually their daughter, only a placeholder until they got Sarah, their real daughter.

Despite the feeling of neglect that once again fell on her, it did nothing to diminish the relationship she had with Sarah. She loved her little sister with all her heart and her little sister loved her. She was seldom seen without the little blonde attached at her hip. 

But their perfect little family didn’t last. 

Sarah got sick and Diane spent even more time by her side, leaving her older daughter to mourn the time they used to spend together. 

Sarah succumbed to her sickness and her best friend was gone. Their family fractured. 

Diane stopped speaking to her all together, claiming it was too hard to even look at her - her pseudo-daughter - when she couldn’t have her real daughter. 

Eventually Diane left, just like everyone else in her life. 

But Jim stayed. He was the only one she had left. They moved to Hawkins and she began to build her wall, she began to bite back at others, shielding herself from ever getting close to anyone in fear that they would eventually leave her like everyone else did. 

Jim regretted the last few years, wishing he could have dragged himself out of his funk, his own grief for Sarah, to save his first daughter from growing so cold. 

They were both changed after losing her, both of them devolving into people they never expected to become. Where she had her harsh words and sharp attitude, he had his drinks and his one-night stands. 

He wondered how long they could keep going on like this and he feared it wouldn't be for much longer. 

He didn’t want his daughter to feel lonely, he didn’t want her to keep pushing people away.

But he was at a loss as to how to help her when he couldn’t even help himself.

~~

Her pencil moved quickly across her notebook as she wrote her essay, but stilled suddenly as the chair across from her pulled out with a harsh noise.

She looked up with a glare, barely containing her confusion as she saw Eddie taking a seat, his smile blinding as he looked at her excitedly.

“Good morning.” He greeted her happily as if they were long time friends. 

She could only stare back at him blankly, her eyes briefly moving to the many empty tables in the library, the many other seats he could’ve taken instead of the one across from her. 

His smile faltered slightly at her silence, as her calculating gaze moved back onto him before falling to the paper in front of her, her pencil moving again as she focused on her schoolwork.

“So,” Eddie started, dragging out the word annoyingly. “Any plans for tonight?”

She breathed deeply before answering, her annoyance clear. “Nothing important.” She replied stiffly, keeping her eyes down on her essay.

“What, no wild parties or elaborate heists to carry out?”

Sensing that he wasn’t going to stop pestering her until she gave a real answer, she sighed heavily and relented.

“I’m babysitting.” She answered coldly.

Eddie hummed, leaning back in his chair. “I can see why you didn’t wanna tell me. That’s pretty lame.”

Anger was quick to rise within her and her eyes looked up sharply, her mouth opening, ready to tell him to fuck off, before she saw the amused smirk on his lips.

She faltered, realizing he wasn’t demeaning her or making fun of her, he was just joking around with her. 

Confusion washed over her like a wave, sweeping away her anger and leaving her to question just what he was doing with her, why he tried so hard, why he spoke to her like they were long time friends.

Seeing her face smooth out, no traces of her retaliating viciously, Eddie leaned in closer, his eyes taking in every inch of her face. 

“I gotta admit, you’re pretty brave for voluntarily looking after some demonic kids.”

She smirked lightly and rolled her eyes, a gesture that came across more playful than she ever intended it to be. She had a soft spot for the group of boys she babysat and the mere mention of them had her hard edges retreating ever so slightly. 

“They’re not so bad. I mostly just sit there while they play D’n’D.”

Like a dog called by their owner, Eddie perked up, his face alight with intrigue. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it, stopping himself from tumbling into a rant she surely wouldn’t be interested in and ruining the little rapport he managed to build with her.

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat in a mockery of casualty. 

“Do you ever play?” He asked, hoping his voice didn’t sound as eager as he thought it did. He knew the extensive time he spent on the game was a big part of the reason he was ridiculed and looked down on. It had a lot to do with the fact that this was becoming the longest conversation he’d had with the opposite sex that didn’t lead to mocking laughter. 

“They tried to get me to play once. I guess all my questions were too annoying for them because they haven’t asked me since.” 

The small smile that adorned her face as she spoke captured his attention like a colorful sunset. He couldn’t look away. 

She had him hook, line and sinker and all it took was yet another genuine smile.

“I could… I could teach you. I mean only if you want me to.” This time he was positive he couldn’t hide his eagerness. 

“You don’t have to subject yourself to that.”

“No, I wouldn’t- I would love to. I mean, I’d be happy to. It’s a long game and you’d have to develop your character, which could take some time. And, I mean, your reputation is probably gonna tank if anyone sees you playing, especially with me.”

Her eyebrow raised at his ramblings and she looked at him inquisitively. 

“Why would I give a shit about my reputation?”

He paused, his mouth open but no words escaping him. 

“It’s not like mine’s much better than yours, anyways.” She continued and Eddie was perplexed by the way she shifted her focus back to her essay so easily, as if she couldn’t care less about what people thought of her.

The miraculous thing was, Eddie truly believed she didn’t care. He’d watch time and time again as she walked through the hallways of hell - or Hawkins High as others called it - with her stern gaze forward, paying no mind to those she passed, to those that whispered vile things about her.

It was a damn gift he wished she could share with him. 

He tapped his fingers against the table mindlessly, his thoughts still spinning aimlessly. The sounds of laughter suddenly caught his attention and he looked over to find two girls sitting at the other end of the table.

They were giggling not-so-quietly, their judgmental gazes drifting over to Eddie every few seconds.

“He lives in a trailer.”

“You couldn’t pay me to step foot in that thing.”

“He’s so trashy.”

She flinched slightly, the words they definitely weren’t trying to keep between themselves breaking through her concentration. They infuriated her and without wasting a second, she slammed her pencil down, turning towards the two girls, her face a mask of annoyance.

“Are you two just about done?” Her loud voice interrupted their mocking, causing them to turn towards her, their eyes wide with surprise, the beginnings of fear overtaking their features at her blunt call out.

“What?” One girl spoke dumbly. 

“I live in a trailer. Do you think I’m trashy too?”

One of them audibly swallowed and looked to her friend, as if begging her to say something to save her from speaking to the notoriously bitchy and feared girl accosting them. 

“No, of course not, we didn't mean-”

“You did mean to be completely fucking ignorant?” 

The two friends were speechless and with a shared uneasy glance, they both silently picked up their books and moved to a different spot, desperate to get away from the infamous ice queen’s sharp tongue. 

Eddie watched them go, his lips parted in surprise at how easy it was for her to call out the preppy kids who looked down upon them. His wide eyed gaze moved back to her and he was amazed to see her pick up her pencil and continue with her essay, as if she hadn’t just left the two girls shaking in their boots.

A feeling he couldn’t describe and had never felt before began to creep through him, it was exhilarating. No one had ever stood up to people when they said awful things about him. 

“You... that was…holy shit, that was amazing.” He spoke with a wide, delighted smile. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”. 

“I didn’t do it for you.” She snapped back defensively. But when she saw how he flinched slightly at the fire in her tone, she allowed her rigid shoulders to slump just the slightest. “People like that… they get on my nerves.”

“I think that’s a bit of an understatement.” He joked and immediately regretted it as she sent him a fiery glare that told him she didn’t appreciate the moment of levity.

“Well… still, I appreciate it.” He spoke genuinely, his voice lacking its usual charm and sarcasm, causing her to eye him carefully, noting the change.

She just sent him a nod, her silent gesture of acceptance, the proverbial lion laying its head down, choosing not to devour the antelope before it.

That night, as she sat on the lumpy couch in the Wheeler’s basement, she watched as the group of boys laid out their pieces to prepare for another long haul of D’nD. 

A smile came to her face as she heard Dustin arguing with Lucas about their next move, their passion for the game clear in their loud proceedings. She laughed to herself and for reasons she couldn’t explain she thought of the curly haired man who was seemingly trying hard to befriend her. 

~~

By Monday morning, she was in her first period class, arms crossed over her chest as she willfully ignored the groups of students walking in. She sneered at a passing jock that mockingly winked at her, her mood souring instantly.

It was already shaping up to be a terrible day. 

A backpack slamming down on the seat beside her made her look over to find those shaggy curls that were becoming all too familiar. 

“What are you doing?”

“What, is this seat taken?” Eddie asked with a smirk, knowing it sure as hell wasn’t.

“You never sit this close.”

He looked behind him at the two rows that separated him from his commonplace in the back row where he could goof off in peace and shrugged. 

“I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” 

She eyed him, as if trying to figure him out, but she was coming up blank. She couldn’t think of any reason why he was always showing up, why he was seemingly trying so hard to talk to her. 

“Hey, Hopper-” 

The obnoxious voice caused them both to look up and saw the captain of the basketball team looking at Eddie incredulously before moving his gaze back to her, the fake concern on his face turning her stomach and making Eddie frown and shift in his seat anxiously, sensing where this was going.

“Is he bothering you?”

“What makes you think he’s bothering me?”

The jock laughed, looking back at his group of friends, who were all watching and entertained. 

“Come on, it’s Munson.”

“You know what would really bother me?” She started, the seething tone of her voice making Eddie slink in his seat, his eyes looking back and forth between her and the cocky jock. “Someone who keeps asking me out and trying to hook up with me even though I’ve said no at least 15 times and won’t take a fucking hint. And between the two of you-” She pointed at him and Eddie, making his cheeks heat to have the groups of jocks’ attention on him.

“-It sure as hell isn’t Eddie who’s bothering me.”

The jock smiled, trying to brush off her rejection and leaned closer to try his luck again.

“Aww, come on, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

“From what I’ve heard in the girl’s locker room, I’d only be missing three inches and 20 seconds of action.” She bit back and smiled slyly as Eddie made a choked noise and promptly slapped his hand over his mouth to stop his ensuing laughter.

The others in the classroom who had been eagerly listening in all erupted in laughter and the jock who’d poked the bear was left with a red face, fuming at her insult, his group of friends behind him left attempting and failing to stifle their own laughter at his expense.

“You fucking bitch, you really think you can talk shit-” 

Eddie got to his feet, intercepting the guy charging forward and stepping in front of him to block his path to her, his face now serious, all traces of laughter gone.

“Whoa, whoa, relax.”

“Get the fuck off me, Freak.” He pushed Eddie’s arms roughly and stepped forward, getting in his face threateningly. 

Behind Eddie, she found she couldn’t move. She was frozen in her seat, completely stunned at the way Eddie had gotten to his feet so quickly, at how effortlessly he had put himself in the line of fire to protect her. 

Thankfully, the teacher stepped into the room and the threat of detention was greater than the idiot jock’s need for revenge and with one last scathing glare to both of them, he went back to his seat. 

Her eyes stayed on Eddie as he took his seat beside her. 

“What the hell was that?” She asked quietly, not understanding the feeling swelling within her. 

Eddie smiled and she found that thing inside her she didn’t understand jumped and reveled in the sight. 

“Just returning the favor.”

“You don’t have to get yourself beat up for me.” 

“Hey, look at this pretty face-” His finger circled around his face as he smiled exaggeratedly. “Does it look like I got beat up?”

A quiet, protracted laugh left her lips, her eyes still narrowed in disbelief as she shook her head and turned to face the front of the room. 

But for the rest of the class, she found her eyes drifting back to him often, the feeling inside her stomach making her wonder if she was sick. 

The next day, with a seeming understanding between them, she found her gaze fall on him as she walked through the crowded halls, his tall stature making him stand out among everyone else.

He met her eyes from across the hall and the smile that grew on his face was dazzling. He sent her a wave and she stifled the urge to laugh at the excited gesture, one that reminded her of a hyperactive puppy. 

She sent him a nod, her normally stoic - and frankly bitchy - expression shifting into one more neutral as she passed him.

Eddie found himself watching her as she retreated down the hall, getting lost in the crowd.

“What the hell was that?” Jeff asked in disbelief, having watched the strange interaction. 

“What?”

“You just waved at Hopper.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“And she didn’t kill you.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his locker, fighting the urge to defend her to his friend. She didn’t need it and he couldn’t exactly refute it. Her reputation was well earned. 

“Dude, are you hooking up with the Chief’s daughter?” Jeff whispered excitedly.

“What? No!” 

“But you want to.” 

Eddie opened his mouth, but floundered for a response. 

“It’s not- I’m not - she’s-” He stammered exasperatedly, his mind in shambles at the mere insinuation, one he couldn’t deny he had fantasized about many times. “She’s cool. We’re… I dunno, getting to know each other.”

“Holy shit, dude. Little preteen Eddie would be so proud.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes again and shoved Jeff playfully. “Shut up.”

At the end of the day, by some sort of miracle - an overdramatic explanation Eddie was running with - they both ended up in detention together again.

He smiled as he took his seat beside her and, unlike the first time, she smiled back at him and they spent the next half hour talking quietly in the back of the classroom, passing the time all too easily.

Eddie was amazed that she was actually initiating conversation. She still kept her arms crossed over her chest, her face neutral, revealing no emotions, every aspect of her outward appearance screaming that she would rather be alone, but her interjections in between his rants about Metallica’s latest album and his hopes if they ever made a live action Lord of the Rings, meant everything to him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so jealous.” Eddie dramatized as they walked down the empty hallways when their time in detention was finally over, the two of them still glued at each other’s side.

She rolled her eyes at his words and scoffed. “It’s really not as big a deal as you’re making it out to be.”

“Come on, you’ve punched almost half the basketball team. I know the entire Hellfire Club would kill to have those kinds of stats.”

“Half of your little club would be dead in a ditch if they had the stats I had.” She teased, making him laugh, feeling - for the first time ever - that he wasn’t being made fun of when bringing up his club he was so proud of.

“I think they’d be the first to admit that you’re entirely more badass than any one of them.” 

She smiled, the sight sending Eddie’s stomach flipping pleasantly.

Before they knew it, they made it to the parking lot and she tensed, her eyes falling on the car waiting for her, knowing their time together was at an end. She eyed her father’s car and swallowed thickly, knowing he would’ve seen the two of them together, walking side by side.

“So.. I was thinking-”

Eddie’s nervous sentence ended abruptly as she turned to him quickly, her face drawn tightly with apprehension, all traces of the more laid back version of her gone as quickly as it had come.

“I’ll see you later.” She spoke quickly and was gone from his side the very next second, leaving him to watch her walk away in a stunned silence. 

He tensed slightly when he noticed the police cruiser in the parking lot, the reminder that her father was the chief of police crashing over him like a ton of bricks. He knew his reputation in this town and he knew any father, let alone one who was a police chief, would string him up on a cross for getting near their precious daughter.

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair before turning on his heels lazily and skulking towards his van, his mind replaying the sound of her laughter over and over again.

As she stepped into her father’s car, she kept her head down, avoiding his calculating gaze. But it wouldn’t save her from his questions.

“Who was that?”

“Who was who?”

“Don’t play dumb, Kid.” Jim countered quickly. “Who was that boy you were walking with?”

“No one.”

“No one?” He questioned sarcastically, earning a fierce glare from his daughter who didn’t find his teasing half as funny as he found it. “Have you finally made a friend? Do I have to call his mom, schedule a playdate?”

“You know, you’ve never been funny, I don’t know why you still try.” She snarked, markedly avoiding his lingering question.

“What’s his name?”

She sighed loudly, making a point to let him know she was annoyed. 

“Eddie.” She gritted out.

“Eddie what?”

She rolled her eyes and leaned her head against her fist, knowing what was coming. “Munson.”

Jim paused, his hand hovering over the gear shift, stopping himself before he could pull out of the parking lot. 

“You’re making friends with Munson?”

“I didn’t say he was my friend.”

“You were smiling.”

She turned towards her dad, her face alight with a stubborn ferocity. “So that means he’s my friend?”

“I hardly ever see you smile, as far as I’m concerned you two are practically engaged.” Jim argued, his fear that stemmed from his protectiveness over her overbearingly apparent.

She rolled her eyes and leaned back to look out the window, pointedly shielding herself from her dad’s gaze as she felt her insides flutter at the insinuation of her feelings.

She would be dead before anyone knew she had any kind of feelings for anybody on this planet. 

“He looks like a punk.” Jim’s words broke the minutes long silence that had overcome them as he drove them home.

“Dad.” She admonished harshly, feeling the strange need to defend Eddie from stupid stereotypes she knew affected him.

“What? He could stand to have his hair cut.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t judge people for the way they look or what people in this stupid town say about them.”

Jim looked over at his daughter, knowing he had touched a nerve, knowing she wasn’t talking about the Munson kid anymore. Her own past was a slippery slope that even he, the one who had been in her life the longest, didn’t know how to navigate. He sighed and reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

“I’m not trying to tease you, Kid.” He told her softly. “You know you can be friends with whoever you want. I’m not gonna stop you.”

She stayed quiet, her eyes locked onto her hands that fidgeted restlessly in her lap. She couldn’t explain why her insides were twisting the way they were.

She didn’t know if she liked it or not.

~~

“You are absolutely insane, Wheeler!”

“I’m just stating a fact!” 

“It’s not a fact! Wolverine could never beat Professor X!” 

She laughed under her breath as Dustin and Mike went back and forth with their argument and continued to eat her ice cream. It had been an amazingly sunny day and she decided to treat her little gang of rascals to ice cream, a feat that made her the best babysitter to ever exist according to them.

She fell into step with Will, the quietest of the group and the one who had captured her heart the quickest. His shy nature, his ability to fade into the background made her protective instincts rise. She saw pieces of her own childhood self in him and she would do anything to make sure he never became as jaded and mad at the world as she became.

“How’s the cone, Will?”

“Good. I’m glad I went with the chocolate.” He answered, his chocolate stained lips curving into a bashful smile.

She smiled and wrapped her arm over his shoulder as they walked. 

As they turned a corner onto the street just a block down from Mike’s house, they could hear the dull sound of music that became louder the further they walked. 

Her eyes fell onto an open garage door, the blaring sounds of heavy metal reaching their ears as they stood just a house away from the scene. 

Her pace faltered slightly, her stomach twisting with something she soon realized was excitement when her eyes fell onto the unmistakable head of shaggy hair.

“That sounds awful.” Lucas commented with a sneer and continued walking. 

“You wanna take one of their guitars and show them how it’s done?” She teased, making Lucas smile bashfully and nudge her lightly in teasing admonishment. 

The sound of her name being called and the music stopping abruptly made them all look up. Her smile vanished, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Eddie waving at her excitedly from the garage. 

“Who’s that?” Dustin asked and by the teasing smile on his face and the way he wiggled his eyebrows she knew she was never going to be answering that question.

She gave Eddie a small wave back and quickly urged the kids to keep walking, ignoring how the sight of the guitar slung over his shoulder made her heart beat quicker. 

“Is that your boyfriend?” Mike asked with a smirk.

“Do you want me to steal your ice cream?” She asked and he immediately recoiled from her, taking an obnoxiously long lick of his cone. “Good, then no more questions.”

~~~

“Hey!”

She flinched as a body thudded next to her locker and she wasn’t surprised to see Eddie smiling down at her. 

“Hi.” She replied monotonously, a sharp contrast to Eddie’s bright demeanor.

What are you doing on Friday?”

“Nothing. What are you doing?”

Her flippant response made his nerves rise, realizing this was going to be just as difficult as he feared it would be. He cleared his throat and stood up straighter. 

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me, maybe eat some greasy food at Benny’s?”

Her movements paused and she looked over at him, her expression growing cold as she feared he was just like all those other guys at school that tried their luck with her, that played nice just to get into her pants.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

He balked slightly at her harsh tone. He didn’t want her to think he was like those assholes who just wanted to use her. He truly loved his time with her, he looked forward to seeing her everyday at school. She was the sole reason he hadn’t skipped a day in the last few weeks.

“I just thought it’d be cool to hang out with you somewhere that wasn’t…  hell.” He said, looking around at the surrounding students with disdain.

Her eyes stayed on him and he shifted under the scrutiny, as if she could suddenly know all of his secrets just by looking at him. 

Her instincts screamed at her not to trust him, that he was only going to break her heart for the fun of it, but as she looked into his eyes and saw that giddy, puppy-like excitement and the way he fiddled with his hands anxiously, it told her all she needed to know.

He was nothing like the rest of them.

“Sure.”

He perked up, his slumped body straightening as if he had just been electrocuted. A wide smile bloomed on his face and for the first time he could ever remember, absolutely no words came to mind, his brain miraculously silent. 

“Really?”

“I’ll meet you at Benny’s at 7.” She said and with another word, slammed her locker shut and turned on her heel, walking away from him. His eyes followed her, as if in a daze.

He punched his fist in the air in glee, ignoring the looks of disdain from the girl three lockers down who mumbled a quiet ‘freak’ under her breath.

~~~

Friday at exactly 6:35 found Eddie sitting at a booth at Benny’s, his knee bouncing up and down excitedly.

He had never been on time for anything in his life, but for this, Eddie was twenty five minutes early and he felt absolutely zero shame for it. His eyes were glued to the door, despite the fact that she wasn’t expected to arrive until 7. 

His fingers tapped an obnoxiously annoying rhythm on the table, earning himself a look of disdain from the couple sitting at the booth in front of him.

But he paid them no mind, his attention focused solely on the door, eagerly and anxiously awaiting her arrival.

At just one minute before 7, the door opened and she strolled in, her face drawn tightly with her usual cold demeanor. His entire frame perked up, his eyes alighting with delight, slightly from the fact that he was so relieved she’d actually shown up.

He stood from the booth and waved her over, his heart racing as she gave an awkward wave back and a small smile began to grace her lips. 

The fact that he could make her smile never failed to send him reeling. Screw passing a class, that was his biggest accomplishment.

“Hi.” She greeted as she slipped into the booth and Eddie suddenly realized he was still standing like an idiot.

He tripped over his own feet as he rushed to take a seat across from her, breathlessly spilling out a greeting.

“Sorry, I guess I got a little ahead of myself.” He started with a bashful smile when he noticed her confused gaze on the two milkshakes already sitting at the table. “I remember you said you liked the chocolate milkshakes here so I ordered you one.”

“I said that like two weeks ago.”

Eddie remembered the exact conversation they had while sitting in detention together. He remembered everything she told him and from the surprised look in her eyes he could tell she wasn’t used to his eagerness.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, suddenly fearing he’d done something to cross a line.

Her face gave nothing away. He could have never known just how touched she was by the gesture, by how easily he could show her he actually listened to her words, by how he had made her feel seen.

“Thanks.” She said quietly, a swirl of emotions more intense than she had been expecting to feel over something so simple overtaking her.

He let out a breath and smiled, his body relaxing as he realized he hadn’t done something to make her uncomfortable, that he wasn’t scaring her off with how genuinely excited he was to get to know her better.

They shared a look, both of them feeling a slight unease as a moment of awkward silence settled over them.

They’d never had this outside of school before. It was different, it was moving into territory that could be perceived as something other than platonic.

“How’d you find O’Donnell’s test?” She asked the first question that came to her mind in an attempt to break the strange silence.

Eddie groaned dramatically and slumped against the booth as though she had just shot him. Her eyes frantically looked around at the patrons beside them, her heart racing as she found a few pairs of eyes looking their way with judgment. 

“I finally get to see you outta that hellhole and it’s the first thing you bring up?”

“Well, what else is there to talk about?”

He straightened his posture and she found she suddenly didn’t like the way he was looking at her with intrigue. 

“You. I don’t know anything about you.”

She rolled her eyes and sent him a scowl. “You know about me.”

“Yeah, you always give such riveting insights to my thousands of questions.” His sarcasm earned him another scowl to which he just smiled, used to the gesture by now. “Come on, we’re friends, right? I just wanna get to know you.”

She stayed quiet for a contemplative moment, her fingers wiping at the condensation on her milkshake to distract herself from Eddie’s unwavering gaze. 

“I’m sure you already know what there is to tell. I’ve been the hot gossip in this town for years, everyone knows about me.”

Eddie’s features softened, understanding what it was like for his complicated homelife to be the topic of conversations for those who didn’t know a single thing about him. He heard about her deadbeat parents that abandoned her, he heard about her little sister’s untimely death, he heard how unsteady her remaining parent was.

It was no worse than what he was sure she had heard about his life.

“Not that stuff.”

“Then what?” She snapped defensively and then immediately sighed and slumped in her seat when she saw the flash of hurt on his face.

“I dunno, anything, everything. I just wanna get to know you better.”

Fuck this man, she thought as her stomach began to swirl with butterflies at how earnestly he looked and spoke to her, like he truly meant it.

She looked back down to her milkshake, taking an aggressively long sip to avoid having to reply. Eddie smiled softly, sensing he was going to have to take the lead if he was going to get anywhere with this conversation.

“What’s your favorite chip flavor?”

She looked at him incredulously. “Seriously?”

“What? When I said everything, I meant everything. So spill, favorite flavor.”

Her mouth opened, ready to give him a verbal lashing for trying to push her about something so stupid, but she found there was no burning fire inside her, at least not one stemming from rage or hatred.

“Sour cream and onion.” She finally answered, her voice barely a mumble.

Eddie’s face twisted dramatically, which she was soon realizing was his default setting. She scoffed, though it was not the usual sound for those she was ready to shun, it was filled with amusement.

“Ok, genius, what’s yours?”

“Barbeque, all day long, baby.” He smiled cheekily and she had to ignore the way her heart fluttered at the pet name and the charming smile that made his dimples poke out.

“Favorite musician?” He fired another question at her, feeling much more confident now that she was looking at him with at least a little bit of interest and not slumped in the booth with a glower on her face.

“Nina Simone.” She answered after a brief moment of contemplation. Based on the blank look on Eddie’s face it was clear he had no idea who the hell she was talking about and she rolled her eyes halfheartedly. “Really?”

“I’ve heard the name!” He defended eagerly. “Just… couldn’t name a single song.”

She laughed slightly and Eddie couldn’t help but smile even wider, leaning forward so the inches between them shrunk, the both of them with elbows rested on the table, completely engaged with each other.

“Let me guess, yours is Metallica? Or Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Dio?”

I love this woman, was the immediate thought that bounced in his brain. He shook himself of the thought quickly, but couldn’t deny the fact that she even knew who those bands were, ones that he worshipped, was the hottest fucking thing he ever heard.

She watched as his smile turned bashful, as his eyes moved down to his rings because looking into her eyes was just too fucking much for him. 

“Uhh, yeah, you hit the nail on the head.” 

There was a pause in conversation, the both of them sharing small, shy glances that held so much more than either could vocalize. Eddie suddenly cleared his throat, desperate to move past the wave of intense feelings that overtook him when he was with her.

“What was the last movie you watched?”

“The Jungle Book.” At Eddie’s questioning raised brow she sighed. “It’s my comfort movie, don’t judge.”

He raised his hands in defense. “I would never. It’s a pretty sick movie.”

She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair, not noticing how Eddie’s eyes followed every motion. 

“What about you?”

“Uhhh, Alien.” He answered. “Made the mistake of getting high before I watched it. I had to sleep with my lights on, it scared the shit out of me.” 

The laugh his quip earned him made his chest tighten and he would do anything, say anything, to get her to make that noise every second of the day if he could.

“Favorite sport?”

“I couldn’t give less of a shit about sports.”

Eddie laughed at her bluntness. He found it refreshing, at least when it wasn’t directed at him. He liked her simple outlook on life, there were no shades of gray with her and he found it calming to look at things her way. His brain usually tormented him with an onslaught of thoughts he found difficult to decipher.

But she quieted all of it. 

“Glad we’re on the same page.” 

He bit his lip, wondering if his next question would ruin the easy rapport they had going, if he was going to push her too far. 

“Where do you wanna go after graduating?”

She looked at him curiously and he could see in her eyes that the wall he was slowly breaking down was building itself back up defensively at his question that had unintentionally triggered her infamous temper.

“What makes you think I’d leave?”

“I mean, you don’t exactly… I just thought that - you know - Hawkins kinda sucks, especially for people like us and-”

“People like us?” She interrupted sternly and he knew he was losing her.

His heart raced and he cleared his throat, his mind racing to find the right words that wouldn’t lead her to thinking something completely different than what he meant.

“People who are misunderstood.” He started cautiously. “People who deal with way too much shit from stuck up people in this town that don’t matter.”

The fire in her eyes dimmed, leaving a contemplative, yet downtrodden, look on her face. Eddie’s heart ached as her defenses came back down. He wondered how exhausting it would be having to keep everyone at arm's length and he didn’t want to ask her why she felt she had to. 

He knew the answer would break his heart.

“I don’t think there’s much out there for me.” She answered quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have any special talents, I don’t play sports, I’m not part of the drama club, my grades are nothing to write home about. There’s nothing special about me. I’m frighteningly average.”

Eddie scoffed. “I don’t believe that for a second.”

She rolled her eyes and he fought the urge to mimic the gesture.

“Come on, don’t start with that.” He admonished gently. “There’s nothing average about you.” 

“Eddie-”

“I’m being serious here. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“You mean you haven’t met anyone who’s as big a bitch as I am.”

Eddie’s face twisted with derision. “Don’t call yourself that.” 

“Why not? It’s true. It doesn’t bother me when people call me that.”

“Well, it bothers me.” He admitted quietly. “I think there’s a million things in this world you can do, a million places you can go. You deserve way better than Hawkins.”

Her heart raced and she valiantly ignored the heat that bloomed in her cheeks. His words hit her way too deep, forcing her to hear things she couldn’t believe about herself which made her fight the urge to hightail it right out of the diner.

But she found her feet wouldn’t move. 

She found Eddie had a way about him that made her go against all her natural protective instincts.

“I don’t know.” She mumbled. “I’m not really passionate about anything. I see so many people who know exactly what they wanna do with their lives or they have insane dreams they wanna chase even though there’s zero chance it’ll ever happen. I just… don’t have that.”

“Then we’ll find it.”

“We?”

Eddie smiled widely and she found her own lips curling upwards at the sight. “Yes, we. You’ll need a ride, won’t you?”

“You mean that death on wheels you drive?”

“Hey, insult her all you want, but you won’t be complaining when it’s you and me out on the open road, getting the hell outta dodge.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You’d really do that with me?”

“Of course I would.”

Neither one of them could deny the spark that ignited between them that night. From then on, she began to let herself relax around Eddie day by day. She began to talk more, opening up about the trivial things she enjoyed in life. She even began to sit with him at lunch, choosing a spot at a rickety picnic table out next to the football field, sitting close enough to him that their arms brushed against each other every now and then. 

And even more, she began to look out for him. Something that Eddie was sure was making him fall head over heels, even more than his moon-eyed, pre-teen self could have ever comprehended. 

~~

“Watch where you’re going, dickwad.” 

She looked up in time to see Tommy H slam some kid into the lockers and knock his books from his arms. She recognized the kid to be the freshman Eddie hungout with. The Hellfire logo on his shirt was unmistakable and put a big red target on his back.

She grit her teeth and slammed her locker shut, beginning to make her way down the hall angrily. As Tommy passed her, still laughing in triumph, she discreetly kicked her foot out, making contact with his shin, hard.

The idiot cried out and crumpled as his leg gave out from the hit. 

She continued walking, her eyes finding Eddie and his friend who were crouched to pick up his books from the floor, their wide eyes and slack jaws indicating that they had seen her little display. As their gazes met hers, she sent them a sly smirk, a silent gesture of solidarity. 

Eddie’s expression was one of awe, he looked up at her as if she were a goddess and from the way he was kneeling it looked like he was practically praying at her altar, something that totally wasn’t out of the realm of possibility - at least in his mind. 

He smiled brightly and sent her a salute, the gesture making her laugh softly, the smile lingering on her face as she continued on her way down the hall.

Eddie was left to kneel on the ground, watching her retreating form as Gareth collected all his books. He looked over at his friend, prying the one book Eddie managed to pick up from his hands and rolled his eyes as Eddie continued to stare down the hall.

“Dude, you are so whipped.”

Eddie snapped his attention back to Gareth and could only smirk, not at all attempting to deny his claims. 

“She just played your knight in shining armor. Can you blame me?”

Gareth let his eyes fall to the woman’s retreating form and suppressed a shiver. She was attractive, but terrifying as all hell. By all accounts, only an idiot would approach the Chief’s daughter. He looked to Eddie again and shook his head when he saw the awe that lingered on his face and his goofy smile.

Turns out his friend was more of an idiot than he thought.

~~

Eddie slumped in the uncomfortable chair, the pull on his interlocked wrists making him wince. 

“Really, this is just a huge misunderstanding.” He spoke again to the officer that was blatantly ignoring him.

“Son, it’d be a good idea to keep your mouth shut.” The officer at the desk across from him spoke up without even sparing him a glance.

“All the bathrooms were taken, where else was I supposed to go?” He defended himself, earning a set of twin glares from the officers, making him shrink in his seat once again.

He looked up at the crotchety old woman sitting at the receptionist’s desk to find her staring back at him unimpressed. Eddie blew out a long breath and inwardly cursed, the deck was certainly stacked against him. The Hideout was flooded with drunk idiots doing stupid shit, yet he was the one to get taken in.

 His uncle was going to be pissed.

He was left to stew in his misery for a few minutes until a gleeful voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“Hi, Honey! Oh, look at you, you’re more beautiful everytime I see you.”

Eddie looked up to see the grumpy old woman exuberantly leaving her desk to wrap someone in a tight hug. He recognized her immediately, sitting up straighter, his expression brightening, before suddenly realizing his current predicament. 

He didn’t want her to see him like this. He quickly slumped in his chair again, as if it would make him invisible. 

“Hey, Flo.” She greeted the old woman she’d known since childhood. “Is he in his office?” 

“Of course.” 

She moved to make her way to her dad’s office, but suddenly stopped in her tracks when she noticed the familiar mop of curly hair across the room. Her eyes widened briefly before narrowing dangerously.

Eddie smiled sheepishly, sending her a feeble wave. When she saw the cuffs on his wrists, she stormed towards him.

“What the hell did you do?” She barked and before he could even open his mouth, she was continuing with her tirade. “If my dad sees you here, he’ll flip his shit. He’ll kill you the next time he sees you with me.” 

Eddie’s eyes softened at the worry he heard in her voice. 

“Is that fear I hear in your voice?” He teased and when her eyes blazed with fire he swallowed thickly, his body tensing as he realized she wasn’t in a playful mood and now was not the time to tease. 

She turned to officer Callahan who had been watching their interaction with interest, his eyes flitting between the two of them eagerly, as if he were watching a soap opera.

“What’d you book him for?”

“Public urination.” 

Eddie wanted to ground to swallow him whole. He felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment as she turned to face him once more, an incredulous and slightly disgusted look on her face. She sighed deeply and turned back to the officer.

“Jesus christ, Phil, it’s 9 o’clock. You really wanna be doing paperwork all night ‘cause some stupid teenager took a piss?”

“Uhh, well, no, but-”

“And the cuffs, really? You think he’s some dangerous psychopath you need to chain down for your own safety?”

“It’s protocol-”

“They’re on way too tight, you’re cutting off his circulation. You’re lucky if he doesn’t file a complaint against you.” She ranted, fighting off the urge to smirk at the way Callahan shrunk under her heated glare. “Just let him off with a warning and let him go home.” 

With that, she turned on her heel and marched her way to the back office her dad resided in. Eddie turned to the stunned officer and wordlessly held out his wrists, grinning cheekily. 

Officer Callahan sighed loudly. He wasn’t about to let some teenage girl dictate his job, but she wasn’t exactly wrong. He probably went a little overboard with the Munson kid and the last thing he needed was the girl - who he was frankly terrified of - to get her dad involved - who he was also terrified of.

He didn’t need another verbal lashing from any other member of the Hopper family today. 

Within a minute of her divine intervention, Eddie was a free man. He stood outside the station, taking a deep inhale from his cigarette when the door opened and she stepped out, not surprised to see him still lingering. 

“Hey. You ok?”

The question and the caring nature to her voice caught him off guard and he was glad he was leaning against the wall or he literally would have swooned.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the cuffs sticking out of his back pocket. “I really don’t think you’re allowed to take those things.”

He shrugged, a devious smirk gracing his lips. “I wanted a memento.”

“You want to remember this moment?”

“Do I want to remember you reaming out a cop for me? Fuck yeah, I do. That was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen and you’ve done some pretty badass shit, Sweetheart.”

The pet name made her eyes widen slightly and she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from his brown eyes that were making her insides twist strangely. 

“Right, well… you should probably get going. My dad’s gonna be out any minute and I’d rather he not see you here.”

“Aww, worried about me?”

“Just don’t want anything to happen to your pretty face.” She teased him right back, patting his cheek affectionately, gaining the upper hand immediately as his face blanched, not having expected the turnabout. She smirked triumphantly and moved from his side to waltz back inside, leaving him to stand dumbly watching the spot she had just been, his cheeks flaming. 

He let out a long breath and leaned back against the wall, a goofy smile on his face. 

He was falling hard.

~~

“Bedtime is 8:30. We should be back before 10. Emergency numbers are on the counter. Just call if you need anything.” Karen Wheeler went on with her familiar spiel.

She’d been the loyal babysitter to the Wheeler’s and by extension the whole gang of nerdy boys for years, she’d heard the instructions a million times. 

But tonight, she was only looking after little Holly. A much needed break, if anyone were to ask. She loved those boys, but they could get rowdy and way too passionate about shit she couldn’t care less about.

As the Wheeler’s were preparing to leave, Nancy flounced down the stairs, her hair perfectly coiffed, her eyeshadow immaculate, her dress wrinkle free. 

The sight made her shift on the spot as she immediately began the insecure comparisons. She looked down at her drabby outfit that consisted of jeans she got from the Goodwill, a worn out t-shirt and her dad’s flannel with the way too long sleeves rolled up.

She was no Nancy Wheeler.

Behind Nancy was her loyal best friend, Barb, the two of them giggling quietly to each other as they got their shoes on, preparing to leave for some party for the night. The moment they looked up and met her gaze they both went quiet, their faces blanching at the sight of her.

She was pretty sure she even saw Barb gulp, as if she were facing the killer in a slasher flick.

Ignoring the lead that felt like it had just settled in her stomach, she turned her attention to Karen, giving a polite wave goodbye and torturously avoided the two teens' gazes as they quickly filed out the door, desperate to be out of her company. 

She blew out a long breath and turned to face the toddler in her care for the night. 

“Can we watch Muppet Babies?” Holly’s cute little voice broke the silence.

Kill me now.

“Of course, Sweetie.”

The next day, as she and Eddie lazed on the lone picnic table in the woods behind the school, her mind was a mess of thoughts, her face drawn tightly as she ruminated on all the things that made her insides clench with distaste.

“What’s got you thinking so hard? I’m the one failing algebra.”

“Do you think I should change?” She asked quietly, sounding more demure than he had ever heard her.

He looked at her quickly, his brows furrowed as he quickly took in the state of her. He felt his cheeks heat slightly as he couldn’t help but picture her figure under the baggy clothes she wore. 

“No, you look great.”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Not my clothes, idiot. Me.”

Eddie looked back at her in surprise and quickly closed his notebook. The topic at hand much more pressing than school. 

“Of course you shouldn’t. Why would you ever think that?”

“Because literally every person at this school looks at me like I’m gonna murder them.” 

“Well… I mean… you would, wouldn’t you?”

“Eddie!” She raised herself to slap his arm. 

“Whoa, hey! Don’t shoot the messenger!” 

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I. Like an hour ago you said you would love to run over Devon Goode with your dad’s car.”

“Well, he’s an idiot, he doesn’t count.”

“And Tommy H? You threatened him and Carol with a scalpel in bio yesterday.” 

“They are the most insufferable cretins on the planet. I’d be doing the world a favor.” She defended in all seriousness, making Eddie laugh. He moved to sit next to her atop the rickety table.

“I’m not disagreeing, but, you’re not exactly proving that you aren’t a potential murderer.”

She rolled her eyes, her gaze locked onto her fingers that fidgeted in her lap. 

“You never bothered about your reputation before. What brought this on?”

“Yesterday, I was babysitting Nancy’s little sister and she was there with her friend, Barb. God, they looked at me like they were in danger.” She admitted quietly. “I know I’m… difficult-”

“Hey, stop that. You’re not difficult.” Eddie interrupted immediately, not standing to hear her talk down on herself for one second. 

“Eddie, come on. I’m a huge bitch, everybody knows it.”

He protested immediately, his face scrunched with annoyance. “I thought I told you to stop calling yourself that.”

“It’s the truth. I’m horrible to people. Yesterday I grabbed Stacy’s ponytail and used it as a pulley to bash her nose into her desk.”

“Ok, yes, that’s… a lot.” Eddie agreed tentatively. “But what did she do before you did that to her?”

She paused, looking up at him knowingly. He just widened his eyes, silently forcing her to answer the question.

“She called me an orphan.”

“See? That’s a terrible thing to say to someone. You only react to how people treat you, you’ve never been the one that started any shit. Every single person you’ve yelled at or punched, none of them have ever given you a reason to be nice to them. They don’t deserve your kindness.”

She laughed bitterly. “I didn’t realize I had any kindness.”

Eddie guffawed and turned from his position sitting beside her to look at her head on. “Are you serious right now?”

“What?”

“You really think that?” 

By the look on her face and the pitiful shrug she gave in response, Eddie knew she truly believed that she had no ounce of kindness or good within her and it made his stomach turn.

“You seriously- ok I have so much to tell you.” 

She continued to stare back at Eddie with confusion, watching with narrowed eyes as he was practically bouncing in excitement where he sat.

“Do you remember the middle school talent show?”

“Why would I wanna remember that?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, though when he did it it was a lot less volatile of a gesture than when she did it.

“Well I remember it perfectly. I pretty much haven’t stopped thinking about it so allow me to jog your memory.” He began emphatically. “There was a totally kick ass band that consisted of a few misfits who decided doing an Iron Maiden cover in front of a bunch of stuck up middle schoolers and their parents was a good idea.”

A flash of realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. Her face suddenly morphed from confusion to understanding, a smile beginning to crawl across her lips.

“Corroded Coffin.”

Eddie swore his heart skipped a beat and the beaming smile he gave her was blinding. He tapped his nose in acknowledgement.

“Well, we thought we killed it. Twelve year old me was ready to play the Garden.”

She let out a small laugh, the noise stopping his train of thought for a moment, causing him to have to physically shake his head to get back on track.

“Turns out, the rest of the audience didn’t exactly agree. Well, that’s putting it lightly, they hated it. It was tragically embarrassing. Feared I’d never recover.”

His dramatic retelling had her biting her lip to stop her growing smile. 

“But, as we left the booing crowd behind, there was an angel standing backstage with a glowing halo.”

She rolled her eyes, pushing his shoulder. “You’re ridiculous. The only reason I was there was because the principal told me I could avoid detention if I pulled the curtains.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I was glad you were there. It could’ve been the worst embarrassment of my life, but when I got off the stage you were standing there and you said we did great.” He continued, his voice lower, more serious now as his fingers began to trace anxious circles around the hole in his jeans. “I dunno, maybe it’s stupid, but, in that moment it felt like not everyone in the world thought I was a total loser.”

She watched him pensively, her stomach alight with a million butterflies at the way his big brown eyes bore into hers. 

“Did you really think we were good?” He asked, the question one he had been wondering since that night all those years ago. 

She bit her lip nervously, taking a long pause because too many words and explanations were circling around in her head. Ones that she was too shy to divulge.

“Yeah, I thought you guys were really cool.” She admitted quietly. “I thought it was pretty badass playing heavy metal at a middle school talent show, especially being the act right after Jessica Hart’s ribbon twirling.”

Eddie snorted and covered his face. “God we were such idiots.”

“No you weren’t.” She refuted him instantly. “It annoyed me how everyone else reacted and… I dunno, I guess I wanted you to know that I didn’t think the same as them.”

Eddie’s eyes softened, his heart racing wildly in his chest, the rush of emotions her words brought him making him feel antsy. He could picture himself grabbing her and kissing her until he passed out. He quickly looked away, a small smile lingering on his lips.

“So, what, I complimented you once when we were young and that proves I’m not a bad person?” She asked quietly, still cynical about his earlier words.

“You complimented me and I knew you were someone I wanted to get to know. I wouldn’t be friends with an asshole, I’m smarter than that.”

“Right, and how many classes are you currently failing?”

He barked out a laugh, his head thrown back, his smile beaming. The sight made her own smile grow and she quickly averted her eyes shyly. 

“Ok, smartass. You know I’m more about the streetsmarts not booksmarts.”

“Hmm, sure.”

Eddie looked over at her, his wide smile falling slightly. “You know I’m being one hundred percent serious, right? I don’t think you’re a bad person. And that compliment wasn’t just a compliment. It meant everything to me.”

The fluttering inside her became more intense, the feeling becoming so overwhelming her protective instincts kicked in and told her to run, to get as far away from this situation as she could. 

She let out a long breath, trying to calm herself and the instincts she always listened to that never did her any good.

“Why do you try so hard for me?” She asked quietly, a question she had been wondering since the first time he approached her in detention.

“Because you deserve it.” He spoke without hesitation, as if he didn’t even need to think of his answer. “You always look out for the little guys, you always stick up for yourself, which is insanely hard to do when those assholes never back down. I’ve always admired you and I thought you’ve always deserved better than this town. I guess I’m trying so hard so you can believe it.”

Her gaze rose to meet him and her breath got caught in her throat at the sincerity she saw in his eyes. The air between them suddenly became charged, the tension that had been bubbling for weeks reaching new heights.

Her eyes drifted down briefly to his plump lips, a gesture Eddie caught immediately, making him feel as though his heart would leap right out of his chest. He swallowed thickly and with every ounce of courage he could muster, he leaned in closer to her. 

Sensing what he was about to do, the giant step they were on track to take, her eyes widened and she instinctively moved back, furthering the space between them.

Eddie’s own eyes went wide with horror and he sprung to his feet, turning his back on her, embarrassment hitting him like a knockout punch. 

“Shit. Shit. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t- I didn’t mean to-” He stammered, his flustered mind unable to complete a sentence.

“Eddie,” She called out to him, her voice softer than he had ever heard before. He slowly turned to face her and she felt her chest tighten pleasantly when she saw how red his cheeks were. 

It was terrifying, the thought of Eddie seeing her in that way. It was a thought she’d had for weeks but had been brushing off because it was too overwhelming. But there was a voice in the back of her head that told her she would live with regret if she didn’t let this happen. 

She knew she’d be keeping herself from experiencing something amazing.

“Eddie,” She said again, causing him to slowly raise his gaze from his shoes to meet hers.

“I’m sorry. Can we just forget that? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” She assured him, her voice just as breathless and riddled with anxiety as his. “I want you to.”

Eddie stood as still as a statue for a few long seconds, his brain trying to work out if he’d hallucinated her words, or if he was blissfully dreaming. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’d dreamt of this exact scenario. 

“You… what?”

“I want you to kiss me.”

His lips parted in surprise, mostly because he couldn’t believe she reciprocated even one tenth of his affection for her. He took a small step towards her and, making sure she was still comfortable and not running for the hills, he took a few more until he was standing in front of her. 

She looked up at him and he felt as if he were about to pass out. He cleared his throat nervously. When he pictured this moment, he was never this nervous or anxious. He wanted to throttle himself. 

Sensing his anxiety, one that matched her own, she smiled lightly and stood up. Eddie’s eyes widened as they were suddenly chest to chest, but before he could even take a moment to be overwhelmed by their closeness, she grabbed him by either side of his face and brought him down to her height, pressing her lips to his firmly. 

Eddie’s eyes widened before fluttering closed. His hands settled on her hips softly, his grip loose and tentative, not daring to do something to make her uncomfortable and end up on the receiving end of one of her infamous right hooks. 

They were both tingling with nervous energy. The tension that had been building for weeks finally bubbling over leaving them both feeling dizzy and delirious with excitement. 

They pulled away after a few seconds, but stayed just close enough for their noses to brush against each other. 

Eddie looked lost in a daze as he stared back at her, amazed they had even crossed that line he had been dying to cross for weeks. 

He cleared his throat, bowing his head bashfully. 

“Was that… was that ok?” He asked tentatively, knowing she had the power to destroy him with only a word.

“Yeah, that was ok.”

Her voice was softer than she intended. Her heart thumped within her chest, unable to tear her eyes from him. Her lips buzzed, a rush of adrenaline overwhelming every inch of her. 

“You could… kiss me again… if you want.” She said, her voice barely heard over the breeze that shifted the leaves above them. 

Eddie was sure he was seconds from dropping dead, her words enough to stop his heart for good, but he wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away from him. He wasn’t that dumb. He stepped towards her again, this time more sure of himself and he kissed her firmly. 

His hands tightened on her waist, now holding her tightly to him, desperate to have her as close as possible, no longer fearing that he’d scare her off, more incensed by her shared want. 

Her hands tightened around his neck, her fingers pulling on loose strands of hair at the base of his neck, sending sparks tingling down his spine. He pulled away from the kiss abruptly, pursing his lips closed to avoid letting a sound of pleasure fall past his lips. 

He was breathing heavily, his eyes staring down at her cautiously, praying he hadn’t just ruined their friendship. While he was elated to finally kiss her - he was mentally high fiving his twelve year old self - he couldn’t help but worry that he had crossed a line, that he had pushed her too far too fast and treated her just like every other douchebag at their school.

The last thing he wanted was for her to think he only wanted her for one thing. 

“Did I just fuck up everything for us?” He whispered breathlessly.

She laughed lightly and shook her head, leaning into him, her head falling against his chest where she could feel the rapid beat of his heart. Butterflies erupted in his stomach, even more than they already were. He didn’t think he’d ever see her so carefree before and he was elated at the mere thought that he had something to do with it. 

“No, you didn’t fuck up anything.”

“Good, good.” He mumbled quietly, as if to himself. “So, if I told you I’ve been crazy about you since middle school, that wouldn’t make things weird?”

She looked up at him quizzically, a mischievous smirk of her lips. “I’d question your taste in women.”

Eddie rolled his eyes halfheartedly, his grip on her waist tightening inadvertently. “You need to stop with that.”

She opened her mouth, yet she found she had no words to respond to Eddie’s unwavering confidence in her. She had never felt this before, she had never had someone so staunchly in her corner. 

Seeing the unease, the disbelief on her face, Eddie gently grasped her cheeks in his hands, gently coaxing her to meet his gaze.

“Hey, trust me when I say this.” He started softly. “You have never been and will never be a bad person, not when it really counts. And I may be an idiot, but having feelings for you will never be why. In fact, I think it’s the smartest decision I’ve ever made.”

She laughed breathlessly, bowing her head bashfully, but Eddie followed her, bending down so his eyes could still meet hers.

“C’mon, I would never joke about this. You got me wrapped around your finger, baby.” 

She smiled widely and for the first time she could ever remember, she didn’t hide her face as she felt her cheeks heat. 

She wanted this. She wanted Eddie and everything that came with him, no matter the fact that she was so far out of her element. 

She was scared, but most of all, she was so excited for what came next, what her and Eddie could be. 

She didn’t want to jinx anything but she knew, maybe naively, that they would be something beautiful. That he was exactly what she needed in her complicated life. 

The next day at school, as she walked into her first class of the morning, she was surprised to see Eddie already sitting in the desk next to the one she usually sat in. Given that he was known for typically showing up at noon, she was more than confused to see him so bright and early.

The smile he gave her as their eyes met made her heart flutter and she had to bite her lip to quell her smile as she took her seat next to him.

“Good morning.” Eddie greeted her happily, his voice sickly sweet. 

God, he’s trying to kill me, she thought to herself. 

“Morning.”

She kept her eyes forward, though she could feel his gaze on her and when she turned her attention to him, he had no shame in trying to hide the fact that he was blatantly staring at her. He only smiled widely, the both of them thinking back to the day before, the kisses they shared and the feelings they finally revealed to each other.

There was no going back now. 

“You don’t have to be so obvious.” She muttered under her breath so the other students sitting close to them wouldn’t hear.

“You know I can’t help it, Sweetheart.” He grinned, leaning his chin on his closed fist, continuing to stare at her dreamily.

She rolled her eyes but by the smile growing on her lips, he knew it wasn’t a malicious gesture. 

~~

“Hey,” 

She turned in time to see Eddie smiling widely at her as he approached, leaning in to plant a chaste kiss to her cheek before leaning against the locker beside hers.

“Hi.” She mumbled, suddenly feeling incredibly bashful. His gesture, so easy and done for the entire hallway of students to see, made her face heat. 

The sight of her so nervous, taken aback by his gesture, made him smile and he wanted nothing more than to plant a hundred more kisses across her face.

“Are you ready for Friday?” Eddie asked her excitedly, his smile wide and giddy.

“What’s Friday?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot.” 

When she could only stare back at him blankly, he groaned and threw himself back against the locker, his hands covering his heart. 

“You’re breaking my heart, you know that?”

“Jesus, you’re annoying.” She told him and if it were anyone else they would’ve been offended by her words, but Eddie saw the light in her eyes, the amused smirk on her lips and he knew it was her strange way of showing affection. 

“Well, Little Miss Forgetful, Ozzy’s album comes out Friday and I have to be first in line at the record store.”

“You really think it’ll be that busy?”

“I’m not taking the risk. It’s Ozzy, baby, I can’t miss it.” Eddie stressed emphatically, not realizing how her eyes widened at the use of the word ‘baby’. 

Ever since they kissed, he’d been a lot more liberal with his stupid nicknames. For some reason, ‘baby’ was one that never failed to get her heart racing. She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to grabbing her textbooks. 

“I really don’t think you’ll have a prob-”

“Can I talk to you?”

They both turned abruptly, surprised to see Jonathan Byers behind them looking like he hadn’t slept in a week, his desperate and pleading eyes locked on her. 

“Uhh, sure.” She answered slowly, her voice laced with confusion. She wasn’t exactly close with Jonathan. She hadn’t ever given him a verbal lashing which meant he was at least a sort of acquaintance. She really only spoke to him when he came to pick up Will, relieving her of her babysitting duties.

“I’ll talk to you later.” She told Eddie before leaving his side to follow Jonathan to the less crowded area of the hallway.

“Were you babysitting the boys last night?” 

That certainly hadn’t been the question she was expecting him to ask.

“No. The Wheelers were home so I was off duty. Why?”

Jonathan sighed deeply, clearing not having heard the answer he wanted. He pinched the bridge of his nose, the control he had on his emotions hanging on by a thread.

“Will didn’t come home last night.” 

Her heart dropped to her stomach, her throat going tight as she pictured a thousand horrible things happening to that sweet boy she adored so much. 

At seeing the look of horror on her face, Jonathan continued. “He wasn’t in his room this morning. My mom’s at the station now, talking to your dad. I’m gonna check out his fort. Do you know any other place he likes to go?”

“No, he’s only talked about the fort.” She told him, her voice monotonous, feeling numb by the news.

Jonathan nodded sadly and cleared his throat. “Well, uh, thanks anyways.” He moved to leave, but she grabbed his arm tightly, stopping him.

“I’ll go with you.” 

“You really don’t have-”

“Jonathan-” She stopped him immediately, her voice hoarse with emotion, clearly shaken. “I’m going with you.”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. He knew how much Will loved her and another set of eyes might be just what his tired ones needed. 

As the bell rang, Eddie closed his locker, his eyes moving to find her to get one last goodbye in, knowing he wouldn’t see her until the end of the day. His face twisted in confusion as he watched her walk out the doors side by side with Jonathan. 

~~

Hope you enjoyed! I've been slowly working on this story for so long, it actually feels wild that I'm finally posting this.