#eddie munson x carver!reader | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

1-800-munson · 2 years

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Ѽ Halloween Spiking Ѽ ¦¦ Eddie Munson

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Carver!Reader

Word Count: 5.5k

Request: hey! i love your writing. could you please do an eddie x reader where you get spiked at a party by someone and he notices and saves you or something.

A/N: I LOVED WRITING THIS!!

My Requests Are Open

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"Happy Halloween kiddo!" You smiled at your step dad and mom as you walked down the stairs into the kitchen. "Happy Halloween.." you said as you opened the fridge door. "Any plans tonight?" Your mom asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Before you could respond to her question, Jason answered before you could.

"Yeah we're going to a small celebration!" Jason explained as he quickly grabbed a bottle of water before he ran up the stairs to his room. You scoffed at him and quickly followed him up to his room.

"What do you mean, We're going to a party?" You question as you walk behind him "Chrissy's parents are gone and it's Halloween night!" You just stared at him in shock.

"Do I really have to go to Chrissy's Halloween party?" You asked Jason as you stood in the doorway towards his room. He chuckled a bit and nodded at you. "You're part of the cheerleaders so it'd be nice if you'd show up to a party once and awhile!" He said as he picked up his backpack from his bedroom floor. "I am not a voluntary cheerleader though, jason!" He just shook his head at you. "The party's at 8!" He said, brushing past you and straight for the kitchen.

You sighed and walked back towards your bedroom. "Stupid cheer!" You said as you kicked a pompom out the way. You groaned and sat down on your vanity chair and started to do your hair for the day "Y/n, Phone's for you!" You heard Mr Carver yell out, you quickly got up and picked up the phone next to your bed. "Hello?" "Hi y/n, it's Chrissy. I was just wondering if you're still gonna wear your care bear costume with the rest of us girls?" You smiled a bit, "um yeah I'll wear the care bear costume!" She squealed on the other side of the phone before hanging up.

You sighed and looked at your care bear onesie. You had put on your costume quickly and rushed down the stairs, shoes in hand. "Oh y/n you look cute!" Your mom gushed as her and Mr. Carver watched you and Jason rush around the kitchen, grabbing after practice snacks and lunches. "Thanks!" Before you and Jason could leave, your mom had stopped you both and forced you both to take photos "Y/n smile!" You gave the camera a cheesy smile before following Jason to his car.

"Try not to drive crazy today!" You told Jason as you pulled down the sun visor and started to do a little makeup on the drive to school. "No promises!" You rolled your eyes at him.

You and Jason both split apart as soon as he parked the car. "Hey y/n, Nice costume!" You smiled at Gareth before flipping him off, you two were good friends so it wasn't a huge surprise to him.

"You know her? Since when?" Mike asked as he and the other members of hellfire watched your interaction. "We went to the same summer camp when we're little, then we got partnered in ms clicks class." He explained.

"Gareth knows who?" Eddie asks as he walks up towards the club "he knows y/n carver!" Dustin said in disbelief. "You do?" Eddie asked with a confused look on his face as well. "Yes, me and her are friends." Eddie just nodded before him and the club started to walk towards their lockers.

"She's super hot!" One of the subs said as they all walked past you and the others. Eddie just listened to all his friends talk about the cheerleaders. "Eddie!" He turned to see Chrissy running over to him. "Hey chrissy!" He greeted her. "I'm having a party tonight and I wanted to let you know, you and your friends are invited too!" She said, looking around to make sure Jason didn't suddenly appear. "Alright…cool I guess?" He said also looking around

"Oh it's a costume party too so all of you guys must come in costumes!" She said as she walked away. Eddie turned back to hellfire "You know chrissy cunningham?" Gareth asked, now it being his turn to be shocked. "Since middle school!" Eddie said as he slowly backed away from the group and walked to his class.

Lunch

“Why did you invite those freaks?” Jason asked Chrissy as she sat down at the lunch table. “Eddie’s my friend, Jason and he’s not a freak!” she defended. “He has a cult chrissy!” she rolled her eyes at him. “Who’s a freak?” you asked as you sat down next to chrissy. “Eddie Munson, a cult leader y/n!” Chrissy just rolled her eyes before turning towards you. “He’s my friend! He’s the leader of hellfire!” she pointed at their table. You turned and followed her finger “That’s gareth!” you said confused. "The one next to him!" You nodded and looked again and saw Eddie, you turned to chriddy with a surprised face "You know eddie?” she nods at your question, "you know him too?" you nodded and looked at eddie, “He's in my history class! But I would join his cult if he’s the leader!” you said out loud, making jason choke on his food and chrissy to start smiling.

“Y/n! Don’t start, he would be a bad influence on you!” you sighed and continued to eat your lunch, occasionally looking back at Eddie's table. Eddie had noticed your gaze once in a while. “Carver’s sister keeps looking over here..” Eddie said as he ate food off of Jeff's tray. “What?!” “oh god!” they all panicked thinking you were insulting them over at your table.

“Y/n, you said you know you're friends with one of them correct?” Chrissy asked as she pointed to the hellfire table. “Yeah, why?” you asked as you took a bite of your food. “Could you invite him and the others? I don’t think Eddie told them about my invite.” you nodded at chrissy, before standing up and walking over to their table.

“Gareth the great!” you greeted as you walked up to his table. “Lady carver!” He greeted back. “You don’t normally talk to me during lunch? What do you want?” he asked, making you chuckle “Chrissy said to invite you all to her halloween party tonight it’s at her house, it starts at 8!” you smiled at them all, your gaze lingering on eddie for a bit longer “it’s also a costume party she said to come dressed up too!” you said quickly before you walked back towards your table.

“Did she just invite us to a party?” Dustin asked as he looked around the table, they all nodded at him, Eddie stared at you while you walked back.

Throughout the day Jason would piss you off, you finally had enough when he kept bringing up you talking to the hellfire club. “Would you shut up jason!” you said as you unlocked the front door. “Would you prefer it if I didn't go tonight?” you asked frustrated. “Just ignore those freaks y/n and we’ll be fine!” you groaned at him before storming up to your room.

Couple Hours Later

You had gone through your closet, trying to find a different costume to wear to piss Jason off. Once you had found one, you quickly stuffed it into your cheer bag and walked out of your room. “Where are you going hun?” your mom asked as you walked into the kitchen with your bag. “I’m going to Chrissy's! Did Jason leave already?” she nods at you. “He left an hour ago! He said you wouldn’t be going with?” you held in a scoff.

“I wouldn’t be going with him!” you explained as you grabbed a bottle of water. “Oh well, have fun and be safe y/n!” she kissed your forehead and walked you to the door. “I promise I will mama!” you smiled and kissed her cheek before running to your car and quickly started it up and started to drive towards chrissy’s house.

You smiled as you parked next to Jason's car, you hopped out and grabbed your cheer bag and walked into the house. You were immediately greeted by the other cheer girls wearing different costumes from earlier. “Hey y/n! Shot?” Chrissy greeted as she walked past you carrying jello shots. “Thank you!” you smiled as you took two from the tray, after you swallowed them you walked up the stairs to the second floor. You noticed the line for the bathroom and groaned.

You stood in the line waiting, while waiting you had noticed eddie and the rest of hellfire had walked into the house. Chrissy was walking up the stairs when she noticed you standing in the line with your bag “Y/n are you gonna change?” you nodded at chrissy’s question. She motioned for you to follow her.

“Use my room! Tina and the others are!” you thanked her and walked into her room. “Heyy y/n!” one of the cheerleaders greeted, clearly drunk off her ass. “Hi jen!” you smiled and unzipped your bag and pulled out your costume. “Ooh a bunny!” Tina said with a smirk as she fixed her hair. “A playboy bunny!” Jennifer pointed out as you pulled out the rest of the outfit. “Jason pissed you off huh?” she smirked at your nod. “That and there’s a hot senior here!” you said as you put on the bodysuit. "Who's the hottie?" Tina asked as she watched you fix your bunny ears. "Well he's one of Chrissy's friends!" You smiled, before you could continue the bedroom door opened.

Chrissy walked in, she had some kind of shot spilt on her clothes, "Who's my friend?" She asked as she walked to her closet and picked a different outfit. "Our little y/n is crushing on one of your friends!" Jennifer said as she hung off Chrissy's bed frame "Ooh who is it? Is it nick?" She guessed, clearly excited to hear about your crush. "No, try less popular" you hinted as you fixed your hair. Before any of the girls could throw out a guess you were interrupted by knocking in the door. "Chrissy, are you in there?" You recognized Eddie's voice through the door.

You quickly ran over and opened the door a bit, so only you were visible through the small open door "Uh hey, is Chrissy in there?" Eddie asked you, slightly flustered by your playboy suit, he tried to keep his eyes from wandering down further. "Um yeah but she's sorta busy right now! Do you need some help?" You smiled at him, you felt red all over while talking to him, "Uh no it's alright just tell her to come and talk to me when she's not busy.." he chuckled a bit "You sure you don't need help? I'm free right now!" You offered with a smirk. He just chuckled and shook his head. "Uh, just tell her to come find me, thanks!" He smiled at you before going down the stairs.

You turned towards the girls with a smile on your face. "Was that the hottie?!" Jennifer asked excitedly, you grinned and nodded at the three girls. "You like eddie?!" Chrissy said squealing as she ran over to you. "Yeah he's really cute, and he looks so hot in history class too!" You squeal just think about him rolling up his sleeves during one of the history lessons. "I assume Jason doesn't know, does he?" Tina asked, now joining the squeal fest. "No and in his words "don't hang out with those satanic freaks y/n! Or he'd be a bad influence on you y/n!" You mocked jason. "Screw him! Get your man!" Jennifer said as she stumbled over to you three girls.

You four girls had finished changing, you all made your way down the stairs, Chrissy had left you, Jennifer and Tina to try and find eddie. You three made your way towards the kitchen where Jason and his assholes he calls friend were.

"What are you wearing y/n?" Jason asked as he looked at your costume up and down in disgust. "I'm a bunny!" You said with a smirk. "Go change!" Jason said before taking a drink of his beer. "No! Let me wear what I want!" You scoffed. "Whatever!" He stormed off to the backyard. "Dick.." you whispered under your breath as you started to make a drink for yourself.

"Oh he's a total dick!" You looked up and saw Eddie, "Try living with him! It's a nightmare!" You joked making Eddie smile as he poured a drink as well. "Nice bunny costume carver! A big change from the sweet innocent care bear this morning!" You smiled at him. "And what might you be?" You asked, slightly leaning on the countertop.

"A Vampire, but don't worry I won't go for a sweet bunny tonight!" He joked, showing you his fake fangs he had on his k9 teeth. You felt red once again. "Oh thank you, Mr. Vampire!" You dramatically put your hand to your forehead. You both laughed. "Eddie!" You both looked over and saw Chrissy standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, looking at you both. "Uh, I'll be back y/n, stay here!" He said with a smile before he ran over and had Chrissy help him bring something in.

After a while you noticed, Eddie had been in the living room where most of the girls were fawning over him knowing how to play the guitar. "That bitch!" You said, catching the attention of Tina, who was sitting on the kitchen island. "Who?" You nodded in Eddie's direction. "He said he'd be back and he left me here for thirty minutes!" You scoffed and went to take a sip of your drink when you realized you were out.

"He lucked out this time, oh well, move onto a different guy y/n!" Tina said as she got off the island and walked out of the kitchen. You sighed and started to make your fourth drink that night. "Could you make me a rum and coke?" You looked up and saw one of Jason's friends Chance. You silently nodded at him and started to make his drink. "I like the playboy outfit y/n!" He said with a smile "thanks!" You said, trying to catch Eddie's eye. "Hey you wanna hang with me and the others outside y/n?" Chance caught your attention with his question. "Uh sure!" You smiled at him, you grabbed your cup and followed Chance to Chrissy's backyard. Some of the seniors had gotten in the pool, the others just sat outside talking.

Chance had led you to a small bonfire pit where some of Jason's friends were drinking and talking. "Hi y/n!" Jennifer greeted, still drunk off her ass. "Hi jen!" You smiled and sat down next to her. "Nice costume carver!" Andy winked at you. You shuddered and moved closer to jennifer. "Want a beer?" Patrick offered, you shook your head and showed him your red solo cup, you were busy talking to Jennifer you hadn't noticed, Chance and Andy sharing a look with each other.

Eddie had somehow managed to escape the hoard of stuck up girls who were all over him and his guitar. He walked into the kitchen, Hoping you would still be in there waiting for him. He sighed when he walked in and you were gone. He went to leave the kitchen but heard your laugh coming from outside. He walked outside and spotted you outside with Jason's friends.

He watched you for a bit, before he had decided to go and watch one of the jocks challenge someone on the kegs. "Hey y/n could you help me, I think my car keys fell out of my pocket!" You nodded at Andy and leaned over and started looking for keys on the grass. While you leaned over you hadn't noticed Chance pouring something in your cup and stirring it around. Jennifer was too busy trying not to fall over to notice either.

"Oh, found them!" You smiled as you sat back up straight "Thanks for helping y/n." Andy thanked, as he sipped his beer. "No problem andy!" You smiled quickly before taking a drink.

After a couple minutes you had started to feel dizzy, you excused yourself and made your way into the kitchen, luckily Eddie was in there as well getting a drink, he noticed you had started to stumble in. "You have one too many drinks, carver?" He asked, watching you stumble over to the counter. "I don't know, is it hot in here?" He raised an eyebrow at you "No? Do you need help getting on there?" You nodded as he helped you sit on the countertop. "It's really hot eddie!" You said while fanning yourself. "Y/n, you need a drink?" Chance asked as he ran in from outside, Andy and Jennifer following behind.

"Hang on man, she might be allergic to the alcohol!" Eddie held up his hand to Chance. Andy and Chance looked at each other. "I'll get her coke then!" Chance opened up a can and poured it into a cup. Andy walked over and acted like he was putting ice in the cup when he was really putting the rest of the powder in.

The pair had handed it to Eddie, who helped you drink the liquid. "Y/n, you alright?" You shook your head at him as you felt dizzier. You slouched over and kept taking deep breaths. You went to look up at Eddie. Before you could you had passed out. Eddie quickly picked you up from the table "here we'll take her!" Chance offered, Andy nodded as well. "It's alright I can take her to the hospital!" Eddie had caught the look the pair gave each other, Eddie trailed his eyes down and saw a powder coated bag sticking out of both their pockets. "You assholes!" He cursed, if Eddie wasn't holding your body in his arms he was convinced he would've thrown a punch at them. "Listen freak! You're gonna tell no one about this alright!" Andy got closer to him. Eddie went to fight back but stopped when you groaned in his arms. He scoffed at them and walked past them and right to his van.

Luckily he hadn't had too many drinks that night, he had opened up the passengers door and helped buckle you in. Eddie didn't care, he drove all crazy to the hospital. The 20 minute drive took about 15.

You had finally gained consciousness after a while, you noticed the bright light of an ER room. "Ah glad to see you up, ms carver!" The Nurse said as she walked into the small room. "What happened?" You asked as you looked under the hospital blanket and saw your Playboy suit was gone and now there was the hospital gown. "You were spiked ms carver!" Your eyes widen. "Luckily it wasn't too bad when you walked in, thanks to the gentleman who brought you in.." you nodded and looked around, trying to find a clue as to who brought you to the hospital.

"The gentleman is outside your room ms carver! He's just taking a quick break, he hasn't left your side since he brought you in!" You smiled at her and nodded. You leaned back against the pillows and watched as the nurse took out your iv.

"I'll go and get your release papers ready!" You quietly thanked the Nurse as she left the room. You had laid there waiting for the nurse of whoever brought you to the hospital to come back.

“Hey, you're awake! That’s a good sign!” you smiled as eddie walked in with a bag. “Thank you Eddie, for taking me here!” Eddie smiled back. “It’s not a problem really…” you both stayed silent for a moment before eddie broke it by handing you the bag. “I noticed you didn’t have any proper clothes and I doubt you want to be discharged while wearing a playboy bunny suit. So I bought this for you at the gift shop.” he explained as you opened the bag and saw a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt with the hospital logo on the front.

“Thank you again eddie!” you smiled at him. He nodded at you and went to leave the room so you could get dressed. “Could you stay here, Just in case I fall over or anything!” he laughed and turned away from you.

“Do you know who, you know..” you trailed off as you put on the shorts. “Yeah actually, it was Jason's friends! The guy who had a hat and the one who had a red jacket on!” you thought about and realized who the pair were. “Chance and Andy!” you shuddered as you thought back to earlier that night. “Those are their names?” you nodded as you slipped on the sweatshirt, you stopped when you realized he couldn’t see you. “Yeah, they're also Jason's best friends too!” you walked over and tapped eddie’s shoulder since you had finished changing.

“Ms carver, i just need you to sign these papers then i’ll wheel you downstairs! So if your boyfriend wants to get your car ready!” you both turned to the nurse both feeling flustered at her calling Eddie your boyfriend. You laughed a bit and nodded at her. Eddie just let out a cough and walked out the room to go get his van ready at the front.

Once you had finished the paperwork she wheeled you to the hospital entrance. You both had made it there before eddie could pull up, the nurse had started some small talk with you when you both watched eddie pull up in front of you both, he put the car in park and quickly hopped out to help you get into his car. The nurse whispered into your ear as Eddie opened the passenger door. “You got a pretty hot boyfriend if I do say so myself!” you both giggled.

Eddie raised an eyebrow at you both but quickly dismissed it as both Eddie and the nurse helped you hop up into the passenger seat. You could tell the nurse told Eddie something as he shut your door.

He let out a chuckle before he nodded and walked over to his side door and got in. “I’m hungry, are you?” you asked him as he started to drive away from the hospital.

“Uh, yeah I could eat!” he said as started driving to a 24 hour diner. You smiled as you looked around his van, on his sun visors he had pins of his favorite metal bands. You noticed a metallica pin and turned to him. “Have you heard master of puppets by metallica yet? It came out earlier this month!” you asked excitedly, eddie did a double take between you and the road. “You listen to metallica?” he asked, slightly shocked, you nodded at him while smiling. “Yeah! Jason hates it when I play it in my car though!” you laughed a bit. “Well I have listened to master of puppets and I've learned it on my guitar!” your eyes widen at him. “You have?” he smiled and nodded at you.

You both talked about Metallica the whole drive to the diner. “Ladies first!” you smiled as he held the door open for you. “Why thank you!” you both laughed as you got sat by your waiter.

“What’ll it be, kids?” you and eddie looked at the menu . “I’ll have a dr pepper, and she’ll have an oreo shake.” you looked at eddie shocked. “How did you know?” he chuckled. “Gareth may or may not rant about your milkshake order!” you smiled. The waiter just rolled their eyes and walked away from you both.

After you two had ordered your food, you both talked about school, Jason, music and surprisingly how he hates pickles. “You want ‘em?” he offered which you took. “I love pickles!” he gagged as you happily ate it.

You made a face as Eddie squirted ketchup all over his fries. “You don’t eat them like that you weirdo!” you laughed as eddie took a fry and ate it with a smile on his face. “If we're gonna talk about how to eat fries, let’s talk about you dipping your fries in your shake!” he argued back.

“Hey! Don't knock it till you try it!” you said as you dipped a fry and held it to his lips, he looked disgusted at the fry, making you laugh a bit harder. He smiled wider at your laugh. “Just try it! If you don’t like it, I'll stop dipping them around you!” he sighed before he opened his mouth. You smiled and popped it in his mouth. He chewed it and sighed at you. “I hate to say this carver but…I love it, damn it!” you smiled smugly. Little did you know he hated the fry dipped in the shake but he didn’t want you to be upset at him for not liking it, what was the harm in a sweet innocent lie.

After you two had finished you both walked over to the register to pay.

“It’s two in the morning!” You said with wide eyes as you looked at the digital clock that hung above the register. “Time flies when you have fun I guess!” Eddie smiled as he paid for the meal before you could stop him. “Eddie! I was gonna pay! It's the least I could do after tonight.” he smiled at you. “You can tip her! That’s all I'm gonna let you do!” you smiled and pulled out a five dollar bill and ran to place it on the table. “You and your girlfriend are really cute together!” The young waiter running the cashier said to Eddie as soon as you ran back to your table. Eddie smiled as he watched you give the waiter the tip all smiley. “Thanks! Have a good night!” he said as the kid handed Eddie his change.

Eddie waited for you at the front of the restaurant, you came walking up to Eddie smiling. “You ready?” he asked, you nodded at him, carrying a to go cup with. “What’s in the cup?” he asked as he helped you hop into the passenger's seat. “The waiter gave me a refill!” he smiled as you handed him the cup and buckled yourself in. He chuckled and handed back the cup. He quickly hopped in on his side and started to drive away. Eddie bit his lip and turned to you for a second before looking back at the road “Do you wanna stay with me for the night? I mean my uncle works at night and it would be nice to have someone over..” he trailed off.

You smiled at him. “Sure!” you both smiled as eddie started to drive to his trailer. You had dozed off a bit as he drove, you were still sleepy when Eddie shook you awake. “We’re here y/n.” you nodded and hopped out of the car and followed Eddie to the door.

“Sorry for the mess!” he apologized as he opened the door and let you go in first. “I’ve seen my room in worse stages!” you joked, eddie smiles, “You can sleep on my mattress, i’ll lay on the couch!” he said as he guided you to his bedroom. “Oh um alright..” you nodded and sat down on his bed. “Do you need a shirt?” you nodded your head at his offer. “I’ll let you use my hellfire shirt!” he smiles at you and hands it over. You stood up from the bed and walked to the small bathroom you saw on your way to Eddie's room.

You took off the sweatshirt and put on his hellfire shirt, you smelt his cologne on his shirt and smiled. you walked back into his room, he had his back to the door, you felt butterflies in your stomach as you watched his back muscles move as he slipped on a shirt. You quickly acted like you had just walked in as he turned around.

“I guess I'll see you in the morning, goodnight y/n!” you smiled as Eddie walked down the small hallway to the couch. “Goodnight eddie!” he smiled as he fixed the couch for the night.

Half an hour had gone by and you hadn’t managed to fall asleep yet, you turned onto your back and looked around Eddie's bedroom, you tilted your head at the handcuffs hanging up on his wall. You sighed and played with the hem of the blanket. You looked around the room before getting up from the mattress, you wrapped his blanket around yourself and walked towards Eddie on the couch.

You tapped his shoulder, Eddie stirred a bit before he opened his eyes, “Y/n? What’s wrong?” he propped himself up on his elbows. “I’m sorry, I feel bad interrupting your sleep but it's just lonely in your room…could I come lay with you? Only if you let me though!” you disclaimed. Eddie just chuckled at you and made room for you, he patted in front of him, you smiled and happily laid down, facing him.

“Goodnight y/n!” you smiled at him. “Good night eddie!” you closed your eyes and scooted closer into eddie, without a second thought he pulled you closer and held the back of your head.

You both peacefully drifted off to sleep. Sleeping blissfully unaware of the storm yet to come in the morning.

You and Eddie woke you to the sound of rain droplets falling onto the window. You both laughed as you both pulled away from each other’s grip. “Guess I should take you home now huh?” you smiled and nodded at eddie. You both had gotten dressed, you hesitantly gave back his shirt, and put on the sweatshirt Eddie had bought for you.

You both sat in silence as Eddie drove back to your house. You were surprised when Eddie pulled into the driveway of the house, you saw Jason and Chrissy out on the wrap around porch, pacing. Your brain feared the worst, you quickly hopped out of the van and ran over to the pair, Eddie following behind you.

“Y/n, thank jesus!” Jason said as he watched you run up the steps and ran over to him and chrissy. Jason noticed Eddie standing behind you. He quickly moved you and chrissy behind him “How could you spike her you freak!" He asked as he walked closer to eddie. "I didn't do anything! It was your supposed friend's carver!" Eddie held his hand up. "Bullshit! They told me you slipped y/n something and took off!" You walked over and pushed the pair apart.

"He's telling the truth jason! It was Andy and chance!” you told Jason as you stood in front of eddie. “How do you know it was them y/n?!” Jason yelled. Chrissy held Jason from walking any closer to Eddie and yourself.

“Because I doubt if Eddie had drugged me, he would've been waiting at the hospital with me, and driven me home, fully conscious at that!” you reasoned. Jason sighed and looked at Eddie, who nodded in agreement with your words. “I swear I would never do such a thing to your sister!” Jason sighed at you both “How though, i mean i didn’t see you with them at all last night!” Jason ran a hand through his hand and looked at you for an answer. “I hung out with them, Jen and Patrick by chrissy’s fire pit, I assume Andy had me look for his keys just so Chance could slip something in my drink.” you explained, jason scoffed and connected the dots himself, the pair had been asking questions about you earlier that day during gym.

“Don’t think too much about it, freak, but thanks for helping y/n..” Jason said as he made his way to his car. “Where is he going?” Eddie asked as you three watched Jason drive away from the house. “Probably going to their houses!” you said nonchalantly.

“I’m gonna go inside now! Bye eddie!” chrissy said as she walked into your house. You turned to Eddie and smiled. “Um, thank you again for last night!” He gave you a tiny smile. “It’s not a problem y/n.. I should probably get going now. I guess I'll see you at school.” he started walking to his van, you heard tapping on the window behind you, you turned around and saw Chrissy in the window with a piece of paper that read “ASK HIM ON A DATE!” you laughed and nodded at her, you turned and ran over to eddie’s door.

“Eddie, wait!” He rolled his window down. “Yes?”

You took a deep breath. “Would you like to go on a date with me?” you held your breath for his response. He let out a chuckle.

“I’ll see you tonight at 8, Same diner as last night.” you smiled and nodded at him. “I look forward to it munson!” you smiled and started walking into your house as eddie drove away.

“What did he say?!” chrissy asked as she walked over to you. “I get to see him tonight!” you both squealed and celebrated your new date.

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cahrlotah · 2 years

Text

𝙊𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐: 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬

Pairing: Carver!reader x Eddie Munson

Word count: 2.3K

“A change, that’s what you need right now. You will see, maybe going back to your hometown is all you need, to be with your family” those are the words my friends had told me before moving from a different continent, after what had happened a few weeks back. Moving back to my hometown has already made me come at peace on what happened, I started eating again, smiling, I was kind of going back to my old self. Even though getting used to the American lifestyle is kinda hard, spending all the school months away in Europe and my summers travelling through the continent with family or friends, only coming back during some holidays, not giving me enough time to get used to it again.

So here I am, getting ready for my first day living “the American high school experience”. As don’t really want to stand out, because as I’ve been told, arriving on your first day of senior year next to the basket ball team captain by your side ( even thought he is my brother ) is going to make me the centre of attention at least of a few days. My outfit consists of a white short sleeved turtle neck top, some light washed mom jeans and white rebook sneakers, and to top it all my backpack with badges on it form all my old school field trips. As for my hair I quickly brush it and part it in the middle and for make up some light foundation, powder and mascara.

The wooden stairs creak beneath my feet as I make my way to the kitchen, the smell of pancakes and coffee fills my nostrils.

“Good morning everyone!” I say giving my mom a kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning darling. Ready for your first day of school?” She asks putting a plate of pancakes and salad fruit in front of me.

“Yeah I guess”. We start eating, and after some minutes the sound of heavy steps announces us that Jason is coming. When he sits next to our dad they start to ramble about the new basketball season until it’s time to go.

“Come on, let’s the the baby to daycare” Jason says with a smirk on his face.

“Hey dumbass! I’m only three minutes younger than you” I yell and his smirk disappears as a small piece of apple hits his head. We all brust into laughters, well all except Jason. Both of my parents kiss us good bye and wish us a happy first day of school. He opens the passenger seat for me.

“M’lady” he says moving his arm in a dramatic way, just like in the movies. We just laugh. The drive to school is short and quiet, with the exception of the radio playing softly this year’s hits.

As soon as he parks his car, I can feel the eyes of most students glued on me. A feeling of anxiousness starts to take over my body, my hands shaking on the feeling of everyone staring at me. Jason catches a glimpse of that, he puts his arm around my shoulders and assures me that everything is going to be alright, that lowers my anxiety a little bit. We walk towards the main entrance, where eyes follow every step we take, and where his friends are waiting for us. I can recognise most of them because we used to go the same middle school. They all look shocked when they see me.

“No fucking way!” Exclaims Andy. The ones who recognise me join for a group hug. After that he quickly introduces me to the other team mates. The bell rings and a commotion of people forms in the hallways. Freshmen looking lost and not knowing where to go while the others just reunite with their friends.

“Guys I’m going to take her to do all the paper work, I’ll see you later” and in a matter of seconds Jason and I are the only ones left. He guides me through the halls, heading towards, to where I suppose is the secretary. He knocks three times, a woman’s voices indicates us that we can come in. She is a middle aged woman, her hair perfectly brushed and some neutral coloured clothing.

“You must be (Y/N) Carver, right?” She asks in a high pitched voice. I nod and she hands me all the information I need, which includes my timetable. “I hope you have a nice first day here at Hawkins high”.

As we are heading out, Jason inspects my timetable.

“French, really?!” He says trying to hold in his laugh.

“That was the only language option you guys have in this shit hole, so you better not laugh” I protest, punching him softly.

“Hey! That’s my good arm!” He says dramatically. We both laugh as he guides me to my classroom. “Okay, your next class is that one” he points to a red door with the number 103 written on it. “And then P.E class so just follow your classmates and don’t worry, I will talk to the gym teacher about your clothes, Good luck!” He kisses my cheek and rushes to his class, but not before flashing a smile towards me. I wave at him while I mentally prepare to knock on the door. A knot tightens on my chest, making it a little difficult to breath but eventually, after some breath work and self- encouragement I manage to knock three times. A young woman opens the door, her eyes light of excitement when she sees me. “Oh you must be (Y/N) Carver?”I nod a little embarrassed. “Jason’s sister, she is going to spend her senior year with us.” She shows me where I can sit, at the end of the class, next to the window, there is an empty desk. After I have sit down, she proceeds to continue with her class, even thought the stares of some students are still on me.

When the bell rings, I quickly pack everything in my backpack and head out down the corridor. It’s packed with people, making it almost impossible to walk, eventually, I make it to, what it seems, a lab. The room is white and luminous. I look around, only to meet with Andy. He gestures me go to where is,I do so.

“How was your first class?” He asks.

“Not bad, it’s just weird how everyone seems surprised at my presence” I chuckle.

“Yeah, he is “the big thing” around here” he add and we both giggle. An old man enters the room and all the conversations that were happening slowly die down in his presence. The man makes the typical first day of class introduction. The class passes rather slowly.

The sun is shinning through the glass placed at the top of the building. All my class is wearing the green, white and orange shorts and a white t-shirt with the school’s logo on it. I sit at the bleachers, as I forgot to bring my uniform. At some points during the lesson Jason comes to check up on me, to see if I’m doing okay, he is kinda overprotective over me. I tell him that I’m bored as the only thing I can do for one hours straight is to sit here and watch.

“Don’t worry hermanita just ten more minutes” he says at the same time he messes with my hair. “I will take a quick shower so you don’t have to wait ,okay?” I nod, he goes back to the rest of the group until the bell rings, announcing the end of class but more important lunch time. All the boys and girls run towards the changing rooms to be the first ones to change and go eat as soon as possible. As promised Jason is the first one to come out, alongside Jake and Andy.

The four of us make our way to the cafeteria where a small line has already formed but Jason being Jason just skips it, making some of the younger generations of Hawkins High yell at him out of anger but shut up when they see who it is. We grab lunch, and I scan the room.

“Where should we sit?” I ask as I see that all tables are occupied by people.

“There is a special table for the basketball Tema and cheer quad” Andy comments, his chest puffing with pride.

“So you guys don’t mix with other people outside those two groups?” I naively ask.

“Why we, the populars, would like to associate with freaks like the Hellfire club?” Jason says as if I had just said the most outrageous thing in the world. His head points to a table where a group of metal heads are sitting around discussing something important.

“What’s wrong with them?” They seem pretty normal, the only thing extravagant about them being their choice of clothing.

“Satanists” the dramatic tone on Jake’s tone makes me laugh. They all look at me as I have just done something bad so I compose myself . The all walk towards the table and before I can notice my eyes are again on that group of boys, one of them sticks out, he has long hair and is sat in the middle. Somehow he ends up looking towards my direction, when he catches me staring at him, he winks in my direction. I quickly move my gaze and follow my brother and his friends. In less than ten minutes the whole basketball team and cheer squad are updating each other on the the things they did this summer.

“And you, (Y/N). What did you do this summer? Chrissy, a really nice cheerleader, asks, now all the attention is on me.

“Well…” I start “me and my friends from my old school went to a summer cabin one of them has in Switzerland and we just spend some weeks there, as a goodbye.” I smile to myself, remembering all the good times we had in the Alps.

“That’s really cool!” Ashely exclaims “ Most of us just went to the mall or to Jason’s pool. You are really living the dream”. This comment makes me embarrassed as I didn’t want to rub anything to anyone’s face. After some awkward moments they start to talk nonsense, when out of the sudden “I was made for lovin’ you” by KISS starts to play a few tables away from us. The music comes from the Hellfire table.

“Here we go” Jason sighs as he face palming. I turn around to see the raven haired boy playing an “air-guitar”. I start lip syncing the lyrics, when I look up I see all Jason’s friends are looking at me, some of them with a disgust look on their faces. Their stares fixated on me as if I had murdered someone just by mouthing those lyrics.

“Are you a satanist or something?” Ashley asks with her high piercing voice.

“Come on Ashley, you wouldn’t suggest that one of the Carver’s is a satanist right?” Jake asks rising one eyebrows. The faces of all the jocks go back to me, waiting for an answer.

“I mean I went to school where the teachers where nuns and priests, so does that answer your question?” I say clearly annoyed. “It’s just that song is quite popular with kids in my school that’s all.”

“Hey freak!” Jason screams out of nowhere as he stands up, all the cafeteria quiets down, and the curly haired boy turns down the music to listen to what he has to say. “Turn that shit down or I’ll knock you out” after he finishes a face of disgust appears on my face.

“Jason, stop it” I whisper pulling him back to his seat, but with a harsh movement he scapes my grip and starts to walk towards the unknown boy. I run after him.

“Come on Jason, it seemed that the lovely lady beside you was enjoying the song” he says winking at me again. My cheeks slowly turning a pink-ish colour. That’s it, that action makes Jason jump to the nameless boy throat, making them fall from a table.

“What the fuck?!” I jump right into the fight, trying to break it when all of the sudden a pair of strong arms grab my waist, pulling me out.

“That’s all big old Jason Carver can do? I always thought you were a tough guy, come on don’t prove me wrong big bo-“ he can’t even finish the sentence when Jason fist impacts against his jaw.

“Holy shit” I mumble when I see a flow of blood coming from the metal head mouth. “Let me go Andy” I try to get out of his grip but fighting against him is impossible.

“Just let them be” he says calmly. How is everyone just watching and not doing shit? I think to myself. At that very moment, I don’t know what possesses me but I kick Andy in his private area. The moment I’m free from his grip, I jump back into the fight. As I know I cannot stop Jason physically I remember what I used to do when I was younger, pull his hair. My hands are at the top of his head while I pull with all my strength, he lets out a loud whine as I step backwards, his hair still on my hands. I look at the two boys, Jason’s knuckles are bloody while the unarmed boy face is bloody. They are breathing heavily, I let my brother hair as I go back to the table to grab my bag and when I come back they are in the same positions as I left them. I help the long haired boy to get up.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!” I spit at Jason. As the unknown boy and I walk towards the exit, my eyes are locked with Jason’s. If stares could kill my brother would be dead.

this is dedicated to the best person on this app @eddiesdungeon

#eddie munson #joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie stranger things #carver!reader x Eddie munson #eddie munson smut #i am an eddie munson simp and im proud #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader smut #Eddie munson x carver!reader #jason carver #eddie munson fanfic

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mccn-bcys · 2 years

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do you guys want a sneak peak at the eddie munson x carver!reader fic? ive pretty much had these lines stuck in my head and I'm so proud of them bc I came up with them all by myself 🥰 let me know what you guys think of it<3

anyways here's the sneak peak:

at the sound of a lunch tray slamming on the table, the entire lunch table looked up, shocked and confused as to why you of all people were sitting at their table.

"are you lost, princess?" came a voice from the head of the table, making your head snap up to meet the dark eyes of the infamous leader of hellfire club.

"well, dear knight," you snapped, the feign sweetness in your tone was dripping. "truth is, I didn't take this table to be judgemental like everyone else, but it seems your swords are so far up your asses that you can't tell when someone just wants a moment of sanctuary in your kingdom," you bit back, your eyes rolling and you went to stand before something was being dropped on the table in front of you.

"you forgot this," the taunting voice of your brother called as he walked away laughing. "freak."

#eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson #eddie my beloved #stranger things #sneak peak #are you guys excited #eddie munson x carver!reader #let me know if you guys like this

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idyllicwillowtree · 2 months

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God Eddie, You're So In Love With Me.

Genre: Eddie Munson x Henderson!reader, fem!reader, angst/fluff, hurt/eventual comfort, friends to lovers

Summary: Being in Hellfire, you’ve been exposed to your fair share of bullying. One day, Jason takes it a step too far.

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: bullying, anaphylaxis, poisoning, no physical descriptions of Y/N so you don’t have to look like Dustin, reader wears makeup, reader uses she/her, reader has a peanut allergy, reader is called princess, swearing

Author’s note: I got this idea from an episode of Freaks and Geeks (which is an awesome show I totally recommend). Peanut allergies weren’t so common in the 80s so that’s why Jason is so ignorant and dismissive about it.

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, I was hibernating.

Enjoy!

Main Masterlist

Part 1:

Eddie proudly sauntered into first period with his head held high and a smirk on his lips. His mouth was watering in anticipation. He plopped himself down in the seat next to yours, wide eyes and a wicked grin plastered on his face, an eager hand open towards you.

“Wow Eddie. It’s 7:29, you got here with a minute to spare,” you said as you leaned over to grab the bite size Laffy Taffy from your backpack to place in Eddie’s hand. “I think this candy reward system is really working.”

“Of course it worked, it was your idea after all. But today’s a special day, I was definitely not going to not be here,” Eddie said with too much energy for this early in the morning. He stuffed the yellow taffy into his mouth and chewed it like a happy 5 year old, wiggling in his seat with excitement.

“Are you talking about the photo?”

“Yeah! Hellfire finally gets a spot in the yearbook. We shall finally leave our mark on this cesspool we call a school,” Eddie said through the glob of candy in his mouth. He swallowed the treat harshly as he got a good look at you, “you look great by the way.”

“Yeah?” you said shyly, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks. You started fiddling with the hem of your Hellfire shirt, “I thought I’d go with a bit more eyeliner today.”

“Yeah, you did a great job princess.” With the excuse of admiring your eyeliner, Eddie was able to take a moment to study your features. Your gaze stayed on your hands, picking at a loose thread.

“God, Eddie. You’re so in love with me,” you said with a teasing smile.

Eddie barked out a laugh, dimples on full display as he tried not to let your words affect him too seriously.

“Great, the flirting freaks are back at it again.” Jason remarked from a few rows behind you. Both of you turned around in time to see Andy dramatically fake gagging.

Before you could hurl an insult back at them, Eddie took notice of what Jason was snacking on.

“Hey asshole, you can’t eat peanuts in class.”

“Yeah? And who’s gonna stop me, Munson? You?” Jason said through a full mouth, spitting out chunks as he laughed obnoxiously with Andy.

You simply rolled your eyes at Jason, annoyed with the jocks and their willingness to tease and fight so early in the morning.

Eddie’s grip tightened on the back of his chair. His white knuckles caught your eye and you reached out to sooth him, hoping he wouldn’t start a fight he couldn’t finish. The second your hand landed on his, the tension in his shoulders deflated and the fire in his eyes was snuffed out as he sent you a reassuring smile.

Jason waved around his ziplock tauntingly, “Seriously freak, let’s see if you can actually take these from-”

“I’ll take those,” Mrs. O’Donnell said as she walked in behind Jason and snatched the bag. “Mr. Carver, you know you’re not allowed food in my class, let alone peanuts.”

“But coach said we have to protein-load before the game tonight,” Jason wined.

“Too bad. Some allergies can be very serious,” You shrunk in your seat as the other students turned to stare at you, knowing you were the one she was referring to. “You can get these back after class,” Mrs. O’Donnell said as she rounded the corner of her desk to address her students. “Now, everyone, please open your textbooks to chapter six.”

You, being the diligent student you were, immediately followed orders. Eddie on the other hand didn’t even remember to bring his book bag to school, but at least he got his candy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m serious guys, I might have a crush on Mrs. O’Donnell now,” Eddie said to his bandmates as they sat in their unofficial assigned seats in the cafeteria.

“Just because an older female authority figure agreed with you and shut down Carver, doesn’t mean you should crush on your teacher dude,” Gareth said, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all.

“Besides, you already have a crush,” Jeff added with a teasing smile, the metal on his teeth catching the fluorescent lights.

“Are you guys talking about my sister?” Dustin said while throwing his lunch tray on the table, taking a seat next to Eddie. The rest of his sheep following close behind.

“No-”

“Yes,” all three of the older Hellfire members said in unison.

Eddie shot them a look that would’ve shut them up if the metalhead’s pale cheeks weren’t tinted pink.

“Gross,” Dustin added.

Mike’s brows did their signature furrow under his dark bangs, “I don’t get it, why doesn’t he just ask her out?” he said, purposefully ignoring Eddie’s presence at the table.

“GROSS,” Dustin repeated, hoping the subject would change.

Eddie was right there with him, picking up a pretzel and hurling it at Mike’s head, “I’d rather not share the complexities of the friendship-to-relationship pipeline with a baby freshman. And I. Don’t. Like. Her.” He growled, punctuating each word with a pretzel.

The metalhead’s angry scowl melted off his face at the sound of your laugh echoing through the high ceilings of the cafeteria. You were standing near the entrance with your Wonder Woman lunchbox in tow, tilting your head back as you chuckled at something Robin Buckley told you.

That was until Jason and his entourage of goons followed him in.

He had that damn bag of peanuts in his hand, swinging it around mockingly. Eddie watched as you became tense, eyes wide and glossy. You are practically hiding behind a fuming Robin.

Before the blonde could hurl her trumpet case at the jocks, Eddie stepped up behind you both, placing a ring clad hand gently on the small of your back to let you know he was there.

With his hand grounding you, you finally found your voice, “seriously Jason, if I come into contact with a peanut I could die.”

“Oh come on,” Jason said through a chuckle, “you’re that much of a freak that a little peanut is enough to kill you? I think you might be overreacting just a little.”

“Actually,” Dustin said as he came over to stand next to Eddie, “Anaphylaxis is incredibly dangerous. Allergic reactions to the proteins found in peanuts are cause by immunoglobulin E antibodies and can trigger severe inflammation and-”

“Dude, even her brother is a fucking dork,” Andy spat.

“Hey, don't talk to him like that,” Eddie said, stepping forward. You have always admired his fierce determination when defending your brother and the other freshmen. It’s part of what drew you to him in the first place. But this time there was no snarky comeback to Jason’s bullying. The severity of the situation on top of the jocks’ disregard for your safety was just pissing him off, making him uncharacteristically no-nonsense.

The group of letterman jackets erupted in a chorus of ‘oooohs’. The leader just licked his lips, eyeing Eddie before smirking at you.

"You know, you might be pretty if you actually tried."

It doesn’t have the effect on you that Jason had hoped, you could care less if he thought you were pretty. But before your athletically inexperienced friends could take on the basketball team, you plastered on your best fake smile.

“Thanks Jason, see you guys later,” you said as you pulled your friends away leaving him confused and unsatisfied by your reaction.

“What the hell, you’re just going to let him talk to you like that?” your brother protested.

“He’s never going to change, Dustin. I might as well play into it since he’s just trying to get a rise out of us.”

You wave bye to Robin as she went to sit with her band friends, all of them decked out in their extravagant green and yellow uniforms. Eddie slid Dustin’s tray away from the spot next to him so you could set your lunchbox there and sit at his left hand side. Dustin was muttering something about losing his seat but still scooched down, knowing there was no use in fighting it. Eddie always had you right next to him.

The next few minutes of lunch went by rather smoothly. Groups of students were taken out sporadically to go to the photo room and get their yearbook club photo taken with Nancy. Occasionally, you’d catch Jason sending you angry glares but you just ignored him in favor of listening to your fellow Hellfire members. They were rambunctiously throwing out theories about tonight's campaign while Eddie just sat there with his version of a poker face, not willing to spoil anything with a teasing grin plastered to his mouth.

His eyes connected with yours, feeling you staring at him. The moment he looked at you you bashfully lowered your eyes to the cup of applesauce you were stirring around. Eddie kept his gaze on you until Nancy walked up behind him.

“Alright Hellfire, you’re up,” Nancy said with a smile.

This was the first year Hellfire club was getting any sort of recognition in the yearbook. Previously, the teachers and students didn’t want to draw any more eyes to the alleged cult and their leader. Now that Nancy worked for the school, she played a big part in securing a photo for her brother’s club in the yearbook. Even though Eddie never liked conforming to frivolous High School expectations, he still felt honored. It was his last year after all (hopefully) and he wanted to make his mark.

You and the rest of the Hellfire members left your things at the lunch table and walked out of the cafeteria for the yearbook room down the hall. Your open applesauce was forgotten about as you followed Eddie out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your shoulders were still buzzing after taking the photo. Eddie had thrown his leather clad arm around you, pulling you closer to him, while his other hand did the sign of the horns. The smell of his cologne and the texture of his battle vest overwhelmed you so much you hoped it didn’t show in the photo. Although, the smirk Nancy sent you tells you it might have.

You and the rest of Hellfire sat back down in your original seats, besides your leader. As expected, Eddie had a lot of things to say in honor of your club getting recognized so he opted to stay standing.

“Hear ye, hear ye! Rejoice, for this day shall be etched in the annals of history as a testament to our unwavering spirit and valor!”

Going back to your lunch, you scoop up the velvety applesauce to resume eating. Expecting the familiar taste of sweet and tart, you flinched at the salty crunch and swallowed it on instinct.

“Let it be known that we have weathered the raging storm of schoolyard bullies, and emerged victorious! Our banners flying high, unfurled in the winds of destiny,” Eddie continued, not noticing your trepidation.

You frowned at the tickle in your throat that only continued to build as you tried coughing discreetly. The rest of the boys grinned, believing this was your way of hinting at Eddie to wrap up his speech.

“Let us raise our voices in jubilation, for today, we have proven that nothing is insurmountable to those who believe in their cause!” Eddie looked to you, hoping to see you looking up at him and smiling that way you do whenever he uses his renaissance voice. Instead he met your panicked eyes.

“Hey Henderson,” Jason called from across the cafeteria. “What happens now? Should we call an ambulance?” Andy shoved at his shoulder playfully and chortled alongside Jason.

Panic gripped you as you connected the dots.

“Yeah,” you wheezed, “call an ambulance.”

Part 2

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harrywavycurly · 10 months

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“Will you be my husband really quick?”: A fake marriage with Eddie Munson AU.

Part 2: Here

Part 3: Here

A/N: I have been wanting to write this prompt for a while and I’m glad y��all want it too! There’s gonna be a part 2 don’t worry.

TW: Cursing and Eddie hits someone and this eludes that your ex wasn’t the nicest.

Eddie is two beers in on what he figured was going to be a normal Friday night at the Hideout when he feels a hand grip his arm as he’s leaned over the bar grabbing a lighter from behind the stack of napkins and straws. He pauses his movements as he looks down at the hand that’s still on his arm and slowly his eyes move upward until they finally land on your face. He notices your eyes are wide and you’re looking everywhere but at him as you scan the room as if you’re looking for someone, Eddie just stands up straight and places the lighter on the bar next to his half empty beer.

“Will you be my husband really quick?” Eddie knows he must be hearing things as you finally make eye contact with him. He watches as you seem to visibly relax a bit as you stare at him with a hopeful look on your face. “Please?” He doesn’t know what it is about you but he feels like if he tells you no he might actually regret it so instead he takes a quick sip of his beer as your hand falls from his arm and before you can react he’s draping his arm over your shoulders and pulling you into him.

“Who’s the target?” Eddie’s voice is low and you can feel his breath on your neck as he whispers in your ear before placing a quick kiss to the side of your head, already playing into his husband role.

“Red shirt by the door.” You answer as one of your arms wrap around his middle, you feel Eddie lean away from you for a moment so he can get a good look at who you’re talking about.

“Jason fucking Carver?” You look up at Eddie who is glaring at the blonde haired man by the door and you feel yourself tense up as Eddie reaches for his beer so he can finish it off. “He your ex or something?” Eddie asks as he places the now empty bottle on the bar and motions to the bartender for another one.

“Yeah he’s uhm my ex.” Eddie can tell by your tone of voice you’re nervous and it makes him wonder what Jason did that caused the two of you to go your separate ways. “I’m sorry this is dumb I shouldn’t have bothered you.” You mumble as you try to move away from him but Eddie is quick to just pull you into him and wrap both arms around your shoulders making your cheek rest on his worn out Metallica shirt.

“Now what kind of husband would I be if I let you storm off like that?” Eddie begins running one of his hands up and down your back making you let out a soft sigh because for the first time in a long time you felt an odd sense of security and who would’ve thought that of all places it’s while wrapped in the arms of a stranger. “I’ve got you okay?” You look up and Eddie is already looking down at you making you feel even more at ease because his eyes are soft and his smile is sweet as he looks at you.

“Okay.” Is all you can say making Eddie’s hold on you tighten slightly as he leans down and places a small kiss to the top of your head in an attempt to help you relax a little more. “Uh so what’s your name?” Eddie laughs as he looks towards the door to check on the location of your ex.

“My name is Eddie.” You just nod and tell him your name in return as your hands somehow find their way into his back pockets as you wrap your arms around his waist. “I can see my wife is a little handsy huh?” You hide your face in his chest as you try to slide your hands from his pockets. “It’s okay sweetheart we’re married remember? No need to be shy.” You can’t help but laugh as Eddie goes back to running his hands up and down your back.

“So how do you know Jason?” You feel Eddie tense up at the mention of your ex’s name and it lets you know whatever memories Eddie has of him aren’t good ones.

“He was my high school’s official asshole.” You look up and rest your chin on Eddie’s chest as you watch his eyes look towards the door of the bar. “I take it he hasn’t changed much?” He asks as he looks down at you with a raised eyebrow making you look away as some memories of your relationship with Jason reply in your head.

“Yeah he hasn’t changed.” Eddie doesn’t miss the way your voice shakes a little as you answer his question.

“I can kick his ass right now if you want me to sweetheart just say the word and he’ll be on the ground.” You may not know Eddie but something tells you he’s not kidding and that he’d get a lot of joy out of beating Jason up. “Let me add that I feel that since I’m your husband it’s kinda my job to beat up your asshole ex boyfriends.” Eddie smiles to himself when he hears you laugh and just shake your head at him.

“As your wife it’s kinda my job to keep you out of trouble.” Eddie lets out a dramatic huff as he drops one of his arms from you so he can reach over and grab his beer and take a long swig from it. “I uh like your rings.” Eddie’s eyes flicker down to yours as he watches you give the rings on his hand that’s holding his beer a good once over.

“Yeah? Which one is your favorite?” He asks as he puts his beer on the bar so he can let you get a better look at his rings. You unwrap your arms from around him so you can take his hand in yours, Eddie tries to ignore how soft your hands feel as you look at his rings giving a lot of attention to his skull one. “You like the skull?” You just nod making Eddie smile because the skull one was also his favorite.

“What are you doing?” Eddie ignores your question as he brings his hand up to his mouth and you feel your eyes go wide as you watch him take his skull ring off and hold it between his lips for a moment before grabbing it. “I can’t take this.” Eddie rolls his eyes as he gently grabs your left hand so he can slide the ring onto your ring finger.

“How are you supposed to be my wife without a ring?” Eddie asks as he reaches over and tucks some of your hair behind your ear.

“You’ve got the be fucking with me.” You feel your heart drop to your stomach as Jason’s voice fills your ears. Eddie’s arm drops from around you so he can turn and block you from Jason’s view. “Not the freak still hanging around the Hideout.” You see Eddie’s hands form into fists as Jason laughs his almost evil sounding laugh.

“Fuck off Carver don’t you have a ball to go toss into a basket or something?” You giggle making Jason move so he can get a look at you, Eddie is quick to move so he’s still standing between you and the ex jock.

“What the fuck is going on?” Eddie looks at you over his shoulder making sure you’re okay and you just give him a reassuring smile as you place your hand on his lower back.

“Just enjoying a night out with my wife.” Jason’s eyes go as wide as golf balls as Eddie explains what the two of you are doing at the Hideout.

“Your wife? Wow okay I mean even you…Munson the town freak can do better than her she’s-” Jason doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Eddie’s fist collides with his cheek knocking him to the ground.

“Next time you think about saying anything about her,” Eddie kneels down as he speaks so he’s only a few inches away from Jason’s face as he groans in pain. “Don’t.” He spits as he stands up and turns so he can grab your hand and walk you towards the back of the bar. “I’m sorry…I am so sorry.” You just shake your head as Eddie’s hands gently cup your face as he looks you over to make sure you’re okay because he’s never gotten into a fight before let alone knocked someone to the ground and that’s the last thing he wanted you to have to deal with tonight.

“It’s okay.” You reassure him as you place your hands over his that are still on your face. “Thank you.” Eddie just shrugs as he gives you a small smile.

“Like I said it’s my job as your husband to beat up your asshole ex boyfriends.” You laugh as Eddie leans in closer, he pauses as he get a few inches from your face. “Is it okay if I kiss you?” Eddie doesn’t have to wait for your answer because your lips are on his in a mater of seconds for a sweet kiss.

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fanficimagery · 1 year

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No Bone Zone

Dustin Henderson has a sister who thinks it's unfair his older friends are so attractive.

Words: 4.8K Author's Note: Stranger Things AU - Lets just pretend that Steve and Carol are still in school, only Steve is the Steve we all know and love, and Carol is still a harpy.

When your father met Claudia Henderson, you had only been two years old.

The story goes that your birth mother had thought she snagged herself the perfect man, but your father had a wandering eye, and she was a very jealous woman. So, when you were born, she left you in his capable hands and took off without a word. Enter Claudia Henderson who then fell for the struggling, single father schtick. She hadn't known what she was getting into when dating your father, but she quickly found out after she fell pregnant. This time it was your father who left, leaving Claudia to fend for herself.

It took a few years to realize you had a little brother, and when you did it took a lot of crying and tantrums to get your father to contact Claudia. He reluctantly told her you wanted to meet your brother, but since the two of you had school, it would have to wait until summer. So, one week out of the summer, Claudia Henderson would keep you in Hawkins so you could get to know your only sibling.

Over the years, you and Dustin kept in contact over the phone when he was old enough to know how to use a phone. You shared your interests with one another, telling each other all about your school experiences. You were more on the popular side of the spectrum, whereas your little brother was a total nerd and very unpopular. He admitted it hurt when other kids picked on him and you apologized for calling him a nerd, but he assured you he didn't mind it when you said it because you said it with affection.

The older you got, the more your father pulled away. Since you were old enough to take care of yourself, he treated you more like a houseguest and less like a daughter. And after one too many arguments with his late-night visitors, you called up Claudia to ask if you could finish your last year of school in Hawkins. She listened to what had been going on and immediately told you to pack your belongings. She and Dustin would make sure the room you normally used for one week out of the year would be ready for you to move into.

Dustin was more than happy to have you go to school with him but was wary of introducing you to his friends since you were on completely different sides of the popular spectrum. You promised he didn't have to do that, and he could go about his days as if you weren't there. You wouldn't hold it against him, but you would still keep an eye on him from afar because that's what big sisters did.

For the first week at Hawkins High, you pasted on a smile and took in your surroundings. You kept your word to Dustin and stayed far, but not too far away. Then when you were comfortable knowing who was who in school, you tried out for the cheer team. It was a no-brainer that the girls voted you onto the team after seeing how quickly you could pick up routines and perform the perfect tumbles, and in no time, you found yourself at the top of the totem pole where you belonged.

Over the weeks you noticed Dustin had two separate groups of friends- one who called themselves the Hellfire Club and another who consisted of a band geek, an ex-king, a creep photographer, an ex-princess and two freshmen females. The Hellfire Club made sense, but the second group was all over the place. You, however, didn't question it and were just glad Dustin had friends who looked out for him.

Unfortunately, your brother's friends consisted mostly of males. There were four females in his social circle, but none of them were as confrontational as you hoped they would be.

So, when you see Carol Perkins purposely bump into your brother and knock his tray from his hand one day, and then cruelly make remarks towards him that have his shoulders raising in embarrassment, you're up and out of your seat. Half the cafeteria had quieted when Dustin's tray clattered to the floor and then the other half quieted when you practically skipped towards the duo, your cheerleader skirt swishing from side to side.

"Hi." You beam at Carol, letting your smile lure her into a false sense of security as you come to a stop next to Dustin. From the corner of your eye, you see his shoulders droop in relief. "We haven't met yet. I'm YN LN," you tell the girl.

"Okay. And..?" Her nose wrinkles as if in distaste and your gaze goes steely.

"And I'm gonna need to apologize to Henderson here," you say. She barks out a laugh, head thrown back in amusement. A few others start to laugh along with her, but a majority smartly remain quiet as you continue to stare her down. Your smile falls and you take a step closer to her, lowering your voice and clasping your hands behind your back. It would do no one any good if you were to strike out at the female bully. "Listen, Carol, I couldn't care less about who you pick on, but you just pulled this stunt on my little brother. Now apologize, publicly, or I will make your life a living hell." The girl's smile slowly vanishes and you see her glance at Dustin a little fearfully. You slowly smirk then. "You see, I pick locks for fun. It'd probably take me a week, give or take a day or two, before I open up that closet of yours and air out all your dirty laundry. You wouldn't want that, would you, Carol?"

"You- you wouldn't."

"Oh, I would. And I'd do it with a smile on my face," you tell her a little too sweetly. When she still makes no move to apologize, you ask, "Who do you think the school's gonna rally behind? The cheerleader that everyone adores or the girl that everyone makes fun of because your middle school sweetheart is railing other girls behind your back?" She gasps and you chuckle darkly. "I might be the new girl but figuring out everyone's dirty little secrets was way too easy in your podunk little town."

Her eyes widen and she takes a few steps back. Glancing at Dustin, she says, "Sorry," before rushing away.

You smile as you watch her go, turning on your heel to follow her and then laugh when she smacks away her boyfriend's hands when he tries to check if she's okay. Then when you realize the cafeteria is still too quiet, you huff. "What?" You feign innocence. "The girl had tummy issues. It's not my fault she had to race to the bathroom."

As some of your peers laugh and the rest go back to what they were doing before Carol interrupted their lunch hour, you look back at Dustin. He's grinning at you, and you roll your eyes while reaching out to ruffle his curls. But before either of you can say anything, someone is clearing their throat.

"New friend, Henderson?" Eddie Munson is grinning behind Dustin, though his guarded gaze tells you he's trying to figure out whether your appearance is with good intentions or you were about to pick on his little sheep as well since he couldn't hear the whole conversation between you and Carol. "I didn't know Hawkins had a decent cheerleader."

"Decent?" You mock gasp, clasping your hands over your heart as if swooning. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Munson." You wink, Eddie gapes, and Dustin groans as he turns so he can see both of you.

"Please don't flirt with my friend."

You chuckle softly. "Then tell you friend to stop being so cute." Eddie's expression flickers from shocked to surprised to smug in about two seconds flat while the rest of the Hellfire table go dead silent in shock. "Now if you boys will excuse me, I got three tires to slash. Carol does not get to pick on my little brother and get away with it."

Eddie hops back a step, smirking and bending slightly at the waist as he sweeps his arm out for you to go.

"Brother?!"

"Since when does Henderson have a goddamn sister?!"

You smirk at the chaos you've just created and Dustin groans yet again. Laughing, you pinch his cheek, but before you can get too far away, Eddie asks, "Wait. Three tires? Why not all four?"

"Because insurance will cover four tires, but not three for some reason." You shrug. "I slash only three and Carol will have to pay out of pocket."

"You're diabolical," Eddie then realizes, smiling wide. "Marry me."

"No. Nope. Not happening." Dustin starts pushing you away and you wiggle your fingers in departure. As you're passing the other table with his second group of friends, you laugh at their surprised expressions. Dustin sighs, stops, and quickly introduces you. "Guys, this is YN. She's my sister." He then shoves you aside. "Now off you go. If you need an alibi, let me know."

"Will do, baby bro." Then raising your voice so those around you can hear, you say, "And if anyone gives you any trouble, come to me. I'll set them straight."

You leave the cafeteria with your fellow peers whispering about the new information you just dropped on them, happy with the chaos you no doubt just created. You expect some to not take a liking to the fact that you're related to someone in the Hellfire Club, but you're more than ready for the backlash.

You're a little surprised that it doesn't take long to be cornered by Jason Carver and his basketball goons, but you surprise them right back by not cowering to his intensity. He calls you a freak lover and a cult member and that you don't deserve to wear the school colors. You laugh in his face, press back into his personal space and tell him the same thing you'd told Carol. You match his intensity and promise all sorts of problems for anyone messing with your brother and his friends.

"You're psycho," he realizes as he watches you go from sweet to angry and back to sweet.

"And don't you forget it," you tell him. "Your final year at Hawkins High can be easy peasy, Carver, so long as you stop being a dick. If I see or even hear about you bullying the Hellfire club, we're gonna have problems." He scoffs and you chuckle. "Don't believe me? Just keep an eye on Carol Perkins. You'll learn."

You go about your day as if it were any other day, answering questions here and there to those curious about your relationship to Dustin. The cheerleaders don't really have a problem about who you associate with and you're majorly shocked when Jason's own girlfriend, Chrissy Cunningham, explains how relieved she is that someone finally stuck up for the Hellfire Club. She's heard numerous rumors about the club and a connection to satanic worship, so she's greatly relieved when you explain to her exactly what Dungeons and Dragons actually is.

Then at the end of the day, you skip to your car without a care in the world and mentally cackle when you see Carol being consoled by her bully of a boyfriend as a tow truck loads up her car with three flat tires. You catch Jason's eye then, winking as he gapes between the scene of the crime and your seemingly innocent self.

Over the next couple of weeks, you slowly let your authentic self bleed in with your cheerleader persona. Gone are the pastels, your girl next door vibe is edgier than anyone had anticipated, and you take great pleasure in the jocks not knowing what to think of you. Jason and his little band of bullies still openly sneer at you and the others they deem different, but they never make Carol's mistake of getting physical.

Then again, Jason's open hostility could be because Chrissy becomes your best friend and publicly smiles at or greets those in Hellfire Club that her boyfriend once tormented.

During Christmas break, Claudia's sister has an accident and needs help around her house. She doesn't like the idea of leaving Dustin during the holiday break, but you persuade her to go- much to Dustin's excitement- while you keep an eye on things in Hawkins. She's unsure of leaving the both of you, but you assure her everything will be okay. And then once she's gone, you and Dustin start making plans since you have the house to yourselves.

"I'm gonna see if Hellfire wants to continue our current campaign here since mom's gone."

"That's fine. I'll probably have Chrissy over for a sleepover. Poor girl needs to get out more."

"Cool."

So that's how you find yourself in your room later that evening, cleaning up and piling pillows and blankets on an air mattress on the floor so your friend has a comfortable place to sleep. Dustin and his friends have been downstairs for hours, the rambunctious bunch being louder than you anticipated, but it brought a smile to your face knowing your little brother found a place to belong.

After a while, you turn off your radio and realize it's a little too quiet.

Heading downstairs and peeking into the den, you're surprised to see Dustin collecting empty bowls and glasses, and Eddie stowing away items from the game they just played. "Hey, losers." Both look up, causing you to grin as you lean against the den archway. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Gone. Campaign ended early," your brother says. "Why? What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm about to go pick up Chrissy, some food, and a movie. I was going to see if anyone wanted to stick around, but I guess I'm too late." Dustin looks surprised that you'd include his friends and then your gaze darts to Eddie. Arching an eyebrow at him, you ask, "You in?"

"Depends. What's the movie?" He wonders.

"Goonies."

"And food?" Dustin then asks.

"Pizza."

"What about dessert?" Eddie muses.

You chuckle, making it obvious that you're looking him up and down as you bite the bottom corner of your lip. "Me hopefully."

Eddie's jaw drops open in surprise as Dustin groans. "You're disgusting!" Then out of nowhere, he produces a water bottle and spritzes it at you. "Stop hitting on my friends."

You flinch, looking at your brother in shock before both you and Eddie erupt with laughter. As Dustin continues to try and spritz you, you dodge the stream of water. "It's not my fault! You're supposed to have friends who look like gangly Wheeler and bashful Byers!" You hide behind Eddie, using him as a shield. "You're not supposed to have friends who look like Eddie or Steve or hell, even Robin. It's not fair to my hormones!"

"Your hormones need to be locked up tight!"

Laughing, you run out from behind Eddie and out of reach from Dustin and the spray bottle. "Okay. Fine. No hooking up with your friends."

"Damn," Eddie mumbles, which earns him a quick spritz of water as well. He yelps and you continue to giggle.

"Okay, okay. Serious time here," you say while calming down. "Are you boys good with pepperoni or do you have any special requests?"

"Get a meat lovers," Dustin says.

Eddie shrugs. "I'm good with whatever."

"Alright. You boys wash the dishes from your game night, and I'll be back with Chrissy and food."

Eddie watches you go with a smile, still not moving even after the front door closes at your departure. It isn't until Dustin spritzes him with water yet again does he startle from his mental musing. "What?"

"Don't even think about it. That's my sister, man."

He rolls his eyes, but smirks nonetheless. "Can you blame me? Your sister's hot, Henderson." Dustin raises the water bottle again and Eddie's hands fly up in surrender. "Chill out. Besides, it's all just fun and games. I'd be a lucky guy if your sister meant everything she said. But even if she did, I doubt she'd do that to you. Hell, I wouldn't even do that to you. You were my friend first. I get she's off limits. Whatever's going on between us is just for laughs."

"Yeah, yeah." Dustin stows the bottle away, sighing. "Help me clean up and make the living room cozy. The Goonies is her favorite movie so don't be surprised if she recites her favorite parts."

. . . .

One right after the other, you and Chrissy walk into Family Video still giggling. You had told her about Dustin spritzing you and Eddie like you were cats in heat, and she found it absolutely hilarious. Her laughter set off your laughter and you just couldn't stop.

"You girls are cutting it awfully close," Steve calls out. "We're closing in twenty minutes."

As you glance up, you see him wiping down the counter while Robin restocks the candy shelves. "Heya, Harrington. I already know what I'm looking for, so it'll only take a sec."

Chrissy is still giggling as you grab her by the wrist, tugging her towards where you know various copies of the Goonies reside. Grabbing one, you then tug her back towards the front counter.

When Steve sees what you're renting, he huffs a laugh. "Again?"

"Yep." You hand him the movie. "Chris has never seen it. I don't think Eddie has either."

"Munson?" Steve's brow furrows as he enters the movie information into your account. "Are you having a movie night or something?"

"Yeah. You and Robin should come if you're up to it," you tell him. You then glance at Robin when her head whips in your direction. "It's just gonna be me, Chris, Eddie and Dustin. After we leave here, we're gonna go pick up some pizzas."

"Dustin's mom is letting everyone hang so late at night?"

"Claudia's gone for the next few days," you tell her, grinning. When you hear the cash register make a noise, you quickly glance at Steve to see that Chrissy's paid for the movie. You roll your eyes but let her have this win. "So, are you guys in or not?"

"Uh yeah. I don't have any plans," Steve says. "Robin?"

"I'm in too. I like the Goonies."

"Excellent." You grin. "I'm picking up two pizzas- a meat lovers and pepperoni. Are you guys good with that or do you want something else?"

"I, uh, I actually like supreme," Steve says.

"Same," Robin sheepishly admits.

"That's fine. I can pick up a third," you tell them.

"And don't worry about drinks. Steve's got it," Robin says.

You laugh as Steve grumbles but assures you he's got the drinks as you and Chrissy take your leave.

. . . .

When you get back to your house, Chrissy keeps hold of the movie while grabbing her overnight bag. You grab all three pizza boxes from the back seat and then head inside with your friend following you.

"And we're back," you shout as soon as the door is closed behind you. You smile at Chrissy as she stands next to you, looking around and keeping quiet. You see Dustin round the corner and he reaches for the pizza that you pull back just out of his reach. "Nope. We have to wait for Steve and Robin. They should be here in a little bit."

Dustin smiles, happy to have Steve over, but then his eyes narrow at you. "I see what you're doing, inviting the people you think are attractive."

Chrissy giggles as you smile at him. "It's a wet dream come true. Right, Munson?" You then direct the question at him, winking when he rounds the corner.

"Oh my god!" Dustin groans, grossed out. Chrissy squeaks next to you and you glance at her to see the apples of her cheeks tinting red. "Look! You're even grossing out your friend," Dustin then says.

Laughing, you hold all three pizza boxes in one hand and use your free arm to sling around her shoulders. "Relax, Chris. Eddie knows I'm only messing with him. And besides, Dustin already strictly forbade me from hooking up with his older friends."

Dustin grabs the boxes from you, marching off towards the kitchen. As soon as he's out of earshot, Chrissy asks, "So what's going to happen when your brother no longer cares about you hooking up with them?"

"Yeah, YN, what then?" Eddie asks, wiggling his eyebrows at you.

"Your ass is mine, Munson. That's what's gonna happen."

Chrissy barks out a laugh, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle the following giggles. Eddie laughs as well and then gestures for Chrissy to follow him. "Come on, Cunningham, let's get the movie all set up."

As Chrissy follows Eddie, you walk into the kitchen to find your brother pulling down plates. His expression is schooled so you don't know how he's currently feeling and it makes your heart ache just a little to know that you possibly hurt him by insinuating you'd hook up with his friends when he didn't approve of it.

"Hey," you call out softly. Dustin glances at you, his answering smile forced. Sighing softly, you step further into the kitchen until you're side by side with him and gather napkins. "You know I'd never actually hook-up with any of your friends, right? I wouldn't do that to you."

"You wouldn't?" His skepticism does you in and you smile sadly at him before turning to pull him into a hug.

"No, kid, I wouldn't. You come first. Always. And if you say Eddie is off limits, then he's off limits. Promise."

"M'kay." He pulls back then, smirking. "Steve and Robin are too. Don't think I didn't hear you mention them earlier."

Laughing, you tug on one of his curls. "Fine. Steve and Robin too."

"Steve and Robin too what?" The voice startles both you and Dustin, and you turn to see the two in question standing in the kitchen archway.

You shrug. "That you, Robin, and Eddie are officially in the no bone zone." Steve and Robin's eyes widen, and Dustin giggles at them while you grin unabashedly at them. "I'm a teenage girl, Harrington. Of course I noticed how hot my little brother's friends are. He was just setting down some ground rules." The two continue to gape at you and you roll your eyes. "Calm down. I'm sure it's not the first time a girl admitted to finding you attractive."

"No, but it is a first for me," Robin mutters.

"Yeah," you sigh. "People suck. But if you wanna hear it again, you're hot, Buckley. Own it."

As Robin perks up, Steve chuckles at her. "Now that our attractiveness is settled, we were promised pizza and a movie."

"Yeah. Of course." Then raising your voice, you say, "Chrissy, Eddie, come and grab a plate!"

Everyone crams into the kitchen, grabbing a plate to load up pizza slices and then grabbing a can of Cola from the bag that Steve had brought. You all take your food and drink into the living room, everyone settling down in whatever space they can find. Dustin ends up on the floor with Robin, using the coffee table to their advantage. Steve takes the armchair and you end up between Eddie and Chrissy on the sofa.

Though you've seen the Goonies numerous times, it never fails to make you laugh. And then when Sloth's introduction comes up, you can't help blurting, "That's the character that reminds me of Dustin." Your friends all chuckle and you end up with a throw pillow to the face in retaliation from your little brother.

You end up silently reciting Chunk's confession to the Fratelli's, earning a chuckle from Eddie who'd been watching you. There are a few other scenes that you mumble along to, but for the most part you remain quiet so the others can enjoy the movie. And then by the time it's over, you're happy to hear that everyone enjoyed it- Eddie included since he was the most skeptical of liking it.

You offer for Robin to spend the night with you and Chrissy, but unfortunately, she has family obligations she has to deal with the following day.

By the time school is back in session, you've toned down the obvious flirty comments to Eddie and distanced yourself a bit from those Dustin had befriended first. He completely understands your reasoning and there's no hard feelings.

Instead, you spend most of your time with Chrissy who has decided to take a break from Jason. The school's top athlete didn't take too kindly to his girlfriend wanting some space from him, so he took out his frustrations on you.

Well, on those close to you since he knew it wouldn't be good for his image to be seen harassing a girl.

You and Chrissy, along with a few other friends, are eating lunch a few tables down from the Hellfire table when you hear a commotion. Glancing towards it, you're not surprised to find Jason and his closest friends standing at the end of the Hellfire table being the ones responsible.

Whatever's going on, you can't hear but can see the frustration on the faces of your friends. The jocks, however, are smug as can be and laughing among themselves.

Then all of a sudden, Jason speaks loud for all to hear. "I got fifty bucks," he reaches into his back pocket, pulling free his wallet, "that not one girl in this cafeteria would willingly kiss any of you freaks."

The bet laid out before the students of Hawkins High is meant to embarrass those in Hellfire, but the boys are not known for backing down. Immediately they look to Mike and Lucas- two boys who are known to have girlfriends- but when they glance at Jane and Max, Max scowls at Lucas and flips them off.

The jocks laugh and just as they're about to embarrass Hellfire even more, Dustin stands up. The cafeteria quietens and the jocks grin. "YN!" Your brother calls out to you.

"What?" You call back, smirking as everyone's gaze darts between the two of you.

"You remember that thing I forbid you from doing?"

"Maybe!" Next to you, Chrissy giggles. She knows very well what Dustin forbid you from doing because she was the unfortunate soul that you whined to frequently about it.

"Well, I'm lifting the rule for thirty seconds. Make them count!"

The jocks frown as your leering gaze slides to Eddie. He arches an eyebrow at you, and you laugh before standing up. Immediately, Eddie pushes back from the table, still seated in his chair, and the rest of those in Hellfire are just as confused as the jocks.

"What the hell is going on?" Jason asks as you near.

"I just became fifty bucks richer," you tell him, snatching the crisp bill from his fingers. Then continuing on towards Eddie, you plop yourself sideways on his lap while loosely wrapping your arms around his neck. "Told you your ass was gonna be mine."

You end up smothering Eddie's laughter when you kiss him, ignoring the sudden wolf whistles and loud ruckus the Hellfire club members are making by pounding their fists on the table. You groan when his hand squeezes your thigh and then whimper when he licks into your mouth.

You're not sure how much time has passed when you feel a hand on your shoulder, pushing you away from Eddie's mouth. "Okay, okay. Break it up. You officially grossed out Jason and myself."

You laugh at your brother's words, but you can't tear your gaze away from Eddie's kiss swollen lips. With one hand still cradling his jaw, you let your thumb swipe just beneath his bottom lip. "Knew you'd be a good kisser, Munson."

"Right back at 'ya, sweetheart."

"Gross." You glance at Dustin, watching as his nose wrinkles. "You can get off his lap now."

"Or.." you trail off, holding up the fifty dollar bill, "you can take this money and let me make out with your friend for the rest of the day."

Eddie snorts, but your brother actually takes a moment to think about it. Knowing he's going to cave, you hold the money out further to him. "Only making out?"

"Only making out," you assure him.

"Fine. Whatever." He snatches the money from you. "But not in the cafeteria. I'm still trying to eat."

"Right. Got it!" You stand up, holding out a hand for Eddie. "Let's go, Munson! I'm pretty sure the back of your van is private enough."

Laughing, Eddie takes your hand and shrugs at his gaping friends. "What? Who am I to deny a pretty girl?"

#stranger things gen fic x reader #eddie munson x reader #stranger things imagine #eddie munson imagine #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson fanfiction #dustin henderson #eddie munson #jason carver #steve harrington #chrissy cunningham #stranger things

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munsons-hellfire · 12 days

Text

I Always Knew | Eddie Munson

SUMMARY: You fell in love with Eddie over the years. But you feared that he never felt the same way. When you finally break up with Jason and decided your ready to tell Eddie you love him. Your reality is crashed when you catch someone kissing him. Only it's not her he loves.

PAIRINGS: Eddie Munson x Reader, Jason Carver x Reader (brief mentions)

CONTENT WARNING: 18+ MDNI, NSFW, the events of season 4 don't happen (which means Hopper doesn't disappear, no one moves to Cali and reader does know about El and the Upside down), best friends to lovers, both kinda clueless about each others feelings, smut with a plot, unprotected p in v (wrap it before you tap it), oral (f receiving), angst, fluff, a happy ending.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It was so good to get back to Stranger Things. I honestly missed writing for Eddie. I hope you enjoyed this one shot as much as I enjoyed writing it. The smut could be a little better but I don't write it as much so this is how it turned out.

WORD COUNT: 3.7K

You had been friends with Eddie Munson from the moment you moved into the trailer park in Hawkins Indiana. Eddie was the first person𑁋other than your father𑁋that you left into your life after your mother. You and your father had moved back to his hometown of Hawkins just months after your mother passed away. You felt stuck, like your feet had cemented to the ground and you couldn’t move forward anymore.

Then one night when you were out stargazing to feel closer to your mother, you met Eddie Munson. From the moment he came over to talk to you, you knew one day that you’d marry him. As the two of you grew older neither of you could be separated from each other. Wayne and Bill𑁋your father𑁋couldn’t separate you two from each other. They both knew collectively from the moment that you met that one day you and Eddie would end up together.

They were shocked that neither of you had come forward and admitted your feelings for each other. But a small rift formed between your friendship when you started dating Jason Carver. You should’ve known better, but Jason had you locked under his spell and you thought it would be a way to move on from Eddie. Here you stood, Jason standing in front of you talking about the basketball game and how positive that they were going to win tonight.

But your mind constantly found its way back to Eddie, no matter how hard you tried to avoid thinking about him, you couldn’t. You especially couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d feel on top of you. About the way his cock would feel deep inside you. Just thinking about him that way made you wet between your legs.

“Are you listening to me, baby?” Jason questioned, his eyes trained on you. You were pulled out of your delicious thoughts, staring at your soon to be ex. This was your chance, you’d break up with him and then you’d finally go after Eddie hoping that it wasn’t too late.

“No, I’m not.” You whispered, then you sighed. “I can’t do this anymore Jason.” Your voice was steady as you spoke to him. You watched shock slowly morph into his features.

“What are you saying?” You pulled your eyes away from Jason looking around the hallway seeing a few people staring at you two. Almost like they were waiting for the announcement that you were breaking up with him.

A sigh rips from your throat, “What I’m saying is that I’m breaking up with you.”

A shocked noise left Jason’s mouth. “You can’t break up with me, we’re great together.” Jason said, throwing his hands in the air.

“I can and I am. I’m not meant to be with you, I’m meant to be with someone else.”

With those words you turned away from the basketball player and walked away from him as he called out your name. He didn’t however make a move to stop you. As you started on your journey to find Eddie you were stopped by Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Will; all of whom were in Hellfire with Eddie. It was nice of Eddie to take the boys under his wing this year, you loved him a little more seeing the way he treated them. They had needed a good role model other than Steve after everything that had happened over the last few years.

But you could all live a normal life thanks to El defeating the Mind Flayer. You wondered where Max and El were considering that they were all inseparable. You were certain they probably weren’t far, or would be joining them soon enough.

“Is there something I can help you with?” You asked, with a raised brow.

“We heard that you finally broke up with Carver.” Dustin said, his smile taking over his face.

“Wow, that happened not even 5 minutes ago and it spread around quickly.” You pause, keeping your eyes trained on the teens. “I did. Why?” A curious expression appeared on your face as you waited for one of them to answer the question.

“Does this mean that you and Eddie are finally going to get together?” Mike asked. All four of them plus everyone else in your friend group including Steve made it very clear to you and Eddie that you both were perfect for each other. You and Eddie were two pieces to the puzzle that fit perfectly together. Never when you were together though, only if you weren’t around each other.

“You four are something, that’s for sure.” You paused, but allowed a smile to break through and plaster your face. “That being said, I was on my way to find him and talk to him. Any of you happen to know where I might find Eddie? I know I should know but I’ve been distracted as of late.”

Even though you’d asked the question, you knew exactly where Eddie would be. But you wanted to make sure just in case you were wrong. He was in the drama room most likely setting up for tonight’s session for Hellfire.

“Drama room!” They all answered excitedly.

“Great! Thank you!”

With a smile still on your lips you turned again and walked in the direction of the drama room. You were more than ready to admit your feelings to Eddie even if it meant you’d possibly ruin your friendship. You opened the door when you reached the drama room, Eddie was already setting up for tonight’s session which you were excited to see. Eddie looked up from what he was doing and smiled at you. His smile sent a warm feeling through your body.

“Hey, I thought you’d be getting ready for the basketball game.” Eddie said, as he looked back down at what he was setting up.

“Uh, actually, I thought I’d skip out tonight and watch your campaign if that’s okay.” Your voice came out soft as you talked to Eddie. But in reality you just wanted to tell him how much you loved him. How you didn’t want to be apart from him anymore. But nothing would come out, your words were lodged in your throat, they wouldn’t move forward.

“Of course, you know you’re always welcome here.”

You walked over to Eddie and sat down in one of the chairs. One by one the boys started to file into the drama room. El and Max were now with them too. Eventually the campaign started and you kept your eyes on Eddie for the most part. You were memorized by how he explained the storyline and the whole premise of the campaign. Things took a turn for the worst when someone else entered the drama room.

All eyes including yours fell onto her, she was so beautiful. You were nothing compared to her, suddenly you felt so self-conscious. You started to fidget with your fingers as you watched the blond walk up to Eddie, interrupting the session.

“Uh, don’t mind me.” She said softly, then proceeded to give Eddie a kiss to his lips, a quick peck.

But that was enough for you to feel your entire world shatter. She sat down next to him and the campaign continued. Eddie took notice of the way your posture and mood suddenly changed. He thought it was odd but shook it off. As the campaign came to a close and everyone started to pack up, you quickly said your goodbyes to everyone except Eddie and the girl that had missed him. With your back to everyone you let the tears roll down your cheeks.

You weren’t upset that you had broken up with Jason. It was better for you, but you had pushed it off too long and now because of that you were too late to get Eddie, the one you always knew you wanted. Climbing in your car you turned it on and drove out of the school parking lot as fast as you could before Eddie had a chance to catch up to you. When you made it home you climbed out of your car and headed towards your trailer. Your dad was outside, a soft warm smile on his face.

“Hi, darling. How was the basketball game?” He asked, curiously.

“I didn’t go. I broke up with Jason because I realized that I’m in love with Eddie. But now I can’t have him because he’s dating someone else.”

You walked up the steps as you answered your father. The door closed behind you as you stepped into the trailer and headed straight for your room. Bill could hear the sadness in your voice. It broke his heart to see you like this. Once you were inside your room you locked the door, collapsed on your bed and let the rest of the tears out.

☾

Days had passed since you broke up with Jason, you’d also managed to avoid Eddie as well. It even included not going to school for those few days. Each day Eddie stopped by your home after school to talk to you, but you weren’t in the right space to talk to him. Your father would send him away saying that you hadn’t been feeling well. But your dad wasn’t home right now and Eddie needed to see you.

He needed to understand why you wouldn’t talk to him. You were curled into your side, your blanket was wrapped around your entire body and you had a horror movie on. You’d normally watch them with Eddie, but you had it on more so for background noise. The sound was up just enough for you to not hear Eddie enter your trailer.

Your eyes were closed and your cheeks were wet with tears. No matter how hard you had tried to stop crying you just couldn’t stop. It hurt too much. Eddie came up to your cracked door and knocked on it softly.

“It’s me, princess.” Eddie called out, voice soft and sweet as you remembered.

“Go away.”

Your voice was hoarse and low. You gripped your blanket tighter. Eddie ignored you, opening the bedroom door and walking in. He closed it behind him, then Eddie pulled his shoes off and climbed into your bed. You felt the dip of your bed and tried to move away. Eddie wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into his chest.

You were desperate to get away from him. The position that you were currently in wasn’t working for either of you. So Eddie lifted you up and turned your body so your back was on your bed. The metalhead pushed himself in between your legs, and you felt yourself stop breathing for a brief moment. Eddie held your hands above your head, suddenly everything was different.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Eddie questioned, a stern look on his face. You looked up at him finally, his brown eyes staring back at you. But there was something different, his eyes were covered in lust.

“I’m not ignoring you. Let go of me Eddie.” You mumbled looking away from him. Eddie removed a hand from your hands, he reached out and grabbed a hold of your jaw turning it back so he could see your eyes.

“Yes. You. Are.” He paused, eyes skimming down your body before moving back up and resting on your eyes. “I want to know why.”

“Because.” You spoke, your bottom lip trembling as you fought back to hold the tears in. You didn’t need to cry in front of him, not like this.

“Because why?” Eddie pressed.

“I broke up with Jason, because I…” You paused, it was now or never.

“You what?” Eddie let go of your hands and pulled away from your body, he leaned down on his knees but continued to stare at you. You suddenly missed his warmth.

“I broke up with him, I couldn’t bear the thought of being with someone who I didn’t love. Not when the person I love is you. And I wanted to tell you, I did, really. But the words got stuck in my throat and then she came in and kissed you and I knew… I knew that I had missed my time.” You pulled yourself up and moved back towards your headboard, then proceeded to wrap your arms around your legs when you pulled them to your chest.

“That’s why you’ve been ignoring me?” Eddie asked as he paused, running a hand down his face. “Look, she was nothing. I told her she could come watch the campaign session, but I swear I hadn’t planned for her to kiss me, okay. That was the last thing I wanted to happen.” Eddie adjusted himself, coming up next to you and wrapping an arm around you. “I always knew, you know. I always knew that I loved you, and deep down I think I always knew that you loved me too. But I didn’t want to ruin what we had over my feelings. I didn’t want to lose my best friend.”

“Oh, Ed.” You stared up at him, his brown eyes glazing over you. Before you could stop yourself you had your lips on Eddie’s and were kissing him with all the passion you had inside you. When you finally pull back from the heated kiss, you just stare at him. “You could never lose me.”

Eddie closed the space between you, his lips found purchase on yours again. His ringed fingers tangled into your hair, palms resting gently against your cheeks as he continued to kiss you. Eddie helped lower you down on the bed, until he was back between your legs. Your hands tangled into his long brown curly locks as he removed his lips from yours and placed them on your neck. He smirked when a soft moan escaped your lips.

The moan encouraged him to suck your skin in between his lips while his hand wandered down your chest. Finally his hand rested on your breasts, squeezing one before moving to the other. He could feel your nipples grow taut after he touched them. Eddie let off of your skin, pulling back from your body slightly. He looked down at your net to see a bruise forming where he had pulled at the skin. His smirk grew bigger as he stared down at your already blissed out face.

“Is this real?” You asked softly.

“It’s real, baby. Lean up.” Eddie said. You listened to his order and leaned yourself up from the bed slightly. “Good girl.” The words were smooth when they left his mouth, you felt yourself clenching your thighs together as Eddie leaned closer and reached for the bottom of your shirt. He grasped the shirt and started to lift it up your body.

Once the shirt was removed from your body you were left in only your bra, and shorts. Your hair fell back down landing on your chest. He threw your shirt onto the floor then reached forward again. His hands rested on your waist and slid up your back. His fingers unclasped your bra and pulled it off your shoulders. Finally he threw it to the floor and gently pushed you back down towards the mattress.

Eddie leaned down and placed kisses on your chest, slowly moving down. You gasped quietly when Eddie took a nipple into his mouth and started to flick his tongue around it. You closed your eyes, happy with just feeling him on you. Eddie pulled his lips from your nipple and moved to the other repeating the same thing. With his free hand he pinched your other nipple between his index finger and thumb.

Another moan slipped past your lips. He smirked at you, pulling away from your breasts and moving down your body. Eddie left a trail of kisses down your stomach until he reached your pussy. Eddie placed his lips on each thigh, avoiding the one spot you needed him most right now.

“Eddie.” You moaned out, lust filled eyes on him. He looked amazingly handsome between your thighs and you couldn’t help the smile that managed to cover your face. “Please.” You added, your voice barely above a whisper.

“So needy, princess.” Eddie whispered, his hot breath hitting your pussy.

He stuck his tongue out in front of your already wet cunt, then you felt his tongue on you. He licked a strip, moving from the bottom all the way to your clit. He sucked your clit into his mouth liking side to side. Gently he lifted a finger to your entrance and pushed a finger in. You tightened around his finger, a groan left Eddie’s lips causing a shutter to run through your body.

The slurping sound from his tongue ran through your ears, another moan left your lips when Eddie added another finger and curled them inside you hitting that sweet spot. You felt your orgasm inching closer with each lick of his tongue on your clit. You threw your head back, hitting your pillows. Your eyes were squeezed shut, mouth gaped open, your orgasm was so close.

“Eddie, please.” You moaned.

Eddie tugs at your clit, and curls his fingers inside again. When Eddie did that you felt yourself tighten around his fingers. Then he started to pick his pace up, pulling his fingers out only to shove them back inside of you.

“That’s it princess, cum on my fingers.” He whispered.

He stuck his tongue out again softly licking your clit. You shuttered, as you came on his fingers. Your moans echoed around the room as the remnants of your orgasm hit you. Eddie rested his head on your thigh, pulling his fingers from your entrance. You watched with blissed out eyes as he sucked your juices off his digits.

“You taste so divine, princess.” A smile fell onto your lips. Eddie pulls himself away from you, he climbs off the bed and proceeds to remove his clothes one by one. Eddie tugs his boxers off, his cock springs free hitting his stomach, pre-cum drips from the tip. He climbs back onto the bed and hoovers over top of you.

You pull your hand to your mouth and spit on it. Then you reach out and grab a hold of his cock and begin to stroke it. A moan leaves his lips at the feeling of your hand on him. He rests his head against yours. He pushes your hand off his cock and grips it, then you feel him tapping his cock against your clit. A strangled moan leaves your swollen lips.

Eddie smirks, he pulls back, placing his cock at your entrance. You watch as he pushes his cock inside of you. Eddie moans as you grip him tightly. Another moan leaves you, Eddie pushes all the way inside and settles there allowing you to adjust to his size.

“Fuck, I’ve waited so long to feel this close to you.” Eddie whispered.

“Please move.” You stared up at Eddie’s brown eyes. You’d waited long enough too and you needed him to move. He could see the pleading look that covered your face. Eddie pulled back just until the tip of his cock was the only thing that remained inside you. Then he pushed forward slamming back into you. Both of you moaned out in pleasure.

You could feel yourself tighten around Eddie’s cock as he continued the pace he was going. The sound of skin slapping skin echoed through the bedroom. Another moan fell from your lips, Eddie leaned forward and kissed them swallowing your moan. Eddie moves his fingers down to your clit and starts circling the bud. He pulls another moan from your lips, it echoes in the room when he pulls away to kiss your neck.

Your orgasm was getting closer. Eddie’s hips slammed into yours. Continuous moans left both your mouths as both of you inched closer towards your impending orgasm. Eddie could feel you getting closer. A smile brightened on his face. You placed a hand down on your bed and gripped the sheets tightly, arching your back.

“Fuck, Eddie.” You moaned.

“Are you close?” He whispered breathlessly.

“So close.” You mumbled. Eddie kept his finger on your clit rubbing in fast tight circles. His cock hitting that sweet spot inside of you.

“You gonna cum all over my cock, princess?” You could only nod your head, words weren’t forming on your tongue. “I want to feel you cum.”

“Eddie.” Another whimpered moan left your lips after breathing his name. He felt his orgasm getting closer, but he wanted to feel you cum around his cock first.

“Cum on my cock.”

You obeyed Eddie, a moan falling from your lips. Eddie felt you squeezing him, he went to pull out, however you gripped onto his arms.

“No. Inside.” The words left your mouth and you watched through dazed eyes as Eddie complied and kept himself inside you. He slammed his hips into you a final time cum releasing inside you. Eddie slowed his rhythm down more until his hips stilled. He stared down at you with bright brown eyes. Lust filled eyes, but still bright.

Slowly Eddie removed himself from you, pulling back and climbing off the bed. You stared up at the ceiling, no thoughts in your mind just the blissful aftermath of your post orgasm. When Eddie returned you gasped feeling something could touch your cunt.

“Just cleaning you up, princess.” Eddie threw the cloth in your close basket. He climbed back into the bed and pulled you onto his chest.

“So, what does this mean now?” You asked, finally breaking the silence after the two of you had settled down into the bed.

“It means your mine.” Eddie whispered, placing a soft kiss on your head.

You tilted your head towards him with a smile so bright Eddie always wanted to see it. “I think I can live with that.” You leaned up to him and kissed his lips passionately.

“Good.” You laid your head down on his chest and fell asleep, at some point he had pulled his boxers on and his shirt. And you had your shirt and underwear back on. Finally he fell asleep holding you. An hour later your dad came in calling for you, when he opened the door he stared at you resting in Eddie’s arms. They were wrapped around your waist tightly.

“It’s about damn time.” He whispered, closing the door and walking back down the hallway.

#reader insert #x reader #stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x you #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #will byers #jason carver

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apolloanddaphnis · 11 days

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Jason's older sister was in a mental hospital during her last year of high school.

She was having an affair with Mr Cunningham before that, Chrissy's dad. She thought he loved her but he told her she was just a whore, she tried to overdose on her mom's pills in the bathroom and so she was sent away to a mental spa retreat as her mom called it, in Key West.

She told Eddie this, and was livid at her parents for wanting to keep her mouth shut like it washer fault. She was just a kid!

He slashed the tires of his Porsche, when Mr. Cunningham tried to drive in the morning, he was frustrated and confused, none the wiser. Eddie's attacks increased from then.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #jason carver!sister #Carver!reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x carver!reader

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ambrossart · 6 months

Text

Out of the Loop

summary: eddie went home with someone after prom, and gareth is determined to figure out who it was.

pairing: eddie munson x dwm!reader word count: 11k warnings: language, new relationship, eddie's girlfriend is gareth's arch nemesis, silly childhood rivalries, eddie being happy and stupidly in love, jason being an overprotective ass, chrissy being an adorable little cupcake, the reader is chrissy's best friend, the unnamed freak is named grant in this series

series masterpost | series playlist | fanfiction masterlist

On Monday morning, Gareth peddled to school like a man on a mission.

Nothing was getting in his way today, not his mother, who had accidentally washed his Hellfire Club shirt with all his little sister’s dance clothes,

“You know what, honey, I think it looks better this way…”

not his sister, who had been hogging the bathroom all morning because she couldn’t get her hair right,

“Look, you don’t understand the pressure I’m under right now. Becca Singer is finalizing her birthday party guest list today. I have to look my best if I wanna make the cut.”

not the weatherman, who was painfully misinformed when he called for clear, sunny skies today…

and certainly not the piece of crap Chevy that just cut him off in the middle of the crosswalk.

Gareth swerved out of the way and kept on peddling. The rain pelted his face in a spray of ice-cold bullets.

Behind him, the driver yelled, “Hey, watch where you’re going, you little shit!”

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Because Gareth was sitting on a goldmine of information right now. It was truly the scoop of the century. Eddie Munson—that’s right, Eddie “the Freak” Munson—had gone home with somebody after the senior prom.

Who was this mysterious (not to mention incredibly lucky) woman? A curious cheerleader desperate to defy her clique? A rich girl trying to piss off her dad? A shy bookworm who wanted to act out the plot of her favorite romance novel? Who? Who? Gareth’s head was spinning! The question hungrily devoured the rest of his weekend (something Gareth wasn’t too proud to admit, of course, but hey, Sundays were always uneventful days for him). He had to get to school quickly and consult his most trusted sources.

He found Jeff and Grant sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria. Grant was eating the school’s hot breakfast while Jeff sat with his head in his hands, lamenting the sorry state of his love life.

“Tara’s still not talking to me. I’m pretty sure she’s gonna dump me for Patrick McKinney.”

Grant put down his fork. “Wait, you two were dating?”

“No…” Jeff heaved a quiet sigh. “But if we were, she’d definitely dump me for Patrick.”

Grant frowned, sympathetic yet envious of his friend’s plight. “Man, I wish Meg would stop talking to me. She had me on the phone all night yesterday. I think she wants me to be her boyfriend or something.” Grant cringed at the thought. He didn’t have the strength to put up with her. He’d barely survived prom.

“You don’t like her?” Jeff asked.

“Not really,” Grant answered. “I mean, yeah, she’s pretty and all, but as soon as she starts talking—”

Gareth slammed a wrinkled piece of notebook paper onto the table. The loud bang echoed through the entire cafeteria, making a few students gasp and flinch in their chairs. Jeff and Grant didn’t move in the slightest. This was typical Monday morning behavior for Gareth.

“What’s with the pink shirt?” Grant asked, unfazed.

“Doesn’t matter,” Gareth said. They had more pressing matters to discuss. He sat down and folded his hands in front of him, his blue eyes clear and focused. He wasted no time getting straight to the point: “Who’d Eddie go home with after prom?”

Jeff and Grant exchanged a subtle, secret glance.

“How do you know Eddie went home with someone after prom?” Jeff asked.

“Because I called him that night.”

“Why’d you call him?”

“Because I’m a good friend, unlike some people.” Nobody had called him asking how his night went. Gareth sat home alone on Saturday night, eating popcorn and watching old sci-fi movies in his basement, while the rest of his friends had a blast at prom. It wasn’t fair. “I wanted to check in on him because I figured he might be a little depressed after getting rejected by Chrissy. Because let’s be honest here, there was no way that Chrissy was ever gonna dance with him. You all agree with me, right? I’m not just being a dick here. Like, yeah, I know Eddie’s riding high right now because he thinks this year is his year and everything, but… yeah, he was aiming a bit too high with that goal.”

“Can you get to the point, please?” Grant said. “My breakfast is getting cold.”

“Well, multitask, man!” Gareth grabbed Grant’s fork and threw it back onto his tray. “What, you can’t listen and eat at the same time?”

Grant rolled his eyes and went back to his breakfast. Gareth carried on with his story:

“So anyway, when I called him on Saturday, I expected him to sound all mopey and depressed, but he wasn’t. Yeah, Eddie wasn’t depressed at all. In fact, he sounded oddly… happy, but also a little bit distracted. You guys see where I’m going with this, right?”

“I hate that I do,” Grant said, struggling to enjoy his food.

“Well, that’s when I started getting suspicious. See, I could tell I didn’t have his full attention, and that’s just so unlike Eddie because he’s normally really good at maintaining proper phone etiquette. Weird, right? So then I got curious and I started listening, and… and I can’t be sure, but I think I heard a girl talking in the background.”

“Maybe it was just the TV,” Grant said.

Gareth shook his head. “No way… I know the difference between a TV voice and a live human voice. Someone was definitely with him.”

“Well, did you recognize the voice?” Jeff asked.

“No, I couldn’t hear well enough.”

Grant’s eyes narrowed. “And yet you’re sure it wasn’t the TV…”

“Oh come on, it wasn’t the TV, you guys. Wake up and smell the coffee! Eddie brought a girl to his house. He brought a girl to his house. She was with him in the room while he was on the phone with me. I could hear her talking. Then Eddie started acting really weird, said he had to go, and rushed me off the phone.”

“Gross,” Grant muttered, sickened. “Yeah, these are details I did not need.”

Gareth’s mouth fell open in a silent gasp. “Wait, do you guys think he slept with her?” and that was more than Jeff could handle.

He buried his face in his hands and said, “Please stop. I don’t wanna go to class with these images in my head.”

Grant shrugged. “Maybe it was just a one-night stand.”

Jeff threw him a sharp, side-eyed glare.

“Just saying,” Grant finished, smirking.

“No, I seriously doubt it,” Gareth went on, completely unaware. “Eddie’s not really a one-night stand kinda guy… not by choice, anyway. No, I think this might be the real deal, you guys, ‘cause listen to this: I went to go see him yesterday. Eddie wasn’t home.”

“So?”

“So I think he was with her. I called him last night and asked him where he was all day. He said he was out running errands.” Gareth scrunched up his face at that, doubtful. “Since when does Eddie run errands? So I said, ‘What sort of errands were you running?’ He said he had to swing by the drugstore. I said, ‘Well, what did you need at the drugstore?’ but he wouldn’t answer that. Yeah, he was being awfully mum.”

“Mum?” Jeff repeated to himself, mystified by his friend’s bizarre word choice.

Grant said, “He was probably annoyed that you were digging around in his business. I know I would be.”

“Oh yeah, he was definitely getting annoyed,” Gareth said. “Then he cut the conversation short and told me he was stepping out for the night. That’s when I knew this was serious. Eddie doesn’t just ‘step out’ on a Sunday night. He hardly goes out any night. If he’s not with us, he’s sitting at home and playing songs on his guitar. Yeah, he was definitely with her last night.”

Grant sighed, hoping they’d finally reached the end of this long-winded story. “Well, I guess you cracked the case then, Gareth.”

“But that’s just it, I haven’t!” Gareth said. Grant let out an exhausted moan. “I still don’t know who this girl is. You guys swear you didn’t see Eddie go home with anybody after prom?”

Another secret glance.

“Nope,” Jeff said. “I didn’t see him go home with anyone that night.”

Gareth nodded, disappointed but not yet defeated. “Yeah, I thought you might say that. That’s why I made this.”

He gestured toward the piece of paper on the table. Jeff picked it up and read it over. Then he passed it to Grant so he could do the same.

“Okay, what exactly am I looking at here?” Grant asked.

“It’s a list of suspects,” Gareth said, a proud smile on his face. “Yeah, last night I compiled a list of every girl I’ve ever seen Eddie interact with at school, and then this morning I whittled that list down to what I think are the most likely suspects.”

“Not a very long list,” Jeff said.

“Really?” said Grant. “I was gonna say it’s too long.”

They shared a little chuckle over that. Gareth glowered at them, unamused. He didn’t appreciate them making little jabs about their Dungeon Master’s love life, stagnant as it was.

“You know,” Grant began with ominous deliberation, “I can’t help but notice there’s a name missing from this list.”

Gareth's head snapped back in surprise. “Who?”

“You know who,” Grant said. Beside him, Jeff was holding in a grin.

A disturbing chill crept up Gareth's spine. Then—

BAM!

Your name cracked down from above like a fiendish lightning bolt, striking Gareth and making all the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. For a second, he could see your name so clearly. It loomed before him, ugly and terrible, festering with puss and crawling with maggots, getting pecked savagely by vultures and other scavengers. It made him retch with disgust.

“Oh, very funny…”

“Hey, I’m just saying,” Grant said, “there’s no denying that she’s a likely suspect.”

“In fact,” Jeff continued, “some might say she’s the most likely suspect.”

“Yeah, maybe back in middle school,” Gareth said, “but Eddie hasn’t so much as looked at her in years.”

Except for that one time, he thought, remembering the mournful look on his friend’s face that day.

They were all eating lunch when your laughter suddenly sprang up from the other side of the cafeteria, obnoxious and shrill. Eddie glanced your way and his eyes darkened with such hollow sadness. It was as if someone had died.

But that didn’t mean anything, Gareth decided, so he shoved the memory away.

“All right, look, I’ll admit we lost him briefly for that one summer. I dunno how she did it, but somehow she got her claws in him real deep and he was completely under her spell. I won’t deny that. But then Eddie woke up and saw her for what she really is—an ugly green hag! At first, she appears as this beautiful, enchanting woman, but underneath that guise, she’s a wretched old witch who thrives on torment. Yeah, Eddie got over her a long time ago,” and Gareth refused to waste another thought on it.

He snatched the paper from Grant and laid it out in front of him. “Now, here’s what I’m thinking: if we split this up among the three of us, we can get through this list by lunch and then confront Eddie with our findings.”

“Yeah, we’re not doing that,” Grant said.

Gareth frowned. “Why not?”

“Because we already know who it is.”

Gareth’s eyes widened in surprised anger. “I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT! I knew you two were messing with me this whole time. Sitting there with your smug little faces. Making your little jokes. You know what, screw you guys, I don’t even want your help anymore.”

He stuffed the paper back into his bag, climbed to his feet, and stomped off.

Over his shoulder, Jeff said, “Shoulda gone to prom, man.”

Gareth paused, dejected. “Well, no one would go with me…” He pushed through the double doors and was gone.

Afterward, Grant picked up his milk carton and took a few slow slips.

“You know what,” he said thoughtfully, “Gareth should’ve asked Y/N to prom.”

Jeff chuckled to himself. “Well, she did need a date… Shit, should we have just told him?”

“No,” Grant said. “No, this is something Gareth needs to see with his own eyes.”

Now Gareth, his resolve reignited and burning brighter than ever, was prowling the senior locker area with his suspect list in hand.

Let them keep their secrets, he thought. I don’t need their help. A lot of help they would’ve been, anyway. Yeah, I can solve this mystery all on my own.

And he would.

Gareth was a fantastic investigator, you see. He could win a game of Guess Who? in less than five turns and had a lifetime record of fifty-three wins and only fifteen losses (such losses were unavoidable when you drew an easily guessable character like Anita. Ugh, Anita… with those rosy cheeks and annoying blonde pigtails. His little sister beat him in only two moves after that unlucky draw). Now Gareth would apply those same deductive reasoning skills to this. Ask careful, complex questions. Gather information. Cross those ladies off one by one.

There was only one problem: the girls at Hawkins High weren’t exactly forthcoming about their personal lives, especially when it involved Eddie Munson. In fact, most girls denied ever having spoken to the guy.

Claire Dunnock, the most recent inductee into the popular clique, was being especially difficult.

Her blue eyes shifted back and forth anxiously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, and then leaned forward to make sure none of her new friends were eavesdropping. Claire had to be very careful. One misstep and she would slide all the way back down the social ladder. She couldn’t afford to let that happen.

Gareth sensed her unease. “Hey, relax,” he told her, “I’m not here to ruin your reputation, okay? This conversation stays between us. You have my word.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Claire said. “I wouldn’t be caught dead with that freak.”

“Hey, that freak is my best friend,” Gareth said. “And you and I both know that’s not true, Claire. I saw you get into his van that one—”

Claire seized him by the arm and hissed, “Shut up!” Her eyes blazed with fearful, self-protective rage. “Look, that was a year ago, okay? I was a stupid junior who didn’t know any better. Eddie and I had a class together. I guess I got a little curious, but that’s it. We hung out once and I never spoke to him again.” Loosening her grip, she said, “Besides, he was nothing but a big disappointment, anyway.”

Anger flared in Gareth’s chest. “All right, that's it. I’m not gonna stand here and listen to you slander my friend.”

“It’s not slander if it’s true,” Claire said.

Gareth didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Look, just answer my question, okay? Did you go home with Eddie after prom or not?”

“Of course not,” Claire answered, practically cackling at the thought.

(Why were high school girls so needlessly cruel?)

“I went to prom with my boyfriend. I was with him all night. Ask anyone.” Claire swung her locker door closed, put her hand on her hip, and raised her eyebrows impatiently. “Are we done now?” She walked off to join the rest of her friends.

Gareth glared at her back, his insides boiling with indignation and righteous fury.

You got curious and Eddie got his heart broken. Again.

He crossed out Claire’s name with his pen.

Two suspects down. Eight more to go.

He tucked his pen behind his ear, turned, and suddenly the hallway froze over! Okay, that didn’t actually happen, but a bitter wind did blow. Gareth felt it on his face as soon as he saw you step out from around the corner.

Coincidence?

Doubtful.

You were wearing blue jeans and a Fleetwood Mac shirt. Yeah, you would like Fleetwood Mac, Gareth thought, scoffing. As usual, you were walking side by side with Chrissy Cunningham, your best friend since elementary school. She was smiling and laughing at one of your jokes. Laughing out of politeness, probably. Why you two were friends, Gareth would never know. Chrissy was sweet like cotton candy and you were so… so…

(evil, pure evil)

rotten to the core, like moldy fruit.

“I swear,” you said with a groan, “it’ll be weeks before your mom lets me into the house again. God, she’s such a prude. How was I supposed to know she was gonna invite the whole family over for Sunday brunch? At least I was dressed up for the occasion.”

Chrissy looked at you in baffled amusement. “You were still wearing your prom dress.”

“And it was a very nice prom dress. Your grandma even complimented it. She said it made me look like Madonna.” You weren’t too thrilled about that comparison, but who were you to pass up a free compliment? “Now your mom, on the other hand… man, if looks could kill… I probably would’ve choked on one of those blueberry scones she was serving, which were a tad overbaked if I’m being honest.”

Chrissy went to her locker and fiddled with the padlock for a second before opening it. You stood patiently beside her, the wall clock barely within view.

It was a quarter past eight, you noted with a frown. Was Eddie here already or…?

While hanging up her pink backpack, Chrissy said, “Yeah, she definitely had some colorful words to describe you last night.”

You turned your attention back to her. “Your mom called me a slut, didn’t she?”

Chrissy didn’t answer at first. She was busy unloading her homework. While she was doing that, one of her fellow cheerleaders snuck up behind her, tapped her on the shoulder, and gave a cheerful, heartfelt hello. Chrissy hugged her and asked how her weekend was. The two chatted casually for a minute and then the girl went on her way. Never so much as glanced at you.

“Umm, I believe she used the word harlot,” Chrissy said to you afterward.

“Oh, she got biblical, huh?” Great, you thought, as if that woman didn’t despise you enough already. “You know, I don’t understand your mom. First I’m too fat to be your friend. Now I’m too much of a slut. That lady needs to pick a lane and stay in it… and then drive herself right off a cliff.”

Chrissy threw you a friendly glare.

“Just kidding,” you said. “You know I love your mom. She keeps me grounded. Without her, I might develop a healthy self-esteem, and we all know how dangerous that is. Yeah, that might lead to confidence and success… perhaps even lifelong happiness.”

Ignoring you (or pretending to), Chrissy started digging through her backpack again. “Dammit,” she said under her breath, “I think I left my pencil case at home.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Jason has a pencil for you.” You smiled inwardly—a willful, wicked smile. “Then again…”

Chrissy pushed her locker closed, grabbed both your hands, backed you up against the lockers, and brought her face really close to yours. “Shut up,” she whispered in half-hearted anger, a rosy blush blooming on the apples of her cheeks.

You took one look at her and busted out laughing. Chrissy started laughing, too.

“I hate you so much,” she said, and released you.

“I know,” you replied affectionately. “But see, this is why the whole situation with your mom is so funny to me. I’m the one who’s still a virgin, yet somehow it’s me who gets labeled the…”

You spotted a familiar face down the hall.

“Gareth?” You leaned toward him, squinting. “What are you doing in the senior locker area?”

The sound of your voice made him flinch. “Nothing,” he said, acting strangely defensive for some reason.

That’s when you noticed the piece of paper in his hand. You gestured toward it with your chin and said, “What’s that you got there? Is that a love letter? You finally asking someone out on a date? Will you go out with me? Check yes or no. Who’s the lucky lady? Wait, aren’t you a little young to be dating?”

Gareth hid the paper behind his back and glared at you. “We’re the same age.”

“And yet I’m a senior and you’re a junior. Hmm, how did that happen?” You tipped your head and smiled at him. “You’ve got company, by the way.”

“Huh?” Gareth stepped back and—

A hand landed on his shoulder, closed around his flannel shirt, and spun him around. Gareth jumped back, swallowing a scream. He was now standing nose to chest with Ben Jabruski, outside linebacker and two-time defensive player of the year. Eric Kordell stood beside him, smaller but no less intimidating. His brown eyes gleamed with feral, territorial aggression.

“Get outta here, freak,” Eric said.

Gareth squared up to him, unafraid. “Last time I checked this was a free country.” He wrenched his shirt out of Ben’s grip, careful not to tear his favorite flannel. It was a Christmas gift from his mother.

While he was distracted, Eric reached out and ripped the paper out of Gareth’s hand.

“Hey, give that back!”

“What’s this?” Eric asked. He opened the paper and studied it for a minute. His expression went from amused to curious to downright furious. He crushed the list in his fist. “Why’s my girlfriend on here?”

“Oh…” Panic shot up Gareth’s spine. He took a step back and let loose a nervous chuckle. “Oh… you must be Claire’s boyfriend. You know, I heard you two had a lovely time at prom.”

He turned on his heel and took off running down the hallway.

“Bye, Gareth!” you said, fluttering your fingers as he passed. Then you looked back at Chrissy with a smile. “God, I love that kid…”

You went to your locker after that, ignoring all the busy little voices, the occasional odd glance and stifled giggle you received from the other students. Chrissy followed with her first-period textbook cradled in her arms.

“Just ignore them,” she told you.

“I already am,” you said… but then you saw Sarah, Sally, and Stacy huddled around Stacy’s locker. Talking about their hair. Talking about their clothes. Stirring their black cauldron of boiling bones and animal guts. Sarah looked at you, whispered something to Sally, who passed the same message on to Stacy, and all three of them tittered gleefully at your expense.

“Just ignore them,” Chrissy said.

“I will,” you said, but first—

You whipped around and burst out: “So which one of you got knocked up after prom? My money’s on you, Stacy.”

Chrissy, dismayed but secretly delighted, tugged gently on your right elbow. Before going with her, you tossed Satan’s mistress (AKA Stacy Raab) a snide little wink. Stacy rolled her eyes in disgust.

“Stop it,” Chrissy said.

“They started it.”

“I know… but stop it. You’re better than that.”

At the end of the hallway, you spotted Chance Gallagher standing in front of his open locker, wearing the same green letterman jacket that he wore when he asked you to prom six weeks ago. Chance closed his locker and caught your eye for a moment. Then he gave you a small, apologetic smile.

What was he apologizing for? For asking you to prom, getting your hopes up, and then humiliating you in front of the entire senior class? You weren’t sorry he did it. In fact, you were glad he did it. Yeah, you wanted to go up to him, shake his hand, and thank him for being such a spineless little worm. If he were a decent guy, your night might have gone differently, and you were quite pleased with how your night went. So thank you, Chance. Thank you for being a complete scumbag. Maybe I should write him a thank-you note.

Smiling, you turned back around. As you did, you stole another quick glance at the clock on the wall.

Eight-nineteen…

You sighed.

… and now eight-twenty.

“He’s running late, huh?” Chrissy said. You looked her way and she flashed you a sweet, teasing smile. “I know you’re waiting for him.”

A small flush of heat tickled your cheeks, threatening to set your whole face on fire. Resisting it, you grabbed your padlock and started spinning the dial: three turns to the right, one full turn to the left, another quick turn to the right, and

“Are you nervous about seeing him?”

you missed the last number and had to start all over again.

“Kind of,” you admitted. “Is that weird?”

Chrissy shook her head, her smile growing brighter and brighter. “Nope, it’s totally normal and absolutely adorable.” Giggling, she hugged her book tightly to her chest. If her hands were free, she probably would have hugged you instead. “I’m so happy for you. I really, really am. I swear, I feel like my heart’s about to burst right now.”

“Well, you should probably see a doctor about that.”

Chrissy stuck her tongue out at you. You did it right back, popped off your lock, and pulled on the handle. The locker door swung outward, squeaking on its hinges, and almost smacked Chrissy in the face. “Hey!” she said, laughing. She stepped back, skipped around you, and planted herself comfortably on your left side.

“So did you see him last night?” she asked, practically beaming.

“Nope.” You slipped off your messenger bag and hung it on the hook.

Chrissy squinted at you suspiciously. “Why do I feel like you’re lying right now?”

“I’m not lying,” you told her, only to be betrayed by your blushing face. “I didn’t see him last night… technically it was this morning.”

Twelve-o-two, to be exact. That’s when you saw the headlights flashing through your bedroom window blinds.

“Oh my god,” Chrissy said.

“What? He just stopped by to say goodnight.” You smiled softly to yourself. “It was kind of romantic, actually.”

“Uh-huh,” Chrissy said, laughing at you. “And how long did you two say goodnight?”

“Only for an hour… and a half.”

It was raining last night. You couldn’t invite Eddie into the house, so you two hung out in his van for a while. A very long while. W.A.S.P. was playing on the stereo. Eddie had found the cassette tape while cleaning out his van that afternoon. He was very proud of this accomplishment. It was adorable. He had you listen to a few of his favorite songs, asked you about your day, told you about his, and during “Cries In the Night,” he leaned over the center console and kissed you. Everything after that was a bit of a blur. The last thing you remembered was the horn blaring. You had accidentally pressed it with your elbow.

“Oh my god,” Chrissy said.

“Stop saying, ‘Oh my god.’ You sound like my mom.”

She had said the exact same thing after confronting you about it in the kitchen this morning. Turns out, the car horn had woken her up. Then she caught you creeping back inside through the front door. It was an awkward breakfast, to say the least.

Chrissy poked your shoulder playfully. “That’s how it starts, you know. Late-night visits. Long, drawn-out goodbyes. You two are gonna be inseparable this summer.” She breathed a long, lovesick sigh. “Jason and I used to be like that.”

“You’re still like that.”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling.

“Speaking of…” You saw Jason Carver coming down the hallway, his pants ironed and creased, white collared shirt tucked in, a brand new Rolex glinting on his left wrist (an early graduation present from his father, apparently). He looked like a Ralph Lauren catalog model. “Is it weird that I’m picturing him naked right now?”

Chrissy hid her face in embarrassment. “I swear to God, if you say anything…”

“What am I gonna say to him? ‘Thank you for deflowering my best friend’? ‘I heard your penis is rather pleasing’? I don’t wanna talk to him about that. I don’t even wanna think about that.”

Prior to this weekend, you couldn’t even imagine Jason Carver having genitals. You always figured he was like a Ken doll down there. Nothing but smooth plastic.

Chrissy looked at you, mortified. “Why do I tell you anything?”

“I have no idea,” you said. Then you checked the clock again.

Eight twenty-three.

Where the hell’s Eddie? you wondered, starting to get a little worried.

Jason’s arrival reclaimed your attention.

“Hey, guys,” he said in that smooth drawl that made all the girls swoon.

You expected to find him standing with his million-dollar smile, but he wasn’t. No, today Jason seemed different—humble, approachable, perhaps even a little shy. It was as if he’d reverted back to his ten-year-old self. Little Jason Carver, who could barely dribble a basketball. The boy who stammered when he introduced himself to the rest of the class. The boy who sat down next to you, smiled, and said he liked the character on your favorite shirt. The boy who talked to you every day. Encouraged you. Defended you. The boy you caught staring at your best friend way too many times to be a coincidence.

Then you looked at Chrissy and she seemed younger, too. A blushing, fidgeting ten-year-old who always forgot to stand up straight. She got so excited when Jason offered to walk her home from school. He even carried my books!

Back then, your happiness for them had been counterfeit, complicated, but not anymore. Yeah, now you could say you were genuinely happy for both of them.

This was still awkward as hell, though.

“Hey, Chrissy needs to borrow a pencil,” you blurted out, breaking their amorous trance.

A soft pink flush rose to Jason’s cheeks. “What?”

“Just ignore her,” Chrissy said, struggling to keep a straight face.

Meanwhile, you punched Jason on the shoulder. “Hey, don’t forget about our deal, buddy.”

“I haven’t,” he told you. “I’ll buy your lunch, as promised. It’s the least I can do.”

“What if I want two lunches? And a whole plate of cookies?”

“Then I guess I’m buying you two lunches and a whole plate of cookies.”

Jason smiled at you… but then his demeanor changed, hardening like armor.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

You blinked at him. “Am I okay?” you repeated slowly, a little taken aback. “Well, I did wake up with a strange tattoo on my wrist. It’s like a crucifix, except it’s upside down. Weird… Also, I can’t be sure, but I think I might be dealing with a Rosemary’s Baby scenario. Yeah, I’m definitely gonna be giving birth to the Antichrist in about nine months. Buy something black.”

Jason’s eyes widened in confused horror.

“Oh my god, I’m kidding!” you said. “Eddie was a complete gentleman. He even asked for permission before he impregnated me with his hellseed. Naturally, I gave him the green light because… well, have you seen his face? It’s kinda perfect.”

Chrissy put her hand over her mouth and giggled. Jason didn’t appreciate your joke.

“Come on, be serious.”

“I am being serious. Believe it or not, I actually find him insanely attractive. He’s like a discount version of Eddie Van Halen, and I can’t afford the real thing, so…”

“So you actually slept with him?” Jason sounded disappointed and ashamed. He reminded you of your father.

No, worse than your father.

“Well, no, I was kidding about that. I mean, I did sleep with him, but not in the way you’re assuming. And are you seriously gonna judge me for having sex? It’s been a while since I’ve been to church, but I’m pretty sure the bible condemns hypocrisy. You might wanna reread those sections. I think you’ll find them very enlightening.”

Jason ground his jaw in irritation. “Stop making jokes!”

“I don’t want to,” you said finally, your voice breaking, “because then I’m just gonna get really, really mad like I’m doing right now, and I don’t wanna be mad at you, Jason. I was having a really good morning until you showed up.”

By now, Chrissy had stopped laughing. Her shoulders drooped and she looked at you with a sick, sorry expression.

Jason said, “Look, I just think you’re undervaluing yourself, okay? You can do so much better than that—”

“Oh, please don’t do that. Don’t try to talk to me like you’re my friend.”

“I am your friend.”

“Then be my friend, Jason. Stop trying to ruin my happiness!”

The school bell dinged and students began making their way to class. Jason went, too. Didn’t even bother saying goodbye. Chrissy told you not to worry about him. “Jason’ll come around eventually.” Then she smiled, waved goodbye, and ran to catch up with him.

You weren’t half as optimistic as she was.

This is gonna be a huge problem, isn’t it?

You groaned, dreading it.

Behind you, another wave of students came rushing down the hallway. Brittany Wirth was among them. You knew because you could hear her shrill voice piercing through the dull chatter around her. She was ranting about prom, complaining about the flowers, complaining about the food, about the music, about—

“YOU!”

You flinched and turned around, thinking she was talking to you.

What you saw made your eyes light up with glee. Brittany Wirth had Eddie Munson pinned up against the lockers, and she was jabbing him in the chest with her index finger.

“You, sir, are a total asshole! Do you have any idea how hard I worked on that event? I was planning it for months, planning it to perfection, and then YOU had to go and make it all about yourself, as usual.” She stepped back and huffed, exhausted. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“I’m a little proud of myself,” Eddie replied candidly.

Brittany shot him a deadly glare. “Oh, shut up!” She swept her hair off her shoulder and walked away.

You stopped her as she passed. “You know what, Brittany, all things considered, I thought it was a very successful night.”

Brittany’s jaw dropped and got stuck like that, locked in befuddled rage. Not a single sound came out, but you could tell she was trying to speak. Was this it? Had it finally happened? Did Brittany Wirth actually crack? She worked her lips unsuccessfully for a minute and then closed them again, steaming in her hatred, screaming internally like a boiling teapot. She brushed past you and continued on her way.

Then you heard Eddie approach you.

“Did I really make the night all about me?”

His question made you giggle. “A little bit.” You turned around with a smile, glad to see him, relieved to see him. “I still had a good time, though.”

“Well, that’s all that matters,” Eddie said, but there was something in your eyes that made him frown with concern. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” you said, and blinked that silly little worry away. “Jason’s just being… well, Jason.”

“I take it he doesn’t approve of me.”

“Yeah, you’ve really got him clutching his bible. He thinks you’re gonna drain my blood and sacrifice me to the devil.”

“Really?” Eddie said, his eyes widening in false astonishment. “Well, he just spoiled our next date.”

“Oh, really?” you replied, giggling. “Well, I guess that explains why I’m still a virgin.”

Eddie winced, looked down at his shoes, and grinned bashfully. “Okay, I walked right into that one.”

“Yeah, you did,” you said; and God, it drove you crazy seeing him get so flustered.

Kinda like last night, you thought, startling yourself, and immediately shooed that dangerous thought away. Now was not the time for that, young lady. You still had a full day of school to get through. Somehow.

“You’re late,” you said.

“Yeah, I uh…” Eddie brought his hand to his face and started rubbing it. “I got pulled over for speeding.”

You gasped. “No, you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Prove it.”

Eddie pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to you. You opened it and immediately busted out laughing.

“Oh, wow… going fifty-five in a forty-five.”

“Eh, they went easy on me… I was going at least sixty.”

“Wow…”

“Yeah…” Eddie said, tilting his head. “The one time I’m in a rush to get to school.”

His brown eyes sought yours and settled there for a moment, his lips curling into a tender, captivated smile. You smiled back helplessly, feeling girly, feeling giddy, feeling like you were probably grinning like an idiot right now. Embarrassed, you pressed the paper to your mouth in a vain attempt to hide it. When that didn’t work, you thrust the ticket back into Eddie’s hand and turned away, pretending to pull books from your locker.

You felt along the spines like someone fumbling around in the dark. What class were you going to again? History? English? French?

No, you weren’t even taking French.

You spoke to Eddie in a frazzled voice: “Well, since you’re not in handcuffs right now, I’m assuming they didn’t find anything when they searched your van, huh?”

“Luckily, no…”

“Good thing you cleaned out your van yesterday.”

“Mhm…” Eddie said, his voice seeming much closer than before.

Your roaming fingers slowed, then stopped, sliding all the way down the stack of books. With one more step, his presence had consumed you, making you blind and deaf to everything else, everything except Eddie. You could feel him standing next to you, leaning into you, his left hand outstretched and resting against the locker beside you. His voice sent a pleasant shiver down your spine.

“Find what you’re looking for yet?”

You gazed into his eyes and got lost in them. “… I can’t remember what class I’m going to.”

You laughed at yourself sheepishly, senselessly, and saw Eddie crack a small smile: half amused and half… something else, something that brought you back to last night—that quiet, rainy night. Sitting in the dark and listening to music. Eddie humming softly beside you, drumming his right hand on the steering wheel, watching the tiny droplets race down his windshield. You sitting in your seat nervously. Fidgeting restlessly. Running your fingers over the plastic cassette case on your lap. Pretending to take interest in it while secretly watching Eddie out of the corner of your eye. Waiting for him to kiss you. Hoping he’d kiss you. Catching him staring at you with that smile… the same smile he was giving you now… right before he leaned in and…

“Ahem.”

Another student appeared behind you, tapping her foot impatiently. “Uhh, can I get to my locker, please?”

Eddie drew away from you, embarrassed and a little frustrated, and took two giant steps back.

The girl assumed his place without a word, opened her locker, hung up her backpack, her jacket, grabbed her textbook and notebook, snatched a few pens from her bag, and closed her locker again. Before leaving, she motioned between you and Eddie and said, “So is this like a thing now?”

You caught Eddie’s eye for a second. “Uhh, yes,” you said while he fought back a huge smile.

The girl shook her head as if dizzy. “Weird,” she said, and left.

Afterward, you turned to Eddie with a puzzled frown. “Wait, is it weird that I’m dating you or that you’re dating me? I need to know where I rank in this relationship.”

“Maybe you should ask her.”

“Maybe I will…”

Giggling, you stepped past him, spotted your locker neighbor at the end of the hallway, cupped your hands over your mouth, and shouted, “Hey, Carmen!” but you never got a chance to finish. Eddie had grabbed your hand and dragged you back to him, pulling you into his arms, putting you right where he wanted you, intending to pick up exactly where he left off.

The second bell rang before you could even feel his breath on your lips. Eddie closed his eyes tightly, as if pained.

“I really hate that I have to be in school right now.”

“Me too,” you said, staring up at him, your heart still pounding in your chest. “We should probably get to class.”

Eddie wrapped his arms around your waist and held you tighter against him. “Or we could just, y’know, skip first period altogether… since you don’t know where you’re supposed to be anyway.”

He swooped down and placed a few chaste kisses along the side of your head. Blushing, you buried your face into his chest.

“Are you trying to get me to cut class, sir?”

“No, just giving you options.”

“Mhm,” you said, giggling.

While you contemplated his offer, you traced your hand over the button pocket of his denim vest, feeling the fabric, flicking each of his treasured pins one by one: Judas Priest, Accept, Mercyful Fate. You found the W.A.S.P. pin last and focused on it, teasing it with your finger.

“And then what?” you asked, lifting your head to look at him. “We go back to your van and finish what you started last night?”

Eddie’s eyes brightened in surprise. “Finish what you started, if I remember correctly.”

“Was I the one who started it?” You frowned, pretending not to remember.

Meanwhile, your hand had drifted up to the collar of his leather jacket. You nudged it out of the way and started tugging along the neckline of his shirt, revealing a faint pink bruise on the base of his collarbone. Eddie winced as your finger brushed over it. You smiled softly, remembering how his breath hitched when your lips made the first budding mark, how he cursed and moaned while you planted all the others, his hands slipping underneath your shirt and sliding across your skin.

“I may have gotten a little carried away…”

“Yeah, you definitely did,” Eddie said, smiling at you.

“I just really like W.A.S.P.”

“Do you?”

“Mhm…”

Eddie’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he laughed. “Well, I still have the tape in my van. We can go listen to it right now if you want.”

You bit your lip hard, unable to answer right away. God dammit, what had you gotten yourself into? You weren’t seriously considering his proposition before, but now…

“Go to class, please.”

Now Ms. Kelley had come out of her office and was sweeping away the last few stragglers, you and Eddie included.

“I know we’re all a little sluggish this morning, but let’s start this week off strong, okay? There’s still another month before graduation. Don’t lose your focus now.” She looked at you and Eddie tiredly. “You two. Class. Now.”

You sighed as you saw your window of opportunity close. Eddie peeled himself away from you and started down the hallway.

“See ya later,” he said over his shoulder.

“Bye,” you said back, hiding your disappointment behind a smile.

Upon returning to your locker, you grabbed your textbook—the right textbook—and wedged it in the crook of your left elbow. While hunting around for the matching notebook and folder, you heard Eddie’s voice behind you again, catching you completely by surprise.

“Oh, wait,” he said hurriedly, “I forgot to tell you something.”

“Hmm?”

You turned around and felt Eddie’s hands cup the sides of your face, drawing you in for a soft, sweet kiss. You closed your eyes, savoring it. A moment later, he broke the kiss and pulled away.

“See you in third period,” he said, departing with a smile.

It took you a second to recover from that. When you finally did, you clutched your textbook to your chest and smiled uncontrollably, tears brimming in your eyes, your heart racing, stomach fluttering, face glowing with pure, radiant joy.

Under your breath, you whispered, “I hate so much that I have to be in school right now.”

Gareth, on the other hand, was glad to be in school today. Admittedly, his morning had gotten off to a rough start, but things were finally starting to look up for him, and now he felt like he was on the verge of a major breakthrough.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

But he didn’t wanna jinx it.

In first period, Gareth snuck into the library and talked to Matilda Gunn: salutatorian, captain of the debate team, and the third name on Gareth’s list (his new list, of course; the original list was long gone, probably lying in a trashcan somewhere).

Matilda, anyway, was sitting at the back table and studying for her upcoming physics test. Matilda preferred studying in the library over her study hall class because she couldn’t stand the sound of her neighbor chewing and slurping his nails. She wasn’t too happy when Gareth pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. She was even less happy when he brought up Eddie Munson.

“First of all, I’m offended that you would even think I would associate with that moron. I hate the guy. He ruined my GPA. Stupid group projects… God, I hate them!” Enraged, Matilda tore a random leaf out of her notebook and ripped the poor thing to shreds. Gareth watched her do it, horrified, and hoped there was nothing important written on that page. “You know, if I’d known he was gonna slack off like he did, I would’ve just done the whole thing myself. But no… I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I gave him the easiest task and he couldn’t even do that. He said he forgot about it. Said he was busy working on a campaign or something.”

“Yeah, he gets like that sometimes,” Gareth said. “Like last month, he spent the whole weekend learning ‘Master of Puppets.’ Have you heard that song?”

Matilda shook her head, her eyes glazed with boredom.

“Well, doesn’t matter. It’s a very hard song to play. That’s all you need to know. And Eddie became obsessed with it. He locked himself in his room all weekend and practiced over and over and—”

Matilda pressed her hand to her temple and hissed, “Listen, junior freak, I don’t give a shit about Eddie Munson and his fucking guitar. Okay? Second of all, I didn’t even go to prom on Saturday. I was studying all weekend, studying for this test, and if I don’t get an A, I’m gonna hold you personally responsible. Now get lost.”

Gareth lurched back in his seat and felt his mouth go dry.

(Once again, why were high school girls so needlessly cruel?)

“Okay,” he said in a small voice. “I’m, uhh, sorry for bothering you.”

He got up to leave.

“Wait,” Matilda said with a sigh; then after a moment of careful, painful deliberation, she put out her hand. “Gimme your stupid list.”

Gareth held the list against his chest, protecting it. “You’re not gonna rip it up, are you?” he asked, observing the tattered remains of her last victim. “Because I’m getting kinda tired of writing all these names out.”

And some of those girls had really long names.

“I’m not gonna rip it up.” Matilda’s voice was strained with frustration and fatigue, but there was still some warmth hiding in there, dimly glowing beneath the cold black coals of her heart. “I’m gonna help you narrow it down, okay? Otherwise, you’ll never figure it out.” She motioned impatiently with her hand. “Come on, hurry up.”

Gareth handed her the list and she looked it over for a minute, vaguely amused.

“Not a very long list,” she said while uncapping her highlighter with her teeth.

“Well, Eddie’s very picky.”

As he should be, Gareth thought. That man deserved the best.

(much better than you)

Matilda snorted under her breath. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” She rolled her eyes, bent her head, and began marking up the list with her highlighter. Her hand was calm and controlled, each movement deliberate, precise, as to be expected of an advanced test taker. “Okay, she has a boyfriend… she, I’m pretty sure, has a girlfriend… boyfriend… boyfriend… boyfriend… she’s been out of town for a funeral… and she… doesn’t even live in this state anymore.”

She crossed off the last name and slid the paper across the table.

Gareth gaped at it, speechless. “You just eliminated everyone.”

Matilda shrugged. “Like I said, not a long list.”

It was a major setback, the kind of setback that made you want to tear the whole thing to pieces, cut your losses, and give up. Gareth seriously considered it. He almost did it while sitting in his second-period class.

But then an angel appeared. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed angel named Olivia Kent.

She peered over his shoulder during class. “Whatcha doin’?” she asked, sitting with her chin on her palm.

Gareth considered lying, saying he was working on his assignment or something, but in his current state, he didn’t have the heart to deceive anyone, especially not Olivia, who was so innocent and kind.

“I’m trying to figure out who my friend went home with after prom.”

“Oh? Who’s your friend?”

“Eddie Munson.”

“Oh...” Olivia giggled a silly, unaffected giggle. “Yeah, he had quite the night.”

Gareth turned around in his seat. “You were at prom, Livvy?”

“Mhm! It was a lotta fun.”

“And you saw Eddie there?”

“Sure. I saw him lots of times.”

“Did you see him leave with anybody?”

“Sure did… I saw everything.”

“You saw everything?” Gareth sat back, awestruck, and felt tears come to his eyes. This was it. This was finally it. This was the breakthrough that Gareth had been waiting for. An eye witness—a star witness—had emerged at last, willing and eager to cooperate. “Oh, Livvy, you beautiful, beautiful, heavenly creature, tell me everything.”

“About what?”

“About prom, Livvy.”

“Oh, you wanna hear about prom?” Olivia shrugged, smiled, and said, “Okay! Philip Cuthbert asked me. I didn’t think he was going to, but then he totally surprised me! I wore a frilly pink dress and matching pink heels. Phillip wore a dark blue tux and a black bowtie. I think it was black, but it might’ve been blue, too. Then Philip got me one of those really pretty flower bracelets… What are those called again? Oh, right, corsages! Anyway, we took pictures on the front lawn of my house, then we took pictures at his house, and then we took more pictures in front of City Hall. I don’t normally like taking so many pictures, but I didn’t mind so much in this case. It was a special occasion. Phillip said I looked very pretty. He was really nice to me all night. He held my hand. He bought me dinner. He got me some cake. I actually ate two slices of cake that night, but don’t tell anybody, okay? I was only supposed to have one. And then we danced and drank punch and we danced again—”

Gareth put his hand on top of hers, making Olivia blush and look at him in doe-eyed wonderment. “Livvy, I’m glad you had such a fun time at prom, but since class is gonna be ending soon, do you think you could speed things up and get to the part where you saw Eddie? Is that okay?”

“Sure,” Olivia said, smiling. “I saw him talking to Chrissy.”

“Yeah, he went there to ask her to dance. I told him it was a terrible idea, but he refused to listen to me.”

“Yeah, that was a bad idea. Why would he do that?”

“Because Eddie’s a hopeless romantic.”

“Really?" Olivia frowned, considering it. “He doesn’t seem like one.”

“He hides it behind a mask of cynicism, and he hides it very well.”

“Oh,” Livvy said, mystified by the concept. “Well, I guess that explains why he got up on stage then.”

“Wait, Eddie got up on stage?”

Damn, Gareth thought, that’s actually really impressive.

“Mhm! He gave this long speech and everything. My friends said it was really weird and embarrassing, but honestly, I thought it was kinda sweet. Super embarrassing, but sweet. It was kind of like a… hmm… well, I guess you could call it a love confession. I don’t remember what he said exactly, but it was really adorable, and normally I wouldn’t use that word to describe Eddie—you know, ‘cause he’s so mean and scary-looking—but at that moment, he really was adorable. Kinda like a puppy. And then he played Journey and—”

Gareth’s head rocked back. “He played Journey? Eddie played Journey? Eddie doesn’t like Journey. Nobody likes Journey. Nobody except…”

(you)

Gareth’s eyes widened. His stomach plummeted to the floor. Then he shook his head and the thought was gone.

“Okay, maybe it’s just a coincidence,” he said. “Maybe the DJ suggested Journey. Do you remember what song it was, Livvy?”

“No, I don’t. Sorry, I’m not very good with song titles.”

“Was it ‘Separate Ways’? ‘Any Way You Want It’? ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’? ‘Faithfully’? ‘Open Arms’?”

“You know, for someone who doesn’t like Journey, you sure know a lot of Journey songs.”

And for someone who seemed like such an airhead, Olivia Kent was shockingly observant. Gareth was rather impressed. He couldn’t help but tip his head to her. Touché, fair lady.

“I think it was the last one,” Olivia said.

“‘Open Arms’?”

“I think so.”

“So Eddie played a sappy love song,” Gareth concluded while rubbing his chin. “Makes sense.”

“Mhm… and it must’ve worked ‘cause she left with him right after.”

“You saw the girl who left with him?”

“Yep.”

“You saw her face?”

“Of course I did. She walked right past me.”

“And did you recognize her?”

“Uh-huh!”

“YES!” Gareth pumped his fists excitedly. He almost leaped out of his chair and kissed her, he was so happy. “Who was it, Livvy? Tell me who it was!”

Olivia sighed. “I don’t remember.”

“What?” Gareth’s heart shattered. “But you just said you recognized her.”

“I did recognize her face, but I don’t remember her name… Sorry, Gareth, I’m not very good with names.”

“You’re not good with names,” Gareth repeated softly, beside himself. “She’s not good with names. She’s not good with names. My star witness isn’t good with names.”

He laughed madly to himself, feeling dizzy and delirious, feeling like the whole room was spinning like a turntable. A turntable playing Journey. Journey! Of all the bands in the world, Eddie, why Journey? Why? Why?

Meanwhile, Olivia rested her cheek against her palm and smiled at him. “You have really pretty eyes. Do you want my number?”

Gareth paused, considering it. His face turned bright red.

“Yes, Livvy. Yes, I’d love to get your number.”

“Cool!” She scribbled it on a piece of notebook paper and handed it to him. “Call me sometime, okay?”

So now Gareth was strolling away from his third-period class with a laminated hall pass in hand, Olivia Kent’s phone number in his pocket, a massive pit in his stomach, and Steve Perry’s annoying voice in his head.

Journey.

Eddie had requested Journey.

It wasn’t a coincidence, was it?

Gareth walked past Mr. Prichard’s math class, stopped, and backpedaled a few paces. He pressed his face against the glass and peered inside.

Eddie was sitting at his desk with his assignment out and textbook open in front of him. He had his pencil in his hand, but he had yet to write a single answer. He was just tapping it against his notebook while he stared absently at the chalkboard, stared with a faraway look in his eyes. Gareth knew that look. It meant Eddie was lost in thought, usually about D&D or whatever new song he was learning, but today Gareth had a sneaking suspicion that Eddie was thinking about something else—or rather someone else.

But not you. Please, God, not you.

You were sitting behind him and quietly working on your assignment, just working on your assignment, and that caught Gareth a little off guard. If you had gone home with Eddie (as Gareth begrudgingly suspected now), shouldn’t you have been acting a little… happy? excited? Shouldn’t you have been staring at the back of his head with a dumb, lovesick expression? Daydreaming and doodling about him in your notebook? Naming your future children and planning your destination wedding?

Gareth expected to feel something when he peeked into that classroom. A change in energy. A shift in the natural balance of the universe. Call it whatever you want, but there should have been a noticeable difference in the air, right? Right?

But there wasn’t.

Everything was totally normal.

You and Eddie were acting totally normal.

And that filled Gareth with an exhilarating sense of relief.

It wasn’t you. Thank God, it wasn’t you.

Gareth backed away with a smile. If he had stayed a minute longer, he would have seen the exact change in energy he had been waiting for. If he had stayed a minute longer, he would have seen Eddie turn around and start talking to you. He would have seen you smile and blush and tell him to go back to his assignment (even though you didn’t really want him to go back to his assignment). Then he would have seen Eddie turn back to the front, try to do his work, give up, and turn around again five minutes later.

But Gareth didn’t stay. Instead, he continued down the hallway in blissful ignorance, pulled out his list, ripped it up, and tossed the pieces into the trash.

If it wasn’t any of them and it wasn’t you, there was only one logical conclusion.

“She doesn’t go to school here, does she?”

Gareth forced this treasonous charge onto Eddie as soon as he arrived at the cafeteria. He had found his target sitting at his usual place at the head of the table. The seat of high honor. Eddie’s chair. The king’s chair. Gareth, a once-honorable and faithful soldier, slammed down his tray, leaned forward, pressed his palms into the table, and looked Eddie Munson square in the eye. Unblinking. Unflinching. Unyielding against his Dungeon Master’s powerful, intimidating aura.

A moment of tense silence passed. Jeff and Grant looked at each other and immediately stopped eating. Jeff put down his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Grant screwed on the lid of his soup thermos and set the container aside. There was no telling how long this would take. Gareth had a talent for prolonging his inevitable demise. It was like watching a slow hanging.

Oh, but what a show it would be.

“Who is she, Eddie?” Gareth thrust out his finger accusingly. “Huh? Is she a teacher? A townie? Some drunk chick you picked up at the bar while drowning your pathetic sorrows away?”

“Yikes,” Jeff said, cringing.

And Grant said, “That is quite the allegation.”

Indeed it was, and Eddie didn’t seem to appreciate the open assault on his character. His brown eyes sharpened into a steely glare. They reflected Gareth’s destruction like a black crystal ball. Doom. Doom. Doom.

“Get your finger outta my face,” Eddie said, and that was all he needed to say.

“I’m so sorry,” Gareth said, and fell back into his chair with a thump. His heart thudded in his chest while the color slowly returned to his face. That was as close to death as Gareth had ever come. It was a miracle he’d survived. He bent his head and capitulated: “I sincerely apologize for my previous statement. It was malicious and rude, completely unbecoming of my position.”

Grant squinted his eyes curiously. “And what is your position, exactly?”

“I’m Eddie’s best friend, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Jeff echoed, snickering.

Grant, wryly amused, said, “Uhh, I’m pretty sure Scottie’s his best friend.”

Eddie, having dropped his tyrannous facade, was pretending to listen while absentmindedly picking through his snack bag, his thoughts elsewhere, eyes elsewhere. But where, Gareth couldn’t say. He had strained his neck to see who Eddie was looking at, but it was impossible to tell with so many people in the cafeteria. He could have been looking at anyone, anyone, anyone except you.

“He’s right,” Eddie murmured. “Scottie’s my best friend.”

Gareth shrugged, unconcerned with such trivial technicalities. “Well, then I’m your second best friend, Eddie, and since Scottie’s in prison right now, I have to step in and assume the role in his stead.”

“Ah, the interim best friend. So that’s the imaginary position you gave yourself.”

“Oh, shut up and eat your soup, Grant.”

“I will eat my soup,” Grant said, “and I’ll enjoy it while you continue to embarrass yourself.”

“You’re embarrassing yourself,” Gareth grumbled nonsensically. He stabbed a piece of broccoli with his fork, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It tasted like dirt. “I’m having a really horrible day.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Eddie said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Mine’s actually going pretty well.”

Another cryptic response. Gareth simply couldn’t take it anymore.

“You know,” Jeff began, “speaking of Scottie—”

Gareth flung down his fork angrily, sending a spear of broccoli whizzing past Grant’s left shoulder.

“Oh, come on, just tell me who it is already! Enough with the hints and the coded language. I swear to God, you’re driving me crazy, Eddie! You’ve been torturing me for days with this mystery. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I can’t think about anything else. As your friend, I’m begging you to stop. Please, for my sanity, stop.”

Eddie popped a pretzel into his mouth and chewed. “I’ve been torturing you?”

Grant said, “He’s been torturing himself, honestly.”

Jeff nodded, seeming on the verge of laughter. “Yeah, he made a list and everything.”

Eddie grimaced. “Wait, there’s a list? Why is there a list?”

“Because you’ve driven me to madness, Eddie!” Gareth blurted out in blind white rage. “I hope you’re happy because you’ve driven me to complete madness! Who were you with on Saturday? Don’t even try to deny it because I heard a girl talking in the background. It wasn’t the TV. It was a girl. A living, breathing girl. I know you were with her that night, and I know you were with her yesterday.”

“I wasn’t with her yesterday,” Eddie replied, his eyelids heavy with annoyance. “I already told you, I was out running errands.”

“Oh, you’re sticking with that story, huh? Okay, Eddie, let’s assume you were out running errands. Let’s assume you spent your whole Sunday exactly as you said. You got up bright and early, stopped by the drugstore for God knows what, and then spent the rest of the day by yourself at home, cleaning out your van.”

“I did clean out my van yesterday. That’s how I found my lost W.A.S.P. tape.”

“Oh, which album?” Grant asked.

“The Last Command,” Eddie answered, a soft smile touching his face.

Wait, was that another clue?

“Nice,” Grant said. “That’s a solid album.”

Eddie nodded, agreeing, but now there was a distant glimmer in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Gareth couldn’t take his eyes off it. It was as if his friend was lost in a cherished memory.

What significance did this W.A.S.P. tape hold?

Was there any significance?

These questions twisted Gareth’s mind into a pretzel.

And speaking of pretzels, Eddie had set down his snack bag and stopped eating. Weird. He now sat with his arms folded over his chest, fingers drumming impatiently against his right bicep. His wandering eyes kept going back to the clock. Counting down the minutes. What had him so restless all of a sudden? What was he waiting for? His next class? English? Was that significant? Eddie hated English. He dreaded English. He complained about it every day because it meant he had to see—

Eddie pushed off the table and stood up. Gareth climbed up from his chair, too.

“Where are you going, Eddie?”

“Dude,” Jeff said, looking up at him. “You need to calm down.”

“Otherwise,” Grant went on, “you might get demoted to third best friend.”

The two of them dissolved into laughter. Gareth didn’t even hear them.

“It’s happening,” he muttered. “Something’s happening.”

“Yeah, you annoyed Eddie so much that he had to leave to get away from you.”

But that wasn’t it. Eddie wasn’t fleeing for the exit like a coward. No, he was marching straight through the middle of the cafeteria like a lone soldier charging through the battlefield. Charging to victory or to death. He was infiltrating the enemy’s stronghold, impervious to their hostile glares and raised eyebrows. Even Jason Carver himself, who had begun to get out of his chair, could not stop him today. Eddie was a man determined, a man determined to get to

(of course)

you.

He wedged himself between two basketball players, pushed his palms into the table, and greeted you with a charming smile. You gazed up at him in sweet surprise.

“Hi,” you said.

“Hi,” he said back. “You wanna skip next period?”

Chrissy’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god,” she said while you blushed, buried your face in your hands, and giggled.

Gareth, dumbstruck, slumped back into his chair with the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth.

That bitch, he thought. That Journey-loving bitch, she actually did it.

Grant regarded him with an impressed frown. “You know, you’re handling this a lot better than I thought you would. When did you figure it out?”

Gareth sighed. “Second period.”

Eddie just had to play Journey.

There was a moment of solemn silence after that. Then Grant unscrewed his soup thermos and lunch resumed as usual. Jeff took a bite of his sandwich. Gareth, now resigned to his grim fate, stuck his fork into his meatloaf and cut himself a modest slice. The meat looked dry and grey. What a horrible new world he lived in.

But, he supposed, there was something to look forward to.

“I got Olivia Kent’s number today. I think I’m gonna ask her out this weekend.”

SERIES MASTERPOST

FANFICTION MASTERLIST

unfortunately, i no longer do taglists. if you want to stay updated on my fics, you can follow me and/or subscribe to my posts. thank you!

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x fem!reader #stranger things #stranger things 4 #hellfire club #gareth stranger things #jeff stranger things #jason carver #chrissy cunningham #chrissy x jason #eddie munson x dwm!reader #dancing with myself #dwm #dwm short #ambrossart

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jadeylovesmarvelxo · 2 years

Text

Happy Ending

Eddie and Carver!Reader whose Jason’s twin sister dating secretly for years and after graduation one week the Carver family finds a note because reader left Hawkins with Eddie. Fluffy content for Eddie and Reader getting happiness out of the town that didn’t see any more that what was in the surface.

Request by anon.

Warnings; Fluff

Likes, comments and reblogs are always appreciated. I do not give anyone permission to copy my work.

They had rented an old camper van. It was really cute, y/n loved it. Eddie had got a great deal on it and it was perfect for getting out of Hawkins.

She couldn't wait.

Hawkins was the last place that she wanted to be. For years she and Eddie had to hide they were in love. All because of her brother Jason and assholes who wouldn't understand their love.

Assholes who called Eddie a freak and made him feel less about himself, she never wanted to hide their relationship, never.

Neither did Eddie but people were awful to him, called him a freak, bullied him. Only leaving him alone when he started talking back and developed a don't fuck with me attitude.

Despite that, he didn't want any shit he got from others to happen to her, she was the golden child, the princess. Queen of Hawkins along with Chrissy.

She was the good girl, the sweetheart yet she had a brother who despised her, her parents weren't much better, throwing money at problems they couldn't be bothered solving.

Everyone pressured her to be perfect, with no room for mistakes, constant perfection, constant fake smiles, looking the best and no room for error.

With Eddie, she found someone who she could be herself with. They knew each other in every single way, every flaw, every secret.

They never had to hide from each other, with Eddie she could truly be herself. Except for their friends all everyone saw when they looked at her and Eddie was surface level, they never got to know them, just judged them for what they saw.

It wasn't the best way but she had left her family a note, she confessed everything about how she and Eddie had been dating for almost two years. That they were in love, soulmates Chrissy and Robin called them.

Their closest friends were the only people who knew about their relationship. Chrissy, Dustin, Gareth, Jeff, Robin and Steve, they never judged and were always supportive as was Eddie's uncle Wayne.

"You ready beautiful?". Eddie asks grinning as he kisses her forehead, she nods happily and he kisses her, pulling her close to him.

"Ready Eds". They head inside and she takes the seat beside him, her parents would have found the letter by now.

It took a long time for her to figure out what to say but the words just flowed last night.

They still wouldn't understand no matter how much she poured her heart out to them.

She takes Eddie's hand and he squeezes it, a tender smile on his face. Then they set off, ready for their new journey.

❤

Two months later she and Eddie were happier than she ever thought possible. They had their camper van and even though it was small it was theirs, Eddie had found a job working as a mechanic, and she found work In a bookstore that was very popular.

When they weren't working they travelled places and it was so freeing being able to be together without any close-minded judgement.

They both looked forward to the future and all the joy their happy ending would bring.

❤

#eddie munson x carver!reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson/reader

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1-800-munson · 2 years

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1-800-Munson's Masterlist

- - - ↓ Eddie Munson ↓ - - -

Washable Markers

My Love Is Alive

More Than Friends?

Stress Relief

The Guy From Trailer 512

Perfect | Halloween Night pt2 for perfect

- - - ↓ Specific!Readers ↓ - - -

- - - ↓ Carver!Reader ↓ - - -

Halloween Spiking

- - - ↓ Henderson!Reader ↓ - - -

Big Sister Henderson

- - - ↓ Hopper!Reader ↓ - - -

High School Sweethearts

My Sweet Lover Boy

The Witch

- - - ↓ Wheeler!Reader ↓ - - -

Future Wife Material

- - - ↓ Hispanic!Reader ↓ - - -

The Guy From Trailer 512

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x henderson!reader #eddie munson x carver!reader #eddie munson x wheeler!reader #eddie munson x hopper!reader #eddie munson x hispanic!reader #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fluff

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cahrlotah · 2 years

Text

𝙊𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘐: 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺

part I

Pairing: Carver!reader x Eddie Munson

Trigger warnings: mentions of blood and bloody clothes and skin

Word count: 1.1K

Where you help Eddie clean up after his fight with Jason

The halls are empty the only sound that can be heard are my footsteps alongside the mysterious boy’s.

“I’m so sorry for what happened. I seriously don’t know what has gotten into him.” His half smile says it all. Even with a bloody face he looks quite lovely. “Do you know where we can get something to clean your wounds? It’s my first day so I don’t know where are we going” I chuckle awkwardly, some of his blood lands on my shoe, his gaze fixated on me.

“Just take me to my car. I’ve got everything I need there, it’s a rusty old van. It’s quite easy to recognise.” After this small chat, we walk in silence until we reach the school back door, which leads right to the parking lot.

“I’m Eddie, Eddie Munson, and you m’lady, do I have the honour to know your name?” He says, making me giggle.

“I’m (Y/N) Carver” his face goes from clam to surprised in a matter of seconds. “ Unfortunately I’m his twin sister”. After revealing my identity there is more awards silence, but it’s understandable, my brother broke his face out of nowhere. Eventually we get to his van, he struggles to open the back door so I help him.

“Ladies first” says Eddie at the same time he moves his arm in a dramatic way. His van is a little bit messy and smells like weed but nothing that can’t be handled. I make my way through all his stuff until I can find a place to sit down. Eddie closes the door behind him and leans towards me, stretching his arm to grab something behind me , our bodies inches away as he grabs a first aid kit.

“Do you think it’s better for you to clean yourself or do you need help?” I ask as I lean backwards towards now of the van wall.

“I think I need the princess of Hawkins to clean what her brother did to this poor peasant” he dramatically lays on my lap is head on my tights.

“You are so dramatic” I say laughing. I open the first aid kit, I pull out the rubbing alcohol and a cotton. “May I ?” I put the cotton up asking him for permission to start cleaning him up.

“Do your magic princess” God, this man and his constant nicknames are going to be the death of me.

I start by cleaning all the blood that has already dried up around his mouth and nose, as he starts to get more cleaned up it’s clear that a bruise is starting to form on his left cheek, and around his lip area.

“This is going to hurt a little bit” I grab a new cotton ball and put some rubbing alcohol. “Sit, if I do this while you are laying down, you will end up swallowing all the rubbing alcohol.” I say while I prepare everything to clean his wounds.

“Even though I love being like this, I think it’s the best idea” he slowly sits up, his hair in the middle of his face. I move my hand towards his face, my fingers slowly moving his hair, placing it behind his ear.

“Okay, here I go” the white cotton ball slowly touches his skin, his face in grimace out of pain. “Shit I’m so sorry” I blow a little bit where I put the alcohol.

“If you are the one who is hurting me, I don’t care sunshine” his hands moving a string of hair out of my face. He is showing the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I give him a small smile and waste no time on finish cleaning the rest of his face. He clenches again at the touch of the liquid on his skin, I giggle as he look quite funny with that face. I carefully brush the coating ball against his flesh and in no time he is all set.

“Done!” I say putting everything down. “Such a brave boy” I say sarcastically.

“I try to be. Thank you so much for your services as a nurse. Is there anything I can do to pay you back”he says as he puts the all the utensils back to the small box.

“Actually yeah…” his hazel eyes look towards me “ I really need a new t-shirt, this one got all bloody. I don’t think I can go walking around like this” I say pointing at some bloody spots around my white top. He looks around the van and hands me a neatly folded a hellfire t-shirt. “Oh thank you so much!” I exclaim. He sits down again, looking at me. “Eddie..” He gets out of his lil trance “ do you… umm… mind turning around while I change?” I scratch the back of my neck as I look down.

“Oh shit! Yeah” he quickly turn around “ I’m so sorry” even though I can’t see him I know he is somehow blushing. I change as fast as I can.

“Finished!” I let him know he can turn around. He looks at me and I look at him, “How do I look?” I ask him, trying to show off my new outfit.

“Like the prettiest hellfire club member” a big smile on his face, that smile is contagious as one appears on my face too. “Um.. I-I don’t know if you do anything after class, but my D&D club, the hellfire club, has it’s first meeting of the year and it would be a pleasure if you could come” he says fast, scratching the back of his neck and looking away.

“Umm Eddie-“ I try to ask what does D&D mean but he cuts me off.

“Shit shit I shouldn’t have said anything, forget it” he starts to nervously move things around, so I put my hands on his shoulders, making him stop.

“Eddie” we both look at each other “clam down, I would love to go I just don’t know what D&D is” I scratch my neck out of embarrassment, hiding my face behind some strands of hair.

“No worries darling” he says moving my hair out the way, his ring decorated hands touching my skin, the cold metal sending goosebumps all over my body“ I will teach you everything you need to know this afternoon” he says moving closer to me, his hand still behind my eat, our faces inches away when all of the sudden the bell rings, indicating the end of lunch time. We separate quickly, moving around the small space out of embarrassment, I grab the blood stained top and shove it inside my bag. I crawl back to the door.

“See you after class!” I say before heading out the car and to the school.

TAG LIST @eddiesdungeon @ajkamins @buchanansbaby @elleeeee21

#eddie stranger things #eddie munson #joseph quinn #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson smut #i am an eddie munson simp and im proud #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x fem!reader smut #Eddie munson x carver!reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n

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sp1rit-realm · 1 year

Text

༻¨*:· 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 ·:*¨༺

༻¨*:· summary ·:*¨༺ you get paired with Eddie Munson for your ceramics final.

༻¨*:· notes ·:*¨༺ 𖦹 cheerleader!reader 𖦹 eddie calls reader "princess" and "sweet thing" 𖦹 angst for one microsecond 𖦹 closest thing you will get to enemies to lovers from me 𖦹 jason carver. you have been warned 𖦹 im sorry if your name is allie 𖦹 im in love with this fic 𖦹 i actually love the way this came out 𖦹 i did not proofread this⎝(ˊ0ˋ)⎠

༻¨*:· word count ·:*¨༺ 𖦹 3.2k

You hear someone shout. Something about "sheep," and you immediately know who it is. Still, you turn your head to see the person staring at you.

"Oh," He scoffs, "And their leader stares directly at me! Hey, princess! Was there something you needed? Or were you just staring at the freak again?"

You don't answer, turning back to your lunch.

"Yep, that's what I thought!" He yells.

Then, Carver stands up, "Leave her alone!" He yells.

Eddie smirks, "Princess needs her knight in shining armor to save her?" He mockingly croons.

Ignoring Eddie, you look to Carver, "Jason, just—" You take a deep breath, "Just sit down. Leave him alone."

Jason scoffs, "He's picking on you, babe."

"First, don't call me babe. You hear me?" Jason nods, "Second, sit down."

For once in his life, Jason listens.

Eddie smiles in victory, knowing he got you riled up. Even happier knowing Carver got told off.

You walked into fourth period late and sighed upon seeing the only open seat. Silently, you sit next to him. You hear him groan, and you don't need to look to know he's rolling his eyes.

The teacher drones on about the subject, and Eddie watches as you diligently take notes. Your pen's ink is sparkly and blue; he internally scoffs.

The teacher mentions the words: "Final project." Eddie sighs, and you light up. He despises how happy you look.

Ms. Ronette mentions that this will be a partner project, and this time, you groan. None of your friends are in this class.

Then, she says that you will be working with your seat partner. There's an eruption of both glee and gloom. Some people are indifferent. You're hoping that's how Eddie feels, but you know he's pissed. You and Eddie look at each other, and you offer a hopeful smile. He scowls in return.

As soon as the bell rings, Eddie is out the door. You chase after him.

"Eddie! Wait!" He stops, and you catch your breath, "You would think all that cheering would make it easier for me to breathe after running for five seconds," You laugh. Eddie does not, "Just... get on with it."

You frown, "When should we meet to work on the project? I'm free today after five." You offer.

"I have Hellfire," He keeps walking.

Taking long strides to keep up with him, you continued, "I can wait. How long does it usually run?"

"'Till six, if we're lucky."

"Oh, well, I can sit in." You suggest with a smile, "It doesn't sound all that bad."

He hates how genuine you sound.

"Fine. But," Eddie stops to turn at you, "Absolutely no mocking or making fun of it. Understand?"

You nod.

"Sorry that you have to spend time with the freak," One of the girls on the team says in the locker room.

You shrug, "Y'know, maybe you should give him a chance. He doesn't seem horrible."

"I hear he sacrifices to the Devil." She whispers.

"Oh, I think that's just rumors," You deny the accusation thrown at him. You never liked rumors.

Walking into Hellfire was scary. You weren't sure what to expect, and Allie definitely got into your head with the whole sacrificing thing. She even told you he might lure you into a trap and sacrifice you. You didn't believe it rationally. But, your heart beats as you knock.

"Enter." You hear Eddie say. He's sitting on a throne and looks so in his element.

Nobody greets you, and you weren't expecting them to. Still, it would have been nice.

You pull out your notebook and begin sketching your final project.

Eventually, you give up on the sketch to listen in on the game. It's pretty interesting. There are trolls and elves, and you hear the word merfolk at one point. That piques your interest, and you begin drawing a mermaid. She's demonic and cryptic and freaky, and you smile. She's beautiful.

Everyone's packing up, and you're glad. All you want to do is work on your project.

"We can go to my house?" You propose.

"I smell like weed."

"And?"

He tries to hide his smirk—it doesn't work.

Once you're at your house, you grab your basket of albums.

"Pick one," You smile.

"What do you even have in there? Pop music?"

You shrug, "I think I'll surprise you."

"What, you have one Bowie album in there? Think that'll impress me?"

Why was he being so difficult?

"I'm just trying to put on some music to make this more bearable."

He scoffs, "Fine. Give it to me."

You hand him the basket, and he's surprisingly careful with it.

His eyebrows raise as he flicks through your collection, "Kill 'Em All?"

You smile. You surprised Eddie Munson.

With the music playing, you pull out your textbook.

"Who do you want to study?"

"I don't care." He shrugs.

"Look, Munson," You cross your arms, "I care about my grade in this class. I know you probably don't, but I do."

"Of course, everything is about you," He copies your movements, crossing his arms back, "I'll have you know, I immensely enjoy pottery."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

An awkward silence falls over the two of you.

"Let's go with Beatrice Wood." He murmurs.

"That's who I was thinking, actually," You whisper, pulling out your sketch.

"Guess we have something in common." He snorts like it's the funniest thing in the world.

"Guess we do."

And with that, you set out on your research.

"It's getting late," You yawn, "Did you want dinner?"

Eddie wants to say no but also doesn't want box mac n cheese again. Ultimately, his guilt wins, "Nah, don't worry about it."

"Nonsense," You dismiss him, "I'll make something."

"Are you sure?" He's growing anxious by the second.

"I'm positive," You reassure.

"You live in a trailer, right?" You ask, blowing on your food.

He nods, "What about it?"

You can tell his defenses are up.

"Just wondering," You shrug.

"You gonna tell all your friends? Make fun of the trailer park freak?"

You furrow your brows, "No. I don't enjoy making fun of people, and I certainly wouldn't make fun of you. If anything, I would make fun of Allie." You state.

"Why? I'm, like, prime 'picking-on' material."

You shake your head, "It's not nice to make fun of someone for where they live or what they do for fun. Allie is the worst if I'm being honest. She's always talking about how much she loves tennis. She's not even good at it."

Eddie laughs, "Didn't you just say it's not nice to make fun of someone's hobbies?"

You smile sheepishly, "Yeah, but Allie's a bitch."

Eddie gawps, "I've never heard you swear."

"I don't do it often," You shrug.

"You should do it more."

Eddie leaves, and you tell him to drive home safely. Maybe working on this project won't be as bad as you thought.

"How was working with Munson?" Allie asks you the next day.

You roll your eyes, "You were right!" Your smile was saccharine sweet, "He tried to sacrifice me!"

Allie gasps, "Really!?"

"No, idiot," You huff, "We actually got a lot done. And then we had dinner."

"Who'd you have dinner with?"

"Carver." You greeted.

"Tell me you didn't have dinner with the freak. What did you eat?" He laughs, "Box mac and cheese?"

You cross your arms, "It's not nice to make fun of people, Jason." With that, you walked away.

"Imagine being named Jason," You murmur, sitting beside Eddie. He laughs, and a sense of pride settles in you.

"Imagine your last name being Carver," He whispers. You giggle, and Eddie is sure it's the sweetest sound he's ever heard. Then, he remembers he's supposed to hate you.

"So..." You're elbows deep in clay at this point, "What exactly is 'Dungeons and Dragons?'"

Eddie is surprised, "Um," He swallows the lump in his throat, "It's an RPG."

"I—" You sigh as your pot collapses again, "I'm not sure what that is." You throw the clay again.

"Role-playing game. I'm the Dungeon Master or DM."

"So you're character is... Dungeon Master?"

He smiles, "Not quite."

"Why do I feel like you're making fun of me?"

"I'm not making fun of you, princess. Promise."

"Stop calling me that," You whisper, though you're smiling.

"Why? You're the princess of Hawkins High."

"No, I'm not."

"Mhm," He nods theatrically, "Sure."

It makes you laugh, and you don't care about the stares you receive from your peers.

"So... You wanna come to my place to work on the project?" Eddie asks at the end of the period.

"Can you drive me?" You ask, hopefully.

"Sure can, princess."

You try to disguise your smile as a scowl at the name. Eddie can see right through you.

"Lots of mugs..." You say, looking around Eddie's trailer.

"My Uncle Wayne's." He answers. "Anyway, this was to my room!" He declares like he's on a journey. You giggle, and Eddie melts again.

Eddie's giddy. He always is when he's thinking about you. Your perfume and that lip gloss that's been used so much that the label has begun to rub off.

"I'm running out," You pout as you stare at the tube of gloss, and Eddie thinks he would buy you all the lip glosses in the world if it meant you would smile at him.

"Hey, shiny lips," You roll your eyes with a smile, "Time to work on this project."

You groan and clutch your chest like you've been mortally wounded. Eddie laughs at your antics.

You settle on his bed, books out, when he asks, "Am I what they chalk me up to be? Have I freaked you out?"

You swear there's almost a sadness in his tone, "No. You haven't tried sacrificing me."

"Yet." He adds, knowing it will make you giggle again. God, he loves that sound. He decides it's the worst thing on the planet because how can you be so lovely and sweet and laugh like that and then expect him not to fall for you? It's cruel, truly.

"Did you draw this?" He nudges the drawing of the mermaid.

"Oh, yeah," You grow warm.

"It's pretty fucking sick," Eddie says as he pulls the drawing out.

"I drew it when you were playing Dungeons and Dragons. Someone said something about merfolk, so I drew one." You shrugged, "It's not that good—"

"Oh, shut up. It's good. Amazing, even."

"You don't have to lie," You murmur.

"I'm not lying! How do I prove that to you?"

You think momentarily, "Hang it on your wall, then I'll believe you."

Eddie smiles and grabs a pin. He hangs it next to his guitar.

You gawp at him.

"What?"

"You actually hung it!"

"Of course I did! It's amazing!"

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, princess."

"Stop calling me princess, Eddie," You cross your arms.

"Stop being a princess, and I'll stop calling you princess." He jests.

You find yourself not wanting to leave, "So..." You look around his room, "You sell?"

Eddie huffs a laugh, "Did the princess wanna buy something?"

Your eyes go wide, "No! No, I was just wondering."

"Have you ever smoked weed?"

You nod, "I like smoking. It makes me laugh a lot."

And then, Eddie decides he needs to get you high.

"You wanna smoke?"

"I don't have any money," You shake your head.

"C'mon, it's on me. I've got my own stash," He opens a drawer and pulls out a pre-rolled joint.

You couldn't stop laughing, and Eddie adored it. Your eyes got smaller while the slopes of your cheeks grew. He was sure he was in the presence of an angel.

"And then," You laughed, "She vomited! All over her white clothes!"

"You really do hate this Allie girl, don't you?"

You throw your head back and groan, "She's the worst, Munson. All she does is talk and talk and talk about how much she loves tennis and her boyfriend, and her voice is so nasally. It gives me a migraine."

"Who's her boyfriend?" Eddie asks, intrigued.

"Just... a guy."

"Oh!" He snaps, "It's Gonzalez, right? Michael?"

"Yeah. Can we talk about something else?"

Eddie was quiet, and you were worried you scared him off with your strong reaction.

"Let's talk about Beatrice Wood."

You smiled kindly, glad he didn't pry. You received a smile back from Eddie Munson for the first time, and it felt like you won the lottery.

Eddie decided he hated you. He hated you and your cute face and your stupid laugh. He despised you. You freaky-art-making bubbly cheerleader.

And there he was. Nothing more than an anomaly who reeked of weed and cigarettes. A nerd-game-playing, grumpy freak.

And the worst part? He was falling for you. Hard. Oh, he loathed you because he knew you would never feel the same way.

You were too good for him. Too pretty, too nice, too lovely.

"You weren't here yesterday," You grab some slip with a frown as Eddie sits across from you.

"Yeah... I was at home."

"I saw you during passing period, Eddie. Where were you?"

Eddie sighed, "I was dealing."

"The whole period?" You threw your slab a little too hard. Eddie flinched.

"Yeah."

You solemnly nodded. There had to be some reason Eddie ditched. Maybe it was you. His whole M.O. was "hating cheerleaders," so would it be that ridiculous to assume he didn't like you? It would, you decided. He liked you. He spent so much time with you. Sure, it was to work on the project, but there was no doubt in your mind that you spent more time together than anyone should during a research project.

"Whatcha thinking about, princess?" He smirks.

You sigh, "Things I shouldn't be thinking about."

"Like... me?" He hopes he doesn't come off as desperate.

"Maybe," You smile, "Maybe not."

"That wasn't a no."

"It certainly wasn't," You confirm.

Eddie beams.

"You've been spending a lot of time with the freak," Jason says during lunch.

"His name is Eddie, Carver. He's a person." You cross your arms, then mutter: "Unlike you."

"What did you just say?" He asks.

"Nothing, Jason," You glare at him.

"Look," He barks out a humorless laugh, "I don't get why you jump to defend him. He's a freak. He's probably got a sock at home with your name on it. He's not good for you."

And that's when you snap, "Oh, like you know what's good for me! Do you even know my favorite color? Because I'm sure he does!"

Carver has nothing to say to that, and he leaves you alone.

"I am so sick of Carver," You moan in the locker room.

"So am I, if I'm being honest," Allie concurs.

"I literally was not talking to you, Allie." You huff out.

"Jeez," She murmurs, "No need to be so rude."

"Actually, Allie," You turn to her, "There is."

You walk into the drama room, and Eddie greets you. He makes everyone else welcome you. It's a nice feeling that makes you warm inside.

"Sorry it ran late, princess," Eddie apologizes as you sit in his van.

"It's okay," You reassure, "I drew some more."

Eddie nearly slams on the breaks, "You did?"

"I did," You gleam like the star you are.

"Can't wait to see them."

"Sweet thing, these are amazing." Eddie isn't smiling, and it would worry you if not for his tone. He's so sincere, and you melt. "What if you draw something for me?" He proposes.

"I will," You promise, "After we work."

"Take as much time as you need, princess."

You don't understand why everyone seems to despise him. Eddie's a good kid with a kind heart, and you really enjoy him and his company. He's funny and stupid and cute. Yes, Eddie Munson is cute, attractive, pretty, whatever word you want. And you're surprised you didn't notice it sooner, but as he sits on his bed, tongue poking out ever so slightly as he reads, you can't deny how attracted you are to him.

"Allie keeps talking about Michael," You mention. It was out of nowhere. You were both silently writing. Eddie looks up at you, and you look... wounded.

"Yeah? What about him?"

You huff, "About how he's so great."

Eddie frowns, "Look, sweet thing, I know you don't like Allie, but why are you so upset she's with Michael?"

You look like you're about to burst into tears, and Eddie is scared he's said the wrong thing.

"Because I should be with him." You put and cross your arms.

"You like Michael?" Eddie is surprised because Gonzalez is a douchebag, and you're a sweet angel.

"Not anymore," You harshly wipe at your eyes, "We used to date."

Eddie's heart frowns, "And Allie...?"

"Took him from me!" You sniffle; Eddie's heart breaks.

"I sound childish," You determine, trying to blink back the onslaught of tears approaching, "But she just took him, and she doesn't even care about how I felt. Y'know she told me you were going to lure me and sacrifice me? How cruel is that?"

"That's... wow. Allie really is a bitch, isn't she?"

You solemnly nod as Eddie wraps his arm around you. You soften into it.

"For what it's worth, Michael's an idiot." He mutters into your hair.

"An idiot?" you look up at him, eyes all big and watery.

"An idiot to lose a girl like you."

"Can I kiss you?" You realize after you've said it that you sound lame, but as Eddie ducks down to place his lips on yours, you couldn't care less.

You dial your home's number into the phone, twisting the cord around your finger, kiss-bitten lips, and a wide grin.

The phone rings once, twice, three times, then your mother answers.

"Y/l residence."

"Mom," You all but gush, "I'm gonna stay over at a friend's tonight."

"Y/n? Who?"

"My friend Eddie," You're quiet, testing the waters.

"Eddie?" You can hear the apprehension in her voice, "A boy?"

"Yes, mom. A boy."

"Honey," She sighs, "You need to wash your uniform. I trust you, but..."

"But?"

"I don't want you staying over at his house. I don't even know him."

You shake your head at an excited Eddie, whose mood sours.

"Okay. I'll see you in a little." You sigh, hanging up.

"No dice?" Eddie asks, already knowing the answer.

"No dice." You confirm, and you both frown.

"Bye, princess," Eddie says as you open the door to the van

"Bye, Eddie," You smile, happy with the outcome of your study sesh.

You scream into your pillow that night, murmuring: "I kissed him." Over and over, still shocked.

"I forgot to give this to you yesterday," You push a piece of folded paper toward Eddie.

"What is it?"

"Just... open the paper."

You've drawn a cute bunny. Eddie smiles, "For me?"

"For you."

"This is so metal, babe."

You laugh, "Are you sure about that? It's a bunny."

"Most metal thing ever." He affirms.

The next day after class, Eddie shows you a tattoo of a small bunny on his arm, right next to the bats.

"You—" You point at his arm, "You got it tattooed?"

"'Course I did, sweet thing. Most metal thing ever, remember?"

You stumble into the cafeteria with Eddie.

"Oh my god!" You laugh, and all eyes are on you. You, the princess of Hawkins High, are laughing—not at, but with Eddie Munson.

Eddie Munson, the school freak.

"I cannot believe you got it tattooed."

"Believe it, babe."

And, for the first time, you walk right past the "popular kids" table. You sit next to Eddie, unbothered.

thank you for reading, lovely ₊˚.༄

mutuals ଘ(੭ ˊᵕˋ)੭*༺ ♡‧₊˚ @forourmoons @lucasnclair @vampieteeth @sw34terw34ther @imshiningjustforyou @doyouknowwhoyouare13 @maddipoof @meredarling @masivechaos

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