#eddie and erica

[loveinhawkins]

Thinking about what might’ve happened if Dustin and Eddie both made it through the trailer Gate; if the door held and none of the bats followed them.

-

They get a momentary reprieve, dizzy with relief.

And Hawkins splits open.

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie screams, and he throws himself over Dustin as the living room is rent apart, shields him from chunks of the ceiling and trailer roof raining down; after one final shudder, everything goes eerily still.

They breathe.

“Max,” Dustin gasps. Scrabbling out from underneath Eddie, he reaches for his walkie, desperate, “Lucas, do you copy? Lucas! Do you goddamn—”

There’s a click and then the horrible sound of Lucas sobbing—trying and failing to get words out.

Eddie’s stomach plummets.

Through the fear and horror, it dawns on him that he needs to step up to the plate—that he’s in charge—and he has to act now.

“We’ve gotta go,” he says, thinking fast. He pulls Dustin up with him, adds, “Leave the walkie here,” jerking his head up to the grotesquely expanded Gate, “so they’ll have it when they get back.”

He’s thankful beyond words that Steve left the keys in the RV.

It’s a tense, silent ride broken only by Dustin sharply saying, “Watch out,” whenever they get too close to a chasm in the road.

Eddie can hardly comprehend what he’s looking at. He remembers saying the shire is burning. Now it sounds like a prophecy fulfilled.

When they reach the Creel House, he drives up onto the grass until the RV is hidden as best he can manage amongst the bushes and thorns.

Erica’s running out of the house by the time they reach the front steps, a walkie in her hand; Eddie’s eyes land on her skinned knees, and his stomach drops all over again.

“Hey, are you hurt, are you hurt?” he babbles, already knowing the answer—but he means is there more than this? I’m here, I’ll help you, I’ll help you.

His hands land on her shoulders, squeezing tight, and Erica—this sharp-tongued, funny, kind kid—breaks down in tears.

“I called a-an ambulance,” she stutters out.

“Hey, you did great. Shh, you did great.” Eddie hugs her far too briefly, but there’s no time. He presses the keys to the RV into her hand. “It’s hidden, hey, see that bush down there? Lock yourself in, keep radioing for the others. Hey, look at me. It’s gonna be okay.”

She nods, eyes shining.

No-one should have to be this fucking brave, Eddie thinks.

Dustin follows him through the house, up the stairs, jumping over the cracks until—

Max in Lucas’s arms, her eyes closed, blood running down her cheeks.

Eddie’s breath catches in his throat, but he can’t falter now; he pushes back vivid images of Chrissy, of Patrick, and falls to his knees next to Lucas.

“Her—her bones,” Lucas gasps, “I shouldn’t have m-moved her but the ground—Jason, he…”

Eddie follows where Lucas’s eyes darts to, across the cavernous gap in the floor, sees the mangled remains of—

“Jesus.” Eddie swallows through a wave of nausea.

“I hurt—I hurt her,” Lucas whispers.

Eddie puts a hand on his back. “No, you—you did what you had to, man. You saved her, Sinclair, you hear me?” He places two fingers to Max’s throat. Waits. Exhales deeply. “Pulse is still… okay, okay.”

“What?” Lucas tries to check, too. His hand is shaking. “But I—I felt—”

“Trust me, she’s—”

A wail. Sirens, rapidly approaching.

Eddie’s gaze flickers over Lucas and Dustin: their eyes are glassy with horror. It’s not hit them yet, what’s about to happen, and that’s fine. That’s how it should be.

It’s Eddie’s job to know.

The paramedics arrive first.

Eddie moves back. Gives them space.

He doesn’t miss the way their faces pale as they spot him.

“She has a pulse,” he says calmly. “Broken limbs. And her eyes, um, I don’t know what exactly…”

More sirens.

“Eddie,” Dustin says suddenly. Sharp, urgent. “Eddie, what are you doing? You need to go.”

Eddie smiles sadly. Shakes his head.

Footsteps pounding up the stairs. At first it seems to take forever, and then it speeds up all at once; Eddie’s being pulled roughly until he’s standing, handcuffs cutting into his skin, and Dustin is screaming.

“They didn’t know anything,” Eddie finds himself saying. Lucas’s expression shatters; Dustin just looks furious. “I swear, they didn’t—”

“Eddie, stop.” Dustin sounds close to tears. “Stop, stop—” He grabs at Eddie’s arm, only to be pushed aside by an officer. “He didn’t do anything!”

“It’s okay,” Eddie says. He tries to catch Dustin’s eye, but he’s already being dragged out. “It’s okay.”

And it’s funny, just an hour ago and this would’ve been one of his worst fears realised. But now he barely feels it.

A hand clamps over his skull, pushes him into the police car.

The view out the window blurs as they speed away—black cut through with a burning red.

Eddie closes his eyes.

He wishes he could’ve…

He thinks of Steve, Robin, Nancy. Wants them to know he tried to protect their kids for as long as possible. Tried to buy them time. He did his best.

No, Eddie The Banished isn’t a hero, he thinks.

He simply did the only thing he could have done.

[stincorrect]

Eddie: Okay. Here comes the lightning! Eddie: *whispers* You’ve got to imagine it coming out of my fingertips, wherein I am an almighty wizard. Erica: I am imagining it, and you could do better.

[kiwifruit67]

Did Eddie really try to beef with an 11 year old 😭💀😭😭

[pervertedreams]

eddie takes dustin and erica everywhere they need to go cause they’re his favorite out of the group of kids and when dustin makes fun on him erica defends him cause he’s the only nerd she tolerates.

[mollymurakami]

were we just kids, just starting out

[random-jot]

If Stranger Things was british

[mardyart]

actual deleted footage of stranger things season 4 trust me guys

[samgelina-jolie]

[sarcasticassian]

Eddie finds out Steve loves "the teddy bears" from Star Wars so he buys him an Ewok stuffed toy he sees in a random shop one day and Steve loves it, he was so excited when he realised what it was and he calls it Teddy, named after Eddie but also because its a teddy bear and Eddie is feeling pleased with himself until they're round at Steve's and Dustin finds it

Eddie thinks Dustin is about to make fun of Steve but instead he kicks up a fuss that he introduced Steve to the Ewoks and he loves them just as much as Steve does and Eddie can see Steve reluctantly gearing up to offer Teddy to Dustin so Eddie swoops in and says he'll get one for Dustin too

Robin happens to be around when Eddie manages to hand one over to Dustin and she sees Dustin squeeze his to his chest and Steve had brought Teddy down to the living room because they were all going to watch Star Wars together and she half joking demands to know where hers is so Eddie sighs and agrees to head back to the store tomorrow

He hands over Robin's stuffed Ewok and before Erica can even open her mouth to complain about how the rest of the Scoops Troop has their own Ewoks so where's hers Eddie presents one to her and announces that nobody else will be getting one because his wallet is empty so they are a Scoops Troop exclusive

whenever they hang out as a group at Steve's or Eddie's their Ewoks sit in a little line all together and they had to get little accessories so they always knew who's was who's after Robin accidentally took Teddy one day and Steve nearly had a meltdown

[morganbritton132]

Eddie, posting this TikTok: Uh, excuse me? Why are some of y’all saying I don’t know Erica Sinclair? That I don’t know Lady Applejack?? I know her!

Eddie: Because-

Eddie: *aggressively holds up picture of the Scoops Troop eating ice cream together a week after Starcourt to the camera*

Eddie: I-

Eddie: *holds up picture of Steve giving Erica a piggyback ride so her shoes didn’t get wet*

Eddie: Married-

Eddie: *holds up picture of Sue Sinclair showing Steve how she braids Erica’s hair*

Eddie: Her-

Eddie: *shows picture of Charles Sinclair, Lucas, and Steve moving Erica’s stuff into her dorm room. Erica and Eddie are in the background with no intention of helping out*

Eddie: Dad!

Eddie: *shows picture of Steve and Erica on the campaign trail. Steve’s got a shirt that says ‘you can’t spell America without Erica. Eddie’s photobombing in the background to give them both bunny ears.*

Eddie: Also, we played D&D together *shows picture of a Hellfire campaign*

[vivalski]

Making up a reason why Steve was barefoot all the way to the Gun store + adding some extra spice to that "Big boy" remark 😏

[loveinhawkins]

Once they’re far enough away from Angry Hicks Land, Erica rifles through the supplies before finding the bag she’s looking for. She throws it at Eddie, only for him to immediately fumble the catch.

“Wow,” she says. “You’d be immediately kicked off the basketball team.”

“Uh, my talents don’t exactly lie on the basketball court,” Eddie says—his tone is dry but his face is slightly flushed in embarrassment.

“Huh,” Erica says. “Guess Lucas is multi-talented.”

Steve chuckles in approval from the driver’s seat—hopefully not too loudly; yeah, she’d defend her brother to the hilt, but she doesn’t want to get too ridiculous and actually have him overhear her.

Thankfully he seems in a world of his own, sat with Max and Dustin at the back of the RV. His eyes keep flickering over Max and her Walkman headphones.

He’s frowning. He’s been doing that a lot—Erica’s sure he’s had a permanent crease in the middle of his forehead since the year began, probably before then, too.

She wants to iron it out. Doesn’t quite know how to.

The bag rustles as Eddie opens it up. “Um. What’s in—?”

“Essentials,” Erica says.

Eddie blinks. “Sinclair, this is a belt.”

“Your jeans are very sad,” Erica tells him pityingly.

Steve cackles. Eddie’s blush deepens, and he jabs the back of the driver’s seat with his elbow.

“You having fun over there, Harrington?”

“Oh, tons,” Steve says.

Erica laughs. Eddie sticks his tongue out at her.

Once they’re parked outside, she half-loses track of him while correcting Lucas’s abysmal attempt at spear-making. He’s there in the corner of her eye, rough-housing with Dustin, but her thoughts turn vague and distant as she double knots the rope.

A little while later, she’s lying on her back, stretched out in the grass. She can faintly hear Lucas and Max having an arm wrestling match, Dustin providing old-timey sports commentary.

A shadow falls over her.

Erica sits up.

Eddie’s standing there with his hands on his hips. He’s wearing the bullet belt, the metal glinting in the sun.

“Whaddya think?” he says.

Before she can reply, he actually does a full-blown twirl, and it’s maybe one of the most embarrassing things she’s ever seen—which is definitely saying something.

She can’t help the fond smile from breaking out as she rolls her eyes. “Well, at least you’re dressed for the part.”

“Coming from you, Lady Applejack, that’s the highest of compliments.”

Eddie flops down next to her. He leans across and picks up something: her spear. She’d actually forgotten about it, just for a moment.

“Not quite a kukri, huh?”

It’s meant to be a joke, Erica can tell—but she can still hear the tension in his voice. He tosses the spear aside.

A sinking feeling she’s been pushing back makes itself known again; she wishes this was all just a game.

Eddie’s eyes are unfocused, like he’s thinking something similar.

Erica nudges him. “What’s up?”

He shrugs. “Just thinkin’, Sinclair.”

“Hmm. Seems rare for you.”

Eddie snorts. “Shut up. S’just…” He sobers. “Had this whole… plan. I forgot.”

“About?”

A smile. “You. You were gonna, uh. Be it. If you wanted.”

Erica raises an eyebrow.

“Um. The, uh… the leader of Hellfire.”

Eddie’s fingers drum nervously on his knees. Erica takes pity on him.

“You do know I’m eleven, right?”

“Trust me, I’m painfully aware,” Eddie says with a fleeting grin. “Your introduction is seared into my memory goddamn permanently. No, I was gonna… there’d be stand-ins till you got to high school, like whoever wanted to try out… And you’d be the official, uh—”

“Next in line for the throne?” Erica says wryly.

Eddie laughs, but it’s short-lived—he soon turns thoughtful again.

“Sure. Now I’m thinking, what, eleven, twelve…” He counts on his fingers. “Yeah. By the time you start high school, maybe that’s just enough time for people to not lose their minds about…” He smiles weakly. “Hey, maybe don’t call it Hellfire under your reign.”

“Oh, so you think I’m chickenshit,” Erica says.

“No,” Eddie says softly, and suddenly he’s not half-joking; he sounds deadly serious. “Just don’t want you to—y’know, be mixed up with…” He trails off.

Erica’s not told him about what happened at the town hall, but from the way he’s talking she suspects he knows at least a little.

She wants to be able to snark back at him, you really think Hawkins will still be talking about you years later? Please, you’re not that important.

But the thing is, she can’t know that for sure. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen next.

And that scares her.

Something else mixes with the sinking feeling in her stomach. It’s cold and unstoppable: the righteous fury she felt in the hall, as grown adults condemned a boy they did not know, when she’d figured out within barely five minutes of meeting him that he was all bark and no bite.

“Was gonna give you an open invite to Hellfire, anyway,” Eddie’s saying—almost under his breath, as he twists blades of grass around his fingers. “Like, just whenever you could make a session. I was gonna ask you, obviously, but… Was gonna write up, like, solo adventures your character could be part of whenever you couldn’t come. Same for Lucas, if he—”

“Okay, did you actually tell Lucas that?” Erica asks knowingly. “Or did you just think it?”

Eddie shifts guiltily.

“You need to tell him,” Erica says—remembering the week before Christmas that she’d accidentally broken his mug; they’d fought, and Lucas had eventually slunk into her room, somehow convinced that he’d been completely at fault. “Otherwise he just gets all quiet and thinks he’s done something wrong.”

“Noted,” Eddie says quietly. Contrite.

He looks off into the distance at the ongoing arm wrestling match and sighs; falling onto his back, an arm flung over his eyes, he says, “Thought I had all of Spring Break to figure shit out.”

“And what’re you doing right now?” Erica says pointedly. “Get planning, Eddie The Banished.”

Eddie huffs. Smiles. “Okay, okay.”

He lapses into silence. It makes Erica think that he isn’t just dwelling on ideas for a campaign. There’s a crease between his eyes—and maybe it’s a different kind of frown than the one Lucas wears, but it’s a frown all the same.

She gives him a moment, then pulls out a blade of grass and pokes him in the cheek with it.

He lifts his arm off his face. “Hmm?”

Erica holds out her hand. “I’m making the arrangement official.”

“The arrange—oh.”

Eddie sits up, blinks, blinks, blinks.

Oh, honestly, Erica thinks. He’s one of the most soft-hearted people she’s ever met.

She waits until he takes her hand before saying firmly, “To the future of Hellfire.”

Eddie smiles again, and his lips shake just a little at the edges. “The future of Hellfire,” he murmurs.

They shake on it.

“Seems like a fair trade,” Erica adds. “You get a belt, I get your club.”

Eddie laughs, puts an arm around her shoulders and squeezes.

“Erica Sinclair,” he says, eyes bright with affection. “I’d give you the whole goddamn world, if I could.”

[lengthofropes]

Whole 10 seasons show with these two as main characters, please!

[oceanofflavor]

Hear me out on this one, Eddie Munson is about to have his moment. Look at the way everyone is looking at him, intently listening to what he has to say, I don't know what's going on here, but I do know that this is most likely going to be a confidence-boosting moment for Eddie where he gets to shine.

[caramel-storiesss]

Stranger Things Brainrot

[sleepyeye17]

He’s a ten

“She’s a ten, bro,” Dustin said. “A solid. Ten.”

“She’s an eight at best,” Lucas said. The gang was in Steve’s kitchen, claiming to be helping with the dinner cleanup, but actually arguing about the hotness of Jane Fonda. Eddie was the only one actually drying any dishes. Steve didn’t really mind. Eddie stayed over enough, he knew where everything went. The boys threw wet silverware in the drawers without even looking. 

“Can we not rate women on their looks please?” Erica said, her head in the fridge. 

“You rate men on their looks all the time!” Lucas argued. Erica shut the fridge door and crossed her arms. 

“Fine. At least agree that everyone has a very different scoring sheet then. I believe that Jane Fonda is a ten.”

“Ha! Told you!” Dustin said. 

“According to me,” Erica said. “You have different tastes. That’s fine. Everyone does. For example, I like Fabio types, and Max, for some reason, likes my brother. God knows why.”

Lucas looked ready to argue, so Eddie thought fast.

“Hey Steve,” Eddie said, “What am I?”

Steve looked up from the dishes, confused.

“Hmm?”

“Am I a ten?”

Steve stared, his eyes sliding down Eddie’s lean torso, his hips, then back up to his face. His eyes flashed darkly. 

“Nah.”

“No?”

Every eye was on them, waiting to see what would happen. Nobody breathed.

“No,” Steve said with a grin. “You’re a natural twenty.”

The room exploded with hoots and cheers and laughter. Eddie beamed and wrapped arms around Steve’s neck. 

“Damn right I am.” He lowered his voice so that only Steve could hear. “But for you I’m always gonna be a dirty twenty.”