#nancy wheeler x eddie munson

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

This is how this scene went, right? 😆

[monologichno]

@dwobbitfromtheshire wrote a fantastic fic inspired by my comment, so I drew a picture inspired by it ❤️❤️❤️

[spicysix]

girls make me wanna die

"the way we met not so unique / on the internet we make up things / a different story every person we see i'm writing poems and they're all online / under a different name, nothing like mine / i tried to tell her once, on a drunken night / but it came out all fucked like a bad pickup line i don't know when i fell. she doesn't know as well"

rating: T warnings: Eddie's trans in this fic, it's not a major plot point but it is a major Eddie characteristic heh. also, this is an Edancy fic, meaning Eddie and Nancy and i know that's not everyone's cup of tea so please for the love of god if you're not interested in this pairing, keep that to yourself, scroll the page, leave the fic untouched. don't like, don't read, all the maners. i think that's it word count: 6.1k author's note: fic idea and title from the song of the same name by The Aces. written for Lex's Spicy Six Summer Fanwork Challenge, for the prompt "rooftops". yes, i know i'm a little bit late (just six months), but it is Summer where i live right now so i think it still counts lmao. thanks again for hosting @thefreakandthehair ♡ also super thanks to my beautiful betas robin (@ronancevibes) and frankie (@blubblesandink) ♡

↳ read on ao3

I DON’T KNOW WHEN I FELL

The first time Eddie saw her, she thought she was a mirage.

It was Steve’s birthday party, and since the guy was still as popular as he used to be in high school, his house was packed. Eddie hadn’t seen her when she first arrived, and she later found out it was because she had been upstairs finishing getting ready with Robin.

But as she came down the stairs, all dolled up, a true femme divinity of Eddie’s most sapphic dreams, the neon lights were hitting her just right in a way that encompassed her with pink, purple and blue all around and it was one of the prettiest sights Eddie had ever seen. Eddie stood right at the end of the stairs and stared up at her, jaw on the floor, probably drooling all over her chin.

She probably could’ve fallen right then and there.

If she hadn’t looked at Eddie, still standing dumbly in the way, up and down with her eyes narrowed and lips turned down into a frown before she opened them to say, with the most velvet smooth, passive-aggressive voice Eddie had ever heard:

“Can you move?”

It wasn’t a request. It was a demand.

Eddie kinda wanted to bitch-slap her for it, but her own body betrayed her as she moved out of the way instantly and she smiled at her — almost fondly, but venomous, also all passive-aggressive and, honestly? Delicious.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Eddie was pissed off and aroused to her deepest corners, and she would later find out that it wouldn’t be the first time Nancy Wheeler would piss her off and still have her do whatever she demanded with that silky way of hers.

Eddie didn’t see her anymore at all after that at the party, and still had no idea who she was for a whole week before she ran into Robin at the grocery store. She asked her who the girl was, describing her looks and clothes. She tried not to be too obvious about her annoyance and also attraction to the mystery girl, and she thought she succeeded because Robin didn’t shoot her one of her bombastic side eyes.

“Oh! Short curly bob, about yay high?” Robin asked, gesturing somewhere around her chin level. Eddie nodded as she turned to pick up some sugar. “Yeah, that’s Nancy.”

Eddie stopped with her hand mid-reach. “Steve’s ex, Nancy?” she asked.

“The one and only,” Robin snickered and Eddie blinked a few times in shock before proceeding with her shopping.

Eddie thought she knew a lot about the infamous Nancy Wheeler, because she had befriended Steve right after Nancy had broken his pure little himbo heart, almost eight years before. She knew Steve and Nancy had worked things out and were friendly now, but didn’t know they were friendly enough for Steve to invite her to his birthday. She shared those thoughts with Robin, who chuckled teasingly.

“Oh, sweet summer child. You have no idea of the intricacies of our friend group, do you?”

That was true. Eddie knew of Steve and Robin’s friend group from their hometown and she knew that it was a whole beautiful mess off queerness, but she hadn’t met anyone but Robin so far, even with the almost eight years of friendship with Steve — and probably only knew her because Steve and Robin were glued at the hip. She knew of Nancy, and of Jonathan, and of course, knewRobin’s girlfriend Vickie, but didn’t know what their intricacies were.

She was honestly a little scared to ask at that point, so she just shrugged and Robin and her continued their shopping talking of other stuff from then on.

She saw Nancy again a couple of months after Steve’s party, because then it was Vickie’s birthday party, and at least this time Chrissy was able to go so Eddie wouldn’t have to be stuck to Robin the whole night.

“I’m so glad I’m not missing this one. I mean, Vickie’s a great girl and of course she’s the main reason, but that Jon boy was looking delicious in the pics Steve posted and I’m so sad I missed seeing him looking like that,” she was rambling on and on about her crush as she reapplied lip gloss on the way to the bar Vickie chose to have her small party at. “Did you meet him at all?”

“No, I only saw him passing by. He did look good, smelled amazing too,” Eddie replied with a grin.

“Ugh, you’re no good as a best friend. You know I’ve been in love with him ever since Steve posted that picture last November! You had to befriend him!” she complained but she had a smile on her shiny pink lips.

“You can’t be in love with him, bitch, you don’t even know him,” Eddie replied.

“I so can, bitch. I feel it in my tits,” Chrissy ended the discussion as the Uber parked in front of the bar, and they left it laughing loudly after thanking the driver. “In my heart, I mean. Under the tits. If he’s not here today I’ll leave immediately!”

“I’ll tell the birthday girl you said that,” Eddie sing-sang as she started walking faster towards the bar entrance. Chrissy yelled after her as they walked through the doors still laughing.

To Chrissy’s delight, the Jon boy was there in all his scrawny glory where he sat across from Vickie at the table they reserved for the birthday. Vickie was excitedly talking to him about something, gesturing all around her as Robin looked at her with pathetic heart shaped eyes. Nancy, sitting beside Jonathan, was also paying attention.

No, she was not the first person Eddie noticed.

Eddie and Chrissy approached the table and Steve lit up at the sight of them from where he was sitting on the other side of Vickie.

“There they are! My favorite sapphics club is complete!” he was getting up from his seat as he talked, and Vickie wrapped up her story before getting up to greet them too.

Jonathan turned to Nancy and they whispered between them, and Eddie would’ve thought they were talking about Vickie’s story if Nancy hadn’t shot her a look from over Jonathan’s shoulder. He then looked over too and smirked before turning back to Nancy and saying something that made her hide a laugh behind her wrist.

“Why do you surround yourself with so many sapphics anyway?” Chrissy asked as she and Steve separated from their embrace, and Eddie finally tore her look away from Nancy and Jonathan to hug Vickie tightly.

“It’s the ally in me,” Steve answered and it got him a slap from his favorite sapphic who had also gotten up to greet the newcomers.

“You’re literally queer too,” Robin said as she made grabby hands at Chrissy for her own hug. Steve just cackled and shrugged.

They finished their greetings session and both Eddie and Chrissy handed Vickie their gifts — a matching set of earrings and a necklace — before walking back to the table. Aside from them, Jonathan and Nancy, there were only a couple more people that were introduced as Vickie’s work friends.

“Nice to finally get your name,” Nancy said with a smirk when Vickie introduced her to Eddie.

Eddie narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t ask for it when you were bossing me around like a bitch last time.” Eddie didn’t made clear who the bitch was. It was on purpose.

Nancy’s smile only widened with her answer as Jonathan hid a snort behind a cough.

“She tends to do that,” Steve said as he pulled a chair for Chrissy to sit at beside him.

“Excuse me?” Nancy asked, but she was still clearly being playful.

“Yeah, no, he’s right,” Jonathan said before sipping on whatever drink he had.

Nancy rolled her stupidly beautiful blue eyes. “Love when my exes team up against me.”

Eddie thankfully wasn’t drinking anything yet or she would’ve choked on liquid, and that would be worse than choking on thin air —which she did.

“What?” one of Vickie’s coworkers thankfully asked, and all of the long-time friends laughed together.

“Oh, isn’t that a long story…” Vickie giggled to her friend who just shrugged:

“We do have all night.”

Long story short, they all had had relationships in some way.

Not like Eddie or Chrissy could judge, since they both met Steve on different nights out and they both hooked up with him in the respective back alleys of the clubs they were in, and Chrissy and Robin were definitely flirting before Robin went all monogamist-serious with Vickie. And they wouldn’t judge even if it didn’t make them hypocrites because there was nothing wrong with all that anyway, but that’s an obvious statement.

But none of their things with each other had been serious or even consummated, meanwhile it was kind of funny that Nancy dated Steve and then Jonathan, and Jonathan dated Argyle who had been in the bathroom and appeared in the middle of the story, and who was now on his journey to woo Steve into a relationship, and Nancy and Robin also had a fling at some point and so did Jonathan and Steve.

Eddie felt tired at the end of the retelling and she had been sitting down the whole time.

��Ah yes, the amazing queer experience,” Vickie’s coworker who had initially asked commented at the end of it all.

They all laughed at that and the coworker — Eddie really didn’t get their name — waved a bartender over for some shots. Once they were delivered and everyone had gotten one, Coworker started a toast.

“To Vickie, and her hometown friends who all fucked each other!” they toasted, and everyone laughed louder as they clinked their tiny cups together before throwing the shots back.

Those were just the first shots of many that night, each round with a more ridiculous toast to accompany the ‘To Vickie’ one every time.

After a few hours Chrissy was best friends with Vickie’s coworkers, and Eddie still had no idea what their names were, and instead had found her way in between Jonathan and Argyle as they all talked about photography, an art they all shared their love for. Jonathan was actually a photographer himself. The talk went from classic photography, analog to digital, and just as they started talking about Instagram accounts, Chrissy stopped by, whispered something right by Jonathan’s ear that made him blush, and they left together. Eddie and Argyle traded knowing looks and continued the conversation without the person who had begun it, and soon Nancy took Jonathan’s seat instead.

“What’s the talk?” she asked while sipping her fruity cocktail that Argyle then took from her and drank before answering.

“Our favorite Instagram accounts. We were talking about photography, but…”

“Oh!” Nancy took her phone from the pocket of her dress — a dress with pockets, amazing; Eddie thought — and opened the app. “It’s not photography, but this one is my favorite of all times. It’s so inspiring to me,” she said as she found the profile she was looking for and then turned the screen for Eddie and Argyle to look at.

Eddie had a really hard time trying not to choke on thin air for the second time that evening.

The profile Nancy was showing was a poet’s page, by the name of M.W. and who posted small, handwritten poems with a beige and brown color palette, a drawn sheet ghost as their profile picture. Clearly anonymous, even with hundreds of thousands of followers, the person behind the poems and the page didn’t want people to know who they were.

The person behind the poems and the page was Eddie.

“What-” Eddie tried to talk, failed, cleared her throat and tried again, “What do you like about it?”

Nancy got this look on her face that Eddie hadn’t seen before so far. Something fond and sweet, her blue eyes like pools Eddie wanted to drown in. Her smile was wide and it turned her face to something entirely different, all the sharpness and sarcastic expressions Eddie had been graced with so far transforming into earnest softness.

“I’m a journalist, and I love writing and sharing stories. Poems have always been something I wouldn’t do, because they all seemed so hard and too complex and I always thought ‘normal’ people couldn’t do them,” she explained, looking Eddie in the eye the whole time. She was like Medusa, and Eddie was trapped paralyzed under her stare but with no intention of leaving any time soon. “And then all these modern poets came around on social media, and they have always spoken to me in some ways, but Emme…” She looked down at her phone screen again, that same soft look that made Eddie’s brain short-circuit. “I don’t know what it is, but they talk to me so personally. I love everything they write. They are delicate with words without losing their candidness, and forthright without losing their gentleness. I just… I’m very impressed and inspired by them.”

Maybe it was then.

Eddie, of course, had no idea what to answer to that. She received comments and messages every day about how her writing helped and affected people, but it had never happened in person because no one knew who she was. That was different. Nancy’s words echoed right into her chest, making it swell with pride, but she didn’t know how to respond. She just stared at the girl before her, hoping her expression wasn’t giving her away.

“That’s so nice, dude. They’re really nice poems,” Argyle said as he rolled through M’s feed. “Do you not like them, Eddie?” he asked, and Eddie shook her head to get out of her wandering thoughts before glancing at the screen Argyle was showing her.

She didn’t need to look too hard, she knew every single poem there by heart.

She shrugged. “I don’t… think too hard about poems, I guess,” she lied without thinking, already trying to come up with other topics she could suggest to stir the conversation before she admitted anything.

The only person who knew she was the one behind M.W. was Chrissy, and Eddie wasn’t ready to make it public — probably never would be. The words were too personal, open windows to her soul that she carefully curated, that she poured so much of herself into and she wasn’t ready to share the backstage of.

Eddie saw as Nancy’s eyes hardened again, as she shut her jaw firmly and she felt immediately sorry for her lie. She didn’t want Nancy to retreat, she liked seeing her vulnerable side. The side of Nancy that related to Eddie’s own vulnerability, even if she didn’t know it.

“Too bad.” And then she gave Eddie that sneering look, the same as she did from her superior level at the stairs of Steve’s house, that up-and-down look that made Eddie’s face turn into a scowl instantly.

Both their jaws clenched and they narrowed their eyes at the same time and stared at each other for what felt like hours, but was probably less than a minute, before getting up to walk to different directions, headed to different groups of other people to talk to.

“What the hell happened, man?” Argyle whispered softly to himself as he was left alone with all the tension still hanging in the air.

Eddie replayed that conversation in her head for many days after Vickie’s birthday. The gnawing feeling in the bottom of her stomach that threatened to burn her from the inside out appeared every other hour.

Why the fuck did she lie about not liking poems?

She didn’t have to tell them the truth about being M.W., but she could still have said something nice about Nancy’s passion for the poems. Not dismiss it completely, making it seem like she was a total bitch, causing Nancy to go back into her distrust, closing the doors to her vulnerability. Making Nancy think Eddie had no interest in her interests at all, like she was still holding a grudge over nothing, like they couldn’t bond over something they both loved.

The what-ifs and the should-haves kept eating at Eddie’s brain, sometimes so strongly that it was overwhelming, and she didn’t relax even a little bit about it for almost three weeks, when she met Chrissy for their monthly brunch together.

“What’s up with you today?” was the first question Chrissy asked over their mimosas, no need to be at Eddie’s side for long to realize that something was giving her anxiety.

It caused Eddie’s shoulders to slump down and her throat to get a little less constricted. Just knowing Chrissy cared enough about her to notice the small signs of her distress made some of the fog in her brain dissipate. It was easy to tell her everything after that, the scene she had caused, the disappointment in Nancy’s eyes, the way it made Eddie feel like shit. Chrissy heard it all quietly, attentively, as if Eddie’s life depended on it because she knew that Eddie felt like it did at the high of her anxiety.

“I think you like her more than you care to admit,” Chrissy answered at the end of it all.

Eddie didn’t like that Chrissy’s mind went straight into that area instead of comforting Eddie, but she rationally knew that Chrissy wouldn’t bring that up if it wasn’t relevant.

“Chris, I don’t even know her-”

Chrissy interrupted. “And I think you should be honest with her.”

“I can’t tell her-”

She did it again. “I’m not telling you to come out to her as Emme, I’m only saying you could honestly tell her she makes you kinda nervous and you stumbled over your words near her, and you said things you didn’t mean because you couldn’t think through.”

“Can you stop interrupting me!” Eddie whined. “Oh, so I just have to make a fool of myself in front of her? Solid advice, Chris, thanks.”

“Why’d you ask for my help if you’re gonna complain about what I say?” She asked, swirling her cup around.

“I didn’t ask for your help, Chrissy!” Eddie all but shouted, her voice a raspy tone, and Chrissy stopped mid-movement. Eddie instantly regretted it. “Sorry. I’m so sorry. Ugh, I’m so stressed out over nothing.”

She hid her face behind her hand, embarrassment making her cheeks burn up, but she soon felt Chrissy’s cool hand on top of her own. It was soothing once again.

“Sorry I pushed too. It’s not nothing, Eddie, I swear. I still think you can be a little more honest with her if you ever see her again, though,” Chrissy still advised.

“Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it,” Eddie answered.

“And I still think you like Nancy more than you want to admit,” Chrissy continued.

Eddie let her hands fall from her face and stared into Chrissy’s blue pools. They reminded her of other blue pools.

Nancy’s pool blue eyes hardening over Eddie’s words, the way her jaw shut tight, the clinical look she shot at her. Nancy’s pool blue eyes softening over talking about Eddie’s words, the blush on her cheeks, the adoring speech she gave about Eddie’s soul without even knowing.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right about that too,” Eddie finally admitted.

Maybe it was then.

Summer was approaching and as the temperatures started to rise Steve hyped them all up for a lake day. Eddie took Chrissy, Robin, Vickie and Jonathan in her van; and Steve, Argyle and Nancy went in his car. They all brought snacks and smuggled drinks amongst card games and inflatable buoys.

The lake wasn’t packed because summer vacations still hadn’t started and the middle schoolers, high schoolers and college students still weren’t free to enjoy the scalding Sun and the cold water, so Steve’s idea was great after all.

Eddie waited until the Sun wasn’t at its peak to venture under its rays, because she was as pale as a vampire and the Sun was a menace to her just the same as it was to the blood-sucking monsters. She’d burn instantly. So she covered herself in sunblock, hid under the shadow of a big tree with one of Wayne’s old caps on her head and a book in her hands, and watched as her group of people had their fun.

Steve and Chrissy were playing with a volleyball in the sand, while Argyle and Vickie went against Jonathan and Robin in a game of chicken in the water with Nancy as the referee. Eddie had fun people-watching, and when it came to some of her new favorite people it was even better.

As midday approached, they all gathered under the barely-there shadow to eat their snacks and escape the dangerous Sun beams at their high. Argyle had some pre-baked space brownies for dessert and they all shared stories and laughed about nonsense. Eddie felt happy that she and Chrissy were finally being more included into the lives of Steve and Robin, and that their friends came along. It felt like they had always belonged there, as a full group. It was amazing.

When both the Sun and Eddie weren’t as high anymore, she finally felt safe enough to take off her shirt and cap. With another sunscreen layer applied, she stretched a bit before asking Chrissy to join her at the shallow ends of the lake. The pebbles hurt her feet in a good way and the smell of damp earth was refreshing.

“How’s it going?” Chrissy asked.

Eddie looked at her and saw that she was staring ahead. She followed the line of vision and saw Nancy taking a few laps in the deeper parts of the water. She instantly knew what Chrissy was asking.

“I might have been stalking too much on Instagram,” she answered, and Chrissy cackled.

“Does she follow you?”

“Uh, no. Her profile’s open,” she finished and Chrissy almost choked on her laughter.

Eddie tried to hide her smile, but Chrissy’s snorts were endearing even if they were at her expense.

“What are we laughing so hard about?” The subject of the conversation appeared out of nowhere, Robin and Vickie behind her as they approached.

Chrissy laughed harder.

“Uh, just this dude. You guys don’t know him.” Eddie tried to act casual, but Nancy’s raised eyebrow showed she wasn’t buying. Thankfully, she also didn’t press further. “Uh. Nice bikini,” she pointed at Nancy’s torso, immediately regretting it.

Nancy looked down, as if she didn’t remember what she was wearing. There was nothing special about it, just a different color in each of the little triangles covering Nancy’s breasts, but now all the attention was in it, on them, and Eddie felt like a complete fool. If she wanted Nancy not to know about her stupid not-crush, talking about her fucking boobs wasn’t the best course of action.

“Thanks?” she said, kind of asked, as her answer to Eddie’s random compliment. “Yours is pretty too.” She smiled sweetly, and Eddie was a hundred percent sure she didn’t deserve that kindness.

“Not just the bikini,” Vickie whispered a little too loud, causing Chrissy to fall into her laughing fit again. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. That was so out of pocket.” Her freckled face was all red, and Robin was hiding a grin under her hand, and Nancy was suddenly looking at the water, brows pinched, pink cheeks, perched lips.

Interesting, Eddie thought.

“Ah, don’t be,” she answered Vickie. “I paid a hell of a price for them, they’re supposed to be admired.”

“Wait until you’re at a level three friendship clearance and you’ll get to see them uncovered. Maybe even touch,” Chrissy said, still in between chuckles.

“Well, yeah, I want to show them off!” Eddie spoke up.

Nancy coughed loudly. “I’ll go back to the-” she stopped herself and never finished her sentence before practically running back to the water, her body curving in a beautiful dive once she was deep enough.

Eddie felt glad she was still wearing her shorts, cause the tightness in them could get a little uncomfortable.

“You guys are funny,” Robin said, arm draped over Vickie’s shoulder, and her pointed look at Eddie’s profile seemed to mean something more.

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked.

Robin chuckled a little louder. “You and Nancy would get along real well if you stopped dancing around each other,” she answered.

Eddie bit the inside of her cheek before turning to look at the lake again. Nancy wasn’t doing laps anymore, instead she was talking to the boys. As if she felt Eddie’s eyes on her, she also turned to look back to the shore, and her gaze met Eddie’s.

She smiled so sweetly. As if Eddie had never insulted her, as if her vulnerability had never been hidden, she smiled the same way Eddie saw her smile when she talked about M.W’s words.

Maybe it was then.

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eddie lied, without ending her eye contact with the girl on the water, and her senses were so focused on only her that she didn’t even hear Robin and Chrissy’s snickering.

She really had to stop dancing.

Chrissy went to Eddie’s house and ruined her life on a simple Friday.

“You’re being so dramatic,” Chrissy said while Eddie paced around her living room, fingers tangled in her hair, and her phone still in Chrissy’s hand.

Eddie knew it had been a horrible idea to download Tinder to get over her not-crush on Nancy, and she knew it had been a horrible idea to tell Chrissy about it — but she went ahead and did both of those things anyway.

It started harmless enough, Eddie and Chrissy sat side by side, a bottle of wine shared with no need for glasses, a random movie on the TV as background noise. Chrissy giving her input on Eddie’s bio, her picture choices, the people she swapped right or left.

It started harmless enough, until Nancy’s profile showed up.

Only a few miles away, a stunning profile picture that made Eddie’s heart almost crack her ribcage, a bio that Eddie couldn’t even read entirely because suddenly her phone wasn’t in her hands anymore, and Chrissy was locking herself in the bathroom.

No amount of Eddie’s banging on the door made her get out, not until she felt like her mission was complete, not until after she swiped right on Nancy.

And then Eddie was spiraling, pacing around her living room while Chrissy finished whatever wine was left in the bottle, the movie had ended on the TV and Tinder was left open and forgotten on Eddie’s phone.

“You acted like a bitch and you know it,” Eddie said, and Chrissy only huffed. “Christine!”

“Calm down, I’ve told you already! It’s not like-” she paused mid sentence when the phone screen lit up. Chrissy’s eyes grew comically larger, and she bit her bottom lip tightly, the skin under her teeth going pale. “So, about that-”

“Christine!” Eddie yelled again, throwing herself on the couch and aiming for the phone already. “Please, for the love of god and all that is holy, please tell me she didn’t just-”

“You have a match,” Chrissy confirmed Eddie’s worst nightmares.

“FUCKING HELL!”

It was undeniable, right at the center of the screen, big bold letters in a way that Eddie couldn’t blame on drunkenness because she hadn’t even drank that much. She had a match with Nancy Wheeler.

“Why is that a bad thing? You have a crush on her anyway, you just learned it’s reciprocated?” Chrissy asked, already getting up to fetch another wine bottle.

“What if it’s a joke. What if she swiped in the wrong direction as an accident. What if she sat on her phone and butt-matched me. What-”

“Eddie, stop spiraling,” Chrissy told her, a new wine bottle in her hands that she passed to Eddie in exchange for the phone again. “We’ll keep watching whatever movie this is,” she checked the TV, saw the movie was over, “We’ll watch whatever other random movie and get your head out of this and tomorrow you’ll wake up renewed and look at this situation with fresh eyes and see it’s not that bad. Okay?”

“You just don’t want me to yell at you ‘cause you know it’s your fault,” Eddie grumbled.

“I won’t lie to you, my best friend, that is partly the reason.” Chrissy chose another random movie without really checking what it was. “But I also really don’t think it’s such a big deal.”

“Whatever,” Eddie whined again, but draped her head on Chrissy’s shoulder when she sat beside her.

She was warm, and smelled of berries and coconut, and she had Eddie’s phone so she couldn’t do anything stupid, and she usually knew better. She was probably right. Eddie let herself be comforted in the presence of Chrissy’s calming aura.

Eddie ended the night having no idea what the movie was about, her mental state a little over tipsy and a little under drunk, her phone back in her hands and the Tinder conversation with Nancy Wheeler opened.

She came to learn a lot in between one and six A.M., the time she spent talking to Nancy while Chrissy still snored beside her.

Nancy had a younger brother and a younger sister.

She loved ballet.

Her favorite singer was Madonna.

Her parents were divorced, and the day they told her the news was one of the best days of her life.

Some of her hobbies included journaling, roller skating, and painting her nails.

Her best friend was named Barb, and she was studying abroad for her PhD.

She legally owned a gun. That was terrifying. (And also a little hot.)

She had never used it, though. But felt safe having it.

She was power driven, passion driven, a force to be reckoned with, and kind and sweet while doing it all.

Maybe it was then.

Neither of them acknowledged the fact that they both had been assholes to each other, and just accepted the Tinder match as if it had been nothing more. Nancy had started the conversation as if they had already texted before, and Eddie just rolled with it.

They talked all night, and Eddie could’ve kept talking to her if she hadn’t passed out from sleep deprivation and alcohol consumption.

She only noticed the next afternoon, when she woke up, that she tried telling Nancy she was M.W. at the peak of her insanity, but thankfully had never sent the message.

She deleted it and said nothing else instead.

Eddie saw Nancy sooner than she expected — and, honestly, sooner than she was ready to.

She and Nancy hadn’t talked after that day, not at all, not on Tinder and not on Instagram after they followed each other. Nancy liked a couple of Eddie’s pictures and stories, and Eddie liked some of her stuff back, but that was it.

She thought it had dwindled out, she was too much of a coward to pull Nancy back to a conversation and thought Nancy had no interest when she also made no move to message Eddie again.

Eddie was nursing a minor heartache when she asked Chrissy to go with her to a party one of her neighbors invited her to merely a week later. It was at the rooftop of another building, fairy lights still turned off during the day but they would look beautiful by night, the Sun was warm and they had punch, so Eddie thought it to be the perfect place and opportunity to get her mind off of Nancy Wheeler.

Imagine her surprise to see Nancy Wheeler there?

Chrissy spotted her immediately, elbowing Eddie until she noticed too. She looked beautiful under the sun, all sparkly makeup and flowy dress and pulled-up hair. And Chrissy gave Eddie no time to think or react before pulling her by the hand straight into Nancy’s direction where she was talking to a short-haired girl.

“Christine, stop, what if they’re-”

“Nancy! Hi!” Chrissy didn’t let Eddie pour out her negative thoughts, and instead called to the source of all of Eddie’s most recent problems.

“Chrissy!” she smiled, oh so pretty. “And Eddie!”

Eddie didn’t want to get all delusional, but she felt like Nancy’s smile to her was wider than the one to Chrissy.

Chrissy hugged her, and soon came Eddie’s turn, and if she put a little more strength into her arms, and if she made it last just a second longer, and if she carefully sniffed Nancy’s hair — well, that’s her problem.

“So nice to see you two. This is Barb!” She looked at Eddie as she said it, maybe to see if Eddie remembered that conversation, and Eddie could never lose that opportunity.

She took a deep breath, inhaled some courage from the air, turned to Barb and said, “Heard only the greatest things about you.”

Barb smiled, and so did Nancy, and maybe, yeah, maybe Eddie was a little delusional and maybe she was a little biased but Nancy’s smile was wider and prettier and more important.

She touched Eddie’s arm after she hugged Barb, and she looked Eddie right in the eyes and there was something there —  some gratitude, some recognition, Eddie wasn’t sure what it was, but it was there.

And maybe it was then.

“So… what about that poem page? Still digging it?” Eddie asked hours later, when Chrissy was hooking up with a stranger in the bathroom and Barb had gone home already.

Nancy turned to pay attention to her immediately. They were leaning against the rooftop’s half-walls, Eddie’s jean jacket over Nancy’s naked shoulders cause there was a funny cold little breeze.

“Yeah, of course,” Nancy answered. Her eyes were sparkling, and the sun was setting, and the fairy lights were on.

She looked breath-taking.

“Still your favorite?” Eddie asked again, just because she needed to have that little pinch of Nancy Wheeler’s approval, even if Nancy had no idea.

“Still my favorite,” Nancy answered again, her eyes narrowing but smile widening a bit. “You still hate poetry?” she asked instead, and the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth was the only hint that she wasn’t as serious, that she was just teasing.

“I don’t hate poetry,” Eddie said with an accompanying eye roll and a small smile of her own. “I actually envy them. I wish I could say stuff that makes you feel… the way you feel. Instead of constantly annoying you.”

She kept a smirk as she said it, but it was a deeply honest confession. Of course, it was her words making Nancy feel the way she felt. But Nancy didn’t know that, and if she didn’t know that, did it really count?

Nancy’s expression softened as Eddie said it, those blue pools opening up for her again. Eddie felt like she would never get tired of it.

“You don’t constantly annoy me, just sometimes… most of the time,” she teased and nothing about her face said sarcasm and Eddie smiled wide back at her.

Nancy’s hand found Eddie’s, her fingers small and delicate and they fit right in between Eddie’s fingers, and it felt like it was meant to be, like the perfect puzzle pieces. There was music somewhere around them, lots of chatter from all the other people, but it all felt so distant as Nancy held Eddie’s hand so tight it almost hurt but it didn’t because it was her.

Maybe it was then.

Eddie wasn’t sure when she fell for Nancy Wheeler, but she knew for sure that’s when their story really started.

SHE DOESN’T KNOW AS WELL

Six months later

“I knew it already,” she said.

Her hair was a bit longer by then, curling around her head like an aura and getting all knotted up right with Eddie’s hair as they laid side by side in bed. The air smelt like sex, like them, and the streets outside the window were quiet in the middle of the night.

“The fuck you did,” Eddie answered.

“I’m an investigative journalist, Eddie, of course I knew you were Emme like, two weeks after we started dating.”

“Shut the fuck up,” she said, and Nancy snorted. She knew Eddie wasn’t actually mad. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Nancy instantly sobered up. “Cause it’s important to you. I wanted you to tell me, whenever you were ready. That’s your soul, Ed.”

It definitely wasn’t then, it had been long ago.

But it was then that Eddie confessed it, out loud, almost screaming in a whisper:

“I love you.”

Nancy smiled, her blue eyes two huge pools of vulnerability, that sweetness that poured out of her like honey.

“I don’t know when this happened. But. I love you too, of course.”

[sherifftillman]

but baby, please don't bore me.

[st-rarepairbang]

the princess and the pub

Author: @mcplestreet Artist: @im-not-batman Beta reader: MJ Characters: Nancy Wheeler, Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Wayne Munson, Chrissy Cunningham Relationships: Nancy Wheeler/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington/Chrissy Cunningham (background) Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Additional Tags: royalty, medieval, secret relationship, secret identity, first love, mutual pining Warnings: none Wordcount: 16k Summary:

Nancy Wheeler longs for a life that the castle walls she lives inside of would never allow. One where she can do what she pleases and marry who she pleases. Instead she's being forced to marry her best friend Prince Steven in what's shaping to be a matrimony of royal proportions. At least Steve is just as unexcited about this as she is. Under the guise of spending quality time as betrotheds the two make frequent trips down to the local village, dressed to blend in, and try to enjoy their last little bit of freedom before being chained to one another. While Steve starts spending more and more time with the local priests' daughter Chrissy Nancy finds herself in the company of the local barkeep. Eddie is down to Earth, funny, and sees Nancy in a way she's longed for her whole life. He makes her feel understood despite the fact that she's forced to lie to him about who she is and where she's from. Especially since the Munson's are not big fans of their landlord Ted Wheeler. When Steve proposes a plan of escape Nancy is forced to face whether or not the comfortable life she's always known is worth giving up for true love and her best friend.

[korrasami-did-the-thing]

This better be the first scene of Stranger Things Season 5

[princessdave]

Hopper accidentally becomes the biggest ally in Hawkins out of hatred for Mike Wheeler. El wants to date Max? Perfect, Mike is terrified of Max. El wants to date Max and Lucas? Even better, more people to keep Mike away. Will comes out to Joyce and Hop? Hopper is immediately studying up on gay culture and flagging so he can find him a Hop ApprovedTM boyfriend. He sees that nice boy Gareth cuff his jeans one time and starts inviting him to family dinner. Mike seems annoyed that Steve is spending more time with Munson? A pamphlet titled “Accepting your Bisexuality” finds its way into Steve’s jacket pocket. Hopper has never seen Mike as furious as the day Steve and Munson arrive at dinner holding hands. It’s a good day. Hopper isn’t sure how Nancy dating the Buckley girl will annoy Mike, but he’s willing to give it a shot.

[sophemeva]

Nancy : Why is Dustin crying?

Steve : I am having Max be mean to him.

Nancy: What?? Why??

Steve: He got a D in Spanish and then cheated.

Nancy : Well, you can't use Max for that, discipline your child yourself.

Robin : Nance, max got straight A's , she needs to be rewarded too.

Eddie : it's a win-win.

[kingsteve-more-like-dadsteve]

Eddie, on the phone with Steve: Turn around

Eddie: No, the other way

Eddie: Again, the other way

Eddie: Okay, one more time

Steve: OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?!

Eddie: I'm not there yet, but the thought of you aimlessly turning around in circles amuses me

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Hopper: Alright, Munson, would you pick a weapon already? Let's get this apocalypse on the road.

Eddie: I choose. . . *Steve walks in with Nancy* them!

Hopper: *sighs* Those aren't weapons!

Eddie: I beg to differ!

Hopper: Pick a weapon, or you're not going.

Eddie: Oh, shit, I didn't realize that was a choice. I'm sitting this one out.

Robin: You're just scared that I'm going to be better at the apocalypse than you.

Eddie: *squints eyes* Alright, I'm in, but I'm still choosing Nancy and Steve!

Hopper: They aren't - !

Eddie: Nance, Stevie, wanna be my weapons?!

Steve: Aww, Nancy, we got picked.

Nancy: I told you we would.

Robin: What?! I didn't know they were options! All I got was this spear made by this dumb kid!

Dustin: HEY!

Hopper: *sighs*

[wolfstrela]

y'all know the real reason Murray HAD TO go with Joyce to rescue Hopper? no, not bc of his russian speaking abilities. because otherwise Murray would clock Ronance and Steddie so fast he'd majorly fuck up the Duffer brothers' dumb six little nuggets plan

he's done it twice already (jonancy and jopper) and you know he would happily grumpily do it twice more

[mardyart]

they’re just kids after all

[sherifftillman]

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Nancy Wheeler (Edancy)

Genre: fluff

Word count: 5.7k

A/N: Okay, so maybe I'm the clown for thinking that putting a "short blurb request" prompt for my 2k follower celebration would actually help me keep things concise and maybe I can never shut the fuck up but finally, she's here. @heroeddiemunson sorry for the wait lol, but here's your "tunnel of love" request for edancy <3

Nancy lets out a disgruntled breath as she puts her car into park and turns off the engine. As if finals weren’t enough of a stressor, on top of finally breaking up with her long-distance boyfriend, of course Mike had to go and get himself detention and of course Mike forgot to pick up something for his latest D&D campaign and of course Mike left it until the last minute to remember he needed it before the session and so of course Nancy has to play courier. What else could she possibly be doing with all this spare time everyone just assumes she has?

Getting out of the car, and taking a deep breath of the freshest air the trailer park can offer to recompose herself, Nancy stands tall and heads over to the door of the Munson trailer, rapping her knuckles against it three times sharply. She expects a quick and easy transaction with Eddie, that he must be expecting Mike anyway so it’ll only be a few minutes. Then it’s back to the library once again. So she jumps up in alarm when a far more weathered face greets her instead. “Oh! I’m so sorry, Mr Munson!”

“’S Wayne,” he grunts sleepily. “’M not your teacher.”

“R-right, again, so sorry. Um, I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything? I was just trying to find Eddie, I’m here on behal-”

Wayne’s tired face lights up at that. “Oh, you are here for the boy? Come on in, I’ll go get him,” he shuffles back with the door as he pulls it open.

“Oh, please, Miste- Wayne, I’m not here to stay, I just need to get something from him -”

“No, I insist, come on in! It’s gonna take a minute or two before he even realises I’m in the room with those damn things on his head, and the sun’s mighty vicious today,” he shields his eyes and looks up at the clear blue sky. 

The knowledge of how to truly win an argument, Nancy had learned in her years, also comes with knowing when to back down. And she was not going to win against Wayne Munson. She steps carefully over the threshold as Wayne heads into what she assumes is Eddie’s room. She studies the alarming amount of mugs and caps that adorn the walls with great interest as the thin walls of the trailer betray the confidentiality of the men’s conversation.

“Boy. Bo- Boy!”

“Okay, ow, what the hell? Why’d you smack me?!”

“I didn’t smack you, I smacked those goddamn soup bowls off your head. There something you wanna tell me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew it. All this I’m not going to prom, old man. When were you going to tell me you found yourself a date, huh?”

“I have no clue what you’re -”

“Cute, too! Seems a little, uh, how do I put it? She’d be good for you.”

“Here we go again.”

“Look, I’m sorry, kid, I just… You’ve never had it easy, and I just wanna see you have at least one normal high school experience, is that too much to ask?”

“Well, sorry to disappoint, old man, but I’m still very much repulsive, thanks.”

“Have you not been listening?! Tell that to the girl that’s literally waiting in the other room.”

“Wha-?”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll step out, give you two some privacy. You know, you really are cutting it fine, leaving it so short notice before the dance.”

“You look like you just woke up, you’re in your bathro-”

The door wrenches open, and Nancy quickly turns her focus onto a mug shaped like Garfield as Wayne rushes out with a, "Please pardon me, I'm just going to - I just remembered I have to - Edward!" is the last thing he shouts over his shoulder as the front door swings shut behind him.

Softly laughing under her breath, Nancy looks over at where he had emerged from to see Eddie leaning himself against the doorway. "The elusive Elder Wheeler? To what am I owed the pleasure?"

Nancy scoffs and rolls her eyes, "I literally just came here on Mike's orders, he wants some… Character, thing, I don't-"

"Ah, the paladin wants his character pack. Leaving it a little late," he notes with a frown.

"Yeah, well, that's my brother," Nancy comments with an air of impatience.

Eddie cocks his head to lean against the frame, too. "What's the rush, Wheels?"

Taking a moment to silently mouth the nickname judgingly, Nancy shakes her head. "Finals week? Ring any bells?" He scrunches half of his face up, scratching at his unobscured temple. 

She shakes her head at him, a laugh of disbelief under her breath, and he grins, "Oh, please, there is no way in hell that you, Nancy Wheeler, have to worry about finals. I bet you’re a shoo-in for all the big ones, Harvard and Yale must be cat-fighting over you.” He holds his hands in claws and moves them around to illustrate his point.

Nancy feels her cheeks flush warm at the thought. “I’m already going to Emerson, yes, but I need to set an expectation of myself.”

“So, set it low and then wow them when you’re there,” he shrugs, as though it’s the easiest solution in the world. Nancy tuts at him, but that damn smile just won’t leave her face. Eddie shoves himself away from the doorframe and gestures towards his bedroom, inviting Nancy over. “I promise, it’s decent in here, I thi- Oh,” he ducks his head around and kicks his leg somewhere that Nancy can’t see before looking back over at her and beaming, “Okay, now it’s decent.”

“Really, I just need whatever Mike’s supposed to get, I -” Feeling defeated for the second time in the space of minutes, Nancy stands tentatively in the doorway, her eye immediately catching the record player sitting on the floor with giant headphones resting next to it. She chuckles, “So that’s what he meant by soup bowls.”

“You journalists just can’t keep your ears to yourself, huh?” Though Eddie’s head is buried in a cardboard box that looks as though it’s tied together with nothing but spite in and of itself, Nancy can hear the smirk in his voice. “Sorry that the old man assumed you were… Y’know.”

“Oh, don’t even - it’s fine,” Nancy waves her hand, regardless of its total redundancy to an obscured Eddie. “Though I’m a little intrigued what he thinks you’re yet to experience out of high school after that long.”

“Okay, firstly, ouch. Contrary to what people say about sticks and stones, words can hurt too, Wheeler,” Eddie stands tall, one hand full of a paper binder wrapped in elastic bands, the other splayed across his chest in mock offence. He then sighs, “He thinks I oughta go to prom. I heard him talking on the phone to, uh.” He starts clicking his fingers over and over. “What’s the name of that kid with the glasses on the paper? His mom.”

Nancy politely hides the laughter that bubbles from her lips with her hand. “Why would Fred Benson’s mom be calling Wayne?”

“Her husband works with him at the plant, and she cooks meals for us both because she doesn’t think either of us know what a vegetable is,” he shrugs, while very obviously, very poorly fighting off a large smile. “But from what I could tell, I think ol’ Freddie’s got a little proposal of his own in mind for prom night,” he singsongs coyly, waggling his eyebrows at her. Nancy groans, her face deflating, and Eddie cackles. “Aw, c’mon, it’s not like he’d even have a shot anyway, right? Is, uh… Byers coming down, too?”

Nancy winces painfully. “Uh, no. No, he’s not. We’re not…” She tries to look around for something to distract her, settling on knitting her eyebrows at a sealed loaf of bread that’s sitting on the floor.

“Oh! Sorry. To hear that, and also bring it up, I guess? I dunno, I’m not really good at the whole… Y’know. There’s obviously a reason why Wayne’s practically marrying me off to the first girl to cross this threshold in god-knows-how-long,” Eddie rambles awkwardly.

Nancy breathes out a laugh through her nose. "It's whatever," she shakes her head. "I'm probably not even gonna get to go, anyway."

Eddie's eyes widen in shock. "Hawkins High's top reporter, not attending the biggest event of the year?! Surely you don't need a date."

"I don't," she states plainly. "But my dad's been all, no daughter of mine is going to a dance alone! And for once, Mom's decided to be a united front with him, so…" She half-shrugs. "Besides, even if I did go dateless, I'm sure Fred's still gonna glue himself to my hip, anyway," she adds exasperatedly, pulling a face.

Eddie could never have predicted that he was about to witness the most beautiful sight of his life. He would never have even guessed what that sight would have been. He'd never understood the analogy of a lightbulb referring to having an idea until he watched Nancy Wheeler illuminate right in front of him. Her posture straightens, the picture of elegance. Her mouth moves slightly, quickly, silently, her eyes squint every few beats, her nose scrunches every fewer. She pauses for half a second, eyes glanced to one side as her lips push out to the other, and then she nods.

She takes a deep breath, about to start presenting her argument, when Eddie interrupts. "You about to ask me to prom, Wheels? 'M flattered."

She looks at him indignantly. "How did you -?"

"It makes the most sense, right?" he asks. "We both get something out of it: you get to go to prom, simultaneously keeping your parents happy while also pissing them off because, well," he gestures to himself. "I get to give the old man what he wants, for once. You have a failsafe against Benson. And your brother's face is gonna be priceless."

She shakes her head in defeat, “Alright, you got me. I didn’t even think of that last one, that’s three to one in my favour, I guess.”

“Eh, let’s call it three to two,” Eddie turns his nose up. “Little Wheels deserves a little payback from that one stupid nat 20 perception check that overrode three sessions' worth of writing.”

Nancy giggles, “Must be a family thing. Dustin didn’t talk to me for three weeks when I figured out who his main big bad guy was.”

Eddie’s face once again falls into shock. “You’ve played?! How is this the first I’m hearing of this?!”

Nancy’s Casio watch beeps at her, telling her it’s time to go pick up Mike. With a modest smile, she reaches over and takes her brother’s character pack from Eddie, tucking her chin into her shoulder as she says, “Maybe I’ll tell you next Friday.”

Eddie watches in awe as she takes one more moment to contemplate the whole bread thing, swivels around on her heel and walks out of the door purposefully. He blows out a breath he didn’t know he was holding back, shifting his bangs around his forehead.

Eddie Munson’s about to take Nancy Wheeler to the prom.

~~~

“Hey, sweetie! How was your… Thing, tonight? Kill any bad guys?” Karen Wheeler asks her son, who’s already running up the stairs. 

“Oh my god, Mom, I already told you, today was the first session of a new cam- Nancy! You home?!” Mike shouts as he continues to stomp through the second floor of the house.

“I’m down here with Mom,” she calls back to him, and he groans in anguish.

“Then get up here! I’m not walking up and down again!”

Karen’s brow furrows. “Now, why on earth does your brother want to see you so bad?”

Nancy smiles coyly. “Why, indeed? I better go find out.”

She finds her brother standing in front of her bedroom. “I’m supposed to give you this? I dunno, what are you even doing with Eddie? He’s actually cool. What, is he paying you to help him cram for his exams?”

“If he’s not telling you, chances are there’s a good reason,” she shrugs, snatching what Mike’s holding from his grip and shoving him out of the way, quickly shutting her door behind her the second she crosses the threshold into her room. She opens the tea-stained envelope with “For Elder Wheeler’s Eyes Only” written on it, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Inside is a written note:

Elder Wheeler,

It seems you and I have been bound by fate to accompany one another on a most dire quest: conforming to the formal societal standards of the true evil cultural event known as “prom”. And so, much like every adventuring party, we must establish some specifics first. Namely:

What colors are you wearing? (Research tells me that the more a party of two matches aesthetically, the more the conformists like it. Which will make your parents hate it even more.)

When should our epic journey start? (Remember, we have to make time to hit all our quest markers at House Wheeler, House Munson and then the dreaded Hawkins HIgh.)

I know that traditionally, the man of a two-person party is the one who plans these things in advance, but I also know enough about you, Elder Wheeler, to assume that you would rather be in charge. And so, I am more than happy to comply with whatever you have planned for us.

I shall await your response from the young Postmaster Wheeler.

Sincerely,Eddie the Banished

The smile on Nancy’s face grows tenfold as she reads it over and over. She describes the dress she has in mind to Eddie in as much detail as she can, tells him to be at the door for 6pm to allow ample time for parent reactions and then the eventual photo-taking before going to Wayne’s for more photos, and then getting to the prom itself.

Shoving the paper back into the envelope and finding a sticker and some tape to hold it back together again, Nancy knocks sharply on the door opposite her own.

Mike emerges with a tired, “Can I help you?”

She holds the envelope out. “I’ll have him tell me if the tape’s been compromised. And I’m sure he’ll make your life hell for it just as much as I will.”

Mike rolls his eyes as he takes it back. “Can’t even have one cool older friend without you ruining everything, jeez,” she hears him mutter under his breath as he shuts the door in her face.

Biting her lip, Nancy pivots back round and practically skips back into her bedroom, swinging the door shut behind her, leaping onto her bed and picking up her landline phone to start dialling her best friends’ phone numbers.

Eddie continues to utilise Mike as his little messenger boy, to the postmaster’s chagrin. One time after borrowing some of Gareth’s art supplies to colour various shades of purple onto a sheet of paper, asking Nancy to circle which is closest to the colour of her chosen dress. One time to ask her if she’s allergic to anything a corsage could be made of. And one time to just send a note that reads, It’s just fun to make young Michael work.

~~~

At 6pm sharp, the door knocks. Four quick taps. Another quick one. A sequence, quick, slow, quick. A final quick one. Nancy smirks as she spells out the Morse code that only one person she’s expecting would be nerdy enough to know — h-e-r-e.

Karen, who has been pestering her daughter over this mystery man she’s been hinting at for the last week or so, practically flies to the door. She pauses for a moment once her hand is on the doorknob, using her free hand to smooth herself down before stepping back with the door as it opens. She’s got her big hostess smile on - which falters the moment she sees that Munson boy on her doorstep. “Oh. Michael! It’s your… Dice and… Dinosaurs friend!”

Nancy, who’d made it to the top of the stairs by this point, hangs back, biting her lip as she watches Mike, with all his fake bravado, stammer, “Oh, uh, hey, Eddie! Wasn’t expecting - what brings you t-?” The rest of his sentence is knocked right out of him as he looks down, Nancy presumes at his outfit. "N- No, no, there's no way, you -" His jaw hangs as he looks up at his sister standing halfway down the stairwell. 

Karen swallows hard. “...Ted? Honey? You might wanna come out here and see this.”

Eddie watches everything happen in awe, how Nancy seems to be reacting so nonchalantly over the family reacting in her perfectly orchestrated chaos. Those words shouldn’t even go together, but Nancy Wheeler makes it so.

Eddie squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head, rebooting himself, as Nancy joins him at the foot of the stairs. “Looking good, Wheels,” he grins, and she tuts, rolling her eyes.

“You don’t scrub up too badly yourself, Munson,” she leans in to tap him on the nose and he inhales deeply, holding it in for a few beats longer than necessary as she walks past. He follows her as she walks through to the back yard, shouting behind her, “Well! Where’s your camera, Dad? We don’t have all night!”

Eddie bites back the reaction that so badly wants to leave his lips as he sees the backdrop that’s hanging from the branch of a nearby tree. Though he may not know her well at all, even Eddie knows that this has Karen Wheeler written all over it. Nancy holds his arms as she guides him into position, instructing him on how to pose as a very red-faced Ted Wheeler marches out. Through the toothy grin Eddie’s forcefully presenting to the camera, he tells Nancy, “I feel like I look like a penguin in this get-up.”

“Maybe a little,” she mutters back, “but a handsome penguin all the same.”

Laughter brimming in his tone, Eddie asks, “Am I the most handsome penguin? Do I make all the other penguins go…” Suddenly unsure of what sound to make, Eddie makes a squawking sound unheard of from any man or beast. Nancy looks at him with a look of confused bewilderment, and Eddie clears his throat, his face falling into a stoic deadpan as he bashfully admits in a murmur, “I have no idea what a penguin sounds like.”

Nancy laughs, but it’s not the way people usually laugh at him. She’s laughing with him, just as his friends do, except it can take months, if not years for the people he recruits into Hellfire to understand his sense of humour. All he’s really had with Nancy has been the one conversation they had two weeks ago, and a few notes back and forth. 

He’s pulled out of that train of thought as a resigned Ted asks, “Are we done here, now?”

And that’s when reality hits. When Nancy is exaggeratedly sweetly smiling, “Come on, Dad, didn’t you want to immortalise your little girl getting taken to her last school dance?” That’s why Eddie feels so connected to her already. Because she’s putting on a show. There’s no reason to believe Nancy actually feels anything herself, she doesn’t even know Eddie. At best, she’s done her research to know just how to make this charade look believable.

So, the very least he can do is owe it to her to not let her down by looking so sombre at his own realisation. A horn sounding from the other side of the house startles everyone except Eddie, who announces, “Our chariot awaits, Elder Wheeler.”

“Wh- You’re not taking that van you drove up in?!” Karen asks.

Eddie tuts, “And have your daughter show up to her senior prom in it?” He shakes his head. “Come on, now, Mrs Wheeler, she deserves better than that, right? My uncle Wayne’s borrowing a Cadillac from someone at the plant for the night, he’s here to take us back to take some photos of his own before he takes us to school. I'm sure you won't mind me keeping that ol' van here in favour of your daughter riding across Hawkins in style.”

Karen loudly hums her dismissal. “Mm-mm, there is no way that my Nancy is walking through a - a trailer park,” she mouths those two words, “when I’ve spent so much time on her looking this good!”

“And might I add what a fine job you’ve done, Mrs Wheels,” Eddie smiles exaggeratedly. Nancy tucks her head behind his arm to let out a small laugh. 

This time, it’s Karen’s turn to resemble a human beetroot as she slaps her husband’s shoulder, who groans. “Well, go on then, Karen, invite the man back here and he can take his own damn photos and get outta here!”

The pain of all of this feeling like nothing more than a farce, hits twice as hard for Eddie when he sees how proud his uncle looks of him. He’s even dressed himself in a suit as though he were a real chauffeur. This level of deceit feels far worse than it does knowing that Nancy’s only acting in spite of her family, and yet she’s a natural. She comforts Wayne, asking him if he needs a minute, but the man isn’t stupid, he knows that he’s not welcome in this house a second longer than absolutely necessary. He takes out his old camera, the one held together by scotch tape and sheer determination, and Nancy’s back to directing how they should pose. 

Eddie takes a deep breath before smiling into each shot, before eventually cutting himself off with a, “C’mon, now, old man, there’s fashionably late and there’s straight up tardy!”

“Yeah, you know all about that, don’t you, boy?” he asks with raised eyebrows, making himself, Eddie and Nancy laugh. Mike laughs at his words, too, but a clip round the back of the head from his father soon shuts him up again.

Nancy makes small talk with Wayne throughout the entire car ride, and while Wayne constantly makes comments that he keeps including Eddie in, the latter can only bring himself to respond in one-word answers or generic non-committal sounds as he formulates another way to find an excuse to find one more moment with Nancy tonight. Of course, he’s her foolproof back-up for if Fred tries to make an unwanted move on her, but he can’t rely on only being able to approach her while she’s uncomfortable. He remembers them talking about the advantages both of them would have. How she thought she had three pros to his one, but he corrected her to balance it out a little more. But still, Eddie could make the argument that he has one more thing to gain. Maybe he could ask her for a dance. Just to piss off someone who asks him what he’s doing at prom, there’s gotta be at least someone who does that. Yeah. That’s what he’ll do.

Nancy calls out his name as she rifles through her purse, bringing him back to reality. “Brought something for you.” She hands him a folded up photograph, which he unravels with a growing smile on his face until his lips near enough reach his ears. He doesn’t recognise the child in the purple robe, but he can see what looks like a very young Dustin, Lucas and Mike, all dressed up as their characters sitting around the table. The table is littered with a dungeon map, miniature figures and dice of all numbers. And, sat next to Dustin, is a slightly older girl, the nest of curls adorning her head styled in a way that shows off her homemade elf ears, holding the cloak she’s wearing as she’s obviously mid-speaking.

Eddie chuckles under his breath, “You’ve been a player this whole time and didn’t think to hit us up once?!”

“Yeah, I mean, it was just to keep the kids happy. I sort of, half-grew out of it, half-lost interest when it became very obviously Mike’s Thing that he wouldn’t want his older sister anywhere near.” Nancy sighs, “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Catriona Valthana from time to time.”

“Well, if you ever wanna reprise her, you know where we live,” he gestures to Wayne and himself, and his uncle nods through the rear view mirror.

Nancy laughs, “Maybe. But, I figured, that makes us even now, right?” Eddie looks at her in bafflement, trying to figure out how she was able to read his mind like that, but she mistakes it for confusion. “Y’know, back when we were saying, I was three for your two things we get out of this?” she asks quietly, looking over at Wayne to make sure he couldn’t hear that part. Eddie simply nods sadly, pocketing the photo and patting where it sits in his breast with another fake smile before remaining silent for the rest of the journey.

They clamber out of the car once they’re in the parking lot, both thanking Wayne profusely for driving them there and agreeing on a time he should pick them up again. They both stand together to wave him off, and once he’s out of eyesight, Nancy claps her hands together, bouncing as she spins to face Eddie, who presses his lips together. “S’pose I better go find Jeff, now.”

Nancy narrows her eyes. “Oh. I - Yeah, if you - aren’-?”

He shrugs, his voice almost monotonous, “It’s like you said, we’re all even now, right? Now you can just enjoy your prom, nothing else attached. I’ll still keep an eye out for Benson for you, but… Enjoy your prom, Wheeler.” Eddie nods one more time before walking off into the building, rendering Nancy glued to the spot, speechless. Sure, she’d been having fun putting shocked looks on her family’s faces, but Eddie was having fun with it, too, right? He’s always been a stick-it-to-em kinda guy, and he had his personal hang-up with Mike. Like, yeah, he plays pretend at D&D at least once a week, but was he really so good at it that he could switch up so quickly?

She eventually makes her own way into the hall, very quickly accosted by her group of girlfriends. “What gives, Nance?” Robin asks. “I thought you said you were coming with that Eddie guy, why’re you coming in separately?”

She explains everything that’s happened throughout the night, and is met by three identical looks of disbelief. “What?” she laughs.

“Oh, come on, I know you’re still hung up on… Whatshisface, and all, but… Isn’t it obvious?” Vickie asks, shaking her head.

“I’m guessing not!” Nancy starts to sound exasperated as she looks to her oldest and dearest friend.

“Nance…” Barb starts, softly. “Do you not think that maybe there was one more reason someone like Eddie Munson was willing to go to a school dance with you, specifically?”

“Yeah, like I said, he wanted to make his uncle happy, and I happened to be there, and -”

“Listen to me,” Robin holds Nancy’s shoulders. “The whole of band was buzzing because he even turned down Chrissy Cunningham when she asked him after she and that Jason douche broke up. And that was days before you called to say he’d asked you.”

Vickie gestures to Robin, following up with a, “Now, if he was just going to prom to stick it to the man while making his uncle happy, don’t you think it’d have been a bigger middle finger to everyone else for the outcast to take the head cheerleader?”

Nancy looks over at Eddie, who’s stood with Jeff and his date. Jeff’s clearly trying to get Eddie to keep engaging in conversation, but something about him isn’t as… Spirited. “Then why didn’t he just outright ask? Why wait for me to be the one to suggest it? Or, at least, I was about to, but then he beat me to it -”

“Didn’t you say he asked you about Jonathan?” Barb asks. “He probably just didn’t even think it was an option.”

Nancy sighs deeply. “I gotta fix this. But, then, how? Like, wha- If that’s how he feels, what am I supposed to do, only humour him until it’s time to go to Boston? Expect him to go long-distance, even though that’s the thing that ended my last relationship? I don’t -” She growls in frustration. “Why are men so…?” Another sigh. 

The girls all hug her, which she finds great comfort in. After they all go and get themselves something to drink, Nancy starts formulating plans in her head. Halfway into the dance, Barb’s about to tell her that maybe she should just relax, forget about it and enjoy the night when she sees it. Her back straightens up. She starts mouthing silent words to herself, her eyes and nose moving with them. Her lips purse off to the side as she looks in the other direction, and her friends grin back at her. She looks over at them and, with a knowing smirk, clears her throat. “Excuse me, ladies.”

She weaves her way through the crowd until she finds Eddie, skulking in the shadows as Jeff and his date dance the night away. He raises his eyebrows at her, looks around, and then frowns in another direction. “Benson’s all the way over there, I didn’t see him come near you.”

“I know,” Nancy states, holding her hand out. “I’ve decided I want my picture back.”

He frowns, “The… One of you playi- Okay,” he shrugs, taking it out of his pocket and placing it in her palm. “That all?”

Nancy buries it in her bag, then throws her hands up in the air and tuts dramatically. “Tsch, now would you look at that? I guess I’m back to owing you.” Eddie’s eyes narrow as she holds her hand out again, this time chewing her lip before asking, “Care to join me for an apology dance?”

Eddie smiles back, a real, genuine smile, as he shakes his head in feigned resignation and takes her hand, allowing her to lead him to the dancefloor. As they sway together, neither of them especially knows how to start talking. Or maybe they don’t need to. Maybe just staying here, holding each other, is enough.

After a while, Jeff and his date join them. Quickly followed by Robin, Vickie and Barb. Not another word is uttered between Eddie and Nancy without it being a part of the group’s conversation, a topic of great frustration every time the girls convene in the bathroom - including Jeff’s date, who also seems to really be rooting for the pair. Even Chrissy, who wanders in during one bathroom break, immediately becomes invested in what becomes of the two of them. Nancy promises that by the end of the night, she’ll have at least started a conversation about it. Whatever Eddie decides to do is up to him. In the meantime, they all chat, sing, and dance the night away between them. By the end of the night, Nancy's cheeks ache from smiling so much.

It finally happens as they’re waiting for Wayne. All the others in their little party have been collected, leaving just the two of them. “Alright, alright, I guess I’ll admit,” Eddie starts, “prom was actually… A lot of fun.”

“You gonna tell Wayne that?” She asks with a knowing smirk.

“Absolutely not,” he laughs, and she does, too. “Don’t you dare tell him, I’ll deny everything.” Nancy draws a fake zipper across her lips, and Eddie nods at her in thanks. “Besides, I… Probably wouldn’t have had any actual fun if you hadn’t… Y’know. Done the whole thing and asked me to dance and whatever. So. Thanks. You didn’t have to.” He’s starting to go into his recluse again, which Nancy’s determined not to let happen.

“Sure I did, I owed you one, remember?” He waves her off, and she sighs. “Plus, I… I’m sorry… If you felt like I led you on.”

He inhales sharply. “All’s good, Elder Wheeler,” he lies. “I knew what was expected of me, we delivered on that, nothing more, right?”

“I don’t - see, that’s the -” Nancy sighs. “I’ve had, so much fun with you tonight. Like, the most fun I’ve had in months. But I didn’t want tonight to be just some rebound to get out of being single for a night, and I didn’t want to pursue anything before I left for Emerson because - well, because clearly distance is more of a dealbreaker for me than I thought, and that’s not fair on either of us, but I just… I just… Want to bottle up tonight. And just keep that, without all the other stuff to stress about.”

Eddie doesn’t speak for a few beats, but finally pipes up with a, “So, why stress about it?”

Nancy’s face scrunches up in bewilderment. “What?!”

“You heard. Stuff like this shouldn’t be stressful, it should be fun.” Eddie turns his whole body to face her.

“Right, and that’s what this was! It was so much fun, but there’s so much else at stake here, an-” Nancy’s interrupted by Eddie’s hands cupping her jaw and his lips pressing against hers. She pushes an indignant trill out from behind her lips as laughter bubbles from Eddie’s, breaking the kiss entirely. “Eddie! That’s - this isn’t right, it’s not fair to either one of us in the grand scheme of things -”

“So, who says we gotta think that broadly?” He asks. “Why can’t we just enjoy ourselves right now?”

“But you were so…” Nancy looks deflated, and Eddie snorts out a laugh.

“Yeah, I got real melodramatic, huh? But that was then, and this is now. And right now, Wheels, I really wanna kiss you again.”

“You can just call me Nancy, you know,” she muses, moving around to position herself better in front of him.

“I could, but where’s the fun in that?” He grins before bending down to kiss her again. And this time, right now feels like it’s happening at a snail’s pace as Eddie's arms snake around Nancy's body. Right now feels as though it could last an eternity as Nancy holds his face.

Until a car horn sounds, revealing a very smug-looking Wayne Munson beaming at them through the window. “I’ll just do an extra couple laps for you two lovebirds. Don’t mind me!”

[dopelavender]

stranger things fans after the illegal events of vol. 2

[munsonson]

𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏『••✎••』

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴.

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯/𝘍𝘦𝘮!𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯/𝘍𝘦𝘮!𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.4

This shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. 

Things could’ve ended far worse than they actually did. Hell, most of the couples in their school tended to make breakups as dramatic as possible, normally painting one half of the relationship as some kind if irredeemable monster, if not to paint them as this sympathetic martyr, than just to save face that it actually hurt. 

In her case, Eddie Munson told her they just weren’t a good match and he wanted to be friends again instead. That was as healthy as they could possibly get. And in the best case scenario, too, she’d still be able to have him be a part of her life. She didn’t think she could stand the thought of seeing him in the halls and not being able to acknowledge him. 

She’d fallen hard and fast for Eddie, embarrassingly so. 

Given the heavy duty of designated driver for the little hooligans she’d somehow decided to adopt with Steve Harrington, she’d gotten accustomed to waiting in the high school parking lot, her nose pressed into the creases of her current novel while she waited for them to finish their important campaigns, all procured from the brilliant mind of Eddie Munson. 

She’d known him before then, too, but only in passing. He’d often make a big spectacle of himself in the cafeteria just to bug the other students, and he held the record as super senior. But she’d never even talked to him until she saw him walk the boys out after a seemingly successful campaign, his arms wrapped tightly around Dustin and Lucas’ shoulders as he praised them.

He’d acknowledged her when he got to her car. 

“My fair maiden,” he’d said, “I apologize for the delay.”

She’d blubbered out some kind of half-hearted response, good enough to make him laugh, and that made her heart go a million miles a minute. 

It didn’t take long before she’d gotten the courage to ask him out, even if it was just for coffee. He was surprised, but he agreed. 

It had been nice, he even drove her home after. She probably should’ve seen the signs then because he didn’t suggest a second meet up, she had instead. And he’d agreed.

It was about a month before they made themselves official, in Hawkins High language, practically married. But it really just meant she got to hold his hand between classes and get quick kisses goodbye when it was time to separate, somehow always on her cheek than her lips. 

She’d thought their dates were fun; it was a lot of pressure since he always left it up to her, never having any other idea than lounging about her home and just watching TV. But she was the one who thought of renting movies for horror marathons, figuring it was up his alley. She thought of bowling and drive-in theaters and picnicking near the quarry for its desolate atmosphere, another thing she figured was right up his alley. 

But things came to an underwhelming end when Eddie approached her at her locker on some random Thursday to tell her things just weren’t working out and he wanted to stay as friends. Despite how much even that had hurt, she agreed. She didn’t want to make him do anything he regretted. 

She could still be friends with him, happily so. That meant she could still sit with him at lunch, hear his outlandish tales, and be able to admire him from afar, even if she was no longer able to touch him and hold his hand. 

“Be honest,” she’d heard Gareth say as she approached with her tray, “what really happened? You know, most guys woulda killed to be able to take her out, the fact she stuck around for months is surprising enough.”

Eddie shrugs, chewing absentmindedly on a pretzel he’d brought. She would pack him lunches when they were together since he always forgot and resorted to eating prepackaged things instead. Since they broke up, it seemed like old habits really did die hard. 

“To tell you the truth,” he starts rather dramatically, “no substance. Pretty face, nice voice, real sweet, but God, boring as all hell.” He runs a hand down his face. The other boys seemed surprised. Dustin and Mike share a look, but say nothing, clearly waiting to hear more. Because there was no way it could be just that. There had to be more. They knew her better than anyone, had been through so much with her. What could be the real reason Eddie broke things off?

“And?” Dustin coaxes.

“And what?”

“Dude, seriously?” Mike scoffs. “She wasn’t interesting enough for you?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Look, she’s a great gal. And I know you guys are super close, which is awesome, but we just weren’t the best match. And I felt like shit that she was putting in all of the effort when I wasn’t interested. Now she’s free to...I dunno...find someone boring, too.” He sniggers, elbowing Jeff beside him trying to get him to laugh, too, but he could see how upset Dustin and Mike were. 

Luckily, for her sake, they didn’t notice her standing there, having overheard everything. Spinning right back around, she’d ditched her tray onto one of the trash bins before leaving the cafeteria completely before there was a chance anyone could see her tears. 

God, it shouldn’t hurt as much as it does, she thinks again. He was more than welcome to have his own opinion, but why did it have to be something like that? 

He was right, she wasn’t exactly Chrissy Cunningham or Heather Holloway, being this huge spectacle that made every new day more exciting than the last. All things considered, sometimes too much excitement frightened her. Having risked her life at least once a year for nearly four years now made her yearn for the more simple things. It was stupid of her to think Eddie would want the same. Eddie Munson, who liked to make scenes in the cafeteria and rock out in a bar with his band. He didn’t crave the simplicity of life like she did.

She didn’t go back into that cafeteria for the remaining of the lunch period. In fact, she’d decided to skip the rest of the day completely, knowing she shared three periods with Eddie and right now she really didn’t want to see him. She just wanted to get away, leave herself to her own thoughts to try to calm down. 

Well, that really only lasted for ten minutes because she found herself pulling into the small parking lot into Family Video. She spots Steve’s car at the far end and knows he’s inside. It was childish of her to go running and crying to Steve Harrington, who she knew would take her side and say all the cruel things about Eddie that she couldn’t bring herself to because she really just needed someone on her side right now. Aside from Dustin and Mike, of course. She wouldn’t forget how they jumped to her defense. 

The little bell rings at the top of the door as she walks in, startling Steve into consciousness, who seemed to be snoozing on the edge of the counter, drool pooled across his forearm. He wipes feverishly at his face and blinks unfocused in her direction, trying to situate himself quickly into his customer service face.

“Welcome to Fam-Jesus, you scared me,” he cuts himself off when he at last realizes it’s her. Confused, he turns to glance at the clock hung up on the wall. “Don’t tell me school’s out already? You beat Robin here.”

“No, I’m playing hooky,” she shakes her head, unsteadily moving towards the counter. 

“What? You? I’m sorry, am I still dreaming?” Steve asks dramatically. “Since when do you, of all people, ever skip class? I’d sooner believe Nancy doing it than you.”

“Just...needed a break s’all,” she says with a shrug, looking around. “Keith not here?”

“Nah, he’s off today. Something about a new graphic novel he’s been dying to get. Says he’d have to wait overnight just to get one of the first editions. I don’t know, I don’t really listen to him unless he’s handing over my check,” Steve said. She leans up against the counter, trying to act casual. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t things be okay?”

“Well, for one, having to clarify that things are supposed to be okay when asked if everything’s okay is a pretty big indicator that things aren’t, in fact, okay.” Steve says with a laugh. “So everything’s not okay, then?”

“Everything’s okay,” she lies. “I just...can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?”

She isn’t sure how to come out and say it without sounding stupid. Better, she can’t figure out a way to come out and say it without sounding completely pathetic. But this was Steve, he was the king of asking her embarrassing things. He even called her once at three in the morning to ask how long you were supposed to leave cookies in the oven for. The follow up question was how to get the burnt smell out before his mom came home. 

“Am I boring?”

Steve tilts his head. “Huh?”

“Am I boring, Steve? Am I boring?”

“No? Who gave you that idea?” Steve snorts, like he thinks it was a foolish thing to ask. “Whoever it is clearly hasn’t seen you handle a crowbar.” He was referencing when she’d nabbed a crowbar from the junkyard lot to fend off the demodogs with him, all to protect the little ones in the bus. She doesn’t want to remember that right now, not when it makes her feel cold inside. 

“Nobody, I just...I dunno, I just think that maybe I’m not as exciting as, like...you o-or Rob or Nancy or, hell, even Jonathan.” 

“Nonsense, you’re a badass! True story, you know I wouldn’t say that about just any...” Steve trails off, finally really looking at her. “Hey...hey, why are you really askin’ me that? Something happen? Someone say something to you?”

“No, Steve, I was just asking.”

“You’re lying,” he accuses. “Who was it, was it Byers? Nancy? Not Robin...”

“No! No, Steve, they didn’t say anything, please just drop it. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Steve’s face eventually relaxes, having realized he knew exactly who she was talking about.

“Munson.”

She shakes her head. “Stop it, Steve.”

“What did he say? I thought he just wanted to be friends, where’s all this coming from?” he asked. There were too many questions being thrown at her. She doesn’t want to cry, especially not in front of him, but as soon as she feels her cheek dampen that was it. Soon she was burying her face in her hands and trying to stop the little whimpers from coming out.

She doesn’t notice Steve leap easily over the counter. He pulls her close, shushing her quietly. 

“Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset,” he says. She sniffles, wrapping her arms around him. He’s petting her hair, kissing the crown of her head, trying his damndest to get her to calm down and talk to him. He was the perfect person to come to, she now realizes. Her subconscious knew Steve was the answer.

When she finally stopped crying, he at last let her go, giving her some space.

She rubs the tears from her eyes and wipes the tears on her jeans.

“Want me to kill him?” he asks jokingly. She laughs. He smiles again. “What happened? Can you tell me now?”

She told him what Eddie had said, the real reason he’d broken up with her and how she ran from the cafeteria and came here. Steve was reasonably upset, but he didn’t want to make it all about pounding Eddie into a pulp, he knew she needed her friend right now and he was prepared to be just that.

“Hey, screw him,” Steve scoffs, throwing an arm over her shoulders and pulling her back into his chest. “You’re far from boring, believe me, and honestly if you ask me you could do so much better than Eddie Munson. The guy picks his nose. I saw him once. It was gnarly.”

She’s laughing again, playfully hitting him. 

“Thank you, Steve,” she says, “I’m sorry to dump all this on you, I just needed someone to talk to, you know?” 

“Well, you came to the right guy. I can’t tell you it gets much better from public humiliation, but I can tell you that you find much better shit to focus on. Like this obviously stellar job. Robin. My new stereo I saved up for. And...well, you.” He playfully flicks her nose. She wrinkles her nose and swats his hand away. “Eddie doesn’t know what he’s talkin’ about. But I know he’s gonna kick himself in the ass when he realizes he lost a girl like you.”

“Yeah, you’re just saying that ‘cause you’re my friend.” 

“Not true, I also wanna bug you for your famous cookies.” Steve winks.

“I can bring them to you tonight, then.” she said, patting his arm. “I should get going. Um...you clearly are very busy and I don’t wanna keep you from doing your job.”

“I know, such a bad influence. The gateway rebellion was skipping class. Now it’s job defiance,” Steve chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “Hey, um...if you want, when you come by tonight, maybe you could stick around? Was gonna rifle through the back, borrow some flicks to waste my evening away. Free to join me if you want? Robin flaked out on me, says she’s doing some band practice with Vicky. Didn’t ask for details.”

She thinks about it and smiles. “Sounds like fun. Girls’ night.”

“Invitation rescinded!” Steve shouts, turning away. 

“No, I’m kidding, I’m kidding, stop!” she protests, giggling. “I’ll bring cookies and pizza, Steve. I’ll be there.”

“Alright, then,” Steve said. “Um...hey, don’t worry about Eddie, alright? He’s just being a dick. And honestly, apart from his relationship with the rugrats, he’s still gonna be a dick. He missed out on a girl like you. Clearly he’s a martian.”

“Doesn’t mean much when I’m from Hawkins. But thank you, Steve. I’ll see you tonight,” she says, squeezing his hand and finally leaving the store back to her car. She left feeling much lighter than she had going in. He was right. Forget Eddie. If he thought she was so boring he clearly didn’t need her around him. She had other friends, friends like Steve.

Smiling to herself, she climbs into the driver’s seat and turns the key into the ignition, hearing the engine roar to life.

Things would be just fine. 

[kn1feinthec0ffee]

duffer brothers, i just wanna talk…