#season 4 stranger things

[mycurrent-hyperfixation]

The Pizza Girl: Eddie Munson x Reader (One-Shot)

Summary: Surfer Boy Pizza’s expansion into Hawkins brings delicious delivered pizzas to Eddie Munon’s front door. It apparently also brings a very attractive delivery driver that might also happen to be Eddie’s past crush. 

Masterlist

Word Count: 5.5k

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Reader

Tags: fluff

A/N: The stage of grief I am currently in after watching vol. 2 is denial so Eddie shall live on in all my fics. This takes place after vol. 2 where everyone is HAPPY and SAFE and ALIVE and I will hear no criticisms cause idc. Go check out my last fic The Record Store cause I’m still completely obsessed with it and more people need to read it. Also big shoutout to @alicetweven​ for being the first person to ask to be on the taglist. Thanks for the support lovely. If anyone else wants to be on it lmk. Enjoy!

Surfer Boy Pizza’s conquest across America reached Indiana in the summer of 1986. 

Whilst such an expansion was expected, their latest branch in the small town of Hawkins was viewed as quite the unfavourable choice of location. Hawkins was quiet, Hawkins was quaint, and the last time a major conglomerate chose Hawkins to expand, it ended in a mall fire.  

Eddie Munson, however, was simply happy to be able to order pizza delivered to the trailer park.  

The day was hot; so painstakingly hot that Eddie could not quite fathom wearing clothes. He wore his swimming shorts partly for modesty—he did have guests over after all—and partly because Dustin and Lucas had managed to find a small paddling pool that he was currently lazing within. He barely fit, his legs hanging predominantly over the side, but the contraption at least succeeded in cooling him down. 

“Shove over, Munson. I’m melting out here,” Dustin whined.

Eddie opened his eyes and glanced at Dustin over the rim of his sunglasses.  

“Patience is a virtue, little Henderson,” Eddie responded before closing his eyes once more, laying his head back against the plastic rim. 

Dustin, unsatisfied, simply forced his way into the pool, shoving Eddie to the side until he practically fell out. Water spilled over the rim as Eddie steadied himself before turning to glare at Dustin.

“I’m hungry,” Mike whined from the shade of Eddie’s trailer porch. The younger boy seemed to burn so easily that it was simply common sense to slather him in sunscreen, wrap him in a towel and confine him to the limits of the shade.  

“That sounds like a you problem, Wheeler,” Eddie lazily mumbled. 

“We should get pizza!” Lucas exclaimed. 

“Yes!” Max agreed. 

“With who’s money?” Eddie questioned. 

“Well, you do owe me $20,” Dustin said. 

“Since when?” 

“Since you bet that I couldn’t roll two twenties in a row last week at hellfire.” 

Eddie, remembering the event, groaned dramatically.  

“I told you not to doubt my skills,” Dustin added. 

“Yeah, yeah whatever. You’re ordering though.”

“Lucas, go inside and order,” Dustin said. 

“Why do I have to do it?” 

“Because I’m wet.” 

Lucas groaned before begrudgingly getting up from the lawn chair he had been lazing within and made his way inside.  

“No pineapple,” Mike ordered as Lucas passed him on the porch. 

“No more than two pizzas!” Eddie hastily called. “And get me something with a lot of meat on it.” 

As Lucas disappeared into the trailer, Eddie laid back within the paddling pool and sighed. He could feel the skin on his face growing hot but he could not quite bring himself to get up and apply more sunscreen. He wasn’t quite sure when Lucas came back nor how much time had passed since he ordered. The sun was causing his eyes to feel droopy and his breathing to become deeper, the cool touch of the water around him lapping against his skin. He was quite certain that at some point during his relaxation he must have fallen asleep, for one moment the sun was blaring against his eyelids, and the next they were shrouded in shadow. Eddie opened his eyes slowly.

Eddie told himself that the sudden scream that erupted from his mouth was purely because he had not expected to see you. Or perhaps it was because the last of his morning joint was wearing off and it was making him jittery. Either way the interaction was wholeheartedly embarrassing as he leapt upwards, greatly disturbing the water in the pool so that soon Dustin was screaming as Eddie drenched him in the water that flew from his body. 

Eddie couldn’t tell why he was panting as he looked down at you, nor could he tell which one of the boys was snickering at him. But he could not dwell on the thought, for you were standing before him in your Surfer Boy shirt and your Surfer Boy visor and some denim shorts that gave Eddie an unobstructed view of your legs.

“I have a pizza for Munson,” you said with a smile that Eddie so very wished was not at his expense.  

“Y-yes, that’s me!” Eddie hastily spoke, stepping out of the paddling pool so that he was standing before you. For just a second, he thought he saw your gaze flick down his chest, but then your eyes were looking into his once more and he dispelled the idea from his mind.  

“Great,” you continued. “It’s just the Meatlovers and the Hawaiian-”

“Lucas! I said no pineapple!” Mike interjected.

“It is delicious and I’m going to make you see that,” Lucas calmly responded.  

“Fruit on pizza is simply wrong and-” Mike continued.

Eddie sighed as he turned his attention back to you.

“Sorry about them,” he said, flashing a smile at you.

You smiled back brightly. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen this debate play out many times.”

“Oh?” Eddie said, quirking an eyebrow. “So what’s the verdict?”

The arguing of the boys grew louder so Eddie leaned closer to you so as to make his words clearer. A heat grew steadily up your cheeks and you hoped that the summer sun would disguise it.

“If it’s on the pizza I’ll eat it but I’m not going out of my way to have it,” you shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

Eddie smirked. “Looks like we’re on opposite sides of this debate then.”

“Is that so?” you smirked back.

“A pizza should not be tarnished by something so colourful. Even vegetables are a stretch sometimes.”

You let out a laugh and Eddie couldn’t help but smile at it. The boys, their argument having slowly dwindled away, turned their attention to you and Eddie.

“So I take it the Meatlovers is for you then?”

Eddie leaned ever so slightly closer until he was practically towering above you. “Would you like a slice?”

You smirked back, unwilling to pull away even as your heart began to race.

“We at Surfer Boy Pizza pride ourselves on the best customer service,” you said in a tone you usually reserved for more uptight customers. “I don’t think they’d appreciate me taking a slice of someone’s pizza.”

Eddie leaned down now so that he was whispering in your ear.

“They don’t have to know.”

Eddie thought for just a moment that maybe leaning so close to you was a bad idea. For surely at this proximity you were bound to be able to hear how hard his heart was thundering against his chest or were sure to notice the way his hands were shaking slightly. He could smell your perfume this close, he realised, something sweet and smoky and wholeheartedly intoxicating.

“Even if I wanted to, Munson,” you paused, smirking up as Eddie pulled away slightly to look at you. “Barbeque sauce is disgusting.”

Eddie couldn’t quite help the strangled gasp that escaped from his throat, his hand flying to his chest in shock as he flung himself dramatically back from you. A large smile spread across your lips as you tried to stifle a laugh.

“Blasphemy!” Eddie cried so loudly that a couple who were lounging outside their caravan several lots away looked over in concern. “Guys, she must be a witch. We’ll have to burn her at the stake.”

The laugh that you were stifling finally erupted from your throat; so sincere, so genuine and so breathtakingly beautiful that Eddie felt the air suddenly leave his lungs as he simply looked at you. Your hair was tied up, most of it swept back by your Surfer Boy visor, yet with a few strands having come loose to frame your face elegantly. The sun, which now hung lower in the sky, cast a warm glow across your skin that had Eddie itching to reach out and brush his hand along the curve of your jaw.  

“Well that’ll be $15.50,” you spoke up, your brows slightly furrowed at Eddie’s change in demeanour.  

“Oh, r-right,” Eddie stuttered, a deep blush coming up to cover his cheeks. “Lucas could you run inside and grab my wallet?”

“What am I? The butler?” Lucas groaned as he begrudgingly got up from his lounge chair once more.  

“So, Eddie, how’s life now that you’re graduated?”

Eddie’s gaze shot up towards you, his brows furrowing deeply.  

“You-” he hesitated. “You remember me?”

“Of course I do,” you said, your voice so serious and so sincere that Eddie’s breath hitched within his throat. “Do you remember me?”

Eddie let out a scoff in surprise. “Are you serious?

Eddie could not quite fathom the question. You; who was known around Hawkins as one of the nicest people. You; who was friends with everyone. You; who had never once called Eddie Munson a freak, who had never once not looked upon him and smiled, who had—many times before—defended him and those like him against rude comments and mean statements.

You; quite possibly the most beautiful person Eddie had ever seen.

“How could I forget you? You were like the knight in shining armour that defended us freaks.”

“Don’t call yourself that,” you responded instantly.

Eddie opened his mouth to respond but before he could utter any words something hard collided with his chest. He reached out instinctively to catch it as it fell, only to find his wallet clutched within his hands. He looked up and glared at Lucas who at least had the decency to look slightly apologetic.

Eddie pulled out $20 and held it out towards you. The transaction was awkward as you tried to take the money from him whilst also passing him the pizzas which had begun to grow cold in your hands. In the end Eddie made contact with your arm twice and your hand three times, each touch causing his heart to jump just a little.  

When the transaction was complete the two of you continued to stand, neither quite knowing what to say.

“You...uh,” Eddie hesitated, casting his gaze to the ground. “You can keep the change…for your tip.”

“Thanks,” you said.

There it was, your smile was back.

“Well I should probably head out. I’ve got other deliveries to make,” you said after a long silence had lingered between the two of you.

“Y-yeah, of course! Don’t let me keep you.”

You smiled up at him.

“Don’t be a stranger, Munson.”

Eddie’s breath hitched in his throat.

And then you were walking away and Eddie couldn’t quite seem to quell the disappointment he felt at the sight of it. He watched on as you hopped back into your car, wasting no time in turning the key in the ignition. Before you left however, you turned to face Eddie one last time to flash him a smile and to offer him a wave. Eddie, wishing his hands were not full of pizzas, was unable to wave back but smiled nonetheless.  

And then even when your car had retreated down the road, even when he could no longer see your figure in the front seat, he could not quite seem to bring himself back to reality.

“How could I forget you?” Mike mocked as Lucas and Dustin burst out laughing.

Eddie turned to them, a violent blush creeping onto his features as he scowled at the boys.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, throwing the pizzas down onto the porch of the trailer.  

“Wait was that Y/N L/N?” Dustin questioned.

“Yeah,” Eddie said back cautiously.

“The Y/N L/N that you had a huge crush on last year?” Dustin added, a wicked smile creeping onto his features.

“Shut up.”

“You should have asked her out,” Max said.

“Yeah I think she was kinda into whatever version of flirting you were doing,” Lucas added.

“I was not flirting.”

“Well whatever it was,” Dustin said. “You did make her laugh a lot.”

“That, dear Henderson, is because I’m hilarious,” Eddie responded, a smile curling his lips upwards. He turned his attention back to Lucas. “And she was working, Sinclair. She’s probably that nice to all of her customers.”

“We should order something else!” Max blurted out. “You know, to make her come back.”

“Why? So Eddie can scream again when he sees her?” Mike responded.

Eddie glared at him.  

“Just pass me a goddamn slice.”

---

Eddie and his uncle did not often receive phone calls at their trailer.  

That was at least what Eddie told himself as a way to justify how much he jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. With a sigh, he unfolded himself from his comfortable position on the couch and made his way over to the landline.

“Hello?”

“Eddie!” Dustin screamed excitedly so that Eddie had to pull the phone hastily away from his ear. “Good, you’re home.”

“Where else would I be?” Eddie questioned, and then before Dustin could answer, asked suspiciously, “Why do you care?”

“N-no reason,” Dustin stammered. “Have you seen Y/N again yet?”

Eddie furrowed his brows at the question.

“Where on earth would I have seen her?”

“I don’t know, I thought maybe you had manned up and went to ask her out.”

Eddie sighed, bringing one hand up to rub at his eyes.

“Did you seriously call me just for this?”

Eddie could hear something being mumbled, as if someone were far away from the phone.

“Who are you with?” Eddie asked suspiciously.

“N-no one!” Dustin hastily replied. “I gotta go, Eddie. My, ugh, my mom’s calling me.”

“Wait, but-”

Dustin hung up.

Eddie groaned and put the phone back on the receiver slightly harder than was strictly necessary. He reclaimed his seat upon the couch and turned the movie he had been watching back on.  

As the movie progressed, Eddie could feel the lids of his eyes growing heavier. He struggled to force them back open every time they closed, trying to concentrate back on the television but failing miserably. Eddie’s eyes closed once more and this time he did not fight to open them. Instead, he let his head fall comfortably onto the pillow behind him as his breathing grew deeper.

Eddie practically jumped out of his skin as a loud knock resounded throughout the trailer. His heart pounded loudly in his chest, his breaths ragged as he brought one hand up to rub at his face in an attempt to wake himself up more.

“Dustin!” Eddie shouted as he hauled himself back off the couch. He made his way begrudgingly to the door. “I swear to god if you’ve come to give me more cryptic messages, I’ll-”

Eddie closed his mouth swiftly as he opened his front door to find you standing on his porch, the lights from inside his trailer the only thing illuminating you within his doorway.

“Pizza for Munson,” you said with a smile, your brows slightly furrowed at Eddie’s shocked expression.

For some time, Eddie could not quite bring himself to speak. His heart was racing once more, but it was no longer from shock or anger. He knew in that moment that he must look ghastly; hair mused from sleep, pyjama pants topped with his hellfire shirt. But your expression did not shift from a smile, and for that Eddie was immensely grateful.

Finally, Eddie thought it quite pertinent that he should say something.

“I, ugh,” he stammered, trying to collect his thoughts. “I didn’t order a pizza.”

The smile dropped from your features as you furrowed your brows deeper.

“No, I swear it’s for this address.”

You hastily opened the bag that held the pizzas inside and ruffled around for the slip of paper that contained the order. Once having found it, you scanned its contents hastily.

“Ha!” you said triumphantly. “One pizza for Eddie Munson at the Forest Hills Trailer Park.”

You turned the docket around so that Eddie could read it. Eddie leant forward, squinting in the darkness.  

“Hmmm,” Eddie hummed. “It would appear you’re right. Maybe I’ve started ordering pizzas in my sleep.”

You tilted your head back as you let out a laugh. Eddie’s heart skipped slightly at the sight of it.

“I can take it back if you don’t want it,” you said.

“Woah-woah-woah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Eddie hastily said. “What kind of pizza is it?” Eddie leaned forwards even further, trying to pry open the lid of the bag that you still held upon your hip. You pulled it away.

“Nope. You’ll have to pay first,” you said back with a smile.

“Is it Surfer Boy Pizza protocol to withhold critical information from a customer?” Eddie said, smirking as he leaned over you.

“I don’t think the protocol covers sleep-ordering pizzas.”

Eddie couldn’t quite stop the laugh that erupted from him. When he looked down upon you once more, his smile grew slightly wider at the sight of your cheeky grin.

“Well, you’ve intrigued me now. Let me grab my wallet.”

Eddie turned around but hesitated before he disappeared through the door. He looked over his shoulder at you, not quite trusting himself to turn back around lest you see the small blush that was creeping onto his features.

“You can, ugh,” Eddie hesitated. “You can come in if you want. You’ll melt out here and I’ve got a fan going so it’s a bit cooler inside.”

You smiled up at Eddie’s figure in the doorway.  

“Okay,” you said before traversing the porch and following Eddie inside.

Eddie had initially thought the invitation to be a good idea—a great one even—for it would succeed in prolonging his interaction with you. But upon re-entering his home he quickly came to the realisation that he had in no way prepared his trailer for the presence of a guest. The small table that sat in front of the television was littered with glasses and plates, the dishes in the sink balanced precariously high.  

And yet although he wholeheartedly regretted his decision to invite you in, his stomach twisting in embarrassment, when Eddie turned back around to apologise for the mess he found you simply staring right back at him, a beautiful smile spread across your lips. His breath hitched in his throat, and for just a moment he forgot what exactly he was meant to be doing.

“Wallet?” you questioned with a smile after Eddie had lingered confusedly for several seconds.

“Wallet!” he exclaimed, his blush deepening. “Right, sorry.”

You watched on as Eddie scrambled around the trailer in search of his wallet, a soft smile encompassing your features. After Eddie had reappeared from his bedroom for the third time with no success, he quickly stuttered, “Y-you, ah, you can take a seat if you like. Sorry. I swear I left it in my jeans but it’s not there.”

Eddie promptly disappeared back into his bedroom as you took a tentative seat upon the couch. You sunk in further than you expected, surprised at how comfortable the furniture was. It smelt vaguely of smoke mingled in with whatever cologne Eddie wore and it altogether had you feeling quite tired. You leant your head back and closed your eyes briefly.  

Eddie was quite certain that his wallet had been in the jeans he had unceremoniously thrown on the floor that afternoon. But after checking the pockets—and every other pair of pockets in every other pair of jeans upon the floor—he felt like groaning in annoyance. He checked his bedside table, his chest of drawers, and the pockets of his leather jacket. He checked under his bed and in every drawer and even in his drug box. Lastly—partly because it was the only place yet to check and partly because he felt like throwing something—Eddie violently shoved his bedsheet up and off his bed. His head perked up when something thudded against the floor.  

Just as Eddie’s eyes came to land upon his wallet which had been flung near the door and just as he was about to yell in triumph, he looked up to where he could partly see you sitting upon the couch. Slowly, he made his way towards the door, absentmindedly bending down to pick his wallet up on the way, before coming to stop in the doorway.  

Eddie couldn’t quite help the smile that spread across his features at the sight of you; eyes closed, breathing soft. Your hair was tied up again today although this time you were missing the visor. It was slightly messy, stray strands falling out in places where you had been too lazy to fix it. And even though there were bags under your eyes, even though your cheeks were slightly sunburnt from so many deliveries throughout the sunny day, Eddie’s heart still skipped a beat at the sight of you.

“Long day?” Eddie questioned from the doorway of his bedroom.  

Your eyes flew open as you rushed to stand up.

“Sorry!” you blurted out.  

“No, no!” Eddie hastened to say. “It’s fine. Really. Make yourself at home.”

“No, I’m sorry, that’s so weird. I’m here to deliver your pizza not nearly fall asleep on your couch!” you began to ramble.

“Y/N,” Eddie closed the distance between you, bringing his hands up to rest upon your shoulders. You turned your gaze to look at him. “It’s fine.”

You opened your mouth to say something before seeing the look on Eddie’s face and hesitatingly closing it once more. You continued to stare up at him, seemingly unable to tear your gaze away from his. It was only when Eddie’s hand outstretched towards you that you finally looked down. He was holding a $10 note.

“Oh,” you said, surprised. “Right.” You took the cash from his hand.  

“So do I finally get to know what it is that I apparently ordered?” Eddie asked with a smirk, easing some of the tension from your body.

“I didn’t tell you before because I knew you wouldn’t pay if you knew what it was,” you responded, unable to stop your own smile that spread across your lips.

“No,” Eddie said, his smile fading, his face suddenly scared. “Please don’t tell me it’s-”

Eddie bent down to extract the pizza from the bag, instantly flipping the lid of the box up. He let out a dramatic groan.

“Not Hawaiian!”

Your smile grew wider.

“I did think the order was odd when it came through.”

“You should have known me better, L/N,” Eddie said turning his attention back to you as he placed the pizza upon the coffee table. “You should have known that I was obviously being held against my will and to call the police immediately since someone was impersonating me.”

You tilted your head back and laughed.  

“Next time you order anything with even a vegetable on it I’ll be sure to bring in the military.”

Eddie leaned in with smirk. “Good girl.”

He wasn’t too sure why he said it nor when he had actually made the decision to do so. It was as if the words fell from his mouth of their own volition, lingering in the air between you, echoing relentlessly around the room. A violent blush crept up to Eddie’s features and yet he did not turn away. For just a moment he thought he saw a similar heat appear upon your cheeks. You were close now, closer than you had realised as Eddie looked down upon you. A silence engulfed the two of you; so thick and palpable in the air that it made it hard to breathe.

“I should...ugh,” you practically whispered. “I should leave you to your pizza.”

“You should, um,” Eddie breathed back. “You should stay. Help me eat this monstrosity.”

Neither of you moved as Eddie waited with bated breath for your response. When it was not provided instantly, Eddie couldn’t quite help the pit of disappointment that erupted within his stomach. He turned his head away.

“But you probably have to get back to work. Sorry, that was a stupid suggestion.”

“No,” you hastily responded. “No,” you said again, slower this time, “You were my last delivery of the night...so...I’ve got time.”

Eddie tried to stop the smile that threatened to erupt onto his features. He did not succeed. Unceremoniously and quite ungracefully, Eddie threw himself backwards onto the couch. The sudden movement startled you slightly until you couldn’t help but laugh at the boy before you. Eddie patted the spot on the couch next to him encouragingly.

“Great! I need someone to help me pick off the pineapple anyway.”

You laughed slightly as you took the seat next to Eddie, misjudging the distance between the armrest and the boy so that your leg brushed against his. However, you did not move away.  

“I will do no such thing,” you said as Eddie leaned forward to swivel the box before you, opening the lid with a flick of his wrist.  

“So I offer you half my pizza and you won’t even help me make it edible?” Eddie said, turning back to look at you with a smile.

“Nope,” you responded with a smirk before leaning forward, extracting a slice from the box and shoving practically half of it into your mouth, pineapple and all. You were quite certain that you looked wholeheartedly unattractive in that moment—your mouth full, a stray sliver of sauce adorning your upper lip—but you could not quite bring yourself to care as Eddie scoffed at you with a smile.

“That’s disgusting,” Eddie said, and upon seeing your face drop slightly, hastily added, “I shall be removing the pineapple like a civilised person.”

Your smile returned and Eddie let out a small breath of relief. He turned back to the pizza and began slowly picking off each piece of pineapple, flicking them onto the cardboard.

“Says the person who likes barbeque sauce.”

“I refuse to respond to that, witch.”

A laugh erupted from your lips. When his half of the pizza was finally free of pineapple, Eddie removed a slice and brought it up to his lips. A silence sat between you as you ate. It was comfortable, you realised, being here with him like this.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you,” Eddie said after he had finished his slice.  

“For what? Room temperature pizza?”  

“No,” he said, chuckling slightly. “For high school. For...I don’t know...treating me like a human being.”

“You shouldn’t thank me for that, Eddie,” you said, the smile faltering from your features. “That’s like the bare minimum for being a decent person.”

“Well, I want to,” Eddie said back, his voice softer now as he turned on the couch to face you. “It made a difference to me and...well, I just wanted you to know that.”

“I should have done more then,” you said, mirroring Eddie’s movements so that the two of you now faced each other. His arm came up to rest on the back of the couch beside you, making him inch slightly closer. “I think we would have been good friends if I’d tried harder.”

“I always wanted to talk to you more,” Eddie breathed out. “I just never worked up the courage.”

Eddie wasn’t quite sure which one of you had inched closer, nor did he particularly care, too consumed in your scent and the way your leg was resting next to his. He was unable to bring his racing heart under control as he dug one hand into his lap to stop you from seeing how badly he was shaking.  

“Was I that scary?” you responded with a smile.

“Oh yeah,” Eddie smirked back. “The scariest.”

“I never once thought that about you, you know?” you said, practically breathless.

“Is that so?”

“I always thought that behind all the hair and the rings and the satanic worshipping-”

Eddie barked out a laugh.

“I always thought you were a big softy deep down.”

Eddie looked upon you now with something very close to adoration. In that moment he was sure that he had never been seen so clearly by anyone before.  

And because he was quite certain that you could read his mind anyway, he breathed out, “I always thought you were...perfect.”

Your breath hitched in your throat. Your lips were inches from Eddie’s now so that you could feel his breath brush against your nose, his scent lingering all around you. It was like the two of you were suspended in time, neither of you closing the small distance that still remained between you. Your gaze looked up from Eddie’s lips to find him staring right back at you, something dark lingering behind his eyes.

And because Eddie had spent so very long staring at you from afar and because he could not quite believe that you were sitting so close before him, he decided it was time that he did not run away for once. He was quite certain that the two of you would linger in your created limbo all night if he did not do anything, and the thought oddly terrified him.  

When he leaned forwards, it was slowly, partly because he was half expecting you to pull away and partly because he simply could not bring himself to go any faster. When his lips brushed against yours, the touch was so soft and so fleeting that at first he thought he might have dreamt it. But then you were kissing him back and it was firmer, more solid, more real. You brought your hands up to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. Eddie brought his hand that had been resting on the back of the couch up to graze along your jaw, his other hand coming to rest at your waist, itching to pull you into him.  

And then he could taste you, but whether it was because he had deepened the kiss or you had, he couldn’t quite tell nor did he particularly care. You tasted so heavenly that he thought in that moment that he would never taste anything so delicious ever again. There was the saltiness of the dough, the flavour of the sauce, and just faintly, the sweetness of the pineapple which was surprisingly a very welcomed addition. Not that he would ever admit that.  

You were so soft and so warm and so breathtakingly beautiful that Eddie thought if he were to wake up from a dream he would not altogether be surprised. You seemed to fit so well against him, your scent intoxicating as you consumed each other.

And then you were pulling away, panting heavily, and Eddie had to refrain himself from chasing your lips. He kept his eyes closed for just a little while longer, revelling in the memory of your lips against his. When he reopened them, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his features at the sight of you—still there, still real—before him.  

“You thought I was perfect?” you said.  

Eddie furrowed his brows. “What?”

“That’s in the past tense. You don’t think it anymore?”  

He could tell that you were joking, a lazy grin spread across your features.

“Well I’ve come to learn some crucial information about your opinions on barbeque sauce which are a bit of a red flag if I’m hones-”

You connected your lips to his once more, just briefly.  

“I might be able to overlook that though,” Eddie whispered.

A silence lingered between you.

“I have to get back to the store before we close,” you said, smiling softly up at him as you stood up from the couch slowly.

“Can I see you again?” Eddie asked as he walked you to the door.

“I’d like that.”

You lingered on the porch as Eddie leant against the doorframe, glancing down at you with a soft smile. Turning back around, you quickly stood on the tips of your toes to connect your lips to Eddie’s one last time. He unfolded his arms and placed them firmly upon your waist, pulling you subconsciously closer towards him.  

“Maybe it’s not such a bad thing you order pizzas in your sleep,” you said with a smile.

“Oh, I’m certain I didn’t order that pizza.” Eddie turned his gaze upwards to look at the trailer that sat across the dirt road. Four heads and one pair of binoculars stared at him through the open window, all four of them quickly scrambling away as Eddie looked up. “But I have a feeling I know who did.”

“Well thank them for me,” you responded.  

Eddie didn’t take his eyes off of you as you descended the steps of his porch and headed to your car. His breath hitched slightly at the smile you flashed him before you drove away. It was only when your car had crested the small hill and disappeared that he finally moved, making his way down the porch steps and crossing the dirt road that separated his trailer from Max Mayfield’s.

The door was open when he tried it as he instantly burst into the trailer. Four kids ducked for cover behind the couch. Eddie chased them, his hands coming to rest upon the shirt of the curly-haired one.

“Don’t kill me!” Dustin screamed.

“Hawaiian?! Really?!”

Taglist: @alicetweven​

[ratzskull]

Do you think there's a name for Eddie's van everyone came up with? And whilst they were thinking of one Robin came up with 'the pussy wagon'. At which point Steve became a passenger survivor as Eddie swerved in a fit of laughter.

After that they drove in Steve's car for the next few weeks in silence and had to never mention the pussy wagon again.

[who-knows73]

Eddie Munson changes the pronouns in his songs to appease the general audience. All the love songs are written for Steve and the ones that aren't love songs are sung directly to him, they're not for the audience, they never have been, they never will be but it needs to be done. So he keeps he/him pronouns out his love songs all throughout 86 and up until 1989 he feels horrible about it, then something changes. His boyfriend is no longer Steve Harrington, from that point forward he's got himself a girlfriend and she's the prettiest girl on the fucking planet. All his songs are sung to her and the she/her pronouns are now enthusiastic. Her name is Stevie and Eddie is so far gone for her, some might even say he's in love and he couldn't be happier.

[peapodslvr]

WHAT IT’S LIKE DATING STEVE HARRINGTON

@yomamaslays4lyfe for making this w me ✅

would knock a bitch out for u

pants, moans, whimpers, VERY VOCAL

would walk around ur house shirtless

would sneak thru ur window at night

would kiss you all over ur face and neck when he’s super happy / excited / horny

if it was present time he’d definitely wanna do that messy lipstick trend on tt

always by ur side

would get jealous if a man talked to u

breeding kink

pool sex

matching costumes every halloween

would wanna match clothes w u or likes when ur in his clothes

would take care of u when sick

admires u 24/7

boob nd ass guy

dominates but finds it hotter when u dominate every once in a while

man spreads and tilts his head back

matching each others energy

loves cuddling

would do ANYTHING to protect u or anyone u care about

loves hearing the drama

would show u nerdy movies thinkin’ they’re cool then finding u passed out on the couch

make out sessions are the best

angry sex like when he’s jealous another man was showing u attention and wanting u to know ur all his, sloppy kisser, super aggressive but the good kind ykyk, mark u w hickeys

would definitely have matching bracelets

lowk reminds me of the kind of mf that’d read u books to bed bc it’s daddy harrington

[the-case-book-of-fanfiction]

Not Quite Dead

Ship: Eddie x fem!reader

Summary: You find yourself alone in Hawkins, a town ripped to shambles despite the sacrifices made to save it. Is it better or worse that Eddie doesn't live to see it? He'll tell you himself.

Word Count: 6,085

Warnings: angst, fluff, mentions of Eddie's fate s4e9, not-quite-flashbacks, a tiny bit of a plot, implied (years previous) sex

Notes: This story takes place after season 4. Reader is Eddie's longtime girlfriend.

☟ Continue below the fold ☟

Maybe it was best he had no gravestone. The whole town would deface it if he had one. You could see it in your head: tiny little carrots like the ones your English teachers used to mark your papers with, except the carrot would change the name engraved to Eddie 'the freak' Munson. Or maybe they'd just spray paint over his name, or even try to scrape it off, and just write 'the freak' in its place. Or 'murderer' or 'cult leader' or whatever insane shit they thought he was. There would be pentagrams, disgusting graffiti, everything that shouldn't be on his grave—but already decorated his missing posters—would find a home there.

So maybe it was better that there was nothing to commemorate him. But it hurt, just a little bit, to see graves for Chrissy, for Fred, for Patrick—but nothing for the hero of Hawkins.

Not that it meant much to be the hero of Hawkins. There was a line at a constant stand-still leading out of the town, most people desperate to get out of it. Those that stayed lived in fear and muttered about how the Devil had finally come to drag Hawkins to Hell. The ground was still broken and sunk in from the ruptures that had healed only slightly—just enough to no longer be glowing scars in the ground leading directly into what really was Hell.

Everyone was speculating what the cave-ins were. Some people said it was from an earthquake, and that was the most popular theory. Some said it was the result of Satanic activity, and those were the people that defaced Eddie's posters. Some said it wasn't quite Satanic, but definitely paranormal.

You knew what it was. You couldn't talk about it. Not because you alone knew what it was—your friends, the kids who had gravitated toward Eddie and the recent Hawkins graduates who hadn't actually gotten a graduation, knew what had happened. They knew what the ruptures were. They had been trying to get you to join in on their conversations and talk to them about the ruptures, what you had seen in the Upside Down.

But you couldn't talk about it. They knew why. It had taken you almost two months before you could even say your boyfriend's name or look at his destroyed missing posters.

Normally, you told your friends everything, especially Robin, who had been the first person to accept that you and Eddie were a thing. She had been your closest confidant since middle school, when you saw Eddie play for the first time and had an instant crush on him. But you couldn't even talk to her these days. You couldn't tell her that you still woke up in a cold sweat, that you still needed to listen to the tapes of unfinished Corroded Coffin songs that were mostly just Eddie's voice just to get to sleep, that you would zone out only to realize you were crying seemingly over nothing, that you had gone to the store to pick up more of Eddie's cologne because you'd been wearing it and had used it all up already, that you took a shower every time you woke up from an accidental nap because it still felt like you were covered in blood, that you slept in his leather jacket even though it was way too hot for that, that you wore the ring he'd frantically pressed into your hand as his breathing faltered on your necklace, that you refused to delete any of the numerous voicemails on the phone in your room because they were all of Eddie calling you with something for a campaign in his head he wanted to run by you.

And you definitely couldn't tell her that none of these little reminders actually helped, because, at the end of the day, you still had to go to sleep alone after six years of having him just an arm's length away. And there was nothing worse than realizing, every time you turned around to tell Eddie something, that he wasn't there, and that he wasn't ever going to be there again.

You hated Jason. You blamed him for dragging Eddie into this mess. But you understood him now. If you hadn't known about Vecna and the Upside Down, you would have been more than happy to blame someone for Eddie's death, just like he had blamed Eddie for Chrissy.

You had tried so hard not to get Eddie dragged into your life. You'd gotten sucked in when you found Nancy crying in the bathroom after Barb went missing, and your life had gotten a lot more complicated after that. Eddie had always had enough enough on his plate as it was. You never wanted to make it worse.

But then Chrissy—

"Y/N? You okay?" Robin snapped her fingers in front of your face. She looked worried, and you had a feeling she'd been trying to get your attention for a long time. Steve and Nancy, sitting on a picnic blanket with the boys, Max, and Eleven just a few feet away, looked over at you, terrified. Dustin seemed to be the only one who knew exactly why you'd been in your head instead of in the park.

"Huh?"

"You zoned out again," she said, sitting down beside you. "At first I thought it was just because Steve's yapping about girls again, but, uh, then I realized..." She wiped her finger underneath your eyes, and you felt the tear smudge across your cheek. You flinched away violently. Robin went pale. "Oh, God, he used to— Oh, Y/N, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize—"

You took a shaky breath and swiped your knuckles under your eyes. "It...it's fine. I just...sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, that was totally my fault, I should have realized—"

"No, please. It's fine." You sniffed, breathing out through your mouth. "I'm fine. I just...need a minute."

You got up quickly, your head reeling instantly, and you stumbled toward the public bathroom just feet away. You balled your hands into fists. You went to open the door and something slammed into your arm. You screamed upon recognizing what it was—a bat.

You stumbled backward away from it, your throat tightening and every muscle seizing up. It wasn't a demobat, sure, but it was still a bat. All it took was one glance at its mouth and you could hear Eddie's heavy panting, feel his blood, see the tears on his face, feel his rapidly fading heartbeat beneath your fingers, hear him crying but trying to hide it from Dustin.

The bat chirruped squeakily, hopping toward you on the ground. One of its wings was a bit mangled and bloody, dragging awkwardly behind the rest of its body.

You whimpered, stepping around the bat. "I'm sorry, little guy, but I just really don't like you. Robin says you have...rabies. Or—or something."

No, that was definitely not why you didn't like bats, but you didn't need to explain to the broken creature—or to anyone else, for that matter, including yourself—that you didn't like them because they'd torn your boyfriend apart.

With a quiet whimper, you slammed the door of the bathroom shut behind you. A small thump echoed against the door. You had a feeling it was the bat.

You locked yourself in one of the bathroom stalls and put a hand over your mouth to muffle the sounds of your tears, just in case Robin or Nancy came to check on you.

~❊~

That night, you stared at your empty bed. You touched the pillow made out of the red and black flannel Eddie had loved to wear when it was cold out. Wayne had given it to you almost immediately after Dustin had told him about Eddie.

"This is...this is yours now," Wayne had said, holding it out to you. You'd tried to protest that no, he should keep it as a memento, but Wayne was having none of it. "He would have wanted you to have it, Y/N. I...I'm sure he told you often, but you were his world. He'd want you to have something of his."

And you did, you really did. You wore the flannel around everywhere, to anything, anywhere, at any time, before it became too much of a memory. Any time you caught a glimpse of it or put it on, you remembered the time he wrapped you up in it after getting caught in the rain, or the time he used it as a pillow for your head when you got busy in his van, or the time he wrapped it around his waist when it got unexpectedly warm. So you cut it up and made it into a pillow case, because that was a little more bearable.

You hugged the pillow to your chest as you lay in the darkness of your room. It still smelled a little bit like him, even after being washed quite a few times. And even after being cried on many, many times.

Tonight was going to be one of those nights, a night where you were crying even before you fell asleep and woke up in the morning, you could just tell.

Head buried into the flannel pillow, you almost didn't hear it. The small thump on your window. But after a few seconds of silence, it registered in the back of your head that that was not normal. The last time you'd heard that sound was when Eddie knocked before crawling through your window at night, some three years ago, before your parents gave up because you loved the metalhead, try as they might try to get you to fall for the jock.

You rolled out of bed and flicked on the light, pushing up the window and shoving your head out into the night.

Nothing.

A chirrup.

You looked down and squeaked.

There it was again, the bat with the mangled wing, resting on the slanted shingles of your roof—one of them out of place from the time Eddie had given you a heart attack by slipping on it. You frowned at the bat, a little less terrified of it than the first time you'd seen it. "How did you get up here, little thing?" Your room was on the third floor of your house, but it seemed impossible that the tiny thing could fly up there with a broken wing.

Ignoring Robin's small voice in your head saying it probably—no, definitely—had rabies and was following you, you reached out a hand and stroked the top of its head. To your surprise, it made a very human-like coo.

"Oh, you just want love, don't you?" You sighed as you took in its wing. "And maybe some help. Look, little one, I'm sorry, but I can't help you. You terrify me." Because you killed my boyfriend, even though you didn't actually kill my boyfriend, and neither did your actual species, but tomato, tomato. "Maybe one day I'll be able to tell you why."

You shut the window and curled yourself around your pillow once more, reaching a hand up to the necklace you refused to take off—the one with Eddie's ring on it. You held the ring tightly in your hand, and it was still there when you jolted awake in the morning, covered in sweat and panicking just like always.

But before you took your usual shower, you glanced out the window.

The bat was gone.

~❊~

"I think I'm going insane."

You sat with Dustin on a park bench, by the edge of the graying field. The disease—or whatever it was, but the townspeople called it a disease—was spreading further and further out each day, but you still hadn't figured out exactly what it was. Nancy was sure it had something to do with the vision Vecna had shown you, but you didn't have the mental or emotional strength to help them figure it out.

You'd seen the bat several more times—at the record store where you worked, at the autobody shop Eddie used to work at, at your front door, on your car, on the sidewalk, through your bathroom window, and several more times by your bedroom window. You didn't know what the others would do if you told them you were seeing the same bat everywhere (Robin might tell you to get checked for rabies), but you trusted Dustin to take you seriously and...and not tell you that you were crazy.

"Why?"

"Because there's a bat with a mangled wing that's following me everywhere."

Dustin frowned. "Go on."

You explained, in detail, every time you had seen the bat. As usual, Dustin put it all together in record time.

"And you think that you're hallucinating the bat...because it's always showing up when you're thinking about...Eddie?"

You nodded. "And more than that—there's something special about each of those places. That sidewalk? Not a random sidewalk! Outside the restaurant Eddie took me to on our first date six years ago. Bedroom window? He always crawled through to come see me! My front door? Whenever I was upset, he'd surprise me with a big bouquet of flowers outside on my front step."

Dustin frowned. "There's...something special about Eddie and your...bathroom...window?"

You blushed. "It's not what you're thinking, I swear, he accidentally broke it once."

"He what?"

"He was waving around an old stick and it broke and flew through the bathroom window. It's nothing creepy, I swear."

Dustin raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure your parents loved him?"

"Eh." You sighed, putting your head in your hands. "I don't know, Dustin. It's just... I feel like I'm losing my mind. Hallucinating. I just don't know why it would be a bat, of all things! I mean...they...or something like them, really..." You put your head in your hands. "Why would I see a bat everywhere that means something to the two of us?"

"He liked bats," Dustin remembered. "In fact, he liked them so much he had a tattoo of them. Maybe that's why?"

"I mean, that would make sense if the demobats hadn't—"

"I know," he sighed. "But now you can't think of the tattoo, you just think of—"

"Blood," you said bluntly. "His blood. His death. Yeah."

"Has anyone else seen the bat?"

"No."

Dustin was silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, fine. Take me somewhere that meant a lot to both of you, another one of those special places, and if you see him, maybe it's a hallucination. But if we both see him, it's not. Then we'll figure out what it is after that."

You thought for a moment, then dragged Dustin to his feet. "I know exactly the place."

~❊~

It took some bribing, but you got the bartender of the bar the boys loved playing at to take you around back to the dressing rooms. You refused to tell Dustin why it was special, other than that the band played here all the time, but you were pretty sure from his expression he figured it out as soon as your eyes darted to the desk and you turned red. You remembered bursting through that door and seeing Eddie perched on the desk, swinging his legs like a little kid because the show had gone so well, and—

"Oh, no," Dustin groaned, jolting you out of your reverie, "don't tell me that you two actually—"

"Fine, I won't tell you."

"You know, saying that is almost worse."

"Oh, shut up, Dustin. We were together for six years, there's not a chance in hell that we didn't—"

"But in a dressing room? A public dressing room?"

"The door was locked!" you said defensively. "Although he did get quite loud that night."

"NOPE, no more!" Dustin said, clamping his hands to his ears. "Alright, fine. It's special. Gross, but special. Why here?"

You flopped into the chair at the desk, remembering Eddie's feet kicked up on it while the two of you kissed and giggled, his back to the mirror. "Two years in, Eddie and the band had a gig and he finally let me, y'know, get on my knees for him, so to speak. It was the second time we ever did anything, so, you know. Special."

Dustin was making a face.

You rolled your eyes. "Shut up, we were sixteen and horny."

He sighed, sitting down on the small couch, the only other piece of furniture in the room. "I'm actually not all that surprised. Seems like Eddie."

You smiled to yourself. "Yeah. Seems like Eddie."

Dustin folded his hands together. "I miss him, too, you know. I miss him being dramatic and standing on tables. I miss the voices he used to do during campaigns. I miss play fighting with him."

You hugged yourself, letting your leg swing. "Yeah... I miss his voicemails, because he'd called me while I was at work when he had an idea. I miss listening to him sing on stage. I miss just hanging out in his room while he wrote songs and I studied. Shit, I even miss watching him get frustrated when he was trying to learn a song on the guitar and it wasn't coming to him. You should have seen him trying to learn Master of Puppets. He was nonstop playing that guitar. I swear he didn't sleep for a week just so he could get it down. I used to tease him he was trying to pick up girls."

"He didn't want other girls," Dustin said, picking up on that old insecurity that used to bubble up all the time. "He wanted you."

"That's why it was teasing, Dusty. There was a time when I was afraid of that, but that was never his fault. If Eddie was one thing, he was loyal to a fault."

Dustin sat in silence, clearly working up the courage to say something. You waited, letting him find the words. Eddie had always done the same thing when he wanted to talk about something that meant a lot to him. No wonder the two of them had clicked so quickly.

"If I could go back to that moment," Dustin said, voice almost imperceptible, "when he decided to draw them away, when he cut the sheet and just—just ran... Y/N, I would. I would go back, and I would change everything. I'd make him go first. I'd...I'd do what he did instead, just to make sure he got back to you."

You looked up, your heart breaking at the absolute sorrow and anger in his voice. "Dustin..."

"If I could have died in his place, I would do it." He was shaking with his fierce determination. "Y/N, I swear it."

You got off the desk. "Dustin, hon, no. Please, no. I don't...I don't wish you had died instead. I wish none of you had to die. I wish Max wasn't blind, I wish Eddie wasn't gone, I wish none of this had ever happened. I wouldn't trade you, any of you, just to get Eddie back because he would have hated that more than anything and because you are my friends."

"But one of us would hurt less than Eddie," Dustin mumbled.

"Dustin," you said, because you could think of nothing else to say. You pulled him into a hug.

And then there was a chirrup in your ear.

You screamed, lurching back, automatically swatting at your shoulder. The little bat fell onto the couch beside Dustin and he squeaked at you, almost accusatory.

"Oh, don't start with me, you scared the life out of me!" you snapped at it, then frowned. "Dustin, did I just argue with the imaginary bat in my head?"

Dustin was staring at the bat. "Yes—you argued with it, no—it's not in your head. I can see it." He stood up slowly. "I thought you said it had a mangled wing?"

You peered at it. "I think it's healing. Look, it's still dragging behind the rest of it, but it's not bloody anymore."

The bat chirruped again, inching closer to you. You slowly extended a hand, the bat's head following your movements. You gave its head a little pet with your forefinger. It sniffed you before chirruping again.

"It looks like a Mariana fruit bat, but this the wrong area for it," Dustin said from behind you. The bat's attention swiveled to him. "Hi, little guy. Where'd you come from? I don't think you got here all the way from Guam. Especially not as a baby."

"Is it a baby?"

"Look at the size of it! It's tiny, there's no way it's not a baby."

For some reason, the bat didn't seem to like being called tiny. It clicked rather angrily at Dustin before flying awkwardly out the window, open just a crack.

"What the hell?" Dustin muttered.

"Well, now you've met the bat," you sighed. "I wonder if I should name it."

"Don't name it! Robin'll think it gave you rabies."

"That's why Robin doesn't get to know about the bat."

"You haven't told her?"

"What would I do that for?! Just go up to her and say, Hello, Robin, I've been adopted by a bat, the same creature you're deathly afraid of because it has rabies! That'll go over swell, I'm sure."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "No need to be dramatic. It's not like the bat's done anything to you. Yet."

"Yet being the word Robin would pick up on. Look, for now, let's just keep it between us. Figure out why the bat likes me. Then go from there. If it's something to do with Vecna, then we'll tell them."

"And if not?"

"I'm sure it'll go away when it's fully healed. That's gotta be why it's following me. It's injured and not thinking straight."

~❊~

Storms had become even more and more recent in Hawkins. The weather was reflecting the foul of mood of the townspeople—or perhaps of Vecna, if Eleven was right. You were almost entirely certain she was.

But you couldn't put your finger on why Vecna hadn't attacked yet. Why would he let his displeasure show through the torrential showers that were ripping shingles off of Hawkins rather than just come through to kill everyone off himself?

You were debating exactly that as you sat through another storm of hurricane strength, staring out the window and waiting for it to be over. Sometimes the storms were only a few seconds long, but this one felt like it was going to last for days.

You sighed and rolled off your bed, flopping on the floor beside your collection of cassette tapes. There had to be twenty Corroded Coffin tapes in there, but you were looking for one specific one. It wasn't quite a Corroded Coffin tape, really, because Eddie never let the band see this one—this one was just for you, songs he'd written when you couldn't look over his shoulder to see the words.

It took a little bit to find the tape, but once you did, you felt immeasurable relief. You played the tape and cracked open your window enough to smell the rain, leaning your back against your bed and closing your eyes.

Eddie's voice flooded your ears as he started the little speech he'd written for the first song. He'd written one for each song, explaining why he'd written it and when or something special about it. He'd been adorably embarrassed when he handed it to you, blushing profusely and apologizing about how stuttery he was when he'd recorded it and how his voice was a little shaky and how they weren't exactly what he wanted them to sound because he didn't have the band to do the background music. But you'd loved them all.

"Hi, sweetheart. Happy seventeenth birthday. Belated, sorry, but I, uh...I couldn't get all these perfect in time, so... So I waited. Um. They're still not as perfect as I'd like them to be, but, uh. But you deserved your birthday gift before you thought I'd forgotten about you. Uh. Yeah. So. Ah, jeez, I didn't think an introduction would be this hard. Maybe I should have had a script," his recorded voice said with that little breathy laugh you'd always loved. "Um. Anyway. This...this first one. I wrote it a while ago, actually, for you. Like a long while ago. Like when I first realized I liked you a while ago. Probably before you knew I existed. I'm talking middle school early— Maybe I should stop talking about how long ago I wrote it. Um. Sorry. Rambling. Uhhh...it's about how I felt that first time I saw you. A little cliché, yeah, but, um...every word's true. Every word, sweetheart. I really did fall in love with you at first sight. I mean, how could I not, when you looked over at me and smiled like that, that shy smile with your tongue poking out between your teeth and bottom lip. I love that smile. So, um. So I called it 'Shy Smile.' The song. This song. So, um. Here goes nothing, I guess."

And, oh, could that boy sing. Corroded Coffin might have been a heavy metal band, but Eddie could certainly manage the soft songs just as artfully. He had the perfect voice for it, a gentle croon that had sometimes lulled you to sleep.

You remembered very clearly Eddie singing the songs he wrote for you and smoothing his hand over your hair to get you to sleep when you were stressed or upset. And it had always worked.

Recorded Eddie hummed through his guitar solo and your chest tightened. You drew your legs up, settling your head on them. "Oh, Eddie, you have no idea how much I need you."

And then, a few songs later, he was crooning about how much he loved you, promising never to leave you, telling you he'd always be by your side.

The tears came suddenly and didn't stop. Your body shook violently as you sobbed, his name somewhere in between the sniffles and cries. You dragged the flannel pillow off the bed and wrapped your body around it, burying yourself in his familiar, if faint, scent.

It took Eddie's voice in another song's introduction to ground you again. "Okay, baby, I've got a happier one for you. Well. Not that they've been sad, really, just...this one's less sappy. Even though I know you're a sap, and I'm a sap, and we're just two hopeless romantics." God, you could hear his smile. "This one's about that day we spent at Lover's Lake. That was...such an—an awesome day. And I promise it's not about the sex in the van, I want you to be able to listen to this with your parents around." A beat, which you managed a shaky laugh during. "Not sure if you can now, now that I've...that I've said that. Well, just let me know, I'll make you another tape without the introductions if I gotta. And don't you say it's too much work, because I'll do anything for my girl. Got that? Anything. Okay. Here we go, I called this one 'Lake Swimming.'"

You wiped your eyes. "It's okay. You're okay. You've still got him like this. And that's all you can have now."

In the midst of the softness of Eddie's acoustic guitar, you heard it. The chirruping. Your head snapped toward the window, and there was the little bat, clinging to the window and trying desperately to squeeze through the tiny crack.

You lurched to your feet. "Oh, you poor thing! Out in that storm all by yourself. And so little!" It squeaked. "Oh, right. You don't like being called little. What's that about?" You pushed up the window, cupping the bat in your hands. "Oh, oh no, you're shivering!" You closed the window with your elbow, cuddling the bat close to your chest. "Robin would so kill me for this."

The bat chirruped.

"What is it? Do you want to be put down?"

The bat sniffed your hands and attached itself to your shirt, crawling up you until it had reached your shoulder. It perched there.

"Um. Okay, then," you said, sitting back down carefully. "I wonder if you're hungry..." Well, you had some fruit in the fridge, and a fruit bat would certainly eat that, right? "Can I put you down so you don't freak out my parents?" You gently plucked the bat from your shoulder, nestling him on the flannel pillow. "Um. Stay. I'll be right back."

You hurried downstairs, grabbing the container of fruit from your fridge with a flippant excuse that you were just a little hungry. The bat was sitting exactly where you left it when you returned and offered it a piece of fruit.

It crawled into your hand and munched down on the fruit. You sat back on the floor, turning the volume on Eddie's tape up a bit more. "I hope you don't mind my boyfriend's music, my friend. It's quite good, if I say so myself, and I don't think I'm just biased. He's really good." You sat in silence, propping your head up on one of your knees again. "I miss him."

The bat looked at you curiously. You put it and the fruit on your floor, reaching for a framed photograph of yourself and Eddie instead, with his arms slung around you from behind and a smile on his face as you kissed his cheek. You vision blurred as you lifted the photo to your lips and kissed it gently.

"I'd give anything," you said to the bat, staring fixedly at Eddie's happy face, "just to see him again, just for a few minutes. Just to...to get a better goodbye. To kiss him goodbye and hold him and make it as peaceful as possible. To tell him it would be alright. To tell him I love him. To tell him that I miss him. No. No, I wouldn't tell him I miss him, because then that would make him feel guilty, and how can you feel guilty about dying? I mean...it's not his fault." You wiped your eyes. "I'd just...I'd want to make him feel better. Peaceful. I don't...I wish he hadn't gone out the way he did, y'know? In pain. Crying. Knowing what was coming. Having to say goodbye to—to Dustin." You laughed shakily. "Oh, God, Eddie. I'm going insane. I'm talking about you to a bat." You looked down at your feet. "A bat that's now missing in my house. Or maybe he was never there in the first place and I'm just crazy."

"You're not crazy," said his smooth voice, and your head whipped toward the cassette player. Since when was the quality so good? A small chuckle from behind you. You froze. "Wrong way, sweetheart." And two fingers, one marked by a tan line where a ring would have been, slipped under your jaw, turning your head slowly.

His eyes—his sweet, pretty eyes—stared you full in the face. Your eyes took him in, noticing the scars on his face and his hips. You studied him, drinking in every hollow in his gaunt body. But you knew those tattoos. You knew those eyes. You knew that voice.

You blinked rapidly, subtly pinching your arm. He laughing, covering your hand with his own.

"You're naked, Eddie," you said, and you realized seconds after they came out that they were not the words you wanted to be saying. You clapped your hands over your mouth, face heating.

Eddie shrugged. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Eddie, you're..."

"Nope. I'm not."

"Eddie, I was there, I saw you die in Dustin's arms!"

"Nope," he said again, and you could finally hear how tired and haggard he sounded it. "Unfortunately not."

"Unfortunately?!"

He shrugged. "I think being dead would be better than my fate." He pointed to the fruit left on the floor. "That's the first I've eaten in almost three months."

"You— The fruit? You were the bat?!"

He nodded.

"Right, okay, mister, what the fuck?"

He sighed. "So no loving and tearful greeting for the not-dead boyfriend?"

"Eddie. Talk to me. And then maybe I'll cry over you. But I want answers first."

Eddie leaned against you, cuddling his body closer to yours. Automatically, you reached an arm around his shoulders. He made a chirruping sound similar to the sound of the bat he'd been only minutes before. "Truth is, I don't have a lot of answers. All I know is that I died in the Upside Down, then woke up here as a bat. And then I tried to not be a bat, of course, but that didn't help. I just broke my wing. Not sure if that means my arm was broken or...something. I'm sure that'll be an awkward doctor's visit in the future. Point is, once I figured out I couldn't...change form or whatever you wanna call it, I tried to find you, but it's all different when you're a bat. I had to pick up your scent, but I couldn't."

"So that day at the park, by the bathrooms—"

"I'd finally caught sight of you. After that, I figured I should try and stay close. I thought maybe you'd figure out it was me somehow, if I was obvious enough."

"Which is why you always found me at our special places."

Eddie sighed his relief into your shoulder. "Exactly." He wrapped his arms around your waist. "Oh, sweetheart."

You brushed a hand over his hair, your shocked brain not quite realizing that he was really there but already falling back into the routine of your relationship. "So how'd you get human again?"

"Dunno. I think you made me cry and it made me feel human enough to be around you, talking about me and listening to my music." He looked into your eyes. "I do feel guilty. About not being able to tell you sooner that I was still kicking. I...I know it was hard for me, but...I was kind of scatterbrained. I couldn't quite process being alone. But you... You had everything to deal with, all those emotions."

"We'll talk this out in the morning."

"Why not now?"

"Because you're shivering against me. You were a soaked bat about three minutes ago, and now you're a very naked boy again. Let's get you warmed up, okay? I'll run the shower."

Eddie whimpered with relief at your words, clinging to you as you helped him to stand up on wobbly legs. You helped him into your bathroom and shower, joining him to make sure he wouldn't fall on his own. He clung to your arm as the two of you attempted to get him warm and clean.

"Your clothes are soaked now," he mumbled, but still pulled you into a tight hug against his chest.

"I don't really care," you whispered. "I'm holding you again."

When you shut the shower off, you made Eddie sit on the floor as you fetched him clothes.

It wasn't until you'd gathered clothes—all of them his, some of them (like the shirt) given to you by Wayne, but most of them (like the pants and boxers and socks) were from Eddie leaving them behind at your house for the nights he snuck in through your window—that it truly hit you that he was back.

He wasn't just back, he was alive.

Your Eddie.

Alive. Safe. In your bathroom. Home where he belonged.

You dropped the clothes as you fell to the floor, sobbing with relief. Eddie came running into your room, kneeling beside you.

"Sweetheart? What's wrong, what happened? What can I do? Is it me?"

You pulled him closer to you, burying your head into his neck. "Nothing's wrong. Nothing's wrong, Eddie, everything's perfect. Back to the way it should be. You're here."

He wrapped his arms tightly around you. "I'm here," he promised. "I've got you."

You cupped his face in your hands, kissing him softly. He whimpered against your mouth, missing you as much as you missed him. You pressed your forehead to his as he scooped you up and laid you gently on your bed. He pulled away from you, picking up his clothes and pulling them on. He laid beside you, pulling you back into his arms.

"Don't you ever make me think you're dead again, Eddie Munson, you hear?"

He kissed you again, arms sliding around your back. "Loud and clear, sweetheart."

"Good," you whispered into his mouth, "my little bat."

Eddie smiled against your lips. "Not little."

☞ ❊ ☜

Stranger Things // Eddie Munson

Taglist: {comment and let me know if you'd like to be added to the E.M. taglist!} @ohatropa @lilylilyyyyyy

[skyfall8600]

Sucked In. Chap 24: To New Beginnings

Summary: You wake up in the world of Stranger Things before the events of Season 4. Are you able to help in the fight against Vecna, and save the man of your dreams?

Pair: Eddie Munson x fem!Reader

Warnings: sadness, swearing, sad Eddie

Main Eddie Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Previous: Chapter 23

Next: Chapter 25

[2.7k words]

The group was unsettled for the rest of the following day. Hawkins was unchanged and unphased by the horrors that should have occurred. Mike and Dustin worked on researching the Hawkins’ Lab during most of their lunch break, practically sneaking out of school to run to the public library and back again before they were even noticed to be missing. 

Steve was the shock of the day; the King of the school made all heads turn. At first he approached Nancy, hugging her in a tight embrace which was nothing out of the ordinary, but then he shouted out for his second best girl, Robin. During this point in Robin’s life, long before she ever met Steve working at Scoops Ahoy, Robin was lonely and desperate for friends. People never wanted to keep her around because she would run her mouth for far longer than their ears could listen, but Steve had to make sure that didn’t occur this time. In fact, Steve was determined that his role on the social food chain would leave an impact on everyone at Hawkins High. 

The whispers began early during the school day, Steve practically lifting Robin into the air as the two were excited to see each other. People could hardly believe what they were seeing, the supposed King of Hawkins high befriended one of the loners, one of the freaks. But it didn’t stop there; Eddie was beside himself all morning, he wanted to do nothing more than run off in every direction in hopes that he would find you somewhere. The younger kids had somehow convinced him that it would be better if they stayed all together, and so Eddie had to rather unethusatically force himself to walk into the school’s front doors. 

He knew what was to come. The blatant ignoring, the name calling, the fights… he didn’t want to live through it again, he didn’t know if he could handle it all a second time round, it had already been painful enough the first time. To Eddie’s surprise, along with the rest of the student body, Eddie’s Hellfire table at lunch time had a few unexpected members. Before he even sat down, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve and Robin were already introducing themselves to the freshman at the table; seeing how young Gareth and the others were made him cringe and laugh at the same time. Everyone jumped slightly when Nancy screamed and ran to hug Barb, dragging her over to the table to bring her along to the new dysfunctional group. 

Steve’s old friends approach them, trying to see if he had gone crazy for walking straight past them to sit with the freaks. Steve merely laughed, linking his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and replied, “Nah, I’m good here thanks.” 

And thus, the social hierarchy at Hawkins’ High was never the same. By the end of the day, the Hellfire members didn’t have anyone steal their stuff, call them names or destroy their props back in the drama room. Eddie could hardly believe it; perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Mike said he found the lab still up an running; the kids called and weirdly enough the receptionist was… overly nice to them.” Nancy said. 

“Still running? You don’t think– Henry wouldn’t be there right? I–I don’t think we can kill him a second time round.” Robin said, her eyes wide with anxiety and her voice low so the others didn’t hear. 

Nancy shrugged, “Guess we’ll have to find out tonight.” 

She went quiet for a moment, looking over to Eddie who seemed so much more frail than she remembered. His cheeks were sunken in, hair shaved down short, and didn’t have any of his signature rings on his fingers. He kept fidgeting with his patchless jean vest, tracing over the places that will eventually be decorated. 

“We’ll find her, Eddie.” Nancy said softly, leaning over to hold his shoulder gently. She could tell he was holding back tears; of course he would be, it was unfair everyone would be reunited with who they lost besides him. 

He nodded so softly that many people would have missed the movement all together. He remained silent and just wanted the day to end. Class after class, Eddie didn’t say a word. He didn’t cause any distractions. He just sat there, listening to the teacher and everyone around him; he could practically remember precisely what the teacher would ask, which questions he knew he’d get wrong on the test she was about to hand out….. And that’s when he remembered what El told him when they entered into the upside down. 

The two of you were supposed to meat during his senior year; he just didn’t know which one. He could wait that out, surely. Even if that meant he had to fail his senior year four times over, as long as he got to see you again then it would be worth it. But it made him insecure, scared that if you didn’t remember him than you wouldn’t fall in love with him again this time. After all, you fell in love with a brave tv character, if you didn’t remember him then perhaps seeing him for the first time as a senior-year repeater would make you change your mind about him…. 

He shook away the thoughts, he didn’t want to live that life. To be seen as the local idiot or deadbeat; he had a chance to do better, to be better. He was certain that even if he finished his senior year, he would find you again. He’d die trying. 

Tagging along back to the Wheeler house, Eddie smirked to himself when he saw that it was still perfect and pristine. Of course the Wheeler’s had the ideal life before any of the Upside down events occurred. 

“Eddie!” He heard a little voice yell out to him, making him turn around to see the basement stairs. 

Dustin stood there, his missing tooth and gummy smile causing for Eddie to return a smile. 

“Jeus Christ kid, time is not on your side kid… I think you get worse looking.” He joked, grabbing the boy in a headlock under his arm and roughing up his head of curls. Dustin laughed, pushing Eddie off of him. He was so small, Eddie was initially afraid he had hurt him. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever you say Dungeon Master– can’t say your look is any better either.” 

Their rough housing would have continued, until Mike cleared his throat. “Pst. Pst.” He hissed out, his eyes continually looking down to the stairs so everyone followed him, quietly. 

Down in the basement, the room was definitely more child like in Eddie’s eyes. Posters and small figurines decorated the room, which made Eddie proud that the younglings under his care could go back to being children again. 

“We have 20 minutes before our time slot.” Mike said, plonking on the couch to sit between Lucas and Will. 

The older kids looked to each other with confused expressions, “For what?” Steve asked, folding his hands in front of his arms. “We just got here, everything is FINE, why are you four bringing up trouble again? We can’t have one second of peace can we–”

“Steve!” Robin hissed, nudging him to shut up. “Give the kid a chance to finish, my god.” 

Rolling his eyes, he thought it was ironic that the comment was coming from Robin. But he raised his hands up to surrender, “Go on…”

Mike nodded, “So… the lab is still running, and when we called– it was like they were expected us to. They knew our names and said to be there by 5:20pm today.” 

“I said it was a stupid idea to go, but again, no one ever listens to me!” Lucas screamed. 

“I did think it was a little creepy…” Will pitched in, nervously looking up to the older kids to read their expressions. 

“What– what exactly did they say?” Steve asked, his voice straining as he tried to sound calm. 

Mike cleared his throat, “Hello Michael, glad to see you’re right on time. We look forward to seeing you, Mr. Henderson, Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Byers this afternoon… to which Dustin snatched the phone off me and said–”

“I said that of course we’d be there! For once we don’t have to sneak in!” Dustin said, interrupting his friend. 

“Henderson– what the actual fuck. We don’t know who is even in there?!” Steve said, starting to let some of his anger out. 

“I– I didn’t think that far ahead okay? What’s the harm? They seemed nice.” 

Everyone groaned, besides Eddie who couldn’t help but laugh at how naive his young friend was. 

“Okay, okay…. Let’s think this through. I’m sure if we bring Joyce and Hopper, everything will be fine. We’ll come too; if they have an issue with that, then we can assume that perhaps they are not as friendly as they are letting on. Anyone else have any other ideas?” Nancy said, forever the voice of reason. 

No one said anything, until Eddie looked up with a spark of hope in his eyes. “Do you think– maybe she’s there too?” 

It was clear to everyone that Eddie wasn’t talking about El. Nancy gave him a soft smile. “I hope she is.” 

With not long until they were expected at the lab, the younger kids called Joyce and Hopper quickly. Within 10 minutes, everyone was loaded into the cars and off they went. 

Driving up to the lab was an entirely new experience for them; the building looked newer, well-kept and significantly high tech than the run down building they broke into in a previous timeline. The gardens just outside were luscious and green, people dressed in all white were smiling and walking. 

“This can’t be right….” Hopper said, remembering the horrors he knew the lab kept hidden. 

They pulled up just outside the front doors, where someone was keeping guard. They got out of the car and walked in single file; they were all nervous, mentally ready to run at any moment. Especially when the front doors open, and Papa walked out, smiling like he was almost genuinely happy to see them. 

“We were expecting you,” He said through his smile, his pure white hair slicked back and his hands in his lab coat. 

“And, why’s that?” Hopper said, refusing to show any emotions in his voice. 

Papa laughed, “I– I knew you’d have questions, but before we… become re-introduced, I wanted to apologise. For everything, I promise that this is a fresh start.” He said, holding out his hand to offer it as a sign of peace. 

Jim Hopper was never one to forgive easily. He stood there, analysing the scientist in front of him. The only thing of concern to him at this moment was getting his daughter back. 

Papa nodded to himself, putting his hand back into his pocket once he realised there was still a sense of betrayal lingering between them. “I know you remember… how I should have been, but I asure you, I am not the same man you feared. She showed me a few years back at what my actions would have caused; and I changed my focus.” 

“She?” Joyce said hopefully, “El is here?” 

Papa raised an eyebrow for a moment before his mouth opened in understanding, “Oh, yes.. Jane is here. Please, come in.” 

He moved, twisting his body so he was no longer blocking the entrance. Joyce and Mike were the first to rush inside, everyone else followed Hopper’s careful movements. 

They followed Papa down the corridors, to where he opened a door that had a small rainbow painted on it. He knocked before opening, smiling back to the large group of people who had dedicated their life to helping this little girl. 

Inside the room was a nicely decorated girl’s bedroom, lots of toys and a large book collection. And there in the centre of it all, was a little girl with long brown hair. Her head shot up, a smile instantly spreading over her face as she rushed to stand. 

She ran straight for them, hugging both Joyce and Mike. 

“I knew you’d come! I remembered everything! I knew it.” She kept repeating, hugging them tighter. 

“El.” Mike said, hugging her back. 

She giggled, pulling away to see him and shook her head. She lifted her arm to pull up the sleeve from her jumper, revealing the empty patch of skin. “It’s just Jane.” 

 Mike laughed with her, giving her one last hug before she removed herself from their grasp. She looked past them to see Hopper, the father she dreamed about and couldn’t wait to see again. 

She cried running to him. “Dad…” 

She was nervous saying those words; even though she was young, she recognised that things were different. Her and the other children were no longer experimented on, but embraced and trained on how to use their powers safely. Her birth mother had still gone mentally insane from the side effects of the drugs, but when Jane was a little older than 5 years old, she had a burst of visions of what horrors were to come. Unable to understand what she was seeing, Jane pressed her hand to Papa’s cheek and showed him. 

All of his research was only ever to explore the unknown, to see if the ‘What if’ scenario could be true. But seeing all the death and destruction that would follow made him vow to change his eyes. He always loved his children, and he only wanted them to be able to control themselves. Seeing how his actions in an alternative timeline did more harm than good made him be a better father to them. 

And it worked, Jane and the other children were advancing both academically and in terms of their powers. Some of the older children have dedicated their time to advanced engineering and medicine; keeping their powers a secret as they worked on benefitting the greater good. 

“Hey kid, hope you didn’t miss me too much.” Hopper said, brushing away her locks of brown hair from her face. 

It was a beautiful moment to see, the others all took their turns welcoming the girl back into their lives. All but Eddie, who looked at Jane with tears in his eyes. 

“Is– is she here too?” He asked, looking between the little girl and the scientist. 

Papa shook his head, “I respected her parents’ wishes and we never brought her to the laboratory, from my understanding of what… happened, it was more Henry’s outburst for their deaths than me wanting her.”

“And what happened to him… Henry?” Nancy asked. 

“Henry Creel died when he attacked his family, he excreted too much power… more than he could control, and the outcome was rather unpleasant to say the least.” Papa explained. 

Jane nodded along, “The crystal made sure it didn’t happen again, it…” she trailed off, closing her eyes to try and remember, “I think it made him weaker.” 

Just as everyone wanted to find out more about Henry Creel, Eddie interrupted everyone, “And where is she now? You said her parents are still alive right? So where is she?!” 

Papa pressed his lips together, “I never kept tabs on them, they were free to do as they pleased–”

“No, no I know you know where she is–”

“Eddie.” Steve said, placing a hand on his friends shoulder to try and calm him down. “It’ll be fine, I promise–”

“You can’t promise shit, Steve. She could be anywhere….” He said, finally letting his emotions out. Eddie sunk to his knees, tears sliding down his face, “It’s unfair…” 

Eddie was distraught, knowing that it was too good to be true. Everyone got their happy ending besides him.

________________________________________________________

I had some time this morning and smashed this chapter out, unsure of when the next update will be but I am trying my best for you all! Miss you guys, sorry for the sadness.....

IF I HAVE MISSED ANYONE IN THE TAGS PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS POST! It is too hard to keep track of tag request on asks or other messages. Also let me know if the tags aren't working!

Eddie Munson Taglist:

@fentyreligion @littlelunarfox @coconutchumby @eempxth @superflannel @fluffycookies22 @yearwalker96 @magicalchocolatecheesecake @grungegrrrl​@m1rkw00dpr1ncess @dixontardis @buckyslwts @bratckerman @dani-d0rk @musicmoviestv @tomshelbystits @reddisteddie @ungracefularchimedes @santaatemypuppy @cherryrevenger @chipster-21​ @grungegrrrl @azaleaforsure

Series Taglist:

@gobringmemyfood @munchabunch @empty-and-nameless @el1997 @gooblerstan @bigbundabucket @theprettyandthereckless @earthtokace @ifellinlovewithawarsblog @secretsicanthideanymore @blueberryhitosh1 @maryan028 @bakugouswh0r3  @loliakeoghan23 @gamorxa @stardustworlds @bakugouswh0r3 @taeddybearkim @azaleaitsgreen @eddiemunsonslips @awhoreforeddiemunson @strangerthingsstories5255 @queenotaku23 @sweetberry47 @sammararaven @anothermunsonsimp @megumimind @zephyrs-world ​@thegirlwhohides

@lem0nb0iii

@whoreforhowl @kaitebugg03 @preciousbabypeter @snapped-chopstick @cutiecusp @sl-tfor-joseph-quinn  @crescent-moon-palace

[emotionaldreamer]

JOSEPH WON THE MTV MOVIE AWARD!!!!

The video is courtesy of Mtv Awards on Twitter

[briflowers]

The little dance- 🫶🏼

[mikasadirtyscarf]

Cheerleader reader following the team into the upside down with heels.

Until she gets tired and asks Steve to carry her.

"Steve my feet hurt" She says pouting.

"𝙊𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚" He say's while kneeling down to piggyback reader.

And the rest of the team is just thinking how hooked this man is to this girl even in a life or death situation.

[mycurrent-hyperfixation]

Take My Breath Away: Eddie Munson x Reader (One-Shot)

Summary: Eddie Munson seems almost incapable of not noticing your presence in any room. Where he is usually confident and cocky, in your presence he is a fumbling mess. So how is he supposed to cope when he's forced to sit next to you in class for a semester?

Request: I was hoping for an Eddie x reader where he has a huge crush on the quiet girl in his class and always tries to show off for her but feels like an idiot every time he does. And maybe Dustin or someone invites her to play dnd and Eddie’s heart is just pounding out of his chest.

Masterlist

Word Count: 5.7k

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Reader

Tags: fluff 

A/N: I don’t know how this got so long, but I suppose I've never been good with word limits. This is my first ever request so I hope you guys enjoy! Who knows, maybe I’ll start doing more requests if you guys like them. As always, let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Eddie Munson thought of you as something close to an enigma.

You were quiet; you were shy; and you mostly went unnoticed by the vast majority of Hawkins High. And yet still Eddie seemed practically incapable of not noticing you. You were a passing flash in the hallway as one of your familiar dresses flowed behind you; a blur in his peripheral vision. You were a passing sound as you chatted idly with a friend. You were the remnants of a scent, your perfume always so lovely and wholeheartedly intoxicating.  

And with every passing encounter, no matter how small or how fleeting, Eddie would find his heart beginning to race and his breathing beginning to quicken and his head turning to find you like a dog to its owner. It was pathetic, it was embarrassing, and it was wholly stalker-like; but Eddie found himself unable to stop noticing you.  

So it was wholeheartedly surprising when Eddie walked into his first English class for the semester—although in truth he had missed a week of classes already—to find you not only present in the class but sitting towards the back of the room; Eddie’s usual domain. And as luck would have it, since Eddie had never once worked up the courage to actually speak to you nor did he think he ever would, the seat next to you was the only one left available for him to sit within. Although this was not the first time he had shared a class with you, it was most certainly the first time he had ever done so in so close a proximity. The thought oddly terrified him, and yet he seemed unable to wipe the smile from his face.  

“Thank you for finally joining us, Mr Munson,” Mrs O’Donnell said from her position by the chalkboard.  

“I thought you’d miss me too much if I missed another class,” he quipped back, although his heart wasn’t really into it, his breaths coming out shallow and laboured as he sauntered towards the available seat, his eyes seemingly incapable of leaving you. You glanced up at him only once—a brief, fleeting thing that lasted less than a second—before your gaze returned back to rest upon the teacher. Yet Eddie’s heart pounded in his chest nonetheless as he finally took the seat next to you.  

Mrs O’Donnell continued on with her lesson and you continued on with listening and Eddie continued to sneak glances towards you every so often in what he hoped was a subtle way. He could smell your perfume from this close, the same sweet and yet smoky scent he often caught traces of in the hallway. It was intoxicating now being so close to it so that Eddie found himself having to refrain from leaning closer towards you.  

For the majority of the class Eddie thought that he should most likely say something to you and for the majority of the class tried to brainstorm what that should be. Introducing himself was probably the best place to start, and yet every time he opened his mouth to do so he found that nothing would come out. So Eddie resigned himself to a comfortable silence for the entirety of his first class, hopeful that maybe he could somehow find the courage to speak to you tomorrow.  

But then, just as the class was coming to an end and just as you were beginning to pack your things away, the pen that had sat beside your notebook for the entirety of the lesson was brushed off the desk with an accidentally flick of your wrist. Eddie watched on as it tumbled to the floor where it continued to roll until it eventually came to a stop right under his chair. He bent down to retrieve it just as you did the same so that your fingers came to brush lightly against each other. You were close then, so very close to him as you leant forwards and he did the same so that for just a second he could feel the heat emanating from your skin.  

Quickly, you pulled your hand back from his and sat up upright in your chair.  

“S-sorry,” you stuttered, turning your gaze away to hide the blush creeping up your cheeks.

Eddie found himself unable to move from his position half bent over within his chair, his arm still outstretched towards the pen. You had been so close to him, so much closer than he ever thought he would ever get to you so that Eddie was quite positive his heart would beat right through his chest if he were to move a muscle. The touch of your hand had been so fleeting upon his own and yet he could somehow still feel it, his skin hot where yours had brushed against it.  

And then as he realised that your gaze had returned back to him and he had still failed to move, he altogether thought that he was being quite weird and forced his body to move once more, his fingers coming to grasp the pen. He unfolded himself back upwards and presented the stationary towards you, a small triumphant grin curling his lips upwards.  

“Here you are, m’lady.”

The words spilled from his lips seemingly of their own volition, and Eddie wished that his first words to you had been something cooler. But then you were extending your hand towards his and plucking the pen from his grasp so that your fingers brushed against his once more and Eddie, for just a second, found himself incapable of intelligent thought.  

“Thank you,” you said quietly as you shoved the pen into your bag and hastily stood up. Eddie followed suit, wanting desperately for the interaction to continue but not knowing how to make it do so. By now the rest of the class had filtered out so that it was just the two of you standing alone in the back of the empty classroom.

“I-I’m Eddie by the way,” he managed to stutter out as you made your hasty escape down the aisle of desks.  

“I know,” you called back, slowing your walk as you turned back to look at him. A small blush adorned your cheeks as you realised what you had just said. “I’m Y/N.”

“I know,” Eddie responded with a smirk.  

You smiled back at him before you left, and although it would have been physically improbable, Eddie thought his heart skipped a beat.  

---

“You’re staring again,” Dustin cooed before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“No I’m not,” Eddie responded, tearing his gaze away from where it had been fixated upon you across the cafeteria.  

“Why don’t you just go and talk to her? This whole pining from afar thing is getting kinda annoying,” Mike added.  

“Thank you for your impeccable wisdom, Wheeler, but I actually spoke to her today, thank you very much.” Eddie’s gaze flicked towards you once more before he physically had to turn his head away.

“And what did you say?” Dustin asked excitedly.

“I told her my name.”

Mike rolled his eyes.

“But,” Eddie hastily added, “she already knew it so that’s a good sign.”

“Whatever you say man,” Mike said before turning his attention back to his lunch.  

Eddie propped himself up so that he was crouching upon his chair, leaning forward menacingly over the table so that he was looking down upon Mike.

“Just you wait, Wheeler. I now sit next to her in O’Donnell’s class so things will start escalating real fast real soon.”

“I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat then,” Mike responded disinterestedly.  

Eddie rolled his eyes.

“You youths have no respect for you elders these days,” he said dramatically, standing up fully upon his chair before jumping backwards to get down. But because he had been so enamoured in his conversation, he had completely failed to notice you depart from your seat. And because the world apparently had a sick sense of humour when it came to his crush, Eddie almost barrelled straight into you. You let out a small gasp of shock as Eddie jumped backwards, his hands instinctively coming out to rest upon your shoulders to steady you. His skin instantly ignited as it made contact with your own so that in the end Eddie hastily pulled away from you partly because he was sure he had just been burnt and partly because he had not meant to touch you in the first place.  

“S-sorry!” Eddie hastily blurted out, turning his gaze away from you as a deep blush invaded his cheeks. There was a prominent eruption of snickering that came from behind him as he tried his best to ignore it.  

Eddie pulled back further to stand out of your way, bowing lowly as he gestured for you to pass. You did so with some hesitation and with a prominent blush fixated upon your cheeks that Eddie wholeheartedly failed to notice but that Dustin did not. A grin curled its way onto Dustin’s features as he turned to look at Mike next to him. Mike upturned an eyebrow in confusion.

It was only after you had passed Eddie and promptly left the cafeteria that he found himself able to function coherently once more. A wide smile was seemingly fixated upon his features and no matter how hard he tried he was unable to get rid of it.  

“Why does she always smell so damn good?” Eddie said more to himself than anyone else.  

“Well that was embarrassing,” Mike whispered to Dustin.

“Shut up, Wheeler,” Eddie responded, throwing a pretzel at him.  

---

Eddie was, for quite possibly the first time in his life, early to class.  

As he awaited your arrival he anxiously chewed upon his nails, a habit he thought he had grown out of in middle school but which had apparently made its resurgence with a vengeance. He was leaning back precariously in his chair, his feet propped up upon the desk. But upon seeing your figure seemingly glide into the classroom he hastily sat upright, nearly overturning his chair in the process. Your gaze flicked to his as you put down your bag, offering him a friendly smile as you did so which he immediately returned.  

“Hey,” Eddie managed to say, trying to act collected when his racing heart said otherwise.

“Hi,” you responded as you took your seat, flicking your gaze away from his as you started extracting your things from your bag. When you weren’t looking, Eddie quickly ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to tame it if only slightly. In the end it made no difference, but the movement eased his ragged breathing somewhat.

Eddie racked his brain for something to say. But then Mrs O’Donnell was entering the classroom and he knew his opportunity had fled. With a small sigh, he sat back in his chair disappointedly.  

Throughout the duration of the class Eddie found his gaze flicking towards you every so often. Your hair was up today so that he could clearly see the curve of your neck and the rounding of your shoulders. For just a moment he imagined what it would be like to kiss the skin there. It would be soft, he was quite sure, a sensitive area maybe that would have you panting under his touch, the skin marking easily.

His breath hitched in his throat when he eventually pulled his gaze upwards once more only to find that you were looking at him quite expectantly.

“S-sorry?” he questioned, shuffling to sit upright within his seat.

“Did you need a pen?” you repeated in a whisper, your eyes flickering to Eddie’s empty desk. For just a moment Eddie found himself unable to respond. In the entirety of his high school career—which indeed had been longer than most—no one had ever asked him such a question. In truth, no one seemed to care, not even the teachers who had promptly given up on trying to make him do work after his freshman year.  

Eddie didn’t quite know what to say. He thought it quite embarrassing if he were to tell you the truth; that no, he did not need a pen because no, he had never once done any work in Mrs O’Donnell’s class. But then if he were to lie and accept the stationary it would likely only lead to more embarrassment when you eventually discovered that he had no paper to write upon anyway.  

“Okay,” tumbled from Eddie’s mouth as he realised he had been silent for too long. It wasn’t really a response and he was quite well aware of that as you furrowed your brows slightly. You placed the spare pen tentatively upon his desk and then—seemingly as if you could read his mind—you flipped your notebook to an empty page and tore it out, placing it next to the pen upon his desk.  

“Thank you,” he said as he looked up at you, suddenly quite breathless.

Your eyes met with his just briefly before you turned quickly away in an attempt to hide your blush. Eddie looked upwards towards the board for the first time during the class and found himself wholeheartedly confused at what was written.  

“What are we doing?” Eddie whispered to you before he had a chance to think it through. A small smile flashed across your features that had Eddie’s heart suddenly racing at the sight of it.  

“Romeo and Juliet,” you whispered back, your gaze not moving from the teacher.

“Ugh,” Eddie said, scrunching his face in disgust before he could stop himself.  

The small giggle that left your lips had Eddie’s breath hitching in his throat.

“Yeah, it’s not my favourite either. It’s not even a good love story. It’s just about two teenagers who were too scared to stand up to their parents and ended up killing themselves.”

Eddie thought that in that moment he had never been more interested in Shakespeare in his life.

“Oh?” Eddie cooed. “And so what would you say is a good love story then?”

Eddie could see the small blush make its way up your neck before invading your cheeks. Your gaze was still fixated on the board, unwilling to turn towards him. Yet Eddie found himself quite grateful for that fact since it ensured that you could not see him staring intently at you.

“Much Ado About Nothing is my favourite.”

“And what’s that one about?” Eddie was surprised to find his voice oddly unwavering considering his hands were shaking quite violently under the desk.

You turned towards him then and for just a moment Eddie forgot how to breathe.

“It’s about two idiots who hate each other. But they’re really just too stupid to admit they like one another.”

Eddie was quite sure that you had never looked upon him—really looked at him with your gaze unwavering from his—for quite as long as you were doing now. He quickly came to realise that he was quite grateful for your shy disposition, for in that moment he found himself wholeheartedly unequipped to deal with your full attention. Now it was his turn to glance away, hoping that you wouldn’t notice the red tint that was burning upon his cheeks.

A silence lingered between you then, Eddie not quite trusting his voice to speak again. You turned your attention back to the board, periodically writing notes within your workbook. Eddie glanced between them and the board, confused as to what it was you were actually supposed to be learning and yet not quite caring enough to figure it out. So he leant back in his chair once more and lazily began to doodle on the page you had given him.

The sketches were rough, his pen strokes lazy and inattentive as he continued to fill the page. He wasn’t really trying, not in the full sense at least like when he drew up characters for his new campaigns. His hand moved languidly over the page, filling it with images of monstrous creatures, spiky weapons and even some ideas for some new tattoos that had been floating around in his head for the past few days. He thought about drawing you, maybe the line of your jaw or the curve of your lips or how some stray pieces of hair had come loose from where you had tied it up and were dangling around your face. But then as he looked up at you—having decided that drawing you was bordering a little too far on creepy—his breath hitched in his throat. For instead of your gaze being fixated on the board like it almost always was, your eyes were instead glancing down to the page sitting upon Eddie’s desk.

At the sight of Eddie’s hand stilling above a particular doodle, you glanced back towards him. Seeing his gaze already upon you had your blush returning with a vengeance as you hastily turned away.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

Eddie felt like pulling the page away, scrunching up the sheet and throwing it in the bin before you could see any more of his mediocre drawings.

“Y-you’re just really good,” he heard you add.

Eddie couldn’t quite stop the wide smile that adorned his features. But then before he could say anything the bell was ringing, and you had already begun to pack away your things. He held out your pen towards you hesitantly, not quite wanting to part with it yet knowing it would be stupid to steal it. But then as you reached out to grab it the tips of your fingers brushed lightly with his so that Eddie was quite happy with his decision to return the instrument to you.

Without thinking, Eddie leaned forwards and grabbed the sheet of paper upon his desk, instantly scrunching it up into a ball. He threw it absentmindedly towards the bin in the corner of the room, partly because he couldn’t quite be bothered to walk the short length but mostly because he hoped to impress you by getting it in from such a distance. The two of you watched as it sailed through the air and landed upon the floor.

Eddie groaned, suddenly quite embarrassed as he realised you had been watching the action with rapt attention.

“Why did you do that?” you asked hesitantly just as Eddie was about to rise from his seat to retrieve the paper.

He furrowed his brows slightly in confusion as he stood up before offering you a sideways grin.

“I didn’t mean for it to miss,” he responded.

But then you were looking up at him through your eyelashes as Eddie stood above you, and the sight had all the air rushing from his lungs. He cleared his throat, trying to refocus his mind before he left your side and retrieved the paper to throw in the bin. When he turned back around you were still looking at him and for a moment Eddie considered just rushing straight out of the classroom lest he embarrass himself any further in front of you.

“But they were good,” you protested, your voice wavering slightly from the confession. You averted your gaze from his and for once Eddie was greatful for it.

“I’ll redraw them better for you next time,” Eddie said, walking back over to you before heading towards the door. “Promise,” he called, lifting one hand up to wave goodbye to you before he exited the classroom. He consumed a large breath of air once finally out of your presence, quite sure that he should probably be concerned by how hard his heart was thumping within his chest.

And because Eddie was trying to get his body under control once more, he completely failed to notice when you made your way over to the bin and retrieved the crumpled paper.

---

“You want something freak?”

Eddie, who was currently stood atop the lunch table, brought his index fingers up above his head and stuck out his tongue. When Jason Carver rolled his eyes and turned back around, Eddie smiled triumphantly.

Eddie turned back around and began making his way back down the length of the table, but because he seemed apparently incapable of not noticing your presence in any given space, his eyes somehow flicked over the cafeteria to where you were sitting a few tables over. Your eyes were already on him, your gaze hastily shifting away when he turned to look at you, a slight blush adorning your cheeks. Your lips had been upturned into a smile just moments before as you said something to your friend, and Eddie couldn’t quite help the frown that covered his features.

You had been laughing at him, just like everyone else had.

A scowl crept its way onto his face and stayed there for the remainder of the lunch period, Eddie seemingly incapable of dispelling the thought of you whispering with your friends.

“So about postponing the-” Mike tried to continue.

“Find a sub, Wheeler,” was all Eddie could be bothered to say.

---

Eddie couldn’t quite manage to hide the irritation that covered his features. He sat lazily within his throne his hands brought up to lay under his chin as his gaze remained glued upon the door. One of his legs was bouncing incessantly upon the ground but he seemed incapable of stopping it nor did he particularly want to.

Gareth and Jeff were oddly quiet and he supposed it could have been because of his mood. But in that moment he was quite thankful for their silence and so continued to say nothing. Finally, the doors opened.

“Well look who decided to grace us with their presence,” Eddie boomed, revelling slightly in the looks of fear that met him from the two boys who had entered.

“Sorry, Eddie,” Mike began. “We only just managed to find a sub and they-”

“And so where is this supposed sub then?” Eddie knew he was being dramatic and yet could not quite bring himself to stop.

Dustin peaked his head back down the hallway they had just come from.

“She’s coming,” he said, the smile on his lips too cocky for Eddie’s liking. “We thought we’d run ahead since we’re so late.”

“She?” Eddie began, his words instantly dying upon his lips.

Because suddenly there you were standing within the doorway, your head slightly bowed in nervousness as you looked around the room. And even though he had seen you earlier that day, even though his mind had been plagued since with the image of you laughing at him with your friends, he couldn’t quite stop his breath from hitching in his throat.

Faintly, he registered that Dustin’s grin was growing.

“Eddie, this is Y/N,” Dustin said.

“Oh, we’ve met,” you said tentatively, your gaze dropping to the floor as the attention in the room turned to you. “We’re in O’Donnell’s class together.”

Eddie was still too stunned to form a coherent sentence, so Dustin filled the silence. Eddie really wished that he hadn’t.

“Oh you’re that Y/N. Eddie’s mentioned you a few times.”

Eddie wanted to lay down and die. Eddie wanted to strangle Dustin. But mainly, Eddie wanted to protest. For he could not quite fathom spending the next hour locked up in a room playing D&D with you, not when he had already spent the majority of the day embarrassing himself in your presence. The thought completely terrified him and yet he knew he would not be able to refuse you; would never be able to refuse you anything.

He forced a smile onto his lips that became a little more genuine when he turned to look at you.

“Well then welcome to Satan’s lair!”

You walked further into the room as you followed closely behind Mike and Dustin, glancing up periodically at Eddie as you went. Just as you were about to take the seat at the end of the table, Dustin spoke once more, testing Eddie’s patience so much that his eye twitched.

“Oh, you should go and sit up with Eddie. He’s the Dungeon Master so he’ll be able to teach you the best.”

“Oh, okay,” you said, hesitantly making your way to the head of the table.

Eddie thought it was quite possible he might keel over and die in that moment for his heart was beating so concerningly fast within his chest. He tried to keep his features composed as he looked at you, his smile still somehow in place. Without a word, Jeff moved down a seat and smiled up at you as you sat down.

“Have you, um,” Eddie said, clearing his throat after hearing how wobbly it was. “Have you ever played before, Y/N?”

“No, sorry,” you responded with a nervous smile that had Eddie’s heart somehow beating faster.

“T-that’s okay. It’s quite easy once you get the hang of it. You’ll need to make yourself a character-”

“We’ve already helped her make a character,” Mike added.

“Well how very kind of you,” Eddie said back through gritted teeth before turning his attention back to you. “Um, so everything revolves around the adventure. I’m the Dungeon Master so I describe what’s going on throughout the quest. These bad boys,” Eddie leaned over and picked up the dice scattered upon the table. “They’re what everything is determined by. The numbers that you roll are what determines whether your attack hits or misses or whether you dodge a hit in time. Make sense?”

You nodded in understanding. Eddie had done this speech so many times before, had always been so animated whenever he introduced someone new to the game he so loved. And although he could feel himself loosening up the more he talked, he still found himself fumbling over his words and running his hands through his hair nervously. You were leaning in so close to him as he explained, the smell of your perfume wholeheartedly intoxicating and the sight of you listening with rapt attention so very distracting.

Finally, when you understood the basics of the game and the campaign finally got underway, Eddie could finally seem to breathe. This was his domain now and he was damn well going to rule it.

The game was fun, you had to admit. Far more fun than you had expected it to be when Dustin Henderson and Mike Wheeler had cornered you against your locker as their pleads filled the empty hallway. And although you found yourself becoming totally enraptured within the story, you couldn’t quite help yourself from sneaking glances towards the Dungeon Master when he leaned dramatically over the table or when his voice became low during some scenes. You had never seen him come alive as much as he was in that moment, and it made something warm stir within your heart as you watched him.

Now you were sweating, your gaze fixated on the board in front of you.

“You’ll need to roll a 20 if you want to get out of this one, sweetheart.”

You partially registered the pet name, and where usually you would have blushed or turned away from Eddie smiling cockily at you, blood was now pumping heavily through your veins as the rest of the boys looked upon you expectantly. You were the last one left alive and it somehow brought a confidence to your posture that felt oddly thrilling.

“What do you guys think?” you questioned the table, feeling Eddie’s gaze fixated upon you.

“We’re with you till the end, Y/N,” Dustin answered. “It’s your decision.”

You hesitated for just a moment before announcing, “I’ll attack.”

Your hands were sweaty as you held the dice, shaking them in your hands several times in hesitation, knowing that you were just delaying the inevitable. When you released them from your grasp you watched them roll with bated breath. They tapped across the board, flipping once, twice, three times until they finally came to a stop. Everyone leaned in to get a better look.

20.

You jumped up from your seat just as everyone else did, engulfing Dustin in a hug. Eddie had never quite seen such a wide smile cover your features and he revelled in its beauty for just a moment as he watched you from his throne. He brought a hand up to partly cover his mouth, trying to hide his own grin that infiltrated his face. He knew he should not be so happy—he had not made the campaign to be beatable after all—but he could not quite stop the jumping of his heart as he looked upon you so elated and carefree and so breathtakingly beautiful.

When congratulations had been exchanged and the room’s excitement eventually begun to die down, Eddie began to pack up. He waved to the boys as they left, smiling softly to himself when they continued to talk about the game all the way down the hall. But for a man who seemed incapable of not noticing your presence, he was still surprised to find you lingering near the table.

��Do you need some help?” you asked, your gaze meeting his for longer than it normally did.

“U-um.” Eddie was caught off guard. “Yeah sure.”

The two of you packed away the table in silence, your fingers periodically brushing as you leant over to hand Eddie some dice or a figurine that had been left out. And even though Eddie expected the touch every time, he still could not seem to stop his breath from hitching in his throat at the feeling of your soft skin against his.

“That was, um,” Eddie began, needing to fill the silence that had consumed the room. “That was really nice of you. Subbing in for the game.”

“Dustin and Mike just seemed so desperate. I felt bad for them really,” you responded. Eddie’s smile faltered slightly. Of course your participation had only been out of pity.

“But I have to admit that was super fun,” you continued. “I’d, um…I’d be happy to join in on any more games if you ever need a sub.”

Eddie was caught wholeheartedly off guard.

“Yeah, of course! You can join whenever you want.”

He shuffled slightly closer to you as he leaned over to collect the remainder of the figurines so that the side of your body was practically touching his. He could feel the heat emanating off your skin, could feel the swaying of your clothes as they brushed against him when you outstretched an arm or turned slightly.

“Sorry if I was, ugh, embarrassing at all today in the cafeteria.” The words seemed to fall from Eddie’s mouth of their own volition.

“What, when you stood up to Jason?” you questioned, furrowing your brows in utter confusion as you turned to look at Eddie. “I thought that was quite…brave.”

Eddie nearly laughed. “Oh, I’m no hero,” he said. “I just like messing with him sometimes. Most of the rest of the time I feel like I can’t do anything right.” He wasn’t too sure what prompted such a confession, and for just a moment he regretted doing so. But then you were turning so that you were facing him completely and most coherent thoughts left his mind altogether.

“Why would you ever think that?” you asked. “You’re like the coolest guy ever.”

As the words left your mouth a vibrant blush invaded your features as you realised what you had said, turning your head quickly away in embarrassment just as Eddie’s own cheeks started to burn. You were close now, the both of you realised, but how you had gotten so close neither of you could quite remember. A silence lingered between you, a silence that seemed to contain something more; something hot and palpable and heavy.

“I always feel like such a fool in front of you,” Eddie whispered, his face slowly inching towards yours.

But then you did something that Eddie was not quite expecting, something that had him unsure of whether to be happy or nervous.

You laughed. 

And although it was a beautiful sound, although it made Eddie want to smile, he could not quite help but await your response with bated breath.

“I feel exactly the same around you.”

Eddie smiled, and he thought in that moment that if he did not traverse the distance that still sat between you he might never get the chance to do so again. The thought terrified him.

“Can I kiss you?” he whispered into the air between you.

He awaited your rejection, braced himself for it really. But then instead of a rejection—instead of any response at all—your lips were suddenly crashing against his, the scent of your perfume completely engulfing him as his hands instinctively came up to hold you. He hesitated for just a second, trying to decipher whether what he was experiencing was indeed reality, before he kissed you back so fervently and breathlessly and hungrily.

Eddie Munson had imagined kissing you so many times before, and yet in every daydream he had been wrong. Where he had imagined you to be timid and slow and shy against his lips, now you were intense and fierce. You tasted different as well; more savoury where Eddie had always imagined you to be sweet so that he couldn’t quite stop himself from wanting to devour you in that moment.

Eddie was the one to pull away first partly because his lungs felt as if they were on fire and partly because he thought he might pass out from how hard his heart seemed to be pumping. Your pants filled the air, your lips tinged slightly red in a way that had Eddie itching to reach back down and capture his lips with yours once more.

You were looking up at him, but then suddenly your gaze flickered to the floor as a raging blush encompassed your features. Eddie, seemingly unable to stop himself, reached out a hand and cupped your chin, turning it upwards so that you were looking at him once more.

“Oh there’s no need to be shy with me anymore, darling. Not after what we just did.”

A devilish grin upturned the corner of your mouth as your gaze flickered down to Eddie’s lips. Suddenly he was nervous.

---

Taglist:

@alicetweven​ @juggernort @theh3aven @manamitoyota @mimiluvsualot @cherrypieyourface @kaqua @c0untryclub @goldencherriess @pancakemoutainthatrides​ 

[ratzskull]

I bet Steve would actually be into a lot of different music types. Like the idea of him liking old rock and roll like in S1 when he sings 'Old Time Rock & Roll'. And how he can then talk to Uncle Wayne and Eddie about more alternative music.

[who-knows73]

Once again on my genderfluid Steve/Stevie bullshit this takes place when Steve is still in high school and I know this would probably never happen early 80s but for plot convenience bear with me.

Ok so I know we all love Eddie as Frank N Furter but imagine poor oblivious Steve being one of those jocks who will wear a skirt or like the cheer leader’s uniform for spirit week or something like that. So when some of the basketball team decide they’re gonna audition to be in Rocky Horror cause they think it would be funny and Steve is so enthusiastic that they cast him as Frank N Further. He’s so excited about the outfit and the makeup but he thinks that’s normal and just goes along with it, living his best life in those heels and is by far the best out there in the stage. I mean he just fucking drips sex appeal

A couple years later when Robin comes out to him, he wants to learn more so he reads as many books as he can find and goes to gay bars in Indianapolis for research purposes. He ends up learning that being genderfluid is a thing and it all just kinda clicks. She no longer feels that itch under their skin telling her something just isn’t quite right, he feels comfortable in their skin and it’s euphoric. They think back on the time spent playing Frank N Further and it all just makes so much sense now, the strange looks her “friends” gave him and the shock from the audience that Steve “The Hair” Harrington was playing an openly queer character. It’s like she’s been out in the storm all his life and someone finally opened the door for them, a door she didn’t even know was there in the first place.

Bonus: Eddie was too scared to audition for Rocky horror in fear that he’d get hate crimed but went to the first show anyways. When he saw Steve up on stage looking so ecstatic in that corset he went to every show after that and openly ogled her like a starved lion would a steak for two and a half hours every night. And if he had a bit of a problem he had to hide when he left Avery night he’d never admit it.

[kiwifruit67]

If Vecna got Steve I think Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA would save him

[lostgirl677]

Welcome to the Hellfire

This is an AU Pirate!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Masterlist

(This picture is entirely handmade, sorry for the quality. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted 😅)

A runaway, that’s what you are. A runaway that left everything behind her because of a forced marriage. You can’t stand the simple idea of being married to that jerk of Lord Hargrove’s son, William. Number of girls would kill just for one of his glance, but you are not like them. You know that your family needs their money, but you won’t let them decide for you. How you had to fight at the ceremony to escape from his grasp.

Flashback

They just finished helping you put on your nuptial gown. You fight so hard to keep your tears from falling. 

‘You have to be brave, darling. Think about us, about everything that we’ve been through and to finally find a solution that suits everyone’ says your mother.

‘Yes, everyone but me..’

 ‘Y/N? don’t start again with this. It’s been discussed for months. Now, it's the big day. Don’t ruin our chances, be the daughter I raised you to be.’

 ‘The emotionless puppet who’s supposed to obey her master and to satisfy everyone but herself ? Well, it seems like the puppet grew a heart and a brain’ she’s about to explode but decided to leave you.

 ‘I’ll see you at the ceremony’ she says coldly

Now that you are alone, you try to think of a way to escape from this place without being noticed. You were quickly interrupted by your ‘soon to be husband’.

 ‘You look gorgeous my dear’ William says, nearly drooling and his eyes full of lust. 

‘You are not supposed to be here. Get out’ you say flatly. 

‘Well, well it’s not a way to talk to your future husband’ he smirks. He closes the space between you and grabs your waist. You try to throw him a punch but he grabs your hand.

‘I promise to teach you some manners, love’ he says murmuring in your ear. Enough is enough, you knee him in his secret parts and escape from his embrace. He falls to the ground.

‘Little bitch !’ he growls and tries to catch a piece of your dress.Your struggle causes a torn in it and makes you fall on your butt. He grabs your ankle but you kick him in the face with your other foot. He growls again in pain.

‘I will end you ! Who are you to say no to me ?’

 When he tries to get up, you take a lamp in your hands and shatter it on his head. He falls unconscious on the floor. It’s your call to escape. You manage to open the window and jump. Thankfully it wasn’t that high. Once outside, you run. You don’t know where, you just run. Wherever you go on this land, you know that they’ll find you. Suddenly, an idea crossed your mind. You weren’t far from the beach. So you run to the beach and luckily find an abandoned tiny boat on the sand. 

‘Time to cut the strings little puppet’ you say while pushing the tiny boat on the ocean.

End of Flashback

Here you are now, alone on the ocean. You don’t even know if you are going to make it out alive but you’d rather die free than live with someone like William. It feels like days have passed but maybe it was just hours. You are tired but you can’t sleep. You relive the last events in your mind again and again. But your thoughts are cut short when the waves start to grow bigger and bigger with each passing second. You try to steady the boat but it rattle way too much for you to succeed. Without a warning, it sways and makes you fall. You knock your head and lose consciousness

Eddie’s POV.

It’s a boring day but he tries to keep his mind busy by planning their next adventure. Will they try to find the legendary Sea Witch’s treasure or find the Kraken ? His crew is more than willing when it comes to go and find lost treasures and fight creatures. But again, today is a boring day, even Jeff stopped playing music outside.

‘A girl ! A girl !’

It’s Gareth from the crow nest. Eddie practically ran out of his cabin to see for himself and so all the crew. Indeed, there was an unconscious girl on a tiny boat. She is sickly pale and looks almost dead. Her dress looks like a wedding dress.

‘I’ll go get her’ Eddie says. Once in the boat, he tries to get close to her to check her pulse.

‘She’s alive’ he screams to his crew. 

‘ Hello ? Miss, can you hear me ?’ No answers but he could swear that he saw her fingers move a little but he’s not quite sure nonetheless.

‘Prepare something to eat for her.’ he says while picking her up and getting back on the ship.

He lay her delicately on his bed. She’s the most gorgeous girl he ever laid eyes on. Her (h/c) hair is a bit tangled and her “wedding” dress is torn in some places. He really wonders who she is and what happened to her. Before he could let his thoughts wander a bit more about the stranger he hears someone knock on the door.

‘Come in’ he says without tearing his eyes off her. 

‘I bring the food you asked for, Captain’ 

‘Thanks Grant’

‘How is she ?’

‘I don’t know. Now that she is in a safe and warm place, she seems a little better. Let’s hope that she’ll wake up soon’ 

Grant leaves the cabin. Maybe he should go back to his plans.

Y/N’s POV

The first things you register while waking are the soft mattress under you and that it gently cradles you. Then you open your eyes. There is a ceiling. That’s weird because the last thing you remember is being on a boat in the middle of a storm. Was it a dream ? And you turn your head and see a man seated behind his desk. You gasp.

He turns his head towards you and smiles kindly.

‘Hey ! Glad to see you’re awake. How are you feeling ?’ He asks and gently walks towards you so as to not scare you.

He seems nice but you are wary. He has long brown curly hair, a bandana with skulls printed on it under his hat, plenty of rings, a necklace and  has brown eyes with eyeliner. He also has tattoos. He wears a white shirt, a black pants, black boots and a long black leather jacket. He is more than probably a pirate.

‘Where am I ? Who are you ?’ you ask

‘On a ship. I am Captain Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson. At your service.’  He says bowing to you while taking his hat off. ‘Now my turn to ask questions. Who are you and why were you dressed in a wedding dress and alone in a boat in the middle of the ocean ?’

You are completely at his mercy, so it wouldn’t change a thing if you tell him a lie. So you tell him the truth.

‘My name is Y/N  Y/L/N and I ran away because I was forced to marry someone I hate’

He seems genuinely interested in your story and asks you for more details. So you tell him all the details.

‘You are a feisty one, M’Lady. Should I be careful around you ?’ he asks playfully. You feel at ease with him

‘Definitely’ you say smiling.

‘Oh ! I asked my crew to prepare you a meal. I thought that you may be hungry after all of this adventure.’ he says after a moment of silence and pointing at a plate.

‘Thank you’ you said.

‘If you need me, I’ll be on the deck. If you want, I can find you something to wear other than this dress.’

‘Thank you, it’s really nice of you’. He leaves the cabin. You ate everything on the plate and decided to take a look around the cabin. There were loads of different kinds of guitars and other instruments. You also spot a box full of tobacco and a pile of doodles. After this, you decide to wander outside.

The sky was a bit gray but the sun still shines through the clouds.You notice the flag and realize that it wasn’t the classic Jolly Roger flag but a demon head surrounded by two different weapons.

The crew members are busy with the chores and Eddie is at the helm. He spots you and leaves it to walk in your direction while the crew waves at you.

‘Welcome to the Hellfire, Miss Y/L/N’  he says, kissing your hand. You try not to blush at his actions.

‘You can call me Y/N’

‘Well Y/N, it’s a pleasure to have you here. I found you new clothes and since you are sadly stuck here for a bit I’ll show you around after you change.’ 

There was a burgundy dress, a plain shirt with a pair of pants and boots. You take the shirt with the pants and the boots, arrange your hair and go outside the cabin to begin the visit.

 By the time  the visit is over, it is time for dinner. Eddie is really a charming person and is very funny. He makes you forget all the bad things that pushed you to live your past life with your parents and the terrible wedding.

‘It would give me great pleasure if you'd join me for dinner, Y/N’

You accepted. You take the burgundy dress this time and join him.

The dinner was great and you decided to ask him about his story.

‘I wasn’t always the great and sexy pirate you have before your very eyes.’ he says, smirking. ‘I used to live with my uncle in a country far away from here. I was always one to cause mischief and people there hated me but I had a few friends I could count on so it didn’t matter.They all said that I am exactly like my father, which is the worst insult I’ve been targeted with, that I’ll never be someone. Just the local freak. But you know, being harassed and shunned is a routine, you get used to it at some point. Everyday, people insulted me and accused me for every single wrong in their life.But one day, something terrible happened to a girl I knew. She was murdered in the most awful way before my eyes. I couldn’t do anything to prevent that and I was accused. They were going to put me on trial and execute me for something I didn’t do. So I ran away and became a very charismatic pirate. It’s still haunting me. But I guess the local freak wanted to get international, you know’ he said with a wink but you see the sadness in his eyes and notice that his voice was about to shatter when he mentioned that girl.

You can’t help but feel sorry for him. You motion to take his hand and look him in the eyes. You can feel the coolness of his rings under your palm.

‘I’m really sorry for you. If they couldn’t appreciate you, their loss’ he smiles at your kind words. 

When he gets up, you finally notice a weird metal sound.

‘What is this noise ?’ you aks

He seems confused and then understands what you meant.

‘Oh, it’s nothing, just chains’

‘Chains ? I thought that you escaped the authorities’

‘Yeah, I did but I wear them to remind me that I should have done something to help her. So it’s a form of punishment I put on myself’ he says with the same haunted look on his eyes but he regains his composure and before you could react he practically ran like a maniac on the deck to ask his crew to play music.

‘ Gentlemen ! This lady needs a distraction so I expect you to play like virtuosos to honor her and your Captain. Make me proud, you bunch of scoundrels !’

Eddie’s POV

It was the only way for him to not crumble in front of everyone. He shouldn’t have burdened her his depressing story but it was like he always knew her. Call it fate or whatever, but he was sure that the seas brought her to him for a reason. To reward him for something, he doesn’t know what but she must be a reward from the gods. And now that he sees her dancing and laughing with the crew, it makes him like she has always been there by his side. He joined her and they danced until dawn.

When everyone was exhausted, he gave her his cabin and headed to the crew dorm when she grabbed his hand and told him that he could stay.

One month later

 You roamed the seas with Eddie and the Hellfire crew and you couldn’t be happier. You explored many islands, discovered lost treasures and even fought creatures. The only thing is that you also made an enemy: the terrible Captain Henry Creel a.k.a Vecna. But Eddie always finds a way to save everyone, right ?

Should I make a part 2 ?

[bugginbeetlew]

steve riding in the back of the boat… he’s not beating the princess allegations

[yourlocalrodent]

Cockroaches

I HAD to use this photo for a crack fiv

You were playing with Gareth’s younger sister when you heard a ear piercing scream “ what was that?” The young girl spoke “ I dunno” you replied looking up at the stairs when the scream came from. Gareth’s little brother came in and spoke to his older sister (she’s 8 he’s 6) “ big brother found a cockroach” he said in his small voice. “ he’s afraid of cockroaches” kay sighed rolling her eyes “ even though he’s a big 16 year old” you chuckled “ everyone has fears kid, he just doesn’t like cockroaches!” You smile,Oakley spoke up “ I’m afraid of spiders!” . You got up and walked up the stairs to hear another scream “ GOD ITS MOVING CLOSER” yep definitely Gareth’s voice you thought. You open the door to find a fairly large cockroach in the middle of the floor and your boyfriend standing on his bed. With fly spray which didn’t seem to do anything to the little shit “ uh Gareth-” he shot his head over “ WHAT? I mean sorry sorry! Are you perhaps brave enough TO GET ROD OF THAT THING!?” He screamed. You grabbed one of the many cups on his bed stand and got a sheet of paper his little sister left in his room. Catching the insect you threw it out the window looking over to him. His face was this