CRUEL SUMMER - '85 (PART TWO)

CRUEL SUMMER - '85 (PART TWO)

summary: . . . the year Eddie Munson doesn’t give a fuck about not having graduated when he’s gotta save the girl so he can get the girl. (in which Eddie is in ST3 and reader is basically Holly Holloway) ┊ Eddie Munson x Flayed!Reader┊ **Part 3 coming soon.

chapter summary: . . . when you didn’t show up to meet him at your spot after your shift at Hawkins’ Community Pool, Eddie takes your sudden disappearance into his own hands and discovers he’s not the only one in town who has.

chapter warning: pining, billy hargrove, ‘unrequited’ love, angst, fluff, insecurity, jealousy, mind control I guess, and Eddie trying not to get arrested

word count: 5.5k+

PART ONE HERE • masterlist

Eddie wasn’t in the best of moods. When you hadn’t shown, he had thought maybe you were still mad at him for having to cancel the previous day, but when he’d went by your place, he hadn’t seen your bike leaning up against the side of your house. Nor had you been in your room when he scaled your roof to get to your bedroom window. If he hadn’t gotten arrested last week, he would have camped out in his van in front of your house. But seeing as how he’d manage to. . . step away from the situation before he’d actually been booked, he couldn’t risk someone reporting a creepy van just parked on your street.

He’d tried calling, but caught your mother just as they were preparing to go out of town to visit a relative and she had told him you called from a friend’s house to let her know you’d be spending the night, and that drove him even crazier. You’d ditched him to hang out with someone else? He’d definitely fucked up. Why couldn’t you just talk to him? Yell at him? Why’d you have to go and make him feel ten times guiltier? And who the fuck was this friend? You hadn’t told him about anyone else you hung out with, hadn’t even mentioned any names other than those of your co-workers, but you weren’t friends with any of them.

Fuck, he had to find you. 

You could be mad at him in person, that’d be fine, because then you’d be mad at boyfriend Eddie. Not friend Eddie.

To become your boyfriend, Eddie first had to tell you how he felt, and you were making it plenty difficult to do so. He mused it was karma for having waited so long to acknowledge his feelings for you in the first place while you were nothing but patient, kind, goofy, and seemingly ready to wait for him forever.

Yeah, this had to be karma.

He could’t even sleep, having tossed and turned all night. Something didn’t feel right about any of this, and the sooner he saw your pretty face, the better.

Instead of driving past your house again, Eddie made his way to the community pool. You’d mentioned earlier on in the week you’d probably be covering for Heather Holloway today, and you couldn’t ignore him on the job. 

Well, you could, but Eddie wasn’t above pretending to drown to get your attention. In fact, he was pretty sure you’d find a public declaration of his love pretty endearing, too romantic to whack him with a floaty. He ran a hand through his drenched hair—courtesy of a little summer rain—as he approached the open counter. 

Joey Mitchell, Hawkins graduate of ’83 and overall jerk, and Zoe Reynolds looked to be doing anything but their jobs. He’d asked them if they’d seen you and got absolutely nowhere with them. “She flaked, man. Why don’t you do the same?” Joey didn’t even bother glancing up at him as he flipped through whatever the fuck he was reading. Zoe was doing her best to look attractive while she drank a soda, her gaze openly trailing over Eddie. He did his best to keep from rolling his eyes. He and Zoe had hooked up one day after he’d stopped by to pay you a visit, but she proved to be another girl who wanted him in private—not public. He hadn’t really wanted her either way, but he was a man with an itch he had to scratch.

“Thanks for being absolutely fucking useless, Joey. Glad to see you haven’t changed.” Joey flipped him off and Zoe laughed as he stepped aside, leaning against the building beside a vending machine as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Alright. So, you weren’t at home, you weren’t at work, so you must have still been with that friend you told your mom about. Who the fuck was that?

Eddie was so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed the two girls approach the counter he had previously been occupying, he was only pulled from his head when he heard Joey say your name.

“I’ll get it back to her.” He managed to hear Joey say as Eddie shifted closer to eavesdrop. 

“We could give it back to her.” The girl with the short hair had something in her hand. Eddie recognized it as the lifeguard fanny pack you carried around. What was she doing with it?

“You could. ‘Cept she’s not here. Bailed on me today.” When they didn’t leave fast enough for his liking, Joey added, “What is this? You girls want a reward or something?” Definitely still an asshole. Eddie was about to step in, but the redhead had it covered. “Nope. We’re just good samaritans.” The one with the short hair approached the community board and he could see her staring intensely at a photo of you coming out of the pool. It was a photo he, too, stared at when he dropped by.

“Hey—where’d you get that?” Eddie pushed himself off the wall, revealing his hiding place as he stared down at your fanny pack in her hand.

She glanced down at it then back at him, eyebrows pinched together. “I found it. Billy—’’

“—is off today. Billy is off today.” The redhead interrupted as she made her way to the other girl’s side.

Eddie squinted down at them, tongue pressing against his cheek. The redhead looked familiar.

“You’re Hargrove’s little sister, right?”

Red didn’t seem super excited with the title. “What’s it to you?”

“You’ve got my best friend’s property in your possession. And unlike our little concierge over there,” Eddie gestured to where the counter was. “I care. A lot. Start talking.”

The girls exchanged a look that Eddie knew meant he wasn’t going to get the whole story. “She, uh, left it at my house. Must have forgot it.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up so far they almost got caught in his hairline, the shock nearly stopping his heart. “I see. And what was she doing at your house?” 

Red crossed her arms, looking entirely unimpressed with being questioned. “She and Billy must have been hanging out or something after work.” 

Eddie didn’t like that ‘or something’. He actually didn’t like any of it. 

“Pack. Now, please.” The timid looking one reluctantly handed the object to him, hushing Red’s protests. “Thanks.” Eddie stormed out of the entrance turning to look over his shoulder just in time to see them yank your photo from its place. 

He placed your pack on the passenger seat as soon as he got back in the van, absolutely fuming. He was trying to keep it together, but this was all wrong. Everything was wrong. Eddie needed a distraction. The van roared to life before he pulled out onto the road, ready to drive around for a couple of hours until he had his head together.

You were supposed to meet him yesterday, you hadn’t. Your mom had told him you slept over at a friend’s house, and now Eddie was hearing you’d been with Billy Hargrove.

Billy fucking Hargrove. He knew the history between you two. Eddie hadn’t known you all that well then, back when Billy first moved to Hawkins the previous Fall. That’s when it all started between you and Eddie. The grounds for your whole friendship.

You couldn’t believe it. The hot, new guy in school was interested in you.

 He’d made quite the impression on everyone his first few weeks, girls were infatuated and boys wanted to be him. He’d even dethroned Steve, who was now just Steve instead of King Steve. You hadn’t had a whole lot of run ins with Steve Harrington, but the few times you had, he treated you just like your whole ‘friend’ group did. So it had pleased you to know he’d been knocked from that high shelf he sat himself on. 

Then the man who’d done it approached you after school to ask if you wanted to go to the game with him. You hated most sports, but you couldn’t miss out on that opportunity. It had been freezing, he had even offered you his jacket, and everyone treated you so much nicer that night. Then he’d driven you home, kissed you goodnight on your porch, and sent you on your way.

That was how he’d ensnared you in his web, from then on he’d just lead you on. Occasionally taking you out but usually cancelling extremely last minute—which made Eddie feel worse to think about since he’d done the same just the other day—he also made numerous attempts to gaslight you. You could see through it all of course, but you went along with it anyways. Because that’s how high school went for you. It was right after a pep rally, you’d scrubbed yourself raw to remove any sweat—technically, and boy was it a technicality because your mom was the cheer coach and she’d be embarrassed if her daughter wasn’t on the team, you were part of the cheer squad but seeing as how you were on the bottom of the totem pole, you were often forced into the school mascot costume—and done your makeup exceptionally well so you looked beautiful when you approached Billy and his friends by his locker to confirm your plans for the night. “Hey, Billy!” Your arms tightened around the binder you held just under the bust of your chest. Billy was a boobs type of guy, so anything you did to draw attention to them or enhance them guaranteed you a little bit of his attention. Pathetic, but seeing as how there were plenty of other girls you knew he was also quietly taking out with bra sizes larger than yours, it’s what you had to do. “Are we still good for tonight? Dinner and a movie?” Billy made an obviously fake wince, sucking in some air.

“Sorry, babe, I totally forgot Richy’s throwing a party tonight. Can’t leave my best man hanging, right?” 

You knew he was talking to you, but his statement seemed to be directed to his friends. Richy, the gangly boy who had once asked you if you wanted to give him a handjob on the bus freshman year—completely out of the blue and you had said no—highfived Billy.

“Yeah, no that’s totally fine. You should have fun with your friends.” You shrugged, as if you weren’t going to verbally abuse them all and yourself in your head in just a few minutes.

“Knew you’d understand.” Billy pinched your chin between his thumb and forefinger, stroking just under it before he and his friends headed towards the doors leading to the parking lot despite the classes they still had.

You made your way to your locker, unfortunately somewhat close to Billy’s, making fun of yourself the whole time as you muttered, “Hey, Billy! Ready to blow me off again? Yeah, not a problem. Saw it coming. Do you want to ask me on a makeup date so you can do it again, or are you bored of wasting my time yet?” 

You quickly entered the combination of your lock, aggressively shaking it when it refused to budge the first couple of times and threw your binder in.

Just as you were about to reach into your backpack, Beverly Winston and the rest of your clique came around the corner, actually stopping to greet you instead of waiting for you to chase after them. 

“You coming to Richy’s party with Billy tonight?” The girls behind her giggled and you recognized they were aware of something you didn’t know.

“He told me about it.” Is all you could say, because you knew Billy had actively avoided inviting you. Which made sense, other than that brief kiss on your porch last month, he hadn’t been all that affectionate with you. Not in public, at least.

Beverly smirked, glancing behind her to exchange looks with the other girls. “See you around.”

They didn’t wait for your reply before they abruptly left, and you found yourself shouting out, “Maybe I’ll go and meet you guys there…?”

They didn’t acknowledge it, actually you thought they started walking faster.

“So you guys can just spend the whole party trying to lose me in crowds.” You sighed, feeling frustrated and fed up with the whole situation. “Bunch of fucking—“

You inhaled sharply as you slammed your locker door shut only to see Eddie Munson leaning up against his, four lockers down from you.

“Oh, shit. You scared me, Eddie.”

“I have that affect on people.” He shrugged, eyes roaming over the students filling the hall. It looked like he was searching for someone.

“Yeah, well, not in that way. I’m not afraid of you.” You were, however, afraid of being late to Click’s class. God, that lady was a nightmare. “Bye, Eddie.”

You had just managed to walk past him when he stopped you with a hand on your shoulder.

“You know he’s fucking around with you, right?” 

You flushed with embarrassment, trying not to let your posture fall. 

“Who’d you see him with?”

“Kathy Cosgrove.”

Fuck. She definitely had a bigger bra size. 

“That bitch.” No wonder she looked extra smug when she’d bumped into you at the rally. Eddie snorted, pulling his arm back to cross them over his chest as he leaned back into the locker. “What did you expect? Did you think Hargrove actually liked you?”

Well, that definitely hurt your feelings. It was probably obvious to Eddie, too, because his eyes immediately softened and his posture relaxed. “Shit, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, it’s okay. I get it. They’re running in fast times, and I’m not as fast, I guess.” You blinked a couple of times, frowning as you willed the wetness on your waterline away by sheer force. You were not about to cry during school hours. Crying was reserved for after school hours, only. “It’s not like I haven’t noticed that.” “Then why do you try to keep up?” His question seemed entirely curious, and you licked your lower lip, pulling it between your teeth as you thought of an answer.

“I dunno.” Except you did. “Wait, no I’m lying. I know you hate conformity, forced conformity, whatever, but look at them.”

You both looked over the sea of high school students, the hall all a buzz with chatter. “They all look so happy. Sure, not all of them are actually happy below the surface, but the ones that are. . . I’m jealous of them. They come to school feeling accepted. They fit in, they have friends who like them, they go to class, hang out with those friends at lunch, then they leave school; still feeling accepted. And they get to hang out with their friends afterwards, and have a good time being young, stupid teenagers. I don’t know. I guess I just want to be one.”

You liked to imagine yourself at a lunch table filled with laughter and faceless friends, everyone at the table is having a good time, they’re joking with each other—you included—talking about the latest thing that happened in the group. You’d be sat in a chair, or maybe on someone special’s lap, an arm slipped around broad shoulders; happy amongst friends.

But no. You didn’t have that. 

You sat on the outskirts of the table, always trying to chime in but never heard. 

“They’re all ignorant, Sunshine.” Eddie dismissed, though he was eyeing you carefully. 

“Ignorance is bliss.” You spotted Kathy coming out of the girls restroom with her friends, her head thrown back in laughter. “At this point, I’d kill for some bliss.”

“I don’t know about murder, but I think I might have a temporary solution for your problem.”

That’s how you ended up smoking with Eddie in his van. He’d been on a bit of a tolerance break, so the joint even had him giggly.

“She didn’t want me smoking too much, didn’t want her friends or family to smell it on her.” Since Eddie was aware of your terrible love life, you deemed it only fair that he tell you about his, so he’d told you about the latest girl to catch his fancy. Only, he’d been playing coy about telling you her name.

“Who, Eddie, who? C’mon you already know I’m letting Billy drag me around. It can’t get any more pathetic than that.”

“Chrissy.” He blurted out and you gasped. You weren’t expecting her. “Chrissy Cunningham??” Your mind trailed through every interaction you’d ever had with her. She was a sweet girl. She’d been a little mean freshman year, but it must have been something she grew out of because Chrissy had been an absolute doll since, not a mean or rude bone in her body. “As in, recently started dating Jason Carver, Chrissy Cunningham?”

His eyes squeezed shut, fingers reaching up to rub his lids. “That’s the one. It ended like three weeks ago, we weren’t public or anything but we were . . . I thought we were something. Until, well, yeah.”

Until Jason finally put an end to his and Chrissy’s will they-wont they thing they had going on since the sixth grade by showing up on her doorstep—apparently he had been waiting for her the entire day, according to Chrissy when she’d described the event in the locker room—one day after she’d been out with a friend. You recognized that it was most likely a cover for having been with Eddie.

Jason had poured his heart out to her, informed her that he didn’t expect anything back, just needed her to know if she ever felt alone, he’d be there waiting for her, regardless of how long it may take her to be able to approach him about anything. She’d let Eddie down gently the next day. Didn’t stop him from hurting, though. 

“Well, Eddie,” He lifted his arm to peak over at you as you crawled closer. “I think you and I just became best friends.” And you had. From that moment on your friendship began to develop quickly. 

You’d stopped talking to Billy, he hadn’t put much effort into trying and you also started noticing things you definitely didn’t like about him. Like how he was the personification of garbage. You still tried your hardest to fit in, but your efforts were wasted, even more so now that you were friends with Eddie. 

You didn’t care about that last part though, not when you got to spend so much time hanging out and joking with Eddie. You’d even helped him with some of his girl troubles, though he had to pry things about your romantic life out of you.

Eddie enjoyed the hell out of having you around, he hadn’t realized how much until you mentioned that Patrick McKinney had asked you out before summer break and you told Patrick you’d think it over. Then you confided in Eddie that you didn’t see a reason to say no to Patrick; he was the sweetest of the jocks, very respectful towards woman, surprisingly funny and you were attracted to him, too.

Eddie did not enjoy the hell out of that. In fact, shortly after you had left, he’d had a breakdown over it, which he didn’t think was all that fair given his track record with women during the duration of your friendship compared to yours.

He didn’t know exactly when you developed feelings for him, but he knew you had them. And you’d still helped him out with his dates when he needed it. Part of him mused that it was because all his dates were flings. He never really saw them more than twice, and he knew they weren’t permanent. 

But with Patrick, you were right. Dude was the most decent out of the jocks and he wasn’t entirely sure you two wouldn’t be compatible. You could end up with him forever, get married, have cute little babies, a white picket fence and that scared the shit out of Eddie because it was him you were supposed to end up with forever. Him you were supposed to marry. His cute little babies you were supposed to have. He’d been dealing to a new customer (and a surprising one at that) when the epiphany hit him. Or rather, Chrissy managed to point out how he was obviously in love with you during their drug deal and he knew she was entirely right. 

You belonged with him. Not Patrick McKinney and certainly not Billy knock-off George Michaels Hargrove.

Maybe Eddie had waited too long. Hargrove was a dick, but he wasn’t stupid. Probably used this opportunity as your co-worker to weasel his way back into your life. 

When you told him who you’d be working with, Eddie tried valiantly and victoriously to not drive to his house and beat the shit out of him. Anything to get him to stay away from you. He never trusted him, especially because Billy got to see you in that tight, red swimsuit that occupied Eddie’s fantasies while he didn’t. “Fuck!” He yelled, fist coming down on the steering wheel hard.

He’d been driving around for hours, the grey sky had darkened significantly and he needed answers. 

To hell with it.

Eddie’s tires screeched as he flipped a bitch—a U-turn—and sped into your neighborhood, tired of just circling it.

He hastily pulled up against the curb outside of your house, casting a bewildered look outside of the driver’s window at the girls in red and orange staring at him from your driveway.

“What the hell—are you her fan club or something?” He yelled as he hopped out of the van, slamming the door shut as he squinted in an effort to keep the raindrops out of his eyes. It was a rhetorical question, if you had a fan club, he’d be the President.

“Is this her house?” Red asked, stiff and uncertain. Eddie stopped in front of them, mouth pressed into a thin line as he that feeling return again; the one that told him something was seriously wrong with the events taking place. Like you were in trouble. His Sunshine senses were tingling off the fucking radar.

“Yeah, why?”

They didn’t tell him anything, just exchanged those not so secretive looks with each other as they hurried in front of him. The little shits didn’t even bother knocking, just walked right in. Eddie wasn’t about to be shown up, nor did he like the sense of foreboding that seemed to waft from the house the moment they opened the door and he hurried in after them, hissing, “I know your class is probably in the middle of reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but breaking and entering is a crime.” 

One he had done several times. They shushed him as they made their way to the main hall, looking at your family photos as they went.

Eddie tried not to let his eyes linger too much, his heart was starting to ache with longing. God, it had been too long since he’d last seen you. Three days, still much too long for his liking, and he’d make sure, if—by the grace of god at this point—you’d have him, he’ll never go that long without seeing your beautiful face in person again.

All three of them jumped when they heard music begin playing from the dinning room. It had to be you.

Eddie moved around the girls, bursting through the doorway.

Billy paused in his movements, fork hovering just a couple of centimeters away from where he was about to place it as he set the table. 

“Munson. Hey,” That had to be the most fake welcoming voice Eddie had ever heard.

Even single atom composing his body became stiff and, maybe it was the macho showdown thing, Eddie’s chest puffed out. His fists were clenched at his sides. “Hargrove. What a surprise.”

Yeah, he was positive something was wrong. First sign, Billy was dressed like he was about to go to church. Second sign, Eddie didn’t know the guy all that well, personally, but he knew the guy was an asshole. Problem with that is that Billy wasn’t giving off his normal asshole vibes. He was giving off some really creepy vibes. The kind that gave even Eddie goosebumps. 

What the hell was Billy doing in your house? Red and her friend hurried behind him once they’d heard Billy’s voice. “Max.” Eddie could tell Billy was gritting his teeth. “Maxine, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?” 

Billy abandoned the utensils, walking around the table until he was approaching them, but his focus was on Red—Max.

Max shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

“We just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” “Okay? Why wouldn’t it be okay?” “Where is she?” The timid one didn’t look so timid now, and Eddie’s worry for you began to boil over. They knew something he didn’t and if it had them brave enough to practically break into your house, it must have been about your safety. “I’m sorry, where is who?” 

“The one who actually lives here, Hargrove.” Eddie glanced past Billy, into your kitchen doorway where light seemed to be coming from. He didn’t even think twice before he swiped by him, stopping short only when you made yourself known.

“Dinner will be ready soon, they should be home by—Hello.” You stopped in the doorway, glancing from Eddie, though you didn’t meet his eyes, to the girls then to Billy. Eddie didn’t like how you kept your gaze on Billy.

“Sweetheart,” Oh, fuck no. That was another one of Eddie’s nicknames for you. “This is my sister Maxine. Don’t think you guys met last time. And I’m sorry, I did not quite catch your name.”

“El.” “El.” Billy repeated before turning his attention to Eddie who hadn’t taken his eyes off of you from the moment you came into sight. “And of course, we all know Munson. What brings you, here?”

“Her,” He didn’t even bother glancing back at Billy, trying to use mind powers he didn’t have to will you to look up at him. 

C’mon, baby, give me a sign. Anything. You wanna be with him? Fine. I can wait for you. I’ll fight tooth and nail later, but I’ll leave you in peace, for now, the second you look up at me and I know you’re okay.

“I saw—’’ El began, but Max cut her off. “—Your manager. At the pool. He said you guys didn’t come in to work today, so we got worried.”

Billy seemed to already have an excuse made up, “She got sick after work yesterday, and I took care of her.” 

Eddie felt the sting just as Billy meant him to. 

“I didn’t think it was the best idea to just send her back out, especially in this weather, and she didn’t want to be alone, so we decided to hang out here all day and nurse her back to health. But you’re feeling just fine right now, aren’t you, babe?”

“I’m feeling so much better,” You agreed immediately, sending the girls a reassuring smile. You still refused to look at Eddie. “The rain messes with my sinuses and gives me headaches. It comes and goes!”

Eddie knew at that point that he’d be freeing up his schedule for the rest of the week, until he could find out what had happened to you because there was no way the girl before him was you. 

You’d take a job at Camp Crystal Lake before you’d let Billy Hargrove speak for you anymore. 

And they way you were dressed, he’d still pop a woody under normal circumstances, but it definitely was not something he’d ever seen in your wardrobe. In fact, he’d never seen those articles of clothing in your closet or your dresser drawers. Finally, you made eye contact with him, and Eddie was positive it wasn’t you. He had no idea how to explain it, but it wasn’t. Your eyes lacked that sparkle that always took his breath away. He pursed his lips as he stared at you before nodding slowly, the corners of his lips twitching. 

“So you decided to hang out and make an elaborate dinner?” Eddie leaned back against the almost perfectly set table.

“For her parents.”

“Mhm, for my parents.”

His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. “Ah, I see. And this dinner, will it be warm by the time they come back into town?”

That seemed to catch both you and Billy off guard. You pouted, perfectly plucked brows pulling together. God, if you weren’t a total Stepford Wife, Eddie wouldn’t be able to resist kissing you.

“P-Pardon?”

“Your parents. I called this morning and they said they’d be back on Monday. It’s funny, I thought you would have known that if you were hanging out here all day. Didn’t run into them?” He mused, watching your face shift through expressions before your attention focused again on Billy. 

Eddie was positive they’d call tonight, once they arrived at their destination, to let you know of their return and where they had left you money to survive on. Because you hadn’t seen them before they left.

Because you hadn’t been home all day. “They didn’t want to intrude on us.” Billy supplied with ease, and Eddie finally forced his gaze away from you to glare at Billy.

Eddie knew he was trying to get under his skin, but that was good. It meant Billy knew he was a threat. 

“I’m sure they didn’t.” In the mythical world where your mom wouldn’t kill you for having Billy Hargrove—yes, she wanted you to date someone with a reputation but not that kind of reputation—in your room. The only reason Eddie was allowed in there during the day was because your mom still assumed you were a virgin despite the hoards of teenage boys around the high school campus and she didn’t think Eddie would be your type. 

Eddie pushed himself off the table, sensing the younger girls’ discomfort. “My mistake. Just wanted to return something.” 

He walked right up to you, watching your eyes harden the closer he got, and pulled your pack from his pocket. “You dropped this.” Eddie could feel the temperature in the room dip as both you and Billy realized what it was he was returning. 

Your fanny pack, which Billy had discarded in his bathroom trash after attacking and abducting you. A needle could drop and it’d be heard by all the occupants in the room.

“Guess, we’ll be going now. C’mon girls. Maxine. El.” Despite how badly he didn’t want you out of his sight, he was pretty sure whatever was going on happened to be dangerous. Definitely not the place for kids. 

He ushered the girls out of the house and back into the rain, completely aware of Billy watching them as they crossed the yard. 

El and Max retrieved their bikes and moved to hurry alongside him as he crossed the street to his van.

“C’mon, we gotta go.” Max pulled on El’s raincoat, but she was staring up Eddie, looking almost scared. “Are you her friend?” She had to nearly shout to be heard over the heavy rain.

“Yeah, I am.” He nodded, blinking away the tears of frustration as he swiped his wet bangs out of his face. How the fuck was he gonna figure this out? “But I don’t know who that was. She wasn’t acting like herself.” They did that thing again, shared a secretive look before they deemed him worthy. “She’s not safe.” El continued. Max gave her a sympathetic look. “El—’’ “I know what I saw, Max! And he knows, too. You have to trust me.” Max nodded before yanking up her hood. “Give us a ride. We’ll tell you everything.”

Eddie stared down at them like they were crazy. His head was hurting just trying to figure out how he was gonna get you away from Billy, and sure he felt bad that they’d have to ride their bikes in the rain, but letting two little girls into his van felt like a set up. 

Then again, they seemed to be the only other two people in this town worried about you and they didn’t even know you. He knew something was wrong with you. You were in trouble.

And fuck if Eddie wasn’t gonna be the one to save you. 

“Jesus H. Christ, get in the van—and I swear to god you better not tell anyone about this without context. In fact don’t tell anyone.” They climbed into the van as Eddie loaded their bikes into the back.

“Start talking.” Eddie demanded as he started the van and pulled off into the road. He was pretty confident he had an idea of what was going on, given the interactions between you and Billy, but he was missing some stuff. He was positive of that. And he’d need to know everything if he was going to try to be your hero. ─ TAG LIST: @merlieve @elitesanjisimp

this is my favorite tweet 💀

oh, baby.

Summary: You and Eddie raise a baby… however, you’re not a couple and the baby isn’t real. Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader [WC: 7k ] Warnings: takes place at the beginning of season 2, language, maybe part 2? I’m so nervous to post this. Quick Links: Masterlist

"And this," Mr. Allen walked up and down each row with the most serious face. Everyone else, all the students, were plagued with potential trauma at the preface of the assignment; "this is your only priority for the next week—including this weekend and the next."

You felt a cool breeze waft as he walked past your desk, continuing on foward as Steve Harrington audibly protested his instruction. The supposed "King of Hawkins High" wasn't impressed with having to take care of a child… well, a plastic one at that.

"Mr. Allen," he began from his spot in the second row from the door. All you could see was the brown poof of hair that he had become notable for. "I don't see why we can't just start this on Monday. We've got plans… there's a football game tonight!"

There were a few agreeing hums, mostly from the said football players in the room, but it wasn't as though they would be taking part in the assignment when they were on the field. Their partners would be left alone to deal with an unpredictable toy while they tossed pigskin for three hours for fun.

"And besides," Steve continued as Mr. Allen walked back to the front of the room, setting the baby down on his desk and grabbing two plastic bowls he had scavenged from home, "Halloween is next weekend! I bet we all already have plans…"

Steve turned around in his seat and looked around the room. He saw his peers watching him carefully, some in support and others in vague concern that he would get them in further conflict by having the task take up the whole month instead of a week and a half. He glanced over you hoping that being Nancy's childhood friend would spur a call within you to support him but alas, you would not give him the satisfaction.

In the back of the room, Steve's eyes landed squarely on one sole person. He chewed on his lip before turning around.

"Hell, I bet even Munson's got plans. You know we're all busy when he's actually doing something."

At that same moment, Eddie Munson had been sitting with his legs extended through the empty chair in front of him and his arms crossed against his chest. Even if he didn't want to be there in the slightest, Steve Harrington going on a tangent in the middle of senior health class at intrigued him. And when his name slipped past the hair's lips, Eddie's face contorted. Eyes narrow and slightly offended. The new kid, Billy Hargove, laughed as he twirled his pencil. He had been there for two weeks and had swept Eddie’s weed supply clean in a matter of days.

Eddie actually didn't have plans other than Hellfire on Friday, but he couldn't say that out loud. In fact, he didn't say anything. He had an inkling someone would call him to deal at whatever party everyone was going to, but unless it happened, he was staying in and getting stoned himself.

Everyone's head turned toward him and he forgot the real reason he didn't skip that hour. They were all judgemental. He was an oddity to them. You even glanced over your own, three rows in front of him and to the right.

When he caught your gaze, you were the only one to look at him like a real human being, a person, not a freak. Just simple curiosity because everyone else had. You gave him a tiny, empathetic smile before turning back around and he found himself staring at the back of your head after it happened. It made his heart skip a beat.

"Mr. Harrington," Mr. Allen placed one of the bowls he was holding onto Steve's desk, "Nothing's changing. I've conducted this role-play for ten years and it is not changing because you, or anyone else in this class, has plans that don't fit the lifestyle of what it means to be a parent."

He pointed to the bowl before placing the other on a girl named Lisa's desk, "Steve, you pick the boys and Lisa here will pick the girls," he turned his attention back to the room as Steve ran a frustrated hand through his hair. A couple of the girls around you groaned, whispering to one another that the system was rigged because they knew they could no longer pick their partners.

"No picking partners. I'm letting the magic bowls choose them for me. No debating, no arguing. I don't care if you think your partner is bad or not, you will complete this task together. Who knows," he laughed at the looks of the students, "maybe you'll find a new friend through all of this."

“Go ahead, Steve,” he ordered, leaning against his desk with ankles crossed and an amused smile playing at his elderly lips. Glasses perched near the end of his nose, Steve huffed at him and tucked his hand away into the bowl and ruffled the slips of paper.

And like luck, Steve Harrington pulled his own name first. Eddie smiled in satisfaction at that–knowing that there was a chance Steve would most certainly be paired with someone he didn't want after he called him out in class. He hoped Billy would have the same fate too. Hell, everyone who looked at him like he was a fucking Martian from planet Mars.

The irony that Hargrove listened to the same music, smoked the same dope, and drove his car just as recklessly but remained at the top of the food chain at Hawkins High hadn’t escaped Eddie. Girls liked Billy; he played basketball, gave them cheeky smiles, and certainly did not play a fantasy game for fun. He was the antithesis of Eddie’s existence–but a bully and raging asshole too. Billy Hargrove was a piece of shit and it had taken Eddie two days in class to figure that out.

“And Steve will be paired with…” Mr. Allen waited for Lisa to mimic Steve’s draw and she unfolded the paper.

Lisa drew Tammy Thompson's name which could have been worse for Steve. It took 3 minutes for Steve to pull Billy Hargrove's name who was then paired with Kennedy Walker, the school's future valedictorian. The look on the poor girl’s face was sadly hilarious. Hargrove winked at her and she turned such a shade of red that she looked like a balloon. But before Eddie could ponder what an interesting pair that made, Steve sighed and pulled another name from the bowl.

Steve crinckled the thin strip of paper in his hand before tossing it onto his desk, "Munson," he looked at Mr. Allen who nodded as he did with each name.

"And the lucky partner?" Mr. Allen had to have been joking except there wasn't an ounce of teasing in his words. Lisa picked the name out of the bucket and unfolded it with her candy red nails. Then, she laughed. Her eyes crinkled at the side from what you could see as she sat in the first seat beside the door. She looked over her shoulder, directly at you in her line of sight and smiled like a wicked wench.

"Y/n L/n." Shit.

A few of the girls giggled, a couple of the guys whistled which had bristled the compass within you south. You didn't care that you had been paired with Eddie because of what people thought of him–the primary reason they were all bemused with the pairing–but rather at the possibility that he couldn't give two-shits about the assignment. It may have only been October but you had already caught him before two different classes being chastised by teachers for not doing his work. If he kept it up, they said, he wouldn’t graduate with his class.

"Off the hook, ladies," one of the girls on the cheer squad laughed, "Y/n's got him."

Lunch could not have arrived fast enough.

You rushed to the front of the line, grabbed your tray, and made a straight shot for the table you had taken an unassigned assigned seat at. Nancy wasn't there when you arrived so you just picked at your food, rolling the grapes in the small section they had been dumped into and watched the entrance like a hawk. Your leg bounced under the table with a tinge of nervousness, but the aggravation of failure was starting to eat you alive and it had only been an hour since Mr. Allen screwed over your grade. Slowly, the lunch room came to life and Nancy held her calculus book in one hand and purple lunch bag in the other.

Even she had a sour look on her face. Lips pursed and brow furrowed, her hand tightly clenched around the bag as the small gold promise ring from Steve shined in the harsh lighting of the room.

"You'll never believe who Mike gave my number to," Nancy huffed as she sat down; her lunch bag filled scarcely with a peanut butter and jelly and a bag of cheetos. She had four sticks of cut up celery that you gagged at, not understanding how she could enjoy the stringy vegetable for fun.

"You'll never believe who I was partnered with for Allen's baby project," You stopped pushing around your food and she looked at you with heeded interest, her eyebrows drawn together and her wide eyes concerned.

"You first," you pointed a finger at her as she shifted in her seat. The others at the table started to sit down and engage in their own conversations–you had totally forgotten about watching the doorway to the lunchroom. "Keith?"

"From the arcade! The one who always," she scrambled her hands in front of her in frustration before letting out a groan, "he's always got his dirty fingers on the buttons and offers the kids soda way past a normal time."

There was not a day that went by where you did not think that Nancy Wheeler lived with the silver spoon, nay, stick, up her ass.

"All because of someone who broke Dustin's record of Dig Dug. Who does that!?" Nancy unzipped her bag and sure enough, a PB and J with a bag of cheetos as a side with sticks of celery tucked in a plastic baggie.

"Maybe he's just playing matchmaker…" You stabbed a grape and popped into your mouth with a smile. "Steve was being an annoying shit in class today, so maybe, just maybe, you should be searching for someone else."

"When isn't he like that?" She laughed, "He's Steve Harrington for God's sake."

"Well, I think he's to blame for the luck I had in class today."

"Luck? You were just on the verge of complaining," she glanced quizzically at you, looking over your shoulder when a paper ball went flying in the direction of the table. "left," she said and you tilted to the left as the wad went flying past both your heads and ended up by the science club's table. It was a daily occurance. "So, who's your partner?"

"Eddie Munson."

Nancy stopped trying to open the bag of cheetos. "What?"

"Be glad you're not a senior yet, Nance… this project is going to be the death of me, I swear," your head found a home in your hands as you pushed the tray away from you.

"I'm going to fail it! There is no way I can get an A without a capable partner and then what? Will I have to repeat senior year because I failed health? HEALTH?" You exclaimed.

"You won't fail," she conceeded. Placing the snack onto the table, she reached out and patted the side of your arm. "If it really gets bad you can always ask Steve."

"He's partnered with Tammy Thompson. There is no way he'd help me with what Allen said about these babies."

"What did he say? Where is the doll anyway?"

"Eddie's got it. Maybe I'll never see it again if I'm lucky," you removed your hands from the table and folded them in your lap as you told her the assignment requirments and what Mr. Allen had said to expect about the baby. As you talked, she picked at her food and the fruit off your tray as some of the girls from newspaper filled the seats around you.

"At least it doesn't actually, you know, pee or anything."

"But the sensor doesn't know that it isn't real. I don't even know how he got dolls so advanced… I had a flour baby when I was a kid and this is as close to a real baby as possible except it doesn't blink."

"Creepy," she mumbled before picking the bag back up.

"Very," you agreed and took a second to glance around the room. Some of the partners were already facing their first challenges. A few were trying to quell the crying, a couple sat together planning their week out so they could work together and have equal time, but when you looked at the table that normally held Hellfire, Eddie wasn't there.

"They all laughed when my name was called," Nancy's head quirked back up at you, "I don't care that he's my partner; that's not why I'm complaining, but this isn't going to be an easy week."

That was the truth—you didn’t care that Eddie was your partner because as a person, Eddie was not as bad as everyone labeled him to be. He was actually, in an admission that you’d take to your grave instead of tell Nancy, fairly handsome and interested the hell out of you. It was the work ethic and motivation that concerned you.

"People are just mean, Y/n," you nodded in agreement, "you just need to focus on the assignment and if you're lucky, like you always are," she peered into your soul with that jealousy, "everything will go swimmingly."

Nancy Wheeler knew she spoke too soon when the doors to the lunchroom flug open with flair. She jumped and turned around in her seat when she saw your soul escape from your eyes.

"Hey! Mama!"

Jesus Fucking Christ.

He was holding the doll by its back leg, letting it dangle from his hand as if it were that black, metal lunchbox you convinced yourself had drugs tucked away in it. Eddie was looking directly at your table as though he had been searching for you for hours.

“Did he just—“ Nancy cut herself off as she watched him make his way toward the table. A group of preps flipped him off on the way and he gladly returned the bird with glee.

“He just called me ‘mama.’”

You put an arm defensively covering your face, shielding your eyes away from him as the Hellfire table furthered his amusement by cackling at him. Nancy whipped her head back around to you and felt the embarrassment roll off.

“It’s only a week,” she reminded you, “only about a week.”

Eddie’s feet landed at the end of the table and the girls at the end went silent. He was standing there, holding the doll by its hind leg, and quirked his head to the side. His eyes were entertained at the way you had blocked yourself away from him. The call of ‘mama’ making your skin crawl and elating him from far away. He could push a few buttons without feeling bad about it.

“You embarrassed of me, L/n?” He feigned hurt, “what’s our kid gonna think when he learns his parents don’t get along?”

“It’s a doll, Munson,” your hand that had been blocking your face hit the table hard. “It has no memories and will certainly, never, ever, grow up.”

“If Allen heard you say that he’d give us an F,” he walked around the table and took a seat beside you, legs spread as they caged you in from the side and he plopped the baby on the table with a thud. It’s head face down on the table as its poorly drawn on strands of hair faced the ceiling. He was wearing double denim. A jacket filled with pins and patches, a chain hung from one loop of his pants to another and the red flannel he wore underneath it was left open to reveal a t-shirt for a band you had never heard of—holes littered the neckline that sat beneath a silver chain.

Across from you, Nancy sat rigid as she watched the way Eddie’s eyes watched you. A small smile playing on his face as one of his hands found themselves in his lap and the other elbow perched on the table beside the doll.

“We should probably talk about this, huh?” He asked, surprising you by actually wanting to talk about the assignment. You turned your head and looked at him, eyes bemused by his willingness to do so. Eddie recognized that, scoffing and reaching inside of his jean jacket to grab a pack of cigarettes before tapping one out. He slipped them back in and stuck the one he plucked from the pack between his lips.

“You know,” he glanced at you, then Nancy, then back at you, “when a teacher tells us we have to work together, I don’t expect to do all the talking.” He lit the cigarette with a puff and the girls at the end of the table began to complain. No one was allowed to smoke in the cafeteria—only the teachers lounge and well, that was reserved for teachers.

“How do I know you actually want to talk about this?” You countered. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn in an assignment before.”

“You been takin’ notice of me, L/n?” He smiled wide, grabbing the cig with two fingers and tapping it onto the floor. “If you wanted to talk to me you could just do it, ya know? Don’t need to stare at me.”

“Wheeler,” he looked at Nancy who drew her brows together, the tight contortion of her face judging him without words. “You know your friend has been watching me? Should I put an add in the paper for a bodyguard to protect me from my stalker?” Nancy didn’t reply because she had never held a conversation with Eddie before. She didn’t understand his humor, let alone the levity of his words as he blew smoke in her face and sat next to her best friend like a suave Casanova.

“Eddie,” you sighed, letting your gaze drift around the cafeteria and caught a few interested stares along with way. One teacher, Ms. Kirch–the freshman biology teacher with a hard-on for students willing to press her buttons—was walking around the perimeter on the other side. If she saw Eddie smoking, they’d both make a scene.

“I know you think school’s a joke but I’m not failing this just because you don’t want to do it.”

“Who said I don’t want to do this?” He furrowed his brows, shaking his head at you as he put the cigarette back to his lips. The red burning as he breathed in.

“Oh I don’t know… you’re attendance record, report cards, all previous group projects that I’ve never seen you show up for.”

“Those are all Ms. O’Donnell’s,” he defended, pointing a finger at you, “She’s a bitch and has it out for me.”

“I just want to know for sure that if we do this together, I won’t be left to do all the work at the end.”

Eddie saw the honesty in your eyes as you admitted it. He never truly understood what it meant to be an academic because it felt superficial. The attachment to good grades and praise that he never got, so, naturally, he never comprehended. You were a good student—a good person, rather. When he heard your name called after his and the snickers that followed, Eddie was reminded of the fact that you didn’t treat him like a ‘freak’ but a person. And hell, there was a first time for everything when he wanted to try something new. Completing a project because his partner didn’t treat him like dirt? Eddie could at least try it out.

“Why do you think I’m here?” He tapped the cigarette and the ash fell to the floor again. “If I’m going to graduate, I’ve gotta get this done too.”

You nodded slowly in observation. Eddie did not appear to be lying. That blasé attitude he had walked in with gradually decreasing the more you talked. Glancing again at Ms. Kirch who was directly across the room from you beside the table of jocks, the details of the week would be limited to a few seconds before she came charging over and causing a scene. You turned to the small stack of one notebook and history textbook that laid next to your tray. Ripping a paper out of it, you stole the pencil from Nancy’s stack and wrote down your address on it.

“Here,” you handed it to him and he looked over it with a smirk, “that’s my address and phone number. Kirch is going to bite your head off in a minute and we don’t have time to go over all the details so if you’re free later, stop over after school and we can divide everything out.” He knew where you lived. Three doors down from Gareth—his friend and band mate and also, another one of Hawkins’ finest on their way to repeating their final year of school and he was only a sophomore.

“Your parents aren’t gonna beat my ass or anything when I get there? I know I have a bit of a…” he clicked his tongue, tipping his head to the side, “reputation.”

The shrug you gave did not ease his concerns right away. However, the comment that followed made him realize that actually attempting to complete this project with you was a good thing. Maybe luck was finally giving him a chance.

“Not everyone in this town thinks you’re a freak, Munson,” you gave him a small smile, pointing your own finger to one of the buttons on his jacket, “besides, my dad’s favorite band is WASP. I think he’d like someone to talk about it with—even if just for a second.”

He smiled and Nancy Wheeler was taken aback by the scene in front of her. Seven minutes ago, you were in distress with the idea that Eddie Munson was going to be the worst partner imaginable and the cause of failure in senior health class. Now, you were offering him kind smiles and an invitation to your home with so much as his own words being enough to convince you that he wouldn’t leave you high and dry with an unpredictable doll.

Eddie grabbed the doll by its leg again, ready to escape before Kirch made her way but you could already hear her footsteps coming barreling your direction.

“I’ll take it now and bring it over later,” he nodded, sticking the cigarette between his lips again and letting it dangle there, “we should probably give it name instead of referring it as an ‘it.’”

“Mr. Munson!” That shrill voice made him cringe.

“Think about it. We’ll talk about it later, yeah?” He rose his eyebrows at you as if asking you to agree. You nodded, giving a small ‘yeah’ in response before he shot out of the seat.

“Mr. Munson, smoke outside if you must! Do you not understand the rules of this school?”

Behind you as he stood, Eddie turned toward Ms. Kirch. He let out a puff of smoke between his lips as her hand batted the fumes away from her face. The doll hanging on its one limb and swinging left to right as Eddie taunted her.

“Ms. Kirch,” he swooned, a few amused giggles sound from the tables around you as your head tipped over your shoulder, Eddie’s eyes flashed to yours as he played into her hand. “If you wanted to compliment my ability to break those so-called rules, you could at least sound excited to say it.”

“You put that out right now or you’ll be spending after school in detention and it’s going straight onto your record!”

“On my record!?” He laid his free hand on his chest, slowly backing up from where he was standing. Eddie was going to bolt because the old woman wouldn’t run after him. “Ms. Kirch, you know how much I respect my record,” he shook his head dramatically, hair vibrating with the shake as the bud sizzled again. “But, I have plans tonight so…”

The cigarette fell to the floor from his lips, cooling against the white tile as she went to protest. Eddie’s shoe squished it, extinguishing it, and once his foot lifted from the flattened cig, he ran. Ms. Kirch walked no more than two feet as brief laughter erupted in the area—sure they all made fun of Eddie and ostracized him from normal high school life but hell, if he didn’t bring a bit of joy to them when he pissed off the old lady that watched them all like a hawk in their most free period. A chuckle slipped out of you and she turned to you with a glare.

“Do you find this funny, Ms. L/n?”

She smelt like stale flowers and her lipstick was pearled in some spaces on her lips. Kirch was haggard and growing older every day.

“No, ma’am,” you shook your head at her and turned back around. Nancy was sitting with wide eyes, scared of the woman who lingered for a moment behind you before running off to find a janitor to clean up.

“Shit,” Nancy muttered quietly.

“What?”

“He’s deranged, Y/n. Deranged.”

“It’s only about a week, right, Nance? Only about a week.”

And that week would be the most interesting week of your life.

Eddie came over as he said that afternoon after school. At your kitchen table before your parents got home from work, you both devised a plan on how to go about taking care of the doll—and as Eddie had asked, you tried to think of a name but that was harder than it proved to be. He said the first thing that popped into his head and that was unfortunately, Bilbo.

Bilbo. A doll named after Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit was the baby you had to take care of together.

It did not even matter that the doll was plastically formed with female anatomy because he said: “What’s in a name, anyway? It’s just a doll.”

So, Bilbo it was.

And Eddie offered to take it for the night because he had Hellfire on Friday’s when you had nothing, therefore you could swap in the morning and you’d go about the plan when the weekend arrived. The plan, however, was more than what you had originally believed needed to take place for the assignment. Nancy called you Thursday evening after Eddie had left to complain that Steve would be spending all of his free time helping Tammy with the doll and was blowing her off until Halloween—a whole week later. You hadn’t fully realized that what you and Eddie had planned to ensure that you’d both pass health this semester was essentially spending all of your time together [sans Tuesday when his band played at The Hideout and Friday when he had Hellfire].

You slept well Thursday with those thoughts lingering in the back of your mind. Nancy’s concerns were her concerns. She had confided in you that she and Steve were having issues anyway, so one more nail in the coffin did not appear to be as detrimental as she complained it was. If Steve and Nancy were on their final string, the end was imminent. When you woke on Friday, the first thing on your mind was how the night had gone for Eddie and if what Mr. Allen said was true about the babies, had he had an absolutely awful night being a ‘parent’ for the first time?

That question was answered rather quickly as you entered the hallway at seven-thirty.

“Mary! You can’t just leave me with the thing!”

“I am not taking it tonight!”

“It wants food and there’s no way to feed it!”

There were ‘couples’ fighting at every turn. As you passed Tammy Thompson’s locker, Steve looked like he wanted to pull his hair out.

“I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” He complained to her as he held the baby on his hip. It was a sight. Steve in his tight jeans and blue jacket, striped polo, to have a doll perched on his hip like it was real. Everyone was taking it seriously which made the entire situation feel less awkward and daunting.

You reached your own locker, twisting the combination while trying to snoop on Steve’s conversation five lockers down on your left.

“This thing never shuts up! I got no sleep last night and I don’t think I’ll even be able to go to the game tonight because I’m dragging ass!”

“Steve, come on…” Tammy trailed off because she had to sing the national anthem and could not bring the doll with her. But she should have—the doll could probably sing better than her.

“It’s not fair, Tammy!” Steve’s voice began to dwindle as he looked around and noticed people staring at him. He locked eyes with you over Tammy’s shoulder and sighed heavily.

Suddenly, the textbooks and folders in your locker became interesting—far more interesting than all the arguing going on in the hallway. Mr. Allen had made everything difficult intentionally. Splitting up groups so one person cared for the doll at a time before each group realized they couldn’t do it alone. The tactic was good, great even. The responsibilities of childcare and parenting obvious to those who had terrible nights and to those who hadn’t had realized it yet, the feelings were inbound.

As was Eddie. Charging down the hallway after barely hitting a gaggle of kids heading to the middle school in the parking lot and the doll, Bilbo, once again hanging from its hind leg as it swung. He called out your name so loud that even Steve had shut his mouth and stopped talking to Tammy. Eddie had one of those bad nights too. He strode right up to the side of your locker and had a crazed look on his face.

“What the fuck!?” He exclaimed, bags under his eyes. You couldn’t answer the question because you weren’t sure what had gone on.

“What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’!? This thing,” he held it up like a captured possum, “kept me up all night with its relentless screaming and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off!”

“I don’t think you can turn it off,” you commented, grabbing your science book and folder as your bag hung from the hook. “That’s not the point of the project. The point is to learn how to care for it, not turn it off.”

“Well,” he laughed cynically, “we were given a devil child. Literally the spawn of goddamn satan because it doesn’t want to be cared for.”

“I thought we weren’t calling it ‘it’ anymore. Bilbo, remember?”

“Bilbo is too kind of name for this thing. It’s Lucifer… fucking… Sauron!”

“I can’t get on-board with Sauron,” you bit back a smile at his suffering, “But your duty is over now, right? Just leave Bilbo with me and we can meet up tomorrow and swap.”

“You’re not going to be able to do it alone,” he said it honestly, like he was terrified of the watermelon sized piece of plastic. You glanced around the hallway and saw all the partners having conversations similar, but all the same different, like the one you were having with Eddie. He was having an internal battle with himself—realizing that he actually had to do this and that when looking back on his own life, if this is what having a child was like, he could not imagine how his parents got through high school having him at sixteen. He had just turned eighteen and could barely keep it together and it was a doll named after a character from a children’s book.

“Do you not believe I can?” You questioned him yet he shook his head, taking note of the things in your locker instead of looking at you.

“That thing is a monster and if it’s not waking you up, it’s eating away all your free time. If it’s not eating away at your free time, it’s taking up all the time spent doing things that matter. It sucks the joy out of life without even taking a real breath.”

“Those are harsh words, Munson,” a sigh left your lips as you gripped your locker door. He was looking at the two Polaroids that were stuck on the door with tape. You and Nancy on the Fourth of July and then you with a group of little kids a few Halloween’s back dressed as character’s from Star Wars. You were hugging a curly haired Han Solo that had no teeth. “But maybe you just don’t have the parental touch that it needs.”

“What are you saying?” He narrowed his eyes, “That I’m neglecting Bilbo’s needs?”

“Maybe,” you shut your locker, “But either way, you have Hellfire and I agreed to take ‘em off your hands today so,” you grabbed Bilbo from him and perched him like Steve had perched his doll. Something stuck inside Eddie in that moment. It was a goddamn doll and he was sleep deprived, so he conflated his bubbling feelings of whatever the hell spurred inside of him to that. You looked cute holding the doll like that.

“We can talk about it tomorrow, alright? If anything needs to change, we have time to discuss it. Don’t get all worried.”

Eddie shook his head, running both of his hands through his hair and over his bangs before bringing them back down.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, mama.”

And then he walked away. You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, but, certainly it couldn’t be as bad as he was making it because sometimes, people could be dramatic—and Eddie Munson was the dictionary definition of the word. Always had been, always would be, and maybe, he was playing with the truth.

For three hours it had gone swimmingly. Bilbo made no noise.

But the minute Mr. Grosso put the Spanish test on your desk, the doll wailed so loud it made a girl scream from the other side of the room and you missed the test because it cried for thirty minutes in the bathroom before you could calm it down.

You swore you could hear the popping of his muffler three miles away. The blinds on the living room window comically split into two by your fingers, you peered out in anticipation you had gone to sleep feeling. Not quite butterflies but a nervous, anxious energy that kept you tossing and turning through the night. Along with Bilbo—the baby had kept you tossing and turning to the point where you felt crazy.

When you got home, you realized that the doll had smelt like weed and cigarettes but the distinct smell of Eddie’s cologne tried to cover it up. He had sprayed that doll with so much liquid that it had become ingrained into its clothes and soft body. You ripped off the onesie it was wearing and dunked it in the laundry immediately. And again, for the first few hours you managed to get your homework done for the weekend without much interruption until your parents got home.

They were utterly amused with the project and kept repeating that it was good for “skill building and responsibility.” You rolled your eyes and told them what Eddie had said about his night, expecting the same for your own and sure enough, it was like walking through the pits of hell.

Bilbo’s journey, Frodo’s journey… neither of them had the same horror of the screaming baby doll sitting on your comforter at two in the morning. Hour after hour, all you wanted to do was cry because it wasn’t responding to any of the tactics you had used when you would babysit. No rocking, no shushing, no gentle strokes, and just as the others complained in the hall, you couldn’t change its diaper or feed it. The solutions to ease it’s complications were non-existent.

Eddie rung you at eleven thirty saying he’d be over ‘in a bit’ and you stood at the window in your living room while your dad watched TV and your mom cooked lunch. The doll laying quietly on the sofa beside him for the first time in a half hour.

“So,” your dad cleared his throat as the program changed at noon, “what’s Eddie Munson like as a partner? I know his uncle Wayne from the plant.”

“He’s fine thus far,” you muttered, not tearing your eyes away from the window.

“You know this doll smells like a skunk.”

“It’s weed, dad,” you said so casually his eyebrows rose, “and it’s Eddie’s, not mine. And no, I don’t smoke.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” he laughed but he would have. Not that he cared in the slightest if you did, that was all mom. Mom cared about reputation and manners and whether or not you’d have yellow teeth by the time you’re fifty. “But is he treating you alright?”

“What do you mean?” You looked away from the window and back at him, “We’re not really a couple, you know. It’s just a project,”

“I know, I know,” he clarified, waving you off like you had taken the comment too seriously, “as a partner. Not making you feel uncomfortable or anything?”

He might know Wayne, but the label of ‘freak’ extended beyond school. Eddie Munson flew around town in his beat up van playing his metal music at the highest level, smoked and loitered outside of stores, and very frequently, jested with the people of Hawkins to amuse his merry band of oddities.

“Eddie’s a good guy, dad,” you lamented, “so what if he likes metal and plays D&D.”

“D&D?”

“Yeah,” you furrowed your brows at him, “what did you think he did? He literally named the doll after Bilbo Baggins.”

“I thought Hellfire was…”

“What the mothers at the grocery store say it is?” You scoffed and turned back to the window, Eddie’s van turning the corner at the end of the block. “It’s a D&D club. I told him he’d probably get along with you too so try not to accuse him of worshiping the Devil, ‘Kay? That’s like… the furthest thing from the truth.”

He just nodded as you defended Eddie, a little smile on his face because he knew you so well. You were a good kid, a smart kid, but oblivious sometimes. If Steve Harrington had been your partner and he inquired about Steve’s role as a partner, you would have rolled your eyes and ended the conversation there. Eddie pulled into the driveway and you grabbed the baby off the couch, marching to the door. Opening it wide, he hadn’t even exited the van before you were standing there. Split between the wooden door and the glass one, pumpkins littered the small deck and a wreath rested on the door behind your head.

You had a cute house. It was simple and friendly, something his trailer was not. Eddie saw you standing there with a flat face and Bilbo in your hands and he laughed in his car. You could see his elated face burst with laughter; it irritated you but you couldn’t help thinking the sight was special. How often he had been smiling and laughing in your presence and a little butterfly sprouted in the pit of your stomach.

Eddie tossed the keys between his palms as he lazily approached the door, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Looks like someone had a rough night,” he commented a few feet from you as you unlocked the glass door and propped it open. “Didn’t believe me when I said it was Satan?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you lied, putting on a face for him to prove you could handle the stress of taking care of a plastic doll. “Bilbo was a saint. Slept through the night.”

Eddie reached the door, holding onto the silver handle so you could let go.

“Yeah?” He questioned, “tell that to your face, sweetheart. You got no sleep and you look like you walked through Mordor.”

“Do you always reference Lord of the Rings or is it just to prove you read?” You squinted your eyes at him.

“One, I do read,” Eddie entered your house and stood across from you in the small doorway. The doll separating you, he looked down, you looked up. “And two, Bilbo likes it when I talk about familiar things,” He gave a wide, toothy smile before grabbing the doll out of your hands and moving into the entryway.

“You know, this kind of feels like how I’d imagine kids of divorce feel.”

“Like being pawned off by their parents every other day because rules told them to?” You shut the door behind you, pressing it closed with the thud. You pointed to his shoes and directed him to take them off to where a mat sat beside the wooden table with a mirror hanging above it.

“Mhm,” he hummed as he slipped them off. He was wearing matching socks. “Poor ‘lil Bilbo Munson-L/n… separated by the rules written on the back of Mr. Richard’s history test.”

You scoffed, walking past him and down the hallway as he struggled with his right shoe. In a matter of seconds, his socked feet patted against the wood flooring and caught up with you.

“My parents are home so don’t be weird or anything,” you muttered and he caught himself nodding at the direction instead of responding with the sarcastic remark because of the way you said it. ‘Don’t be weird or anything,’ as if he was not already labeled that way or saw himself as ‘weird.’ Yes, Eddie was unique and full of a million things you weren’t sure fit a narrative of ‘normal,’ but it didn’t mean he was weird. He was just Eddie.

You rounded a small archway that revealed a living room and an older man sitting on the couch watching the tv. His eyes left the screen and met Eddie’s—who was immediately more reserved than he had thought he’d be. He was nervous, suddenly. Standing in your home, with your father in one room and mother in another, with the task of caring for a baby together looming over his head like a cloud. It was ridiculous and confusing but all the same exciting and challenging for him.

“This is, um,” you glanced at Eddie to put him on the spot. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out at first. He was holding the baby like a real baby and moved it to extend his hand to your dad.

“Eddie. Eddie Munson. Thanks for letting us use your house,” he said as cool as he could. Your dad looked at his hand, taking not a second later to grip it strongly and shake it.

You noticed the way Eddie’s eyes lit up at being welcomed. His hesitancy dissipating as your dad asked him a question, yet all you could do was watch him. The feeling was odd. Watching Eddie interact with your father was like watching a significant other be terrified to meet the parents for the first time. It was terrifiying how quickly that idea not only came to your mind, but felt normal.

Conversations between the two of you before being assigned partners had been totaled at three.

And now Eddie Munson was talking to your dad about their shared connection to Wayne Munson in the middle of your living room.

And for some reason, the sight of it was something you wouldn’t be mad about becoming a normal occurrence.

“I hear you play D&D?” He asked Eddie who glanced at you, already looking at him, before nodding and turning back to your dad. He hadn’t expected you to have talked about him at all.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“You know,” Rising from the couch, “She babysits some kids that play it. They’re quite the rambunctious bunch but have nothing on that… what did you say its name was?” He asked you, but Eddie answered at the same time you did.

“Bilbo.”

He laughed, repeating the name as he turned toward another archway that led to the kitchen and tipped his head in that direction.

“We never had to do a project like that but I think it’ll do you both good.”

Your mom was standing in the kitchen making grilled cheeses and stirring tomato soup on the stove. She turned her head over her shoulder and gave Eddie a smile. He returned it as his eyes flicked all over the space. He took in the pictures on the wall, the types of plates your family used, the way the sink had a window overlooking the backyard and there was a dog outside on a leash laying on the brick patio. Eddie didn’t have this life. He walked to the patio door and looked out at the yard.

“You gotta pretty nice house here, L/n,” he mumbled as you came to stand beside him. His fingers digging into the plush body of Bilbo as a bit of his hardened shell began to tell him he was out of place.

“It’s nice, yeah,” you admitted, “but it’s a carbon copy of all the houses in this neighborhood.”

He hadn’t put two and two together and noticed the layout was similar to Gareth’s down the street.

“You con your parents to be nice to me too?” He glanced at you as if looking for a conspiracy. That somehow, nothing in his life was this easy. That there was a superficial reason talking to you came easy; that there was a mysterious reason your parents accepted him even if he wore a leather jacket and Motörhead t-shirt and a spattering of rings on his fingers. You weren’t necessarily friends in any way, but he felt comfortable. He looked into your eyes and felt secure because of what? Kindness? The noticeable attention of a girl finally making him soft?

“No,” you said honestly, “just told them a bit about who you were. That’s all. Are you going to stay?”

“Stay?”

“I just thought,” you felt your mouth go dry with his question. Perhaps you were being too forward or not thinking clearly because the sight of him being domestic with a doll had awakened a sleeping giant inside of you. His big, brown, cow-like eyes scanned over your face as you stuttered. “I just thought it’d be easier for both of us the longer we did it together.”

“Oh,” was the sound that escaped between his lips and you immediately began retracting you words. Your parents watched the two of you from the other side of the counter with knowing looks in their eyes.

“It’s fine!” You laughed nervously. “You don’t have to stay. I was just shooting the shit, you know? I’m not trying to keep you from your plans or anything… my mom makes a real mean gc and—“

“—I’ll stay.” Eddie cut in and you stopped rambling, letting the words fall from your lips as he nodded. “I want to stay.”

“O-Okay, um,” you looked into those brown eyes a second longer than you should have before peaking past him and to your parents who tried to appear occupied with cooking. “Eddie’s gonna stay for a bit, if that’s fine.”

“Yeah, hun,” your mom kept her back turned to you and stirred the pot. “He’s always welcome.”

Always welcome.

He had to have hit the lottery with this one. A good, pretty partner and a space to escape to that welcomed him without judgement? He was either in the first circle of Hell or ascending to peace yet his feet were planted on the ground—not a foot from your own.

Eddie spent the entire afternoon there. When the sun fell and the moon rose high, you yawned on the floor of your basement and he knew that it was far past a normal time to spend sitting around, laughing and trying to sooth the inexplainable outbursts of Bilbo. His face hurt from the stupid smile that he couldn’t wipe from his face once the two of you had figured out that the doll had sensors under its arms and swaddling helped stop the crying until another unexplained outburst required attention.

When he walked to his van with the doll swaddled in his arms like a real baby, he turned back as he opened the door and shot one last look to the house where you were still standing to bid him goodbye. Eddie didn’t want to leave. He felt his heart squeeze when you gave him a small wave, illuminated by the yellow lighting of the hallway behind you. Shit. He got into the van and sped off before pulling into Gareth’s driveway and pounded on the door.

You shut the front door and with a lock, your dad turned off the tv in the living room before walking into the hallway to meet you there. Both headed to bed, he put an arm around your shoulders and squeezed.

“We gonna talk about that or no?” He asked.

“About what?”

“That!” He laughed as you felt your face heat up. Rising on the Kelvin scale, you felt a spotlight shrink itself onto you. “You gotta little crush there, darlin’ and to be frank, I think he might too.”

“Dad!” You complained, jostling out of his grip and walking more quickly toward your bedroom. “I don’t like Eddie!”

“Yeah, sure you don’t,” he chuckled as you pushed opened your bedroom door and slammed it closed in embarrassment. “But really, you do.”

Eddie pounded on Gareth’s door for three minutes but no one was coming to the door. Desperate, he put his ear to the wood and heard the distinct thumping of drums echoing throughout the house and contemplated for a moment. He could keep knocking and draw the attention of the neighbors and get the cops called on him for suspicious behavior, or, he could go around to the back and knock on Gareth’s window in hopes that it was closer and louder.

He jumped off the stoop and made for the window. Inside, Gareth was head banging as he played Iron Maiden on his drums and had a literal lava lamp reflecting off the symbols. Eddie put his fist to the glass and waited for a break in the beats to thump. Gareth jumped, a scream emitting from his mouth as his sticks went flying across his room and Eddie waved a hand at him from the other side.

“What the fuck, man?” Gareth opened the window and nearly shivered at the cool, October air. “Why are you here? The cops after you?”

“I just spent eight hours in Y/n L/n’s basement taking care of a goddamn baby and eating her mother’s food.”

“Shit,” Gareth laughed, “that sounds like a fuckin’ dream if you ask me.”

“It’s a nightmare, Gareth. A fucking nightmare.”

“Why?” The floppy hair Gareth had been sporting fell into his eyes as they contorted in confusion. “She’s a nice girl. Her old man helps mine when the cars busted.”

“Of course he does!” Eddie pushed off the windowsill and put his hands above his head, breathing in deeply.

“What? He threaten you or something?”

“No, they were,” Eddie’s face scrunched as if it pained him to say the word, “perfect.”

“Then…” Gareth motioned with his hand for Eddie to continue.

“That’s it! They were perfect! She’s perfect, man!” Then, he let a slew of curses leave his mouth and disappear into the night sky. Gareth laughed, letting a long ‘ahhhhh’ direct itself toward the guitarist.

“Eddie Munson,” he leaned into the beside table by the window, “in love with the girl next door.”

“FUCK!” Eddie yelled with his hands in his hair.

And he still had a week left to take care of Bilbo with you.

this 🫤

PLEASE

Like A Ninja | Steve Harrington x Munson Fem!Reader |

Warnings: heavy kissing, eddie being eddie, Steve sneaking around like a ninja Summary: You are surprised with a late night visit from Steve which lead to the admittance of some feelings and some quite passionate happenings.

"So, did he say anything yet?"

"No, Chrissy. He hasn't it's kind of just hopeless."

"Oh, (Y/N). Don't say that Steve is just probably nervous. I mean you are a Munson after all." You sigh into the receiver and flop back onto the bed. Chrissy giggled knowing the frustration of having a crush on someone who wasn't really the smartest was hard.

"With that being said, Chrissy. When are you gonna tell my brother that you like him, huh?" You ask and she huffs then tries to a stutter out a response leaving the two of you giggling like a bunch of school-girls. Ironic wasn't it? There was a soft knock on your door and you sighed. "Hold on, Chris." You pull the phone away from your ear. "Yes?"

Eddie nudged the door open a crack and peaked his head in, "Hey, just checking in on you." You smile at him and he returns it.

"I'm fine, Eds. Just talking to Chrissy." You inform him holding up the phone and he turned red across the face and all the way to his ears.

"Cunningham?" Eddie had the biggest crush on her and could never get those three words out. It was honestly frustrating. Chrissy had come over plenty of times to study and Eddie was just a big mess, it was almost painful.

"The one and only." You confirmed and he smiled fondly.

"Well, tell her I said hello. Also, don't stay up late." He warned pulling his head back and shutting the door softly. You smile and hold the phone up to your ear once more.

"Eddie, says hi." You relay his message to your friend.

She sighs in content. "He so sweet. God, I've got to tell him" Chrissy admitted to you and there's a shared agreement.

"Just like I have to tell Steve." Chrissy hummed in approval. After thirty minutes or so, she hangs up, and heads off to bed. It was Friday night so no school tomorrow, but you couldn't exactly sleep. Your mind was still reeling from the conversation had with Chrissy. Eddi was the same way, unable to shut his mind off, which is why he slept to the sound of his own music. It was the only thing that helped him. You sat up going over to your dresser and reaching for the brush going to undo the tangles, before settling down in bed. Suddenly, there was a knocking at your window.

You hold the brush out in defense as the glass slides up. However, when a familiar face pops through the window followed by a familiar smile you toss the brush at him and he ducks. "Steve?" He grins as he manages to climb in through the window nearly crashing into the floor. You wince hoping Eddie did not just hear that. The door creaking open followed by Eddie's voice made the two of you freeze.

"(Y/N)? You okay in there?" You mentally cursed Steve for being so loud. He was the exact opposite of stealth and it had interrupted Eddie. You glanced at the crack just beneath the door watching his shadow as he got closer, but stepped back.

"Y-Yeah, just thought I saw a spider on my window, and I fell." Eddie stepped towards the door, but then walked back. "Okay, keep it down. I'm trying to practice." Steve grins as he returns to his room signaled by a door slam. You slap Steve on the arm and he chuckles pulling himself off the ground and turning to quietly shut the window.

"Sorry." He slowly made his way over to you and he sighed in relief. "Tried to be a ninja." Steve tried to defend himself, but you only stare back at him a glare on your face. He scanned your face before letting out a huff, "What's got you all worked up?"

"You. do." You reply jabbing a finger into his chest trying to fight the urge to punch him. "What are you doing here, Harrington. My brother will kill you if he finds you here." You seethed and Steve places his hands on your hips much to your surprise.

"I came, because I heard from a certain bird that you had some feelings about me. I wanted to hear for myself." He admitted and you turned red. Chrissy Cunningham was going to hear it tomorrow, but for now your attention was on Steve. His hands were placed gently over your waist and his hazel eyes staring down at you.

"I like you, Steve." You confessed shamefully considering the events that just occurred. "I do, but if my br-Mm!" He cut you off by pressing his lips against your own soft, sweet like candy, and completely intoxicating. His hands tightened on your waist and you curl your fingers in his hair. Own lips hungrily moving against his own and your breath shaky.

When the two of you pulled back a smiled danced onto his lips. "Safe to say you like me back then." He comments almost out of breath as if he ran a marathon. Steve chuckles pressing his forehead to your own, "Yeah, just couldn't wait any longer, (Y/N)." He pulls back and you stand there slightly dazed as he walks around the room. Picking up the brush from the floor you go back to brushing out the tangles from your hair, the usual bedtime routine. He joins you standing behind you and his fingers brush over yours, taking the brush into his hands.

"Here, let me." He takes your thick waves into his hand and gently runs the brush through them. Taking his time pulling each tangle from every strand. Steve's fingers felt so good against your scalp. You hummed in content sighing as he took care of you. Once he finished he placed the brush back onto the dresser neatly. "All done." You turn around to face him and you reach up to place your hands over his shoulders rubbing them. Steve suddenly has his hands on you lifting you up and setting you down on the dresser standing between your legs. In return your legs wrap around his waist keeping him there.

His hands are on your thighs squeezing as he hungrily nips at your neck, leaning your head back to give him better access. Steve's breath ghosts over your skin and your eyes flutter shut. "Steve.." You gasp, in return he groans against your neck kissing along your jawline.

"Yeah, baby?" He grabs ahold of your chin pulling your head back to look at him. You can only whine and he chuckles, "Okay I'm sorry." He attacks your lips again and you gasp and moan as teeth nip at your lip.

The door to your room creaks open and Eddie walks in, "Hey, sis. I broke my--HOLY SHIT!" His voice caused the both of you to pull apart and your cheeks were a bright red.

"Harrington?" Eddie looks at the jock in shock and you whined.

"Eddie. Get out!" You snapped tossing a bottle of hairspray at him and he quickly scurries out of the room laughing on the way out, but shuts the door behind him. You were going to get him later and hopefully Eddie kept his mouth shut.

"He's never going to let me live that down." You whined to Steve, he walks over to you and kisses your cheek in attempt to make you feel better.

"Yeah, I know." Steve hummed and you sighed still content with the moment you shared with Steve.

we’re going to summer camp bitches!

a/n: not a new chapter unfortunately 😭 but i found that when i have writer’s block, if i write other little things something will come to me

so this is y/n’s involvement throughout the seasons to get to know her relationships and her personality ☺️

pre-series :

- you were friends with steve since you were 4 and he was 5

- your parents were good friends with his, hence why you two grew up together and why you’re in a lot of each other’s family pictures

- your parents along with his were away often, albeit not as neglectful as his are

- your father is a tour coordinator while your mother is a rock promoter so they constantly leave

- started babysitting the boys when you were 11 and they were 7

- your mom played bridge with dustin’s and was in the same book club as mrs. wheeler, and her and joyce knew each other prior as well.

- from there they referred you to the other moms

season 1 :

- you were the boys’ babysitter (obv)

- you protect them with your life honestly

- played dnd with them constantly

- you have no favorites (it’s will tbh 🫤 he’s the least difficult)

- was very upset when will went missing

- helped the boys look for him, and was with them when they found el.

- best friends with steve, but wasn’t really hanging around him when he was in his “king steve” era (because he was a prick 😭 and you didn’t like that)

- tore him a new one when you found out what his “friends” did to/ said about nancy and how he just allowed it

- were with the kids at the school, while everyone else was getting will.

- heartbroken when you thought that el died.

- shocked when you found out steve was involved

- you started hanging out with steve again

(not much for season 1 honestly)

season 2 :

- were with will 100000x more than before

- the boys told you about the new girl “mad” max mayfield

- but you already knew her since you worked at the arcade

(yeah you come from money, but you liked making your own)

- which meant you knew about billy hargrove

- and boy did you dislike him

- tried to get at you a few times , but was quickly shut down

- were going to go trick or treating with the boys, but they insisted that they go alone so you and jonathan went tina’s party where steve and nancy were, instead.

- not wanting to be apart of the dick measuring competition between steve and billy, you found your classmate eddie munson and just hung around with him for majority of the party.

- and by hung around i mean you basically just made out and shotgunned with him the entire time

- imagine seeing alf without his head and a sexy indiana jones making out at a party 🫤( sounds like a dream i would have tbh)

- was confused when you saw nancy leave the party with jonathan, but were quickly filled in by a heartbroken steve, who was ready to just go home.

- so you said your goodbyes to eddie and left with steve

- tried to give him comforting advice as he drove you two home, (being that you literally live next door to each other) but him being too deep in his thoughts so you just went back to your house.

- cue you walking into your room, only to hear dustin’s screeching “code red” and for you to come over as quickly as possible

- you drove over, thinking someone was dying, but when dustin opened the door, dragging you to his room, as you yelled out a quick hello to claudia, you realized it wasn’t that serious.

“dustin what’s up its like 10 pm and we have school tomorrow.”

“this won’t take long, but i need to show you this.”

- you weren’t as impressed as he thought you’d be.

“why doesn’t it have eyes!” you nearly screamed, as you jumped away from it.

“i don’t know, but his name is dartangan. short for dart!

“okay! well… i’m going back home now! don’tget eaten by that thing please!”

- things escalated heavily from there tbh

- next thing you know, you’re at the hospital with will, mike, joyce, hopper, and bob.

- however you left before things could go to shit to give the others an update on will’s well-being.

- so imagine your surprise when you found your best friend steve, driving around with dustin, lucas, and max.

- you were proud of him and made fun of hum for taking your spot as babysitter

- sad when bob died, he was a good guy

- shocked that el was alive, but happy nonetheless.

- you know your way around a gun pretty well so you went with hopper and el back to the lab, so el could close the gate.

- not before demanding that the kids not give steve a hard time and telling steve to keep protecting them with his life

- when you finally got back to them after it was over, they told you everything that happened and you were not happy in the slightest

- next time you saw billy at school, you made it hell for him

- burnt cigarette butts on the hood of his car

- parked next to him and purposely slammed your door into his

- pretty much just hurting his car really

- volunteered at the snoball dance with nancy

- took pictures of all the cute little moments with everyone (just like sev because those deserved to be documented 🥹)

season 3 :

- once starcourt opened you worked at the scoops ahoy with steve and robin

- you already knew robin from school and honestly loved her

- steve didn’t understand why

- liked to sit on the sidelines as robin and steve had their back and forths, but did join in at times causing steve to call you a traitor

- he was just mad because you made the scoops uniform look good

- the few times the hellfire club came in (pre- dustin, lucas, and mike of course) you always insisted that you’d be the one to serve them.

- cue you bringing the ice cream to their table.

- robin : “i think she’s really got it bad for munson.”

- steve : “no way, i know her and she’d never go for- her shorts weren’t that short a second ago right????

- moving on ☺️ (mind your business steve..)

- were apart of the scoops troop

- you did not want erica involved, but majority rules 🫤

- the boys came running to you after mike lied to el.

- “you need how much??? for a fucking bear?? you’re on your own.”

- you slipped a few dollars to will, but they didn’t need to know that.

- when robin and steve were caught by the russians, you freaked out

- was pissed when you found them drugged and beaten

- when everyone met back up at starcourt, you stayed there as steve, dustin, robin, and erica went to dustin’s cerebro

- was shocked when you heard all the people who were flayed and even more so when billy sacrificed himself

- after starcourt burned down, you comforted el and max.

- was sad that the byers + el were moving but understood

- visited them throughout the year

- argyle 🤝 you

pre-season 4 :

- the kids are in highschool now !

- you, robin, and nancy are in your senior year

- you were in the same social circle as steve was, just without the douchiness

- you were a social floater pretty much

- so now the boys are in hellfire club!

- so you came over and decided to be embarrassing

- “aww i knew you guys would find something!”

- just hugging them, messing with mike’s hair, and pinching their cheeks as they tell you to leave them alone

- you leave after telling eddie to take care of them

- now he’s curious though

“there’s no way you just got publically doted on by y/n y/l/n. how do you even know her??”

“she’s our babysitter!” - dustin

“ex-babysitter! she’s our friend.” mike corrected

“ehh she’s still pretty much our babysitter man.” lucas mumbled to mike.

- except one day they decided to be nosey

- because one night after hellfire you were there to pick them up.

- but as they got into the car, you got out and started talking to eddie

- they didn’t think anything of it until you two started getting flirty.

- i’m talking : you two animatedly conversating, eddie’s hands somehow sneaking around your waist, and you two whispering and giggling at each other.

- the icing on the cake was when you just casually kissed him goodbye like????

- so now they have to ask

- “eddie how exactly do you know, y/n?”

- “we’re classmates and friends.”

- “dustin’s my classmate but you don’t see me kissing him.. are you two dating?”

- “well we’re uh.. we sometimes- hmm.”

- now eddie has to ask

- cue him at your locker with you

- “hey i have a question..”

- “what’s up?”

- “when you go to parties.. what do you do??”

- he pussied out because he was going to originally ask “what are we, exactly?”

-“well.. i get there, usually with steve, talk to people i know, make out with you, drink with you, smoke with you, and that’s pretty much it until i have to leave.. why?” you explained.

- “okay, well..at the ones i don’t deal to, what do you do???”

- “okay… i go, again usually with steve, talk to people i know, drink a little, dance with some friends, then i leave! again, why?” you said, now suspicious

- oh! he didn’t expect that answer.

- “no reason…”

- “is it because of the kids asking if we were dating? because they asked me too and i didn’t know how to respond either..”

- you : 🌚 eddie : 🌝

- you’ve now found yourselves heatedly making out in your room??? was school even over girl ? imma need you to stand up 🫤

- “wait. soo does this mean we’re together??” - eddie panted as you tried to get his shirt off.

- “depends, do you plan on doing this with anyone else?”

- “never.”

- “then absolutely”