Eddie Munson X Reader Fluff - Tumblr Posts

I got squishy thighs and the willingness to hold him.

it’s always Reader sitting in Eddie’s lap, what about Eddie sitting in Reader’s lap, huh???? sometimes i like to hold my little boyfriends, make them feel like my baby girl. sluts.

i know he’d play into it too, sitting sideways so he can sling an arm around your shoulders, his butt bones rubbing into your thighs, wiggling around and being like

“Is that a roll of life savers in your pocket or are you just happy to see me, baby?”

actually the cutest shit ive read all day 💖

can I request a baby blurb with either eddie or steve x reader, where the reader‘s a little like luna lovegood and she gets bullied? Like one day some people from school hide her shoes and she has to walk home without them. You can decide what steve/eddie does when he finds out or sees her without shoes🤍

eddie <3 everlasting patience and good looks <3

A familiar van slows to a crawl on the road beside you. You come to a stop, the asphalt hot under your socks. 

"Hey, Eddie," you say, very happy to see him. 

"Y/N. Pray tell, where are your shoes?"

"I was getting changed after gym and they were gone," you explain easily, fingers at the rolled down window. "It's unfortunate. Hot out." 

"Get in." 

You swing open the passenger door and climb in, resting your head heavily against the seat. Your mind feels microwaved. It usually does, but today it's worsened by the hot weather.

Eddie gives you a once over. "You were gonna walk home without shoes?" 

"Yes. Can I turn on the radio?" 

He rolls his eyes though you don't get why. "Sure, babe." 

You smile mildly and flip on the radio. It's set to a metal station he enjoys. You turn up the volume and stretch your hands out over your knees, skin hot from the sun. 

Eddie starts toward your house, sneaking glances at you every now and then. You're busy looking at your knees.

"How'd you do that?" he asks.

You scratch your thumbnail lightly over your grazed skin and shrug. "Fell over." 

"In gym? You should be more careful." 

Everyone always says that. Be more careful. You're starting to wonder how careful a person can possibly be. 

"Y/N, listen… I want you to come find me when stuff like this happens." 

"When I fall over?" 

He chuckles. "Yes. When you fall over and when people take your shoes. Whenever anyone tries anything with you. You understand?"

"I don't think someone stole my shoes." 

"Where did they go, then, sweet thing?"

"Fairies, probably."

"Yeah?" he asks.

You squint, but he doesn't sound like he's making fun of you. 

"Yeah. They're devious. They might give them back in a week, but if they do they're not gonna be the same ones. You look pretty right now." 

He smiles at you like he knows you're sweet on him. You are, obviously. You've never been very good at hiding how you feel. Plus, it doesn't feel like flirting with Eddie to tell him he's pretty: he must know. 

"You look prettier," he promises. "You wanna come back to my place? I'll fix your knees up." 

"Okay." 

Eddie laughs again, a quick exhale coloured by the highest pitch of his voice. "Alright. I have some shoes you can take, too. Can't have my best girl walking around barefoot." 

"I have socks on." 

"Jesus Christ." 

This is everything i didn’t know i needed! So incredibly heartwarming and sweet. Would love to see more!❤️

𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 | 𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 

summary you're a single mom living three trailers down. eddie thinks you're the prettiest girl he's ever seen. queue smiley face oatmeal, grossly misused power tools, desserts on the living room floor, a haircut, and an abundance of nerd metaphors [15k]

warnings teen mom!reader, fem!reader, r is junie's birth mother, fluff, hurt/comfort, eddie ends up being a total girl dad (<3), mutual pining, yearning etc, tw for not having much money, general loneliness, mentions of a shitty/traumatic pregnancy, general mom struggles :(, slowburn friends to lovers, you wash eddie's hair!!!! this was low-key requested by anon

𓆩❤︎𓆪

Eddie opens the door and finds a little girl on the steps of his house. Little girl feels generous – she's barely more than a baby. In a set of tiny matching pajamas and white socks stained green from the morning grass, she looks up at him with wide, sad eyes. 

"Hey," he says carefully. "Hey, sweetheart." 

"Good morning," she says, though it comes out blurry.

"Good morning," he repeats with a breathless laugh, instantly endeared.

He curls his hand around the railing and squats down. She really is very cute and obviously well looked after, although he realises upon closer inspection that she's been crying. 

"Where's your mommy?" Eddie feels silly as he asks, but what else do you say when you find kids by themselves? 

He's not really expecting her to know the answer. She pouts her small mouth and Eddie freezes up. 

"Mommy.” Her breath quivers. 

"Don't cry," he says very gently.

It doesn't work, obviously, and she starts whimpering in a way that turns Eddie's heart entirely. 

"Let's find mommy, okay? Do you wanna do that? Wanna come and find mommy with me?" 

"Yes," she says, though it quickly draws up into a sharp cry. 

Eddie treks down the stairs and turns back, waiting. The little girl looks down at the steps and her eyebrows furrow as she places one foot after the other, looking like her socks are stuck to a fly trap. 

He holds his hand out. "You got it," he says encouragingly, wiggling his fingers. 

Her relief is palpable. Her brows smooth as she takes his hand, so small he can cover her entire palm with the meat of his thumb. She wobbles down the steps and then hesitates at the damp ground awaiting. 

Eddie drops his gaze to her wet feet.

She looks up at him. Eddie doesn't think she means to but her eyes are pleading,and he's already moving to pick her up when she lifts her arms into the air.

She's heavier than he anticipates. He quickly gets used to the weight, shifting her against his side with his arm under her butt, her damp foot digging into his abdomen. She rests one hand on his shoulder and the other reaches for his hair. He can't help smiling at her as she pets the dark mess, hand clumsy but well-intentioned. 

He walks down past the van and onto dark asphalt, looking up and down the road to see if anyone's around. He figures she has to be a trailer park kid – she can't have walked very far, and she'd been waiting outside. She must've gotten mixed up and thought his trailer was her own, which hopefully means her mom lives close. 

The steps up into his trailer are on the right side. Eddie guesses she's come from the right. It's not a great assumption — he's grasping at straws. 

"What's your name?" he asks. 

She's taken a lock of his hair into her hands. Eddie worries for a second that she's going to try eating it but she only waves it around, looking pleased. 

"I'm Eddie." 

"Dee," she says. 

"Almost. Eh-dee," he spells out, again not actually expecting her to understand what he's saying. He's unsure about kids her age – he's unsure what age she even is. 

She babbles something unintelligible and Eddie hikes her higher up his chest. He strides out of the cool shadow and blinks, shielding his eyes against the yellow-white glare of sunshine. The little girl hides her face in his hair. 

He hasn't walked very far when he sees you behind the trailer three doors down, pinning clothes that look the same size as the girl's pajamas to a clothesline with unhurried hands. The front door is wide open. 

"Your poor mommy," he murmurs as he approaches, "out here doing the laundry by herself and you're halfway to Indianapolis. Musta got turned around, huh?"

You drop a small light blue dress on the floor and cuss just loud enough for Eddie to hear it. You pick it up fast and brush it down, looking over the fabric worriedly. 

Eddie cuts over soft grass, giving the baby's waist a pat and holding her ears away from his mouth as he raises his voice. "Hey, is this your kid?" he asks. 

You flinch toward him and your eyes go wide – wide, your lips parting and your brows jumping down like you might start yelling. 

You're really fucking pretty. 

Eddie’s quick to placate you. "She was sitting on my front steps." 

You still don't look very happy though your suspicion melds to confusion and then a stab of too-late worry. You rush towards them and Eddie turns his body to encourage the girl's gaze to you. His chest warms when she perks up. 

She wriggles in his arms impatiently and Eddie's surprised by how quickly she starts to cry, reaching out for you with insistent grabbing hands as he passes her over.

"It's okay," you say softly, tucking her into your chest. 

The difference in body language is unmissable. Where she'd been restless (though more than pleasant) in Eddie's arms, she completely melts into yours. Her little face presses into your neck and her legs curl up. You pat her butt soothingly. "It's okay, baby. Where have you been?" You look up at him for an answer with concern lining your pretty features. 

"I'm only three down," he says. 

 "Oh… Thank you," you say roughly.

Your gratitude is unnecessary. "That's okay. She's real sweet. I opened the door and the first thing she said was, 'good morning,'" he recalls with an easy smile. 

Joy lightens your entire face. He feels his breath catch in his throat. 

"She did? She said that?" 

"Yeah, she did.” He tries not to sound as confused as he feels.

Your eyes close with the force of your smile. You encourages your toddler’s face back and drop your chin to plant kisses all over her tiny cheeks. Eddie feels something foreign yawning in his chest as she starts to laugh, a tinkling sound that's sugar sweet. 

He scratches his neck and pretends to look over his shoulder, tamping his smile back into a neutral expression. 

"She's having trouble talking," you say, lifting your head as the baby's giggles taper off. "She can talk, she says 'mommy' all the time, but she's s'posed to be saying more 'cos she's almost two and I know she can do it, she's so smart, but-" You cut yourself off and laugh all breathless and sheepish. "Sugar, I'm sorry. I mean- Sorry. Thank you," it almost bursts from you, "for bringing her back. I don't know…" 

"You just moved in, right?" You nod. "The lock on the front door- they're all exactly the same, you just gotta shake it and it unlocks. Even someone small as her can could get it open with enough determination." 

"She can be very determined," you say ruefully, voice hushed. You're still patting her butt, swaying her from side to side. Eddie's in awe at how quickly she's settled, her button features crumpled by a big yawn. "Always gets what she wants."

"I bet she does, she's a total heartbreaker." 

You take a step towards him, your beat up sneakers half a foot from his converse. "She can't help it, she was born this pretty," you say. He loves how braggy you sound. 

"I can see where she gets it." 

As soon as he says it he wishes he could take it back. Not because he doesn't think it's true – you're really something else – but because he doesn't want to creep you out. 

Luckily, he's rewarded for his bravery by another beaming smile, your words warm as you tell him, "They said she was the prettiest baby they'd seen in twenty years up in Eskenazi general." 

The name pricks his ears. "You're from Indianapolis?" 

"Kind of." You tilt your head to the side. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name." 

"Eddie." He could applaud himself on how normal he sounds and how not normal he feels. 

"Eddie, I'm Y/N. D'you wanna come in for coffee? Or I can make you some breakfast? To say thank you for taking care of my Junie."

"Junie," he repeats, surprised. 

You shift from foot to foot. "She's a June baby. And she's getting kind of heavy these days, so. Breakfast?" 

He follows you up the steps and through the back door. 

"You can leave it open," you say over your shoulder. 

He catches an eyeful of your bathroom, an organised chaos that smells intoxicating, the rich scent of jasmine heavy in the humidity chased by something softer. Talcum powder, he thinks. 

You murmur something to Junie too quiet to hear and she rouses from her dozing, grizzling weakly. 

"It's breakfast time! Is that what you tried to come and find me for, some breakfast? So impatient," you scold her lightly, smiling all the while as you set her into a bright blue high chair with a big yellow duck with orange flippers printed on the cushioning.

You squeeze one of her feet and frown. "Your socks are wet. Did you go swimming in the grass?" 

Eddie leans against the doorway leading into the kitchen. He doesn't have any experience with kids. You make it look easy, pulling off her stained socks while she wiggles her protest and tickling the soles of her feet with the tip of your finger until she's happy again. 

You turn back to him, socks clutched in your hand. "I'm gonna make oatmeal. Is that something you…" 

"I'm an oatmeal fiend." 

You grin and do a lap to close the front door. "Sit down. I'll get you some coffee? I got milk and brown sugar." 

He throws himself into the seat next to the high chair with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Brown sugar? Sweetness, you're spoiling me." 

Junie laughs. Eddie pulls himself up into a proper sitting position and gawps at her exaggeratedly. "What's funny, little lady?" 

She giggles some more. Eddie leans his elbow on the tray of the high chair and pretends to glare at her. "I can already tell you're trouble." 

"She likes you." 

"Yeah?" he asks, looking at you over his shoulder. 

You're half obscured by cabinets as you poke your head out, an open sack of rolled oats in one hand and a small pan in the other. You nod happily and move to the sink. He can hear the sound of the faucet and the burner clicking on, the saucepan sliding over the stovetop. 

"I like you," he says to Junie quietly, rapping his knuckles on the tray. "But don't tell anyone, okay? I have a reputation." 

"So, uh, how long have you lived here?" you call, almost smothered by the rushing sound of oats tipping into hot water. 

Junie makes a funny face like she might sneeze. Eddie watches. "Since I was a kid." He's smiling as he talks, amazed when Junie starts to smile back. He nods his head gently up and down to encourage her. "Too long. Not that it's not nice here."

Junie looks like she agrees. 

"For sure, but..  not always where you picture yourself," you say tentatively. 

He hums his agreement. "Whatever though, right? A roof is a roof. Even when the roof is made of cardboard and corrugated metal. I mean, all things considered, this is a well kept vessel." 

He's not just trying to make you feel better – you really are making a go of it. There's not nearly as much clutter or decoration as his own home but it's twice as clean and every surface brags a clear affection – you fucking love your daughter. There's a framed photo of her as she looks now at the mantle without a single fingerprint on the glass, baby photos in smaller frames hang on the wall. 

Smallest of all, a photo of the two of you together. Your hands on her shoulders, your lips and nose pressed to her forehead. You're not looking at the camera, but Junie is, and she's exuberant. 

Toys, though few, are arranged neatly under the TV. It's really the type of clean that takes hours. He wonders how you'd ever make time for it. 

"You got a job?"  

"Yeah, I'm waitressing at Benny's?" You say it like a question. "The burger place?"

"Yeah, I know the one. Randolph Lane, near the laundromat. Does Junie go with you?" he asks. He cooes Junie's name and feels very happy when the girl in question smiles some more, reaching out with her hands. Eddie offers up the same palm she'd taken before and lets her squeeze his fingers in a surprisingly tight grip. "She looks like a working girl." 

"Benny said I could bring her with me until she starts daycare next week, so she really is a working girl." You giggle madly and Junie loves the sound, her chubby cheeks rounding as she smiles. 

"I knew it," Eddie whispers conspiringly. "You have the face for it." 

Junie laughs like something is truly hysterical and Eddie can't believe it, squeezing the small girl's smaller fingers in his and waving their joined hands together.

"She really likes you," you say, closer now. 

You set a steaming cup of coffee in front of him. He pulls his hand from Junie's and moves the hot mug away from the high chair though she'd never be able to reach it as you set your own mug and a pint of milk half-full across from him, the brown sugar you'd promised in a pink and orange ceramic dish with a lid that clinks as he pulls it off. 

You double back into the kitchen. This time you bring a baby bottle full of what he guesses is diluted juice and two teaspoons, handing him one with a quiet, "For you." 

"Why thank you," he drawls. 

He spoons a generous hill of crumbly brown sugar into his cup and swirls. 

"The oatmeal needs to soften. Is there anything you want with it? I've got lots of options," you tell him, pouring milk into your own mug. When you're done you and Eddie swap.

He thinks maybe you sound a little nervous and wonders if he's the first neighbour you've met. Or maybe you're still freaked out about Junie. 

He raises his eyebrows but doesn't look at you as he splashes milk into the dark recesses of his coffee, watching as it bursts back up to the surface and turns the drink a more acceptable brown. "What do you usually have?" 

"Junie gets peanut butter and blueberries." 

He tilts his head toward his shoulder just slightly and plants his elbows on the table, the rim of his mug held in tenuous fingertips. 

"What do you get?" he asks, thinking that if the baby gets such a sweet treat you must get something equally impressive. He thinks of raspberries and chia seeds, flakey sea salt and bitter dark chocolate. 

You blink. "What?" 

"What do you have, on your oatmeal?" He punctuates his question with a sip. 

"Salt. Sometimes raisins." 

You make a nice cup of coffee. Eddie holds it in both hands and leans into the table. "That's it?" 

You shrug. Junie starts to whimper about something Eddie doesn't understand. You reach out to hold her hand. "She loves blueberries. Don't you, Junie?"

"Blue," Junie says. 

You're smiling as you take another small spoonful of brown sugar. You lick the tip of your finger and dip it into the well of the spoon until a few grains are sticking to you and hold it up to Junie's lips. "She loves sugar, too, but toddlers aren't s'posed to have it. Or so they say." You smile as she sucks the sugar off before wiping your spit wet finger in your pants. 

Daughter appeased for a moment, you hold your chin in your palm and turn your attention to him. "Where do you work?" 

He imagines this is how a plant feels when the sun comes out. "The Hideout, for now. I'm a very essential and irreplaceable bus boy." He nods very seriously.

"What's after?" 

"Music." 

Your lips curl into an interested smile. "Music? You a singer?" 

"I have a great set of windpipes," he says agreeably, grinning. "But I'm a guitarist." 

"And you're in a band?" 

"I- I was. Yeah, we were good, too, but everybody graduated and our drummer skipped town. I just sub rhythm guitar for whoever wants me to." 

"At the Hideout?" 

"At the Hideout." He decides on his next words carefully. You could come see me play. Weak. You're welcome to come see it for yourself. Too strong? You're welcome to come by one night. Bring Junie. 

He's not asking you on a date; he's a new acquaintance extending an invitation for you to get out and see a new place. That's all it is. 

He opens his mouth to try and suddenly there's a loud clattering. Eddie flinches, blinks, finds that Junie has thrown her bottle of juice across the room. 

Eddie waits for you to maybe tell her off like some of the mom's he's seen at Bradley's. A glare, a hissing remark to be good. 

You reach over and your shirt rides up your back. Eddie averts his gaze guiltily.

You put the bottle back on the tray, giving him an apologetic grimace. "Sorry, Junie has recently discovered that every time she drops something I'll pick it up for her." 

"Smart Junie." 

The bottle falls to the floor again. "She's a genius." You don’t sound entirely pleased, picking the bottle up again and holding it just out of Junie's reach. You shake it up and down. "S'juice. You like juice," you try to reason with her.

Junie reaches for it. You purse your lips. "Be good," you say softly. 

Junie takes the bottle and shakes it. 

It's a small victory and still softens every feature. Your eyes squint, your bottom lip juts out a touch, your nostrils flare with a pleased inhale. 

"Thanks, junebug."

"Tanks," Junie says. 

"Thanks," you repeat, bubbly baby talk. "Thanks. Say thanks, Junie." 

Eddie watches you encourage her over his coffee. It's quiet, peaceful here in a way nowhere else in his life has ever been besides quiet Sunday mornings with his Uncle. There's only the sound of the gas stovetop burning and your happy, patient voice. 

Junie says "Tanks," a couple more times. You don't give up. When she finally says something that sounds almost like a "Thanks," you whip your gaze to his. 

"Did you hear that?" you ask. Your pride is evident. 

He puts down his half empty mug. "She said it." 

"She said it," you repeat, your shoulders moving in the tiniest happy dance he's ever seen. You stand up and take her face into delicate hands. "She's my smarty pants. Aren't you, baby?" 

You dot a kiss over her head and head back into the kitchenette. 

"Tanks," Junie says animatedly, running on an affection high. She accidentally knocks her bottle over.

"Thanks, Junie," Eddie corrects, righting it. 

He finds it easier to baby talk than he imagined. Being nice to little kids – that's easy. Especially as he gets older. When they hit the pre-teen mark is when he starts to steer clear, but even then he can't help doting on them sometimes. Like his club – idiots, annoying idiots, but his annoying idiots. He doesn't hold back with them. He doesn't feel like he's holding back now, either, it's just different. 

Baby's want love. Care and affection. 

And to pull Eddie's hair, apparently. 

Junie's reaching over the gap with a fierce look on her face. Eddie pulls his chair closer and decides to let her try it out. She hadn't given him any reason to worry before, and she doesn't now as she takes a chunk of his hair into her hand. She pulls very gently, likely more that her fingers have gotten caught in his messy curls than any maliciousness. 

"What's your fascination with my hair?" he asks her. 

In her own home Junie's very noisy. When he'd found her outside she hadn't done much besides whimper weakly. Now, she's a riot of gurgling and humming. 

"Are you a singer, Junie?" he asks. 

"She sings all the time! She loves the Muppet Babies on TV, but I- uh, I haven't been able to actually get cable, yet. But when I get paid next week…" You come back into view with two bowls in hand. "She'll be in her oils." 

Eddie says thanks as you put a bowl down in front of him. There's a smiley face there made up of berries with banana slices for eyes. He feels something crawling up his throat and has no idea what it is, and then something completely different when he sees your own bowl, a stretch of plain oatmeal with no delicious adornment. 

You leave and quickly return with a smaller bowl, a baby spoon and a jar of peanut butter.

"Do you want some?" you ask, opening the jar to push the baby spoon inside. "I would've just put it in anyway but then I worried you were allergic." 

You hand it off to Junie and she licks at it happily. 

"Sure, I'll have some. Where's your smiley face?" he asks. 

Your eyes widen slightly. Eddie's not academically inclined but he's never been stupid, and he sees it for what it is, something he's seen in himself and in every other poor kid who didn't bring lunch to school.

"I don't really like bananas," you say. 

Whether you're lying or not isn't something he needs to know.

"Well, you're gonna have to share the blueberries with me, I can't eat this much fruit. I got a hearty diet of chips and microwave oven dinners to uphold." 

Eddie shovels half of the smile into your bowl. You clutch your spoon in your hand like you want to protest, but no way is he gonna watch you miss out on nice things in your own home. 

You smile and don't say anything for a while, rubbing the edge of the bowl with your spoon, your thoughts somewhere else. 

Junie's food sits billowing steam in the middle of the table, which annoys the poor girl endlessly. She wiggles and murmurs and sucks at her empty spoon with a growing line between her brows. 

Eddie eats and feels much better when you finally start to eat your own meal, leaning back in his chair heavily to loll his head towards Junie. "Your mom makes amazing oatmeal. You're really missing out." 

You choke on a laugh and grab her spoon to load up with another small heap of peanut butter. "That is so cruel to lord over her,” you say. “I can't give it to her yet! It's scorching. She has a fragile mouth." 

"I'm sure." 

He picks one of his blueberries out of the bowl and offers it to Junie, who takes it slowly despite her previously rabid hunger 

More oatmeal eating. Eddie ends up giving the rest of his fruit to Junie, your generous dollops of peanut butter more than enough to enjoy the oatmeal. He might argue it doesn't need any adornment at all.

You stir peanut butter into Junie's bowl and wrestle the baby spoon out of her tight grip.

It's a process to watch. You scoop up oatmeal, blow on it until you're sure it's cool, and push it into Junie's mouth efficiently. There's a method to it, the way you lift the handle of the spoon so oatmeal doesn't drip straight back out of her mouth. When it does you scrape the lip gently against her chin to catch it before it ruins her shirt. 

It starts to rain. Hard not to notice, a light drizzle opens and sprays down against the windows and for a moment there's no reaction. Then, gasping, you drop Junie's bowl back onto the table in stress. 

"Shit, the laundry. Are you okay to watch her please? Sorry. I'll be five seconds," you say, already heading for the back door. 

"Sure.” He sounds about as startled as he feels. 

The back door shushes open and your feet dip down the steps. Junie is not very pleased with her breakfast getting put on pause, her face growing as unpleasant as the weather outside.

"Mommy," she says, unhappy and loud.

Eddie doesn't think about it as he picks up her bowl. It's more a pulse of feeling than a thought. Feed her and she won't cry. 

He blows on a spoonful of oatmeal with likely too much vigour. 

Junie's still complaining as he holds it in front of her face. If she's surprised to be fed by somebody who isn't her mom she doesn't show it, her sticky face growing suddenly slack as she realises her oatmeal is back in play. Her lips part.

He feeds her oatmeal, does a very bad job, and tries to gather what's escaped with the spoon as Junie waves her hands around and pokes at spilled food on the white tray in front of her. By the time you come back damp and breathless with the cold chasing your heels he's successfully managed to feed her what was left of her breakfast. He's embarrassed to be caught but tries not to show it. 

"You okay?" he asks, looking you up and down amicably.

"S'only a little rain." You push the laundry basket onto the sofa and smile sheepishly. "You didn't have to do that." 

"And have the precious little lady starve?" 

"Starve!" you repeat, a feigned incredulousness to your tone. 

"She was giving me the puppy dog's," he says, shrugging as he takes the spoon out of Junie's wet fingers. 

She whines for a second at his robbery but seems to realise she's full, picking her juice back up to shake some more. 

You exhale through an open-mouthed smile.

"Thank you. She's gonna love you now, she loves anyone who gives her food. She's a real cadge at the diner. Never seen so much free cherry pie in my life," you remark, turning to what looks like your diaper station. You wade through a mess of things he doesn't recognise and pull out a packet of baby wipes. 

"And her mom? Is her affection so easily garnered?" 

"Takes more than a cherry pie to win me over," you joke, sitting down in your chair in front of the high chair with a soft sigh. You pull out one of the wipes and take Junie's wrists into your hand, wiping her fingers clean methodically. "I need at least a squirt of whipped cream on top before I consider any fondness." 

He chuckles and you laugh too. It's short-lived, your lips pursed as you wipe Junie's face clean. She hates every second of it, writhing in her chair like she's being tortured as you clean a mess of brown and blue from her round chin. 

"Sorry, I'm sorry. Done, done," you say, holding your hands up in surrender. 

She pouts. 

"Don't be like that," you scold her mildly. "Look how lovely and clean you are now! Eddie can see how pretty you look again." 

You slide your hands under her armpits and pull her out of the highchair, groaning. 

"Oh, there you go. Where's Mr. Bear gone, baby? You can play sticky bricks with him so I can get ready for work." 

Work. Work. Where Eddie was going. Where Eddie is very likely supposed to be. He checks the time and his eyes flare, standing up abruptly. You turn  toward him with Junie anchored on your hip, both wearing matching expressions of curiosity.

"Sh-“ Don’t swear around babies. “I'm sorry, I got somewhere to be that I totally spaced on."

You blink. "That's okay." 

"It was sick to meet you," he says. 

You blink some more and walk to the front door, pulling it open as an understanding smile curls your lips. "Super 'sick,'" you say, bemused. "Thank you so much for bringing Junie back. Really, I mean, if anything ever happened to her." You don't finish because it's obvious, your bright tone underlain with a burning fear.

He walks sideways out of the door and down one step, knowing he's super fucking late but not caring too much as he says, "Listen, I can bring you a deadbolt." 

"You could?" 

"Sure thing. Make sure this little lady," and he says it chidingly, directing his gaze at Junie who goes all shy and smiley from the attention, "doesn't go on anymore morning adventures. Especially without her shoes." 

"That would be… that would be awesome, Eddie. Thank you." 

He waves his hand and descends the last of the steps. "I'll come around tomorrow?" 

It's a Saturday today. He's not surprised that you're both working the weekend, but he is surprised that you're working Sunday too when you say, "Would after five be okay?" 

"That's more than okay. Bye, trouble," he says to Junie, bringing a hand up to shield his hair from the drizzling rain. 

You look lovely on the stoop, fresh-faced and in your lounge clothes. You tug Junie up your chest and take her hand into yours. "Say 'bye', Junie," you tell her, waving her hand. "Bye! Bye-bye, Eddie." 

"Bye Junie!" he calls, waving at the little girl with great fervour.

"Bye!" Junie calls back. 

You both grin. 

-

You're super tired from work and exhausted from an upset daughter. Even now Junie fusses. She hasn't been getting her naps because you can't set her down anywhere that isn't the wooden high chair in Benny's restaurant, which is months of a routine disrupted. 

You're not mad at her – the opposite, you feel awful to mess her up like this, awful that she's so upset. Trying your very best to calm her down, you're swaying her from side to side in the middle of your messy living room with your hand patting a steady rhythm into the narrow breadth of her back. 

"I know, baby, I know. I'm sorry. You'll get your nap tomorrow, I promise," you say, trying for softness and missing, desperation eating at your tone.

You try not to have a heart attack at the thought of her first day at the new daycare. I can't think about it, you tell yourself, moving your thoughts onto the Sunday checklist. 

Junie's been fed. Unfortunately, she's the kind of wound up where the only solution you can think of is to get her in bed. If you can get her down soon she'll sleep until maybe 4AM. Not ideal; you'd prefer she slept later tonight and woke up at a healthier 6AM with you. When she does wake, no matter the time, you'll have her eat something substantial for breakfast and take a much needed bath. 

Laundry, bills, cleaning, it all runs through your head. Junie's hair, her snacks for daycare, her clothes. Does she have clean socks for the week? Does she have a vest top for tomorrow? 

Her crying grows loud and you can't think of anything except how overwhelmed you feel. 

"It's okay, baby, just go to sleep." You shush her softly.

Somebody knocks the door. 

You and Junie are similarly nonplussed. Her crying ceases for a second and her head turns in tandem with yours. 

"Oh. Oh, you know who that is, huh?" you ask her, making for the door while her cries are still on pause. "That's our new friend Eddie. You remember Eddie?" 

You pull open the door. There he is on the porch with a bag and a plastic case, wearing a shirt with short sleeves. You realise for the first time that he has tattoos. 

"Hi," you say. 

"Hi. Hi, Junie," he adds, looking at her tear-stained face. "Have I come at a bad time?" 

"No, you're good. You're great, thank you for doing this." You lean back against the door and Eddie skirts past you. That close, you can smell the heavy sage and sandalwood of his cologne and see the beauty mark under his ear, dark hair tucked behind the shell. 

He stops in the middle of the room and puts down the plastic case. "I'm gonna try to do it. Try being the essential word, and I make absolutely no promises." He makes a small cross with his hands leading out and the bag falls from the crook of his elbow to his wrist. 

It sounds like more than a deadbolt. Eddie sees your gaze and jumps into theatrics that hook Junie's attention straight away, ruffling through the bag. He pulls out a VHS tape and then a second, one old and one newer. 

"For your consideration." He presents them grandly against his check, his eyes flitting from your daughter to the tapes in wait of her reaction. 

Junie has no clue what a VHS is. She thinks the TV is magic. 

You swoop in and gasp loudly for Junie's sake, having identified his proffered tapes immediately. 

"You know what that is?" you ask her, pointing at the slipcover. "Muppet Babies! There's Kermit and Fozzy and Rowlf and Gonzo." You touch your finger to each puppet in turn as you reel off their names. 

Junie looks up at you like maybe she remembers, so you start to sing the theme tune for her. "Muppet Babies, they make their dreams come true. Muppet Babies, they'll do the same for you!"

The song jogs her memory. She starts her nonsense singing in a valiant but juvenile effort to recreate the music, dancing in your arms. 

You sing it again for her as you lower her to the floor. She doesn't whine to be picked back up, a great sign that her mood has turned, instead walking to the TV, a small silver combi with a bubble screen. She raises her arms up high and starts hitting the TV stand with her palms flat. 

Eddie looks to you as if he's checking that it's alright before crossing the small space and turning on the TV, your relieved smile more than enough encouragement. He's careful not to step on Junie's feet, surprised when she walks into his leg. She grabs onto his jeans and looks up at him with wide eyes. 

Eddie visibly softens. 

It's kind of crazy to see him, this metalhead dude covered in dark tattoos and wearing safety pinned jeans looking down at a toddler with nothing but patience in his eyes.

He drops his hand very lightly to her tiny back and pushes in the tape. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hi," Junie says. 

She doesn't let him touch her for very long, falling to her knees to pull out the bin of stickle bricks hiding underneath as Eddie fast forwards through the adverts and then turns up the volume until the Muppet Babies theme is echoing against the wood panelled walls.. 

Junie's eyes dart up the screen, two bricks held in her hands and a great smile on her face. 

"Where did you find that?" you ask, in awe. 

He steps over her and comes back to your side, crossing his arms over his stomach with a smug smile. "Not telling. Ruins the magic. Got The Bugs Bunny Show for when she gets bored of Miss Piggy." 

You smooth down your rumpled black work skirt and smile shyly. "I can pay you back… Next week." 

He looks lost for words for a split-second. It clears fast, and he says, "Tell you a secret. I have a friend down at good old Family Video that let me have 'em for nothing." 

"Yeah?" you ask, unsure. You worry he's lying to make you feel better. 

"Uh-huh. Friends in high places," he brags sarcastically. 

You turn to watch Junie smile for the first time in hours and have to scrub your face to hide how shattered you feel. It's been a really long week. Your relief is a physical thing, a hand on your shoulder. You feel yourself deflate. 

"You okay?" Eddie asks. 

You press the backs of your hands to your cheeks. "Thank you. Really. You saved me." 

"Yeah?" he asks, dialling up the drama. He lifts his chin high. "Would you say, oh, I don't know, that I'm your hero?" 

It's his clear joking tone that saves him. If you'd detected even a smidge of genuine expectancy from him you likely would've shoved him out the door. 

"Mm-hm. My hero," you croon, both of you grinning. 

He turns back to the grocery bag and pulls out a bottle of juice. "I was gonna bring coke but I didn't want Junie to feel left out." 

You move to the cabinets and can't believe how nice he is. You get a little warning stab, that feeling of if it's too good to be true… and shake it off. Maybe it'll turn out that way and you're not gonna do anything stupid to chance it, but he seems like a normal guy. A good neighbour who wants to be your friend.

You're in dire need of one of those. 

"What was wrong with the little lady?" 

You pour juice into a glass for him, less into a glass for you, and a half-inch into a clean baby bottle. "I can't get her down for a nap when she's with me at work and it really caught up to her today. She-" You yawn so wide it hurts your cheeks, covering your face with your arm. 

Eddie looks up from where he's kneeling in front of the open plastic case he'd brought with him. "Caught up to you too, I think." 

"A little." You smile ruefully. 

He holds something red and black in the air. "This'll wake you up," he says. 

It's a small hand drill. He presses down on the trigger twice in quick succession and Junie lies down on the floor to look backwards at him. 

“Woah,” you say.

Junie rolls onto her knees and then stands. She's in that stage of walking where she can mostly do it but has a great tendency to trip over anything that might be in her way, and she stumbles as she approaches. Eddie moves the drill away from her and opens the case wide to show her his array of drill bits. 

"How'd you like them, Junie?" he asks. "Pretty cool, huh?" 

"What do they all do?" you ask. 

"I don't have the foggiest," he says, grinning up at you. "And I really wanted to be cool and pretend that I did. I was going to, but you asked me that and now we're sunk." 

Junie pokes at all the silver metal and turns away, bored, to return to her cartoons. 

"I'm sorry," you say, not sorry at all. 

"You should be." He shakes his hair out. "Can't say woodshop was something I ever paid much attention to in school." 

You squat down beside him where he's counting the screws out for the deadbolt he'd acquired for you, your small cup of juice in hand. The deadbolt isn't new but it's clean of rust and that's all you care about. It doesn't need to do anything besides work. 

"It can't be too hard though, right?" you ask quietly. There isn't any need to talk loudly this close to him and your head is starting to hurt from a long day. 

"I hope not." He passes you the drill. "Hold onto that?" 

He stands and you follow, the deadbolt frame in hand. He turns to your front door and holds it up to the frame, far from the door knob. "Where'd you want this thing?" 

"Wherever you think is best," you say quickly. 

"Got a pencil?" 

You don't. You're ashamed to offer him a cyan blue crayon from Junie's arts and crafts. He takes it with a gleeful smile and uses it to draw a line under the deadbolt's two parts to make sure they fit together once they've been drilled in. 

Junie starts fussing and you squint at her, trying to guess what's wrong. You leave the drill on the small table by the door.

"Junie, you want some dinner?" you ask, walking up behind her where she's stood watching TV. You rub her shoulder and lean over her, your face upside down in front of the TV. "I don't think you're hungry. Let's change that diaper." 

She certainly doesn't want you to. You turn to Eddie where he's making clumsy crosses on the door in place of the screws, his brows furrowed. 

"I'm gonna go get her some jammies," you say, and then wince. "Pajamas." 

"Jammies," he repeats. You hate how happy he looks. 

A hot flush washes over you. "She's the only one I talk to." 

Again, that awful softening of his features. He's got the biggest, brownest eyes you've ever seen. "Why don't you get changed, too? I'm gonna start drilling." He waves the drill and you don't like how loosely he holds it. 

"Please don't ruin the door." 

A wolfish smile. "No promises." 

You leave all the doors open. Eddie's nice but you're not stupid – if he plans on kidnapping her or something evil this is the perfect time. Though, you suppose, he could’ve abducted her when he found her outside.

You shed your uniform and pull on a pair of loose fitting pants. You can't find a clean t-shirt, probably because you own a grand total of three, and you get distracted when the drill starts whirring and Junie screams. 

You know in your heart that it's just a baby scream rather than a sign that she's in pain and you still can't let it lie, rushing down the hall. You can see her, see that she's uninjured, only looking at the drill.

She's excited. 

"You like that?" Eddie asks her. "Is that funny?" 

Junie claps her hands together and reaches for the drill. 

Eddie frowns. "Sorry, you can't have it. I gotta finish the door for your mommy. Why don't you build me something with your bricks, yeah? Something big." 

Junie reaches up for the drill again. 

"I can't, Junie, it's too dangerous. Don't want you to get all mutilated." You wrinkle your nose at what he's saying. He turns the drill towards his chest and touches the drill bit to his collar. "Look, see this? It's not for little hands." 

Junie steps over the case of things on the ground and leans against Eddie's legs, insistent. 

Your mouth drops open as he starts the drill and puts on some fake anguished screams. "Ah! Oh my god, it's eating me!" 

Junie starts laughing at his fake screaming. Her eyes widen, her hands clinging to a rip in his jeans. 

"Think that's funny, do you? Heartless girl. Where's your juice gone, hmm?" He holds the drill behind his back and points to her bottle on the side of the couch where you'd left it. "You want that?" 

He goes over her head to grab it and encourage it into her hands. "Yummy," he says, his eyes moving to where you stand in the door past the kitchen, eyebrows jumping up. "Everything okay?" 

"Screaming," you say, awkward in your breathlessness. 

Eddie's eyes stay resolutely on your face. "She's okay. The drill is exciting. You're shirtless, you know." 

You spin on your heel and back into your room. Your heart a jack hammer, you sieve through clothes until a rumpled t-shirt that smells of deodorant but not sweat appears and shrug into it. 

Junie has a much better selection of clothes. You pick out some matching pajamas for her and a thick pair of socks and tuck them under your arm with her changing matt.

When you return this time, Eddie's drilling a third and fourth hole into the wall next to the door and Junie's watching with the teat of her bottle in her mouth, chewing but not drinking. You lay her mat down on the floor and grab her with a big sigh. 

"Alright, Junie, let's get you all fresh for bed." 

You change her diaper and she doesn't misbehave too much, Eddie's general presence a distraction. Soon she's sitting in your lap, dressed in new pajamas and smelling of talcum powder and baby creams, her wool socks soft as you rub your thumbs into the instep of her feet. 

You sit on the floor watching Eddie drill the screws into the deadbolt frame. Junie slouches against you, her head digging into your chest and her tired arms struggling to hold up her bottle. You hold it up for her, watching Eddie's hands and his arms, how they move. Muscle and ligament tense under the skin, tattoos warping, his bats propelled into flight. 

"I like your tattoos," you say. 

Eddie stops drilling to look over his shoulder. "What?" 

"I- I like your tattoos." 

He lights up. His back straightens out and he turns back to the lock, giving the last screw a final good twist. The door makes a groaning protest and then it's quiet. Just Muppet Babies, Junie's soft suckling and the compliment you'd given adrift in the room. 

"They're pretty sweet," he allows. You can hear how pleased he is though he won't look at you. 

"They're cool. Have you had them long?" 

Eddie starts to tell you all about them, fiddling with something you can't see on the door. 

Junie decides that she doesn't want to be sitting anymore and turns in your arms, hands coveting your neck. You lift her into your chest and rub circles in her back, the weight of her emptying bottle on your shoulder. Soon, her small arms go lax. There's a rush of air as her lips open from the teat and the bottle tumbles to the rug with a dull thud. 

He pulls open the door.  Cool air rushes in. He closes it, slides the deadlock into place, and then pulls hard to make sure it won’t come free. 

It’s solid. 

He laughs triumphantly and Junie stirs. You pat her back and make some quiet shushing sounds and Eddie turns around, a slip of his teeth on show as he grimaces. 

"Sorry," he whispers. 

You shake your head. "You're amazing. Thank you." 

If his cheeks weren't pink they are now. He leans into it, hiding one cheek behind his hair. "Stop," he says, exaggerated. 

"I'll make it good, I swear," you whisper, covering Junie's ear with your hand. "I'll make you the best dinner ever. I'm the best at Kraft's mac and cheese, or-" You flush hot, realising that mac and cheese might not be the treat you think it is to him. "Or we can order in," you say, doing the maths in your head. You can't afford it, but maybe Benny-

"Kraft's mac and cheese? You're spoiling me." 

You beam. 

Eddie cleans up the small mess he's made. You're afraid to move quite yet in case Junie's not really sleeping, though she's a dead weight in your arms, and you watch Eddie walk through the room with both caution and ease. 

"Oh, you don't have to do that,” you say. 

He folds the baby blanket in his hands and puts it back on the armrest of the couch before moving on to the stickle bricks, not looking at you as he says, "Just earning my wage, doll." 

You can't watch him clean your home. You wrap a tight arm around Junie and rise to your feet. Eddie sees your approach and his movements grow faster, rushing to clean up the mess before you can stop him. You don't know who starts first but you're both laughing as you grab his wrist. 

"Stop!" you whisper, mock-furious. "Stop cleaning." 

"Sh, you'll wake the baby." 

You shake your head in bemusement. "I'm gonna go set her down. Then mac and cheese." 

"Take your time. Lots of things for me to clean up out here," he says with a mock sincerity. 

You drift down the hall and turn back to sneak a glance at him. He's pulled Muppet Babies out of the TV and is rewinding it around his thumb, a small smile on his lips as he hums the theme tune to himself. 

With Junie finally in bed for the night you take a quick peek at yourself in the mirror on your nightstand and cringe. You look tired. You give yourself a big smile and feel better; a smile makes even your most exhausted features look pretty. 

You slap on some chapstick. You know, to counter your dry lips. It shines. 

Slipping out of the bedroom, you close the door as quietly as you can manage. 

Eddie's standing at the end of the hallway. You expect to feel scared. Instead, you’re perplexed.

"Hi?" you whisper.

"Can I use the bathroom?" 

You laugh. "Yeah. Course you can." 

You have to pass each other in the hallway. His hip bumps your hip, a short rub of fabric. 

You're still thinking about it when he finds you behind the stove, half asleep with your face in your hand. It's the kind of tired where your eyes keep slipping shut, not aching so much as blurry with a heavy head. 

"You okay?" he asks quietly, sitting down at your cramped table. 

You hum. "Hm. Just tired." You give him a guilty smile as you tip the bigger portion into his bowl.  "Sorry. Mac and cheese with bacon bits for you, my hero." 

"Thanks, sweetheart." 

The fatigue ebbs a little. 

Eddie’s easy to talk to. He makes you laugh. When you say goodnight, he looks back over his shoulder twice.

-

It's a funny coincidence that Eddie sees you Friday night. He never grocery shops on a Friday but he knowd when his uncle gets home in the morning there won’t be anything for him to eat after his shift. He takes a sharp turn towards the TV dinners and there you are at the bottom of the aisle with Junie in the seat of the cart. You're talking to her like you'd talk to anyone, though you didn't sound so saccharine sweet over mac and cheese. Close, but not quite. 

"What do you want?" you're asking. "Ham and pineapple or mini pepperoni?" 

Junie holds her hands out for both boxes. You let her take them and the two of you puzzle over the pizzas, heads bent together. 

"Pepperoni, right?" you ask her, quietly enough that he almost misses it. 

"Peroni," Junie agrees. You let her keep the box and put the other one back in the freezer. 

"Pepperoni," you correct, absentminded. 

"Peroni." 

"Pepper-roni." You sound it out slow, looking at a scrap of paper in your hand. 

"Pepper."

"You'll get there. Do you think we need shampoo this week?" You start jovial, but quickly lose your sprightliness. "Maybe I can put some water in the bottle and just… shake it up. No, we definitely need it." 

Eddie watches you look over the cart. He knows exactly what you're thinking, What can I put back?

"Hey!" he calls, walking a little faster to try and hide how he'd been listening. 

You turn on the spot and smile as soon as you see him. Junie, to his delight, is even more excited. 

"Hi," she says, hands thudding along the cart's handlebar. 

"Hi, Junie. How's my favourite neighbour?" 

She babbles. 

"I'm psyched to hear it. How about you, sweetheart?" he asks, parking his cart next to yours. 

You're looking very tired. Still in your work uniform with a hoodie thrown over the top and your smart flats swapped for a pair of converse with the laces undone. You pinch your cheeks up into a big smile. He guesses that with a baby you've gotten very used to hiding how you feel.

You don't hesitate to lay it down thickly. "I'm really good." 

"Yeah? How's Junie liking daycare?" 

You cover your hands with your sleeves. "She loves it. Loves napping again. She-" You frown. "She doesn't like the mornings. Dropping her off. But after." You nod with a tentative smile "Yeah, it's nice to pick her up." 

"Uh-huh. How's work?" 

"What?" 

"How's work for you? How's Benny's?" he prods. 

"You're asking me about work?" 

"Why wouldn't I be?" 

"Nobody ever asks about work," you say. 

You can't look at him as soon as you've said it, your eyes moving back to the grocery list in hand. It's an old envelope, and it crinkles under your squeezing fingers. 

"Sorry," you mutter. 

Eddie bites back a frown. "Well, I'm asking." 

He holds out his hand for the list and you give it without thinking. He adores your handwriting the second he sees it, scanning the list for anything in this aisle.

"Hey, tell me about it," he prompts at your silence, pushing his cart. It takes you a millisecond to catch up, but when you do you're near frenetic. 

"Well, I messed up like, five different orders today. And when I had Junie it was like they didn't care 'cos she's cute, but now she's not there they get pretty angry pretty quickly." 

"She's like a magic item." 

"Right," you say, sounding like you have no idea what he's talking about. "She was my lucky charm. 'N now when I mess up I gotta practically beg some of those guys to leave Benny alone. He's too nice to me already."

"Are they all terrible?"

"No, the regulars, guys in there everyday, they're all great. They're too generous. Benny's too generous. I know he's fluffing up my tip jar. I hate that. I don't want him-" You flinch. It's strange. Eddie takes a small step closer to you and waits for you to continue, but you've lost all steam. "Sorry, I don't mean to weigh you down with all of this." 

"I asked. And I get it." 

"I don't want him to feel sorry for me." 

"Hey," he says, reaching out for a box of cereal on your list. He presents it to Junie and shakes it around, "who said anything about all that?" 

"No, I know, I just-" 

Junie smiles her approval and he chucks the cereal in your cart with a rattle of metal. "I'm not trying to make you feel worse, I swear. I get it. I- You said he's a nice guy, right? So maybe he doesn't feel sorry for you at all. Maybe he just likes you. He owns that place. I don't think it hurts him to put an extra twenty in your tips." 

Junie reaches up. You turn to her and lean down until your face is a few inches from hers. "I wish I didn't need it," you say quietly. 

"I know." 

Junie puts her hand on your cheek. 

You sniff, not crying or anything like that, only breathing. "Thanks, Junie," you murmur. 

"Mommy," she says. She sounds a little concerned. 

"Let's go get something yummy, baby." You stroke her face lightly. "I'm thinking canned peaches. Or pears, um. Fruit cocktail. And condensed milk," you add, sounding unsure.

"I got a can or two of that laying around," Eddie says, because he knows that shit is expensive. "Wayne hates sweet stuff." 

"I couldn't-" 

"You let me come over for one of those mini pizzas and I'll bring the dessert," he says, like he knows you'll say yes. He doesn't know. Eddie Munson’s an expert in pushing his luck. 

Junie starts clapping her hands together. 

"I think she's decided," you say. 

-

You're terrible with a can opener. You whine to yourself as you struggle to get open the second can. Eddie had insisted on peaches and pears and fruit cocktail, because he wanted to try them all apparently. And then some dramatic speech about little kids getting spoiled.

You can hear him now in the living room with Junie. They're laughing in a way that you're worried about, that guilty, hushed giggling that raises your hackles. 

"Shush," Eddie says, faux-angry, "your mom's gonna hear." 

"Shush," she repeats with much more enthusiasm. 

"You shush! Look, don't do that, Junie, you're gonna get it tangled in your hair," he says. 

You carry the can and can opener with you into the living room. Something about tangled hair gets your heart racing. 

"Eddie, please don't let her get stickies in her hair," you say quickly. 

"They're called stickles," he says, dropping back onto his hands, head over his shoulder to give you a bright-eyed smile. 

"I know what they're called. Junie can't say stickles." 

"Stickles," she says. 

"She couldn't when I got them," you amend. 

He's up quicker than you can really take in, hands extended. "Let me do it," he says. 

He works the can out of your fingers. It's more contact than you've had with somebody who wasn't your daughter in a very long time and it leaves you shell-shocked. Eyes on his nice hands, bigger than yours with thicker fingers and his riot of rings. He presses the can to his chest and hooks the opener, peeking between it and you intermittently. 

"Go see what we made for you," he encourages. "I'll do it." 

His arm brushes yours as he moves to the kitchen and that's worse than his fingers. You rub where he'd touched and drop down on your knees next to Junie, looking over the stickle bricks with a smile. It's a heart, poorly construed and of tens of colours. It falls apart when she tries to pick it up so you help her remake it, cooing. 

"Thanks, baby. This is for me, huh? You're so sweet." Your voice drops to a murmur. "My sweet girl. Wanna cuddle?" 

You open your arms out and she doesn't seem very interested. "Please?" you ask, vying for her waist. 

She lets you pull her into your lap. When you actually start to hug her she does her lovely melting thing that she always does, a floppy fish in your arms but with tiny squeezing hands. You giggle at her antics and lift her up so her face falls into your neck. 

"Thanks for my heart, Junebug." She snuggles her head into your neck, hair squished to your skin. "I love you," you whisper, rubbing her back. 

"The works," Eddie announces grandly as he appears, two bowls in hand.

"Eddie, that's too much for her." 

"She's a growing girl." 

"A growing girl with a tiny tummy," you say turning her around in your arms. "Tell you what, you have that one," you point to the biggest one, "and we'll share that one." 

"How about you share the big one?" he asks, though it hardly sounds like a question. He sits down and places the bowl in her lap. 

You grab the spoon before she can and stir up some of the fruits. "Wow, look at this! You gonna say thanks? Thanks Eddie.”

She doesn’t say thanks — her mouth is too far open to form words. You make quick work of shovelling fruit and condensed milk inside, chilled enough that she shivers in your arms. 

“Yeah, that’s good,” you say agreeably.

She gets enthusiastic enough to take the spoon and you let her, even when she totally mauls the food, eating so loudly that Muppet Babies becomes inaudible. 

Eddie eats slowly. You can feel his gaze. “You’re not gonna have any?” he asks. 

You’d felt it coming. Your answer is clumsy anyways. “No, I will. I just… I always have her leftovers,” you say, sheepish. 

He stands up. 

You’re gonna ask why when Junie tips fruit down your legs, cold on the naked skin of your ankle. You dab at your pajamas with a small sigh. There’s no point in getting upset. She’s a messy eater but they all are at this age. Honestly, it’s nice to see her attempting to use a spoon rather than her hands. 

“You’re doing a good job,” you say. You’re not totally sure who you’re talking to. 

“Tada!” Eddie cheers, wielding a third bowl of fruit. “Swap with me?”

“What?”

“You think Junie’ll come sit in my lap?” he asks. He doesn’t wait, really. He holds out the bowl and you take it on impulse as he sits down heavily. 

He takes her into his lap with a cheerful groan. “Oh, c’mere, sweetheart. There’s enough milk on your chin to bake a cake.” He wipes it with his hand. He doesn’t so much as wince at the mess. 

You stare. He eases the spoon out of her grip and scrapes up a half-spoonful of what looks like pear and feeds it to her with the same kind of deftness of hand that’d taken you months to learn. 

He can feel your gaze, evidently, because he looks up. There, you catch it, that slither of insecurity he hides well. 

You pick up your bowl and start eating. It’s the nicest thing you’ve eaten in almost two years. You’d die for Junie. You’d do worse. But to eat, to know she’s fed — gorged — to know you can sit here and eat this whole bowl of fruit all to yourself and you won’t have to put it down, that’s heaven. It’s better, because you never let yourself have anything nice if you can help it. 

The fruit turns to a lump in your throat and you swallow it, sniffling. Your lashes grow heavy with unshed tears and you keep your gaze resolutely on your dessert. When was the last time you had something this nice all to yourself? When was the last time somebody ever went out of their way to be this nice?

It’s a small gesture and a huge one. A tear dribbles down your cheek. You lick it away and keep on eating. 

-

Eddie starts to come around every Friday. It’s a good deal; you make dinner and he makes dessert. After that first time he makes it his mission to give you heaping bowls too much to eat most of the time. Soon, he’s coming a few days a week, not always long, sometimes until the late hours, though you tell him desserts are a Friday only occasion. He complies grudgingly. 

You make your first friend in years, and it’s so sweet you don’t know what to do with yourself. 

Or what possesses you to offer to cut his hair. 

Eddie's sitting on the couch with Junie, his big thigh to her little one and a picture book spread between them whilst you clean the kitchen. He's not reading to her – she's trying to read to him. She can't read, of course, but she can remember some of the words in relation to the pictures. She pokes at the blue cat and says blue. She pokes at the blue dog and says blue. She also points at the red cat and says blue. It's a learning curve. 

Eddie gives corrections and encouragements just as you would. You smile at him from behind your cup of water. 

"He's red, sweetheart," he murmurs, arm around her shoulder to hold the book's edges. "Red cat." 

"Red cat," she repeats with enough accuracy to make you choke on your water. 

Eddie gasps almost as loud as you do. "Right! Red cat! You're so smart, junebug, I can't believe it," he praises, squeezing her shoulder. His gaze meets yours and he smiles. 

You send him back your sweetest smile. If he wasn't always so nice to you you'd like him anyway because of how he treats Junie, like she's the fucking sun. 

She gets so excited when other people are happy that she starts laughing, standing up and trampling all over his legs to give him a hug. She's given him half hugs, she's fallen asleep by his side and loves to pet his hair, but this is a proper, tactile hug. Her arms wind around his neck with purpose and as soon as his surprise has faded he brings his arms up to hug her in turn, laughing delightedly. 

"You're such a smarty-pants," he praises, rubbing her back with a boyish brashness. 

She squeals as he squeezes her, his fingers digging into her ribs. Never cruel, only tickling her. She eats up every second of it and buries her face in his neck, laughing her wound up baby laugh that always brings a smile to your face. 

"Ooh, she's so smart. First blue, then red. Next you'll be saying indigo, and vermillion, and-" 

He cuts off when Junie gets one of her nails caught in his hair. She jolts and whines like it hurts and he goes rigid. You move forward to play mediator but he's already pulling her away gently and making small shushing sounds. "Chill out," he chides lightly, "I got it. Here." He pulls the hair from under her fingernail and rubs the pad of his thumb over her hand. "Sorry, I'm sorry," he apologises, pouting at her scowl. He envelops her hand in his and waves it around. "Forgive me?" 

She doesn't learn her lesson, pushing her hands back into his hair, probably less kind than what’s ideal. Eddie doesn't flinch. 

You sit on the armrest gingerly. "Can I ask you something?"

Eddie looks over Junie’s head. "What's that?" 

"Have you always had long hair?" 

He doesn't balk. "No, of course not. I fu-" He clears his throat. "My mom was the best, and I fit in just like everybody else growing up. When I ended up with Wayne I was-" He smiles. It's the kind of rueful grimace that says, You didn't ask for this.

You smile encouragingly.

He drops his gaze to Junie, worming his arms around her in a loose hug as she continues to play with his hair. "I was mad about everything, and I remember him asking when I wanted to get my hair trimmed and I said ‘never’. Took a few years for it to grow past the awkward stage," he bares his teeth and nods toward his shoulder, as if allowing his past misdemeanour. "But now I'd say it looks pretty sweet." 

"I love your hair," you say. 

Eddie beams. "You don't think it's too long?" 

Emboldened by his reaction, you slip off of the armrest to sit next to him, turning in until your knees touch. Junie, loyal as she is, climbs straight into your lap with a babble. 

You pat her back with one hand and raise the other cautiously for permission. Eddie flares his eyes wide, as if to say, You want to? Go on. 

You take a lock of his hair between your fingers like Junie had moments before. "I like it like this." 

"But?" 

You look at the ends, an inch of limpness where the rest curls. "You haven't had it cut since you were a kid?" 

"Maybe not that long, but it's been a while. I do it myself sometimes." He gestures to his bangs. He speaks quietly. A rarity though not unknown for him to be so hushed. 

You tuck the curl you'd been examining behind his ear carefully. 

"Do you think my hair looks good?" you ask. 

"Sh- Sorry, of course I do. I swear I was gonna-"

You shake your head, laughing. "Not like that. What I mean is, I cut my own hair. I cut Junie's, too, and I could do yours if you wanted me to." 

He goes quiet. 

"Only if you wanted. I know it's a lot of trust, so-" 

"Would you do it now?" 

You hold Junie's head away from yours to prevent a loving headbut. "Right now?" 

"I'm in dire need." 

He throws his big brown puppy dog eyes your way and you couldn't say no if you wanted to. 

You explain how he needs to get it wet first and how the shower head in the bathroom doesn't detach. "It's, like, built into the wall." 

"I could go home, come back?" he suggests. 

"I can do it over the sink?" 

-

Eddie can't remember the last time somebody washed his hair for him. He knows there must've been a time, some place in his life where his mom or dad had done it for him. He thinks that, if he'd asked, Wayne would've tried it once or twice growing up, but now Eddie's most definitely at the age where having his hair washed is a foreign luxury. 

And it does feel luxurious.

It shouldn't; the sink basin is very small as they tend to be in the trailer kitchenettes – small sink, small stove, small small small – and Eddie has to crane his neck. Already the space between his shoulder blades aches from being bent over, and he can't breathe well, smothered by steam. 

But your hands. One shields his eyes from run off, a gesture unnecessary and far from lost on him, while the other massages shampoo into his scalp. He'd been surprised when you started because you hadn't mentioned washing his hair, and he'd said, "You don't have to do that." 

You'd hummed. "Well, it's kind of a waste not to." 

That was that. 

Your nails scratch lightly against his scalp and if his eyes weren't already closed they would've fluttered shut. He nibbles his lip and tries very hard not to show outwardly how nice it feels. Your left upper arm rubs against his back as you scrub at his roots, your right soaking wet beside his face, covering his eyes uselessly. He doesn't mention it. All this touching, he doesn't want it to end.

Your proximity honest-to-God sets him on fire. Your body pressed to his is a flame over his ribs. 

"Maybe we shouldn't cut it at all," you say, stroking wet bangs away from his forehead. "It's soooo long." 

"Can’t do it?" he teases.

"Keep your eyes closed, okay? I'm gonna rinse." 

It's a comforting process. You dip your cup into the water. It fills with a wet glug, the rim shushing against the basin's bottom. You hold it over his head and pour carefully, heat caressing his scalp as the soap is washed away. 

It's over too soon. You grab the towel you'd procured and tuck it around his shoulders, wringing all the excess water from his curls back into the sink. You encourage his head up wordlessly and he stands there, arms useless against the countertops edge, water sloughing down his face as you press the ends flat between your hands. 

You lift his head and push his hair back with your hands, raking your fingers through it and laughing as soon as his face appears. "Eddie! I'm sorry, you're totally drowning." 

He chuckles. They fade away as you pinch the corner of the towel and start to dab his face dry, dragging the rough material over his cheeks with an expression he can't read on your pretty features. Almost pensive, not quite. 

"There," you say under your breath. "Saved you." 

"My hero." 

You smile at him softly before spinning on your heel. "I gotta find the hairbrush. And the good scissors." You look into the living room quickly and then turn to the hall leading to your bedroom. 

Eddie looks into the living room too. Junie's not upto much, only watching TV, unusually subdued. He doesn't disturb her despite the itch to go over and play.

One of the muppets starts laughing about something and she laughs too. 

"What are you smiling about?" you whisper from behind him. 

"Nothing," he says quickly.

You raise your eyebrows. "She has a nice laugh, right? Doesn't matter how bad I feel, she laughs and everything's okay for a little while." 

He feels a fond stab in his chest. "Her laugh's like yours." 

"I guess we do sound the same." 

You do, but it's not really what he'd meant. 

The metal sound of scissors snapping. You wield them at him faux-threateningly and shepherd him into a chair you've dragged to the middle of the kitchen. 

Eddie fights goosebumps as you pull a brush through his hair, loses when you take a lock at the front between two fingers and stop about an inch and a half from the end. 

"I'm gonna do that much, okay?" 

You're a quiet hairdresser. Eddie doesn't care, he can talk for Indiana, but there's something so sweetly simple about the quietude, just your hands in his hair, the snipping of your scissors and Junie's occasional excited chattering. You start to hum a song Eddie doesn't recognise about halfway through. It's melancholy. He doubts you realise what you're doing. 

You draw silent as you round to the front. Eddie watches your hands work for what feels like hours. You have really pretty hands, not perfect, burnt fingertips and neat little nails. They smell like honey hand soap.

You pull two locks from the front together to make sure they're the same length. His curls will hide any discrepancy, he knows from experience, but he doesn't want to tell you that. Selfishly, he wants that extra time with you this close. 

You work your way between his legs to comb his half-dried bangs. Eddie looks up at you with wide eyes.

"You want me to trim these, too?" you ask quietly. 

"If you please." 

You huff a laugh through your nose and start to trim his bangs carefully. He closes his eyes, and maybe it's the fact that he can't see you that gives him the confidence to reach out for your hip, a touch that can't be defined as amicable. He curls his fingers into the soft material of your shirt and feels the heat of your skin underneath. 

You draw closer, as close as you can be. 

"What made you decide on bangs?" you ask. 

"Zits, mostly." 

He can feel your laugh under his hand. 

"I used to… I used to powder my face," you confide, a murmur, "like, an inch thick to try and hide everything. Being pregnant makes you so-" You pause to snip some hair, comb it away. It tickles his face. "Well, it makes you spotty. Or it made me spotty. It actually made me really sick." 

"That's must've sucked," he says earnestly. 

"It- Yeah. I guess it did. I don't know." 

He hadn't meant to bring up something unhappy, but he's hungry to know. "Were you on your own?" 

"Mostly." 

"What was the worst part?" 

"Being scared all the time."

He'd been expecting morning sickness or aching feet. "You were scared?" 

"I honestly thought I was gonna die, Eddie." 

He opens his eyes and leans back in his chair, hand flexing over your hip, as he tries to tamp down his surprise. 

"It was," you mess with his bangs with the tip of your ring finger, "hard. I felt sick all the time, and when I didn't I would make myself sick worrying about her. What if I eat something or I catch something and it hurts her? What if- what if it all works out perfectly and then I can't look after her?" 

"Did it work out perfect?" 

You rub your lips together. "Uh, I guess so. It took a long time, and it hurt," you sound especially unhappy with that part. 

He strokes up your waist, wanting to soothe the small crease between your eyebrows. "By yourself?" 

"Yeah, by myself." 

"I'm sorry." 

You tuck his hair behind his ear and grin at him. "Now what are you sorry for?" Your hand lingers near his cheek. Slowly, you turn it, pressing the knuckle of your index finger into the skin under his eye and rubbing a small line. He worries he’s in love with you right then and there. "Not like you're the one who knocked me up." 

You drop your hand and Eddie really doesn't want you to go anywhere, his grip kind but steadfast, bringing the other arm behind your back in a loose hug. "Who was it?" 

"Just some guy. Nobody. Nobody worth thinking about." 

"How old were you?" he asks. 

"Why are you asking me all this stuff?"

"I wanna know about you." 

You bring your hands to the towel around his neck and pull on it mildly. "I was sixteen. Seventeen when I had her." 

He drags his fingertips up and down the small of your back lightly, almost like he's playing guitar. "I'm sorry you were all by yourself. That young. When I was sixteen I was still watching The Bugs Bunny Show."

You giggle and your hands move up to the side of his neck. He can hardly breathe, afraid to dispel whatever enchantment it is that he's under. 

"Could be worse, huh? I'm nineteen and I still watch Muppet Babies," you joke. 

"Why wouldn't you? It's the pinnacle of modern television." 

"Yeah?" 

Your beaming smile hits him straight in the chest. He thinks about how beautiful you look and can't stop, hiding his face in your stomach to stop from saying something stupid, laughing loud. You laugh in tandem, hugging the back of his head until your giggles peter out. 

A small hand on his arm. You both turn at the same time and find a very unhappy Junie.

"What?" you ask her. Then, teasing, "Are you jealous?" 

You lean down to pick her up. Eddie's gutted to lose your touch and then quickly exuberant when Junie ducks out of your arms to grab at his legs. 

"Oh my god, yes," he says, holding out his hands. 

Junie tries to take them and he slips them under his arm, pulling her onto his thigh with a big sigh. The sigh is half the fun, a theatrical reluctance when really he's always happy to have her climbing on him. 

As soon as she's in his lap she's pleased, turning her head so she can watch the TV across the room. 

You roll your eyes at his smug smile. "Shut up. She just wants what other people have." 

"And you had me?" 

"Shut up, Munson, seriously," you say. You don't sound half as mad as you're trying to. 

Eddie takes a drying curl between his fingers and pokes at the side of Junie's face. "Whatever you want, sweetheart," he says, grinning when your daughter starts to squirm on his thigh. 

He grins at her and tickles her until she's curling in with her chin dropped to her chest, smiling despite herself. 

His fondness colours every word as he croons, "I got you." 

Junie sounds about as outraged as a toddler can be when he tickles her nose and then drags the tip of the freshly trimmed curl under her eye. He draws a big circle around one of her cheeks until it's kissing her chin. She dissolves into giggles while squirming to get away from him and so he stops, only for her to blink and tug at his wrist. 

He tickles her until she's screaming. 

You pause on your knees where you'd been sweeping up his trimmed hair to look up at her and he's struck with guilt. "Y/N, you don't have to do that. I'll do it." 

"No, you're okay." 

Eddie finds his gaze drawn to your thighs, spread out as they are in your kneeling position, and then stolen by Junie as she almost topples off of his lap. 

"I think…" he begins quietly, speaking to Junie though it's just as much for you, "that your mom deserves something nice for my haircut. What do you think?" 

"I don't think that," you say. 

"Wasn't asking you," he says seriously. Back in baby mode he continues,  "What's mommy like, huh? What's her favourite thing in the whole world, besides you?" 

"Sleep," you say. 

"Well, I can't help you there." 

"You help me there all the time. Junie sleeps like a log every Friday." 

"Food coma," he says knowledgeably. 

"You really don't have to get me anything, Eddie. My services were administered charitably." 

He pushes his hands behind Junie's back and pulls her to his chest before standing. When he has her secure in one arm he pulls the chair back to your small table and tucks it in.

"Get up," he says to you. "I'll do it, alright? Swap with me." 

You ignore him until he starts kicking you in the leg. "You're ridiculous!"

"You're ridiculous. Seriously, get up. You're not a serf." He returns your glare. "I'm a big boy, I can clean up after myself." 

"It's my house." 

"If you don't let me-" 

"Christ! Okay." You drop the dustpan and brush sullenly, wiping your hands together as you stand before taking Junie out of his arms. "I'll make dinner." 

"No you won't! I'm gonna order takeout," he says factually, already on his knees and sweeping. 

"No you're not." 

"I am. Me and June already talked about it. She's craving Marino's pizza." 

"I'm not gonna let you use the phone." 

"I'll walk to my place and order the pizza to here." 

"Eddie-" 

"Why are you being a hardass?" he asks. 

"Fine! God, clean up your gross hair and order your stupid pizza. You're making me crazy," you say, collapsing onto the sofa with a little oomf, Junie's weight hitting you hard in the chest. She moves into a sitting position and pulls your shirt up, hands moving across the space under your chest. 

Eddie throws himself into cleaning all the mess you'd made for him, the hair and the towel and the sopping wet draining board. He washes the dirty baby bowl on the side and fills up one of Junie's bottles with water, then a glass for you. He hasn't seen either of you drinking a thing since he's been here, likely his fault for distracting you. 

He's about to call for pizza when he peers past the cabinets and sees you dozing on the couch. He decides pizza can wait until tomorrow; it's later than he realised. 

Junie's halfway across the room with Mr. Bear playing make believe. She talks and talks and talks, gibberish to him but what's likely an unending, complicated storyline, no doubt. 

Eddie approaches with the bottle already outstretched. "Junie," he says, and when she doesn't answer, "Junebug. Junie. Junie." Each iteration of her name softer and sweeter than the first, hoping to entice her in. 

He holds the bottle in front of her face.

She finally looks up with a pout. 

"For you," he says, offering the water. 

She seems mildly interested as she takes it, turning back to her teddy and talking around the teat like it's not there. 

You're struggling to keep your eyes open. Eddie gives the room a quick once over before kneeling down in front of you, tugging your shirt down to cover your exposed tummy as he says, "I should head home." 

You blink at him and turn onto your side, cheek squishing into the couch cushion. 

"Okay? Why don't you and Junebug head to bed?" he asks, using a tone not far from what he'd use with your daughter. 

"You know, her full name's Juniper," you whisper. 

He didn't know. "Really? I love that." 

You wrinkle your nose, sounding very tired as you continue, "But someone told me it sounded like a name for a cat. So I've called her Junie ever since."

"It doesn't sound like a cat's name," he placates. "It's beautiful. You chose well." 

"Yeah?" 

Eddie smiles at you fondly, eyes tracing down your nose to your lips, shiny with balm. He tilts his head to the side to mimic yours. He could kiss you. 

"Sounds like the name of an elf. Juniper Lightfoot, or… Goldwind. She could even be a mage. Juniper the Brave." 

"Juniper the Loveliest," you say, and then grin. "Juniper the Hungriest." 

"Juniper the All Great and Hungriest," Eddie says decidedly. 

"Would you make her a hero, in your game?" you ask. 

"Of course I would. She wouldn't even need to divide, she'd just conquer." 

"What about me?" 

"What, would you be a hero?" 

You nod. He doesn't know why, but he thinks his answer is going to hold a lot of weight with you. 

"You would be," he starts quietly, words painted slowly as he raises a hand to rest on your wrist, pinky finger spread over the hill of your thumb, "a fighter. With insight and survival." 

"I don't know what that means," you say. 

He leans in. "It means yes, you'd be a hero. You'd save kingdoms. Slay dragons." He squeezes your wrist. 

"I think I better leave all that stuff for Junie. I'll just cheer you guys on from the sidelines." 

"You're her mom, she can't do it without you. And even if she could I bet she wouldn't want to. Where's all the fun in guts and glory if you can't share it?" he asks, rubbing his thumb over your skin.

Your eyes shut. Eddie doesn't know if it's from fatigue or a want to end this conversation. He feels marginally embarrassed for descending into nerd metaphor with you, but he thinks it's the kind of thing you needed to hear. He thinks if Junie could understand how often her mom prioritises her and misses out for her she'd want to fix that. Eddie doesn't know you half as well as she does and it breaks his heart sometimes to watch you insist on a smaller portion, to watch you put things back at the grocery store because she wants a box of milk duds, even to watch you wear yourself out ironing baby clothes in the only pair of pajamas you own. 

"Make sure you lock the deadbolt behind me," he says carefully. You hum. He gives your wrist one last squeeze. 

Junie looks tired in that she's getting agitated, whimpering under her breath. Eddie ducks down to give her upper arm a good rub. "Why don't you go cuddle with your mom?" he asks her, turning her by the shoulder so that you're in her eye-line. "Go have a lie down." 

He doesn't know whether what he says makes any difference but you extend your arms out and Junie walks towards you, big staggered steps that make him laugh to himself as he pushes into his unlaced converse. 

"Don't forget to lock up," he says in place of a farewell. 

"Goodnight, Eddie," you say. 

He waves. You're both too tired to wave back. 

He's surprised to find his Uncle Wayne still home when he gets in, shoving into his work boots with a grunted hello.

"Hey." 

"Did you cut your hair?" Wayne asks, perplexed, a little gruff. 

"Junie's mom did it for me." 

"'Junie's mom,'" Wayne quotes dryly, slugging his bag over his shoulder. He's heard all about Junie's mom.

Eddie scratches the back of his neck and splutters when a big hand claps his back, a demonstration of Wayne's pity as he passes through the open door. 

Eddie spins to watch him jog down the steps. "We're friends," Eddie calls. 

"Don't be dumb," his uncle says without turning back. 

"I'm not exactly known for being smart," Eddie says to himself, cheeks heated by a furious blush. 

𓆩❤︎𓆪

thank you for reading! | my masterlist | multi-chapter

if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡

OMG there’s a new chapter!!!!!! Freaking love the wholesomeness! The pacing and progression of the relationship between Eddie and y/n is fantastic. If you need a little pick me up, this is it. But the building tension is gonna kill me. Can’t wait for the next chapter.❤️❤️❤️

𝐣𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 | 𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫  

part one | part two

summary you're a single mom living three trailers down. eddie thinks you're the prettiest girl he's ever seen. now friends, you, eddie and junie take a trip to the city. queue oreos with double the cream, a sock related mishap, a display of strength, storybooks, matching pajamas, a velveteen rabbit and a tray of cupcakes to eat on the drive home [15k]

warnings teen mom!reader, fem!reader, r is junie's birth mother, fluff, hurt/comfort, eddie being a total girl dad (<3), mutual pining, yearning etc, tw for not having much money, general mom struggles :(, slowburn friends to lovers, eddie’s mom implied to have passed away, mention of past falsely presumed self-harm (not graphic, just baby eddie scratching a rash and wayne worrying), hair tourniquet + intense panic

𓆩❤︎𓆪

Eddie doesn't mean to come knocking. He's staring at the ceiling with an open tray of Oreos on his chest, chewing through the boredom of a Monday evening and the pain of an aching back when he thinks of you and Junie. 

Toddlers like cookies, right?

He shoves his socked feet into poorly laced converse and turns out all the lights as he leaves. The door slams shut behind him, a rattling of metal ringing into the crisp night while he takes his steps two at a time. 

He starts up the street to your trailer and slows as your home comes into view. The lights are on, the curtains open. You stand in the middle of the room with your eyes closed, stretching to one side with your arms held high above your head. He can see the moment your back pops, see the tension of the day slip away just slightly. The exposed stretch of your tummy shines in the light.

You say something to Junie. He decides to stop acting like a stalker and bumps up your steps, hesitating at the door with a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

What the fuck was he going to say? Hey, guys, I brought a half-eaten tray of cookies. Um. Because I missed you both? Sorry if that's weird? 

"What kind of loser…" he scathes. He doesn't finish, bringing his hand to the door and knocking with a haphazard explanation waiting on the tip of his tongue. 

You open the door a short few seconds later. You smile wide, wide enough to open the yawning gap in his chest all over again. Tonight when he goes home he'll have to close it like he has to so often lately after seeing you. Pretend his feelings for you – whatever they are – are smaller, less terrifying. 

"Eddie," you say, and the gap stretches with how you say it, fond and warm and breezy. "Hey, where's your jacket? It's too cold to walk over here without one." 

He doesn't have to explain himself at all, as it turns out. You open the door and step aside to let him past. 

He grins at you. "Thought I'd brave the great outdoors without any armour." 

You nod like it isn't all nonsense to you and maybe it isn't, maybe being friends with him is clueing you in to all his fantastical lingo. He likes you more for it either way, especially when you say, "You need a healing potion. It's freezing."  

You're embarrassed at your attempt. Eddie can't believe how cute you are, lost for words and flailing. His chest warms with affection.

Junie saves you both, whizzing down out of the nest of pillows where she'd been buried on the couch and across the room with surprising speed and accuracy, barrelling for his knees. He grins as she wraps herself around them and starts talking. 

It's mostly unintelligible until she says, "Hi! Hi, Eddie!" 

He hugs her back with his hand. "Hi, Junie. Good evening." 

"Good," she manages in return. She's all but mastered good morning and afternoon but evening continues to elude her. 

"What were you watching? Your Muppet Babies?" He looks at the screen to find Kermit, the green frog, singing a song. "Been doing some singing practice for the band?" 

"You want coffee?" you ask. Aforementioned healing potion. "I have decaf." 

"I brought cookies." 

"Warm milk it is," you declare, disappearing behind one of the kitchen cabinets. 

Your bravado makes him laugh. 

He finds his attention stolen once again by your lovely daughter when she complains, glaring up at him fiercely and coveting his hand. He balances the Oreos on your table by the door and offers her both, naked of their usual rings bar one. 

Junie drags him over to her pillows and tries to climb back up. She refuses to let go of his hand, making it an insurmountable feat. Eddie awes at her efforts and helps her back into the nest, hands closing around her small waist and lifting. 

He drops her into the pillows with just enough roughness to garner a laugh. "Sorry, my hands slipped. Hey, what's going on here, junebug? This isn't your usual hangout." 

"I felt bad because she's always on the floor," you call from the kitchen. He can see your hands and your torso through the gap of countertop and cabinets. You pour milk into a pan on the stovetop and tap your fingers against the handle frenetically. He wonders if you're anxious about something. 

Junie whines until Eddie sits next to her. As soon as he's situated she takes his hand again insistently and turns her attention to the television. He rubs the soft, small back of her hand with a less soft thumb and peers down the way at you. 

"She loves the floor,” he says.

"I know," you mumble ruefully. A tad theatric. He must be rubbing off on you. "I had to bribe her into sitting on the couch." 

"Yeah? What's the tab?" 

"A few dozen kisses and all the pillows from my bed." 

"Shame it wasn't half a tray of cookies." 

"I think those might help me out." 

After you've poured the milk into two tall glasses, you admit to him in a smaller voice that you're not sure if Junie likes Oreos. 

"'Cos they're bitter?" he asks. 

Milk in hand, you sit in the free seat next to Eddie and try not to sound as embarrassed as he knows you're feeling when you say, "She's never had them." 

"I'll bring chocolate chip next time." 

You shake your head vehemently. "You don't have to bring anything, ever." 

"I like sugar." 

You smile at him like you know he's trying to make you feel better, a touch shame-faced. He smiles at you in return and hopes it shows how much it doesn't matter – bringing snacks with him when he visits is hardly a generosity. You're friends. 

He keeps trying to have that conversation with you, about sharing and money and all that terrible, embarrassing hardship that isn't embarrassing whatsoever but the words taste like chalk in his mouth.

Instead, he offers the hand that hasn't been stolen by Junie to you for a glass of milk. "One of those for me?" 

You pass it to him. 

"Why'd you feel bad? You're not forcing her," he says as he takes a sip. 

"You don't think it looks cruel?" 

"No way. She's one of the happiest babies I've ever met, who cares if she lies on the floor?" 

"How many babies do you know?" 

"One." 

You're laughing when you say, "I don't know. I think it's a habit. But we have a couch, so she should sit on it." 

Eddie retrieves the Oreos. Junie watches curiously as he peels open the tray, four rows, two empty and two full of black and white cookies. 

He takes one and passes it to you without looking at you. Eye contact gives you the opportunity to reject it. 

When he's heard the soft crunch of your first bite, glass of milk between his knees, Eddie holds an oreo up purposefully and twists. "See, Junie?"

He licks a big stripe over the vanilla cream. The cream spreads edge to edge as he pushes both sides back together. Softened by a generous dip in milk, he eats the cookie in one vagabond bite. 

"You wanna try?" he asks when he's done. 

Big hands over her small ones, Eddie shows her how to twist an Oreo open. She brings the cookie with the least of the cream to her mouth and bites it. Her pout wobbles in mild disgust. Eddie tries not to laugh. 

She has to like Oreos. They're a staple. 

"Let me show you," he says gently, taking the cream heavy side out of her hands. Dark crumbs stain his fingers as he holds it up to her face. "You gotta lick it." 

She doesn't want to, evidenced by her wrinkled nose and untrusting gaze. 

"You'll have to do it for her," he tells you gravely. 

Moving to kneel in front of him, you take the oreo out of his hands and lick it before stealing back the half of the cookie Junie had been munching on and squishing them back together. You dunk her sandwich in milk and press it to her lips until she deigns to take a small bite. 

"Yummy?" you ask.

She takes the cookie back, a mess of dark black mush collecting at the corners of her mouth as she eats it.

You gaze up at him from the floor. Your eyes look damn pretty, more so when he offers the tray to you, your smile a beacon. "I haven't had Oreos since I was a kid," you say excitedly.

"Do they taste like you remember?" 

You rest your hand on his knee and lean in. "They need more of the filling," you say secretively. 

"Yeah?" Eddie's in motion, twisting one oreo apart and then another. He takes the halves with the most cream and pushes them together. 

One oreo, twice the cream.

You giggle as he passes it to you. "Oh my god." You're giddy, arm heavy on his thigh. 

You eat it like it's something crazy expensive, all smiley and indulgent. You look so pleased that he immediately starts to make you another. 

"Eddie," you protest, covering your mouth, "don't, don't waste them." 

"I won’t waste them. I like the cookie more than the cream,” he lies. 

"Oh." 

You finish your oreo. Eddie can’t find it in himself to be modest about it; you’re smiling and it’s his doing and that fills him with pleasure. 

He watches you mistreat his jeans as you chew the second, your fingers pulling distractedly at the rips. You tuck your hand underneath, white threads tensing over your knuckles and fingerprints brushing over his kneecap, your entire face cringing as a thread snaps from the pressure. 

Eddie looks away quickly. He can feel your eyes on him and has to bite back a smile as you assess if you’ve been caught. 

You could ruin them completely for all he cares. 

Junie makes happy noises beside him. She’s realised the middle of the Oreo is the sweetest and has split one open in her hands. A terrible mess ensues, cocoa powder fingerprints smattered over the pillows she’s buried in and vanilla cream marring her nose in a sticky line.

“Could you make any more of a mess for your poor mom?” he asks. The rhetoric is lost on her; she says something cheerful and holds her hand out for another cookie. 

Her face — expectant, small, cute, all of it evokes an uncontrollable urge to do whatever it is she wants him to do. 

“Is that, like, a kid thing?” he asks. 

You pull your fingertips away from his skin and cock your head. “What?”

He splits an oreo and offers Junie the cream-heavy half, clarifying through a mouthful of dark cookie, “Following her every command.”

You sit at full height. He instantly misses the heat of your front to his knees, the way you’d draped yourself over him familiarly, and is wondering how he might begin to convince you to do so again as you think it over. 

“I don’t know. Maybe. It might just be a Junie thing, but I guess that’s immature to think. S’pose it’s hormones or something. Like when cats meow.”

He giggles at you. Hormones? Cats?

“What?” you ask, half defensive, half sheepish. 

“I just- I love it when you talk like that.”

“Like what?” 

He shrugs and takes another pull of milk to think of a way to say, Well, when you’re tired you get nonsensical, and it’s charming how confident you are but hard to follow without offending you. Is there a way to say that without offending you? Or worse, without revealing every wretched feeling he has for you?

“I sounded pretty stupid,” you summarise. 

“No! Never. I love that you think like that. That you’d think about cats meowing.”

“They do it to manipulate us,” you explain. 

He can almost see the heat of an embarrassed flush radiating off of your cheeks, the press of your lips so endearing he almost leans forward to feel it. He can imagine it, his thumb over your mouth, the pad pulling down your bottom lip. 

There’s an arrogance in thinking you’d let him. 

“Jungle cats, tigers and lions and stuff, they don’t meow,” and you’re still going! He has to cover his mouth with his hand to stop from bursting. “Because they don’t need to. They have no idea what a baby sounds like, and they don’t need us to take care of them so they’ve never learned how to meow. Babies are like that. We hear them crying and we want it to stop.” You have a smile on your face that says, I don’t know if what I’m saying is true, but I’m gonna pretend it is. Pretend with me?

Eddie’s all about pretending. “Cats are master manipulators,” he eggs you on, "but you realise not everyone wants babies to stop the way you do? Some people just don’t like babies.” 

“That’s okay. More babies for me.” You lean out to tap his forehead. “Touch wood.”

“What?” he asks. 

“Touch wood,” you repeat. “I don’t actually want more babies right now, don’t wanna jinx myself by saying it, so I had to touch wood. You don’t have that superstition?”

“Are you saying my head is made of wood?” 

Your sudden laugh is stunning; he can’t bring himself to be offended. 

When Junie's had more Oreos than she should've and the milk's all gone Eddie stands up before you can do it yourself and takes the empty glasses with him, putting them on the kitchen counter with a click. 

He grabs an almost empty pack of wet wipes off of the top of the refrigerator and sits down next to Junie, talking fast in hopes of distracting her.

"I got a call last night," he begins, pulling a wet wipe from the pack and taking Junie's wrist into his hand. He doesn't use the wipe at first, tryimg to convince her that this is all affection. "The phone went ring ring," he rolls the sound around, "and I was thinking, who the heck is calling me so late?" 

He plays up his outrage but keeps a huge smile in place as he works his thumb into Junie's palm, tickling in circles. 

"So I answer the phone, and I say, who is this? And you know who it is?" 

Junie waits, looking like she might be close to laughing. And he's just getting started. 

Eddie takes a deep breath. "Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here! Is this Junie on the other end?" 

What his impression lacks in accuracy it makes up in enthusiasm. 

Her little mouth opens. He wipes the corners with the wet wipe and then her chin. "So I said, no, Mr. Frog, I'm Junie's neighbour. I'm Eddie.

"Kermit said, you can call me Kermit, thank you very much. Mr. Frog was my father." 

You snort beside him. He tries not to look at you because he knows your happy face will stop him in his tracks, your laughter enough to make him smile and break character.

He squares his expression and begins again. "I need to talk to Juniper, it's very important." He wipes down her sticky hands, her stained fingers and palms, worse than smug when she doesn't complain and pull them away. "I said, I'm sorry Mr. Kermit but I can't put her on, she's all safe and snug in bed with her mom. And Kermit said, oh, okay. Well, please tell Junie this." 

Junie's looking up at him, surprised, very pleased, practically wiggling in her seat. She's lovely. Just like her mom. 

He doesn't want to do the voice for this part, struck with a sudden sense of awe. "She is… the smartest, most prettiest, loving little girl in the whole world." 

Eddie beams at her and drops her damp hands. When he impersonates Kermit this time, he's trying as hard as he can. "I'd only like her more if she were green!" 

-

You're clinging to sanity. 

It's Wednesday, it's washing day, and you haven't managed a single load of clothes since you got home because Junie won't stop crying. This isn't new; babies cry constantly and toddlers aren't much different. But, it's been three hours. She's too old for colic. 

Junie has screamed, she's sobbed, she's slapped her tiny hands into your chest. You know she doesn't mean to hurt you, she's just communicating her panic. That doesn't stop the growing distress. 

You're terrified. 

You've found yourself in tears, too. 

"Just tell me, baby," you plead. 

It's useless. She screams so loud her voice cracks, and you decide that nows the time. You have to go to the hospital. 

You don't think you can let her go long enough to strap her into her car seat. Immediately, you think of Eddie. You don't even lock the door. The small walk to his house feels a block long.

He must hear her crying as you approach because the door swings open just as you mount the first step. You backtrack. 

"I'm really sorry," you say quickly, knowing this isn't something he ever signed up for. "I don't know what to do, she won't stop and I think there's something wrong." Your voice wobbles.

There's a huge flash of something akin to the panic you're feeling over his face but he pushes it away, descending the steps two at a time. His hand immediately comes up to your shoulder, fingers curled into your shirt. 

"Chill out," he says, more stern than you've ever heard him. It’s surreal to see him turn like that. Almost like he’s become one of his characters, the voices he does for Junie’s story books. 

You take a ragged breath. 

"I'm serious. You need to calm down. You understand?" 

Junie gives a blistering shout and your face crumples. "Eddie," you say. 

"Can I hold her?" he asks, softer. 

You can see in his face that he isn't sure, that he's out of his depth, but you're so desperate for a life raft that you nod and squeeze your eyes closed, passing her into his waiting arms. Everytime she cries – every wicked intake of air and every subsequent bellowing sob makes your chest ache. You have a splitting headache. Honestly, you're worried you might fall over. 

"How long has she been crying?" he asks, looking over her face and shoulders with a perplexed frown. 

"Hours. At first I thought she was tired or- or hungry but I've tried everything, Eddie, everything." 

"She was like this when you picked her up?" 

You nod. 

He pats her back, the other hand rubbing down one of her legs soothingly. "Did she hurt herself?" He's looking at you without an ounce of judgement.

"Not- not that I know of." You'd looked under her shirt and trousers already. She doesn't have a single bruise. 

He starts to walk back towards your home. You don't follow at first and he reaches out to grab your arm, pulling you along as he says, "Come on, sweetheart. We'll go down to Hawkins general, yeah? Just to be safe." 

"Yeah." 

Junie screams. "It's okay, sweetheart," Eddie says, again and again and again. He doesn't hesitate, his voice velveteen. 

His hand stays on your arm until you're by the car. He's never done a car seat before and you can tell: he tucks her into it with infinite care but can't work out how to do the buckles. You laugh wetly and then feel very guilty. wiping your face with one hand before ducking down to do them yourself. Junie glares at you as you do, still very much crying and now incensed at being strapped in. 

You stand back to take her in and push your thumbs across her wet cheeks and under her snotty nose uselessly, feeling so sorry for her, so guilty. Why can't you work out what's wrong? Why can't you fix it? 

Eddie stands by your side, waiting.

“You got it,” he encourages as you pull back. "You're okay."

You smile weakly and then narrow your eyes, the two of you seeing it at the same time – Junie reaching desperately for her sock. 

You peel it off with shaking hands and feel another hot shock of tears. There, around one of her toes, is a tourniquet. The skin is swollen but looks unbroken, darkened by blood 

You smile because Oh my god, this is what's wrong, and then you panic twice as much as you had before, because Oh my god, her tiny toe. 

"Eddie, I need- I need something. I need a- a nail scissors or-" You drag your hands down your face, in the thick of it. Adrenaline or cortisol or something must race through your veins, your hands shaking with it.

Eddie pulls you back by the hem of your shirt. "We can't cut it away. You'll never get the blade under that- What is that? A hair?" 

"Yeah. A hair." 

A lightbulb moment. You brush past him and almost fall up the steps back into your trailer. 

"Stay there," you say without any explanation. 

You step over the mess you'd left behind and barrel into the bathroom, clipping your shoulder on the bathroom door and slamming onto your knees. 

You're lucky you have it, a tiny pot of hair removal cream in an old makeup bag under the sink. Resisting the urge to kiss the lid, you rush back out to the car where Eddie holds one of Junie's hands in his. He looks an impossible mixture of worried and relieved when you reappear. 

You elbow digs into his chest as you lean over, opening the cream and smearing a line over Junie's swollen toe. She whimpers and shouts and tries desperately to get out of the carseat and, to your devastation, away from you.

"What is that?" Eddie asks from behind you.

"A hair remover." 

You wipe the delapitor clumsily into your only good jeans so you can take both of Junie's arms into your hands. She doesn't want to be touched but you need to be holding her, at least a little bit. 

"How long does it take?"

"I'm not sure… Not long. If it doesn't work we'll still have to go to the hospital." 

Eddie pushes his hands into the top of your back in answer, his fingers curling either side of your neck like he might give you a massage. You shudder as he pulls you against him, as his fingers trace an invisible pattern.

Junie looks up at you both. Her wounded expression loosens. Maybe she's realised that you've figured out her problem, maybe she's just glad to be looked at. Either way, she subdues. 

The hair removal cream's acrid smell tickles your stuffed up nose. You sniffle and Eddie's fingers work into your neck lightly, a silent and unwavering It's okay.

You don't see the hair snap so much as you see the pressure wean. You smother a sob, your relief palpable as you pull your shirt sleeve down to cover your hand and wipe it away. Junie shrieks. 

You take the hair between your nails and pull.

"Oh my god," you say, holding it up between you. 

Everything feels a little bit hazy after that. Eddie rubs your shoulders placatingly before encouraging you away from the door so he can unclip Junie and pull her out of her car seat. He guides you away from the car and back into your trailer, over the mess and into the kitchen. 

You sit heavily in a battered kitchen chair. Eddie stands in front of you, Junie on his hip and a frown warping his pretty features. She grizzles, less when he sets her down in your lap carefully. 

"Is that okay?" he asks softly. Then, when you nod, "Are you okay? You look like you're gonna pass out." 

"I don't feel well." 

"No, I bet you don't. Take it easy."  

You pull Junie's leg up to examine her foot. Her toes are covered in hair remover still. "Could you get me the baby wipes, please?" 

"Sure can. It'll cost you, though." His joke falls a little flat. You try to smile anyhow, your little huff forcing a last tear. You blink until it's gone, aggravated with yourself. 

After all, her toe looks better. Sore, still swollen, but better. Though you could just be seeing what you want to see. 

Eddie tries to pass you the baby wipes but your hands are shaking too badly to take them. Without a word he opens the pack, kneeling on the floor in front of you to wipe down her foot tenderly. His eyebrows pinch together when she whimpers, and he murmurs a sorry, "I know, I know." 

You're trying very hard to calm down.

"All done," he tells her, parentese in play. "You are so brave, junebug. You're the bravest little girl I've ever met. That's why me and your mom decided you were Juniper the Brave, and you proved us both right." 

He taps the tip of a ring-heavy finger under her chin. You watch from over her shoulder. "Really brave. You did a good job, the best job ever," he praises, tilting his head to catch your eye as he says it. 

You smile at him the best that you can. He holds your gaze for a weighted second and then drops it back to Junie. "Do you feel better?" he asks.

She doesn't answer, only tips her head against your chest. 

Eddie pulls off her remaining sock and waves it at her. "Don't need this." 

"Do you think she'll throw up if I make her some dinner?" you ask, the kind of question you don't usually get to ask someone else. A luxury to defer judgement.

"Maybe. Does it matter?" 

"I don't want to clean up puke," you say pathetically. 

Eddie softens. "I'll clean it up if she pukes. Don't worry about it." 

You don't have to, you want to say. Of course he doesn't have to. 

"Thank you," you say instead, feeling like you could burst into an entirely fresh wave of tears. 

Again, he looks up at you. His smile fades from a cheesy exuberance to something sweeter, a melty-warm thing that has your breath catching. 

"I'm really sorry for just showing up like that," you say tentatively, flushed with heat as you realise what you've done.  

"Don't be." 

"No, because she's- I know you never-" She's mine alone. You never signed up for this. You can't make yourself say it, distracted by his ever-growing smile. "I should've handled it on my own." 

"Your mom really doesn't understand how much I like her," he tells Junie humorously, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "She doesn't have a clue. How much I like you," he adds, hand on your thigh, his finger stroking a line down the length of her leg.

"You didn't have to-" You try, stopping again as he huffs out of the side of his mouth. 

His hand closes around your thigh. You can feel the heat of each of his fingers, the bulk of every heavy ring. 

"It's okay. I promise," he says seriously.

"I got so freaked out, I just…"  You give up. Whatever. He knows what you're trying to say. Hopefully.

Eddie leans forward to kiss your knee. His eyes close, his fingers tightening almost imperceptibly over your thigh. 

You blink to yourself in a vain attempt at processing what's just happened when he asks, "Do you still feel sick?"

"No.” Your chest burns.

"In that case, I'll make dinner. A feast." 

Things start to feel better. Details sink in. Your heart slows. What was only Eddie behind the stovetop becomes his dark hair scraped up and wrapped in a hair tie, his sweatpants and unlaced shoes, his white t-shirt with sharpie writing all over. Sounds filter in; the spoon scraping the bottom of the saucepan and his frenetic humming, the sound of his rubber-bottomed cons squeaking over linoleum. 

Junie doesn't cry so much as whine. You press kisses that are more for you than her into her hair and on her forehead, jogging your knee. She's fine. She's okay, and she's here in your lap, and there's nothing to panic over now. 

You try to push away the lingering worry. In the moment, a million thoughts had coalesced into only one. What if she's dying? Meningitis, an aneurysm, cancer. Anything. And now those thoughts fall away, leaving behind only the sharp smell of the hair remover and the salty stick of tears. 

"Do you think I have time to give her a shower before dinner?" you ask softly, clearing your throat for what feels like the twentieth time today. 

"You got it. I'll simmer. You could have one, too, if you want." 

"Do I look that bad?" 

"Worse." He grins at your expression. "I'm kidding. You look beautiful as always, sweetheart."

You carry Junie into the bathroom. There's no tub and she's too big for the kitchen sink, so a shower it is. You stand her up under warm spray and turn her back so the spray misses her eyes. She smiles at the warm water running down her back. The relief to see her happy can't be understated. You hop in at the same time and clean her off, wash her hair, and bedeck her tiny features in big big kisses.

Wrapped in her baby towel – a pink poncho type thing with a hood – you walk her to the bedroom and dry her off as fast as you can. 

"Which ones?" you ask, holding up two pairs of pajamas. 

Junie points at the pink shirt and bottoms printed in bright red strawberries with light green tops, letting you dress her and plonk her at the end of the bed without any fuss. 

"No socks for you," you say lightly, sitting beside her in your towel. 

"No socks," she agrees. 

Even though Eddie's been good to you, you can't help wishing that he wasn't here. What you want more than anything in that second is for Junie to be asleep and for your head to be wedged firmly under your pillow, the sheets to your shoulders, dead to the world. 

Not truly dead, of course. But a minute of silence. 

Junie doesn't seem to know what to do with herself, sitting in companionable silence and stillness with you. Her head falls onto your arm. 

"Are you tired?" you ask quietly, too exhausted for bubbly talk. 

She sighs. You sigh too. 

Eddie hums from the kitchen. 

He kissed my knee.

You think you might have imagined it, if you're honest. It could've been anything against your stockings, the brush off his palm or the back of a warm knuckle, but you'd seen it. His lips, his face turned toward your thigh.

"I think he likes me," you tell Junie. 

She doesn't say anything. When you look down at her she's already looking up, eyes wide with confusion. 

"He kissed me," you whisper, leaning down. "I don't know about you, junebug, but I only kiss the people I care about. For a long time, that's been a really short list." You bump your nose against hers. 

You've just finished getting into your own pajamas when Eddie calls out, "Girls? I know ladies like yourselves need longer to get ready but the mac and cheese is acting weird." 

"Weird?" you mumble, hooking your hands under Junie's armpits. You'd let her walk if you weren't worried for her foot. 

Eddie has created a working man's feast, three identical plates heaping with food. Hills of mac and cheese topped with bacon bits take up half of each plate, fried broccoli and collard greens the other. They're golden, almost red with spices. 

"You can cook," you say, surprised. 

"Don't sound so shocked," he says defensively. He can only hold his facade for a moment, deflating. "I really can’t. I tried to copy what you do, I've seen it enough times…" He shrugs and flops down into his usual chair. "Don't tell me if it's gross." 

"I doubt it's gross." 

You can't be bothered for the high chair. Junie looks like she might be too tired to move so you take the chance and sit her between you and Eddie behind the smaller portion (though using small at all feels like a lie, he's made a lot of food). She can barely see over the table.

"Did you use two boxes?" you ask, picking up Junie's spoon. 

It's all the perfect temperature for a baby, maybe a little cold for an adult. You're so happy to have somebody else cook for you that you'd die before you complained. 

He taps his nose. You pass Junie her spoon.

"What do you mean?" You tap your own nose in imitation. "I'll know when I look." 

"So don't look. Eat." 

You eat. Without asking him too – because you wouldn’t, you never do – he starts to feed Junie.

He might be the nicest boy on this whole damn planet. You look at him thoughtfully. How come we always end up here? At the kitchen table?

He looks right. Too right. He looks like he’s meant to be here, smiling and talking to your baby in hushed, fond tones, airplaning roasted broccoli towards her mouth. 

-

“You’ll stay to watch a movie?” you ask later, trying to hide how lethargic you are with your hands deep in dishwater. 

Eddie wipes a fleck of water off of your cheek with a rag. "Duh." 

On the couch, Eddie sneaks a glance at you out of the corner of his eye. You’re pretending to watch the TV and doing a bad job, your attention stolen over and over by Junie where she sleeps in your lap. Your hand rubs over her small, distended tummy, the other holding her foot carefully. You keep glancing at her toe, much less swollen now and with a healthier complexion, though a cruel line remains from where the hair had cut into her skin. 

You don't touch it, only looking. He worries as a wrinkle appears between your eyebrows. 

Listening intently as he is, he can hear the hitch in your breath. Eddie doesn’t want you to cry again — the first time had been awful enough. Your face covered in tears, coming fast and panicked. It was like you’d hardly noticed you were crying. You’d been so scared that Eddie, despite knowing close to nothing about babies or how to make them feel better, had clung to his calm. He’d stomped down every flicker of panic that had surged and tried his damn best to keep a level head. 

Now, with your sad face and the crisis averted, Eddie feels a pang of terror. Just one. You are completely out of your element, Munson. 

You’re definitely the kind of friends now that can sit on the couch together and not care too much about personal space. Eddie uses this to his advantage and spreads his legs just enough to brush his thigh against yours. You look at him and hide your lingering upset with a small smile. It’s a far cry from the genuine happy grin he’s become familiar with, but you're still beautiful. 

Eddie shuffles across the couch toward you until he can push his hand under your arm. He pulls it to his chest, beware of your tenuously sleeping daughter, and hugs it. 

“I was thinking,” he starts casually, looking down at you. 

Your eyes crease with a playful smile. “Oh yeah?” Like you can’t believe it.

“Yeah, I was,” he says, quiet so as not to wake Junie but extremely passionate. “What’s that supposed to mean, sweetheart?”

“Nothing." You laugh under your breath.

He glares, faux-offended. Any real offense is swallowed instantly by the sound of your laugh.

“Hm. Anyway, I was thinking,” he begins again, hand running down your arm in what he hopes is a soothing gesture, “that I’d head into the city this weekend. Go to the bookstore ‘n’ the big goodwill by the bus station. I was hoping you’d wanna come with me.” Is he pushing his luck? Maybe. 

You look like you want to say yes, but, “Eddie, I don’t really have the money.”

“I’d pay.” He tries to sell it before you can protest. “I’m asking you to come. Stealing your Sunday. We’d leave early, get breakfast on the way. I don't want to go alone.” I want your company. 

He tries not to show how terrified he is that you’ll say no. 

“I can’t- I couldn’t let you pay for us,” you say, eyes on his chest. 

“Can I tell you something?” You nod. “It would make me… really happy if you did.”

He doesn’t know how to explain it. He doesn’t think there’s a way to tell you that won’t involve unveiling his new and shiny feelings for you, feelings that don’t seem to want to slow, or abate, or moderate themselves. Honestly, he doesn’t want them to. 

He wants you to be happy. He wants to take care of you.

It's embarrassing in its intensity. 

You reach over Junie to wrap your hand around his bicep, though you still don’t look like you’re going to say yes. 

He leans in close, tracing the details of your face with a greedy kind of curiosity. “You wouldn’t let me give you anything for the haircut,” he says. “It’s the same, you know? Doing things for the people you care about." 

He says it like the idiot he is, all rough and insincere, like caring about people is dumb. You smile anyways and finally, finally, give him a nod. So small it’s near imperceptible. 

“If you’re sure,” you say. 

“Positive.”

-

Eddie looks good behind the wheel of your car. The wind whips at his hair, curls that had been neat and pretty only an hour ago now starting to frizz. You think the chaos of it suits him. 

He’s singing along to the radio and it’s a song you don’t know. You don’t think Junie knows it either, but she’s signing it like she does, hands flailing in the air and Mr. Bear bouncing in her lap with the force of her dancing. Eddie looks at her in the rear view mirror, beaming brilliantly. 

“Yeah, sing it, junebug!" he encourages. Her voice peaks. 

You laugh and stretch your hands out in your lap, knuckles brushing the sandwiches you’d packed. You’d let Eddie pay for gas, you might even let him buy Junie a book from the bookstore if he’s feeling generous, but you’re really trying to keep his expenses low. Hence, sandwiches. Even now, the idea of him spending money on you makes you feel guilty. 

Deep down – deep, deep down – you want him to. You’re hoping he’ll pick up a book for you, and that fills you with so much shame you have to look away from him, your face to the window. The highway blurs past, the early morning sun lighting the blacktop and bouncing between cars of all kinds coming into the city for a Sunday outing. 

Eddie turns down the radio a tiny bit and reaches across the seat to squeeze your shoulder. “You alright?” he asks without looking at you. 

You tip your head toward his hand. His rings bite into your cheek. 

You’re in the car on a nice day with a nice boy and your pretty baby listening to the radio, the sun at your side and the breeze kissing your warm skin. 

You’d even managed to find a nice shirt to wear. Today is a good day. You won't weigh it down with silly feelings. 

“I’m great.”

He gives you that smile like he doesn’t believe you and his eyes go back to the road. “Can a guy get another sandwich or does he have to beg?” 

You imagine what it might be like to lean over and kiss his cheek. He deserves a good kiss, you think, and then wince as heat blooms from your chest up to your cheeks. You can’t hold in a pleased smile as you click open the Tupperware. 

“Do you want PB&J or bacon and lettuce?” The tomatoes have already been accosted by a ravenous Junie. 

“I’ll have half of whatever you’re having.”

You weren’t going to have one, and you both know that. You offer him half the PB&J and he takes it, eyes flitting between you and the road. You take a showful bite to release him. He gives you a grateful smile in turn. 

Chewing, you take half of the bacon and lettuce sandwich into your hands and pull it apart. You divide the contents and tuck half into one slice to make a quarter sandwich before leaning over the seats to offer it to Junie where she waits in her car seat. She accepts it hungrily. 

One-handed, Eddie pulls the car off of the highway. “There’s a parking garage somewhere around here,” he tells you.

Once he's found it he jumps out to go pay. You turn in your seat and smile at Junie. She's mauling her sandwich, face smeared in butter. 

"Are you ready for some fun?" you ask. 

She looks at you curiously. 

You try again, really smiling. "Are you excited? We're gonna go find a book, something fun like Red Cat, Blue Cat, and we're gonna see the stores and the people and maybe mommy can get you a new teddy." 

A spark of something. She gets happy when you're happy and today's no exception, her tiny features soon plucked up with joy. When you round the car and open her door to wipe down her greasy fingers and face she barely cares, and she receives your loving kisses with a big smile. 

Eddie returns with the parking ticket and slides it onto the dashboard. You leave Junie's door open now he's back to pop the trunk and unfold her stroller. The sound echoes through the parking garage and the sun struggles to find a way in, your arms wracked with goosebumps.

"Hey, junebug," you hear Eddie murmuring. 

He messes with the buckles on her car seat until they pop open, his triumphant laugh almost as pretty as his face. Junie's is prettier, your daughter laughing up a storm as Eddie scoops her up and sits her on his hip. 

He looks like he had when you first met but with ten times the confidence in holding her and a clear affection. Her hands are in his hair like usual, petting and pulling gently. 

"Brush out the tangles for me," he tells her seriously, bumping the door shut. 

She hums like she's agreed to his task and continues her exploring. 

You hang the baby bag over the stroller's handlebar and Eddie sits her in the padded chair. 

"Junie, have I told you how pretty you look today?" he asks, pulling the straps over her shoulders and from between her legs. He uses parentese like you would, distracting her as he locks her in. When the lock click, he plays affectionately with her hair. "You're like a princess. Your mom has talented hands, huh? And a good eye." 

Pleasure from his compliment drips in thick and fast. You bite back a smile and squeeze the clean baby socks in your hands, waiting for him to stand so you can fight them onto Junie’s feet. Ever since her ordeal you’ve been waiting as long as you can before putting on socks and shoes. The first thing you do when you pick her up from daycare is take them off. 

If Eddie thinks you’re overzealous in your fretting he hasn't said anything. He holds his hand out for the socks and you give them to him, nonplussed though you shouldn’t be as he bunches them up and pushes them over her wiggling feet with patience and bemusement. 

“Stay still… Do you want frostbite? Or gangrene?” he asks her.

“Eddie.”

“Sorry." He looks at you guiltily. “In my defense, she doesn’t know what gangrene is.”

“It’s weird, though. To hear you say it like it’s a good thing. S’creepy.”

He squeezes the sole of one of her small feet and stands, much too close to you as he whispers cheerily, “Gangrene. Septicemia. Pneumonia.”

You laugh and push him away from you. “Shut up.”

“You first. Where’re her shoes?” 

You procure them with a smug smile. “You’ll never get them on.”

His fingers brush yours as he takes them, his eyes blazing at the challenge. 

-

“Will you sulk all day?” Eddie asks you.

The sulking is for show. You frown like you’re really angry and tighten your grip on the stroller, the wind ruffling your clothes. After a moment the facade falls away and you smile at him, unable to hide your reluctant affection any longer. “How did you get her to sit still like that? You vex me.” Said with equal parts envy and pride. 

“I vex you,” he says, voice coloured by good humour. 

He’s fallen into step beside you, your jacket tied around his waist. 

You should bring your jacket. In case you get cold, he’d said. 

I don’t want to carry it, you’d said. 

Don’t patronise me.

You glance over the top of the stroller to make sure Junie’s blanket is still in place. She’s quiet. You’ve decided that she’s in shock to be somewhere that isn’t your home or the daycare. 

“Yeah, you vex me. Infuriate me. I’ve been a mom for two years and I can’t get her shoes on without a fight, and you’ve been-“ You stop dead, stutter, and quickly adjust what you'd been saying like it has been a slip up of the tongue rather than a thought you shouldn't entertain.  “You’ve known her for what, three months? And-“

“Four months,” he corrects, sounding much too proud. 

“Four months,” you amend. “And you can do all this stuff that took me years to work out.” You’re a little bit vexed for real. 

He nods like he’s considering what you’ve said before tipping his head. “But…”

You wait. He doesn’t further his point. “But what?”

“Well.” Eddie brushes something off of your arm. “I guess I have a great teacher, right?” His voice hikes up high and he steamrolls, “I just copy you. You didn’t really get to copy anyone.”

You feel something melty hot in your chest, another affection for Eddie to add to a growing list. “Oh.”

He takes your shoulder into his hand and you draw to a pause, his other hand pointing off into the distance. “There’s the bookstore.”

You follow his finger. Across a landscape of cobblestone, situated firmly between a Domino’s pizza place and a cafe with a peppering of metal wrought tables stands Morgan’s Books. To your surprise, it’s a glass-fronted building with a big clean sign made up of red, yellow, and blue. It's a children's bookstore. 

Eddie has obviously tricked you. You turn to glare at him and find him very close. He doesn’t shy away and you try not to in return. You try, but something about his pretty mouth so close sends shocks like pins and needles to your hands and you have to keep walking lest you embarrass yourself. His hand falls from your shoulder and trails down your back. You swear you can feel even the last millimetre of his fingertip before it falls away. 

You get a good look at the landscape ahead and your eyes narrow. Eddie almost bumps into you when you stop abruptly. 

“What?” he asks. 

"There’s, like, a thousand steps.”

“Gross hyperbole," he argues. A gap of quiet furthers your point; while you had been exaggerating, there are a lot of steps, and he needs time to take them all in.

“Is there a way around?”

“Don’t be dumb, sweetheart. You’ll grab June and I’ll carry the stroller.”

“It’s really heavy. Heavier than it looks.”

He grins like a fiend. “I’m strong.”

Junie’s more than happy to be released, less when you take her into your arms and won’t put her down. You help Eddie snap the stroller back up, indicating which lever to pull with the rubber toe of your converse. He kneels down to guide it into place and looks up at you swiftly afterward, self-satisfied and much too happy considering the task afoot. 

“Maybe we should find another way.”

“Y/N,” he says, like your name is inherently funny, like a joke rolled around over his tongue, “I’m starting to get offended.”

You blow air out of the side of your mouth. 

Eddie slugs the stroller under one arm and holds it tight with the other, giving you a very determined smile. “Ready?”

You balance the baby bag over one shoulder and start on the stairs. Junie's heavy but she’s a heavy you’ve grown used to, and she doesn’t complain enough to warrant any stress. 

You’re impressed when Eddie takes each step at your pace and doesn’t break a sweat. “I thought you were a bus boy. What do you bus? Weights?” you ask incredulously.

He laughs. “I don’t bus weights, but amps are heavy, and I’m not a big shot. I don’t have any roadies to carry them for me.”

You feel terrible then for forgettting. Right. He plays music, you think. You’ve never once seen him play any music, on stage or at home. You’ve seen him play guitar over Junie’s leg to tickle her and tap out a rhythm when he’s heating up desserts in your kitchen, but you’ve never seen him play guitar for real. 

“Is that going okay?” you ask, ignoring the small burn beginning to grow in your arms. 

“Bussing? Sure. Why’d you ask?”

“Not bussing, music. I never ask- I’ve never asked you how it’s going.” 

Eddie winces as the stroller starts to open and pulls it tighter under his arm. It takes him a few seconds to calibrate what you’ve said, and he’s quickly reassuring. “What? Why would you worry about that? You have enough to think about without adding my moonlighting at the Hideout.” He says the Hideout like it’s something to be looked down on. You almost trip up a step and Eddie can’t do anything but watch. “Careful," he begs. 

You keep your eyes on your footing until you’re at the very top, worried you'll fall flat on your face and get Junie hurt.. Eddie comes up two behind you and puts the stroller down, wiping his hands together dramatically. 

“Conquered. Great job, team. Especially you,” he says, poking Junie’s cheek. 

She puts her arms out, vying for his attention now she’s had a taste. He raises his eyebrows at her and offers his arms. You hand her over eagerly, arms aching. You can’t imagine what his feel like. 

“I care about it,” you say firmly. It rather than you, but it rings the same. “I want to know, Eddie, I swear. I’m sorry for not asking.”

He looks up from where he’d been making playful faces at Junie to stare at you. It’s not a mean stare, but it unnerves you all the same. 

She pushes a hand into his hair like she always does and starts to try and pull her fingers through it. It’s knottier than usual because of the wind, and she struggles to make sense of it. His eyes fall to her tugging. 

“Sweetheart,” he says slowly. You know it’s meant for you, even if he’s not looking at you. "If there was something worth telling you, I would’ve told you. I don't doubt that you care.”

You don’t feel better. “No, ‘cos-”

“Why are you so upset?” he asks genuinely. 

You hadn’t realised your face revealed the extent of it. “Because we’re friends. You’re the- the best friend I’ve ever had.”

He smiles, sudden and wide. “I’m your best friend?”

“Like we’re twelve?” you deflect. 

“Yeah, like we’re twelve.”

You ignore him and try to cool down. A hot flush attacks your skin as you stretch out the stroller and click the supports back into place, shucking off your baby bag to hang over the handlebar with a relieved sigh. 

Eddie moves Junie to one side. You anticipate his touch before it happens, his free arm behind your back and pulling you to him. “We’re totally best friends. I’m your best friend,” he says smugly, hand curling around your shoulder. It’s a good hug, friendly and warm and heart-racingly close; you can feel his chest on your back, the curve of a pec through thin fabric. 

You turn toward him indulgently but keep your head down. It’s so nice to be hugged that you can’t make yourself move away.

He rubs the top of your arm, the bump of his rings biting into your skin. “You don’t deny it?”

“No. I don’t deny it.”

“Hear that, June?” Again, he calls her June. Not Junie or junebug, June. You like the way he says it. “I’m your mom's best friend. I win.”

You nod happily, warm under his touch.

Wait. “What?”

“She likes me more,” he teases her childishly. 

“Eddie!”

“What? Am I wrong?” He leans away from you and feigns confusion. 

“Yes! Of course you’re wrong! That’s my baby. Give her to me right now." You join in on his melodramatics, grinning even as you continue, “How could you say that? Sicko." 

“That got frosty quickly,” he grumbles, holding her away from you. 

You move in to plaster Junie in kisses. Not apology kisses because you didn’t say anything wrong, but kisses all the same. 

“Can I get in on one of those?”

You huff at him. He bursts into boyish laughter and holds his hands up. “Kidding!”

“Should we go?” Before you say something stupid.

Eddie carries Junie and you push the empty stroller until you're all looking up at the store's bright sign. "This is where you wanted to come?" you ask him, eyes falling to the window where a sign brags a children's reading nook and their Read Before You Buy promotion. 

He shrugs. "Bookstore's a bookstore." 

"No, this is for kids. We're never gonna find what you wanted in here. I doubt they have King of the Rings between Red Cat, Blue Cat and Pony Girl."

"King of the Rings," he repeats jovially. 

"Whatever it's called." 

He pulls a squirming Junie higher up the length of his chest, the fabric of his shirt rides up with her. You pull it down. You're flustered enough, his naked skin is the last thing you need. 

"Sweetheart, I'm sure they'll have what I want," he says flippantly, pushing the door open with his elbow. 

"If you're sure…" you say, following him in

The bookstore smells fancy. You breathe in the scent of plastic wrap and paper, your eyes searching over floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and pyramids of craft kits. Box sets of Enid Blyton and A. A. Milne sporting classic, whimsy spines are stacked in a towering and precarious looking arch. Signs on either side promise a children's wonderland inside. You follow Eddie around pen displays and jigsaw puzzles, ducking under the archway with an awed, "Oh, wow." 

"Watch out," he warns quietly, taking a step down into the kids' reading nook. 

You bump the stroller to the bottom of the steps and have to stop, amazed. 

Junie is a picture of you as Eddie sets her down, gazing around the room in shock. There's a lot of older kids scattered throughout on big circle pillows with books in their laps and a guardian beside them, but the real wonder is in the decoration. The walls are bedecked in murals; Kermit and Funnybones, The Very Busy Spider and the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Junie sees Kermit on the walls and gasps, running up to the painting with wide eyes. 

Eddie follows her without saying anything. When he catches up to her, he offers her his hand. She takes it. She's practically shouting, their joined hands restless as excitement courses through her in waves. 

You find two big pillows and a couple of books for Junie to look at. The three of you take to an empty corner and sit, looking over a big picture book full of stills from The Muppets Take Manhattan. Junie makes a lot of excited sounds and nonsense words, talking very confidently though half of it's lost on you both. 

"Kermit," she says, pointing at the page passionately. 

You wrap your arms around her tummy to keep her comfortable and hum. "Yeah, baby. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo. They're going to New York," you start to describe the page. 

Eddie leans in, his arm pressed to your arm, his skin a heat where it rubs into you as he helps hold open the book. 

The further you read the closer he gets.

Junie gets bored quickly, like toddlers tend to, and wants to go look at the walls again. Eddie stays with the stroller and you pick her up to let her touch her hands to the characters. 

"That's Spot," you tell her quietly, her fingertips brushing over flat fur. "Spot the doggy." 

Junie's never read anything Spot before. He's a popular character. There's three picture books to choose from. You pick up the first, Where's Spot? and offer it to her. 

She likes the look of him. You carry her back to your pillows and struggle to sit back down in the tight gap between the wall and Eddie's knee. He stretches his arms out to take her. . 

"What'd you find, sweetheart?" he murmurs as he balances her on his thigh. 

He reads to her. He has the voice for it, soft and sweet. 

-

"We had sandwiches," you argue, two hours and what feels like fifty stories later. 

Eddie had known before he suggested it that you were gonna fight him on this. He’s managed to end up behind the stroller, weaving between unlucky bystanders as his eyes search for somewhere to eat. 

“And they were awesome."

“Eddie,” you complain softly. 

He peeks at you by his side, grinning at the plastic bag full of books you’d insisted on carrying where it dangles from your fingers. 

You take his smile for teasing and sigh. “Come on. I’ll make dinner when we get home.”

“Sweetheart, as much as I love your cooking that’s hours away. We don’t have to go anywhere fancy. Look, there’s a McDonald’s right there,” he says, pointing toward the yellow ‘M’ sign where it flickers, breaking up a white sky. 

“I’m not hungry,” you say. He senses your proposition before you offer it. “But if you wanna get food, that’s fine.”

“You don’t like McDonald’s?” he asks. 

“I’m really not hungry.”

“Just think of it like- like using the bathroom before a long car ride. You might not need to, but it’s never a bad idea.”

Inside of McDonald’s, Eddie can tell how unhappy you are, your eyes drifting to the menu and your fingers squeezing both handles of the plastic bag. 

He parks Junie’s stroller next to a low table and you slide into the booth beside her. He doesn't sit right away.  

“You remember what I said?” he asks quietly, leaning on the table with one arm, head inclined to yours. 

Your eyes flicker between his face and his arm. You measure his gaze “Doing things for the people you care about,” you say, equally hushed.

Eddie reaches out to squeeze your wrist. “Exactly.” He tries not to squeeze too hard in case his rings dig into your skin. 

When you smile, he grabs the high chair and transfers one unhappy toddler into its constraints. There's a little basket of crayons and colouring papers near the registers that you plunder while he orders. By the time he gets back with a greasy tray of food and drinks Junie's made a masterpiece.

"Is that supposed to be me?" he asks brightly. 

Of course it isn't – there's a shock of blue and a red blob almost shaped like a heart next to the dark printed outline of Ronald McDonald. It's worth the risk of sounding like an idiot because you start to laugh so hard you can't scold him for the desserts. 

After wiping down the highchair's tray with a baby wipe, you peel open Junie's cheeseburger and start to break it into small pieces, blowing on each one vigorously before passing them over. You're about to start on fries when Eddie flicks your hand. 

"Eat," is all he says, swiping her fries out of your reach to copy your process. 

Tray laden with an abundance of bite-sized fast food, she grabs a cheesy looking slice of burger and screams loudly. 

Eddie gawps. "What was that? Is it too hot?" 

You swallow a sip of your drink and the cup sheds condensation like a spattering of raindrops when you put it down. "I think she's having a really good day," you say.. 

"Well fu-" he amends his cuss word quickly, "-dge, me too, junebug. Best day out ever. We got books, burgers, and I'm with my two favourite girls." 

It might have sounded more romantic if he hadn't said it around a mouthful of big mac. You look almost as happy as Junie does anyway, 

-

When Junies just about finished you carry her off into the ladies to change her diaper and freshen up. You have a baby in one arm and a bag full of diapers and bottles and onesies in the other, and you stare into the mirror and can't work out Eddie's angle. 

Eddie is loud and crude and clumsy. He smells like his close friend Mary Jane half the time and he doesn't know how to style his hair. He laughs loud, sings louder. Almost everything about him is unapologetic and brash, his dark looks and ripped up clothes, his van, his smile. 

And he's nice. He's so nice. Down to the bone, maybe down to his soul, there's a kindness that floors you every single time. He smiles and he squeezes and he says sorry for things that aren't his fault. He helps without being asked. How many times now has he knocked the door, found you kneeling on the living room floor folding clothes and thrown himself opposite you? Bet you I can do double what you've done in five minutes flat. Or stationed himself at Benny's for lunch to check you're having a good day? Here's five for the pretty waitress I saw earlier, make sure she gets it, won't you? How many times has he, hair limp and clothes rumpled, burst beaming into the kitchen with enough dessert for a family of five and a gallon of juice? Why wouldn't I get a gallon? Junebug'll have drank half by the time you sit down, sweetheart. 

You look at yourself in the mirror and you can't work out why. 

"Hi, girls," Eddie says when you return. 

He's cleared off the table, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest. Like this, the lean trim of his waist is emphasised, as is the slight curve to the tops of his thighs. 

"Hi," Junie says. You echo her greeting. 

"D'you have fun? Powder your noses?" 

"Can't you tell?" you ask. You did not powder your nose. 

He straightens up and peers at you assessingly. "Definitely. S'like you got prettier, and I thought it was impossible." His voice is sugar sweet by the end, attention on Junie. She's aching to be put down and writhing in your grip, but his voice catches and holds her attention until you're back outside. 

It's cooler. The air cleaner. You put Junie down and clasp her hand firmly in your own, bending at the waist to tell her face to face, "No running off, alright? You hold mommy's hand tight." You squish her little fingers until she giggles. "Okay?" 

"Okay," she says. 

"Okay, thank you." Then, because she looks so sweet and this has been one of the best days of your life, "I love you." 

You kiss her cheek. 

Eddie won't let you push the stroller. "You concentrate on little miss trouble," he says mildly, kicking the brakes with a frown. "I got this. Maybe." 

Half a block to the goodwill. It's not as big as you'd expected but there's a fun furniture section that draws Junies attention. You're reluctant to let her climb on the furniture in case anything is dirty or infested, though you do sit her in a wicker chair for a tree swing and a huge velvet loveseat like she's goldilocks, asking, "How's that? Comfy?"

Hidden away, there's a bookshelf painted green and pink that threatens to topple over hiding a grandfather clock still ticking. You lift Junie up so that the three of you can look at the clock face, a small silver disk with illustrations on either side. A gorgeous swelling of purples and melty blues in a ring behind the man in the moon. The sun, a buttery yellow buffeted by white-blue clouds. 

"Grand," Eddie praises. 

"What did you want to come here for?" 

He grins at you and nods his head to the left. "It's over there." 

'It' ends up being a clothes rack longer than your trailer home partitioned by size. Every t-shirt different but bragging the same premise – band merchandise. A riot of rock bands peppered in popular duo's like Tears for Fears and the occasional Cyndi Lauper tour shirt, each one sticking out like a sore thumb; a rainbow array besides faded blacks and slate greys. 

"Why'd they have so many?" 

Eddie shrugs, though he tries to explain his theory anyways. "There's a venue maybe… four blocks away? That has these vendors outside all the time shelling knock-offs."

"So these are knock-offs?" 

"Most of them. They're usually in good condition though." 

He's right. You find all kinds of shirts in varying qualities. Some obviously real, thick fabric and perfect prints. He picks up a Judas Priest tour shirt that he claims to be the real deal, a Metallica long sleeve that most certainly is not. There's a Twisted Sister shirt with a mysterious brown stain and a Ghoulie Girls muscle tee that's almost completely split down one side. 

You shuffle through the things in your size, absent-minded. Junie's not interested in the slightest and is starting to complain. You fend off an oncoming tantrum with a pack of fruit snacks, offering them to her one at a time. 

Eddie whistles where he's standing a short distance away, "Oh, fuck." 

He unhooks a hanger and holds it out, amazed. "Oh, shit." 

"Eddie," you chastise. Not because you care, but Junie saying either of those words at daycare would suck. 

"Sorry, sorry. You like these guys, right?" He holds up a t-shirt for The Mamas and The Papas, a group from the sixties. It looks new. 

It's the only cassette you own where you can stand to listen to both sides all the way through. "Yeah. Like Cass Elliott's stuff more." 

"Who's that?" 

You point at Elliott on the shirt. "Her." 

"Guess how much they want for it," he demands.

You think. Junie whines for another snack and you give her the packet. "Ten dollars?" 

"A dollar." He passes the shirt to you so you can see it for yourself and leans down to bundle up your sighing daughter. She can't decide whether she's enjoying it for a good few seconds, her annoyance at being somewhere this underwhelming for so long clear but fading as Eddie shushes her gently. "Isn't that sick?" he asks you. 

"It would be sick, if you liked them." 

He shrugs. "I'll wear it as pajamas. A dollar for a shirt? You can't steal it that cheap." 

You laugh and drop it into his basket. He bumps his shoulder into yours until you move down the rack, his fingers searching for something with focus. You're in awe at how he's handling it, a basket heavy in the crook of his elbow and Junie on his hip trying to share her fruit snacks with him unsuccessfully. 

"Ah-ha!" He pulls out a black t-shirt. The back to you, you can't tell what's so interesting about it until he flips it around. "What do you think?" 

It's the same The Mamas and The Papas shirt. 

"You want?" he asks. 

You check the price tag before answering and find yourself laughing gleefully, almost smug. "Hey, this one's fifty cents." 

He gasps. "What?" 

"I can afford that one myself." 

He pulls it out of your hand, quick but not cruel, and tucks it into the basket. "Don't care. Wanna see if they have one in Junie's size?" 

"They won't." 

"What about a small and we cut the excess off? She can wear it like a dress. We'll all match." 

Eddie picks up a bunch of t-shirts for you, some funny, a lot plain bad. You wonder if you're being made fun of but from the gleeful expression on his face you know he's just having a good time. It's sweet, really, how he seems to pick the more feminine looking ones for you. You try your best to calculate how much he's spending on you – it feels tacky and silly, but urgent – and end up losing the thread. He must've passed ten dollars by now. It makes you feel sick. 

You see your saving grace across the way. 

"Oh my god!" you feign surprise. Both Eddie and Junie look up at you, startled. "You know what mommy just saw?" 

Junie perks up. 

"What did I just see? What did mommy see?" you encourage. 

"What?" she asks. 

"I saw… teddies!" 

"Mr. Bear?" she asks. 

You beam at her. "Mr. Bear's brothers and sisters, I think. Should we go look at them?" 

She says yes and then something else you don't catch, squirming aggressively to be put down.

Eddie says, "Sorry sorry sorry," and lets her down gently.

She snatches your hand and starts to tug you away. You glance over your shoulder to make sure Eddie's following you and he is, a melty-warm smile on his face. You navigate the store floor and almost knock down a bucket of hats with the stroller on the way to the teddies. There's a few of them, all lined up in a row next to jigsaw puzzles and old board games. 

"I didn't think this through," you say, watching as Junie picks through the teddies with a huge smile on her face. She starts to hug them towards her and you try not to cringe. 

"You can scrub her when we go home," Eddie assures you leaning against the stroller, hair behind his ears.

You grab the end of a curl and pull it back in front of his face, messing with it until it falls the way you want it to. He stays very still. "I might need to de-flea her." 

He laughs and it's a shock, an abrupt sound that makes your chest ache with fondness. 

"You might. I got some tea tree oil lying around somewhere if you need it," he says. 

"And if she gets dermatitis?" 

His grins turns embarrassed. "I don't know what that is."

"It's like-" You tilt your head to the side to mimic his own and drop your hand from his hair. "It's gross. Like a bad rash." 

"Oh, then we'll give her a tomato soup bath." 

You burst into laughter and have to grab his arm to stop from toppling over, or at least that's what you tell yourself. "That's for skunks," you manage to tell him, giggling loudly. 

"Shit, really?"

You nod at him, wanting to kiss the sheepishness straight off of his lips. "You're thinking of an oats bath," you say. "Oats are good for the skin. And milk." 

"So we just rub her down with oatmeal. Case solved." 

Your hand rubs over the curve of his forearm until you reach the cold bite of his chain bracelet. It brings your attention back to what it is you're doing. You pull your hand away. 

You have enough money to get Junie any teddy she wants. You'd made sure of that. You'll just have to hide the train in your tights and wear your waitressing skirt low on your hips for a week or three until you can afford a new pair of pantyhose. 

You move to kneel next to Junie. She's pulled every teddy off the shelf and sits half-buried in them, talking a hundred words a minute. You think she might be make-believing, catching the slightest difference in her tone as she shakes one bear and then the other. 

After checking the price tags stuck sloppily to each ear, you realise you can afford two. 

Best day ever. 

"Junie," you say with intent, heavy so she'll look at you. "I want you to pick your two favourite bears. Yeah? Pick which ones you like the best. And we're gonna take them home, okay? Give them a bath, brush out their fur, get them some jammies." 

Watching the way her expression changes as she realises what you're saying is confirmation. This is the best day ever. 

She decides eventually on one too many. There's a pastel green-blue rabbit with floppy ears and a ribbon tied around his neck, half a face of whiskers that make him quite charming and a worn tail. Next to him is a classic teddy bear who could be Mr. Bear's younger brother who seems in very good condition. Last, a bigger, softer golden teddy with an enamel nose and eyes lies over her lap.

You can't afford all three. 

You've barely opened your mouth to tell her, a weak smile on your lips ready to placate when Eddie says, "The rabbit is classic. You'll have to let me get her that one." 

"Eddie," you say, looking up at him as you shake your head, "you can't. I can't let you." 

"She'll have to share him with me, obviously. He's punk rock." 

It's the least punk rock plushie you've ever seen. 

"Eddie," you say again, quietly. 

He scoops the hair away from his face like he's going to tie it up. "Y/N." He says your name expectantly. When you don't budge he lets his hair fall back to his shoulders and turns serious. "You can pay me back, if you want to." 

"Really?" 

"Only for the rabbit." 

You purse your lips to fight a smile. 

Junie throws herself into your lap with her new treasures. "For the rabbit," she parrots factually, gazing up at you with eyes full of content. Her small smile means everything. 

"He's a bunny," you murmur, fingers brushing his rough ear. 

"He's sweet." Eddie crouches in front of you. He smells like something nice though you can't think of what it is. Cologne, something dark and deep hiding under a woody scent. Maybe sandalwood. His knee taps your thigh and his hand wraps around your shoulder for balance. "Got a dirty nose though. Who does that remind you of?"

You giggle and tap Junie's nose. "I wonder." 

-

Down what feels like a thousand steps and back into the parking garage, your legs are hurting in the best way and Junie's half asleep in her stroller. You'd reluctantly let her keep the blue-green rabbit in hand, and she snuggles him close to her chest. 

"I'm actually genuinely worried she's gonna get something from him," you confide. 

Eddie weaves his arm through yours. "Like rabies?" 

"A rash." 

"I'm allergic to gain detergent tablets," he says, his hand slipping away from you so he can put both on his hips. "When I moved in with my Uncle Wayne he didn't know that, obviously, not at first. We didn't notice for a while. One day I'm scratching my chest and he says to me, boy, what are you doing always itching like that? You ever take a shower?" He impersonates his uncle's disappointed frown.

You laugh. "Poor baby." 

"I mean, I probably wasn't showering." He laughs. "I was like, wow, thanks Uncle Wayne, I love you too.

"He lifts my shirt up in the middle of the kitchen and we both just stare at this rash. It was the first time I'd really noticed. I didn't… I was a skinny kid, I didn't really find any pleasure in looking at myself. And- He got so serious. Asking me if I was okay, if school was stressing me out." 

"He thought you were hurting yourself?" 

"In a way… It wasn't the first time he tried to get me to talk about how I was feeling, but it was the first time I thought- I mean, the first time I realised that it was permanent. That we were-" He cuts off with a laugh. "I'm being weird."

"No weirder than usual," you tease. Your expression softens. 

You slow, trying to convey how much you want to hear it with a smile. You don't want to say something that'll weigh on the impossibly light mood you're both in; the ground practically glows yellow under your shoes, the two of you walking on sunshine or something remarkably similar. 

"I guess I realised he was gonna take care of me. I told him all about school, stuff I'd been lying about, how the Walton twins kept taking my lunch money, how I was failing algebra. How much I," he licks his lips and then smiles, "how much I missed my mom." 

"Do you still miss her a lot?" you ask, though you know the answer. 

"Yeah, I do. I don't remember everything, but I remember the way she talked sometimes. I don't remember her voice," he concedes, "just… the way she moved. She would lean back whenever I was getting into trouble, and she'd get this look on her face like I was the funniest thing on the planet." 

You grin at him. Your cheeks ache from what must be a hundred smiles today. It's a really nice memory to have. 

"You are pretty funny," you say.

"What was that? You think I'm pretty and funny? Baby, you spoil me." 

You stop altogether and press your fists into your eyes, defeated. "I should've seen that one coming." 

"Yeah, you should've." 

Soft snores, so quiet you almost miss them. By the time you've got back to your car Junie's sleeping with her chin to her chest and the rabbit's ear held tight in her small hand. 

"Will she wake up?" Eddie asks quietly. 

"Not if I'm very, very careful," you whisper. 

You scoop her up and tuck her into her carseat, holding your breath all the while. Eddie tries his best to fold down the stroller. 

You emerge from the backseat and make a soft pitying sound. "Stuck?" 

"I can do it," he promises, head and face hidden behind the padded seat. His hands fight with the metal bars holding it in place. Again, you tap the right strut with your shoe to help him out. 

He says thank you but refuses to look at you. You swear you're gonna kiss his cheek this time for real because he deserves one and you really want to give him one, but he puts the stroller into the trunk and touches your waist as he opens the driver's side. Any bravery gets turned into mush. 

He rolls down the window and sticks his head out, ever amused. "Are you coming?" 

You pause at the door and get closer than you mean to, close enough to find yourself distracted by the beauty mark along his jawline. 

"You want me to drive?" you ask. 

"No, sweetheart. You're good." 

You smile at each other. It's a strange sort of smile, strange to be taller than him, strange to have your faces this near. There's a lot to say but maybe now isn't the right time to say it, or maybe now is exactly when you should, and his face lifts up just a touch and your hands feel heavy at your sides.

"Eddie…" 

You close your fingers over the door, braced as his body turns to yours. You get the sense that he's waiting for you to say – or do – something. To lean down. To take the leap. 

He's the prettiest boy you've ever seen. 

You waver. 

"You know," he says lightly, blinking his long lashes at you in a way that has your heart skipping beat after beat, "if we hurry, I think we can get on the highway before the work rush. We'll be back in Hawkins before dark." 

You bring your hand to his cheek. A sorry and a thank you at the same time. "I don't want to be back in Hawkins before dark." I really want to spend more time with you. 

"I'll crawl." 

You press your lips together, tongue in your cheek to stop from giggling like a loser as you walk around the hood and climb in. He turns the key in the ignition and switches off the radio before it can wake up Junie. True to his word, Eddie goes what must be a half a mile an hour out of the parking garage. The car behind you beeps aggressively. 

Your eyes flicker between the rearview and his grinning face. "What are you- oh." 

"Crawling," he murmurs smugly. 

The sun starts its slow descent. You use his knee for leverage and pull down his sun visor, then your own, blocking the light. Eddie says, "Thank you," very sweetly and you get comfortable and clip yourself in, anticipating a long drive home. 

The stores turn on their neon, fast food and take out restaurants open for the night. The smell of warm oregano and olive oil is strong as you drive through the side avenue past a pizza place with its door thrown open. 

Eddie asks if you're hungry and you decline. He takes it with grace and doesn't say much besides passing commentary until you realise he's going the wrong way. 

"Eddie," you start. 

"I know. Just- one last thing. Let me get one more thing and then we'll go home and you never have to let me spend money on you ever again." 

You look over his pinched, pleading brows and his slight pout for any insincerity and find it in droves. "Until Friday," you say, dejected.

"Now you're getting it." 

He pulls up to a small bakery and weasels his way inside. You wait, car idling, hands rubbing over the cracked leather of your seats wondering what sweet treat he's going to emerge with. 

You have a nightmare – a heaping bag of donuts and shortbread and pastries, things you could never pay him back for, more to add to the impossible pile of things he's given you. 

Doing things for the people you care about, you repeat to yourself wearily. 

You hadn't expected anything for the haircut, but this is more than a haircut. It's difficult not to think of every dollar as an attribute of every hour he's worked. What makes you deserving of his literal physical labour? 

I didn't force him. He likes me. 

He certainly looks like he likes you as he appears again, shoving his wallet into the back pocket of his black jeans and wielding a flat looking plastic platter with an exuberant expression. He almost drops them trying to show you. Your heart shoots into your throat.

He's still chuckling when he throws himself into the driver's side. "Shit, did you see that? Almost lost 'em. Here, sweet thing. Hold the sweets. Makes sense, right? Sweet thing holding sweet things."  

You accept the tray of what looks like a rainbow of blobs and go to peel off the lid. "Can I?" you ask. 

"Of course you can." 

You pull off the lid. Twelve cupcakes of all different colours in rows of four. The first four are chocolate cupcakes, one with green icing shaped like a frog, one with a white rabbit, one with an orange fox and one with a blue fish. The second row seems fancier. By the third and fourth row there's no pattern, just an assortment of flavours and decorations, chocolate curls and glitter, a half a strawberry, a smattering of mini marshmallows. 

"What flavours that one?" you ask, pointing at a golden cake topped with multicoloured icing, a swirl covered in little crystal like sprinkles. 

"I don't have a clue. I picked the first four and then realised it was taking too long. Told 'em to give me whatever."

"Eager to get back?" 

"Eager as a cry for life. Try it." 

"You don't want one before you start driving?" you ask. 

"I'll try that one after you." 

You peel back crisp, metallic shiny paper and take a cautious bite. It's a bourbon vanilla cake with a coffee flavour buttercream to cut the sweetness. You can't tell whether you like it or not at first, so you take another bite. 

"Leave some for me." 

"Sorry!" you say through a giggly mouthful. "Here." 

He has both hands on the wheel. You don't know what possesses you – though you're starting to wonder if it can be called possession at all, more like a hunger that won't let things lie – to do it, but you bring the cupcake up to his face and hold it so he can take a bite. 

He licks a big dollop of icing as it threatens to fall down his chin, head tilted high. "Oh my god. What is that? Is that coffee?" 

"I think so." 

"Okay, awesome. Let's try another one." 

"What?" 

"Let's try another one. There's still eleven left! We can save the cute ones for Juniper the Loveliest, but that's still a ton of flavours. C'mon, let me try the one with the chocolate curl. If I remember, it has white chocolate melted inside." 

"If you remember?" you ask, peeling back the paper of his requested cupcake. "You've had these before?" 

"A long time ago." 

You tilt your head toward your shoulder and watch his lashes kiss. "Here," you say warmly. 

He accepts the proferred cake and takes a good bite. His eyes roll back into his head dramatically and he goes stiff, shoulders tense and then suddenly not. You watch the muscle of his bicep flex as he tips his head back in pleasure. 

You chortle and you're so happy you don't care how silly you sound, nor how unattractive you might look as you hit him in the arm. "Stop! You're enjoying it too much!" 

"I'm enjoying it the right amount! Try it, try it," he says quickly. His eyes flick back to the tray. "I wanna try that strawberry one next." 

"Watch the road, Munson, god! I'll pass you whatever one you want, just don't crash the car!" 

You forget yourselves. Laughing, eating icing with your noses scrunched up, you don't remember to stay hushed, and soon Junie's awake and annoyed. 

You worry for a second that her crying will dampen the mood, but Eddie beams wider still. He's more smile than boy. 

"Junie baby! What cupcake do you want, sweetheart?" he asks her, watching her in the rearview mirror. 

"Cake?" she asks. 

"Cupcake! Yeah, baby, what one do you want? There's a froggy and a fishy and a bunny-" He stops to take a turn onto the highway. The road evens out underneath, the plastic tray stops crinkling. "And a fox," he finishes. "All for you." 

You twist in your seat, bunny and fish held in your hands. "Fishy or bunny?" you echo. 

"Fishy and bunny," she says clumsily, eyes widened with excitement. 

"Just one for now, baby. Let's pick the bunny," you say gently.

There's no hopes of her eating it cleanly. You don't bother with any precaution. It's your car and her seat and her clothes and if she wants to cover it all in soft fondant you don't mind, anything she wants if you get to see this look on her face. Pure happiness, her eyes closing in bliss as she takes her first bite. 

"Good, huh?" Eddie asks, speaking glances at her. 

"Good!" she says loudly, cheeks plastered in white icing and fluffy golden crumbs. 

Then, like the good girl she is, she tries to offer up the cupcake and almost drops it. 

"S'that for me? Aw, you keep it. You keep it. Mom's gonna share hers with me." He grins at you. "Isn't that right?" 

You share that entire tray of cupcakes right there in the car. By the time you get home, back to Hawkins, it's dark, your stomach hurts, and every cupcake bears two missing bites. 

𓆩❤︎𓆪

thank you for reading! | my masterlist | multi-chapter

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Eddie x platonic!experiment!reader

hii i haven’t been able to get this out of my head. so i decided to write it down 😊 also i needed this right now because the duffers have me messed UP

also this is my first time writing so 🫣

and another thing is being that i’m black, i envision the reader as black. but anybody could read this being that i won’t put anything physical appearance-specific other than reader’s hair, which she ends up growing to be similar to eddie’s but honestly i feel like any race can have that hairstyle just different textures so 🫶🏾

(reader is the same age as el being that they’re “sisters” and it’s pretty much a similar dynamic as dustin and steve because i love their dynamic so much 😭)

summary : pretty much the same plot of el meeting the boys and how they were when they first met except it’s reader and eddie

part 2 🤍

part 1 : how they met

- so you’re in the same friend group as dustin , lucas , mike etc.,

- but FIRST we of course need the backstory

- so. you were born in 1971 and lived a pretty ordinary life in Illinois until your parents could no longer handle things setting aflame or go flying across the room without you ever picking it up whenever you lost your temper.

- so after many calls, doctor’s appointments and evaluations (and maybe some attempted exorcisms 😧), you were finally referred to dr. brenner who (of course) was very quick to take you in and “help” you.

- a 3 year old you is now residing in hawkins national laboratory , where you met el, 008 (kali), and the very friendly orderly named Peter.

- now. fast forwarding to 1983, the year that you and 011 escaped hawkins lab and the year that will (🫶🏾) went missing.

- unfortunately not long after you two had left the lab together, you lost each other in the chaos of being in a new environment:(

- as you’re wandering around this new environment (being that you haven’t really been outside in years) you’re tired beat and bruised from wandering around in a forest for about 2 days (you’ve honestly lost count) and just want to find your sister.

- you’re starting to lose hope when you begin to hear an unfamiliar sound in the distance. it’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard before!

- it stimulates your ears in such a way that, little 12 year old you just can’t help but to follow it.

- as you being to get closer to this peculiar sound, you realize that you’re no longer in the woods, but are now on the outskirts of a trailer park .

- as you walk through this new place (fear at the back of your mind of being in a strange place at night nonetheless) determined to find the cause of this noise,

-you see in the distance a boy not much older than you sitting on a picnic table, holding a large object in his hand and- “oh my gosh, the noise is coming from that thing!“ you think as you slowly walk over.

- now from a 16 year old eddie’s pov, he knew that playing his guitar at 10 p.m wasn’t exactly ideal, but his uncle wasn’t home and he was bored ! and if any of his neighbors had a problem with it , especially mrs. nolan (that old hag) they could simply come outside and tell him to shut up. (not that he would listen.

- so when he heard footsteps coming towards him, he figured that’s exactly what was about to happen so imagine his surprise when he looked up and saw some kid in a hospital gown, with a shaved head and no shoes?! he was appalled!

- so back to you now.

- instead of being skeptical of the boy in front of you, you’re eyeing the weird thing in his hands, with caution. only being able to think “what is that?” “can it hurt me?” and “i want to keep hearing that sound”

- your thoughts now being cut off by this boy in front of you.

eddie : “ummm… hi?”

you : “🧍🏾‍♀️”

- eddie’s completely freaked out at this point becauseeeee who the hell is this??? is he about to get murdered??? is this what he gets for trying to antagonize that old ass mrs. nolan???

- so he slowly puts his guitar to the side and hops off the table

- of course you noticing this, which automatically puts you in fight or flight mode because this guy is bigger than you and could be just like papa and the bad men.

“hey, are you okay? do you need help? a-are you hurt or something?” he trails off noticing the cuts and bruises on your bare legs and the dried up blood under your nose. 

- he remembered seeing on the news his uncle had it on over the past few days of kids being abused and/or abducted in nearby towns and immediately thought that this was the case. and being that this kid looked scared from just him getting up and walking towards them he figured that was the case.

“i-i’m not gonna hurt you i swear. what’s your name?”

“…”

- seeing you jump at the slightest sound and looking around frantically when other trailers lights began turning on at the previous commotion he figured they should probably go somewhere more private.

- he put his hands up to show that he meant no harm.

“you should come inside before anyone sees you, some neighbors’ll be quick to call the cops the second they see something weird so..”

- as you were about to run away the closer he got the sound of something howling in the distance made you jump towards him in fear and he decided it’d be best to lead you into the trailer and away from potential prying eyes. (damn mrs. nolan and her nosy ass)

- he held his hand out for you to take , which you did , as he guided you into his trailer.

- short time skip brought to you by eddie giving you clothes to change into (it was a short sleeved van halen shirt and sweatpants which is important information to know for later) and him completely freaking out when you tried to undress directly in front of him.

“oh my gosh, oh my gosh- what the hellll? don’t just do that!”

- of course at the sound of him raising his voice from the calm tone he was using before, you immediately cowered away from him, thinking you did something wrong.

“i’m sorry, it’s just… you shouldn’t just do… that. you know in front of people especially guys you don’t know. get it?” he said repeating the movements you had previously done.

“so i’ll be right outside this door andd you just knock when you’re finished changing okay?” awkwardly putting his thumbs up and not even waiting for an answer before he walked out and closed the door behind him

another timeskip to you and eddie now sitting at his dining room table, as he tried to get you to answer his questions while having you eat some left over pizza, that he had sitting out from several hours prior

- or just really say anything at all at this point

- he thought about taking the pizza from you if you didn’t answer his questions but you were really fucking it up (😭) and he was absolutely astonished

“have you never tried pizza before?”

- you slowly shook your head at him. but to him that’s progress so!

“soooo my name’s eddie. what’s your name?”

- when you just blankly stared at him while eating he figured this wasn’t going to be a very productive conversation until you set the slice down, held out your arm and pointed at the inside of your wrist.

-he saw what looked like ink on the inside part of your wrist.

“007?” what’s that mean?

when you pointed to yourself and softly said “me” he almost missed it.

“wait, i’m sorry. you? like your name is seven, like the numb-“ he stopped himself. starting to think that whatever or whoever this girl was involved with was wayyy beyond his original understanding.

- noticing that the topic was making you uncomfortable he decided to let you sleep for the night so they could hopefully talk more in the morning.

- the next morning he woke up to the sound of a guitar playing and saw you sitting on the floor in front of his bed, holding it the same way he was when you found him the night before. except you were just staring at it and tentatively pulling the strings and letting them snap against the wood.

- now normally seeing anybody handle any type of guitar, (especially his) like that would’ve sent him into an aneurysm. but the more he thought about it, the more he realized you probably didn’t know any better as crazy as it sounded to him.

“you like it?” he asked.

- having not heard him get up or notice him sit down next to her she jumped and quickly put it down on the floor

“i’m sorry” you said looking down in shame at touching his stuff without asking. you just wanted to hear the pretty sounds from the night before

“hey it’s okay, i mean it is pretty cool isn’t it” he said picking it up off the ground and started playing the beginning of some song

“see, you don’t pull the strings like that,” he said replicating what you were doing minutes prior. “you go like this see?”

“play.. one from last night” you said

“what?” he asked, looking confused before whispering to himself “one from last night…oh! sorry.” he apologized because his slight outburst made her jump.

“the one from last night when you walked up to me! yeah?” she nodded

thus that led to a day’s worth of guitar lessons and showing you all of his favorite songs and bands as you listened intently and watched as he danced around to each song.

“like the shirt you’re wearing! van halen? see look .” he showed you each of the members and saying their names. “and last but certainly not least! eddie van halen!”

“eddie…that is your name 🫵🏾” you looked at him intently

“huh? oh! well i mean yeah, we have the same name but everybody knows that i’m the original of course.” he pshhed. trying not to get too excited at the fact that you were opening up to him more

- he then went on to show you black sabbath, metallica, and all of his favorites throughout the rest of the morning.

- the one that stuck out to you the most was “children of the grave” from black sabbath’s master of reality album. which also happened to be the one he was playing the previous night that you heard.

he figured you liked it a lot (when for some reason everytime he left the room and it neared the end of the song it would start rewinding even though he swore he never saw you get uo to rewind it.) to the point where he put the tape into one of his (too many) walkman’s and let you listen to it in your ears instead of out loud.

- he didn’t want any noise complaints from that goddamn, old ass, mrs. nolan (no seriously what is his beef with her 🗿) and for her to call the police

he also told you the story of ozzy osbourne biting the head off of a bat with a very enthusiastic reenactment of it.

“gosh that shit was so metal” he said nostalgically.

“metal?” you repeated

“yeah.. it means like hardcore you know, but in a good way! metal 🤟🏻” he said sticking his tongue out

“ metal 🤟🏾” you said copying him and his hand gesture making him chuckle.

“so we should think of some nicknames for you, because i don’t really think we should walk around calling you seven, huh?” he seemed to be thinking really hard, putting his hand to his chin in a “🤔” way. you copying him as you stared at each other.

“sev? that sounds cool or how abouttttt van! you know because of the van halen shirt i gave you. or! how about dio or ozzy! from black sabbath! but since you’re a girl, how about dia or ozz!” he rambled enthusiastically

- you just nodded your head yes to each of them. making eddie burst out laughing much to your confusion.

“well i think you deserve an award for being the bearer of so many names milady.” he jumped up and jogged into his room before coming back with something behind his back.

“butttt since i have no medals or trophies to give you, i figured this should be good.” he said handing you his walkman with the children of the grave cassette tape in it.

“consider it a gift from “the great sir eddie munson” he said bowing theatrically making you laugh as he showed you wear to connect it to your outfit and how to operate it.

you stayed with eddie for about 3 or 4 days. and eddie being eddie, figured that you were more important than school at the moment so he just simply… didn’t go.

- he taught you how to do things that he considered basic life skills.

playing children of the grave on guitar

headbanging without hair | he was real adamant on that one because :

“imagine when you finally do get hair, you’ll be a fucking pro kid, i’m tellin ya!”

“fucking pro!” you repeated determinedly

“oooh umm don’t say that! don’t say that!”

he even took you to main street for a few hours. (but not without an amazing disguise of course ;)

now when his uncle finally came home early one day he wasn’t too pleased with the finding out that eddie had been skipping school. that disappointment was quickly replaced with confusion, at walking in and seeing a young girl with a buzz cut in his nephew’s clothes sitting at their table while eddie looked to be enthusiastically explaining “that damned board game” (dungeons and dragons) to her.

“h-hey uncle wayne, um i can explain everything , this is seven-“

“i think we should talk son. now”

without giving him a chance to explain, wayne dragged eddie to his room, slamming the door behind them, leaving you in the dining room by yourself, where you could only listen to the back and forth between the two.

“what the hell is going on eddie!?”

“listen she came up a few nights ago wearing some hospital clothes, and-and-and with a bunch of cuts and bruises, man! she needed help! he confessed

“then you call the police edward!-“

“jesus christ” eddie rolled his eyes, “since when are they any help!” he wasn’t actually asking, because he knew exactly how much “help” they could be

“i’m sure chief hopper would be glad to help her get back to where she needs to be, but she can’t just stay here!

“why not!?”

“ ”why not”?! they could think that you kidnapped this girl! or worse you could be harboring a damn fugitive for all we know!-“

“i didn’t! and a fugitive?! seriously? she’s a child! i- this is unbelievable!” you heard the door open back and eddie stomp back into the dining room where you were with his uncle trailing right behind him.

as they continued to argue in front of you, and the argument continued to get more and more heated , a moment passed where wayne raised his hands to put his face in his palms but you were too quick to react, thinking that he was going to put his hands on eddie and raised your hand, sending wayne flying across the room and hitting the wall with a loud and strong thud that shook the trailer.

- as you realized what you just did and touched the blood that began to drip from your nose eddie started to yell.

“oh my god! jesus h. christ! what the fuck was that man!” he looked over at you with what looked like fear on his face, before he ran to his uncle to make sure he was okay, as his uncle just stared at you in pure shock.

“i-i thought he was going to hurt you, i didn’t mean too i’m sorry!” you yelled and before they could respond you panicked and ran out of the trailer.

“sev! sev, wait it’s okay! you don’t have to run!” eddie yelled once he overcame the initial shock and confusion of what just happened, as he ran after you. but by the time he got outside you were nowhere to be seen.

2 weeks had passed and eddie looked for you non-stop when he wasn’t in school, but no sign of you. and all the hype was currently around looking for the byers kid who was reported missing the day after he met you.

- he would’ve thought he had just made you up in his imagination if not for the slight dent in the wall from where his uncle flew into. but what really reminded him of you being real was when one day his uncle came home with something for him

- eddie was sat on his bed retuning his guitar, when his uncle came and leaned against the doorway.

“hey eds i’m ‘bout to head out, try not to stay up too late alright?”

“okay. have a good night.” he said without looking up from what he was doing.

- you see eddie hadn’t spoken about what happened that day, since that day, so ultimately wayne didn’t either, not exactly knowing what to say about it. therefore they didn’t really have any type of conversation since that day.

“and um, i haven’t been able to catch ya but,” he tossed a manila folder next to him. “garrett from the photo shop caught me at the grocery store the other day, gave me that, said you never came to pick those up so he asked me to bring ‘em to ya.”

“i don’t remember developing any pictures but, thanks wayne, i’ll look at them.” giving a half-hearted smile before going back to what he was doing.

“alright kid, see ya later” wayne said walking out.

- the second eddie heard the front door close , and his uncle pull off in his car, he hung his guitar up and picked up the folder.

- he opened it, pulled out the prints, and his eyes widened as they immediately teared up, nearly breaking down at the sight before him.

- a picture of you and him at the general store sat in his hands the both of you doing the 🤟🏾pose he taught you with your tongues out.

- now he wasn’t only crying because he was upset that you were gone possibly forever and without a goodbye

- and because you were probably out there thinking he hated you

- he was also crying of relief at the fact that he wasn’t crazy and that you actually exist and that he had proof of it

- now this wasn’t proof to show you off or anything, he didn’t even plant on showing anybody the picture

- but proof that he had met what he thinks was the coolest kid ever and could only hope that you were doing okay wherever you ended up.

- he quickly grabbed a marker and wrote on the back of the print “eddie & van nov. 1983” pinning it next to where he would hang his guitar.

- eddie was happy that he had something to remember you by, being that he didn’t think he would ever see you again.

- and he didn’t. see you again that is. and you didn’t seem him either

.- not for another 3 years at least.

- but that’s a story for another time i guess 🤭

eddie x platonic ! experiment ! reader

this takes place from the pov of reader , directly after she left the trailer and into the events of season 1

also this is kind of a steve x newly adopted sister! reader as well when i think about it being that she doesn’t reunite with eddie yet.

part 1 🤍

the in-between the three years :

season 1 - after you left the munson trailer

- a few hours after you’d left , you were back in the forest, you found a small house that said “castle byers” and decided to stay in there for the night hoping the owner wouldn’t come back.

- thankfully it was late so nobody else seemed to be around

- as you sat there thinking about the day, you couldn’t get the image of eddie’s frightened expression out of your head

- the moment just replaying like a loop in your head

- over and over and over and over again

- the first person you meet outside the lab, who was good to you, and you scared him !

- you were so used to raised hands, “shocky sticks” , and yelling that you had only acted on instinct

- you didn’t want that man to hurt eddie. you just wanted to protect him!

- he did so much for you and that was how you repayed him! by hurting his “uncle?” (that’s what he called him. what is that anyway?)

-as you layed on your side to get some rest, something hard was poking into your hipbone

- you still had eddie’s walkman attached to your outfit, which was also his !

- you remembered what eddie taught you about how to control it to play the song , and followed those instructions.

- after the third loop of “children of the grave” you’d finally fallen asleep.

- you couldn’t tell how much time had passed since you’d fallen asleep

- but when you woke up and it was significantly colder than it was before, you knew something wasn’t right

- you slowly began to sit up , before nearly jumping out of your skin at the sight of a liitle boy (who looked your age) sitting next to you looking scared out of his mind

-“…he-hello? are..you..okay” he didn’t seem to notice you as he continued to rock forward and back, mumbling something under his breath.

- as you were about to reach over and touch his hand, you quickly realized that there was a slimy, dark tentacle-like thing surrounding the inside of the small “castle”

- you knew exactly where you were. and exactly who this boy was

- on one of the mornings that eddie’s uncle hadn’t been there you would watch cartoons with eddie, but a few times when he was doing something else around the trailer, you boredly flipthrough the stations with a flick of your head before landing on a channel , with loud, interesting, music that caught your attention

“we interrupt this program with breaking news! 12 year old, will byers is still missing! it has been 3 days now , and his mother is worried sick! if you have seen this boy please contact hawkins police station at this number! that number is 3-“

- his voice trailed off as you stared at the boy in the picture for about 30 seconds

- before having the channel quickly change back to-

“he-man, and the masters of the universe!” eddie said with a weird voice, while he shook your shoulders manically from behind, before jumping over the couch, and stood in front of you, as you looked at him like he was crazy.

“news is a drag, van, someone goes missing like everyday” he said plopping down next to you on the couch, as he was quickly immersed back into the adventures of the man with the yellow hair

-and you were too but not before closing your eyes with this “will byers’” face in mind. you could find him

- you could find anyone , it was your purpose after all

- but this time you wanted to find this person

- and you were going to

- but you’d have to do it when you were alone, so you opened your eyes, slightly looked at eddie from the corner of it, making sure he didn’t notice and discreetly wiped your nose of the blood coming out and was quickly immersed back into the television as well.

-back to now

- “seven! seven where are you! el you said she passed here? are you sure? seven!!!

- you jumped up at the sound of voices, ready to fight if necessary.

-“will.” you whispered to him knowing you wouldn’t be hear much longer.

“will byers. my name is seven.” you whispered holding his hand and interlocking your fingers.

- now the thing is, will saw you but he thought he was hallucinating, and either way he had to keep singing, it felt like the only thing keeping him alive at this point

“i can help you… but. we need to go somewhere else.” you said trying to help him get up.

“..no…it’s too late.” he finally looked at you, “..he’s coming..” he whispered eerily before continuing his past ministrations.

- you recognized the words he was mumbling

- another song eddie had you listen to

“now’s not usually my taste, but my uncle likes it and it’s catchy so-“ he whispered, rolling his eyes before putting the headphones on your ears as you sat cris-crossed facing each other on his bed.

“should i stay or should i go?” you whispered to him.

will looked at you again, actually feeling like he sees you this time.

“ ‘s my favorite song” he whispered

“maybe she’s in it ?” another one of those voices from before said.

“will,” you held his cheek with your hand. “i will come back for you”

- as you started to come back into the real world, will’s body vanishing. you knew that you had to find him. you knew that you could find him.

- and you would.

-as you became aware of your current surroundings again, the footsteps got closer and louder you prepared yourself for the worst

- until the flap opened and you were now face to face with a boy who looked like he could be your age with curly hair and a hat, who looked at you with wide eyes before smiling and screaming

“guys!!! i found her”

before you could react another face popped into the tent but this time it was your sister !

“sister! i thought..” you were cut off by the both of you pouncing each other into a hug, while you teared up at not bring alone anymore

“i found you” 011 said squeezing you tight.

soo short timeskip because weee need to get to season 2

- long story short , you go through the rest of the events if season 1, but you were surprisingly with jonathan and nancy when the demogorgon came to the byers house, being that you spoke to his brother about meeting him before.

- and since you were there then of course

- you met our beloved steve (back when he was in his king steve era of course 😾)

- now of course seeing jonathan and nancy alone in a house together with a bunch of weapons was jarring enough

- but he was even more confused when he saw a little girl with a buzzcut and a very bloody nose, looking like she was preparing for battle as well

- when the demogorgon popped through the ceiling, and nancy tried shooting it before jonathan pulled her away and down the hallway, steve was about to run that way as wel, until he noticed that you were still standing there with your hands raised in the air and little sparks of flames began to appear on the monster .

- he didn’t really have time to think before he literally picked you up and ran, not thinking “why and how the hell was she doing that.”

- now when the thing left and nancy told him to leave and that, that thing was going to come back, he did! (i don’t blame him! ) and just as he was getting into his car, he looked at the house and saw the flickering lights, before getting a newfound confidence and running back in, grabbing that bat, and swinging on the thing.

another time skip (😾) to after all of these events

- you went into the upside down with joyce and hopper to save will, while eleven was with mike, lucas, and dustin.

- after successfully saving him you all went back to the school where everyone reunited with everyone, but for some reason you felt a bad feeling in your chest, like how you felt when you left eddie but worse.

- that bad feeling was correct after you realized that your sister was gone.

- now you’ve lost two people in your life and you didn’t know what to do.

another mini time skip to the end of season one : christmas time (i’m so sorry 😭)

you were staying with the byers for the time being, while hopper tried to find somewhere for you to stay and you and the boys had actually gotten pretty close !

- + you were closer with nancy, jonathan , and even steve as well.

- actually at the end of the boy’s campaign, instead of watching them, you were in the kitchen of the wheeler house watching and helping mrs. wheeler do her baking , while nancy, mr. wheeler, and steve watched a movie, waiting for jonathan to pick you and will up.

- after nancy went to go get jonathan’s present and mrs. wheeler had excused you from the kitchen being that she was finished. you had went to get your coat from the living room, while jonathan went to get will and you saw steve.

- now see, steve was well aware of what was going on with you, being that when he spoke to hopper about you and asked what would happen to you, hopper inquired that you couldn’t exactly stay with the byers family forever, and he said he’d try to find someone to adopt her.

- steve without even thinking said-

“well, i mean she can stay with me.” he shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was the most obvious answer.

- as if he wasn’t talking about adopting a literal child while he was still in high school.

“stay.. with you?” hopper asked incredulously

“well- well not stay with me like, i adopt her but like, my parents could do it. they said they’ve been thinking about it, which i mean i’m not sure why being that they’re never really here to begin with-“ he cut himself off with a laugh before getting back on track.

“but if i can convince them that there’s already a little girl just ready and waiting to have a family, i’m sure they’ll eat it up and do it in a heartbeat” he pshhed as hopper still looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.

“think about it, they’re never here, they won’t even have to know about her littleee,” he put his hands up and wiggled his fingers like he was doing magic.

“and the most questions they’ll ask is what’s up with her hair, and we can cover the tattoo, they’d be none the wiser i promise, plus they only really stick around for like the really important holidays so we’ll never even see ‘em!” he said enthusiastically, as if that wasn’t cps-calling worthy information but hopper thought about it.

“so if they’re never around… who exactly’s supposed to take care of her?”

now it was steve’s turn to look at hopper incredulously.

“…me! chief! duh! me! i mean it can’t be that hard it’s not like she’s a baby, we can enroll her at hawkins middle, she’ll be with jonathan’s brother and them, it’ll be great!

“i’ll look into it harrington.” hopper patted him on the shoulder before walking away.

- low and behold, steve’s parents got into contact with hopper asking if it was true about the little girl who’s parents “died in a tragic house fire” and when he confirmed, they jumped at the chance to adopt you!

- something about charity work being good karma or something.

- so congratulations! you’re officially a harrington! 🎆

- except you didn’t know that yet

- see steve, wanted to wait to tell you, so little did you know this was the last night you’d be staying with the byers.

- as you were nearing the end of your rounds of hugging the people of the house goodbye, even though you’d be seeing them the next day (a habit you picked up. i wonder why 🤔)

- you were walking up to steve, to tell him later but he had stopped you.

“hey kiddo, you doing good? ” he asked awkwardly putting his thumb up while saying good, not really knowing how to say what he wanted to say, even though he begged hopper to let him tell you himself.

“yes..good ” you said copying his 👍🏾 gesture.

“that’s great! so can i uh ask you something real quick?”

- you simply nodded still not really used to speaking that much

“so.. you know how..” he trailed off looking for a way to explain to you what would happen. i mean, did you even like him enough to want to live with him, let alone have him basically be your brother?!

- man he was stressed out now. he did not think this through

“so, you know how mike is nancy’s brother?”

“yes” you nodded, not seeing where this was going

“… and.. will! is jonathan’s brother!” he exclaimed

“…yes” you knew all of this already, was this a test of your knowledge of your friends?

“well.. how would it make you feel… if.. i…was your…brother?” he finally got out

“my…brother?” you asked not really understanding

yeah! like you know how my last name is harrington? yours would be to! we’d be brother and sister!” he said waving his hands at his sides

“like…family?” you asked him in awe

- you would love to be family with steve! he reminded you of eddie in some ways, and was cool in his own.. steve-ish way!

“yeah sev, like family. ” he repeated with a wry smile , showing you the papers with your name, your birth name, of which hopper and dr. (a nice doctor) owens presented to you a few weeks ago. the only difference is that the last name on the paper said “y/n harrington”

“now it’s not finalized yet so-“

“finalized?” you asked him staring at the paper

“yeah.. that means like, things on the paper can be changed, nothing’s official yet.”

- now he didn’t expect you to burst into tears. and he especially didn’t expect you to tackle him into a hug

“i want you to be my family” you whispered to him happily.

“i.. want you to he my family too.” he whispered, hugging you back.

- not noticing mrs. wheeler snap a picture of the two of you, awing at the beautiful moment

- truth be told after losing your sister and eddie, you were planning on leaving soon, not wanting to feel like a burden to the byers or to anyone else, but hopper was constantly checking up, as if he knew what you were planning, so you pushed the thought away all together.

- so having steve sit in front of you, asking if you wanted to be his sister was great! you couldn’t wait to start your new life!

- that night you’d packed your things up (which wasn’t really much at all) and thanked the byers for everything, before getting in the car with steve and going to your new house

- on the way there, you held the paper in your hands with all of your information, you didn’t really understand what any of the rest of the words meant

- but the words DOB: stood out to you being that all it had was a year and no month or day written on it , saying

“N/A, N/A, 1971”

“steve?” you asked, quietly over him humming whatever song was playing softly in the car.

“yeah? what’s up?”

“what is “D O B”

“it means date of birth. your birthday” he said remembering that when he was looking over the documents , he noticed that, and realized they probably couldn’t find it for some reason.

- when owens and hopper told him that they were going to put the standard “january 1, 1971” he asked them not to, and to let you decide what day felt right for you

“so you know what that means?” he asked looking over at you before looking back at the road

“no, what..does it mean?”

“means you can choose when you’re birthday is! that’s sick! whatever month, and whatever day you want, you get to decide!”

“there’s christmas! halloween, fourth of-“ his voice trailed to the back of your mind as he continued naming holidays for yiu to choose.

- but you could only think of one thing at that moment

on the fifth day of you staying with eddie , you walked around the trailer, looking at all of his things.

- you had gotten bored and eddie fell asleep playing his guitar, so you decided to explore .

- as you approached the fridge, because eddie says the best thing to do when you’re bored is eat, watch tv, listen to music or play the guitar, and two of those options were null and void when you new the second you changed the channel from thundercats, he’d wake up and tell you he was still watching it

- so you had the walkman on and listening to, that same song you’d been obsessed with by black sabbath

-before you could open the fridge door you noticed a multi-colored paper book, stuck to it.

- you took if off of the fridge and sat at the table with it looking at all the days and months

- as you flipped through, and got to a month , you looked at the days and saw the words

eddie’s birthday - written in blue letters in one of the boxes

- when he’d woken up not too long after , you asked him about it.

“yup! my b-day’s E/B/D” (whenever eddie’s birthday is because i don’t knowww = E/B/D😭)

“when’s yours?” he asked, sitting down across from you with a bowl of cereal

- you shrugged , eating yours

“don’t know”

“well that’s just absolutely unacceptable!” he said dramatically throwing himself off the chair

- you had started to get used to eddie’s theatrical ways, it never failed to put a smile on your face

“i just got the best idea in the world!” he exclaimed jumping off the floor with both arms stretched out towards you pointing at you

- uh oh. last time he said that , he had you look out for mrs. nolan, while he spray painted the back of her mobile home. the only one in the park (😼)

“quick! ozzy , eddie , or gene?!” he demanded

“ozzy!” you answered without thinking

“yes! i have taught you well young one!” he said shaking your head back and forth

“you! now share a birthday with the prince of darkness! ozzy osbourne!” he exclaimed

“yay ☺️” you loved ozzy! over the past few days eddie had made it his life mission to make you the biggest music connoisseur he knew. even better than him!

- your mind came back to the present and steve was still going!

“easter ! new years, valentines day! there’s so many to choose from i mean, the list goes on!”

“december 3” you told him

(cute fun fact about her is that her birthday is actually december 2nd! of course she doesn’t remember that and nobody else knows but her parents)

“huh?”

“december 3 is my birthday now” you responded looking over at him

“hmm, well that just passed so we can wait till next year to celebrate.” he was quiet for a second , as you two arrived at his house, and getting out the car

“so why that day?” he asked , as you two walked up the driveway with your things in hand

“it’s ozzy’s birthday” you looked at him like he should know, that it was common knowledge, that it was the biggest day of the year

“who’s ozzy?” he chuckled

“ozzy..osbourne” you said , looking at him like he grew a second head

“nope! doesn’t ring any bells, sorry sev!” he chuckled as he unlocked the front door and gestured for you to walk in.

- you just ….. 🧍🏾‍♀️

- you couldn’t believe your ears, how did he not know! was he living in a hole!

- a few weeks later after being officially established in the harrington home, steve took you to the music store to get more tapes for your walkman

- funny story is that when you finally reunited with el and met mike, lucas, and dustin, el noticed that you had new clothes and a weird machine on your hip, and wanted to ask where you got them from, realizing that you were staying with someone but never got the chance to.

- and everyone else figured you got it from the other

- nancy figured you got it from jonathan, jonathan figured you got it from steve, steve thought you got it from jonathan.

- and so forth

- so when he took you to stock up, while also getting some for his own collection

- he noticed you eyeing something on the back wall

- it was a black electric guitar with dark red patterns on it, that became prominent and shined whenever it moved in the light.

- you were completely in love with it! it reminded you of all the times you had with eddie that one week.

- as steve watched your interaction with the instrument he asked the employee,

“how much is that anyway?”.

- so one night a few days later when you got home from hanging out with the boys. you walked into your bedroom , and saw somthing large gift wrapped on your bed.

- as you cautiously walked over to it a tag that read ;

“from steve, happy late birthday :)”

- you ripped the wrapping open and low and behold!

- the guitar plaguing your dreams since the moment you laid eyes on it was right in front of you!

- you ran out of your room and into steve’s

- he was on the phone with who you’re assuming is nancy but you tackle him into a hug anyway.

“thank you stevie, thank you, thank you, i love you so much!”

- before he could even respond, you ran back out the room and gasped, hooking it up to the amp you hadn’t even noticed was also in the corner of your room

- he chuckled and tuned back into what nancy was saying

“what was that about?” she laughed , being happy to hear you so happy and opening up to people

“ahh she was just eyeing this guitar at the store the other day, so i decided to get it for her.”

“aww steve, that’s so sweet! you’re turning out to be a great big brother.” she said genuinely

“ahh it’s nothing, my parents are actually gonna start looking into finding an instructor to teach her how to play so-“

- he was cut off by the sound of what he thought was the beginning of one of your (many, being that you now had this widening collection) rock band vinyls booming and exhoing loudly across the hallway.

- he sighs

- “she’s playing that song again, huh” she giggled at the two already having sibling-like antics

- “yup you know the one, hold on a second” he grimaces, putting the phone down and walking to your room, thinking he’s going to have to remind you about the “music can’t be too loud rule”

- even though it wasn’t his ideal choice of music, he didn’t mind it, not at all!

- he just didn’t want to deal with that old prune mr. poll sending the house another noise complaint

- how the old man can hear that, but not when someone’s talking right to his face is completely beyond steve but, hey what can you do

- so imagine steve’s surprise when he stood in your doorway watching your fingers expertly dance across the chords, and hearing the exact same sounds he’s heard about a thousand times since you got a stereo and were able to play children of the grave from literal dusk to dawn

- he was so confused, how did you learn how to do that

- last time he checked , you :

lived in a lab , pretty much your whole life

escaped with el

stayed with eddie “the freak” munson for a week

got lost

el found you

and then all the bullshit with the demogorgon and will

- so when did you have the time to learn how to do.. that!

- he was so in shock , that when you stopped and looked at him expectantly he realized you’d said something to him

“sorry huh?”

“was that fucking metal or what man 🤟🏾? you asked him enthusiastically , not realizing you say “the bad word ™”

“yes! absolutely! “ he said putting both thumbs up, having no idea what that meant or where you could have learned that word from , and being too in shock to really check you on it

- before he could even say anything else you were right back at it , and steve just decided to go back to his room in shock

“steve! you there? what happened?” nancy asked

“huh? oh it’s just that, that wasn’t her stereo, that was her….playing…expertly.” he trailed off, realizing that you had to have been with someone else before staying at the byers household

“what? she chuckled.

“that was her playing the guitar you just got her, that she just opened 5 minutes ago?” nancy asked incredulously

“uhuh” is all steve could say

“…nice, guess she doesn’t need those lessons after all” was all she could say

“and she said and quote “was that fucking metal or what?” “

“see now i don’t believe you!” she giggled not even being able to imagine her saying that.

the next week as they were back in school after the break, neither steve nor nancy really payed any mind to an eccentric eddie munson as they passed him while he went on one of his infamous loud-ass tangents in the lunchroom

but nancy and steve did share a funny look when they heard him say “it was so fucking metal man you would’ve loved it!” as steve watched him do the exact thing you did with your hand when you said that

- but of course , steve being steve, didn’t think much of it at all and went back to talking to nancy about a party coming up ☺️

the in between part 2 for season 2 will be up soon ! 😻😻😻

jokenotfunny masterlist 🕯

STRANGER THINGS

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader masterlist

synopsis: after you (007) and eleven’s escape from hawkins national laboratory, you accidentally get separated along the way, while she is found by, mike, dustin, and lucas, you’re taken in by some teenager named eddie munson. (spoiler: you only trusted him because of his guitar 😐)

part 1 : how they met

the in-betweens masterlist ^ (same series)

age 12. november, 1983 : season 1 : takes place after she leaves the munson trailer,

age 13. october, 1984 : season 2 : she’s in middle school nowww ☺️ (out now!)

age 14. summer, 1985 season 3 : the summer of chaos and new/old friends (out now!)

age 14. summer, 1985 season 3 part 2 : the summer of chaos and new friends (soon)

age 15. spring, 1986 season 4 : ‘86 baby!

headcannons for the sev x eddie ( x steve too atp) universe

how things are / relationships with other characters pt. 1

how things are / relationships with other characters pt. 2

how things are / relationships with other characters pt. 3

sev and dnd headcannons

sev’s odd crushes : sev’s crushes on eddie 🫣, gareth, and patrick are discussed.

sev vs. uncle wayne round 2 : sev and uncle wayne meet again.

fighting words pt.1 :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬!”

synopsis : after the events of season 4, (of which, eddie and max are alive, well, and thriving because i say so. 😻) reader decides to sign herself, steve, robin, nancy, and eddie up as summer camp counselors for camp shadow hills, up in a mountainous, wooded area, a few towns over. the kids tag along as campers and all is fun and games until it simply isn’t.

headcannons for wgtscb! reader!

ocs for “we’re going to summer camp bitches!”

chapter 1 : “we’re going to summer camp bitches!”

chapter 2 : convincing the parents

chapter 3 : some fun + getting hopper + packing

chapter 4 : see ya in 2 weeks kiddos! miss you already!

“pack up bitches, we’re going skiing!”

spinoff to “we’re going to summer camp bitches!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stranger things x my babysitter’s a vampire! au / lost boys! au

synopsis : when reader comes back from her trip to santa carla, she’s acting off. she’s moody, constantly brushing off the group, hanging around shady looking people, and she looks terrible! (no she doesn’t 😽)

a/n: it’ll be the same reader from “we’re going to summer camp bitches!”

sneak peek for : “never go to santa carla.”

chapter 1 : she’s back !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

stranger things x wandavision!au 🫣

𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲?

synopsis : reader is an individual with powers she doesn’t quite understand. she’s overcome with despair of her and her friends’ failure and her boyfriend eddie’s “death”. so in a fit of rage, her powers go beserk, and she accidentally turns the town of hawkins into a collection of her favorite sitcoms.

prologue : 2 days later

sneak peek of a future chapter : mulitverse?

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stranger things x jennifer’s body!au

𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖆 𝖛𝖎𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖓

synopsis: you and eddie go to a small concert being held at the hideout, the main act is being put on by a gothic girl group, who afterword invite you to some kind of after party. you insist that eddie come with you, but the girls refuse. eddie insists that you go ahead and to call him so he’ll pick you up after.

ocs for the band (it’s important 🫤)

chapter 1 : like a virgin (out now!)

chapter 2 : viewer discretion advised (out now!)

chapter 3 : “stupid fucking hollywood satanist bitch!”

misc ;

songs that i associate with eddie

DUNE

𝔬𝔯𝔭𝔥𝔦𝔠 , dune

a feyd-rautha series

"𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔣 𝔤𝔬𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔰, 𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩" - 𝔫𝔦𝔨𝔦𝔱𝔞 𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔩

planet lore

family lore / family tree

eddie munson x platonic! experiment! reader

omg i’m finally writing the steve vs. billy part of this damn part 3 for season 2 😭. and even after that i still have to write the car scene, the tunnel scene, and the sno-ball scene 🧍🏾‍♀️. i should have it out within an hour or two though so 🤭🤭🤭

this is the longest thing ever wth. between having to write the small filler parts in each one about the readers development in each season and having to put the dialogue for the more important parts, i think i’m going insane.

season 3 shouldn’t be this long at least becauseeeee i’ll be focused on strictly: reader, eddie making an appearance (finally), reader’s development (again! because she’s growing up and all that great stuff.) andddd overall it should just be quicker, so i’m excited ☺️

for the people who wanted an update, i’m so sorry 😭

@tuffluuhv @lolzskye @sadbitchfangirl @ohthatsalittlegay @reasontobebeautiful

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader

just realized it can be seen as a slight! steve harrington x platonic! experiment! reader as well due to their cute little sibling antics so i’ll tag it as that as well. 😭

the in-between series : not really any eddie in this one unfortunately but! season 3 will have a nice surprise, including the both of you. so please don’t kill me 😭

a/n : this. is too fucking long 😭 and i forgot how to add the keep reading symbol omg , kill me now actually 🧍🏾‍♀️

part 3!

part 1 , part 2

season 2 : starting middle school

———————————————————

- so you didn’t actually start school until september of 1984

- steve and hopper thought it’d be better to do some type of home schooling, before just throwing you in with the sharks

- and they also wanted you to get used to being around people who didn’t know about your special abilities

- you needed to be taught that not everyone was as cool as will , dustin , lucas , and mike

- plus you realllly needed to be taught not to use your powers when you were upset

- because the summer of 1984 was interesting to say the least

- you were playing around in the pool , while nancy sat on the edge of it, reading a book and steve was throwing a ball back and forth with you, while sitting next to her

- when all of a sudden a glass bottle went flying over your fence , exploding at the side of the pool. and nearly hitting nancy!

- as the three of you ran to the fence to see what was going on, you three saw some older teenage boys running back to a car with some girls in it who were giggling at the situation

-“oh go screw yourself tommy!” steve yelled at them opening the fence to give them a piece of his mind

“have fun with your slut, harrington!” tommy h. yelled back as the car quickly began to pull off

- after seeing nancy look so visibly upset and steve try to get to them before they got too far

- you stood on the lawn watching them leave with a sharp glare, tikting your head to the side as blood began to trickle down your nose

- all of a sudden the two back tires blew out and the car began swerving down the street, and you could hear the teens screams of terror from the inside of the car

“tommy stop! what the hell are you doing?!” you heard one of the girls shriek.

“it’s not me i swear it’s like the wheel’s got a mind of it’s own!” he screamed back.

- steve and nancy could only watch in shock as the car only stopped once they jumped the curb crashing into mr. poll’s car, who was ironically just walking away from it and into his house after a long day of work

“what the hell! my car! my lawn! you damn kids are gonna pay for this shit!” he screamed, marching into his house to call the police. they couldn’t exactly run away anyway being that the doors were stuck.

- steve jogged back to the two of you, ushering you back into the backyard before mr. poll could try to associate the three of you with what just happened .

“oh my god, oh my god, ohmygod!” steve said pacing back and forth, with his hands on his head once he realized the cause of what just happened.

- you just casually wiped your nose and went back to playing in the pool. as the two tried to quietly go back and forth about what just happened

“steve! calm down! it’s okay!” nancy whisper yelled at him.

“okay? okay?!” he couldn’t stop thinking of what would happen when hopper got there.

- he knew he’d tear him a new one for this.

- he just didn’t want you to get taken away!

- it’s bad enough that hopper feels like you may be too much for steve to handle.

- what with him dealing with a superpowered child of his own, let’s just say that he learned the hard way that temper tantrums were pretty next level.

“that could’ve been so much worse, they could’ve hit a fire hydrant! or a person! someone could’ve died!”

“died? that’s being a bit dramatic steve. they weren’t even going that fast and i’m pretty sure she knew what she was doing!” nancy rolled her eyes.

- truth be told she was a bit biased.

- i mean this was the same group that publicly shamed her for doing something she didn’t even do!

- so she didn’t feel too bad about what happened

-besides they were fine other than just being scared!

steve attempted to whisper yell back but due to his nerves he was a little louder than he thought and turned around once hearing you chime in.

“they could have…hurt nancy” you gestured to the broken bottle on the floor by where she was previously sitting, as you climbed back put of the pool and over to them.

“you could’ve hurt them, sev!” steve exclaimed

“they could have hurt nancy!” you repeated, this time yelling, and looking over to her when you noticed something on her thigh. “and i…knew what i was doing, steve!” you walked over to her pointing at what you saw.

“see! they.hurt.her! they deserved it! they are bad!”

-you turned her to face steve, showing them a small trail of blood going down the side of her leg from where a small shard knicked her.

“oh! seven i’m okay, i swear! i don’t even feel it at all” nancy tried to reassure you, as you got a towel and went to help her.

“they aren’t bad, they’re just assholes okay! and that doesn’t excuse you trying to hurt them, we need to be better then them, we are better than them! i could’ve just called the cops on them, and they would’ve gotten what they deserve! steve exclaimed , although getting angrier at the sight of nancy bleeding.

-you and steve continued to go back and forth, as the three of you went back inside the house, nancy getting ready for hopper to possibly show up.

“oh, because cop’s are any help, right?” you replied sarcastically, remembering what eddie said all that time ago.

“listen she came up a few nights ago wearing some hospital clothes, and-and-and with a bunch of cuts and bruises, man! she needed help! he confessed to his uncle

“then you call the police edward!-“

“jesus christ” eddie rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air. “since when are they any help! i did what i thought was right, and i don’t regret it!”

“i did what i thought was right, and i don’t regret it okay?!” you yelled at him.

- steve was surprised to hear you say that without stuttering or pausing between your words.

- but he didn’t dwell on that for too long being that this whole situation surprised him

- you two had never argued before. about anything

“sev, you’re not listening to me! you could’ve killed them!” he yelled back at you, shaking your shoulders, trying to make you understand the severity of the situation.

“steve i don’t think you need to keep saying tha-“ nancy tried to mediate before this got worse.

- while you didn’t use your powers too often, she new your emotions could get the best of you sometimes, and didn’t want to learn what would happen if you got more upset.

“nancy! would you please! stay! out of thi-“ he began to yell, his frustration getting the better of him

“if i. wanted to kill them… i would have.” you said eerily poking him in the chest, before pushing his arms off of you and stomping upstairs to your room, waving your hand back, making the door slam behind you.

“great going steve, awesome communication skills you’ve got there.” nancy seethed sarcastically, walking out of the house, and slamming the door behind her as well.

- she decided she’d rather wait for hopper outside, than continue to be in the middle of that.

-the situation across the street was quickly mediated by hopper once he arrived, who had the children and mr. poll go to the station with officers,, powell and callahan and just have mr. poll talk with their parents about his messed up car and how it’d be payed for.

- now when he walked across the street to the harrington house, because he knew that two tires popping simultaneously on a clear street wasn’t exactly normal.

- nancy explained to him what happened between the bottle, and what they said, to what you did, to your argument with steve.

“she was only trying to defend me, i really think she doesn’t know better.” she said before getting into his police truck, per his offer to take her home.

- and once he got inside the house, it was the same story, just from steve’s point of view

“and then she was like- “well if i wanted to kill them i would have.” i mean what kind of bullshit were they teaching her in that damn lab!” he exclaimed, once again pacing around.

“just.. give her some time, kid” hopper said calmly.

“we’ve spent this entire year teaching her the things she’ll need to know for middle school, and now we have what- 20 days? to teach her not to physically hurt bullies with her mind?!”

“stev-“ hopper began

“what if someone picks on her or- or one of those boys she hangs out with and just-“ he copied the head jerk thing you do. “snaps their arm or leg?! or worse their neck?!” he said interrupting hopper, putting his hands on his head in distress at the mental image.

“harrington! sit down. you’re making, my head hurt” hopper said rubbing his forehead.

“what-“ steve began stopping his pacing but not sitting.

“sit! down!” he raised his voice.

- steve quickly sat

“myself and my… reinforcements will teach her what to do in case of bullies okay? she’ll be alright!” he explained calmly.

“w-well i can help!” steve said.

“no way!” hopper chuckled as he got up, bracing himself to go talk to you now.

“hey, why not?” steve asked about to get up to follow him.

“because you’re about 5 seconds away from an aneurysm, at this rate, kid” he chuckled again, holding his hand up gesturing for steve to stay downstairs.

“word of advice to you though, i suggest you give her some space.” hopper said, as he began walking up the stairs.

- the situation was mediated much quicker than hopper thought, with you agreeing to learn how to keep your emotions in check and to think of the possible consequences before using your powers in such a way again.

“and if you really wanna make ‘em pay, a quick,” he showed you his fist before swinging at the air and then doing the same with the other one ”one, two should get ‘em.”

- you nodded taking in this important information

“and if that doesn’t work a quick hit to the privates should set ‘em straight”

- he winked before leaving the house, he still did have nancy to take home, and to add a charge of trespassing and assault to the other kids charges

- plus he had a kid of his own to get home to before 8:15.

- skip to the next morning where steve went downstairs, to find you already awake, eating breakfast and watching, the new scooby-doo mysteries.

“hey, morning.” he mumbled, still half asleep and ruffling your newly growing hair (imagine it’s kind of how el’s was in season 2, but slightly longer due to steve teaching you hair care 😭)

- honestly i feel like no matter what race you are , he will do and learn everything he can to have your hair be as healthy and “luxurious” as his 😭

“morning” you responded, through a mouthful of “waffelos”

- he made his own bowl and sat next to you at the table, quickly becoming enamored with the cartoon

“steve?” you quietly called out

“what’s up?” he looked at you

“do you…forgive?” you asked feeling guilty about arguing with him the day before, being that you stayed in your room the rest of the day and didn’t see him until now.

“yeah kid, you’re good. do you? forgive me i mean.” he asked feeling just as guilty for yelling at you for defending your friend the only way you knew how.

- you nodded your head , bumping his fist with yours before continuing to watch tv together.

(aww)

time skip to you starting school :

- so the day has finally come

- you are officially a seventh grader, along with , dustin, lucas, will, and mike.

- thankfully you had one class with all of them, science with mr. clark. and they each were at least in one other with you

- math with lucas

- english with mike

- art with will

- and social studies with dustin

- you didn’t join the a.v club with them, but instead decided to try branching out and finding something that you wanted to do

- you actually ended up joining the chess club!

- you thought: “hey! i remember playing this with mr. peter sometimes, too bad he quit all that time ago, didn’t even get to say goodbye”

- it was unfortunately not that easy but you prevailed! and ended up joining the team

- so overall everything was going fairly well!

- i mean you still missed your sister a lot.

- and while you still missed eddie a lot as well, he was slowly becoming one of those people in life that you just continue to hold them close to your heart, and try to remember them in the best ways.

- and then just like that!

- it’s almost halloween!

- the boys told you all about the yearly tradition of wearing your halloween costumes to school and you were excited gor your first real halloween!

- steve’s (and lawfully yours as well) mother was actually home the week before halloween and took you shopping for a costume!

“so what are we thinking sweetheart?” she asked looking around. “dorothy, indiana jones? garfield? oh you’d look so cute! uhh or how about-“

“janine melnitz!“ you said, being that the boys already planned their costumes and you wanted to match

“oh, the secretary from ghostbusters?” you nodded, as she put her hand to her chin, staring at you in thought.

“i can work with that!” she said grinning, grabbing your hand, and escorting you back to the car to continue her errands for the day.

- she ended up giving you a blouse from her closet and gave you a pair of glasses that were hers from high school. “thank goodness i kept these huh?” and she bought you a red wig, and cut it to frame your face.

- unfortunately she did have to leave the night before, to meet steve’s (and your) father in indianapolis for a conference. but not before reminding steve :

“please remember to take pictures before she leaves for school in the morning, steve!” she said during dinner

“yeah, mom i will.”

“i mean it steve, do not forget!” she said sternly.

- being that her and mr. harrington weren’t around too often, she liked to have pictures of things for her to look back on. what with steve having seemed to be growing up so fast, she wanted to do the same with you before you were all of a sudden his age and almost out of the nest.

(i typed this on my phone and there are NEST EMOJIS⁉️)

“yes, okay! jeez! no faith, am i right!?” he said jokingly, looking over at you to back him up.

“you do… forget things sometimes.” you giggled with mrs. harrington

“is it just always shit on steve day?” he asked jokingly.

“language!”

- as per demand, the next morning, steve made sure you were ready earlier than usual so he could take lot’s of pictures before he dropped you off.

- it was like the mom in him just jumped out!

- i imagine it as the same cute little sequence of the boys moms taking pictures of them and then it’s just steve doing the exact same thing 😭

“okay now say, “may the ghosts be with you” he said.

“nobody ever said that 🧍🏾‍♀️”

“oh whatever! just do a pose please!”

(i headcannon that steve has just always been so bad with movies 😭)

- you just did a few and your infamous 🤟🏾and tongue pose

- he dropped you off soon after that, you, steve, and nancy getting out of the car and saying bye to them before going your separate ways, walking with will towards the bike rack, to wait for the others.

“knock ‘em dead velma!” steve called out behind you.

“janine!” you and will said at the same time, before looking at each other and giggling.

- you and will joined the other boys as they were finishing singing the theme song, and started naming each other.

“hey, spengler!”

“egon! yeah!”

“venkman!”

“janine!” they all yelled simultaneously, grinning.

“woah, woah hold on!” mike halted, looking at lucas

“what?”

“why are you venkman?” mike asked lucas

“because i’m venkman.” lucas said, as it was obvious

“no, i’m venkman.”

“why can’t there just be two venkman’s?” will interjected.

“because there’s only one venkman in real life. we planned this months ago.” mike said.

“i’m venkman. dustin’s stantz, you’re egon,” he pointed at will. “and you’re winston.” he said to lucas.

“i specifically didn’t agree to winston.” lucas reminded him

“yes, you did!” mike exclaimed

“no he didn’t.” and “i don’t think he did” you and will said at the same time

“nobody wants to be winston, man.” lucas said in response to mike, as dustin shook his head in agreeance.

“what’s wrong with winston?” mike asked confused

“what’s wrong with winston?” he repeated “he joined the team super late, he’s not funny, and he’s not even a scientist!” lucas listed off.

“yeah, but he’s still cool.” mike countered

“if he’s cool, then you be winston.”

“i can’t!” mike exclaimed.

“why not?” lucas asked, knowingly.

“because…” mike stuttered

“b-b-because your not black?” lucas mocked him.

“mm-mm-mm” you tsked shaking your head in disappointment.

HELP THIS WAS YOU AND LUCAS FR :

“i didn’t say that!” mike jumped

“you thought it” he argued

- they continued to go back and forth, as you and will watched in amusement, before you noticed dustin was looking around in confusion.

- let’s just say you weren’t particularly pleased with them to learn that you guys were the only ones dressed up.

“i swear to god we aren’t making this up sev!” dustin exclaimed following behind you as you walked ahead of them stopping at your locker, to get your things for class.

“uh-huh, sure dustin!” you said walking into the one class you didn’t have with any of them, shaking your head.

- but you did share it with max, who you met the day before, being that she was new qnd in you and the boy’s homeroom.

- she noticed your outfit, and actually liked and complimented it, telling you she’d be dressed like michael myers for the night and that she’d look out for you.

- after school, you were riding on the back of dustin’s bike while you all rode home. you were going to hang out with dustin before you all went trick-or-treating,

- you silently listened to their conversation, when you heard what sounded like the revving of an engine coming up not far behind you.

-as the boys began panicking and riding faster, you looked back and glared at the car, blood beginning to trickle down your nose, but before you could do anything further, the car quickly swerved, and you spotted through the front windshield, someone who looked a lot like max with her hands on the wheel, staring at you guys in horror.

- later that night, as you walked around neighborhoods with the boys, listening to them have some debate about a candy called “nougat?” whatever.

- when all of a sudden, somebody jumped in front of you all, wearing a michael myers mask with a knife, making the boys scream.

- lucas’ scream made you jump more than the jump scare did. 😭

“holy shit! you should’ve seen the look on your faces!” she laughed, taking off her mask and revealing her self as max.

“and you?” she nodded her head at lucas “who screams like that? you sound like a little girl.” she laughed beginning to walk away as you caught up with her, giggling.

- she stopped to see the boys still standing there in shock.

“hey you guys coming or not? oh i heard we should hit up loch nora. that’s where all the rich people live right?” she chuckled, continuing to walk.

“i live there” you said to her as you two kept walking while the boys trailed behind.

“wow, really y/n?” she asked surprised. “yeah but skip old man poll’s house, he’s an ass.” you giggled.

“and you can call me sev.” you smiled at her.

- and that’s how you two became fast friends.

- that night you went home with dustin to hang out and wait for steve to pick you up, after him and nancy’s party thing.

- as you two walked up his driveway, him practicing different ways of saying “tubular”, when you two heard a weird chittering sound coming from inside his trash can

“mews, is that-“ he was cut off by a loud clang, coming from the inside of it. making you and him drop your candy bats and him detaching his photon blaster from his back, before approaching the can.

“dustin i don’t think you should be going to it, what if it’s something with rabies!” you exclaimed, shivering in disgust, as the can kept shaking.

- he screamed as he flipped open the can, before freezing at the sight inside of it.

- thus beginning the adventures of you , dustin , and dart.

- you didn’t stick around much longer, being that steve had come to get you pretty earlier than expected.

- but you promised dustin you’d come over tomorrow to learn more about this thing. you didn’t really have a good feeling about him keeping it.

- as you piled into the car you noticed something,

“where’s nance?” you asked while buckling yourself, being that you planned on watching horror movies with her and steve that night.

“jonathan took her home, she wasn’t feeling well.” he mumbled, you sensed he was upset and decided not to press further.

- you soon found out that your predictions were correct and that dart was from the upside down, and then things just went really downhill from there.

“seven, quick kill it!” lucas screamed

dart grot bigger, grew legs and escaped

you tried to burn it, but dustin stopped you

will got possessed had a seizure

then, being that the boys kept shutting max out whenever they started to talk about the upside down , she got mad . which led to this moment :

- as you and lucas caught up with max outside after school, they started to argue about keeping secrets from her

- just standing there, listening to them go back and forth, you looked across the parking lot, catching eyes with an older boy , leaning against a blue car, who was staring at the three of you quietly.

“did you keep secrets from el?” she asked sassily

- that caught your attention.

“how do you know about el?” you asked.

- she never answered, leaving you to keep wondering who told her about your sister.

- you went home with steve that day, just hanging out in your room, when all of a sudden dustin’s voice filled your ears, repeating

“code red! code red! someone please pick up! i repeat, this is a code re-“

“what’s wrong!?”

“sev, thank god! just come over so i can explain! over and out!” he said before signing off before you could say anything.

- after leaving the house, but not before telling steve and your’s father (who was packing to go on a business trip.) where you were going, you quickly got on your bike, riding over to dustin’s house.

- long story short, dart ate dustin’s cat, so after quickly helping him bury him, you two headed over to the wheeler’s house to look for mike.

- after not being able to find mike or nancy you two were about to head to lucas’ house, until you saw steve hopping out of his car with flowers in hand, talking to himself.

“steve!” dustin called out, you two speed walking to him.

“sev? i thought you were at home, wha-“

“are those for mr. or mrs. wheeler?”

“no?”

“good. nancy’s not here” he said snatching them out of his hand and walking towards steve’s car.

they went back and forth before dustin asked.

“do you still have that bat?”

“bat? what bat?” steve asked confused

“the one with the nails!”

“why?”

“i’ll explain it on the way!” dustin said as you two got in the car.

“now?”

“now!”

“oh my gosh, steve.” you put your hands on your head in exasperation

- now you find yourself walking on a train track with steve and dustin , dropping raw meat on the ground trying to bait dart, towards the place lucas told you guys to meet him at.

- you weren’t really listening to the conversation your brother and dustin were having, more focused on the fact that, if dart’s a baby demogorgon.

- does this mean none of this is truly over? did your sister die for nothing? was will, safe? who would die next?

- questions after questions began to pour into your head, your body moving on auto-pilot until hearing lucas’s voice echo across from you.

“i said medium rare!” he shouted , as you spotted max next to him.

- as you jogged over to meet the two, you heard steve say “who’s that?”

- now a few minutes later, as you max and steve set up the place to get ready for dart, dustin and lucas were huddled behind a car arguing about something.

“so, you have powers huh?” max asked from next to you.

“lucas told you?”

“yeah. i don’t believe him of course but i do believe you’re definitely cool enough to be some kind of superhero.” she said.

- you didn’t respond only lifting your arm towards her and lifting the metal sheet she tried to pick up and gently dropping it next to the abandoned bus, with your powers.

“holy shit!” she exclaimed with wide eyes.

“sev actually stands for seven.” you quietly told her.

- you were ready for her to turn tail and run, never to see her again, until she all of a sudden said.

“that’s cool as hell! you’ll have to show me more later, when we’re done dealing with, whatever this is ‘kay?

- you nodded, happily agreeing

- soon it was nightfall, and the five of you sat around waiting for dart to show up. you and lucas on the roof keeping an eye out, max sitting in one of the bus seats, steve sitting on the ground flicking a lighter open and closed, and dustin pacing around the inside of the bus.

- once max came to the top you switched with her, going back inside the bus, you climbed down to see steve and dustin talking.

- it was nice to see dustin getting along with your brother, he didn’t have an older male figure in his life so, it made you smile to see them interact kind of like brothers .

- you were pulled out of your thoughts by a loud growling noise. dart was out there, he just wasn’t taking the bait

“steve? steve what are you doing?” you turned around to see your brother pick up his bat, pointing at you two saying,

“just get ready”

- next thing you know, steve’s out there with the bat trying to lure dart to him.

- from the corner of your eye you saw movement behind steve and to the right

“steve watch out” “three o’clock! three o’clock! you heard lucas yell out.

- you looked to see three more behind steve, and didn’t hesitate before running to the door witn dustin opening it, and screaming for steve to come back.

- you quickly used your powers to send one of them flying as steve hit one before booking it back to the bus.

- as steve was occupied with hitting one over and over that’s head stuck into the bus

- dustin and lucas jumped, as one sunk its claws into the metal behind you guys

- while max and you heard slow thumping noises on the top of the bus

- one of the creatures stuck it’s head into the opening of the top of the bus, growling at the two of you as max started screaming

- just as you were about to use your powers on it, steve burst over and in front of the two of you, yelling at it

- before anybody could do anything else, something caught it’s attention and ran off

- timeskip to you all at the byers house, as hopper tried to get ahold of somebody on the phone.

- you sat on the couch with will’s head on your lap, silently watching nancy and jonathan interact, you looked over seeing steve watching them too, before wiping his nose snd walking away.

- as mike began talking about how bob was the founder of the a.v. club, your mind started to drift.

- you liked bob, you hadn’t known him very long, but he was real nice to you! showing you and will cool comics, he even did a 500-piece puzzle with you once! you wisjed you could’ve been there to save him.

- time skip to you, mike, joyce, jonathan, and hopper, sitting in the room with will, as everybody told him a story of a memory they had with him

- you noticed from the moment you began recalling the first time you saw each other in the upside down, he looked at you in an unsettling way.

“do you remember my name? it’s-” you began telling him but he cut you off

“seven. i know who you are.” he said eerily before turning back to joyce. “let me go”

- hopper noticed that will had been tapping repeatedly on one of the legs of the chair.

-once the group figured out he was communicating through morse code, they continued to ask him questions while deciphering what he was saying

- now short time skip to everyone getting in position, getting ready to fight the demodogs

- nancy and hopper had their guns, lucas had his slingshot, steve had his bat, you were ready to use your powers and, was mike seriously holding a candlestick right now?

- all of a sudden a demodog went crashing through the window, but you quickly realized it was already dead

- you’re attention was then pulled to the sound of the door unlocking, and slowly pushing open to reveal,

“eleven?”

- while mike had a breakdown in will’s bedroom about hopper hiding her, you were just happy that your sister was alive and here with you

- skip to , joyce , jonathan , and nancy left to get the mind flayer out of will , while eleven and hopper got ready to go close the gate

“why can’t i come? it’ll be better with both of us there.” you pleaded to hopper.

“it’s just too risky kid, we don’t know what could happen.”

“i’d feel much better with you here, anyways.” steve included.

“i can help! she shouldn’t have to do this alone!” you yelled, beginning to feel useless.

- eleven killed the demogorgon and then disappeared, what would happen this time? she could’ve been with you all this time if you were there the first time around. you just wanted to protect your sister. why didn’t they understand that?

“she won’t be alone, i will be right there next to her to protect her.” hopper tried to reassure you.

“then bring me wherever will is, i can help burn it out of him with my powers!-“ you exclaimed.

“this isn’t up for debate, you aren’t going anywhere, you’re staying here, end of story.” steve said walking away after hopper.

- el walked up to you, putting her hands on your shoulders to face her.

“you can protect our friends if you’re here.” she said.

- you thought about it “fine, and i know you just want me to play bodyguard to your boyfriend.” you joked

“hey, what’s with that outfit, by the way? you asked, before she promised to tell you later.

- after hopper and el left for hawkins lab, you, lucas , and max cleaned the broken glass, while mike paced around back and forth, and steve and dustin tried to fit the dead demodog in the byers’ fridge.

- you weren’t really listening as they were going back and forth about, the lab being swarmed, dustin trying to get the name demodogs around, and steve comparing everything to a sports game (again)

- you tuned in once again, once dustin said that you all weren’t exactly left with nothing to do

“so you got all the tunnels feeding in here.” mike said pointing to one of the drawings around the house.

“maybe if we set this on fire-“ he continued

“oh yeah? that’s a no.” steve said immediately shitting down the idea.

“the mind flayer would call away his army.” dustin inquired, ignoring steve.

“they’d all come to stop us.” lucas continued.

“hey.” steve tried to say again.

“we circle back to the exit.” mike also continued on.

“guys!” steve interjected again.

“by the time they realize we’re gone” mike exclaimed.

“el would be at the gate.” you and max finished.

“hey. hey! hey! this is not happening.” steve clapped, getting everyone’s attention, before putting his hands on his hips.

“but-“ mike started

“no, no, no, no, no. no buts. i promised i’d keep you little shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what i plan on doing. especially you!” he exclaimed, pointing at you.

“we’re staying here. on the bench. and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. does everybody inderstand that?” he asked, as you all sighed.

“this isn’t a stupid sports game!” mike repeated from earlier.

“i said does everybody understand that? i need a yes.”

- before any of you could answer, the moment was cut off by a loud engine revving outside of the house and you all could hear loud rock music playing.

- max quickly walked over to the window with lucas.

“it’s my brother. he can’t know i’m here. he’ll kill me. he’ll kill us.” she said slightly panicking, looking at lucas.

- steve looked up with a determined expression on his face before marching outside, and standing in front of the door.

- you all watched from the window, as steve and billy, had got closer to each other, seeming to have some weird standoff.

“wait… guys is this a one-way glass or did he just look right at us?” you asked backing away from the window, pulling max back with you.

“nah i think we’re good sev.” dustin said, until all of a sudden the boys saw billy, point his cigarette directly where they towards the window where they were sitting with steve turning to look as well.

( nah that scene really made me mad like- they were all up in that window as if he didn’t have eyes ! and then dustin had the nerve to say some-😭)

“shit, did he see us?” dustin asked after they all ducked down.

“really dustin? 🧍🏾‍♀️” you said exasperatedly.

- not even two seconds later the door slammed open, with billy walking in. but wait where did steve go?

“well, well, well.” he said slamming the door.

“i thought i told you to stay away from him, max” billy said as he walked up to max.

- you stood in front of lucas, in case billy decided to try anything. still confused and concerned for whatever he did to your brother for him to not be back in the house by now.

“billy, go away.” max tremored

“you disobeyed me. and you know what happens when you disobey me.” he said eerily

“billy.” max warned

“i break things.” he moved passed max and pushed you out of the way before grabbing lucas, and slamming him against the shelf in the corner of the room.

“billy! billy, stop!” max and the others were yelling at him.

“get off of him!” you scrambled to get up, about to use your powers or run and jump on his back, (whatever your brain registered first honestly) before a hand on your shoulder stopped you.

(notice how every damn time you’re about to use your powers something happens 😐)

“stay away from her! you hear me?” he yelled continuing to push him against the shelf

“i said get off of me!” lucas yelled kneeing him in the crotch, making billy go stumbling back.

“you’re so dead sinclair! you’re dead.” he yelled, as he began to stand up straight.

- he was stopped by steve pushing and turning him around.

“no. you are.” steve said before punching him in the face.

- as they went back and forth fighting, between the others cheering steve on, and steve getting a few good hits in at first, until billy picked up a porcelain plate and broke it over your brother’s head, getting the upper hand.

- so yeah steve was getting his ass beat!

- before you could do anything, max grabbed one of the sedatives used for will, and walked over , abbing billy in the neck with it.

- after max slammed the bat near his dick and threatened him. (i loved that part 😭 slay max ‼️)

- as everyone carried the supplies needed to burn thbe tunnels, you carried steve to the car using your powers and piled into the backseat along with, mike and dustin, with steve layed across your laps, and you holding an ice pack to his head as he was still knocked out.

- all the while lucas was in the front seat with max, giving her instruction son where to go

“he’s gonna freak out when he wakes up.” you inquired knowingly

- and before you know it he started groaning and moving his head, looking around before deliriously saying,

“nancy?” he asked, looking at mike, who looked at him in confusion, like he was crazy.

- he kept groaning, before going to touch his (very much broken) nose, before fustin gently guided his hand away from his face

“hey buddy… shhhhh, shhhhh” dustin tried to reassure him

“it’s okay. you put up a good fight. he kicked your ass, but you put up a fight. you’re okay.” he continued as steve started to become more coherent.

- after steve had a breakdown about a thirteen year old driving a car, and max getting fed up before quickly making a turn and eventually stopping right before where the tunnel was, you all piled out of the car and to the trunk to gear up as you tried to calm steve down.

“hey, there’s no chancd we’re going to that hole, all right? this ends right now!”

“steve you’re upset, we get it.” you began

“but right now, a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance.” dustin said.

“now i know you promised nance that you would keep us safe.” he continued.

“so, keep us safe” you finished, as dustin handed his backpack with his bat with nails in it to steve.

- steve just sighed before taking the bag.

- after you all got down there, steve began leading the way down the tunnel, to find the hub.

- sometime along the way dustin stopped to look at one of the weird things on the wall, not long after, it sprayed some freaky spore stuff right into his face causing him to freak out, about it getting in his mouth, which caused the rest of you to freak out.

- after the scare you all made it to the “hub” and began soaking the place in gasoline.

- steve sighed. “i am in such deep shit for this.”

“alright firestarter, go ahead.”

- you made sure you all were far away enough, before glaring directly at the middle lf the hub, a trail of blood coming out of your nose, when all of a sudden the flames overtook the tunnel and vines, of which the latter began to shriek and flail around, almost as if it was in pain itself.

- as you and the others ran through the tunnel, a vine wrapped around mike’s leg, dragging him to the ground, as everybody tried to pull him away from it, and you trying to pull it off of him, steve came through and began hitting it with his bat.

- after successfully getting the thing away from him, and getting ready to start running again, a loud shriek from right behind you, caught everybody’s attention.

- steve got in front of max, lucas, and mike, with his nat ready, while dustin got in front of everyone, and you got in front of him, ready to attack it if it decided to jump at anyone.

- dustin recognized it as dart, calmly walking up to him , offering him some nougat that he had left over.

- after having a cute little moment with him and saying goodbye, you all continued walking, and getting back to the hole, you got in through.

- after helping everyone else get back out, as you and steve were about to help push dustin through, you heard a cacaphony of screeches coming your way, as demodogs were stampeding right towards you all.

- you were about to try to setting them aflame, while steve grabbed you and dustin to shield you two from them, when they all went barreling passed you as if you weren’t even there.

- you and mike looked at each other before simultaneously saying.

“it’s el.”

- thankfully, you learned once getting back, that the mind flayer was successfully removed from will’s body, and that el closed the gate.

- time skip to two months later, the night of the hawkins middle school sno-ball dance. you were in the backseat as steve dropped you and dustin off in the front.

- you got out after hugging steve goodbye, before walking in, as steve wanted to give dustin a “man-to-man pep talk”

- after greeting everyone, and watching as they all left to dance, will whisked away by some girl, lucas and max going yo dance eith each other, and dustin going up to a group of girls.

- mike was sat at one of the tables, and you went to the snack table where nancy was and greeting her before she walked away somewhere.

- during the slow dance you were happy to see that el had finally arrived and was dancing with mike, dustin dancing with nancy, max and lucas shared a kiss, and will dancing with that girl.

- all of which you happily snapped a picture of on your polarioid, before going back to eating the majority of the snacks on the table, you spotted a bowl of pop rocks bags.

- you smiled , picking up a bag as a memory came to you all of a sudden

- eddie walked around the conveniece store with the cart, you trailing close behind him, as it was his turn to get the groceries, according to his “uncle wayne”

- you were decked out in one of eddie’s large “k.i.s.s” hoodies , the hood on you, covering your shaved head and successfully covering your “007” tattoo.

“don’t worry van, we’re almost out of here. besides i won’t let anyone touch you. ” he reassured you as he noticed how you kept clinging to him, scared of being caught by “the bad men” you told him about.

“i’m just looking for these damn- ah! here we go!” he exclaimed pulling a box of the shelf before, turning around and dramatically presenting them to you.

“pop rocks!” he yelled excitedly, as you just looked at him blankly.

“right. you’d never even had pizza before the other day, why would i expect you to know what pop rocks are.” he said opening the box and pulling two packs out, and handing one to you.

- you copied how he ripped open his pack and did what he did, throwing your head back, and pouring the contents into your mouth.

- you quickly began to cough, confused and shocked on the sound in your ears and sizzling on your tongue and-

“i think it’s…in my throat!” you rasped out, holding your neck.

- eddie laughed loudly at your reaction, patting your back half-heartedly, gaining the attention of a few other shoppers but one you saw specifically abandoning her cart and came over to see what was going on.

“edward munson, you aren’t supposed to be opening food in the store! are you even going to pay for that? and who’s this?” a short, older lady exclaimed accusingly with a shrill voice at eddie, standing behind him with her hands on her hips.

- eddie’s smile and laughter left as quickly as it came, as he rolled his eyes, before turning around and facing her with a fake smile.

“hi ms. nolan, to what do i owe the pleasure of your nosiness today?” he asked sarcastically as you stood behind him.

“don’t get smart with me you, cad!” she exclaimed disgustedly.

- he quickly lost his fake smile as well

“i don’t have time for this today you old bat, i need to be home by a certain time.” eddie responded seriously, as he grabbed the cart and started to wheel around her, with you trailing behind, holding onto his shirt, before her arm shot out, and grabbed his forearm tightly.

- now you were on alert

“you know you’re turning out to be exactly like your father, eddie.” she said in his ear with faux concern.

“i mean first it’s groceries, next thing you know you’ll be a full fledged criminal, wanted for murder i bet.” she whispered tauntingly with a disgusting smile on her face.

- you didn’t really know what she was talking about but eddie? a murderer? never. eddie wouldn’t hurt anyone! you on the other hand-

- looking to see his reaction, being that he didn’t respond , you were surprised to see his usually outgoing manner, look so grim. he actually seemed really upset at her words and of course that made you upset.

“eddie is…not a murderer. he is not bad.” you said to her, stepping out from behind him, and closer to her.

- eddie tried to intercept, but you two just continued to stare each other down.

“or kidnapping apparently! why am i not surprised munson.” she said to him but still sneering at you.

“let. him go” you said staring right back at her, as blood began to drip from your nose.

“or what little girl?” she said tauntingly, getting in your face.

“uhh ms. nolan? you’re entire cart is kinda on fire right now!” eddie said panicking as well as other shoppers , at the bright light that flashed from the corner of his eye all of a sudden.

“what are you talk-“ she cut herself off to see that her entire cart, along with its contents were indeed on fire.

- along with her purse, that was sat inside of it that was now quickly melting as well.

“oh my god! my purse! somebody help! she yelped and yelled running back to her cart trying to fan it out, along with an employee.

- eddie stared in shock at what had just happened.

- but before he could react you started to walk away, with him following with the cart of groceries.

“we go home now.” you said eerily calm as you two began walking towards the registers.

“uh yeah- let’s go.” he agreed. after the things were quickly scanned, you two walked out to the parking lot, towards his van.

“sorry you had to deal with that old crone’s grating ass voice, van, but i mean, hey i just want to thank whatever higher power did that, little trick!” he joked, but you didn’t laugh.

“you are hurt.” you said pointing to his arm, where there surely was a bruise, beginning to form on his forearm where his thermal was rolled up to, from where she was squeezing him.

“oh that? psh i’m fine, don’t even feel it honestly. besides” he paused, wiping the blood from your nose.

“i’m strong, i can handle a little pain.” he said, smiling.

“now! shall we go home, and indulge in this entire box of pop rocks, milady?” he said dramatically as you two got into his van, gesturing at the box in your lap.

- you quickly shook your head no, with wide eyes, grimacing at the remembrance of how it felt sizzling in your throat and stomach.

- he laughed loudly, pulling out of the parking lot, exclaiming-

“whoo! more for me then!” he yelled loudly, out of thw window, making you laugh.

- the memory itself wasn’t too nice, due to the ms. nolan being an old crone part, but remembering the way eddie handled it and the pop rocks part is what made you smile, giggling a bit, still observing the small bag, before putting it back.

- you were still traumatized by the odd candy after all, you thought, before making your way down the rest of the table, to get some punch as well, before someone tapped your shoulder. ;)

a/n

oh. my. goodness. gracious that took me wayyy to fucking long. BUT i’m so excited to start writing for season 3! which i will start right now even though i’m literally finishing this one at 5:47 a.m. 😼

@tuffluuhv @reasontobebeautiful @sadbitchfangirl

@ohthatsalittlegay

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader

can be seen as a slight! steve harrington x platonic! experiment! reader as well due to their cute little sibling antics so i’ll tag it as that as well. 😭

also ! i want to start writing little things about, seven! reader’s adventures with the hawkins crew , so you can send requests or asks about it if you want !

the in between series : van and eddie meet again 😼🫣

Part 4!

part 1 , part 2 , part 3

season 3, part 1: the summer of freedom

- you were about to murder your brother

“son of a bitch! steve i can’t believe this! i can’t believe your manager!”

“hey! language! and i already said i’m sorry, i didn’t think we’d have to be working that night.”

“yes you did! honestly sometimes it seems like you and robin are the only two employees there!”

- see, you had bought two tickets to see the movie “weird science” an entire month earlier than the rest of the world

- being that each actor in the movie’s hometown would get a chance to see it before the release date:

- so being that one of the actors was from fort wayne, they were supposed to be able to see it BUT

- something bad happened over there so it got moved to hawkins instead!

- poor them but yay you right?

- anyways robin (steve’s really cool coworker) was supposed to go see it with you, but then you found out that they couldn’t take off early for the night of the movie.

“what am i supposed to do with the extra ticket now?” you asked walking back into your room, with steve trailing behind you.

“why don’t you just give it to max?” he asked gesturing to the girl sitting at your vanity.

“because i’m going to see “day of the dead” with the boys” she said.

“what about your sister?” he asked

“hopper doesn’t like when she’s in places with too many people.” you explained.

“i’ll just return it i guess.” you sighed.

“if you really want to see it with someone, why don’t you just wait until next month, when it’s actually coming out?” steve asked.

- as if he didn’t just say the worst thing you could’ve heard.

“ooh, bad move steve.” max winced

“steven. you see this woman right here.” you asked seriously, pointing at a poster hung next to your bed, also next to your guitar.

- it was one of kelly lebrock’s vogue covers.

“if i get any chance to see this woman, especially early? i’m going to take it.” you explained.

“you and this weird obsession with kelly lebrock i swear.” he rolled his eyes, walking out of the room.

“see, he doesn’t appreciate her, which is why i invited robin, and not him!” you said to max, but yelled loud enough for him to hear, as he closed his door.

“whatever!” you heard a muffled yell through his door.

“you two are funny” max laughed at the two of your antics.

“i guess.” you crawled into your bed, laughing as well.

- a few minutes later, the sound of an engine revving, with loud rock music, stopped in front of your house.

“well, there goes billy. i’ll see you tomorrow though okay?” max said beginning to gather her things.

“yeah see ya.” you hugged her, before she walked out of the room.

- time skip to the next night, you, will , lucas, and max are waiting outside of the mall, for mike to show up.

“i swear, if he doesn’t show up in the next 30 seconds i’m going in.” you said, pacing back and forth

“just wait, he’ll show up soon.” will said

“i don’t even know why i have to wait anyways, it’s not like we’re seeing the same movie.” you rolled your eyes.

“so i don’t have to third wheel to these two,, and because you’re a good friend” will whispered, pointing at lucas and max, who were having a discussion.

“fine.” you relented

“you’re late.” you heard lucas say to mike, who finally decided to show up.

“sorry!”

“we’re gonna miss the opening.” will complained

“yeah, if you guys keep whining about it! let’s go!” mike said speed walking into the mall.

- lucas mocked him as you all quickly walked into the mall behind him.

“let me guess, you were so busy making out with el, and lost track of time right?” you said sarcastically., smiling at the glare he gave you.

“oh you’re so funny.” mike rolled his eyes.

“i’m just saying, you’re taking up all of my sister’s time, i mean one time i was hanging out with her, mike showed up, and then they just started making out right in front of me!” you said, before turning to max and will, telling them about that moment a few weeks ago.

- the rest of them went back and forth, before the group passed erica and her friends, leading lucas and erica to start arguing before max dragged him after you guys and into scoops ahoy.

- mike kept ringing the bell on the counter, in front of robin, waiting for steve to come to the front.

“hey dingus, your children are here.” robin called, not looking away from the group.

“again, seriously?” steve asked, looking at the group from the back window

- as they ran into the back after steve, you stayed at the counter and started talking to robin.

“quick! while he’s distracted make a break for it and come see the movie with me!” you joked, except you weren’t really joking.

“trust me if i could i would, sorry kiddo.” robin laughed.

“yeah, i know, well i’ll let you know how it went okay?” you exclaimed, going into the back, where steve was waiting with the back door open.

“wow, i’m shocked! i half expected you to show up in a suit and tie, ready to propose to kelly lebrock or anthony michael hall if they were here.” steve said sarcastically.

“hey, if they can’t appreciate van halen, then maybe they aren’t the ones for me.” you joked, gesturing towards your van halen shirt (that you aquired from a certain someone ;) )

“yeah, yeah, whatever, i’ll see you after okay? have a good time.” steve said ruffling your hair, as you walked past him and down towards the theater.

- time skip to you getting to the theater, just as the previews were almost finished and finding a seat in the back.

- there surprisingly were two seats left directly in the middle of the back row, being that a lot of people came to see the movie, so you sat in one and started pulling the snacks that you bought earlier out.

- not noticing that someone took the seat right next to you.

- and even if you did, you wouldn’t have payed them much attention anyway.

- as the movie was finally beginning, the opening scene of gary and wyatt, standing in the gym doorways playing, the movie screen, suddenly started to glitch, before shutting off completely, causing the crowd to start booing and throwing things at the screen.

“oh come on! you’ve got to be kidding me!” you exclaimed, i mean does the universe, just not want you to see your celebrity crushes or something?

- you thoughts were interrupted by the person sat next to you yelling:

“jesus h. christ, is this a joke?!” he yelled throwing, a bunch of popcorn towards the screen like the rest of the crowd , but instead it landed in a girl two rows down’s really poofy hair.

-she turned around, accidentally making direct eye contact with you two, as you both smiled and waved awkwardly at her, trying to stifle your laughter, before waving back and turning back around.

- you and the unknown guy next to you, looked at each other silently, before bursting out laughing, at the coincidence

“oh my gosh, i can’t believe that just happened. she’s gonna be pissed when she sees that!” he whispered to you, still laughing.

“hey, don’t pull me into this, that’s all you buddy.” you whispered back, still laughing as well.

“nope, you’re my accomplice kid, we’re going down together.” he laughed.

- before you could respond, the screen turned back on resuming from the exact same part, as the crowd cheered.

- throughout the movie, you and the unknown guy kept making quiet comments and jokes about what was happening in it.

- and before long, the movie was finished and everyone started to leave, you walking with the unknown guy talking about the ending.

“jeez, if she was my p.e. teacher i wouldn’t know what to do!” he exclaimed, holding his heart.

“right? i mean it has to be illegal to have someone that attractive, teaching a bunch of high school boys.” you replied, looking over at him.

- and now that he was no longer illuminated by the movie screen, you were able to see him much better.

- he had long curly hair, wearing a black metallica shirt, with black ripped jeans, and a black bandana hanging out of his back pocket.

- now i know that you guys know who this is, but right here right now, our precious sev, has no idea who this guy is

- being that the last time you saw him, his hair was curly, yes, but much much shorter, and he himself was shorter last time you saw him too.

- and don’t even get me started with him, as he got a good look at you as well, with your, much longer, curly hair, an assortment of bracelets covering your left wrist, therefore covering your tattoo, and mid-thigh shorts, the only thing he was able to recognize was your shirt

“oh, sick shirt! you a van halen fan, huh? i used to have the exact same shirt!” he asked pointing to your shirt that said “van halen 1978, world tour”

“oh! yeah, big fan! i didn’t actually go to this tour though, i was like 7 when it happened.” you responded.

“yeah i figured that, you seem kind of young.” he inquired, before saying,

“yeah my umm, brother! gave it to me, he went to go see them.” you smiled, your mind drifting back to eddie, recalling the story he told you about it.

“yeah van, that concert was so sick, you would’ve loved it!” eddie exclaimed, after you asked about the shirt he gave you. “but for now we can have a concert right here!” he jumped up putting on one of their songs.

- your memory and conversation, was cut off by a sharp yell

“hey! you two, assholes!” you two looked over to see what the drama was, and to your surprise (and horror) the girl from the theater with the poofy hair, was marching right towards you with an angry look on her face, and a few pieces of popcorn in her hand.

“shit!” you both said before speed walking through the crowd and away from the woman, hiding behind a pillar until she passed.

“i can’t believe you got me dragged into your mess!” you exclaimed, laughing.

“hey, i told you, you were my accomplice now! besides, you waved at her too when she looked at us in the theater.” he defended.

“well whatever, my name’s y/n.” you said, smiling and holding your hand out to shake his.

“well it’s good to know the name of the kid that i pulled into my life of crime! my name’s eddie!” he smiled shaking your hand

- your smile slowly faded, as your mind caught up.

“hey.. about earlier, you said that you used to have a shirt like this? what happened to it?” you asked nonchalantly, really hoping this wasn’t what you thought this was.

“oh! well uh..” he trailed off trying to think of what to say.

- i mean he couldn’t exactly tell you, that he met a girl with superpowers almost three years ago, who was on the run from what he was guessing was evil government people, and that he gave it to her to wear, and then she ran away, with said shirt still on her, and he hadn’t seen it, nor her since then.

“i gave it to myyy little sister! yeah, my little sister has it now! she thought it was cool so… yeah that’s what happened!” he exclaimed before continuing to ramble on.

“she’s in middle school too actually! not that i know that you’re in middle school, but like, you said you were 7, when the world tour was going on and she was too, so i just kinda did the math and y-yeah.“ he rambled rocking back and forth.

- the second he said the word seven, it was like your soul had left your body, with no intention of coming back.

- he said his name was eddie, he said that he used to have the exact same shirt that you’re currently wearing, and he said that he gave it to his sister!

- but before you completely jumped to conclusions you had to really make sure

“and.. what’s your sister’s name?” you asked, before seeing him look at you with his eyebrows raised, and a confused look on his face.

“i mean, because you said she was in middle school!” you exclaimed before he got suspicious.

“and i’m in middle school, too! i go to hawkins middle, so i was just asking because i might know her!” you quickly cleared it up.

“oh! okay, yeah. right. duh! her name is uhh.” he chuckled, realizing that he couldn’t tell you her name was seven.

“her name was van!” he said proudly, because that’s not a weird name or anything.

“…was?” you asked, trying not to tear up, because this is eddie, the same eddie that took you in all that time ago, and the same guy who kind of shaped you into who you are today.

“i mean is! is. her name is van.” he chuckled trying to clear it up.

- gosh you hadn’t heard that name in ages!

- now you were left with a dilemma, do you tell him that you know her really well, do you ask him more questions about her, or do you run away because by telling him that you’re who you are, could get you and him killed.

- because the eddie you left behind knew you had powers, and so did his uncle!

- and you don’t know if they ever called the authorities about it, but assuming thay you’re able to walk around freely, as long as you don’t expose your powers to everyone, you figured they didn’t.

- before you could say anything else though, a familiar voice, stopped you in your tracks.

“hey! what are you doing with her?” you heard steve’s defensive voice from behind you.

“oh! harrington, i didn’t expect to see you here! especially in.. that.” he smiled sarcastically at him, examining his outfit.

- wait, how did they know each other?

“yeah, whatever freak, i said what are you doing, talking to my sister.” he asked unnerved.

“steve, stop it. he’s not a freak.” you defended him, although it didn’t seem to bother eddie.

“your sister? no offense but you two look nothing alike.” he laughed, before thinking.

“wait, so this is the brother who went to see van halen on tour?” he asked you , as he laughed incredulously. “didn’t think “king steve” had taste!” he teased.

“munson, what are you even talking about, i don’t listen to that shit?” steve started to get annoyed.

“well, why don’t you ask your sister?” eddie started to get annoyed too.

“no, how about you, leave my sister alone, huh? what are you trying to peddle drugs on her or something!?” steve asked getting in his face.

-eddie laughed in steve’s face, getting closer as well, ready to insult him.

“steve, stop. we were just talking, okay! we were at the same movie.” you said sternly, as you tried to stop him before, it turned physical.

- steve didn’t exactly have a good track record when it came to figting people

“sev! stay out of this okay, if he was bothering you, i’ll handle it!” steve exclaimed holding his hand out for you to stay back.

“hah! please harrington, as if you and your little posse, haven’t bought from me before.” eddie teased, his nose almost touching steve’s, causing steve to move back.

- eddie was beginning to make another joke at steve, before his brain caught up to what steve called you.

“you know what whatever. just stay away from my sister alright, i’m serious. come on sev, we’re going back to scoops ahoy!” steve said.

“wait, hold on, hold on, what did he just say?” eddie asked, now facing you instead of steve.

“munson, are you deaf? quit bothering her, i’m serious.” steve warned, but, eddie ignored him.

“you said your name was y/n?” eddie asked you.

“i-“ you tried to explain, but steve cut you off.

“sev, you don’t have to answer that, let’s go.” he tried to pull you away from whatever was going on here but you halted.

“steve, wait!” you raised your voice at him.

“i really, seriously, need to talk to him, just for a second.” you pleaded at your brother.

“for what?” steve asked with his hands on his hips. what could his 14 year old sister, and now 3rd time senior, eddie munson, have to talk about?

“just, please steve. i promise i’ll explain everything, but i really need to talk to him.” you begged, on the verge of tears.

“gosh, fine!” steve relented,

“but i’ll be watching, and i swear if anything seems off we’re leaving!” he walked to a nearby table, where robin sat, waiting for him, as she asked him to catch her up on the drama.

- you turned back to eddie, taking a seat across from him, at one of the nearby tables, who was just honestly so confused, at everything that just happened.

“so… i’m assuming, that that’s not the brother, who gave you that shirt huh?” he laughed sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood.

“nope, no it’s not, i’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know who eddie van halen is, honestly.” you joked, wiping your eyes, as you two started laughing again.

“so…what does sev, mean?” he asked, really hoping that the universe wasn’t playing tricks on him.

- you didn’t answer, only pushing your arm out to him, lifting your bracelets, showcasing your, “007” tattoo to him.

- just like the night you two met in 1983.

“soooo my name’s eddie. what’s your name?” he asked

- when you just blankly stared at him while eating he figured this wasn’t going to be a very productive conversation until you set the slice down, held out your arm and pointed at the inside of your wrist.

-he saw what looked like ink on the inside part of your wrist.

“007?” what’s that mean?

when you pointed to yourself and softly said “me” he almost missed it.

“yeah, that’s what i thought!” he whispered to himself, staring at the tattoo”

“you kept the shirt after all this time.” he stated.

“yeah, i guess i did.” you said wistfully.

“so… brother huh?” he smirked, remembering what you called him.

“hey, you called me your sister!” you laughed.

“no, i called van, my sister. you’re “y/n harrington”” he put quotes around your actual name.

“nah, y/n’s just what i tell people i don’t know. everyone calls me sev, except you.” you said.

“good to know, and i’m happy to see that you made it passed the “bad men” era of your life.” he joked again.

“gosh you look so different! but i mean i must’ve been impactful that week, if you’re dressing like that, almost 3 years later.” he said smugly as he gestured to your outfit and hair.

“eddie, i’ve missed you. and i’m so sorry for hurting your uncle” you got straight to the point, standing up and hugging him tightly.

- he was pretty caught off guard but stood up and hugged you back nonetheless.

“i’ve missed you too kid, happy that you’re alive and all that.” he smiled.

“and you didn’t hurt him, just surprised him a whole lot” he said, letting go.

“jesus christ! they’re hugging robin, do you see that?! why was she hugging him, why was he hugging her?” steve exclaimed shaking robin’s shoulder in panic.

“i don’t know?! steve! i’m sitting right here, seeing the same thing that you are! okay i don’t know!” robin exclaimed, irritated.

“oh my gosh, i just can’t believe steve “the hair” harrington, is your brother.” eddie laughed.

“that he is, but he’s a good one. i actually think you too would get along.” you smiled, looking at steve, who was going back and forth with robin still.

“well kid, it was nice seeing you but alas, this is goodbye.” eddie said suddenly.

“wait, huh? what do you mean?” you asked confused.

“i mean, not forever. now that we recognize each other, we’ll see each other around, but you’ve got a life now kid, go live it” he smiled.

“besides if my calculations from before were correct, you’ll be attending hawkins high next school year, right?” he asked, beginning to walk away.

“yeah? why?” you asked confused.

“you’ll see, it was nice seeing you again, van! have a great rest of your summer.” he bowed dramatically, before turning around and leaving the mall.

“…what the hell kind of reunion was that?!” you spoke outloud, throwing your hands up in exasperation, before walking over to steve and robin.

- timeskip to you and steve in the car on your way home.

“so you’re telling me… that eddie “the freak” munson, was the first person you met after you and el escaped hawkins lab, and he took you in?” steve asked, shocked but calmly.

“yes, steve, and i stayed with him for almost a week, before i found you guys.” you explained.

“that… actually makes a lot of sense.” he said decidedly, before pulling the car into the driveway.

“wait what? how does it make sense, exactly?” you asked, as you two got out of the car and went into the house.

“well, you’re obsessed with that music you always listen to, and you were so infatuated with that guitar, before i got it for you, and you were creepily an expert at said guitar, from the moment you touched it, even though you had just escaped from a lab, you said things like “fucking metal” and kept doing those weird hand gestures, and you chose for your birthday to be the same day as some rockstar’s so. yeah! it makes sense!” he listed off nonchalantly, before dropping himself on the couch.

“i guess my only question is what made you leave him?” he asked.

“i accidentally threw his uncle into a wall with my powers.” you winced, putting your head in your hands, also dropping yourself next to him on the couch.

“yeesh! so he knows then?” steve asked.

“yeah, but he didn’t really say anything about it, when we were talking? maybe he forgot!” you said hopefully.

“either way just please don’t tell hop!” you exclaimed. “eddie’s not involved with any of the upside down stuff and i really don’t want him to be!”

“trust me van, i’m not, i don’t want him to either, today was the most i’ve ever spoken to him and i’m hoping it’ll stay that way!” steve said turning on the t.v, flipping through the channels.

“so you aren’t mad?” you asked

“nope! actually now that i know, i’m kind of relieved, i guess! since now i know that you weren’t staying with some serial killer.” he said, before finally stopping at a rerun of jem and the holograms.

“okay, then.” you said, and started watching it with him.

- you still couldn’t get the last thing that eddie said to you out of your head, why did he say that he’d see you the next school year? didn’t he graduate already, being that he’s older than steve? oh well, you’d figure it out sooner or later.

a/n : that was ass 😾 and i decided that i was just gonna split up the actual events of season 3 and the reunion between sev and eddie into two parts, because i’m impatient and wanted them to see each other again 😭.

also ! i want to start writing little things about, seven! reader’s adventures with the hawkins crew ! so you can send requests or asks about it if you want !

@tuffluuhv @ohthatsalittlegay @sadbitchfangirl @reasontobebeautiful @uselessbutinteresting @creativedogs @howlerwolfmax @kik51199 @spookyscarydinosaur @kenzi-woycehoski

how things are in my eddie x platonic! experiment! reader universe

takes place between seasons 1-3 !

sev/van/y/n

- sev! reader’s powers consist of

telekinesis

pyrokinesis

extasensory perception

technopathy

electromagnetic disturbance

illusion manipulation

etc.

- so in this story reader is bi!

- if you can’t tell by her scary cute obsession with kelly lebrock

- speaking of ! here’s some of sev’s celebrity crushes !

kelly lebrock

anthony michael hall

tom hanks

michael jackson

elizabeth montgomery

- when she got to hawkins high, her being a harrington got around pretty quickly

- like i’m talking between students and teachers

- sev became quite popular

- much to the dismay of mike , dustin , max , and eddie

- but especially rob

- oh yeah ! rob hasn’t been introduced yet but i’ll talk about him anyways

- so remember at the end of season 2’s chapter when someone tapped on sev’s shoulder while she was stuffing her face at the dance?

- that was rob, one of her and the kids classmates

- he was part of the a.v. club with mike, will, lucas , and dustin.

- one day she came in after school, being that her chess club was canceled and just sat and watched them

- rob’s been infatuated since

- he’s harbored this really big crush on her ever since

- unfortunately sev hasn’t noticed

- see, even though sev is pretty well-versed when it comes to the knowledge of things like:

music

movies

sports

etc.

- she’s a bit clueless when it comes to love

- like, guys will give her flowers and bring her chocolates, and some girls will leave notes in her locker and invite her to sleepovers and parties

- but she just thought that meant they really liked her and wanted to be her friend!

- like one day she was walking to her locker with rob and once she opened it, 6 letters fell out. 4 from girls and two from guys

“oh rob look, someone said they think i like cute today 😊 !”

rob : “that’s great 😐”

- but you’ll learn more about rob in my next season 3 chapter

- moving on !

- from the time steve bought her that guitar, to 1986 she’s learned how to do a lot of songs on it

- her love of music continued on as she also picked up other instruments

the saxophone

the cello

the drums

- steve gets no sleep pretty much

- well actually he does because, he got so used to the noise, that it doesn’t affect him anymore

- speaking of steve

steve :

- steve is tired

- so very tired

- calls constantly coming to the house

- like one night while sev, max , el , dustin , lucas , will , and mike were having a sleepover in your room,

- steve was just getting home from dropping robin off after work

- so he just gets home and he’s ready to just fall asleep on the couch

- until the phone started ringing

“sev! go get that please!”

- no answer

“sev! can you- jesus christ, nevermind i got it!”

steve: “hello?”

random kid: “hi, is y/n home?”

steve: “who’s asking?”

random kid: (insert name of a kid he knew when he was in school)

steve: “wait, aren’t you a senior now??”

random kid: “well, yeah but-“

- steve just hung up

the only seniors your allowed near are nancy, robin, and eddie

- speaking of nancyyyyyy

nancy :

- she’s like a big sister to you honestly

- hence why she was so protective over her during that pool situation

- nancy taught her how to use guns

- (steve doesn’t know 😐)

- so when her and steve broke up it was kind of awkward

- especially when she got with jonathan

- but once steve graduated he was over it and so sev was too

and then came robin !

buttt that’ll be in the next part because this is getting too long 😊

tagged list ;

@tuffluuhv @ohthatsalittlegay @sadbitchfangirl

@reasontobebeautiful @uselessbutinteresting

@creativedogs @howlerwolfmax @kik51199

@spookyscarydinosaur @kenzi-woycehoski

I have a question about our dear Y/N in the eddie series! is she gonna be interested in DnD and hellfire or is she too cool for that? I can imagine her being mesmerised by the dice very early after escaping, rolling a 7 and just pointing to herself like “me :)”

omg yes! after eddie taught her some of the basics when she was with him for that one week, she was really hooked!

- i just love the thought of sev playing around with one of the die in eddie’s trailer while he’s getting the rest of the game set up, and when he goes to sit back down and show her how to play the game, everytime he rolls it lands on a seven and he’s just like “weird 🤨” and after the like 10th time it happens he just looks over the die and realizes that every side says 7 because she changed it with her powers 😭

- of course he didn’t realize this because it was a new die he’d never used before and just assumed it was an error in the making of it 😐 so he just gave it to you because-

“heh, well that’s a funny coincidence!” 🧍🏾‍♀️

- i like to throw in little hints of how much eddie influenced her into the person she became, as she grew up.

such as her style, the music she listens to, her playing the guitar, and dnd!

- but to further answer your question, she didn’t play that much after leaving him.

- she would mostly just sit on the side and watch as the other boys played (like at the end of season 1), and sometimes when the boys were really into it, she would be sneaky and use her powers to keep making them roll sevens 😭

- they caught on pretty fast though 🫤 so she just stuck to making mike roll numbers that would badly affect his character, when she was feeling petty.

- in my season 3 part 2 chapter, you’ll see her with will, when he keeps trying to get the boys to play. spoiler: at one point her and will just ditch the group and play a one-shot.

- in regards to the hellfire club, she would be apart of it! but sometimes, like lucas, she probably wouldn’t be able to make it due to her other extracurriculars

- but after seeing eddie’s disappointment of her not being anle to make it, she would definitely go to her coaches sometimes like-

“coach, i don’t know what’s going on with me! i was feeling fine earlier and now my nose won’t stop bleeding!”

- of course she just made her nose bleed and her forehead hot to the touch, so that they would think she was sick and send her home.

- when in reality as soon as she was out of sight, she’d just make her way to the drama room like-

“hey guys, i made my coaches think i was sick! can i still join today’s campaign?”

- steve scolds her the whole car ride home for lying, after picking her up that night because he got a call while at work saying that-

“y/n had excessive nosebleeds and her forehead and neck were burning up! she had a temp of 103.2!” the nurse rambled worriedly.

- but that doesn’t stop her from doing it in the future 😭

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n : sorry for such a long response ! i ramble way too often to just give simple yes or no answers 😭

I AM IN LOVE WITH IR EDDIE AND SEVEN SERIES BUT HEAR ME OUT what if sev had a lil childish crush on Eddie but didn’t understand it and asked the group (including Steve, Nacy, Jonathan) AND MAYBE if sev got jealous of Crissy and some point (this doesn’t have to affect the story line I was just curious) BUT LIKE HEAR ME OUT FR WHO WOULDNT HAVE A CRUSH ON EDDIE???

omg ! this made me laugh so much 😭 and i feel like you read my mind because i had an idea for sev, where she has a crush on gareth and patrick 🫣

small headcannon for:

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader (seven/sev)

- but yeah, the week she was with eddie, she sort of grew a small crush on him, because she wasn’t used to attention like that

- so she didn’t really understand it, but once she was with steve she was thinking ; “oh. well if you’re my brother, and you remind me of eddie for some reason, then i guess i actually just like eddie as a brother 🤨” (tbh she’s still confused) + she already called him her brother to steve at some point, so she refuses to tell anyone about it 🤭

- because it’s like she grew up wanting to be literally just like him, hence the music , hair , and (some of) her clothes and just style in general.

- but in reference to the crush thing and you reading my mind, it’s canon in this universe that she starts to have crushes on people that are older than her 😭

(this is a call out for myself btw and me about to be a senior is taking a toll on me send help 😐)

- her crush on gareth and patrick are pretty much like on the show kenan and kel, (if you haven’t seen it, you should it’s so good 😭)

- but pretty much kenan’s sister had a huge crush on his best friend kel, and it was literally so obvious 😭 or like the show my brother and me, where one of the brother’s friends is constantly trying to get with their sister and she’s always just like : no 😐

- but yeah, everyone knows about it and dustin and lucas snitch to steve and eddie about it all the time

- cue sev just popping up at gareth’s locker, asking him to help her with things after school, or go places with her, not realizing that she’s asking him out.

- so just as he’s about to accept, you just see eddie just coming out of nowehere and interrupting them eveytime, dragging sev away and doing that weird “i’m watching you” gesture to gareth

-gareth is honestly clueless about it, so whenever eddie does that and just shakes his head and mutters “for shame, gareth. for shame 😐” he’s just like, “the hell did i do, now?” because yes it’s a recurring situation , and yes eddie is always watching

- with patrick it’s kind of different, yes he knows, but he obviously isn’t going to do anything about it

- like he’s flattered but girl you’re fifteen, anddd he’s about to graduate 🧍🏾‍♀️

- but he appreciates it and doesn’t hurt your feelings or anything.

- unfortunately him complimenting you back and saying things like, “any guy who rejects you would be stupid.” he was talking about gareth, because you two are closer in age than you and patrick are.

- that doesn’t do what he thinks it does, so when he closes his locker the day after that, to you holding a stack of rare ass sports cards he’s just like “aww shit, i think i made it worse.”

- thankfully (but not really) big brother!steve found out because lucas and dustin live for the drama

- so one day he and eddie decided to hold an intervention for you

- it’s pretty much just steve bursting into your room, while eddie sits on the couch downstairs waiting for his cue

- steve really wasn’t going to say anything, thinking “it’s just harmless crushes 😊”

- but once he found out that you blew your allowance on an entire drumset and sports cards because wow! those were expensive! he can’t take it anymore

“okay i could handle your little crush/infatuation/obsession with munson down there!-

- because yes, he knew, how he found out was beyond you, but it was too late to deny it now.

“shut up i do no-“ you were cut off by him waving his hand dismissingly

“or even for your little things for those two!” he exclaimed pointing at the poster over your dresser and bed of kirk hammett and kelly lebrock. “uhh, kurt hamlet or whatever!”

“kirk hammet?! steve what are you babbling on about?!” you were so confused.

“but this crush on patrick has to dial down, at least a notch!” he stressed

“yeah, and gareth too.” eddie included, as he now stood, leaning on your doorframe.

“why? i’m not doing anything wrong! it’s you four that keep butting in! besides, it’s not like they’ll ever like me back! so you all can just screw off!” you yelled at them, kicking them out of your room, and slamming the door in their face with your powers.

- so that was productive!

- anyways you didn’t speak to steve, eddie, dustin, lucas, gareth, or patrick! for like two weeks.

- it’s like you became a ghost! they literally just didn’t see you in that time, and it’s like if they caught a glimpse of you, in the next second you were just gone 🤨

- dustin and lucas were hurt because you’d prefer to be around mike and max, than them? max, they understand but mike???

“maybe if you two just left her alone, she’d still be hanging out with you.” max and mike made fun of them one day.

- you forgave them all eventually and even talked to patrick and gareth once in your shared study hall, apologizing for if you ever made them uncomfortable.

“it’s okay, you’re good. was just a harmless crush.” patrick dismissed.

“wait she had a crush on me?” gareth asked him after you left when the bell rang.

- besides you had moved on now

- now focusing on the types of things that chrissy and tina, might be into… 😼😼😼

(not erica’s friend tina btw, the one that madelyn cline played in season 2 ! )

a/n: thank you for fueling this idea of mine anon, i actually want to write an actual mini-chapter about this now ! 🤭or even just a list of all the people she’s had crushes on and why 😭

awww shit !

i forgot to add my dungeons and dragons / jumanji(-ish) au one where eddie, steve, robin, nancy and reader, are finally convinced by eddie to play dnd, but then they somehow get sucked into the game and have to live and survive as their characters 😾

okay so like i know i still have my

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader universe and my summer camp horror story to continue

but !

i’ve been thinking thoughts and now i just have all these ideas and au’s i wanna start writing 😭

i will be listing them because i can’t keep thoughts to myself, but feedback on which ones sound best would be great ! 🫶🏾

- weird science au ; the boys decide to create a girl one day, just for fun after seeing the movie when it came out. chaos ensues and some people like her a little too much 🤭 ( some people is the fruity four 😽 because i don’t know who i want her with yet )

- the lost boys / my babysitter’s a vampire au ; the kids love their babysitter, but she’s been acting a little odd lately, as well as nancy , robin , steve , and eddie 🤨 < don’t know about that part yet

another vampire one! ; eddie starts dating a girl (reader) but the gang just thinks that there’s something weird going on with her, cue, dustin , lucas , will , and mike going, “ she’s obviously a vampire!”

- bewitched au! : reader’s family moves to hawkins, right next door to the sinclair’s, erica tells the group that their neighbor is like eleven, claiming that she’s seen her do weird things. just for them to find out that she’s a witch.

- famous reader!au : everyone knows who the “y/s/n” (your stage name) is, the people of hawkins refer to you as “hawkins’ hope” being that you made it out of your cursed hometown and all. so imagine eddie munson’s surprise when he gets to the wheeler’s basement to hang out, and sees you chatting it up with everyone, like you’ve known them your whole life!

- clue! au ; six people from the same town, are all invited to a mansion one night for a dinner party, thrown by a mutual friend. it’s supposed to be a themed party, but the theme they’re never told. they never get to find out either, being that the host was killed. (i have the idea for this one, i really do. but i have no clue how to execute it. haha get it clue? i’ll stop 🧍🏾‍♀️)

- scooby doo au! ; honestly that one fanart really gave me life, and i would honestly just love to see them as the mystery gang fr 🫣

- kind of like a wandavision!au : reader is an individual with powers she doesn’t quite understand. she’s overcome with anger and grief of her and her friends’ failure and eddie’s “death”. so in a fit of rage, she accidentally turns the town of hawkins into a collection of her favorite sitcoms ! whoops ig

- final destination! au ; the gang decided to take a well-needed vacation , as they board the plane however (i don’t know which character yet, probably reader though) has a too real premonition of the plane crashing moments after take-off, due to her having an outburst, the hawkins crew gets kicked off of the plane, for her delusions. however things quickly escalate further, once the plane does exactly what she said it would. or ( the plot of the second or third final destination movies with the roller coaster or the highway. )

jeepers creepers 2! au ; robin , steve (a senior in this one), nancy , eddie , and reader are going on their senior trip. on the way there however, the bus breaks down, giving the creeper (vecna) a chance to strike !

the society au! ; steve , robin , eddie , nancy , and reader are going on their winter senior trip, however on the way there due to bad weather, the trip gets postponed, making the buses turn back around to hawkins. except when only two buses return and when they do finally get back, the townspeople seemto have vanished.

jennifer’s body au! ; reader and eddie go to a small concert being held at the hideout, the main act is being put on by a gothic girl group, who afterword invite reader to some kind of after party. reader insists that eddie come with her, but the girls refuse. eddie insists she go ahead and to call him so he’ll pick her up after. imagine his surprise when he wakes up to reader laying in his kitchen at 3 am throwing up blood, and babbling nonsense !

mechanic! reader! au ; eddie is infatuated with the girl he keeps frequenting to fix his van.

and i can’t think of any of the other ones rn , but i’m sure this is enough 😭 anyways let me know which one sounds good because writing other things give me inspiration to write my current works for some reason 🙇🏾‍♀️

we’re going to summer camp bitches !

convincing the parents -

chapter 2 of we’re going to summer camp bitches!

pt. 1

eddie x fem!reader (reader is canonically hot and everyone loves her, i don’t make the rules 🙇🏾‍♀️)

except yes i do. 😽

future warnings : suggestive language , cursing , blood and gore , heavy flirting , eddie being down bad 🫤, reader being hot , steve being hot , robin being hot , eddie being hot, nancy being hot , look everyone’s just hot okay? and i can’t think of anymore rn 🤨

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hawkins, indiana | monday , june 23, 1986 | 3:56 p.m.

- the henderson house -

“y/n, you have no idea how nice it is to just sit down and hang out with you! i feel like we haven’t really done this since you were at least, 11, when you first started babysitting dusty and the boys!” dustin’s mother beamed at you.

“claudia, you are honestly so right! i’ve just been so busy all the time, you know when i’m not with the kids and stuff.” you said sweetly, finishing the glass of lemonade she handed you.

“oh! sweetheart let me take that for you.” claudia said, about to get up.

“no, no, i’ve got it! you just relax, it seems like you’re always doing everything! i mean when’s the last time you had like, i don’t know, a vacation of sorts!” you inquired, taking her empty glass to the sink as well.

“you’re so sweet dear, really!” she sighed.

to give context, you had been sat at the henderson house for about an hour now, in all honesty you could’ve just asked her when you first got there, or even over the phone! it’s just that you thought it’d be good to check up on her, anyways, so you figured why not kill two birds with one stone.

“actually! speaking of a vacation,” you turned to face her, leaning against the sink. “did dustin tell you that i’m going away at the end of this week?” you asked her.

“oh! no, why? is it something for college?” she inquired.

“no, i’m actually going to be a summer camp counselor this year! i’m shocked he didn’t tell you! being that he wanted to go and all.” you snuck in at the end.

“really? he didn’t say anything about it..” claudia trailed off.

“probably just too nervous to ask you! what with everything that was going on a few months ago…well here’s the flyer! steve and nancy are actually coming too! and two of our other friends.” you said handing it to her.

“the wheeler’s are going? well, i’ll talk to dusty about it when he gets home. tell him that he can start packing and things like that! i’m sure he’ll be real excited.” she beamed.

“so you’ll let him come? oh that’s great! now, i don’t know how the cabin and counselor system will work, but just you know that i’ll keep an eye on him.” you beamed back at her, making her nod.

“oh! it’s already 4?! time just flys by talking to you, huh?” she said getting up, mumbling about preparing for her bridge club meeting, being soon.

“well i’ll get out of your hair then! and could you tell dustin to call me when he gets a chance?” you asked sweetly.

“sure, dear. have a good day!” claudia called out.

“you too!“ you called back, as you walked out of the henderson house, and getting in your car.

~ easiest - hardest to convince list ❥~

1. claudia henderson (dustin’s mom)

2. karen wheeler (mike’s mom)

3. sue & charles sinclair (lucas and erica’s parents)

4. ms. mayfield (max’s mom) you ran into her at the supermarket, earlier that day and were quickly able to convince her, so +1 you !

5. joyce byers (will’s mom)

6. hopper (el’s dad)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hawkins , indiana | monday , june 23, 1986 | 4:27 p.m.

- the wheeler house -

convicing karen wheeler wasn’t too difficult, being that not only you were going, but nancy and steve as well? great!

now the only real issue was mike. when you originally spoke to the kids about it, not only did mike think you wouldn’t be able to make his mother relent, but he also was pretty adamant on not going, anyways. hence why right now, you were standing in the wheeler’s basement going back and forth with him.

“y/n, i’m not going to your stupid summer camp!” mike groaned as he plopped down on the couch.

“but- you said that if i could convince your mother you’d go!” you complained.

“well, i guess i lied then! besides i need to stay here with el!” he replied, getting off the couch just as quickly as he sat, and started pacing around, just wanting this conversation to be over.

“oh my actual gosh! mike you’re the worst sometimes , you know that?!” you groaned out in frustration, before realizing what he said. “besides, el’s going too!” you slyly added.

“please, you’re trying to tell me that you got hopper to let her go?” he scoffed, crossing his arms, and standing in front of you.

“not yet, but you know i’ll be able to.” you scoffed back, crossing your arms and standing up too.

“it’s too dangerous! why would you want to do that! you want her to get hurt or something?!” he started to yell and- hell no you’re not about to take it.

“okay you know what michael, sit down!” you exclaimed using your “babysitter voice™”

“oh please, i’m not 9 anymore, that’s not gonna work on m-“

“sit!” you yelled.

he dropped himself back on the couch, pouting like a child. well at least he sat 🧍🏾‍♀️

“mike,” you took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “you know me, and you damn well how i am, right?”

he nodded slowly, looking at his lap.

“mike, look at me, i have, and i always will, protect and defend you kids with my life, and you know that.”

he tried to hide his smirk, as he remembered the time that you made one of his bullies in elementary school, piss his pants, after the kid threw his entire lunch tray on him, hurting him in the process. the kid got away with it by the school, because he pleaded and pleaded that “it was an accident!”, and “apologized”.

but when 14 year old you, walked to pick the boys up from school that day, you knew it was no accident. so you made mike, point out the kid who did it, leaving the boys to watch on the sidewalk, as you marched up to him, got in his face calmly whispering something, as the kid looked more and more terrified the more you spoke, before he burst into tears, running up to mike, apologizing profusely, then running away to god knows where. mike always wondered what you said to that kid, but you never told him..

“ha! see, you’re smiling which means, yes! you know that i wouldn’t let anything happen to you guys and i certainly won’t let anything happen to el!” you calmly said sitting in front of him, on the floor.

“fine. if you can convince hopper to let el go, then i’ll go too.” he relented.

“ahh i knew you wanted to go mikeyy.” you teased, getting up. “now give me a hug, now that we’re friends again!” you joked, being that you used to make the boys do that when they were younger and would argue with each other.

“ew, no way! i’m too old for that crap!” he tried getting off the couch, and walking past you, until you pulled him into a hug anyways. he didn’t want you to know that he was actually kinda comforted by being hugged in a non-life-threatening situation for once.

“alright, i won’t torture you anymore. don’t start packing last minute, kid.” you said, letting him go and walking towards the basement stairs.

“you didn’t even convince him yet!” mike yelled out to you, referring to hopper.

“you know i will though!” you called back, saying bye to nancy, who was packing in her room, and mrs. wheeler, mr. wheeler and holly, as you passed them making your way out of the house.

as you settled into your car, and began driving to the sinclair house, your walkie crackled to life, dustin’s voice came through it repeating your name frantically, asking if you were there.

“hey dustin, i copy, what’s up.” you asked, hoping nothing was wrong.

“are you a witch? or an enchantress or something?” he asked incredulously, as he was currently in his room, looking for what he should pack for camp.

“only in dnd.” you joked. “i’m assuming you’ve spoken to your mother then, i told you i could do it.” you chuckled, turning onto the sinclair’s street, and parking in front of their house.

“i just don’t understand how.” he replied.

“yeah, me either.” max said, tuning in as well. “my mom came home from the grocery store, and just told me not to start packing for camp too late, so you’ve definitely got something going on with you y/n/n.” she said sarcastically.

“that was actually a coincidence.” you said honestly. “alright, i’m at lucas and erica’s house now. over and out.”

you hopped out of the car, praying that your charm and credibility as a babysitter, would be enough to convince them.

being that they were still in trouble for what happened in march 🫤

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hawkins, indiana | monday, june 23, 1986 | 5:40 p.m.

back in your car, on the way to the byers house

the sinclair’s were a success ! you’re not sure how you did it! but you did, and that’s all that matters, now going to joyce before hopper was completely on purpose.

see, if joyce says yes, then before you even get to hopper tomorrow (because you’re too tired for any more of this today and you’re sure that convincing joyce may take a little longer than the other parents did.) he’ll already know about it, and you’ll either just have to do a little coaxing or not even have to do anything but deal with his grumbling !

you pull up to the byers house, get out, and knock on the door. thankfully will opens it, already knowing you were coming.

“hey y/n” he greeted you with a hug.

“heyy will, is she busy?” you asked, hugging him back. as you two walked into the house together.

“not really, she’s in a good mood, and she’s watching reruns of cagney and lacey, in the living room.” he said.

“alright, did you tell her about me going?” you asked, as you two peeled around the corner and spied her laughing at something happening on the screen.

“yeah, i even gave her the flyer and everything, but she caught on and just said that she’d need to lay down some ground rules with you, if i really wanted to go.” he winced.

“yeah, your mother’s smart, well! wish me luck kiddo. and maybe even watch and learn.” you whispered, straightening up and walking into the living room.

“hi, joyce, i hope it’s okay that will let me in?” you asked.

“y/n , you have a key. and you know that you’re allowed here anytime.” she replied sweetly, looking at you and patting the spot next to her for you to join her.

as you did, she started talking again.

“so about this summer camp, i’m sure you already convinced the other parents, except hopper, and i really want will to have a normal time for once. so i’ll let him go…” she got straight to the point.

“that’s great! but..” you urged her to say what else was on her mind.

“no buts! he can go.” she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders, turning her attention back to the t.v.

you were still staring at her, waiting for her to say what she was thinking, and you didn’t wait long because a mere 12 seconds later-

“however-“ she said pausing the t.v. and turning to face you again, making you laugh.

“is there anyway you can work your magic, and make sure he ends up with one of you kids, and not just some random counselor?” she asked, wringing her hands together.

“yeah, i’ll check the list and if so i’ll do something about it.” you nodded.

“great! then i guess i’ll call hopper and tell him about it, you know, make it a little easier on you.” she smiled, turning back to the t.v.

“ohh thanks joyce! you’re a life saver. alright well i’ll see you. have a goodnight!” you told her, giving her a hug and leaving the couch.

as you walked back to the front door, you fist bumped, will and told him not to start packing last minute.

“i don’t get how you do it, but i just hope i’m that good with parents that day.” he joked, walking you to you car.

“yeah, i’m sure you will be, whoever you end up dating’s parents will just love you.” you joked back, getting into your car, and starting your way back home.

~ easiest - hardest to convince ❥~

1. claudia henderson (dustin’s mom)

2. karen wheeler (mike’s mom) 2.5 mike wheeler 😐

3. sue & charles sinclair (lucas and erica’s parents)

4. ms. mayfield (max’s mom)

5. joyce byers (will’s mom)

5.5. hopper (el’s dad) (half crossed off because since joyce said yes, he’ll say yes, but he’ll still be grouchy about it)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n : i was originally going to make it where reader just made mike irritated, saying that if el were to go to camp without him, all the boys there would be lining up, and would get more attention from her than she’s given him in months to make him cave in 😭

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

taglist : @1rekk @gardenof-venus @queenariesofnarnia

@creativedogs @moraonmarz @lieblingsmenzch @itswhateversworld @blkroyalty1 @ashthespaceastronaut

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader

random things in my 007!reader universe part 2:

part 1 :

aka, eddie x van 😼

eddie :

- 7 months after van (sev) left the munson trailer, eddie had been going to get a new tattoo and decided to get the number 7 on his left shoulder blade .

- when people asked him about it, he just told them that it was his lucky number

- one day, (pre-meeting again) when he was dealing to some of steve’s friends at a party, children of the grave started playing.

“it’s like i can’t escape!” steve groaned, loudly

“what’s wrong harrington, don’t enjoy good music?” eddie joked.

“haha, no.” he laughed sarcastically.

“it’s just my sister plays this song every damn day, and it’s honestly starting to get old.” steve glared.

“just sounds to me like your sister has good taste. later.” eddie pocketed the money and walked away.

- very protective once you two meet and become friends again

-you refuse to go to his trailer , with the fear that his uncle hates you, as much as he tells you he doesn’t

- the first time he came to your house, and saw your room (because you were insistent) he was appalled

- because omg is that a Jackson Pro Series Rhoads RR3 ! 😮

- and the kirk hammet poster threw him off too, but not as much as the kelly lebrock one 🫣

- “is that a signed queen poster?!”

“yes”

“how-“

“my dad met them once”

“ohhh”

- you constantly watching his band, which is where the crush on gareth started and eddie was not pleased

“who’s the one who plays the drums 🤭?”

“gareth. why?”

“…☺️…”

“absolutely not, you’re never coming here again, and i’m telling steve

“snitch 😐”

robin :

- you met robin when steve got the job at scoops ahoy.

- instantly hit it off honestly

- hence why you invited her to go to the weird science early premiere with you.

- consider her a big sister figure

- you both make fun of steve together

- just good times honestly

-when she found out about your powers she freaked out

“why did that russian guard’s suit just spontaneously catch on fire ???

“i’m a pyrokinetic 🧍🏾‍♀️”

“oh! okay that makes sense!”

- once her and steve started working at family video, she rented out firestarter for the 3 of you to watch

- cue robin constantly asking you questions as the movie plays while steve snores his life away on the other couch because he fell asleep 20 minutes into the movie

“can you do that??”

“yes, robin. i can.”

“wow. cool.”

and 10 minutes later

“so what’s she gonna do next???”

“i don’t know robin, i haven’t seen this movie”

“oh yeah….. well what would you do next???”

“robin?”

“yeah?”

“stop”

“okay”

lucas :

- you and lucas were honestly pretty close

- like with eleven, he didn’t quite trust you at first, but he got over it and you two became good friends

- well then again you and everyone in the group were close except for mike (my sev-mike beef agenda is prospering)

- you tried out for the girls basketball team, to keep him company, being that the boys and girls one were being held at the same time.

- you didn’t actually want to join the team, you just didn’t eanr lucas to feel bad for being the only one into sports. + you did badly on purpose, being that you were already on 3 other teams

- on the night of the championship game you were there to cheer him on, (also to be steve’s scapegoat for if he didn’t want to be on that date anymore)

- try to give him advice on how to get max back everytime she dumps him (you usually just give him some money to buy her stuff, because words aren’t gonna help at this point 😭)

erica -

- you became friends with erica through lucas actually

- she thought you and max were cooler than her brother and his other friends.

- before she knew you had powers though, she definitely thought something was up with you.

- once she did find out though, she definitely used it to her advantage.

“i need you to set (insert random girl at her school’s name) on fire.”

“why???”

“because i don’t like her?”

- you then proceeded to just give her the very same advice that hopper gave you in the events of season 2 🫤

mike :

- ahh mike

- he’s a pain in your ass

- and you in his

- he didn’t like that you were still there while eleven was “dead”

- hence leading to you two arguing all the time

- you’re friends and you care about each other but you two would rather die than admit that

- you set his stuff on fire sometimes just for the hell of it

- like the time you set his hellfire shirt on fire because he made you mad and you overheard eddie say that if he messed up another one he’d be banned for a week.

- aren’t you just the greatest 😽

“wheeler your a shit boyfriend to my sister, and an even shittier friend to will”

“how would you know, you’ve never even had a boyfriend!”

“so we’re just gonna skip past the last part i said?” 🧍🏾‍♀️

a/n : honestly sev and mike being friends but not liking each other is so funny to me. like i can imagine steve being the type of “parent” to say “okay now hug and make up!”

and if you refuse he’ll threaten to pull out the really huge “get along ™” shirt, and just stuff you both in it. (he’s done it before)

wait, the thought of sev being nervous to talk or even see wayne is kinda cute. They're hiding behind eddie as much as they can n shit

eddie x platonic! experiment! reader

part 1 , part 2 , part 3 , part 4

(sev x reader)

she really is though 😭 like one day eddie’s just like “oh i’ll take you home!” after school because it was raining and steve was still stuck at work.

- so imagine you two are in his van, just honestly having a grand old time, listening to music, talking, all that good stuff.

- all of a sudden eddie’s like -

“oh, shit! uhh we have to go back to my trailer for a second.”

“why, what about your uncle??”

“because i have to pick something up for…something i’m doing after this.”

- it’s for a deal, he’s just not saying that to you, even though you know what he does.

“it’ll only take a second, and my uncle’s not home, so just wait in here.”

“alright…”

- so eddie finally gets there, jumps out and runs into the trailer right

- you’re just flicking through the different stations, when all of a sudden, the driver side door opens again. thinking it’s eddie, you don’t pay him any mind until you realize he’s been standing there for an odd amount of time, not doing anything

- when you finally look up you aren’t looking at eddie, but his uncle wayne that you nearly “killed” all that time ago.

- now from eddie’s perspective, he didn’t know why his uncle was home, but didn’t really think on it too much, as long as you didn’t find out.

“eddie, do you have that one hat with the bat on it?” uncle wayne asked from his room.

“uhh, no! why?”

“because i can’t find it, and you’re always takin’ it!”

“okay well it’s probably in my van! i’ll get it for you in a second!” he called back annoyed, trying to remember where he could’ve put his own stuff.

- so lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t hear his uncle say that he’d get it himself, nor did he hear him leave the trailer

- after finally finding what he was looking for, he walked back out of the trailer, but was met by the odd sight of you and his uncle having some weird cat and mouse game, on either sides of his van.

“would you just stop a second?! i’m not gonna hurt you! wayne laughed exasperatedly

“yea you are! you think i’m evil and you’re gonna get your revenge on me!” you shrieked as he nearly caught you.

- noticing eddie back outside, you ran behind him and used him as a shield.

“i knew you were that same kid! i’m not mad about that, alright? i mean i think you’re a little spooky and such, but not anything else!” wayne exclaimed.

“so you aren’t going to call the nearest church and get a priest try to exorcise me?”

“no? i’m not, i swear.” he held his hands up in defense.

“oh.” you relaxed.

“van, what 🤨???” eddie chimed in.

“uhh nothing.”

“well it was good seeing you again kid… i guess. don’t be scared to come around with those other kids.” he said grabbing his hat from eddie’s van and walking passed the two, laughing to himself.

“this town is weird as hell man.” he chuckled to himself , going back into the trailer

- so eddie’s finally taking you back to your house, and you are just so angry.

“i told you he didn’t hate you.” eddie said smugly.

“you said he wasn’t there! liar!” you exclaimed, hitting him on the shoulder.

“ow! i didn’t know!”

“well, then why didn’t you just say that!?”

“because i thought he wasn’t!”

“yeah, sure.”

“and anyways what was that about being exorcised”

“i have know clue what you’re talking about.” you said nonchalantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n : idk why this took me so long 😭 and i really need to finish that season 3 chapter but it’s so longggggg 😐

𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲?

synopsis : reader is an individual with powers she doesn’t quite understand. she’s overcome with despair of her and her friends’ failure and her boyfriend eddie’s “death”. so in a fit of rage, her powers go beserk, and she accidentally turns the town of hawkins into a collection of her favorite sitcoms.

stanger things x reader (wandavision! au)

future warnings : swearing, emotional (mainly angry) reader, confused eddie, plotting grandma. i don’t really know what other warnings to put other than swearing and manipulation (?) 🫣 so we’ll just have to see

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 days later

“it’s been less than 48 hours since a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked the quaint town lf Hawkins, 80 miles outside of indianapolis, in an event that seismologists are caling “a natural disaster of near unprecedented scale.”

you distantly heard the newscaster on the t.v. say, as you walked past your grandmother and mother in the living room, watching it.

“the death toll stands at 22. but with hundreds more filling roane county hospitals and many more still missing, officials expect those numbers to rise.” he continued

“mom turn this off, she doesn’t need this right now.” you heard your mother, attempt to whisper to your grandmother, but to no avail.

“i’m just waiting for the good stuff to come on, y/m/n, no need to throw a fit.” your grandmother responded nonchalantly.

“mother, you know for a fact, all of the channels are going to be taking about just this, for who knows how long!” your mother scolded her.

“look, the quicker she-“

“this is only the latest tragedy to befall this once-safe town. most recently, a string of high school student were killed in a series of ritualistic murders, which have been linked to a local satanic cult known as “hellfire.” their bickering was cut off by the man continuing. the next words escaping his mouth, making all three of you stop in your tracks.

“eddie munson, the leader of this cult and prime suspect in the murders, has been missing since the earthquake and is presumed dead. but this offers little comfort to the people of hawkins, who are scared, angry, and searching for answers.” he finished.

with the flick of your mother’s hand the t.v. shut off, as she glared at your grandmother, silence filling the house. a slam broke the silence, along with the sounds of heavy footsteps leaving the kitchen, and the front door opening and slamming behind you as you exited the house.

“let’s hope she doesn’t go kill him.” your grandmother said nonchalantly, sipping her tea. “he’s only the messenger after all.”

“mom, i really do wish you could be sympathetic about this. her boyfriend not only died, but he’s also being accused of murders he didn’t commit.” your mother sighed, getting up to watch you from the window, as you got into your car and drove to god knows where.

“i don’t know why they even think that, the boy cried when a bee flew near him once, and yet think he could do something like that? please.” your grandmother scoffed. “he was a pain in the ass, but he was no murderer that’s for certain.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sunday , march 2, 1986 | 2:24 a.m.

“you know when we graduate sweetheart, and run like hell out of here, i’m definitely taking you with me.” eddie whispered, rubbing your back, as you two laid in your bed.

“is that so? i figured you’d be too good for everyone and eveything in this town at that point.” you joked, lifting your head off of his chest to look at him.

“never you. and maybe those sheep of ours can join us too.” he said.

“eddie, i’m pretty sure that’s kidnapping.” you laughed softly.

“yeah i actually think so too. besides, i don’t think “king”steve would appreciate stealing his children from him.” he laughed.

“so what are your grand plans for us mr. munson? you know i need organization in advance.” you joked again,

“well mrs. munson, first we’ll buy a house in a small town-“

“you? settled in a small town? i’m shocked!” you look at him in fake horror, making him roll his eyes, and playfully push you away from him.

“just for that, now i’m not continuing.” he fake pouted and rolled to face away from you.

“okay, okay i’m sorry baby.” you held him from behind now, kissing his cheek. “keep going, please?”

“the small town thing’s for you. so we can live out your crazy, dick van dyke, bewitched, good times, brady bunch, sabrina the teena-“ he started listing all the shows you’ve made him watch.

“okay, i get it! i like a lot of shows, sue me!” you giggle, smushing his face together.

“but yeah we can do all of those things, i mean the bewitched and sabrina one may be kinda hard seeing that you aren’t a witch but, i’ve already got the evil mother-in-law, trying to get rid of me thing going so how far off can it get.” he cheekily said, once he successfully moved your hand, scooting down to lay his head in your lap, as you sat up to lean against the headboard.

“my mother loves you though?” you leaned over him confusedly, purposely not acknowledging the other thing he said.

“yeah i know. i’m talking ‘bout your grandmother, i mean i swear i can feel her burning a hole in the back of my neck whenever i turn away from her.” he winced.

you froze remembering the time he let you put his hair up, and as he walked away from you and your grandmother at the kitchen table, she stared daggers into him until he jumped, swearing that the back of his neck was on fire for a second.

“you’re an idiot.” you laughed nervously, running your fingers through his hair.

“and we can have our own little tabitha too.” he smiled.

“you want kids after we graduate?” you asked incredulously.

“well not just yet, but i’m sure yours can visit.” he nonchalantly said

“mine?”

“yeah, these two!” he exclaimed picking up a framed photo on your dresser of you, el and will before they moved away.

“she can be your tabitha, and he’ll be my all-seeing/knowing son.” he joked, putting the picture back.

it’s scary how accurate he can be sometimes.

as you can tell, eddie wasn’t aware of your family’s… lineage at this point. you wanted to tell him, really you did, but you knew you wouldn’t unless it was absolutely necessary. you’d been involved with the events of the upside down since the year will was taken, in fact that’s how the kids found out. then max found out, robin, and at this point you didn’t want anyone else knowing, even if it was your own boyfriend, in case it put him in danger. that all changed quicker than you thought it would, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

saturday, march 22, 1986 | reefer rick’s cabin

after everyone left to follow the cop cars, you volunteered to stay with eddie, and try to console him. so how it turned into a full-blown screaming match, was beyond you.

“so you’re telling me, that you’ve been dealing with shit like this, for three years! three! and didn’t want to tell me?! we’ve been dating for two! which means all those times you blew me off for days on end, was because of this shit?!” he paced around frantically.

“yes, eddie. can you please calm down?!” you sighed.

“calm down?! my girlfriend could’ve died on countless different occasions and you want me to calm down! what, they would’ve just fed me the same bullshit that they did to that one girl’s parents?!

“yes eddie, i do want you to calm down because if you haven’t noticed you’re in hiding! do you want people to hear you?! and nobody would’ve told you anything because i wasn’t and am not going to die!”

“why didn’t you just tell me? is it because you think i’m weak?” he suddenly got offended.

“what? no! eddie, it’s complicated okay! we don’t just go around really telling people about it! they just find out!

he groaned, still pacing around.

“eddie, i’m going to tell you something.”

“oh, now you wanna tell me stuff.” he scoffed, going to sit down on a crate, but before he could it disappeared from under him and he fell to the ground.

“what the hell?” he muttered looking around for it before seeing it sitting at your feet. “how did tha-“

“i don’t appreciate your attitude with me right now.” you pouted, crossing your arms.

“i-i don’t understand how that was just right here- and then.” he stammered

“i’m a witch, eddie.” you sighed, transporting it back to him.

there were a lot of reactions you expected from him at this point, but him laughing hysterically was not one of them. you just stared at him not really knowing what to say. after he stopped, he dragged the crate to where you were standing and sat down on it, sighing he pulled you to sit on his lap.

“you know, out of all the things i’ve heard today that actually makes the most sense.” he whispered, dropping his head on your shoulder.

“really?”

“oh yeah. i mean, i knew those magic tricks had something to them, and wait-“ he cut himself off, looking at you. “does that mean that your family is too?”

“yeah…why?” you asked quietly.

“well then your grandmother makes a whole lot more sense.” he started laughing, remembering all the times he felt like she did something to him, but couldn’t figure out what.

“so. can i show you some things?” you asked hopefully.

“uhh yes? please? i promise i’ll be much more understanding than that stupid darrin!” he urged, referencing bewitched.

you spent the rest of that day, keeping his mind occupied, and away from all the vecna madness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

march 25, 1986 | hawkins hospital

you walked down the bright hallways, carrying a bouqet of carnations, narrowly avoiding bumping into frantic nurses and families trying to get back to their loved ones. as you stopped outside of the room you were told, you heard the sound of lucas’ voice, reciting stephen king’s “the talisman”.

not wanting to lose your nerve, you quietly knock on the door, entering slowly. lucas and erica looked surprised to see you, being that you had just up and disappeared after max was checked into the hospital.

“hey, guys.” you said quietly, as you walked to max’s bedside and set the flowers, down. looking down at her you brushed some of her hair away from her face, and turned to look at the two.

“are you guys okay? i’m sorry, i haven’t been here.“ your voice cracked as you squeezed lucas’ shoulders and gave erica a hug.

before you could continue, you were cut off by the two tackling you into a hug.

“we’re fine.” erica responded.

“you’re here now.” lucas whispered

“yeah, we didn’t know if you’d ever come back.”

“did they say when she’d wake up?” you asked, looking at max.

“no.” lucas whispered, making eye contact with erica, leaving out the part where the doctors said she might not at all.

“oh, okay. well just call me when she does, i’ll be right over.” you said squeezing them one last time, before heading back towards the door.

“i love you guys, i’ll see you later, okay?” you said, leaving before they could respond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you were originally going to go to the high school, and help everyone down there, but instead found yourself driving past it, and a little further into town, where there wasn’t any wreck or openings in the ground. as you drove you looked up at the sky passed the windshield and at the red and black clouds. you were suddenly pulled out of your thoughts, by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

“go away, i don’t want to talk to you.” you sighed, looking away from the woman in the rearview mirror.

“you know we can make this better.” the woman said nonchalantly.

“no, we can’t do anything, so just go away, you’re irritating me.” you started to get annoyed.

“you realize that you just called yourself irritating, right?” she said crossing her arms and smirking.

“yes, i do.”

“you know you’re really self-deprecating now. it’s depressing.” she sighed.

“are you trying to make me feel bad about what i did? because i’ll have you know that i don’t.” you said looking back at her for a second.

she didn’t say anything.

“what do you want?” you said, now whining.

“i want you to let me back in.”

“aww what’s wrong are you lonely?” you joked before straightening up and saying. “absolutely not.”

“do you truly think that separating from apart of yourself was the right thing to do?”

“yes! because you can’t control yourself, and you just fuck everything up!” you yelled.

“we can restore everything.” she said, climbing between the front and passenger seat and into the latter.

“we need to kill vecna.” you responded.

“don’t you deserve a break? all of you? you’re sad and you all deserve to be happy.” she said, repeating something you’d said before.

“don’t twist my words around! okay, i’m not sad, i’m angry! angry that we lost, and angry that i couldn’t do anything about it!” you seethed.

“and we can’t take breaks, you know that. vecna’s gonna strike at any point now, and we need to be prepared.” you tried to calm down, not wanting to crash.

“you can do something about it now, but you’re choosing not to!” she hissed at you.

“you know what! fine, i’ll indulge you. what is this grand plan you have to restore everything. “ you asked faux interested.

“do you trust me?” she asked seriously, ignoring your sarcasm.

“barely.” you said looking over at her again suspiciously before turning your eyes back to the road.

“i guess that works.” she said flippantly before reaching over and covering your eyes.

“what the hell are you doing?!”

“shhh i’m fixing what you won’t, you’ll thank me later i swear. now sleep.”

the last thing you heard was your “doppelgänger’s” chuckles before everything soon went completely dark and silent for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you woke up to a cacaphony of voices above and around you, all echoing and making your head hurt.

“is she breathing? i don’t think she’s breathing!” you heard a muffled voice from next to you.

“steve back up! all she’ll be able to inhale is you, if you don’t give her some space!” another, albeit, clearer voice sounded from behind you. almost like robin?

“her eyes are moving underneath her eyelids, maybe she’s waking up.” you heard… max? say.

you groaned as you finally opened your eyes, before quickly shutting them back, and squinting, trying to get used to the bright light around you.

“i’m okay, but what the hell is happening?” you asked trying to sit up.

“shh it’s okay, we just came in and found you on the ground, then brought you to the couch.” dustin said, trying to calm you down.

“what? dustin i was in my car, and where did you all come from anyways, what are you talking about?”

“we just found you here. your door was wide open and someone could’ve came in and-“ lucas started before being cut off.

“lucas you’re being dramatic.” erica said, making you open your eyes to finally look at the people around you.

“erica shut up!” he hissed back at her.

“okay you two are both being dramatic now!” steve chimed in before everybody started to go back and forth.

as they all started to drown each other out with jabs and insults towards each other, you could only look at one person.

“max? is that you? are you okay?! when did you- when did you wake up?” you asked her all at once, pulling her towards you into a hug.

“umm what are you talking about? how hard did you hit your head?” she asked pulling back to see if she could see if you’d gone crazy.

as you finally took the time to really look at what appeared to be your friends, you realized that something was just off about it. then quickly remembering the last interaction you had.

“shh you’ll thank me later i swear! now sleep.” you remembered the other version of you said, before doing something to you. you quietly gasped realizing that she let herself back in with you and did something drastic, your memories now merging with hers.

all you remembered were glimpses of you going to the middle of town, having some sort of breakdown, yelling something about how much pain you were in before everything went red, then you woke up here.

“babe, are you okay? you’re acting kind of weird.” a voice you never thought you’d hear again, said from your living room doorway.

“eddie?….i-is that really you? are you really here?” you asked quickly standing up, feeling like you were in a whirlwind.

“yeah..? where else would i be? are you sure you’re okay?” he asked holding his hands out for you.

now when eddie saw you slowly walking towards him, he thought you were going to hug him real tight, maybe even kiss him! because for some reason he couldn’t remember the last time you did either of those.

so imagine his surprise when he saw the now enraged look on your face, heard the shouts of protest from your friends, and the last thing he saw was the sight of your fist quickly swinging through the air, and straight into the right side of his jaw, before everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n : not eddie thinking that shit he pulled would just slip past you 😭 this took me so fucking long i’m actually not alright. i wrote this to try and jumpstart my brain for ideas for “we’re going to summer camp bitches” and my “eddie x 007! reader” works but it really didn’t 😐

@floralenvu @pinkfeatherboarry

we’re going to summer camp bitches !

camp counselor introductions

steve harrington:

- the pretty boy

- will let his kids do pretty much whatever, as long as they don’t get hurt or hurt anyone else

-

eddie munson :

- the cool one

- made a mandated dnd day for his kids

- his girls (and some boys) think he’s hot 🫤

- he’s chill

- he scares his boys while they’re sleeping

- he helps the kids prank steve while he’s sleeping

robin buckley

- the frazzled but nonchalant one

- will let the kids do pretty much whatever too as long as nobody gets hurt and nobody of authority finds out 😊

- frazzled at times because

“oh my gosh, am i missing someone or am i just going insane.”

“if you know that’s poison ivy, why would you put it in your pants!?”

nancy wheeler :

- the organized one

- has an itinerary for her and her kids and it will be followed and they will love it (that’s definitely not a threat)

- but she does include things that they actually want to do so they really will love it

- her kids are lowkey scared of her tbh

y/n y/l/n :

LMAO I JUST WANTED TO PUT A PICTURE HERE

- the one everybody loves

- your kids just love you tbh

- nothing else to say, you’re just that counselor.

ivy lockford (hailee steinfeld)

- the adventurous one

- always has her kids doing something

- prefers her kids to be outside doing activities

- not prepared

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

quinn langford (evan peters)

- the “weird” one

- his kids only think he’s weird because he doesn’t talk much

- has no handle on his children unfortunately 😭

- super nice

- “inside activities are fun too” he’s trying his best okay 🫶🏾

banks

the overprotective one (jonathan daviss)

- his kids are never out of sight

- “did you put on sunscreen”

- are you carrying. bug spray? well you should!”

- prepared for everything

- literally

getting back into my eddie x platonic! experiment! reader series and i really badly want steddie to happen in it 😭 i put the tiniest (like literally smallest) bit of it in one of the chapters and haven’t done anything for them since.

so should i???? 🤔

and if you can’t tell by now i’ll write a chapter for one thing and then bounce around to three other stories 😽 IM SORRY