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There were a lot of things that you were uncertain about.
If Hawkins was truly free from the God awful curse it seemed to be under. If you could make it through your math class without totally losing your mind over the teacher’s monotone voice. If the guy who had stood you up on your last ‘date’ had found out from some other asshole in Hawkins High that you were what they considered “an absolute prude.” If you were being totally honest with yourself on whether you actually wanted to go on a date with him or if you were just bored in your tiny town. And practically a mountain of other thoughts and concerns that you had little to know clue about.
But there was one thing that you were absolutely certain about:
Eddie Munson would be the reason you’d combust with anger
It seemed that every single word that came out of his mouth was intended to piss you off. He was, in your eyes, a complete and total slacker, and that was something you couldn’t stand. He would always lean over to you in the middle of class, whispering a quiet “you getting any of this shit?” before beginning to doodle all over the margins of your pages. It was bearable, at first, but as the weeks wore on, it became a constant thorn in your side. No only was his drawing in your margins annoying to you, but it was other things, peccadilloes, that wore down your sanity. He would mumble commentary about the lesson just loud enough for you to hear, but not loud enough for your teacher, Mr. Nelson, to be able to hear a peep out of him. It drove you crazy that it appeared that he couldn’t concentrate for five solid minutes. He would tap rhythms on his desk with the eraser end of his pencil. The staccato sound made you feel like your brain was swimming. It felt like everyday he seemed to come up with news ways of burrowing deep under your skin, and the worst part about it was that he seemed to enjoy doing so.
It was a fairly normal day when everything you’d had to suffer through came to a head. You shuffled into third period, already exhausted from the first classes you’d made it through. You slumped down in your seat, pulling out your notes as well as a couple of writing utensils you needed to make sure your notes were comprehensive. You got yourself settled into your seat, and just as the late bell got ready to ring, he burst through the door. He waltzed over to his seat and sat down, a smug smile adorning his face. You glanced over as he let out a loud sigh. He looked over at you and your eyes met. His smile seemed to grow into more of a smirk. You rolled your eyes and turned your face to the front in attempts to ignore him.
Mr. Nelson clapped his hands in order to get the attention of the rest of the class, who were engrossed in their own conversations. Once everyone finally seemed to be paying attention, he smiled slightly and began to speak. “Thank you, everyone, for finally deciding to at least look like you’re paying attention.” A couple of students snickered at his words. “Now, as we all know, it’s about time for midterms to begin.” A series of groans rolled throughout the classroom. Mr. Nelson held his hands up in a defensive manner. “Just stating the facts, you guys. I know how your other classes are giving out midterms, trust me I’ve been teaching for 15 years, and I know that you all must be pretty stressed out. I’ve decided to change up the way I do midterms. Instead of doing tests, you’ll be working in groups of two for the next week. I want you guys to culminate what we’ve learned so far into something creative. Show me what you know!”
A student seated a few rows in front of you raised his hand. “We picking partners, Nelson?”
“I’ll allow you all to pick your own partners, considering this is for a grade. So get up and pick your partners, might as well start now and get this off your plates.”
The rest of the class shot up from their seats, quickly finding a friend or someone they knew would do most of the work on the project. Unfortunately for you, you weren’t able to navigate the scuffle as fast as the other students. You looked around, trying your absolute hardest to find someone you’d actually want to work with for the next week. You came up completely empty handed. Until you looked back towards your own seat. Eddie was leaning back in his chair, seemingly not even looking for a partner to work with. You scanned the room, grimacing when you realized the situation you were currently in. You walked up to him.
“So, it looks like we’re partners,” you said while standing in front of his desk. He looked up at you with a lazy expression on his face.
“Looks like it.”
“Yeah, um, when do you think we can meet so we can work on this project, outside of class, I mean,” you said, moving to sit in your seat beside Eddie. He moved to sit up, turning towards you as you moved.
“About that,” he started, “I don’t always exactly have time for school. I’m a very busy guy, you know? Got lots of shit I gotta do daily.” He tapped on his desk with his fingers as he spoke.
You rolled your eyes, baffled that he was already annoying you in your few seconds of an interaction. “Okay, well you’re going to have to find time because I swear to God if you get me a fail on this project I’ll never let you live it down. It’s an easy project we could probably have finished in two days so please just spare that much time?”
His eyes widened a fraction, so much so that you didn’t even notice. He seemed to mull it over for a second before nodding his head.
“Meet me in the library 30 minutes after school, we can work on it then and make a plan for next time.”
You smiled slightly in agreement. Maybe you’d actually be able to get some work done.
——————
You weren’t surprised. You’d like to say that it came as a shock that he still hadn’t shown up in the library, despite it being his own suggestion, but it honestly seemed completely in character for him to not be there yet. It was 40 minutes after classes had ended by now, 10 minutes past your agreed meeting time. You were royally pissed at this point. You looked over to the clock on the wall, silently vowing to yourself that if Eddie didn’t show up within the next 10 minutes, you were done.
Five minutes passed and there was still no sign of Eddie. You groaned, realizing that the minimal work you had gotten done during the time allotted in class would likely be the only contribution he made to the project.
The door to the library flung open and a rather rattled looking Eddie Munson walked through the door. He rushed over to where you were sitting, a cacophony of apologies falling from his lips. You grimaced before taking a deep breathe before scolding him in a hushed tone.
“Where the hell were you? You said you were going to show up almost twenty minutes ago. It was your fucking idea to meet up here so what the hell is your damage?”
“Look I’m real sorry, I swear. I had some,” he made a few motions with his hands while he moved his head as if looking for the right words, “business to take care of.”
You scoff. You weren’t a stranger to Eddie’s ‘business’ as he so lamely put it. You knew that nearly the entire school was under his thumb when if came to drug deals. You’d even considered buying from him, it had been during your junior year when finals had you beyond stressed out. You had decided against it, mostly because you couldn’t find it in you to go up to him and ask.
“I get that you have other things to attend to, but this project is kind of important to me, alright? I just want to get through this year and finally get out of this shit hole of a town, don’t you?” You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say in response. You definitely weren’t expecting him to be silent, averting his eyes towards the table and nodding in quiet agreement. You smiled slightly, moving to pull out your binder to continue what you had talked about with him during class.
Eddie looked up at you, a smile gracing his lips. You looked up at him and his smile turned into a smirk.
“You that eager to get rid of me, doll?” he questioned in a teasing tone, moving to rest his head upon his propped up hand.
“Don’t call me that” you spat back. You looked down to your binder. A part of you agreed with his previous statement. But it wasn’t that you were eager to get ride of him per say, but rather that you were eager to finish the project. You had other classes, and you’d be damned if you failed a midterm and solidified a less than stellar grade in your classes for the semester. You quickly changed the subject to avoid further nicknames and extraneous discussion with Eddie. “Alright, so in terms of what the project needs, I think we should break up everything into four sections. So each of us would do two sections, yeah? And that’s, what, one chapter a section? Two chapters each. Ok yeah that should be manageable,” you explained while taking out a piece of paper to begin scrawling a few notes down. “We need this done by this coming Monday, which is in a week, thank whatever god there is that Nelson is giving us the weekend to work. But if we want to get this done quick we could do about a chapter a day, and be done in two days, assuming we- Eddie, are you even paying attention?”
He looked up at you, eyes wide and lips pursed into a thin line.
“Yeah, yeah I’m listening. It’s just that… I don’t know this seems like a shit-ton of work to do for a simple project. I don’t know how much you know about me, doll, but I’m not too keen on work.”
You resisted the urge to leap from your chair and smack him over the head with your binder, choosing to ignore his use of the nickname again. Is this guy serious? It’s not too much work and he could probably dish out passable work in a day or two. What the fuck is he thinking? You couldn’t help but berate him ever so slightly in your thoughts. It was starting to feel like this project was going to be way more work than it should’ve been.
“Eddie, please. You can get this done easy, I swear. I’ll give you an outline of what you need to have written for your sections, alright?”
He nodded in agreement. You both continued to work for about an hour more, which was as long as you could work since the librarian came up to usher you too out.
As the two of you walked out of the library, you made casual conversation. You still weren’t Eddie’s biggest fan, even though he did make you laugh several times. You turned and looked around, wondering where Steve was since he was slated to pick you up so you, he and Robin could hang out and grab a bite to eat. You didn’t spot Steve’s BMW anywhere, and suddenly a conversation you’d had with Robin during lunch sprung to the forefront of your mind. Robin had told you that she and Steve were working that night, and that they wouldn’t be getting off of work until almost closing. The grim realization came to you that you were stranded at the school, and it was only 5 pm. Eddie seemed to sense your defeat because he turned to you with a quirked brow.
“What’s up, doll?” He questioned, using that stupid nickname again.
“Told you to stop calling me that,” you said, keeping your gaze forward, “and to answer your question, not that it’s any of your business, but I just realized that I’m probably going to be walking to meet up with my friends. Since I don’t want to lose any more light, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow in class. Bye, Eddie.”
“Wait, wait,” he rushed out, grabbing your forearm before you could walk too far away from him. “I could give you a ride, you know? Would save you time and the risk of getting lost.” He lazily pulled his keys out of his pocket and spun them around his index finger.
You thought it over for a second. Did you really want to get a ride from Eddie Munson, of all people. Obviously there were worse people who could be driving you to Family Video to meet Steve and Robin, but a ride from Eddie Munson seemed like some sort of cruel joke the universe was playing on you. You pushed your doubts away and nodded your head slightly. You could endure the short ride in favor of not having to walk. Eddie smiled, before he raised his hand up and motioned with his thumb towards his van.
“My van is right over there.”
You followed Eddie to his van, hopping in and praying that the ride would be relatively devoid of any awkwardness. Luckily, Eddie turned on the radio, keeping the volume relatively soft as he back out of the parking space and started to drive.
“So uh, where you headed?” he asked, turning to you quickly before he could get out of the parking lot and onto the road.
“Family Video.”
He nodded in understanding and began driving. Other than the music on the radio, the ride was quiet. You saw out of the corner of your eye that Eddie was tapping the steering wheel lightly along to the music, humming and softly singing. His head bopped as well, and for a moment it almost felt like he had forgotten you were there. The ride to Family Video ended quickly, much to your (somewhat) relief. You thanked Eddie and got out of the van, walking into Family Video after you’d said your goodbyes and ‘see you in class’s to Eddie. You failed to notice his stare lingering on you as you walked into the building, just as you failed to notice the longing vaguely present on his face before he drove off.
“Holy fucking shit was that Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson?” Steve asked from behind the counter. Robin chucked a pen in his direction. You chuckled at the greeting they’d given you, feeling completely at home.
“Yeah, but he isn’t really that much of a freak” you replied, bristling at the name Eddie had been given by the rest of the school. As much as he got on your nerves, you didn’t condone the treatment he received ‘courtesy’ of a majority of the rest of the school.
“Jesus Y/n, he isn’t a freak? He has a literal Dungeons and Dragons Club, not to mention this is, what, his third senior year?” Steve shot back, ignoring Robin’s pointed glare.
“Steve, you hang out with freshmen and you’re fresh out of high school, I don’t think you have that much room to judge,” Robin said as she moved to put a few recently returned rentals back on their shelves. Steve crossed his arms and moved his head in acceptance of his defeat. You moved to sit atop the counter as Robin finished shelving returned tapes. She kept talking as she worked. “Y/n aren’t you paired up with Munson for that stupid midterm project in Nelson?”
“God you make it sound so minimal when you put it like that,” you said, rolling your eyes and shuddering slightly when you think of the work you have left to do. “I honestly have no clue why he thought a project would be less work than a test, but at least it’s a group project? I don’t know, getting saddled to work with Munson might just make it more work than a test.”
Robin chuckles slightly, much to your chagrin. You laugh back sarcastically. When you’d spoken with her at lunch, she’d told you that she had paired up with Vickie for the project. You were happy for her, obviously. You knew that this would be a chance for the two to get closer and you were glad that your friend had this opportunity. After everything you, Steve and Robin had had to deal with the past few years, you were glad that your friend was getting closer to finding happiness and solace in another person. Especially someone who wasn’t burdened by the terrors hidden underneath Hawkins. You all quickly fell into easy conversation after the initial explanations you’d given upon your entrance into Family Video. Time passed quickly as you all talked about anything and everything.
Eventually, it was time for Robin and Steve’s shift to end. They clocked out and you all hopped into Steve’s BMW to head to a cafe to grab something to eat while you all continued to hang out. The ride was filled with laughs, inside jokes, and an overall sense of belonging. The diner was filled with practically the same set of interactions, with the occasional French fry thrown at Steve in annoyance. Robin and Steve made you feel at home and you couldn’t ask for more.
It was eventually time for you all to head home, and you grimaced at the thought. You’d rather sleep in the girl’s locker room than head back to your own house. Dealing with your parents was hellish to you, and if anything you’d rather sneak into your room at 2 am than have to speak to your mom or dad. They never quite understood everything you’d dealt with. They constantly demanded high grades from you, and it depleted your energy. They had even gone as far as to deprive you of meals in order to get you to focus on your studies.
“Hey, uh, Robin? Is it alright if I crash at your place?” you muttered, knowing that her answer would likely be yes. Steve and Robin were aware of your situation, and they were more than accommodating to you. You stayed over at Robin or Steve’s place so often that you had spare clothes and necessities at each of their respective homes. Robin turned to you and nodded, smiling as Steve began to drive to her house. He dropped the two of you off and said his goodbyes. You and Robin walked into her house, and you quickly greeted her parents. You slipped into her room and grabbed the clothes you used as pajamas.
You and Robin did some of your homework in between giggles and jokes, and when you weren’t watching the movie Robin had put on. By the time it was almost midnight, both you and Robin were nodding off. She turned the light off and you both fell into quiet slumber.
——————
By the time third period rolled around the next day, you were practically ready to crawl into bed and crash. Eddie was surprisingly early to class, sliding into his seat and pulling out what looked like a paper. You looked over and noticed that the paper appeared to be a completed part of the project you were slated to complete. In complete honesty, you were in shock that it took him only a day to finish one chapter of the work he was supposed to do. He moved to look at you. You were unable to hide your surprise, and he was easily able to pick up on it.
“So um, I figured it would be easiest if I just did a chapter a day, like you suggested. Figured you’d want to get rid of me as soon as possible. I know how shitty it must be to be stuck with me as your project partner…” he trailed off, avoiding eye contact with you.
You were baffled that he thought that. Sure he annoyed you in class, but that doesn’t mean you hated him. Annoyance and hate were quite different. You shook your head.
“No, no, Eddie. I’m not upset that we’re partners for this. I don’t hate you, you know. You annoy me, but I don’t hate you.” It was you who avoided eye contact. You could feel Eddie’s gaze piercing into the side of your head. You risked a glance at him and saw that his jaw had gone slack. A faint pink crept across his face. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but no words fell through his lips. He seemed to finally find words, and just as he began to talk, Mr. Nelson walked to the front of the room and started class, this effectively interrupting the conversation you were having with Eddie.
When lunch rolled around, Eddie and you had talked a little bit more. You were surprised that Eddie had made you laugh so much. You found that he was actually fairly smart, and that he just rarely gave a fuck. You found out that he was incredibly creative, and that Hellfire, his D&D club, had a couple of familiar faces within it. Robin had told you the night before that she was planning on sitting with a couple of her band friends, meaning that she was going to be sitting with Vickie. You asked Eddie if he’d be alright if you sat with him and the rest of Hellfire, and to your surprise he had agreed. You placed your lunch tray down on the table, sitting yourself next to Mike and Dustin.
You knew Mike and Dustin through Steve, and of course through the horrors you’d all faced. You were familiar with them, and you’d consider them a step above acquaintances.
You ate your lunch while the Hellfire club discussed their campaign they would be indulging in that night. You heard mentions of Lucas being able to join them. Eddie turned to you and smiled.
“You play at all?” He asked. You shook your head in a quiet response. “Are you at all interested in watching our campaign tonight? If your not hanging out with Harrington and Buckley, that is.”
You smiled softly. “I’d love to watch the campaign. I don’t play, but I used to watch Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will play when they were younger.”
Dustin laughed at the memory. You’d been pretty good friends with Nancy, so naturally you’d watched them with Nancy. It was silently agreed upon that you and Nancy would check up on them while you two hung out. Life had been easier then, and it was only natural that you and the rest of the Party were nostalgic for the ease that came with moving through life without worrying about inter dimensional beasts hungry for flesh.
When classes were over, Eddie led you to the room where he held Hellfire every week. He pulled a chair out for you to observe the rest of the club.
“We’ve got a good chunk of time before the rest of Hellfire shows up. You cool with working on the project a little?”
You were surprised at his willingness to work on the project. “Yeah of course.” You said, moving to pull out your binder. You had completed half of your portion of the project and you knew that he had as well. You smiled as he pulled out his papers. You both worked with ease, a surprising lack of frustration filling your veins. You were actually enjoying working with Eddie Munson, and that practically rattled you from the inside out.
By the time the Dustin had arrived, you and Eddie had been engrossed in conversation, leaning close to each other and sharing laughs. Dustin cleared his throat and you practically shot backwards. Eddie had done the same, both of you with evident blushes adorning your faces. Dustin laughed and Eddie quickly shook off the embarrassment in favor of setting up for Hellfire.
By the time the weekend had rolled around, you and Eddie had long since completed the project. But you both seemed reluctant in a way for the project to be over. You knew that you were subconsciously holding onto the project, since it gave you an excuse to be around Eddie, which was something you were enjoying.
Eddie had quickly become someone you considered to be a friend. He viewed you in the same light. When you received your project grade back you were ecstatic that you and Eddie had gotten a B+. You told him the good news and his face lit up. He looked like a kid opening up their Christmas gifts. He pulled you into a tight hug and spun you around, lost in complete and utter bliss that he didn’t even realize his actions. You, too, were so happy that you barely registered what was had happened. When he finally set you down, his face was split with a wide grin. He placed his hand on his forehead in disbelief. You couldn’t help but think that he looked endearing like this. Your stomach flipped at the recognition of your thoughts. You shook the thought off, and Eddie didn’t seem to notice your internal struggle. He turned to you, grin still plastered on his face.
“Hey would you like to get a milkshake with me? Y’know, as a celebration for a job well done?” he asked you, finishing his sentence relatively quickly as he fidgeted with his fingers.
“I’d love to Eddie.”
——————
A few months had passed since Eddie and you had been paired up for the project in Mr. Nelson’s class. He had been less of an annoyance, and more so a distraction to you now. He would talk to you during class and draw all over your margins, but you weren’t annoyed anymore. Instead you’d found it cute that he was doing this. You’d laugh at his stupid jokes and as strange as it seemed, you felt yourself enjoying being around him. You and Eddie hung out a lot. Whether that be after school or in his trailer, you two were practically attached at the hip. He’d gotten you to have a couple of smoke sessions together, and they easily became one of your favorite ways to unwind with someone you considered an unlikely friend.
Robin and Steve had initially poked fun at you for your newfound friendship with Eddie Munson, but they slowly came to realize that he was able to be there for you when they weren’t. Because of that, they approved of him silently. They agreed that if you were going to be hanging out with someone other than them, they were actually kind of glad that it was Eddie Munson, despite the rumors about him that drifted throughout the school.
What Steve and Robin ‘didn’t know’ was that you and Eddie were head over heels for each other. You hadn’t expected it to happen, but your friendship with Eddie quickly blossomed into growing feelings for the metal head. You were oblivious to Eddie’s feelings though. You didn’t see the lingering stares he gave you. You didn’t see the way his fists clenched whenever you talked to a guy that was obviously flirting with you. You didn’t see the love sick look he had whenever you were talking with him.
Eddie wasn’t much wiser than you. He failed to notice the way your eyes glanced over his body. Or the way you would talk about him wistfully to Steve and Robin.
Safe to say that you were pretty sure that no one knew of your feelings for Eddie, but God you couldn’t be farther from the truth. Robin and Steve had practically picked up on it from the second you started talking about Eddie with them more than you usually did, especially considering you weren’t complaining about him. It was painfully obvious to the two that you and Eddie were idiots. You both were so oblivious to the other’s feelings that it was like watching two puppies chase each other around a pillar like a merry-go-round. If Robin and Steve were being honest, it was almost sickening watching the two of you dance around your feelings for each other.
Everything came crashing down when Eddie drove you home one night after you’d both been hanging out at his trailer. You’d both talked aimlessly on the way to your house, and you were disappointed when you actually gotten there. Eddie turned to you, his tone more serious than normal.
“Hey so uh… there’s this uh, Jesus, a new diner not too far out of Hawkins and I was uh, I was wondering if you’d be open to trying it out?” Eddie struggled to get his words out, trailing off occasionally as he spoke. “I was thinking that, y’know, you and I could go over and we could even meet Robin and Steve if you want. As much as I’m not a fan of Harrington, I know you and him go pretty far back and Robin is cool. We could all head over there and I’d finally be able to spend some more time with your other friends…”
You had tuned Eddie’s rambling out at some point, realizing that he wasn’t asking you out on a date, like you’d foolishly thought. You swallowed your disappointment and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that Eds.” You smiled bitterly and moved to grab your belongings out of the van. You waved at Eddie and walked to the door.
As soon as you were out of sight, Eddie banged his head against his steering wheel in complete frustration. He had to be an idiot because he had the perfect opportunity to ask you out and he had gone and ruined it. Fuck, if only you didn’t make him so nervous. Whenever he was sitting next to you it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, the hammering sound it made worried him because he realized it was only a matter of time before you caught on and began to pull away from him. He groaned, mentally berating himself more before he tried to gain the courage to maybe sneak into your room and ask you out that way. I mean, you wouldn’t find that creepy, right? God, he was an idiot for thinking like this. Of course you’d find that creepy, especially since it was fairly late.
Eddie was startled out of his mental war when he heard shouting. He could tell it was coming from your house, and from how loud it was, it definitely wasn’t good. He heard something shatter and he was even more attentive than he had been before. He moved to get out of the car when he saw your front door fly open. A few bags were tossed out, followed by a figure being pushed to the ground. He heard yelling and he winced. He wasn’t stupid and he could easily tell what was going on. He quickly opened the door and ran to your side as the front door to your house slammed shut.
He ran to your side, immediately taking note of your tear stained face.
“They uh,” you began, voice faltering and weak, “they kicked me out. Saw one of my grades from a few weeks ago and told me that since I didn’t care about what I was doing with my life that I didn’t deserve to be under their roof.” You were barely able to finish your sentence before you were choking on a sob. Eddie pulled you into a tight hug, rubbing your back and trying his damn hardest to calm you down.
“Hey, it’s gonna be ok,” Eddie whispered in his most comforting tone. “They’re total assholes and they don’t deserve to have you under their roof. Don’t get it mixed up, alright? You deserve the world, sweetheart.”
You smiled bitterly at his words. You knew that he was trying to comfort you, and to an extent, it was working. But there wasn’t much that he could say that at that moment that could mend your aching heart. He helped you pick up your bags and helped you stand. He guided you to his van, stashing your bags in the back and opening the door for you to get in. He got into the car and turned to you. He reached over and grabbed your hand. The entire drive to his trailer, he held on tightly to your hand, rubbing small, comforting circle, across your knuckles to let you know he was there.
You both arrived at his trailer and he let you in. You’d begin to consider the trailer as your second home, seeing as you spent a great deal of time there. You walked in and felt some of the weight of your situation melt away. Eddie looked to you and began to speak softly.
“You can stay here as long as you want. You don’t have to worry about my uncle, he won’t mind. You’ve met him and he likes you so it’s no trouble. If anything you should be worried about getting sick of me.”
You laughed slightly at his words, and at the sound of your laugh Eddie tried not to melt inside. Sure, he was beyond pissed at what your parents had done and said to you, but he was glad that he was able to help you in some way.
“Hey, Eds?” he hummed in acknowledgment of your words. “Can we go to sleep soon? I think I just need to sleep…”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
He moved to guide you to his room, dragging your bags along with him. You smiled at the gesture. You didn’t need him to show you where his room was, but the fact he was being so delicate with you and so damn gentlemanly made your heart soar.
By the time you’d changed into more comfortable clothes and gotten yourself situated to sleep, Eddie was already sat atop his bed. You were fine with sharing a bed with him, it was his bed after all, but the fact that you were practically in love with the guy made your heart beat a little faster. Luckily for you, you were too exhausted and worn down from what you’d dealt with earlier to care all that much. You settled down next to Eddie and you both sat in relative silence. You leaned over and rested your head on his shoulder. You were so tired that you failed to notice the uptick in the beating of his heart or the way that his face flushed. Eddie cleared his throat and you glanced over to look at him.
“Look, I know this isn’t the best timing but, I really have to get this off my chest, doll.” He fumbled with his hands as he spoke, a habit you had noticed not long after you had become friends. “This is going to sound so fucking stupid but I really really like you. Jesus, that feels good to say. I really like you and I don’t know I just constantly want to hold you close and kiss your forehead and let you know that I’m here. I want you to be able to rely on me if you need to, not that you do but y’know I wanna be there to protect you. I want to be able to pick you up when you’re down. I wanna be the reason you smile, sweetheart and,fuck, do I want to be able to call you mine. I know you probably don’t feel the same and I probably just made this an even shittier situation because no way in hell do you feel the same. Fuck, fuck, fuck I’m sorry, doll, I just couldn’t go much longer without telling you that I’m in love with you.”
You felt your face turn a bright red. Hearing him ramble on about how he felt about you nearly sent you into a spiral. You looked up at him and saw his dejected look, taking your silence as rejection. You grabbed his face between your hands and moved him to look at you. He looked rather shocked by your actions but what you did next caught him even more off guard. You leaned in and planted your lips on his. The kiss was innocent and sweet, lasting only a few seconds before you pulled away.
“Eddie Munson, you have no idea how in love with you I am.”
His face split in a grin as he pulled you back in for another kiss. You didn’t pull away and almost automatically kissed back. The kisses that followed got more passionate and lasted a hell of a lot longer than the ones prior. Eddie pulled back and looked into your eyes, the excitement evident in the way he looked at you. He peppered your face with kisses as you laughed.
“You make me so insanely happy. God, I love you so much that it practically hurts, Y/n.” He nuzzled his nose into your cheek, a smile clearly present on his face. He leaned back up and kissed you as he told you what he wanted to do for your first official date. “I’m gonna take you out” kiss “We’re gonna go to that little diner” kiss “I’ll pay for your meal” another kiss “maybe we’ll catch a movie before” kiss “and then I’ll take you back here and, well, we’ll do more of this.” The kiss that followed his final sentence was more heated than before. Your hands dove into his hair while his own hands moved to your hips. He moved his head slightly, quickly deepening the kiss. When you both finally pulled away for air, both your pupils and his were blown wide, lips swollen from being so recently kissed.
Eddie smiled at you and pulled you into his arms. He flopped down on the bed and quickly nuzzled himself into the crook of your neck. You chuckled at his sudden clinginess before carding your hands through his hair again.
“I’m so in love with you,” he whispered as his breathing began to get deeper.
You smiled. “I’m so in love with you, too, Eddie Munson. I’m completely certain of it.”
You both dozed off while tangled in each other’s arms. Blissfully in love and so glad that you had both finally admitted it to each other.
You weren’t certain of a lot of things, but being in love with Eddie Munson was something you held absolutely no doubts about.
~Bonus~
When you’d told Steve and Robin that you and Eddie were going to be going on a date, you hadn’t expected the reaction you received.
“Hell yeah, Buckley!! He confessed first, which means I was right and you were wrong!” Steve practically shouted at the top of his lungs as Robin grimaced. She fished out a five dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to Steve in defeat.
“Wait, I think I’m missing something here guys. Did you place bets on Eddie and I?”
Robin nodded. “We did. Steve over there bet that Eddie would confess first, while I was thinking that neither of you would ever confess. Nancy had her bets on you though. Steve, do you remember what Dustin, Mike, Lucas and Max were betting on? Shit, I gotta call Nancy and tell her the news that we now owe Harrington money.”
“ You all were betting on us??”
Your words were drowned out by Steve’s cheers of victory and Robins groans of indignation as she dialed Nancy to let her know of the development.