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When Eddie Munson allowed the three new kids at school to join Hellfire, he should’ve known how much trouble he’d get himself into. He honestly just wanted to recruit some freshman, because Jeff was graduating alongside him and there was no way Garreth was going to make an effort to keep the club alive like he had for the past six years. So he found a small group of friends, new, with lively faces. With the skinny gullible kid who thought he knew everything, the kid who seemed to not be able to make up his mind and was too determined to get his way, and the kid who was just a little too loud and a little too obsessed with the club, he had a lot on his hands.
But somehow, these three alone were not enough. Oh no, of course not, he was a fool to think so, apparently. Because how could he neglect the one they called “Will the Wise”? A powerful wizard who helped them defeat the Thesylhydra?
He knew who this Will kid was, of course. He realized soon after they first brought him up that they were referring to that same kid who went missing in the woods for a week, just a few years before. He was a Junior when he heard about him, and he had already felt for him. Only to find out he had been found a week later, a bit of a cold, but other than that, completely fine to his knowledge. He tried to brush the kid off, but it seemed as though at least once every meeting, he would be brought to his attention again.
“Holy shit, Will would love this!”
“Will could do better, you suck.”
“I wish Will could’ve heard you! He’d rip you to shreds!”
The fucking name was all around. There was no way the kid was as cool as they all said. Just no fucking way. He knew there was really no point in arguing with them on this. They were being passionate about one of their friends, and he couldn’t care less about how cool he was or wasn’t. But it was just so fun to watch people squirm. So Eddie decided on starting a bit of trouble, calling their bluffs.
It was the last day of Hellfire for him. It was so hard to let go of something that brought him so much happiness over the past six years, but it was finally time. He was graduating, and that was more important than his club. Only by a little bit though.
They were cleaning up after their campaign, the three youngest members sticking around to help and chit chat. He had a feeling they were prolonging the inevitable end of an era, an era in which Eddie had ruled. But he didn’t mind, he was procrastinating too, so he didn’t mind the chatter.
They were talking about that day’s campaign, that was when Will came up again,”If Will was here, he would’ve blown Gareth out of the water!” Dustin had exclaimed. The other two agreed, but Eddie seized the opportunity to get on their nerves.
“There is no way he’s that powerful.”
The shouts of anguish sounded from his younger members, complaining about the distaste of his words.”Will the Wise,” Lucas said,”Is the most powerful wizard you’ll ever meet in your life.”
“Yeah, and not only that,” Mike said,”He’s a really cool guy outside of D&D too.”
“Yes! He draws some awesome shit- and he’s a nice guy. You’ll like him, Eddie. We promise, we’ll bring him in next week.” Dustin’s enthusiasm was sometimes hard to beat around, making it hard to catch everything he was saying. But Eddie caught on to this quickly.
He sat up, a questioning glance on his face,”Woah, I thought you guys said this kid moved to California? And the last meeting was today anyway.”
“Well, he did,” Mike explained, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his arm,”But he’s coming down for one month for Summer with his brother and sister. His Summer break has already started, and we only have three days of school left.”
“Yeah, so on the last day, we’re gonna bring him in for an impromptu Hellfire meeting!” Lucas added cheerfully.
“As long as that’s alright…” Dustin trailed, them all looking at him expectantly.
He sighed. Yeah, it was supposed to be his last day of Hellfire, and there was no way he could get the others to come in on that day. They had already planned on skipping, it was the last day of school and there was no reason to be there unless you were getting your shitty yearbook signed anyway. But he honestly wanted to see what this guy was all about. To these guys, Will sounded like one of the coolest dudes ever, while still being a freshman. There was just no way. So, what harm could playing this game do? “Yeah, that’s alright. We’ll see if the wizard really deserves to be a member of Hellfire.”
Maybe one last meeting, one last hurrah wouldn’t hurt.
- - - - -
That Tuesday, Eddie watched as Lucas and Dustin walked up to the side of the school, Steve in tow. Eddie had decided to meet them outside, for no reason in particular. Honestly, he just needed the fresh air… Ok, so maybe it was because he wanted to see Steve and bug him a bit. But who cares. That wasn’t important.
At least it seemed like Steve wanted to see him too. He had gotten out of the car the second he saw Eddie standing there. The other two, Mike, Robin and Nancy, knew him and Steve were together. Or something- Eddie didn’t really know what it was. It was hard to label it as a relationship, seeing how a lot of people don’t even think two men should be in one. Nonetheless, whatever this was, they were okay with it and had gotten used to the constant flirting. Dustin glared at Steve, sighing in mock annoyance,”You really are smitten, Jesus fucking Christ.”
“Oh, Henderson,” Eddie teased, making eye contact with his partner,”Of course he is. He’s with me, afterall.”
“Okay,” Steve groaned,”You can both shut up now. I’m not interested in your bullying.”
Eddie pouted, making puppy dog eyes at the other. They couldn’t really touch each other out in the open like this, Hawkins wasn’t supportive of ‘the gay life style’. And they certainly weren’t supportive of Eddie the Freak Munson. Steve sighed, opening his mouth to say something but turning instead when his attention was grabbed. Karen Wheeler was pulling up with a car full of teenagers.
They poured out one by one, Karen telling them their curfew or something equally as important Eddie supposed. It was Mike and two others, both brunette, one boy and one girl. “Wheeler!” Eddie shot towards them as the car drove off. They began to cross the field, the two new faces talking a bit from behind him. “These must be your friends.”
“Yeah!” Mike said with a smile. The boy moved towards Dustin and Lucas first, hugging them both and greeting them. Mike gripped the girl's hand and she stepped forward, a bright smile on her face as Mike introduced her, catching Eddie’s attention once more,”This is El.”
She gave a small hello, pulling her hand from Mike’s so she could shake Eddie’s. He shook it politely, smiling at her. He had been told quite a bit about her as well, she was Mike’s girlfriend and she tended to take up a lot of his thoughts. “You must be the mage. Pleasure to meet you.”
She nodded, cheeks flushed as she pulled away. Mike and her both turned to the other, who was standing there timidly after finishing his greetings,”And this is Will.”
“The wizard!” Eddie laughed a bit, reaching forward to shake Will’s hand as well,”From what I hear from these guys, you two are very important members of your party.” Their cheeks dusted pink, bashful at the attention they didn’t know they had in the first place. Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle at their shy demeanor,”Well, let’s see what you’ve got. Lead the way, Henderson.”
Dustin saluted him, something that made him roll his eyes but Dustin failed to see it, turning and walking into the building. Eddie turned to Steve, who was pulling his keys out of his pocket again, nodding at him,”I’ll see you later, Eds.”
“Yeah, see you later,” He smirked evilly, sticking out his tongue and shaking his head, hair swinging around him as he teased,”big guy.”
Steve groaned and ran his hands over his face before punching the other in the shoulder,”Can’t live with you, can’t live without you. I can’t win!” And with that, he turned and walked away, back to his car. He couldn’t help but smile at the mock dismay. He knew Steve loved his teasing, and he’d be damned if he stopped now.
He turned to follow the others into the school , only to come face to face with Will, who was standing there, cheeks red, looking kind of surprised and holding the door for Eddie. Shit, Eddie had thought, he’s probably not okay with that kind of thing. He cursed himself for not being more careful, but it didn't matter. He could play off the teasing, he was sure of it. “Oh!” Eddie exclaimed, trying to play it cool as he followed inside,”Thank you, sorry, I didn’t know you were waiting.”
He shrugged,”It’s nothing. Just the polite thing to do.”
Eddie glanced at the other as they walked down the hall, unable to stop himself from questioning the other in his head. The coolest guy in the party? There was no way. Sure, he seemed like a nice kid, but he was… Just so timid. Shy and stand-off-ish, like he was afraid of confrontation. He couldn’t even imagine this guy surviving in the woods for a week, so how he did it, he wasn’t sure. He watched intently as the other picked at his fingernails, watching ahead.
Eddie pulled his eyes from the other’s hands, looking in the same direction Will was. Staring down the hall, he saw El and Mike, who turned and walked into the Hellfire room, hand in hand, the last of the four of them to enter. Protective, Eddie had decided Will was. He was clearly watching Mike like a hawk, his friend who was dating his sister. “That must be weird for you,” Eddie whispered, making conversation quietly as they trailed a bit slower.
“What-?” Will said, pulled out of his thoughts abruptly. Eddie pointed forward towards the room the others had entered.
“Your best friend is dating your sister. No wonder you feel awkward.”
Will paused for a moment, not responding. He looked to the door before it seemed it had dawned on him what Eddie meant. He laughed nervously,”No, no- it’s not-”
“You don’t have to worry man,” Eddie said, waving his hand dismissively. He didn’t mean to make the kid even more nervous by putting him on the spot. “I get it. Just let me know if you need me to teach Wheeler a lesson. I love messing with him-”
Will chuckled a bit now, real laughter this time. He covered his mouth in an attempt to stop as he shook his head. He sighed, a smile bright on his face. Come to think of it, when the kid was smiling, he and El looked alike. He wondered briefly if they were twins as they approached the door,”Yeah, he’s a pain, so he’s fun to tease.”
Will allowed him to enter first, following close behind. The others were already seated around the table, speaking about upcoming campaigns they were planning, explaining it to El who, apparently, had no idea about anything in D&D. She knew bits and pieces, sure, but apparently only what had been shown to her in passing.
Mike, Dustin and Lucas had already sprawled character sheets across the surface, showing off the different worlds and such that went along with their stories and campaigns. Eddie turned to look at Will again, who seemed to stare at the group longingly, struggling to insert himself. Eddie chewed the inside of his lip as he looked between them, speaking finally,”You know about D&D, right?”
Mike looked up sharply at the two of them,”Yeah, of course he does! We told you he did-”
“Well, Michael,” Eddie sneered, a glint of poison in his eyes,”He hasn’t shown me himself yet. And you seem more concerned with the knight, who I’ve known for the past nine months. Why doesn’t Will show us his character sheets-”
“N-no,” Will swallowed, looking a bit pale,”It’s okay, I don’t mind. You don’t have to stop their conversation. They’re just showing El everything she missed.”
“No offense, little man,” Eddie spoke, smile turning evil. He was turning on his dramatics again, something he was known for. He just wanted to help Will ease into the flow of the club, he seemed on edge. He hoped his theatrics didn’t freak the other out, for more of Will’s sake than his own,”But I want to see how you hold up. Gotta see if you really deserve to be a member of Hellfire!” Eddie growled out the last word, the others jumping a bit at the sudden change in behavior.
He swung himself into his throne, pale hands motioning forward, the rings shining in the light. Will was on the other side of the table, staring down at the rest of them. Eddie pushed harder now, urging the other out of his shell,”What’s wrong-? Did you forget them or something~?”
He ignored the glare that El and Mike were shooting him. Lucas and Dustin looked at each other, questioning their next action. But before they could do much, Will was sighing a bit, reaching into his pocket,”No, of course I didn’t forget. This is supposed to be a D&D club, after all.”
Eddie chuckled, watching as the other unfolded a piece of paper and placed it on the table, a second one following soon after. One had several words written on it, explaining in detail the character’s background, skills, and powers. The other was an impressive drawing of who Eddie could only assume to be Will the Wise. A wizard with a purple cloak, flames coming from the neckline of it and stars on the hat. His cheeks were sunken in and he held a staff, a crystal ball at the top of it. “Well… Why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
“I’m a level twelve wizard, I went to the School of Divination but also tend to teach myself other abilities through quests. I attack my enemies by using the future to my advantage,” Will smirked as he pushed the papers across the table. He was getting sassy now, snarky. A clear sign to Eddie that he had made him comfortable.
“Well then,” Eddie smiled, leaning forward as he folded his hands together,”Why don’t you show me some of what you can do?”
- - - - -
The shouts and cheers from the room they were in, if it wasn’t the last day of school , Eddie’s sure they would’ve taken away his ability to walk on graduation day. So noisy, they would have certainly ruined anyone’s focus during finals or classes.
Watching Will cast Fireballs, fight with all his might alongside Mike, who Eddie found out was his knight in shining armor. Mike’s sole job in campaigns was to protect his party, but when Will was around, he was working under his rule, protecting him from the evil that loomed around every corner.
Eddie had to admit, there was something about this kid. He was definitely pretty dope, especially for a freshman. Eddie watched and cheered along with them, enthusiastically watching as Will defeated the different monsters he pitted against him.
Soon enough though, their time was up. The last bell of the day was ringing across the school, students shuffled by the door in large crowds, ready to get their Summer started. Eddie smiled brightly as they wrapped up their last meeting. He wouldn’t admit to himself that he was struggling not to cry, finding it hard to let go of something he had been holding onto for so damn long. Once they were all filed out of the room, he shut the door one last time, anything he needed out of there shoved into his backpack or pockets.
“Steve could probably give you a ride home,” Dustin said to Eddie,”Lucas’ mom is picking him up and Steve’s bringing me and everyone else home for the night.”
Eddie nodded, agreeing to the ride. They walked out of the school, only to find Lucas’ mom already pulled up front, beeping twice when he came out. He could see Lady Applejack in the back seat, waving at all of them with her same old sour look on her face. Lucas waved goodbye, pushing out,”I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Before he ran off.
They talked aimlessly as they waited for Steve’s arrival, Will talking a bit along with El about how California was. There was no D&D club at their school, Will claiming that if there was one, he wouldn’t have bothered joining anyway. “I can’t abandon my party,” He said wisely.
Dustin and Mike told them about their different adventures in the club, mentioning how Eddie was graduating the next day. He had shoved his face in his hair when it was mentioned, trying to contain his excitement. After waiting and talking for a while, Steve finally arrived.
“You’re so late, Steve,” Dustin groaned as he filed in the back, followed by Will and then Mike, El on his lap.
“I had to drive Robin to work! She has a shift and no license. You can’t use me as a group taxi and then be angry when I’m late… What has it been, eight minutes?” Eddie chuckled at their bickering as he sat down in the passenger’s seat. He placed his arm next to Steve’s on the arm rest. Steve sighed as he began to drive, looking at Mike in the rearview mirror,”Nancy home?”
“Yeah, probably. Why?”
“She left her cardigan in my car, I wanna bring it to her.”
“Oooooo,” Eddie sang with a smile,”She took her clothes off in your car~!”
“Ew!” Mike groaned in the back.
“Yeah, ew. No, not like that, it was hot so she took it off. I’m gonna bring it to her, I wanna ask her about graduation tomorrow.”
“You’re coming right?” Eddie hoped that didn’t sound as desperate to Steve as it did to himself.
Steve smiled,”Of course, I wouldn’t miss it if it were the end of the world, Eddie.”
He smiled, feeling his cheeks heat up. He turned to look out the window as they pulled up to the Wheeler’s residence. The kids in the back all stepped out, stretching their legs after being cramped in there. Steve stepped out too, Eddie opting to stay in the car. The doors shut and he relaxed into his seat as he turned on the radio. It wasn’t playing anything good, but he didn’t mind. He’d be home soon anyway, he'll finally have some alone time with Steve.
He sighed before jumping up again, startled by the sudden sound of the back door opening again.
“Yeah! You can go ahead! I just forgot something!”
He looked to the rearview to see Will, who was climbing into the backseat of the car again, shutting the door behind him. “Whatcha forget, Will the Wise?”
“I…” Will seemed to deflate, swallowing as he looked around the seemingly empty back seat. “Nothing… I just… I wanted to ask you a question.”
Eddie sat up straight, turning around to face the other, who’s eyes darted away as soon as they met. His cheeks were red and he seemed on edge all over again. All the work he had done was gone now, Will just as timid and shy as he was before. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong… Or, I don’t know, maybe it is-?” He huffed, irritated by his own ramblings. “I just… How do you do it?”
Eddie stared at him blankly. Apparently this kid thought one of his skills was reading minds, but unfortunately he was mistaken. “Do…?”
“With Steve.” Eddie felt his heart drop at the other’s name. Oh, so this was about them. Eddie stared at the other, ready for him to say something gross, something that every other person in this town had said before. But instead, he continued on bashfully,”How do you… Do all that without caring?”
“How do I do what? Flirt with him?” Will was burying his head in his hands now. Eddie would have thought the kid was a prude if he didn’t really know what was going on here. Will nodded in his hands, scrubbing them across his eyes as he tried to help himself cool off. Eddie held back a snicker, worried he’d make Will think he was laughing at him. “Well… I dunno,” he shrugged,”I just do it.”
“It can’t be that easy…”
“Well,” Eddie trailed,”It isn’t. It’s much harder than that. I can just do it of course- but then everyone in this town hates me even more. It worries me that if they find out anything, they’ll hate Steve too. Which is somehow worse.” Eddie nodded a bit as he heard himself put his fears into words. He turned back toward Will again, the other seemingly composed now as he listened intently,”But I do it anyway. Quietly, of course, I’d rather save myself from any real danger. But I do it loud enough to just push some buttons.”
Will sat there, quietly, thinking over what he had said. “Why?”
Eddie smiled, shrugging yet again,”Mostly because I like to push buttons. But also because it’s who I am. And I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for being an ignorant loser, y’know?”
Will swallowed and nodded,”Yeah, yeah I know.” The brunette smiled at him knowingly before looking down and chewing on his lip,”I… Earlier-? You said I felt awkward because Mike was with my sister… That’s not entirely true…”
The other nodded, realization dawned on him. He had made a misjudgement earlier.The poor kid liked his best friend, and he was losing a battle to his own sister. Not that he was fighting anyway, clearly already beaten down by everyone else’s distaste for who he was. Eddie couldn’t help but reach over and place a hand on the other’s shoulder as he spoke once again.
“Maybe he’s with El, but it doesn’t matter. You’ll get over him and you’ll find someone else who cares about you like that.”
“How can you be so sure? It’s so hard to find people who think the same, I just feel so alone…” “Don’t worry about what others think, kid. You’re not alone, there’s plenty of people like me and even people like Steve out there. It’s just hard to find them, because people like us? Sometimes we have to speak quietly.”
Will opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off instead by the driver’s side door opening, Steve groaning as he lowered himself into the car. Will’s eyes were wider now, a bit nervous, clearly having not wanted to be heard by the others. Steve was oblivious as ever though,”Hey, Will, what’re you still doing in the car?”
“Uh,” Will stuttered a bit, so Eddie looked at Steve, teeth showing as he stared at him through his eyelashes.
“Because he wanted to show me his campaign he was working on, it’s a surprise for the rest of his party, so he couldn’t show it in front of them.”
Will looked to him gratefully as Steve shook his head,”I do not understand the Dungeons and Dragons thing. I try so hard and I still don’t know what any of these words mean.”
“That’s why I’m here to remind you,” Eddie purred, snickering as Steve rolled his eyes at him. “Well, you have a good night, Will. If you ever wanna talk about D&D again, ask Dustin for my address. You can send me a letter or something when you get back to California. I wanna keep in touch with all the members of Hellfire... including someone as new as yourself.”
“You could even talk more about the party you’re gonna have tomorrow, Mike’s taking you guys to the graduation to see Nancy walk.”
Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose,”He’s in a party, he’s having a campaign, Steve.”
“Whatever! It’s the same thing!”
“No,” Will laughed,”No it’s not. Thank you, Eddie! I’ll definitely ask Dustin for your address, you’re a cool guy. See you at graduation tomorrow. Good luck!”
He waved goodbye as he got out of the car once more, turning to walk up the driveway. Eddie watched as he went, smiling a bit as they pulled away. “You certainly have a lot of kids you take care of, Stevie.”
“Yeah, well,” he sighed, smiling a bit,”They need me. At least I like to think they do. And Will’s one of the… tamer ones. Probably the calmest of all of them, funnily enough.”
“Yeah,” Eddie chuckled, flashes of the other kids yelling and wrestling in his mind. They were rambunctious, and Will was the polar opposite of that. Yet he had found a home in their group, something Eddie was thankful for in that moment,”Yeah, he’s a pretty cool kid.”