Chapter Text
Eddie graduates in 1986.
Uncle Wayne, Steve, Robin and the Party all cheer for him when he finally gets his hands on that fucking diploma.
They go out for burgers after the ceremony, Robin and the kids making their usual ruckus all the way through their meal whilst Steve and Uncle Wayne chat about cars and basketball and stuff Eddie has no real interest in, but he makes an effort to at least listen to what they’re saying.
Because here’s the thing; as much as Eddie had spent a lot of time imagining the day he would finally be free from school for good, he had never once thought he would feel like this, at peace.
He always thought it would feel more like vengeance. He would graduate and show all those teachers who said he wouldn’t do it, that he couldn’t do it, that -ha!- fuck them, he actually could. Eddie would have the last laugh, he would show them all that, freak or not, he was capable of finishing school despite all the shit he’d been through all those years.
And maybe he does feel a little bit of that, that small sense of victory, but mostly he just feels happy he gets to share this moment with his family and his friends. That he gets to sit here in this diner and laugh along everybody when Wheeler does something stupid to impress the Byers kid, that he gets to hold Steve’s hand under the table whilst he tries to protect his fries from Buckley’s grabby fingers.
Eddie’s been an outcast for most of his life. He’s had a couple of friends, sure, has had Hellfire and Corroded Coffin, but he’s never had this. People who care for him so much they’d die for him, that had almost died for him some months back. People who mean so much to him that Eddie sometimes is still baffled that his heart is capable of loving so much without bursting.
“What’s with the face?” Steve asks quietly, big brown eyes staring at Eddie with a hint of concern.
And Eddie loves him so fucking much he could cry.
“Nothing,” he smiles, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand in reassurance. “Just glad I’m finally free.”
1986, baby. Definitely his year.