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Hellfire Club is full of nerds. Outcasts, weirdos, freaks. The very outer circle of Hawkins’ social life. But, as of lately, it is also a well-connected group of nerds.
That means, of course, the title of personal guests to the very infamous, very loud, Steve Harrington’s big ass parties. Now that the “kids” are old enough to drink, it’s almost an obligation to attend.
Even though they get excited, get ready and drink as most of the other guests, it’s almost impossible for them to be part of the crowd.
Right now, for example, they’ve convinced you, Steve, Robin and Nancy to play Truth or Dare. Fair enough, it’d be a game typical of their age… If their truths and dares were actually daring or hard to admit.
So far, you’ve had the absolute thrill of discovering Steve’s first love was Nancy, El’s worst fear is Vecna possessing Mike and Dustin’s favorite Lord of the Rings book isn’t the Fellowship of the Ring. You’ve also been lucky enough to see Lucas do a handstand right at the edge of the pool and Nancy and Robin perform a full minute of the closest thing to tango they could manage.
It’s not like you’re bored, of course, they’re your friends, after all. But parties have never been your thing, even when you were younger. Now that you’re twenty-six, though, staying up this late and pretending to drink is more exhausting than entertaining.
Or it would be, if it wasn’t for Eddie.
The only real reason you’ve put on makeup, a short dress and heels on a Saturday night. Which was, in the first place, something stupid and unrequited. And, second, something with no effect whatsoever, seeing as Eddie is off to a corner chatting with Argyle. Since Eddie stopped smoking, you suspect he likes hanging around him because of the usual cloud of weed smoke that follows Argyle everywhere.
Whatever the case, clearly the pizza guy is more interesting than you.
And Truth or Dare, since Robin has to nudge you twice before you look back at her.
“It’s your turn!”
You wince- the music is loud, but not loud enough to grant her tone.
“Dare.”
If you’re going to waste a night like this, at the very least you’ll do your best to be entertained. Or to be the entertainment.
“I got it!”
Dustin also has difficulties to speak at a normal volume, apparently.
The kid- twenty-one-year-old kid, but still- is grinning at you. The years yere kind to him, and his once toothy smile is now charming, but not enough to fool you. The glint in his eye is pure evil, and the speed at which he yelled leads you to fear his next words.
Words that he speaks at an okey volume, actually.
“I dare you to flirt with Eddie.”
There it is, his true face: smug smile, look of victory. You’re sure he can smell your hesitation.
The thing is, maybe you are here for Eddie… But you would never tell anyone that. In fact, you have never, in all your years of friendship, admitted to have a single feeling towards anyone. Much less Eddie Munson.
Your friend, confidant, emergency contact and shoulder to cry on.
You’ve daydreamed about falling into his arms, playing with his hair, wearing his clothes. You’ve stared at him, starstruck, every time he played a guitar solo. You’ve hugged him through panic attacks, dragged him half dead across the Other Side and cried in the hospital waiting for him to wake up.
But never, not once, have you dared put all that at risk.
For what? Eddie is so much for you now. The tiny chance of winning against the very real possibility of losing everything you have is, simply put, not worth it.
On the other hand, Eddie is your confidant.
And you really, really like winning.
Also, this party is boring as hell.
“That’s it?”, you shrug theatrically and smirk, “Just flirting? Come on, man. That’s easy.”
Dustin blinks, “What, you’re looking for a challenge?”
It can’t be said that your defiance isn’t convincing. Maybe you’re doing a little too much.
“Okay, sure. I dare you to go flirt with him. And I bet you a whole tub of ice cream you don’t have the balls to kiss him as well.”
For an objectively loud party, it feels suddenly quiet.
Dustin is staring at you with his chin up. Your legs feel less stable now. Why do you always have to take things this far?
Eddie will understand, right?
You certainly hope so.
Saving as much face as you can, you offer your hand for Dustin to shake. Robin looks somewhere between worried and shocked, enough to observe silently as you walk away from the group. As you look away, straight towards Eddie, you think you see Steve smack the back of Dustin’s head. Good. You hope it hurt half as much as doing this is about to hurt you.
You try your very best not to look ridiculous walking towards him in heels. You certainly feel out of place. But it’s just Eddie, you tell yourself. He’s seen you in pajamas.
By the time you get to him, you made yourself thoroughly nervous. You look up, seeing his usual warm smile. What is it you’re supposed to be doing right now?
You glance behind you, Dustin’s winner grin snapping you back to reality. Game on.
Turning again, you face Eddie.
“Hi, princess. Everything okay?”
Yeah, that’s one of your problems: Eddie and his need to call everyone by nicknames. You’re nothing like a princess, with your messy hair and your need to do everything by yourself. Actually, there’s not one single person, besides Eddie, who has ever treated you like a princess. That’s one of the things you like the most about your current relationship with Munson.
That same relationship you hope survives what you’re about to do.
Have some faith, woman.
You smile warmly and hold onto his arm, feigning difficulty standing on your heels. The same heels you’ve been wearing for the last two hours with no problem. Still, he holds you by the waist with a worried look.
“Yeah! Everything’s a-okay! I just…”
Now that you’re doing it, in front of everyone, it’s harder than you’d like it to be. Your eyes drift to Argyle, who has a front row seat to your disaster. At least, he’s enough of a gentleman to mutter a hurried oh! before pointing to his empty glass and heading towards the kitchen.
“Really, are you okay?”
Eddie’s eyes are warm and focused on you, and it reminds you why you trust him so much. You’d trust him with your life.
Trusting him with this will be easy, you realize. You clear your throat, but make no move to step away from him.
“Yeah. Don’t look, but Dustin is being a little shit. He dared me to flirt with you.”
“Oh.”
Is that amusement in his eyes? He holds your waist tighter.
“Is that so?”
It feels weirdly thrilling, his tone. At least, Eddie is doing as you said and staring straight into your eyes, instead of acknowledging Dustin. Or anyone else at the party.
Right. The bet.
“Uh-huh. There might be a small, tiny, other detail.”
“Don’t you say,” he nods, as if confirming his suspicions, “and what might that be?”
“Oh, just, you know…”
You wave your hand. His eyes follow the motion. His mouth curves upwards. Why is his mouth so close?
“HebetmeawholetuboficecreamthatIwouln’tdarekissyou!”
Based on his wince, you think you may have yelled. Robin must be contagious. To your dismay, he understood every word.
“A whole tub, huh?”
You nod, staring at your shoes. You’re beginning to think heels are stupid.
“And how do you suggest we split it?”
Your face snaps up.
“Are you…? Are you suggesting we do it?”
Is he implying he’d kiss you? For a meek half of an ice cream tub? Kiss you? Eddie?
He shrugs, and maybe if it wasn’t so hard to think straight, you’d see the nervousness behind his confident façade.
“I mean, it’s free ice cream, right? It’s fine by me, you know? Only if you’re down.”
The end of the sentence sounds more like a question. You straighten up. When are you going to have this chance, if ever again? Of kissing him, of being this close, of being with him in the only way you’re not already, without fucking shit up?
This is your one chance.
You nod.
“Yeah, sure, why not? The little scoundrel deserves it. We’ll wipe that stupid defiant smile from his chubby little face.”
Eddie snickers and dares a quick look behind you.
“His face hasn’t been cubby in years. He’s grown quite a lot, the kid. Not in ways that matter, I see. He’s just as immature and meddlesome as usual.”
That earns a little laugh from you.
“Right? Oh, I hate when he gets all mighty and knowing.”
“Yeah, you always end up falling for it, don’t you?”
The look in his eyes is pure endearment. You blink up at him. His fingers brush your waist, and suddenly you remember the way you’re standing.
Eddie clears his throat.
“Right. Flirt with me, huh?”
You nod.
“That’s the first half of it, yeah. But, I… Well, you know I don’t flirt.”
He nods.
“No, you don’t.”
“So, if it’s fine by you, we could just pretend that bit as well-”
Eddie shakes his head, playful smile widening.
“Oh, no, no, I’m so sorry. But that would be irresponsible, you see. What if someone asks what you said to me? We’d be in a tight spot, wouldn’t we?”
He tsks, and you think you already are in a tight spot. You hope the low lights stop him from seeing your blush.
“I mean, yeah, but… Eddie, I have no idea how to do that.”
You’re staring at your shoes again.
“What do you mean, princess?”
“You know what I mean. Flirting. I don’t know how to do that. I don’t flirt with anyone because I don’t know how. I don’t even know how it looks like. It’s so obvious for other people, I know, but I just- can’t. It’s like everyone else is in another frequency, and I’m-”
His hand on your chin stops you in your tracks and forces you to stare at him. Eddie isn’t smiling anymore, but his expression is soft.
“Like this.”
You stare at him.
“This… is what flirting looks like...”
He nods as he speaks, looking down.
“Me putting my arm around you…”
His hand curves around your waist, his head tilting.
“… looking at you like I’m yours…”
Eddie’s voice isn’t usually this raspy.
“Now everyone can tell I’m flirting.”
You stay like that for a moment. Logically, you know you’ve been way closer to him many times. But this feels different. Like he’s about to say something else.
Except he doesn’t, he pulls back and grins.
“See? It’s not that hard.”
You force yourself to nod, trying to recover from the whiplash.
“I… don’t know if I can do that.”
“You don’t?”
One of his eyebrows rises. Here it is. The feeling that kept you from trying anything in all these years: Eddie makes you feel comfortable, safe, and you can’t imagine losing this. Not when you know you can be honest with him. Not when you know he understands you. Not when he’s right there, always by your side- even if it means doing stupid crap like putting on a show for your friends.
You’d never put this at risk.
Not when you can just take a deep breath and talk to him, easy and comfortable.
“I don’t know how to do that… I can’t come up with things to do.”
You shake your head, frustrated.
“It seems so easy for everybody else, but it just doesn’t occur to me. I’ve resigned to not knowing how to flirt. It’s not like I’d need it anyway.”
Eddie smirks.
“Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll need to know how to flirt to win a bet. Then, with the right motivation, you should be able to do it. Come on, Princess. I know you can. Just use your words. You’re good with those, remember? And your imagination! You’ve made me cry dozens of times with your campaigns. This is a piece of cake.”
You sigh. One thing about Eddie is that he won’t ever give up. Not on you, anyway. Who even cares? If you embarrass yourself, he’ll probably be kind enough to laugh only a little.
“…okay.”
You take a second to think. Then you nod, that’s it.
You got all the way here, might as well give it a try. The seductive smile is forced only for a second, but after that you’re fully in character.
“Can I see your hands?”
Eddie eyes you, curious to see where this is going, but he doesn’t say a thing. He just lets go of your waist and offers you his hands, palms up.
You grab them carefully, looking pensive. You turn them around, studying his elegant fingers and his knuckles. Eddie has a lot of scars, but you’ve always thought his hands are beautiful. There’s something about the way he moves them that reminds you of a magician. The light catches on one of his rings, blinks, and you can’t help but caress the back of his hand with your thumb.
Eddie is still looking at you, which proves to be a mistake when you raise your eyes to meet his.
“Your hands are so pretty, Eds! Where did you get them? I’ve been meaning to get new lingerie, and these are right mi size!”
Your tone was light, playful even, but Eddie’s smile is frozen on his face. In fact, you think he stopped breathing. You’d swear you can see his eyes drop to his hands and up to your eyes again, doing a brief stop on your chest, as if it was impossible to avoid picturing the scene. Suddenly, you realize he’s blushing.
You laugh awkwardly, trying to fill Eddie’s stunned silence.
“That was bad, huh? Too weird? Maybe I should have stuck with the classics, something like “come here often, handsome?” or some other nonsense. God, I’m glad Dustin didn’t hear that. I’d never hear the end of it. I’m kind of mortified right now, you know? Would you say something, please? Before I die of shame. It’d ruin Steve’s party.”
By the time you finish your rambling, Eddie is chuckling again and shaking his head.
“No, no, I think it was okay. More than okay, actually. You just caught me off guard- I knew you had it in you.”
You see him bite the tip of his tongue, the pink hue on his cheeks soft under the low lights.
“Now, let’s see if you’re as good an actress as you’re with words, princess. We’ll need a kiss good enough to fool the little troublemaker.”
For a second, your heart stops. You’d forgotten where this was leading to. The nerves are back, this time mixed with excitement. Eddie must see it on your face, because he leans in and whispers so only you can hear him- as if anyone was close enough to know what he said.
“Are you sure about this, princess? I won’t mind if you’d rather not do it. I can always take you out for ice cream, free of charge.”
Eddie’s voice is soft, genuine concern mixed with something else. You shake your head.
“A bet is a bet. Also, I don’t think I can face defeat so easily. Plus, I’ve made it this far. I’m in… If you’re game, that is.”
It suddenly occurs to you that maybe he doesn’t feel like smooching his friend. It opens a pit in your stomach. But he’d say so, if he wasn’t comfortable with this, wouldn’t he?
“Are you serious? I have the chance to kiss the coolest girl in the world and have my loser friends witness it. Thank God, they wouldn’t believe me otherwise.”
You laugh, insecurities crumbling away under his charm. You can’t help but swat his chest. Eddie grabs your hand before you can pull it away and holds it against him. Isn’t his heartbeat a little too fast?
“Come on then, princess. Claim your prize.”
Finally, you’re thankful you’re wearing heels tonight. Up until now, you were a little too aware of your friend’s eyes on your back. But, as you stand on the tip of your toes, your hand on Eddie’s shoulder, you forget about everything.
There’s only Eddie, warm in front of you, tall and stable and soft enough to hold onto. He smells so nice and familiar that you find it easy to close your eyes. Slowly, you lean in and touch his lips with yours. His hand lets go of yours, grabbing your waist softly, holding you closer. Eddie’s breath comes out shaky as you slide your fingers to the side of his neck. He tilts his head down, moving to kiss you without hurry. When you bite softly his lower lip, a noise makes his way up his chest, and you don’t know if it’s a whine or a moan or a gasp, but you couldn’t care less about the right words when you’re finally, after so many years, kissing him.
Your body sticks to his, his hands keeping you upright against the traitorous gravity. Your fingers find his hair. It’s soft and it curls against your skin, as if it wants to trap you there. You can feel Eddie’s nails through the fabric of your dress, a contained need to squeeze you impossibly closer. You take it as a sign to scratch his chest, his body answering immediately by bowing towards your touch.
His kiss is gentle, slow, precise. It feels as if he’d done it a hundred times, kissing you. You sigh and Eddie licks, you leave it up to him to hold the weigh of your body and he compels. In exchange, you pull his hair and he moans quietly.
When he pulls away, a new song is playing, and you realize you don’t know how long you were kissing him. Eddie loos thoroughly disheveled, his shirt is wrinkled and all the skin in sight is a deep shade of red. His hands still cling onto your waist, a hug as intimate as out of place in Steve’s living room.
The realization comes rushing, you’re at a party. You just kissed Eddie. You kissed him and it was wonderful and you feel so tingly and it was a bet.
Eddie smiles, the sort of face one does after three full bottles of tequila, the sort of look you’ve not seen in years, the same time he’s been sober. Then he nods and steps back. His hands are still on your waist, and you can’t tell if he forgot about them or if he’s doing you the favor of helping you stand straight. Either way, you’re thankful.
“Way to go, princess.”
Eddie’s voice is weak. After you manage to pull a dry laugh from the back of your throat and gather enough focus to remember how to use your legs, you take a step back. His smile falters as his arms drop to his sides, and you do a decent job at stopping yourself from saying “Thanks for kissing me, Munson”. You suspect he wouldn’t like to hear that. Instead, you give him a soft look.
“I think we make a rather good team, huh? Maybe we should quit our jobs and just scam Dustin for a living.”
“Sounds good to me. As long as I get half of your tub of ice cream…”
“Hey, a deal is a deal. As soon as the little demon pays up, I’ll be knocking at your door.”
“I can’t wait.”
You convince yourself it’s not running away if all you can do is stumble on your high heels back to the group. Ignoring Robin’s wide eyes and Steve’s worried look, you grin at Dustin and let him know that it’s always a pleasure to make business with him, and that you expect him to pay up soon. You do an excellent job of not looking back at Eddie.
Or that is what you tell yourself.
Three days later
Eddie steps out of his van with a plastic bag in hand. He struts up to the door, little smirk impossible to hide. He knocks, fingers tapping onto his thigh a song he can’t take out of his mind. If it was the one that played when you were kissing him, well, it’s no one’s business.
Dustin opens the door and leans onto the doorframe. Eddie’s smile widens as he high fives him.
“Here, as promised. I took the liberty of adding a couple more sweets, I like to compensate work well done.”
The kid shakes his head.
“You know I would’ve done it anyway. You didn’t even have to ask. We’re all sick of seeing you dance around each other.”
Still, he takes the bag with greedy hands. Eddie pretends his cheeks aren’t bright pink and lets go.
“Put that on the fridge right away. You can’t be paying her with melted ice cream. And be sure to let me know as soon as it’s done, I was promised half of that tub. I paid for it and I intend to eat it.”
Dustin salutes before closing the door.
“Sir, yes sir! It’s always a pleasure to make business with you.”