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moonlightsolo · 2 years

Text

your nerd.

summary: your little brother, dustin henderson, forces you to sub in for a game of d&d. you can’t help but take a liking to the president of hellfire club- but it seems, that your best friend, steve harrington, feels the opposite.

wc: 9.5k

pairing: eddie munson x henderson!reader

warnings: major szn 4 spoilers, mild language, so much angst, jealous!steve, heavy smooching, suggestiveness, mentions of death & if you squint hard enough there’s a sprinkle of steve x reader.

note: yeah, 9k. its mental illness luv. (also when you see ~ it's a time skip) gif is @gayshipsandanxiety :)

“come on! you have to!” your little brother dustin is begging on his knees inside the classroom of your journalism club. his hands are folded in a praying position as he stares up at you with puppy dog eyes.

“i already told you no, dustin. now leave me alone! i’m busy.” you continue working on your project in journalism class, scribbling notes on the margin of your paper.

“you don’t get it, you have to do this for me. you have no choice or else your brother is going to get his ass kicked!” he hops up from his position, hand slapping over the papers that are scattered on your desk.

your head snaps towards him, “who’s going to kick your ass?” your voice is stone cold, pure coldness written on your features.

there’s no way in hell you’d let anyone put a finger on your brother.

“eddie!” he exasperates, throwing his hands up in the air like you should have known the answer to your own question.

“eddie?” you scoff, “eddie who?”

“eddie goddamn munson.”

your glance over at your friend nancy sitting beside you, “munson? the freak?” she almost chuckles as she continues to move articles around for the hawkins newspaper.

all you can do is groan, knowing you’re not going to be able to get out of this one.

“fine, but only this one time.” you hold up your pointer finger in his face to emphasize it, “only this once...” you sigh in defeat as you clean up all your papers, organizing everything back into your backpack.

you can’t wait to graduate this year so you don’t have to deal with this shit anymore.

“thank you, jesus!” dustin shouts to the ceiling, making the other students in the class shush him.

once your backpack is slung on one shoulder, your brother snatches your wrist and tugs you out of the classroom. your feet fail to keep up with him, stumbling through the corridors from his fast pace. “slow down, dude!” you scold him.

“no i can’t. we’re so late!” he curses under his breath as he drags you to the empty part of the school. mike wheeler is waiting outside of a classroom door, rocking back and forth on his heels nervously and looking at his watch.

when he spots you both, his lanky arms fly up into the air dramatically. god, he looks so nervous. who’s this eddie guy they’re so scared of?

“what took you guys so long?! never mind- who cares. let’s just get in there before we’re in deeper shit.” mike goes to grab the handle of the door, but you pause his movements.

“i swear if this shit is lame, i’m walking out.” you threaten and squint your eyes, pointing at them both. dustin just rolls his eyes at you.

they’re both silent as they swing the door open, the sound of rock music filling your ears.

“finally! do do do dooo!!” someone plays a fake trumpet with their mouth, “they hath arriiiiiiived!” the music is reduced to a lower volume. you recognize the song as ‘detroit rock city’ by kiss.

you look around at the cluttered area with wide eyes. it looks like the theater kids storage closet. numerous amounts of props and multi-colored lights scatter the ceiling and stand tall from the floor. it’s almost too overstimulating for your brain.

you stare at the long table down the center of the room with scattered dungeons and dragons game pieces on the surface. a hellfire club emblem hanging behind it on the wall and a throne at the end of the table. this is nerds heaven right here.

there’s a few punk-esque club members are standing to the side talking, their eyes immediately drawn to you as you walk in.

a wild haired man appears from behind an object, his dark doe like eyes take in the people standing in front of him.

“isthis that eddie guy you’re so worried about?” you almost snort out a laugh. you’re slightly bent down to be able to whisper to dustin who elbows your side in response.

the president of the club doesn’t entirely react until he sits in the carved chair, folding his ring adorned hands in front of him with a dramatic sigh.

“absolutely not.” he stares you down with an amused look, as if you being here is a joke.

“you asked for a sub, we delivered.” dustin gestures to you with a close lipped smile.

“this is hellfire club, not cheerleading practice.” eddie snickers evilly at his little joke.

“i’m not a cheerleader, you dip shit.” frustration bubbles inside your chest from this extremely mistaken man. you attempt to control your temper by taking a deep breath through your nose.

dustin and mike tense up from your insult, both of them taking in a sharp breath. “my, my… miss priss speaks!” he exclaims to his minions who are now standing behind him, his eyes widening in excitement. one of them chuckles.

eddie flies up from his seat, hands hitting the table with a bang. he slithers out from behind the table and arrogantly saunters towards you. with an evident smug look on his face. you can feel the heat traveling up your neck to settle on your cheeks as he grows closer.

“and what’s your name, spirit fingers?” he stops in front of you, staring you down.

the way the dim lights highlight his face and how close he is to you makes you choke up.

wait, he’s actually really cute.

“y/n… y/n henderson.” you clear your throat as you stand up straight, staring right back at him with the same fervor.

he cackles, “so this is your infamous sister, huh?” he glances over at dustin who swallows nervously.

“wow. you’re sooo smart.” your tilt your head with a little puff of laughter. a few of his pals laugh at your comment, which makes eddie’s head dart towards them. their laughter quickly stops.

eddie quickly reciprocates the attitude, “what’s your class and level? level one, dwarf?” he emphasizes the last word with a sneer.

the sound of giggling from behind him makes your blood boil. you’re glad dustin and mike know to keep their mouths shut or else you’d make their life a living hell.

“actually, my name is lady phae. and i’m a chaotic good, half-elf rogue, level sixteen.” eddie’s face drops as you begin to name of your rankings, his buddies share worried glances.

“and i will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri- and i’ll laugh as i watch them die a slow, agonizing death.” you continue to stare him down in the eyes, your heart slamming against your ribs from the adrenaline coursing through you.

“so, are we going to do this or are we going to keep chit-chatting? or should i just leave..?” you go to turn towards the door, turning your attention towards the exit.

eddie’s hand reaches out to grip your wrist, urging you to stop; the coldness of his rings burn into your skin. his frizzy head cocks to the side, looking at you with an emotionless face. his dark eyes glance between both of your eyes and your lips. the sight makes the collar of your shirt feel too tight around your neck.

a cocky grin slowly pulls up on the corner of his plush mouth. one that you wish to… no stop. don’t think like that!

he continues to hold eye contact with you. making it seem like you two are the only ones in the room right now.

“welcome to hellfire.” his speaks to you lowly from his close proximity. his hand outstretches for you to shake which you gladly take with a proud smile. the spark appears once again when his skin touches yours. his eyes shoot down to your hands before pulling away just as quick.

the team gathers around the table as eddie takes a seat in his throne behind a big book. he dramatically tells the story of lord vecna, revealing he’s alive. everyone around the table panics, except for you. truly, you have no idea what’s going on in their storyline.

mike slams his hands on the table, and dustin rubs his hands over his face stressfully. every single one of their eyes are full of horror like they’ve seen a ghost.

“but vecna lives!” eddie slams the character down on a tiny handmade throne.

you can’t help but let your eyes roam up his now naked arms arms, admiring his tattoos. he takes a long glimpse at you, it seems as if he sensed your eyes on him.

he can’t help but smile slightly, hiding behind the book so nobody notices his flushed face.

the game continues on and your team decides to fight to the death. the intense game continues, your team members make some good hits and mostly some really unfortunate ones.

your squad is picked off one by one, now being left with only two players. you’re all forced to make a decision. to attempt to defeat vecna- only 15 hit points left and 12 hit points between yours and dustin’s character.

with one truly badass line, dustin decides the fate for his team, “let’s kill the son of a bitch.”

eddie tosses the d20 to dustin, who rolls it on the table. your breathing stops as you peek over his shoulder, watching with wide eyes as it stops. it’s an eleven. “that’s… a… miss!” eddie madly shakes his head with a cheshire cat grin on his face.

“no!” you wail, gripping your little brothers shoulder as you drop your head down to look at your feet.

now, it’s all up to you. eddie retrieves the dice to toss it to you, “good luck, princess.”

the nickname sends a shiver down your spine, giving him a nervous look. you shake the die in your hand, taking a deep shaky breath before releasing it onto the table.

everyone intensely stares, watching it roll and twirl on all of it’s sides. it seems as if everyone stopped breathing in this moment, like the earth spinning on it’s axis has halted.

the dice rolls to a stop, “it’s a twenty! a crit hit!” you holler as your team members leap into a giant group hug with you in the center. everyone around you high fives, fist bumps, chest bumps, and hugs.

you bend down slightly, hands on your knees since you can finally breathe normally. you stare at the notorious d20 sitting dormant on the table.

in your peripheral vision, you notice eddie looking at you with some sort of proud smile on his face. you can’t help but reciprocate the same look towards him.

once the club room is cleaned from all the mountain dew cans, and game pieces slightly put away; it’s finally time to leave. you’re thankful that most of the basketball game traffic has died down.

your arm is slung over dustin’s shoulder as you walk down the hallway towards the exit, “that was a great game, d.” you breathe out triumphantly.

“you should come play with us more. i can get eddie to make you one of these awesome t-shirts?!” dustin pulls on the end of his hellfire club shirt. he looks up at you with anticipation in his eyes, hoping you’ll agree.

“yeah, i’d love that.” you bring your brother in for a side hug, squeezing his shoulder.

an arm suddenly swings behind your neck, now resting on your shoulders. “that was such a great game, huh?” eddie leans forward to look at dustin with a grin.

the heavy feeling of eddie’s leather jacket against the back of your neck makes you nervous. he smells like worn out cologne with a slight hint of weed.

“i was just telling her that she needs to come back to play again. you should make her a shirt, ed.” dustin’s eyebrows raise with excitement from the possibility of his older sister joining his club.

“she did play good today. i guess it seems like she deserves it.” he smirks, and you can’t help but try to ignore the heat in your cheeks. all three of you make your way to the parking lot together, his arm still slung over your shoulder. his scent is captivating, hypnotizing you.

when you spot your ride, you raise your hand to wave with a smile. steve harrington, your second best friend from your brother. dustin waves as well, and eddie joins to playfully wave with a derpy smile. through the windshield, you notice steve’s face screw up in confusion. now realizing who’s arm is around you.

“hey man, i’ll see you next week.” dustin does a little secret handshake with him before walking over to the parked bmw and hopping in the back.

eddie slides his arm off of you slowly, letting his hand linger on your shoulder for a moment before dropping to his side. he takes a dramatic step to stand in front you. a sigh falls from his lips with a disappointed look.

“you, unfortunately, exceeded my expectations today, henderson.” you go to respond but he continues, “you’re welcome back… any time.” he clears his throat, “just so you know.” he quickly adds as he scuffs the bottom of one of his boots against the concrete anxiously.

his words make your heart soar, a giddy smile appearing on your lips. you reach behind you to pull a pen out of the side pocket of your bag. the movement makes his eyes lift from his feet.

“hand, please.” you hold out your free hand with a one-sided grin.

“you better not shank me with that.” he eyes you as he hesitatingly lays his hand in your palm. the size difference almost makes you laugh.

you continue by rolling his sleeve up slightly past his watch, scribbling down your ten digit phone number. “for whenever my hellfire shirt is ready or if you have any other questions.” you play it cool before folding the leather back down.

“yeah.. for the uh- hellfire shirt, sure…” he mutters breathily, his voice slightly wavering.

“then i’ll see you around, munson.” you beam before turning on your heel to head towards steve and your brother. you hop into the passenger seat, backpack swung between your legs. some pop song is playing quietly in the background.

“what was that all about?” steve questions, his eyes looking over your face for any sort of reaction.

“oh, it was nothing. i’m joining the club dustin’s in, so i gave eddie my number. he’s technically the president of it.”

“he is the president.” dustin comments from behind you.

you click your seatbelt in before finally making eye contact with harrington. he’s just staring at you, as if he’s trying to read your mind.

“what?” you laugh nervously, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“oh, it’s nothing.” he mocks you before turning the music back up and reversing out of the parking lot.

“it’s grief-stricken day today in hawkins. a student has been found brutally murdered right here in this mobile home park…”

it’s the next day, you’re sitting on the couch with dustin and your mom. the horrific breaking news story interrupting the new episode of perfect strangers. it sickens you to think someone could be capable of taking another persons life.

suddenly, the door bell rings. dustin shoots up to get it, quickly inviting the person inside. it’s max mayfield. you instantly perk up when dustin motions for you to follow them into his bedroom.

“chrissy cunningham?” you hear dustin ask in disbelief, “you’re sure it was chrissy?” you shut the door behind you as you listen to the conversation silently. your eyes are wide as you look between the two teenagers, leaning back against the door.

“yes, she was in her cheerleader outfit. the same thing she was in when i saw her with eddie.”

“wait, wait, wait. eddie?” your face scrunches up in confusion. there’s no way that boy could hurt anyone.

they ignore you, “did you tell this to the cops?” dustin questions again.

“excuse me! earth to dustin and max! you’re saying eddie did this?”

they both turn their heads to look at you.

“i guarantee you eddie is suspect number one right now.” max nods.

“that’s crazy. eddie didn’t do this. no way.” dustin argues.

“well, we can’t rule it out.” max counteracts.

“yes, we can.” dustin says quite surely, shaking his head in disbelief as he paces.

“he’s right. eddie wouldn’t hurt a fly. he’s a very kind person, he’s not like what everyone thinks. he’s not a freak, and definitely not a murderer.” you mumble as your mind races through every possible scenario.

“you don’t know him like i do, max. when we got to high school, lucas made all his sports friends. mike and me? i mean, no one was nice to us. no one except eddie.”

dustin’s confession brings tears to your eyes. you wish you could go back in time and make sure that he was never bullied.

then max compares eddie to ted bundy which sends dustin into another spiral.

“guys! guys! just… shut up! we don’t have time for this. there’s only one person that actually knows what the hell happened and that’s eddie. we need to find him. so let’s go.” you whip dustin’s bedroom door open to march out towards the front, grabbing your keys from the hook; the two kiddos in tow.

of course, not without your mothers worried protests, “we’ll be extra careful, i promise!thanks mom! we love you bye!” dustin yells and slams the front door shut. all three of you scurry to your car and you hop in the drivers seat.

“have you told anyone else about this?” you ask, turning the key in the ignition for the engine to ignite.

“no, i can’t find lucas or nancy, and mike’s in-.”

“california.” dustin finishes her sentence.

“shit.” you breathe out with a shake of your head. there’s only one person you know who would be able to help.

“we need to go see steve.” you reverse your car out of the driveway with a screech from your tires. speedily making a bee-line towards family video.

with a ding of the overheard bell, the three of you scramble into the store- dustin and max leading the way.

the news is playing on the tv and you can’t help but stop in your tracks, heart beating fast against your chest. there’s no way eddie did this. you have to clear his name- whatever it takes.

dustin continues talking to steve, sternly asking him how many phones he has. the sound of people shouting makes your head whip towards the commotion.

dustin shoves his backpack over the counter, completely disregarding the things in front of it. he hops over, his feet kicking tapes to the ground.

steve and robin are shouting at him as he sits down on the chair in front of the computer.

“what the hell is wrong with this damn, kid?” you mutter under you breath. shuffling around to the other side to find an easier way to get in. instead of parkour-ing over the counter, like he just did.

“i’m setting up base of operations here.” dustin continues to type in a frenzy, eyes looking over the keyboard.

you start to help clean up his mess, picking up all the loose papers scattered everywhere. steve and your annoying little brother continue to banter.

“hey, thanks.” robin puffs out an annoyed breath, bending down to help you organize everything. “he’s on a roll today.“ you stand up, hands resting on your hips as you watch dustin.

he’s scribbling down eddie’s friends phone numbers on a handheld white board. “it’s our busiest day. it’s a saturday!” robin groans into the air, putting everything back into place.

you stack papers on the counter, hitting the bottom so they’d fall evenly. someone slides in behind you, hand resting on your lower back. the smell of fresh shampoo and mint.

“want me to strangle him or you want to?” steve grumbles as he organizes some things back into place next to you.

“we can take turns?” you chirp, turning around to look at what dustin is doing.

“can you fill them in while i do this?” dustin scoffs as if you’re doing nothing, “fill us in on what?” robin snaps, obviously at her wits end.

together, you and max explain what’s going on. how she saw chrissy with eddie together last night at his trailer, and how chrissy is the student who got murdered. max explains that her lights started flickering, like how it did when the mind flayer was around. robin and steve look skeptical, but you reassure them that eddie would never do that.

the look steve gives you is unavoidable, glaring at you with a look you can’t quite decipher.

robin opts to help call some of the numbers dustin found to ask around about eddie. while steve continues with his sale tactics on the floor, selling movies to customers. you’re sitting on the counter, kicking your legs back and forth as you watch them do their sleuthing.

you’re more of a beat up monsters kind of girl instead of a detective. max hangs up her phone, “hey guys, i might have a lead.”

“seriously?” you perk up, hopping off the counter to get closer.

“apparently, eddie gets his drugs from some guy named reefer rick? and sometimes eddie crashes there.”

“that’s sounds promising. where does this reefer rick guy live?” robin moves forward slightly, eyes squinting like a true crime investigator.

“see, that’s the thing. no one knows. he’s more of a… legend.”

your eyes continuously look between them.

“what about a last name?” dustin joins.

“bet the cops know a last name.” steve mumbles as he organizes the film case in the front.

“the cops?” you ask, taking a few steps towards him where he’s now leaning on the counter.

“the cops… really, steve? that’s your suggestion?” dustin mocks steve with annoyance written across his features.

“i mean at this point, i think they should be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.” he tries to recover but just digs himself deeper into a hole.

“you think eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” you question.

“woah! i believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit.” his words make you turn your head to glance at max, who looks just as confused as you are.

“i just, you know… i don’t think we can rule it out.” he rubs his hands together nervously, eyeing everyone standing in front of him.

“that’s exactly what they’re trying to do, steve.” you scoff and furrow your eyebrows at him.

dustin and robin go to town against steve. ridiculing him for trying to find a girlfriend and sell movies to babes instead of finding eddie.

suddenly amidst their arguing, robin sits down at the computer. “maybe we don’t need a last name.” she pulls up family video’s database, typing in the name rick.

it pulls up twelve rick’s, “that’s a lot of rick’s.” you comment, peeking over robins shoulder as steve slides in beside you.

robin begins to click on each of them, narrowing it down by the kind of movies each rick has rented. you all vote to pass on the ones that don’t fit the drug dealer persona.

until you reach, rick lipton. with multiple cheech and chong movies in his history, and he also lives on 2121 holland road- which is in the middle of no where.

“total stoner.” you laugh along with them, “but that address is out by lover’s lake. perfect place to hide.” you point out, raising your eyebrows as if you cracked the case.

“let’s go. i’ll drive.” you snatch your keys from the counter. steve swaps his work vest for his jacket before running behind you. everyone follows in a line as robin officially switches the open sign to closed and locks the door.

you hop in the drivers seat, steve slides in the passenger seat next to you, and robin squishes herself in the back seat with the children.

the engine of your car revs to life, before you quickly pull out of the parking lot and towards lovers lake. you can’t help but admire the sunset, but going out to the lake at night sounds absolutely terrifying.

by the time you arrive, night has fallen over hawkins. you slowly get out of your car, eyes carefully taking in your surroundings. the forest around the house creaks with the wind and branches snap.

“come on. i got you.” steve motions for you to follow him, reaching his hand out to hold yours. once your fingers wrap around his, steve’s thumb rubs gentle circles into your skin. it’s actually not that weird for you guys to hold hands. especially if one of you is scared.

robin, max, and dustin are already at the house with flashlights calling out for reefer rick and ringing the door bell.

you steal steve’s flashlight from his hand, looking inside one of the windows for any sign of life. “come on, eddie. we’re trying to help you.” you breathe out under your breath.

behind your back, you can’t see how steve’s head turns toward you when you say that. he slowly eases his hand out of yours when you go to tag along with max.

“hey guys?” you beckon for the rest of them to follow when you see the boathouse light is on. all the flashlights point towards it as skeptical glances are shared amongst the group.

“let’s go check it out… i guess.” you breathe out wearily before max takes the lead to go investigate.

everyone is silent as she walks through the door first, her flashlight moving around the entire muggy shed.

“wow, this isn’t creepy at all.” you scoff sarcastically, sticking by steve’s side. his hand is on your lower back, leading you forward.

“what a dump.” steve grabs your flashlight to angle it up at the ceiling. the sound of the dark rustling water freaks you out even more.

out of curiosity, you pull away from your safety net called steve to walk with your brother. “are you scared?” you whisper in his ear, making the boy jump.

“no. not at all actually.” he brushes off what just happened, slightly clearing his throat.

steve grabs an oar from the wall, reaching over the hole in floor to jab the tarp covered boat. the sound makes you jump, “what are you doing?!” dustin whisper yells at him.

steve continues to violently stab the oar into the boat, “he might be in here.”

“then take the tarp off!” dustin exclaims, throwing his hand up to gesture to the boat.

“seriously, just take it off? what are you trying to do? hurt him?” you almost laugh at the scene unfolding in front of you.

“if you’re both so brave, why don’t you just take the tarp off?” steve makes a very valid point, making you shut up.

you shrug in agreement and continue walking with dustin, looking around at every crevice for any sort of clue. the floorboard creaks under your feet, making it even more eerie if that was even possible.

“hey, look over here.” max nods at a pile of wrappers and half empty drinks sitting on top of a table, “someone was here.”

“maybe he heard us. got spooked and ran?” robin suggests. “don’t worry! steve will get him with his oar!” dustin proclaims to the group with pure sarcasm, as steve continues to hit the tarp.

“i know you’re being funny, henderson, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times,” another harsh jab at the boat before stopping to argue with your brother, “personally, i don’t find it funny in the slight—!”

something tall emerges from inside the boat, tossing the tarp over their head as it lunges at steve.

“what the shit! fuck! oh my god!” your voice cracks as you screech, hands covering your eyes as you stumble back into the wooden table.

“wait! wait! wait! wait! wait!” steve begs as he’s slammed roughly against the metal wall of the shack, a broken bottle being pressed against his jugular.

“whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! eddie! eddie stop!” dustin calls out to him, urging him to calm down.

you stay glued to the table as you watch the hectic scene unfold through your fingers, pure panic running through your veins.

oh my god, steve. please don’t get hurt.

“eddie! eddie!” dustin shouts powerfully at him to get his attention. eddie’s eyes dart from steve’s throat to the trio and then to you.

when you finally make eye contact, you realize just how scared he truly is. the wild look in his eyes makes your heart fall, you need to find out what really happened.

“it’s me! it’s dustin!” he breathes out heavily, “this is steve!” he reaches his hand out to make a movement towards his hostage.

“he’s not gonna hurt you. right, steve?” dustin asks him.

“right. yeah.” steve huffs out, craning his neck as far away as possible from the sharp end of weapon.

“steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” dustin makes a suggestion. steve’s hand releases the wooden stick, moving slightly to do so.

eddie quickly tightens his grip to make sure he doesn’t move, earning a stresses grunt from steve when he’s slammed back into the wall.

“he’s cool, he’s cool!” dustin reassures him once again.

“what’re you doing here?” eddie mutters out, his voice hushed and face screwed up with worry. you can see his body shaking with fear from all the way across the room.

“we’re looking for you.” dustin points both his hands at eddie.

“we’re here to help.” robin adds to try and help the situation.

“eddie, these are my friends… you know robin from band,” he gestures to robin who plays an invisible trumpet in her hands, “this is my friend max. the one who never wants to play d&d.” dustin moves over to the red headed girl who raises her hand to slightly wave.

“and my sister. you know my sister!”

“eddie.” you speak softly, carefully slipping past dustin, max and robin.

“eddie… it’s going to be okay. we’re on your side.” you confirm, stopping just about an arms length away.

“we are on your side! i swear on our mother.” dustin exclaims and you nod fervently in agreement. everyone else in your gang also swears. “yeah.. yeah. dustin’s mom.” steve chokes out.

eddie’s hand that’s holding the bottle is shaking terribly as he internally battles whether or not to let steve go. his face softens slightly, keeping stern eyes on harrington as he backs away from him.

“ah- jesus…” steve hisses out, stumbling away from him and towards you.

“oh my god, steve… are you okay?” you breathe out, his trembling body envelops yours for comfort. all he can do is nod. your arms wrap around his broad back, holding onto him. your eyes peek over his shoulder staring directly at eddie.

munson’s expression slightly changes for a split second as he watches you embrace steve. before turning to look in the black water, taking a deep shaky breath. he presses his back against the wall, sliding down as he stares off into the nothingness of lovers lake.

steve’s arms unravel from around your waist to sit down on top of an upside down bucket. he breathes heavily, your hand comfortingly rests on top of steve’s head for a moment before pulling away.

your feet drag you towards dustin, who’s trying to gently coax the truth out of him. you bend down to come face to face with eddie, your hand reaches out to rest on his knee for comfort.

he instinctively jumps from your touch, making you pull away with a soft apology. “it’s okay.” he whispers, his fearful eyes look over your features before turning away.

“we just want to know what happened… can you tell us?” your voice is delicate, as if you spoke too loudly it would shatter anything around you.

eddie let’s out a pitiful sniffle, “you won’t believe me.” his voice quivers as he attempts to swallow back his emotions.

“try us.” max urges him.

it takes him a moment to start talking. he explains everything from the beginning. how he met chrissy in the woods near the school. right before the club meeting for a drug deal, then chrissy wanted something stronger so he brought her back to his place after the game.

“her body… just like, lifted up into the air and uh…” he shudders before continuing, “and she just like hung there.. in the air.” he takes a deep shaky breath before continuing.

eddie’s eyes are glassy as he holds back tears, “and her bones.. uh, she..” his face screws up in pain as he relives the moment in his head.

“her bones started to snap.”

your eyes blow wide, an uncomfortable shiver fluttering down your spine. he goes into detail about how her eyes were sucked out from the inside.

“i…i didn’t know what to do… so i… i ran away.” he spaces out again, staring at the splintering wood floor. everyone in your group is silent as they attempt to think about the information just given to them, “you all think i’m crazy, right?”

“no, we don’t think you’re crazy.” dustin shakes his head.

“don’t bullshit me, man!” his voice raises, “i know how this sounds.” his eyes dart around the room for some sort of solace.

“we’re not bullshitting you.” max affirms.

“we believe you.” you nod with a sad, yet reassuring smile.

dustin takes a deep breath, glancing at you for approval and you nod. he starts by mentioning the ‘curse’ of hawkins, “like ghosts?” eddie asks.

“worse than ghosts.” you mutter as flashbacks of the past few years replays in your mind. demogorgon, the demo-dogs, the mind flayer, and now this even scarier, grotesque monster is murdering students in cold blood.

“who’s vecna?” you hear steve question from behind you making you snap back to reality.

your eyes rapidly blink as you come to. attempting to regulate your breathing but still keeping your troubles to yourself. but it seems as if someone has already noticed.

ed is staring at you with concern laced through his features. a slight crinkle between his eyebrows as he watches you.

steve begins to pace, the floor creaking under his pristine sneakers. “okay so vecna… is this spell caster, wizard guy, right? he can… hurt people without even standing beside them?”

“he could be phasing through dimensions? like from the upside down to our world?” dustin suggests, which actually makes a lot of sense.

as they continue their theories within the group, you scoot closer to eddie who keeps a watchful eye on you. “i’m really sorry this is happening. i promise, we will try to do as much as we can to clear your name.”

a small chuckle falls from his lips, “i can’t believe this is happening. like what the hell are they talking about? dimensions and ‘the upside down’?” he makes quotation marks with his fingers in air, shaking his head in disbelief.

“there’s so much to explain, eddie. too much.” you gulp and look down at your lap, “i’ll tell you, but… just not tonight. you need to let your brain rest before i load more crazy shit into it.”

suddenly, his arms are flung around you. wrapping snugly around your neck as eddie pulls you into his chest. you gladly accept it by letting your arms snake around his torso underneath his leather jacket.

his skin is blissfully warm against your fingertips- the heat seeping through his hellfire club shirt. your eyes flutter shut as you sit there in a comfortable embrace with eddie. his breathing shudders in your ear.

you definitely expected him to smell bad from being stuck in a humid lake house all day, but he’s smells quite nice. a bit sweaty, but in a good way.

the silence from the others feels suffocating, making you pull away to look back at them. all four of them are staring at you two, making eddie’s arms drop down to rest on his knees. he clears his throat awkwardly, totally avoiding eye contact with them at all costs.

“what i was saying… is that we should probably get going since it’s late. your mom is probably scared shitless from not knowing where you’re both at.” steve mumbles, a bit too passive aggressive for your liking.

you turn towards eddie, who catches your eyes for a moment. it’s almost as if he’s silently pleading you not to leave him alone tonight.

you stand up with a loud sigh, pulling your keys out of your back pocket. “you guys go ahead.” you toss them to steve, the metal jingles as they fly through the air. his hands instinctively catch them before they could hit his face.

“what?!” steve steps forward, “are you kidding?”

“no, steve. i’m not kidding. he just went through some really terrible shit and i don’t want to leave him alone.” you grimace from his tone.

steve goes to argue with you, his entire face wrinkled with worry, but dustin stops him with a hand on his chest, “come on. the lady has spoken. you can’t change her mind.”

“no, screw that!” he moves past dustin, “i’m not leaving you here with this vecna creep on the loose. i don’t want to find you tomorrow morning with your eyes plucked out or some shit.” he lowers his voice during the last sentence so eddie couldn’t hear.

“nothing is going to happen, steve. now leave.. please just go home, get some rest and tomorrow morning come back with a change of clothes for me and some food.” you pat his upper arm with a smile.

he stares at you in shock, unable to find anything to say in that brain of his.

“come on! let’s go.” dustin grumbles impatiently, yanking on steve’s arm to get him to move, but he stays cemented for a moment.

“last chance…” he breathes out, extending his hand for you to take. you sigh with a shake of your head, pursing your lips in annoyance.

“dustin! cover for me, alright?” you lean to the side to look at your brother. he nods with a thumbs up.

steve can’t help but roll his eyes in defeat. as he’s dragged out of the boathouse by your little brother, leaving you behind with eddie munson. everyone else waves to you both as they slip outside of the door.

once the door clicks shut, you turn around to finally look at eddie. he’s standing up now, leaning on the table adorned with all of his wrappers.

“you know, you didn’t have to do that.” he mumbles as he looks down at his boots, refusing to make eye contact with you.

“well, you didn’t protest when i said i was going to.” you shrug nonchalantly, walking up to rest against the table next to him.

“your boyfriend seemed really upset.” he snickers, picking at his nails.

“my boyfriend?” you snort, “who? steve?”

he shrugs in response with a shitty little grin.

“no, no… he’s not my boyfriend whatsoever. first of all, he’s the ex of one of my best friends. second, he’s not my type and he is also a grade-a asshole sometimes-.”

“sometimes? he hit me with that oar so many times, i can feel still it in my ribs.” he jokes around with a little laugh.

“yeah, he was hitting it really hard. sorry ‘bout that.” you almost laugh, but you look down at your shoes.

“he’s not your type though?” eddie hums inquisitively as if he’s urging you to reveal a secret.

“not my type. super nice, a total sweetheart, but he’s like a big brother to me.”

“ouch. a brother?” he cackles, slightly moving in closer to you, “so what is your type then?”

“mmm…” you tap your chin in thought, “not so clean cut. definitely funny. i really would enjoy someone who is as crazy as me.” you laugh with a nervous shrug, “i dunno…”

eddie smiles at your response, eyeing how you shyly react to his question.

“so who’s getting the couch tonight? me or you?” he playfully asks, pushing himself up from the table as he walks around to look for anything to make a makeshift bed.

he pulls the tarp off of the boat, laying it down on the wooden floor, “for the splinters.”

eddie rummages through the dinghy for anything else, but all that’s in there is empty beer bottles and fishing equipment.

“so, it seems like we’re sleeping on the lap of luxury tonight, princess.” he plops down on the floor.

there’s that damn nickname again.

“mm.. sounds perfect to me.” you follow him down on the blue tarp, laying back with your arms behind your head. your shirt slightly lifts up from you stretching, exposing your midriff. his eyes can’t help but trail over your body, before quickly looking away.

he lays down next to you, letting out a small sigh as he stares at the dark ceiling. you turn onto your side with a yawn, now facing him.

from this angle, the moonlight is streaming in through the window and casting a perfect shadow over his profile.

“you’re pretty, you know that?”

his head turns toward you with his eyebrows raised, “i’m pretty?” he almost laughs, which makes an embarrassed flush settle across your features.

“sorry, that was weird…” you mumble, completely averting his eyes.

eddie doesn’t know what to say. he’s speechless. he just got called pretty by the most beautiful girl in hawkins. before he could respond, you’re talking again.

“goodnight, eddie.” you turn around so your back was facing him.

his breath shudders when he releases it, blinking dumbly from what just happened. “goodnight.” he whispers, before attempting to close his eyes and sleep.

after a few hours of being half asleep, the plastic rustles beside him, making his eyes shoot open from the sound. he sucks in a sharp breath when he sees somebody laying next to him, then he realizes it’s just you.

“hey, you okay?” you look back at him, before turning your body to face him.

“yeah. yeah, i’m fine.” he huffs out, his chest heaving.

it seems as if his heart stops when your hand moves to rest on his arm, “i’m sorry for scaring you, i just can’t get comfortable.”

“oh- i could only imagine why.” he chuckles dryly which makes you laugh.

he sits up to pull his vest and leather jacket off. you watch with wide eyes as he strips down to his hellfire shirt- almost hoping he’s going shirtless, but you’re left slightly disappointed.

“here.” he rolls his leather jacket into a ball, “kinda like a pillow. not sure if it’ll help but-.”

you grab the wad of leather with a thankful smile, “i appreciate it.” although, you’d rather use him as a pillow.

“yeah, no problem.” he smiles before laying on his denim vest, “you’re the one who decided to stay here with me, so it’s the least i can do.”

you turn on your side towards him, leather jacket under your head comfortably. “eddie?”

“yeah?” he answers almost immediately, his eyes gazing right into yours. “can… i just- like…” you struggle to get the words out.

“anything you want.” he answers before you could finish.

your face lights up as you experimentally scoot towards him, moving his arm away from his side so you could fit snugly against him. you hook your head under his chin and wrap an arm around his waist. one of your legs angle up to slide between his which makes his breathing pick up.

“you can touch me, ed.” you mumble sleepily, giving him permission to put his arm around you. his arm comfortably finds a position in the nook where your hip meets your waist.

“comfy?” you ask, looking up at him with a comforting look.

“very much.” he squeezes your side to pull you in even closer, if that was humanly possible.

“hey. my number is still on your arm.” you point out, poking the smudged spot with your pointer finger.

eddie’s breath hitches from the soft touch, “i was actually planning on calling you that night… i just never got around to it.” he confesses.

oh god, you have to kiss him. it’s now or never.

“hey… can i… uh- kiss you?” he mumbles nervously before you got the chance, you can hear his heart thumping against your ear.

“please.” you beg, sitting up slightly to hover your lips above his. he crashes forward, closing the space between you both. his hand slides against your jaw and combs through your hair.

at first, the kiss is uncoordinated, a bit too much teeth and excitement. you pull back to breathe, before going in with a more soft approach. eddie presses his mouth into yours, moving his lips against yours expertly. he props himself up on the elbow of the arm attached to your waist.

“oh my god.” you breathe out in pure shock from how good of a kisser he is, “you’re amazing.” you gasp as one of your hands card through his soft hair.

the compliment makes him chuckle deeply against your lips, making your stomach do flip flops. his mouth opens wide to deepen the kiss, his tongue pressing against yours. he continues to lean forward until your back is flush with the tarp and he’s hovering over you.

eddie pulls away for a moment, your hand gently grips the root of his hair in protest. earning a soft groan from him, “just.. wanted to make sure you’re okay… before i keep going.” he breathes out faintly into the night air.

“no, it’s perfect. please, don’t stop.”

with a cocky laugh, he pounces forward to continue kissing you, his hands carefully roam amongst your sides. one of his knees slots itself between your legs to open them so he can fit between.

your legs impulsively wrap around his hips, pulling him flush against you. he grunts into the kiss from the contact, “eddie…” you breathe out, making him pull back to look at you.

but you push his head down to smoosh your lips back together, “don’t stop…” you say between kissing him, “you… can… touch… me.”

“touch you?”

you hum in response, wrapping your hand around his wrist to move it from your side and up to your chest. he finally catches on as he blindly tugs at your shirt to pull it up slightly. his cool hand slips under your top, traveling up your torso. his hand rests right under your bra, against your ribs. i

“god, eddie…” you mewl out desperately, fingernails pressing into the muscles of his back.

“i’ve been wanting to do this since i met you.” he mumbles against your lips. now making you pull back from it to look at him.

the sight above you is for sore eyes. his wild hair is framing his face, lips swollen and raw from kissing you hungrily. he timidly smiles at you from overhead, leaning down to peck your lips once more. his hand under your top slides down to your waist, savoring the feeling of your skin on his.

your hand cups his jaw, rubbing soft circles into his skin, just admiring his beauty. “what’s on your mind, sweetheart?” he swoops down to graze his lips down your neck.

“mm, i just can’t believe i’m here right now. making out with the eddie munson- in a drug dealers shed on lovers lake.”

he chuckles against you, his fingers playing with your waistband of your jeans. “i can’t believe that you’re here. y/n henderson is underneath me right now. the princess of hawkins high, vice president of the journalism club. bleh.” he jokingly sticks his tongue out in disgust. he pulls back to sit up on his knees, leaning back on his heels.

eddie’s hands rest on your hips, rubbing your hipbones with his thumbs as he marvels at your body. “i’m going to be honest… i really thought you were just like every other girl. spoiled and a total bitch.” he ignores how you roll your eyes, “i always noticed you in the cafeteria or in the hallways and you refused to even look at me.” he lowly laughs, shaking his head. your lips pout in response, feeling guilt tug at your heart.

“the people you hang around with, they don’t like me. they call me a freak, and a nerd- that i’m a low life.”

“oh eddie…” you shake your head, sitting up to grab his face to force him to look at you, “you’re not what they say you are. you’re not a freak and most definitely not a low life. maybe a little bit of a nerd-,” his face scrunches up as he laughs at your comment, “but hey… so am i!” you roll your eyes playfully.

“my nerd, yeah?” he leans forward, his lips ghosting against yours with his infamous grin on his lips. the sound of being his makes butterflies flutter in your belly.

“yeah, your nerd.” you look up into his eyes, your own satiated with pure desire for him. the space between your mouths seals as he deeply kisses you, resuming what was happening earlier.

his hands gently push you back down, your back flush against the cool surface of the tarp. continuing to kiss you, tongue flattening against yours. his breath hitches when the crescent of your nails dig into his back. his hands move to the hem of your shirt, bunching it up on your waist to pull it off.

“you gotta be kidding me…” someone’s voice sounds from the other side of the boathouse. eddie’s vaults away from you, stumbling to his feet to face the intruder.

your eyes fly open, chest constricting with fear as you sit up from your position. instantly catching eyes with who’s standing at the door.

“steve?!” you shout, quickly pulling yourself up on your feet to march up to him. betrayal is written across his features as you try to push him outside. he’s staring at you with an almost disgusted look.

“you seriously wanted to stay here just so you could hook up with him. you realize that he’s on the run from the cops, right?”

“steve, get the fuck out.” you talk through your teeth as you push on his chest gently to try and get him to move. he doesn’t budge.

eddie is standing in the corner with wide eyes, watching everything unfold in front of him.

steve’s hand wraps around your wrist, his strength obviously overpowering you to pull you outside, “i just want to talk to you, please.” he begs softly.

you struggle for a second, grunting as you attempt to free yourself. “i don’t want to fucking talk! i can’t believe you right now!” you shriek, emotion evident in your voice.

“can’t believe me? i never realized you could be capable of doing something this low. do you realize how fucking worried i was about you? i had to come back to make sure you were okay, but i find you sucking faces with him! i’m just trying to keep you safe!” steve motions towards eddie standing at the doorframe as he shouts at you.

ed takes a step outside to follow you both, “she doesn’t want to talk to you. let go of her, man.” his voice is stern, staring at steve like he did when he had him against the wall.

“stay out of this.“ steve points sternly at eddie, “we’re leaving, y/n. come on.”

“i don’t need you to keep me safe, steve! i’m not your fucking girlfriend!” you yank your hand away from his loosened grip, fury burning in your eyes.

steve’s face drops from your words, his tough persona faltering as he takes a step back. “wow… really? you’re gonna go there?” he chuckles, standing there with his hands on his hips, “fine. don’t fucking count on me to be there for you anymore, y/n. i’m done.” he turns on his heel to head back towards your car he drove here.

your heart drops at his last words, panic running through your veins. no, you can’t lose your best friend.

“y/n?” eddie calls out for you, wildly looking between you and steve. his notices how your bottom lip is quivering, tears evidently flowing down your cheeks. “c‘mere…” he comes up to you, wrapping his arms around your frame.

your hands are on your face, trying to hide your emotions as you sob into his chest. eddie cradles the back of your head to comfort you, “it’s okay.“ he mumbles as he leads you back inside.

eddie helps you lay back down on the floor with him, your tears soaking through his shirt as he holds you until you fall sleep.

the next morning, you wake up with every muscle aching in your body. the bright light from outside sears your eyes as if you’re a vampire. you hiss as you roll over, absentmindedly holding his leather jacket to your chest.

“morning, sweetheart.” his gravelly voice mumbles, farther away from you than you expected.

your eyes shoot open to see him sitting at the edge where the boat is hanging. his legs dangling over the water.

“how long have you been awake?” your sleep ridden voice mutters, squinting at him.

“uh… about an hour or so.” he shrugs, giving you a little one-sided smile.

“what time is it?” you yawn, pulling yourself up so you’re sitting on your butt. you rub at your eyes tiredly, “like eight-thirty.” he replies after looking at his watch.

“jesus.” you breathe out and your stomach grumbles angrily. the sound of car doors shutting makes your head perk up, anxiety instantly settling in your chest.

eddie scrambles to his feet to look out the windows to make sure it wasn’t the cops. his chest heaves as he pants, dropping his head when he sees no one.

the metal door to the shack slams open, making you and eddie jump. “jesus christ!” he shouts, fists going up in defensive mode.

all four of them come strolling in, “delivery service!” dustin exclaims with a toothy grin. you can’t help but look at steve, your eyes desperately calling out for him to look at you.

dustin strolls in with the three of them following, steve keeps his head down as he leans against one of the wooden poles. he’s so close to you, but refuses to look up from his feet.

“i brought some cereal, juice boxes, and yoo-hoo! and some clothes for you.” robin takes that as a cue to throw a plastic bag at your face. which you thankfully catch before it could slam into your nose.

“cereal?” eddie perks up, walking straight to dustin who’s unloading the groceries. he grabs a box of honeycomb, ripping the top of the box open and then the bag inside. he savagely sticks his hand inside to shovel it into his mouth.

he offers the box to you and you dig your hand into the food. slowly eating piece by piece out of your palm.

“some reason, harrington’s got a stick up his ass this morning, so don’t even try talking to him.” dustin points out.

steve just rolls his eyes and grumbles something under his breath, making the tension in the room even worse. “example number one.” dustin sighs.

“dustin… just stop.” you lecture, making everyone’s eyes turn to you. even steve’s. “if he’s in a bad mood, then so be it. you always have an attitude and we never comment on it.”

robin stifles a giggle into her hand, and max shrugs in agreement. your brother stares at you with confusion screwed up on his face, “okay then?” you’re not one to let up on making fun of steve, but right now is just not the time.

eddie is standing above your seating position, continuously lowering the box for you to take some more cereal to eat. he taps the top of your head each time before giving it to you.

“did you guys sleep okay?” robin changes the subject with a slightly nervous smile.

you look up at eddie who looks down at you with a smile, “yeah, i think we slept okay.” he answers with his mouth full. robin nods awkwardly as the tension continues to build.

you break the silence, “steve, can i talk to you? outside?” harrington straightens up, clearing his throat as he glances around at everyone who’s staring.

he nods and gestures to the door with his head for you to follow him. eddie grabs your upper arm, swallowing his food before talking. “if you need anything…”

“i know.” you give him a curt nod and a grateful smile before following steve outside. he continues walking for a moment until you’re far enough away from the flimsy walls of the boathouse.

“steve.” “y/n.” you both say each other’s names at the same time. “you first.” he motions for you to continue with flushed cheeks.

“steve…” you take a deep breath, “i’m sorry about last night- truly i am. i didn’t want you to walk in on… that. it wasn’t my intention whatsoever and what i said to you, just wasn’t right at all. i don’t want to lose you, steve. you’re my best friend.” your voice chokes up from the lump growing in your throat.

steve sighs, biting his lip as he watches you get upset. all he wants to do is pull you into his arms and tell you everything is alright.

“i’m sorry too. i should have never have crossed that line.” he shakes his head, “i should’ve trusted you. and i should have never put my hands on you and tried to force you to do something you didn’t want to. i.. i just want to keep you safe. i want to protect you from anything that could possibly put you in harms way… you’re the best thing that’s happened to me throughout all this monster bullshit.” his voice is shaky and he sniffles.

“aaaand, i’ve also had a really big crush on you for a while, and i’m pretty sure everyone knew it.” he chuckles in disbelief, “but i don’t want to ruin what we have. it’s somethin’ special. i don’t want to lose you either.”

you’re fully crying by now, sniffling and wiping your tears and snot on your sleeve. “i’m sorry i’m dumb. i never even noticed you had a crush on me.” you wetly laugh through your crying.

“i’m way too deep in the friendzone. that’s why.” he jokes around, stuffing his hands in his front pockets. “so are we cool?” he asks softly, almost afraid of your answer.

“yes, harrington. we’re cool.” you grin happily, sniffling loudly again.

“come here.” he opens his arms, which you gladly step forward to hug him. relief floods through your body, “i really thought i lost my monster killing sidekick.”

“never.” he shakes his head before pulling away. “let’s go back inside, yeah?”

you nod in agreement, leading the way back to the door. you both slip through the door, making the conversation going on inside halt to silence.

“everything good now?” dustin asks instantaneously.

“just dandy.” you slap steve on the back with a grin before walking over to eddie. he instinctively pulls you into his side, your arms loop around his waist. his jaw crunches down on cereal, the sound reverberating through his body.

“woah, did we miss something?” robin asks with a shocked look on her face.

eddie swallows, slyly looking down at you with a presumptuous grin. “yeah… definitely something.” he leans down to peck your nose, making your face scrunch up. his hand squeezes your hip amusingly.

“wow, we leave you guys alone for one goddamn night.” dustin looks like he’s about to vomit from the sight, his mouth in a frown as he stares blankly.

“i wouldn’t take it back for the world.” you whisper up to him, wishing you could kiss him right now. he chuckles, taking a piece of cereal from his palm, holding it up to your lips to feed you.

you know deep down in your heart, that you'd do anything to keep eddie safe. even if it comes down to putting yourself in harms way.

tags: @cheyenne-dunn-universe @they-adore-shay @eddie-munsons-girlfriend @sapphireplums @daffodil0darling

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