Always and Forever (YN x Eddie Munson - Stranger Things S4)

Chapter Two - Friends?

You stare at him for a good 5 seconds before responding cautiously "Y/N L/N" slowly holding out a hand to shake his.

Even though it could be argued that you're not in the best mental state currently, your primed and primped manners kicked in. He takes your hand, more gently than you would expect, and shakes it slowly. You can feel the callousness of his fingertips and the large rings he wears. His hands seem giant compared to yours but that wasn't a very important detail.

He chuckles softly "Yeah I know, Ms. Perfect."

You're a little confused at the nickname "Ms. Perfect?"

You know that you're popular, at least a little, but you're far from perfect.

He smiles up at you, still crouched "Yeah, my group, Hellfire. It's what we call you, Little Ms. Perfect."

You stifle a sob "Well I guess I'm not as perfect as you thought." With a sad half smile that's taking all the will you have left to bring out.

You can't stop yourself from crying again you put your hands up to cover your face "I-I'm sorry heh"

He gently takes your hand away from your face and holds it in his own "Hey, it's ok."

He slowly stands up and goes to pull you into a hug, giving you enough time to push away or lean back, letting him know you don't want physical comfort. "It's ok, you're ok"

You let him wrap his arms around your shoulders as you ball the front of his shirt in your fists and sob into his shoulder. 

It feels weird, being vulnerable with The Freak of Hawkins High. For god's sake, he failed his senior year. Twice. But yet, here you are, clutching to him like a lifeline while he holds you close and strokes your hair, whispering positive affirmations in your ear. 

After maybe five minutes, you force yourself to peel off of him. Wiping the now ruined mascara from your face. You look at him and see the black marks and stretched fabric on his white Hellfire shirt from where you were holding on. He doesn't seem to have noticed yet, he's still lightly holding your shoulders, making sure you're ok. 

You sniffle "Oh, shit" you gesture to his slightly ruined shirt "Sorry."

He looks down at his shirt "Ah, it's fine. I make these myself so it's not like you just ruined some designer mall shit"

You wouldn't be able to tell it's homemade if he hadn't told you, this somehow makes you feel slightly worse and all you can say is "Oh" 

An awkward silence permeates the air surrounding the small clearing and the two of you. He must have decided that he can't handle it because he walks away from you. You think that he's going to leave you there before he turns back to face you and falls backward into a pile of leaves. He gets up, leaves and twigs sticking out of his curly, unstyled hair, making you laugh. 

"Well, little Ms. Perfect" He starts in a theatrical voice that, in this moment, is like music to your ears "It would seem that you have forgotten little old me."  

You're confused, before now you don't think you've ever interacted with him "I'm sorry, what?" 

He puts his hands behind his back and starts marching military style back and forth. "Don't sweat it, Ms. Perfect. I wouldn't remember me either." 

He then stops to look at you, both smiling "What? do I have something in my hair?" 

You giggle "Yeah, just a little" You hold your thumb and pointer finger in a pinched position and squeeze one eye shut. 

"Well, I was two years ahead of you, but the big guy had different plans I guess. So I stand before you, a third-time Hawkins high senior" 

He looks at you before continuing. "When you got here, I thought you were the most beautiful girl in this gad damned town. Didn't want to be known as a 'Freshman Fucker'" He puts in dramatic air quotes

"So the next year, I joined the talent show to impress you with my band-" 

You cut him off before he can continue "Oh My God! Corroded Coffin! How did I forget that? You guys were like the only ligament act that went on" 

He crosses his arms in front of himself and leans down a little walking towards you, a playful smile on his face. "Yeah, I didn't think you'd remember. After all, I didn't have half of these sweet tats yet and my hair was just about buzzed." He pulls different parts of his shirt and turns slowly in a circle, showing off all his tattoos. In a different circumstance, you might take a moment to appreciate his muscle definition because, God, he wasn't a bad-looking guy. 

You laugh, remembering his performance and how much fun you actually had then. It was before Nick started bothering you, so everything from then seems a little more fun. It's bittersweet thinking about it now. 

You smile-frown and look down, quietly you say "Yeah, you guys were great." Suppressing yet another sniffle. 

God, you just couldn't keep it in anymore, every single bad thing that Nick's ever done to you comes flooding back and it takes everything in you not to break down yet again. Eddie comes towards you, noticing that you're slipping again. 

"Hey so," He starts, not losing his playful demeanor "It's getting dark, can I get you a ride home." 

You look at him again, his soft features and kind eyes. Well, kind when they're not full of crazy. 

"Um, yeah that'd be great."

You noticed it was starting to get dark anyway, the two of you must have been in the woods for a good hour or so.  He takes you to his car and opens the passenger side door with a flourish. When you get in the car, you can see the spot where Nick was parked earlier. He was gone now, he must've thought you'd gone home and that Eddie ran back to the woods.

Eddie starts the car and only goes forward about three feet before stopping. Just kind of looking out the window, blushed slightly "I don't know where you live." He says in an embarrassed tone.

You burst out laughing. "Oh my God! I can't believe I didn't think to tell you!" As you continue laughing, he looks over at you and gives a shy smile. 

After your laughing fit, you calm down and tell him your address, a smile playing on your lips and you look out the window and hum quietly along with the radio. 

Once the two of you pull up to your house, he turns off the car and waits for you to be ready to get out. 

You look down at your shoes for a little bit before looking up at him, using all of your courage "Can I  have your number." 

The tips of his ears turn bright red and he just kind of stares at you for some time.

You get a little red, too, as you explain yourself "It's just, I don't want anyone else to know about that thing with Nick and it'd be really cool if I could have your number in case I need to talk about it." 

he lets out a relieved sigh "Oh, um, yeah of course." He leans over you and scourges around the glove compartment for some paper and a pen. 

He writes down his number, gives it to you, and gets out of the car. You're confused at first until he comes around to your side of the van and opens the door with a dramatic bow. He gets up and offers his arm to you. 

You take it and just stand outside of the car for a little bit "What are you doing?" 

He starts strutting to your front door, you still on his arm "Taking you home, of course." Then, he whispers "I figured it might be a little less weird if people saw me bring you to your door rather than just you getting out of a shady, beat-up van." 

You chuckle to yourself one last time and unlock your door, stepping inside. You turn around "Oh, and Eddie?" 

He faces you "Yeah, Ms. Perfect?" 

You walk towards him "Thanks, for everything." you kiss the tips of your fingers and press them to the mascara stain over his heart. 

As you walk back inside, he's frozen to his spot with a hand over his heart and a dumbstruck look on his face. After a couple of seconds, he shakes his head with a dumb smile on his face and gets back in his car, driving into the night.