'Strange Love' Eddie Munson x Fem Reader

Chapter 21

Eddie guides you into the trees where he followed Dustins lead. Lucas, Robin, Max, Steve and Nancy followed in tow as well, but they were all talking amongst them selfs. They were brain storming ideas and possibilities but you couldn't focus at all.
Not while Eddies hand held yours.

How can he be so obvious and so...audacious?
You thought to yourself. You didn't mind really, actually, you thought it felt kind of nice. It was just that his confidence was sort of...cocky... in a way.

Your eyes soften greatly when you feel Eddies thumb softly rubbing the back of your hand, and when you look up, his eyes link with yours. Amidst the others rambling, he silently mouths something to you.
'You okay?'
You only nod back at him, feeling your smile grow immensely at his caring eyes. He then squeezes your hand twice before turning back to the others where he joins back in the brain storming, the boys winding each other up with ridiculous plans; seriously the stuff of fantasy, if you ask me.
-But then again, what isn't these days?

Meanwhile, Robin drones on, and on to Nancy. Nancy rolls her eyes but you know deep down that she hadn't the heart to really ignore her. It made you giggle a bit. As for Max and Lucas, well, nothings changed since the last time they spoke. Lucas started off their conversation bringing up the past, their past; and Max just...endures it.
Endured what she could until the sound of a bell of an old grandfather clock rang out from a distance, forcing her to put her headphones on.
As she put her headphones on, she scanned the area with her eyes, trying not to alarm anybody but that was the least of her concerns.
Alarmed, somebody was.
But not just anybody.

She notices you looking around too, in the same direction that she heard it coming from, as well.

Max being Max, she shrugged it off.
If there was one thing that shes noted, is that this, whatever this is, is a personal experience that cannot be shared or linked between two people.
I mean, obviously...
Right?

"Ugh, there she goes again." Lucas sighs as he watches Max walk on without him.
"Hm?" You hum, confused.
"Max." He says, "She won't even give me the time of day."
"...Well, things are kinda rough for her at the moment. Has been for like, a while now..."
"Yeah, but...you were close to Billy too, right? I mean, at one point in time?"
With Lucas's words, your face clouds over with the most dreary of expressions anybody has ever seen you have. The light in your eyes dissipated in an instant, regardless of all the sun shining down through the tree tops.
"At one point, I suppose. But you know better than anybody, Lucas, he wasn't a good guy." You look up from the dirt, flashing a small smile.
"So, why is she-"
"It's different."

Eddie couldn't help but listen to your conversation with Lucas. He didn't have the chance to know Billy, clearly not as well as you did, and although it caused  his blood to spike with envy and yet at the same time, curiosity; he stayed silent.
But you weren't stupid, either.
His tightening grip on your hand, told you all you needed to know. All that you weren't sure about, before.
"He was my friend." You say, conspicuously, "-and he was her brother."
"Step brother." Lucas corrects.

"Finally!" Dustin shouts.
"I am never doing cardio, again." Robin, huffs.
"This is it." Steve says as he looks over Dustins shoulder and at the compass spazzing out in his hand.
It was dark now and the water looked spooky and ominous. It made you visibly curdle but Eddie easily took notice of your discomfort, pulling you closer into him and rubbing your side with his hand. You tense at first, expecting his rings to be cold to the touch, but after holding hand for so long, they were only warm. A cozy warm.
"Is this okay...?" He whispers down, closely beside your ear. His arm lightly wrapped around you.
You look up, his face strikingly close to yours.
Eddies eyes were deep with sincerity and dare I say, love.
Lost in those eyes and additionally at a loss for words, you nod.

That familiar feeling creeps up on him again, the same one from yesterday when he danced with you.
Eddie could feel his face moving in closer, and not a single part of him wanted to stop.
His heart rushed and thumped hard against his chest, longing for the girl in front of him and little did he know, yours was doing the same; and like the tide to the moon, you feel yourself being pulled in too.

What could be and what should've been, was interrupted when Steve starts giving out orders like a disruptive, little, military man.
"-This tiny thing can probably only hold four of us so we will use the boat and look for clues, or gates, or whatever the hell we apparently do nowadays and you kiddos will be look out, capeesh?"
"Sheesh, bossy boots over here." Max sulks.
"Yeah whatever just, get a move on before somebody sees you." Lucas says.
Steve rolls his eyes as he holds the boat steady and shortly after comes Robin, using his poor head for stability as she boards the small boat. Nancy then independently helped herself in and before you could join them, Eddie hops up beside Steve and offers you a hand. The gentle hand kept around your waist, becoming sturdier.
It made a few of the others exchange sly smirks and winks amongst one another but Steve only exhales. You could assume that Steve wasn't warmed up to Eddie just yet, which is understandable since Eddie did hold a broken bottle up to his neck that one time.

Dustin tries to get in on the action by following in Eddies footsteps but Steve pushes him out again.
"You tryna sink us?"
"But- hey! You can't leave us here, alone! You said four people!"
"Byeee!"
"Hey! I'll remember this!"