Welcome to Love // Eddie Munson x Male Reader

3 - Lunch

(Y/n) POV

I walked into the lunchroom as my heart dropped and my stomach flipped. Every year I forget how many kids actually come to this school. I mean it's a small town, but it makes it seem like every family has at least five kids. I must have stopped in my tracks because the next thing because the next thing I knew, Gareth was holding my hand with a worried expression on his face. I tried to give him a genuine smile as I tried to continue walking. But before I could take 3 steps , he took both of my hands and stood in front of me, as if hiding me from the rest of the cafeteria.

"Y/n look, you don't have to sit with me at lunch if you aren't comfortable with it. If you wanna go somewhere else, that's completely fine."

I felt a light blush fall upon my face as he said this. He actually seemed to genuinely care, and I don't know how to feel about it. But by the look in his eyes, I could tell he was worried, and I knew I couldn't say no to him. So, I just smiled and shook my head knowing that I could definitely do this, I could overcome the anxiety. I looked back up at him and smiled even more as I saw the relief on his face. So, we slowly made our way to the lunch line to get food. But I didn't even realize that Gareth was holding my hand the whole way to the lunch line. When we got into line though, he must have noticed as he pulled his hand away and put it straight to his neck.

"Sorry Y/n"

"It's okay." I said as I turned to face the lunch ladies to order my food. I ordered a sandwich, apple, and milk. I didn't pay too much attention to what Gareth was ordering because I felt as if someone was staring at me. That horrible sensation that you know something will go wrong if you do not leave where you are currently because someone is going to say something. But you can't move because you feel as if you are petrified in your place. Yet again, Gareth woke me up from my thoughts and walked me over towards his table.

It was very crowded and never eating here never helped me learn how to navigate through it all. But eventually we did make it to his table. He went over to what must have been his designated chair and sat down already talking to people. I immediately felt in the way and decided that I should just quickly sneak away and never talk to him again. I mean, what's stopping me? But as soon as I turned around, I heard that light, soft voice. The one that immediately makes your face flush with how seemingly innocent it sounds. So, I slowly turned back around to see who was talking.

"This is Y/n? Gareth, you know what I said about making friends with freaks." He smiled and winked at me. It was the same guy from earlier, the guy who I ran into and was obviously great at conversation. He had a Hellfire shirt on with a Jean jacket. Hellfire was the same thing that Gareth was talking about when he got those little sparkles in his eyes. I looked back at Gareth, who pulled out a seat next to him and smiled. I just shook my head getting out all the bad thoughts as I walked to the seat and put down my tray.

"So, Y/n tell us about yourself," said the boy with long curly hair.

"Can you piss off Eddie, he doesn't need to say anything." Gareth said. So, that's his name. Eddie... weird but cute.

"Gareth... buddy... I'm asking a simple question." Gareth tried to interrupt him but I started talking too quickly.

"Well, obviously my name is Y/n, I am a junior, my family really fucking sucks, and I'm surprised I'm talking without stuttering due to my anxiety."

"I mean your anxiety was horrible trying to get you first into the lunchroom, then to get you over here to my friends." I rolled my eyes and scoffed. This dude really just outed me to his friends.

"Well Sir Y/n, I am Eddie... the cult leader of the "Freaks"." He did the same thing that Gareth always does whenever he says freaks. He did air quotes with his fingers as he said it. I gladly zoned out after that. Everyone was talking and, as per usual, I just felt in the way. So, I just moved my tray in front of the empty seat next to me and pulled out my sketch book. Drawing was one of the very few things that kept me calm in stressful situations. It made me feel in control and that I could do anything I wanted with them. Currently I'm drawing a face... the face from my dream. It was a man with blue eyes and blonde hair, and it was actually pretty difficult to remember what it looked at.

I soon felt a taping on my shoulder and looked over to see Gareth smiling at me. He really did have an abnormally comforting and warming smile. It was as if his whole aura made you just feel calm and loved. He then raised his eyebrows and looked back and forth between me and my tray. As if he was asking why I wasn't eating. I shook my head, and he raised his eyebrows. It was as if we both knew exactly what we were saying, just like how twins have telepathy. As if we were talking between our minds and we both heard it perfectly. He then looked back at me and my tray again, so I just rolled my eyes with a smile on my face grabbing the apple off my tray. I looked back at him, apple in hand as he smirked and got up, grabbing both mine and his trays before walking away from the table.

He walked away and I went back to my sketchbook. Not even a millisecond later I felt a pair of eyes on me. I slowly lifted my head up, nervous of who it might be, looking back and forth around the lunchroom until I set my eyes on Eddie, who was looking directly back at me. He smirked and stood up from his chair and walked over to where Gareth was sitting. He put his feet on his chair and sat on the table where Gareth's tray was just sitting. He put his head in his hands and looked at me slightly confused.

"Is everything okay Eddie?"

"You were the guy from this morning, weren't you?" I laughed and looked down shaking my head.

"Eddie, do you mean the guy who bumped into you, apologized to you, and then continued to get looked at like he was an idiot? If you are asking me if I am that guy, then yes, yes I was." I put my head back down towards my sketchbook and heard the chair beside me move. The screeching along the floor gave me chills and caused a ringing in my ear. But soon I looked over to see Gareth sitting there again, instead of Eddie. I looked around confused, trying to figure out where he was. Hopefully he didn't think I was mad at him. I really wasn't and I hope my comment didn't make it seem that way.

Yet my looking was another unsuccessful part of my day. So, I quickly snuck a look at Gareth who seemed to be deep in conversation with the other 2 Hellfire members. So, I quietly put all things into my bag and stood up, trying to get out of the cafeteria as fast as possible without being noticed. But of course, there was another unsuccessful part of the day. I felt my eyes widen as I heard the unknown voice.

"Y/n Harrington!!!." It was so loud and it caused the whole room to turn and look at me. I felt my heart racing and ultimate terror fill my eyes as I heard the whispering filling the room.

"Did they just say Harrington? Harrington as in Steve Harrington? Since when did Harrington have a brother? How did no one know he had a brother?" They continued on whispering, and I couldn't stop myself from shaking. I looked around the room trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. I then saw Gareth stand up and try to make his way towards me, but his friends pulled his arms and kept him away from me.

I immediately felt alone as even my own friend sat back down in his seat keeping his head down. Did he really think I would turn out to be like Steve? I was nothing like him though. And yet he kept his fucking head down. He was the only person I told. He was the only person who knew. I specifically told teachers to call me by my first name and not my last name for a reason. This exact mother fucking reason. I knew people would act like this. They would whisper to one another and use me to try and get to my brother.

I took a deep breath and tried to shake my head to get away from the bad thoughts. Until suddenly I felt someone grab my arm and pull me out of the cafeteria. As soon as me and the stranger were out, I felt myself start to cry.

"I can't do this shit. Not again." I repeated it over and over again. The tears kept falling and it was getting worse and worse. Until I heard that soft voice again as they ran their hands through my hair, immediately making me feel much better. I soon just went to a sniffling and calmed down enough to say thank you to the random stranger. Not even needing to hear "your welcome" come out of their mouth before I pushed myself off of them and walked away towards my honors art class. Hoping that Mrs. Quinn would be able to help me.

I just don't understand it. I had never noticed before, so why now?

(1702 Words)