idiot - steddie

Thirteen

Eddie threw an atlas down on the table all eight of us were standing around, hitting the surface with a hard smack from the leather cover. "Check this out. The War Zone." He said, tapping a picture with a black-and-white American flag and a soldier that had been stamped onto the paper with large, menacing words that read "The Warzone," above.

I leaned against Eddie's back, my right hand pressing against the leather material of his jacket, slowly trailing towards the collar of it til his hair was splayed out all across my hand. He inclined towards my touch, resuming his explanation of The War Zone.

And by the time I listened back into the conversation, I could've sworn there was a smile on his cheeky little face.

Robin snorted as she read the description of the store. "Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" She asked, the tips of her fingers lodged into her small pockets on her jeans. Erica looked up at her and stifled a laugh as Robin continued talking. "Is that a grenade?" She asked, removing her hands from her pockets and slamming it down on an image of a grenade. She looked away from the paper, her eyes turning to me with her arms extended at either sides of her body. "I mean, how is any of this legal?" She bubbled, looking at everyone, as if expecting someone to answer her rheotorical question.

Eddie rolled his eyes, moving his head just enough for my hand to slide off of his back, and fall back into place by my hip. He turned to her with a know-it-all look. "Well, lucky for us it is, so.." he said, snapping his eyes onto Robin from where she was standing behind him. "This.. This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of main roads," He turned his head to Nancy and Dustin, who were inspecting the page the Warzone ad Eddie's finger was subconsciously tapping. "We oughta' be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks." His head shook between Erica and Lucas, both leaning on the table we all were positioned around.

Erica snickered. "If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone." She raised her eyebrows in disapproval of Eddie's suggestion.

Nancy set both her hands forward on the table and pushed her back out. "Normally, I'd agree, be we need the weapons." She lifted herself onto one hand and turned to face me and Eddie. "So I think it's worth the risk."

Lucas agreed. "Me too."

"But is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back." Dustin said, looking at Nancy with a unhopeful look.

Eddie chuckled, turning to the freshman with a sneer. "Who said anything about bikes?" He snarfed.

I looked down at his face, now turned to the side so I had a better view of his brown eyes and umber bangs. "What? You got some car we don't know about?" I inquired.

Eddie looked up at me with a smirk, fixing his posture so he was no longer leaning over the tabletop with his back to me, but instead meeting me eye-to-eye, his head turned to me with a lopsided grin smothered on his face. "It's not exactly a car, Harrington." He said, tilting his head sideways, his eyes piercing holes into mine. Everyone turned to look at us, though none of them seemed to notice my eyes dragging past his eyes, his sculpted nose and his lightly freckled cheeks. And straight to his lips. So addictive yet so dangerous.

I thought back to the Upside Down, in the Wheeler House, when he pinned me against the wall with his hand hovering just above my shoulder, my heart beating faster than I could comprehend as his glimmering eyes staring down upon me like a lion eyeing prey. His hot breath pressed against my lips as he teased me about how I was reacting to his bold actions. God, I wish we hadn't gotten interrupted. Maybe one of us could've just closed that stupid fucking gap between our lips. Maybe I could've shut him up.