'Strange Love' Eddie Munson x Fem Reader

Chapter 35

Steve hides the van in the nearby woods surrounding the meadowy area Dustin was talking about. It was sunny all around with nothing but green grass and trees for miles. However, over grown by weeds was an old, abandoned bus where the lot of you took refuge to begin prepping for the imminent war.

You bend down to pick up some things, seeing as Steve was already struggling on his own, but before you could, swooping in, came a ring cluttered hand.
"Ah-uh, I'll take this." Eddie smiles as he towers tall above you. He cunningly tosses the bag over his shoulder, hearing the clanging of glass bottles from inside. "Go on." He adds, gesturing towards the bus.
"Well...what am I supposed to do?" You ask.
"I don't know about you but I don't think I trust Henderson with a hammer..." He says as he points towards Dustin who was aimlessly hammering at the lid of a garbage bin. "...Not one bit."
"Copy that." You grin in amusement before walking off and joining up with Dustin. Eddie smirks when he sees his small friends face instantly beam at the appearance of yours.
"Are those the bottles?"
Eddie turns around to see Steve looking up at him from his seat beside the bus with Robin, both of whom seemed to be planning on making Molotovs.
"Uhhh- probably, but there may or may not be something broken in there." Eddie responds as he gently lets the bag fall down his arm.
Steve sighs, and Robin can tell he was getting frustrated.

At what? Nobody knows, although Robin believes she might have a slight idea...
"I'm gonna go help Erica fix her brothers messy work, mkay?" She says as she retreats, leaving the two alone to bask in their tension.

Eddie raises an eyebrow at Robin running down the hill towards Lucas and Erica, while Steve only digs through the bag.
"What was that all about?" Eddie asks as he looks down at Steve, but Steve shakes his head, combined with a shrug. "Oookay..."
Taking a seat next to Steve, Eddie reaches forward for a jerrycan of gasoline and a bottle while Steve grabs a funnel and a single rag.
"You know what you're doing right?" Steve asks, indirectly.
"Gasoline this shit and stuff it closed, yeah? My uncle showed me how when I was younger but my memory will refresh as I go, I guess." Eddie smiles to himself.
"Charming."

Eddie side eyes Steve, confused as to why Steve suddenly seems to avoid him, all together.
"Did I...do something to annoy you? Or-?" Eddie asks.
Steve begins to pour the gasoline through the funnel, forced to face Eddie, at last.
"Just, I don't know, wished you'd take this more seriously." He says.
Bewildered, Eddie blatantly laughs at Steve.
"You don't think I'm taking this seriously?"
"Well, you know, Y/N is only shaping up against Vecna, no biggie, and you're being careless with the only weaponry we could possibly get our hands on." Steve explains in a fuss, making Eddie huff back in annoyance.
"I don't blame you, Steve, you don't know me very well but I care a whole lot more than I care to admit...She's my girlfriend-" Eddie says, but funnily enough, it only took those three simple words to get Steve's jaw to tighten and Eddie, of course, notices.
"This isn't about the bottles...is it?" Eddie prys.
"Somewhat about the bottles..."
Eddie becomes significantly agitated as he watches Steve's eyes wander off towards you; which now that he thinks about it, they do that a lot.
"Nevermind...I think I get it."
"No...you don't get it."
"I've been head over heels since the day I laid eyes on her. I'm assuming, you could say the same." Eddie says with some level of empathy in his voice.
"Doesn't matter, now...she shines brighter with you, that's all that matters." Steve answers.

Eddie continues to stuff rags into bottles, his eyebrows furrowing almost bitterly as he stares down into the dirt patch below his sneakers before a thought comes to mind.
"Why did you pretend to be on my side when it came to Y/N? You told me, and I quote, go for it...Am I right on the money if I said you were setting me up for failure?" Eddie smiles, devilishly.
"Would you have listened if I said not to?" Steve asks and Eddie chuckles.
"No way."
"That's what I thought."

Robin turns back around to check up on the two boys, only to see them looking miserable and angsty.
"Yikes." She mutters.
"What's yikes?" Lucas asks.
"Ah- just, grown up stuff." She says, awkwardly.
"Duh. Steve and Eddie? They're obviously gonna battle to the death for Y/N's hand." Erica asserts herself, as per usual.
"Uh? Excuse me-?" Robin begins but is quickly and confidently shut down by Erica.
"And listen here, blondie. I've fought at least five times more aliens than the average sixth grader, so technically, I am adult."
"Uh...okay?"
"Look, everybody knows about Steve's feelings...he's not exactly subtle with it." Lucas says.
"Pftt- ain't that the truth."
"He's just...confused." He says, "He thinks he's in love but reality is, he's just lonely since Nancy left him for Jonathan."
"Harsh."
"It's just the truth."
Lucas try's to follow Ericas lead in threading a knife to the end of a stick, nodding his head in rhythm as he wraps it tighter than his last. As his mind goes into a daze, he smiles at the happy memory that school was now becoming. "Ive known Eddie for a while now, and Ive known how he felt towards Y/N long before even he knew it for himself."
Robin smiles as she listens.
"He only started to torment the basketball team to get Y/N's attention." Lucas laughs, "Sometimes during lunch, he'd poke himself in the cheek with his fork because his eyes were always on Y/N."
"I wish somebody loved me half as much as that..." Robin smiles, sadly. She turns back around, giving Steve a thumbs up and a smile, to which he only returns with a thumbs down, instead.

Finishing the last load of Molotovs, Eddie sits back, stretching his legs out in front of him while Steve sits more orderly, his head rested against the bus behind him.
"If you decide to be an idiot and try to be a hero or anything..." Steve says, "It's gonna break her heart and I will never forgive you for that."
Eddie angles his head to look at Steve, looking as grim as his tone of voice was.
"Lighten up, dude." Eddie sighs, "This isn't the same Steve that Dustin cheeses over on a daily basis."
Standing up, Eddie stretches his arms out towards the sunny sky as he watches you mess around with Dustin in the distance.
"Welp, thanks for the TED-talk but! I oughta check up on Henderson, better make sure he hasn't lost a finger yet or anything." Eddie says, "You know how it is."

Steve chuckles at Eddie as if the topic beforehand never happened at all, which Eddie sort of appreciated. He didn't exactly favour what Steve had to say, even though part of him expected it, he just hoped that it wasn't true.

Sure, it's no secret, Eddies always been the territorial type. Just seeing you walk side by side with Patrick was a shot through the heart. It made his blood boil and claw at his flesh; but that was beside the point.
It made his plans, so much more difficult; but maybe that's why Steve said what he did. Maybe, he knew just how far Eddie would go to protect you, to make sure you made it to graduation.
With or without him.

Eddie tries to sneak up behind you but Dustins nerdy wizard-play gave him away too soon. You turn around just in time to see Eddie running up to you, before embracing you tightly and lifting you up into his arms.
"Come here, beautiful!"