Don't Forget Me || EDDIE MUNSON X READER

Chapter 1

Summer break, 1986, had finished as quickly as it started. Y/N couldn't quite decide if she was excited to be back to seeing everyone so often, especially for her senior year before she ditched the place, or if she was going to miss the once in a lifetime summer she'd just spent with Eddie Munson.

The pair had only met last summer when she moved to town, but they were borderline inseparable before school had even came back around. It had helped her transition there a lot easier, for a million different reasons. She could tell him absolutely anything and everything from day 1, and he stuck by her side through it all.

"Y/N... are you sure you're okay?"

She lifted her head from being slouched back in her seat then, half lidded eyes peering over to the drivers seat like it was simply too much work to open them properly or give her full attention.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be?" Y/N mumbled in question, pulling the corners of her lips up into an apparent forced smile.

Of course the only reason that instantly sprung to mind was the stares she was guaranteed to get on her way in the door. That had near always been a thing though, since her first day at Hawkins High School. Of course she had just presumed that her reputation proceeded her, and people had gotten wind of her 'story' before she even made it into the town. Eddie made it better though. Granted, he didn't stop the stares, but when they were divided between her and 'the freak' equally then it certainly took pressure off. But, naturally, people tend to get bored after time and move on to the next best thing. That was the case after a few months- the stares and passing comments simply just stopped one day. Until they didn't.

If she recalled correctly, it was two maybe three weeks before the end of junior year. She arrived in school one day as normal and honestly would've guessed people had seen a ghost the way they were looking. Furrowed brows and sarcastic scoffs in passing were suddenly, what she'd describe as, lifeless, dull gazes. Hell, maybe she was going crazy, but there were times she swore she passed even teary eyes fixated on her.

"You don't have to worry about me," Y/N started again, her forced expression falling into a softer smile.

"I do worry about you, Y/N."

Steve wasn't one to let things go, even more so when it came to the people he held closest to his heart. His family. It wasn't for nothing that he'd openly volunteered to come back to the shithole he thought he'd left behind, purely to ensure his friends safe passage there and back.

He opened his mouth to speak again, almost stuttering over his words a few times before he'd settled on what he'd actually say out loud, "Remember what we said? Just get yourself through the day. I'll be here for last bell to pick you up... I'll-"

"you'll what?"

Fuck did he regret even thinking it now, but he couldn't turn back.

"I'll ask Eddie to come with me, if that suits you better?"

"I don't even see why I need to be escorted, plus he is more than capable of driving himself!"

"I'm sorry," Steve apologised quickly as she raised her voice, very much acting as though he was dealing with a ticking time bomb. "I'll talk to him, and one of us will be here, yeah?"

Y/N waved her hand, presumably in dismissal, before she grabbed her bag from the back seat and left the car.

She decided in that moment that she'd much rather go back to being a freak- outcasted and disregarded. Anything beat being suffocated by Steve Harrington. Why it was happening? She couldn't say. It was baffling to her, flooding her mind and almost causing her to miss a familiar voice when it chimed up.

"Harrington has it bad for you."

No forced smile was necessary that time, not as Munson himself was leaned against a neighbouring locker to her own with an eyebrow raised. "Should I be worried I've got competition?"

"Should I be worried you're back so soon after graduation?" She retorted. "You're not spying on me, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, princess. Although I am curious on when Steve became your personal chauffeur?" There was a hint of playfulness in his voice, if the growing smirk across his face wasn't already enough to dispel any seriousness.

"Yeah, don't remind me." Y/N rolled her eyes. "He says he's worried about me, whatever that means."

First bell had rang, and Eddie peered around the deserted hallway before stepping forward and planting a kiss against his partner's lips.

"Just don't forget about me."

Y/N had her eyes closed in the moment, listening to his soft words followed by retreating footsteps.

Forget about him? Steve had no chance of getting her to walk from Eddie, let alone forget anything from their blissfully short time together.