MONEY, MONEY, MONEY || EDDIE MUNSON

|| #11: what an asshole ||

"So this one is Van-Halen, right?" Kathy asks the boy laying beside her.
"That's right! You're getting better at this, babe." Eddie grins back at her proudly.

The pair were laying on the roof of Eddie's trailer on a cold Sunday evening. Eddie wanted to pick up where they left off, Kathy could stay out later on weekends, and Hawkins High had an inset day meaning they had Monday off. Kathy could stay out as long as she'd like.

"Y'know, you're the only guy I know that actually has a good taste in music, Eds." Admittedly, Kathy had never listened to music like this before. Heavy metal and rock weren't particularly her genre, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

"You're the only girl that's ever complimented my music taste, Mary." He chuckled in reply. "Usually when people hear this blasting from my Walkman they think I'm about to go on a spree or something."

"I think it's nice." Kathy said bluntly. She didn't know how else to describe how the music made her feel. She could hear Eddies obnoxiously loud laughter right away, and she rolled her eyes.

"What? It is!" She defended herself as his laughter continued. "It makes you feel angry, it's freeing. I wish I had metal when Tommy. H completely hu-" she cut herself off. It had just slipped out, like word vomit. Kathy hoped Eddie didn't catch on through his maniacal giggles.

Unfortunately, he did. He stopped laughing as soon as he heard Tommy. H. God, he hated that guy. Once, he'd dumped a bowl of soup and a slushie all over Eddie, destroying the hair he'd worked so hard to perfect that morning. The thought of him hurting Kathy crushed him.

"What'd he do?" Eddie asked softly after a few moments passed. Kathy flushed in embarrassment. She was truly mortified even thinking about how he'd betrayed her trust the previous year. How could she be so stupid.

"It's nothing." She brushed him off, wanting to immediately change the subject.
"You don't have to tell me," Eddie offered casually, like this was no big deal. "but it might make you feel better to get it off your chest."

Kathy considered this. She trusted Eddie, she liked Eddie, she had the biggest, fattest crush ever on Eddie. If she told him, he might look at her differently. He might look at her like a naive, desperate girl that would fall for anything.

But he was different she thought. He wouldn't do that, she convinced herself, not in a million years.

Kathy took a deep breath, she was about to share her biggest insecurity, one that only Willow and Eleven knew about. Her hands were shaking, and Eddie seemed to notice. He took one of hers in his own in attempt to console her.

"It was about a year ago." She started. "Willow and Steve had just started dating, back then he was still friends with Tommy and his band of assholes." She laughed dryly, attempting to break the tense atmosphere.

"I had a huge crush on him. I knew he was an asshole, but I thought he was cute, I thought I could fix him." Her voice cracked towards the end, and Eddie grabbed her hand tighter, it's okay the gesture said.

"He must've caught on. I wasn't subtle or anything, but I didn't think I was that obvious either. He asked me out, it was so charming. He got me flowers, a new book and a strawberry milkshake."

Eddie scoffed. What an asshole he thought. When they'd got milkshakes the night they went to the arcade, she'd chastised him about getting strawberry. "I'm sorry, but how can you drink that pink poison?!" He laughed thinking back to it.

How could Tommy A-hole be so ignorant and get the flavour she despised most? He'd probably got her a kids colouring book too. What an idiot.

"We went out for a few weeks, I was happy, I thought he was too. Took me to a bunch of parties, gave me dirty looks when I didn't drink. All the good boyfriend stuff." She smiled with not an ounce of happiness to detect.

"All of a sudden, he started acting really sweet. Started listening to me, I was so confused. I should've known, he tried to get into my pants after a few days of being a sweetheart." Eddie squeezed his nails into the palm of his free hand, he was outraged.

"He yelled at me when I said I wasn't ready, dumped my ass a few days later. Said it was all a bet, a joke. Carol and a few of the other jocks made a bet he couldn't sleep with me within the first 6 weeks of us dating." Tears started falling from Kathy's eyes.

It was silent then, suddenly everything made sense to Eddie. Why she was so defensive when they'd first met. Yet she'd trusted him enough to tell him this, to tell him everything.

Eddie had to remind himself why he was with her right now, why he was squeezing her hand and why he was wiping the tears from her cheek. He had been paid, he had betrayed her the same as Tommy. H had all that time ago.

Still, he found himself saying,

"I would never do that to you."

All the blood rushed to Kathy's head. Fuck it she thought. If he didn't like her back and if he didn't feel the same then she'd just run back to Willow and cry about him for a week. She could move on, she'd live.

She grabbed his neck and attached their lips. It was soft, Eddie could taste the salty tears that had rolled down to her lips, and Kathy could taste the bitter nicotine on his tongue. It was amazing, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

When they pulled away, she was scared. However, when she was met with his cheeky smile, she knew she was in the clear and allowed herself to smile with him.

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a/n this is so bad but it needed to happen 💀 they kissed and Kathy has trauma everyone's shocked lmfao. They won't be happy for long dw anyway thanks for reading love you appreciate you ❤️❤️