Sweet Child O' Mine - Eddie Munson & Y/N

3 - A "Friendly" Dinner

On the way to the diner, we'd stopped my the Wheelers to pick Nancy up, she was so excited to see me and asked all about Juno on the drive over. I really missed her and loved how happy her and Steve were together, like their breakup and her interim relationship with Jonathan never happened, it was great to see my little brother so happy. As we pulled up to the snow covered diner, I could see Robins car parked out front, Robin loved her car and couldn't believe she'd finally raised enough money to learn to drive and buy a car of her own. She drove it into the city a couple of times to see me and Juno, just an excuse to drive it really. I'd assumed she brought most, if not all the younger ones with her, and I was largely correct in my assumptions. "No sign of the van" I thought as I glanced around the largely empty parking lot, feeling immediately comforted that I wasn't going to run into Eddie unexpectedly. As I got out the car I could see Robin and Max through the window, returning from the bathrooms to the large booth in the far corner, Steve and Nancy took the lead as we walked in and I was instructed to try and hide behind them.

As I walked through the the entrance the bell chimed alerting my friends we'd arrived, I was immediately comforted by the warmth from the overhead heater and the sounds of my old friends chattering in the distance. "Merry Christmas guys! So, I uh, got you all an extra special, early gift, hope that's okay..." Steve announces to the table of confused faces before him and Nancy stand aside, revealing my anxious but excited face as I coyly wave to my old friends.
"Oh my god! Y/N?!" Robin squeals as she leaps up from the table and pulls me in for a lung crushing hug, "I can't believe you're here! Where's-" she starts before noticing my glaring eyes burning into hers, begging her not to ask about Juno in front of everyone, which she understands. As I walk closer to the table, I'm greeting by the welcoming, albeit slightly older faces of Mike, Lucas and Max, all of which very excited to see me again. I take a seat at the table after greeting and hugging all the faces I'd desperately missed, chatter of the last 4 years quickly filling the air. It was like nothing had changed since I'd left, it was almost like home sitting at that table again, made even better by the arrival of Jonathan, Will and El.

"Wait, isn't Henderson joining us?" I ask as I finally realise he's not seated at the table with us all, and I thought he'd be one of the most excited to see me again. Nobody says anything, only shifting uncomfortably their seats, Steve sits in complete silence with wide eyes as he desperately hopes I don't directly look at or ask him. The entire table remains largely silent as nobody can bring themselves to tell me the truth but before anyone can actually muster the courage to speak, the bell above the diner doorway chimes, alerting us to a new arrival at the establishment. Everyone's eyes widen, some jaws fall slack as they watch the new arrivals enter the building before their eyes suddenly return to me, like they're waiting for me to turn around, which I eventually do.

Mimicking the widen eyes and open jaws of those around me, I watch closely as a tall leather and denim clad stature walks in, a mess of brown curls tied loosely back behind his head in a low ponytail, the unmistakable chocolate brown eyes soon fix on my colour-drained shocked face before I see them radiating the same pain and sadness they did the last time I saw them. The tension in the diner quickly became thick and suffocating, the awkward silence was deafening, but thankfully broken fast by Dustin walking in behind Eddie, "Oh my god, Y/N!" he shrieks before shoving past Eddie and hurtling toward me, giving me just enough time to stand up and catch his open arms for a tight embrace.
"Hey, Dusty. I've missed you so fucking much, m'dude!" I sigh and I almost forget the awkwardness and hold tightly to the kid I used to spend most of my time with.

Whilst I'm contently distracted by the long awaited reunion with one of my favourite people, Eddie shuffled past me and hung his jackets on the back of one of the vacant chairs near mine. Everyone at the table remains disturbingly silent as my embrace from Dustin comes to an end and he sits in the final chair at the quiet table, my attention then turns to Eddie who is obviously waiting for me to make the first move as he nervously scratches the back of his neck. I swear, I'm immediately in love with him again, wanting nothing more than to jump into his strong arms and kiss him as though it was the first time all over again, but then I think of Juno and the selfish decision I'd made to freeze him out of both our lives. "Hey, Eds... I- how've you been?" I ask, desperately fighting the urge to tell him how badly I've missed him all these years, I extend my arms for a causal hug which he quickly accepts, getting himself a little lost in the feeling of my body against his again. He clears his throat and drops his arms to his sides again before averting his gaze to his shoes,
"Yeah, uh, good. Thanks. You?" he nervously stammers leaving me completely unsure how exactly to answer that right now.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Things are, alright I guess. I suppose Indianapolis didn't quite meet all my expectations." I chuckle before gesturing for Eddie to sit and join us all.