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

7 - These Walls Have Eyes... and They're Weeping

Eddie POV
I'd spent most of my time in my bedroom since I left Harringtons last night, I tried in vain to hide away from Wayne but he always manages to drag the truth outta me one way or another. He's fucking annoying like that, but he cares so I can't say I totally hate it that much. He was shocked to hear that Y/N had a kid, even more shocked when I told him she was mine, born in Indianapolis after Y/N left me totally fucking heartbroken and alone in Hawkins. I told him how long she'd been keeping it a secret and how half of the fucking Harrington clan knew, as well as Nancy and Robin, how they got to spend time with my daughter and I didn't, that they got to share in all those special moments a kid has in their lives, and I didn't. I was fucking mad. I told him about her hair and her eyes and her name, Juno. It was beautiful, she was beautiful. I couldn't bring myself to talk about it anymore, skulking off to my bedroom for the remainder of the night, barely emerging again unless I needed food or the bathroom.

The next evening I heard a car pulling up outside the trailer, I wasn't waiting for visitors and neither was Wayne as far as I knew. I stayed glued on my bed, flicking through a comic book as I waited for them to knock, thankfully Wayne answered it so I didn't have to. Then I heard it... her name. Wayne told her I didn't want to see her right now but I heard her say she wanted to speak to him, peaking my interest. Putting the comic book down, I shuffled over to my door and sat next to it, I needed to know what she had to say to Wayne and why she didn't have anything to say to me, not that I was sure I'd listen right now if it was me she wanted to see. I was still feeling an immense amount of hurt and anger from last night, I wasn't in the right mindset to talk to her about it, or Wayne, I knew I'd get mad again if I did. "Oh god, yes! Thank you!" Y/N chuckled as Wayne offered her a smoke, I could almost picture that beautiful smile as she took a cigarette from the carton. There was something so fucking hot about Y/N when she smoked, the way she held the cigarette between her soft, pink lips, her eyes fluttering as she took a deep inhale, obviously contemplating life as she held it in before bellowing the smoke from her pursed, plump pout. My favourite scent for years was that of her perfume laced with the tang of menthols - her primary choice of smoke, when it wasn't weed that is. God, I missed the hours we'd spend smoking up in the van or my bedroom, there was nothing I loved more than parking up at our spot near Lovers Lake and smoking under the stars - the same spot we drove to when she broke my fucking heart. We tried smoking a couple of times at her place, but her parents are like fucking bloodhounds, they could smell it the second they walked in the front door, even with her bedroom window wide open. She always got really touchy-feely when she was high, insisted on always holding my hands or touching my arm, running her fingers through my hair as she gazed off into the distance, I didn't mind though - I loved the feeling of her softy hands holding on to my skin or twirling around my hair. Oh and the sex after a smoke, fuck... going at it like fucking animals, all inhibitions out the window, not a single fucking care in the world. I can only imagine that's how she ended up with a kid, the result of one of our careless, weed induced fucks in the back of my van... not a story to tell the kid I guess.

"Around your daughter?" Wayne said, smooth Wayne... smooth. Never one to beat around the bush, always keen to get right to the point, even if it was like hitting you in the face with a fucking sledgehammer. He sounded a little, disappointed? Which is crazy. I've never heard or seen him express disappointment toward Y/N, even after she dumped my ass. When I told him what happened the last time I saw her, he was more pissed at me than at her. He actually made me see that her reasons were fair and made me understand that I really should have done better towards her when I had the chance. She didn't say anything to start with, I could hear her breathing picking up, she was crying, and it took everything inside me not to run out and comfort her. "Is- is she pretty?" he asked her, Y/N gushed a little about her, talking about how beautiful she was. Even mentioning how her hair and eyes were the same as mine. God, Juno was fucking beautiful! I might be biased or whatever because she's mine and looks kinda like me, but yes, she was fucking gorgeous, the most beautiful little girl I'd ever seen.
"Ouch... poor kid!" Wayne joked - uhh, rude Wayne. Rude.
"I thought you might want to see these... that's her, that's Juno..." Y/N said, I guess she brought some pictures or something for Wayne to see. The room when totally silent again until I heard Wayne choking back quiet sobs and tears, I felt bad for him, he loved kids and had always wanted to be a grandparent - even though he's not my actual dad. I think that's what made him the most upset last night, he never deserved to miss out like that. He was so good to Y/N from the first day he met her, treating her almost better than he treated me - he loved her like a daughter. I could hear Y/N quietly sobbing before she started talking, an endless stream of emotion and apologies spilling out of her so fast I thought she'd run out of breath soon.

"I never meant to hurt anyone in all of this, but I ended up hurting everyone important to me in the end. Eddie, you, Steve and even Juno. And I hate myself every single day for what I've done, nobody could ever hate me more." I can't stand the thought of her hurting, even after what she'd done to me. "I wanted to run back to Hawkins, to Eddie, as soon as I knew I was pregnant but I didn't want him to think I was only back because I was knocked up. My stupid pride got the better of me, and now I'm not proud of anything. Nothing in my life matters anymore because it was all built around lies and heartbreak. Except Juno..." she was sobbing to hard by now, I could hear her throat turning raw as she spoke, the emotion behind every horse word, every broken sob was so raw and so real. "I am sorry every waking second of my life for what I've done. I love Eddie more than I've ever loved anyone until I had Juno, but fuck, he comes painfully close to her." Fuck... that got me. Leaning with my back to my bedroom door, I started crying like a fucking toddler. I loved her, I always have and I swear to god there is nothing she could do to change that. What the fuck and I supposed to do?!

I heard her leave shortly after that, still crying as Wayne told her he understood why she did what she did, telling her he wished it went differently for us... which I agree with, wholeheartedly. The front door closed and I waited a few minutes before I went into the living room. I walked right over to the window and peered out at Y/N sitting in her car, she was a fucking mess, her body broken and screaming in her drivers seat. I thought about running out to her until Wayne grabbed my attention, "Hear all that, boy?" he asked as he started putting a tape into the VCR, gesturing me to sit on the couch. I nodded and shrugged as I collapsed down onto the cushions, Wayne taking his usual seat in the LazyBoy, grabbing the VCR remote and hitting play. We watched together as the scrambling on the screen cleared, showing a beautiful little baby in a bouncer, the second I saw those eyes I knew it was Juno. Y/N was talking to her in this sweet voice, telling her how beautiful she was and asking her to "smile for momma", which she did, fuck it was incredible. Her little cheeks glowing a rosy red, prominent dimples pricking each of the chubby cheeks as she smiled widely, nothing but gums and one or two teeth. We watched both VHS tapes Y/N brought over, they were like mixtapes of different parts of her and Juno's life in Indianapolis; birthdays, Christmases, days out, even her first steps - I laughed so much as I watched this clumsy little toddler stagger across the carpet, landing on her little hands and knees every time she tried to take more than three steps toward Y/N as she crouched in front of her, sobbing with joy at her little girl. Watching that little girl grow up on film was like all the hurt and anger just washed away, replaced with love and adoration for my daughter, for my little girl... for Y/N. Wayne was right, I needed to do better, I should have done better from day one and I couldn't blame her for leaving me anymore, for not wanting that little girl to grow up disappointed by me and my idiocy and selfishness. As the second tape came to an end, I saw Wayne quietly crying at the final scenes of the little girl chatting away to her mom as she played with a teddy bear.

"We're still going to the Harrington tomorrow, boy. I refuse to miss out on another second of that little darlings life." Wayne stated, in a very matter-of-fact kinda way as he wiped the tears from his cheeks.
"Y-yeah. Okay. Agreed." I stammered, I wanted the same but I felt totally unprepared for tomorrow, going empty handed to meet my daughter didn't really make me any better than my own parents. "I-I've just got something I need to do... I'll be back soon." I said, grabbing my van keys and heading out the door toward my van. I had a plan. An idea of something real special for Juno, for her first Christmas with me as her father, but I needed to be alone to do this. I couldn't think if anywhere better than Lovers Lake, our spot. Nobody would be there at this time of night, Christmas eve.