A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song It Will Come Back by Hozier. I hope you all enjoy it.
You hadn't intended to spend your entire lunch period quietly staring at Eddie Munson from the other side of the cafeteria. You were supposed to be plotting out your weekend plans with your friends, but something about the way he was talking had drawn your attention to him. He was always loud, perhaps airing on the side of obnoxious, but you didn't really mind it all that much. Watching him put on a performance for his Hellfire friends was cute, the way he lit up when he caught them laughing at his antics making your stomach flutter.
"Stop staring or he'll think he can come over and talk to you," your friend uttered beside you, nudging you in the side with her elbow to regain your attention. "We don't want the Freak hanging around whilst we're trying to talk about normal people things," she pressed on, watching you nod, your eyes fixing onto your half-finished lunch. With a loud sigh, she shook her head, clearly frustrated. "Stop pouting like I just kicked your puppy. I'm saving you from yourself. If you start being nice to him, he'll think you like him or something and then, you'll never be able to get rid of him."
You straightened, forcing the frown off of your face. "I'm not pouting-"
"He's a weirdo, Y/N. Weirdos don't have boundaries when people show them a little bit of attention-"
"I'm not pouting," you repeated. "And It's hard not to stare when he's making so much noise," you added, rolling your eyes slightly, acting as though you hadn't just been caught red-handed making goo-goo eyes at the school's walking oddity.
"He never shuts up," she pressed on, letting out a soft chuckle before returning back to the conversation she'd been in with the other girls at your table.
You couldn't help but risk another glance at Hellfire's table, your eyes drifting there on instinct, only to find Eddie already looking in your direction, a half smile pulling at the corners of his lips when you made eye contact.
*Time Skip*
"Go and talk to her," a voice whispered from the other side of the hallway, or at least, you assumed that they were trying to whisper, getting louder and louder the more the other person argued back. "Just go-" the words ended when someone bumped into you.
"Whoa," a new voice hummed, hands shifting to rest on your arms, stopping you from toppling over from the impact. "Sorry," he pressed on, and suddenly the voice had clicked into place in your mind.
You turned to smile up at him. "It's fine," you told him, your voice softer than you had been expecting, causing you to quickly clear your throat. "No harm done."
"You sure? I didn't knock you too hard?"
You shook your head, watching as a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he looked down at you. "Nope," you affirmed, biting down on the inside of your cheek. "You didn't hurt yourself bumping into me, did you?"
"Not even slightly," he hummed out, risking a glance behind him to where a handful of his little freshman friends were standing against the wall, trying to look like they weren't listening in on your conversation.
"Do you go around falling into random girls often, or-" your words trailed off as he lifted his hand to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck, a snort of laughter slipping out of him.
He cleared his throat slightly, before nodding. "Only the pretty ones," he uttered, his cheeks tinting red at his own bravery.
A soft chuckle broke the silence and he smiled when he realised that you weren't annoyed by his half-assed attempt at flirting. "Well, don't go making a habit of it or I might start getting jealous," you teased, risking a glance over towards his friends and sending them your sweetest smile and a small wave. "And maybe next time you can leave the entourage at home, too?"
