Eddie & Chrissy: What Could Have Been

Chapter Nine: Fast Times

Eddie drove Jason's Jeep until he and Chrissy reached the nearest gas station. He then parked the Jeep off to the side. Eddie opened Chrissy's door and smiled, she looked at him annoyed.

"What!?" he laughed.

"Nothing, nothing at all Eddie Munson," she replied while walking away from him. He staggered behind her, tickling her sides as she squirmed to run away from him through the parking lot shrieking and laughing. Eddie caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her. He looked into Chrissy's eyes. Her heart was beating fast.

"You are so beautiful," Eddie said while pulling her in close. She smiled and kissed him softly.

"Now what?" she whispered while wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm going to use the payphone inside the gas station and see if Gareth can pick us up in his Mom's station wagon," Eddie replied.

Chrissy stood in the parking lot while waiting for Eddie. She kicked some rocks across the lot and all of the sudden, a wave of nervousness wiped over her. Things were moving so fast, really fast. She didn't want this to be some fling, she prayed that it wouldn't be. What if Eddie didn't like her as much as she liked him? She shook her head, "get a hold of yourself, Chrissy," she said aloud. She looked up and Eddie was walking away from the payphone and towards her with his hands in his pockets. He was so beautiful, she thought. His smile was contagious. His hair, girls would kill for waves like his! And he was so talented. He could play guitar, write, sing, and she couldn't wait to find out even more about him. She bit her lip while daydreaming of what their future could look like.

"What are you looking at?" Eddie asked while striking a dramatic pose.

She laughed, "you know, you should smile more often."

Eddie looked confused and then smiled obnoxiously, "well, maybe now I will," he winked. "Come on." Eddie motioned for her to follow him out of the parking lot.

She hurried behind him while holding on to the straps of her backpack. "Where are we going?"

"Gareth's picking us up but I figured we would walk towards town in his direction."

"Oh, okay." She replied in a hushed manner.

"You okay?" Eddie stopped to turn around and look at her. "No one ever asks me if I'm okay," Chrissy thought. She hesitated and didn't know how to answer. It made her sad but also so grateful to be in the presence of someone who actually cares how she is.

"I am now," she said shyly. Eddie tippy toed in her direction and put his arm around her as they continued their walk back towards Hawkins. Chrissy took a deep breath and rested her head on his shoulder. He was her breath of fresh air. "I can finally breathe again," she thought and closed her eyes for just a moment.

The screech of tires echoed down the narrow road. Chrissy squinted at the car that had just swerved onto the highway. "That's Andy's car," she stopped in her tracks. They were coming down the road towards them and fast.

"Well, then we should probably move.'' Eddie threw Chrissy over his shoulder and ran down the hill off the road and into the woods. He put her down and stood in front of her peering over the hill onto the road. Andy's car flew by with music blaring. "I don't think they saw us," Eddie said while still peeking through the tree branches. Chrissy had her back against a tree and was staring wide eyed at Eddie. "What's wrong?" he asked her. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her effortlessly and she kissed him passionately. Eddie had no idea what had come over Chrissy but he wasn't complaining. Her fingers ran through his hair and he bit her lip. Chrissy didn't care where they were, she didn't even know what came over her but she was trusting her gut and going for it. Eddie's hands were on her bottom holding her up, he squeezed and she kissed him harder.

Then all of the sudden they heard maniacal beeping coming from down the road and getting closer. Eddie put her down and stumbled out of the woods to look. It was Gareth. The station wagon came to a screeching halt.

"I couldn't find you so I figured I would just keep beeping and you would find me," he yelled out the window.

"Yeah, yup," Eddie was bent over with his hands on his knees and almost limping back towards the woods.

"You okay, dude?" Garreth leaned over towards the passenger seat.

"Yup, give me a minute." Eddie raised a finger. Chrissy walked past him giggling with her hand over her mouth. "Yeah, very funny Cunningham," he called back to her.

Chrissy jumped into the backseat. "Hi, Gareth!"

"Oh, hi," he smiled awkwardly at her. Eddie emerged back out of the woods and climbed into the passenger seat. Gareth looked over at him for a moment, "you are so weird."

"I know buddy, I know," Eddie assured him. Gareth threw the station wagon in drive and pulled back onto the highway. Chrissy was trying to hide her smile. Eddie turned around to look at her and rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Okay so, where is your van? And why were you guys in the woods?"

"It's a long story." Eddie put his hand on Gareth's shoulder. Chrissy sat quiet in the backseat. She was thinking about everything that had happened today. She felt overwhelmed at that moment but safe being with Eddie.

"Where am I taking you guys?" Gareth looked over at Eddie and then in the rearview mirror at Chrissy.

Eddie looked at his watch, "Ah, too late to go to the auto shop."

"Auto shop?" Gareth questioned.

Chrissy perked up, "you can drive us to my house."

Eddie whipped his head around to look at Chrissy, "Uhh, are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not!" she replied. Gareth let out a chuckle and Eddie bopped him on the back of the head.

"Okay. Sure, we'll go to Chrissy's house." Eddie said nervously and brushed off his pants and jacket.

Eddie wasn't exactly the best with parents, especially parents of girls that he was seeing. Before Chrissy, he could give two shits about what parents thought of him. But with Chrissy, it was different. He actually wanted her parents to like him. He pulled the rearview mirror towards him and frantically fixed his hair.

"Hey! Uh, I need the mirror to drive!" Gareth said annoyed and adjusted the mirror back where it was before. Chrissy could tell that Eddie was nervous and she was smitten with the idea.

"He really does like me," she thought as she looked out the window smiling.

Gareth pulled up to Chrissy's house and Eddie peered up at it through the passenger side window. Eddie had never stepped foot in a house that big. It was dark out when he had dropped her off the night before and to be honest, he really wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings.

The house was a beautiful Victorian style home with a wrap-around porch. An oak tree stood tall in the front yard with a tire swing hanging from it. It was your typical picture-perfect home. Chrissy jumped out of the car and took a couple steps towards her house.

"Are you coming?" she called out to Eddie.

"Yup, yup," he replied nervously.

"Good luck man," Gareth patted him on the shoulder.

"Shut up," Eddie stepped out of the car.

"Oh, thanks again Gareth!" Chrissy waved as he pulled away. Eddie took another deep breath and walked towards what felt like his doom.