Timelines Apart

You smell like weed

           It's been 2 months since the lab men tried capturing me again from Eddie's trailer. Wayne is back home and he's been nothing but kind towards me. I've been attending Hawkins High for a while now and the school day just ended. I open my locker to a sticky note on the door that says "Meet me at the picnic table in the woods behind the football field. -Eddie."

            I quickly tear it off my locker so no one else sees it and I slam the door shut after I put my things back. I jump in surprise when I see Steve standing there. He and I have grown closer over time, especially with our shared classes. "Hey, Y/n have you seen Nancy hanging around that Byers kid?" Steve asks me quickly and my face morphs into confusion "Will?" I ask.

             "No not the younger one, I'm talking about Jonathan," Steve says rather impatiently. "No why? Is she like cheating on you or something?" I ask as I start to walk down the hall and he follows me by my side. "Well that's what I'm trying to figure out, I refuse to lose my girl over that pervert." He says while waving his hands around in dramatics. "That's pretty fucked up if she is, but let's just assume it's a misunderstanding. I've gotta go now but call me if you find out anything." I mock salute him as I walk out of the school doors towards the football field.

               I turn my head and see Chrissy Cunningham walking with her cheerleader friends in the school parking lot. She seems nice but I've never really talked to her. I walk through the woods to the picnic table and I don't see Eddie so I just set my bag down and wait. I feel hands on my shoulders and it scares the crap out of me and my powers go off sending Eddie falling to the ground. "Holy shit Eddie! You can't scare me like that!" I laugh and help him up "Are you okay?" I grab his hand as he stands.

             "Ya, I'm fine." He chuckles and sets his metal lunchbox on the picnic table. "Why'd you want to meet up with me here?" I ask as he walks around to the other side of the table to face me. "Well, Wayne is home and I figured this would be a place where we could get some privacy." He says and my face turns red and he laughs "No! Not like that Y/n get your head out of the gutter." Eddie smiles and I laugh nervously.

             "Have you ever smoked before?" The question shocks me and I turn to him "No, I mean I never had the opportunity to." I say as I scratch at the skin by my nails. "Wanna try it?" He holds up a joint and I don't know how to respond. "Here?" This is the first word that pops up in my head.

"Where else?" he gives a good point and I shrug.

"I can help you, or if you don't want to at all that's fine too." Eddie says and I reply almost immediately "I do want to." It's a little embarrassing how fast I responded but he stares at me with a grin on his face.

"Only if you're sure." He says as he lights the joint and takes a drag. He blows the smoke out as he walks around the table and straddles the bench to face me and I do the same. "Here, I'll help you out, when I blow out, you breathe in. Okay?" I nod my head slightly confused and my breath hitches when he grabs my chin pulling my face close to his. He smiles as the color pink flushes my cheeks.

I watch him take another drag and hold it in his mouth. His thumb pulls on my bottom lip as my mouth opens. His mouth is so close to mine that if I didn't know better I'd think he was about to kiss me. He slowly blows the smoke out and I inhale and hold it. Eddie leans back while I blow the smoke out of my mouth and it burns a little. I try to hide my cough but it claws at my throat and I give in.

I look over to him embarrassed of my cough "Am I a pro or what?" I smile and he laughs. "It doesn't always burn like that does it?" I ask as I swing my leg back around the bench. "No, it gets easier for sure." He says as he offers me the joint. "Eddie if I coughed just from that.......I'll probably die if I take a hit straight from the joint." I choke down a laugh. He shrugs "You won't know unless you try it."

~~~

            I walk into Melvald's to start my afternoon shift and I see Joyce stocking the shelves. "Afternoon Joyce." I smile at her as I walk by. "Afternoon Y/n-" She says but then stands up quickly and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Y/n you smell like weed," Joyce says in a motherly tone. "Do I?" I pull up my shirt and sniff it. "Weird." I try and play the innocent act but she's not buying it. "Y/n, I know you live with that Munson boy but don't give in to any peer pressure." She pats my shoulder. "Joyce I can promise you that Eddie isn't that kind of boy," I say as I walk to the back of the store and clock in.

            I see a little boy in the storage room of the store. "Hey kid, what're you doing back here?" I ask the small boy with a poorly styled bowl cut. "My mom works here." He says quietly and I drop down to his level. "Are you Will?" I smile at him and he nods. I hold out my hand to him "I'm Y/n." Will raises his hand hesitantly before finally shaking mine. "Nice to meet you, Will." I let go of his small hand and carry some boxes out to the front and he trails behind me wondering off to find his mom.

~~~

           I end my shift at Melvald's and it's now dark outside. Covering myself with my jacket I walk down the sidewalk making my way back to the trailer. I look up at a streetlight and watch as it flickers sporadically. This is the one part I hate about working.... walking home in the dark. Eddie offers to pick me up all the time but I keep insisting that I like walking home to spare him the gas money. 

            I keep hearing my dad's voice in my head, mainly from memories but I feel like it's haunting me. I miss him and I miss the rest of my family and I thought they would've come back for me by now. A shiver runs down my spine as I walk past that old streetlight.

             Soon enough I make it back to the trailer and when I walk in all the lights are turned off. It's Friday so we don't have school tomorrow which means I don't have to worry about prying Eddie out of his bed in the morning. I quietly walk into Eddie's room to grab my pajamas out of one of the drawers he emptied out for me. He's snoring softly on his bed with his mouth wide open and I smile at this view.

             When I push the drawer back in it squeaks really loud and I scrunch my face in worry that I woke him up. He stirs and his eyes blink at me in the dark. "Y/n?" He says groggily. "Sorry!" I whisper and I go to walk out of his room to change in the bathroom. Last week Eddie blew up an air mattress for me and placed it next to his bed so we no longer fought about who was sleeping on the couch.

I shove my dirty clothes in the washing machine but I don't start it yet since it's not full. I finish brushing my teeth and washing my face and when I sneak back into Eddie's room he's sitting straight up on his bed wide awake in the dark.

            "You look like a demon right now Edward," I say as I step onto the air mattress. He chuckles as he wipes the sleep from his eyes. "I meant to stay up to make sure you made it back okay but I fell asleep." He says as he looks down at me from the edge of his bed. "Don't worry about it, I made it back all in one piece." I smile and hold a thumbs up. "It's only 10 pm, what are you doing asleep already? You usually stay up way later regardless if I'm working or not." I ask and he shrugs. "Guess I was really tired today." He lays back down on his bed. It's the end of January so it's still freezing outside and I wrap myself in a lot of blankets to keep warm.

             I roll onto my side facing Eddie's bed. "Eddie?" I ask quietly. "Yeah?" He leans over the edge of his bed to look at me. "Go brush your teeth you dirty pig," I say and he stands up on my air mattress and kicks me in my stomach playfully as he walks into the bathroom.

            "That was unnecessary Edward." I flip him off as he walks back into his room. I smile as he trips on the edge of the air mattress but my smile drops as he falls on top of me. The air is knocked out of my lungs from his body weight on top of mine and as he leans up I blush from how close we are.

He stares blankly at me as I'm underneath of him and there's a small silence between us before I whisper. "Dumbass." He smiles and gets off of me and climbs up onto his bed. We don't talk for the rest of the night and I feel my face heat up as I think about what just happened. Sooner or later we both drift off to sleep.

A/N:

I really liked this chapter, it was fun to write. Lmk if ya'll like it too. Please comment, it makes my life better. Lol. I'll start working on the next chapter soon.

-K <3