sometimes it physically pains me to hold back my sarcastic comments
plenty of emotions.
summary: your best friend robin is in a bit of a pickle, and who else to help her out is there, but you? did she forget to mention eddie munson?
word count: 2.6k
warnings: mentions of drugs, drug use, FLUFFFFFFFF
“seriously, robin. if i wanted to be arrested for drug possession, i could think of a million other ways to do it.”
“really? you?”
you closed the lid on your flute, sitting snug as a bug in a rug within its case. “really. me.”
robin scoffed as she threw her trumpet with little care into its case, shutting its locks with a click. “for some unknown reason,” she eyeballed, looking you up and down, “you make that very hard to believe. besides, you’d really be doing me a favour here. you owe me, remember?”
“remind me?”
“last month when you skipped band practice to go to the mall? i had to tell mrs. blancher you came down with the craziest case of diahorrea?”
your fellow bandmates were slowly filing out of the music room, the blanket of chatter slowly leaving with them. hoping to escape this ploy you were very obviously being dragged into, you threw a handle of your backpack over your shoulder and grabbed your instrument off your chair. “you sure that was a favour?”
hurriedly grabbing her things and following close on your heels into the hallway, robin was growing desperate. “okay, okay, okay. i know it might not have been the best excuse, but i did it out of the goodness of my own heart! doesn’t that count for something?”
“okay, whatever. why can’t you just go get it yourself? i don’t understand why i have to go for you.”
“because i just so happen to have a shift at the video store with steve and won’t have time to do much else before the party.”
you rolled your eyes.
“pretty please? please, please, please do this eensie weensie little thing for me?” robin clutched her hand’s together so tightly that her knuckles were almost white, eyes scrunched closed in prayer.
despite not being friends for a very long time, you had to admit that your soft spot for robin ran pretty deep, as much as you liked to hide it. “alright! okay,” you sighed in admission. “i’ll go see munson.”
lunch was a sort of organised chaos - one that you never really had to think about beyond getting your food and walking to your usual table near the windows. if you really focused and examined your peers’ seating arrangements, you might be able to find some sort of hierarchy, but admittedly you were more interested in the food in front of you.
robin came into your field of consciousness with the grace of a baby deer, slamming her lunch tray onto the clear space of table next to you and making herself comfortable on the bench seat. “ah, how we meet again!” she laughed, nudging your shoulder.
“very funny, rob.” you laughed in response, nudging her back. “study period got you on the ritz again?”
“you know it. but something else has been nagging me even more, believe it or not.” she sighed into her meatloaf before downing a heaped spoonful. oh no, you think, i was hoping she forgot about that.
“i have.. almost this sixth sense.. that you’re avoiding the the task i so graciously handed off to you yesterday.” she raised her spoon at you, eyes reduced to slits. “am i right?”
you shrugged, quietly picking at the mystery meat in front of you. “i haven’t forgotten, don’t worry. just.. waiting for the right time.”
as if thinking the same thing, you both turn your heads to peer at the table a few from your own.
eddie munson was quite the character. ever since you started at hawkins’ high as a freshman and first seen him in the flesh, you had held a sort of fascination with him. you’ve always preferred keeping your head down and keeping to yourself, it’s always been easier to handle the lack of drama when you’d always been sort of… forgettable. the main character in a filler episode type of personality. but this boy never seemed to care what others thought of him - the mischevious smile that never failed to reach his eyes, that playful glint in his eye; it was enough to piss people off, but you found yourself a little jealous of his reckless abandon. your memory of him doesn’t pale in comparison to how he appears in front of you now, it only created a clearer picture.
although you couldn’t exactly tell what he and his friends were talking about, you could still hear the echoes of his voice travel across the cafeteria and see his arms wildly gesticulating something to the boys sitting around him. if you hadn’t known any better, from this angle he looked a bit like an excited kid (albeit, a kid two years older than you).
as if he could feel your gaze on him, he whipped his head around to look in your direction. he caught you staring long enough to throw you a questioning look. you continued to blankly stare at him before being ripped out of your reverie by a painful pinch from your neighbour. “eks-nay on the staring-ay, doofus.”
you quickly realised that you were basically staring all googly-eyed at eddie munson and were caught in the act by none other than the aforementioned party. “fuck. FUCK.” your hand flew to your brow to shield yourself from his view as you began to closely examine your meatloaf.
robin sounded exasperated, joining in on your stealth mission. “you better hope he doesn’t charge extra after that stunt you just pulled.”
“surely not? besides, its not like he’ll remember who i am.” you sneak a peek back at his table through your fingers to see if he was still looking your way. huh. “okay, coast is clear. he’s gone.” it seemed a bit strange that he had just disappeared, but you decided not to question it and count your blessings.
“i swear to god, it feels like the universe is throwing obstacle after obstacle at me in the revelation that i might have some fun tonight.” you let out a breathy laugh at robin’s epiphany, resting your head on her shoulder.
“god, you’re telling me. i never knew this would stress me out so much. i haven’t even asked munson to meet yet!” you let out another giggle, too slow to realise that your friend had gone stiff.
“what do you mean you haven’t asked munson to meet yet?” you lifted your head to meet robin’s raised eyebrow.
“well, i mean- i was going to do it later.. like at last period, or something? isn’t that how it works?” something tells you that no matter what you said here was the wrong answer.
“y/n…” robin shook her head. “at least give him some notice! i bet ten dollars we will not be his only customers today and his services will be in high demand. you have to ask him now. like as soon as possible.”
you found yourself at a loss for words. just as you were about retort back at robin for not giving you any sort of direction, an unfamiliar voice answered for you.
“ask me what?”
eddie was standing right behind you and robin. dear god.
robin was the first to turn around with a sheepish grin. “heeey, munson.. we were just talking about you.”
you gulped, hoping that the floor would just swallow you whole and you wouldn’t have to sit through this interaction any longer.
“yeah i figured. saw your friend checking me out all the way from my table,” he smirked, turning his attention toward you.
his indignance seemed to awaken a little fire within you, causing you to sit up straight and look at him dead in the eye. “i… was not.”
eddie let a small chuckle escape his lips. somehow your feigned confidence served as an invitation for him to make himself comfortable on the bench seat next you. turning his body toward you, he rested his chin in his hand and grinned maniacally at you. “so, what did you want to ask me?”
seeing the infamous troublemaker up close was a lot more pleasing to the eye than you originally thought. you didn’t exactly have the luxury of time to inspect his every feature, but you knew that roguish sparkle in his eye belonged to him. besides, his cocky act was enough to piss you off a little bit. “for weed, munson.” you decided to mimic his smile, resting your own chin in your hand. “were you hoping for something else?”
“honestly? yeah,” he moved closer, testing your resolve. your faces were nothing but a breath away from each other; it took everything in you not to shuffle backwards into the safety of robin. “but i can be patient.” his brown eyes flittled between your eyes and your lips so quickly you could have imagined it. he suddenly stood up and stepped away from the table to take a bow. “i shall be seeing you at the park bench in the woods at 4pm, m’lady.”
“oh.. okay.” you both sat there watching eddie, dumbfounded. it was as if what just happened was a hallucination - he shot you a wink over his shoulder as he left the cafeteria and disappeared into the hallway.
you turned to robin to get some look of reprieve, only to be met with a gaze that said i told you so. “could’ve been worse, right?”
there was a notable chill in the air; the leaves were yellow, orange and red and while some of them held on for dear life, most of their fellow leaves created a colourful palette on the forest floor.
counting the leaves one by one was the only thing holding you together right now. all that was running through your head - or rather, that you were trying to distract yourself from thinking about - was how you embarrassed yourself so collosally at lunch. what were you thinking? what was that whole thing? eddie is kinda weird.. isn’t he? well, it explains a lot of what you’ve heard and seen thus far.
oh man, who cares anyway? you think to yourself. it’s not i’m ever going to speak to him again. it’s not like he’ll remember me beyond whatever happened today.
you stretched your jumper sleeves over your hands and scrunched the material up in your palm, obscuring any lingering cold breeze that dared to slip through.
yeah, it’s fine. i’m so fine. i’m just going to do the deal, head to the party and forget any of this ever happened.
“hey-“
so enrapped in your own thoughts, you didn’t expect to hear a voice coming from behind you, sending you flying up from your seat with a yell.
“woah, sorry. didn’t mean to scare you.” eddie stepped back with his hands up, one still being occupied holding a small metal box.
you took a second to gather yourself before sitting back down. “it’s fine. sorry about that.” you were trying to push out the thought that you have just embarrassed yourself for the second (or was it third?) time in front of this guy and you weren’t sure if you could handle another stint of this.
the table seemed like an awfully interesting subject of focus instead of the drug dealer who was now circling back to sit across from you. from the corner of your eye, you could see eddie trying to hold back a grin, his lips pursed into a thin line. just my fucking luck. ugh.
“so-“
“well-“
you lifted your head to look up at him to find a familiar pair of brown eyes looking straight back at you. you couldn’t help but mirror the grin eddie projected, and before you knew it, you both burst into laughter.
“god, sorry! i’m a bit of a nervous mess, aren’t i?” you giggle sheepishly, scratching the back of your ear.
“understatement of the year,” eddie chuckled, playing with the latch on the little box. “we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. just say the word.”
the wall you created around yourself softened to clay at his comforting words. maybe he wasn’t so scary after all? or is that just what he wanted you to think?
“thanks, but i’m good.” you nodded to yourself. “how much does thirty dollars get me?”
“maybe enough for a small family of 4?” eddie answered back in disbelief. “didn’t peg you as the type.” he raised his eyebrows at his container, leisurely collecting the goods together.
you almost corrected him, but your curiousity got the best of you. “the type to what?”
“oh i don’t know,” he threw his hands up. “the type to buy a pound of weed out of the blue?”
“thought this was a ‘no questions asked’ kind of transaction?” you raised your brow, causing eddie to bite down his lip bashfully and continue to carefully scoop the leaves into a little bag for you. “but you’re right, munson. it’s not for me - it’s for robin and her other friends.”
“oh yeah?” he pressed the bag shut along the suction closure at the top. “big party tonight?”
“you haven’t heard? it’s at patrick’s house on cornwall.” eddie looked at you blankly. “patrick mckinney? on the basketball team?”
“ah, that explains it.” you and eddie exchange packages; three ten dollar bills for a medium sized ziploc bag filled with little balls of green. “you haven’t heard? those assholes are allergic to freaks. not that i care to get to know the monkey living in their empty skulls.” he looks down at the money in his hands for a beat, before shuffling it back into the box.
“well… i wouldn’t say you’re a freak.” you squeezed your lips together. as best as you tried to keep to yourself, it was definitely hard to ignore the bullying that went on. it wasn’t fair to the hellfire club to keep taking all the ignorant insults thrown their way. over a board game? and music? are you serious? you couldn’t believe people were so dense.
“really?” you had piqued eddie’s interest. maybe that moment in the cafeteria earlier wasn’t a one off occurence. “what would you call me?”
you looked at eddie. really looked at him. from his wild curly hair, brown eyes shimmering with curiousity, mischevious grin, all the way down to the chunky rings he adorned - he looked nothing like a freak. he was cute, you’d admit it to yourself, but never to him. “i would call you… interesting.”
“hm!” he smiled widely, nodding to himself. “well, you might be the only one who thinks so. thanks.”
without even touching them to check, you could tell your ears were burning bright red. “anytime, munson.”
sitting across from each other just smiling had you both fidgeting with nothing after a few minutes. “well, i guess i should be going.”
“oh. yeah. sure,” eddie seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts until you started getting up. following your lead, he awkwardly waited for you to gather your things before he joined you on the walk back down to the parking lot.
“is this not a violation of customer policy or something?” you joked, hiding a grin.
eddie looked over at you, metal box jingling in his arms as he walked beside you. “maybe,” he shrugged. “gotta say, our hr department sucks.”
you giggled, covering your mouth as you did. “i kinda wish you were coming tonight.”
“really?”
you have no idea where this sudden rush of confidence came from; it was a total 180 from earlier today. explaining this stir in your chest after such a brief interaction was bound to sound ridiculous once it left your mouth, so you decided against it. “really.”
eddie did little to hide the grin spreading across his face. “maybe i could make a quick stop on the way home.” he looked over at you, brown pools of hope clouding his eyes. “do you need a ride?”
I tried to scroll past this. I really did
i don't wanna be on my phone but i need my phone to figure out where i'm going on a walk and i need my phone to get to my audiobook and i need my phone to call my brother and i need my phone to get in touch with my friends which is fine but i don't want to be on my phone.
so i walk and that's fine and i'm using the phone in an okay-way in that moment. but sometimes i am using the phone like it is a weapon and that's stupid because no it's not. ive seen a weapon those are different this is a phone. but it's also in my hands until 2 AM and i haven't slept. at 4AM. i don't even mean to do it half the time i'm opening the phone to check the weather or to check my email which are things-that-are-okay but then i am in my phone for hours somehow, and i missed the dawn while i was on instagram. i don't even like instagram.
i don't want to be on my phone im not good at it so i try to put distance there but then i'm distancing myself from my friends. we meet up in person but my pictures are on my phone and the menu is on the phone (mon dieu) and so is venmo. so i need the phone to be with my friends and that's fine because it can record concerts and fun activities and i can take pictures of them smiling with pumpkins.
but i don't want to be on the phone because i go to look at the pictures of the pumpkins and i hate how i look in it but it's fine. and somewhere between the pumpkins and 3AM i have lost so much time. i don't even know what i'm doing on it only that i don't enjoy it any longer. it is this long blank void. forever and ever. restless like how mushrooms feel restless beside a dead body.
i don't want to be on my phone so i pick up the phone and i type into google things to do in my area and i save them to my phone and i'll need my phone to get to the tickets and i'll need my phone to book the appointment and i'll need it, i'll need it
from Tiny Beautiful Things, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos.
<3
someone: whats your favorite [insert literally anything here]
me: *forgets everything i’ve ever enjoyed* uhhhh
oh my god she's attempting a series.
I got a lot of nice feedback on this one shot, so I thought I just want to give a series a go!
Eddie Munson x female!reader Words: 2.3k+ Warnings: Other than the odd swear, none. It's a bit of a slowburner oops
Then
The curly haired boy who sat in front of you wasn’t in class today. He had been missing a lot of school recently, but that was okay. You would see him tomorrow, updating him with todays mathematics that you had drawn little stick figures over. You drew him little pictures to give him on his return, like usual, but this time they had started to pile up in your desk. You were just going to give them to him tomorrow.
Your eyebrows knitted together at the realisation that your friend hadn’t been at school for almost a week now, which was very unlike him. He would occasionally miss the odd day, not being allowed to tell you why - but a week was the longest he had been gone.
You missed him a lot. No one wanted to play with you at recess, and you were the last to be picked for teams. You also wanted to tell him of the gnarly scrape you got on your knee, but you were scared it would have healed by the time you finally got to show him.
Your friendship had kindled almost the moment you met at Hawkins Elementary. A scrawny young boy donned in clothing that were far too big on him had run up to you on your first day, as you clutched on to your parents hand - the knees of his trousers were completely scuffed from a previous tumble. You had eyed him curiously as he grinned at you manically.
“Hi! Are you new? I’m Eddie!”
You looked up at your parents for reassurance.
“Say hi, honey,” they smiled at you. You nodded back at Eddie.
“Hi,” you whispered, mustering up the courage to give the excited boy a small smile.
“I’ve not seen you around before! Where did you come from? Was it bigger than here? Did you fly here?!” His eyes lit up. “Did you turn in to a bat? My dad says that if I’m naughty, Ozzy Osbourne will turn in to a bat and come to get me in the night!” You looked at him confused.
“…Ozzy?” Eddie nodded.
“Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? My dad says they’re the best band ever!” Your parents had exchanged looks, slightly besides themselves that this small, scraggly six year old had even listened to a Black Sabbath song, let alone knowing the singers name.
The bell went, releasing your parents grasp from your hand.
“Good luck honey! We’ll pick you up after school okay? Have a good day!” You nervously looked around, seeing that Eddie was waving after your parents too.
“Come on! You can sit next to me!” Eddie bounded off, and you instinctively followed after him.
Eddie finally arrived back at school the following Monday, your excitement to see him did not seem reciprocated. The childlike wonder in his eyes had dulled, now replaced with dark circles under them. You soon came to learn that he had been taken to live with his uncle, his dad was never mentioned again.
You invited him to your birthday outing to the park, which he originally declined. After weeks of begging ( “But seven is my lucky number! You have to come!”), his Uncle finally convinced him to go. He had bought you a present, but for the most part, he sulked under the slide, only coming out when you forced him to play pirates.
His sparkle slowly came back in time, but as growing up became tougher and kids became meaner, he had built up his own wall. Wayne Munson had a lot on his hands raising a rebellious Eddie, who had decided that he was not going to conform to the ways of society.
This had also rubbed off on you, and the two of you became misfits together - your parents and Wayne at a loss for ideas on what to do with the pair of you.
Despite everything, you had always stuck together. Through the school crushes to crashing the school dance (Eddie's idea), to playing your first gig at The Hideout with Eddies new friends. Eddie had encouraged you to pick up the bass when he was given his first guitar in middle school (“Imagine how metal it will be!”), and together, with Jeff and Gareth, you created Corroded Coffin.
You had movie nights every Friday, alternating between whose place you stayed at - a tradition that had been going on for as long as you could remember.
Together, you had been called in to the principles office, and told you were going to be retaking senior year.
September 1985
“We are not listening to this again, surely?” Eddie poked fun at The Cure’s new album 'The Head on the Door' playing in your car as he chucked his bag in the back seat.
You shrugged. “I’m nothing if not consistent! Plus, it's only been out a couple of weeks, I need to give it a really good listen.”
“For the 100th time?" he jested, as you nodded intently. "Well, lucky for you, I’ve bought Sabbath along for the ride,” he grinned, holding the tape up to his face. While the two of you had always experimented with various styles, Eddie’s contagious smile was a staple. It was one of his most charming features, as it crinkled in the corner of his large brown eyes. You sighed, a smirk tugging at the corners of your mouth.
“You, are unbelievable Munson.”
“I’m nothing if not consistent,” he quoted, swapping the cassettes over. Rolling your eyes, you turned out of the driveway from the trailer park and headed towards Hawkins High. You had sworn to yourself that this was the year you were finally going to graduate, and you’d be damned if you didn’t drag Eddie up on that stage alongside with you.
You had both agreed on carpooling this year, using it as a strategy to plan out the nights you were going to study in between the evenings where you had band practice, gigs, and Eddie’s D&D campaigns. He had enthusiastically expressed how this year, he wanted to encourage some of the new freshman to play, acting out in exact detail how he was going to entice them to join Hellfire Club.
“We need some fresh blood” he had joked, but deep down you knew he was nervous that Hellfire would be no more once he graduated.
Eddie found it incredibly difficult to find people who wanted to play, due to people’s fear of the game. Media had spread propaganda that it led to cult like antics, and with Hawkins being a small (and cursed) town, the citizens had clung on to every word. The only people that remained in Hellfire now were Eddie, Gareth, Jared, and the odd person who would decide to see what it was about, before never being seen again.
You had played a couple of games, having read through Eddie’s rulebooks when he first took an interest. The stories that he came up with fascinated you, his creative side really shone through as he tactically laid out his next big twist - his mind not faltering for even a second. No one would see what the boy had planned, and sometimes he’d even keep it from you, so you could join in on the groups loud reactions, even if you didn’t play. The passion that Eddie had for creating the perfect campaign was the glue that kept his club together.
If only he had that passion when it came to creative writing at school.
“So,” you started. “Did you manage to find any new recruits for Hellfire this week?”
Eddie grinned.
“Oh yeah!” You raised your eyebrows at his response.
“Yeah?”
“Well, I haven’t spoken to them properly yet. I invited them to lunch yesterday while you were at the library, to see if they clicked with the group. One of them was wearing a Weird Al shirt on his first day! Pretty bold, right?”
You nodded, as Eddie rolled down the window, the breeze picking up in the vehicle instantly.
“As bold as you jumping out at Jason last year and scaring the living daylights out of him for, oh yeah, no reason?”
“The shit deserved it,” he muttered, examining the end of the lock of hair he had wrapped round his finger.
“‘The shit’ ended up almost breaking your arm,” you reminded him, the flashback of Jasons cronies having to force Jason off of Eddie as you, Gareth and Jeff tried to get him up. It had earned him detention for two weeks.
“But he didn’t,” he pointed out matter-of-factly. Clicking his tongue, he continued. “Anyway, the kids - they’re great, but I just think they need a bit more encouragement. They’re obviously well trained in the game, I just need to see that spark.” His hands began to drum against his legs.
“Oh! Talking of sparks, Steve mentioned that I can swing by Family Video later and pick from one of the newest releases for movie night tonight!” A tradition you’d both had since you were younger.
Having recently befriended Robin Buckley, you had realised that Steve Harrington came as part of a package deal type thing, much to Eddie’s disgust.
He snorted. “Good old Steve Harrington hey? Definitely not the type to do whatever a pretty girl says without any intention.” The spite in his voice suggested he wasn’t joking.
“And what, exactly, do you mean by that then?” Eddie would spurt out anything that was on his mind without thinking, a trait he shared with his Uncle. He raised his hands in defence.
“Woah, hey, nothing. I just think you should be careful with him, you know?” He turned back to sit fully in his seat. “He goes through a girl a week, I’m pretty sure.”
You chuckled. “Eds, he graduated last year. I think he’s moved on from that now, don’t you?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you when we go in there to pick a film.”
“Are you sure he’s not just watching to make sure we don’t steal anything?”
“Jesus H Christ that was one time and it was a complete accident! I forgot it was under my arm!” You rolled your eyes, remembering how you’d had to beg Steve and Robin to not ban you both from the shop. Thankfully for you, they didn’t want to admit they messed up to their boss - so you were let off pretty easily. You let out a small laugh at the memory, but Eddie didn’t find it as amusing.
“Okay but look, you can’t just judge the guy on his love life through high school! He may be a changed man,” you shrugged.
“Like he didn’t judge us for being freaks?” Eddie spat back, making you recoil slightly at the venom in his tone. You threw him a quick look, and he knew he’d gone too far.
An awkward silence fell between you, as you turned in to the school parking lot, as you tapped your fingers against the steering wheel.
You’d learned to pick your battles when it came to arguments with Eddie, and this was not one of the ones you wanted to continue.
“So you’re at Hellfire until…7?”
He nodded, turning to grab his bag. It was never big enough to fit his books in, but big enough to store todays lunch and whatever stash he had to sell without arousing suspicion.
“Don’t scare the freshman out of their wits, okay? And please, don’t be late,” you added softly, and he smiled.
“When, my lady, am I ever late?” Rolling your eyes in response, you parked up and grabbed your own backpack, slinging it over your shoulder.
“I can count multiple times in our friendship…” You were silenced by Eddie waving his hands in your face with a multitude of shushes as you playfully swatted his hands away, sending you both in to a fit of laughter.
“Okay okay okay, right. I won’t scare the freshman, I promise. Recap the plan for tonight for me?”
Falling in to a slow walk towards the science block, you began to recite how the evening was going to work.
“I’ll leave here after school, head to Family Video. Pick up the movie for tonight…”
“Fright Night.” He interrupted, not missing a beat.
“Right. Grab some snacks, hang out with Robin for as long as I can before Keith comes and kicks me out. That then gives me an hour to quickly drive home, grab my over night bag for yours, and I’ll be in the parking lot bang on 7pm!”
Eddie had always enjoyed listening to you - whether it was about the things you were passionate about, or even as something as mundane as the route you were taking to the video shop. You could ramble on for eternity, bringing in about five different stories before going back to the original point of the conversation, and he was always willing to listen.
He was snapped out of his daydream of you when he realised you were clicking your fingers in his face.
“Earth to Munson? Does that sound okay to you?”
“Yep! Parking lot by 7, got it.” He was confused when you threw your head back and laughed.
“I actually asked if I should bring my bass to yours so we can have a bit of a practice before we see the guys on Monday? We could do it tomorrow!”
Yes, 100 times yes. I don’t think I could say yes any more times to that question, his mind raced, as he managed to blurt out a “Oh, yeah no that sounds great!”
You smiled.
“Great, then I’ll make sure to grab that too then!” Stopping outside your classroom, you reached out to put a reassuring hand on his arm. “I know it’s the end of the week, and I know Mrs. Click is a hag…but I want this to be our year, okay?”
“Yeah, it’s our year.” A small smile appeared on his lips, as you patted him on the shoulder before turning off.
“And don’t be late!” Your voice rang out before disappearing in to the crowd towards your class. He scanned the hallway, but you were already gone.
With you by his side, Eddie Munson felt invincible.