This Man Is The Love Of My Life I Fear

this man is the love of my life i fear

photo credits: @joehhy / flwphy on instagram.

About You

(Early November 1984)

Prologue: The Split

Eddie Munson x female!harrington!reader

Chapter Summary: Eddie confronts you about where you have been. When you cannot provide an answer, the worst case scenario happens...

Word Count: 1.7k (this is probably the shortest chapter lol)

series masterlist here

Chapter warnings: Angst, breakup, aggressive Eddie, cheating allegations (not true)

Your heart dropped to the trailer floor- ripped in two halves.

The statement your boyfriend just produced felt like he has thrust a knife into your chest, removed your heart, and ripped it in two. You wished the bed you sat upon would swallow you whole. Your eyes welled up and obstructed your view of him leaning on the dresser across the room from you as the words he spat reverberated in your brain like a harsh melody.

“If you can’t trust me enough to tell me then I just… I don’t know if I can be with you.” Eddie hesitated as the weight of his words and the gravity of the situation dawned upon him. He crossed his arms on his chest and stretched the red flannel he was wearing across his biceps. It was a defensive stance that reflected his uncomfortable and frazzled state- yet you couldn’t help but recognize how beautiful he was as he did the simple action, no matter how inappropriate the circumstance was.

You dragged your thoughts away from that of Eddies effortless beauty and pulled your sweater over your hands. Using the heel of your palm, you wiped the quickly drying the water from your cheeks.

You weren’t crying because you were sad, not even because you were angry. You cried out of frustration. Helplessness seeped through your skin and your stomach churned at the fact there was nothing you could say or do to fix the situation.

You cried because he was right. If you couldn’t tell him what happened, he couldn’t stay with you. You couldn’t say why you disappeared for a week straight. Why you were talking to that douchebag Billy at school. Why you have cuts and bruises splattered across your beautiful body like paint. Why you have ignored him except for the unavoidable places like class and lunch.

“Eddie please,” you plead- no, beg, “Don’t do this. I just can’t, not now. Eventually I will I just-”

“Trust me y/n I don’t want to. This-“ he welled up- a mirror image of the girl standing across from him, “I don’t think you get how much this is destroying me.”

“Then don’t! Just give me a little while, please- just until things settle and die down- “

“What does that even mean!” he yelled exasperated, pushing off the dresser to close some of the space between you. His shoulders were hunched like the conversation was physically weighing him down. “Die down? What things? Just tell me where you were! If you can’t tell me that then I have no choice but to assume you- “he stalled.

Eddie’s glassy eyes looked into yours with unprecedented intensity. Pleading with you to prove his suspicions wrong. To put his worries to rest and ease his fracturing mind.

Billy Hargrove was a sorry excuse for a boy- much less a man. The thought of the misogynistic asshole making Eddie insecure was vile, yet you couldn’t dispel his anxieties. You wanted nothing more than to cut down the thought and provide an alibi- dispelling all worries from the guarded boy’s sensitive state. But your alibi was too horrific and legally classified to disclose to your boyfriend, so Eddie had to stay out of the loop.

Eddie didn’t believe you cheated, but his sad and clouded mind could not come to another conclusion. He did trust you. Implicitly so. But Eddie just couldn’t believe his luck. Getting you to be his girlfriend in the first place, keeping you for so long with so many other eligible options for you to choose from, and you loved him? In his mind, the tables had to turn at some point- and here it was.

“I wasn’t with him. I would never cheat on you, Eddie. I love you. I need you like I need oxygen- it kills me you think I would ever want someone else.” You whine to him.

“Then prove me wrong, y/n! Let’s look at the facts. He’s been hitting on you all year. I find you and him in a corner at Tina’s Halloween party- “

“He cornered me! Could you not see how relieved I was when you pulled me out of there?”

“-You go M.I.A. for like a week and when you finally resurface, Darren tells me he finds you consoling him behind the gym! What the fuck is up y/n!”

“Darren doesn’t know what the hell he saw! Please Eds you have to understand-”

“Then enlighten me y/n! Look me in the eye and tell me you weren’t with him when you disappeared. Tell me you don’t like him.”

You match his intensity. You leave the bed, meeting him in the middle of the room, and close the gap that separates the two of you- grasping his face in your hands and palms cupping his cheeks. Your eyes burning with insistence into his melting chocolate ones.

“I wasn’t with him. I love you, teddy. I can’t even- god I can’t even think about someone else.”

He grabbed at your wrists and paused a moment. He believed you. He loved you too. But it wasn’t enough to erase the betrayal. “Then where were you.”

You closed your eyes and leaned your forehead against his. You understood why he couldn’t let it go. Eddie told you once that it felt like he repelled commitment; his parents dumped him with Wayne as a child, most of his classmates avoided all interaction with him, and his teachers all gave up on helping him a long time ago. But then you came along. A raft in a raging sea. A blanket in a merciless winter. So, you could understand why this broke him. You were the only shred of light left and if you abandoned him too- he feared he would be left in the dark. Permanently.

What you couldn’t do- is tell him what happened. You couldn’t explain that your best friend’s little brother and friends found a bald-headed girl in the woods last year that unlocked a secret world which paralleled Hawkins but was infested with monsters of unimaginable horror. You couldn’t tell him that the boy you babysat, Will Byers, started seeing a shadow monster in the sky and accidentally blipping into that ghastly netherworld and was somehow connected to said shadow monster that had intentions to take over the boy, the town, and probably the world. You couldn’t tell him that the reason you went off the grid was to team up with your friends and focus on taking down this ominous evil. You couldn’t tell him that Billy's little sister was a part of the motley crew that banded together to take down this monster which caused Billy to come looking for said little sister. And you certainly couldn’t tell him that you were talking to him behind the gym at school to see if he was alright after taking a bad beating from your brother and recovering from an involuntary drugging by his sister- your kindness getting the better of you.

So, you didn’t.

“I just can’t explain it. Yet.”

Eddie inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. He pulled your hands from his face and separated your foreheads from each other. He looked into your eyes- his own begging you to change your mind and not force him to make this choice.

When your face projected that you were cemented in your decision, he became cemented in his.

“Then come find me when you can. Until then, I think we- “He stopped as tears left his eyes and found purchase in the shag carpet of his bedroom floor. He found his voice again and finished his sentence, “We need to be done.”

He let your arms go and they fell limply to your sides. You couldn’t feel them, as they dragged your shoulders down. You couldn’t feel the tears that streamed down your cheeks onto your neck and collarbone. You couldn’t even feel the floor beneath you- like the news pulled the ground out from under you. That’s why you can only assume you floated to the front porch since you didn’t feel your legs pull you away from Eddies bedroom where he sat on his floor in a hysterical ball.

You don’t remember the fight after he said you should break up. You don’t remember the pleading and begging and shouting from both parties. You don’t remember calling your brother to come pick you up from the trailer you once considered a second home.

“I thought he was driving you home. Its only like 6?”

“Stevie, please. Just- just come get me.”

“Oh… okay then. I’ll be there in a little bit.”

You don’t remember how long you sat on Eddies front porch with misty eyes and a trembling body from the crisp November night air.

But you will never, ever forget the sound of Eddies muffled sobs of anger through the thin trailer walls, or the look on his face as he watched you climb into Steve’s car through the window in his room- pure anguish and immediate regret.

Steve gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white, as he too saw Eddie visibly distraught through the window. Only after he slowly pulled out of the Forest Hills trailer park and turned onto the main road, did he finally break the silence.

“You okay?”

“No.”

You figured there was no point in lying. Steve always found your bluntness amusing, even as children. However, the low morale of the car ride has him unable to find the humor in your comment.

“Do you feel like talking?”

“No.”

You both breathed for a second. There was no need to talk. It went unspoken. You both knew what just happened and you both knew that the next few months were going to be rough. Grueling. Torturous. But you had Stevie to help. So, you wouldn’t be alone.

But you both knew he wasn’t who you wanted by your side. Who you needed by your side.

He wasn’t Eddie.

Steve’s heart ached at the state you were in. The streetlights turned his passenger window into a mirror, reflecting a vision of you with puffy eyes and silent tears racing down the hills of your cheeks.

Meanwhile, it was like your life was flashing before your eyes. Memories of you and Eddie filled your head and ripped you apart. Picnics in the back of his van, private concerts in his room, stolen kisses in yours, strong arms that held you together when it times got hard.

He came and made everything right. Now, he has left. And everything is wrong.

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This is my first story so be kind to it! I just love writing as a hobby and stranger things (*cough Eddie cough*) and thought I’d take a try. :)))))

About You

(Late January 1985) Chapter 4: The Rift

Eddie Munson x female!harrington!reader

Chapter Summary: After the events of the New Years party, you are actively avoiding Eddie. Will you relent and work through this miscommunication?

Word Count: 4 k

series masterlist here

Chapter warnings: fluffy activities with Eleven(sister behavior), unwanted flirting, slight angst, slight bullying, annoying principles

Monday is an unholy day in your opinion; a day violently contrasting the relaxing sabbath that antedated it. Everything about the day is inconvenient and unhopeful. Close enough to the previous weekend to reminisce and long for it, yet too far away from the next to look forward to it. A day that is unforgiving to those who can’t get out of bed on time- a synonym for yourself.

Your sneakers squeaked against the polished tile of the hallways, swimming upstream against the current of students making their way to class. You and Steve had both woken up late and needed to stop for gas before school, making you enter the parking lot right as the bell rang that signified students to begin meandering towards their first period class. You opened the door to the school as the warning bell sounded, and you all but ran across campus to get to Mrs. Click’s class.

Your back hurt from your backpack slapping against you at the vigorous motion of your running, and your arms grew red where the books you held rubbed and dug into your skin. Your stomach growled from your lack of breakfast and your mind reeled at the thought of not being able to eat for another 3 hours till lunch period.

Just as you turned the corner to enter the hallway containing Mrs. Clicks class, you were met with a road block. A handsome, brow haired, leather-clad road block.

Eddie stood in front of the door opposite to Clicks classroom, looking down at his watch anxiously and fiddling with the rings on his fingers.

Eddie had arrived early to school in hopes to catch you before the bell. He was desperate to talk to you after the events of New Year’s Eve, but he had given you space for the rest of winter break. You had been avoiding him at every twist and turn in the narrow halls of the high school and the boy couldn’t seem to catch you.

He didn’t understand what had happened. He wondered if you had changed your mind about him- but he hated jumping to conclusions. He just wanted- no, needed to talk to you.

You, however, had no desire to be let down again. After Eddie rejected your kiss, you figured he had felt sorrow for you and was leading you on to be nice- one last favor for the sake of exes. You skin crawled and you stomach knotted at the second-hand embarrassment that resonated within you when thinking about the almost-kiss that didn’t happen that night.

You had barely made it around the corner when your brain registered the small flash of his figure down the hallway and instinctually pivoted to dart in the other direction. Your sneaker made a harsh sliding noise against the floor as you changed your course- the offensive noise making Eddies head snap in the direction of it. He caught a glimpse of you retreating, and immediately pushed off the wall he had settled on to follow you.

You quickly walked in the opposite direction, grateful for the girl’s bathroom that was present in that section of the school. You dashed into the restroom, entered a stall, and sat on a toilet with your head in your hands. It was pitiful, avoiding Eddie like this, and not giving him the chance to speak when you knew he so desperately wanted to. You just couldn’t bring yourself to do it- cowardice ultimately winning.

Eddie rounded the corner and watched as the bathroom door swung shut. In a fit of determination Eddie stalked towards the girl’s room, not caring what he had to do to get a moment to talk with you. As his had made contact with the door handle, and irritating voice echoed down the hallway.

“Mr. Munson! I don’t believe that is your first period classroom?” Principle Higgins questioned the boy, outwardly smug at nagging on the boy.

Eddie, hand still attached to the door handle, twisted his head around to look at the man with annoyance, “No, I just-“

“I didn’t think so. Have you suddenly developed short term memory loss and forgotten where your classroom is located?”

“No, but I-“

“That’s what I figured. I suggest you get to class Mr. Munson.” Higgins smirked villainously at him.

Eddie breathed deeply- ready to put up a fight. “But, I needed to-“

“Let me rephrase- get to class Munson. Unless you’d like to spend another senior year with us?”

Eddies fist was clenched tight around the handle as he fumed at the older man, trying to smite him where he stood with his gaze. Principle Higgins arched his eyebrow and Eddie reluctantly let go of the handle.

“No, sir.”

“Good.” The man spun around and sauntered off to vex more children- a favorite pass time of his.

Eddie, too, spun around to be face to face with 3 girls he recognized from various classes and grades. They all stared at him perplexed as he loomed in from of the girl room. Eddie snapped out of his stupor and grabbed the handle again, opening it and sweeping his arm inwards to invite the girls in.

“Ladies.” He stated as they all retreated in to the bathroom, giving him particularly nasty looks and quizzical side eyes. The short blonde muttered a small freak under her breath while she passed in a cloud of overwhelming cheap perfume. Eddie couldn’t bring himself to be offended, his armor too strong to be penetrated by such petty comments.

As he let the door close, his face blossomed red and he pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets in embarrassment. “God dammit.” He complained as he wandered off to class.

He doesn’t care how or when- but Eddie would speak with you sooner or later.

Just not today, and not in the girl’s bathroom.

Monday, bloody Monday.

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The door to the cabin was locked and the curtains were drawn. The sounds of the forest mixed in with the soft melody coming from the tiny radio sitting on top of the refrigerator. The warm glow of the lamps, bouncing off of the dark wood, made you feel like you were encompassed in amber.

After being credited with taking down the evil Hawkins lab, Hopper was branded somewhat of a local legend. His reputation strong enough to have him sent to the town over to help out their police force, forcing him to vacate for a weekend. Uncomfortable leaving Eleven by herself, the gruff older man phoned you for a favor. You had proven yourself a capable chaperone at the dance, so you were left in charge of looking out for, cooking, and entertaining the young, telekinetic girl.

“What better way to spend the weekend than with a superhero?” You had joked while shaking the chief’s firm and worn hand.

Not only were you thankful for something to do that weekend, but you were thankful for a distraction from the thoughts of Eddie that plagued you. You couldn’t stop thinking about him, the party, the almost-kiss, and his pleading looks at school. You had to get some air- away from the suffocation of Hawkins and the memory of him.

That Saturday had been filled with painting, a dance party, and a movie marathon of whatever was showing on TV that didn’t disinterest you both. Now, you stood in the cramped quarters of the kitchen making spaghetti- a dish Eleven had yet to indulge in due to Hopper’s aversion to cooking.

“Doesn’t he cook you food?” You had asked Eleven.

“Yes, with the box.” “The box?” The young girl rose from the couch and guided you into the kitchen, presenting you with the microwave.

“The microwave?” She nodded her head up and down with a small smile.

You eyed the fridge next to you, reached for the handle, and pulled the door to the ice box open. You were immediately faced with columns of frozen meals to be microwaved.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Hopper!” You shut the door in exasperation and faced the girl again. “No wonder you wanted to leave so bad.” Eleven giggled at your blunt humor.

You quickly proclaimed you would be making her a homecooked meal tonight and that the dish would change her young and sheltered life. “You’ve not truly lived until you’ve had a mouth full of red sauce and garlic bread.” Eleven’s mouth began to water at the thought of a new and foreign dish as she pleaded you to begin cooking at once.

You gathered your ingredients, found a pot, and began boiling the water. You cut up the garlic with teary eyes, prompting the young girl to become concerned.

“Why do you cry, Y/n?” “Oh, I’m fine! It’s the garlic. There is some property to it that makes people’s eyes water and sometimes it’ll sting super bad if you get it directly in your eye.” She nodded her head in confirmation, her worries nixed through your culinary teachings.

You allowed her to slice the bread and rub the garlic on the pieces. She smiled softly, enjoying being included in the process and experiencing something new and domestic- a luxury she has scarcely been afforded in her short yet tumultuous life.

Eleven looked over at you stirring the pot of simmering noodles, your hair pulled back into a ponytail, and couldn’t help but want to be you when she grew up. Throughout all the events of the past year, you had always been there and been such a beacon of strength for her. You were everything she wanted to be. Smart, kind, strong and beautiful. “Y/N?” she questioned in her flute like voice.

“Hm?”

“We are friends, right?”

You smiled brightly and looked over at the girl, one hand clutching a clove of garlic and the other gripping the pan that holds the bread. “Of course, El. We are friends.”

She smiled the widest you’d ever seen her produce, then sheepishly ducked back into her work.

***

Now, El sat at the tiny, two-person table by the kitchen giggling at your antics.

You danced around the kitchen with a wooden spoon for a make-shift microphone, singing along to the pop song on the radio. She giggled and cheered you on as you exuberantly flailed your arms around and twirled on your socked feet.

Pieces of your hair fell around your face, leaking out of your ponytail, and your face was flushed from the effort of dancing.

While watching you be carefree, El couldn’t help but think about Kali; her “sister” for all intents and purposes. Kali had taken care of Eleven when she needed her most, guided her through the darkness, and ensured she was stronger when she emerged on the other side. And here you were, taking care of Eleven too. You might not have been teaching her to move a train car with her mind, but you were willingly here with her, sacrificing your time and making her dinner. You were taking care of her, and in the moment, Eleven swore to herself that you were her sister. You were loud, boisterous, caring, adventurous, and whole-heartedly family to the young girl.

You broke El from her intense train of thought to have her help you test the food.

“I throw the noodles?” El cocked her head to the side in confusion. She done many a crazy thing in her life, but this had to be the strangest.

“Well, not all of them, but a few will do.”

More questionable stares were given from the girl.

“In order to tell if the spaghetti is done cooking, you have to throw the noodles at the wall. And if they stick to it, that means they are done cooking. I don’t know if it’s true or where it came from but my mother and I always used to do it together back when we would have big family dinners. I figured it would be interesting to see if it’s as fun as I remember it.” You explained to the girl, fishing with a spoon in the large pot for a few noodles to place on a small paper plate you found covered in dust in a cabinet.

You brought the plate close to your mouth a blew on the food, cooling down the pasta enough to pick up a strand between your index finger and your thumb. You placed the plate down and backed up to the edge of the kitchen. Eleven scurried behind you to avoid the projectile and you gazed over your shoulder to meet the gaze of the girl, “Watch this.”

You turned back to face the wall, brought your arm up behind you with the noodle in tow, counted down from three, then launched it at the wall across the space.

Splat.

The warm and wet noodle stuck to the wall with a hard thump, the noise startling the telekinetic girl behind you.

“See!” You giggled.

Elevens eyes went wide and she raced forwards to inspect the wall locked pasta. She poked at it until it slid off the wall and landed by her feet on the cabin floor in a limp pile.

She peaked through the curtain of her short, curly hair to gaze curiously at you.

“You wanna try?”

A smile erupted smoothly on her face, as she vigorously shook her head up and down. She reached to the plate, plucked a noodle from off of it, and took your place at the edge of the kitchen. She followed your movements, wound her arm up, then let the noddle fly. As it hit the wall and stuck, she giggled and clapped, amazed by the spectacle in front of her.

In that moment, a thunderous noise emitted from your stomach. Eleven looked almost shocked that such a violent sound could come from your body. You chuckled and blushed, the confessed, “I’m a little hungry. Let’s eat now.”

****

The conversation ebbed and flowed as spaghetti was slurped and sauce was splattered upon white plastic plates. It was safe to say you had discovered Elevens new favorite dish. She couldn’t get enough of the noodles as you educated her on the many types of spaghetti noodles that exist and the different ways to make them. She nearly choked on her garlic bread when you told her about meatballs.

Eventually, the topic changed to the subject you dreaded all evening.

Boys.

Eleven mentioned an antic Mike and the gang got up to at the Snow Ball, prompting her to dissect the inner workings of boys. “Do you have a friend like Mike, Y/n?”

You swallowed your mouthful of noodles and took a deep breathe of air before speaking. As you exhaled, you let your chin rest on the heel of your palm while your elbow propped itself up against the table. You looked down at the pasta in front of you, and strangely could only thing of Eddies hair.

The swirling of the noodles on themselves resembled that of Eddies untamed curls- an ache in your chest panged and reverberated, a lonely buzzing took up shop on your bones again like it had done not too long ago.

“Yeah. I had a friend like Mike. We aren’t friends like that anymore though.”

“Why? Don’t you want to be friends?”

“Oh yes I do, but… I don’t think he wants to be friends anymore. Some things happened and I don’t think he wants to be friends anymore.”

Eleven’s mouth turned downwards to morph into a frown. She could not contain her sadness and confusion.

“But you still want to be friends?” she questioned, scooping another heaping of spaghetti into her mouth.

“Very much so. But I want him to be happy and I feel like it would be best if he wasn’t involved with me and all” you gestured your forked hand around your vicinity, “this mess with other worlds and what not.”

“Hopper tried to do that to me. It did not work. Time and space did not stop me from being Mike’s friend. Do not copy me.”

El’s short and choppy phrases cut through you like a knife. While, not complex, her statement and sentiment were there and apparent. She was right. She stayed away from Mike to protect him- but in reality, it did nothing but hurt the both of them.

You were too tired and confused to fully process her words, but you smiled at her implications. Your situation was a little more complicated however. Nonetheless, you smiled at her suggestion.

“When did you get so smart, huh?” you chuckled.

El smiled sheepishly into her pasta, shoving another forkful into her mouth.

Both of you grinned to yourselves and finished the meal peacefully.

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The sound of pages flipping, pencils scratching and sharpening, people sniffing and coughing, and dull mumbles filled the library like a cacophony of academia.

The words in your history textbook blurred together into hieroglyphic like scribbles that your overstimulated brain could not make sense of. You’d been in the library during your free period trying to study for your upcoming quiz, but you couldn’t keep the content straight in your mind- the lesson plan you studied all blurring into one flurry of history you couldn’t make sense of.

Usually, you had no problem studying- academics coming naturally to you. You seemed to be inept at this point in time because of the watchful eyes glued to your form. But they were not the usual brown orbs you were used to observing you. They were an irritating shade of algae green that belonged to your friend Andy.

Ever since that party before winter break when Andy helped you take care of Dina, the fluffy haired boy seemed to have developed a rapid affinity for you. In your shared classes the boy has taken it upon himself to move his seats next to yours and seemed to have wormed his way deeper into your social group.

Andy has always been a good guy, but he was the class clown- and a somewhat annoying one at that. He was a good friend to you, but you could tell that Andy was stooping in to snatch you up in Eddies absence.

Bile rose in your throat at even entertaining someone who wasn’t Eddie. You had come to the conclusion that if you couldn’t have Eddie, you would just go without anyone. Or at least until you moved off to college- but the thought of moving on made your eyes water and your throat close up.

From across the long table, you sat at, Andy lounged with his textbook open, yet discarded, with his eyes glued to your unconcentrated form. Your eyes shot up for a moment to peek at the boy, confirmed he was still studying you instead of his book, and returned your nose to its home in your own literature.

You huffed in irritation, perplexed by his unrelenting gaze. You felt like an animal in a zoo, being watched and prodded into making a move. Andy’s eyes and energy begged for you to do anything that showed you wanted him around, but no such reassurance would come for him. You had given him no indication you were interested, yet Andy seems to believe he can create a relationship out of pure proximity.

Andy’s increasing advancements had not gone unnoticed by Eddie as well.

Eddie frequented the library often, usually browsing the fantasy section or checking out The Hobbit for the umpteenth time. He had not come to the library with the intention of monitoring you, but the situation in front of him begged for his attention. Eddie stood leaning against a bookcase some ways away- a watchful eye held on you and Andy.

As Andy’s eyes tracked you, Eddies locked onto the boy- monitoring his funny business for himself. Eddie watched as you huffed for the last time, leaning down to the side of your chair to retrieve your backpack. You stowed the textbook away and sighed in defeat as you stood up to exit the studying space.

Andy took this as an invitation to follow.

The bell chimed to signal the end of the school day and an influx of students joined you and your journey to leave the library. Eddie felt like a stalker, lurking in the shadows and just around every corner to keep an eye on you. But he felt he had to protect you from the advances of this clown that vexed him.

Eddie watched as both you and Andy rounded the corner of a hallway- beckoning him to follow. It took Eddie a few moments to reach the turn seeing as he was a way down the hallway from you and Andy, but when he rounded the corner, he saw a sight he hoped he’d never have to see.

You pressed up uncomfortably into your closed locker, clutching onto the straps of your backpack. Andy, with one arm braced up against your head on the locker, loomed over you predatorily. Eddie knew Andy wouldn’t try anything slick and his creepy stance was nothing but a show to seem dominant, however Eddies gut churned at the thought of anyone flirting with you.

You were Eddies, and he’d be damned if he let you slip away. But, from the looks of it, Andy would not be the one to snatch you away- you looked about as uninterested in him as Eddie was in school work.

Eddie stalked up to the pair and listened as Andy pressed, “Come on, Y/n. Just one date. It’ll be fun!”

“Andy, I have too much on my plate right now. I’d rather not get distracted-“

“Don’t be that way Y/n.” Andy scoffed reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I think she said she wasn’t interested, Trimble.” Eddie called out to the boy, making Andy remove himself quickly from your general vicinity and comb a quick hand through his hair.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t realize…” Andy trailed off, and scampered away from the smirking misfit and the agape girl.

Before Eddie could even turn to address you, you launched out of the hallway and out the double doors leading to the parking lot. You fled, like a bat out of hell, away from the scene of your embarrassment. Your cheeks reddened at the thought of Eddie coming to your rescue unprompted. You felt infuriated and at a loss for words at why Eddie would prevent someone with flirting with you.

If he doesn’t want me, why won’t he leave me alone?

Eddie ran after you, slamming into the doors in an effort to open them quicker to catch you before you evaded him yet again.

However, his efforts proved fruitless as he watched you wind through rows of cars to reach your brothers vehicle and enter the sanctuary it provided.

As you shut the car door you gazed into the passenger side rear view mirror. Off in the distance, you could make out Eddies defeated form- shoulders heavy and fists clenched.

You roughly tossed your backpack over your shoulder and into the backseat in annoyance at Eddies behavior. You huffed and slumped into the passenger seat, arms crossed over themselves and closed your heavy eyes.

“You okay there?” your brother questioned.

“Yeah, just… Just a long day.” You sighed in response.

The distance between you and Eddie felt like a vast and hallow canyon. The wind that blew through it was harsh and bitter- no mercy for its two lonely inhabitants.

As you drove away from the school, the canyon expanded wider- the tremors of its growth could be felt by all.