#defending Eddie’s honor lol

[incorrect-losers]

*Eddie hearing about Richie and Bill’s fight*

Eddie: What did you do?

Richie: What do you think I did?

Eddie: Punched him? Headbutted him?

Richie: Keep going

Eddie: Did you murder him?

Richie: No. Worse. I fucking forgave him. It’s disgusting, isn’t it?

[belokhvostikova]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤: 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 | Following Friday’s events, Eddie Munson was on a mission to apologize to you, though everything fell short when your life began to crumble in a matter of hours.

��𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | Swearing, yelling, crying, self-deprecating thoughts, violence, experienced anxiety and panic attack, mentions of childhood abuse and neglect, and brief mentions of blood, body shaming, and non consensual touching.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 | For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to need all of you to ignore the blatantly unrealistic process of making a book in this story, lol. If there are any necessary warnings that were accidently left out, please feel free to let me know!

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 | One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐈. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡

Whatever mantra of the Munson Doctrine Eddie had been feeding himself to believe about the highest of the social hierarchy embedded within Hawkins High was really starting to fall short, specifically when your pretty face started monopolizing every one of his thoughts imaginable. 

As much as he’d like to admit otherwise, Eddie Munson liked staring at your face, and it was really starting to piss him off just how much he really liked doing it. And the situation only became worse when he steadily watched your wonted bewitching smile fade into a disheartened look of dejection, because that following weekend after your impromptu photo shoot with Hellfire, became the worst week of your life.

And Eddie Munson watched it entirely unravel right in front of him.

It never really occurred to Eddie just how much he’d casually gawk at you prior to said photo shoot. I mean, you were the face of the school, of course, you were hard to miss when you practically lit up the halls with your smile. And that’s merely what Eddie had chalked it up to; your popularity involuntarily placed you at the forefront of his attention. It wasn’t the small strands of baby hairs that perfectly framed your face, whether you decided to keep your hair natural, or styled it for the fun of it; it wasn’t your enthralling eyes that seemed to almost squint close because your cheeks became so full of delight with your spellbinding laugh; and it definitely wasn’t your apologetic reassurance that everything was okay to the kid from the drama club who accidentally bumped into you, causing you to drop your books, and you gave Andy McAvoy a stern talking to when he tried to defend your honor with violence against the poor kid. 

No, it was none of that that caught Eddie Munson’s attention to you (he forced himself to believe).

But now, things are different.

He’d actually gotten a chance to talk to you—yes, that cafeteria instance was the first time Eddie Munson had ever actually spoken to you, and he berated you with dehumanizing comments—and he blew it with his rash decision to automate you into a box of prissy cheerleaders that had nothing better to do than gossip with their friends- ah yes, that box, that was formulated by sexist losers who used it to justified their mean actions against innocent teenage girls. Oh, fuck, Eddie cringed to himself at the sudden self-realization. 

He had to fix this. He didn’t even have to confess his feelings—which, he didn’t have *cough* *cough*—he just had to apologize for his mistakes. What he wanted to believe to be patronizing was actually sincere on your part, and you didn’t deserve any of his degrading tirade. And his conscience was letting it be known. Resuming the campaign had been a shit-show that Friday, when all he could focus on was your crying face. It became even worse when he realized that he’d never actually seen you drive—always painfully third-wheeling with Jason Carver and Chrissy Cunningham, or silently pleading to Patrick McKinney to control Andy McAvoy when he felt entitled to nonconsensually feel you up in his convertible when they drove you to school—meaning you were probably left crying alone at night waiting to be picked up, or worse, walking home. And you did it just for him. For his friends. To be included in some stupid fucking yearbook, because he made a big deal out of it in the first place.  

Oh, shit, he was an awful fucking person, Eddie thought.  

So, come Monday morning, he would apologize. He had all weekend to find the right words, rehearse his apology to perfection, and plan when to actually say it to you. 

But Eddie Munson never got to correctly apologize to you on Monday. 

Because aforementioned, Monday was the start of the worst week of your life, and he got scared and simply watched everything happen.

- 

“No running in the halls, young lady.” Mr. Long sternly reminded, as you zoomed past him.

“Sorry, sir.” You weren’t sorry. The second he turned the corner, you picked up the pace and ran to the newspaper room, frantically attempting to shove the slender key into the slot with shaky hands. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Yearbook Committee had worked to finish the final draft of the Hawkins High 1986 Yearbook, and with the team’s effort, you all concluded the first official copy that held the recognition of all staff and students intertwined with a school year’s worth of memorabilia, squished between the glossy green and orange cover that encapsulated Hawkins High. 

And now, you were about to destroy it. 

Sixty minutes. You had sixty minutes. You managed to wake up early that Monday morning, practically running to school, and situating yourself within the newspaper room—sweaty and exhausted—an hour early before the bell rang to commence the school day. In truth, you’d like to say you were a badass, and demolished the yearbook with no regrets, but reality had quite literally sucked, and you were panicking for a solid five minutes before you came to a consensus. 

It had to be destroyed- well, not destroyed, just unbinded. God, you were such a dramatic coward. 

See, that Saturday afternoon with the Yearbook Committee, you had done your part, you really did. You gathered photos, helped have them printed, assisted Nancy Wheeler with the placement of pages, and took over binding the book together when Fred Benson’s scrawny hands cramped into oblivion. You also may have—very discreetly—had Hellfire’s picture printed, created an entirely new page to fit them between the Glee and Math Club, and it was then you realized you didn’t even know half of their names. It had never occurred to you on Friday night that—with the exception of Eddie Munson, Lucas Sinclair, and Mike Wheeler—you never caught the names of the other four members, prompting you to lose precious time after having to locate their stupid names in the student registry for identification—they weren’t stupid, you were just really frustrated at that point.

And now, on this fine Monday morning, you persevered through blistering callouses, contracting muscles, and sore knuckles to unbind and bind back the yearbook with an additional page within the “Hawkins High’s Clubs” recognitional section.

Hellfire’s page.

And it was perfect. 

The pages were still intact with their crisp stiffness of that of a newly unopened book, and you cleaned off any smudges that impaired the quality of work within the creation. You stood back. You couldn’t help the soft giggle that left your lips at the mere sight of Hellfire sticking out like a sore thumb against the formality of the other photos—in true Hellfire fashion. But there it was. Their title, their photo, and their names that gave them the minimal ask to simply be acknowledged in a school that consistently disregarded their beings, and you were happy they finally got it. They deserved it. Even if Friday’s event left you crying alone in your bed feeling awful. It was worth it. Your thumb gently caressed the smooth page of their photo—Eddie’s photo—and reminisced on that night.

Had you actually done something terrible? Was Eddie right to call you out on your actions? You certainly knew you hadn’t caused this entire commotion out of pitiness, though you understood where he may have interpreted it as such. I mean, even though you never did anything, your friends made his life a living hell, villainizing his differences, casting him as a danger to society, affecting his life beyond just a superficial high school social life. It was true torment. 

You understood the facade which Eddie Munson had to put on to protect himself, but what you didn’t understand was the sudden shallowness that appeared when you thought you proved yourself to be more than just a ditzy cheerleader. Why were you even trying to prove yourself to some guy? Eddie Munson was an awful person. Right? He yelled at you, judged you, degraded you, and all for nothing- well, as far as you knew. So yeah, Eddie Munson was an awful person. You may have understood him, but he was still an asshole. You’d done your part, adding Hellfire to the yearbook, and that was that. That was all you needed to do. You no longer had to think about his stupid feelings, his stupid hair—which you totally didn’t want to run your hands through—his stupid brown eyes that made you shutter as they bore into yours, and his stupidly beautiful smile. You also kinda wondered how his hands might feel on your-

“What are you doing here?”

Jesus Christ, how long has Nancy Wheeler been standing there? You didn’t even hear the door open. 

“Uh, um, j-just looking at the, uh, yearbook?” You mumbled. You wished you had better control over your facial expressions, because right now, Nancy Wheeler was eyeing the fuck out of your worried guise. 

“You came to school early just to see the yearbook?” She questioned. 

“W-well, yeah, I mean, isn’t that why you’re here early? …Right?” You prayed.

Nancy blinked. “Yeah, I guess, just had to make sure everything was correct before Fred takes it to make copies.”

“Oh, Fred’s here?” You piqued with interest. 

Fred Benson didn’t actually pique your interest all too much—though, it was quite fascinating seeing how fast his slender fingers would cramp after just a couple minutes of working—but he did give the perfect escape from Nancy Wheeler’s captious glare. 

“Uh, yeah, he’s out front waiting for the book-”

“I’ll hand it to him!” You interjected, watching her face scrunch with confusion. You could only awkwardly laugh, “You know me and Fred,” you zoomed right past her, “just always so, uh… tight.” And you left without further explanation. 

Shoving Mr. Long’s word of chastisement right up his ass, you ran down the empty hall, yearbook held tightly in your tired hands, as you rejected any of Nancy’s calls for you to come back. Reaching the double glass doors, you spotted Fred mindlessly tweaking with his camera in the front seat of his car.

“Fred!” You could visibly make out the bewildered “huh” that fell from his gaping mouth from your sudden appearance. “Fred, here take this and go!” You shoved the yearbook past the small crack of his window. 

“W-wait, didn’t Nancy want to che-”

“No, she sent me to give this to you!” You urged. “And she said go now, or else the copies won’t be done in time!” My god, the entirety of this situation had you lying more than you ever had in your life. 

“But the distributors don’t close until six-”

“Fred, I don’t care!” You whined. “Do you really want to make Nancy upset?!” If your calculations were correct, Nancy Wheeler’s flats were currently speed walking—she was one to follow the rules—past Mrs. Durberry’s science classroom, meaning you had ten more seconds until she appeared. 

“Well, n-no-”

“Then drive! Now, please!” He scrambled to turn his car on, and luckily, the old piece of junk managed to roar alive with a heavy blow of carbon dioxide, and you heaved watching Fred Benson skirt past the incoming wave of students on bikes and cars, leaving tire tracks on the cracked pavements. When he came back, you’d be sure to apologize for demanding him so aggressively.

Nancy Wheeler screamed your name. 

Turning around, she came pummeling towards you with a might of pure irritation. “What the hell was that?! I didn’t even get to check the book!”

You huffed with exhaustion. It was only 8:18 a.m and it had already been a long day. “Nance, come on, I’ve been on the Yearbook Committee for the last three years, don’t you trust me by now?” Admittedly, guilting Nancy probably wasn’t the best option, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“I don’t care how long you’ve been in the committee, I have the authority to make final calls, not you!” Gee, you really had an act for getting people to yell in your face. Were you actually the problem?

“Look, I understand, but I promise everything was perfect with the yearbook. I mean, come on, you saw the finished product on Saturday when we completed it.” You reasoned. 

Nancy took a deep breath to regulate herself. “This is your only strike.” She pointed a finger at you like a child. “You pull something like this again, and you're off the committee. Understand?”

You swallowed thickly. The trouble you went through just for Eddie Munson- his friends. Just for his friends. “Yes, I understand.” You submitted quietly. “But I promise, the book was fine, everything is going to be perfectly okay.”

Everything was not perfectly okay.

Because unlike your little white lie of being “tight” with Fred Benson, he actually was with Nancy Wheeler, and, boy, did he rat you out when he paged through the printed copies of the yearbook and found the seven believed satanic cultists mischievously smiling right back at him, tainting the committee’s precious work. 

-

It was in the midst of your A.P U.S History class when the staticy call of your name over the intercom interrupted Mr. Whitney’s lecture of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and prompted you to the principal’s office at 10:57 a.m. Now, it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Principal Higgins to often call you down as you were a valued student representative of Hawkins High, though you quickly knew your visitation had nothing in relation to an honor medal or scholarship award. No, it became quite evident that such subject matter was beyond any congratulations to you, because upon entering, you were faced with a choleric Nancy Wheeler, displeased Principal Higgins, and timid Fred Benson. You were fucking screwed, I mean, Principal Higgins quite literally had a yearbook in his hand. Crazy part of it all is that a good third of your being actually believed you may have gotten away with it, but they managed to find out in a matter of two fucking hours. Who were you kidding?

There was only so much nonchalant-ness you could mask, though your previous revelation of being unable to control your facial expressions was really biting you in the ass, and your insistent cracking under pressure was palpable. 

Your wide eyes flashed between everyone as they stared you down. You didn’t speak. You couldn’t even manage to speak. And they didn’t speak. Why wasn’t anyone speaking?

“Aw, you miss me already, Higgy-”

Everyone’s attention snapped at Eddie’s sneering voice as he strutted his grand entrance, though he was quick to flinch back in surprise when he saw everyone looking at him. And you, shit you were here! You were here looking at him. He’d been searching for you all morning just to apologize, and now you were here… with everyone… why was everyone here?

“Now that I have everyone situated,” Principal Higgins cleared his throat, “I’d like to clear up a matter that has been brought to my attention. I’m sure as you all are well aware of, an unauthorized change has been made to our yearbook and I’m looking to get to the bottom of it.” Higgins turned to you, “Ms. Y/L/N,” he spoke with such care, “this is a safe place for honesty. Did Mr. Munson subject you into making these changes?” With a dramatic slam to his desk, the yearbook was turned open to showcase Hellfire’s designated spot on the page.

“What?!” Both you and Eddie questioned in unison. 

“I didn’t “subject” her to shit!” He was quick to rightfully defend. 

“Language!” Principal Higgins was even quicker to yell back. 

The atmosphere was taut, and it felt like their judgmental stares were swallowing you into an endless blackhole of utter disappointment and failure. You couldn’t even muster up the courage to meet their gaze, simply staring at the old rug beneath your sneakers, wishing it’d come alive and consume you already. 

“Ms. Y/L/N, is that true?” Principal Higgins lectured you.

A part of Eddie actually wished you would have lied and accused him of being the aggressor while you were the helpless victim, because that was the usual reality of Eddie Munson: to be denigrated. It would have justified his previous beratement against you from Friday, it would have supported his initial beliefs about you, it would have cleared him of being an asshole, and most of all, it would have changed the way he viewed you, from a genuinely beautiful person inside and out that took a sincere interest in bringing simple recognition to him and his friends to a cold-hearted superficial bitch that chalked up this elaborate plan as a vendetta with your jock friends.

But Eddie Munson knew you weren’t like that.

Which only made it hurt worse when he watched you pain through the sting of your manicured nails stabbing into your palms and your teeth sinking into your tender lip.

“Y-yes, that’s, uh, true, sir.” Your voice was so delicate, Eddie was ready to jump in and just take the blame. “He didn’t make me do anything, it was, uh, all me. I lied, and made him and his friends take the photo. And, well, I, uh, added the page and told Fred to print it.”

You shuddered at the sudden slap of the book, as Principal Higgins closed it with much despondency against you. “And is there valid reasoning as to why?!” Principal Higgins wasn’t one to be known for his placidness and he was quick to make that apparent. “You are the best student at this establishment, you should not be falling under influence of a hooligan like Mr. Munson! How have you fallen so naive all of a sudden?!”

You were really tugging on Eddie’s heart the way your eyes grew round with panic, completely helpless to the grown man scolding you, just as he did last Friday. And while he may have caused it the initial time, he’d be damned to watch it happen to you again.

“Hey, look, you can insult me all you want, but you don’t have to yell at her like she made some dire mistake!” Eddie lambasted Principal Higgins, far more harsh than any regular tone Eddie used when he was regularly being reprimanded. 

Higgins could only scoff in disbelief. “Vandalizing school property isn’t a mistake to you, Mr. Munson?! Well, given your grotesque track record of uncivilized activities, it seems as though I’ve answered my own question!” He sneered back with intended offense.

“Please, ‘vandalizing school property?!’” Eddie mocked. “She fucking put our picture in the yearbook, and for good reason, too. You’re the one at fault here, excluding students from recognition!”

The thudding sound of your heartbeat was completely muting you from the onslaught of shouts that was suffocating you in the tight room. While Nancy Wheeler was beginning to contemplate if telling Principal Higgins was too far, Fred Benson was merely watching with joy that none of the blame was being casted on him, and you, well, your body was racking with stiffness, as it suddenly felt like your airway was tightening every breath out of you. Your hands began shaking by your side, unable to control the instantaneous wave of trepidation, as everything was beginning to blur around you. 

And no one was noticing. 

“I have rightful reasons to exclude your gang of misfits from my yearbook!” Principal Higgins walked from his desk, standing against Eddie with pure spite in his eyes. “You and your posse of cons and aberrations have done nothing but taint the reputation of our school and town, running around like imbeciles who have nothing better to do than waste their lives away! And I will not stand to have you be associated with the work I’ve done to correct this school from delinquents like yourself!”

Chest heaving and nostrils flared, the Eddie Munson from the cafeteria instance was back, though angrier, and he was two seconds from actually gaining an assault charge from hitting Principal Higgins square in the face. But the older man was quick to turn, and eject his dissonant castigate towards you. 

“And you, missy!” Your eyes were blinking posthaste with fret to control the swell of tears that were burning your eyes, at the clashing outburst being directed against you. “How did you even gain the facilities to take such picture?!” 

Your mouth was dry with consternation, unable to formulate words, and simply quivering your mouth open.

And unlucky for you, Fred Benson spoke for you.

“After our yearbook meeting on Friday,” heads snapped at his gravelly voice, “she said she was going to stay after to work, and that she would lock up herself. She must have taken the key, and stolen a camera.”

Higgins scoffed with great disgust as he judged you, before turning to Nancy. “Ms. Wheeler, as president of the Yearbook Committee, had you permitted her to do so?” 

Nancy looked at you with guilt. She hadn’t anticipated the situation to blow up this much, though she spoke honestly to the authoritative eyes of Higgins. “Uh, no, I didn’t.” She meekly answered. 

“And Mr. Munson,” Eddie rolled his eyes, trying to control his frustrations before doing something he wouldn’t be able to take back. “When did Ms. Y/L/N enforce these photos?”

“Why the hell does that even matter?” Eddie gritted with a clenched jaw of tension.

“Mr. Munson, you choose not to answer me, and I will not hesitate to place you as an accomplice, and you certainly cannot afford another detention or suspension if you’re planning on finally ending this school year as a graduate.” In a perfect world, Eddie Munson would have lied for you and lessened whatever punishment you were about to receive, but Hawkins, Indiana was far from perfect, the threat made him budge under the pressure of his potential future and your distraught eyes.

“It was, uh, after her cheer practice. After school.” He sheepishly murmured with regret.

“Ah,” Principal Higgins turned to your shaking stature. “So, not only did you make unauthorized changes to the school yearbook, but you stole school property, used our equipment prohibitively outside of school hours, and actively unsubordinated my authority. I have to say, I am awfully disappointed in the person you have become, Ms. Y/L/N, and I am ashamed to have valued you so highly when you simply choose to go down the path of delinquency.” Everything about Principal Higgins words were humiliating and slammed you into a vicious cycle of believing the worst about yourself. “Finish the rest of your day,” he sighed, “but you’ll be suspended for the rest of the week for your actions.” Your heart sank at his news, and Eddie stood dumbfounded that he contributed to it. 

Your visions grew blurry under the swell of tears, and your breath was becoming sporadic with panic, and everyone just kept fucking staring at you. “N-no, sir, p-please!” You choked, “I-I have scholarships, a-and acceptances that I-I’m still waiting to hear back from, this could ruin that for me, p-please, sir!”

While your pleads were being disregarded, everyone stood stun watching your fate unfold in front of you. Eddie Munson didn’t know what to do. Nobody did. On top of being berated by him from Friday, you were now facing the worst possible consequence for something so trivial, and he watched it happen. Granted, there was quite literally nothing Eddie could do to fix the situation, but seeing you stand there, panicked about your future and trying to conceal your incoming sobs through the ache of heart palpitations, it was fucking excruciating for him to witness. 

“You should have thought about that before you made your choices. Everything is on you.” His words were ringing in your ear like a loop confirming everything you’ve ever hated about yourself. “I’ll be sure to let your father know of the news, and as for your spot on the committee, it is up to Ms. Wheeler to determine where you stand. Now go, everyone back to class.”

Fred Benson was first to leave, giddy to have been cleared from any trouble. Eddie Munson should have left, but he couldn’t stand to leave, simply watching you turn to Nancy Wheeler in a flash. Your round eyes were pleading to her to let you stay, but her previous words of “This is your only strike,” was tormenting you. She sighed, “I’m sorry,” and the shake of her head answered everything before she could verbalize it. 

You were off. 

You stormed out of the room, bumping shoulders with Eddie, though with no malice intent, just simply needing to get out. The second you reached the clearing of the empty hall, your tears were drowning your cheeks, your sobs so unbearably hard your breathing staggered for release. Suddenly, your little cashmere sweater felt like it was sticking to your skin, giving you hot flashes that brought dizziness to your pounding head. The blood battering your ears cleared out any noise, including Eddie’s calls of your name. He reached out to hold your arm, causing you to severely flinch in hysteria, and he appeared devastatingly concerned for your state of being.

“Sorry! Ar-are you okay?” He winced at the loud sob you choked out, as he felt stupid for even asking you that question. “Look, everything, uh, everything’s gonna be fine.” He rushed to reassure. In truth, Eddie Munson was completely talking out of his ass, he didn’t know if everything was going to be fine, your panicking was just causing him to panic, and all he wanted was for you to be okay. “J-just, uh, breathe for me.” He offered. 

“I-I c-can’t! I’m scared, Eddie, help me!” You pleaded with frightened eyes. 

Your beg hit too close to home. Suddenly, Eddie was a little boy curled up in the corner of his trashed living room, as he watched his parents abuse one another with words and fists. He pleaded the same words to his parents, who merely ignored his shaking little body. Such horrific events disfigured Eddie Munson’s belief of healing. No one cared for his emotions, no one cared for his feelings, and no one cared to make sure he was okay. So, yes, Eddie Munson yelled at you Friday night because he was petrified. Petrified to be hurt, just as everyone else had done, because to Eddie Munson, that was his fate. To be hurt and to be forgotten. Maybe that’s why he cared so much about being excluded from the school yearbook. While anyone would have rightfully been upset, being excluded cemented the notion that Eddie Munson was disposable. His father spoke it, the townspeople spoke, his teachers spoke, and his peers spoke it. But you didn’t, and that fucking scared him. It’s why he yelled, it’s why he panicked, and it’s why he’d try anything to help you right now.

“I-I know, sweetheart, just listen to me, please.” He quietly spoke. “I’m not gonna touch you or anything, I just really need you to listen to me.”

You fervently nodded your head, and he sighed with relief, because though minor, it was progress, and progress was incredible.

“I, uh, I want you to focus on my voice, okay?” His wide eyes connected with your red ones. “I wouldn’t lie to you, and I mean it when I say everything will be okay. I-I’ll make sure of it.” 

Could he physically do that? No. But would he try his damn hardest, putting his being through anything to make it happen? Yes. For you.

“Okay, I want you to-”

“What are you doing to her?!”

Eddie’s eyes screwed shut with disappointment. 

Jessica fucking Lewis.

“Get away from her!” She charged past him to get to your hysterical figure. “Did you do something?!”

“No, no, I’m trying to fucking help her.” Eddie implored. “Stop yelling, she’s having a fucking panic attack.” He gritted through his teeth.

“Don’t fucking come near her ever again, you freak!” Eddie watched as you tried to get your words out, but your shrinking throat made it impossible to get your voice out, and he recoiled, watching the fear in your eyes as Jessica held a tight grip in your arms. 

But before he could stop her, Jessica was dragging you into the girls bathroom, and he stood frozen doing everything in his power to not rip out his hair in frustration. 

-

Aside from her fault-finding comments against Eddie, Jessica Lewis had actually been a fairly good friend to you through the years of cheer, connecting with the girls through the pact of lifelong sisterhood, as she insisted. Though such pact also came with unwarranted advice when she felt one of you was “falling out of line” with a pristine, perfect image. That being said, when she found you panicking at the hands of Eddie Munson, she was actually concerned, impetuous, yes, but concerned, nonetheless. She’d sat with you, decisively skipping the rest of Mrs. Otis’ home economics class, to console you, bitching out any innocent girl to leave as they attempted to alleviate themselves, while you sat heaving with the back of your thighs sticking to cold tiles of the bathroom. When you did finally manage to catch your breath and calm your heart rate to a healthy status, Jessica had petted your hair with care, constantly asking what was wrong and what Eddie had done. Through your tremored voice, you hoarsely clarified that “He didn’t do anything,” and “He was just trying to help.” That revelation had actually baffled Jessica Lewis, honestly, some part of her believing you to be lying, but she gave it a rest when you assiduously shook your head in response to her asking what was actually wrong. By then, the bell had rung to signal the start of third period.

And it was during said third period when your situation only worsened completely unbeknownst to you.

While you were in the middle of trying to focus on your quiz—which proved damn near impossible after today’s events—Fred Benson was seemingly trying to get back at you for nearly inducing him into a heart attack after your actions almost cost him his spot on the Newspaper and Yearbook Committee (In reality, Nancy Wheeler had only yelled at him for not previously checking the books).

See, once Fred had informed the rest of the Yearbook Committee of what you had done and how you were being punished, the news had spread like wildfire; nerds, geeks, punks, jocks, everyone knew one version or another. “Perfect Cheerleader Falls Under Satanic Cultist’s Influence and Vandalizes School Facilities,'' small town high school students sure had a talent to dramatize any given situation. You’d only taken a picture, that’s all it was, but the students of Hawkins High had conspired together to formulate you into a freak slut who allegedly got fucked by the Eddie Munson after cheer practice in exchange for putting his club in the yearbook.

As the students of your class hurtled to mitigate the dreaded boredom of the school day with the clashing laughter and stale food of lunch, you sighed in your seat, head pounded and anxiety still churning in your mind and stomach, slowly packing up your belongings before handing over the quiz—quite literally the worst you’ve ever performed on one. Lunch seemed like the worst possible thing to conquer, right now. Despite the horrid grumbling of your stomach, you felt no need to satiate that hunger, as your appetite was long gone for the afternoon. In addition, you’d known Jessica Lewis long enough to know that she had informed all your friends of your panic attack, and if you chose to call her out on it, you knew you would only be met with a “I’m only trying to help,” as if you needed an intervention. She’d done it to Paige Semore when the girl healthy gained a couple pounds over the summer and got ridiculed by Jess.

But when you entered the cafeteria, you quickly wished you were subjected to Jessica Lewis’ harmful “advice”, rather than the reality you got.  

The sound of the heavy double doors announced your arrival, and suddenly all eyes were on you. No, like quite literally, all eyes were on you. No greeting smiles from acquaintances, no shying-away looks from crushing students, no bright wave hello from Chrissy Cunningham from across the cafeteria, in fact, she was heavily avoiding you, seemingly finding the table more interesting as Jason Carver glared at you. Everyone was staring at you as if, without notice, you had become the town pariah. Because you had. Your perturbation had bombarded you like a missile hit, as quiet whispers flooded your senses. Peering around you caught his eyeline. Eddie. His brows had severely been furrowed with much worry, because he knew. He knew how quickly it went around, and he knew just how bad the news got twisted. Now, he was no stranger to the onslaught of destructive rumors, but you weren’t, and with the day you had, his chest was pounding with dread for you.

Chalking it up to merely being in your head, you swallowed the lump in your throat, and with quick steps, you sped to your usual lunch table. But everyone kept staring- your friends were staring. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” You whispered, as they genuinely looked at you with disgust. 

“Why don’t you tell us?” Jason scowled. “Seems like you’re the one who caused all of this, you desperate slut.”

Your mouth dropped incredulously. “What did you just call me?”

“You fucking heard me!” Jason stood from his chair, rejecting Chrissy’s quiet ask to not cause a scene. “It’s exactly what you are.” He laughed.

Eddie Munson’s residual anger was fueling. Hard. He stood from his chair all the way across the room, metal legs scraping the floor with a deafening screech. But his presence only caught the worst attention. “Oh, would you look at that? Your little freak coming to help you?”

Eddie faltered at your watery eyes, begging for everything to just stop. If he spoke, nothing would help you. “What are you talking about?” Your voice stung with pleads to just understand what was happening to you.

“Stop acting like you don’t fucking know!” Andy’s booming voice startled you. “You wanna choose some gross freak to fuck, then fine by us, go right ahead, but don’t think that you’ll be able to with us!” Andy McAvoy was taking it far more personal. He liked you. That was obvious. But hearing the rumors simply led him to believe you chose Eddie Munson over him.

“What?” Your voice cracked in distress. 

Eddie had had enough. 

“She didn’t fucking do anything!” He marched his way over. All the boys of the basketball team stood in preparation for a fight that Eddie Munson was known to love to finish. Finish, not start. “Your bland lives got that fucking boring you all have to go around making shit up to make things interesting?! She didn’t do anything!”

“Aw, defending your precious little fuck toy, isn’t that cu-”

Chrissy Cunningham's shrilling scream startled the entire cafeteria as Jason Carver’s blood stained her powdery skin. You flinched at the bone-crunching punch that busted Jason’s pretty face, and everything felt heavy in your chest. Your hands were beginning to shake beyond your control, as everything was horrifyingly disfiguring in front of you. It was happening again. Before your mind was about to shut off from the assault of today’s events, your instinct had elicited all rash decisions, and you had to leave. All you could comprehend was the diffusing sounds of students instigating the fight before everything fell silent and you trudged down the hall to escape.

Staff were quick to call Eddie’s name before another detrimental hit was casted upon Jason. It was only then, Eddie’s judgment was left unclouded, and he noticed you were gone. “Did she leave?” He hadn’t necessarily asked anyone in particular, moreso questioning himself, but Chrissy Cunningham had ardently answered him with a swift nod of her head and bulging eyes of fear. 

Eddie broke through the doors with force, catching you near the end of the hall. “Y/N!” You didn’t turn, though. Every repeated call of your name fell with no response, and he chased you down, following you into the zephyr of the afternoon weather outside. “Y/N, c’mon, wait!” He’d grabbed your arm.

“What?!”

Eddie staggered at your biting tone. Not once, in the four years he’d known of you—freshman to senior year—had he ever heard your voice so malicious, yet drowning in urgence to make everything stop. Your inconsolable state devastating him helplessly. 

“I-I’m sorry.” He sighed so softly.

“‘Sorry?’” You affronted. “Now you’re sorry?! After everything that’s happened! Why, is it out of fucking pity?!” Internally, Eddie was begging you to stop, because if you kept yelling at him like this, his defense mechanism was going to lash out, especially when he was already angry from everything that’s just happened. “I don’t want some stupid apology, not when every time you appear, my life gets worse! I just want you away!” You cried.

Eddie scoffed in disbelief. Were you actually blaming him for all this? No, you weren’t. But after the day you just had, you were not looking to be comforted by someone who partially hurt you. But Eddie Munson couldn’t understand. His judgment had a habit of being clouded; his cynicism about anything good happening to him had protected him from a lifetime of hurt, and now, unfortunately, your rightfully pent up polemic about him was believing his suspicions to be true. 

“This isn’t my fucking fault, you’re the one who wanted to take our picture in the first place!” He shouted, shielding his vulnerability. 

“Because you made a big deal out of it!” You screamed with frustration. “You yelled at me first, you said mean things to me first- why- why were you so mean to me?!” You blubbered through drowning tears.

“Because- be- ugh,” Eddie pained with vexation. “You fucking terrify me, okay?! You terrify the living shit out of me!” Guarding his tearing eyes from your shattered being, he groaned realizing you weren’t going to understand unless he opened up, but he couldn’t bear to, and maybe that was the best solution to move on, run away. “It’s just fucking hard when, you know, you look like that and you’re fucking you, and I’m just me, and you have a great life-”

“‘Great life?!’” You derided through tears. “You know nothing about my life!” You shoved him. “You know nothing about me!” You shoved him again. Eddie was quick to retrain your wrist in a tight grip, preventing you from touching him again, no matter how hard you tried. “Stop acting like you know everything about me when you know absolutely nothing! I’m not going to stand here, and let you say mean things to me, when you know nothing, do you understand?! I have never done anything to you, and I never will, because unlike you, I’m not some sulking asshole who can’t handle their fucking emotions, and uses their sorry life to lash out at people because they’re too pathetic to deal with their own problems!”

And maybe your rash psycho analysis of Eddie Munson was too much, or not harsh enough, but either way, your critical comments derailed him off the edge of sanity. He aggressively dropped your wrist, and got into your face with a full might of fury. “You are such a miserable bitch!” He shouted, invading your space with intent, causing you to wince and step away from him, but he wasn’t relenting. “For once, you got a fucking taste of what your bullshit friends have been doing to me, and now you can’t fucking handle it?! God, just love playing the fucking victim, don’t you?! Maybe they are right, maybe you are just some fucking desperate slut craving fucking attention?! Is that why you did all this shit in the first place?!”

The way your face flashed with sudden dejection had him biting his tongue. Oh, fuck. He regretted it. He fucking immediately regretted it. 

Eddie began furiously shaking his head in denial to what he just uttered, he couldn’t believe it. “No,” he heaved out. “No, I-I didn’t mean it, I’m s-sorry.” He could only muster a whisper.

You didn’t even have the energy to fight back, merely accepting his words as truth with a silent sob that burned your being. “Yeah,” you shakily sighed with a sniffle of sobs. “I’m sorry, too, Eddie. I would have loved being your friend, and now I just want nothing to do with you.” His heart dropped at your calmness. When he first spoke those words to you, demanding you to stay away from him and his friends, he knew a deep part of him didn’t mean it. Why would he, you were fucking perfect? But you, the stillness and tranquility of your words cemented them to be the final verdict. You were done. “So please,” you wiped your drenched face from tears, “just leave me alone and stay away from me.”

No malice, no anger, no fury.

Just pure defeat.

𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 | This is my first time making a tag list, and I got overwhelmed—in a good way—that I simply tagged anyone who commented. If you were not looking to be tagged, I’m so sincerely sorry, and please let me know to respect your wishes and remove you!

(Big, fat kisses to all of you) @televisionboy @batkin028 @lostdreamingwallflower @cevais @myfavoritesareproblematic @btbabyy @married-to-the-music01 @super-nova-03 @deathnote6666 @cherrytc @sleepy-bunnie @eggo-segual @bambi-horror @aheadfullofsteverogers @sademoloser @averagestudent03 @freakymunson @princess-eddie @imagine-a-world-blog1 @negativity4you

@nope-thanks @allsortsedits @callingmrsbarnes @f0rgggg @hurricane-abigail @sweet-sunflower64 @redlovett @goldstars-to-all @eddiesguitarskills @goslytherin @sashaphantomhive @maxinehufflepuffprincess @emeritusemeritus @angel-upon @middle-of-the-earth @scarletwitchwhore @my-tearsricochet @pixiepaintt @ericasdumbworld @animechick555

@gewrgia-black @hookandchain @roseanddaggerlarry @prestinalove @sebismyhubby @maddsunn

(I’m so sorry, some blogs are not popping up when I try to tag y’all, if it’s an issue on my part, I’ll try my best to fix it as soon as possible)

[roosterbox]

Hey, want another of my so-called thinky thoughts? This one was inspired by something on the discord. This one also goes under a cut because my hand slipped and I accidentally wrote too much, lol. But anyway.

Alternate universe. Steve and Eddie have been dating for a while, and it's not a secret. All their friends and family know and are supportive. Nancy works as a server in a fancy restaurant. An uneventful job, until she sees Eddie there, seemingly on a very romantic date with... a mystery woman?

What? She's not their server, and hasn't seen the woman's face yet (which will be important later, of course), but WHAT???

She's confused at first, but that confusion quickly gives way to anger. Anger mostly on Steve's behalf. Because she may have broken up with Steve when they were young, but he's still her friend, damnit, and he doesn't deserve this. And the longer the anger stews, the more furious Nancy becomes.

Finally, after one sappy unbroken romantic gaze and delicate hand kiss too many, Nancy storms over. Risking her job to defend the honor of her friend.

"What the actual hell, Munson?!"

Eddie startles, but doesn't let go of his date's hand.

"Oh hey Wheeler! Didn't know you were working tonight." The asshole doesn't seem nervous or worried about being caught. He even smiles at her. The prick.

"Don't you 'hey Wheeler' me, you cheating jerk!"

That finally gets Eddie's attention. His face turns serious, though a bit confused. "What? I'd never cheat on Stevie! Why would you even think that?"

There's a faint chuckling from the other side of the table. Nancy ignores her for now, focusing on Eddie.

"I oughtta punch you in the balls for that, Munson. For lying right to my face. And for what you're doing to Steve."

Eddie's confusion seems to evaporate as he realizes something. "Ah, well. You see Wheeler, the thing is-"

The quiet laughter of Eddie's date becomes too hard to ignore. Nancy spins on her heel, ready to confront this giggling floozy.

"Listen here, you little slut-"

She immediately stops short.

Eddie's date. It's... Steve. But also... not Steve?

"Ah," Eddie says again, a bit sheepish. He's still holding Steve's (?) hand. "You haven't been to one of our group get-togethers in a while.” He clears his throat before continuing. “Nancy, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Stevie."

With her flowing chestnut locks, subtle makeup, and sparkling red dress, Stevie Harrington is absolutely stunning. And she looks more at ease and comfortable in her own skin than ‘Steve’ Harrington ever did. Nancy is entirely taken aback. Stevie's still smiling, but her smile falters a bit at Nancy's silence.

"Nance? You, uh, you okay?" She asks.

Eddie recognizes the fearful undertones of Stevie's question, and gently squeezes her hand. Letting her know that, whatever Nancy's eventual reaction is, he's here for her, always.

Nancy finally blinks, brain having restarted from one of the biggest surprises of her life. "Wuh?"

Oh yeah, real intelligent there, Nancy.

"Buh?"

Oh come on, this is just embarrassing.

She gathers her thoughts, wrestling with them as one might while trying to fold a fitted sheet, keenly aware of the look on Stevie's face. Her friend was growing more and more nervous, and seemed to be bracing herself for something. After a moment, Nancy realizes why this is, and pulls herself together.

"I really haven't been around enough, have I?" She lets her lips curve into a small smile. Stevie relaxes a bit, but still seems guarded.

Nancy's expression softens completely. "It's nice to meet you, Stevie. The real you."

Stevie's smile is so big it must hurt her cheeks, and she looks as if she might cry. "You too, Nancy."

Nancy's expression shifts, turning to shock and embarrassment. "Oh God, I called you a- Jesus, Stevie, I'm so- You're not-" She babbles, face turning red. "Oh god," she says again, hiding her face in her hands. The soft laughter of her friends is simultaneously nice and yet mortifying. Truly this is one of the most embarrassing days of her life.

Gentle hands encircle her wrists. They don't pull, or force her face out into the open. Instead, they just hold, rubbing against her skin. The soothing motion coaxes her into lowering them, and opening her eyes. Stevie's eyes are still watery, but kind. So kind. She's holding Nancy's hands in both of hers.

"It's okay, Nance. Really. You didn't know."

"Still-"

"'Still' nothing. You didn't know. You've been busy. It's not like I couldn't have called you myself, right? That street goes both ways. Besides," She smirks, "the fact that you were so willing and ready to go to bat for me speaks volumes."

"I was two seconds away from punching your boyfriend right in the dick," Nancy reminds her.

"Balls, actually," Eddie mutters, remembering all too well. He shifts his legs under the table. Stevie throws back her head in laughter, drawing a few looks from other patrons. The few that weren't watching the dramatic encounter already, at least. The three friends pay the onlookers no mind.

"I should get back to-"

"Oh!" She lets go. Nancy misses the warmth immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry. We'll let you get back to w-"

Nancy bends and hugs Stevie, who's still sitting at her table. The positioning is awkward, but even so the other woman doesn't hesitate to return the embrace. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Stevie sniffs, holding back her tears valiantly. "Okay."

"And I am NOT missing another family party ever again. Who knows what might happen next time? For all I know, Mike and Will will have hooked up by then."

Her friend giggles in her arms, and she misses the knowing look that passes between Stevie and her boyfriend. Eddie hides his smile with a lock of hair.

She pulls back. Stevie smiles at her, makeup holding strong despite the lone tear that manages to escape. Nancy reaches over and wipes it away. "You look beautiful tonight, Stevie."

She blushes. "Thank you."

"But I really do have to get back. I'll see you two soon. Have fun on your date!" With one final wave, and a smile, she heads back into the kitchen. Every so often, she glances back, seeing them exchange flirty looks, gentle touches, and once, a kiss across the table. It's lovely, and everything she knows Stevie deserves.

On one of these glances, Stevie actually looks her way. She smiles. Nancy smiles back. And wonders, for the dozenth time that evening, what other big developments she might have missed happening in her little group of friends.

[oneforthemunny]

Also I love my athletic boys (i voted hockey but now i just love them both so much) and I find it incredibly hot if either of them would go defending my honor…like Boxer!Eddies in the ring at the club and Reader works at the club?? Slinging drinks and logging bets?? And across the room after a match he sees her getting poked and prodded by some biker dude? oh my God. I can just picture him after nearly knocking the guy to sleep looking up with a bloody lip and a bruise on his cheek to worry abt later…

he’s a pro so he’s always eggin em on like ‘my girl you were just pickin’ on hits harder than that, you wanna try again? come on hit me again i dare you’ im chewing my own ankles

and and and him and reader are at home and he’s just looking at her like he wants to EAT

sedatives please somebody

he’s a “one hit wonder” bc he’ll knock you out with one hit. especially if he’s not in the ring with someone who’s trained as his opponent. like if some guy started messing with you?? he is going to knock them out. will he go to jail? probably. will his agent bail him out? also probably lol.

would he also fuck your brains out after? probably. would you let him? definitely.

[moonchildreads]

small town

Chapter 15 - Don't You Want Me

IN THIS CHAPTER: Illicit library naps, a sleepover, and Important Questions get asked [7.3k]

WARNINGS: fear of coming out (lighthearted, everything turns out okay), self doubt, bisexuality? idk if that's a warning but if you haven't noticed yet, eddie and dot are both bi lol

A/N: happy pride friends! i swear to god i didn't plan for this chapter to be out and proud in june, i set the outline in stone months ago but i'm taking it as a happy accident. sorry for posting a day late, yesterday was Not Great but we should get back to friday updates this coming week. enjoy <3

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

You know I can't believe it When I hear that you won't see me

Monday, May 12th - 1986

The rainy spell that haunted Hawkins at all times continued throughout most of the Monday, up until lunch time when it finally relented. The sky was still mostly dark with heavy clouds hiding the sun while the Hellfire seniors stood just outside the cafeteria doors, waiting for Eddie to be done with the conversation he was about to engage in so they could head to their next classes. All four of them - Dottie, Gareth, Donny, and Jeff - were staring pointedly at him as he approached the cheerleaders’ table.

“Got the goods, Cunningham?” Eddie raised his voice to call Chrissy’s attention.

“Yup! Got ‘em right here!” she said, smiling brightly and reaching into her pocket to grab the remaining prom tickets she’d promised to save for him. He gave her the money and she accepted it gracefully, but when he leaned forward to grab the tickets, she snapped her hand back, lifting it over her head. “You better suit up, Munson, or I’ll personally block your way in.”

“We’ll dress up, I promise,” he said, crossing his heart. “Scout’s honor.”

“You’re not a Scout, Eddie.”

“You don’t know what I get up to in my free time,” he snatched the tickets from her hand and began walking backwards quickly towards the doors. “See you around, Chris! Have a good day, ladies!”

Not a beat had passed since he’d walked away before Chrissy’s friends surrounded her, gossiping loudly about the situation they’d just witnessed. The Freak talking to their Captain? Who did he think he was?

“Ugh, he’s so… scruffy! Why do you let him talk to you like that?” Libby, a junior tumbler said, crossing her arms and burrowing further into her cheer cardigan.

“What do you mean? He was perfectly polite,” Chrissy defended him. “He just wanted to buy some prom tickets.”

“He shouldn’t be talking to you anyway, you aren’t in charge of selling them,” Melissa, a senior flyer and Chrissy’s second in command, scoffed. “I bet he’s not even gonna go, he probably just wanted an excuse to be near you. God, he’s such a freak.”

“I’m on the Prom Planning Committee, it’s more than okay if people ask me about tickets. And don’t call Eddie a freak anymore. It’s not right,” Chrissy said, stomping away to her next class.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Libby turned to look at her senior.

“I don’t know but she thinks she’s hot shit since that Ohio State cheer clinic she went to during Spring Break. I don’t like it,” the flyer replied, but Chrissy never heard her, already busy getting her books out of her locker.

Eddie was pulling out of his driveway to take Dottie home after their usual after school study session when she asked him to drop her off at Gareth’s instead. She mentioned they were having a sleepover at his house so they could work on a Chemistry project that had to be delivered during first period on Tuesday, and that didn’t do anything to calm the little knot Eddie was beginning to recognize as jealousy that formed at the pit of his stomach. The rational part of his brain, the one that knew there was nothing going on between two of his best friends, was at war with the dumb side that wanted to stop the van in the middle of the road and throw a tantrum. He settled on gripping the steering wheel until his fingers hurt when he saw her hug Gareth hello like she hadn’t seen him in years; the younger boy waved at him like Eddie’s heart wasn’t cracking at the slightest hint of being undesirable.

Oblivious to his friend’s feelings, Gareth guided Dottie inside towards his living room where his phone was so she could call her Dad and let him know she'd arrived safely. Once James had been informed of his daughter’s whereabouts, the teens got to work on the coffee table until Gareth’s dad came home from work. Gareth’s mom, Lydia, was a sweet looking woman with bright blue eyes her son had inherited and a big blonde hairdo. She really enjoyed being a hostess, which is why she had gladly slaved herself away in the kitchen all afternoon making a sweet and sour brisket she claimed was her specialty.

"Okay, so we're thinking regular crackers, marshmallows, cereal, toasted bread, untoasted bread, and dry pasta?" Dottie read from their notes.

"We should add something that we know is unhealthy, just to test it out."

"We have marshmallows."

"Yeah, but those are full of air, they'll probably burn really fast. We need something more dense, like… uh…," Gareth thought hard about what they could find in his pantry and still came up with nothing.

"D'you have peanuts? With the shell?"

"Peanuts are unhealthy?"

"I mean, not really, no, but they are, like, high in fat? And I bet the shells burn well."

"Let's do peanuts then," he nodded, jotting it down onto their notebook.

Their last project of the year was free choice, and after perusing a few science magazines in the library, they had settled on building a calorimeter. Truth be told, they should have done it earlier but between Mother’s Day, Hellfire and Dottie spending so much time with Eddie helping him get ready for his exams, Monday night before the project’s due date had to suffice. Gareth had asked his Dad for help to build two calorimeters, which were ready to go on the desk in his bedroom along with the blow-up mattress Dottie would be sleeping on right next to his bed. His Mom had been a little hesitant to let them bunk in the same bedroom, but her son had brought up a good point: his sister, Gretchen, would positively lose her mind if a stranger slept in her bed, so Gareth’s floor was a good compromise as long as they left the door wide open.

When Gareth’s dad, Gavriel, arrived home from a long day at work, dinner was almost ready to be served. Gareth was in the middle of an animated rant, explaining to Dottie about a very special part of their meal he had begged his Mom for to mark the special occasion. He had never really had a sleepover before, and even though they’d be up late into the night working on their project, he was still very excited at the prospect of hanging out with someone he considered one of his closest friends with no time constraints or adult supervision.

“You said you’ve never really tried Jewish food before, so I asked my Mom to make these for you,” Gareth explained, carrying a big plate to the dining table where they usually sat to do homework on Wednesdays, Dottie trailing behind him carrying cutlery and bread.

“They look like hash browns,” she said, peering at the mystery food.

“They are better than hash browns. These are called latkes. My Mom only makes them during Hanukkah, but honestly, I’d eat them every day if I could.”

“Didn’t know you did Hanukkah,” Dottie frowned. “Didn’t you say you went to your Grandparents’ for Christmas last year?”

“Yeah, we do both! And neither, now that I think about it,” he frowned too, like he was just realizing something about his own traditions. “We’re not really religious, I mean… We celebrate, but it’s more about family and getting together. We mix both sides.”

Gavriel was Jewish and Lydia was not, which in turn made their children half-Jewish. This was something Gareth’s friends were aware of, but didn’t entirely understand since they never really talked about what it meant. This, coupled with the fact that the youngest Coleman hadn’t really had close friends until he reached high school and joined Hellfire, led to his now very apparent enthusiasm while showing Dottie everything that made him… well, him. He didn’t consider himself spiritual in the broad sense of the word, but being Jewish was one of the only things he had always known about himself, the part of his identity that no matter what happened would always be his and he was proud of who he was.

Dottie sat at the dinner table with Gareth and his parents to share a lovely meal together and wondered for the millionth time in her life what it would be like to have siblings. She knew her friend and Gretchen, his older sister, hardly saw eye to eye: she was outgoing, sporty, had a lot of friends and a loving boyfriend, and Gareth was nerdy, shy, and obsessed with horror movies to a degree people that didn’t know him too well found off putting. Despite these differences though, it was clear from the way Gareth spoke about his sister that he would gladly walk through literal fire for her, even though he was the first one to chew her out every time she came home and left enough hair to make a wig on their shower wall. He put two latkes on Dottie’s plate, one with applesauce on top, the other one with sour cream and waited for her verdict, big blue eyes shining with excitement.

“Which one’s your fave?” Dottie asked him, holding the one with sour cream like Lydia was doing across from her.

“I’m not gonna tell you, you can’t be biased,” Gareth scoffed, fork halfway to his mouth full of decadent meat. “Gotta form your own opinion.”

“I’m gonna try them both, I just wanted to know which one you liked more,” she defended herself before trying a bit without any sauce first, just to get a feel of the texture. “Okay, yeah, I see what you meant now. These are better than hash browns.”

“Told ya,” he grinned. “Now try it with the sour cream.”

“Gareth, don’t be pushy,” Gavriel warned, but there was no need, she was already on her second bite.

Gareth waited with bated breath as she switched to her other latke, this one with applesauce. He watched her chew, her face giving away nothing while she wiped her hand on a napkin. A few moments of silence went by, both Lydia and Gavriel looking at each other with curious eyes, their son’s eyebrows going higher each second that ticked by. He had never been particularly patient, and Dottie was making him sweat for her review.

“So?” he asked, leaning towards her. “Which one’s better?”

“Are you gonna throw me out if I don’t agree with you?”

“Dot.”

“Sour cream’s better,” she said, and he groaned loudly. “It’s not that applesauce is bad, I just liked the other one more! The chives in the cream make it feel special. Thank you for making these for us, Mrs. Coleman, they are great.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, sweetie!” said Lydia, beaming at the praise. “I like them with chives better too.”

“You are both so wrong,” Gareth said, looking at his father for support. “Tell them they’re wrong, Dad.”

“I like them with both sauces,” Gavriel declared before kissing Lydia’s cheek. “Your mother is a great cook, just eat and be grateful.”

“Ugh. Got no allies in this house.”

“Finish your dinner, Gare, it’s getting cold,” Lydia said, knowing better than anyone else how dramatic her son could be.

As the dinner progressed and his parents chatted with Dottie, eager to know more about her, Gareth couldn’t help but notice just how different it was to have a female best friend than to only have multiple sweaty metalheads around all the time. He loved Jeff, Donny, and Eddie, and he was pretty confident that he would go to war for them if they ever needed him to, but there was a soft quality to his friendship with Dot he had never really experienced before, not even with his sister. He felt less pressure to be traditionally boyish, could have longer, deeper talks and not have to worry about anyone making fun of his feelings when they overwhelmed or confused him. And truthfully, it wasn’t that he couldn’t be 100% himself with the boys, but having a girl in their tight-knit group had meant they were now a lot more careful about how they approached certain topics, or how they behaved in general.

No more farting around in each other’s faces when they got into the van or pausing to stare at boobs during Fast Times at Ridgemont High - they were much more in tune with each other now, noticing the little things they would have easily disregarded before, like Jeff’s apprehension towards the big brother he had once looked up to and tried to emulate, or Donny’s budding excitement at the thought of joining his family’s business after graduation. Or perhaps it hadn’t been Dottie at all who had changed the dynamic of their group, and they had simply, well, grown up. Graduation was just a month away, after all.

After dinner, Gareth’s parents retreated to their living room to relax after a long day while the teens gathered their supplies and slipped outside to the garage to do the practical portion of their project. Gavriel had spent a couple of hours on Saturday helping his son build all the necessary parts for two homemade bomb calorimeters; mainly they had just drilled holes into cans and hoped things would fit in once assembled. Once everything was in place, they got to work with the ease of two people who had been lab partners for a while and knew exactly what their tasks were: Dottie was in charge of the charts and Gareth of the equations. They were both equally excited about the burning though.

“God, this smells like a s’more,” he groaned, the barely there fire under their can of water consuming a marshmallow.

“I don’t like s’mores,” she said, jotting something down on their chart.

“You are so weird.”

They were both sitting in the driveway in front of the garage, the pavement under their jeans a little bit chilly from the day’s overcast sky. They had already burned the bread (toasted and untoasted), cereal, and dry pasta, and were now moving onto the remaining foods, the sickly sweet marshmallow scent mixing with the smoke in the night air.

“So…,” Gareth began, measuring the temperature of the water in the can.

“So?”

“Heard Eddie got you a ticket for prom.”

“Yeah,” she said, nonchalantly. “We got into an argument last week and he wanted to make it up to me.”

“Are you two going together now?”

“No, we’re still going as a group. He just did something nice for me.”

“Sure,” he smirked. “Something nice. Absolutely not strange at all.”

“Just spit it out, G, what do you actually want to ask?” Dottie turned to him with a tired expression.

“What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing!” she said, a little bit too defensively, which made him lift an eyebrow in response. “Nothing is going on, I promise. We’re just friends.”

“Dot, come on,” he shook his head, big curls swaying back and forth. “Are you seriously telling me that you two aren’t swapping spit during your dates? He bought you a prom ticket, he takes you to dinner all the time, he might as well have fucking tattooed your name on his left tit.”

“Okay, first of all, ew. Swapping spit, really? God have mercy on however kisses you,” she ducked to avoid a marshmallow to her head. “Second, we don’t go on dates. We get together to study and sometimes we eat together, that’s it. Nothing inappropriate has ever happened, so knock it off, okay?”

Gareth saw her jaw clench and decided to drop the subject entirely, switching topics to their current assignment and the different smells certain charred food reminded him of. They completed their work quickly and efficiently, packing up for the night before retreating to the safety of his bedroom. He offered her his shower and Dottie accepted it gladly, desperate for a few minutes alone to clear her head. He fished out clean towels from the hallway storage cupboard, and sent her on her merry way to the Jack and Jill he shared with his sister, wondering if maybe he’d mistaken the signals he’d gotten from watching two of his best friends interact with each other.

Dottie was spiraling. There was no other way to describe what she was doing while staring at the big bottle of hair conditioner in Gareth and Gretchen’s shared bathroom. The water was scalding, leaving her skin pink and her fingers pruny but she didn’t attempt to move from under the stream for several seconds. Had she really been that obvious? Could people tell that she liked Eddie? Could he tell? What if he didn’t know, but found out and was disgusted about it? She’d shared so much of her past lately, what if he used it as a weapon to hurt her? Oh, but Eddie wasn’t like that. He could be mean when he wanted to, but never to his friends, or at least not intentionally. He could be harsh sometimes, but he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. And besides, he’d offered up his life story to her too so that meant he trusted her. But what if he started hating her? What if he hated that he’d confided in her while she was secretly harboring this big ass crush that seemed to grow every day and left her breathless every time their hands touched? What if -

“Dot? You okay in there?” Gareth’s voice cut straight through the madness swirling inside her head.

“Y-yeah! I’ll be out in a sec!”

“Okay! You want egg cream?”

“What?” she turned off the water and wrapped herself in a fluffy baby pink towel, padding closer to the door.

“Egg cream, it’s like an ice cream float but with no ice cream. Like foamy chocolate milk. You wanna try it?”

“Uh, okay. Sure!”

She could hear him walking away towards the kitchen, socks cushioning his steps, and quickly changed into her pajamas trying to come back down to the present. Gareth had always been incredibly nice to her, and she considered themselves to be pretty close. She thought of all the boys as her best friends, but Gareth and her had immediately clicked in a way that was different than with the rest of them. Jeff was very much an equal, a calming presence, the friend she turned to when she was nervous and needed advice, and he sought her out for comfort as well, their relationship shaped around a sort of gentle give and take. On the other hand, Donny was the big brother she’d never had, guiding her in D&D when she felt particularly lost, sharing music with her, and helping her become more confident in her own skin. She’d return his affections with endless enthusiasm and curiosity, their friendship based on mutual admiration and genuine fondness. And Gareth… Gareth was the rambunctious twin she’d always dreamed of. They bickered incessantly, she’d steal his sweatshirts and then let him copy off her homework, and he’d threaten to burp in her face only to then steer her away from bullies in the hallways. Out of all their friends, he was the most likely to give her his real opinion on something without filtering it, and that’s why when she hung up the towel to dry, she decided he deserved to know the truth.

“Hey,” he said, looking up from the glass he was pouring chocolate syrup into. “You can have that one, I didn’t make you a big one in case you didn’t like it.”

“Thanks,” Dottie smiled lightly, and he smiled back. “What did you say this was called? Creamed egg?”

“Egg cream,” Gareth snorted. “It’s chocolate milk, but with seltzer. It sounds crazy but it’s really good, I promise.”

Dottie took a small sip and scrunched her face instantly making him laugh. With a confused expression, she went in for a second sip, and then a third one. She wiped the foam from her upper lip and set the cup down.

“It’s not gross, but it’s not good either.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird, right? That’s why I like it. It’s better with Fox’s U-Bet, but I only have Hershey’s,” he said, before taking a big gulp and downing half his glass in one go. “Ready for bed?”

“Can we take down your Freddy Krueger poster? It gives me the creeps.”

“You’re such a baby,” he teased her, but he was already on his way to his bedroom to unpin it from his wall.

They settled in for the night after brushing their teeth while sharing the sink, playfully bumping each other with their elbows for more space. Gareth not only took his Freddy Krueger poster down, but also his Night of the Living Dead and The Evil Dead posters while Dottie fluffed her pillow, the air mattress bouncing softly every time she moved. They lay in the dark for a few minutes, moonlight barely giving shape to the bumps in the bedroom before she turned to him.

"G?" Dottie whispered, not wanting to wake him up if he'd already fallen asleep.

"Yeah?"

"If I tell you a secret, you promise not to tell anyone? Not even the guys?"

"Of course," the sheets shifted against his legs as he rolled onto his side and she saw his hand extend until it was right next to her. "Pinky swear."

She lifted her own hand up and linked pinkies with him, shaking on it once. He stayed on his side, squinting in the darkness to see her profile but she never spoke. He thought she'd maybe dozed off, but the blow-up mattress began crackling when she turned on her side to look at him. A car sped down the street illuminating the room and both teens stared at each other until the lights dimmed again. Gareth could tell, if only for a brief moment, that she was terrified of what was stuck in her throat.

"Do you… do you wanna, like, come up here?" he asked, thinking of how he used to climb into his sister's bed when he had nightmares as a kid. Gretchen would always protest against it, but when he woke up in her arms after the sun had gone up, he knew she didn't really mind that much.

"Yeah. Yes, thank you. Just for a bit, though."

"Just for a bit," he repeated, moving back towards the wall and leaving space for her to crawl under his covers.

They lay on their sides sharing a pillow, their heads so close they could have smelled each others’ minty breaths if they just inched forward a bit more. By all means, the situation should have been extremely weird, but it wasn't. There was no rush, no expectations, just two friends waiting until one of them was brave enough to spill some truth into the midnight. Only mild nervousness at the conversation that was about to unfold could be found on Gareth's bed at that moment.

"I think I like Eddie," Dottie said, breaking the silence and bracing for an impact that never came.

"You think you like Eddie?"

"I… no. No, I know I like him. I like Eddie."

"Okay. And he doesn't know?"

"I haven't told him, so I hope not."

"And you don't know if he likes you back?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd help me out on that."

"Well," Gareth began. "Not sure I can. I've known him for years and he just doesn't talk about that stuff with us. Not since Polly Sue at least."

"Polly Sue?"

"This girl he liked back when we first met him. They were in junior year, I think they sat together in class. He asked her to prom and she laughed at him in front of everyone," he explained. "It was really bad. Her friends made fun of him for like a whole week."

"That's horrible."

"He never talked about girls again after that. I know he's kissed some after gigs but it hasn't happened in months."

"Maybe he found someone he likes?" she said, chest seizing at the thought.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. He's literally spending all his free time with you, so you must be doing something right. I bet he likes you too, but he’s too awkward to say it."

"Yeah? You think so?"

"Yeah! Come on, he'd be a dumbass if he didn't like you back. You're great!"

"You have to say that, you're my best friend," she nudged his leg with hers.

"As your best friend I have to also tell you that you're a freak for not liking latkes with applesauce."

"You're the freak, you sleep with socks on."

Both teens giggled at the absurdity of their fight, Gareth swinging a leg over her hip while she gave him a hug with her left arm only, the right one tucked under her head. He hugged her back, also with one arm, his chin barely touching her forehead.

"You know, if you really want to know, you could just ask him," he suggested.

"I can't walk up to him and go "hey Eddie! Do you like me? Oh, why am I asking you say? Don't worry about it, just curious!". Like, I'd literally rather fucking fall into the quarry."

"I'm not saying you should ask him like that, smartass. You could just ask him if he likes anyone, it’s a friendly question."

"And if he says he does and it's not me?"

"Then you know and you can move on. But honestly, I don't think you should worry. He got you a ticket for prom, he's getting all his grades up for you. I think you're good. Just, keep going like that, y'know? Show him what he’s getting with you if he grows some balls."

"You're really smart sometimes, you know that?" she teased, but her voice was full of fondness.

"Eh, I have my moments," he grinned.

They chatted for another hour, gossiping about things they'd heard in the hallways and making plans for the summer after graduation, the places they wanted to see, the food they wanted to try, the people they wanted to meet. Dottie slipped back into her mattress when the yawns became frequent, sheets cold but heart warm with the knowledge that if everything failed, she'd always could count on Gareth to be her best cheerleader.

Tuesday, May 13th - 1986

If Eddie thought dropping Dottie off at Gareth’s the previous night was bad for his blood pressure, he had no way of preparing himself for the absolute shock it was to see them hanging onto each other near Jeff’s locker where all his friends were congregating before their third period. Gareth was barely awake, clinging to Dottie to keep himself upright despite his head lolling onto hers every few seconds. Dottie looked equally sleepy but seemed to be less in danger of falling to the floor, shoulder tucked under his armpit and locking her body in place. All of that would have been enough to give Eddie a heart attack, but the fact that she was wearing Gareth’s oversized Van Halen sweatshirt tucked into her overalls had his brain firing in wild directions.

"Hey, man," Donny said, standing next to Jeff.

"Hey. You two good?" he asked the tired duo.

"Hi, Ed," Dottie smiled at him sleepily, and Eddie felt his insides turn to mush. "We got an A+."

"First A+ I've gotten since middle school," Gareth muttered, eyes closed but with a satisfied grin on his lips.

"Probably the last one too," Jeff teased, making the curly haired boy blindly lunge at him.

The sudden movement dislodged Dottie’s comfy stand, making her wobble against Eddie's side, left hand coming up to clutch the front of his shirt softly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders to help stabilize her, but truth be told, he just wanted to hold her and it seemed like a good enough excuse. She didn’t seem to mind, letting herself relax into his soft embrace.

"Sorry," she said, stifling a yawn. "We stayed up really late last night, I'm exhausted."

"I can see that. You wanna skip Calc and take a nap in my van?"

"We can't skip Calc, finals are in a couple of weeks."

"Princess, you're dead on your feet right now."

"We aren't skipping Calc," she said firmly. "I'll nap in the library during fourth."

"Okay," he chuckled. "I'll wake you up for lunch."

Eddie didn't have the heart to wake her up after she fell asleep. Once fourth period started and they were free to study wherever they wanted, he dragged her towards a dark-ish corner at the back of the library and worked on his drawing portfolio quietly while she snoozed on the carpeted floor, her head resting on his lap. She slept straight through fourth period and lunch, and he made no attempts to rouse her from her slumber before the bell rang signaling the start of the last period and the end to their shared classes for the day. He walked her to her Home Economics classroom where Donny was waiting to fully wake her up with a bone-crunching hug, and hurried towards the Biology class he shared with Jeff who asked about their absence at the lunch table with a worried expression.

By the time they all reconvened in the parking lot at the end of the day, she was looking much more alive and he was hungry as hell. They didn’t stop to get snacks as they so often did, choosing instead to share Dottie’s BLT and chips she’d packed for lunch and the brownies she’d made during Home Ec on their drive to the trailer. She didn’t even wipe his tepid bottle of water before taking her own sip, and he hung onto that detail for far longer than he should have. Who could care about her wearing Gareth’s clothes when she lifted a bit of sandwich to his mouth while his hands were busy switching gears and pulling into a turn?

Wayne, as always, was happy to see her and gave her a big hug when they walked into the trailer. Dottie offered the last piece of brownie to him and Eddie could have sworn the old man thought about bringing out adoption papers right there and then. He left them to chat while he rearranged the mess in his bedroom and then the two teens retreated to the dry comfort of his bed, looming clouds threatening to rain again after it had drizzled all morning. Nobody had told Dottie the midwest was this goddamn rainy before she’d made the big move, but she’d much preferred it to how hot she knew summer was going to get as the days went by. She finished her homework for the day quickly and Eddie let her wander around his room while he steadily worked on his, Biology textbook open next to his knee.

When he was on his last question, he noticed she seemed to be bouncing with energy, keeping herself busy by rearranging his tape collection again. He snapped his textbook shut with enough force for her to jolt her head up, and as soon as he’d cleared his bed from any stray papers, she jumped on it, kneeling in front of his crossed legs with shifty eyes and rosy cheeks.

“Okay, spill. You look like Gareth when he overhears something juicy in the hallway,” Eddie said, leaning back onto the wall behind his bed and crossing his arms.

“Speaking of Gareth,” she began, and Eddie waited patiently. “We were talking about prom last night, and, well, it doesn’t really matter, but I was just wondering if you… because we’re all going together as a group, right? But you got me my ticket and I didn’t want things to be awkward if you did so I thought-”

“Princess, I’m so lost right now.”

“Right. Sorry,” she said sheepishly. She took a deep breath while she rearranged her legs to sit criss-cross in front of him. “I was just wondering if there was someone you liked, you know? At school? Because you got me my ticket and I’m really grateful, but I don’t want to ruin things for you if you want to get a date or something.”

“Did Gareth tell you I liked someone?” he narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“No! No, I asked him about- I can pay you back if you want,” she wrung her hands on her lap.

“You don’t have to pay me back,” he said, sitting up. “I don’t… there isn’t anyone I want to take to prom. I want to go with you. And, y’know, the guys. Hellfire Class of ‘86 and all that, right?”

“Yeah, no, I just thought…,” she chewed on her lower lip, not knowing where to take the conversation. “It’s okay if you wanna go with someone else.”

“Do you want to go with someone else?” Eddie asked, wary.

“I wanna go with you,” she said, and looked up at him suddenly. “Hellfire Class of ‘86, l-like you said.”

“Okay,” he said, untangling her wrung fingers and pulling one hand into his. “Good. Nothing’s changing then. You don’t have to pay me back.”

“Okay,” she repeated. “Good.”

Eddie pulled her by her hand until she fell forward into him, legs tangled on top of his blanket and arms around hers. Where were these questions coming from? Had Gareth mentioned something to make her doubt that he wanted nothing more than to take her to prom? He couldn’t wait until the moment he got to sit next to her in his van with her fancy dress on and a love stricken smile on his face. Dottie settled comfortably on his chest, the side of her nose pressed to his sternum, cheek squished against the soft cotton of his shirt. He wondered if she felt it too, that inexplicable pull between them, that overwhelming need to be close, to feel the heat coming off from each other’s skin.

One time very early into their friendship, Mike had mentioned that it was strange how touchy they both were with one another considering they hadn’t known each other for long. Eddie was someone who never hesitated to pull a friend into his arms, always play fighting with the boys, not entirely understanding what the phrase “personal space” meant. He was loud and boisterous, and he was equally showy in his affections regardless who was on the receiving end: Eddie Munson didn’t half ass anything - anything that mattered to him, anyways. Dottie on the other hand was much more reserved, but still didn’t shy away from physical contact. She was always letting her head fall into someone’s shoulder, consistently linking her arm with her friends’ while they walked through hallways, giving everyone strawberry chapstick kisses on their cheeks as a goodbye. But even after Dustin had pointed all of this out to Mike and everyone had agreed with his assessment and dropped the subject, Eddie had never stopped thinking about it.

In more recent times, he’d begun hoping that maybe all the work he was putting in was actually coming to fruition. He still had a long way to go in his eyes, but he couldn’t complain about the fact that he was currently holding the girl he was secretly in love with while laying on his bed, in the room she had helped clean, with his tummy full of the food she’d prepared. Would it really be too much of a sin to push things further a little bit? To start figuring out where he stood compared to everyone else in her life?

“What about you?” Eddie asked, hand coming up to brush her broken curls out of her face.

“Hm?”

“Do you like someone at school?”

“Not really, no,” she muttered, and he could feel her heart rate pick up under his own chest.

“What about Gareth?”

“Ew,” she said instantly, making him snort. “I love him, but I don’t like him like that. He’s like… Like an annoying brother. Did you know he snores?”

“Be glad all he did was snore. I’ve heard him fart in his sleep and it’s not pretty,” she chuckled. “Be honest now though,” he paused dramatically. “Do I snore?”

“You don’t snore,” she lifted her head, chin hovering where her cheek had been. “Do I?”

“Yeah. Thought we were gonna get kicked out of the library today, it was like an earthquake,” he said, making her gasp and slap his side. “No, you don’t snore, darling. You slept like a baby.”

“What about you though?”

“Do I sleep like a baby?”

“No - Do you like someone?”

“Not really,” now it was his turn for his heart rate to pick up. He hoped she couldn’t feel it under her hands that were now between her chin and his chest.

“What about Chrissy?”

“What about her?” he was confused.

“Dunno. The guys said you weren’t friends until recently and I just wondered. She’s pretty.”

“I suppose so, yeah,” Eddie thought about Chrissy for a bit. He did think she was pretty, but in the same way he thought a sunset was pretty. Nice to look at, pleasant to be around, but not particularly breathtaking. Not to him at least. He hoped Jason Carver thought Chrissy was as stunning as the way he thought Dottie with her wild hair lying on top of him right now was. She deserved that kind of adoration. “I don’t really see her that way. She’s a good friend, though. I told her she should talk to you, I think you’d get along.”

“Why?”

“Why I think you’d get along?” he asked for confirmation, Dottie nodded. Because I’m in love with you and she’s gonna be my maid of honor slash best woman slash whatever that shit’s called at our wedding. “You’re in World History together, right? You’re both sweet, and kind, and caring. And you both like Elton John. And Queen!”

“Everyone likes Queen.”

“Yeah, but not everyone has their records. I don’t. You could talk about that with her, she owns all of them. She says her Dad always gets a new one for her when he’s on a work trip.”

“You really are good friends with her, huh?”

“Like you and Gareth,” he said, wanting to make it clear his eyes were not wandering. He didn’t need Dottie thinking he wasn’t interested in her. “Well, maybe without the sleepovers.”

“Isn’t it dumb though?” Dottie said, furrowing her brow in mild irritation. “How people just assume that if you’re friends with someone of the opposite sex you must be into them?”

“I mean, sometimes friends like each other.”

“Sure, yeah, but not all friends do. Like, no one thinks you and Jeff are dating and I’ve seen you two almost kiss sharing a mic. If you did that with Chrissy, people would think there’s something going on.”

“Dot, you know exactly why people think that,” he lifted an eyebrow. “Fuck Reagan, remember?”

Dottie sat up immediately, looking very rigid. He took his time sitting up too, but took it as a win when she grabbed his hand and began playing with his rings. It almost looked like she was preparing herself to drop a bomb on him, and he couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t necessary. He knew what she was gonna say before she even opened her mouth, because whatever she looked like right now, was exactly how Eddie looked like a few years back when Wayne found a very special magazine he’d bought in Indy hidden underneath his bed amongst all the other ones he didn’t care to put away properly most of the time.

“Eddie, there’s… there’s something you should-”

“I know,” he said, thumb ghosting along hers. “Me too.”

“You too?” she said, confusion and hope mixing in her eyes. He nodded.

“Darling, you love Rocky Horror. That’s kind of a dead giveaway.”

“I like musicals,” she tried to pull back her hand but he held on.

“You do. But we both know it’s not Rocky and Brad you’re into when you watch it.”

“And,” Dottie swallowed a big lump in her throat before continuing. “-that’s okay with you?”

“Why would I care? It’s not like I watched it for Janet,” he revealed, a knowing smile on his face.

“So you like… boys?” she asked, wanting to turn all the cards on the table upright.

“And girls,” he said, her eyes snapping back to his. “And you like girls?”

“And boys. Like you.”

“Like me.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she let out an airy laugh, like she had been holding it for a while. Eddie wondered if he was the first person she’d ever told this to. Maybe someday he’d tell her that Wayne wouldn’t care either, and when it happened, she’d tell him that her Auntie Rachel didn’t mind as well, but for now, this shared secret would stay between the four walls of Eddie’s bedroom that no longer smelled like mold or vinegar. It smelled like home.

“Have you…,” Dottie began, not knowing how to ask. He picked up on what she meant instantly.

“Yeah. A couple of times at The Hideout. The guys don’t know though.”

“Do you think they’d have a problem with it?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’m ready to find out yet,” he said honestly. She nodded in agreement. “Have you?”

“Just one time. A kiss at a party. We were playing Truth or Dare.”

“Real steamy,” he joked, and she pushed him lightly.

“I was fifteen, okay? It was enough to send me into cardiac arrest.”

“I bet. I thought I was having a weird trip my first time. Didn’t help that we definitely smoked some strange shit before.”

“I feel silly now,” she admitted. “I thought you’d be upset.”

“Come here.”

He opened his arms and she crawled between his legs, squeezing his middle. He rocked them both side to side for a bit to make her giggle and loosen up. Eddie had a good feeling about where they were headed after this and let himself enjoy it, knowing that the knot in his stomach he’d identified as jealousy had begun unraveling. She didn’t like anyone at school and now she knew that he didn’t either. This was good. Things could grow on fertile ground, and he was doing a damn good job at prepping the soil. It was time, he felt, to turn up the heat.

“Hey,” he said, and she hummed in acknowledgement, not lifting her head from his shoulder. “So, you know my birthday is this week, right? Jeff was telling me today that we could have a movie night in his basement. You game?”

“On Thursday?”

“I was thinking on Friday after Hellfire. And on Thursday you can come over and we can, like, hang out? Wayne said he’s gonna get a cake, and I’d kinda really like to spend the day with you both. Nothing big. We can still do homework and stuff, I mean, I’m only halfway done with my portfolio and-”

“I’d love to come. Count me in, birthday boy.”

“Great. I’ll tell Wayne later.”

Later that night, when Dottie was tucked into her own bed after two long days filled with very interesting conversations, she pondered on Gareth’s words. Show him what he’s getting with you if he grows some balls, he had said. Just before she fell asleep, a sudden thought entered her brain and stuck to the front pushing away everything else. Maybe I am the one that needs to grow some balls.

taglist (comment below or shoot me a dm if you want to be added!): @munsonology @kurdtbean

[indecisive-dizzy]

Oooooo oc assumptions :DDD

I don’t have too many but I’ll share a few

CJ spends a bunch of time at Eddie’s post office, they talk a lot

Valeria, Howdy, and Barnaby are the joking trio and they all tell each other crappy jokes to try and make the others laugh

CJ and Valeria are good friends and they hang out

Valeria and Sally are friends? I think they’d get along, they’re both girlbosses

They’re so silly I’d love to learn more about them :3

oh yeah CJ loves to spend time with Eddie! They can talk about literally anything and sometimes Eddie delivery stories are good inspo!

Howdy, Barnaby, and Val are THE jokester trio. No one can get groceries bc these three are all laughing their asses off and leaning on the shop counter to not fall over XD Wally is just sitting there politely waiting for them calm down

CJ and Val would hang out I think! Valerie would think CJ is a dork but he doesn't mind. She teases him about his crushes and CJ just responds with "So how's your boyfriend's boyfriend?" Big sister and little brother energy lol

Yes! Valerie and Sally would gossip together. Though Val is constantly having to defend Barnaby's honor against Sally lmao. Val would help with props/scene pieces for Sally's plays too!

[rainylana]

“Looks like I’m going to prom.”

Eddie Munson x reader

summary: he doesn’t want to go. he thinks you don’t either, until he catches you staring off into the distance with that look in your eye.

warnings: so much damn fluff you have to read it in small amounts or you’ll fall dead over. language, smoking, reader is lowkey rude af and a carbon copy of eddie lmao. clueless eddie for the first half, but he gets so damn cute it’s almost prison worthy. reader is described with curly hair, some stereotypical descriptions about females?? smut, oral (female receiving), praising, fingering, slight decrophylia. also you might be a bit confused if you haven’t watched back to the future lol. it’s so mf cute istg.

taglist!

@ariesl0ves3ddiemuns0n @eddiemania @eddiemunnson @lillianofliterature @supercalifragilisticprincess @delilahtaylorsverson @cosmic-lavender @kaqua @ches-86 @ultimate-sdmn-trash @chaos-incorp @hearts4laura @aa-li-yxh @noturmom15 @lexthemess21 @underthebatcape @insomniac-nerd-posts-things @your-starless-eyes-remain @avobabe87 @kellysimagines @bellasfavoritesweatpants @mic429 @averysblog @antigoneidk @catherinnn @getbillzoned @phantomxoxo @no0neknowsm3 @flowers-and-tsukki @ahzysauce @imangy @softyutae @rovckwells @ohlovelyhollow @tessiemessie @xx-hospitalforsouls-xx-blog @tripthlightfantastic @blowing-mikey @livasaurasrex @imdoingbetternow @nothisispatric @imabadarsebard @fionnthebandersnacc @justaproudslytherpuff @heeyitsg @genuine-possum @fvcking-gxddess @kneelforloki @actuallybarb @itiscj

Sometimes Eddie forgot you were a girl. Well, not literally. He definitely knew you were a girl when it came to the bedroom. But you were so different compared to the other girls of Hawkins high. That’s why he was dating you. You were like an exact carbon copy of him.

That first day of sophomore year was the best day of his life, watching you confidently shove your way through the storms of people.

“Holy shit. Who the fuck is that?”

Your dressed exactly like him. Hell, you looked like him too, with your wild, untamed curls and whimsical eyes. You listened to the same music as he did, and every day you showed up wearing some ripped up band t-shirt. You were seen as a freak just as much as he was, and you were the proud mascot of the hellfire club.

It hadn’t taken you long before you and Eddie first hooked up. You weren’t a relationship person, well hadn’t been before at least, but Eddie was…he was the love of your life.

You had the dirtiest attitude. Your sarcasm off buttons had been broken years ago, and god forbids anyone cross you, or Eddie or any of the hellfire members. You’d been suspended three times for breaking out into fights, all of them defending your lovers honor.

Honestly, you were a bitch. You were rude and disrespectful. But Eddie was head over heels in love with you, and treated you like an absolute goddess.

That being said, he often forgot you were a lady, because you most certainly did not act like a lady.

For example, you’d been having a movie night, and just so happened to be on your period, and he’d caught you crying out of the corner of his eye while watching E.T. He was so shocked by the sight he didn’t even say anything.

You didn’t wear make up, but you had to wear mascara. You couldn’t go a day without it, saying you looked “fucking ugly” without it. He always watched in awe when you’d put it on, and you’d kick him in shin playfully when you caught him staring.

You had a stuffed teddy bear that you held on to since child hood. You didn’t sleep with it much, just sat on display, but it always freaked him out when he’d wake up in the middle of the night with the bear staring at him and tucked between your arms.

And very, very rarely on occasion, you’d ask him how you looked nonchalantly, standing in the mirror. You usually never gave a shit about your appearance, so it always shocked him when he seen a sliver of insecurities seep through.

None of these things were a big deal and he knew that, but he forgot that you weren’t anything but a carefree metalhead like himself and had feelings.

“So, I’m sittin’, right? Trying my best not to blow my brains out, but the bitch just keeps talking and talking, and I’m like “christ, Carver, nobody gives a fuck!” So of course the pussy had to snitch on me again! Now I got fucking detention again.” Your head was in Eddie’s lap, your feet dangling off the edge of the school picnic table.

It was a sunny day out, so the hellfire club decided to spend their lunch hour outside by their normal spot. You’d been ranting for the past five minutes about you wished for a cruel, horrible death to fall upon Hawkins favorite golden boy.

“Isn’t that your second time this week?” Dustin said with a mouthful, sitting cross legged on the ground as he ate his lunch.

“Third, actually.” Eddie exhaled smoke, tapping the tip of his cigarette away from your face. “My baby’s tryna’ beat her record.” He smirked down at you, making everyone chuckle as he tapped your nose.

You swatted his hand away, scrunching your nose. “Well, I can’t help it I’m better than everyone else. They just don’t want to hear it.”

“One of these days Jason is gonna knock you on your ass.” Mike retorted, arms crossed as he leaned against the tree.

“Whoa.” Eddie exclaimed, eyes widening slightly. “Got a death wish today, Wheeler?”

“I fuckin’ dare him to swing at me.” You sat up on your elbows, parting your lips as Eddie pushed the cigarette between them. “It’ll be his last day on Earth.” You mumbled, taking a puff.

“I can’t wait to see that.” Gareth sent Eddie a sly smile, passing him his bag of pretzels.

“It’ll probably be any day now if you don’t watch that mouth of yours, sweetheart.” His hand went down to your thigh, and you cocked your head to blow smoke in his face.

“You know I can’t do that.”

He coughed shortly, nodding. “Yeah, I know.”

You both gave each other that love sickening stare that made your lips curl into a smirk, and you gave him a kiss on the lips, puckering up with a loud muah sound.

“You guys hear about the prom theme this year?” Dustin fished through his backpack.

“Why do you think we would give a shit about that, Henderson?” Eddie rolled his eyes, thumb rubbing your forehead as you laid back down with your head in his lap.

“Yeah, well, El is dragging Mike and Lucas wants to take Max, so I’m hoping I can take Susie.” He smiled tooth fully, handing Eddie the flyer.

You sat up, elbows on his lap as you peered over the paper. “Enchantment under the sea, huh?” He raised a brow. “I take it whoever came up with the title is a Back to the future fan.”

Everyone laughed, you did too, but your fingers etched up to take it from his grasp so you could investigate it further. The paper was pale blue, fish and sea life drawn on the paper with big, bold lettering. For some reason, you couldn’t put it down. The bright colors invited you in, and you brought up a nail to bite, drowning out the boys.

Back to the future was one of your favorite movies. You laughed through the entire thing when you saw it in the theater with Eddie and Gareth. You weren’t typically a fan of cliché romance movies, but the prom scenes between Marty and Lorraine, as weird as it was for being his mother, was enjoyable. Watching George and Lorraine fall and love and wind up together at the end made your heart swell.

As cringy as it was, Eddie was your George.

“Y/n!”

You jumped slightly, dropping the paper from your hand. “What?” You snapped, heart racing as you crashed back down to reality. Everyone’s eyes were on you.

“I said, did you get the biology answers?” Eddie narrowed his eyes at your quietness, tucking a cigarette behind his ear for later. “We got class in a few minutes.”

You hazily nodded, groaning as you sat up from his lap. “It’s in my locker. Be back in a sec’.”

He watched you step over Mike’s torso, purposely stepping on his fingers and making the boy cry out. He didn’t laugh, thinking about that look he’d watch stir up in your eye, a look he barely ever saw. Damnit.

You wanted to go to prom.

He did not want to go. He despised the idea. There were about a million other things he’d rather do. Hell, maybe even do the biology homework for himself. But, you held his heart. You loved him like no other, made him feel wanted and special. So, whatever you wanted, he made sure to give you.

“Son of a bitch.” He rolled his eyes with a groan.

Everyone looked to their dungeon master. “What’s the matter?” Dustin asked.

He watched you disappear into the school, giving the finger to Jason and his friends who hung out by the bleachers. You wanted to go to..to prom.

He sighed heavily. “Looks like I’m going to prom.”

•

“So like here’s my dilemma, okay? Y/n wants to go to prom. To prom! Weird, right? So listen…I don’t..well, I don’t know what to do. I don’t wanna go. I thought she didn’t either! I swear, she’s gonna give me gray hair before I’m thirty. But like…I can tell she really wants to go. She keeps watching Back to the Future every night before we go to bed and every time someone starts talking about it she just gets this..this look in her eye! And it’s..god, it’s cute. It’s like, really cute. So obviously I’m gonna take her! But what do I do? Should I ask her? Surprise her? I don’t-”

“Do you plan on ever letting me speak, Ed?” Wayne rubbed his temples, leaning against the kitchen sink as Eddie ranted and paced away.

It had been a week since the news of the upcoming prom had been announced, and he couldn’t seem to work through any of his thoughts. He didn’t want to disappoint, so as much as he hated it, he wanted to make it right, however that may be.

“Oh.” Eddie deadpanned, swallowing awkwardly. “Sorry. It’s just…well, I’m nervous. I don’t do the prom thing.”

“I know you don’t.” Wayne nodded, adjusting the hat on his head. “But you didn’t do girlfriends, either, remember? I’d say you and y/n are doing pretty well, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re great.” He pushed out a breath, smiling at the thought of you as he sat down on his uncle’s pull out couch. “She’s..she’s amazing. She makes me so happy.”

“Well, see?” He pointed. “That worked out. I’m sure prom won’t be that much harder.”

“Yeah, but prom is so…girly.” Eddie cringed, shaking his shoulders in disgust. “Y/n is not girly.”

“She is a girl though, bud.” Wayne chuckled, taking a sip of his beer. “Did you forget?”

His eyes bulged out of his skull. “Oh, god no. She’s so…so hot and the things she does with her hands I-”

“I don’t need to hear any of that.”

Eddie clamped his mouth shut as he seen his Uncle go uncomfortably, and he chuckled under his breath. “Right. Sorry.”

He ran his ringed hands through his mane of dark curls, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. His knee started bouncing, and he cursed under his breath.

“Come on, kiddo, don’t freak out.” He noticed his nephews state, pushing himself off the counter to sit beside him, patting his shoulder. “Don’t think of it as…prom. Just a regular date.”

Eddie pushed out an exasperated breath, eyes red and narrowed as he stared at the wall. “She overwhelms me sometimes, Uncle Wayne. I never would of thought I’d ever consider going…but she wants to go so bad and I just want to make her happy. It scares me how much I…how much I love her, you know?”

It warmed Wayne’s heart to hear him sound so passionate about something besides Dungeon and Dragons, and he loved you for it. You had a dirty attitude that matched his nephew’s to a t’, but you were undeniably good for him.

“You sound like your daddy when you talk like that,” Wayne sighed softly, grasping his chin in hand. “He got that way when he talked about your momma.”

Eddie stiffened beside him, squeezing his hands into fists. “I don’t wanna hear about that.”

“I know you don’t.” Wayne grasped his beer bottle. “But it’s the truth.”

“I’m not like my old man.” Eddie said gruffly, a scowl on his lips at the mention of his father. The only one who could bring him up was his uncle. His friend, including you, knew that it was off limits.

“Sometimes you are.” Wayne pressed, turning to look at his nephew. “But you got your momma’s heart. That’s why you wanna take y/n to prom. Because you’re a good person.”

His heart ached at the mentions of his mother, the woman he could barely remember, and sighed deeply. “I just don’t want to disappoint her. She means everything to me.”

He grasped his nephew’s shoulder. “You won’t, Ed. Just be yourself. It’s worked this long, don’t ya think?”

That was true. If he was ever going to scare you away, he would of thought you would of left a long, long time ago.

•

All you ever heard was talk talk talk about that damn prom. Yay fucking hooray. You couldn’t understand it, but every time someone mentioned it, you got pissed off, uncomfortable even, like you didn’t want to hear about it.

Well, you knew why you felt that why, after all, it wasn’t rocket science. You wanted to go, and you cursed yourself at the thought. It wasn’t your scene. It wasn’t Eddie’s scenes. But that didn’t seem to matter. As much as you liked to pretend you were a stone cold, emotionless robot, you loved Eddie with your entire being and soul, and damnit, you wanted to go to prom with him. It went against all social gatherings that you believed in, but you guess that none of those things mattered in this equation.

Boyfriends took their girlfriends to prom. Boyfriends who loved their girlfriends took them to prom. You knew Eddie loved you, so was it a crime to want him to take you?

Well, you figured it wouldn’t matter soon anyways, because prom was only in a matter of hours, being that night, and you were on your way home from another shit day at work. When you pulled into the drive of your shared home, you narrowed your eyes at the darkness of the windows. His van was there, but it looked like nobody was home. No way in hell had his ass went to bed yet.

You exited your truck and trotted up the porch, taking out your key and unlocking the door. You were met with darkness, hand searching the wall for a light switch. You flipped it on when you found it, scanning the rooms, but no Eddie.

“If you’re trying to scare me again, Eddie, I swear I’m gonna feed your balls to Max’s dog!” You tossed your keys on the cabinet, taking weary steps into the kitchen. There was only so many places he could hide. You flipped on the light to the bedroom. No Eddie.

But there was something that caught your eye.

On your bed, was a dress, a very familiar looking dress. Your eyes widened slightly, approaching it with slow steps, fingers reaching out to lift it up to the length of your shoulders. It was pink…but not pink, almost a nude, really. That’s why you liked it so much. It was delicate, and not overly eccentric, with a low neckline and soft fabric at the top. It was almost an exact lookalike of Lorraine’s prom dress from Back to the Future.

“What the-” You gasped confused, stepping back to look back down at the bed. There was a piece of paper folded in half, and you bent down quickly to pick it up.

Prom?

Your stone cold heart seemed to triple in size.

“What do you say, Mcfly?” You jumped and whirled around, curls bouncing on your shoulders, and dear god, your eyes fucking tripled in size.

He was leaning against the doorway, wearing a goddamn suit. Eddie Munson was wearing a goddamn tuxedo.

His dark curls fell over his broad shoulders, a black bow tie just bellows his neck that had obviously been fiddled with several times. He had shiny, leather shoes on, his lips decorated in a sly smirk.

Your words had been completely stollen from you, and your lips parted without sound as your eyes narrowed and widened all at once. “You- I…this dress it’s-”

“Yeah, I know.” He laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “How can I not know? You’ve been watching the movie everyday for the past week, sweetheart. You’re not very subtle like you pretend to be.” He pushed himself off the wall, taking your hands in his.

It almost embarrassed you that he knew you had wanted to go, made your feel weak, but that feeling slipped away and couldn’t help but be replaced by joy. Your face turned red, and the biggest smile spread across your face as you but your lip, holding out the dress for you to see. “God, Eddie, this is…you look so good, jesus christ.” You exhaled, stepping back to examine him again.

He batted his lashes and held his arms out. “I better! This is a damn tux, you know? Only classy men where this, honey.”

You laughed and nodded. “Well, you definitely look it.” You let out a sharp breath, feeling overwhelmed again as you squeezed the dress in hand. “How did you…Jesus, how did you find this?”

“I had a…a friend of Wayne’s make it. She’s a seamstress next town over. Went to school together.” He pushed back his hair, growing slightly nervous at the look on your face. “So whatta’ ya’ say? Makin’ me nervous here, sweat pea.” He chuckled, nudging your elbow.

Honestly, you wanted to scream into a pillow, jump off the Empire State building, and arm wrestle with a goddamn gorilla.

“Hell, yeah!” You beamed, making him flinch unexpectedly, the both of you bursting into laughter. “God, Eddie… this is..I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe you would-” Your jaw fell slack suddenly at a loss of words, eyes narrowing into slits when you caught something out of the corner of your eye, or more so, the lack of something.

Eddie’s guitar was not against his mirror.

It was never not there. Only when he was playing it, of course. And that was when it hit you.

His eyes followed yours and he turned pink, hoping you wouldn’t bring it up, but he was always in the dark when it came to you.

“How did you get…” Your eyes did not leave the blank space, voice steady and slow as you pointed. The money. How did he get the money?

You didn’t need to ask.

“You sold it, didn’t you?” Your voice was almost dead silent, eyes glancing up at him.

He swallowed and shrugged nonchalantly. “Just a guitar.

It was not just a guitar. Your eyes dropped heavily as you sighed, shoulders defeating. “Eddie…Eddie, why?”

“Hey,” He grabbed your elbow. “Don’t worry bout it, kay? I don’t want you to worry about how I paid for it. That’s my business.” He tried to reassure you. eyes soft and brown like your curls.

“But Eddie,” You placed down the dress, shaking your head in disbelief. “It’s just a dress. You didn’t need to..Eddie, you can’t. Please, take it-”

“Don’t you dare.” He said sternly, cutting you off. “You deserve nice things, y/n, as much as you pretend you don’t. I want you to wear this, and I know you want to, so you’re gonna wear it, you understand?”

It was rare that he left you speechless, and his figure in front of you blurred with tears. You quickly turned around to hide, staring down at the dress. Your lips pulled down in an overwhelming frown. “I don’t..I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” His hands wrapped around your torso, chin resting on your shoulder and curls brushing against your own. “I just wanna see you in this pretty dress, okay? That’s all.” He kissed your cheek.

Your heart was racing from how overjoyed and overwhelmed you felt, and you quickly turned around to wrap your arms around him, burying your face in his neck. “But you love her.” Your voice cracked, squeezing him tight.

His hand stroked your hair. “I love you more, baby.”

You hugged him so tight you almost inhaled him, trying your best to not break down and cry. “You really wanna take me to prom?” You said meekly. You sounded so…small.

“More than anything.” He whispered into your ear.

You weren’t good at dealing with these kinds of emotions, and Eddie rarely ever saw them. So you did what you were best at. You leaned up and kissed. Your lips melted up on his, hand reaching up to tangle in his hair. He groaned into your mouth, hand cupping the back of your neck as your foreheads pressed together.

“What do you say, Mcfly?” He breathed against you, slowly inching back to the bed. His tongue licked your bottom lip, asking for permission.

“I say,” You parted your lips, lips tangling once again in a heat of passion. “Take me to prom, Doc.”

He collapsed atop of you on the bed, and your knees parted so he could rest between your thighs. His hands grabbed yours and held them tightly, noses pressing against the other as hot, pink lips sucked and pulled at your own. You wrapped your legs around his waist, bucking your hips into his strained jeans from his erection.

His hand cupped your cheek, and he pulled away to see your shiny tears. “Hey,” He panted, wiping them away. “No crying on prom night.”

Your head rested perfectly on the pillows, and you gulped as his hair tickled your ear. “It scares me how much I love you. You scare me.”

He chuckled at your response, hand going down your stomach. You were wearing your work uniform, which was a waitressing dress, leaving him extremely easy access to your pussy. “You scare the shit outta me too, babe.”

He tapped your nose playfully as he scooted down the bed, gripping your thighs with his large, ringed palms. “Now, we’re not gonna be cryin’ no sad tears, you hear?” He looked up through his lashes, smirking slightly as he pushed your legs up over his shoulders. “Only crying you’re gonna be doing is from me kissin’ this pretty pussy.”

You gasped when his head disappeared under the slit of your uniform, lips attaching to your cotton panties and placing a kiss to your clothed clit. Your hands reached down to tangle in his hair. “Oh, god,” You sighed, eyes fluttering closed. “God, you’re- you’re so good to me, Eddie.”

His fingers snapped the band of your panties against your skin, nose rubbing against your clit. “I know.” He said cockily, fingers slipping past your panties to poke at your entrance, nose still playing with your bud. “Be a good girl and relax for me, okay? Want you to feel good before we go dancin’.”

Your jaw fell slack when two of his fingers slowly entered your, pushing in and out at a gentle pace as you adjusted to the feeling. His nose made circles around your clit, still covered in your white cotton panties. “Oh, fuck,” Your legs quivered, his callused fingers moving faster, deeper inside of your heat that sucked him deep up into you.

You rocked against his face, stomach burning and eyes blurring with pleasurable tears. The tip of his nose stroked up and down, side to side, pressing and poking, making white hot strikes of pleasure send off tremors through your body.

“You’re so pretty, baby.” He mumbled against you, rings pushing into your core that shined brighter from your wetness. “Can’t wait to see you in your new dress. My pretty little Lorraine.”

You leaned up to pull him closer, moaning and gasping, whimpering for more. “Oh, god! God, Eddie, I’m gonna- fuck, fuck,”

He pushed faster and faster, the sound of squelching loud over your cries. He pressed his nose hard into your clit, pushing his face into you to add pressure. You sobbed as you clenched around his fingers, eyes rolling into the back of your head as you spasmed sharply, and he curled his long, slender fingers inside of you, helping you ride the wave as he groaned against your thigh.

Tears fell down your face as you fell back on the bed, mouth fallen slack as you panted. His fingers slowly pulled out, panties snapping back into place. His lips were shining in your arousal, and he smiled ear to ear.

“Ready to go dancing, Mcfly?”

[truessences]

Eddie is only 2 years older than Chrissy

I find this discourse around Eddie and Chrissy's ship being P3dophilic to be strange. So let's break this down...

School districts can only hold students back twice in the same grade before students need to seek alternate forms of completion.

They went to middle school together, regardless of what dates say, since we know they can get this wrong since the Duffers clearly forgot Will's birthday was March 22. But I digress lol.

They went to middle school together, so at the MOST Eddie can only be 2 years older than Chrissy unless he got held back then to which I doubt.

So, Chrissy is a Senior because in most American schools, in order to be head cheerleader, you have to be a Senior. She's wearing a 86 necklace and all that. Which you would generally only wear if that's the year you're graduating, unless she's wearing Jason's necklace, which also isn't uncommon.

Eddie was held back twice, this is his third year as a Senior. He should have graduated when Chrissy was a sophomore, when he would have been 17/18 (depending on when his birthday is). Now they're in the same grade, Chrissy is probably 17/18, and Grace Van Dien said she's 18, which would make Eddie 19/20. They are only 2 years apart.

Now if you want to look at the dates, the fandom page says she was born in 1968, and she died in 1986, which would make her 18, like Grace said. Either way you slice it... Eddie is 19/20 and depending on his birthday, he could have been 19 about to turn 20 over the summer of 86.

You don't have to like the ship or want to ship it, that's your business. But don't be dishonest. For me, these are reasons why I roll my eyes at some ships and their shippers because y'all like to lie to support your ship. You don't have to do that lol.

Grace Van Dien isn't weird for liking the ship. Leave that woman alone. Joseph Quinn doesn't know y'all and doesn't need y'all to defend his honor against someone he knows and worked with.

EDIT: Oh also... did anyone bat an eye when Steve confessed his feelings about Robin to her? He's actually OUT of school and wanted to date her and would still date her? Or what about Mrs. Wheeler and Billy?

[trashywritestrash]

hc abt the reader and eddie being ennemies to lovers? ty

Eddie Munson Enemies to Lovers Headcannons

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Henderson!reader

Word Count: 1.65k

Warnings: STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR, VOLUME ONE SPOILERS. Canon level themes: murder mention, reader owns/possesses a gun, a little emotional hurt/comfort if you squint?, a couple curse words, this is literally a full fic written in bullet points, accidentally jumping between past and present tense but oh well

A/N: Please excuse how haphazard this probably is lol, I did my best. It got away from me though oops. This goes a little off prompt though, sorry :/

Please tell me what you think! This is my first time writing for Stranger Things, so I would love feedback!

gif by drogonstone

You think Eddie is annoying

Seriously, who the hell climbs onto a table in the middle of lunch and starts yelling about conformity? (You weren’t there to experience it, but Dustin told you about it later)

You weren’t too happy when Dustin and his friends got mixed up with him. But they idolized Eddie and said he wasn’t so bad

What could you do? Force them to give up Hellfire? No way, you couldn’t do that to them

So you decided that they could go to Hellfire all they wanted, as long as you didn’t have to deal with Eddie yourself

Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan

You and Steve took turns dropping the kids off and picking them up from Hellfire

Steve was in the same graduating class as you and you two became friends once he dropped the whole “King Steve” complex

The two of you were essentially the parents slash babysitters of these kids. Dustin is your brother, so that makes sense. But the others? You don’t remember adopting them, but it apparently happened along the way

Fighting a Demogorgon (along with other assorted demonic creatures) together creates an unbreakable bond

So when Dustin spoke through the radio he gave you and asked you to come inside after Hellfire, you had to say yes

One of the other members gave him a big box of… whatever junk it was that he didn’t want anymore, but Dustin couldn’t lift it

And instead of having him help carry it, Dustin asked you

You entered the room, took one look at the box, and said “You couldn’t lift this?”

Dustin immediately tries to defend himself “It’s heavier than it looks!”

When you pick it up you realize Dustin could absolutely carry this

That little shit

“So you’re the sister”

God, that voice. You wanted to punch him before he could keep talking

“Yeah, and you’re the Dungeon Master”

He grins, “So the pretty princess has heard of me? I’m honored”

Now it’s your turn to grin. “Can’t say I’m impressed” Eddie’s grin falters, but quickly bounces back

“Awe, honey. Maybe you just haven’t heard enough”

“Oh, I’ve heard plenty”

While both of you are grinning, everyone can see the daggers that you both are throwing with your eyes. Dustin has to step in

“Thanks for carrying the box, Y/N. We’re gonna head out now! See you guys next week!” Dustin, Mike, and Lucas all push you out of the room

Eddie Munson thinks you’re a brat

But Dustin clearly loves you, so he doesn’t say anything

After that first encounter, Dustin tried to ease some of the tension between you and Eddie

It didn’t work

“Hey, Eddie! Can Y/N watch our session?”

“Unless she’s playing, she’s not coming in”

Dustin would have genuinely invited you to play, but the Cult of Vecna was not a beginner friendly campaign

“It’s okay, Dustin, I don’t want to play with Hellfire anyway. He’d probably ruin my introduction to the game and I’d end up hating it. I’d rather learn with you kids”

“We’re not kids!”

“You’re younger than me so you’re a kid”

Dustin suddenly looks solemn

“I just wish you two would get along better” He mutters sadly

Your heart cracks

You’re the best sister Dustin could ever ask for. You help him with his homework (when he very rarely asks for it), you drive him places without being angry about it, you take an interest in the things he likes instead of calling him a nerd

Well, you still call him a nerd, but he knows you’re not saying it in a mean way. It’s just playful teasing, and you both love it

When Chrissy Cunningham died, your world turned upside down. More like Upside Down

Dustin pulled you into everything, and you didn’t mind. As traumatic as it all is, you appreciate knowing what’s going on and being able to help your brother where you can

It’s the I’d-rather-get-hurt-than-you mindset

Another thing that makes you a good sister: you trust Dustin

So when he told you that Eddie was innocent, you believed him

You still took a gun to Reefer Rick’s house, just in case

Yes, a gun. After seeing, fighting, and experiencing all of the things that you did, you felt safer with some kind of protection

When Eddie jumps out from under the tarp, you reflexively push Dustin and Max behind you and reach for it

Dustin roughly grabs your arm, silently telling you not to do it

Eddie looks moments away from slashing Steve’s throat, and that terrifies you

But Dustin talks Eddie down and Steve is released. You rush to him, rubbing his back comfortingly

You stay quiet while Eddie reveals the details of Chrissy’s death. It’s almost too brutal to stomach, but you keep yourself together

Robin puts a hand on your shoulder. You reach over and set your hand over hers, giving it a small squeeze

Eventually, everyone decides to go out to buy food for Eddie

Max speaks up “Someone should stay here with Eddie. Just in case”

Obviously, you’re not going to let either of the kids stay

“I think Y/N should stay”

You give Dustin a look that says ‘what the fuck is wrong with you?’

“You have a gun” he explains

“Wait, what—?”

“You have a gun?!”

“Where the hell did you get a gun?!”

“Okay, stop! I’ll stay” You stop everyone before pointing a finger at Steve “Keep an eye on them”

He rolls his eyes “I always do. I’m the babysitter, remember?”

“So am I, that’s why I’m saying it again”

You and Eddie are left in awkward silence

“So… you have a gun. Why?” Eddie tries to start a conversation

“After fighting demons and monsters, I wanted something to help me feel safe”

“Did it work?”

“No” You answer genuinely, sitting on the floor beside him

Eddie pauses for a moment before asking “Did you bring it here because of me? Because you think I killed Chrissy?”

“No, I don’t think you did it. You’re not capable”

He frowns “But I’m the freak”

You turn to face Eddie, deciding that this conversation is important. You’re not going to be sarcastic or sass him right now. Eddie feels the same level of sincerity and it shows

“I’ll admit, it looked bad. But when Dustin told me he knew you were innocent, he didn’t have to convince me. You’re wild, and bold, and a little unhinged; but you’re not evil. And you’re not a freak either”

“If you’re not careful, honey, I’m gonna think you’re warming up to me”

“You’re not half bad when you’re not being an ass”

You both chuckle until Eddie stops to ask “What did I do when we first met? What made you not like me?”

“Honestly, I told myself I didn’t like you before I even entered that room. Dustin always talked about you, and it was all praise. That kid worships you.”

“I don’t get it. You didn’t like me because Dustin did?”

“Yeah? I’ve always been afraid that Dustin would wish he had an older brother instead of me. I made myself into the best version of a big sister that I could be, but I’m not a boy, I don’t get everything.”

“What about your boyfriend? You’re not worried about him with Dustin?” There’s something in Eddie’s voice that confuses you… Jealousy? No, that can’t be it

“Steve?” You scoff “He’s not my boyfriend. We both symbolically adopted the same group of kids and we became friends because of it. And yeah, Dustin likes him, but it’s not the same. In his eyes, you can do no wrong. But he constantly calls Steve dumb”

Eddie thinks over the information “So, if Dustin thinks I’m perfect, you’re worried that he won’t think you are?”

“I don’t need to be perfect” You grumble a little, but Eddie is still smiling. He thinks it’s kind of cute “I’m not perfect and I won’t pretend to be. But I don’t want him to prefer you over me”

Eddie gives you a thoughtful smile “He could never. Dustin loves you, you’ve done so much for him, and he knows it. You don’t hear what he says about you”

“Wait, what does he say?” Your eyes lock onto Eddie’s, desperate to hear what he has to say

“He loves spending time with you, you’re his favorite person to be around. When you told him you wanted to learn to play D&D he came into lunch and started running his mouth about how he had the coolest sister, and he was going to teach you how to play so that you could join Hellfire and he would get to spend even more time with you”

Your heart softens “He really thinks that? I thought he would get tired of spending time with me”

“No way in Hell” Eddie shakes his head “He would spend every second of every day with you if he could”

Eddie leans in like whispering a secret. His warm breath tickles your neck, sending an excited chill through your body. Wait what?

“Don’t tell Harrington, but when Dustin sees his car instead of yours, he actually looks sad”

You slap your hand over your mouth to hold in a laugh “Oh, I’m totally telling Steve that. I need the ego boost”

Eddie laughs “Well then you didn’t hear it from me”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your name out of it” You laughter dies down into a soft smile “Thanks, Eddie. I needed to hear all that”

“Any time, sweetheart”

Eddie holds out his hand to you “Truce?”

“Truce” You shake his hand, solidifying the deal.

When the rest of the crew returns, they find you and Eddie still sitting on the floor, talking and laughing like old friends

Dustin smiles to himself, happy that two of his favorite people seem to finally get along

—————

If you enjoyed this or would like to read more of my work, please consider liking, reblogging, or tipping my Ko-fi!

[demonmojo]

seven(ish) sentence smonday

well. I'm late to this but I was tagged by the wonderful @eddiediazes (ily) so here's a handful of sentences from another wip of mine that's just in my drafts as 'love is stored in the pozole'

"Uh, Buck?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you call my abuela sixteen times this week?"

Buck looks over at him, caught. "Uh—"

"Buck, so help me God," Eddie starts, faux-offense in his voice. "If you're about to tell me I'm your new step-grandson—"

"Oh, ugh, Eddie—"

"Let the records show, your honor," Chimney says, dropping into the chair next to Eddie. He pops his gum for emphasis. "That the defendant definitely has a thing for older women—Abby was like twice his age."

"I hate you."

"Okay, okay," Eddie says, cutting his hand through the air and scrunching his face up in that way that he does. "This just bypassed funny and got gross."

"Because of his MILF thing?"

"Chimney—"

"Thank you, Eddie," Buck says, loud and interrupting. "And since all of you made it weird, if you have to know, it's because I've been trying out a few of her recipes this week and I needed help.” He pauses. “A lot of help."

not gonna tag anybody since it's monday (I say as if I normally tag anybody lol) but enjoy <3

[evas-apartment]

Famous Puerto Rican Wrestlers!

So, the last post i made on pro wrestling got a lot of positive feedback, so I’m gonna keep talking about it lol. Two things that mean a lot to me are wrestling, and being Puerto Rican. Nothing makes me immediately like somebody more than when I’m watching somebody on TV and going “oh shit! they’re latine, that’s really cool, wonder where they’re from” and then going to their wikipedia page and finding out that they’re also Boricua, that’s really cool to me. So I thought I’d highlight some famous Puerto Rican wrestlers, cause representation matters. Join me under the cut, will you?

Damian Priest

Known in Ring of Honor as Punishment Martinez, he currently works for WWE on the Raw brand under the name Damian Priest. He is a one-time ROH TV Champion and he is also the current WWE United States Champion, which I love. I love latine people holding any gold, but there’s something real cool about him being the US champion specifically. Like we’re the face/representation of the country. Anyway, super good wrestler, super charming, wrestled a match tag-teaming with fellow Boricua and singer Bad Bunny in a match better than it had any right being. Also he has a really deep voice, and I really like that.

Carlito

Also known as Carlito Caribbean Cool, Carlito was a mainstay of WWE’s mid-card throughout the latter half of the 2000′s. Carlito is a one-time WWE United States Champion, a one-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, and a two-time tag-team champion, with his cousin Primo (Primo being Spanish, for cousin :P). Carlito is the son of Carlos Colon Sr., the founder and owner of WWC, the World Wrestling Council, the premier wrestling federation in Puerto Rico, and as such Carlito and a lot of his family is involved in wrestling, in either on-camera or behind the scenes roles. The reason I’m not featuring his father is due to his cover-up in the murder of fellow wrestler Bruiser Brody, but that’s another story, for another time. Carlito was famous for “spitting in the face of people who don’t want to be cool”, literally spitting apple in the face of people that offend him. A good hand, and a memorable character, Carlito still wrestles today for various other promotions, on the independent circuit.

Zelina Vega

Wrestling as Rosita in Total Nonstop Action, Zelina Vega is perhaps best known for being the manager of Andrade El Idolo in NXT and on the Raw brand of WWE. A great wrestler in her own right, she shines as a talker, a vital part of the art of wrestling. In TNA she was a one-time Knockouts Tag-Team Champion, with Sarita, and she is also an accomplished cosplayer. Like seriously check out her cosplays, they’re really good. She currently wrestles for the Smackdown brand of WWE, usually in really good outfits.

Pedro Morales

Pedro Morales is famous for being the first ever Latino to hold a world championship in wrestling, holding the WWWF (what the WWE was called before 1979) for a staggering 1,027 days, being not only the 4th person to ever hold that belt, but for having the 5th most combined days as WWE Champion. Back in that day, championship reigns were long, and champions worked many, many, MANY days traveling all around America, and the world entertaining people. A champion in many other territories, Morales is also a WWWF United States Champion, a tag-team champion, and an Intercontinental Champion, also having the most combined days as an IC champion, making him the first-ever WWE Triple Crown Champion (having held the world championship, the tag-team championship, and one or both secondary championships). A well decorated-well season, well-liked wrestler, Pedro Morales is a testament to Puerto Rican success, saying that not only have Boricuas been killing it in this game for some time, we’ve been doing it for at least fifty years, and I think that’s really cool.

Ivelisse

A champion almost everywhere she works, Ivelisse has held championship gold in Shimmer, the World Wrestling League, All Elite Wrestling, winning the Tag Team Cup with fellow Latina, the Cuban-American Diamante, and perhaps most famously Lucha Underground, being a Trios Championship tournament winner, and a two-time Trios Championship holder, with Angelico, and Son of Havoc. Currently, she works for Shine Wrestling, a sister company to Shimmer, where she is their reigning and defending Shine Champion, with her current reign being more than 600 days, which is nuts. She also holds the distinction of holding that championship for the most combined days, good for her!

Eddie Kingston

Finally, we have Eddie Kingston. I haven’t been following AEW for too long, so I JUST found out that he’s Puerto Rican, and that makes me so fucking excited lol. Potentially, the greatest talker going today, Eddie Kingston has that rare ability to talk people into the building, to really make people care, to make people really believe what he’s saying, and that when it’s all said and done, Eddie is gonna kick your ass. A very decorated champion, having held the top prize in Combat Zone Wrestling, All-American Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, and being the first-ever Chikara Grand Champion, he currently is wrestling in All Elite Wrestling, where he is known for his partnership with former bitter rival Jon Moxley. His feud with Moxley won Feud of the Year from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and most recently Kingston wrestled Miro for the TNT Championship at AEW All Out on September 5th, in an EXCELLENT match. What else can I say, other than Eddie Kingston is one of the coolest wrestlers currently at it, and I am damn proud to call him one of my own.

So! This is something new that I might keep doing going forward, let me know if you like it! This isn’t even close to every single notable Boricua wrestler, but I didn’t wanna take up your whole dashboard, just most of it lol. As I said before, if you’ve read this far, thank you, I appreciate it, tell me what you think, I’m open to suggestions, and if you have any questions, my inbox is always open. Thank you!

[toburnup]

Bitch! (fucking heart eyes at this point) you are also giving me so much to think about! I love character analysis, it gives me life 💖

I just wanted to address the Steve as a bully part because you are right, and I'm not about to defend his white boy ass, my thought process was mostly based on a video that pointed out Steve's perspective on the whole "Jonathan taking pictures of a semi naked Nancy at night like a fucking creep". I think in his mind he was defending Nancy's honor by bullying Jonathan... Also, a lot of prolific serial killers were thriving during de 70's and 80's, like, if I was Nancy I would have reported Jonathan to the police honestly 😂

On the bullying note, I think Eddie is also a tiny bit of a bully in a way, but in his case it probably comes from trauma and being ostracized. It's okay if he verbally destroys the basketball team, most of them are active bullies/rich boys. But he takes some of his spite and directs it to kids... Like, I know the comment he made to Mike about wearing GAP comes from him probably hating most expensive brands (I'm sure is a "I always wanted nice things but couldn't afford them an never would so expensive things are shit and I'm better than the rich sheep that buy that shit" because this was the case for me while growing up).

Is just the funniest thing, Eddie hates jocks but wants one, I'm sure before the upside down he was having an aneurysm every time Dustin, the kid whose opinion he admitted cares about, was worshipping Steve, I can see his "I just ate a lemon seed" face.

Apart from that he verbally went after the band group? Robin is in band and she's clearly not a bad person so his attacks are very... Wide in range... I think his ADHD plays a role, and the whole small town mentality makes it worse.

He's amazing with guitar, but probably doesn't fit with band because the music he likes to play is metal. He is smart, very smart, LOTR is not an easy book for high schoolers and he is clearly creative but he probably can't concentrate on the books assigned by the school, etc

AHH yes i totally got where you were going with that!! i just like to criticize steve 😭 but i do it because i love him. and this is really making me realize how messy the teen sideplots were in s1 lol.

On the bullying note, I think Eddie is also a tiny bit of a bully in a way, but in his case it probably comes from trauma and being ostracized.

the eddie/jonathan foil is interesting, jonathan's response being to completely shut himself away and go the loner route, and eddie's is to find his circle and lash out from there.

eddie's cafeteria speech is definitely a response to the article he was reading; dnd club (a hobby) = satanic in the article, whereas everyone else in the school who is also in their own "groups" aren't judged for it at all. i think that's also why he purposefully exaggerates the ridiculous nature of basketball ("tossing balls into laundry baskets") because sports especially are built on ritual, and inspire cult-like behaviour in fans. kind of works with the parallel of the pep rally scene with jason giving the, frankly much much creepier, speech to the crowd. dnd was viewed as the cult but it's jason who is the actual cult leader :x eddie's platform is the cafeteria table, shouting as no one really gives a shit, whereas jason has the mic.

Eddie hates jocks but wants one, I'm sure before the upside down he was having an aneurysm every time Dustin, the kid whose opinion he admitted cares about, was worshipping Steve, I can see his "I just ate a lemon seed" face.

i so so wish we had seen ONE of these interactions!!! ugh! what could've been. the interaction between dustin and steve in family video about eddie is one of my favourites and i just want to see it from the other side :(

eddie would absolutely hate band class - music but he can't play what he wants to play??? won't fly. and that band teacher either loved him or really really hated him (hopefully loved, it doesn't seem like eddie had many people in his corner).

[rolls-of-the-tongue-nicely]

I have so much things to tell about this even if I didn’t read it in context :

- First : WHO is this fucking man ? Wow, he has the balls of King Kong - Second : he has cherries tatoo lol - Third : The Sassy Eyebrows everywhere. Festival of Sassy Eyebrows

- Fourth : Eddie wanting to defend Oswald’s honor

- Riddle me this...  The answer is eat my balls

'you are not part of the squad'

.

Harley Quinn & the Birds of prey issue #3

[valeriemperez]

So 4x01 is called "The Flash Reborn". Sounds like the Rebirth storyline to me!

Sounds like it to me, too! I’ve had this feeling for awhile, and the title seems to confirm it, but we’ll see. I do hope there’s some of Barry readjusting to humanity and Iris being his lightning rod. And if we see Eobard again, I’m not complaining.

It is so good!!!! but I wish the writer could do something more for Bong Hee’s character development, they did so well for JiWook’s characyer but I feel like they neglected the fact that she also is an attorney, newbie one! I need her to be more actively involved in investigating the cases!

This is 100% true. I love the series, but I was invested from the start in Bong Hee’s journey to become a great attorney despite her limitations, so I hope to see them circle back to that before the end.

Think of this for a scenario. Iris gets home after Team Tranquilizer defeated their 1st meta of S4. We already know we get a “hardened” Iris at the beginning. But let’s just say Joe, Wally and others tell her that it’s okay to feel vulnerable due to Barry’s exit. So she finally has her moment of weakness as she finds an item that belongs to him (You can decide what she finds). She sobs, then hears Barry calling out to her from the SF. We see Barry and 4x01 ends.

Awww, this is perfect and bittersweet. Maybe she finds that one shirt he wore all the damn time?

I’m really disappointed no one from the main cast/producers publically congratulated Candice on her big win. It was the only Flash related thing that won a Saturn Award this year, and it was her first major award ever. I don’t care if they privately texted her or whatever. The criticism she recieves is not private. Considering none of these people ever publically defend her from that, the least they could do is show that they support her and her casting by celebrating her successes. (½)I’ve never seen a cast so reluctant to acknowledge anything related to their female lead, even when it’s good for the show. Even the official twitter has no problem supporting other cast member’s accomplishments that are unrelated to the show, or other shows entirely, but never her. I get, but don’t agree with, them all being too afraid to address racism, but even praise? That seems way off. (2/2)

I’m glad that several writers - old and new - acknowledged her win, and that Keiy/Grant liked the post. But I agree that it feels like the official twitter/instagram could especially do more to promote her. I do think it’s a failing of Flash PR in general, though, and not always a specific slight to Candice. They may retweet Danielle’s wedding, but they fail to capitalize on things relevant to the show’s success. It’s too late to hope it changes, so I’ll just hope Candice keeps winning regardless.

Do you know what happened to Joe being honored as CCPD captain?

The writers happened, lol.

We’ve been told that in S2 that Iris would bury herself in her work after Eddie’s passing, though 2x12 was when we really got to the meet of it with her journalism. It’s interesting that this time around, we would get a hardened Iris. Do you think she will exhibit some of the “no nonsense” attitude from her E2 self?

I would love to see Iris be a little more E2, but only so long as we get to see her be vulnerable as well. Because as much as I love E2 Iris, that isn’t really our Iris, who is much “softer” if you will. But when she needs to step up and hold it together, she does.

Since Barry is in the SF, he essentially becomes one with it. So when he gets out, it is possible that his self awareness in the real world will be difficult for him to get used to again. Perhaps, he’ll be like a zombie for a while and then starts getting that awareness back. Since Iris is likely to pull him out, Barry would be looking to her for guidance as she is his compass. If he had no lightning rod, he’d be lost in the SF forever. Iris being the anchor is his last hope.

This totally goes with the Rebirth storyline, and I hope we see it!

[junker-town]

Mark Dantonio Field at Michigan Stadium

Let’s run through what you should know about Week 6’s Saturday.

Since former Michigan running back Mike Hart described Michigan State as the Wolverines' "little brother," the Spartans are 8-2 against the noisier and more affluent program.

Since that moment, Mark Dantonio is 2-1 against Jim Harbaugh, 3-1 against Brady Hoke, 3-0 against Rich Rodriguez, 4-1 in Ann Arbor, 3-1 against top-15 Michigan, 5-0 in UM-MSU games decided by 10 or more points, 1-0 in games decided by flubbed punt debacles, and roughly 1-0 in hideous weather conditions (I can't remember/find an example of a recent game in the series before 2017's that involved conditions like Saturday's).

When Michigan State beats Michigan, two things are often true:

It was probably a big upset, as has now happened seven times since 1990. This time, the home favorites entered at No. 7, MSU unranked.

One or both offenses looked absolutely ghastly. That's meant 2013 Michigan rushing for as few as negative-48 yards against the Spartans, but in 2017, it meant MSU taking a 14-3 lead before the bottom fell out, then allowing one 33-yard touchdown drive while just standing on the brake pedal the rest of the way.

In the second half, Michigan threw three straight interceptions, each one punted or fumbled right back as the rain kept falling and the clock kept dying. On Michigan's final drive, a wide-open drop by Eddie McDoom gave us this GIF:

After the game, Harbaugh acknowledged UM's 35 pass attempts to only 39 runs as a valid criticism (MSU had 22 throws to 40 runs).

Also after the game, Dantonio said of the rivalry, "We've done it eight times, so I don't know why there's a lot of doubt."

And yes, the Spartans still remember "little brother."

"It's definitely talked about, it's definitely played before the game," quarterback Brian Lewerke said. "It's something that motivates us. I think Coach D uses it very well for motivation for us, so we definitely don't like that comment."

Time for our annual trip back to 2007:

More college football

Iowa State shocked Oklahoma as a 31-point underdog, then very briefly stole two Baker Mayfield celebrations.

Miami finally beat Florida State! Here's where we go from here.

LSU beat Florida, thanks in large part to a missed extra point.

All you need to know about Alabama right now is that Nick Saban's using "rat poison" to describe media praise after a road win over a previously 4-1 team.

Buffalo and WMU set a new record for scoring and tied the all-time overtimes record, hitting SEVEN extra frames.

Washington fans both started and ended their Saturday being annoyed by ESPN.

Texas beat Kansas State in double OT on Bill Snyder's 78th birthday.

Auburn blew out Ole Miss as Aubie the Tiger made fun of Ole Miss' Landshark. Also, Ole Miss officially posted a listing for its new head coaching position.

Navy beat Air Force in a rivalry thriller.

Bret Bielema's latest trick: getting blown out by Will Muschamp.

Congratulations to Notre Dame for definitely exceeding last year's 4-8 record!

Michigan and Nebraska both honoring their 1997 title teams on the same night is some extremely college football shit.

Florida had a beautiful Tom Petty tribute, but we're also interested in these two Gator fans and LSU's band getting into it.

How in the world did this announcer think this kick was good??

It's important to watch this Miami defender use FSU's QB as an air guitar.

Michigan QB John O'Korn has the strangest flop (at least I think that's what this is) ever.

TCU beat West Virginia, so these "Western Virginia" signs at GameDay are now the state's name. I'm sorry.

Lol, the Gators now hold the record for the longest scoring streak in college football history.

As always, visit your school's SB Nation team site!

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/moonlight-pushes-la-la-land-spotlight-spirit-awards-2017/

'Moonlight' pushes 'La La Land' from spotlight at Spirit Awards 2017

One night before the Oscars, "La La Land" had to take a backseat to "Moonlight" at the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The film took six awards even pushing the other Academy Award favorite "Manchester by the Sea" back. It won every award it was nominated for at the 32nd Annual indie award show. "Moonlight" focuses on a young black boy living in an impoverished Miami neighborhood as he deals with his sexuality won for best feature, best director and best screenplay for Barry Jenkins, who wrote and directed it. Film also won for cinematography and edition along with ensemble cast. ”This movie exists as a beacon of inclusivity,” Jenkins said. Now, the film goes into competition for eight Oscars Sunday night, including Best Picture. The Spirit Awards has seen the last three winners for Best Feature (Spotlight, Birdman, 12 Years A Slave) go on to win the Best Picture Oscar, so odds are up for "Moonlight." As with every award show, politics does come into the picture. Casey Affleck, who won best actor for "Manchester by the Sea," wore a shirt with the word "love" in Arabic. "The policies of this administration are abhorrent and will not last," said Affleck, accepting his award. Backstage, he spoke about "the torrent of terrifying news that comes out of Washington every day" Host Nick Kroll and John Mulaney maintained a rigorously irreverent tone through a ceremony often punctuated by belly laughs. In their opening monologue, Kroll mockingly defended the common charge of "liberal elitism" often thrown at Hollywood events like the Spirits. "We're not in a bubble. We're in a tent," said Kroll, referring to the Spirits' Santa Monica, Calif., home. "We're fringe artists on a California beach. If we leaned any further to the left, we'd topple into the ocean." Instead of a lengthy in memoriam reel, they opted instead for a highlight of those who didn't die, singling out Milos Foreman and Tim Allen while Andy Samberg, doing his best Eddie Vedder, sang Pearl Jam's "Alive." Best actress went to Isabelle Huppert, the French actress of "Elle," who bested Natalie Portman and Annette Bening. Just as Affleck wasn't up against Oscar favorite Denzel Washington in best actor, the best actress category was missing Emma Stone of "La La Land." Molly Shannon, the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member, supplied one of the afternoon's highpoints. She was visibly overjoyed by winning best-supporting actress for her performance in "Other People." She concluded her speech by exclaiming, "I really truly feel like a ... SUPERSTAR!" - aping her old "SNL" character. Other awards also went to films far outside the Oscar candidates. Robert Eggers' well-researched "The Witch," set in 17th century Massachusetts, won for both best first feature and best first screenplay. He thanked the Puritans for "writing down so much stuff." Ezra Edelman's "O.J.: Made in America" took best documentary. Best foreign language film went to Maren Ade's "Toni Erdmann." The Cassavetes Award, which honors the best feature made for less than $500,000 went to Andrew Ahn's Korean gay-immigrant drama "Spa Night." Taking the stage, Ahn first remarked, "I'm going to barf," but quickly collected himself, speaking tenderly about his parents' acceptance of their gay son and the need for acceptance of immigrants, gays and other communities. "We are part of this great country," said Ahn. "And we are undeniable."

Full list of 2017 Spirit Awards Winner (winners are bolded):

BEST FEATURE Moonlight Jackie Manchester by the Sea American Honey Chronic BEST DIRECTOR Andrea Arnold – American Honey Barry Jenkins – Moonlight Pablo Larrain – Jackie Jeff Nichols – Loving Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women BEST FEMALE LEAD Annette Bening – 20th Century Women Isabelle Huppert – Elle Sasha Lane – American Honey Ruth Negga – Loving Natalie Portman – Jackie BEST MALE LEAD Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea David Harewood – Free In Deed Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic Jesse Plemons – Other People Tim Roth – Chronic BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE Edwina Findley – Free In Deed Paulina Garcia – Little Men Lily Gladstone – Certain Women Riley Keough – American Honey Molly Shannon – Other People BEST SUPPORTING MALE Ralph Fiennes – A Bigger Splash Ben Foster – Hell or High Water Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea Shia LaBeouf – American Honey Craig Robinson – Morris from America BEST FIRST FEATURE Swiss Army Man The Childhood of a Leader The Fits Other People The Witch BEST SCREENPLAY Barry Jenkins – Moonlight Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea Mike Mills – 20th Century Women Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias – Little Men Taylor Sheridan – Hell or High Water BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Robert Eggers – The Witch Chris Kelly – Other People Adam Mansbach – Barry Stella Meghie – Jean of the Joneses Craig Shilowich – Christine BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Ava Berkofsky – Free In Deed Lol Crawley – The Childhood of a Leader Zach Kuperstein – The Eyes of My Mother James Laxton – Moonlight Robbie Ryan – American Honey BEST EDITING Matthew Hannam – Swiss Army Man Jennifer Lame – Manchester by the Sea Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders – Moonlight Jake Roberts – Hell or High Water Sebastián Sepúlveda – Jackie BEST DOCUMENTARY The 13th Cameraperson I Am Not Your Negro O.J.: Made in America Sonita Under the Sun BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM Aquarius (Brazil) Chevalier (Greece) My Golden Days (France) Toni Erdmann (Germany and Romania) Under the Shadow (Iran and U.K.) ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Best Ensemble) Moonlight JOHN CASSAVETTES AWARD (Best Feature Made For Under $5,000) Free In Deed Hunter Gatherer Lovesong Nakom Spa Night KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD Andrew Ahn – Spa Night Claire Carré – Embers Anna Rose Holmer – The Fits Ingrid Jungermann – Women Who Kill

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