#like i never noticed all those hellfire club wanted posters there

[lucascsinclairs]

Set Design in Stranger Things 4

Chapter Eight: Papa

[porchlightfairy]

Eddie Doesn’t Like School Dances

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Eddie doesn’t like school dances. He attended one his freshman year and vowed he would never go again. However, that was before he met you and knew who you were. You were a pretty popular girl but secretly a big fat book nerd. He had caught you in the romance section of the library several times. A large stack of books in your hands and you were still browsing. He knew you were a big sap for all things romantic and love-y. It’s why you liked school dances so much. It was why you were a part of the dance committee after all. You loved to see people dance together, take photos together, and sit together in the darkness. Even hiding behind the basketball stands for a little extra action.

When you and Eddie got together you knew there was no chance in hell he was going to a school dance with you. Just describing them to him made his skin crawl. When a dance was coming up, you would wish a little bit to ask. You knew the answer would be ‘no’ so you never bothered. Your heart begged your brain to give in just once but you knew better. Save the heartache; Never ask at all.

Prom was right around the corner. Last dance of the school year. Last dance of your senior year. You held a stack of bright pink flyers in your hands. As you put them up around the school, you argued with yourself to ask Eddie to the dance. You shouldn’t it was stupid to do so. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. No, but it would break your heart. You huff as you staple another poster on the bulletin board.

You round the corner and catch your eyes with Eddie. You meet up at another bulletin board and he takes one of the flyers out of your hands and scoffs, “Last dance of the year. Aren’t you glad you’ll be done with these?”

Your heart sinks a little before taking back the poster, “A little.” Kinda wished he wanted to go, “I should go put more of these up.” You turn on your heels. Eddie quickly grabs your waist and spins you back, “Just wait a second.”

“What?” You sigh.

He looks taken aback by the noise, “Can I get a kiss before you go?” You peck him on the lips quickly.

“Bye Eddie. I’ll see you later.” You slip out of his grasp and down the halls. Handing flyers out to the passing students as you went.

Eddie felt like something was wrong after that. He couldn’t put his finger on it but you had been avoiding him the rest of the day. It was lunchtime now and you had yet to sit with him and eat. You had bounced from table to table still handing out those stupid flyers. You breeze past the Hellfire Club table and go to the nerds' table passing out more of the papers and then you take a seat with the dance committee.

He frowns and folds his arms as he stares at you. “Easy Eddie, you’ll burn a hole in her head if you stare too hard.” Eddie snaps his head to the table causing them to cackle.

“She’s busy right now man. Prom is huge for the dance committee. Most of them are graduating this year.” Jeff says. Eddie furrows his brows still brooding in silence. He looks around the table and notices several of them have the same pink flyer as the other tables. He felt a little heartbroken at the sight. Why didn’t you let him have one? He clicks his tongue and looks over at you.

Your eyes meet for a split second before you give him a quick smile and look away. Eddie grumbles before standing up, “I’ll be right back.” He sharks his way over to you. Once he reaches the table he towers behind you, your friends look up at him nervously, falling quiet at the mean face he was making. You take a breath before looking up at him, “What’s up?”

“Have time to talk?” He mutters. You look at the table then nod. You both exit the cafeteria and head to the halls to talk.

As soon as the door shuts behind you, Eddie's face turns to concern, “Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?”

Your face softens, “Why would I be mad? I’m not mad, baby.” You rub his arms, assuringly.

“You’ve been ignoring me all day.” he pouts a little.

It was true. You couldn’t deny that you were actively trying to avoid Eddie until the end of the day when you had no more of the pink flyers and the thoughts of asking him to the school dance. “I just got busy handing out these things.” You lie through the skin of your teeth.

Eddie knows. He always knew when you were lying. Your eyebrows would knit together and your eyes would beg to be convincing. You would do this ugly smile frown thing too. He crosses his arms, “What is the real reason?”

You begin to sweat under the stare of his intense brown eyes. He just kept staring at you and your heart was starting to squeeze intensely. “I know you don’t like dances. So I just thought maybe you didn’t care about this one too. Why bother talking to you about it if you wouldn’t want to go anyway.”

He almost looks offended that you said such a thing. Sure you were absolutely right. But for you, his girlfriend, to make such an assumption hurt his feelings. He snatches one of the flyers from the wall, “Okay, what if I wanted to go to this one?” His question almost makes you laugh. You smile awkwardly and stare blankly. “I’m being serious.”

“I find that hard to believe. Nothing about a dance would make me think you would want to go.” You put your hands on your hips, “Like literally nothing.”

“What do you mean? I like dancing.” He folds his arms across his chest. He looks at you with boisterous confidence. An absolute facade.

“No, you like thrashing.” You laugh, “You hate how ties feel around your neck, you say it feels like it's choking you. You don’t have a suit jacket, and I’ve never seen you wear your button-up since you took choir.  You’re late to almost everything and if you dare think of using your musty ass, weed-smelling van to come and take me, you would be committing a crime.” He opens his mouth to speak, “I’m not finished. You would hate the music and complain the entire time. You hate the people and would want to leave. You think portrait photos are the ugliest and you would complain about how you are tolerating it sober.”

“I could tolerate it sober. And I could like dance night if I wanted to. Which I do.” He retorts. You were absolutely right about all those things you had listed but he couldn’t let you be right so easily.

“Okay, then you’ll come? I’ll even pay for your ticket.” You copy his pose, folding your arms across your chest. You were egging him on, honestly.

“Perfect. I’ll prove to you I can make it through one school dance.” He vows, “But I think if I win this I should get a reward.”

“Oh, really and what reward would that be?” You cock an eyebrow.

His eyes scan your body, “You.”

“That’s a stupid prize.”

“Not to me.” He pulls you close and whispers in your ear, “You, somewhere vulnerable at the end of the night. Your place or mine, it won’t matter. But you will be moaning these words: ‘You were right Eddie.’” He makes a mocking moan noise in your ear.

 You gasp and slap his shoulder. Not that you wouldn’t mind being in that position anyway. It just caught you by surprise for the moment. You clear your throat, “Deal, but if I win you have to come back the next day and clean up the dance with me. Early in the morning, on a Sunday.”

He purses his lips, “Fine but now I know I will win.” You shake it on and seal the deal with a kiss. All that was running through Eddie’s head right now was how easy it was going to be to win. It’s one stupid school dance. He couldn’t fuck this up. How could he?

Royally. Eddie could royally fuck this up. He bought a suit jacket 2 sizes too big and didn’t know how to tie a tie. Wayne went out earlier in the night giving him the keys to his car, however, it wouldn’t start so he ran over to a neighbor’s house and begged to borrow their car. 

He sped all the way to your house just for your parents to tell him, he was too late. You had left with some friends already and were probably at the dance by now. Your father helps him tie his tie and tells him he’s still got a chance. 

He rushes to the school flustered and already feeling the pressure of the tie around his neck. He arrives at the school and sees you alone at a table resting your elbows on the table and your head in your hands. He comes over and sits next to you grabbing your face in his hands and kissing you passionately.

It takes you by surprise before you relax in his touch. When you pull away, a smile grows on your face, “You made it!” You smiled brightly and your heart melted at the sight. He was wearing a tie and a button-up shirt. A suit jacket in his hands.

“I said I would.” He makes  you stand up to see what you are wearing, making you do a spin, “As beautiful as ever.” He holds your hips, “I’m really sorry for not picking you up at your house. Wayne’s car wouldn’t start so I had to borrow Raymond’s. I was going to pick you up, I promise—”

He was talking but you weren’t listening. You were still in awe that he was there at all. You fix up his hair a little and pluck some lint off his shoulder. “I’m really glad you’re here.” He stops and looks down at you. He smiles and his shoulders finally relax.

“So do I still have a chance at winning this thing?”

“Absolutely.” You rolled your eyes but you were smiling, “Want something to drink?” He looks over at the large bowl of red liquid at the snack table. He frowns slightly at the sight of others dipping a large ladle into the bowl and pouring themselves drinks.

“I think I will pass.” He looks down at you seeing a frown grow on your face. He straightens up, “Fine.” You wrap an arm around his and lead him to the snack table. Fruit punch needed alcohol. It was too sugary sweet and made Eddie sick a little. He clenches his jaw as he sighs.

“Great! Now let's get a picture together.” You pull him towards the backdrop for a photo. You do a couple poses, Eddie gets a little irritated after the first two but when he looks down at your big smile he couldn’t help but smile too. Although he really did hate being there, you pulling him around with a look of happiness all over your face was enough to keep him going. 

You led him over to your friends, all of them surprised to see him there. You hold his arm, hugging him tightly, and squeeze his hand. You then lead him through the crowd. People stared and gawked, Eddie began to wilt under their gaze. He looks over at you, and you look back at him unbeknownst to it all. You smile at him and he gives you the best he can muster. 

The music was starting to get to him too. Instead of a live band, there was a disc jockey switching between records of every single radio hit. He tugs on his tie in agitation, sweat beginning to pool in the back of his neck. Finally, a slow song comes on and you squeeze his hand. “Wanna dance?”

He nods and leads you onto the dance floor. He moves your hands up to his shoulders and slides his own down to your waist as you sway to the music. “I’m surprised. I didn’t know you knew how to slow dance.” You smile up at him.

He shrugs, “I learned so I could impress you. I assume it’s working.” You laugh and move closer, “Yes it’s working.” You kiss him gently, “Definitely working.” You rest your head on his shoulder as you continue to sway and spin to the music.

“Looks like I’ll be getting my reward at the end of the night.” He chuckles, moving his hands lower. You scoff and move his hands back up, “Easy there tiger. Keep it respectful around the chaperones.” You eye the teachers in the corner. He pulls you closer, “Of course. Of course.”

After the song is over, more people begin to flood the dance floor as a more upbeat song begins to play. You see the panic on Eddie’s face and immediately pull him away. He tugs on his tie a little. You feel satisfied with the night. He had done everything and made this night memorable for you. You grab his tie and loosen it for him. He clears his throat, visibly red in the face. “Thank you.”

You look up at him and hold his very hot face in your hands, “Wanna get out of here?” He blinks a few times, his eyes no longer having a glazed-over look. His body kinda goes slack and he just nods. “Then let's go.” You grab his hand and lead him out of the gym.

Once out in the open air, you both finally relax. He lets out a big sigh of relief before looking over at you with a snarky look on his face, “Does this mean I win?”

You pause. Several moments throughout the night he had mentioned that stupid bet. Did he even really enjoy the dance with you? Or was it all to prove you wrong? You sigh and nod, “Yes it does. You win, Eddie. I was wrong, you were right. Cause that is what it was all about right? The stupid competition to get into my pants. You did it all for this stupid thing?”

He straightens up a little, “No… That’s not true.” You scoff before proceeding to walk away. “Hey, now wait a minute, I mean it.” He chases after you, matching your pace. You roll your arms and continue to walk. “I didn’t realize these things were such a big deal until I did it with you.” You stop and look at him. “In the beginning sure it was about the stupid deal. I can admit I was being an asshole and it was all to prove you wrong. But seeing how happy you were that I was there, changed my mind.” He takes a breath, “I don’t like the way ties feel around my neck. This button is too tight and the suit jacket is too big. I missed picking you up because I waited until the last minute to borrow Wayne’s car. I hated the music, I hated the people, and I hated the photos. But I loved seeing how happy you were and it made it all worth it.” He clenches his jaw, “And I would do it all over again to see you happy like that again.”

He takes you by the chin, “Will you accept your stupid, asshole boyfriend’s apology?” He gives a little pout. You try to resist him but you just sigh, “I accept your apology, asshole.” He leans down and captures your lips in a kiss. You head to Eddie’s house hand in hand. When you arrive you both strip off your gaudy outfits and change into some of Eddie’s clothes. Too tired to function anymore as soon as you land on Eddie’s bed you fall asleep. Eddie smiles at the sight cuddling up next to you. Eddie still didn’t like dances much. But tonight with you was one of the best nights he could ask for.