"What are you looking for?" Eddie pops his head into his bedroom as your caught red handed searching under his bed, now in your world, for the momento box
"Oh uh," you smile sheepishly, "I left some chapstick in here.." you lied, looking around cluelessly before shrugging "Guess it's gone." You say, avoiding his gaze as he watches you like a hawk as you exit his room.
"So first on the list, weapons.. just where to get them." Steve looks around the room as Eddie tugs out a yellow pages from a pile of papers on the kitchen counter "check this out," he says, flipping through the book on the kitchen table
Eddie lands on the page he's looking for and points to an ad for a place called War Zone "The war zone, I've been there once.." he trails off as he leans over the table, eyes darting around to the five of you, his face all dirty from the terrors of the other world.
"It's huge, they got everything you need for uh," he pauses "Well uh.." he looks around "Killing things, basically." He states innocently.
"And how is any of this legal?" Robin asks in disbelief "Well lucky for us, it is." Eddie retorts, "This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins.." he continues "What you got some kind of car we don't know about?" Steve asks,
"Yeah, it's not exactly a car, Steve," Eddie stands up straight, his head tilted as he talks, a mischievous smile on his face as you look at Eddie wide eyed, cluing into his idea.
"It's not exactly mine but um..it'll do," a smirk takes over his face "Horrible idea," you speak up with a shake of your head as Eddie sighs "How many crimes do you want to go down for? Not to mention you already have a record.." you weren't sure if it was utter incompetence or just Eddie being Eddie, but you did not want to see even more on his record
"You wanted a bad boy, you got a bad boy." He presses a quick kiss on your lips, his smirk never leaving his face. "Don't chicken out on me now, sweetheart." Eddie teases, his finger trailing under your chin for a moment
You narrow your eyes "Fine but I swear to god Edward Munson," your mom voice starts to come out, scolding him "Yeah yeah I know," he grins
"Hey red, Do you got a ski mask, bandana or something like that?" Eddie turns to Max in question as she nods slowly.
A Michael Meyers mask? Really. Okay then.
The six of you creep your way to the back of another trailer, Eddie slides open the back window, throwing his bag in and then tossing himself through it. Robin went next, then Max, then you, then Dustin and then Steve.
Eddie runs to the front of the trailer, locking it quickly and then jumping into the driver seat, pulling out a pair of pliers from the bag and clenching them between his teeth.
You stand by the trailer door for caution, watching as Eddie works at lightning speed to hot wire the trailer. "Where'd you learn how to do this?" Steve hovers over Eddie, "Well while the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball," Eddie's stressed as he talks
"My old man? Was teaching me how to hot wire. " he continued to focus on the task at hand. "I swore to myself I wouldn't wined up like he did but now.. Im wanted for murder and soon.. grand theft auto." His nerves are getting the best of him "so I'm really living up to the Munson name,"
Eddie begins touching the wires together as they spark, "that's not all you got from him," you point out quietly "Thanks, baby... wait," his head whips to the side to look at you "Not the time," Steve states firmly.
"Hey Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving." Robins now hovering over Steve's shoulder, "Oh I'm just starting this sucker," he looks back at Robin, "Harrington got her," Eddie grins, leaning his face towards Steve's "Don't ya, big boy?"
Touching the wires together one last time, the dashboard and radio comes to life as the trailer starts up. The banging and yelling at the trailer door sends you running to the back as Robin and Eddie follow after you, Steve jumping in the drivers seat.
After stopping at war zone and it being partially a fail, Steve parks the trailer in the middle of an abandoned field as you all start to create your make shift weapons.
You watch as Eddie wields a homemade shield, made out of a trash can with heavy duty nails going through it.
"Are you.. scared?" Max asks as the two of you work on your own makeshift weapons, an axe with a long chunk of sharp metal attached and a bat with nails, much like the one Steve was building "Terrified," you admit.
"Maybe I should come with.." Max starts, looking up at you as you shake your head firmly "No, over my dead body." You cringe "Bad choice of words," you admit.
"I want you.. to be safe." You try to smile but a frown washes over your face for a moment "You guys can do this, I know you can." Max stands up, giving you a small hug which you both needed.
"Mind if I steal Eddie for a moment?" You ask Dustin as you walk over to the both of them, having had watch them goof off the last few minutes and being able to feel their joy, you were glad that even if for a fleeting moment.. they got to be happy.
"He's all yours," Dustin smiles like a child, working away at his own shield with nails. Using an empty, turned over crate as a table.
"Are you okay?" Eddie asks softly, concerned etched on his face as he holds you by the arm. You give a small nod, avoiding his eyes as you knew as soon as he got one good look at you.. or you got one good look at him, you'd fall apart.
You motion your head towards the trailer, Eddie's hand reaches for yours as your fingers slide through his.
"Mind if we go in?" You ask Robin and Steve who sit out front of the trailer, crafting their weapons "No," Robin says quickly "But no rocking the.. trailer," Steve trails off, losing the metaphor.
"What's wrong, baby?" Eddie asks in a hush tone as he shuts the trailer door behind him, you pace for a moment, heart sinking in your chest.
You lean against the wall, looking down at your foot as you make small circles in the carpet "I don't want you to do this," you speak so quietly you can barely even hear yourself.
"What?" Eddie leans in, his hands on your forearms. You take in a deep breath "I don't want you to do this," you repeat, your voice more higher pitched than normal as you hold yourself back from crying.
He puts a finger under your chin to raise it, making it so you have to look into his deep brown eyes that are also filled with worry.. fear. "Princess.." he starts as you shake off his hand and walk towards the back of the trailer "No, no." You breathe out,
"No Princess or babying your way out of this," your back is turned to him as you bow your head. Hand covering your mouth as despite your best efforts, you feel the first few tears roll down your cheeks "I have.. a really, really bad feeling about this," you turn around with tears in your eyes.
Hoping and praying Eddie will reconsider, hoping there is another way..
Eddie keeps his distance this time, fiddling with the chain in his pocket as he hangs his head to the side "You think I don't have that same feeling about you?" His brows knit together, a frown playing on his face.
"I'm terrified that we are going to go in there and you're not going to come back out. If even just one of us goes down.. it's going to be like.. a ripple effect," his tongue trails over his lower lip
"None of us know what's in there.. in that world. What we are even up against. Sure, yeah.. I play D .. I fight monsters on a weekly basis but it's not real." His hand scratches at his face absentmindedly
"This.. other world.. is real. If one of us, any of us.. die. There's no coming back from that, we can't just reset or start over." His lips draw inwards as he sucks in a sharp breath
"All the more reason for you not to go," you try your best to convince him but you knew it was a lost cause.
Eddie slowly walks towards you, stopping a hands length away as he looks down into your eyes "You and I both know if you go, I go. If I go, you go." He lets out a small sigh, reaching for your hand again
"I'm not going to be sitting here while you're there. There's no way.. I- if something happened, no no. Y/N, I can't." You let him hold onto your fingers but don't let them intertwine
"And I know there's no way you'd sit back knowing your friends are in there," Eddie spoke in understanding. "I'd ask you to but I know you wouldn't, so we go together."
"That's it. That's the only option Y/N and I don't like it either, but that's all there is to it. So if you want to be mad at me, by all means." Eddie gestures outwards, giving you the floor.
"Just know," he inches closer, his hands instinctively going to your waist "No matter what, we are going to fight like hell and try to make this right," his words always having such comfort, even in the worse of times
"And.. whether you're mad at me or not. I'm not mad at you," Eddie gives you a small smile "I love you," he's heartfelt as he speaks "After all this we can drive off into the sunset, live happily ever after. Whatever you want, it's yours." He places a small kiss on your cheek.
You could feel your heart breaking into a million pieces, his words were suppose to make you believe.. make you think everything was going to be okay and while usually it worked.
This time you knew what you were up against was going to take more than a few comforting words. The pit in your stomach, the overwhelming nausea sensation.. your heart feeling like it was going to explode.. you knew something was going to go very wrong.
Eddie let's out an exasperated sigh, lips pulling together in a fine line "is this.. is this really how we are going to leave things?" He tilts his head with narrowed eyes, in complete disbelief.
"You know what, fine." He throws his arms up "If this makes it easier for you or whatever.. this is then fine." Eddie shoots you a sour expression that could kill, turning on his heels to head for the door.
You bite your lip, unknowingly holding in a breath. Your body trembling as you stand in place, Eddie's hand reaches for the door as he looks back at you. His own deep brown eyes filled with tears and the harshest frown you've ever seen upon his face.
He gives one last glance, the look of utter heartbreak on his face as he opens the door and slams it violently behind him. You jump at the sound, your head bowing as you gasp loudly.. the tears like a never ending waterfall on your face.
You fall back into the couch, burying your face into your hands as you sob loudly and violently. The pain from such gut wrenching sobs radiating over your entire body.
"Hey, Hey.." Steve sits besides you, you had been crying so loud you didn't even hear him come in, his soothing tone doing nothing to ease the pain inside you.
"What happened? What's going on?" He speaks softly in a whisper, bent down in front of you while trying to get you to look at him but you keep your hands over your face.
You quite literally could not stop sobbing, the tears just continued to flow. "I can't.." you hyperventilate "I can't lose him," you manage out between gasps. "Oh, Y/N.." it almost as if Steve feels your pain.
He joins you on the couch as he pulls you into his side, Steve's hand rubs your back gently as you continue to cry like you never have before.
"I could say a million things right now and none of them would help," Steve murmurs, "But you can't leave it like this, regardless of outcome." Steve talks quietly, you knew he was right.
He wasn't giving you a false sense of hope or promises that may never come true, he was telling you exactly what you needed to hear. That even if everything goes right or wrong, you'd never forgive yourself If you and Eddie ended on a bad note.
"I don't even know what to say, I think I really did it this time." You continue to cry but finally move your hands away from your face, Steve let's out a low 'awe' as he wipes the hair out of your face "You'll figure it out." He nods,
"As much as I hate to say it, you and Eddie are.. the most real love I've ever seen. I, uh.. I envy it," Steve lets out a quiet laugh "You're his heart and soul."
You give Steve a hug, wiping away your tears as you head for the trailer door "If no one's ever told you, you're amazing." You smile back at him as he chuckles "Yeah well," he gives a small shrug.
"Thank you," you say quietly, he offers a small nod then makes a shooing motion with his hand.
You spot Eddie sitting alone on a wood log away from everyone, his own face buried in his hands and his feet tapping repeatedly on the ground.
"Eddie Munson!" You call out loudly, drawing everyone's attention to you but you did not care "I have loved you for what seems like a lifetime, even when you nearly give me a heart attack." Your voice echoes through the open field
"Even when you sleep in late, when you forget our date because you're so deep into D - even when.. you put your life on the line for me and my friends, despite me asking you not to." You continue,
"Even when you're stubborn, or charming, or romantic, or anything and everything in between." You slowly approach him, Eddie is now looking up at you in confusion.
"I want to be with you when we are old and grey, telling our grandkids about the cool band you use to be in or the shit we use to get ourselves into." You're in front of him now,
Eddie wipes at his face, bowing his head with a small chuckle before standing up, listening to you like you held all the answers in the world
"I don't know if we are going to make it out of this but I do know that.." you pause, your hands going to either side of his neck "I want to marry you. I want to be Mrs. freak, Mrs. Banished.. Y/N Munson,"
"Are you proposing to me, Y/N?" His smile is so wide and bright it could light an entire universe. The look of pure love written all over his face as he holds on to your hips
"Yes I am, how's that for non conforming?" You barely get the last word out as Eddie's lips smash into yours, he picks you up off your feet and spins you both around.
You can feel him grinning against your lips, his grip so tight around you like he never wanted to let go. "I love you, fuck.. I love you." You breathe out hastily,
"My girl," he smiles, putting you down on your feet as he pushes your hair behind your ear "My fiancé..," his eyes flash with excitement as his lips purse together but quickly it turns into a shit eating grub.
"Yes," he whispers into your ear, taking you into one of the biggest hugs you've ever got. You've never felt happier than this moment.
"Is that a yes? Did he say yes?" Robin asks excitedly from behind you. "I don't know I didn't hear," Dustin attempts a whisper but it's loud enough for you and Eddie to hear.
"I love you." He presses his nose against yours as you place your hands on his cheeks, indulging in a long, drawn out kiss.
He slides a ring off his third finger, a metal band with a skeletons hand on it. "Best I can do for now," Eddie chuckles apologetically as he slips the ring onto your finger, shaking as he does so "at least it's not your hog one," you joke.
"I said yes, fuckers!" Eddie's voice booms across the field as he spins you around and holds up your hand in his, with the ring on it.
Eddie grabs your waist from behind, burying his face in your hair as the group come running over in congratulations. Cheering and hugging, all indulging in this exciting, life changing moment.
Everyone.. except Steve.