It was the first summer I wasn't feeling stressed, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. Jason was gone; rumor had it he was 'visiting relatives' in Miami. Good fucking riddance. I hoped he'd find cabana boy or another trust fund junior leaguer down there to finally help him work his freakin' orientation out.

Don't get me wrong; I didn't hate Carver because he was in the closet. I hated him because he'd decided to make ME his self-loathing punching bag. Being gay is a non-issue with me. Being a vicious bully IS. And I don't think I was alone in that; kinda seemed all of Hawkins was breathing a sigh of relief.

Fi and I settled into a nice routine with Tuesday night dinners and Friday night dates worked in around my Wednesday Hideaway gigs and campaigns on Thursday nights.

Friday night was always just for us, and man, it was the BEST. Some nights we went to the Pool for the Starlight Swim—and let me tell you my babies, that Fi in a neon pink bikini was enough to make my fingernails sweat. Other times we just climbed up on the top of the trailer to watch the stars, and sometimes we . . . yeah, well you get the picture.

We'd slowly but steadily started getting more physical, and I know a lot of romances make it seem like everything goes smoothly and everyone has huge, wonderful orgasms but our reality was full of giggles and groans and the sort of sweet embarrassment that leaves you feeling giddy.

I knew a few things. Not that I'd done them, but thanks to D&D, I was a pretty good reader. I'd burned through The Joy of Sex and The Sensuous Woman after picking them up at the Goodwill and had a basic idea about the female body.

Fi knew biology, but not a lot about actual sex, so, umm, . . . I lent her the books. I know that sounds weird, but honestly, she was my best friend as well as my girl, and we'd gotten to the point where we could talk about nearly everything.

She knew about my campaigns and my love of HoneyComb and what mood I was in depending on what music was playing.

I knew how she brushed her hair, and how she liked to burrow into my side, and what her favorite animal was. (cheetah) So we were getting to know each other, and over that, how to trust each other. I was there for her; she was there for me.

Luckily, she seemed to feel the same way, and we could go from a disagreement about who was the better bowler to making out within seconds. Definitely vibe-ing when it came to horniness.

And cuddling. In public we were pretty tame, maybe holding hands or slipping an arm around each other, but at home, Fi loved to play with my hair, or let rest her legs in on mine. I kissed her hello, goodbye, and lots of times for no reason other than she was close enough to kiss, which was heavenly. Fi loves with her whole heart, and there were still days I wanted to pinch myself just to make sure life was real because yeah, it was SO good.

I wasn't sure what would happen when summer was over, but I hoped like hell we'd find a way to stay together.

"Here, there, anywhere, we're a team," I told her quietly as we were doing the dishes at the trailer. "Got each other's backs, right?"

"My back, my front, my left hip," Fi teased. "Although you have to work pretty hard to get my right hip."

"Oho, a challenge, my wench?" I grinned. She slithered out of reach just as the doorbell rang, putting an end to our potential match. Fi wiped her hands off and answered the door.

"Is an Edward Munson here?" the mailman asked, reading off an envelope in his hand. Fi waved me over and I saw it was a certified letter.

"Sign here please," the mailman instructed, holding out a clipboard to me.

"Who's it from?" Fi wanted to know. She followed me back into the trailer.

"It's from New York," I murmured. Fi handed me a knife and I neatly slit the envelope and pulled the contents out. A folded letter, and inside that . . . a check. "Holy shit! Fi!"

The check for two thousand dollars.

"Dear Mr. Munson," I heard him read. "Our current catalog is expanding to include metal and heavy metal material due to increased demand and performance requests. Enclosed please find your quarterly receipts for your registered music: Drag me Down, Hell if I will, and Stride. Your next royalties will be paid on or around November 1st. Sincerely, Annabeth Collins, Royalty Payments Dept, ASCAP . . . oh fuck me, Fi!" I looked up at her, shocked, proud, excited—take your pick.

"I . . . made money. Off of my music."

"Eddie! That's FANTASTIC! Oh man, I'm so proud of you!"

That hit me so hard. The love in her eyes was like a punch to the chest, but in a GOOD way.

I wiped my eyes, staring at the check. "Shit. This is more than I'm making the entire summer! More than Bradley's and the Hideaway combined!" I looked up. "Want a ring?"

Fi gulped. "Eddie, wow, that's um, generous, but let's just go get this deposited, okay? Get it in the bank first and then you can decide what you want to do with the money. I mean the Valiant needs a tune-up, and that old washing machine—"

I yanked her into my arms, kissing her hard and deep. Fi melted, and when we both could breathe again, I pulled off the ring from my right hand; my mom's class ring. I took her hand and slipped it on her finger, giving her a mock-stern look.

"Placeholder," I told her, trying not to choke up. "Okay, first the bank, and then we'll call your mom because I OWE her so much for getting my ass in the door for this—" I waved the check, grinning like an idiot, I'm sure. "Damn, Fi—this! This changes so much!"

"Don't let it change you," she warned me. "Ever."

I gave her a look, feeling like the king of Hawkins. "I dunno . . . can you still put up with me now that I'm loaded?"

She snorted, pulling me into her arms. "Only if you can put up with me now that I'm dating a professional song writer."

"Yeah, I think I can manage that," I assured her, taking a moment to gaze in my eyes. "You," I murmured. "I'll never know what the hell I did to deserve you, babe."

"You were . . . you," Fi told me. "And God willing, you always will be."

End

Notes:

And there it is. If anyone's curious, Eddie went on to write several more top metal anthems and became an in-demand guitarist. Fi became a PE teacher and coach before finally marrying Eddie a few years later. They had a baby girl and named her Angela, after Fi's mom, but everyone called her 'Fang' for fun.

Hope you enjoyed it. I'm toying with a story idea of Eddie as a vampire, post season 4, possibly.