Here's Chapter 6, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things

Brownie points to anyone who can find the That 70s Show reference lol

Eddie

Almost two months had passed since his first date with Petal and they'd gotten really close, he still had the rose she'd put in his denim vest. He'd pressed it (something his mother had done from what he could remember of her). It was currently in a hardback copy of lord of the rings and underneath several boxes so that it would press right. Things had been going really well for them, great in fact. He thought for sure she'd have dumped him by now but she'd been all in for their relationship. There hadn't been any bumps until recently. He sat back in the van and took another drag from his cigarette; she'd been adamant about doing something for halloween. It was a Thursday this year so it landed on a Hellfire night. Their talk hadn't exactly gone well.

"We've got the cult of Vecna that night baby" he chuckled into her hair as she straddled his lap in the back of the van. "The boys are even skipping halloween for the first time. Big night for their manhood..." He presses his lips to her throat playfully

"Could we all at least dress up for Hellfire?" She shies away as his breath tickled her sensitive skin.

"We've got bigger fish to fry" He runs his hands down her back to rest on her behind as she pulls a slightly pouty face. "Ok...I guess it is a little childish of me."

"If you want to dress up you can baby, I'm just the DM, so if I'm dressed up as some crazy character with you it'll ruin the vibe." She nods and plays with the zipper of his leather jacket. "I understand Eddie...I may end up hanging out with Robin and Steve that night then..." He stiffened a little at the mention of Harrington, not trusting him to keep his hands to himself.

"Come on baby, we love having you at Hellfire" he shoots her a grin, sliding one hand back up to her back and pull her in closer to his face. "You can still come all dressed up" His lips meet hers for just a moment when she pulls back "I want to do something on Halloween Eddie...and if I go to hellfire I'll just be sitting there watching you guys play for hours. You guys can play, I can hang with Robin and Steve, then we can meet up later that night."

"I don't love you being around Harrington all night.." She stops smiling and shoots him a look "Don't start with that again Eddie. Don't you trust me?" She asks exasperatedly, leaning back on his legs.

"I trust you Princess, it's Harrington that I don't trust." He tries to pull her back again but she rolls her eyes sassily. "So you think Steve is just going to just flip his magic hair and I'll fall to my knees for him?!"

"That's not what I said-"

"Eddie. It's totally platonic between me and Steve. I just enjoy being his friend."

"Why can't you just have a girls night with Robin?" He finally asks, his tone snarky.

"Robin and I do have girls nights without Steve. But we both like spending time with him too. So no, I'm not going to exclude Stevie from plans just to make you happy"

"Oh Stevie is he?"

"You know what? I need to go. I've got homework for english that I've been putting off." She says, climbing roughly off of his lap and sliding out of the open doors of the van.

"Baby-"

"I'll see you later." She pulls her bag from the van and starts walking down the gravel road of the trailer park.

"Petal I'll drive you just hold on a minute-" Eddie's now scrambling out of the van a little, stumbling as he tried to catch up.

"Nope. I'm good Eddie. I think I can stop by the video store and get a ride from Steve" She says pointedly, still marching down the gravel road when he catches her wrist. She turns back to glare at him, red hair whipping as she did. "Let go Eddie"

"Why are you so insistent on hanging out with that prick?"

She laughs humorlessly "Because he's nice. He's funny. He's a good listener. Dustin fucking loves him." She yanks her wrist out of his grip and crosses her arms at him. "I have a lot in common with him. We like the same movies, neither of us could get into D&D despite Dustin's efforts, we both hate olives, he out of everyone in this town is the only person to not tell me what to do! If Steve was a girl you wouldn't be acting this way."

"Damn straight. You're my girlfriend Petal. I don't like you hanging out with the man-whore of Hawkins." She sets her jaw "Either you don't trust me or you don't get it!"

"I trust you!" He's very aware of the gaze of some of his neighbors peeking out from their doorways at their now very public fight.

"Then you don't get it. I'm allowed to choose my own friends. I'm allowed to be friends with people who have y chromosomes." She shouts, coming closer to Eddie again, despite the significant height difference he felt like they were nose to nose.

"You've only been friends with him for-"

"I have known you for an entire two days longer than I've known Steve Harrington." She snaps, shaking her head indignantly. "I just said that I'd hang out with my friends on Halloween. And you're acting like i'm going to go give him a strip tease. And for your information, Steve hasn't flirted with me at all after I told him I had a boyfriend. At. All." She turns on her heal, continuing down the road.

"Petal let's talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. We can talk when we've both cooled down." She doesn't look at him as she goes. "At least let me drive you, it's cold out-"

"I'm fine." She shouts as she makes her way past the gate to the park. "I'll see you Monday" He groaned, knowing if he went chasing her with the van to drive her home it'd only make it worse with how stubborn she was. He watched her retreating form and grimaced at his own stupidity.

It was Monday afternoon and he still hadn't seen her. She hadn't shown at lunch but he knew she was there. She'd talked with Dustin but Eddie himself hadn't seen her at all. He'd skipped his last class, chemistry could go to hell that day. He waited in the front seat of his van as the minutes to school's end creeped closer and closer and he kept his eyes on the front doors. He flicked the cigarette out of the window as it was only the filter remaining, as it tumbled to the asphalt the bell rang. He watched as teens flooded out the doors, he waited, tapping his rings against the steering wheel as his brown eyes searched the crowd for her. As the crowds began to thin he spotted her. She was wearing her favorite pair of jeans along with a dark green sweater...her hair was up in a messy bun and she looked like she was having a great conversation with Dustin and Robin as they exited the school. Eddie smirked ever so slightly, Dustin had been a good ally to choose. He was leading her right to the van and she didn't seem to care. But then another car pulled into the school parking lot. There in the driver's seat was Steve fucking Harrington who parked about 5 spots away from the van.

Eddie watches Dustin's face fall ever so slightly as the two girls speed up towards Steve's car with twin smiles on their faces. Just as Petal was reaching for one of the doors on the car he's decided he's had enough. The little green monster in his chest was ripping at his insides at the sight of her with the former student. "Petal!" He called, walking around the van and leaning against the hood. "Can we please talk?" He asks in a still booming voice as Steve shares a concerned look with Robin.

She drops her bag through the now open back door of Steve's car before walking over, her arms crossed to protect her hands from the cold autumn winds. "Yes?" She asks in a tone colder than the weather.

"Baby...can we go somewhere to talk please? I don't like how we left things"

"I don't have time to go anywhere. I'm working tonight." She says shortly "So if you want to talk, talk." She's pouting, her eyebrows furrowed and her foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

"What work? Tutoring Dustin? I hate to tell you baby; he's not exactly falling behind." He scoffs his hands slid into the pockets of his leather jacket, fussing with the pack of cigarettes in his right pocket.

"Well it's a good thing I'm working at the bookshop by Family Video." She snarks with a dirty look. "I was going to tell you on Saturday."

Eddie sets his jaw "So are you dumping me?" He's no longer looking at her, he's glaring off into the street as he waits for the inevitable Yes.

"No. I'm not breaking up with you. If you want to do it though, feel free." Her voice falters ever so slightly. "Because I live in a house where I've had to fight to do what I want. I've had to lie to choose my friends. I shouldn't ever have to beg my boyfriend to let me spend time with a friend of mine." She glares at him with now red rimmed eyes.

"Petal...I don't fucking trust him" He almost growls with a snarling look thrown at Steve

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to trust me. I have to go in for my shift. I think you need to decide what's more important, hating Steve for having a few too many girlfriends, or our relationship." She turns and walks back to Steve's car, getting in and wiping at her face gingerly with her sleeve. Eddie's mood sours still more as he's given a sympathetic look by the asshole himself before he drives off with Petal and Robin in the car. Dustin stands, waving at them until they're no longer looking at him. "What's your problem?" he asks as he walks over.

"Just tired of her being around him." He pulls out another cigarette and lights it with an aggressive flick of his lighter. "When has Harrington ever stopped chasing a girl just because she's taken?" He growls, the smoking stick wedged between his teeth.

"He's not that bad Eddie...It's not like he sleeps with everyone" Dustin says, grimacing at the smell of the smoke.

"Yeah well you tell me that when he's eyeing your girlfriend Henderson." He yanked the cigarette from his mouth "Why do you put up with him?"

"He's like my big brother" he shrugs "We've been through a lot and he's...he's always there man. And he's not the same as he was in high school. Or else Mike probably wouldn't talk to him." Dustin awkwardly shuffled his feet before turning to look back at his friends standing by the bike racks. "I'll see you Eddie" He mumbles awkwardly.

Petal

She was stacking books when she heard it again. It had been weeks since she'd last heard it...she'd heard it while she'd been walking home from the library with Robin. But she hadn't heard a thing. Then it had just been a laugh...Now, alone in the book store, high shelves shielding her view she heard it. That low sultry laugh. She tiptoed through the otherwise silent store, searching for him. She'd only just about given up once again when it caught her eye. In the darkest section of the store, by the used books she saw the unmistakable glow of a cigarette. "You're not supposed to smoke in here-" She begins but as she takes a step into the section she saw a flash of white teeth, illuminated by the red glow of the cancer stick before it flitted away like smoke in the wind.

She walked all the way to where she'd seen it to be sure, she can smell the smoke..."I'm not crazy" she whispers to herself, the bell at the door suddenly rings through the silence. She scrambles from the back section to her place by the register only to find the tall metalhead standing in the middle of the shop looking out of place. She relaxes ever so slightly.

"Hi..." She mumbles

"Hey...anyone else here?" He asks awkwardly

"Nope. My manager figured I could handle closing on my own. What are you doing here?" She sits back in her tall legged chair behind the register desk and crosses her arms protectively across her chest.

"I just...I'm sorry. I know how your home life is...I know you've had to lie to them about me and the club. I shouldn't have tried to tell you who to talk to... I just hate the fact that you hang out with Harrington. It makes me want to break shit" He cracks his knuckles absentmindedly as his voice darkens.

"Why are you so worried about me spending time with Steve?" She finally asks, looking him in the eye from her chair.

"I don't...You're out of my league Petal." He shrugs, no longer looking at her. "You're so far out of my league you're in fucking space. And Harrington...fuck you're out of his league too but he's closer..." the dark tone to his voice has disappeared and been replaced with defeat. "You're smart, you're sweet, your taste in music is fucking great...you're the living embodiment of a siren from myths. Gorgeous in a forbidden way..." He smiles slightly to himself "And you chose a skinny, satanic, freak to be your boyfriend..."

She sniffs, "I...I think that's stupid." She says looking up at him. "I don't care how far out of your league you think I am. I'm with you...you're stuck with me until you dump me." She looks at him confidently with a very small, almost not there smile on her lips. "And hanging out with my friend isn't going to change that." Eddie's got his hands in his jacket pockets and he's got a sheepish smile on his lips. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Now are you going to kiss me or not?" Her voice comes out huskier than she intended but she doesn't regret it as she sees his dark eyes flash mischievously. He walks up to her desk, his smirk growing from his lips like a secret he couldn't keep. "At your work sweetheart? Talk about unprofessional" He leans down close to meet their lips but she turns so he catches her cheek. She gives him a smirk of her own "You're so right, how rude of me. I'll have to keep my lips to myself...but I don't have to in your van. Pick me up after my shift?" She smiles sweetly although he was pouting.

"Sure, how long?"

"Another hour."

"See you then baby" He takes her hand and presses a kiss to her knuckles with a wink. She watched as the metalhead left the shop, a new pep in his step as he went. When he'd been close, even so briefly; her brain fog that came with the voice had vanished.