Throughout April, Chrissy found that Eddie's friends became her friends as well. She wasn't able to convince any of the other cheerleaders to join Hellfire, though.
"It's their loss," she told them during one session.
Eddie and Chrissy tried to keep their relationship lowkey at first, and make it seem like they were gradually getting to know one another as opposed to having already formed a relationship during a life-or-death situation. As prom drew near, they still didn't feel comfortable showing any affection in the hallways. They would sometimes hold hands at a Hellfire session, knowing that the other players had put two and two together. Sometimes at lunch they would sneak off to the picnic table behind the football field and make out. Chrissy felt a chill the first time she returned to that spot, but it quickly disappeared. The memory of that first meeting, and the way Eddie had made her laugh, overpowered the haunting recollection of the clock and the spiders.
One afternoon, when they were taking a break from kissing to breathe, Eddie asked her if she wanted to go to prom.
Chrissy smiled. "Sure, but I thought you wouldn't want to. Won't you be miserable in a tux?"
"I'll be able to tolerate it, because I'll be making memories with you."
She forgot all about catching her breath and dove to kiss him, nearly knocking him to the ground.
The following day, Chrissy and Eddie asked Nancy and Robin about going to prom as a group. They figured it might help keep their relationship under the radar, and they wanted to celebrate their survival with their new friends. Nancy told Eddie that without Jonathan she had been planning to go stag, but she would be happy to have company.
Robin told Chrissy that she didn't even consider the possibility of going. "Dating for me is tough," she said with a heavy sigh.
"It doesn't have to be," Chrissy said. "You're funny and smart. Steve knows that. Someday a guy will come along that will want to be more than friends."
Robin looked off to the side. "I don't know, somehow I don't think I'll meet that special someone in Hawkins."
Chrissy felt her heart race when she realized that she had uncovered a sensitive subject. Robin could totally have a boyfriend if she wanted to, she thought. Then another possibility came to mind. Chrissy wouldn't try to pry. She would instead hope to earn Robin's trust as they got to know one another better. She decided to get back to the task at hand.
"If the four of us go together, the pressure is off. It'll just be a group of friends hanging out. I want you to be there. I kick myself sometimes for not talking to the school band. We were at so many games together. I feel like I missed out on being your friend."
Robin looked down at her sneakers, then looked up and smiled. "I guess I wouldn't want to pass up any opportunity to socialize with the three of you. On one condition. You need to make Eddie slow dance with you at some point. It's time for that tough guy façade to be broken."
Since the events of spring break, Chrissy gladly accepted any dinner invitation that would be at a friend's house. Sometimes it would be at the Wheeler's, where Mr. Wheeler was slowly becoming more welcoming. He had gone from greeting her with "you again?" to "at least you're more polite than that Dustin kid". Chrissy supposed that was progress.
Other times, she would have dinner with Eddie and his uncle Wayne. His uncle was sometimes in a rush to get to his job, but Chrissy was beginning to understand how Eddie had managed to become such a good guy.
One night in May, her mother insisted that they would be having dinner as a family. Chrissy looked down at her plate, where she had placed the bare minimum of food. The smallest piece of meat, some vegetables, and no mashed potatoes. She wanted some, but decided it wouldn't be worth a snide comment from her mother if she made too high of a stack of potatoes.
The table was quiet until Mrs. Cunningham spoke. "Chrissy, I'm sure these last several weeks have been difficult without Jason. Have you considered still going to prom, though?"
"I'm going," Chrissy said while piercing a green bean with her fork. "Four of us are going as a group."
"Oh, that should be fun. Have you given any thought as to what you're going to wear?"
Chrissy's heart started to beat faster. She knew where this was headed. She slouched forward as she took another forkful of vegetables. "Robin, Nancy, and I were going to go dress shopping this weekend."
"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Mrs. Cunningham said. She smiled, and for a moment Chrissy remembered the zombie-like version of her mother that she had seen when Vecna haunted her.
Chrissy sat back and adjusted her posture to be as tall as she could manage. "No thank you, Mom. I think I've got it."
"What's the matter? Afraid to hear some constructive criticism?"
Chrissy scoffed. "What was ever constructive about it?"
Mrs. Cunningham's jaw dropped. Then she let out a small laugh. "Well, looks like someone has put on a smart mouth in addition to several pounds."
Chrissy felt her face turn red. "You know what my friends' parents would tell me when I ate with them? That I was too thin. I'm probably healthier than I was before."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"I will!" Chrissy shot up out her chair. "I have to keep telling myself that every day, to counteract the bullshit you keep trying to feed me."
Chrissy's dad put his arms up, as if he needed to separate mother and daughter. "Hey, don't talk to your mother that way."
Chrissy looked at her dad through tears of frustration. "Oh, but the way she talks to me is okay? Like the way she keeps calling me fat?" She could hear her brother slide his chair back and leave the table.
Her dad stammered. "It's…I…it's not right."
Mrs. Cunningham turned to stare daggers at her husband. "What? You're taking her side?"
"It's not right, Laura. Can't you see that you're making our daughter miserable?"
"I have helped Chrissy her whole life. She was head cheerleader because of me. Someone had to push her. You sure as hell weren't."
"I'm sorry," Chrissy said while shaking her head. "I've got to get out of here." She turned and reached for her keys.
"If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back this time," Laura said. "Your dad was the one that insisted we go easy on you. You're 18 now. If you want to run off, go right ahead."
Chrissy dropped her keys back on the table and ran upstairs. Her brother was waiting for her in the hallway.
"I'm sorry I ruined family dinner night," Chrissy said.
"Why did you run off that weekend?" Alex said.
"I wish I could tell you the whole story. Maybe one day I will be able to."
"Just tell me one thing."
"What?"
"The next time Mom gets on my case about something, can you talk back to her for me?"
Chrissy laughed. It felt good to counteract the nerves that were still making her shake. "We'll see."
Later that night, a loud knock interrupted Chrissy's thoughts.
"I don't want to talk anymore tonight," Chrissy said.
"Well, I do." It was her father. "C'mon Chrissy, I really need to tell you something."
She sighed and opened her bedroom door. She sat on her bed while her father took her desk chair.
"You know, when you ran off over spring break, you really scared your mom and I."
"Why are we talking about this again?"
"Hold on. I would think about what would happen when you came back. I wanted to yell your head off at first. But then I thought about it some more, and then I didn't blame you for running off."
"What?"
"I can't bring myself to say this when your mother is around. Between her berating you to be perfect and me not doing anything to stop it, you have every right to be angry. It shouldn't have taken you doing something extreme for me to realize it. I should have stood up to her sooner. I feel like the worst father in the world."
Chrissy stood up and hugged him. "No, you're not."
"Well, I want to be better. So, I'm going to be in your corner from now on. No matter what she says, I want to support you."
Chrissy let out a heavy sigh. "Dad, I need to tell you something that's been going on, because I really need help."
At prom, there was no need for Chrissy to pressure Eddie to slow dance. He took her hand when the first notes of Alphaville's "Forever Young" blasted over the gymnasium speakers. "You wanna dance?"
Chrissy smiled. "I'd love to. But you don't think this song is lame? Being a tough metalhead and all."
Eddie led her to the dance floor, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You have to keep this a secret, but in my weaker moments, I would listen to this song and daydream about slow dancing with a girl."
Chrissy smiled. "And here I thought you couldn't get any cuter." She leaned in to kiss him. Eddie remembered their plan to hide their relationship and hesitated. Only for a split second though. "Ah fuck it." He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He didn't care if anyone saw. They would be out of there in less than a month.
Their dancing picked up a little when OMD's "If You Leave" started. Chrissy put her head on Eddie's chest. "You have made me so incredibly happy these last few months."
Eddie took his hands off of her waist to give her a hug. "I don't think I've ever felt more optimistic about the future. I mean, pardon me for being so bold, but I think fighting a psychic monster together is the kind of thing that bonds you for life."
Chrissy leaned her head back to smile at him. "Oh definitely. Considering how we kept saving one another, I can't think of a better person to stick with after graduation."
Mr. Mister's "Kyrie" began. "Okay," Chrissy said. "Enough of the serious talk. How about we include the girls?"
"Fine with me."
They waved Nancy and Robin in and danced as a group. Once again, they didn't care if anyone stared. They had saved Hawkins and were going to celebrate.
Weeks later, Chrissy clutched her diploma in anticipation of the name that would soon be called. It was long overdue.
"Edward Munson."
"Go Eddie!" she screamed. The student sitting next to her on the football field gave a dirty look.
"Hey, I wanted to be a cheerleader one last time. Sue me."
After the ceremony, she walked over to Eddie with her arms outstretched. He embraced her and lifted her off the ground. She giggled, her cap nearly falling off her head as he spun her around.
Wayne approached the couple after stepping down from the stands. "Congratulations Chrissy. Eddie…it's about damn time." He chuckled. "Come on. I need to get lots of pictures of this moment.
Chrissy looked up to find her parents in the stands. Her father was standing and was trying to get her mother to follow him. He eventually raised his arms in exasperation. Her mother looked down to give her a quick disapproving look and turned up her nose.
After Wayne took a photo of Eddie and Chrissy side by side, diplomas in one hand and the sign of the horns with the other, Chrissy's father approached with his hand out.
"Phil Cunningham. I'm Chrissy's dad."
Eddie's uncle shook his hand. "Wayne Munson. It's good to meet you. You've raised a remarkable young woman."
"Thank you." Phil raised his voice so she could hear better. "It's something I haven't told her enough."
"You want to get a picture with Chrissy, Mr. Cunningham?" Eddie said.
"Sure."
"Listen…uh…Eddie," Phil began. "I want you to know, Chrissy's mom may not approve of your relationship, but I do. My daughter deserves to be happy, and if she has chosen you, you must be good people."
"I have my uncle to thank for that," Eddie said as he got out of the way of the picture.
Chrissy's dad put an arm around her. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks, Dad."
After the picture was taken, Phil continued to speak. "If your mom doesn't stop being stubborn, it's her loss. You've got to start living for you."
Later that night, Chrissy and Eddie walked back to his van from Enzo's. As she had planned, she had ordered the lasagna. When the uncertainty about what she was eating came to mind, she tried to push it away with the supportive words from Eddie, Wayne, and her father.
"You're going to be good?" Eddie said.
"I will be," Chrissy nodded. "And I think I'll be even better once we're able to move in together. But I'm going to have to go away for a little while."
"Oh?" Eddie said. "Family vacation?"
"No," Chrissy said. "I've been talking with my dad, and there's a treatment center that specializes in…my problem. You should be available to visit me eventually."
Eddie took both of her hands in his. "I'll be there as soon as I'm able to. I'm going to help you in any way I can. Even if I can only be your cheerleader."
"In that case, maybe I can go get the pom poms and teach you a few things," Chrissy said with a smile. She got on her tiptoes, put her hand on the back of Eddie's head, and guided him forward for a kiss.
Note: I saw some fan art of Chrissy and Eddie at graduation, and wanted to include the scene in my story.
