Chrissy hates family dinners. Her parents always try to keep the conversation going but it is always hard to maintain. On top of the awkward silences, Chrissy's mother watches her like a hawk while Chrissy eats. She is always terrified Chrissy will get fat and hounds her when Chrissy eats "too much." Normally her brother is there to help split the attention of parents, but since he is gone… all focus is on her.

They start with the typical "how was your day." When she tells them she took pictures all day, her father perks up and says he wants to see a few. He's always been supportive of Chrissy exploring her hobby while her mother tolerates it. Chrissy isn't going to show him any pictures of Eddie but definitely the one of the deer and Skull Rock. Chrissy tells her father all about the deer and how amazing it was. Her parents then discuss their days and what they did. Her father owns a car dealership so he was busy at work and her mother ran errands all day long. All things considered it was a decent dinner until her mother ruined it with one simple question.

"Chrissy dear, how's Jason? I feel like we haven't seen him in ages."

"Oh, um…" Chrissy had managed to avoid the topic of Jason as of late, but there's no avoiding it now. She braces herself and continues, "I don't know. We broke up."

Her mother's stare could cut glass. "When did this happen?"

"Two weeks ago."

Her mother is upset but then her features relax as if realizing something. Chrissy is confused by her mother's acceptance until she hears, "Oh well, I'm sure whatever it is, you two love birds will work it out."

"I highly doubt that. There's nothing to work out. He cheated on me." Chrissy hopes that the truth will get her mother off her back about the breakup.

No such luck. "I'm sorry to hear that dear. Every couple goes through rough patches. But boys will be boys. Maybe he just needs to get this wild spell out of his system. Once he realizes the error of his ways, I'm sure you will be back together in no time. You two are perfect for each other."

Chrissy sighs but she isn't going to back down. Not anymore. "No we aren't. I don't want to get back together with him. Not now, not ever."

"Sure you say that now but you're just mad. The anger will wear off and-"

"Mom, I'm not mad. I just don't want to be with Jason anymore." Chrissy cuts her off.

Her mother goes to say something else but this time her father steps in. "Laura, don't. It's her life, let her live it."

Her mother purses her lips, angry to have been teamed up against. She considers her father's words for a moment. Then she accepts defeat. "You're right dear. It is her life and she is free to make her own mistakes."

Mistakes. The word cuts Chrissy deeply. If she doesn't live the way her mother deems fit then she's making mistakes. Chrissy wants her mother's approval but she is sick of doing everything her mother wants her to and that still not being good enough.

Later, in her room Chrissy tries to get dinner out of her mind. She listens to music and looks at the pictures from today. Retreating in the comfort of their memories. She had the most perfect day with Eddie. She wasn't going to let her mother spoil it.

Xx

Eddie gets home from dinner at Dustin's house with a full belly feeling like he's on top of the world. He had an amazing day. He still can't believe he made out with Chrissy Cunningham. After today any doubts he was having about her faded away the moment they kissed. For whatever crazy reason she likes him. She actually likes him as much as he likes her. He isn't going to screw it up with stupid insecurities. He wonders when he can see her again. He feels like an addict and she's the drug he is strung out on. He needs a fix and soon.

Uncle Wayne notices his happy disposition and gives Eddie a knowing look. "Good day?"

Eddie smiles back at him. "The best." He decides to call her. He's eager to make plans to see her again.

Her phone rings and Chrissy answers. She smiles when she hears Eddie's voice on the other end. "Good evening milady. How are you?"

"Hey. I'm okay, how are you?" Her tone is different, sad, Eddie notices.

It makes him squirm. Maybe she regrets kissing him. "What's the matter?"

Chrissy resists the urge to say her usual, nothing I'm fine response. She sighs into the phone. "I've just had a crappy evening is all. But it's getting better now that I'm talking to you."

Eddie is relieved to hear that but at the same time upset she's not had a good night. "What happened?"

"It's nothing. Just my mom being my mom. Owwww." She cries out in pain.

"You okay?" Eddie asks in concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Chrissy's voice is strained. "I stumped my toe." She hobbles over to her bed to look at it. "And I'm bleeding." She goans in frustration.

Eddie hates hearing her struggle. He wishes he was there to comfort her, to cheer her up. He tries to make her laugh. "Medic! We have a woman down."

She giggles. "Shut up."

"Are you going to make it?" Eddie teases further.

"I think I'll live. Enough about me." She says as she puts a band-aid on her injured toe. "What about you? How was dinner at… Justin's?" She can't remember the name of Eddie's friend.

"Dustin's." Eddie corrects her gently. "It was good. Ms. Henderson can make a mean meatloaf."

"I'm glad you had a good time."

Her voice still sounds sad to him. Suddenly he gets an idea. "Yeah. Hey Chrissy I got to go. I'll talk to you later okay?"

Chrissy is thrown for a loop at the quick shift in conversation. "Oh okay… bye."

She wonders what that was about. She tries to ignore the disappointed feeling she has that he didn't make any plans to see her again. She changes into her PJs which consists of a tank top and shorts. She is a little chilly so she puts Eddie's flannel back on. As she buttons it up, her nose is hit with his scent and it smells so good. Just like Eddie… like leather with a hint of nicotine and weed.

Chrissy is startled by a knock on her window. She looks over at her window to see Eddie outside waving at her with a goofy grin on his face. She immediately rushes to the window and opens it. "Eddie, what are you doing here?" She whisper shouts at him. "If my parents catch you here, they'll kill you."

His smile turns wicked. "Then let me in so they don't catch me."

She smiles then moves out of the window so he can climb into her room. "Seriously, what are you doing here?" She's happy to see him. Even though it's only been a couple of hours, she missed him.

"You sounded so sad on the phone." His voice is sincere, then it turns back to playful. "Also I had a question." He says nonchalantly, trying to be casual but it's hard when she looks like she does at the moment. His eyes rake over her form. She's wearing his flannel and what looks to be not much else. He can see some shorts peeking from the hem of his shirt. She looks sexy and he has to actively remind himself why he's here.

"You have a question?" She says in disbelief. "You came all this way at eleven o'clock at night to ask me a question?"

"Yes." He tries to focus on her face rather than her body.

She quirks her eyebrows up at him, curious. She can tell he's being silly. She smiles, stepping a step toward him. She says in an equally playful manner. "Well what is it? The suspense is killing me."

That wicked grin returns."Do I have strong lips?" He wiggles his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Chrissy snorts a laugh and tries to keep quiet so her parents don't hear. Her cheeks hurt from smiling. She thinks about his question which he stole from Pretty in Pink. His question shows he's been thinking about their kiss. She hasn't been able to stop thinking about it either. She gives him a flirtatious look. "I can't remember. Why don't you refresh my memory." She takes another step toward him and is right in front of him now.

He smiles at her answer. He was hoping for a result like this. He grabs her by the waist pulling her closer to him and kisses her hard. She immediately melts into the kiss and into him. She holds onto his arms to keep herself steady. He keeps it from turning too hot by pulling away. A devilish smirk on his face. "Well…?"

"Oh yeah Eddie Munson you definitely have strong lips." Chrissy looks up at him, her face flush and chest heaving slightly.

Eddie lets go of her waist, intertwining all ten of his fingers with hers. "When can I see you again?"

She blushes. "Tomorrow too soon?"

He shakes his head. "Not for me. What do you want to do?"

"I don't care as long as I'm with you."

Her words make his breath catch in his chest. He is so into this girl it isn't even funny. "Okay I'll pick you up tomorrow. What time?"

Chrissy remembers her mom saying something about running to the grocery store. "Two o'clock?"

"Tomorrow at two then. I should go."

Chrissy raises their hands slightly fidgeting but not wanting to let go. "You don't have to go yet… if you don't want to."

Eddie is so tempted to stay longer but he's tired and like she said her parents would kill him if they were to catch him here. "I'd love to stay but I need my beauty sleep. I got a hot date tomorrow."

She smiles at him. "Oh you do, do you? Lucky girl." He laughs at her teasing. She walks him to the window still holding his right hand. "Good night."

He climbs out of her window and looks back at her. "Good night."

Before he can move away. She grabs his collar and kisses the life out of him. When she pulls away, she says, "See you tomorrow."

Eddie, who is clearly affected, recovers quickly. "Tomorrow." Chrissy shuts her window and he climbs down the trellis. Excited for tomorrow.

Xx

The next couple of days, Chrissy and Eddie spend every second they can together. Thursday, they rent more movies and watch them at Eddie's, making out occasionally here and there. Friday they drive around exploring Hawkins and Chrissy takes more pictures. When she runs out of film, Eddie is more than happy to accompany her to the school's darkroom where he prides himself on making it very hard for her to concentrate.

He is starting to get very familiar with her mouth, the slope of her neck, the noises he can get out of her when he nips here and licks there. Not only is it sexy as hell, he loves knowing he can do that to her. He loves getting to know everything about her. He loves the kind of person she is. He is loving every second he gets to spend with her. If he didn't know any better, he thinks he could be falling in love with her. But that's crazy… right?

She came back into his life exactly one week ago and turned it completely upside down. He feels like he's in an alternate dimension or something being with her. One where they can be together and no one cares. He's worried about school on Monday and what that could mean for them. He tries to remember his uncle's words from earlier this week. You've got nothing to worry about. Don't overthink it. Enjoy it while it lasts. And he wants it to last for a long time.

It's Saturday and Eddie hasn't seen Chrissy all day. Her brother, Jamie, came home this morning and she had to stay home to spend time with her family. The problem with that is when Eddie isn't with her, he's thinking about her. He tries to distract himself throughout the day with band practice and hanging out with the guys and outlining the next Hellfire campaign.. Nothing works. He misses her. The only solace he can find is knowing she promised to try to see him tonight, but he has yet to hear from her.

He sits on his bed scribbling lyrics in his notebook. Lyrics about her. He's written a couple of songs before but none were ever about a girl. He writes a line down, reads it, scratches out a word or two and replaces it with something else. He gets so into the task that he loses all track of time.

He hears a knock on his door at 9 pm. He furrows his eyebrows as he stands wondering who it could be. He throws the notebook and pen on the bed haphazardly. He makes it to the door, opens it to reveal the angel that has been top of his mind all day. "Milady." He moves to the side to let her in. "I'm surprised to see you. I was beginning to think today was a 'no Eddie' day."

"Yeah me too but I didn't like that, so I took matters into my own hands. I told my parents I was going over to Sam's to spend time with her since they just got back last night and came here instead."

Eddie grins at Chrissy's mischievousness. Sam or Samantha Parker is Chrissy's best friend who is also very popular and a cheerleader. Eddie doesn't know her well but she's always seemed pretty cool. "Well then what time do you need to get back? It's already pretty late."

"That's the beauty of it. Whenever I want because typically when I go to Sam's, I spend the night. So whenever you are ready for me to go, I can go home. If anyone catches me, I can tell them I got sick and wanted to sleep in my own bed. I even packed an overnight bag to make the ruse even more believable." She wiggles the bag strap on her shoulder at him.

A unique opportunity presents itself for her to sleep over and he'd be a fool not to take it. "What if I don't want you to go?" He steps toward her and grabs her waist with his strong, large hands.

She smiles at the contact. "Then I guess I will stay." She wraps her arms around his neck then gives him a wicked smile. "Why do you think I packed my overnight bag to begin with?"

His eyebrows shoot up. "You're just full of surprises. Aren't ya?" He tickles her sides making her squirm.

She squeals in surprise and jerks away from him laughing. He tickles her again. She yelps in response. "Eddie no!"

Laughing as she backs away from him. He tries to get her again but she runs off to his room and he chases after her. She jumps on his bed and tries to put her arms close to her sides to block his oncoming attack. "I got ya now."

He tickles her again before she can stop him. The action throws her into a fit of giggles. He laughs too. Happy he can have fun and be silly with her. He eases up his tickling when she tries to speak in between bouts of laughter. "Eddie… seriously… stop…."

He has her back pinned against the wall with her legs crossed on his bed while he is on his knees bending over her slightly. His face turns thoughtful, still really close to hers. "Okay I'll stop."

She finally stops laughing and shifts on his bed. Something catches her attention and she pulls out his notebook from under her. "Oh sorry." Realizing she has bent the pages. "What's this?"

He quickly snatches it away from her in a slight panic. He keeps his face carefree. "It's nothing. See?" He throws it over his shoulder causing her to giggle at his antics. He can't stand it any longer, he leans in and kisses her. She sighs contently into his mouth. The kiss is slow and purposeful. He savors every second of it. When they part, he leans his forehead against hers for a second. She smells like cotton candy and she tastes just as sweet. Her mouth is swollen from his kiss and her cheeks are slightly flushed. A smile plays on her lips. "I missed you today." She says it likes it's a secret.

His heart swells at her words. His voice is light and pleasantly surprised. "Did you now?"

"Mhmm" she hums.

Her words feed his confidence. Otherwise he would have never said, "I missed you too," out loud.

He dips his head back down to envelope her in another kiss. This one is more lazy than the last at first. But the longer they make out, the more heat builds within him. She pulls away enough to speak. "How was your day?"

Eddie doesn't want to talk, he'd rather keep kissing her. "Sucked."

His mouth returns hers briefly. But she puts her arm on his shoulder to stop him. "Eddie.. "

It's clear their makeout session is over which is fine. He still sighs dramatically to fein disappointment making her giggle. "Fine. I'll behave." He moves to lay down next to her with his hand propping up his head to keep it elevated. "Seriously though, my day did suck. Yours?"

He watches her think for a moment. "Sucked." She giggles. "What did you do all day?"

He tells her. "Same old, same old. Band practice, hung out with the guys who are very curious about you by the way. Worked on the next D&D campaign, that's about it."

"The guys are curious about me?"

"Yeah. They kept asking me about Tuesday wanting to know why you came."

"What did you tell them?"

"The truth. Plus or minus a few details" He is starting to get nervous. He waits for her to react.

"What details?"

She doesn't seem upset or mad, just curious which helps put him at ease some. "I told them we are friends and I invited you to our show. I just left out the part where we are the kind of friends who hang out and make out occasionally."

There's disappointment all over her face. "Is that what we are… just friends?"

Eddie swallows. "Honestly I don't know. I didn't know how much you'd want me to tell them, especially with spring break coming to an end."

"You could have told them everything, Eddie. Unless… you don't want to tell them." The insecurity is clear in her voice.

He hates hearing it and reassures her. "Believe me, I want to tell them. But I didn't know what you were comfortable with me saying so I held out on the details for now."

She smiles a little at that. "I appreciate you thinking of me. But I don't care if they know. I like you Eddie. A lot."

It's nice to hear her say that but he's got to be sure she wants this. "I like you too but what happens Monday?"

She is clearly confused. "What do you mean?"

"We go back to the real world on Monday. Are we… Is this… ?" He hesitates.

"Is this going to continue, you mean?" Her suddenly understanding. He nods. "I would like for it to. Don't you?" He nods again. "I want to be with you Eddie."

"I just need to be sure you aren't going to pull a Blaine on me or something." He has been thinking about Pretty in Pink a lot lately. He is terrified school will start Monday and she will push him away like Blaine did in the movie. He doesn't want his heart broken like Molly Ringwald.

"I would never do that." She says sincerely. "I don't care what anyone else thinks."

"You say that now. But I'd understand if you want to keep things just between us for a while and ease into it a bit."

"Is that what you want?"

"No. You know I don't care what those assholes think about me."

Her face hardens. "But I do. That's what you're saying, isn't it?"

"No. Shit. I just…" He takes a deep breath and starts over. "I've spent years perfecting my 'I dont give a shit' attitude. You're still new to it. I want nothing more than to be with you too, Chrissy. Hell, I'd love to makeout with you standing on top of one of the cafeteria tables and flip everyone off while they watch…" She giggles. "... but I know you may not want that. I just want you to be comfortable with whatever this is."

Her expression softens a bit. "I told you before. I'm done with living my life walking on eggshells to please everyone else. This has been one of the best weeks of my life. Eddie, you make me… happy. Happier than I've been in a long time. I'm not going to change my mind about this." She rubs the back of his hand that is resting in front of her. "About us."

She continues. "You said so yourself. I'm freaking Chrissy Cunningham, the queen of Hawkins High, I make the rules. And if I want to be Eddie Munson's girlfriend, then dammit I will be." His eyebrows raise and he watches panic creep up on her face when she realizes what she said. He thinks she's fucking adorable. "That is… if you want me to be." Her voice is small.

He raises up to sit in front of her. "Are you kidding? Of course I want you to be my girlfriend."

She sighs in relief and smiles at him. "Good. Then let's go to school Monday and turn the place upside down, what do you say?"

"Hell yeah baby."