the shire is burning [eddie munson x OC]

chapter six

a/n: italics are past memory! :-)

Preparations for school starting were fairly uneventful. Willow had gone over her mental checklists multiple times, being sure to have enough notebooks and binders to begin the year. She'd dug around her room and gathered up any and all pens and pencils she could get her hands on. Her closet was thoroughly inspected, older pieces she no longer wore now in a box for donations and a specific leather jacket hung neatly and clearly separated from the rest of her clothes.

She could still hear Steve's reaction clear as day when she had reentered the building that night with Eddie's jacket.

Steve's eyes widened, nearly falling over himself as he stood up. "What is that?"

"What?" Willow asked, feigning innocence. Robin was smirking.

"The jacket, is that his?"

"I...maybe. Let's get going," she insisted, holding the keys to Steve's car up and jingling them. Robin followed her with ease, glossy eyes and all, but Steve stayed put.

"Maybe? It's a yes or no question. Is it his jacket? Or is it someone else's? Because I know you didn't walk in with it."

She felt herself become exasperated as her shoulders slumped. "Why does it matter?"

"Why does it matter?" Steve asked, sounding incredibly offended, "Why does it matter? It matters because he's an asshole!"

Robin looked ready to break her silence, but Willow refused to give her the chance, "And so are you, or at least you have been tonight. Yes, it's his jacket. Now come on . We're going home."

The ride home had been awkward that night, and Steve hadn't brought the fight or Eddie back up since then. Willow wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or because he had been too drunk to remember. Part of her truly hopes it was the latter. The other part had avoided the jacket like the plague since.

But it was hard to ignore the first day of school, as she stands there in front of her closet, only in her underwear. She should have picked out an outfit the night before. She had even thought about it before drifting off to sleep. But her fatigue had won in the early hours of the night, and she hadn't completed half of her normal first day of school routines.

"Fuck it," she mutters as she completely dodges the jacket and grabs a plain white t-shirt instead. She decidingly pairs it with a favorite pair of blue jeans. It's a plain outfit. Simple. It would help her blend in with ease, which is all she could want from today.

As she's zipping up the jeans, adjusting them on her waist, she considers the jacket once more. She knows she's likely to get cold in class - it's an easy excuse to wear it.

She can't bring herself to.

She settles on a cardigan instead, soft and creamy tan in color. The disappointment in her stomach doesn't go unnoticed when she slips it on and all she can smell is her own laundry scent, no trace of the cigarettes or musk she would have been greeted with if she chose Eddie's jacket.

As she finishes getting ready for school, splashing her face down with cool water in an attempt to wake herself up further, she thinks more about Eddie. About the way his charisma could come and go so easily, the way he got under Steve's skin. Most of all, Robin's ridiculous plan still echoes from the day at the mall. Willow can't stop thinking about it. At the time, she and Robin had been joking, but after seeing each of Steve's outbursts after every slight interaction between Eddie and Willow, she's beginning to consider if it might be her best bet. A one-last-ditch effort to get Steve Harrington to notice her, to face any feelings he harbors for her head-on. But before she could ever approach Eddie Munson with the absurd idea, she needed to figure out what she could offer him in exchange. She needed this deal to not just benefit her, but benefit him as well to guarantee he'd agree. It needed to be a transaction of sorts.