Laurie Hardesty was the only person Delilah confided in about gossip. She didn't have much of a taste for it herself unless it was about herself. For some reason, she felt as if she could tell Laurie her weird girlish musings. Even if Laurie inevitably spread the information around to someone. Didn't matter who, sometimes it was even her own mother. Yet something felt comfortable about getting things off her chest with Laurie. Not any of the super serious stuff like the issues with her father or Billy, but silly boy stuff like the information she was about to share- no problem. It seemed to pour out of her involuntarily. Which brings us to the jaw dropped, wide eyed face on Laurie currently.
"You did what?!" The girl shouted in the middle of the soft music playing record store.
The best one in Hawkins , Fuzzy always liked to add. Fuzzy was Hawkins' local burnout. Everyone knew he smoked as much weed as Willie Nelson, but he didn't hurt anybody and even owned his own local business; Fuzzy's Record Emporium. He was also who Delilah got her weed from. He was the most reliable, fair, and cool guy in town. She knew Eddie got his stuff from Reefer Rick, but she didn't trust him for anything. She had tried to buy from him once when she was on spring break and he wouldn't sell to her unless Billy waited outside. Why his name kept crawling into her mind when she had juicy gossip about Eddie was beyond her.
"Shhhh!" Delilah giggled before avoiding a couple of glances from customers, "Keep your shit down!"
"I'm sorry but you're fooling around with Eddie the Freak Munson-"
"Come on, don't call him that!" She pleaded with Fuzzy's daughter.
"Okay fine, Eddie the weirdest guy in Hawkins High?!" She raised her voice yet again, this time warranting a small slap on her arm from Delilah.
"You have no room to judge, you once made it with Tommy J!" Delilah retorted, trying to defend her semi-out there . . . friend?
"Tommy J was hot, you just hated him because he wore darker makeup than you," She snarked.
"Oh please, anyways-" She rolled her eyes at her friend and co-worker before she looked around to make sure no customers were approaching the counter, "It was like . . . normal. With everything going on right now, all I need is some kind of normalcy, ya know?" She felt like she was boring Laurie who had leaned on her hand, propped up on her elbow.
"You're telling me Eddie Munson is a normal guy?" She said, sounding unamused.
"No, he's anything but, but that's not my point!" Delilah said, exasperated that she couldn't find the right words, "I'm saying I don't feel pressured or like he expects anything. He's just always like . . ." She was definitely girl talking as her usage of like had tripled in the short time the two had been talking, "Present."
"Oh my god, gag me with a blowtorch! You two are disgusting, I love it," She laughed, wagging her eyebrows, "So you two are getting married right? Can I be your maid of honor?"
"Fuck you," Delilah merely flipped her off before Fuzzy appeared in the doorway which jingled a bell above his head.
"Delilah with the strong hand language again," He said, trying to sound stern, "Have you two girls done nothing but gossip all day?" He set some bags down on the counter before eyeing the two over.
"Delilah's been organizing the new releases for tomorrow," Laurie admitted that she had merely been sitting there watching Delilah work while she spun her tale of the heated night with Eddie Munson.
If only it had been /that/ kind of heated, she thought momentarily. "Damnit D, how many times do I have to tell you to slack off every once in a while? Fight the system! Five day work weeks are bullshit!" He raised his fist in the air before both the girls started to giggle at him.
"You got it, Fuzz, I'll just take my second lunch break for my last twenty minutes okay?" She joked, obviously she was going to finish up her task.
"That's the spirit!" He joked before removing a burger from the bag he had set on the counter. "Want one?" He offered the girls.
"Dad! I said we were off of meat!" Laurie whined before poking around in the bag and bringing out a french fry.
"Sometimes a sacrifice must be made for the greater good my dear!" He mused, taking a large bite of the burger.
"Oh yeah and what's the greater good?"
"It'll make whatever concoction your mom is growing up in the garden go down a little easier with all this grease!" He laughed, mouth wide open, exposing a half chewed burger.
The three joked around while Delilah finished up the new releases for another ten minutes before the door bell rang again. "Hey welcome to Fuzzy's!" The man shouted out, dipping a french fry into some wrapper cheese.
The customer was no customer at all, well, not on that particular day she assumed. Eddie had given her a ride to work that morning and had offered to pick her up as well. She was going back home that night and wasn't looking forward to it. So naturally, she dragged Eddie into a horror movie marathon that would last until the sun rose for the two of them instead at her place. Despite the festivities Delilah had planned, she still wasn't looking forward to being under the same roof as her father. Especially since he had apparently been sleeping on the couch as Claudia had warned her before coming home. Her stomach still turned whenever she talked to Claudia now. She even found it hard calling her mom sometimes now. She shoved the thought away by focusing on the long haired rocker who approached the counter, with flowers behind his back.
"Oh gross!" Laurie exclaimed, stuffing another fry into her mouth.
"Nice to see you to, Laurie," Eddie said, unamused at her gesture, "You ready to go?" He asked, unveiling the flowers in front of her.
They looked to be some kind of daisy, but despite being named after a flower, she had no idea the different kinds there were. She tried to name a couple in her head but couldn't associate what the fuck a tulip looked like.
"Speaking of fighting the system, can I cut out a couple minutes early?" Delilah looked over to her boss who was still digging into his fast food.
"Sure! Hey, you're not the Def Leppard kid by chance are ya?" He asked, knowing damn well that he was. Delilah may or may not have gossiped that story to Laurie when it had happened.
"Definitely not me, who's Def Leppard?" Eddie retorted, also knowing damn well that he was the Def Leppard kid, "Damn that guy has a good memory," He said in a hushed tone to the girl now walking beside him. Delilah had taken her flowers and felt like she could have skipped.
Delilah spent the drive back to her house talking about the odd customers she had, what new albums were coming out soon and how she had her eyes on a new record player. Not that she needed one, but her stereo was definitely one to brag about. Even though she couldn't play an instrument to save her life or sing for that matter, music had always been kind of important to her. When they pulled into the driveway, she noticed her mother's car and she groaned.
"If Charles tries to talk to you, please just ignore him and follow me, okay?" Delilah pleaded with him, her hazel eyes swelling with nerves.
Eddie agreed and the two hopped out of the van. That thing was seeing a lot of mileage lately with all the drives Eddie was taking since she had been staying with him for winter break. As expected, when the two walked into the living room, Charles was there with a beer in one hand (one of Delilah's beers) she noted. Delilah didn't make eye contact with him as she grabbed Eddie's hand and began to drag him through the living room.
"Welcome home!" He called after her, but Delilah wasn't stopping. As soon as she made it to her bedroom, she slammed the door behind her.
Sure it was a little dramatic, but spending time with Laurie usually got her feeling a little on the dramatic side. "Still not used to that," She muttered to no one in particular.
"Yeah I gotta say, it is kinda weird," Eddie agreed before kicking off his boots and flopping down on her mattress. "So what movie is on the agenda first?" He asked, placing his hands behind his head.
"Evil Dead for sure," She nodded, removing her converse and slinging her bag of clothes into the corner of her room, "But first-" An inevitable smoke session occurred, the two sitting next to the window with a blanket over them. It was now growing closer to Christmas, a holiday Delilah was dreading this year. She had already gotten Claudia and Dustin their presents and had a couple she had her eye on for Eddie, but she would inevitably have to spend most of it with her estranged father. The two sat in silence for a moment before Delilah cleared her throat, which unfortunately turned into a small cough. What she wouldn't have done for a beer, but she dared not brave going to the kitchen and having to cross by the living room again.
The two had blankets and pillows lined up in front of Delilah's television screen, as small as it was, the two were still enraptured by the movie. Or at least Delilah thought they were both watching the movie. Out of the corner of her eye, she realized that she was being watched. She slowly turned her head to meet Eddie's deep brown eyes. She raised her brows before lightly laughing, "Can I help you?" She asked, wondering what was going through his mind. A scream on the movie caused her to jump lightly. She couldn't believe she jumped at a jump scare, she really had been distracted by him.
"What happened last night?" His words spoke out in an almost husky tone. Her mind raced for a moment, wondering what he was referring to before steam suddenly came into her mind.
She couldn't move her eyes from his as she felt her throat coat with dryness. Was this the conversation she had been fearing this entire time? Surely he wouldn't bring it up after everything that had been going on for her. Not that he didn't deserve an answer. She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"You mean the uh . . ." Did she just call it what it was or feed into his much deeper question, "The shower?" She gulped lightly, hoping he hadn't noticed.
"Yeah that was um . . . " Her eyes searched his eyes for his words before he could say them,but she knew what was coming, "I mean, very nice, don't get me wrong but . . . I don't think that's something friends do?"
There it was. Words she had been dreading to hear. She would now have to be faced with her commitment issues. She didn't even understand them herself so how was she supposed to explain her paper thin reasoning for not wanting to be in a relationship. She knew that's what the two were doing. For some reason, though, it made her head spin at the idea of being someone's girlfriend. She had the same fight with Billy over the same question. God she hoped this didn't turn into a fight. She just wanted to watch scary movies with Eddie and shut her brain off to the world. It's why she smoked so much earlier. Not that that was any different from her usual smoking habits.
"Why not?" She asked, trying to hold her stance, yet she couldn't help but feel herself weaken at the sight of his disappointed face.
"Please don't do this to me," He pleaded with her, his brows furrowing together, "Come on Delilah. It would have been one thing if we had just fooled around, but we didn't. Wasn't there something a little personal to it? A little more than just . . . friends?"
Damn those words that slowly crawled from his lips. Delilah ran a hand through her hair before she sat up from her spot on the floor. "Eddie, it's not that I don't want to, I just-"
"You just what, D?" He scoffed lightly, his temper already building up. She couldn't blame him, it frustrated her to think about so being on the receiving end had to be worse, "You just don't want to be in a relationship with someone like me?" He asked, pushing himself to sit up as well.
"It's definitely not that. You know I don't give a shit about social statuses. I like you, Eds, I just don't see why we have to-"
"Oh please don't give me the labels excuse. I deserve a little more than that, don't you think?" His voice was raising just lightly, but just to express his displeased tone.
"I just don't want to belong to anybody," She attempted to make another excuse, "What happens after we get together? You're not /my/ boyfriend, I'm Eddie Munson's girlfriend."
"That makes no fucking sense at all, how high are you?" He spat back, shaking his head at her, "We're in it together, so yeah I'd be Delilah Henderson's boyfriend to. Isn't that something you want?" He asked, grabbing her shoulder lightly.
"I'm not ready for that Eddie, I'm sorry," She stated, before reaching for his hand on her shoulder. He quickly swiped it away and got to his feet, "Eddie come on, don't do this," She pleaded with him, standing to her own feet.
"I'm sure I'll be back under your thumb in no time but for now," He sat on her bed and began to pull his boots back on, "I just need some time to think. I'm not sure that I just want to be there right now."
"Eddie, please, let's just turn off the movie and we can talk some more," She offered, though the last thing she wanted to do was talk anymore if she was being honest to herself.
"I'll call you later, Delilah," He said, exiting her room without another passing glance.
Delilah stood in her room, movie lightly humming in the background, alone.