A/N - This is a follow-up from another Eddie chapter in this book. It's inspired by the song Look After You by Aron Wright. I hope you all enjoy it.
When Eddie had heard the loud knocking on the door of his uncle's trailer he'd been expecting it to be coming from one of the Hellfire kids. It was so hectic and invasive that he never would've imagined that it could be coming from you.
"Keep your hair on," he called out, shaking his head as he made his way through the living room to the door. When he pulled it open, he'd frozen. You looked completely out of place on his front step, soaked through from the rain and visibly upset. And sitting at the bottom of the steps was a pile of waterlogged baggage, all mismatched and awkwardly thrown down in your hurry to catch his attention. "Baby," he started softly, his mouth hanging open as he searched for something to say.
And then, you'd let out one of the most heartbreaking sobs he had ever heard and tipped yourself across the threshold into his arms. It was clear that you were trying to tell him something, forcing out choked words between bouts of tears, but it wasn't quite making it through.
"Baby," he murmured again, his grip on you tightening. "Deep breath for me, okay?" You tried to do as you were told, taking in a shaking breath. "That's it," he pressed on, walking backwards and leading you further into the trailer in an attempt to fight off the cold that was bound to be seeping into your bones at this point. "Good girl," he murmured, easing you down onto the couch and kneeling in front of you.
"I'm sorry," you yelped, wiping helplessly at tears that refused to stop falling. "I didn't mean to come flying in here like this," you added, followed by a soft hiccup as you managed to settle your breathing.
Eddie took your hand in his, pressing a gentle kiss to your palm. "Baby, what happened?"
"My Mom found the test," you uttered, lifting your free hand to rest upon your stomach, even though you still weren't showing yet. "She freaked out. When I got back from work she'd already packed up all my shit-" your words trailed off. "Kicked me out of the house and called me some pretty horrendous names in the process."
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart," he hummed, looking so heartbroken on your behalf that it caught you off guard. In all honesty, Eddie had never liked your mom, but he knew how tough it would be for you to go through everything without her.
"I guess I always sort of hoped that they'd be happy, you know? Like, it would be some big surprise that they would actually be pretty excited for?"
Eddie released a soft sigh, getting to his feet and watching as you visibly stiffened, your grip on his hand tightening. "I'm just going to grab your stuff, Sweatheart. See if we can get some of it dried off," he told you, and you nodded before releasing your hold on him, shrinking back into the couch. "Wayne'll be back in a couple of hours," he called back to you as he hurried down the steps, gathering up your bags into his arms. "We can tell him what's going on and-"
"What if he freaks out too?" you interrupted, your voice pitchy with nerves. "What if he kicks you out too, Eddie? We can't live on the street with a baby."
"Wayne won't kick us out," he murmured, placing your stuff down as delicately as possible. "And it's only temporary, remember? Once you've had the baby and I've graduated, we're going to be out of here."
You let out a shaky sigh. "Ed, how are we going to afford to live in the city? We were barely going to be able to make ends meet as it was, but babies are expensive. They need diapers and formula and clothes and they have doctor's appointments. My job doesn't come with health insurance. How are we going to afford all this stuff?"
Eddie looked a little concerned for a moment, running his hands over his face. "You've got the money you've been saving from work. And, I can sell some stuff. I mean, the guitar would go for a couple of hundred, at least. Then, I can get a part-time job until I graduate. And once I'm done with school-" he paused, shrugging slightly. "I'm going to look after you, Baby. Both of you. I'll make it work." You were on your feet in seconds, crossing the room and wrapping yourself around Eddie.
"I love you," you murmured, burying your face into his neck.
"I love you too, Baby." He pressed a kiss to your damp hair, his hand rubbing along the length of your spine. "We need to get you into some dry clothes before you catch a cold," he told you. "Can't have you getting sick."
*Time Skip*
Eddie had been right. Wayne was a lot more understanding than your parents had been. In fact, he'd been so much more understanding that he'd offered to let you guys stay for as long as you needed, rent-free. He'd seemed a little shocked when you'd hugged him, thanking him profusely. We won't stay too long. We'll be out of your hair before you know it. It'll only be until Eddie graduates. I mean, you'd believed them all to be true at the time.
But then, the baby had come along, and you'd had to give up work for a while since an hour of childcare cost almost twice as much as your hourly salary. And Eddie had been so busy between working part-time at the theatre and settling the baby into a routine that his grades had slipped and he hadn't quite graduated.
"Sweetheart, I might as well just drop out."
"We had a deal, Eddie," you murmured, shifting the baby a little higher in your arms and shooting him a warning look. "We leave Hawkins after you graduate. That deal hasn't changed."
He shook his head. "We need the money. If I drop out I can take on extra shifts; longer shifts. We could actually save some money and get out of here." He reached out, taking the baby from you to give you a chance to stretch out your arms. She'd reached that irritable stage in life where, if she wasn't being carried, she tended to wail for hours on end, and it had been killing your back as of late. "I'm not saying it's for definite, okay, Baby. But I can only resit the year so many times and with the way things are going, I'm not going to be able to put the work in to get my grades up."
"I saw Mom in the grocery store this morning," you suddenly blurted. "She was a little awkward at first, but you should've seen her when she set eyes on this little lady." You paused for a moment. "She offered to look after her a couple of days a week when I'm ready to go back to work. And if we take her up on that offer, you can stay in school and I can-"
"Your mom put you out on the street when she found out you were pregnant, Sweetheart. With all due respect, I'm not sure I want her looking after our daughter." He reached out for you, drawing you in just enough to press a kiss to your forehead. "We just have to push back leaving for a little longer, alright? You can work part-time when Wayne can take care of her, and I can take on a full-time position for better pay." He let out a soft sigh when you frowned at him. "Baby, I can go back to school whenever. This is now. You guys are more important, alright?"
You nodded slightly. "Alright."
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