Just because you love the game doesn't mean you give a flying fuck for the other so-called athletes who expect you to be one of them. The Hellfire club approves :)
Author's Note: Stranger Things AU because I'm not even sure softball was popular in the 80s. Oh well. Trigger warning for homophobic language (it's just one word). So as usual, just go with the flow.
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When your parents told you that you were moving after finishing up your junior year of high school, you shrugged and asked when you needed to start packing. You didn't argue as they expected you would and were relieved you had taken the news so well.
However, they did cut it a little close to the start of your senior year and ended up relocating to Hawkins, Indiana just a few days after school had already started.
So here you stand in the cafeteria of Hawkins High, staring out at the amassed students who've already formed their little cliques. Sighing softly, you're just about to give up and sit in the hallway or something when you catch sight of a boy out of the corner of your eye. More specially, his t-shirt catches your eye.
"Hey Ghostbuster," you call out. The boy with curls sticking out from under the back of his cap is talking rather animatedly with his friend, and it's his friend who catches sight of you staring at them. He nudges him and the boy in the ghostbuster shirt glances at you with wide-eyes. "Do you mind if I sit with you guys? I'm kind of at a loss here."
"Y-You want to sit with us?"
"Yes..?"
"Bullshit."
"Dustin!"
The pale boy with shaggy black hair elbows his friend and you can't help but grin. He rolls his eyes and then looks at you. "What my friend meant to say was yes. Yes, you can sit with us."
"Cool. Thanks."
"I'm Mike and my idiot friend is Dustin."
"YN," you introduce yourself as you follow them.
"You new here?" Mike asks as he leads the way to a table where one other boy and a girl sits. "This is Lucas and Max, by the way."
Lucas barely gives you a nod, too busy trying to gain the attention of Max who's more interested in her Walkman than her friend.
As you take a seat at their table, you answer his question. "I, uh, I just moved in from Texas."
"Oh. Cool." Mike nods and then stares down at his tray.
The conversation seems to end there, but then Dustin turns towards you. "So you like Ghostbusters?"
"Yep. And Poltergeist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the Goonies."
"Nice."
By the end of your first lunch period, you realize you've befriended a group of freshmen and that you all have pretty similar tastes in movies. The boys, however, are obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons. And while you have heard of the game, you've never cared to attempt to play it. You don't make the boys feel weird for liking what they like, and even listen as they excitedly explain some things to you. So in the end they're happy to have you sit with them at lunch again.
Within your first couple of weeks, Max distances herself from the boys and you find out that she lost a family member recently which she hasn't been coping well with. Eddie Munson introduces the boys to Hellfire- a club in which they play nothing but Dungeons and Dragons. Eddie and his group of three boys don't know what to think of you since you don't truly understand the game, but Mike, Dustin and Lucas vouch for you.
You sit at the table of freaks, at least that's what you hear people whispering about, but you don't let their opinions bother you. Lucas then ends up joining the basketball team and switching tables, but you're very content with where you're at.
But then softball tryouts are posted and you surprise your group of boys when you show interest.
"Really, YLN," Eddie frowns. "A jock? You're a goddamn jock?"
"Don't sound so disgusted, Eddikins." Dustin and Mike snicker at the nickname. "Just because I like to play the game doesn't mean I'm going to abandon you guys. You're my people, not them."
"Yeah well I guess we'll see, won't we?"
You roll your eyes at Eddie who's so sure you're going to abandon them if you make the team, and continue on with lunch.
At the end of the school day, you rush to your locker and grab your gym bag that you had prepared the night before. You have everything you need for softball practice and hope to impress the coach with how prepared you are.
Some of the girls are surprised to see you- the girl who hangs with Eddie 'the freak' Munson- on the field, while others grin and welcome you and ask if you've played before. The coach is standing nearby when you admit to having been playing since you were a freshman. You made the varsity team as a sophomore and actually made it to the playoffs just last season.
Immediately you were asked what position you played and, after finding out you were a pitcher, were told to warm up so they could see you in action.
You stretched, you warmed up, you pitched, you tossed the ball back and forth with other girls, you swung, and you ran. The coach had you practice sliding into bases and taking hits, which you hated the most, but you did everything you needed to without complaint. And by the end of the try-out session, you were tired and sweaty and ready for a shower.
You walk home, enjoying the cool air, and hope you make the team.
As you had hoped, you make the softball team.
You're excited, as are the other girls who also made the team, and as you told Eddie you remain sitting with the Hellfire Club during lunch. They manage to come around after a couple weeks of practice when they realize you haven't changed, but what really makes it sink in for them is when Jason Carver tries to recruit you to his side of the lunch room.
You've just taken your new seat next to Hellfire's very own dungeon master when your lunch tray is snatched up by none other than Jason himself.
"Hey!" You turn in your chair, glaring up at the culprit.
"YN," Jason says, blue eyes sparkling. "What are you still sitting with the freaks for? You're better than they are."
"Jason," you coo, "if you know what's good for you, you'll give me my lunch back and fuck off."
Dustin and Mike gape at you from the end of the table while Gareth, Jeff and Eddie chuckle. Jason's smile tightens. "You're making a mistake."
"The only mistake being made is that I'm not punching you in the dick for taking my food, Carver. Now hand it over and walk away," you say through clenched teeth.
He scoffs and lets your tray drop from his hands, food splattering on the floor. Your eye twitches and he grins cruelly. "Whatever. We all know you softball chicks are dykes anyway."
"That's totally uncalled for!" Dustin says, angry on your behalf.
The other boys at the table are seconds away from standing up and defending you, but you merely laugh as you lean back in your chair. Jason's grin falters. "Well you know what they say about dykes, Carver. We eat pussy better than men." The boys at your table go dead silent. "Watch yourself or I might just have to take the Queen of Hawkins High for myself."
Jason is speechless as he angrily stomps back to his table and you chuckle at his retreating form. Sighing forlornly at the sight of your ruined lunch on the floor, you turn back towards the boys at your table.
Your brow furrows when you see Eddie's cheeks are tinted the faintest of pink. "You, uh, you're into girls?"
You snort and steal a fry from his tray before popping it into your mouth. "I'm very much into dudes," you tell him. "I just wanted to make Jason uncomfortable and insecure." You then glance over your shoulder and laugh. "Mission accomplished."
The boys turn around, erupting into laughter when they spot Jason with his arm wrapped tightly around Chrissy Cunningham and glaring right at you.
It didn't take long after that for the others to refer to you as queen of the freaks, something which made Eddie downright giddy. Especially when you referred to him as the king.
Yours and Eddie's friendship was something that took everyone but the Hellfire Club by surprise. No one could believe that the athlete and the freak were practically attached at the hip, nor that you actually defended the club when other jocks- namely the basketball team- picked on them.
Then the day of your first game is upon you and you suddenly find yourself nervous.
"I thought I'd find you here." You startle at the voice, turning around on your bench seat to see Eddie making his way towards you. "What are you doing here? Don't you have to start warming up for the game?"
"I love to play, but I can't help the nerves," you tell him. You follow his lean form as he stands opposite you, standing instead of taking a seat at the picnic table that had been placed in the middle of the woods behind the school. "What brings you out here, Munson? I'm not interrupting a deal, am I?"
He smiles at you, shaking his head. "Nah, queenie. You're good." You roll your eyes at the nickname. "Your girls are looking for you though. Found me and thought you were with me and then told me to find you."
"And you actually took direction from them? What?" You feign shock.
"Well as it turns out, the softball girls aren't total buttheads. Not like the other jocks are."
"That's high praise coming from the king of the freaks."
"Yeah, yeah."
You chuckle at him before sighing, reluctantly standing up after. "Well I guess I should get going. I need to warm up my arm after all."
"Break a leg," he teases.
You glare at him, but then perk up. "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing. Why?"
"Come to my game."
Eddie scoffs. "You're joking."
"I'm not," you muse. "Come on, Eds. Come watch me play."
"And what? Be your personal cheerleader?" He asks, mimicking a cheer with pompoms.
"It's my first game at a new school. Come support me. Please."
He leans forward, hands gripping the edge of the table as he grins at you. "What's in it for me?"
"You mean other than seeing girls in skin tight pants, bending over?"
"Yes."
You pout. "What do you want?"
Eddie's lips twitch as he looks you up and down. "A date."
"W-What?" You laugh, his words catching you off guard.
"You heard me, queenie."
"You wanna go on a date.. with me?"
"Well yeah. Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Because I kind of thought you didn't go for girls like me," you tell him. "You literally could have asked for a date before all this, and I would have agreed without even batting an eye."
"W-What?" It's his turn to be a bit surprised.
You laugh. "You're hot, Munson. Own it." He gapes and you continue on before he can back out. "But since a date is apparently the price for you to show up and be my personal cheerleader, you got yourself a deal. Come on." Then as you walk backwards, you can't help but laugh at Eddie while he gapes at you.
Eddie keeps his distance while you skip ahead, laughing. Then as the two of you near the school, he smiles when you wave at him before you head towards the field house where you're to change into your uniform. He, however, shells out a few bucks to pay for his ticket and ignores the stares and whispers as he walks towards the bleachers.
"Eddie?!" His head snaps in the direction from where his name was shouted in an incredulous manner, and he smirks when he sees Dustin and Mike sitting in the very front row closest to the dugout. "What are you doing here?" Dustin asks.
"What? You thought the king of the freaks wouldn't come see his queen?"
Mike's nose wrinkle. "Made it official, have you?"
"Almost." Eddie hops up onto the bleachers, taking a seat behind the two freshmen. "She agreed to a date."
Dustin beams. "Awesome."
"So awesome."
After about ten minutes of sitting there and discussing D&D, people start to quietly applaud. The boys look up to see the Hawkins girls spilling out onto the field through a side gate before breaking out into a light jog. And as they jog around the entire softball field, Eddie can't help but appreciate the sight of YN in uniform. Her white, skin tight pants stop just below her knees before giving way to solid green socks. Even her pants have green pinstripes on them. Her white top is tucked into her pants, the name Hawkins emblazoned in yellow on the front and outlined in green, the same colors being used for her last name and softball number on her back.
And her hair. Don't even get him started on the two buns that now sit on the back of her head.
As they come back together in a huddle closest to the dugout where Eddie, Dustin and Mike are sitting, the coach gives them a bit of a pep talk. The girls all chant, rocking side to side before whooping. One girl rushes to the dugout, pulling out a plastic bucket and turning it upside down to set down a boombox on top of it. She presses play, turns the volume knob almost all the way up, and then rushes off.
The familiar drum beat and guitar chords of Quiet Riot's Metal Health fills the air, and Eddie perks up. He's not surprised when the girl rushes off to YN, high fiving her as they pair up to toss a softball back and forth.
"Are they allowed to play music?" Dustin asks. "The other team of girls don't look too impressed."
"I don't see why not," Eddie grins. "They're just warming up."
"Bang your head!"
"Jesus Christ," Eddie then chuckles. "She's converted the entire team," he realizes when the girls all sing along to the bang your head part. Even their coach finds it amusing.
The song soon switches to T.N.T by AC/DC and the coach then decides to hit ground balls to the girls to practice catching. YN, however, jogs off to the side to practice pitching with the catcher.
The other team then takes the field, leaving the girls of Hawkins to stretch off to the side. Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls plays and Eddie can't resist the urge to head bang. Dustin and Mike laugh at their dungeon master, the three of them catching YN's attention as she grins at them.
Eddie looks up just as YN bends over to touch her toes and he sighs longingly. "I can get used to that view."
"Gross. She's like our sister, man," Mike tells him.
"Not my sister," he mutters back.
It isn't long before both teams are heading to their respective dugouts, the announcer then introducing each girl from both teams. When YN's name is called, it's no surprise that Eddie, Dustin, and Mike cheer the loudest for her much to her and her teammates' amusement.
They stand through the national anthem and then anxiously await for the start of the game.
The visiting team is first to bat, so the boys get to see YN in action as starting pitcher. They watch as she takes the mound, swiping her cleats around the top of the mound as she finds her position. Then when the first to bat is ready, YN takes her position, waits for the signal, winds her arm and lets the ball fly.
"Strike!"
"Holy shit," Dustin says a little too loudly when the ball slaps into the catcher's mitt.
Those sitting closest to Dustin all chuckle and cheer YN on, shouting for her to do it again.
Strike after strike, hit after hit, Eddie watches with rapt attention whenever you're up to bat or doing your best to strike someone out. He's so used to your silliness that your seriousness catches him off guard, but he surprisingly likes it.
He likes it a lot.
And by the end of the game, Hawkins takes the win 6 to 4.
After getting a job well done speech from your coach, you shoulder the strap to your gym bag and bid the girls a goodbye. You walk out into the parking lot still in your uniform, smiling tiredly when you see Eddie leaning against his van.
"So what's the verdict, Munson?"
"I was surprisingly.. into it." He smirks.
"Really?"
"Oh yeah." You end up standing just a couple feet in front of him when he pushes off his van, stepping closer. He reaches up to the side of your head and tugs on a few strands of your hair that had come loose from your bun. "Especially this hairstyle. It's.. doing things for me."
You laugh and swat at his hand. "Keep your kinks a secret until at least the third date, Eds."
"I'll try my best." He steps back while taking your bag from you. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving."
"Great. Let's go get burgers." He turns around and opens the passenger door, dramatically bowing at the waist. "Your chariot, m'lady."
"Thank you, good sir." You take your bag from Eddie after climbing in, shutting your door as he walks around to his side. "So what happened to Dustin and Mike?"
"Wheeler's sister took them home. They said to tell you that they'll be at every game unless a campaign comes up."
"Cool. It'll be fun to have my own cheering section."
"Yeah? Then I guess I'll have to plan the campaigns around your games."
You turn your head to smile at him, grateful, but.. "You don't have to do that. I know how much you guys love D&D. You plan your campaigns on the nights that's best for everyone. Don't worry about me."
"And that's why I like you, queenie." His returning smile makes you blush and you're just thankful that it's pretty dark so he can't see it. "So don't worry your pretty little head over it. I'll make it work."
Eddie then takes you to a diner and the two of you get off to eat inside. He in his leather jacket/jean vest combo and ripped pants, and you in your Hawkins softball uniform make quite the picture.
At first the silence is a bit awkward as you stare at each other from across the table, and then Eddie sheepishly smiles, you laugh, and the tension breaks.
After you order your drinks and food, the two of you fall into a familiar pattern of talking and joking around. At first glance, no one would think the two of you had anything in common, but the rest of your night is filled with laughter and smitten smiles. And by the time you and Eddie take your leave, everyone who had warily watched him walk in then watch with adoring smiles as he takes your hand to walk you out.
On the drive home, you can't stop smiling and Eddie notices. "What are you smiling for?" He asks.
"The girls of Hawkins are fools." Your smile widens as he gives you a double take.
"How so?"
"You, Eddie Munson, are a goddamn sweetheart." His boyish smile makes your chest ache with how adorable he is. "See? That smile right there. Your devil worshiping reputation is forever ruined for me."
He laughs. "Was our first date really that amazing?"
"First date, huh?"
"Well yeah. You agreed to a date if I went to the game."
"I know," you muse. "I just didn't think you'd cash in so fast. What's going to be our second date? Matching tattoos?" His head whips towards you so fast that your eyes widen. And seeing his sparkling eyes in the light from the lamp posts as he drives under them, you laughingly groan. "I was joking."
"Just think about how metal that would be though!"
"You're- you're insane, you know that?" You laugh.
"Duh."
"What would we even get?"
"I don't know, but it makes me extremely happy that you're thinking about it."
When Eddie pulls up outside of your house, you're still chuckling. He puts his van into park before angling his body towards you. The two of you stare at each other before you lean over towards him, grinning. "Well, we might as well get this out of the way to make sure a second date is even worth it."
And before he can say anything else, you press your lips to his. Eddie seems momentarily taken aback before he smiles into the kiss, hands immediately cradling your face. And then when he tries to deepen it, you pull back.
Eddie gulps before licking his bottom lip. "So, what's the verdict?"
You slowly smile, letting him stew for a few seconds longer. "You'll do." He laughs before you peck his lips once more and then you're quick to turn and hop out of his van. "See you Monday at school, Munson."
"Not if I have any say so, queenie. I'll pick you up and we'll do something tomorrow."
"Fine. But if you wake me up before ten, this isn't going to work out."
"Not a morning person. Got it."
The school could barely wrap their head around a jock hanging out with the freak, so you really blew their minds the moment you kissed Eddie for all to see. The Hellfire club hadn't even batted an eye, but Dustin and Mike were grossed out when they caught the king and queen of the freaks making out.
Jason Carver and his berry band of jocks couldn't fathom that anyone other than you would willingly associate with Eddie Munson, so you took great joy when some of the softball girls found their way to your lunch table and joked around with Eddie's club members.
Some expected that your relationship would fizzle out after a few weeks, so you really surprised them when you showed up to school one day with ink at the crook of your forearm.
"Holy shit," Dustin exclaims. "When did you get a tattoo?"
"Oh, this little thing?" You muse, grinning. "I got it over the weekend."
"It was supposed to be our second date- getting matching tattoos- but someone chickened out."
"I didn't chicken out." You glare at Eddie. "We just needed to brainstorm. I wasn't about to get a skull or a heart with initials or something stupid."
"So, what'd you get?" Mike asks.
You lay your arm out on the table, letting them see the black bat at the crook of your arm- a black bat wearing a small golden crown.
"Queen of the Freaks," Gareth muses approvingly. "Nice."
Eddie lays his own arm out, showing the newest addition to his swarm that's wearing its own crown.
"You two are gross, but I approve," Dustin says.
"We're gross, Dustibun? Shall I radio Suziepoo and get her to spill all your adorable little secrets then?"
The Hellfire club all snicker as Dustin scowls at you. "One, I hate you. And two, you wouldn't dare."
"I totally would," you slowly grin, "but I'll let you keep your secrets. For now."
Eddie laughs as you lean back in your seat, perfectly content to let Dustin squirm under your stare as he slings an arm around the back of your shoulders. If anyone had told him he'd fall for an athlete, he'd have laughed and asked if they had a concussion.
But now?
Now he couldn't picture dating anyone but you. Even if you were an athlete.