‼️‼️‼️WARNING! ‼️‼️‼️
MAJOR ST4 FINALE SPOILERS!
⚠️DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE WATCHED THE SEASON FINALE⚠️
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"I'm not gonna be the hero, this time. You go, Harrington, you're more cut out for that anyways." The boy with the mane of brown curls uttered as he patted Steve 'the hair' Harrington's cotton-clad arm.
I stood beside the man called Eddie- well, I suppose it's hard to regard him as a man, as he was still attending High School as a 20-year-old. However this metal-head, punk, D&D adoring, falsely accused cult leader, secret teddy bear was one of the only individuals in my ragtag group that still had a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes. He, unlike the others and I, had not been beaten down by the years of constant battle and life-altering anxiety. He quickly turned his head to look at me-his eyes yearning for some kind of reassurance from his friend.
God I wished I could be more. All the sleepless nights spent with him in his trailer, listening to him strum mindlessly on his guitar, the noise flowing into one ear and out of the other. Before this mess we used to lay on his stained mattress together and spill every secret we ever had- making it so that confidentialities were nonexistent. We would slumber together, entangled in the thin and threadbare covers, never once questioning our platonic nature. As the months became longer and the weeks grew weary, I began to wonder what it would be like to be his. I swiftly banished such thoughts from my head when bigger problems arose, or at least I thought I did. They all came flooding back to me in this moment- along with a pervasive sense of dread. The remainders of the group trudged away- Harrington, Henderson, Wheeler, and Buckley. I was left with Munson. We were the diversion- the unintentionally sacrificial bodies.
"So let's get this party started! Are you with me, Y/N?" Eddie grinned. At least he had retained some humor despite being in the upside down.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I huffed as I grabbed a sturdy board to protect the windows of Eddie's trailer- or whatever parallel version there was of it in the upside down.
We worked for what seemed like forever, the both of us possessed a somber sense as we labored. Thoughts of Eddie entangled my conscience, my lips nearly moved to tell him that I loved him- yet I thought better of it. I bit my lip- a tad too hard, blood meeting my tooth as I gasped.
"You okay?" Eddie swiftly flew to my side.
"Oh yeah! I'm just- I lost control of my lip there!" I chuckled, making a shaky attempt to lighten the mood, although I knew that I was lying- something that I had never done to Eddie.
"Such a strange thing to do, M'Lady." He remarked. Pulling away from the side of the dilapidated trailer, he spread his arms in a triumphant manner. "Looks like we're finished!"
I grinned. He led me inside where he made a beeline for his room.
"What's your plan, Munson?" I called into the hallway.
"It's like this has been waiting here for me!" His ecstatic voice rang.
I carefully maneuvered myself around the living snakelike vines adorning the floor, and into Eddie's room. He brandished his guitar, a mischievous smile painting his face.
"Oh my god, I see what you're doing."
"This is going to be the most metal concert in the history of Hawkins!" He practically skipped into the hallway.
"Eddie!" I called after him. It was now or never.
"Yes M'Lady?" He cocked his head over his shoulder, his huge brown eyes brimming with an affectionate glaze.
"Eddie," I repeated, inching closer to him. "Before we go out there- before anything happens-"
"Nothings gonna happen, Y/N." He interrupted.
"But if something does- I want you to know- god I sound so fucking stupid but here I go- I love you. Always have. And if anything happens to you, or me, I just- I just needed you to know that you are loved." I choked out.
The man closed the gap between us with a fierce hug. My head rested on his shoulder, his denim jacket scratching my cheek. His rings dug into the flesh of my back in an almost protective way. His hair tickled my forehead slightly. This was the safest I had ever felt, wrapped in the arms of a sweet metal-head. He broke the hug, I gazed into his deep brown eyes. I decided silently that I would not let this moment be wasted. Not breaking my gaze, I united my lips with his. He gasped, then eased into the kiss. His hand dragged itself to the small of my back, the other one flying up to rest on the side of my face. My fingers entangled themselves in his curls. I let out a quiet moan as he roughly pulled me closer to his chest. Shit, that was embarrassing. He chuckled through the kiss. We simultaneously broke our lip-lock, I turned my head as a deep crimson spread across my cheeks.
"Y/N? I love you too." Eddie whispered.
I looked upon him, he grinned when he noticed I was blushing, but I returned the favor after noticing the color of his face.
"Are you ready to fight some monsters?" I playfully enquired.
"Hell yes, I am."
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The next few minutes were a blur to the soundtrack of Eddie's guitar. "Master of Puppets" was strummed so passionately by the man that I almost forgot that we were about to be attacked by winged creatures. After narrowly missing a mauling by one of them, we sought refuge in the motor-home. We waited tensely for minutes upon minutes. A swarm infiltrated the house, and as soon as I knew it I was swept into the brightly-lit living room of the Munsons. I intently watched Eddie as he laboriously climbed the rope that connected the two dimensions.
"Come on, come on!" I beckoned.
He didn't answer. He dropped from the rope and sliced it with one swing.
"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed.
"I can still buy them a little extra time! Don't worry!" And he was off. Like a flash of lightning in a spring storm.
After many failed attempts of leaping into the gate from a small stool, I dragged a sturdy and hulking chair from the kitchen and lined it up with the sinister looking crack in the ceiling.
"Here goes nothing." I sighed as my feet left the ground.
The familiar feeling of being flipped onto my back and onto a squishy mattress sent shockwaves through my body. I sprang onto my feet, and ran out of the structure.
My heart dropped when I saw the swarm. The sky was obsidian with them- the nefarious little beasts that formed a tornado-like formation with their flight. I knew he was strong, sometimes I underestimated what he was capable of, and I hoped this would just be one of those times. I approached the mob of demobats, searching fervently for Eddie. A figure lay on the ground, twitching as the hellspawn prodded it.
I ran faster than I ever had before in my life. The world decelerated as the next moments seemed to turn to slow motion. A battle cry wrenched itself from my lungs as I batted my way through the thick blizzard of wings. Eddie sprawled on the cracked ground as the monsters pecked at his torso. Anger bubbled up within me as I collected the blade that his hands had failed to carry and bashed the demobat's head in. I did the same with the gaggle of beasts torturing the poor man. Many of them swooped down in an attempt to steal a chunk of my flesh, but I batted them away in a rage unmatched by anyone. However, one going unnoticed by me managed to sweep me onto the ground with a sickening thud, I noticed that I was laying beside Eddie. As soon as I extended my weapon to spear the sucker, the mass fell down in one swift motion. My eyes darted about, perplexed.
I soon brought my attention to the boy beside me, blood soaking through his Hellfire Club shirt. I maneuvered myself so that his head was in my lap, I held him as best as I could.
"Is it bad?" He croaked.
"No, it's not bad." I lied for the second time that night.
"I didn't run away this time." He breathed, as he carefully brought his hand to entangle with mine.
"I know, you're so brave. You're the bravest person I know." Tears leaked from my eyes as I uttered these words, because I knew that he was going to be gone so soon.
"I guess I'm still not the hero type though, Y/N."
"No, no that's not true, Eddie. Because you're my hero." I stroked his wild hair, and moved the stray strands stuck to his forehead.
"I love you. Thank you for loving me." His voice was scarcely a hoarse whisper as his grasp on my hand grew weak, his other hand opened to reveal his guitar pick necklace. He gave me a small nod as a signal to take it. I did so.
"I will never forget you, I love you more than you will ever know." My voice shook as sobs wriggled their way out of my throat.
The man's expression faltered as his eyes glazed over. His hands grew limp although I still squeezed them in some hope that he would still be alive.
Memories of him washed over my mind; the fateful day at Hawkins High I complimented his rings, the rendezvous in the woods after school (because I refused to skip class), and the first time I saw him play guitar. We were fast friends, as I was one of the only people who could look past his drug habits and he was the only person who ever really got me. The nights spent in his sheets were many, I would walk home smelling like him. We swore that we were 'just friends' for a long while, well, up until tonight. Everyday I would join him and his Hellfire friends in the cafeteria where they would plan their campaigns with delight and care. And soon I joined their club too, only to be met with a barrage of satanic accusations just months later. I recalled that time where I gave him a chaste peck after landing on his name playing Spin the Bottle, and how he noticed me blushing. The memory of him showing up on my doorstep with tears budding in his eyes was vivid in my mind. He cried while I held him, he had nowhere to go in the town that hated him.
Now my tears matched his, the boy that died fighting for the same town that banished him. The upside down seemed colder now. I didn't recall it being so bitingly frigid. I clutched his necklace, and leaned down and kissed his forehead, inhaling my last breath of him.
I sat with crystalline tears racing down my cheeks, in this foreign dimension of unspeakable evil, holding my fallen hero in my arms.