A/N - This chapter was inspired by the wonderful Call Me by Blondie. Reader is Max's older sister and in this world, Eddie and Max are semi-friendly because of Dustin and Mike and Lucas. Also, the Max and Reader dynamic was giving me Massive Nani and Lilo vibes, so I shoved a little quote-ish bit in there. I hope you all enjoy it.
The trailer park was anything but dull, that much you could admit. Ever since you'd moved over from the old house, you had been witness to some of the strangest people you had ever met; not that that was necessarily a bad thing. The oddness was great. You always found yourself drawn to the weirdos around you; the more eccentric the better.
So, when you had moved into the trailer across from Eddie Munson, you'd been pretty damn curious. When your family had come to Hawkins, you had already graduated from high school, starting out at Community College and working part-time the minute you'd come to the town, so you'd never had a chance to experience him first-hand, but you'd heard murmurings of the local 'freak' from other kids. Max's friends adored him, though, and given their own oddness, it was as good a review as any.
"He's a senior, right?" you'd murmured one morning, pegging out the washing whilst Max followed along with the basket of clothes. She looked confused for a moment before following your eye line to where Eddie was sitting on his front step, smoking.
"Eddie? Yeah, he's a senior." She smirked when you let out a soft sigh. If he was a senior, he was 17, maybe just 18, but you'd been very clear, both to yourself and to Max, when you'd come to town that you were done with high school boys. "He's been held back though," she pressed on. "Twice."
Your eyes flickered over to her for a moment, head tilting to the side slightly. "Yeah?"
Max nodded, looking very proud of herself. "Dustin said he's on track to graduate this year."
"Dustin just told you that without prompting?" you uttered, brow furrowing when she chuckled.
"I told him that you were checking him out when you picked me up the other day. He gave me what was basically an entire encyclopedia of knowledge about him," she told you. "He's 20. Loves metal music and DnD. He's in a band. His birthday is-"
"Max," you yelped. "That's creepy; quit it." Your eyes flickered over to where Eddie was sitting, finding him already looking in your direction. "Do you think he heard you?" you murmured, ducking your head just enough that she would be able to hear you without the risk of him possibly reading your lips.
"Nope," she started softly. "But he's coming over, so play it cool."
"What?" Your head shot up, and to your horror, Eddie was headed in your direction.
Max gave him a quick wave, balancing the washing basket on her hip. "Hi," she called out.
"Red," he hummed, giving her a little nod. "This must be the other Mayfield," he pressed on, offering you a sweet smile. "Henderson never stops bringing you up. Pretty sure he thinks you're the coolest person on planet earth."
You let out a soft snort of laughter. "And there I was thinking he preferred Steve," you uttered, shaking your head in disbelief.
"He's partial to his older friends, clearly," he chuckled. "But I can see why he likes you-"
"Oh, gross," Max uttered, shaking her head as she looked between the two of you.
Eddie's eyes widened as he realised what he had said. "I didn't mean that he likes you because you're hot," he blurted. "Not that I don't think you're hot. You are. You're a God Damn bombshell, but I'm sure you have a lot of very nice qualities-"
You let out a peel of soft laughter. "It's fine," you chuckled. "Max is just teasing you. She does that a lot."
"Oh-"
"Besides, who doesn't like being called hot at-" you paused, glancing down at your watch. "Shit-" you muttered, quickly shoving the last of the pegs back into Max's box. "Shit," you bit out again. "I'm going to be late. Max, I left lunch in the fridge for you. Don't forget to eat it, alright? And if you do go to the arcade, there's some change in the dish by the door. But, if you don't go, remember to keep the noise down, Mom's working late and she needs to sleep." You paused, letting out a soft sigh. "I'll be back by 4, okay? Just stay out of trouble." Max rolled her eyes at your mollycoddling, nodding slightly. "Eddie, it was lovely to meet you, but I've got to get to work or my boss is going to kill me-"
He held up his hands in surrender. "Don't want to get you in trouble, Sweetheart," he hummed. "I'm sure we'll get the chance to meet again sometime," he added, watching as you hesitated on the spot for just a second before nodding.
"You can come by whenever," you told him. "I'm always here if I'm not working," you added, offering up a sweet smile as you fished your car keys from your pocket. "I'll see you around."
You went skipping off to your car, sliding into the driver's seat and taking off for work.
"Y/N likes collecting strays," Max uttered, shoving the washing basket into Eddie's arms and taking your place hanging out the clothes. "She really does mean it; you can come over whenever. She'll never turn you away."
"When you say she won't turn me away, you mean like me, or anyone?"
Max let out a snort of laughter. "I mean you. She thinks you have a good butt and she likes your fancy hair," she muttered, shaking her head as she pegged out the last item of clothing.
"She thinks it's fancy?"
"Just show up tonight when she gets home from work and talk to her. She'll be happy if you do."
He nodded, letting her take the basket back from him. "Alright. Thanks, Red."
*Time Skip*
Eddie was shuffling awkwardly on the front step of your trailer, wondering whether this was actually a good idea or not. Max had been pretty certain that you would be happy to see him. Pretty sure that your offer for him to come over whenever wasn't just a nicety, but a genuine offer. But, now, he wasn't so sure. I mean, you'd been at work all day, and the last thing you could possibly want was him showing up to ruin a quiet night.
He was just about to turn tail and head back to the comfort of his own trailer when the door swung open. "Are you just going to stand there all night, or are you coming inside?" you hummed, a small smirk playing on your lips.
"Coming in," he uttered, not looking all that certain about his answer until you moved out of his way and he walked inside, his eyes roaming the decor. It was the exact same trailer as his, he was certain of it, but it looked completely different. There weren't dishes piled by the sink or old beer cans littering random surfaces, and there definitely wasn't a wall of hats pretending to be decoration. No, this was a home, and Eddie couldn't help but wonder whether this was all your doing, or your Mom's. And then his eyes had found something that made his breath catch in his throat, something that would definitely never exist in his home. On one wall was a photo, blown up and framed all pretty, of you, dressed in a cap and gown, clearly graduating from High School, with Max hugging you, arms wrapped around your middle. You looked beautiful, laughing at something being said off camera.
"That was before we moved to Hawkins," you hummed, noticing his interest in the photo. "Mom and Neil had just got married," you added softly.
"You look happy."
You let out a soft chuckle. "I was. About 2 days after that, they sat us down and told us we were leaving California."
"That must've been tough," he uttered frowning slightly.
You shrugged. "Billy was pissed off, but then again, when wasn't he? And Max was at that awkward age where she'd just started making the sorts of friends that stick with your for life, you know? But I was kind of relieved." You paused for a moment. "I'd just finished high school and I didn't know what to do with my life. I was on the verge of spiralling. And then I was handed a fresh start. New town. New job. New classmates. It was refreshing."
"Yeah?"
You nodded. "I like Hawkins. Max loves it here, even after everything that happened with Billy-" your words trailed off. "She's made friends here that'll last her a lifetime."
"Red's a good kid," he murmured, watching as you slumped down onto the couch.
"I should thank you, really. She told me about how you took the boys in when they started High School; made them feel welcome there. It was really nice of you-"
Eddie waved off your comment. "As I said, they're good kids."
"Would you just accept the compliment?" you cried out. "I'm being nice."
He chuckled, moving to sit beside you. "From what I hear, you're always nice," he hummed. "Henderson talks about you like you're the Dalai Lama or some shit."
You let out the sweetest bubble of laughter that Eddie had ever heard. "That's because he's never given me a reason to be mean," you chuckled. "I can be a heinous bitch when I want to be."
"I don't believe that for one second," Eddie told you. "I don't think you have a mean bone in your body."
Your head tilted to the side slightly. "You know, Dustin talks about you too," you hummed. "In fact, he's a little bit obsessed with you."
"Yeah? What's he say?"
"That you're funny. And a hell of a lot smarter than anyone gives you credit for. And that you aren't the creep that everyone makes you out to be." You shrugged slightly. "I'll be honest, he's good at selling people."
"Tell me about it," he murmured. "Pretty sure he was trying to get me to ask you out for a while there."
You bit down on your bottom lip, suddenly realising just how close you were sitting to Eddie, his arm slouched across the back of the couch, leaning in as he spoke. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. He kept telling me how pretty you are like he thought I was too stupid to notice it myself." Another bubble of laughter slipped out of you, and his smile grew. "I don't know about you, but I've realised that in the time I've known Dustin, he's never actually been wrong about anything. He's always right on the money-"
You hummed softly. "Yeah, he's pretty smart."
"So, maybe we should listen to him," he uttered. "Let me take you out sometime?"
"I think that's a pretty good idea," you told him. "Anything specific planned?"
He shook his head slightly. "Anything you want, Sweetheart. Anywhere. Anytime."
"Anytime?" He nodded. "How about now?"
"Sounds like a plan," he murmured, leaning in and connecting his lips with yours.
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