Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Eddie Munson X Reader - The Plan

A/N - This chapter was sort of inspired by the song The Plan (Fuck Jobs) by The Front Bottoms. I hope you all enjoy it. 

"Exactly," Eddie uttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "We're the Freaks because we like to play a fantasy game," he pressed on, his eyes flitting over to you for a moment to find you smiling softly at the little performance he'd been putting on for the table all through your lunch period. "But," he added, pushing himself up to his feet rather inelegantly and scrambling up onto the tabletop. "As long as you're into band or science or parties-" he uttered, the stupid voice he was putting on coming effortlessly after years of practice. "Or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets," he cried out, raising his voice enough that the table of jocks on the other side of the room would hear him. 

Jason was on his feet in an instant, because of course he was. The guy had always had it out for your little group of friends, and sure, Eddie liked to antagonize him as much as the next guy, but Jason had been the one to start it. Anything that came from your side was just pure retaliation.

"You want something, Freak?" Jason bit out, and your stomach turned over. The confrontation always tended to set you on edge, and where Jason and his cronies were involved there was bound to be backlash. 

You were the only person at the table who wasn't laughing when Eddie put on his little demon impression, grinning when Jason backed down. 

"It's forced conformity," Eddie reminded your group, walking back down the table towards his seat, right next to yours, as always. "That's what's killing the kids," he cried out, scaring the ever-loving shit out of one of the girls walking past your table. 

"Ed," you chastised lightly, watching as he moved out of the way to let the next girl walk past, sending her a sweet, innocent smile. 

He slumped into the seat next to you, knocking his knees into yours. "What's the matter, Baby?" he hummed softly, shifting forward in an attempt to kiss you, only for you to lean back, out of his reach. "Baby," he murmured, practically whining at your denial. 

"Cut it out," you uttered, turning your attention back to the food in front of you. "Is it too much to ask for us to just have a chilled-out lunch? Just one?" you added, wincing at the harshness of your own tone. "Sorry," you breathed again, swallowing down the lump forming in your throat. 

Eddie hesitated for a moment, waiting for the rest of the boys to go back to their conversations before nudging your shoulder lightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing-"

"Baby," he interrupted. "You practically bit my head off just now. What's wrong?"

You continued pushing the food around your plate. "When you push Jason's buttons like that, it's funny in the moment, but you don't have to go to class with him, alright?"

His brow furrowed. "Is he giving you a hard time?" 

"I have got a big enough target on my back as it is," you pressed on, deliberately skipping over his question. "And when you wind him up, it just makes life harder."

"Has he been giving you a hard time?" he repeated, leaning forwards over the table to look you in the face, forcing eye contact. "You need to tell me if he is, Baby."

You let out a soft sigh. "It's not just him, Ed. It's all of them." You paused for a moment, dropping your fork down onto your tray. "I can cope when they poke fun at me, they've always done that, but when you get them all wound up, they're worse."

Eddie was frowning at you, properly frowning, looking so damn sad that you felt guilty for ever saying anything at all. "I didn't realise-"

"It's not a big deal," you interrupted, clearing your throat. Your tongue darted out to wet your bottom lip as you shuffled in your seat, and then suddenly, you were on your feet, standing up and freezing with the rest of the table watching you. "Bathroom," you uttered, moving away from them as quickly as you could manage without running full pelt towards the exit. 

You'd barely made it out into the hall before you were shoved up against a locker, met with a snide grin from Jason. "Where you running off to, Princess?" he murmured, head tipping to the side when he saw the tears already burning in your eyes. "Oh, come on, Sweetheart. I've barely even touched you."

You shoved roughly at his chest, the shock of the impact actually knocking him back a step. In all of the time that he'd been making your life hell, you'd never once stuck up for yourself. You never even said a word. You never put your hands on him. You just stood there, waiting for his torment to be over. 

Suddenly, a snort of laughter burst out of him, his tongue running over his front teeth. "Oh, the Freaks are growing backbones now, huh? Always thought you were a timid little thing, and now look at you-"

"Leave me alone-"

"Sticking up for yourself. Marching around like you think you own the place-"

"Leave me alone-"

"Should've known that when you started letting the Head Freak fuck you that you'd take a turn for the worse."

Your jaw twitched at the comment. Sure, you'd taken enough criticism over the years to know how to take it on the chin, but something about people bad-mouthing your relationship with Eddie was enough to make anger burn in your stomach. 

"Fuck you," you bit out, watching as his expression shifted, hardening slightly. "Nobody asked for your fucking opinion, and frankly, nobody gives a shit about what you have to say. You think you're so fucking high and mighty? You think you're better than me? Guess what. In five years' time, you're going to be alone. You'll finish college and you'll stop playing basketball and everyone will forget about you. They'll stop caring. Because all you'll ever be is some kid that peaked in high school."

"You little bitch-"

Eddie had reached you just in time, stepping between the two of you and shoving Jason away from you. "Back off," he growled, jaw so tight that he could barely get the words out. 

For a moment, Jason looked like he was considering his next move, but then, it was as if it registered that, for once, he was outnumbered. One of him. Two freaks. And sure, he could get a good hit in, but it wouldn't look good on him if he was caught by a teacher, throwing punches at a girl. 

"Fucking Freaks," he muttered, tugging his jacket up further onto his shoulders and marching away towards the cafeteria. 

Eddie was rounding on his heel to look at you a moment later, his hands cupping your cheeks. "Did he hurt you?"

You shook your head, your hands coming up to bracket his against your face. "I'm okay," you answered softly, swallowing down the lump in your throat. 

"What happened to not antagonising him?" he murmured, dragging your closer to him, his nose buried in your hair. 

"I didn't mean to," you started. "But he was being a dick and I just sort of snapped."

A soft chuckle slipped out of Eddie. "He's always being a dick. What was so bad about this time?"

You shrugged slightly. "Must've just hit a nerve or something."

"Yeah?" he breathed out. 

"Yeah," you confirmed quietly. "He doesn't get to take the one good part of my life and twist it into something bad," you added, finally shifting to wrap your arms around his back, your fingers linking together under his jacket. When Eddie didn't say anything else, you pulled back slightly, glancing up to find his brow furrowed in concentration, trying to figure out what exactly Jason could've been commenting on. "You, dummy," you uttered. "He doesn't get to take away the happiness you give me," you reiterated, smiling softly when his confusion shifted to pure joy. 

"I'm the good thing?"

You chuckled lightly. "You're the best thing," you agreed softly, leaning up to kiss him quickly. "Sorry I was so snappy with you before."

"All is forgiven, Baby," he hummed out, grinning down at you. "I'm your best thing," he repeated, the teasing thick in his voice. 

"Don't make me regret saying it-"

"Never, Baby. Can't make you regret the best thing that ever happened to you," he pressed on, snorting with laughter when you rolled your eyes at him. 

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