(y/n) - your name

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"I'm not late!" Eddie gasps out as he manages to step into his science class right before the bell rings and his teacher scoffs at him.

"Just barely Mr Munson. Now sit down and don't disturb the other students." Eddie clears his throat in nervousness, moving to his seat in the back. 

He takes (y/n)'s bag she gave him, opening it up to see his project in there plus an apple, a bottle and some painkillers in a plastic bag. He chuckles at her thoughtfulness, taking out his project and setting it on his table for the teacher to collect. He watched anxiously, his leg bouncing up and down as she walked to each student, grabbing their papers before she stopped at his desk.

"I assume you didn't do it, Mr Munson."

"Actually," Eddie hands Rangers his project and she looks at him dumbfounded before flicking through and doing a quick scan.

"You handed it in on time." the rest of the students all gasp and turn around to look at Eddie and he flinches from their stares as they whispered in shock.

"He did the work?"

"I bet he didn't."

"The freak probably scared some poor student to give him their project."

"Maybe he paid someone off to do it."

"Or someone owed him a favour."

"Everyone be quiet!" Ranger hisses out and the students all shut up. "I'm looking forward to reading this Mr Munson. You all have this class as a free period so don't waste it!" Rangers walks away and Eddie lets out the breath he was holding in. The class went on by without a hitch and Eddie was left to his thoughts that wandered to (y/n) and how she was doing. His mind went to what happened last night and he tried to process what happened.

Clearly, he wasn't going to let (y/n) take drugs again. He hated how miserable she was before she fell asleep in his arms.

But... it felt nice that she depended on him... that someone trusted him enough to be their safe person. It made him feel special for once. He may ignore the insults and put up a facade that he didn't give a shit, but sometimes, being called a freak made him so insecure. But (y/n) clearly didn't see him as the freak the rest of the town did and he felt warm from that. She wasn't scared of him and felt comfortable enough to be able to cry in front of him.

She got to know him instead of listening to others and the stupid rumours, spent time with him and looked out for him, No one has done that before... no one gave him a chance to prove himself or even a second glance. But (y/n)... even though neither of them remembered the other in high school she still reached out to be friendly with him.

Eddie smiles softly, hiding behind his hair as he thought of what she might be doing and zoning out throughout the entire class as his hands held up his head. The class sped by so quickly that the man didn't realise it was already lunch time, the science class being his final class before the break. He jumps when someone kicks his chair and he blinks seeing all the students rushing out of the class and he does the same, getting up to leave.

"Mr Munson." he freezes as Rangers calls for him and he turns around, his nerves and fear at an all-time high.

"Yes?" she passes him his papers back, a stern look on her face but with gentle eyes.

"I expect that whoever helped you with your project, you thank them generously. You did good." Eddie looks down at the paper in his hands and he just went rigid seeing this grade for the first time ever.

"B-!? A B-!?" Eddie's hands shook and a smile grew on his face. "Holy fuck!"

"Language!" Rangers calls out as the ecstatic man runs out of the class, bolting down the hallway and ignoring people yelling at him when he bumped into them to go to his friends.

"Eddie what-" the Hellfire Club members jumped as he slammed the paper down on the table in front of them.

"Boys! '86 is my year!" Eddie whoops and Dustin and Mike congratulate him on the amazing grade.

"How the hell did you get good!?" Gareth gasps out and Eddie beams at him.

"I may or may not have a sweetheart helping me out."

"(y/n) helped you!?" the freshmen gasp out, looking at each other with knowing smiles.

"You gotta do something for her! For helping you get this grade!" Dustin exclaims.

"Yeah! Take her out or buy her something!" Mike says and Eddie flushes pink at the idea.

"Ok boys, I need your help. I need something that says thank you in a big way." the curly-haired sweetheart sits down with his club and they bounce ideas to him. 

~~~~~

It was late at night when Eddie gently knocked on (y/n)'s door, anxious and nervous for the night he had planned for her. No it wasn't a date, Eddie was pretty sure this won't be a date. It was just a way to say thank you. He fiddled with his fingers as he bounced on the edge of his heels, the blood pumping in his ears when the door opens.

"Eddie?" (y/n) blinks at him in surprise, wondering why he was here so late at night. Did he forget something or-

"-I just wanted to give you your bag back..." Eddie stutters, showing (y/n) her bag in his hands and she chuckles, taking it.

"Thank you. Do you want to come inside?" she asks and Eddie hesitates.

"Yes-no-wait actually-" he grumbles under his breath for why he was so nervous and (y/n) looks at him, waiting patiently. "I actually wanted to say thank you. Thank you for helping me last few days."

"It was no problem Eddie. Stressful I had to admit but I did say you could come to me anytime you need." (y/n) leans against the doorframe, smiling. "So, how did you go?"

"I got a B-!"

"There you go! You did it!" (y/n) gasps, clapping. "Thats such an amazing step! Congrats man!" Eddie flushes, smiling happily.

"It's been so long since I got anything higher than a D so I thought we should celebrate and I thought it would be a good way to thank you but I don't know if you want to go out, I know it's so late and I was worried you might think of this as a date but it's not unless-"

"-you're rambling again Eddie." (y/n) giggles and he quickly shuts his mouth in embarrassment. "Try again." he takes in a deep breath to calm his heart.

"I wanted to take you out, as a way to say thank you."

"You didn't have to. You didn't have to do anything for me. I'm happy to help you."

"Please, I just want to show you how grateful I am."

"Ok, ok. Let me go change. Are we doing any hardcour climbing or something?" (y/n) chuckles as her and Eddie enter her house, closing the door behind him.

"Not really. Just wear something comfortable."

"Ok, give me a couple of minutes." (y/n) runs upstairs, changing into some denim jeans, a simple long sleeve shirt and a denim jacket. It was quite warm tonight so she didn't want to wear too much. She grabbed her house keys and shoved them in her pocket as she jumped around to put her combat boots on, running downstairs to meet up with Eddie. "Let's go!" she runs out her house and Eddie follows, locking her house door closed as he leads her to his van.

"Oooh, you're not planning to kidnap me and murder me in the woods are you?" she snickers as she gets into the van, taking in the familiar scent of weed, smoke and a sweet sort of cologne that Eddie normally wears. It was nice and cozy in here.  

"I wouldn't dream of it! Who else would bother helping me graduate this year!" Eddie laughs as he gets in the van, soon driving off. (y/n) looked around, listening the the rock music that was playing as she looked in the back to see a basket.

Awe, he packed a picnic basket! That's so cute!

"So where are we heading?" (y/n) asks and Eddie smirks.

"That's a surprise."

"Oh come on, tell me please!" he shakes his head, not giving into her begging to tell her where they were heading and (y/n) scrunched her nose in defeat. "You're very stubborn."

"I should say that about you!" Eddie chuckles as she smiles, him parking on the side of the road to the surprise. "Ok, we're here!" (y/n) was about to get out of the car but he yells out for her to wait, making her scared but confused when he gets out of the car and runs to her side. Eddie opesn the door for her and she rolls her eyes with a smile. "M'lady." he boys playfully, holding out his hand for her to hold.

(y/n) chuckles lightly at how cute Eddie was, taking hold of his hand as he helped her down, not noticing the slight squeeze he gave her before letting her hand go. "You really ar emy knight in shining armour."

"Of course I am! I take that role very serious." Eddie winks, diving into his van to grab the picnic basket before wiggling out and locking his van. "into the woods we go!"

"Are you sure you're not going to murder me in here?" (y/n) chuckles nervously, careful while she climbed up the hill.

"I would never lay a hand on you sweetheart." Eddie says as he quickly catches her when she slips, grabbing her arm. "Careful." he purses his lips, holding her hand tightly as he helped her walk up the hills through the woods. "Don't let go ok." he held her hand very tightly, worried about (y/n) getting hurt until they finally reached the top. "Tada!" Eddie stands to the side to let her take in the view and she gasps as she stands near the cliff edge that overlooked the whole town of Hawkins.

"I remember this spot! I remember coming up here a long time back for a party during high school! My god, it's still as beautiful as I remembered it..." Eddie beams, setting the picnic basket down and sitting down, (y/n) following suit.

"I thought you might like coming back here." he leans over to see her in awe, taking in how her eyes were bright from the stars and the lights illuminating her face. Eddie's heart thumps rapidly in his chest when (y/n) looks at him with a smile.

"I love it. Thank you Eddie." his heart skips and he tries to control the nerves that hit him, taking out the sandwiches Dustin made. Unconvetional talent of his was to make gourmet meals. The two talked as they ate, Eddie's hand inching closer to (y/n)'s unknowingly as they sat together. He froze as he felt her fingers brush against his hand, looking down with the sudden urge to hold it while her story she was telling went over his head. 

"I think it was Hagans birthday or something. The whole grade was invited up here and I remember standing so close to the cliff cause I wanted to see how high we were." (y/n) explains as she finished her sandwich. "Oh my god, when I tell you my short life almost flashed past my eyes when some dumbass bumped into me and I was about to fall over, but thankfully, a guy I didn't recognised saved me."

That was when Eddie perked up, remember a faint memory of that. "I think I remember going to that party."

"You did? Then you must've seen who it was right? I was so grateful for the guy pulling me away from the edge. I didn't get a good look at him when I said thank you because he quickly walked away. I used to have a crush on my saviour but I'm past that. I wonder hows he doing." Eddie smiles lightly at the memory, knowing exactly who (y/n)'s saviour was. He carefully takes hold of her hand and entwines their fingers together. She blushed at him and shifted closer, leaning her head against his shoulder.

I guess I was always your knight in shining armour... Even back then from that party...