INTO HELL [e. munson]

five.

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ the holidays ·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

   CHRISTMAS WAS FAST APPROACHING, AND LILA SCRAMBLED TO FIND GIFTS FOR EVERYONE. It wasn't lack of care, but simply her life had overwhelmed her since the Halloween party.

For starters, Steve profusely apologized to Lila about the girl at the party for weeks. It wasn't until Lila accepted the apology for the hundredth time that Steve let the issue rest. On top of this, instead of Lila avoiding Eddie it was the exact opposite. She attempted to go to Hellfire Club the next Friday, only for Eddie to have canceled it. Even when she asked Dustin, he refused to give any more information due to a secret pact within the club.

Lila even tried to talk to him in the hallway, but he quickly said he had other places to be. She got the hint she wasn't needed anymore. The second his grade was good for the semester, then he left. Lila shouldn't have been surprised, but she couldn't help but feel there was a relationship growing.

"Are you participating in our Christmas celebration?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, of course. Is Steve going?"

"Obviously. He takes any chance for an excuse to get off work."

"Great, just let me know when."

...

The party was held on Friday, December 20th. Everyone showed within their immediate friend group, other than Will and Eleven. They had moved to California, and couldn't come back from Christmas. The look on Mike's face when he discovered it was incredibly sour and became even more so when Dustin reminded him of Susie and his' long-distance relationship. "You know, I haven't seen Susie for longer," Dustin said to Mike, only to receive a glare.

For Christmas, Dustin had gotten both Steve and Lila walkie-talkies strong enough to stay on the already established frequency. Her only hope was them not having to use it for less than pleasant reasons.

Lila gave all the boys different Dungeons and Dragons books (She knew the boys would share them amongst themselves), while she got Steve his favorite hair gel (Which he hid immediately, upset that someone might catch onto his secret to perfect hair). For Max, she chose accessories for her skateboard which Max seemed excessively grateful for. Often Lila worried for the girl and invited her out to do various things together in hopes to take Max's mind off the past summer and Billy.

They spent the night laughing amongst each other until Lila and Steve left together with Max who they took home while the boys all spent the night at Mike's. Lila glanced over at Eddie's trailer to find his van missing, but she didn't pay it any mind considering he was likely playing for his band.

Steve dropped her off at her house next and Lila bid him a quick goodbye before immediately falling asleep the second she lay in bed.

Only a few hours later she woke up the second knocking sounded on her window, where Eddie Munson's face was peering through and gave her a cheeky smile when she finally woke up. Lila sighed as she climbed from her bed to let him inside.

"You've been avoiding me, and now you think you can show up at my window in the middle of the night?" Lila hissed.

"Listen, I'm sorry," Eddie finally said after a few moments' pause. "I got scared."

"Did I grow a third eye or something?" Lila asked sarcastically.

"Your hostility isn't really in the Christmas spirit," Eddie said nervously with a small laugh. "I got you a gift."

Lila paused a moment before turning around to dig into her closet. Eddie stared at her with furrowed eyebrows but didn't want to say anything else in case she was going to kick him out. To his surprise, Lila pulled out a Christmas gift incredibly large in size. "I got you this."

Lila extended the gift to him, and he was surprised at how heavy it was. Eddie had set her gift on the bed, which was smaller and rectangular in size. His wrapping job was jumbled with jagged edges and squished together with scotch tape that wanted to burst at the seams from the excess amount of paper he used.

Hers was the opposite with pristine care taken. Yet, Lila didn't think anything of his in comparison to hers. She knew Eddie likely tried far longer than her to make it perfect. "Do you want to open yours first?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, if that's okay with you," Lila said before picking up the gift. Eddie nodded as the girl ripped open the wrapping paper carefully.

Inside was a copy of Wuthering Heights, Lila's favorite book. The copy looked incredibly expensive, from the different cover she'd never seen before to the fancy paper inside.

"I wrote in it," Eddie said as if trying to defend the choice he made for her gift. Lila was slightly upset at the idea he didn't think his gift to her was good enough. "It's why I've been so busy recently, it's a huge book."

Lila scanned through the pages as if she didn't believe him, but to her surprise, there were little notes on the pages and underlined sections. Even a few question marks which she asked, "And these?"

"Means I didn't get it," Eddie shrugged, "I tried to ask the librarian about the different words but I think she thought I was joking."

"I love it," Lila said in full honesty. She'd never received a gift so intimate in her life, and despite herself, she pulled him in for a hug. Lila had never really known how to show the extent of appreciation for her gifts but hoped a hug would suffice. He tensed a moment before wrapping his arms around her.

The moment was brief before she pulled away and looked excitedly at the gift she got for him. Eddie opened it up to find brand new speakers for his van to which his eyes widened.

"Ments!" Eddie yelled a little too loud as she shushed him.

"You're going to wake my parents, idiot!" Lila chided as she outstretched her hands in panic.

"Sorry," he whispered, "I can't accept this."

"You can and you will. I can't imagine the abuse your busted speakers have been through, and you need something nice."

"Nice? This is better than nice."

"Just take it," Lila said as she rested her hand on his arm. "We can put it in your van together if you want. I love doing stuff like that."

"Just promise me you'll never buy me something this extravagant again."

"Promise," Lila lied.

"Fine, but you have to help every step of the way with putting it in."

"Like it's difficult? I promise that doesn't sound like a punishment," Lila laughed. If Eddie could have kept the sound of her laugh, he would have tucked it away in his heart and never let it go. "Stop acting like you have to give me a hard time for this. I got it because I knew you'd love it."

"Come over tomorrow, then."

"You have yourself a deal." Just like that, another deal between the pair was struck without a second thought.