Diamonds and Dragons ~ Eddie Munson

Chapter Seventeen: Insecurity

A/N: No Upside Down means Will didn't move to California and don't come for me about whether this suits Eddie's character because I really don't care

Five minutes stretches into fifteen but eventually we make it out of the house and into my car, him in the drivers seat due to my choice of heeled footwear. We drive past various cul-de-sacs before finally turning on to a street I recognise from my time babysitting Will. We park up in-front of similarly familiar house and Eddie walks round to my door to hold a hand out for me, whispering, "M'lady." I gratefully take the hand, regretting my all black clothing choice due to the early Summer heat blazing across my back. "Is this Lucas' house?" I ask, brushing off my skirt. Eddie nods, linking his arm around my own before walking me up to the front door. We turn last second through a gate that leads us to his backyard where everything is already set up and there's a group of people laughing and joking together.

Will notices us first, rushing over to me so I can pull him into a tight hug. "Hey there, kid. Long time no see," I laugh softly, rubbing his back. I'll never admit this aloud but out of all the kids Steve's taken on as his own, Will's always been my favourite. "We missed you at the last campaign," Eddie chimes in from beside me, giving the boy a good-natured pat on the back. "Yeah, sorry I missed it," Will replies, moving away from the hug before heading back to his friends. "Where's Dustin?" I call over to him as he makes his exit. "He's with Steve and Robin but he's coming later," the boy replies.

Eddie takes back hold of my hand and we walk together towards the group, my eyes instantly falling on Mike Wheeler. It had taken a lot of attempts for him to convince Eddie to let him back and even they hadn't worked. In the end, it took me telling Eddie to just let him rejoin and monitor how he acts for a little while. Eddie had still been reluctant but finally the kid got his wish. "Can I talk to you?" the boy asks, the question directed entirely at me. I take a breath but nod, feeling Eddie's hand tighten around my own. "Alone?" he asks, clearly unaware of how close Eddie already is to strangling him. "Yeah, of course," I manage to reply before adding a quick, "I'll only be a minute," directed towards Eddie. The long haired man visibly disapproves but lets me go nonetheless and I lead the kid over to an empty set of lawn furniture out of earshot of the others.

Once we're both sat down, he begins. "Look, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry," he says quietly, glancing at his hands as he plays with them in his lap. "Mike, look at me," I sigh, taking a hold of one of his hands across the table. He does, meeting my eyes with an embarrassed fluster. "It's happened now and it is what it is but I appreciate your apology. I just want to know why you did it. I have an idea but I wanna hear it from you."

"I was mad, I guess."

"Okay, and?"

"It's just that like I guess I've always really liked you but you only ever went for jocks or cool people and never nerds. And then when you finally went for a freak it was the one guy I looked up to."

"Mike, look. I understand that you were upset or angry or both even but that's not an excuse to try and hurt people."

"I know."

"And I didn't intend for my relationship with Eddie to hurt you so I'm sorry that it did."

"Does that mean I have a chance?"

"You're on thin ice, Mike."

"I'm kidding. I just don't want you or Eddie to be mad at me anymore. I know what I did was stupid and cruel and could have gotten someone hurt."

"It did get someone hurt."

"I know but I mean like if Jason came after you or Eddie."

"I can handle Blondie but thank you for your concern."