Stranger Things Imagines

5 Drunks and A Girl

Eddie and the guys have been trying to get me to go to a Corroded Coffin gig for a while now. It has been many months and I haven't gone to see them once. For one reason or another, it's just never worked out. I know it hurts Eddie every time - and the others - but not nearly as much as it pains him. It hurts seeing him so bummed out about his small crowd of drunks and the fact I'm never there. Sure, I've seen them practice a million times before, but it's not the same thing.

This week, I was almost dragged into babysitting Erica for the Sinclairs. Some last minute emergency that meant her parents would be out of town for a couple of days. With Lucas staying at Dustin's place, they needed someone to look after Erica - though she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

On the spot, I made a plan. I apologised and said I couldn't before volunteering Steve. Mrs Sinclair was slightly hesitant about the change since I've been babysitting Erica and Lucas for a few years. Once she remembered that he used to work at Scoops and can now bring home some movies from work to keep Erica occupied, she agreed.

Even though I know Eddie would jump around like a kid on Christmas morning if I told him I could go to a gig, I wanted to surprise him. He looked like a sad puppy when I told him I had to babysit Erica.

"Sinclair's sister? She doesn't need a babysitter. Lady Applejack is a leader not a scared kid." He let out his frustration.

"Oh, I know. But it's a last minute emergency and I've been babysitting the Sinclairs for years. Their mom isn't comfortable just giving the responsibility of her kids to someone else - especially on short notice. Plus I'm used to Erica's attitude. She'd tear someone else to shreds as soon as they walk through the door." I reasoned with him.

"Don't I know it..." He muttered. "Can't you just bring her along?" He tried to bargain.

"Your crowd is a group of drunks. She's an 11 year old. I know she can handle herself - and she'd probably make said drunks cry - but they wouldn't let her in and I'd be dead if her parents found out."

I was really tempted to tell him the truth as I looked at the defeated frown on his face. He let out a sigh and came over to me - I couldn't tell if he was starting to tear up or not. He lay down with his head in my lap - extremely miserable.

"Why does it never work out?" He sighed again as I ran a hand through his hair.

"It will. I promise, it will." I leaned down and kissed his temple - feeling like a terrible person.

The next day, I put my plan into action. Recently, the guys have been thinking of a logo since everyone seems to have one. Eddie and Gareth have even been working on some sketches. So, to make up for every gig I've missed and to make the surprise better, I decided to make a shirt.

I've helped out with the making of each Hellfire shirt, so I knew what to do. I had Dustin cover for me so I could spend the day away from Eddie to make the shirt. I grabbed the sketches and got to work. The designs were great, but needed refining - which was the first order of business. Next was the type of shirt. Since the Hellfire shirts are baseball style shirts, that's what I went with - sticking with the white base and black sleeves. All that was left to do was add the logo. As part of the refinement, I added a couple of bat silhouettes to frame the lettering. It came out perfect.

The Corroded Coffin gig starts in about 20 minutes. Last time I saw Eddie, he almost didn't want to show up. With my new shirt on and everything matching, I start the drive.

As I park my car, I realise that I should've set off earlier since the traffic has made me late. They're probably on the second song by now. I can already hear the music as I exit the car.

As the familiar chords play, I walk into the building and immediately set my eyes on the guys. To anyone else, they wouldn't notice anything wrong. However, I can tell Eddie's whole heart isn't going into this performance. Time to bring him back to life.

"Hey, the guitarist is pretty cute! Think he's single?" I shout as they play the outro.

They all immediately notice me and start cheering and laughing. When the song ends, Eddie's eyes light up like Christmas lights. He's speechless for a moment as I walk to the stage.

"No way. You're actually here?" He doesn't believe it and I grin and nod. "What about Lady Applejack?"

"Yeah, I'm not babysitting."

"So, you didn't get a call about it and lied to me?"

"Not exactly. Her mom did ask me but I told her I couldn't. I volunteered Harrington - she's his problem now." I laugh. "I lied because I wanted to surprise you. That's also why I didn't tell you about this." I point to the logo on my shirt since they didn't seem to notice.

"Is that... No... Did you... Guys, check it out!" They excited crowd around me and look at the creation.

"Is that our design?" Gareth asks.

"Yep. I refined it a little bit and added the bats because I thought they'd be cool. We can change it though. You don't have to use it - I only made the one shirt anyway. I won't be offended if you wanna change it." I ramble.

"Are you serious? Y/N, this is amazing! I-it's perfect!" Eddie beams.

"You really like it?"

"I love it."

"Yeah, it's so cool." Gareth adds.

"Hey! I'm paying you to play music not chit-chat!" The owner yells.

After quickly laughing, I give Eddie a kiss and tell him to get back to the stage. For the rest of the set, I'm the only person singing along since I know the words off by heart from each practice. Best show I've ever been to. For tonight, their crowd is 5 drunks and a girl.