Sweet Amber (A Stranger Things/Eddie Munson Fanfiction)

Chapter Five: It Was Beautiful

Eddie and I had managed to make pretty significant progress on our project in the time it took for my dress to dry, and by then, it had even stopped raining, and I felt comfortable enough to go home. 

I changed back into my dress, and Eddie found a safety pin for me to secure my dress strap back on so that I would be comfortably covered. He also let me keep the flannel, which had also been thrown in the dryer, for warmth purposes.

I gave him directions back to my house and he pulled to a stop in front of it, looking up in shocked amazement.

"If I wasn't self-conscious about my crappy little trailer before..." He said, leaning forward to glance up at my house. 

"For the record, I happen to like your trailer," I said, looking out the window at my big luxurious house, "I would much rather be coming home to that."

"You don't have to go in, you know," He said, drawing my eyes back to him, "I know we're not like...besties or anything but you can stay with me if that's what you want."

I shook my head.

"As tempting as that offer is...you've done more than enough for me tonight. I can't take advantage of you."

"Really? Because you totally can. I would love to be taken advantage of." I chuckled. 

"Nah, its..." I sighed. "I'll have to face it sooner or later."

"Are you gonna tell them what happened?" He asked. "Your parents?" I shook my head. 

"They won't care...in fact, they'd probably find some way to spin it and make it my fault." I theorized. He nodded.

"If you want to tell me, I can help," He said, "I can help you figure out a solution, get some justice on who or whatever did this..." He gestured to the scratches on my chest. I smiled gratefully at him.

"I think I can handle this," I said, not entirely sure if I believed that statement as it was coming out of my mouth, "But look um...thank you. I don't know if I can say that to you enough."

"You don't have to keep saying it," He pointed out, "Beleive me, I get the memo."

"Well...if there's anything I can do to pay you back-"

"Pay me back?" He asked skeptically. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused by his tone of voice. "You don't need to pay me back Amber. I did what any decent person would have done, and you don't need to earn the right to be treated like a human being."

I just looked at him, surprised by his sudden outburst.

Did he really think that I believed that? That I believed that I needed to earn being treated decently? But more importantly...

Did I believe that?

"Right..." I said, unsure of what to think, "Well um...I stand by that, regardless. If you ever need anything don't...hesitate to ask. Ok?" He nodded.

"Ok...sure." I nodded, turning towards the door and reaching for the handle, only to pause as soon as I reached it. 

"Hey Eddie?"

"Yeah?" I moved, turning to look at him again.

"Why did you stop?" I asked. "Like, I know you said you were just being deccent and doing what anyone would have but...why me?" He shook his head.

"In my defense, I didn't know it was you when I stopped." I chuckled, shaking my head and he smiled. "But I guess...I don't know, its everything I said. I saw you sitting there, in the rain...it was freezing, you were crying...and that kid had just gone missing so the whole thing seemed dangerous...I don't know, I guess...I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of just leaving you there. It was like, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had."