DANCING WITH MYSELF • EDDIE MUNSON

post prom - part one

Summary: After leaving prom, you and Eddie go to The Hideout to reminisce and listen to music. One thing leads to another, and you end up going back to his trailer.

Note: Part 2 will feature some sexual content, but since there won't be any actual depictions of sex, it will be posted here as well once it's finished. 

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The stars had never shone as brightly as they did that night.

You couldn't stop staring at them as you walked out of the banquet hall with Eddie by your side, with his suit jacket draped over your bare shoulders, feeling more and more like it was always meant to be there.

"This looks better on you anyway," Eddie had said as he offered it to you. "Just don't get it dirty, 'kay, or else Wayne'll kill me. It's his one good suit."

"I'll guard it with my life," you promised, only half joking.

And while you thought about this, while you traced your thumb along the silk lining of Wayne Munson's one good suit jacket, while you walked and talked and stole glimpses of Eddie's face when he wasn't looking, you couldn't help but smile and say to yourself,

I'm in a dream, aren't I?

Yeah, you had to be. The stars were far too bright, and the night too calm. Cars drove up and down the road and passed by without a sound. In the wet, wet grass, crickets chirped and a single sprinkler was still sputtering with life, hissing in the dark with a quiet shhhh-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. You could hear it so clearly as you and Eddie strolled down the covered footpath together, your shadows illuminated by the soft orange glow of the street lights overhead. Eddie had a ring of keys in his right hand. They jingled as he tossed them up, caught them, and twirled them around his index finger.

I'm in a dream, you thought, and tomorrow morning I'm gonna wake up in my bedroom, alone, with that dusty old journal sprawled open in front of me.

And this made you withdraw into yourself and go silent for a minute. Your steps got slower and slower. Your smile slipped and collapsed into a troubled frown that deepened the further you got from the banquet hall. Eddie glanced over his shoulder, saw you falling behind, then slid his keys back into his pocket.

"Buyer's remorse?" he said with a chuckle, but there was no humor in his voice, none at all. He turned and stepped in front of you, blocking your path with his body. "Hey, y'know we don't have to go anywhere, right? I mean, we can always go back inside or... or I can just take you home, if you want."

Eddie muttered the last part under his breath, wincing as he did. His dark brown eyes pierced into yours, nervous and a little afraid, afraid that if he said goodbye to you right now, if he took you home, kissed you goodnight, and watched you walk through that front door, there was a small chance he might never see you again.

And you supposed that was partly your fault, so you put your hand on his chest and gave him a reassuring smile.

"No, that's not it," you said. "I was just thinking."

Eddie raised his eyebrows at you. "You were just... thinking?"

"Yeah," you said. "Yeah, I was just thinking."

If this really is a dream, please, please, please don't wake me up.

You motioned toward the parking lot. "Lead the way, sir."

Eddie cracked a small smile. "All right," he said, and backed away from you with a little bounce in his step. "I'm, uhh, over here, so..."

You weaved through the crowded parking lot and found Eddie's 1979 Chevy Nomad parked alone on the west end between a dying tree and a flickering lamppost. You held in a laugh. Oh jeez, you thought, of course he parks in the sketchiest spot he can find. If Ted Bundy had a reserved parking space in Hawkins, this would be it. It practically screamed, Yeah, you're about to get napped.