Willow needed to get better at lying.

She had always known she wasn't good at hiding things from her friends. Being self-aware was more of her forte; keeping secrets was not. So when she realized Robin was in her last class of the day, gym, and that she'd have to come up with an excuse as to why she wouldn't be immediately following her to Steve's car, she started sweating (to say the least). Instead of joining Robin in easy banter, or adding anything to her attempted conversation of just how short Mr. Johnson's shorts were, Willow spent the hour racking her brain for a reason to escape from Robin long enough to meet Eddie after school.

It didn't help that Robin was already aware of Eddie's invite. Willow knew the first place her mind would go if she said she would catch up with her and Steve is Eddie.

Is this what being in a fake relationship will have to be like? Constantly lying?

When the final bell rings for the school day, Willow has decided on what her pathetic excuse will be - she left her favorite pen in her math class. It was simple enough, and should buy her just enough time with Eddie.

"We ready to go kick ass and take names at this interview? I can't wait to finally, actually work with you rather than you just hanging around and distracting me from my job!" Robin is ecstatic as she trails beside Willow, who shoves the gym's double doors open for them.

"Bold of you to assume that won't be what I'm doing still, just getting paid this time," Willow laughs, adjusting her backpack strap on her shoulder. She was nervous. So much so, she felt she could pass out at any given moment.

"Yeah, but at least that means you'll finally have money. No more bumming off of me and Steve," Robin wiggles her brows, shimmying her shoulders slightly. They're coming up on the corner of the building. They need to turn to the left in order to head towards the parking lot, and the football field is to the right.

Willow's palms start sweating. "You know I'm always going to bum off of you, paycheck or no paycheck."

She means for more excitement, more of a teasing tone, but her voice falls slightly flat and falters. It's now or never.

"Hey, I just realized-" Willow is stopped dead in tracks when she collides with a hard shoulder. " Fuck !"

She waits to fall backwards and connect with the warm sidewalk beneath them, but the fall never comes. Instead, large and warm hands grasp at her waist. She feels a brush of cold, almost as if they're wearing rings.

"Woah there, Red!"

It's him. It's Eddie fucking Munson. Just her luck, the very person she was lying to her best friend to currently in order to go meet.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, I should have been watching where I was going," Willow panics, heart now hurting from how quickly it was racing. Her nerves had already been shot from the anxiety of lying to Robin, but Eddie being in front of her now was sending her spiraling.

"'S all good," Eddie reassures, grinning kindly, "You alright?"

"Perfect. Actually, peachy!" Willow is a little too loud in her response, turning to see a shocked Robin before turning her attention back to Eddie, "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine, yeah," Eddie's hands are still on her waist. Jesus Christ, his hands are still on her waist and her chest feels like a soda can that's been shaken, ready to explode.

Robin clears her throat. It's almost as if Eddie hadn't even realized she was there until she says, "Fancy seeing you here, Munson."

"Touche, Buckley," he turns on his charm with ease, hands recoiling from Willow finally. But the linger in his touch had already done its damage, the burning imprint of his hands still on her hips. She can still feel it even as she takes a step back to put distance between them. Eddie takes a moment to look between the two girls, and Willow swears she sees a questioning glance directed at her. She waits for him to blow her cover, to ask about them meeting, to out her to Robin. It's inevitable. It's bound to happen and Robin is bound to get pissed at her for lyin- "I should probably get going. See you guys around."

He barely spares them a single, shy wave before he's taking off towards the football field. Willow's eyes follow him all the way, until he's halfway across the green stretch.

"Cut the heart-eyes, Jenkins. Are you sure you still have the hots for Steve?" Robin teases, but there's something beneath her joke that sounds unsure, worried even.

Willow shakes her head, threatening to cause the bun she'd tossed her hair up into during class to unravel. "Positive. I don't like Munson that way."

" Right ."

"Seriously, Robin."

"Uh huh, I believe you."

Willow finally groans, throwing her head back as Robin's grin tells her the exact opposite. Her best friend has obviously started her own narrative in her mind between Willow and Eddie, and is now going to run wild with it.

"Anyways," Willow decides to change the subject, "as I was saying before that rude interruption... I forgot my favorite pen back in Burley's."

"And you just now realized it?"

"Well, yeah. I've been kind of busy, you know, in gym class with this girl who wouldn't stop giggling like a third grader about her teacher showing some leg-"

"Okay, okay," Robin interrupts, "I get it. Do you want me to wait here while you go grab it?"

"No," Willow replies too quickly. Robin eyes widen, mouth open to probably interrogate Willow's quickness when she decides to continue in the hopes of saving her own ass, "I'll be fine. Don't keep Steve waiting. Honestly, if you want, I could probably walk to Family Video. It's only a few blocks away. I don't want to make all of us late. Some of us have to have a job to keep the group afloat, right?"

Robin's face smooths out at that, lip caught between her teeth as she considers Willow's proposition. "Okay, but we aren't leaving you right away. We'll wait. I mean, you just have to grab a pen, right?"

"Right," Willow nods eagerly, shocked that her lie was working.

"Okay, cool. Well go grab your stupid pen, and if you take more than ten minutes, then we'll leave without you," Robin is confident in this decision, standing straighter and looking into Willow's eyes with serious conviction.

Willow just throws a thumbs up, starting to back away from Robin, "Got it, mom!"

"Go! Go, go, go!" Robin encourages as Willow finally turns her back on her, breaking out into a dramatic speed walk. "And none of that speed walking shit! Run!"

Willow only has to sprint for a few moments before she turns a corner into a school doorway, and glances around to see Robin retreat in the direction of the parking lot.

Perfect.

She doesn't waste any time, pushing off of the school's brick wall before breaking into a genuine run as she makes her way to the football field. She swears she can see a small figure on the other side, just at the edge of the woods, right as her thighs start to burn with fatigue.

By the time Willow has made it close enough to confirm that the figure is in fact Eddie, she can also see his teasing grin awaiting her.

"Just can't wait to be alone with me, can you, Red?" he jokes as she reaches his side, completely out of breath.

"Fuck off," she pants, "Don't get so cocky. I just don't have a lot of time."

He raises his eyebrows, and she expects another snarky or flirty remark. Instead, he surprises her - he simply lifts an arm and motions for her to begin walking. "After you, m'lady."

She just nods, looking down to watch her step. There's not an actual path, more-so one made by the shoe prints of all the students who have come down to this space. Willow had heard the rumors of this clearing; it was the make-out spot before Steve made Skull Rock a thing.

As they pass through the trees and brush, Willow finds herself oddly calm now that she's alone with Eddie. She should be internally freaking out over what she was about to do, the leap of faith she was about to take on Eddie Munson. Her palms should be sweating, her knees should be wobbling, her lungs should feel weak, but none of that was happening. She was sure not only in every step she took, but in each one she knew Eddie was surely taking in order to follow her. All of her anxiety she had felt with Robin minutes before had dissipated. They continue in silence until they approach where the trees begin breaking up, and the bushes along with the grass start to break up into patches.

"Everything alright?" Eddie asks as he almost runs into Willow when she slows down suddenly.

"Yeah," she lies, "Just tired."

Really, she just needed a moment to gather her thoughts. While she still wasn't nervous, she also wasn't exactly sure how to word her offer.

Hey there, Munson. I know we never really spoke before and one of my closest friends actually contributed to bullying you before he graduated, but do you want to fake date? C'mon, I'll make it worth your time by helping you graduate, if you even still feel like graduating.

"Well, there's the light at the end of the tunnel, Red. C'mon," he puts a gentle hand on her shoulder as he steps past her, taking the last few strides into the clearing.

She has no choice but to follow.

"Wow," she mumbles, looking around the clearing. It was gorgeous, strangely peaceful. The trees stood tall around the circle, letting curtains of sunlight flicker in to bathe the clearing. The edges around the clearing were thick in bushes and splatters of colorful wildflowers, a few of the trees bases even wrapped in ivy. At the center of the clearing, there was a wooden picnic table pressed up against a giant oak tree. Willow doesn't even think she could probably wrap her arms around the massive trunk. She'd listened to people describe it ten times over, Steve included, but none of the descriptions did it justice. Maybe it was because everyone had always been so focused on the person they were meeting here, and what they were meeting here to do, rather than actually caring about the nature aspect of it all.

"Don't think I've ever seen someone appreciate this place," Eddie chuckles, moving to the picnic table while Willow turns in a slow circle in an impressed haze, "I guess I'm just used to it."

"You come here often?" Willow asks, not even considering how flirtatious her question comes off until Eddie starts to make a face.

"I'm going to be a gentleman and not tease you for that lame excuse for flirting," he pauses, and Willow starts to defend herself with a ' It's not flirting! ' but he holds up a finger that keeps her quiet, "To answer your question, for real, yeah. This is where I usually make my deals. You know, the ones that do involve drugs."

"Oh."

Of course, she had forgotten. She finally sits herself down across from Eddie, the prickly wooden bench digging into the back of her thighs through her jeans. For a moment, they just sit and stare at each other before Eddie dramatically sighs and leans forward onto his hand.

"What?" Willow narrows her eyes.

"Nothing, Red. You're the one running the show here. I'm just waiting for you to spill that dirty little secret."

"It's not a dirty secret, Munson," Willow corrects, "Just an embarrassing one."

"What? You about to confess that you've secretly been in love with me for years?"

"Huh?" Willow crinkles her nose, using all of her strength to fight back the smile she feels tugging on her lips, "No, I'm not."

"What about Harrington? Did he send you with his confession?"

"Jesus Christ, no, Eddie," Eddie's taunting grin and teasing tilt of his head both straighten out slowly when she calls him by his first name, "This has nothing to do with Harrington."

It has everything to do with Steve.

"Alright, then out with it. I thought you were in a rush."

Willow takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and awaiting for her anxieties to kick in but... nothing comes. She can't find it in herself to be terrified when Eddie's brown eyes are shining at her like that. There's a comfort behind them she's suddenly thankful for.

"Okay, so, this is going to sound insane," Willow begins cautiously, "But I have a proposition, of sorts, for us..." Willow trails off, still racking her brain for the right words.

"Gathered that much this morning," Eddie nods, motioning for her to continue.

"Well...Basically..." Willow stops her sentence, finally opening her eyes. Fuck it . "Do you want to fake date me?"

Eddie is quiet far too long for her liking, and suddenly, the anxiety is ready to claw at the back of her throat.

"Please say something, even if it's just to laugh," Willow has never heard her voice come out so soft, so small. Eddie's eyes are avoiding her, flitting anywhere but hers. It's almost painful.

"I..." Eddie finally makes a small squeak, "I'm sorry, is this a shitty prank?"

Willow's stomach drops. "What do you mean?"

"Did Harrington or Jason or someone put you up to it? To humiliate me or some shit?" Eddie's words hold no malice, instead a certain sadness. He sounds like he feels just as small as Willow does at this moment.

"Eddie, no. I... Let me explain, okay?" her hands twitch as she almost reaches out to hold Eddie's, but decides against it. They really aren't close enough for that. "I have a crush on this guy, right? And he's spent the entire summer looking at every girl except me. So me and Robin had been joking around, and she made this stupid suggestion that I pretend to date someone to get under St- this guy's skin. Catch his eye, you know? And then... I don't know. It was the day you walked into Scoops. That's why Robin was acting weird. You just sort of fell into my lap and now that I'm saying this all out loud, it sounds so stupid . If you want, I can fuck off and leave you alone the rest of the year."

Willow doesn't breathe once during her speech, only after she's spilled her guts does she take one gasp of air. Eddie is looking at her, listening and giving her his full attention with his wide eyes. She swears he was holding his breath right along with her.

" Shit , you aren't joking," Eddie finally says.

"No, I'm not."

"You actually want me? Like, you want me to be your fake boyfriend? Why ?"

"Like I said," Willow begins to explain again, "You just sort of fell into my lap. I had said I needed someone loud and someone who is willing to get under other people's skin for the hell of it, and then poof . You walked into Scoops."

Eddie breaks into a small smile. "You know, I almost didn't go in with Gareth. Told him I didn't want to see Harrington's stupid face."

Willow doesn't respond, but she does return his small smile.

It is funny, the way the Universe works out, how one choice changes everything. For example, if she had listened to Robin and grew the balls to ask out Steve, she wouldn't be sitting here with Eddie Munson, embarrassing herself to all Hell.

She isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Who's the guy?"

"What?" Willow asks, shocked at Eddie's boldness.

"The guy you're trying to get. I'd like a name so I know what I'm getting myself into. Plus, if you don't tell me, I'll probably spend the next month just pissing the entire town off, and that won't work out well for either of us."

Willow snorts, "Isn't that what you already do now? Piss off the entire town? Because it's sort of why I chose you as my lead candidate."

"Oh?" Eddie inquires, "There were other candidates?"

"W-Well...yeah, obviously ," Willow cringes at her stutter, knowing Eddie could call out her lie with ease. She should be thankful that they've managed to glaze over the topic of who Willow was crushing on so easily, but she's starting to think that this topic was just as bad.

"Who was my competition?"

"That's confidential."

"Confidential, or nonexistent?"

"Confidential."

Eddie's cheeks are shining from his grin, and Willow is shrinking into her lie. Her tone has gone clippy, desperately wanting him to drop it. She couldn't even name anyone. Not even randoms from her class, or lie and say Steve. Eddie had managed to have her that flustered in such a short time.

"So what's in it for me?" Eddie continues, "You said this was a deal. I play pretend, obnoxious boyfriend so you can catch some guy's eye. But what do I get?"

"I was going to offer to help you graduate."

"People have tried tutoring me before. It doesn't really work out."

"Not just tutoring. I'm talking... writing your essays, helping you cheat, whatever it takes to get you out of Ms. O'Donnell's English class from Hell."

" Now you're speaking my language," Eddie sighs, happily leaning back.

"So you'll do it?" Willow's small voice is back, eyes wide and boring into Eddie. She hopes he doesn't see how badly she suddenly wants this. It's real, tangible, no longer a silly joke with Robin.

Not only that, but she's once again thinking about Robin's joking about someone that Willow would want to play pretend with. Someone she could genuinely fake it until it was believable. It's a hard pill to swallow, but she can see herself spending time with Eddie; he has been nothing but kind to her. Even now, in this moment, as she laid out her intentions and felt so vulnerable. He could have mocked her, teased her, made an absolute joke out of her, but he didn't. That night at the bar, he didn't have to offer his jacket to her when he noticed her shivering, but he did. In all their interactions, Eddie had put forth the effort to be nice to Willow, and as silly as it sounded, that felt like reason enough to want to enter a fake relationship with him.

"We'll need to work out the full set of conditions and rules..." Eddie is rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "But...yeah. Yeah, I'm in."

Thank God.

"Oh my God," she sighs in relief, slumping forward and pressing her face into her palms before continuing in a muffled voice, "Never thought I'd say this, but thank you , Eddie Munson. You're my lifesaver."

"Hm? What was that?" Eddie smirks and cups his left ear with his hand as he turns it towards her, "Sorry, didn't quite hear you, sweetheart."

Sweetheart.

Not Red, not Jenkins. Sweetheart.

"I said, you're an absolute jackass," Willow says when she lifts her head and meets his playful gaze.

He gasps, holding a hand to his chest, similarly to how he did in English, "Now that's no way to talk to your beloved boyfriend."

" Fake boyfriend," Willow corrects.

"Technicalities."

Willow rolls her eyes before holding her hand out, "Do you have a sharpie?"

"Yes, ma'am," Eddie doesn't hesitate to dig into his backpack's front pocket, finding the marker surprisingly fast, "Here you go."

He drops the marker into her hand, but her other hand shoots out to grab his wrist before he can pull back. He lets out a small ' what the-' but Willow uncaps the sharpie with her mouth before he finishes, pressing the tip to his forearm immediately.

"Stay still," she mumbles around the cap as she traces her number into his skin as neatly as possible.

Eddie Munson is rendered speechless.