Acclimation.

That was the nicest way to describe the next few days. Willow had always been a creature of habit, making friends with like minded people who could handle her intense need to micromanage every aspect of her day to day life. Robin had handled it head on despite being a disaster herself, quickly learning the easiest thing to do was allow Willow to also micromanage her life. Steve wasn't as compliant, standing his ground for the most part but still making compromises with the aspects that would affect Willow the most. For example, Robin and Steve rarely were ever late picking up Willow for school, always sticking to the exact time they'd promised to show up, or even occasionally a few minutes early.

The same could not be said for Eddie.

It was only the second day of him giving her a ride to school, and the day before, he had been ten minutes late. Today, Willow realizes he's five minutes late (so far).

"Damn it, Munson," she mutters to herself. She walks to the bathroom, trying to stop pacing her living room as if that would make Eddie show up any faster. Realistically, she knew that he was probably already driving recklessly, with or without her worry.

Willow takes a glance over her appearance. Her mascara had already smeared beneath her eyes, and her hair was beginning to frizz from how many times she'd fussed with it due to her nerves of Eddie's lateness. The red was still vibrant as ever, however. Willow had honestly expected a worse reaction from everyone, including herself, but it was as if she'd never even dyed her hair. Her outfit for the day wasn't anything outside of her comfort zone, light washed denim shorts paired with a checkered sweater vest. The shades of gray and white of the vest made her hair seem even more vibrant, if possible.

Suddenly, Willow gathers her hair up into her fist, allowing a few messy strands to fall back into her face before she secures her ponytail with a scrunchie. She doesn't even glance to see what color the scrunchie was.

She's tugging on her hair, attempting to tighten the ponytail and smooth out some of the bumps caused by the waves in her hair, when she hears the screech of Eddie's tires outside of her house.

How did he even manage to get his license?

Willow doesn't waste any time as she practically jogs to grab her backpack from beside the door. Her hand is on her front door knob when suddenly, an idea hits her. She bites her lip in debate when she hears two honks from outside, Eddie signaling to her he's here.

Fuck it .

She drops her bag back down temporarily before running down the hallway to her room. The leather jacket still sits comfortably on a hanger inside her closet.

For the most part, Eddie and Willow have adhered to their rules. They both agreed they should ease everyone into the idea that they were dating considering Eddie's reputation. No one would believe that he suddenly managed to pick himself up a girlfriend within the first week of school.

But Willow was feeling her patience run out.

She knew people were whispering about them when she started to sit beside Eddie in chemistry, one of her few classes without assigned seating. And the whispers had only grown louder when she stepped out of his van yesterday morning. Her association to Eddie was being solidified and putting her on everyone's radar, much to what instinctually was her dismay.

But the whispers weren't enough. Whispers wouldn't reach Steve's ears.

So Willow pulls the leather jacket that technically belongs to Eddie from the closet, pulling it over her shoulders as she runs out her front door, backpack in hand.

"Hurry up, Red! We're going to be-" Eddie cuts off his sentence once he's managed to swing the passenger side door open, still leaned over awkwardly to manage it.

"What? We're going to be late? Who's fault is that?" Willow huffs, tossing her backpack into the floor of the passenger side. She stares at Eddie, waiting for him to sit up so she could take her seat and they could get to school hopefully on time. "Are you going to keep staring, or can I get in the car?"

At that, Eddie shoots up, almost bumping his head on the roof of the van, "Shit, sorry. I just... sorry, are you finally wearing my jacket?"

"Yeah. It was your idea to make that part of our terms and conditions, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think you'd actually wear it. At least, not to school ," Eddie is still staring her down as she lifts herself into the van, buckling up immediately to prepare herself for his driving.

"Where else would I wear it? To meet the president?"

Willow is a little concerned when Eddie doesn't tease her back, still staring.

"Eddie, close your mouth. You're about to start drooling," Willow laughs nervously, hands flying to the frayed edges of her shorts and picking at them, "What's wrong with me wearing your jacket? Why is it so surprising?"

"Nothing wrong with it!" Eddie corrects, shaking out his head and hand flying to his gear shift, "Everything's fine. Let's just get to school."

Willow doesn't bring the awkward moment back up the entire ride to school, but she does notice that Eddie is still so distracted that he never puts on any music.

It's only once they're seated in O'Donnell's class, with a minute to spare before the bell, that Willow speaks up. "So, have you started reading for the project?"

"Nope," Eddie does the awful thing where he pops the 'p' on the word, and Willow cringes both at his enunciation and his procrastination.

"Why not?"

"I already told you, Red - I only like adventure books. Little Women is not an adventure book."

Willow doesn't even have a chance to continue to argue with him as the bell rings, and O'Donnell's English class from Hell ensues. She's lecturing on Greek and Latin roots within modern English language, and Willow is diligently taking notes, pretending she doesn't feel a tug on her hair halfway through the lesson.

"Hey, Red," Eddie whispers, another tug being felt on her ponytail.

Willow tries to ignore him still. That is, until she feels a sharp jab of his finger on the back of her shoulder.

" Red, " Eddie hisses, almost too loud as it gets the attention of a kid seated to their right. Eddie must make a face, as Willow watches the kid make one right back before his focus is back on the front of the room and not the spectacle Eddie is making out of Willow.

"What?" she grits out between her teeth, barely turning her head and keeping her eyes on O'Donnell.

"Are you still coming to Hellfire tonight?" Willow can hardly hear Eddie as he's lowered his voice, finally being mindful of the students around them. O'Donnell chooses the perfect moment to turn her back to the class, writing out on the chalkboard.

Willow turns herself more fully to look back at Eddie now, "Seriously? Are you even taking notes?"

Eddie smiles nervously as he can't even lie, not even having a pencil out on his desk. "You wouldn't happen to believe me if I said I have photographic memory, would you, sweetheart?"

"Jesus Christ," Willow mutters, turning and facing the front of the classroom once more, eyes glued to O'Donnell to make sure she doesn't turn back around as she quietly tears an empty page out of her notebook and faces Eddie again, "Take. Notes."

"I don't have a pencil."

Willow doesn't hesitate to toss the one in her hand at his chest. Eddie is surprised, unable to block it before it bounces off of him and back onto his desk. "There. Now pay attention, you idiot."

This time, she turns around with a finality that Eddie catches onto. He doesn't bug her again the rest of the class, and Willow is relieved to even hear the sound of pencil on paper from behind her.

When the bell finally rings, cutting off O'Donnell's lecture, Willow sighs with relief. She hadn't even noticed how tense her shoulders had been the entire hour she was in the class until she allowed them to slump, neck aching as she rolled her head around.

She feels another tug at her ponytail as O'Donnell reminds the class of the progress check she'll be conducting on Monday for their reading projects.

" Stop ," Willow yanks her head away from what she knows is Eddie's obnoxious fiddling before continuing, "Messing with my hair. Or I won't hesitate to ask O'Donnell to move me."

"Sorry, it's just mesmerizing ," Eddie teases her, holding out her pencil, "Here."

"Didn't you say you don't have a pencil?" Willow questions, making no move to grab it.

Eddie only shrugs in response, shaking the pencil as he holds it out even closer to Willow.

"No, keep it. Take notes for once."

"You said you were going to just do my homework, not haggle me to be studious."

"I don't take the same classes as you, Eddie," Willow sighs and stands, ready to head over to her Spanish class, "I need something to work with. Just try . Who knows, you might even learn something."

Eddie is still grumbling while holding Willow's pencil as she walks away with a small wave, not wanting to risk being late.

She can hear feel eyes on her as she rushes through the hallway to Ms. Thompson's classroom. People are taking second glances at her, turning and whispering to their friends. Willow was sure everyone was aware by now that she had gotten a ride once again from Eddie, but the leather jacket was gasoline on the fire. There was nowhere on the jacket that said it was Eddie's, but it didn't take a genius to connect the dots. The girls that sit behind her in Spanish are whispering a bit too loud when she gets to her second class of the day, and she can hear their conversation with ease.

"What's her name again?"

"Isn't that the freak's jacket? Why is she wearing it?"

"Do you think she's dating him?"

Willow shuts it all out, not letting it get to her. The entire thing is fake - she's indifferent to the school's reaction, considering nothing about this is real . But it does make her heart clench to imagine if Eddie did get an actual girlfriend, just how much backlash she would receive and how much it would strain a relationship for him. Her mood by the end of class is buried somewhere six feet under as she thinks too much about this rather than focusing on how to say she saw a movie in the past tense in Spanish.

After class, Willow stops by her locker, grabbing her chemistry book quickly. She's so busy searching for the notebook to accompany it that she doesn't notice Jason Carver coming up beside her.

"So, you're the one everyone's talking about," he muses loudly, causing Willow to jump as he's suddenly leaning against the locker next to hers.

"What?"

"You're the girl wearing the freak's jacket," Jason rephrases, reaching out and pinching at the leather. Willow fights the urge to jerk away.

"How do you know this is Eddie's?" She makes a point to use his name rather than the crude nickname the entire school had coined for him.

"Besides the fact that it reeks of cigarettes, just like he does?" Jason scrunches up his nose in disgust for emphasis, "I've seen you getting out of his van two mornings in a row, now."

Willow's stomach is tied in knots. "Yeah, he's been giving me rides to school."

"Didn't you used to get rides from Harrington?"

" Used to ," Willow stresses, finally closing her locker after grabbing just a random notebook. She'd worry if she'd actually grabbed her chemistry notebook once she was in class and away from Jason Carver. For now, she musters all the courage she can as she asks, "What's it to you, anyways, Carver?"

"Honestly? Nothing, it's not my grave being dug. But can I give you a word of advice?" Jason is leaning in closer, and his smile suffocates Willow in the worst possible way, "Stay away from the freak. You've always been a good kid, staying out of the way, getting good grades from what I hear. Don't fuck it all up for that cult leader."

Willow doesn't hesitate to defend Eddie. "He's not a cult leader, though."

"Oh, haven't you heard?"

"Heard what ?" Willow hears the warning bell ring, and she's about ten seconds away from punching Jason. Social anxiety be damned.

"Rumor has it he sacrificed a girl last year in the woods. Pretty sure the week before she went missing, she was seen getting cozy with him in class."

Willow knew this rumor well. Cassie Langdon. She had moved away to Florida. "She wasn't ' getting cozy ' with him, she let him borrow a pen and laughed at a joke he said. She just moved away, that's all ."

She watches as Jason's face hardens, clearly getting irritated at how much Willow is talking back. She's sure his original plan was to just scare her out of her budding friendship with Eddie, to continue secluding him. The fact that it wasn't working and that Willow was defending him with such ease was only pissing him off.

"Listen, I know you're not stupid, so I'll cut the shit. If you're friends with the freak, you get the freak treatment. And if you're dating the freak, well..." Jason trails off, and that awful smile was still on his face. It was painfully fake.

Willow should think over her next words more. She should be wiser about this, make a conscious effort not to immediately get onto Jason Carver's bad side when she's just barely entered his radar.

But she can't help it.

"I know what I've gotten myself into, Carver. Fuck off."

She walks away from him before he can truly process her words. She doesn't have to look behind her to know that he's pissed, that she's just set herself up for a miserable year. Even once her entire fake-dating ordeal with Eddie ends, she's sure to have just earned a permanent spot on Jason's shit list. Her name is probably written in red, right under Eddie Munson's.

The tardy bell rings when Willow is just a few strides from the door, and she's never been happier that she has Mr. Edwards as her teacher. He's lenient - at most, he spares her a disapproving look when she swings the door open.

She quickly mutters an apology as she makes her way to the far right corner of the classroom. Eddie is grinning as he moves his backpack out of the chair beside him, clearly having saved the seat as if anyone else was going to want to sit beside him.

"Hey there, doll," he greets her as she throws herself down into the chair rather dramatically.

"I just- hold on, what did you just call me?" Willow is about to inform him of her confrontation with Jason, but is caught off guard by the new nickname.

"Doll?"

"What happened to Red?"

Eddie smirks. "I thought you didn't like me calling you Red?"

Willow is too prideful to admit that she actually had grown to like the nickname over the last week. Something about it had formed an endearment between Eddie and herself.

"Whatever," she finally groans, glancing at the front of the room where Mr. Edwards was clearly setting up to just show a video for the class, "I was saying that I just saw Jason in the hallway and may or may not be on his shit list now."

"Jason Carver?" Eddie's eyes are wide, his body fully turned to face Willow as his face begins twisting with concern.

"No, Jason Vorhees," Willow deadpans, but she can see Eddie is actually racking his brain for someone by that name at the school so she quickly backtracks, "Yes, Jason Carver, you idiot."

Eddie looks relieved for a moment, probably glad that it didn't matter that he didn't know who Jason Vorhees was, before the concern has flooded back over his features, "What the hell did you do to get on golden boy's radar?"

"A couple things. I mean, technically, I got on his radar because you drove me to school the last two days. But then, I'm wearing your jacket, and I guess you having friends bugs Jason-"

"Friends? I don't think he thinks we're just friend-"

"Unimportant. Let me finish. Anyways, I may have told him to fuck off while defending you. So..." Willow finally sucks in a breath and glances down at the notebook she grabbed, "And I grabbed my English notebook instead of my Chemistry notebook. Awesome . Great."

"Hey," Eddie watches Willow lean over, placing her forehead on their table and groaning, "That's fine. It's all good, Edwards said he's just playing safety instructional videos for us to prep us to start labs on Monday. You don't need your notebook."

Willow is still face down against the table, fighting back letting out another defeated groan, when she can suddenly feel Eddie's warm hand on her back. His touch must be light as a feather considering she hardly feels it, especially through the thick leather of his jacket, but it's there - warm and comforting, and she can almost make out his thumb rubbing small arches, as if he's trying to make her feel better.

It makes her heart jump to her throat.

She sits up straight so suddenly it even catches Eddie off guard, and his hand drops back down to his own lap.

"Sorry," he immediately begins to apologize, clearly ready to be scolded for touching her, but Willow shakes her head.

"Don't, it was fine. I just... I remembered I never answered your question earlier," Willow saves herself, impressed with the minimal stuttering she manages while lying.

Technically, not lying, she thinks. Technically, just omitting the truth, which is that it was actually really nice.

"My question? What ques- Oh . Shit, yeah! Hellfire! Are you coming tonight?" Eddie goes through his realization, lighting up at the reminder of his club meeting after school.

Willow hears Edwards turn on the safety videos, and immediately drops her voice to a whisper, having to lean in closer so Eddie can hear her, "Yeah, I mean, some idiot wrote it into our terms and conditions so I have to," Eddie opens his mouth to interrupt, but she doesn't give him the chance, "I do need to swing by my house after school... if that's okay?"

"That's fine, I have to swing by my trailer anyways and pick up the shirts I made for the new little sheeps," Eddie shrugs, laying back in his seat with his arms crossed. He's staring at Willow, making a blush breakout on her neck. She's thankful as Edwards turns out the classroom lights.

"Cool," Willow nods, feeling her ponytail swing, "Do you think you'll be able to give me a ride back to school? Like, on your way back with those shirts? If not, I get it, I can wa-"

"I'll pick you up," Eddie interrupts, "I'm not letting my girl, real or not, walk to an event I invited her to."

My girl.

Willow had never been referred to as someone's girl. Most of her life, she had been convinced that the day someone did refer to her as such, if the day ever came, she would be offended; Willow had always seen herself as someone too independent to be simplified down to someone's property.

But hearing the words fall from Eddie's mouth, it hit her that it wasn't about owning her. He was using them as a form of endearment. And she knew if she asked, he'd never utter those words again, fake relationship or not.

She can only smile in return to him before turning to look at the screen. She had already read some of the introductions in her chemistry book, including the chapter on lab safety, and knew everything was common sense.

If anyone should be paying attention right now, it's Eddie.