The morning light is warm on Willow's cheeks. She can feel the heat radiating, probably turning her cheekbones a delicate shade of pink, but she's too comfortable to move. She snuggles deeper into her pillow, fighting off the recognition of the headache waiting patiently behind her temples, pulling her comforter up tighter until-

Her pillow just snored.

Her pillow just fucking snored .

Eyes now wide open, she comes face-to-face with a chest that's clad in a familiar band shirt. She follows the body all the way up to the face of the boy currently snoring in her bed - Eddie .

Eddie, sleeping peacefully in her bed, his arms softly wrapped around her as he breathes deeply. He's still laying on top of the comforter.

She can barely recall the night before.

It comes back to her in flashes. Drinking one too many cups of jungle juice, her endless thoughts of Eddie, taking shots, thinking about Eddie even more, playing beer pong with Steve, calling Eddie from Steve's bedroom floor, playing spin the bottle, fighting with Steve.

"We've got to call off the deal, Eddie."

Oh God.

Oh no.

Panic floods Willow's entire system - she called off her deal with Eddie.

"If you want to call it off, then it's off."

He had let her, reluctant from what she recalls, but he had let her. Meaning that as of right now, the boy sleeping so peacefully at her side wasn't her fake boyfriend.

"Because you're my friend, Willow. Deal or no deal."

Even with the deal null for the night, he stayed. He stayed with her, took care of her, even after she'd taken shears to the strings attached between them. Even without a tether to her, he'd remained.

She tries to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down, settling her cheek back down to his chest.

Last night, she had been drunk. Terribly, terribly drunk. If she pressed over the issue in her mind enough, she could make Eddie's determination make sense without reading too far into it. She was in no condition to be alone, and he considered her a friend. He did what any good person would do, because that's what he was - an incredible, caring, solicitous person.

But what would happen now that she was sober?

Would he remain? Or would he leave? Would he still give her rides to school, or was that only a perk reserved for a girlfriend? Could she still attend Corroded Coffin's shows? How would they announce their fake-breakup?

But the most important question to her felt the most foolish - did time machines exist?

She wants to go back to the night before and take it all back. She doesn't want to call off this deal, she doesn't want to give it up. Even if there's a chance for them to continue being friends, she's selfish and deranged - she wants more than just friends. She needs an excuse to hold his hand, and to have more sleepovers like last night that end in this position. She needs an excuse to kiss his lips again and she needs an excuse to occupy his time far more than any friend should.

"Christ, Red. I can feel you thinking too hard, and it's not even seven in the morning," his voice startles her, heavy with sleep and tickling her ear against his chest.

She lifts her head so quickly that there's black dots in her vision, "You're awake."

"Unfortunately, yes," he groans. His eyes are still shut, and his arms are still around her.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not long enough for too many questions."

"Oh," she says, lowering her voice due to her own headache, "Okay."

She should probably move. They're both awake, and have no reason to stay curled up so close. But the moment she goes to move, he tightens his arms around her, keeping her in place.

"I didn't say you couldn't ask any questions, just not too many," he croaks, eyes finally peeking open. The sunlight just barely skirts around his eyes, avoiding blinding him immediately.

She shakes her head, although she isn't sure if he can tell given how limited she keeps her movement for her stomach's sake. Moving too much is sure to bring on the nausea. "No, no. It's fine. You- We- if you want to sleep some more, then we- then that's fine."

His eyes are now wide open, watching her stutter over every single word, unsure of how to phrase it. She's scared to use that word - we - as if they were an entity. As if they weren't individuals, but a given pair.

"Come on, I know you've got at least a hundred questions. You were scrunching up your face, you know. The way you always do when you're getting too curious for your own good."

"I don't make a face when I'm curious."

"Oh," he laughs softly, hand absent-mindedly trailing over her shoulder blades, "You so do."

"Name one time-"

"When you wanted a cigarette at Lover's Lake."

"That's-"

"When you wanted to try weed back at my trailer."

"Okay, unfai-"

"When you wanted me to kiss you."

"Fine! Fine. I get it," she exclaims the moment he brings up the kiss. It makes all the blood rush to her cheeks.

He grins down at her, looking far more awake now, "Good. So, what are your questions? I'll give you..... Two."

"Only two? Damn, okay," she mutters as she shifts slightly to be more comfortable against him. It's nice, sharing body heat, and faintly hearing his heartbeat against her. She could get used to it. But instead, she has to focus, and chooses to ask the first question that comes to mind, "How did you find me last night?"

"Received a call from a little birdy."

She racks her brain before settling on who it must be, "Oh, Robin."

He doesn't say a word, but she does watch the creases form between his eyebrows. It feels a lot like he's about to tell her she's wrong, but she quickly moves on.

"Okay, now my second question," she pauses, and juggles between the ones she wants to ask. Realistically, she should ask how much he knows about her fight with Steve. Even she can't remember too much, but she does remember one thing.

"He's a fucking !"

The phrase that had sent her on a tyrant. The few words that triggered an anger in Willow that she couldn't process while drunk, but could decipher now that she's sober - Eddie Munson wasn't just a phase. He wasn't the kind of boy that could be forgotten. He was all-consuming, and would haunt Willow till the end of her days. Steve's insinuation had only upset her so deeply because she knew that's what Eddie thought of himself.

But he wasn't the kind of boy you feel like talking about other boys to. So Willow doesn't. She doesn't care to ask him a question about the fight, because she doesn't care to discuss Steve with him, not when he's here and he's in front of her, letting her cuddle into him.

She chooses a cop out question instead, "Did I kiss Robin?"

He throws his head back in cackles at this, and she watches on, enamored. How his eyes squint up, how he lets the laughter take over his entire body. It's a beautiful sound here in the morning light, cracks of sunshine illuminating the speckles of dust in the air that flutter down around them like a city's first snow.

"According to drunk you? Yes, you did. Think I would have paid to see that," he finally gasps out as his laughter dies out, eye opening back up. They're like coffee - not just in color, but in the way they send a spark up her spine and breathe her into consciousness.

She groans in response, having to look away and break eye contact before it sends her spiraling, " God . Don't ever let me drink again."

"And miss the chance to miss Willow the Menace in person , fueled off vodka and bad decisions?" he chuckles, "I'll have to think about that."

They both grow quiet, happiness layering on top of them and almost disregarding Willow's headache. She finds herself drawing slow patterns on his stomach over his shirt.

If I asked, would he let me call the deal back on?

She doesn't have guts of steel, but she wishes she did, just to ask the question out loud.

"Does that mean if there's another party, you'll go?" she whispers, not holding much behind this question. She's just thinking out loud, even if it is all the wrong thoughts. The unimportant, trivial ones. Not the ones she should be saying to him.

He shrugs slightly, " If there's another party, I might. Only if you attend Hellfire again, though. The guys were asking about you."

Her heart lights up. They talked about her?

"Really?" she grins.

"Oh, yeah. I think they like you better than they like me. Might request you to be the new Dungeon Master. We should probably start your training, like, now."

She's about to laugh at his joke, but doesn't get a chance when she hears a commotion outside her bedroom. They both sit up ever so slightly in sync, eyes burning holes into her bedroom door. She strains her ears to catch what sounds like her mother talking to someone.

She doesn't catch a single word before her doorknob begins to twist.

" Shit !" she gasps as Eddie lets out a " Fuck !"

At an impossible speed, Eddie is rolling himself off her bed, landing with a painful thud onto the floor right as the door opens. She can hear his shuffling as he hides himself under her bed, and a crazed Robin bursts into her room.

"She's still asleep-" her mother's voice starts from behind her as Robin enters, and she peers over the shoulder of her friend to see her daughter sitting up in bed, clearly startled, "Or, at least, she was . I'll leave you two to it?"

" Jenkins !" Robin practically screeches, storming forward, "Oh my God, you're alive!"

"Buckley! Jesus Christ!" Willow shouts as Robin throws herself onto the bed, immediately gathering her into a hug.

She feels like she's going to puke now that she's no longer laying down in Eddie's embrace.

"I thought you were dead ! After you just left the party, and you were walking home all alone and then Steve just asks me for fucking Munson's number? What the fuck!" Robin is babbling into her shoulder, gripping her tightly, "I hate you two so much. I hate you both. Truly."

"Feeling's mutual," she mumbles, trying to process what Robin just said.

Steve was the one who called Eddie?

Robin gives her a final squeeze before tilting back, and Willow is thankful that her mother shut the door to give the two girls privacy.

Eddie is under her bed. Fuck.

"Tell me what happened. Now. Harrington won't talk to me, you've been missing, I just... what the hell happened last night?"

Robin's question shatters the serenity of a morning that Eddie had provided her with. In an instant, Willow has to face the fight that took place last night, and the memories are terrible.

The pain on Steve's face, the mirroring sound of hurt that echoed in her voice. The insults, the shots to kill. It's all a bit much for Willow in her current state.

"N-Nothing-" she starts to stutter, but Robin cuts her off.

"Don't lie," she glares at her friend, "His walls are thin, especially when you guys left the door cracked. Everyone at that party heard your screaming match."

"It wasn't a screaming match."

"Yes, it was. Do I need to castrate Steve? I will. I swear to God-"

" Robin ," Willow's voice cracks. For a moment, she forgets Eddie is still hiding in her room. Her eyes grow misty against her own agenda, and Robin immediately softens, "I... No, leave Steve alone. I'm the one who fucked up."

"He shoved his tongue down another girl's throat, 'Low. I wouldn't say you're the one who fucked it up."

"No, no. I was. I... Christ, I was a terrible friend, I brought up Nancy," her voice is shaking with unshed tears, "I brought up stuff he told me in confidence, Robs. But he-" He called Eddie a phase. She can't admit that Eddie was the core of their fight when she's hyper aware of his presence below her bed.

But Robin knows. Like she said, everyone heard. "But he brought up Eddie, right?"

She drops her voice, pretending like if they whisper, maybe Eddie won't hear them. It's terrifying and makes her begin to shake, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, he did."

Robin is looking at her so concerned, so lovingly, she nearly breaks down and begins to sob. "Babe, maybe we should have a talk about your feel-"

"No! No, i-it's fine," she interrupts too roughly.

Nope. Not doing that, Buckley. And not just because the very guy we're discussing is under my bed right now.

"Thank you for checking up on me, really. I love you, I'm sorry for the mess I started last night. Tell me what happened between you and..." she trails off immediately. If she says her next words, she's outing Robin. She won't do that to her friend.

"Me and Vick-" Robin begins to question, but Willow cuts her off.

"Yeah! Yeah, what happened? Did the party work?"

Vick. That sounds like a guy's name, right?

"Eh, not really. But I really think we should talk about you and Eddi-"

" No , Buckley. Nothing to talk about," she insists. Nothing to talk about with him in the room.

" Nothing to talk about? The waitresses at Denny's would argue against that after you screamed all about that dream in one of their booths-"

" Buckley ! Stop-"

"What? There's nothing to be ashamed of, it's normal -"

"Robin! Please!" Willow squeaks.

Son of a bitch. Fucking shit. Goddamn it.

"What the hell has changed between that dream and now? You were gushing about that dipshit's lips-"

"If you don't shut the fuck up, I will walk out of my own house. I'll ban you. I mean it."

Maybe she was being mean. Unnecessarily mean. But Eddie is under her bed and now, at the very least, he knows she had a dream about him. He's not stupid and he'll piece it together quickly, she's sure of it.

"Fine! Fine," Robin puts her hands up in defense, finally dropping it, "Let's talk about you and Steve then. Did your plan work? I mean, the whole fake-dating thing. Seems like you got under his skin."

While not ideal, she can handle this topic of conversation. With Eddie Munson hiding under her bed, she can handle talking about Steve in order to satiate Robin.

"I think it worked a little too well. Like I said, I fucked up," the tears are returning, but Willow isn't crying for what she's sure Robin will assume - she's not crying over her feelings for Steve. She's crying for what feels like the loss of a friend. That hurts far more than anything said last night, "Pretty sure Steve hates me now. It's fine, whatever. Maybe we'll just go back to how we were before, you know? He'll tell me about all his dates, I'll just... I don't know, I'll go fuck myself I guess. Maybe I'll go out of state for college like my mom wants. I'll live."

Willow isn't willing to get into it, admit to Robin the fact that she can feel the attachment she had to Steve slowly coming undone. She'd always insisted she'd take a year off before college, stick around Hawkins, and Robin always teased her for staying around for some guy.

Steve Harrington wasn't the one who made her cling to this town anymore. She had a new reason to stay, and it scared her more than she should.

"That sounds depressing. You know, if you want to talk about it, I'm always here, right? Always have been, always will be," Robin's words warm Willow a fraction, and she smiles. Unshed tears in her waterline finally dry away as she stares at her best friend before nodding.

"I know. Couldn't get rid of you if I tried, I fear."

"Damn right. Now, does this mean you and Eddie aren't fake-dating anymore? Is he... Have you talked to him? Did he come find you last night?"

A sneeze sounds from under her bed. Speak of the Devil.

Robin's eyes widen for a second, "Uh, 'Low? Did your bed just sneeze?"

"No."

"Yes, it did."

"No, it didn't. You're imagining things."

"You're gas-lighting me right now."

Willow opens her mouth, but Robin is already flinging herself over the side of the bed to look under it.

" Fuck!"

" Holy shit! "

Eddie's and Robin's gasps come at the same time, right as Willow hears, feels, Eddie jump and bump his bed on the bottom of her bed.

Willow sits, staring straight ahead, sighing deeply, "Damn it."

"He's under your fucking bed? Why is Eddie under your fucking bed!" Robin screams the questions as Willow listens to Eddie shuffle his way out from under the bed. When he pops up beside her bed, clearly still sitting, his hair is a mess.

The two girls turn and stare at him, and he turns a deep shade of crimson to match Willow's own cheeks. "Uh, hi?"

Robin snaps to face Willow, "Explain. Now."

Willow avoids eye contact, looking up at her ceiling with a pained expression, "So uh, yeah. We did talk after he found me last night."

"Why is he under your bed?"

"Why didn't you try calling first?" Willow whines in response, squeezing her eyes shut. Her headache has arrived, as debilitating as being caught in this moment.

Kill me now. Please, let me experience the sweet relief of death.

Robin stares at her, wheels turning in her head, "Oh my God , did you two- Did you-"

"No!" Eddie panics, scrambling to lift himself from the ground to sit on the edge of the bed, "No, no, no, we didn't- we didn't do anything!"

He's fumbling to save them from Robin's imagination as it runs away from her. Willow breaks contact with her ceiling as she feels an instant panic of her own.

"He just took care of me, I swear!" she starts, but by Robin's face, she knows it's making it worse, "He gave me a ride home and.... And.... I was drunk, stop looking at us like that! I was drunk and he made sure I got to bed okay."

"Sure," Robin drawls, squinting her eyes as they pass back and forth between Willow and Eddie, "And... that included him spending the night?"

"As a friend!" Willow defends.

Eddie interjects as well, "Yeah! Friends!"

Robin scoffs, and Eddie scoots himself closer to Willow, almost as if in fear.

"Eddie, you're included in that list of people I hate right now. Like, were you just going to lay down there and eavesdrop the entire time? Wait- oh!" Robin has clearly realized why Willow refused to divulge in her dream about Eddie, or feelings, " Oh . Shit. You heard all that."

Willow's glare is set to kill.

Don't you dare bring it back up, Buckley. Don't embarrass me.

Thankfully, her friend appears to be a mindreader, quickly moving on, "Well, okay then. So I guess you can both answer my question now. What are we going to do now?"

Eddie seems taken back. While Willow has been used to including Robin in her scheming, she's aware the only person he's talked about this to is herself.

" We?" he questions, eyes turning to Willow in confusion, "What? Are you here to be the mastermind behind our next step or something? Because I think we've got some bad news."

She nods, "Yeah, about that..."

How is she supposed to say this without breaking both their hearts in front of Robin?