𝙲𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜,

𝙼𝚢 𝙵𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚢,

𝙼𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙.

𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍,

𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎

𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚃𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗.

𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝙸 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐.

"Thats okay with you?" Lennon mumbled in between kisses.

"Hmm?" Eddie wondered illogically, gasping when Lennon gently tugged at the nape of his neck and gave him no room to speak.

"I don't want something-" she hummed into another kiss, "that doesn't exist."

The feeling of Eddie's hand moving to the side of her face as he tilted his head to get closer to her forced Lennon into silence. Her hands were running wild in his mess of curls and the sound of his suppressed groans only encouraged her to continue.

"Can I want this?" she whispered into his gaping mouth, nuzzling her nose closely against his cheek and closing the space between them again. "Despite everything. Is this okay with you?"

She could feel the corners of Eddie's mouth turn upward underneath her needy kiss.

She forced their foreheads together as they separated. Their chests heaved and their hearts pounded with excitement and somehow, the yearning never stopped.

Eddie's eyes shot open and he faced Lennon. He was panting and drunk on ecstasy in its purest, most natural state. He couldn't see clearly and it wasn't because he was high this time. He might have been high on her, but not drugs.

He was driving himself crazy being away from her and the fact she reached out this time, the fact she didn't push him away or avoid him or ignore him, the fact she reached for him made him feel warm and contagiously happy.

"You like Hargrove?"

Lennon made a strange face that no one but Eddie would've been able to read. It was a mixture between incredulity, disgust, guilt, humor, and fascination. It was a mind-boggling look, but Eddie understood it and smiled wide.

"Fine. No more pushing?" Eddie asked desperately.

She rolled her eyes and the incredulity and disgust disappeared. "I need you to make this okay, Munson," she smiled childishly, swallowing uncomfortably and fiddling with the loose strands of hair by his ear.

Responding wasn't as easy as a 'yes' or 'no'. There were limitations to her response that she needed him to understand.

"The only way you can rectify kissing me like that is if you let me hold up my end of the deal with Billy without feeling guilty..." she smirked, knowing she wanted to kiss him just as much as he wanted to kiss her. "Whatever happens tomorrow... I don't want to feel bad about this," she shook him gently again and pulled her forehead from his.

She found his eyes to be gorgeously brown and chivalrous. She felt the weight of them the instant he met her glowing green gaze. She never felt lost or scared when she looked into those annular, tantalizing, intense eyes of his. They always felt safe and grounded, making their hue all the more fitting to her love for them and the nature they reminded her of.

His hair was messy and frayed and sticking out in various directions around his delicate face. The hair pressed to his forehead stuck to his skin and the wild, untamable broken strands at the top of his head curled around his head like the horns of the devil.

Dimples formed at the edges of his kiss-swollen lips and being eye-to-eye with him for the first time, Lennon could see the slight indent in his bottom lip where he chewed a hole into the broken flesh. She could make out the soft lines in his crimson lips and the perfect alignment of his teeth. They weren't white, but they weren't yellow either. The only manner Lennon could explain them would be to say they were stained; most likely by all the soda and tobacco he consumed over the years.

Eddie's hands were pressed to the table and her face, leaning into her and cradling the left side of her cheek in his palm. His hands were soft but they were always covered in burn marks or scabs. There were no calluses, no swollen knuckles, no cracked palms, but they would never be seen in a hand commercial. They were always perfectly imperfect with his shredded cuticles and chewed nails.

"When the clock strikes midnight," Eddie drew out lasciviously. "Do you give credit to the tolling bells or the clockworker who built it?" he pondered, obviously trying to prove a point in some hidden, satiric way Lennon couldn't understand.

"What's your point?" she crinkled her nose and felt Eddie's hand move from her face to the table behind her.

"When a puppet prances, do you applaud the doll or the puppet master?" he grinned, refusing to give her a flat-out answer.

"Eddie..." she drew out humorously, causing him to simmer in his victory for a while longer before he leaned in and kissed her.

This kiss was less intense and less reckless than the one before. However, the potency remained. He swallowed the ardor from her lips and happily drank the vehemence they made together.

"You are the orchestrater, Lennon Seagrave," he hissed between his teeth. "I may be the instrument you pluck and play and I may be the one to get in trouble when I'm out of tune... but it's all at the hand of my instructor," he closed the gap between them and left her no room to wiggle free. "I don't need to rectify anything," his voice went deep and gravelly as Lennon's weight shifted.

She had no room left to counter his towering frame and both Eddie's hands seemed to take notice because the next thing she knew, they were firmly planted on her hips and her feet were no longer on the ground.

His thumbs curled around the tops of her thighs and his knees worked their way between her legs, spreading them apart and taking up residence between them as he smiled into the kiss.

"I need," she whispered before Eddie's lips were back on hers, "you to tell me," she hummed against his lips and felt her eyes roll back at the sudden touch of his tongue. "Eddie," she smiled, breathing heavily through her nose and pushing him back by the shoulders.

"Edward Munson," she giggled, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth and tasting him even when he was gone.

Eddie reeled back and scrunched up his nose like a child. He looked slightly offended while also being entertained by Lennon's teasing address.

"Never call me that," he laughed, "ever again."

He obeyed her wishes and rested his weight on the tops of her warm thighs as he gazed into her playful eyes.

She was well aware of how exposed she was. She didn't feel comfortable in the cheer uniforms or with her hair tied back in a tight ponytail, but somehow Eddie's lingering gaze made her feel beautiful nonetheless. And even though he was quite literally between her legs, touching her thighs and standing a few inches from her face, she wasn't afraid.

She didn't feel pressured to do anything she didn't want to do. She didn't feel like Eddie expected anything from her. It was like he could be equally happy if she were to push him off or continue to reveal her skin to him. It was like whatever pleased her would also please him.

"Eddie," she smiled, calling him by the name he preferred. "I have obligations to fulfill tomorrow," she sighed. "And as much as I... as much of a mess I've made, I can't take it back," she admitted, fiddling with the soft, short-cropped curls at the nape of his neck.

Eddie listened carefully but he wanted to interrupt when she said things like that. He wanted to ask her one-hundred-one questions about what the hell she was saying or insinuating, but he knew it was best if he stayed quiet.

"I'm going on a date with Billy..." she said, refusing to let go of him to show her loyalty.

Something changed in Eddie's eyes and Lennon immediately hated herself for being the cause. But still, he didn't release her. He stayed. He stayed no matter how off-putting and hindering her words were. He stayed.

"I have a date to that party with Billy and I don't need to feel bad about whatever happens tomorrow because of you."

"Then what the hell are you doing here, Clever One?" he asked as if unaffected by her admittance.

"You're right. Don't get use to it, but you're right. I don't like him," she sighed. "I kissed him so I could see you. I kissed him because I knew my brother wouldn't let me out of the house if he found out that I've been sneaking around with you. This is social suicide," she told him plainly. "I didn't come here to be bullied and belittled, Eddie. You are so unapologetically yourself and you are so impenitently authentic. But I'm not able to withstand the stares and the name calling like you can..." she shook her head in regret. "I've done it already. I don't think I can do it again..."

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her, growing suspicious whilst also being unable to fully commit to distrusting her. "What's this about?"

There was something in her eyes, something in the way she held him and clung to him for comfort that made him reconsider. "You sound... mournful?" Eddie furrowed his brows and shrugged. "You sound like you're talking about yourself in the third person right now," he chuckled nervously.

Lennon felt her throat grow tight. She did not want to lose him. She did not want to see this man in the halls without an ounce of recognition. She didn't want him looking at her differently but she couldn't keep going on like this. There was so much to explain and there was so much she was too afraid of admitting; even to herself.

"You know too much and nothing at all," she smiled hurtfully. She opened her mouth like she was going to speak but nothing came out and her eyes fell to his hands which were still pressed to her open thighs.

The sight was alarming to see at first. She felt insecure and contemplative. Seeing a pair of hands decorated in metal and ink wasn't supposed to be as comforting as they were on her pair of open legs. The image was far too erotic and intimate. So why did it make her trust him even more?

"I-" she broke herself off and winced with a distressed smile. Instead of shying away or becoming shameful of the mistakes she made, her instinct was to grab Eddie and pull him closer.

She sucked in a breath of air and slipped her arms around his back until there was no room left between their bodies.

Eddie's hands were pushed off of her lap when she engulfed him in a tight embrace. She buried her face in his shoulder, finding herself being curtained by his hair as she clutched onto him as if her life depended on it.

Chest to chest, pelvis to pelvis, they clung to one another.

His hands went around her backside as she sat on the edge of the table, pulling him in closer and begging to be held.

"I can't explain why I trust you, Eddie," she closed her eyes as she mumbled a string of emotional words into his neck. She shook her head and sighed, warming Eddie's skin as she breathed him in and exhaled the pain she carried with her out.

"I keep wanting to tell you things... I want you to know why I keep pushing. I want you to know who I am... I want to tell you so you understand... I want you to know that I trust you but I don't know why..." she sighed, burying her nose into the crook of his neck as horrific images flashed across her mind and anxiety filtered through her bloodstream.

"And sometimes I wonder if everyone's right..." she cried out groggily. "Sometimes I wonder if you really do have the devil inside you and it's him who's got me wrapped around his finger..."

Eddie's eyes shifted suspiciously but he didn't let go of her. He turned his head slightly in question, wondering where this revelation was coming from.

"What do you mean?" he built up the courage to ask, feeling the flutter of her eyelashes on his neck when he called out to her and wondering if she was crying or not.

Her voice was passionate and the way she held him made him feel like she needed his comforting embrace. She sounded guilty, and scared, and ashamed all at once. But he didn't know if she was crying or not.

"I haven't been myself... not entirely... not to anyone... I mean," she frowned, "Why else would I trust you like this? I can only think of one other thing that makes me want to be around you all the time despite everyone telling me to stay away from you. I don't believe it but what else can I?" she pondered. "I trust you for some inexplicable reason and I don't know why. Could it be be him? Could I just be blinded by his charm? Because it's what everyone says... But I don't want to believe it."

"No," Eddie tightened his grasp around her. "No," he shook his head drearily and sighed, coming to a realization. "It's just me, sweetheart," he promised, leaning forward slightly and nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.

"I can't explain it, Eddie," she too tightened her arms around him and sighed. "I can't explain something I can't understand myself... I trust you. That's all I know."

"Then why fight it?" Eddie countered, shaking his head slowly to encourage her to open up.

"I was a loner before Hawkins," she admitted, instantly feeling sick to her stomach for letting the words leave her mouth with a classmate present. "This... This cheerleader... academic scholar... social butterfly, isn't me..." she pulled away from his neck and loosened her grip on him as she met his unflinching gaze.

He looked sad and curious and lost all at once. Now he knew she wasn't crying. But it certainly sounded like she was trying not to.

"I used to hide in clothes a size too big, a couple of years too old, and several compliments too short," she explained with a tightness in her forehead that kept her from falling apart in front of him. "I used to draw in the back of the classroom and stalk the halls where I had very few people even acknowledge my existence. I used to stay home on the weekends and lie to get out of having to go out with the people I thought were my friends..." she scoffed incredulously.

"I didn't have this life before... It's all new to me and it's been an easier life because of the change, Eddie... and you've made a name for yourself that reminds me all too much of someone I would've easily been friends with last year. I can't go back to that... I can't handle that fear of betrayal anymore..."

Eddie was staring at her with furrowed brows but he couldn't find the words to say anything.

She noticed his conflicted gaze and sighed. "You should know better than anybody that when people don't like you, they will start to look for reasons to make everyone else not like you," she explained bitterly. "If you're telling the truth, which-" she scoffed and dropped her eyes to the floor cynically. "I believe you," she assured. "Then you know how out of hand the rumors can get.

"Everyone kept telling me about these blood sacrifices, murder, the hardcore drugs, sex addiction, Devil worship... Even then, I trusted you not having even known you yet," she shook her head mournfully.

"But you know none of thats true... right?" Eddie tilted his head skeptically. "Well... you watched me burn what I had left from Reefer Rick but you know the rest isn't true..."

"Of course I know that," she promised. "But none of that matters when a stream of lies turns into a whole damn waterfall."

"But's its not true. There's nothing to feel guilty of, Lennon," Eddie narrowed his eyes on her and tried to figure her out. She was quite the project to understand, especially when she was talking like she needed to defend herself from something which Eddie was still clueless about. "They're just rumors."

"You say that until it rips your life to shreds," she spat back harshly, remembering the cold feeling she felt the first day she went back to school after her trial in Vermont. She couldn't tell him about that. She didn't even want to remember it, let alone let someone else know about what lies people spread about her.

"What are you even talking about?" Eddie asked sympathetically. "What happened to you?"

Lennon's lungs clung to the air she had inside them and refused to let go. Her blood ran cold and she felt sick and faint at the thought of having to relive that trauma. She couldn't think of anything worse than telling this man, this beautiful, understanding, comforting man about the worst time of her life.

"I need to go on a date with Billy," she ignored his question. "I'm gonna be a horrible date so I never have to do it again but it's a date nonetheless; and if I have to do things I don't want to do with him to make my brother, and every other goddamn set of eyes here think it was real while it lasted, then I have to because I can't lose you," she pinched her lips together and fought the tears threatening to coat her eyes. "Because as difficult as it is to listen to everyone telling me to leave you alone, it would be even more difficult to have had you and lost you."

Eddie was looking back at her with a puzzled expression on his face. He had so many questions and she had so many untelling answers. But no matter how confused he was, he didn't know what to say but...

"You're crazy."

Lennon felt the color drain from her face. Her jaw went slack and her eyes and lips pouted when his voice grew emotionless. He was looking back at her like he was sickened by her and his grip on her back loosened like he wanted to get away from her but her grasp on his shoulders stopped him.

"What?" she squeaked hopelessly.

"You're fucking crazy if you think you're scaring me off that easily... shit," Eddie joked, causing Lennon's pinched brows and bleary eyes to fall with realization.

Her mouth fell agape as she watched a smile spread across his lips. His eyes transformed into something innocently guilty like he knew he was about to get in trouble but the humor of it drove him to do it.

"You dick!" she shouted, shoving him back and hopping down from the table. "You are such a dickhead!" she gently pushed him back and folded her arms over her chest to replace the comfort Eddie provided.

"I'm sorry," he begged for forgiveness with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. "But you know I'm right though."

"You're a dick," she laughed, trying not to show him how easily she forgave him but failed miserably.

"And you're crazy," he added comedically. "Only crazy people trust people for no good reason," he teased. "But lucky for you," he pulled his hands behind his back and swayed charmingly. "I like crazy," he leaned down and stole another kiss from the tempered cheerleader standing across from him.

She pulled her hands to the back of his head as he bent down to reach her before she reeled back slightly, keeping him far enough to speak but close enough to hold. Either of their eyes remained shut when she furrowed her brows and questioned, "So does this mean you forgive me in advance for tomorrow?"

Eddie chuckled deeply and clasped his lips against hers. He was forceful and playful when his growing concupiscence for her blossomed into something lighthearted and passionate. "I don't care, sweetheart," he moaned when her tongue ran across his in an attempt to rectify the future. His lips danced across hers before the corners of his mouth tugged at his roguish side and fell to her neck possessively.

"You can do whatever you want. Though..." he kissed her neck and hummed devilishly. "I don't think Billy... or anyone in the future will wanna kiss you with a bruise on your neck," he smiled and quickly sucked on her skin before she could pry him off with playful admonish.