"Buckley, you cannot take another shot! You've had five!"

Eddie is already snickering as he enters the kitchen to find Steve standing before Robin and Willow, both of the girls attempting to use their puppy dog eyes on him as he holds the bottle of vodka out of their reach.

"It's not going to be another shot!" Robin argues while Willow laughs beside her, "We're making drinks, dingus. It's New Year's Eve. Lighten up, will ya?"

"Yeah, Steve!" Willow pipes in, her face encased in a rosey blush, "Lighten up!"

Steve catches sight of Eddie entering the scene first, and his eyes are pleading for backup.

Unlucky for him, Eddie was in no mood to provide such a thing.

"Lighten up, Harrington," he echoes the girls' choice of words, and his voice immediately has Willow's head snapping in his direction. He hadn't been gone for more than five minutes, only slipping out to use the restroom, but clearly a lot had happened in that time, "They'll learn their lesson when they wake up with the world's shittiest hangovers tomorrow."

"We will not be hungover," Willow insists, standing from her stool with surprising grace. As she walks over to Eddie's side effortlessly, it's clear she's had less to drink than Robin, "Besides, tomorrow is still a national holiday. So even if we are hungover, which we won't be, there's still no responsibility. We can just sleep in."

"You're all menaces," Steve grumbles as he finally sits the vodka down in front of Robin, making her yelp in joy, "Do not throw up on the carpet. My parents would kill me."

Eddie sighs as he wraps an arm around Willow, letting her tangle her arms around his waist as she tucks her face into his chest for a moment. He's entranced with the sweet scent of her vanilla perfume and the fruity chaser she's followed up whatever shots she has taken with, lips stained a soft pink to match her cheeks. She has him so wrapped up in oblivion, he doesn't notice that Robin has begun to make the drinks for herself and the girl currently distracting him until he hears Steve beginning to protest again.

"Okay, that was way too much, Buckley. Nope, no! No, I'm cutting you two off until the champagne-"

Steve's maternal rant is cut off by some shouts from the living room, making all of the older teens look in the direction of where the younger ones of the party have gathered.

If anyone had asked Eddie this time last year what his perfect idea of a New Year's Eve was, he never would have answered this. If you had told him he would be spending it with his girlfriend, her best friends which include Robin from band and Steve fucking Harrington, and an entire gaggle of young freshmen, he'd laugh in your face. But that was his reality right now, and he was overflowing with serenity.

The last few months of his life felt too good to be true, really. Honestly, since this summer, since the fateful day he'd stepped foot in Scoops Ahoy (or more aptly put, he'd been dragged in by Gareth), the events of his life had simply felt dream-like. He never knew that life was capable of such happiness, such gaiety, such delight. He had the girl of his dreams. He had friends, a plentiful amount at that.

He was friends with Steve Harrington, after all. A man he'd once regarded with intense disgust, now someone he knew he could rely on at the very least.

He'd seen his favorite band live. The crowd of five drunks that attended Corroded Coffin's shows had grown into a decent crowd of at least ten, half of which didn't have to be drunk to enjoy his performance. The latest Hellfire campaign had been a huge success. He'd passed all his classes this semester with flying colors, by his standards. There wasn't a single grade that dipped below a startling C.

According to his counselor, even if he barely scraped by with D's the next semester, he was on track to graduate this year. The thought itself was dizzying.

"What are you thinking about?" Willow murmurs, bringing him back to the present moment as she reaches out and accepts the drink Robin had made for her. He could smell the vodka in the cup even with the distance, and wanted to laugh.

"You," he answers earnestly, "Well, us. All of us - even those buttheads in the living room," he nods to where the teens were arguing with Steve. About what, he hadn't the slightest clue.

"Those sound like some big thoughts," she teases, pinching his side slightly before she finally pulls from his embrace.

They are, he thinks. And yet, with her at his side, they didn't feel quite so big nor so scary.

"Well, you know me," he waves an arm around before he makes his way to snatch a beer out of Steve's fridge, "Always a big thinker."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Big thinker," she jeers at him, taking a sip of her drink and scrunching her nose. Clearly, the vodka was strong and bitter, "A guy has one semester with a 2.0 GPA and suddenly he's the next Einstein. I get it."

It's all in good fun. The moment he'd seen the stellar GPA for himself, he'd started making fun of Willow and her perfect 4.0, claiming he'd be stealing her seat as valedictorian. She'd only laughed at the time, telling him that if he did steal her seat, she'd still be the one in the crowd cheering loudest for him.

Things were good, for all of them.

"Hey, are your band friends still showing up?" Robin asks as she wobbles in her seat, already having downed half her drink. Willow subtly scoots the cup out of her reach momentarily.

"What? The Corroded Coffin boys?" Eddie questions, smiling over the lip of the beer bottle in his hand, "Yeah, yeah. They're just fashionably late, y'know."

"All the great rockstars are," Willow adds.

She'd found out that at their show, Metallica had technically been five minutes late, and she would never let the fact die. It was cute, but Eddie would never admit that to her.

"Aw, babe," he coos, reaching over as if he were going to pinch her face from across the counter, making her instinctually swat his hands away, "You think we're rockstars?"

"I take it back," she deadpans, narrowing her eyes at him.

Willow had clearly miscalculated Robin's reach, as she sighs deeply and grabs her cup back, "You two are disgusting. It's adorable."

"Oh, just wait till the clock strikes midnight, Buckley. I'm gonna plant a big smooch here," he reaches out, and taps the pad of his pointer finger to Willow's lip when she doesn't swat him away once more, staring at him dumbfoundedly, "And then, one here-"

His finger starts to travel south, and she finally stops him, taking a step back and mouth dropping in shock, "No. He's joking," she turns her head to her friend quickly, Robin not even seeming to notice the insinuation, "He's joking."

"It is not too early to start planning a campaign! We owe it to Will!" a shout from Dustin echoes from the living room, and Eddie finally looks over at his proclaimed 'sheeps', "He promised to visit us in the summer, so we've got one chance to make it good!"

"I'm not saying it's too early to plan a campaign," Mike bickers back, glaring at the other boy, "I'm saying your campaign idea is stupid."

"Gentleman!" Eddie decides to step in at the clear talk of D&D, clapping his hands as he abandons his beer onto the counter and both girls trail behind him into the room where everyone else is gathered, "Please, please. Be civil. I think as the only active DM in the room, that I'll decide whether this campaign idea is 'stupid'," he uses exaggerated air quotes as he plops down on the couch, leaving room beside himself for Willow to join him and Robin to stick to her side.

The conversation dives into Dustin's idea quickly.

And to be fair, Mike had a point - it wasn't the greatest campaign idea that Eddie had ever heard.

But he doesn't say that. Instead, he delves into the nerd talk with the kids, Lucas included, as he points out plot holes and helps their group fill them in. Steve even pipes in, having the right spirit although half the time, he seems more confused than helpful.

It's nice. Every moving puzzle piece fits perfectly together, and Eddie remains content.

More than content, really. He's gratified, he's overjoyed. There's only one thing that would make the entire moment any better for him, three technically, and within the hour they end up knocking on the front door.

It's quite the sight to see. An odd band of misfits and people that never should have ended up in the same room. And yet, they did. They did, and they're smiling, and they're laughing. And the reason they all have sits besides Eddie, quiet as she fiddles with the ends of her vibrant red hair she'd recently redyed, roots growing in with her natural brunette shadow. Every time Eddie's eyes catch hers, she's flashing him a dazzling smile, and it silently takes away his breath each time.

At some point, he reaches over and intertwines their fingers, and she gives his palm three tight squeezes.

"We should play some sort of game," Gareth announces loudly once the group has finally hit a lull in conversation.

There's a couple groans - games at parties never end well - but Dustin and Lucas both brighten up at the idea.

"Let's do it!" Dustin insists, leaning forward from where he's sitting on the floor, eyes flitting amongst his older role models, practically begging for their support.

Surprisingly, it's not Eddie, or Steve, or Robin who break first.

It's Willow.

"Fuck it. Let's do it," she scoots forward, hand still laced with Eddie's, a small grin playing on her lips, "What game do we want to play?"

Eddie looks at her, and the look in his eyes scream, do we really want to do this?

Her shrug simply replies, why not?

"Truth or dare," Gareth says with an air of confidence, wiggling his eyebrows as he bumps his shoulder against Craig's.

More groans of protest. More excitement from Dustin, rolling off of him in waves as he smiles widely and lets out a couple laughs of delight.

"That is the worst idea I've ever heard," Steve complains, leaning forward and placing his beer onto the coffee table in the center of the group, "I've never played a game of Truth or Dare that didn't end up with someone crying and a couple breaking up."

"Well, there's only one couple here," Robin pipes up, looking at the group from around Willow's shoulder, eyes making contact with Eddie's, "D'you two have any secrets that would lead to a breakup?"

Eddie tilts his head towards Willow at that, raising his eyebrows comically until they disappear into his bangs. She bites back a laugh, attempting to return the funny look.

"I dunno, he might have to admit something embarrassing, like how he's in love with me," she teases him, giving his hand another tight squeeze.

"Boring!" Jeff calls out, leaning back on his hands behind his back, "We already knew that. I vote yes on playing."

"I'm down," Lucas adds to the conversation.

"Same," Mike agrees.

"Eddie? Steve?" Willow presses, giving both boys looks, attempting to pressure them into agreeing with a simple flutter of her lashes.

Damn her. She knew neither boy was capable of saying no to her.

"Fine!" Steve throws up his hands dramatically, "Fine, I'm in. And by default, so is Munson."

"Hey," Eddie protests, turning to the boy, "I never agreed to shit. We aren't a two-for-one deal, Harrington."

"No, but you and 'Low are," Steve knows he has Eddie there, trapped as he glances at the redhead who's already smirking at him.

"Yeah, pretty boy. I'm in, so you're in. Who's going first?"

Surprisingly, the game isn't a disaster.

Eddie ends up having to take a shot out of one of Dustin's shoes (after quite a bit of protest), Mike attempts to prank call a pizzeria that is unsurprisingly closed for the night, Steve has to dramatically perform 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' after admitting to Grease being his favorite movie, and Robin tells a terrible story from her and Willow's youth that involved a bad idea and a lot of stolen, aged whiskey (Eddie learns that Willow's first and only head trauma, an assumed concussion, occurred on that fateful night). The only tears ever streaming down cheeks are the ones from laughing too hard, and the only arguments that break out are between Willow and Robin insisting that the other remembered their night with the whiskey wrong.

It's the best a party night has ever gone for their group in a very long time.

"Alright, alright," Dustin attempts to settle down the group after he had chosen the truth, and Eddie had pulled the story about a time a girl named El had made a school bully piss himself. Eddie was still determined that this 'El' was made up, especially when Mike fought back with the defense of her being his girlfriend. There was no way. "Willow, it's your turn! Truth or dare?"

Both Eddie and Robin are on either side of her, whispering a persistent murmur of choose dare. She doesn't. "Truth."

"Boring," Robin whines as she throws herself back into the couch unceremoniously. She drags out the 'o', and Willow winces before taking a large gulp of her drink.

"Shut up," she jokingly bumps knees with her friend, setting her drink aside once more, "Did you guys really think I'd be picking dare after you made Eddie drink vodka out of a shoe and Harrington's whole karaoke moment?"

"I'll never do that again," Eddie says just as Steve cries out, "My karaoke was not that bad."

"Alright," Dustin breathes out through his nose, and settles his gaze on Willow with intention, "I have no complaints, because I knew Eddie would never choose truth, and I intend to pull a very important truth out of the two of you tonight, my friends," Dustin holds up a finger, waggling it between the couple.

Oh God, Eddie thinks, what the fuck is he about to ask?

Willow is stiff beside him, and he has half the mind to tell Dustin to fuck off before he's even asked his truth.

"Hit me with your best shot, Henderson," she puts on her armor of faux confidence, but Eddie sees right through it. He only tightens his grip on her hand.

"Tell us the truth about how you and Eddie got together. And don't lie - there's three people in here who know the truth!"

The entire room goes dangerously still. Everyone is holding their breaths - even Buckley, despite how terribly drunk she's gotten by going too fast too soon.

Dustin Henderson is going to be the bane of their existence.

Eddie is the one to break the silence, voice flooded with fury, "What the fuck, Henderson?"

Once the silence is broken, the chaos ensues. It's a mixture that's hard to decipher; an overlap of Steve scolding Dustin right along with Eddie, Robin calling out that everyone already knew the truth, and the rest of Hellfire all erupting into cries of confusion.

"What the hell is Henderson going on about, dude?" Gareth's voice cuts through the chaos, directed straight for Eddie. He nearly shrinks into himself.

This was a fear of his - this was always a fear of his. Especially once it had all spiraled out of their control. The moment he fell in love with Willow, he knew that the once thrown away detail of their beginnings would become an issue. Gareth had once been his best friend, his closest confidant. He was to Eddie as Robin was to Willow; the one person he had leaned on the most prior to her.

"It's-" Eddie starts to explain, but the words catch in his throat.

Dustin Henderson was a dead boy walking. The satisfaction on his face in the middle of the chaos was far too smug, far too comfortable.

"Henderson, I'm going to fucking kill you," Eddie lowly says, staring directly at the boy even as everyone else is talking over them. The boy catches Eddie's eyes easily, and it's clear he's heard the words through the chatter, as his face pales.

"Okay, okay!" Willow suddenly shouts. And just as suddenly, everyone quiets. "You know what? Fuck it. Why not? You want me to tell everyone the truth, Dustin?" she pauses dramatically, and Dustin eagerly nods, "Fine. We weren't really dating until about two months ago. Before that, we were faking it."

This silence is nothing compared to the one that had followed Dustin originally asking his truth. It's pregnant with anticipation, a speckle of disbelief crossing over the faces of everyone who hadn't already known. Even Steve looks completely flabbergasted at Willow's easy honesty.

"Look, if you two actually started as a hook-up or something, just say that instead of some ridiculous stor-" Jeff begins to say, but Willow cuts him off.

"It's not some ridiculous story. We didn't start as a hook-up. We became friends because I approached Eddie, and I demanded for him to be my fake boyfriend to make Steve jealous."

"You did not demand," Eddie scoffs. If she was diving in headfirst, he was right beside her. Where she went, he followed, even when it was straight into one of her worst ideas to date, "I had to force you to actually ask me. You completely chickened out at first!"

"I did not!" she gasps, untangling her hand from his to smack him in the chest, "You thought I was asking for drugs in exchange for sex, you ass!"

That detail clearly seals the deal for Jeff, making his mouth drop agape, "Holy fucking shit. No way. I- I thought the two of you genuinely hated each other that day, and then you said you were dating, so I figured it was to cover up the whole 'being together' shit. You're telling me that was all real?"

"Yes," Willow deadpans as Eddie laughs, "No."

They look at each other immediately.

"What do you mean no?" she asks him, eyes only focused on him.

He feels his nerves begin to frazzle beneath her gaze, "I- Well, I mean, yes, at the time I actually thought you were asking for drugs. But I didn't really hate you or anything," he shrugs before continuing, an attempt to shake off nerves, "Thought you would have figured that out by now."

"God," Robin groans from beside them, finally sitting up from where she'd sunk into the couch, "That day was so embarrassing. I tried to stop her, you know?"

"What?" It's Eddie's turn to be shocked, shifting his body to have a clear sight of Robin rather than Willow, "Is that why you were staring at us like a fuckin' weirdo?"

"I was not staring like a weirdo."

"You were, Robs," Willow turns to glare at the light brunette as well, "He definitely thought if I wasn't asking for drugs, I was fucking with him. I bet if I had asked him then he really would have believed it was a joke."

"I would have," Eddie sighs, imagining himself five months before and how reactive he would have been to Willow's offer if he had been in public, "I would have caused a far worse scene."

"Okay, okay, okay," Mike interrupts, waving his hands around, "So you two were... fake dating?"

Both Willow and Eddie hum in agreement. Eddie's heart flutters when she leans into his shoulder.