D20 [E. M]
Eddie Munson x fem!reader
Word count: 2.1k
Summary: Eddie and Max play an innocent game that inevitably ends up focusing on you.
A/N: I really like to imagine that Max and Eddie could have been good friends, so here's a short one. I hope you like it!
Eddie rubbed his eyes as he walked to the door to attend to the knocking. It was pouring rain outside, who the hell could it be?
"Red" he greeted lazily. It was his youngest neighbor, Max, who had taken shelter from the rain on the porch of the trailer.
"My mom isn’t here and I don't have a key, can I stay here?" she asked, to which Eddie nodded and stepped aside to let her pass. After both of them had been nearly killed by Vecna they had grown closer, a friendship blossoming from their common trauma. Eddie sometimes took the girl to school and had visits from her like this on occasion, while he had even learned to play some of Kate Bush on his acoustic guitar for her to listen to. He felt good having the girl around, as he had always wanted a younger sister and somehow he could see her as that.
“Do you want something to eat for dinner?” Eddie asked, pulling a couple of grapes from a fruit bowl to pop into his mouth. Thank Wayne and God at least there was never a shortage of food in that house (or trailer, rather).
"I ate something at Lucas's house"
"Huh, so you were with Sinclair," he sneered and inevitably she blushed "He stopped being a jerk yet?"
"Not yet, but... it's less so now"
"It's less so now," he repeated with amusement. He didn't want to push her too hard so he just flopped down on the couch next to her, not mentioning anything else on the subject. Before she arrived, he was writing a song for the band so he took the notebook back to check how he could improve the lyrics, but the truth was that he abandoned it after a few minutes. He was racking his brains to find something good, but he knew inspiration would come at some point, no pressure. "Do you want to play something?" he murmured, hoping that with that they could beat the boredom.
"Play what?" Eddie held up a finger as a request that she wait and dashed into her room to find a small black and red D20. “No! You know I don't like D&D."
"I know you don't like it, it's not that," he laughed. He motioned for her to come over to the bar and sit in front of him, “We're going to say random things, and then we're going to throw it. If a natural 20 comes up, we have to do it,” he explained. It was simple, nothing dangerous and fun, so she nodded at the idea.
"And what do I have to say?"
"I don't know, whatever you want," he exclaimed as she shrugged. Max thought about it for a moment and then spoke again.
"If I roll a natural 20, you... you're going to go out in the rain for a minute." she rolled the dice on the bar and when she stopped there was a 3 on the top face of it.
“My turn,” Eddie said, taking the object and shaking it in his hand. “If I roll a natural 20, you're going to steal Mike's lunch on Monday.” The girl laughed and nodded as Eddie rolled the dice. This time a 9 came up.
So they went on, beginning with small things, for a long time. The challenges ranged from wearing ridiculous clothes to school to ruining beloved Steve Harrington's hair, but luckily only a couple of those had come to fruition. At some point Max's eyes lit up at an idea and she smirked at the boy.
“If I roll a natural 20, you have to call Y/N and tell her you like her”
Eddie froze at this, not even daring to breathe at the sound of your name. Oh, how could he begin to describe you? He and you had started talking, like most of his new friends, thanks to the disaster that had threatened Hawkins. Chrissy's death in the school gym had shocked everyone and although there was no relationship, most had harshly judged Hellfire under the allegation that they ‘were a cult’ and practiced all that satanic shit. And that's where you came to the rescue, willing to even fight with blows with those who messed with your children. You were very protective of the underage group, and luckily for Eddie, you were also protective of him, even though you barely knew him. Inevitably he got mixed up in the 'Upside Down' stuff and that's how you formally introduced yourself. It had been months since, for reasons still unknown to you, Eddie had saved you and Dustin from a demobat attack and the rest is history.
But he had never discussed his feelings for you with anyone. If he had, he'd probably tell her that he'd felt that way for many years, when he'd seen you sometime in high school, and that he'd been trying to bury that silly crush deep inside his being. But sometimes it was impossible for him, especially when he looked at you in the corridors looking so pretty, with that smile that drove him crazy.
The idea that someone knew how in love he was with you terrified him and in the panic of the moment, he understood that Max wasn't stupid. Any movement would simply give him away.
"And why would I say that?" he murmured, trying not to stutter, as he drummed his fingers on the bar.
"So you deny that it's true?" she responded nimbly, narrowing her eyebrows in his direction. Eddie was silent for a moment and shook his head.
“I don't know what you're talking about” he answered nervously and she laughed.
"Don't be a liar, I've seen how you look at her"
"What?" he half screeched "And how do I look at her?"
“With those goofy eyes of yours. And then your eyelashes flutter like you're a flirtatious schoolgirl”
"Shut up!" he laughed, nudging the redhead slightly. "That's not true."
“Of course it is, we all know that,” she exclaimed with amusement, but that made Eddie's heart clench a little.
"Are you serious?" he asked sadly. He didn't want you to think he was weird or depraved or anything like that and his friend finding out so quickly worried him.
“Well, by everyone I mean just Dustin and me. Maybe Robin and if she knows so does Steve, who probably told Nancy…”
"Okay, I got it, everyone knows I'm head over heels in love with Y/N."
"So you admit it?"
"Mayfield!" he complained, pouting. "Just forget it, it's stupid and she'd never pay attention to me." Eddie snorted, visibly sad.
“Oh, c’mon, don't be discouraged. I know you're not the best and you smell a little ugly but maybe she can get to like you” he tried to encourage him, but Eddie let out an offended laugh “Listen, we've rolled the dice so many times and it's never come up a 20, what could happen?” the younger murmured, holding out the dice to her friend. "Just do it, just like I ate that horrible thing you had in the fridge," she practically demanded.
Eddie sighed and took the dice in his hands to shake it a couple of times before throwing it on the table. One, two, three turns and he finally stopped.
20.
“It has to be a joke,” Eddie groaned, staring in disbelief at the result.
"Well, I guess it's fate, Munson," Max sneered. The boy was pale because he knew perfectly well that his friend wouldn’t forgive him for the dare.
“But how am I going to tell her? It's going to be super weird, she's going to freak out!" he muttered worriedly, unconsciously biting off a piece of his fingernail.
“Just call her and explain that you want to tell her something, and tell her. It’s not complicated”
“Easy for you to say,” he screeched. The two of them argued for a bit until Max practically forced him to comply, after all it had been his idea of the game in the first place.
“I don't know her phone number, to begin with.” He tried to excuse himself, but Max recited it from memory. Both your number and Steve's and of course her mother's were engraved in her brain for emergencies.
Eddie took a deep breath as he punched in the digits and with each passing second, he became more convinced that this was a terrible idea. But Max was right, he had to comply and he wasn't going to look stupid in front of a girl.
"Hello?" your soft voice asked. He jumped when he heard you and froze "Is anyone there?"
“Hello, Y/N”
"Eddie?" you murmured at his stutter "How did you get my number?" you said from the other side of the line. You sounded a little confused but the truth was that you were just curious. Eddie was a company you were enjoying a lot lately, always being goofy and pretty without even trying.
"Max…" he exclaimed, but his response sounded more like a question.
"What happened to her? She is fine?"
"Yes, she is wonderful" he continued, avoiding at all costs having to make his confession. But Maxine’s questioning look across the bar didn't help much. "But I asked her because… huh, well… I wanted to tell you something important."
“Oh, something important?” you asked and he nodded, wanting to punch himself realizing you couldn't see him. Max obviously laughed at this. "Sure, tell me," you exclaimed cheerfully, even if you hadn't received a verbal response. That was when Eddie felt his palms sweat and a knot form in his stomach. How could he say that he liked you? "Ed?"
"I'm here," he exclaimed shakily. Shit, he was just going to say it “I just wanted to tell you that I really like you… rrr hair”
Max looked at him in confusion and Eddie closed his eyes as he let his head fall back. He had chickened out at the last moment and just hoped he hadn't sounded too stupid, which he probably had.
“My hair?” you exclaimed, hearing yourself confused even through the phone.
“Hjm” he hummed “And I wanted to ask you what product you use because it always looks so soft and silky and I would love mine to look like that”
"Oh," you exhaled, still a little weirded out by things. That wasn’t the direction that Eddie would have wanted for the talk, but it would be necessary to improvise “I use a shampoo and a conditioner of the same brand, in addition to drying it after I shower. But my hair is a bit straighter than yours, pretty, that's why it looks like this."
"Super, you can tell me where you bought it later and I'll go get them" he mumbled, trying to ignore the fact that you had called him pretty "Thank you very much, Y/N"
“Did you call me in the middle of the night just to ask me what hair product I use?” you said amused, letting out a giggle that wasn't meant to be mocking. Eddie also laughed on the other end of the phone.
“I'm sorry, you know when I have something on my mind, I can't get it out of my head” he apologized. Max, who was witnessing everything, was looking at him with murderous eyes.
“Your curls are cute either way. I like them"
"Really?" he said, with one of the goofiest smiles.
"Yes. Even if you want…”
"Yeah?"
“There are some products to define curls and if you want to invest in something that would be a good option. I can accompany you one day”
"Please. I only know the 5-in-1 shampoo that my uncle buys” he confessed and you burst out laughing.
"You need urgent help then," I snorted, making him laugh softly. There was a short silence and although neither of you could see each other each had a loving smile.
"Thanks again. Have a good night"
"Rest, Eddie"
“You too,” he said, and even though he didn't want to do it he had to hang up. He didn't need more than a glance from his redheaded friend to start whimpering “I panicked! Okay? And technically I told her… in a roundabout way, but I did.”
“You’re a complete fool”
"Someday I'm going to tell her, don't push me" he snorted, walking to the couch and flopping down "Forget that stupid game, come and pick a movie, and don't say anything anymore" he groaned as he crossed his arms. Max just shook his head in amusement and did as he asked, not saying a word about it.
After all, she knew that, with a little effort, that boy could finally tell you how he felt about you. Someday he would.
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