LilliannaAnsalla @lilliannaansalla - Tumblr Blog

We’ll Be Freaks Together (End)

Summary: Reece had been on the run for years, from her past, her memories, her very self. Her conscious, though, won’t let her ignore the things that are happening in Hawkins. She goes back with the intention of remaining a ghost, a nameless face that haunts the edges of society, but she instead finds herself entwined with the town freak. And Eddie Munson is a hard person to say no to.

Pairing: Eddie Munson X OFC (Reece)

Warnings: Fluff

Words: 4.4k

A/N: Here we are, the end! Thank you everyone for coming with me on this journey! And in case you wanna know what Steve made her listen to, it’s Wham!’s first two albums. Because he likes to mess with Eddie. And likes the music. But messing with Eddie wins sometimes.

Tags: @rmtndew, @kebabgirl67, @cherry-gemz, @irishprincess89, @mis-lil-red, @omgkatinka, @amberangel112, @nothingbettertosay81, @beenthroughalot, @myloveforhenrycavill, @marantha, @wheretheriversrunintothesea, @funfickgirl22, @diegos-butt, @liecastillo, @sugarpenchant, @thesaucynomad, @tumblnewby, @marytudorbrandon, @bourbonwithice, @faefanatic, @ahookedheroespureheart, @sgt-morgan, @meet-me-backstage

I only have one taglist. Send me a message if you want to be added/removed! If you name is bolded, Tumblr won’t let me tag you.

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Reece answered the door to find Steve standing on the porch. “Hi,” he said. “Ready to go?”

“Let me just get my bag,” she replied. Even though life was better than she’d ever had it, with a family and friends and safety, old habits die hard, and she didn’t like to go anywhere without it. Eddie was sprawled across the floor, D&D books and binders spread all around him. The kids had been begging for Hellfire to start back up, now that he was back to his old self and they were all out of school. He’d promised to make this his best campaign yet and had been working on it non-stop, outside of picking up shifts at his new job in a garage at the edge of Hawkins. The owner and Wayne were friends, apparently, and he’d been the one to offer Eddie the job, since the rest of Hawkins was still working on changing their opinions of him (no one expected that to happen). Eddie liked it, but it did take up a bunch of his time.

Reece had her own room in the house that Hopper and Joyce had bought, next to El’s and across from Will’s. They all agreed to let Jonathan have the basement so he could set up his makeshift photography studio there. She liked having a room to fill with belongings that she was slowly gathering as she discovered her own interests and hobbies. She liked being able to stick her head out and find someone to talk to. Will and El were always happy to talk to her, and Will was thrilled when she showed an interest in art. She wasn’t very good, but her flowers were turning out okay, about half of the time.

Still, she was with Eddie more often than not. Regardless of their relationship, bright and new and fun, he was still her best friend, and she liked to coexist with him. When he was working, though, she couldn’t hang around him, so she was finding new things to occupy her day with. Sometimes, she sat at the Family Video store and talked with Robin and Steve, the pair making it their personal mission to catch her up to date on all the good movies she’d missed. Other times, she sat with Max, providing company and distraction as the redhead got used to her way of life. The physical therapy alone left her snappy and angry most days, but Reece, who was used to having a lot of emotion thrown her way from Eddie, provided a steady presence that expected nothing from her, and Max appreciated it.

Since it was summer, and most of the kids were teenagers now, they were all getting summer jobs. It left Reece with a lot of time on her hands, but on the days he didn’t work, she hung out with Steve, usually going for drives and listening to music. He’d been nearly as shocked as Eddie had been when she’d admitted that she really didn’t listen to anything besides her tapes and didn’t know much about music because of it. Where Eddie had used it as a chance to get her into metal, Steve took it as a way to help her explore her interests now that she could have a life. He listened to a wider variety of music, and he didn’t really care what she did and didn’t like.

Today was a rare time when Steve and Eddie both had the morning off, but Eddie was going in after lunch, so they didn’t cancel their plans. Reece crouched down in front of Eddie.

“I’m leaving. Steve’s here.” He tilted his head up for a kiss.

“Have fun. Stay safe.” She gave him a quick smooch before getting up and heading out the door. She and Steve clambered into his car, and he pulled out onto the road.

“So, what do you have planned for me today?” Reece asked as she tied her hair up against the rush of wind. It was a hot summer day, the air dry and cooked from the sun, and Steve had the windows cracked open to get a good breeze going, but it meant that her hair was flying all over the place.

“Here,” Steve said, reaching into the space beneath his radio and holding out a box of tapes for her. “Thought we’d listen to those and head over to this overlook I know about. There’s a drive-in on the way. We can get food and hang out there.”

“Sure!” Reece put the first tape in, jumping at the loud beginning of the song and making Steve laugh, but he immediately began tapping his thumbs to the beat, his head bobbing along. It made her giggle. She was physically incapable of sitting still during most songs, but it wasn’t usually as bad as when Eddie was listening to his music. She could get away with tapping her foot most of the time, content with watching the trees whip past them as Steve drove them out of Hawkins.

It was easy to tell which songs were Steve’s favorites, because he would often start singing a little louder, his head moving a little more, and his fingers would tap even more on the steering wheel. She didn’t dare tell him that he was more alike with Eddie than either of them wanted to admit, but she laughed at how similar they were when enjoying music while driving.

He bought them lunch, and she snacked on her fries while he took a winding road until they reached an overlook above a small lake. They sat with the doors open, Reece with her feet kicked up onto his dashboard, the music filling the air. It was punctuated with Steve telling her about the latest antics of the kids. He was still stuck driving them around whenever they needed to go somewhere. At least Will and Lucas had the decency to ask. Everyone else just radioed him and asked when he would be over to pick them up. It was so hot, eventually they laid back on the front bench, their legs sprawling outside the car into the open air, close enough to hear each other over the music. Reece laughed loudly as he explained Robin’s latest prank on Keith to get them both out of a shift.

Apparently, Keith, their manager at Family Video, was the actual worst (Steve’s words) and a dictator (Robin’s), so Robin and Steve often took it upon themselves to keep him in his place by manipulating him into getting what they wanted. The latest plan? Keith “accidentally” walked into the bathroom while Robin was in it, and she threatened to file for all kinds of sexual misconduct, since Steve was there and heard the shouting. So, they were able to go see a movie together instead of working their fifth closing shift of the week. Reece had made several silent promises to herself to never get on Robin or Nancy’s bad sides. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive.

Reece, in turn, told Steve about watching Gareth, Jeff, Davy, and Eddie get into an actual debate (they took turns to prove their points, but they were shouting loud enough that Gareth’s dad came into the garage to tell them to keep it down) about going to see Labyrinth. Gareth and Davy thought it’d be cool, because Jim Henson and George Lucas?! It was going to be so cool! Jeff thought David Bowie was weird, so he didn’t want to go see it. Eddie had a weird obsession with the Muppets that Reece did not know about, but he was adamant that it wouldn’t be better than The Dark Crystal, which he had planned to show Reece that week anyway. He was also with Jeff; he didn’t want to have to sit through David Bowie for however long the movie ran. She and Steve cackled together at the different arguments, but the story ended with the four boys agreeing to go anyway, and Reece extended an invitation for Steve and Robin, since Robin liked weird movies, and it definitely looked like a weird movie, and Steve just liked to be invited to things for the ability to say no and show up anyway in dramatic fashion.

“We should make a day out of it,” Steve said as he sat up to put in a new tape for the second or third time. She was enjoying the music, though. It was different. She liked it. Every album she seemed to like more than the others, Steve put into her bag for her to borrow. “Go to Indianapolis, hang out there until the movie’s over.”

“Could we?” Reece asked, tilting her head up to look at him. They were staring at each other upside down.

“Why not? Leave the little runts to themselves for a day.”

“Should we invite Nancy and Jonathan?” Argyle couldn’t stay in Hawkins forever, but he was planning to come visit in July.

“Sure. Be nice to just be a person for a while.” Reece hummed in agreement. They all still lived on pins and needles, waiting for something to go wrong.

“It’d be fun,” Reece said. “I hope we can all go.”

“Yeah.” They hung out for another hour or two before Steve drove them back into Hawkins. She had new tapes in her bag to listen to, and he waited until she stepped into the trailer to wave and drive off. She waved until she couldn’t see his car anymore and shut the door just in time to be grabbed from behind and spun around, making her squeal.

“Eddie! Put me down!” she exclaimed through her laughter.

“Missed you, Pieces,” Eddie said, pressing kisses to her neck and up to her ear. “You were gone for so long. Gonna have to beat up Harrington for stealing my girl.”

“He didn’t!” she protested, smacking his hands. “We had fun!” He released her enough for her to turn around and peck his lips. “He’s my friend, Eddie. Don’t be mean.”

“I’m just teasing, sweetheart,” he said. “I’m glad you had fun. And if you have to be friends with someone who isn’t me, I guess I’m glad it’s Harrington.” She smacked his shoulder, and he grinned at her. “So, was gonna cook for Wayne before he leaves for work. Wanna help?” Reece’s eyes widened.

“I’ll cook for Wayne.” The last time Eddie had tried, they’d ended up with charred spaghetti and burnt toast.

“I’ll pay attention this time, Pieces! Promise!” She didn’t trust it.

“I’ll handle it. Have you finished your campaign yet?”

“Almost,” Eddie answered.

“You work on that while I handle dinner.” He kissed her cheek and squeezed her in a hug before stepping back.

“Fine, but I’ll be a terror as soon as I’m done,” he threatened. She giggled and bit back the “you already are” that was on the tip of her tongue. Reece put her headphones on, humming along to the tunes she recognized as she chopped up vegetables for the stew she was making. It was far less questionable than the mystery stew Wayne made sometimes, and she found the chopping soothing in its repetition.

Everything was going fine until Eddie appeared at her side, a weird look on his face. She pulled her headphones away from her ears. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Are you humming to Wham! ?!” he replied.

“Is that it?” she said, looking down at the tape in the Walkman. “Steve didn’t tell me the band.”

“Harrington did this to you?!” Eddie continued.

“What’s the matter with it?” Reece asked. “I like it.”

“It’s bubbly crap, that’s what it is! It’s barely music! Pieces, my fair lady and greatest love, how could you allow him to corrupt you like this?” Eddie went on a long rant, about how fake and electronic it sounded, and that the voices barely sounded good, and Reece tuned him out, letting him go on while she went on with dinner. He was still monologuing when Wayne stepped out of his bedroom, ready for work, and he just gave Reece a look before glancing at the little pile of tapes sitting on the counter near where she was working. Wayne leaned over to her while making himself a bowl to eat.

“I listen to ABBA on the way to work, kiddo. Don’t let him pester you.” Reece giggled quietly, unheard by Eddie who had gone off on some other tangent.

“He doesn’t.” She put her headphones back on, drowning out Eddie while she and Wayne sat at the table, watching Eddie rant while they enjoyed a peaceful meal together.

It was entertaining to watch him go on like this, though. Maybe she’d ask Jonathan about music next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mom, we’re heading out!” Jonathan called over his shoulder, ruffling Will’s hair as he passed him in the corridor. Reece waved to El through the open door and smiled at Will before hurrying to follow Jonathan down the stairs.

There was a muffled answer from down the hall.

“I’ll tell her,” Reece said, pulling her hair up into a bun atop her head as Jonathan opened the door to the garage. “Go pick a good tape.”

“You got it,” Jonathan answered, already grinning at the notion of getting her into his music. After she’d told her new siblings about Eddie’s reaction to Steve’s music, Jonathan had taken it upon himself to show her “real” music, and she was enjoying his enthusiasm a bit too much.

“Joyce, we’re leaving!” Reece called as she grabbed her bag off of its hook by the door, shrugging it over her shoulders.

“Hey! Hold on!” Joyce exclaimed, coming around the corner to look her over. “Jonathan’s going?” Reece nodded.

“He’s outside already. Picking music to scare Eddie with.” Joyce straightened Reece’s shirt, brushing off imaginary lint.

“Promise to call when you get into the city?” Reece nodded.

“I’ve got change for the payphones.”

“Well, have fun. Tell everyone I said hi. I want to hear all of their voices when you call.” After everything they’d all been through, Reece didn’t fault the woman for wanting to check in with everyone.

“I’ll tell them.” Joyce pulled her into a hug, giving her a squeeze.

“Have fun, sweetie. Go be a teenager, no matter how much I hate it.” Reece grinned, kissing Joyce’s cheek

“I will. Don’t worry too much. Steve’s still got his bat in the trunk, and I think Nancy’s still got a gun in her purse.” Joyce huffed a laugh, giving her a light push.

“That’s why I worry,” the woman said, and Reece giggled as she hurried out the door, clambering into the passenger seat while Jonathan pressed play on the tape he’d put in. Reece groaned at the opening notes.

“Talking Heads again?” she complained. “Jonathan, we tried this already.” He laughed quietly as he pulled away from the house, heading towards the trailer park to pick up Eddie. Normally, they would’ve taken Eddie’s van, but it had broken down (after weeks of being on its last legs, the way he drove) and was in the shop for repairs. Steve was picking up Nancy and Robin and meeting them at Eddie’s trailer, and they were all taking the Byers’s station wagon, since it would fit all of them. She was pretty sure that Steve was going to do the actual driving, though, because it was the only way they could separate him and Robin without the two of them getting into some kind of play fight.

“Still not your thing, huh?”

“No!” Reece laughed. “You did this on purpose!” He laughed again, motioning to his little box of tapes in the glove compartment.

“I’m sorry. Choose something else.”

“I’m putting Hopper’s boring music in as revenge.”

“No, please, I’m sorry,” Jonathan apologized. All the kids (except El) hated Hopper’s music tastes. Still, sometimes they were forced to endure it when they went somewhere as a group. It was a serious threat to play it when he wasn’t around.

“I don’t know enough to choose something else, so I’ll let it stay,” Reece said, “but next time, I’ll do it. I mean it.” The smile on her face made it clear she wouldn’t.

They arrived at the new Munson trailer, bigger and better with a room for Wayne to have to himself, just as Eddie bounced down the stairs, flinging open the door for Reece and pulling her out to spin her around. “My fair lady!” he exclaimed, making her squeal as he spun her so much her feet lifted off the ground. “It has been ages! I nearly wasted away for want of you.”

“I saw you last night for dinner,” Reece protested.

“And it is after breakfast now!” Eddie said, setting her on her feet and pressing kisses all over her face before landing on her mouth for a long moment. “There. Now I shall survive the day.” She giggled at his antics. “And what monstrosity have you been forced to listen to today?” Eddie asked, leaning his head down into the station wagon just as Jonathan turned off the car.

“Music,” he answered.

“At least you didn’t make her listen to Wham!” Eddie muttered. Jonathan winced, and Reece rolled her eyes.

“I like it!” she protested. “There’s nothing wrong with it, and I’m going to enjoy it when I’m the one who has to deal with the pins and needles later!”

Her argument had been voiced so many times, it was nearly muscle memory at this point.

Luckily, she was saved from the combined music rants of Eddie and Jonathan by Steve pulling up, Robin and Nancy in the back seat. “Everyone’s here!” Robin cheered. “See, I told you we’d be last.”

“What time did we agree? Nine. What time is it? Eight fifty,” Steve argued as they all climbed out. “I can’t help if someone else is early!”

“Are we ready to go?” Nancy asked, ignoring Steve and Robin’s bickering in the background.

“At your command, Wheeler,” Eddie said, slinging an arm around Reece’s shoulders.

“I brought snacks,” Reece said, motioning to her bag.

“Did you bring the good licorice?” Robin asked, her head snapping over from her conversation with Steve.

“Yes, I did.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Steve said. “We can just buy some at the theater.”

“But they never have it when I get there,” Robin complained.

“If we just climb in the car, do you think we can leave them?” Eddie whispered to Reece, who giggled and climbed into the second row of the station wagon, Eddie clambering in with her. Jonathan and Robin took the back for themselves, and Nancy sat next to Steve in the passenger seat.

The majority of the drive was spent with the usual bickering of Steve and Robin, except shouted through the car over the wind through the open windows. Eddie chimed in on things he deemed important, but Reece spun around in her chair to talk to Jonathan, the pair talking quietly about things they would try to buy for Will and El while they were in the city. They had the whole day, after all. They weren’t going to buy tickets until the evening showings, so there was no rush for them to try to plan something.

Once they were set on a new sketchbook for Will and a series of scrunchies and a vest for El, Reece leaned against Eddie and took a nap, letting the music and conversation along with the movement of the car lull her to sleep.

“Hey! I see it!” Robin said a few hours later, her head getting shoved into the space between Eddie and Reece to see through the front windows.

Reece had stayed away from big cities in her time on the run, for obvious reasons. She didn’t have to worry about that now, though. As Steve navigated into the outskirts of the city, Reece stuck her head out the window, looking up at all the buildings, all the people, all the cars. It was so big. There was so much of everything.

“Whatcha think, Pieces?” Eddie asked, leaning next to her and looking around.

“There’s so much. I thought it’d be closer to Hawkins, but it’s so big.”

“Welcome to the city, sweetheart,” he said, kissing her cheek.

Steve parked them near the theater so they wouldn’t have to walk as far after the movie, and Nancy pulled out a map, always prepared.

“Okay, so if we want to shop, we need to go that way,” she said, pointing to their left. “Or, if we want food, there’s a good place further up the road.”

“I could eat,” Steve said. Reece raised her hand as well.

“Then let’s go!” Robin said, linking arms with Reece and heading off in the direction Nancy had pointed. “I haven’t been here before. Can you believe there are buildings this tall? How do you even build one? I’ve seen videos of it, but I couldn’t do it. What if you fall off? They don’t even give you like a harness or anything!” Reece let her ramble, chiming in where necessary, while Nancy directed her from behind when to turn. The boys followed along behind, but Reece couldn’t hear if they were talking or not, given Robin’s chatter and the sounds of the city around them.

The restaurant Nancy led them to was a sandwich shop, a small place nestled between a bookshop and a florist. They were greeted by a man and his wife, and one by one, they ordered their food before squeezing into one of the booths. Reece ended up wedged between Eddie and Jonathan, but she didn’t mind. It kept Steve and Robin from kicking each other across the table, as they sometimes did. They chatted amongst themselves, Nancy explaining that her mom had come here once to meet friends from college, and she’d told Nancy to stop here while they were in the city. Everyone agreed it was a good place, and they all made sure to leave nice tips on the table as they left, waving goodbye to the couple as they stepped out into the noisy street again.

“What now?” Nancy asked.

“I want to look around,” Reece said.

“There’s a music store a few blocks from here,” Eddie said. “I went there once a few years ago. It’s right by a bunch of other stores.”

“We’re looking for stuff for El and Will,” Reece said, motioning between herself and Jonathan, “but I can look if you want to go to the music store,” she told Jonathan.

“You sure? I don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I want new shoes,” Robin spoke up, looking at her chunky black boots that were starting to show a lot of age. “And the store in Hawkins never has my size.”

“So we’ll go shopping,” Nancy declared. “If anyone sees something they want to do, speak up.”

Reece had never dedicated time to shopping, but she had actual money now, and she was determined to use it wisely. Steve helped her pick out a vest for El, multicolored and soft, with plenty of places for her to sew patches or other accessories on it. She and Jonathan picked out a collection of sketchbooks and colored pencils for Will, and by the time all of them had made their purchases at all the various stores, their arms were full, and the bags were stuffed in the very back of the station wagon. Reece spared a thought to hope that Robin and Jonathan wouldn’t be too cramped on the way back to Hawkins, but Eddie was pulling her towards the movie theater, already bemoaning having to stare at David Bowie for however long the movie lasted.

They claimed an entire row for themselves, snacks and drinks in their laps. Eddie made fun of all the trailers that played before the movie actually started, and he kept talking while the opening played. Reece and Robin both shushed him.

Reece hated the movie. The music was fine, she supposed, but as a whole, it creeped her out, and she’d been in the Upside Down. She eventually just turned and hid her face in Eddie’s shoulder. Just–no.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Eddie whispered.

“I don’t like it,” she whispered back.

“You wanna go wait out in the lobby?”

“You want to watch it,” she answered.

“I can see it back in Hawkins with the guys. It’s okay. Let’s go.” He got up, pulling her with him, and the stumble back out into the dimly-lit lobby was filled with whispered apologies before Eddie let her sit down in one of the chairs by the concessions.

“I’m sorry,” Reece apologized. “It just–it creeped me out. I don’t like it.”

“It’s okay,” Eddie replied, bouncing his legs and looking around the area. “Wouldn’t want you to have nightmares about Bowie’s pants anymore than usual.” Reece snorted. They were a bit ridiculous. Eventually, she and Eddie wandered out to the front of the theater, doing a little more window shopping until they circled back just in time to catch the others at the car.

“Hey, everything alright?” Nancy asked.

“All’s well, Wheeler. We just couldn’t handle anymore of David Bowie and went to do something more fun.”

“You didn’t like it?” Robin asked, looking at Reece. She shook her head.

“No. Not even a little bit.”

“Oh.” Robin was a little disappointed, but she didn’t say anything else.

“Everyone ready to go?” Steve asked. “Need anything before we hit the road?” Everyone shook their heads and clambered back into the car.

Before long, they had left Indianapolis behind them, darkness surrounding them save for the intermittent streetlights and the headlights lighting up the road ahead. Reece leaned against Eddie, who was leaning against the door.

The radio played some music, and Eddie and Jonathan apparently either approved of the choice or were too tired from the busy day to care. Reece sighed in content, closing her eyes and intending to sleep until they got back to Hawkins.

“Have fun, sweetheart?” Eddie whispered. She hummed, nodding. Eddie’s arms looped around her, and she drifted off to sleep the background noise of the music, Nancy and Steve talking quietly in the front, and the road beneath them.

She had needed this day out, a day to just be herself, to be a teenager. They all had.

She was glad to have such good friends. She wouldn’t trade them for anything.