Feel Good Drag Part 3
Pairing: Eddie Munson x Chrissy Cunningham, Eddie Munson x OC (eventually)
Summary: Â Natalie and Eddie had been best friends for a few years since she moved to Hawkins. The pair had been inseparable...until Chrissy Cunningham came into the picture. Â
Trigger Warnings: Suicide attempt, overdose, Sexual Assault/rape
Notes: I decided not to really describe the OC so the reader can imagine them however they want. The only definite/clear describer (is that a word?) is that it is a she/her OC.
Part 1 Part 2
Written by @the-stuttering-kiwi Co-owner of @once-upon-a-fanfic
Edited by @theshadowsparade  Co-owner of @once-upon-a-fanfic
Oh hi. I’ve crawled out of my seasonal depression to finish this up. Shout out to @andvys​ (I hope you don’t mind the tag) for getting me back in Eddie Munson’s choke hold. Go read her stuff, its seriously amazing *chefs kiss*.
“You kids realize it's my night off, right?” Jim Hopper leaned against the doorway of Natalie’s hospital room.
“Sorry Chief.” Dustin got up and grabbed the journal from the bedside table. Eddie hadn’t been able to open it again. “I have something I need you to look at.” He handed Hopper the journal and motioned for him to go out into the hallway.
Eddie sat on the edge of his chair, his right leg tapping in tune with his heart in his chest. The beep of the monitors and the hiss of the oxygen tank made him want to crawl out of his skin. He could hear Dustin and Hopper murmuring in the hallway, discussing the contents of the last page.
Eddie closed his eyes and grabbed Nat’s hand. It was the first time he touched her since they found her in the bathroom. How could he have abandoned his best friend?
“Hopper is gonna take care of it,” Dustin said. He sniffled as he sat back down in his chair, his eyes red and puffy.
Eddie nodded, grateful that his friend had called the police. He told Dustin, “You should go home and get some sleep. It’s been… what… almost 24 hours?” Eddie squinted at the clock on the wall, his eyesight blurry from exhaustion.
“So should you.”
“No, I can’t,” Eddie shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.” He gripped Nats' hand, wrapping his fingers around hers.
“Then I’m staying too.”
After a few minutes of trying to get comfortable in his chair, Dustin let out a defeated huff. “Fine. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go sleep on one of the couches in the waiting room. But that’s as far as I’m going.”
Eddie cracked a small smile. “That’s good enough for me.”
With Dustin gone, the room felt overwhelming. His eyes filled with tears, and he found he didn’t have the energy to hold them back.
“I’m sorry, Nat,” a sob wrenched itself from his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
A loud thud woke Eddie. He shot up in his chair, trying to blink the sun that was pouring in from the window out of his eyes. He glanced at Nat, who was still unconscious. Another thud from behind him made him turn in his chair.
“What the fuck?” he wondered out loud.
Several boxes were stacked in the hospital room. A closer look told him they were from Nat’s room. Eddie quickly realized the person tossing the boxes in the room was Nat's mom.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growled.
She glared at Eddie. “Didn’t you hear? My husband was arrested last night.”
Good; that is the least that should happen to him, Eddie thought. Instead, he said, “Yeah, and?  Shouldn’t it be his boxes you are tossing out?”
She had the audacity to look shocked. “The only reason he was arrested is that little slut,” she spat the word, “accused him of raping her.”
Eddie shot out of his chair, kicking it away from him hard enough it slammed into the wall behind him with a loud clang. He took two big steps toward Natalie's mom, standing tall to look intimidating.
“Your daughter, your child, ” he pointed behind him, “Almost fucking died because that piece of shit raped her.”
Nat’s mom was determined to hold her ground. “It’s a shame she didn’t follow through,” she sneered. Clenching his fists, Eddie opened his mouth to speak just as Dustin appeared in the doorway, arms loaded with snacks and drinks from the vending machine down the hall.
“What… what’s going on?” he asked innocently.
“She’s just dropping off some of Nat’s things,” Eddie replied through gritted teeth.
Dustin looked between Eddie, Natalie’s mom, and the boxes on the floor. It took him a few moments to read the room, but the realization hit him like a freight train, “Oh.”
“She was just leaving,” Eddie said bitterly.
Nat’s mom dramatically dropped the last box in her hands and stomped out of the room.
Eddie didn’t move as Dustin made his way into the room and dumped his haul onto the table under the window.
“You okay?” Dustin asked.
“I can’t… I can’t believe we left her with them,” Eddie replied. The guilt was eating him alive. Dustin didn’t reply, but Eddie knew he felt the same way.
“You should eat something.”
“I”m not hungry,” Eddie shook his head. He grabbed his chair away from the wall, pulling it back to its spot next to Nat.
“I know, but you should still eat something,” he offered Eddie a small bag of pretzels and a can of coke.
Eddie hesitated for a moment but took the food. “Thanks.”
He opened the bag, and the smell made his stomach growl quietly. He popped a couple of pretzels into his mouth and chewed slowly. He glanced over at the boxes Natalie’s mom brought, but even the sight of them made his stomach churn.
“We should get these boxes out of here,” he said before he took a big gulp of soda, “I don’t want Nat to see them when she wakes up.”
“I can call the guys to come and grab them.” Dustin had already gotten up to start calling.
“They can take them to my place,” Eddie said.
As they began to discuss the details of where Natalie’s stuff would go, Gareth and Jeff knocked on her door.
“Is she doing okay?” Gareth asked.
“She hasn’t really changed,” Dustin explained.
“And her mom really dumped all her stuff here?” Jeff asked, shaking his head while he looked at the boxes.
“I heard Creeper Craig resisted arrest last night. The Chief took him in all black and blue, broken nose, and a few more missing teeth.” Gareth cracked a smile.
“The least he deserves,” Eddie said while the others nodded in agreement.
Eddie helped them carry the boxes out to their car. It felt good to stretch his legs. He stood in the sun for a moment, the warmth spreading across his face, feeling the fresh air in his lungs.
“That’s the last one,” Dustin announced, loading the final box in the trunk.
Eddie reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys, snaking the one for his trailer off the ring. “Here, just pile them inside and I’ll take care of it later.” He handed the key to Jeff.
“I'll go with them to drop everything off and come back,” Dustin explained, as he went to close the trunk.
“Wait.” Something in the box caught Eddie’s eye. He took a couple of steps and grabbed the copy of The Hobbit he had gotten Nat for her last birthday. He used to read the book aloud to her in their downtime; Nat would snort with laughter when he would do the voices for the characters. Gollum was her favorite.
The memory made his throat tighten, and he fought back the tears that flooded his eyes.
Dustin looked at him sadly, “I’ll be back soon, okay?”
Eddie just nodded. “Okay,” he echoed.
Back in the hospital room, Eddie laced his fingers with Nat’s and gave her hand a squeeze. The heart monitor beeped steadily, and other than occasional footsteps in the hallway, the room was overwhelmingly quiet.
Using one hand, he opened the book that lay on his lap, his eyes scanning the note that he had written on the inside cover page. “ Now someone else in Hawkins can read The Hobbit because you won’t have the library's only copy indefinitely checked out. Happy 18th birthday, Nat! Please note that I am always available to do my best Gollum voice. Love, Eddie.”
“Love, Eddie.” He traced his messy handwriting with a shaking finger.  If this never-ending nightmare taught Eddie anything it was that he did love Natalie.  But if he thought he didn’t deserve her before...he sure as shit didn’t deserve her now.
Clearing his throat, Eddie turned to the first page and read aloud, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit…”
Natalie
Natalie wrinkled her nose, trying to get the feeling of air rushing into her nostrils to stop. She reached what felt like an extremely heavy hand to her face to try and push it away, but was met with hard plastic and tubing.
What the hell? she thought.
She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, looking around the room to get her bearings. When she realized she was in a hospital room, memories flooded back to her.
Craig. The smell of stale beer and old cigarettes. The bitter taste of the pills on her tongue. Eddie yelling in her ear while she vomited.
Eddie…
When her eyes found Eddie, her breath caught in her throat. He sat slouched in the chair next to her bed, a book lying open on his lap. His eyes were closed, and his mouth hung open slightly, a quiet snore escaping every few moments. She realized her left hand was firmly in his grip even though he was sound asleep.
She gave his hand a squeeze. Eddie’s eyes shot open.
“Hi,” her voice was small and raspy.
“Hi,” Eddie said breathlessly. He jerked forward to press the nurse call button.
“Wait,” Nat croaked. “We can call them in a minute, okay?”
Eddie nodded. He stood quickly and moved to the edge of the hospital bed, still holding Nat’s hand. He stared down to where their fingers were laced together. She gave him a reassuring squeeze. When he finally looked at her, his eyes were glassy. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a quiet sob.
“I’m sorry, Eddie,” Nat started, but Eddie shook his head.
“No,” his voice wavered a little. “No, we–I, I abandoned you, Nat. I will never forgive myself for that. You have nothing, nothing to be sorry for.”
“I really missed you,” Nat’s lower lip trembled.
Eddie nodded, leaned forward, and pressed his lips against her forehead.
“I missed you too,” he murmured. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to hers. His long hair fell around their faces, noses brushing against each other.
Nat heard hurried footsteps approaching her room. A nurse poked her head in and gasped.
“Oh, you're awake!” she hurried in and pushed Eddie out of the way to start checking Natalie's vitals. It wasn’t long before the doctor and another nurse came into the room.
“You’ll have to wait outside while we do some tests, okay?” one of the nurses pointed Eddie to the door.
“But–” Natalie started, feeling overwhelmed by the flurry of activity.
“It’s okay. I’ll be right outside, okay?” Eddie offered her a reassuring smile, but she knew he didn’t want to leave either.
Trying not to panic, Natalie gave a quick nod and kept her eyes on Eddie until he was out of sight.
Eddie
Eddie paced the hallway while the nurses worked. Chief Hopper had also arrived a little while ago, and was no doubt asking Nat about what she had written in her journal.
“Eddie!” Dustin’s voice was frantic; he came sprinting down the hallway. “Eddie, what’s wrong? Is it Nat? Is she okay?” Dustin skidded to a halt in front of Eddie.
Eddie opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.
“She’s okay. I think you guys are okay to go in now,” Hopper appeared in the doorway, while the last of the nurses filed out.. He smiled and patted Dustin on the shoulder and gave Eddie a quick nod. “I’ll talk to you kids later, okay?”
Dustin took a deep breath, holding onto Eddie for support. “I saw you out here and I just thought… I’m sorry I took so long, man, I wanted to do something for you and Nat.”
“It’s okay; you came back just in time,” Eddie steered Dustin into Nat’s room.
“You’re awake?!” Dustin yelped and ran to the bed, nearly dive-bombing Nat.
Eddie leaned against the door frame while he watched Dustin give Natalie a tight hug. His chest felt lighter than it had the last couple of days, but anxiety still gnawed at the back of his mind.
“They said I can probably go home tomorrow afternoon,” Nat’s voice was beginning to sound normal again.
“So soon?” Dustin asked, surprised.
“It depends on bloodwork. You know, make sure things are improving, but they think I can recover better at home.”
Home…
Eddie chewed on his bottom lip–how was he going to tell her about her mom?
“Why are your faces like that?” Nat asked slowly, looking between Dustin and Eddie. Only then did Eddie realize Dustin looked suddenly ill.
“Well,” Dustin started, but Eddie cut him off.
“Why don’t you go home, Dust? Take a shower, sleep in a real bed.” He took a step into the room while Nat continued to stare at them suspiciously.
Dustin nodded, gave Nat another big hug, and murmured that he would see her tomorrow.
Eddie sat slowly down on the bed next to Nat. “So, tomorrow, when you get discharged, you’ll come back to my place.” He wasn’t sure how else to say it, other than bluntly.
“Why?”
“Your mom,” Eddie struggled to find the right way to tell her, as he stared at his hands. “Your mom kicked you out.”
He glanced at Nat but found her face was nearly impossible to read. “Oh.”
“But it’s okay, though. We got all your stuff over at my place.” He suddenly wondered if she wouldn’t want to stay with him. “It will be close quarters, but we will be fine.”
“What about Chrissy?”
“Not a factor,” Eddie said simply.
Eddie and Natalie sat in silence for a long moment. “Eddie?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know why I got kicked out?” she asked quietly.
Eddie looked at her sadly, “Yes. We found your journal. We had to tell someone.”
Nat’s lower lip started to quiver. “So then… you know everything?”
Eddie nodded, and Nat found she couldn’t look at him and turned her head to face away from him..  Part of her felt ridiculous that she felt more upset that this was how Eddie found out about her feelings for him–something that was ruined now. If Eddie suddenly felt any different it would be out of pity.  She tried to blink back the tears but they came anyway.
:”Hey,” Eddie said softly, grabbing her hand, “Look at me.”
Nat slowly turned her head to face Eddie, her eyes red and puffy from crying. Eddie gently wiped away her tears with his thumb and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I’m sorry,” Nat said, her voice trembling. “I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”
Eddie smiled softly. “Hey, don’t apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for.  I just wish…I wish I had told you sooner…”
“Tell me what?”  Nat sniffed, confused.
“ I think part of the reason I fell so hard down the Chrissy rabbit hole was because I was trying so hard to ignore how I felt about you.”
Nat’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you mean?”
Eddie took a deep breath. “What I mean is–I think I had,  have , feelings for you too, Nat. But I buried those feelings down so far because you’ve been trying so hard to get out of Hawkins…I didn’t want to be the reason why you got stuck here”
Nat’s heart skipped a beat. “You… you do?”
Eddie nodded, his eyes meeting hers. “I do.”
A smile slowly spread across Nat’s face as she realized what Eddie was saying, but then her smile faltered a little, “You aren’t just saying that because of what happened are you?”
Eddie shook his head, “I’m sorry I didn’t just tell you, and I’m sorry it took all this for me to pull my head out of my ass and tell you.”
They sat there for a moment, hands intertwined, both feeling the weight of the unspoken feelings they had been carrying for so long finally lifted off their shoulders.
“So, what now?” Nat asked.
Eddie grinned. “Now, we take things one step at a time. We don’t have to rush into anything–once you are ready we will figure it all out.”
Nat smiled back at him. “I like the sound of that.”
Natalie
Nat was grateful when she got to leave the hospital the following afternoon.  Despite everything she was excited to get back to Eddie’s trailer and start trying to heal.  The ride was quiet and being awkward with Eddie was not a familiar feeling, but she knew Eddie was just as nervous as she was.
Right before Eddie turned into the trailer park, she heard him swear under his breath.
“What?” She asked, glancing at him.
“Nothing, I was just thinking I should have come back this morning while you were sleeping and gotten the place cleaned up a little bit.  And got your stuff put away–I didn’t want you coming home to a pile of your stuff in boxes.”
“It’s okay,” Nat reassured him, “Really, we can get everything put away later.”
As they got closer to Eddie’s trailer Nat’s anxiety started to gnaw at her gut, despite reminding herself that she had Eddie had practically lived together up until a month or so ago, but now with their feelings out in the open, everything was different.
“What the–” Eddie’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts as they pulled into the parking spot in front of the trailer.  Nat couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed the balloons until now.
“Dustin.” They said in unison, grinning at eachother.
Sure enough, Dustin and the others were waiting outside with Eddie’s Uncle Wayne.
“Welcome home!” Dustin practically bounced to the van and opened Nat’s door and pulled her out.
“Thanks, Dustin.”
“Hey kid, long time no see” Uncle Wayne greeted Nat warmly and pulled her in for a quick hug.
“Can we go inside now?” Dustin asked excitedly.
Uncle Wayne chucked, “The boy has a big surprise for you and Nat.” he patted Eddie on the shoulder and steered him to the front door.
“Gareth and Jeff helped too!” Dustin ran ahead of them and opened the door .“And Mike. They wanted to be here to welcome you home but Waybe was worried about it being too overwhelming.”
Nat quietly agreed, while her eyes scanned the trailer. One of the first things Nat noticed was that the trailer was spotless, not that it was dirty, but Wayne worked long, hard hours, and Eddie was…well, Eddie.
“I figured since this was your place now too, we should get our act together,” Wayne explained as Nat looked around.
“You didn’t have to,” Nat said sincerely.  Even at its worst, the trailer was always more comforting and felt like home more than her own did.
“Come on,” Dustin said excitedly, as he grabbed Nat’s hand and pulled her back to Eddie’s room. Nat grabbed Eddie's hand as she brushed past him, grinning.
“Are you ready?” Dustin asked, hand on the doorknob to the bedroom.
“To see my own room?  The room I’ve lived in for the past 10 years? I think I’m ready.” Eddie asked, rolling his eyes.
“I get the feeling you aren’t ready,” Dustin replied, vibrating with excitement.
“Well, I’m ready.” Nat laughed, “Open it on up.”
As Nat looked around, she noticed that everything had been organized and tidied up. The clothes that were once piled up in a corner were now folded and hung up, and the posters that once hung crookedly on the wall were now straight and even. The closet door which could never close due to its contents perpetually spilling from it was latched firmly in place.  Eddie’s bed which was just a mattress on the floor was now an actual bed, with extra space underneath for their things. Along the far wall, she noticed an army cot was neatly made up.
Nat felt a sense of warmth and gratitude wash over her as she realized how much effort Wayne, Dustin, and the others had put into making her new home feel welcoming and comfortable.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Nat said, turning to Wayne and Dustin with a smile. “Thank you so much for doing all of this.”
“Of course,” Wayne replied, smiling back at her. “We wanted to make sure you felt at home here.”
“It’s definitely homier,” Eddie added, chuckling. “Thanks, guys.”
Dustin beamed with pride at their reactions, clearly happy to have helped out. “Glad you like it,” he said.
Nat felt a sense of contentment wash over her–she felt like she was finally home.
