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deal with the devil

eddie munson x cheerleader!reader

fic summary: you want to piss off your parents. eddie wants to pass his classes. so you make a deal with each other: he'll date you, you'll tutor him, and you'll both end the year happy. the catch? no falling in love. slow burn romance, enemies to friends to lovers, fake dating, don't fall in love. fic takes place in 1984-85. inspired by 18 by anarbor.

chapter summary: another year at hawkins high, another year with your parents on your back, another year single. or so everyone else thinks. you've come up with a plan over the summer that you think will solve your problems. there's just one problem: getting eddie "the freak" munson to agree to date you.

warnings: this series in 18+, minors dni! afab reader. reader is 18 with an august birthday, eddie is 19. reader has a controlling father. sfw, however there is some nsfw language and mentions of sex. bullying towards eddie. reader mentions being in a physical fight in the past and having to go to a counsellor over it. mentions of eddie's drug dealing.

a/n: i'm addicted to this dynamic, so now you all have to suffer with me! here's to a new fic!

want to be on the taglist for this fic? reply below!

chapter one: the proposal

Tuesday, September the 4th, 1984. You'd drawn pink and red hearts around the day in your agenda. It was the day after Labour Day, the first day of your senior year.

And the last day you'd be single.

When Eddie Munson had stormed out of the school, cussing up a storm and kicking a trashcan to the ground, you knew he was being held back for another year. He should have graduated in '83, this year being referred to as his "victory lap" by his friends to keep him from feeling like a failure. There wasn't a clever nickname for being held back a second year in a row, though.

Your father, who had picked you up from school that day, had shook his head as he watched Eddie call the principal every name in the book and then some he'd obviously crafted himself. He hurled a packet of papers to the ground and kicked them to shreds with his boots.

"Failing Spanish? How do I know the teacher's a maldita puta, then?!"

"Jesus," you father had grumbled. "Is that Wayne's boy? I haven't seen him since his real father shaved his head. You know he's been in jail for the past six years."

"So?" you had sighed, idly watching as Eddie yanked his van door open and slammed it shut so hard the whole vehicle shook.

"I want you to stay away from that boy, Y/N. He's trouble, and a sweet girl like you deserves far better than him."

You'd perked up, ready to tell him that Eddie was nothing more than the Freak of Hawkins High, that you'd never even given him a second glance, and that Eddie hated girls like you. But then he'd said those three words.

"You hear me?"

And your whole brain had shut down. You'd ground your back teeth, all the other times he'd ordered you around resurfacing in your memory. No hanging out with your cheerleader friends outside of school and practice; no going to this Halloween party or that Spring Break trip; no using the car, no dating until you were eighteen, and certainly no boys at the house. Whenever you were on the phone, he'd get on the line and ask who you were talking to.

"Yes, sir," you'd said.

Eddie had started his car then, revving the engine as loud, angry music blared from his speakers. His tires had screeched, leaving black marks on the pavement as he ripped out of the parking lot, cut off another student, and vanished onto the road.

And slowly, over the course of that summer, you'd pieced together a plan. It was just a silly daydream at first. Something you thought about as you lounged around the house or worked at the department store with your mother. What if you disobeyed your father? What if you dated Eddie Munson? You would turn eighteen that August, and you'd be allowed to date -- his rule. Just the thought of pissing him off made you giggle. And after he got over it, he'd have no choice but to let you make your own decisions. You'd be an adult, preparing to go off to college where he'd have zero input on your life.

Whenever you could, you stopped by the grocery store where Eddie's uncle had apparently forced him to work over the summer. Allegedly, his paycheck was going right to his uncle as payment for all the bullshit he'd been putting him through. You'd scoped him out while he was stacking boxes and working the checkout. He wasn't ugly. You wouldn't have been able to pull it off if you weren't even able to look at him. No, he was actually kind of good looking. His eyes, his smile, the soft slope of his cheek. He helped an old lady reach a cereal box, and you saw him feeding a stray cat on his lunch break. So at least he wasn't that mean, scary metalhead you'd thought he was.

There was just one problem: he hated cheerleaders.

Cheerleaders, jocks, honour students, and people who were more popular than he was. Which, technically, you were. Cheerleading was a sport, so that checked two of the boxes. You were a straight-A student, and were on a direct path to an ivy league future thanks to your parents' credentials. And you had heaps of friends who invited you out everywhere, the final nail in your coffin. You were Eddie Munson's enemy, and you weren't even sure he knew your name.

But you were hot. You knew it. The only reason your father had implemented the "no dating" rule was because you'd been inundated with dates the second your boobs developed. And they wouldn't have made you a cheerleader if you were ugly. It was that simple. Maybe Eddie could hate you for your personality, or your friends, or whatever else he could come up with -- but there was no way he could hate you with his hands full of your tits. Which you'd give him, if he agreed to date you.

Today was your first step: proposing the idea to him. If you didn't have a class with him, you decided you would corner him after school. That morning, you put on your best hip-hugging jeans and paired them with a hot pink bodysuit tucked into them and a pair of white sneakers. You didn't tease your hair; you didn't want to scare him off with too many trends. You pulled your hair up into a pink scrunchie and put on wristwarmers you knew you'd take off by the time it was noon and summer reminded you it was still very much present. Your eyeliner was perfect. Your lips were glossy and kissable. There was no way he would be able to resist.

\

Eddie rolled into your shared science class fifteen minutes late, reeking of cigarette smoke. You'd made sure to shoo away anyone who dared to sit beside you at your lab desk. He had no other choice but to slump down onto the stool next to yours. He didn't even look at you. Just tossed his bag to the ground and watched the teacher as he droned on about what that semester would entail.

"Hi," you whispered when he was settled.

His eyes flickered over to you, then back to the board.

You cleared your throat. "Hi," you said a little louder.

"I heard you the first time."

Oh. This was going to be more difficult than you expected. When the teacher handed out a worksheet and set the class loose, you turned to face him with a smile.

"I guess we're lab partners!"

"Guess so." Eddie opened up his notebook to the first page, where there was a half-finished sketch of a dragon. At least, you were pretty sure it was a dragon. Maybe a dinosaur. He bent over the desk and began to shade it.

"Okay, so the first question is pretty obvious." You looked at him, waiting for his input. He just kept scribbling away. "Uh, Eddie?"

"If it's so obvious, then maybe you should answer it."

You stiffened, then jotted down the answer. "Well, maybe you can help me with the second question?"

He lifted a shoulder. "I doubt I'll be much help."

"I mean, you could try. Can you do that?"

Eddie's gaze rose to the chalkboard as he worked his jaw. When he looked to you, his dark brown eyes were cold and hard.

"Yeah. I can. But it didn't get me anywhere last year, so what's the point?" He turned back to his notebook. "It's not to late for you to switch partners, y'know."

As he went back to his sketch, you felt frustration burning up inside you. It threatened to come out in the form of an insult. No wonder you fucking failed, you don't even care! But that would ruin any chance you had with him. So instead, you slid the worksheet over so that it bumped his elbow and he had a good view of it.

"Okay, second question," you said, and read it aloud. It was easy enough; just a review of what you'd learned last year. You slowly went through your answer and how you came to it. Then, you did the same with the next question.

The rest of the period went on that way -- you, reading the questions and spoonfeeding him the answers; Eddie, huddled over his drawing, showing no indication that he even heard you. When the bell rang, Eddie slapped his notebook shut, shoved it into his bag, and stormed out without a word.

Okay, step one was turning out to be a stumble. But you still had lunch.

\

Eddie was the first person at his table. You hurried over to where he sat and stood there until he turned to look up at you.

"Can I help you?" he drawled, looking bored of the conversation already.

You pointed to the space beside him. "Is this seat taken?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, it is."

"But... But it's empty."

"Then why are you asking if it's taken?" He sat up a little taller. "Actually, better question: why do you even want to sit here? You gonna read me my English textbook?"

"I was just trying to help."

"I never asked you to."

"You didn't have to --"

"Y/N!"

You turned at the sound of your friend calling your name. Even without their uniforms, you could recognize the cheerleaders and jocks by the way they flocked together. How they stood with their shoulders back, chests out, acting as if they owned the entire school. One of them waved you over.

Eddie let out a bitter laugh that drew your attention back. He was shaking his head.

"There it is. Listen, Princess, just because last year's seniors had their fun with me doesn't mean you get free reign. So why don't you go back to your friends and leave the Freak alone, huh?"

"I didn't know you knew so much about last year's seniors," you fired back without thinking. "But you were supposed to graduate with them. Oh, wait! It was the year before that, wasn't it? Maybe someone should read your textbooks to you."

Eddie got up and ripped the tray from your hands. He had the entire cafeteria's attention when he stomped over to your friends' table where they were just beginning to sit down and slammed your tray in front of an empty spot. Bits of your lunch were launched into the air, and your drink (with the cap luckily on) fell onto the table and rolled onto the floor.

"There," he snapped. "This seat's free."

"Asshole!" one of the jocks yelled after him as he walked away. Eddie just gave him the finger without looking back.

He nearly knocked you over when he returned to his table. You trudged to your table and sat down -- making sure to move the tray so that you weren't sitting where he'd placed you, not that it mattered. You tried to cool down. You tried calming breaths, counting down from ten, everything that stupid student counsellor told you to do after you'd gotten into that fight last year. But you just felt yourself getting more frustrated.

When lunch was over, you went to the washroom to try one more time to calm yourself down before your next class. But as you approached the door, you spied Eddie strolling into the men's room.

This wasn't at all going the way you wanted it to. And you always got your way.

You ran after him, grabbed him by the back of his stupid jacket, and yanked him into a stall. You locked the door and grabbed his lapels, jamming him up against the wall.

"You're a real dick, you know that?" you snapped.

"You're not supposed to be in here."

"Really? You sell ketamine; don't quote the rules to me. I was trying to be nice to you!"

Eddie spat out a laugh. "That was you being nice?"

"I meant back in class, idiot."

"And now she calls me an idiot." He grabbed your wrists and gently forced you to release his jacket. "Listen, I don't know why you have some weird obsession with me all of a sudden, but you need to calm down. I don't even know you."

"I'm Y/N."

He nodded once. "Right. And that matters to me... why?"

"Don't you know who I am?"

He released your wrists. "Uh, cheerleader, honour student, belongs on a magazine cover..."

"Oh, my God, you think I belong on a magazine cover?" You couldn't help the sheepish smile, though you knew he was right.

"Didn't you get into a fight with that girl last year? You pulled a hunk of her hair out."

You twirled a lock of hair around your finger. "That was me, yeah."

"Oh, wow, it is so fucked up that you're proud of that."

"Listen, that doesn't matter. I have a question for you. A... proposal. It'd benefit both of us for the rest of the year."

"I'm not letting you sell drugs."

You blinked. "What?"

"You're the second person today to ask me for help getting into the business. Firstly, I'm not letting you poach my customers, and secondly, there's no way I'm letting Hawkins' answer to Shirley Temple sell drugs."

"I'm not Shirley Temple."

"You're right, she'd never tear out a girl's hair over... What was it again? Some guy on the baseball team?"

"I don't know why you keep bringing that up; it isn't even on my record."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "What?"

"Due to my excellent grades, and a quick word from my parents, I was able to get that unfortunate incident wiped from my record in exchange for counselling." You shrugged as if it were nothing. "That's just what good grades will get you. Don't you want that?"

"Well, sure."

"Well, that's the benefit for you. I'll spend the rest of the year helping you pass every class. I'll even help you apply to colleges, for bursaries, jobs, anything you want. I'll make sure that you graduate."

Eddie's smile was disbelieving. He gazed down at you as if you were some four-year-old who had just claimed to own a unicorn.

"Is that so? Okay, what's the catch?"

"You date me. Which isn't really a catch, it's actually also a benefit for you..."

He would have doubled over laughing, if the stall weren't already so cramped. You rolled your eyes.

"If you're done...?"

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't laugh," Eddie gasped. "I just... Are you seriously bribing me into dating you?"

"It isn't like that."

"Then what's it like?"

You glared up at him, crossing your arms. "I wanna piss off my parents. Well, mostly my dad. He thinks you're trouble and demanded I stay away from you."

"Aw, you wanna scare them?"

"Exactly!"

"And I'm the scariest guy you could think of?"

"Well, you're not really scary when you're helping old ladies buy cereal."

Eddie shot you a goofy grin. "Were you spying on me this summer? I thought I noticed you a few too many times."

"Ew, no, I wasn't spying. I just wanted to make sure I could look at you without throwing up. And besides, you're the one who noticed me."

"Kinda hard not to notice you when you're wearing the tiniest shorts and tank tops I've ever seen." He wrinkled his nose. "Oh, God, you're eighteen, right?"

"Just had my birthday."

"Did daddy buy you a car?"

"No, actually. You'll have to drive me around."

"Great, a drain on my time and my gas money." He gestured between the two of you, one hand on his hip. "So, what is this? You want to actually date, or are we just putting on a show?"

"Just a show. You don't have to take me out anywhere or spend any money. Literally just make it look like that to my parents."

"Right."

"And my friends."

"What? Why them?"

"They're assholes, which means the second they see the opportunity to take the wind from my sails, they will -- and they'll rat me out to my dad. That's another thing: if you agree, I'll make sure they leave you alone for the rest of the year."

His eyebrows shot up. "You drive a hard bargain, Princess. What, do I have to hold hands with you? Kiss you?"

You nodded. "And go to parties. Maybe even prom."

"No. Absolutely not going to prom." He bit his lip. "Let's just get this out of the way right now: sex? On or off the table?"

You rolled your eyes. "All men are the same."

He put his hands up in defense. "Okay, I was just trying to draw the line somewhere!"

"We're fake dating, Eddie. It's just for show. So unless you're planning on fucking in front of everyone, no, you don't get access to me below the belt."

"Right."

"But if you behave, I may let you touch my tits."

"That's the cherry on top of the deal, is it?"

You nodded, the knot in your back finally undoing. He'd taken this a lot better than you'd expected. Still, he bit his cheek, deep in thought.

"I date you to piss off your parents," he said, "and you help me pass, keep your friends away, and let me grope your tits? I mean, how can I refuse?"

"Do we have a deal?"

Eddie nodded and offered you his hand. "You got it, Princess."

You took his hand and shook it. Then, you reached into your backpack and pulled out a notebook and pen.

"Give me your number and I'll call you tonight to go over the details."

"Details?"

"We have to make it believable! And we were just seen arguing in the cafeteria; it'd be ridiculous if we all of a sudden started dating. We should wait at least a week."

"Okay, one week. No need to call me."

"No, there's more than that!" Eddie frowned at you. "For instance, you need to start wearing cologne or something. You stink of cigarettes and weed."

He chuckled as he jotted down his number. "You wanted a bad boy, and now you're complaining about it?"

"We'll hammer it out tonight. My list of conditions is short, I promise."

"Mine might be a little longer."

Your gaze darted up to meet his. "You have conditions?"

"I might. We'll see." He shut your notebook and handed it back to you. "Now, are you gonna let me piss in peace, or as there something else?"

"Nothing else. Talk to you tonight!"

You unlocked the door and walked out. A couple of boys stood nearby, but you didn't pay attention to them as you left. You heard Eddie's voice behind you.

"Sorry, guys. When her mouth gets going..."

"Edward!" you snapped back.

"Sorry, Princess," he laughed.

This was going to take some work. Yes, you wanted him to be his typical bad boy self, but he needed to be bearable or this was going to be a long year. You got out your notebook, flipped to your conditions list, and wrote down a new one.

Don't speak crudely about me.

\

That night, you had your list laid out in front of you when you called Eddie. You sat in bed, your father reading the newspaper in the living room while your mother did laundry downstairs. You'd told them that you and your friend wanted to chat about the first day of school, and to expect you off the phone by nine at the latest.

"So let's get through this quickly, because we don't have much time."

Eddie scoffed. "Can't believe you have to lie that much to your old man just to get half an hour on the phone. My uncle doesn't care who the hell I call."

"That's exactly why I have you. Maybe this'll scare him into letting me have a little more freedom. Now, let's get started. I have five conditions."

"Okay, shoot."

"Number one: you have to take care of your hygiene. That means showering often, wearing deodorant, spritzing a little cologne, brushing your teeth and keeping some gum on you to get rid of the taste of cigarettes."

"Already done. Next?"

Could've fooled me. "Number two: absolutely no flirting or hooking up with other girls. You can talk to them, obviously, but for all intents and purposes you're my boyfriend."

"Ooh, possessive. So you're telling me I gotta be celibate the whole year?"

"Sorry, did you have plans?"

Eddie was silent for a second. "Next condition."

"Number three: don't cop a feel unless I say you can."

"No shit! Why would I ever do that? I'm not an animal. Next."

"Number four: No falling in love with me."

"Hah! I'll try my best."

"Last one: don't talk crudely about me."

"Crudely?"

You shut your notebook. "You know, like the way you spoke about me in the bathroom today. No sexual innuendos about me to other people, okay?"

"So you want me to pretend that I'm fucking you but deny that I'm fucking you to all who ask?"

"I doubt anyone will ask."

"Oh, they will, Princess."

"Then just... Just tell them yes, we're together, but you'd rather keep that part of our relationship just between us. No sharing."

"Got it. Is that all?"

"For now. If you fuck around, you may make me come up with a new rule."

"Then can we move on to my conditions?"

You heard a paper crumpling in the background. You laid back into your pillows with a smirk.

"Okay, let's hear it."

"One: Do not touch the stereo in my van. That isn't just a rule for you, either, that's a rule for everyone who sits in the passenger seat. All you get to adjust is the volume. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Two: no calling or coming over before noon. I'm not functional."

"You do need your beauty sleep. How else will those luscious curls grow?"

"Oh, why, thank you, I'm so glad you've noticed." You giggled, and you could hear the smile in his voice when he went on, "Three: I got band practice every Saturday, a gig at The Hideout every Tuesday, and Hellfire Club every other Friday. That means no dates, no calls, no nothing while I'm busy those days. You're welcome to come to The Hideout if you want, and band practice is usually done by four, but Hellfire goes until late."

You wrinkled your nose. "Like I'd hang out at that dump. Any more?"

"Yeah, one more. No low blows."

"Low blows? What, is that a euphemism for sucking you off?"

"No, it's -- That's a good one. Just... No more jokes about me not graduating, okay? I heard it every day from my uncle this summer, and I'm really fucking tired of hearing it from people at school. Okay?"

"Fine by me. I guess that's everything?"

"Looks like it." The paper crumpled up again. "So, do we start dating next week or something?"

"Yeah."

"We'll just... pick a day and start hanging out?"

"How romantic."

"Oh, sorry, let me try that again: Hey, Y/N?"

You smirked. "Yeah, Eddie?"

"I've been thinking... Maybe we could go out some time? I could, with your permission, grope your tits, and in return you could really stick it to your dad?"

"Oh, Eddie, that sounds amazing. Yes!"

"Boy, aren't I the luckiest guy in the world," he said flatly. "So... See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you then. Night."

He hung up without saying goodbye. A weird trait, but it wasn't on your list of conditions. You smiled to yourself as you returned the phone to its cradle and pulled your blankets over yourself. You could hear your dad turning the page of the newspaper downstairs. He was going to lose his shit when he found out. Everyone was.

It was the perfect plan.

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