Archive of Our Own ^beta

There was a hand keeping Eddie’s head angled down, fingers digging into his hair and nails scraping against his scalp. Eddie didn’t know who was holding onto him, but if he had to guess, he’d say it was either Hagan, Hargrove or maybe one of their stupid lackeys. He also didn’t know what he did to annoy them - probably nothing, they had won a basketball match last night and when the jocks were in a good mood, the freaks tended to suffer - or what they intended to do to him. All Eddie knew was that someone had fastened a cuff around his wrist and was now dragging him down one of the highschool’s corridors.

He tried to elbow the jock who was holding him in the gut and wiggle out of his hold, but the guy didn't even wince when Eddie's elbow connected with his side. He just tightened his hold on Eddie's hair causing him to let out a pained hiss and then purposely tripped him. Eddie howled as, instead of falling flat on his face, the hold the jock had on his hair kept him upright and he felt several strands of his hair being torn out.

People laughed around them and Eddie grit his teeth. He wouldn't cry. No matter what they had planned, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of crying. They were heading towards the gym and Eddie wondered what the jocks planned to do to him and how much it was going to hurt. He thought they might handcuff him to a bench or a radiator or a beam in the locker room and take turns punching him for however long they wanted. If that was the fate that was awaiting him, Eddie just hoped they’d free him once they were done and wouldn’t leave him to rot in the locker room for the whole night.

“Hey! Harrington!”

That was Billy Hargrove’s voice. And Billy Hargrove didn’t get along with Steve Harrington. So why was he dragging Eddie towards him? Maybe Eddie was to be a peace offering? They’d tie him up somewhere, take turns beating his face in and then they’d make a blood oath never to speak about it again and would become the best of friends. Actually, maybe that was how jocks befriended each other, over the pain of freaks.

“What, Hargrove?”

Harrington didn’t sound happy to see Hargrove and Eddie wiggled around, trying to free himself before he became jock-chew. His struggling only led to a few more strands of hair being ripped off Eddie’s scalp and he froze when he felt a hand - Hargrove’s? Hagan’s? Harrington’s? - take a hold of the dangling cuff and tug on it.

“Brought a gift for you.”

“What? ”

“Brought a gift,” Hargrove growled and wrenched Eddie’s head up so that he was looking at Harrington’s face, “For you. ”

“Yup. That’s what I feared I heard,” Harrington sighed, “I don’t have time to deal with your idiocy, Hargrove, and I think Munson here has better things to do than to be dragged around by the likes of you.”

Bafflingly, Harrington nodded at Eddie, before glaring at Hargrove and the people loitering behind him. And then, without a damn care in the world, Harrington turned his back on them and stuck his head into his locker. He was acting as if having a pissed off Hargrove standing right behind him didn’t bother him in the least and Eddie envied his coolness. Judging by the way Hargrove tightened his grip on Eddie’s hair, he didn’t like the way Harrington dismissed him.

“Harrington. ”

“Oh, you’re still here,” Steve replied blithely without turning around, “I thought we were done.”

“We’re done,” Hargrove growled and nodded at Hagan who was the one holding onto the cuff, “When I say we’re done.”

Hagan darted forward as soon as Hargrove stopped talking and Eddie bit his lip to prevent a pained moan from escaping him. Hargrove kept him in place by his hair while Hagan tugged on his arm and Eddie ended up stretched between the two jocks. He tried stomping onto Hargrove’s feet, but the asshole buried his fist into Eddie’s gut in retaliation. Taking advantage of Harrington’s turned back and Eddie’s distraction, Hagan closed the cuff he was holding around Harrington’s wrist. 

“What the…”

Harrington’s sentence ended in a hiss when Hagan, with a sadistic little smile that made Eddie want to punch him in his stupid face, fiddled with the cuff and secured it painfully tightly around the other teen’s wrist.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Harrington hissed as he turned around and tried throwing a punch at Hagan’s face.

Finally, letting go of Eddie’s hair, Hargrove stepped forward and caught Harrington’s fist in his hand. Hargrove was smirking, the gaggle of jocks following him around were jeering and Harrington looked pissed. His glare and angry scowl didn’t seem to scare Hargrove though, quite the contrary in fact, and Eddie wondered if they were going to start a brawl now. For his own sake, Eddie hoped not. He didn’t fancy getting dragged into a fight, he couldn’t throw a decent punch to save his life, and really didn’t like the odds of being on the side of the guy who, if rumors were to be believed, had lost all the fights he’d ever been a part of, including one against Hargrove. Now was the time to grovel and make oneself small, but Harrington obviously didn’t get the memo and, like the stupid jock he was, just kept on posturing.

“Something wrong, pretty boy?” Hargrove asked with a mean smirk and proceeded to crush Harrington’s fist with his own hand.

To Harrington’s credit, he didn’t flinch, didn’t move, didn’t even try to tug his hand free of Hargrove’s hold. The way his features contorted in a grimace was the only sign of pain Eddie could detect on him and, once again, he was hit by a strong wave of jealousy. If Eddie were in Harrington’s place, he would probably already be begging to be let go or be bawling his eyes out, depending on the strength of Hargrove’s grip.

“What the hell are you playing at, Hargrove?”

“I told you. I brought you a gift. You’re always hanging out with the little freaks lately, so I thought you might want to make a friend out of this one too. And maybe more if you’re so inclined.” 

The crowd of jocks jeered behind them and Hagan drove his shoulder into Eddie’s back, making him stumble into Harrington. With Hargrove’s half veiled insinuation hanging in the air, Eddie half expected Harrington to push him back or to punch him, everything to deny the accusation, but the jock surprised him once again. Harrington didn’t hurt him, quite the contrary in fact. He freed his hand from Hargrove’s grip and squeezed Eddie’s bicep to steady him before sneering at the other jock.

“The people I hang out with are none of your business, Hargrove. Now, if you’d be so kind as to tell me what you did with the key to these cuffs, we’d really appreciate it.”

Hargrove didn’t like Harrington’s reaction and Eddie flinched when he felt a hand land on his back. And then Eddie yelped as he stumbled into Harrington again. This time, Hargrove kept the pressure up and Harrington was forced to stagger backwards until his back hit his locker. Hargrove pressed close and it left Eddie stuck between the two glaring jocks. 

Now this position Eddie found himself stuck in, sandwiched in between two very attractive blokes, had featured in his dreams more than once, had even led him to rub one out a few times. Unfortunately, the reality left a lot to be desired and Eddie gulped as he felt Hargrove’s hand take a hold of his hair again and push his face into Harrington’s neck. Why couldn’t Eddie have found himself stuck in between two nice nerds instead of two scary jocks? This fantasy of his would have been so much better than this nightmare.

The position Eddie was stuck in was uncomfortable and he couldn’t help fidgeting, his fingers brushing Harrington’s where their hands were cuffed together. Hargrove pressed closer still and Eddie closed his eyes when he felt the jock’s chest against his back. He was starting to get scared, wondering what Hargrove planned to do or, more likely, planned to force them to do to each other.

“Or what? ” Hargrove snarled right next to Eddie’s ear, making him whimper in fright. The back of Harrington’s hand brushed against Eddie’s knuckles and the small comforting gesture, that may or may not have been intentional, helped him calm down. “You got nothing to say, pretty boy? Figures.”

Glad to have had the last word, Hargrove took a step back and Eddie breathed a little bit better. That is until Harrington opened his stupid mouth and Eddie’s stomach plummeted again.

“So what will it be then?” Harrington growled in Eddie’s ear too, “Are you planning to drag us around school so that people can laugh at us? Or maybe you want to beat me unconscious again?”

Well, Eddie just got confirmation that the rumor that Steve Harrington had lost a fight to Billy Hargrove was in fact true. At least his day hadn’t been a complete waste of his time, Eddie thought sarcastically.

“And what if I do?” Hargrove laughed and drove his fist into Eddie’s ribs until he fell to his knees with a pained gasp, dragging Harrington with him, “Nothing you or your new friend can do about it.”

“Maybe not,” Harrington hissed as Hagan’s foot collided with his gut, “But I think I’ll press charges this time. Make sure you get exactly what you fucking deserve.”

Harrington’s head was raised and he was glaring at Hargrove and Eddie waited with bated breath to see what the jock’s reaction was going to be. Either Harrington’s threat was going to be enough to make Hargrove and his posse back off or it would enrage them and Eddie would spend an unpleasant evening getting beaten up right alongside the jock who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He dearly hoped Hargrove was going to be reasonable and back off, because while seeing him getting arrested by chief Hopper would be very satisfying indeed, Eddie didn’t think it was worth the beating he would have to endure first.

“What is going on here?”

Saved by the gong. Or rather by Mrs. Click. She strutted towards them looking annoyed, her heels clicking on the tiled floor and the flock of jocks standing in a half circle around them parted to let her pass. Her presence didn’t faze Hargrove who threw a charming smile her way before bending down, grabbing Harrington’s free hand and tugging him to his feet. Eddie followed suit with a pained grunt, the manacle biting into his wrist.

“We were just checking in on Harrington here,” Hargrove lied casually before anyone could answer their teacher, “Munson thought it funny to handcuff himself to him.”

Mrs. Click came to a stop in front of Eddie and Harrington and took a long hard look at them, her eyes resting a few seconds on the handcuff linking them together.

“Is that really what happened? Mr. Munson?”

Hargrove was glaring at Eddie behind Mrs. Click’s back and he swallowed before nodding in his teacher’s direction. He was almost sure that she didn’t believe him and wasn’t surprised when she asked Harrington the same question. Hargrove turned his glare onto Harrington and Eddie prayed that the idiot would for once keep his mouth shut. While tattling was tempting, Eddie knew from firsthand experience that it wasn’t worth it, if the jocks couldn’t get the upper hand now, they would get it later.

“Yes,” Harrington, who had come to the same conclusion as Eddie, mumbled, “Munson here wanted to show us a trick with the handcuffs but… uh… it sort of backfired and we’re stuck. Hargrove was only trying to help.”

Eddie’s heart missed a beat and he barely refrained from boggling at Harrington when he heard his explanation. Not only did he back Eddie up, he also didn’t pin the blame on him, which was more than what Eddie expected of him. Judging by her frown, Mrs. Click wasn’t totally convinced they were telling the truth, but without proof, she couldn’t do anything about it.

“If you’re sure about that, Mr. Harrington.”

“Certain,” Harrington confirmed and Eddie let out a quiet relieved sigh, “Munson left the keys home.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Click grumbled unhappily, “Then I guess all that is left for me to do is to send you off to class.”

Harrington’s face fell at the reminder that they still needed to go through one last hour of class and Eddie wondered if it was because he had planned to skip or because the thought of having to spend an hour in Eddie’s company was so abhorrent to him. Anyway, it was too late to back out now, they were stuck together for at least an hour, probably more until they could find a way to free themselves, because Eddie had a feeling Hargrove wouldn't just give them the keys to the cuffs.

"Where are you supposed to head to now, Mr. Harrington?"

"Basketball practice, but I suppose that I won't be able to attend…"

Harrington shook his wrists making the cuffs rattle and one of the jocks muffled a snort into his sleeve. Hargrove was smirking unashamedly though and Eddie started to have a feeling that he was just a collateral in this latest stunt of his and that Harrington had been the main target here, which was quite a shock to realize.

"Quite right, Mr. Harrington. So Mr. Munson, where are you supposed to be headed now?"

"Uh… Math?"

"You don't sound so sure," Mrs. Click commented with pursed lips and Eddie shrugged. In truth, he had planned to skip the last hour of class and wasn't even sure if he was supposed to have math or physics. "Come on, you two, I'll walk you to your class."

"But…"

"No buts, Mr. Harrington. I know you're not usually sharing this class, but sitting through an extra hour of math won't kill you, and who knows, you might just help Mr. Munson study for once ."

Someone snickered behind them and Eddie had the pleasure to see Mrs. Click send the jocks running with a few sharp words and strict orders for them to excuse Harrington to their coach. She then motioned for Eddie to follow her and he tugged Harrington who was grumbling something about having to babysit again under his breath - which was rude, Eddie didn't need a babysitter! - behind him.

“And here you are,” Mrs. Click said not even a minute later, before knocking on Mr. Jones’ classroom door and ushering Harrington and Eddie in.

While she explained Eddie’s predicament to his math teacher, the students stared, whispered and giggled and Eddie had no doubt that he and Harrington would be at the center of the rumor mill for the next few days. Sitting in the front row, Gareth caught Eddie's eye and made such a concerned face that Eddie tried to do his best to silently reassure him that he was fine, a bit rattled and slightly bruised but overall fine.

While the two teachers were going over what happened in hushed voices, Eddie dragged Harrington towards the back of the classroom where they pushed two desks together. Eddie's right hand was free so he took out a few sheets of paper and a pencil out of his bag and, for once, not wanting to draw attention to him, he started copying what was written on the board. Harrington, whose writing hand was cuffed, settled down with a sigh, rested his chin on the palm of his left hand and silently stared out of the window at the parking lot.

Unfortunately, Harrington started to get fidgety after a while. Eddie let him wiggle around, sigh and drum his fingers on the table for a few minutes, until Mr. Jones threw them a very pointed look.

“For fuck’s sake,” Eddie grumbled once their teacher’s back was turned, “Can't you stay still? There’s only fifteen minutes left!”

“Easy for you to say,” Harrington hissed back, “Hagan didn't tighten your damn cuff so much it’s biting into your skin!”

Eddie was ready to call Harrington’s bullshit - yes, the cuff was uncomfortable, no, it wasn’t unbearable - but when he looked down at the jock’s wrist, he could see that his skin was chafing. The cuff was leaving an angry red welt around Harrington’s wrist and the fact that the idiot was playing with it instead of leaving it alone wasn’t helping matters. Eddie winced in sympathy.

"Just try to forget about it for a few more minutes."

"Easy for you to say!"

"Here," Eddie said and slid his notes towards Harrington, "Solve this equation, it'll distract you."

"Munson?"

"Yes?"

"Are you really trying to foist your math homework onto me?"

Eddie was mainly trying to distract Harrington, to keep his mind off the pain, but if his helpfulness could, for once, lead to something good - namely, adequately solved math homework - Eddie wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Is it working?"

Harrington stared at him in complete disbelief for a few seconds before snorting and snatching Eddie's notes.

"You're lucky math is one of my favorite subjects," Harrington mumbled under his breath as he started filling up the blanks Eddie left in the equations.

Eddie couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, sitting in math lesson unharmed despite being cuffed to Steve Harrington. Steve Harrington who was doing Eddie's homework. It was unbelievable. Totally and completely surreal.

“Do you even understand what I’m doing?” Harrington asked after five minutes which Eddie spent stupidly staring at the answers he was filling on his sheet.

“Not in the least,” Eddie answered cheerfully.

"I should have known," Harrington snorted, "Come on, I'll explain it to you then."

And explain Harrington did, in a simple way and without mockery or mean comments. Once again, Eddie was left speechless. It took him a few seconds to shake off the surprise and concentrate on what Harrington was saying and Eddie really didn’t expect to understand everything, but he thought that he understood enough to maybe get a C- instead of a D- on the next test, which was a shock in and of itself.

"Color me surprised, but you're actually a decent teacher," Eddie commented quietly as he stuffed his notes in his bag after the bell rang. 

"Dude," Harrington snorted disbelievingly, "You don't need to butter me up, I won't hit you or whatever the hell you're thinking I might do to you."

If someone had asked Eddie yesterday what he thought might happen to him if he ever ended up cuffed to Steve Harrington, he would definitely have said that he'd end the day beaten up, bruised and dumped in a ditch somewhere. And now… Now Eddie wasn't exactly sure and certain Harrington wouldn't end up punching him at the end of the day, but he didn't think it likely. This day just kept on getting weirder and weirder. Before Eddie could share his new-found wisdom or try to convince Harrington he actually was a good teacher, Gareth sidled up to them and worriedly looked Eddie over.

"Are you alright?" He whispered in Eddie's ear, glaring in Harrington’s direction.

"Surprisingly, yes."

“What happened?”

While Eddie mumbled an explanation to Gareth, Harrington turned his back to them, giving them as much privacy as he could. The explanation soon turned into a hissed and rushed conversation about how the hell Eddie planned to get rid of the cuffs and he flinched when Harrington cleared his throat and offered to call Hopper to get them out of this uncomfortable situation.

“Hopper?” Eddie asked, bewildered, “Chief Hopper?”

“Do you know any other Hopper?” Harrington sighed.

“No. No way are you calling the chief of police ! You can’t do that to me, I refuse!”

“Why?”

“Because… Because it’s none of your business!”

Thanks to his side job as a drug dealer, Eddie had already seen more than enough of Chief Hopper and the back of his police car and he didn’t fancy another trip to the police station. With his luck, everything would end up being pinned on him, Hopper would arrest him for harassment or attempted-kidnapping or whatever took his fancy and then call Wayne who would look at Eddie with such a disappointed expression, Eddie would probably end up crying again. And all of that in front of Harrington of all people. Eddie refused to let it happen.

“But…”

“No. And that’s final.”

“Then how do you propose we get out of these cuffs?” Harrington huffed.

Eddie grinned his crazy grin and then dragged Harrington out of the classroom and towards the parking lot at a run. He shouted at Gareth to take care of his bag and get their room ready for Hellfire and assured him that he would join him and their friends as soon as he could free himself from the jock following him around. Eddie was breathing hard when they finally reached his van and he glared at Harrington when the guy, who was not even a little winded, had the audacity to tell him that he should work out more.

“Oh, fuck you!” Eddie growled, “Not everyone is made to be a stupid jock!”

His outburst didn’t get a raise out of Harrington who only shrugged and looked on curiously as Eddie rummaged around his glove box. He let out a small triumphant sound when he found his lockpicks and then turned around to show his find to his unwilling guest. Harrington didn’t look impressed.

“Do you even know how to use these?”

“Of course I do,” Eddie bristled, “Come on, hop up on the seat and hold still, I’ve got work to do.”

“Fine,” Harrington caved with a sigh, “But if we’re not free in half an hour, I’m calling Hopper.”

“Alright,” Eddie agreed easily.

Eddie rested the handcuffs on Harrington’s upper legs and immediately got to work. A lifetime of being bullied by stupid jocks made Eddie wary and even if Harrington had been surprisingly tolerable up until now, Eddie still feared his reaction once he was freed. That’s why he started fiddling with the cuff clamped around his own wrist first. He expected Harrington to complain or order him around, but the guy was just sitting still, quietly looking on as Eddie inserted his lockpicks into the lock and tried to get it to open.

“So,” Eddie said after a long minute of oppressive silence, “What exactly did you do to Hargrove and Hagan to deserve such a treatment? Must be something really impressive.”

“What makes you say I did something? The thought that they may have been after you ever crossed your mind?”

“Dude , there’s no need to lie,” Eddie snorted, “Hargrove and Hagan may have snagged me first, but they made a direct beeline for you . You were their target and I just want to know why I got stuck in the middle of your little jock-spat, that’s all.”

Harrington sighed and ran a hand through his hair, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to confess so Eddie nudged his leg, stilled his hands and pointedly looked at him.

“Alright, alright,” Harrington huffed, “No need to glare at me, I think I had enough of it for the day.”

“Then sate my curiosity and talk, Harrington,” Eddie said in a deep and dramatic voice.

“Sate your… Oh, whatever. Go back to working on getting us free of these cuffs and I’ll entertain you. Just stop quoting a dictionary at me.”

“Deal,” Eddie grinned and went back to fiddling with the cuffs.

“We had a basketball match yesterday evening.”

“That you won. I know. You jocks have been disgustingly happy today.”

“Yup, we won,” Harrington said, sounding quite proud of himself, “Not by a large margin, it was a difficult match, but we did it.”

“Then why are you jocks turning on each other then?”

Eddie would understand if Hargrove and Hagan turned on Harrington because they thought he made them lose the match - which would be bullshit anyway, Eddie may not know much about sports, but he did know that teamwork was rather important and blaming one of your team members for your collective failure was not very fair-play - but they won, so he didn’t get why the two idiots felt the need to go after Harrington.

“Is it like a rite of passage? Are you building momentum? Making things go bad now, so that you can salvage it during the last game of the season? You almost won the championship last year so are you sabotaging yourself this year? Is your team cannibalizing itself? Is there always so much drama in sports?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have quite a vivid imagination, Munson?”

Eddie barked a laugh at that and shook his head.

“Once or twice, yes. Now answer my questions, Harrington. Can’t you see that I’m dying to know what happened here? Which you should definitely take as a compliment, because I usually don’t give a shit about sports.”

“But you do about gossip?”

“I’m a teenager, dude, of course I care about highschool drama, so, come on, spill!”

And if the gossip pertained to the royalty of Hawkins High and their sordid antics, then it made it extra juicy and Eddie definitely did want to know everything he could about it. The guys from Hellfire would get a kick out of knowing that the jocks were fighting each other.

“Must I?”

“Yes. Consider it compensation for being dragged into your mess and having to get you out of it.”

“If you say so,” Harrington sighed, “Alright. So I think everybody knows that Hargrove and I never got along, right?”

Eddie hummed, that was indeed common knowledge.

“And Tommy never forgave me for ending our friendship. They like to gang up on me, laugh at me, push me around sometimes.”

“Wait, wait, wait, are you saying that you, Steve-King-of-Hawkins-High-Harrington are being bullied?”

Harrington winced. He looked embarrassed and Eddie turned his attention back on the handcuffs with a little smirk. That was karmic retribution at its finest. Now, if only the same thing could happen to Hargrove, Hagan and all the stupid jocks who ever made fun of Eddie and his friends, that would be awesome.

“Sort of,” Harrington mumbled, “I mean it’s not as bad as… as what Tommy and I used to say or do to some people… Anyway. Things calmed down after Hargrove beat my face in last November and Hopper had a chat with him but sometimes… Sometimes they like to remind me that I’m at the bottom of the food chain now.”

Eddie snorted and looked up, incredulously, at Harrington's face.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but if you think that you are at the bottom of the food chain, then I hate to break it to you but you are sadly mistaken!"

Harrington had the decency to look ashamed and Eddie rolled his eyes. God save him from stupid jocks.

"Alright, maybe I'm not at the bottom of the high school food chain, but I'm definitely at the bottom of the… basketball team food chain or whatever you want to call it."

"Jock food chain. Which is barely a food chain in the first place."

Now Harrington looked affronted and Eddie snickered.

"What?" Eddie asked innocently, "If the shoe fits…"

Harrington stared at him for a few seconds, as if he couldn't believe Eddie of all people was making fun of him - which, to be fair, Eddie didn't quite believe himself - before huffing and defensively crossing his free arm over his chest. Eddie, poor old freaky Eddie , was making a jock defensive, it was the best day ever.

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" Harrington grumbled.

"If it pleases your highness," Eddie answered cheekily.

"Oh, shut up , I just told you that I've become some sort of undesirable!"

“That’s relative,” Eddie shrugged and motioned for him to keep going while he went back to work on the cuffs.

"If you say so… So, we had a match yesterday and I happened to score the last basket, the one that made us win. Which pissed off Hargrove and Hagan. And then Heidi came over to congratulate us and I asked her out. Which pissed them off even more. She was supposed to watch us train today and we were going to head out together after, but I guess Hargrove will take advantage of the situation to make a move on her, drive home the message that I shouldn’t try to upstage him or whatever.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that I ended up dragged by my hair through half the school, punched and belittled and then handcuffed to you because you and Hargrove had a fight over a girl?”

“And also because of the basketball match. Don’t you forget my winning basket!”

“Oh, my fucking God! Unbelievable. You’re un-fucking-believable, ” Eddie shrieked and flailed his arms, tugging on Harrington’s cuffed wrist, “I thought that something dramatic happened! That you insulted his ancestors or that he tried to pick up your mom…”

“Ugh, gross, dude!”

“... not that you got into a spat over a stupid sports game and some random girl! That’s so lame!”

“Hey, don’t diss basketball!”

“Really?”

“Also Heidi’s great, so be nice to her.”

“Really?”

Harrington shrugged and Eddie took a deep breath to calm down. He then rested their wrists on Harrington’s upper legs again and went back to work on the cuffs, mumbling obscenities under his breath. Eddie was collateral damage, which sucked in and of itself, but was also kind of nice, it was great not being the target, for once. Unfortunately, the fact that he was collateral damage to a stupid jocks’ spat over sports and girls made the situation completely ridiculous and absurd. There was no way Eddie would be able to turn this idiotic story into a great tale of adventure, revenge and… 

The cuff clicked open.

“Damn,” Harrington whistled, impressed, “You actually did it.”

“Of course I did! Did you have any doubts I would?”

“Never, ” Harrington said, lying through his teeth, and then smiled “Now, do me, I want to get rid of that damn cuff!”

Eddie looked from Harrington’s face to his cuffed wrist and hesitated. Here was his chance to get back at the jock, his once in a lifetime chance. He could laugh in Harrington's face, boot him out of his car and head to Hellfire, leaving the jock stranded with the cuff still fastened tightly around his wrist. 

If Eddie was quick enough, he might even be able to snap the second cuff around Harrington's other wrist and leave him standing in the parking lot with his hands chained together. It would be perfect payback for all the stupid bullying Harrington put Eddie and his friends through over the years.

"Please?" Harrington, who must have sensed the shift in Eddie's mood, mumbled softly as he hesitantly extended his cuffed wrist towards Eddie.

He looked wary now. Maybe almost scared, shy, gone was the overconfident and aloof jock facade. And Eddie liked it. Unfortunately, that fact also made him sick. He was turning into Hargrove, into Hagan, into the asshole Harrington sort of grew out of and he didn't want to become that sort of person. He had made himself a promise never to turn into that sort of person.

"Put your damn hand down," Eddie growled gruffly, "Can't do shit if you're holding it up."

"Thank you," Harrington whispered softly as he followed Eddie's directions.

Eddie shrugged, trying to make it look like he hadn’t just thought about pulling a jock and leaving Harrington alone with his hands cuffed together, an easy target for anyone walking by. He had a feeling Harrington knew exactly what had been going through Eddie’s head and he was just tactful enough not to mention it or scared Eddie would storm away if he did. Both were possible. Eddie was surprised, but relieved, to find out he was hoping for the former.

“So… Where did you learn to pick locks?” Harrington asked a few seconds later, breaking the tense silence that had settled over them. Eddie shot him a quick look, trying to gauge what he wanted to know, and went back to his task without offering any answer. Harrington didn’t take the hint. “Not that I’m complaining, far from it, but… it’s just an unusual skill to have. Cool, definitely cool, but, also you know, quite unusual.”

"Will you stop jabbering if I answer you?"

"I'm not jabbering! " Harrington sputtered.

The look Eddie threw at Harrington was one of his most judgemental and had the benefit of shutting him up. On top of that, the blush spreading across Harrington's cheeks had Eddie smirking - Harrington was quite lovely, it was a pity he was such an unbearable stupid jock. Harrington huffed and Eddie half-expected to be kicked or punched for daring to make fun of him, but the guy surprised him again by miming zipping up his lips and throwing away the keys.

“I guess you could say that I had an interesting childhood.”

“Uh. So. Do you have other interesting skills?”

“Like what?”

“Scamming? Hotwiring? Breaking and entering? Knife throwing? Shooting ?”

“Harrington,” Eddie said drily without looking up from the cuffs, “Are you calling me a criminal?”

“What? No! But…well… You are picking the locks of the cuffs so…”

“I can stop if you want me to."

“Not particularly, no."

"Color me surprised," Eddie snorted and then let out a small sound of victory when Harrington's cuff popped open. "Aaaaaand you're free!"

"Oh, thank you," Harrington sighed, relieved.

As soon as he was free, Harrington started rubbing his wrist and Eddie winced when he saw the angry red line the cuff had left on his skin. For once, Eddie was relieved that he was the one who got off lightly. He threw his lockpicks back into the glove box and patiently waited for Harrington to get out of his van. 

When the jock finally deigned to get up - after a long awkward minute he spent grimacing and rotating his abused wrist - Eddie snatched the cuffs out of his hand, closed them and twirled them around his fingers. The lack of key meant that he’d never be able to use them, but they were cool nonetheless and would look absolutely metal pinned to the wall of his bedroom. He grinned at the thought.

“You want to keep them, don’t you?” Harrington asked warily.

“Yep!”

“Why? You don’t even have the key!”

“Mmm. For… things ,” Eddie smiled, feeling mischievous now that he was free and that Hargrove and Hagan weren’t in his vicinity. The half-worried, half-exasperated expression Harrington was sporting only spurred him on.

“Should I be concerned?”

“I don’t know, should you ?” Eddie asked with a shit-eating grin, making Harrington roll his eyes and cross his arms over his chest. Who knew annoying jocks could be so much fun?

“You know what? It’s fine, I don’t wanna know,” Harrington huffed, “As long as I never have to see them again, I don’t care what you’ll do with them.”

Eddie’s grin widened a little bit more and he wiggled his eyebrows for good measure. Instead of blowing a fuse, Harrington snorted, clapped his shoulder and picked up his backpack before jogging towards his car.

“Thanks, Munson!” Harrington yelled, “See you around!”

“Or not,” Eddie mumbled under his breath. He smiled and nodded at Harrington, but didn’t return his hand wave. No matter what was happening, Harrington was still a jock and Eddie shuddered at the thought that he would willingly hang out with such people. It was inconceivable. Freaks and jocks were polar opposites, and while Harrington had been surprisingly pleasant, Eddie wouldn’t seek him out again. That would only attract trouble and he hoped Harrington would have the good sense to stay away too.

Eddie watched Harrington climb into his car and drive away, before he threw the cuffs into his glove box and slammed the door to his van shut. Just as he was making his way over the highschool, the main entrance’s doors were pushed open and Eddie cursed and hurriedly headed towards the side entrance when he spotted the jocks heading out. 

Basketball practice must have come to an end and Eddie hoped that the jocks wouldn’t linger at school, Eddie didn’t want to have to keep an eye out for the assholes when they were done with Hellfire tonight. As Heidi and Carol were clinging to Hargrove and Hagan’s arms, Eddie felt like there was a good chance the jocks would head out and he sighed in relief when he spotted them heading for their cars. He took a minute to make sure they didn’t tamper with his van, glared at their backs and silently cursed them, before he entered the school and joined his friends.

“Oh, thank God, you’re alright,” Gareth said and dragged Eddie into a hug as soon as he entered the classroom they were hosting Hellfire in, “We were starting to get worried.”

“I’m fine,” Eddie reassured his friends as the others joined their hug.

“We sort of broke into the nurse’s office and brought painkillers and bandages,” Jeff whispered, “Where are you hurt?”

“Uh… I’m not.”

“What?” All his friends exclaimed and Eddie gently extricated himself from their hold and twirled around to show them that he was unscathed.

“Hargrove punched me once or twice and I lost a few strands of hair to him, but I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“And Harrington?” Gareth asked.

“What about Harrington?”

“Eddie. You ended up cuffed together, you dragged him around! Don’t tell me that the guy didn’t take his anger out on you!”

“Uh. As a matter of fact, he did not. He was weirdly… nice.”

“Eddie.”

“Hey, you know me, I’m not fond of jocks. I never hesitate to point out their faults and call them out on their bullshit and that will not change, but Harrington surprised me and I’m alright. Really.”

The guys looked at each other and Eddie waited for them to make up their mind. He hoped they believed him, because Eddie wouldn’t put it past them to gang up on him so that they could strip him out of his clothes and check that he really was telling the truth. Eddie shuddered and, not for the first time, wondered why all his friends were such weirdos (Pot calling the kettle black, Eddie knew, but he couldn’t help himself).

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but… I guess even jocks can change,” Gareth mumbled quietly.

“Don’t worry, Gareth,” Eddie snorted, “It took me by surprise too.”

“Does this mean that we’re friends with Harrington now?” Jeff wondered.

“Oh, God, no!” Eddie exclaimed, horrified at the mere thought of having to hang with Harrington, “What the hell gave you that idea?”

“Well…”

“That was a rhetorical question!” Eddie shrieked and pointed a threatening finger at Jeff, “I don’t want to know and if you ever bring it up again, I’ll make sure to kill your characters in every DnD campaign I’ll host!”

“You can’t do that!” Jeff sputtered.

“Try me ,” Eddie growled as he strode towards his chair, “ Now , enough chit-chat, ladies, we’ve got a game to play.” Eddie grinned as he sat down in the dungeon master’s chair. “Or are you too frightened to play?” 

The guys enthusiastically rushed to their chairs and Eddie laughed as he took a look at his notes. Today's campaign was going to be brutal and his friends would soon lose their good humor. So Eddie put Harrington out of his mind and concentrated on the game, he had friends to traumatize and that was a thousand times more important than a jock’s weird behavior.