Stranger Things - Imagines

Eddie Munson X Harrington!Reader - Pretty Hurts

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Pretty Hurts by Beyonce. Reader is a pageant girl and Steve's twin sister. Mother Harrington is an absolute asshole in this one and there is some drug usage, so prepare. I hope you all enjoy it.

You let out a soft sigh as Eddie slipped the joint out from between your fingers, bringing it up to his own lips as he watched you. You rarely looked as peaceful as you did when you smoked and though he didn't make it a habit to spend time with his customers, you were definitely his favourite; the only one he allowed to stick around and share. 

"You came over early this week, Sweetness," he hummed out, watching as you peeked open one eye to look at him, extending one arm in his direction for you to replace the joint between your fingers. He did so delicately, smiling when you hummed out a small thank you. "It's Thursday. You normally come over on a Saturday," he explained.

You hummed again. "I'm busy this Saturday."

"Big party I should know about?"

You chuckled. "Nope," you murmured, eyes drifting back closed as you took another deep inhale. God, how were you going to cope this weekend? As if it wasn't going to be stressful enough. "My parents are coming to town for a couple of days; I've got Miss Teen Midwest-"

Eddie's eyes widened as he stared at you. "No fuckin' way. Am I in the presence of a beauty queen? Should I be bowing and calling you Your Grace?"

"Fuck off, Eddie," you sang, snorting with laughter when you looked at him again, his eyes roaming your face. "What, you didn't think I was pretty before, but now that you know I do pageants-"

"Who said I didn't think you were pretty? I'll kill 'em for spreading such blatant lies about me." 

You shook your head. "It's not a big deal; I've been doing 'em since I was little My mom's a proper pageant mom."

"I don't know, Sweetness. I think it's a pretty big deal. Have you won any?"

You sat up, brow furrowed. "I won Little Miss twice; Jr Miss once; I won all three Jr Teens, and I won Teen last year. And my mom thinks I'm a shoo-in for this year too," you told him, counting off the wins on your fingers.

"Damn, pageant royalty," he murmured. "You wear all those pretty dresses?"

"We all wear pretty dresses; I'd look a little weird if I didn't," you murmured. "Honestly, it's not that great. It's months of prep for a couple of hours on stage. You have to go through all the dieting and physical training and make-up trials and dress fittings. All whilst doing school too. It's torture."

Eddie looked a little lost as you set the joint down in the ashtray, shifting around, clearly uncomfortable.

"Then, why'd you do it?"

You shrugged slightly, pulling your bag up into your lap, pretending like you were searching for something deep in the bottom. "My mom loves it; it's basically the only time I get to see her."

"But it sounds like you hate it-"

"But it makes her happy."

He let out a soft sigh. "Right," he breathed out, even though he didn't really agree with you. "And what makes you happy?"

You hesitated for a moment, lifting your head to look at him. "Right now? The weed's doing a really good job. And when it's just me and Steve at home, we have these movie nights; they're pretty great." 

"But not the pageants?"

"The last time I was happy at a pageant I was nine years old. And then I lost and my mom was so disappointed-"