𝕴 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖓𝖆 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖎𝖘 {Eddie Munson x OC}

Eight

(ep 2 pt 5) & (ep3 pt 1)

"Hey," I sat down next to him, "Are you okay? Like for real?"

He slowly turned his head to face me. "I'm never okay. But I witnessed the sweetest girl in the world dying. I can't be fine." He said distressed. "Why are you being nice to me anyway? I'm the freak of the school."

I looked down. "Last summer, there was never a mall fire. The government just blamed it on a fire to cover up the fact that monsters from another dimension tried to kill us. I watched my best friend die. Everyone I cared about was torn apart. So I know how it feels to watch someone so good be overtaken by something so evil."

"You've fought this before?" He asked.

"Yeah, Jonathan taught Nancy and I to shoot. Hopper was actually the one who helped us not get arrested half the time," I felt my lips upturn in a small smile while reminiscing. "But then during the summer everything broke. Some stupid Russians invaded Hawkins under the mall and opened up the upside down again. The monster, we called it the mind flayer, would invade your head and use your body to make itself stronger. I didn't know it then but every victim was already dead, just being controlled." I paused, taking a shaky breath.

"Was it terrifying?" Eddie looked at me curiously.

"Yes, it was. Running for my life and hoping my little brother wouldn't die. Nancy and Mike kept me going. It was quite literally life and death and I was running on four hours of sleep and being awake for nearly a day straight," I remembered.

"Kinda like me now. I'm scared shitless to even think about sleeping," He whispered.

"It gets better. The nightmares never leave though. I think it was the whole experience that haunts me," I closed my eyes tightly. "But now, it's very much back. We thought it was destroyed. I don't know how or why Vecna is hurting people but whatever it is, it's much worse than Demogorgons or Mind Flayers."

"If I were you, I would have ditched Hawkins by now," Eddie chuckled dryly. "This place sounds like a supernatural shithole."

"Believe me, I would if I could. My parents are super protective. Well, my mom more than my dad. My dad could care less about our family. I went missing for two days when Will first went missing and he thought I was sleeping with the neighbor's son. He never bothered to tell my mom I never came home," I scoffed at the thought of my dad.

"Well, where were you then?" Eddie asked.

"I got lost in the woods. My old friends thought it would be funny to prank me but then I panicked and ended up getting lost. Hopper found me soaked from the rain two days later," I added.

"Sounds like you had shitty friends," He sighed.

"Yeah, when I went to confront them, they thought I had died. So when I walked up to them they thought I was a ghost," I chuckled tiredly.

I looked at my watch. It was a gift from Billy for my birthday a year ago. It was nearly three in the morning.

"I'm gonna try to go to sleep," I yawned. "If someone comes, please wake me up. Or leave me, I really don't care."

I leaned my head against the aluminum wall of the scrappy boat house and closed my eyes. It was hella uncomfy so I shuffled but ended up hitting my head into a hanging chair.

"Ow," I whispered in pain, rubbing my forehead.

"Wheeler," Eddie murmured. "You can use my shoulder. I swear I won't bite."

"M'kay," I mumbled. My eyes were getting heavy as I rested my head against his shoulder. His long hair was super soft and I didn't complain when he scooted closer to me.

I felt my eyes getting heavy. The last thing I remembered was Eddie lacing his fingers through mine.

-----

"Charlie Wheeler, get your ass up right now," Eddie whispered, waking me up. "I think someone's here." A car engine shut off outside.

I stood up and Eddie went to look out the windows. I followed behind him.

"Shit. Oh Shit," Eddie cursed under his breath. He looked out the windows in a panic. Then suddenly the door swung open. "Jesus." He grabbed my hand and I almost shit myself out of fear.

Dustin walked in with the others and they had grocery bags in their hands. "Delivery service," Dustin smiled, holding up the bags.

Steve eyed my hand interlocked with Eddie's. I pulled away and shoved Steve before he could taunt me. Eddie and I sat down in the boat and Dustin gave us some food to eat.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?" Dustin asked.

"Bad news first, always," Eddie said with a mouth full of cereal. I

"Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're uh, pretty convinced that you killed Chrissy," Dustin stated.

"Like one hundred percent kind of convinced," Max added.

"And the good news?"Eddie questioned.

"Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you then it's only a matter of time that others did too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you," Robin explained.

"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie replied bitterly.

"Exactly," Robin said.

"Um, one more problem," Dustin added suddenly. "Charlie...Your parents reported you missing. The police think Eddie is holding you captive. Or you're an accomplice. They haven't decided yet. So, before anything happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence."

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie looked baffled.

"Yeah, no, that's pretty much it," Dustin gave a thumbs up towards us.

"Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a few times and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based and theirs was more smoke related, but the bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we've got this," Robin encouraged.

"Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers. But, uh, those went bye-bye, so..." Steve started.

So we're technically in more of the..." Robin continued.

"Brainstorming phase?" I offered.

"Brainstorming," Steve snapped.

"There... There's nothing to worry about," Dustin stuttered. Steve chuckled.

Eddie looked like he wanted to kill everyone here. Then we heard sirens.

"Oh shit."

"Tarp," Robin said quickly. "Tarp, tarp."

Steve, Dustin and Robin ran to the windows as Max covered Eddie and I with the tarp.

"What's happening?" I whispered as the sirens faded away.

"I don't know," I heard Steve say. "But I promise that we'll be back."

The door opened.

"Use the walkie if you need anything," Dustin said before the door slammed closed.