just another day. || eddie munson || COMPLETE

o25 || dustin

Charles was back on the couch again. No one was speaking to him. No one knew how to recover from it. Dustin hadn't seen his sister for weeks. This was not how he had wanted to spend his summer break. He had envisioned more pool parties and side story d & d runs and bike riding and maybe even a family vacation. That was all shot now though. Charles had ruined everything. He still talked about the family vacation as if it was going to still happen, but no one acknowledged him. Sure Delilah knew how to get under peoples skin but he had no right to strike her the way he did. Their mom was a mess over it. She tried to go see her at work, but Delilah would ignore her. Claudia was inconsolable most nights. Her food was bland and she cried over every little thing now. She had cried to him one night, profusely apologizing that she had let this happen. She took so much of the blame and it was eating her alive.

Dustin wondered if he would ever understand adults. Even when he was one, would he make decisions like these? And what the fuck was up with the living in sin thing? He hardly seemed like a man of the cloth but he was spouting off like one at that dinner. Charles had eaten all of the leftover lasagna. No one else could touch it. It was a nasty reminder of the slap that was probably heard in the upside down. Dustin had battled things far beyond his imagination, but he still couldn't come to grips with the image of Delilah's wide eyes after she was struck. He had never seen her face look like that. Through all the horror movies she had seen, she had never looked so scared. Everyone did. Except Eddie. He remembered hearing his rings grate together as he held his fists tight, ready to strike at Charles at any second.

Thank god he hadn't, but Dustin had felt like doing the same. He remembered wanting to scream, but feeling frozen. Like his rage kept him planted and quiet. EMotions he had never felt before had been surging through him. After Eddie had gotten Delilah out, he tried to think of what he wanted to start yelling at his father. How dare he touch his sister like that? He wanted to be a dad but hit his own daughter? In what universe did he think that was the move to make?ss But nothing came out. Instead, Dustin started to cry. He'd never tell anyone how hard he cried. He had crumbled to his knees and sobbed in the dining room. It took his mother lifting him up and helping him to bed to get him to stop crying. What if he never got to see his sister again? Surely he wouldn't let that happen. He didn't know what to do though.

He had once biked to Eddie's trailer and asked to see her, but she wouldn't see him. She had sent Eddie with information that she wasn't mad at him but she needed some space. He wanted to know how much space, but would never think of asking something like that. Eddie was being really cool about the whole thing. The two were meeting up at the arcade that day to hang out. Mike and Lucas were also tagging along, much to Dustin's surprising dismay. It's not that he didn't want to see his friends, but he really just wanted to talk to Eddie about Delilah. He wouldn't have many good chances to ask about her in front of the other guys. He knew they would understand, but it just wasn't something he wanted people to know.

Upon arriving, he saw Eddie's van already parked in the lot along with Mike and Lucas's bikes in the rack by the front door. Dustin was almost always the last one to arrive lately. He hitched his bike in the rack and entered into his safe haven. It didn't take him long to find his friends who greeted him with open arms. Eddie had even embraced him in a tight hug. "How ya holdin' up Henderson?" He asked him, slapping his hand on his shoulder.

"Decent enough, I suppose," Dustin said, eyeing the other boys carefully.

The boys gamed for what seemed like hours. Their quarters really lasted now a days. Eddie had paid for most of the games to boot. He had made a joke about being a trophy boyfriend and having Delilah making the big bucks for them now. He guess he had never really thought about how much money Delilah made between working at the record shop and selling weed. She seemed to always have it and would help Claudia with groceries and bills regularly as well. It sparked a small question as to whether or not his dad helped out with bills or not. It had taken him quite some time to find a job and the job he had wasn't anything high paying that he could imagine. He worked at a hardware store in town as a cashier or customer specialist as Charles liked to correct him.