MATILDA, eddie munson.

044.

MARCH 26TH, 1986
📍skull rock
15:03 PM

"okay, so, we basically do the opposite. i step forward with my left foot, you step back with your right," tillie explained, showing him the steps. "got it?"

"yeah," eddie nodded. "step back with my right," the boy repeated, doing the actions as he spoke. "now what?"

out of pure boredom, eddie had asked the girl to teach him how to dance, and now here they were, waltzing in the middle of the woods.

"you're going to move left, and bring your feet together," she told him, and eddie followed along with her instructions. "and then you step forwards with your left foot."

"i'm a pro at this," eddie commented, gripping the girls waist tightly.

"i wouldn't go that far just yet," she smiled. "so then, you're going to move back and to your right before closing your feet together again. and then you're back at the start and you repeat it all over again."

eddie looked down at his feet in confusion. "can we go over it again?"

"i thought you were a pro," she reminded him.

"i thought i'm not that far yet," the boy replied.

tillie rolled her eyes, before beginning to go through the steps again, demonstrating them as she did so. "step back, move to the left, bring your feet together, step forward, move back to the right and bring your feet together again."

"back, left, together, forward, back, right, together," eddie repeated quietly, his face full of concentration. "i'm getting the hang of this, you know?"

"yeah?" tillie queried. "try it without saying it then."

"challenge accepted," eddie responded, beginning to waltz without speaking the steps aloud. "so, how do you know how to do this then?" he said, beginning to make casual conversation to prove how good he was. "i thought you only did ballet."

"i took a few ballroom lessons too over the years," the blonde replied. "i had to dance at weddings and events. only difference is i wasn't the lead and i wasn't dancing with a suspected murderer," she remarked lightly.

"improvements, wouldn't you say?" eddie commented, spinning her around.

giggling, the girl ended up stumbling into eddie, and he had to hold onto her waist to steady her. "definitely," she whispered, their faces mere centimeters apart.

"mattie.." eddie whispered. "there's something i need to—"

"yeah, yeah. even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it," they heard steve's voice say from the other side of the rock, making them separate from one another. "you just can't admit you're wrong, you little butthead."

eddie cleared his throat and headed over to them and tillie stayed still for a moment, before following after him.

"i concur," eddie stated. "you, dustin henderson, are a total butthead."

"jesus, we thought you were a goner," dustin sighed, walking over to hug his older friend.

"yeah, me too, man," eddie replied, and matilda watched with a smile as they embraced. "me too."

"tillie, how are you?" steve asked.

"doing alright, you?"

"i'm doing alright too," the boy replied, as eddie watched them emulously. "what a coincidence, huh? we're both doing alright.."

the blonde furrowed her brows and nodded along with his awkwardness, thankfully saved by the redhead that ran up to her.

"tillie," max smiled in relief, taking the girl by surprise as she gave her a small hug. "sorry, i've had a shitty couple of days.."