MATILDA, eddie munson.

053.

MARCH 27TH, 1986
📍the rv
20:43 PM

anxiously, tillie bounced her knee up and down. they'd geared up, sorted out the exact details of their plan and were now on their way to drop max, lucas and erica off at the creel house.

she'd be lying if she said she wasn't incredibly nervous for the showdown, nor could she ignore the sinking feeling in her chest that something bad would happen tonight.

eddie turned to his left, and saw tillie's leg movement, gently placing his hand on top of it to try and calm her nerves. she felt the contact, turning to look at him with a small smile.

they pulled in front of the house and the three kids began stepping out of the rv. "wait. max," tillie called to the redhead.

max turned around, pulling her headphones off her ears. "hm?"

standing up, the blonde approached max and brought the younger girl in for a small hug. "be careful, okay?" she said, releasing the girl and looking up at the sinclair siblings. "that goes to you two as well."

"we will be," max told her, exiting the vehicle. "you guys be careful too. good luck," she smiled, closing the door behind her.

steve began driving away from the creel house and tillie turned on her heels, returning to her seat beside eddie, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close to him.

- 📻🪐🏹 -

MARCH 27TH, 1986
📍forest hills trailer park
21:22 PM

"okay. i wanna run through it one more time," nancy stated, the six of them parked just outside the trailer park. "phase one.."

"we meet erica at the playground," robin answered. "she'll signal max and lucas when we're ready."

"phase two?"

"max baits vecna," tillie responded. "he'll go after her, and that'll put him in his weird trance thing."

"phase three?" nancy asked.

"me and eddie draw the bats away," dustin replied this time, making eddie slap him on the shoulder excitedly.

"four?"

"me, you, tillie and steve head into vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair," robin said, holding up one of her molotov cocktails. "and flambé."

"nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," nancy told them firmly. "nobody deviates from the plan no matter what. got it?"

"got it," they all nodded, before exiting the rv to walk through the woods to eddie's trailer.

tillie stayed at the back, two spears strapped in a cross shape on her back as she strolled alongside eddie, their hands connected but walking in complete silence.

they checked for any sign of people, before darting across the trailer park to eddie's house, and quickly entered the front door, locking it behind them.

the bedsheet still hung through the gate, allowing them access to the upside down. steve climbed through first, so that he could get a mattress for the rest of them to land on. however, he landed doing a fancy flip, making eddie scoff in tillie's ear. "show off."

"what does he want us to do, applaud?" robin muttered.

steve found the upside down version of eddie's mattress, placing it beneath the bedsheet as a landing zone for the rest of them.

"all right," he called to them. "let's go."

nancy went through first, before they threw all the supplies down. next, it was tillie's turn and eddie used his hands to give her a boost like he'd done before.

"here you go, princess," he grunted, pushing her up.

"thanks," she smiled at him, going through the portal and landing flat on her back on the other side. steve offered his hand to help her get onto her feet as eddie helped dustin get up the rope too.

eddie made sure both dustin and robin got through safely, before climbing up himself, landing much more cleanly than he did the previous time.

they began distributing any leftover supplies between them again, before steve asked, "everyone ready?"

there was a round of nodded heads, and they exited the trailer, forming a group outside.

"hey, guys, listen," steve started, directing his words to dustin and eddie. "if things here start to go south, i mean, at all, you abort. okay? draw the attention of the bats, keep 'em busy for a minute or two. we'll take care of vecna. don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. okay? you guys are just-"

"decoys," eddie and dustin said simultaneously.

"don't worry. you can be the hero, steve," dustin told him.

"absolutely," eddie agreed. "i mean, look at us. we are not heroes."

steve nodded and stepped back, allowing tillie to step forwards and speak to eddie.

"please, be careful," tillie begged as she approached him.

"me?" eddie exclaimed, pulling her in for a quick hug. "i'm always careful."

"i'm being serious, eddie," she mumbled frustratedly into his chest. "i'm not losing you, okay?"

"you won't," he said, kissing her temple, before pulling away from the embrace. "i will be careful. i promise."

they stared at each other lovingly for a moment, before dustin's gagging noises distracted them. "i think i just threw up a little in my mouth," he groaned.

tillie rolled her eyes playfully. "you be careful too, dipshit," she told him.

"wait.." dustin said, his brows furrowed as he began to remember. tillie rejoined robin, steve and nancy. "now, hold up-"

"see you later, princess," eddie called to her. "go kick some vecna ass. make him pay."

"you know i will," she responded, before turning and walking away the others.

- 📻🪐🏹 -

shit is about to go down..
i hope you guys are prepared because i'm not 😃

WORD COUNT - 1036.