his shadow | eddie munson

↝ chapter eighteen

the beast - twisted sister
19 | preparation
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despite not having a decent sleep in days, and enjoying the comfort that steve's couch offered her, maude was still unable to get a decent nights sleep. her mind wracked with anxieties— visions of eddie in his decaying state, eddie passed out in the back of his van, all of his injuries and how his face had whitened (even more than it already had) whenever he'd mention vecna. she tried to imagine eddie as dustin had described him, in his transformed state, but the thought quickened her heart to an alarming rate.

to distract herself, she grabbed her sketchbook and pencils from her backpack and went upstairs and found steve's kitchen, which was lit by the moonlight that shone through the windows. she jumped up on the large island bench and opened her book to a new page— her hand moving before she could even think of what to draw, and she let it pave its way for hours.

by the time the sun came up, she'd completed a finished sketch. a sketch that she'd never attempted before. for once she didn't draw eddie, or dustin or any of the hellfire club.

she drew herself.

sitting in the passenger seat of eddie's van, looking out the window and seeing a panorama of visions— her life spread out over the entirety of two pages. memories, thoughts, experiences, leading from her mother dropping her off at her uncles doorstep all the way to driving eddie's van back to hawkins— a thought bubble placed beside that particular sketch of her which read maybe this is my purpose, after all.

"oh," maude jumped around, but calmed when she saw steve standing in the entryway of the kitchen, hair messy and eyes still drooping. he wore boxer shorts and a white t-shirt and was scratching the back of his neck. "morning, i didn't expect you to be awake yet."

"i didn't sleep." maude admitted.

steve frowned. "oh, you weren't tired?"

"i'm exhausted..." maude claimed with a small sigh. "but i couldn't sleep."

"yeah, i was tossing and turning myself— have you been sketching all night?" he motioned towards the book that lay in her lap. he then made his way over to the kitchen island and stood beside her, leaning back on the island a few feee away from her as to not make her uncomfortable.

"yeah, it helps keep me calm— grounds me, i guess." she turned the book towards him so he could see it, and offered him a small smile. "you can have a look, if you want."

a soft smile grew on his face, and he thanked her before gently taking the sketchbook from her and taking in her newest sketch. his fingers traced over each scene, face twisting with recognition and then displeasure at some of them— mainly the ones with her uncle and cousins, or the ones where she sat alone in hawkins high. he'd then snicker at the ones of her watching the hellfire club be absolute goons, and his fingers seemed to linger on the memories of her and eddie in his van, eyebrows frowning at the state she'd drawn him in.

maude kicked her feet back and forth while she watched the steve harrington study her drawing. the king of hawkins high— even after he'd graduated last year. she had seen him around town with dustin or with nancy back when they were dating, had seen him and robin goofing off almost everywhere. even from afar she had never doubted his pure intentions and genuineness.

"i always hated your cousins," steve grumbled, his eyes falling back to the sketches they were included in, none pleasant. "wanted to teach 'em a lesson or two— but i have a record streak of losing almost every fight i've gotten into."