Hawkins Unraveling

CH 11 : The Dive

Eddie kissed her again, and again, and June lost track of how many kisses and how much time had passed before rustling in the underbrush had them separating out of wariness. Sharing a look, they pressed themselves further into the crevice under Skull Rock, staying quiet as multiple pairs of feet trudged through the woods.

"Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, little, cocky face."

"Doesn't make sense," Dustin protested, and June relaxed at the familiar bickering between him and Steve.

"Yeah, yeah. Even when it's staring you right in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you were wrong."

"Steve," June sighed, and she and Eddie both scrambled out of their hiding spot as the rest of the group filed into the clearing.

"June, thank god," Steve said, his previously smug tone now replaced with only relief. He reached for her, but she only went to him once Eddie's touch had faded at her back.

"We thought you guys were goners," Dustin announced, stopping in front of Eddie to hug him.

"I thought we were, too," Eddie replied grimly, but then he looked over at June and shot her a small, knowing smile. "Turns out June's a bit of a badass, though."

"What does that mean?" Steve pulled June away from his side where he had comfortably tucked her in order to look her over. Her skin prickled everywhere that he touched as he ran his hands over her shoulders, arms, sides, hips– "What the hell happened to your head?" Steve turned to Eddie, furious. "Munson, what the-"

"It was Jason!" June all but yelled, batting away Steve's concerned hands as they skated over the side of her face that was probably well bruised at this point. "We got into a bit of a...physical altercation."

Robin hustled over to June's side. "What the heck does that even mean?"

"It means he shoved her face into the side of a boat," Eddie clarified helpfully as June and Robin embraced.

"It's fine," June argued, shooting him a sharp look. "I'm fine, see? We both are."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Like you think that's really gonna work. Hey– are you sure you're okay? You seem a little flushed."

June heard Eddie stifle a sound of shock– laughter, maybe?– as she batted Steve away yet again. "Yes, I'm fine, now please, can we just-"

"Story time first, remember?" Eddie interrupted, taking the attention off of her. "You guys are gonna want to hear this."

June allowed him to fill the others in on the events of the night before without interruption, starting first with the jocks' arrival, the incident with Patrick in the water, and how they ended up at Skull Rock until now.

"Why didn't you radio us sooner?" Robin asked, astounded.

Eddie waved his hands. "Uh, remember, no walkie to do that. We kind of left that behind after our little swim, so-"

"What time did that happen?" Nancy interrupted, her face furrowed in thought. "The attack. Do you remember the time?"

June had no idea, but Eddie apparently did. He unstrapped his watch from his wrist and tossed it to her. "Same time that I went swimming and this thing fried."

Nancy read the time, then looked right at Robin. "9:27."

Robin's eyes went wide. "The same time our lights went kablooey."

"Okay, which means what exactly?" Steve cut in, trying to catch up.

"The surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy answered matter-of-factly.