no one lives forever || part 2

o8 || eddie

Cincinnati was a different type of city from Hawkins. It was much larger and there was always so much going on. Eddie thought he was going to be miserable, but to be honest, he was doing just fine. He had landed a job at a gas station which was less than glamorous, but he was making it work. It paid decently, enough to keep up his dingy apartment. It had been a month since Steve had called him. Told him about Delilah and Reefer Rick. He had tried to merely shut it out, let Steve tell her and then never have to hear from her again. Not that that was really what he wanted. It hurt him more and more every day that she was hurting the way she was. He was in disbelief when Steve had told him about the cocaine. He couldn't do anything but blame himself. Things had been going so well for him in Cincinnati that he didn't even think about home most of the time. He rolled over in bed and realized that there was someone next to him.

He mentally groaned as he held his head, a hangover stinging over him. His face was met with a head full of electric blonde curls and his stomach sank. He had done this more frequently than he had liked to admit. Her name was Alicia and she was head over heels for Eddie. Eddie didn't feel the same and it always made him think of how Delilah had treated him at first. Like she didn't want anything to do with him romantically. How he had judged her for it, now here he was doing something similar to Alicia. He rolled the other way and held onto his head, glancing over at the clock. He was taking a little vacation and he wasn't sure how long he would be gone, but he had wanted to be on the road before noon and that definitely wasn't going to happen now. He began scouring his bedroom for the clothes he had planned on wearing on his trip, before slipping on a pair of briefs and socks. He was quick to snatch up one of his various band t-shirts, this particular one being a Stryper tee.

"You did it again," Alicia's voice sparked into his mind, causing him to jump about a mile out of his skin.

"What? What the- Jesus, you scared the shit out of me," He said, gripping at the chest of his t-shirt in a dramatic way.

"You said her name again," She said, solemnly. "Delilah."

Eddie's jaw hung slightly ajar in embarrassment that this wasn't the first time it had happened and he was almost certain it wouldn't be the last. He ran a hand through his tangled brown mess of hair before he shrugged his shoulders at her. He was embarrassed, but not enough to really show he was sorry. He couldn't help it. In a way, he was mourning Delilah to.

"You can't keep doing this to me, ya know?" She said, sitting up and clinging the sheet to her chest, "You need to figure out your shit."

Her words were harsh, but he knew he couldn't blame her, "I know," He stated, matter of factly, "That's what I'm trying to do. This next week. I'm heading back home for a visit," He explained. He didn't want to get into much more about it. He had told her that they had been separated by Delilah's parents and it was some kind of unrequited love thing. It was one of the biggest lies he was holding onto besides well, being alive.

"I know you're just going to see her," Alicia spoke out, looking away from Eddie.

He opened his mouth to lie more, but decided against it. He didn't want her to get her hopes up. He had no idea what would happen with him going back to Hawkins. He wasn't sure how diligently the police were still looking for him. He didn't know what real shape Delilah was in. He wasn't even sure where he would stay. With Steve or Reefer Rick or . . . he hoped Delilah, but he couldn't imagine how the situation would go. He couldn't decide if she would be so happy he was alive, she would forget that he lied or . . . well the opposite.

"Aren't you the one always saying how I need to get my shit figured out with her?" He asked, sitting next to her on the bed, "This is my chance to do that. To figure out what I'm doing," He tried to defend himself, but he knew he sounded pathetic.