The Freak and the Jedi

Chapter nine: The Piggyback

"You WHAT?"

That was all Dustin had said when Eddie and I told him about our dating history. He had been staring at us with an undecipherable look, sitting oddly quietly on his nail box, with his palms pressed together as he stared at the empty field before us. In his lack of noise, Eddie and I had returned to our previous affairs, creating our own spears and shields, just keeping ourselves busy enough to pretend Dustin wasn't registering everything we had told him.

"But like... I don't understand, you never mentioned anything," he had said at last.

"Yeah, we didn't want anybody to find out," Eddie answered, still nailing down the lid.

"We already had too much on our plate, Dus," I added.

"But why didn't you say anything? I mean I've been talking your ear off about Eddie pretty much since I started high school," Dustin kept going.

"Listen, it's not that we don't trust you, it's just that... it was painful, alright? And these past years haven't been easy for anyone and the last thing on my mind was telling my brother about a guy I dated while one of his friends was kidnapped by a monster," I had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down.

"Yeah, man, give us a break," Eddie muttered too. "And you've seen what being acquaintances with me does to you so yeah, didn't want your sister to follow the same fate."

"Wow... I remember you talking to Nancy over the phone about breaking up with someone... and it was Eddie this whole time, wow," Dustin said as he rubbed his face. "I mean... I guess I kinda see it. I always thought you guys could be good friends but you know..." he made weird gestures with his hands, finally looking up at us. "You're... doing your business," he looked at Eddie. "And you're either studying or working, so..." he looked at me. "And all this weird tension between you two? That explains everything."

I immediately tensed. "What tension?

Eddie gulped loudly. "Yeah, what are you talking about, Henderson?" his voice had even gotten higher.

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Guys, I'm not stupid. It's pretty clear that there have been some unresolved feelings between you two since day one. At first, I thought it only was because you didn't like each other but turns out it's the opposite," he grinned mischievously at us.

I shook my head. "That's not it."

"Not it at all," Eddie repeated.

"Can you just... stop saying the same thing and just go talk things out?" his hand was suspended in mid-air.

"I don't think we have time for that," I complained. "Maybe when the world isn't ending we can all sit down and philosophize, alright?"

Dustin shook his head but agreed nevertheless. "But why would you break up? I mean, I'm perfectly fine with Suzie, you know..." I cut him off before he could continue.

"Dustin!" I finally snapped, sending him a harsh glare.

"It's just a question! Even Steve and Nancy dated while everything went down the first time..."

"And they didn't have to take care of their families because they had someone doing it for them, okay?" my voice got louder, even though I hated yelling at my brother.

Eddie sighed, walking away a few steps to give us some privacy. Dustin stared at me dumbfounded, but his tone had gotten significantly quieter.

"What do you mean?"

He looked small, still sitting down on the box. At some point he had dropped his weapon, staring at me like a little kid waiting for his punishment. The sheer confusion in his eyes made my heart ache, knowing there was no turning back.