Complete Chaos

069

Robin, Nancy, Steve, Julia and Melody were going to the Creel House. Dustin and Eddie were going to stay behind and distract the bats.

Robin and Nancy walked away first.

Steve stopped walking and turned around. He had Melody on his chest. She was in the baby carrier.

"If things start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort, okay," he said, glancing at Dustin and Eddie.

"Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two." Steve lifted up two fingers. "We'll take care of Vecna." He pointed at himself.

Dustin nodded, annoyed. "Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something, okay? you guys are just-"

"Decoys." Dustin finished for him.

"Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve," Dustin added, and Eddie nodded.

"Absolutely. I mean, look at us," Eddie said, and Dustin looked back at the boy. "We are not heroes." Eddie lightly chuckled with a smile on his face, two dimples on each side of his cheek.

There was an unsettling feeling in Julia's mind and heart. Tomorrow wasn't promised. She was scared for the safety of her friends, her daughter, her boyfriend.

She walked up to the two boys. She hugged Dustin first. "Take care of each other," she whispered.

He let go of her first and looked at her with a smile. "We will."

Her gaze moved to Eddie. He had a lopsided smile on his face. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words left her lips.

There was a lot she wanted to say to him. She wanted to go back in time and be a better friend, a better person for Eddie to have someone around him. Maybe if she hadn't listened to Kim, they could have been friends after the breakup.

All of that was in the past. She couldn't change that, but she could do something now.

His big brown eyes stayed on her, waiting for what she was going to do next. "Please be careful," she finally said to him and hugged him, her arms around his neck.

He didn't move for a few seconds, surprised by the sudden touch, but after the seconds of shock were over, he hugged her back. The hug brought a lot of memories they both shared once upon a time.

He let go of her first; they stood a few inches apart. His eyes wrinkled at the end as he smiled big at her. "I will, and you still owe me one of your desserts," he joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

She beamed at him, "once all of this is over. I'll bake a three-layer cake for all of us." Her work brought her joy. She couldn't wait to have everyone over and have a normal day.

"I want chocolate chip cookies," Dustin added, looking at the older teen.

Robin poked her head from behind Nancy and said, "I want one of your jelly-filled donuts."

Nancy rolled her eyes and took a step forward. "We can do this later. We have to go," Nancy said firmly.

Nancy began to walk, making the other teens follow her.

"Steve," Eddie called out to him. Steve stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Make him pay," Eddie responded. Both boys nodded at each other, understanding.

The group of five made their way to the Creel's house.

It was the first time Julia was taking notice of the new place she was in.

She had heard of it, but she could have never imagined something like this.

It was dark, making it hard to see the vines. The sky was gray, almost black, with the occasional red lightning.