#Or so they think until Robin eats Eddie’s HoneyCombs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

scoops-aboy86 · 3 months

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More love spell no go! This is getting a little further away from the original chubby Steve theme, but eh. Consider it an interlude. I'll have a next part up tomorrow, and in the meantime I'm also reworking the earlier bits to be more suitable for ao3 at some point.

Because yeah, this thing caught some plot.

CW for... I wouldn't call it disordered eating, but Steve gets a little too focused on getting and staying in tip-top shape in case the Upside Down comes back. Eddie and Robin both worry about him, but he's going about it in a (physically) healthy way. No body image issues, just "must protect" feels.

Also cw for the dubious consent of having cast a love spell but then not being able to tell if it worked. (I have a plot point in mind that will resolve this concern eventually.)

Part 1, part 1.5, part 2, part 3

The next morning, Eddie wakes up in Steve’s arms and thinks he must still be dreaming. Steve is warm and soft and Eddie just wants to turn and snuggle into his embrace forever. Part of him is still reeling from the worry that Steve could have died last night; the same part of him that wants to soothe every bruise and hurt with kisses. Waking up to this is… Shit, he’s so delirious with still-sleepy contentment he can’t even think of a word. So while he wants to roll over and press close and let his hands wander possessively, lovingly, over every part of Steve’s body he can reach, he doesn’t dare break the moment. Waits until Steve stirs and moves his arm from around Eddie to do a cute little wake up stretch, but doesn’t roll away from where they’re pressed close.

It makes Eddie yearn so hard he aches.

But then he sits with some unquantifiable sadness churning in his chest when all Steve wants for breakfast is a few plain slices of toast. He says it’s because his jaw hurts from all the bruising (and no way that was just from a mall fire, Eddie knows what the aftermath of being hit in the face looks like, but he’d promised not to ask), except the excuse rings hollow when he lets eventually lets Eddie talk him into a bowl of Honeycombs too and basically inhales it.

Eddie drives him to his house to grab an extra set of keys, then reluctantly drops him off in what’s left of the Starcourt parking lot next to the BMW. The bad feeling he’s sitting on isn’t the same kind as the past few days, when Steve was missing; it’s a more general concern.

Over the rest of the summer, as Steve both heals up and starts to slim down, Eddie thinks that concern is pretty warranted. It’s not… unhealthy, he’s not gaunt, filling out with muscle even as the curve of his belly beneath his shirts becomes less noticeable. A lot of it is probably simply from not working in close proximity to free ice cream five days a week, and while Family Video does have a candy rack it’s not exactly extensive. But when he thinks about how happy Steve had always looked with a treat in hand, licking eagerly at an ice cream cone or taking a long pull on a milkshake straw… There’s none of that, now. When Steve eats, it’s perfunctory. Like an afterthought. Like his mind is somewhere else.

Steve still buys weed pretty regularly and miraculously doesn’t mind if Eddie still visits him at work, wandering around looking at tapes for a few hours without ever renting anything. They still smoke together, Robin sometimes joining in—which Eddie doesn’t mind, really. Robin is band-nerd-weird in a way that meshes well with Eddie’s dnd-nerd-weird, and most importantly brings out more of Steve’s goofy-weird. It’s endearing, how close the two have become since the mall burned down, and their interactions scream brother and sister picking on each other so loudly that Eddie isn’t even jealous.

But Steve also has alarms set on his fancy rich boy watch that remind him to jog, or work out in the weight room set up in the Harrington basement, or swim laps in the pool he seems to have reluctantly made peace with… Another thing Eddie has been biting his tongue about, because it seems like a sore spot. When an alarm goes off, Steve gets up immediately, even if it’s in the middle of a movie.

“Is he okay?” Eddie asks Robin after one such time, once Steve has let himself outside for his now religiously observed evening run. Leaving them alone in Casa Harrington like it’s totally normal to let friends hold down the fort for the half an hour or so before he gets back.

Robin twists her mouth in a few different directions before answering, telling him wordlessly that yeah, she’s noticed, and yeah, she’s a little worried too. “Probably? He just… wants to be prepared. In case anything else happens, you know? Which I get. Believe me, I was there, I get it, but like… holy shit that’s a lot of energy. I’m exhausted just looking at him sometimes. And he takes it all so seriously! Is that a dude thing? You don’t do that, so I don’t know, but not everybody is like, a dude in the same way, you’re more of a—” the gesture she makes just encompasses all of Eddie, whatever that means “—and Steve is, like, all preppy and a total dork. I mean, I love him, but. Total dork. His main aspiration in life is to become a Winnebago dad. There are probably sweater vests in his future. Over polos. Eddie, I once watched him iron a pair of jeans.”

That’s a lot of information to get in (Eddie checks his watch) 39 seconds.”Okay, I’ll bite. Why did he iron his jeans?”

She levels the flattest stare Eddie’s ever seen at him. “He said he wanted to see what would happen.”

Eddie can’t help but grin. Steve is just… an surprising combination of endlessly loyal sweetheart and endearing dumbass. Exactly the sort of guy who, Eddie is sure, would have been snatched up and locked down quick in high school if that flop of a love spell hadn’t gotten in the way and inundated him with such widespread, vapid attention that no one, not even Steve himself for a while, had been able to see past the popularity and the perfect hair.

Now that said popularity has worn off, Steve is grown up enough to be himself and Eddie is himself enough not to fuck things up if anything were to actually happen. And things had been a little awkward right after Starcourt, but… they’re still friends. Steve still sits close to him on couches and bench seats, still just kind of smiles at Eddie sometimes for no apparent reason. Hell, Eddie has held down the fort at Casa Harrington for half an hour while Steve goes for a jog before. Multiple times now. Sometimes it’s all enough that Eddie almost dares to hope that—

… Wait.

Wait.

“I gotta go,” Eddie says abruptly, jumping up from the couch and all but running for the door, concern over Steve’s recent exercise regimen temporarily overwritten with something else. “Forgot, uh… Gotta help Wayne with a thing. See you tomorrow, bye!”

Because it had never occurred to him until just now that, actually, maybe the spell had worked, only not the way he’d expected it to.

He’d expected… What, Steve to show up at his locker the next day with flowers and chocolates and invite him to prom? Yeah, as if that wouldn’t have gotten both of them beat up every day for the rest of their high school careers. And Eddie back then hadn’t thought much of prom, over romanticized and expensive and mostly full of assholes as it is. He still kind of doesn’t, but he knows now that Steve would have been excited about prom, and Eddie making fun of the very idea would have made him draw into himself a bit and that’s no way to start a relationship.

But now. Fuck, now, what if how close they’ve gotten since last fall isn’t because Steve likes him, but because of the goddamn spell?

Meanwhile, Steve had only managed to confess to Robin that he had a bit of a thing for Eddie about a week ago, at the tail end of a closing shift once the doors were locked and the sign flipped. He’d explained how different Eddie was from any of his other friends, how Eddie’s eyes lit up from the inside when he talked about his music or his campaigns, how warm and gooey he’d felt with Eddie in his arms that night after Starcourt, snuggled even closer… and how strongly he feels about Eddie never, ever being drawn into any Upside Down shit.

So, yeah, he’s been watching what he eats and working out to make sure that if anything happens, he can protect his people. If he misses the safety of letting himself indulge freely and let himself get bigger, even the morning jumping-jacks-to-fit-in-pants part, that’s his own business.

“Where’s Eddie?” he asks when he gets back from his run.

“Um, he said he forgot he had to help Wayne with something” Robin says, and the squeakiness in her voice makes Steve instantly suspicious.

“What happened?” he demands.

“Well,” she says, and chews on her bottom lip. “He’s kinda worried about how you’re all… Mr. Regimen lately. And I’m right there with him, to be honest.”

That pulls Steve up short. He’d expected Eddie to be a little weird about the change, but Robin?

“Because you’re wound so tight all the time,” Robin hastily adds. “I mean, Steve… it’s over. The Russians are gone, the key is scrap metal, and that meat-flayer thing is dead. We know that.”

He drops onto the couch, runners high forgotten. (It’s a real thing; not as noticeable as a sugar high, but it’s real.) Thinks about how Robin wouldn’t even have gotten involved, wouldn’t have nightmares most nights now, if she hadn’t worked with Steve and overheard Dustin’s chatter about the code. It’s his fault, just like Barb being at his party and thus on the demogorgon’s hunting grounds was his fault, the first time.

After the first time, he’d been relatively okay. Tried to move on. After the second, weed and Eddie’s company had lulled him into complacency. Now, after the third time and the highest death count to date from what he can tell, Steve can see the pattern. It’ll come back, he knows it will.

But he doesn’t want Robin to have to think like that. She deserves to try and move on from a few days in hell, like he had tried after his first rodeo, and get whatever peace she can from that. And it’s not like Steve doesn’t hope he’s wrong—or like he doesn’t want to gravitate into the kitchen and stress-eat.

“I can be less tense,” he says after a long moment, for Robin’s sake.

Meaning, he’ll just have to hide it better. Maybe back off on sticking to a schedule, if getting up for a run in the middle of things is causing this much of a stir. (And he knows it must be part of why Eddie left, he just knows. Always the disappointment, openly not being able to manage his what-if-everything-falls-apart-again anxiety in front of his friends.)

Robins scoots closer and loops and arm through his, even though he’s still sweaty from his run. (She wrinkles her nose a little but doesn’t comment on it or let go.) “The important thing to remember is that he asked if you’re okay. He cares about you! That’s good, right? I mean, I feel like none of my big gay crushes have ever even known my name, which I know is an exaggeration because this is Hawkins and everyone knows everyone, we’ve all been in school with each other since we were babies, but, like, none of them have ever asked about me like that, and I don’t think I gave anything away about you liking him—”

“Robin,” Steve interrupts, not unkindly. “Breathe.”

She stops to breathe, and nods. “Right. Okay. And anyway, he said he’d see us tomorrow. It’s probably nothing.”

Tag list (comment to be added): @hotluncheddie @8em-em-em8

Part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11

#love spell no go au #wg steddie #steddie fic #chubby steve harrington #steve just wants to protect everyone #robin is just worried about her bff #eddie is thinking too many thoughts

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writings-of-dumpy · 1 year

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Separate Ways, Worlds Apart 3: The Lake House

Warnings: major character death, gore/horror, swearing

Eddie barely slept a wink. He kept waking up and checking on Rebecca, who was sound asleep a few feet from him. By the time he finally decided he wasn’t going to get back to sleep for any amount of time, she was so close to him that when she stirred, he could feel her gently brush against him with her movements. Eddie’s heart fluttered at the sight of her sleeping in the dawn light, which he attributed to his lack of sleep delirium. He saw her body shiver slightly, and he looked around the shed for something to keep her warm in. He found an old and tattered picnic blanket that was large enough to wrap both of them in, and he gently draped it over her sleeping form. After a few minutes, she stopped shivering and Eddie let out a breath. He was borderline starving right now, so he ate a granola bar quietly as he watch the sunrise. He thought about what Dustin had told him about the Upside Down and he never would have believed that Hawkins was harboring an alternate dimension had he not seen Chrissy’s gruesome demise. Flashes of her mutilated face invaded his mind as he sat by the window of the shed. He hadn’t known her very long, but she seemed nice enough. Nice enough to warrant Rebecca’s fierce protection. Eddie wondered what would earn her protectiveness and if after this she’d think of him as needing her.

After this. Eddie was more unsure of his future now than he had ever been. He was never convinced that he’d make it out of high school, not to mention his 20s. And now with a monster on the loose killing people and Eddie being blamed, he wasn’t sure there would be an “after this” for him.

Rebecca startled awake and Eddie’s head whipped over to her.

“You okay?” he asked lowly.

She looked at him with a clammy face and nodded. “Yeah… yeah I suppose.” She looked at the blanket that covered her with a furrowed brow and looked back up at him. Eddie shrugged as he looked at her and then out the small window.

“You looked cold,” he said. He saw out of the corner of his eye Rebecca smile slightly and told the blanket up.

“Thank you… Did you sleep at all?” she asked him after a moment.

Eddie shrugged and let out a breath. “Well… not really.”

Rebecca’s face softened. “I’m sorry. You could have woken me up…”

“That’s okay, you needed to sleep,” Eddie assured. “Dustin should be here soon with some food.”

“That’s good…” Rebecca replied.

Even though he was expecting it, he still tensed up and brandished his broken beer bottle as a weapon against Dustin, Steve, Robin, and Max coming back with several bags of food.

“So, we have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like first?” Dustin asked as Eddie and Rebecca started to eat the food they’d been brought. Eddie didn’t realize how hungry he was until he started chowing down on honeycomb cereal. Rebecca dug into her own box as well.

“Bad news first, always,” Eddie scoffed with his mouth full.

“Okay, bad news… We tapped into the Hawkins PD with our Cerebro and they’re definitely looking for you guys. Also they’re pretty convinced Eddie killed Chrissy,” Dustin said.

“Like, 100% kind of convinced,” Max chimed in.

“What about me?” Rebecca asked in a small voice.

“They think Eddie’s either killed you and has hidden your body or that he kidnapped you and is planning on killing you. After they talked to Jason, they ruled out the theory that the two of you were conspiring to murder Chrissy,” Robin explained with a solemn voice.

Eddie’s face was blank, he was sure, and he looked to Robin and Steve. “And the good news?” he asked almost sarcastically.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet. But if we found out about you, there’s only a matter of time before others do too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is going to be gunning for you,” Robin said.

Eddie’s heart sank into his stomach and he barely held himself together as he spoke again, “Hunt the freak, right?”

“Exactly,” Robin agreed.

“Shit,” Rebecca swore.

“So before that happens we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence,” Dustin said confidently.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all,” Eddie asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Dustin replied simply.

Robin then explained that this sort of thing wasn’t their first bout with the Upside Down and Eddie had a small amount of confidence in them.

“We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but, uh… those went bye-bye, so, uh…” Steve began with Dustin nodding emphatically.

“So we’re technically in more of a…” Robin trailed with hand gestures to have a word come to her.

“Brainstorming phase,” Max offered.

“Brainstorming!” Steve confirmed with a snap.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Dustin said in a manner that Eddie felt he was mostly trying to convince himself of the words he spoke. Eddie’s face dropped to one of questioned confidence.

“What if we think of something different? What if we find Vecna and don’t kill him but make him confess. That way Eddie won’t be wanted for murder. I get that I can’t just show up and say ‘hey I’m fine I was just hanging out at Eddie’s friend’s house while we waited for Vecna,’ but there has to be something more that we can do, right?” Rebecca asked. Eddie looked at her and saw a half-eaten box of lucky charms and a couple of empty orange juice bottles surrounding her.

“We’re going to figure it out, okay? The best thing for you two to do is stay hidden right now. We don’t need to have to worry about whether or not the cops have found you,” Steve said to his sister with a worried look.

“Or Vecna for that matter,” Robin interjected. Eddie’s spine froze at the thought of his own body being twisted and snapped how Chrissy’s was, and he felt sick at the thought of it happening to Rebecca, another person he couldn’t help.

“Here. Sit tight and we’ll communicate with this, okay?” Dustin said and handed Eddie a large hand-held radio.

Suddenly, sirens blared and Eddie’s senses went into high alert. He tried to figure out if the sirens were narrowing in on him or just passing through.

“Tarp! Tarp, tarp!” Robin snapped and gestured for Rebecca to get in the boat and Eddie to cover them. She climbed into the boat and the pair laid down quickly as Eddie covered them up with the tarp. Eddie could feel Rebecca’s body tense up against his and her breathing shallow. Acting on instinct alone, Eddie gently let his thumb caress a spot on Rebecca’s arm by her elbow to comfort her. Her skin was soft and felt like silk beneath his calloused thumb, and he felt her relax into his touch slightly.

“Coast is clear, guys.. but I have a bad feeling,” Steve said. Rebecca moved the tarp and sat up to look at her brother.

“What do you mean?” she asked him as he helped her out of the boat.

“I mean I think another kid is dead. There were like 4 cop cars and a coroner van,” Steve said grimly. A silence fell over the group as the thought of another brutal killing faced them.

“Well, let’s see if we can find any clues to Vecna. Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve dealt with a crime scene,” Dustin reasoned and Max smirked.

“Good idea. You two stay put and stay out of sight,” Steve ordered as the group prepared to leave the shed.

“Please be careful,” Rebecca said in a small voice.

Steve nodded and the group left Eddie and Rebecca alone again. They sat in silence for what felt like several minutes, but the sun told a different story. Eddie’s concept of time was completely backwards and the only thing that kept him grounded to what time it is was his watch. It showed military time so luckily he knew when he woke up at 6 it was the morning and not the evening.

“Eddie..?” Rebecca’s small voice said from across the room. He looked at her face, dirty from the floor of the shed and her expression as though she was about to cry. Eddie’s heart ached at the sight of her so broken.

“Yeah?” he answered calmly and watched her play with her fingers.

“I’m… I’m sorry I called you a freak. You didn’t deserve that, you don’t deserve to be judged for your hobbies or how you dress. Nobody does,” she spoke softly. Eddie’s face fell into a slight smile at her genuine apology.

“Well… You know, I’m sorry for belittling you and making fun of your friends,” he said. “I forgive you.”

Rebecca said nothing and hung her head as tears started to flow down her face and a soft whimper escaped her chest. Eddie was taken aback and his eyes went wide. He wasn’t too sure what to do about this, he was never good at expressing or dealing with others’ expression of emotion. All he knew was what he’d read in books and mirroring from his friends, and on rare occasion he acted on his intuition.

“Um…” he let out lowly. ‘Eddie, think. When Arwen was crying, what did Aragorn do?’ He thought of the half-elf woman described in his favorite book series and put himself in the Ranger’s shoes. Not that he thought of Rebecca as Arwen and himself as Aragorn, but… maybe he wanted to.

Eddie took a deep breath and slowly approached her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smoothed it along her back to pull her into his chest. Eddie felt no resistance from her and he completely enveloped her in his hold. She sobbed for a few moments more and Eddie gently held her against him as she cried.

“It’s okay…” he comforted. He felt her hands slide under his jacket and hug him back gently and he couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t happy that she was so upset, but he was glad to be there for her to hold and be held by him.

~*~

“Fuck,” Rebecca muttered as she looked through the bags once again.

“Nothing? All gone?” Eddie asked as he looked for any food that they may have missed.

“We really should have rationed it better, huh?” Rebecca sighed and looked over at Eddie.

He shrugged. “Well, we can just go up to the house and see what Rick’s got for now. Have to get to higher ground anyway for this to work,” Eddie said as he held up the radio. Rebecca looked outside and saw the sun was setting.

“Do you think he’s got a shower? I feel disgusting,” Rebecca said as they prepared to make their way to the house on the hill.

“It’ll be nice, yeah. And that bed again, why didn’t we do this earlier?” Eddie whispered as they hunched over and ran toward the house.

“Because it wasn’t safe, remember?” Rebecca whispered his words from a couple days ago back to him.

Eddie snorted with a smirk and opened up the back door for her and the two of them walked inside. The sun was fully set now and the two of them moved about the house in the dark. Rebecca managed to find a bathroom with a shower and nearly cried in relief.

“I’ll um… I’ll stand outside the bathroom,” Eddie told her. “In case you need anything..”

“Thanks, Eddie,” Rebecca said and turned on the shower. She got lost in her thoughts as she let the water wash away the sweat, blood, and dirt from her. She finally felt some semblance of normalcy even though after this quick rinse she would have to get back into dirty clothes. She didn’t want to think about that right now, though. She just enjoyed her time in the water, but worried about Eddie being alone. After their apologies yesterday, neither one of them were particularly stable and Rebecca didn’t like the thought of being alone for too long and thought the same for Eddie. She dried herself with a nearby towel and got her clothes back on. She opened the bathroom door and found Eddie sitting across the hall from her with his head resting on the wall and his arm on his knee that was positioned upright.

“You want a turn? Might be nice,” Rebecca offered him. Eddie looked at her for a moment and then nodded. They switched places and after Eddie’s shower, they found the bed they had previously slept in a couple nights ago and attempted to sleep.

“This is ridiculous. I’m relatively clean and this bed is comfortable… why can’t I sleep?” Eddie groaned after several minutes of tossing and turning.

“I think our minds are a bit preoccupied at the moment,” Rebecca offered. “I’m having trouble sleeping, too.”

Eddie hummed in agreement.

“Maybe try to think about something else? If we can?” Rebecca suggested as she looked up at Eddie from her position on the bed.

“Normally when I can’t sleep, I try to write campaigns until I can,” Eddie said.

“You’re running for office..?”

Eddie laughed loudly. “No. A campaign is a storyline for Dungeons and Dragons. As DM, I make the story and the players go through it. It’s like a whole new world.”

“That’s got to take some talent,” Rebecca complimented. “What else do you do?”

“Play guitar,” Eddie shrugs. “Wait a second…”

Eddie sprang out of the bed and started shuffling through the closet until Rebecca heard a musical strum and she could see through the darkness of the room Eddie with a large guitar in his hands. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was grinning.

“I’ll play us a lullaby. Any requests?” Eddie giggled as he sat cross-legged on the bed.

Rebecca laughed. “Nothing I can think of.”

“May the Bard’s lullaby give you a restful slumber,” Eddie said in a sing-song tone and began to play a soft melody in the guitar.

“I don’t know what that means, but you play beautifully,” Rebecca said.

“You should play D&D some time. I’ll teach you everything,” Eddie said with a smile in his voice.

“Even how to play guitar?” Rebecca asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well, that’s not part of D&D but I am a guitar god, so if you want to learn, I’d be happy to teach you,” Eddie replied as he continued to strum.

“Wow, that’s a pretty big ego you have there,” Rebecca laughed out.

“What can I say? I call it like I see it. Jeff’s not bad, either, but there’s a reason I’m the frontman,” Eddie said and Rebecca could feel his wink in the darkness.

They continued to talk about Eddie’s band, music, and other hobbies, and Rebecca felt that sense of normalcy she felt in the shower, now with Eddie. She had no idea that he could be such good company and she felt herself growing fond of him. He eventually laid down next to her and they faced each other as they spoke and told jokes. Rebecca eventually felt herself drifting off to sleep with Eddie’s voice rambling about a time when Dustin and Lucas had saved Gareth from an ogre on a bridge that Eddie was impressed with.

Rebecca awoke to the sound of Eddie milling about in the kitchen. She walked out and saw that Eddie had found a can of Spaghetti-Os and was munching on some of them for breakfast as he walked around the house with the radio in hand.

“Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished… You there?” he said into the radio. Silence was heard over the other end. “Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin?”

Once again, no answer. Rebecca helped herself to a bowl of the pasta and started eating as she watched Eddie pace about the living room growing irritated with the silent treatment.

“Hey, it’s Nancy,” a tired female voice responded. Nancy Wheeler was involved in this? Since when?

“Wheeler, hey! We’re going to need a food delivery, like, really soon. Unless you want me going out into the world…” Eddie began.

“No, don’t do that. Stay where you are, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Nancy said over the radio.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, can you pick me up a six pack? I know it’s stupid as shit drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves,” Eddie asked. Rebecca smirked and rolled her eyes at his request.

“Excuse me? No, you’re not going to get drunk when you’re on the run with my sister, okay?” Steve’s voice said over the radio. “By the way, where is she? Is she okay?”

Eddie handed the radio to Rebecca with a huff. “I’m fine, Steve. We’re just hungry and there’s not a lot of food left here.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon. Sit tight and stay hidden, okay? Love you, sis,” Steve’s voice said in a calmer and gentler tone.

“Love you, bro,” Rebecca echoed. Eddie pulled the radio out of her hand and started to talk, but was cut off by Nancy saying that she’d have to call him back.

“No, no, don’t you dare—shit,” Eddie said frantically.

“There is so much moonshine out in the shed, Eddie. I don’t think you need beer,” Rebecca told him with a grin.

“Well you heard your brother, I’m not allowed to drink anyway,” Eddie said as he sat next to her. “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah, actually. Did you?” Rebecca asked.

“I did. Finally,” Eddie said with a smile.

Rebecca looked at the clock and raised her brows. “Wow, it’s almost noon, we slept a long time.”

“We needed it,” Eddie chuckled.

The pair decided to spend the day inside the house and move back to the shed that night, but just before dusk, Rebecca heard a car pull up in the gravel driveway.

“Dustin?” Eddie asked her and she looked out the window to see Jason’s car. Her heart leapt out of her chest as adrenaline surged through her. If Jason found her and Eddie here, he would kill Eddie.

“We have to get to the shed. NOW,” Rebecca whispered frantically as she pulled Eddie’s hand toward the back door and they swiftly made it through to the shed.

“What the fuck is your fucking boyfriend doing here?!” Eddie asked in a panic.

“Looking for you, no doubt! You’re wanted for my murder, remember?!” Rebecca reminded him.

“Shit,” Eddie said and started talking on the radio.

“Dustin? Wheeler? ANYBODY?” he called into the radio. No answer. In a more pleasing tone, he said, “Dustin, please! Are you there?”

His gaze stopped at the boat and Rebecca could see the wheels turning him his eyes.

“Eddie…” she said in a warning tone. “Don’t do anything stupid…”

“If they find us here together, that’s it, I’m a goner. But if they only find one of us… then there’s a chance. You can swim, right?” Eddie began.

“Eddie, I’m not leaving you,” Rebecca decided. “Jason will KILL you.”

“Yeah, if he finds us together! Across the lake is Skull Rock, you know it, right? I’ll meet you there, but you have to go NOW,” Eddie said.

“Okay… okay,” Rebecca said and with one last look at Eddie, dove into the water. This, by far, was the most terrifying thing she had ever done. The black water was unforgivingly cold and she swam as fast as she could for as long as she could until she heard Jason’s voice yelling at Eddie, who was on the boat headed in a similar direction but away from where Rebecca was swimming.

“Hey, freak! Where do you think you’re going?!” Jason yelled. Eddie started rowing faster after a failed attempt at starting the engine of the boat. Jason and Patrick started to take their jackets off and got into the water.

“Fuck,” Rebecca swore and started to swim faster toward Skull Rock. She distanced herself between the scuffle that Jason and Patrick had begun with Eddie in the water when suddenly Patrick’s body lifted out of the water high enough for Rebecca to see over the fog. And his limbs twisted and cracked with so much force that Rebecca could hear it from how far away she was. She managed to see Eddie fall into the water and start to swim towards her as Jason was left to watch Patrick’s mangled corpse fall into the water. She wanted to call out to Patrick, to tell him to stop pranking her and how devastated Chrissy would be… Chrissy. And Jason, having witnessed Vecna’s curse had to let go of the idea that Eddie was responsible, right?

“Andy!! Andy help!!!” Jason desperately bellowed. “Eddie got Patrick, he’s getting away!”

Rebecca’s heart sank and she saw Eddie swim closer to her frantically. she couldn’t reveal herself to be safe with Eddie. Jason had been twisted in grief and now he was hysterical. Now wasn’t the time to reassure him that she was okay. Reluctantly, she turned her head from Jason and Patrick and started swimming the rest of the lake’s length toward Skull Rock. She sat on the shore for several minutes before Eddie caught up with her and sat next to her. The sirens in the distance got louder as Eddie stood up and offered his hand to Rebecca. She took it and the two of them worked their way inland toward the landmark.

“Shit.. Radio’s dead,” Rebecca said after trying to turn the device on to reach Steve.

They sunk down next to each other under the stone figure and sat in silence for a while. Rebecca was stunned and pondering the events that had just unfolded.

“It… it has to be me,” Eddie’s broken voice said through sobs. “There has to be something about me that brings death. Maybe I am a vessel for Satan or Vecna or whatever.”

Rebecca’s face crumpled in empathy. She had those same thoughts about herself. She moved closer to Eddie as he was slouched in defeat and sobbing.

“No, Eddie…” she soothed with a gentle voice. She hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “It isn’t you. You didn’t kill Chrissy, and you didn’t kill Patrick. And you certainly haven’t killed me.”

Eddie looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and nodded. He hung his head again and let out soft sobs. “Then why is this happening to me?”

“I don’t know. Just bad luck, I guess? But we’re going to figure this out, okay? We’re going to get through this and prove your innocence,” Rebecca promised him. Her hand moved to his cheek and he looked up at her with large brown eyes. “I promise.”

Eddie’s eyes searched hers in the dull moonlight and he leaned into her hand as he nodded his head. “Maybe I should just be a scapegoat. Then you don’t have to keep being hidden and Dustin can figure out how to stop Vecna without worrying about me getting in the way. Maybe that’s for the best.”

“Are you kidding me? Listen to me, Eddie Munson. You are innocent. And you will not go to jail for the rest of your life because of some supernatural wizard terrorizing a backwoods town, okay? Chrissy didn’t die for that. We’re going to figure this out. I’m with you,” Rebecca told him in a determined tone and held his face in her hands so he’d look at her. Eddie let out a breath as a tear rolled down his face. Rebecca wiped it away gently and let go.

Rebecca sat next to Eddie and she offered her hand for him to hold as a token of her promise. Eddie cracked a small smile and purposefully took her hand in his larger one. His skin was damp and soft despite the callouses from years of guitar playing and his palm warmed hers. It was a feeling she enjoyed. She had only ever held Jason’s hand or Steve’s when they were younger and he was tasked with looking after her, but the sensation she felt with holding Eddie’s hand now was one of a deeper meaning, like they were bonded. Their hands clasped together and they sat against the warm rock in a weak attempt to hasten the drying of their clothes.

“So… now what?” Eddie asked. “We just wait and hope this all blows over?”

“We have to find a radio. Any one will do as long as it can get different channels on it,” Rebecca said.

Eddie nodded. “There’s a construction site down there, I’ve seen them use radios before. I should be able to snag one in the morning when they show up to work.”

“Okay. I’ll take first watch, get some sleep,” Rebecca suggested.

“I doubt I’ll be able to,” Eddie shrugged.

“Same here… just figured I’d offer,” Rebecca agreed. They shared a small smile.

It was early morning when the construction workers arrived and slowly but surely an increasing amount showed up. Eddie thought he’d have the best shot by the bathroom and he was right. He easily grabbed a worker’s radio off of his belt that he’d taken off and soon they were in contact with Dustin.

“Holy shit, Eddie! Are you okay?” Dustin’s voice asked. Eddie and Rebecca both let out a relieved sigh and Eddie balled his fist in celebration.

“No, no, man, I’m pretty damn far from okay,” Eddie said with a shakey voice into the radio and a hand in his face.

“What about my sister, is she there with you?” Steve’s voice demanded.

“I’m here, Steve, don’t worry,” Rebecca said into the radio.

“Where are you?” Dustin asked frantically.

“Skull Rock, you know it?” Eddie said.

“Yeah, uh, near Cornwallis and—,” Dustin began and Steve finished.

“And Garrett. Yeah, I know the way,” Steve said over the speaker.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming,” Dustin assured in a determined voice. Eddie nodded against the radio with his eyes closed in hope and he hung his head.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rebecca assured Eddie with a pat on his shoulder. Eddie nodded and put his hand over hers.

With every rustle in the woods, Rebecca and Eddie responded with hope, but that got dull after a few moments.

“Very Peter Pan-esque, you know. With the lake, Skull Rock, running away with the leader of the misfits,” Rebecca teased with a small smile. “Aside from the whole dead friends and being wanted for murder thing, this is quite an adventure.”

“You know, that thought did occur to me. Means I’m Peter Pan, right? Bet you I can climb up there faster than you,” Eddie smiled devilishly.

“Are you five?” Rebecca grinned at him.

Eddie grinned and mimicked Peter’s craw from the movie in a normal volume to not draw attention to them. Eddie gestured for Rebecca to follow him and the pair climbed up onto the rock with Eddie leading her. Once they reached the large apex, Eddie sat down cross-legged in the middle and beckoned her with his hand. Rebecca smiled and sat next to him carefully and looked out over the scenery. They were reasonably high up and could see the majority of the water and surrounding shore without seeing the construction site below them. She hadn’t realized how far inland they had gone from Lover’s Lake, but she could make out its shape from where she was. Sunshine from midday into early afternoon cut through the various clouds in the sky and illuminated the land before her in a way that made the foliage dream-like. The water that was so intimidating last night now glittered in the sunlight and was accented by the surrounding trees that had become lush and green with springtime approaching.

“Wow…” Rebecca said with an impressed smile. She never knew something so beautiful existed in her small town.

“It’s a pretty nice view,” Eddie said while looking at Rebecca with a soft smile.

“I get why you wanted to race me up here, it’s incredible,” Rebecca chuckled as she drank in more of the beautiful scene before her.

“Oh, yeah. I won that race, didn’t I?” Eddie concluded. “What’s my prize?”

Rebecca smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you want?”

“Well, since I’m Peter Pan… A kiss,” Eddie said confidently with a cheeky grin.

“A…. A what? From-from what? Who?” Rebecca stammered with her cheeks feeling red hot. Eddie’s grin only got wider as she fumbled with her words and he laughed heartily.

“…Skull rock! In your face,” Steve’s voice grew louder from behind them. Eddie’s laugh dropped and he and Rebecca whipped their heads in the direction the sound was coming from. They started to climb down from the rock with Rebecca’s blushing face quickly forgotten.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Dustin spoke from behind Steve.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit you’re wrong, you little butthead,” Steve said. Eddie and Rebecca landed on the ground behind Steve and Dustin.

“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead,” Eddie said with a slightly annoyed tone and a slight glance at Rebecca.

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner, man…” Dustin said and he went in to hug Eddie.

Steve’s attention turned to his sister and he approached her with arms outstretched. Rebecca accepted his hug gently and tried not to cry at seeing her brother.

“I brought you a change of clothes if you want,” Steve said to her when they separated.

“Thanks. I’m not changing in the woods and I know the second I go to change, the cops are going to find us because that has been my sort of luck these past three days, so I’ll just stick with this for now. Besides, I took a dip in the lake last night and Chrissy’s blood is off of me now, so at least there’s that,” Rebecca told him. He smiled slightly at her and his eyes held sadness.

“What happened to you guys?” Max asked and handed Eddie and Rebecca their respective bags of food. The pair sat down and started to eat whatever they could find in the bags. Rebecca and Eddie took turns recapping the enemy’s from last night. When one couldn’t say any more, the other picked up the story.

“When we got to shore, we tried calling you guys, but the walkie was busted, man. Drenched,” Eddie said after taking a drink of water.

Rebecca nodded and continued as Eddie ate, “So we came up here and did the thing that we do now, apparently… We hid.”

Eddie and Rebecca shared a sarcastic smile and the group in front of them appeared to be questioning the pair’s sanity.

“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy asked.

“Oh, yeah, I know exactly what time it was. The walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked,” Eddie said and tossed Nancy his watch.

Nancy caught the watch and nodded as she looked at the time. “9:27…”

“Same time our flashlights went kablooey,” Robin confirmed.

“Which means what, exactly?” Steve asked.

“That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick,” Nancy concluded.

“Well, we’re one step closer, we know how Vecna attacks,” Robin stated.

Rebecca looked past the group to where Dustin was pacing back and forth incessantly and gestures to Eddie with her head flicked towards the boy as Max suggested sneaking into Vecna’s lair in the Upside Down and killing him.

Eddie didn’t seem to notice as he was involved now in listing different ways to kill Vecna.

“A bullet should work in him, right?” Eddie suggested.

“I say we chop his head off,” Lucas suggested.

“We can’t do that. If we do that then there’s no way to prove Eddie’s innocence. We need to pull Vecna from the upside down and make him confess to killing Chrissy,” Rebecca said firmly. Steve looked at her with sympathy and she realized the rest of the group was looking at her the same way.

“We can’t risk that,” Robin said after a moment.

“If we bring Vecna into our world we have no idea what he’s capable of. And he’s after Max. We have to find another way to prove Eddie’s innocence,” Lucas added.

“You said the Upside Down is a parallel universe of sorts. So if he’s a scary dark wizard monster thing in the Upside Down, what is he here? A regular guy?” Rebecca asked. “He can’t be worse here than he is there.”

“Trust us, he can be,” Steve said.

“But… what about Chrissy? What about Patrick? Don’t they deserve justice? And Eddie doesn’t deserve to be blamed for this. There has to be a way to get Vecna to confess and prove Eddie’s not guilty,” Rebecca argued. Eddie stood up to meet her eye level and just as he was about to speak, Dustin bellowed into the sky, interrupting all of them and took a step forward.

“Bada… bada… boom,” Dustin said with a purposeful stare and finger pointed at Steve.

Steve wordlessly shrugged and held a blank stare at Dustin.

“I was right. Skull rock was North,” Dustin said and Steve’s jaw dropped with his arms crossed.

“Seriously? You’re serious?” Steve began insistently.

Dustin nodded with a grin, “Mm-hm.”

Steve continued, gesturing to the boulder behind them, “This is skull rock, okay? You are totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now!”

“Yes. And no,” Dustin began.

“Oh my god,” Steve sighed with an eye roll.

All eyes were now focused on Dustin, who explained, “This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly, but it started to slip the farther east we went. Now? It’s WAY off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong, the compass was.”

“So you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong!” Steve insisted. Rebecca looked at him with a quizzical smirk and her attention came back to Dustin, who was now explaining how his compass was affected by an electromagnetic field .

“But we’re nowhere near the lab,” Nancy reasoned.

“What if there’s another gate? A hate that we don’t know about?” Dustin posited.

“A gate?” Rebecca asked.

“To the Upside Down,” Dustin said. “It’d have to be smaller, way less powerful.”

“How? Why?” Rebecca asked him.

“No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate,” Dustin said. “And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to Vecna and a shot at freeing Mac from this curse and proving Eddie’s innocence.”

“You mentioned the attacks had a surge of energy, what if it’s just left over from that?” Rebecca suggested.

Dustin thought for a moment and he looked at her with a pondering gaze. “The energy that would be required to leave such a lasting effect on something such as a compass would have had to be incredible.”

“Water can diffuse the field’s electrons, though, right? What if it stemmed from the lake and it’s just taking more time to diffuse because of the water?” Rebecca suggested.

“Are you saying that there’s possibly a gate inside of Lover’s Lake?” Dustin asked. Rebecca shrugged.

“Patrick was in the water when he was attacked…” she told him.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s go,” Dustin said and began to walk away.

“Hey, hey, where are you going? Eddie’s still a wanted man, we can’t just go for a hike in the woods!” Steve reasoned.

Rebecca and Dustin looked at Eddie, who was crouched down.

“What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asked. All eyes turned to Eddie, whose gaze was an expression that Rebecca couldn’t read.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which… If I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire… the Shire is burning,” Eddie said and he looked up briefly at Rebecca before fully straightening himself up and looking back at Dustin. “So Mordor it is.”

Dustin grinned happily and jumped up and down at Eddie’s agreement and the group set off into the woods to follow Dustin’s compass.

“What is Mordor?” Steve asked under his breath.

“It’s a mythical land from The Lord of the Rings books. Eddie told me about them,” Rebecca told him, recalling one of their conversations about books and music they liked.

“Good grief,” Steve grumbled.

They trekked through the woods following Dustin’s compass and Eddie made every effort to help Rebecca over logs and rocks, to Steve’s annoyance. Rebecca was grateful for the help because even though she had eaten some, her legs were ready to give way underneath her.

It was well into the dark of night when Dustin’s compass went haywire.

“Something’s happening…” Dustin said excitedly and rushed toward where the compass was pointing him.

“Dustin, can you slow down? Dustin!” Eddie called after him like an annoyed older brother. Rebecca smiled at Eddie’s protectiveness of his friend.

“I think we’re getting close!” Dustin called to the rest of the group with his head turned back and walking forward.

“Hey! Watch your step, big guy,” Eddie said as he gripped onto Dustin’s backpack to prevent him from stepping into the lake.

“Oh, man…” Steve groaned. “Becca was right. You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

“This is confounding,” Dustin breathed out.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way?” Nancy suggested.

“Only one way to find out for sure,” Steve said.

The group found the abandoned boat that Eddie used to try and escape Jason and Patrick the night prior, and both Steve and Eddie got to work settling it into the water for boarding. After a small amount of squabbling from the two boys, Eddie stood in the boat and helped Robin onto it. Dustin attempted to get on, but Eddie stopped him.

“Hey, you trying to sink us? This thing holds three people tops, okay?” Eddie reasoned.

“Okay. We’ll stay here with Max and keep an eye out for trouble.” Nancy said.

“No way, I’m coming, too,” Rebecca protested and tried to get in the boat but both Eddie and Steve stopped her.

“It’s my god damn theory!” Dustin protested.

“You heard Nance,” Robin said.

“Who put her in charge?!” Rebecca asked.

“I did,” Steve said. “And you’re going to stay here.”

“Sorry, Wendy,” Eddie said with a shrug.

“No, I am coming with you. I’m either going to swim or be in this boat but if there is a gate down there, I’m going to be there with you to find it and you absolutely cannot stop me, Steven Adam Harrington,” Rebecca declared firmly.

“She’s in charge,” Dustin smirked and handed her the compass. Rebecca held up the compass in her hand with a flat line for lips and raised brows.

“I swear to god. No, she’s not. I am,” Steve said with an exasperated sigh and snatched the compass from her hand. You are NOT coming. No complaints. Stay on this shore and out of trouble. When we find it, we’ll come up with a plan and strategize, okay?! Stay. Here,” Steve seethed. Rebecca had never seen him so angry or protective or whatever he was. She stepped back and crossed her arms as the boat took off with Steve, Eddie, and Robin. Lucas kept a lookout with his binoculars as the rest of them waited for a sign.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Dustin asked into the radio after Lucas worried that they had stopped. “Come on guys, talk to me, what’s going on?”

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘aah!’,” Robin’s voice said over the other end.

Rebecca watched as her brother stood up and started to take his shirt off.

“Ugh, when did Steve get to hairy?” Lucas complained.

“Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it,” Dustin added.

“Let me see that,” Nancy said and pulled the binoculars out of Lucas’ grasp.

“Me next,” Max said with a small grin.

Rebecca’s face fell in disgust at Nancy and Max ogling her brother and made a sound partway between “ew”, “ugh”, and “blech”. She watched as Steve dove expertly into the lake water. He had always been a strong swimmer, but watching him disappear into the depths made her worry and remember how terrified she was when she did the same.

“You guys realize that if there’s a gate down there… it’s technically a water gate,” Dustin said after a moment. He grinned widely at Lucas and Max, who looked at him in mild disgust. “Watergate!” Dustin clarified with a childish, high-pitched chuckle.

“I’ve heard nearly all of Eddie’s jokes over the past 72 hours and nothing was as awful as that, Dustin,” Rebecca groaned with her head in her hand.

“Jesus Christ,” Nancy groaned. “How long is Steve going to be under there?”

“His record is two and a half minutes underwater, so I’ll give him until then,” Rebecca assured as the air thickened around them.

“Come on, Steve…” Nancy muttered worriedly. Rebecca always knew that Steve was never over Nancy even though she was miles ahead of him in maturity, and she never thought that Nancy would still be stuck on him after their breakup, but looking at her now and how worried she was, there had to be more there than just friendship.

Suddenly, the sound of radios clattering and voices yelling invaded the silence. The five of them looked over and saw flashing police lights and flashlights.

“Oh shit! Get down!” Rebecca said and flattened herself against the ground next to Lucas.

“It was on this shoreline!” a male voice yelled.

“Becca you are a god damn Einstein, Steve fo—“ Robin’s voice blared over the radio but was quickly shut off by Dustin.

“Cops,” Max determined with a whisper.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Dustin swore.

“They’re going to find us. Our story is that you guys just happened to find me wandering along the shoreline, okay?” Rebecca thought aloud.

“That doesn’t make any sense, why were WE out here?!” Mad spat.

“I don’t know, midnight swim?!” Rebecca spat back. “You just can’t let in that you’ve known where I was or you’ll all be in huge trouble!”

“Okay, we got it,” Nancy said as the radios got nearer.

“Shit they’re heading towards the shore. Follow my lead,” Mac said and got up. She then yelled, “Hey! Officers, over here, I found Rebecca Harrington!”

Rebecca rolled over and pretended to be unconscious to help Max come up with a story before they could be talked to individually.

“She’s still breathing, she’s alive. Get a medic. What the hell were you kids doing out here anyway?” Officer Powell said as he placed a hand on Rebecca’s neck to check her pulse.

“We were helping her brother, Steve, he’s been worried sick trying to find her,” Max said.

“Okay, well I think it’s best that you kids come with us. We’ll take care of her,” Powell said.

“I just think she’d really want a familiar face when she wakes up given what she’s been through,” Nancy said. “She and I are pretty close so I’d like to stay by her.”

“Nancy, is that you?” Rebecca grogged out.

“I’m here, Becca,” Nancy said in a soft voice and put her dainty hand on Rebecca’s as Rebecca stirred and sat up.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked weakly. She wanted to say she was a very good actress, but she truthfully felt awful. She could only imagine how Eddie must be feeling.

“We’re taking you to the hospital, honey,” an EMT said.

“I don’t want to be away from Nancy,” Rebecca said with tears in her eyes. “I’ve been lost, please don’t take me away from her.”

“Um… okay, Nancy can come,” Powell ceded. Rebecca knew he was a sucker for tears.

“Well, the thing is, I’m in charge of Dustin, Max, and Lucas… I’m kind of babysitting right now,” Nancy said with a small grin.

“Okay fine. We’ll go to the hospital and once Miss Harrington is discharged, I need a statement from all of you,” Officer Powell sighed.

After what felt like hours of medical testing and probing, Rebecca was discharged and the five were escorted by police to the Wheelers’ house where Dustin’s mother, Lucas’ parents and sister, and Nancy’s parents were gathered.

Rebecca noticed an additional car outside and Jason was stood with his normally neat hair slightly disheveled and looking in hope at the police car that was pulling up. Rebecca expected to feel overjoyed as she reunited with Jason, but the feeling fell slightly flat. She was happy to see him, of course, but the overwhelming feeling of relief that she felt when she saw Steve wasn’t there for Jason. She was probably just tired.

“Becca, baby, oh my god,” Jason breathed out and ran to embrace her. “I was so worried…”

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Rebecca assured him as he held her close to him.

“No, baby, you’re not okay, but I can help you,” Jason told her with his hands on her face. “I can see it in your eyes, you’re not okay. And who would be after what you’ve been through? It’s okay, I’m here.” Rebecca wanted to be comforted by his words, but she mostly just wanted to get back to the lake to make sure Steve made it out and what their next move was for defeating Vecna.

“Thank you…” Rebecca whimpered out.

Rebecca and Jason made their way inside the Wheelers’ house where Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Nancy were all questioned by the police.

“You can sit up in my room. I’ll be up when I’m done, okay?” Nancy said and gently squeezed Rebecca’s hand. Jason took her up to Nancy’s room and the pair of them sat on the floor.

“I don’t know if you know this, but… Chrissy, she… We had her funeral yesterday…” Jason said delicately and placed a hand on her back.

Rebecca’s eyes went wide and they started to well up with tears. “Her funeral?”

“She was killed a few days ago. By that freak, Munson,” Jason said through gritted teeth. “He took Patrick from us, too.”

“No,” Rebecca whimpered and held her face in her hands as she cried. She knew this information, she watched it happen. But hearing it from Jason and hearing how raw his emotion was made her feel like she was hearing this for the first time and truly starting to process the death of her dear friends.

“I’m so sorry, Becca… I know she was like a sister to you. They were our family,” Jason said and he held her close to him as she cried. “But we’re going to stop him. I understand if you’re not up for joining us, but the whole town is on your side, babe. We’re going to find that cult leader Eddie and make him pay. For Chrissy. For Patrick. And for you. I know he hurt you, and I can’t imagine the kind of pain you’re in, but believe me: we’re going to put an end to him. Him and the devil. I promise. You’ll never have to be scared again.”

Rebecca’s face dropped in horror at his words. Jason’s mind has been twisted by grief and tabloids’ talk of Satanism. She thought back to Eddie’s scared expression and broken voice at this very scenario imagined. Her gut twisted and contorted in a way that made her want to puke all over Jason. She felt sorry for him, but she was mostly afraid of what he’d do if he found Eddie.

“Hey, so we can’t get ahold of Steve. He must be searching real hard for you. Do you have a place you can stay tonight?” an officer asked Rebecca from the doorway.

“She’ll stay with me,” Jason said. “I can keep her safe.”

“Actually, I.. It’s just that Nancy already offered and I told her I would and she went through all this trouble to make room for me… and I don’t want to get in your way, Jay,” Rebecca said and squeezed Jason’s hand gently. “Especially after you’ve offered to defend me.”

She felt sick saying those words, but she had to convince him to let her stay with Nancy. She couldn’t deal with breaking up with him right now, so she had to work the other way.

Jason’s face softened and he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear for her. “Whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

With a quick kiss to her cheek and a confession of his love, Jason left. For the first time since Chrissy’s death, Rebecca was alone. And she felt it. She felt the emptiness of the space beside her and the pit in her heart where the memories of Chrissy resided and the memories of the Jason she once tried to love faded to. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she did, the first image to pop in her mind was none other than Eddie asking her for a kiss with a cocky grin. She felt her face heat up at the thought, but allowed herself to think it, she was too tired to fight. The thought of that moment uninterrupted, would she have let him? Would she have enjoyed it? She wondered what his lips felt like. She knew the roughness of his hands and the warmth of his chest from the few times they’ve embraced, and she wondered what he would feel like in other places. She felt guilty for thinking about this so soon after Chrissy’s demise, but she honestly just let her mind wander. It wandered to the lost boy that found her and helped her get through these horrible last few days and the support he provided. In their short time together, Rebecca learned all about him. His hopes, his secrets, and some of his dreams. And she liked him. She really liked him. She… loved him?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dustin, Lucas, and Erica bursting into Nancy’s room with a light-up toy.

“What the hell…” Rebecca asked in a low voice.

Steve, Robin and Eddie went through Watergate and they’re trying to get out. Help us put the lights in this,” Dustin said frantically.

Rebecca sprung up and helped put the lights on the board. Frantically, Lucas brought the cord and plugged it in at the nearest free plug and the lights came on brightly.

“Okay you guys seeing this?” Dustin bellowed.

“They can hear us?” Rebecca asked. The toy’s bulbs raised and lowered in intensity a few times.

“Holy shit!” Erica cheered as Dustin cackled victoriously.

“We’re not going to move it, but we’re going to unplug it, okay? Stand by!” Dustin yelled again. He turned to Lucas and told him, “Yank it.”

Lucas unplugged the cord and the lights went out. After Dustin called for them to try again, the word “Hi” lit on the board.

“That worked!!” Dustin cheered.

The word “stuck” then appeared and the four of them started talking.

“Okay, they’re stuck in the Upside Down,” Lucas concluded.

“Okay.. okay, you can’t get back through Watergate?” Dustin asked loudly.

After a moment, the word “No.” appeared and Rebecca could hear Steve’s expression in the words she was sure he was writing. Other letters started appearing and Dustin read them as they lit up.

“Guar..? Guard, oh guarded,” Dustin said. “We have a theory that can help with that. We think that there’s a gate at every murder site.”

The lights lit up a question mark.

“Oh my god, just go to Eddie’s house, we will meet you there!” Rebecca yelled.

The next letters that appeared next were “OK” and the four of them cheered.

“Okay, we have to get to Eddie’s…” Dustin said. “And grab Nancy and Max. You guys go out the window and we’ll meet you down there with our bikes.”

“I’m so glad I’m wearing pants now,” Rebecca said to herself and she and Lucas shimmied down the side of the house’s makeshift fire escape of metal bars against the brick. It wasn’t the most efficient way, but it worked and shortly after grabbing the bikes, the five were off to Eddie’s trailer.

#eddie x oc

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