𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙭 𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙣

4.

After a treacherous journey to find Vecna's cult, the party has been almost entirely wiped out by the evil cult members.

Dustin was right, Eddie really was a sadist when it came to being the dungeon master.

The only two characters left standing were my teifling and Dustin's paladin, and things weren't looking too good for us.

"Time out, time out!!" One of the other players calls out, and all of us besides Eddie stand and huddle together to make a new game plan.

"Guys, I hate to say this but we've got to flea..." one of the guys, Darryl tells us.

"I concur." One of the other guys nods in agreement.

"Didn't we just say that we're fighting to the death?" I add bluntly, raising my eyebrows questioningly at the guys.

"That wasn't literal! Vekna just decimated us! We can kill him with two players." Another argues, flailing his hands in emphasis.

"He only has fifteen hit points left, don't be pussies." Dustin tells them and I snort at my brothers comment.

"Pussies? Really, cause we're not delusional?"

"Hey! If I may interject, gentleman... and princess." Eddie speaks up, smirking knowingly as he calls me princess and I throw him the finger at the pet name.

"Whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Garrett the great's concern to heart. There is no shame in running, don't try to be heroes. Not today, okay?" He smiles understandingly, tilting his head to the side.

"One sec." Dustin holds up a finger to him and Eddie nods in approval. As everyone begins to huddle again, my eyes linger on Eddie for a moment longer. I've never seen him be so... nice?

He raises an eyebrow at me curiously and I snap out of my thoughts, turning back around to listen to the party. This night is going a lot different than I expected.

"You're the ones on the battlefield, so it's your call." Mike gives me and Dustin the final decision and we look at each other hesitantly.

"What do you think, Dyl?" Dustin looks to me for guidance and I look around at each of my fellow players.

"Let's slaughter this bitch." I declare confidently, and we all turn back to Eddie.

"Ready?" Eddie asks ad my brother and I nod our heads in confirmation.

The room is tense as Dustin goes to make his final attack roll. We all crowd around the table, holding our breaths as he shakes the d20 in his hand and flings it out onto the map.

The die moves in slow motion as it tumbles on the table, skidding to a stop at a measly eleven.

"Shit!!!" Dustin curses loudly, and the rest of us yell in defiance.

"That's a miss!!" Eddie narrates with an evil laugh, and now everyone looks to me as I step forward to the table, die in hand.

"Come on!!"

"Please!!"

My party members plead as I roll the die in my hand nervously, this is the last chance to beat Vecna.

I look across the table at Eddie, who's now stood and leaning on the table also waiting to see what I roll.

We lock eyes for a moment, and he throws me an encouraging smile.

I smile back determinedly, then let the die roll onto the table.

We all huddle around the die as it rolls and rolls and rolls until finally, it stops.

"Oh, fuck..." I lean forward to look at the outcome, and everyone starts going crazy as they take in the sight of the natural twenty sitting perfectly on the table.

"YEESSS!!!" Dustin's voice cracks as he yells out, grabbing me and shaking me violently.

"Stop it!" I grin proudly, pulling Dustin in for a hug as the rest of the players give me high fives and praise.

"And that is why we play!" Eddie yells out, celebrating with us.

I grin over at him and he graciously bows in front of the board, his arms outstretched to show off his tattoos.

Oh fuck, am I attracted to Eddie freaking Munson?

My stomach twists as I look away from his impressed gaze and turn to listen to Mike and Dustin talking about getting food when we leave.

We all pack up our stuff and head out to the parking lot, still high off our victory.  It looks like the basketball game just finished too, and Hawkins actually won.

One by one, the guys say their goodbyes and head off in different directions to head home. 

Dustin and Mike head towards my car as I look around to see if I can spot Robin or Steve to hear if anything interesting happened at the game.

Someone stops next to me, and I turn to see Eddie looking down at me with a small smile.

"You really kicked some ass today Henderson. I'm impressed." Eddie admits, twirling his car keys in his hand.

"Thanks I guess? I'll admit, that was a lot less miserable than I was expecting. Your campaign was fucking insane."  I compliment and he beams, scratching the back of his head with a bashful smile.

"Wow, Dylan Henderson actually gave me a compliment? I think I'll die on the spot from shock."  He jokes sarcastically and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"Shut up! I can be nice sometimes." I shove his chest and he grasps his heart like I punched him.

"Yeah right. Is that why you're always glaring daggers into my scull in chem?" He points out.

"Maybe if you tried to torture me a little less I'd actually be civil for a change." I shrug nonchalantly and he snorts.

"But I like pissing you off too much, it's just so fun!" He grabs a piece of my hair and wiggles it in my face. I slap his hand away and throw him a warning look.

"You're insufferable, Munson." I shake my head with an uncontrollable smile, backing away and turning to walk towards my car.

"You love it Henderson. Later!" He calls out behind me and I flip him the bird over my shoulder, biting my lip to hold back my smile as I walk back to the car.