Eddie had ended up crying himself to sleep in Veronica's arms. Dustin had radioed in to update them on what's going on. They had found out that Max was being targeted. She had already started getting the hallucinations. They wouldn't be able to check in that day, so Veronica had to get food and drinks again. She was going to leave around nine that morning while Eddie was still asleep, but she didn't want him to wake up alone.
She found him incredibly annoying and in any normal circumstance she knew that she would avoid him like the plague, no matter how attractive she found him. His cockiness irritated her. Then again, these weren't normal circumstances, and she really had no idea what he was really like. She almost convinced herself she was making up a version of him for herself so she wouldn't be effected if something bad were to happen to him.
In fact, even though she had been informed of Max's predicament in early hours of the morning, she found that Eddie and his fate was on her mind a lot more. She hadn't slept much that night, just in and out of a restless sleep every couple of hours for less than twenty minutes at a time. Her mind was racing the whole night. She realised that she completely believed Dustin and his friends about what had happened in Hawkins and what was currently happening. She didn't expect to, but the urgency in their voices, the fear on their faces as they put the pieces together and the nature of the situation was just too much to keep passively brushing off. No matter how skeptical, Veronica was not an idiot.
A low groan came from Eddie in her lap. He moved about a bit before coming to. "Goodmorning," Veronica said tiredly. Eddie looked up at her with still drowsy eyes. He mumbled a pathetic version of 'goodmorning' in return, still exhausted from the night before. That made two of them.
"Hungry?" Veronica pushed a bit of his hair out of the way of his eyes. He nodded. It hit Veronica like a ton of bricks what it looked like right then and there. Him asleep on her lap, her brushing his hair from his face and asking if he's hungry. She freaked a little and shoved him off her lap.
He was startled and sat up quickly. "Right, well I'm off to get breakfast. Clean up or something. When I'm back there's something to tell you." He didn't reply, he just looked at her with a look of confusion plastered on his face. She didn't stick around to say anything else, just grabbed her keys and left.
Veronica decided to drive to a place at least a thirty minute drive away so he'd have time to clean up and she would have time to process that whole night and morning. It wasn't a big deal, they didn't fuck or anything, but it was the subconscious affection that made her panic.
≈≈≈
"Max?" Eddie said in disbelief. She nodded slowly. Veronica didn't know Max well, but she reminded her of herself with the attitude and quick witted replies. She was so young. Dustin really seemed to care about her, she must have been a great kid. "Fuck."
"Yeah," Veronica whispered. "How do you even deal with that? Knowing you're in store for a gruesome death in less than twenty four hours..." Eddie ate in silence, thinking about Chrissy and how her bones snapped and how her jaw dislocated. He wondered if she felt any pain.
≈≈≈
"Veronica? Eddie? Veronica?" Dustin's voice played through the walkie-talkie. They had been talking about Eddie's band and when he started playing guitar, followed by some arguing about how guys who play guitar are douchebags.
"Dustin?" Veronica held the walkie-talkie and Eddie leaned in close to hear what he was going to say, considering this was the first time he had actually been present or awake during a radioed update.
"Nancy and Robin have gone to Pennhurst Asylum to speak to Victor Creel." Eddie seemed confused by this.
"Who's Victor Creel?" She asked.
"Some psycho who killed his whole family and took their eyes out like thirty years ago," Eddie answered. "Why the hell are they going there?" Veronica also couldn't understand. The timeline she was given doesn't match Victor's.
"Nancy thinks there's a connection," Dustin sighed. "I'll keep you posted. Also, Lucas is with us now. He led the basketball team to Hop's old cabin in the woods. I think that should keep them off your trail for a while, Eddie." Eddie nodded a thank you even though Dustin or Lucas couldn't see him.
"Alright. How's Max?" Veronica found herself worrying about the red head girl who didn't seem to like her very much.
"Bad. She's writing letters."
"Letters?" Eddie asked.
"Goodbye letters..." Veronica whispered.
"Yeah..." Dustin sounded defeated for a second. That wasn't like him. He was optimistic, always thinking it's going to be alright even when everything is pointing to impending doom. Veronica liked that about him. He was everything she lacked. Genes, right? "I have to go now. Stay safe."
Veronica put the walkie-talkie down beside them and looked over to Eddie. He still looked troubled, even with the news that the basketball team had been thrown off of his scent. She knew why. It wouldn't take them long to arrive and figure out they'd been tricked and resume their hunt. It was only a matter of time before they found him.
