Head Over Heels for Eddie Munson

Ch9: The Birds still Sing and the Sun still Shines

    6am, again. After everything that took place last night, the birds still managed to sing and the sun still managed to shine. I woke up warm, not what I was expecting given how cold it was. It was Eddie's jacket laid over me that stopped the shivering. I turn around to face Eddie, expecting to see a sleeping figure resting peacefully. However, he wasn't sleeping and was shaking due to the icy weather. He had sacrificed his comfort for me, not complaining or hesitating. His eyes were red and puffy, his nose rosy and his lips pouty. "Hey, Williams. You're up and it's," he checked his watch and scoffed, "exactly 6am." Something was bothering him, obviously, but it was the tear that fell slowly from his tired eyes that alarmed me. "Jesus, Eddie, what's wrong?" I ask, sitting up. He's looking up towards the ceiling, his hands crossed over his chest. Eddie not answering worried me, and diving into his mind, I could see why he stopped responding. It was a mess, his thoughts were scrambled and scared. After what happened yesterday, his mind never fully calmed down, stuck thinking about the killings. Instead of saying anything, he let his mind express what his words couldn't, seeing my blood and knowing he didn't have to explain himself. It was, however, difficult to see just one thing, but I knew that collectively, all his thoughts were negative. I didn't have another way to comfort him, so I took my hand and wiped away the tears on his face. Before I could pull my hand away, though, he grabbed it and held it close to his cheek, closing his eyes and smiling weakly. I saw that, in my simple action, I had brought a sense of serenity to his busy mind. He longed for a comforting touch. My action had made him happy, a new feeling popped into his mind, warmth from my hand had comforted his freezing skin. And we laid there, for a moment, my hand on his cheek and his hand on my hand. It was quite beautiful, actually, a moment in which we shared our thoughts without even saying a word.

    It was a while before his thoughts cleared and he felt comfortable to let go of my hand. "Better now?" I ask. He gets up and stretches out his hand to help me up as well. "All better, Williams, thank you," he managed to give me a smile that somehow made my day. I knew, deep down, he wasn't okay yet, but I'm glad he put on a show for me. We both stretched, grabbing our sore necks and fixing the bed head. We spent a lot of the morning talking when it hit him, "Lori, you are amazing." I was surprised to hear it, as we were just talking about how to actually play DND, but he just blurted it out. "I mean, yesterday, when you pulled that trick! Nobody, I mean, nobody batted an eye! Why didn't I talk to you sooner?" I chuckled and looked at him, "You wanted to talk to me?" He stuttered for a little bit, thinking of what to say. "I mean, yeah, who wouldn't? You are popular and smart and funny..." he ran his hand through his hair and looked at his shoes, blushing. "Really? Eddie Munson thinks I'm funny? Ya know, from the first time I saw you last year, I've been wanting to talk to you so bad! I've just never gathered up enough courage to." I thought back to the beginning of the year, how many times I tried confronting him. "We were stupid back then, huh?" He laughed, flinging his head back. We shared yet another minute of eye contact, just looking at each other, then he checked his watch, reading 2pm. We talked for about 5 hours before getting up.

    We realized that days were longer now and there was little to do, so we ventured into Rick's house. I had remembered seeing a bunch of board games, so I went in to grab those while Eddie looked for something to eat. He opened up the cabinets in the kitchen while I went into the closet in the other room. We both looked through them trying to find something interesting, both grabbing something that caught our eye. "Yeah, you'll do," We both said, Eddie holding up a can of food while I held up the game, "CandyLand". Eddie was disappointed in the lack of food, reaching out to Nancy for another food delivery as well as a six pack of beer for us to share. She cut him off and we looked at each other, not expecting another delivery anytime soon. We walked back into the boathouse, he gave me the bowl with more food in it and I opened the board game. "Thanks," I said and he looked up, "for cooking the food." I set out the board and the pieces, reading the instructions. "Oh, yeah, no problem. It's not the best thing ever, but it beats prison food!" He laughed a sad laugh and brushed it off quickly. We began playing and after 4 rematches, 2 arguments, a ton of laughing, and almost 2 hours, we finally stopped. "How did you win....every time?" Eddie sighed and placed his head in his hands. "I was taught by the best," I said, and it was true, my dad was the best at CandyLand. Our laughter and cleaning up was soon cut off by a chill I had running down my spine. I stopped dead in my tracks, knowing that these things don't happen a lot and usually occur when something bad is approaching. Whether it was vecna or a meteor, I couldn't tell unless I scanned for minds in the area. "Hey are you oka-" Eddie asked and I shushed him, closing my eyes and focusing on my surroundings. I heard a door open and a group of about 3 people walk into Rick's house. All of them were thinking about Eddie and I and suddenly, one knew we were here. "Eddie, get the boat started, now!" He looked at me confused, "Jason and his posey are here and we need to leave!" I wipe the blood from my nose, getting all our stuff together and into the boat. "Hey, Dustin, you there?" Eddie got the boat ready, "It's, Eddie. You remember me, right? Hey uh...If anyone's there, I really think we might be in a bit of trouble here, okay? Wheeler? Anybody?!" Eddie climbs into the boat holding a hand out to help me. "Eddie, we have to stay calm, okay? I can help deal with this, remember? I can put them all to sleep, okay?" My attempts did not help and Eddie started biting his nails and bouncing his leg. "Why can't we just leave, already?" He asked as I had waited, not starting the boat. "Well, Eddie, they don't know we are here. What if they just leave! You turned the lights off right?" I answered, still trying to get into Jason's mind to stop him, but losing focus with a lack of an answer, "Eddie? You turned off the light, right?!" He didn't answer and I let out a deep sigh, realizing we were screwed and ran my hands through my hair. "Dustin? Please! Are...are you there?" Eddie went on the Walkie-Talkie again, "Nevermind." He untied the boat and went out into the lake, just as Jason and his friends came into the boathouse. We layed low and kept quiet making it out further into the water, "Hey freaks!" Jason yelled, "Yeah I know you're there too, Lori! I always knew you were a slut, but sleeping with Munson?! That's a new low!" I covered my ears and tried to ignore him, but Eddie looked back at Jason. He stared at him like he was going to kill Jason for what he said. "Where do you think you're going?" Jason yelled. Eddie started the motor in hopes of leaving faster, but Jason already started getting in the water. The motor wasn't working, "You piece of shit!" Eddie kept yelling in between his attempts to rev it up, "Come on. You gotta help me out here, man. Come on! Come on you piece of shit, come on. God damnit!" Jason was getting closer and we were staying put. I tried inducing sleep into Jason's mind, but it was too furious and putting someone to sleep while they were calm was already a struggle for me. "Nope? Okay. All right. Okay" Eddie said, freaking out. I held my head, covering my ears, concentrating on Jason's mind, it was fuming. Everything was so loud and busy that I couldn't focus and I lost control. The blood dripped from my chin and I had to stop, my head pounding. I grabbed an oar and started rowing to help get away, but Jason was getting closer, "Shit! Shit!" I started screaming. Jason was just inches away now, "Hey, stay back man!" Eddie yelled, grabbing the oar from me and pointing it at Jason, "Stay back!" Jason yelled something to his friend, but he didn't answer, just staying in the water and staring. I tried focusing on his mind instead, but an aura surrounded him, something evil and crooked, almost flipped. Upside down! "Eddie, we have to get out of here, we aren't safe!" I pulled on the back of his jacket, tears forming and falling quickly down my cheek, but Eddie just stared at the two boys in the water. "Hey, Patrick! Patrick," Jason yelled to his friend and I stopped and looked over. My jaw dropped and I started uncontrollably sobbing, I tried helping him but I couldn't! Patrick dropped into the water, I screamed, covering my mouth,and Eddie looked confused. I knew it was Vecna, I knew I couldn't do anything and I knew that another innocent teen would end up dying. Then, Patrick levitated out of the lake and into the air, knocking the boat over and dunking Eddie and I into the water. Eddie recognized the situation and grabbed me, holding me close to him, "Lori, close your eyes! I'm not kidding, Loraine, close your eyes...please!" A fear swept over Eddie as he screamed out my full name. I listened, closing my eyes and turning my head into his soaked chest. All I could hear was the snapping of Patrick's bones and his body falling back into the water, Eddie pulling me in tighter. It was a horrid sound, hearing his fingers and arms bend in unexpected ways, the sound his jaw made snapping open and his eyes squishing under some invisible pressure. Eddie began swimming towards the other side of the lake, pulling me along and rushing to the shore. He tried calming me down, rubbing my back as I continued to sob, I was powerless. As we sat on the edge of the river, he held me. I continued to cry into his chest, both of us shaking from fear. "We gotta go, Lori," Eddie whispered as I calmed down, "We have to get outta here, okay?" Soon enough, we got up and started walking into the woods. And somehow, even after everything that had happened, the birds still sing and the sun still shines.
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A/N:WHOA this is a long chapter, lol. I rly love it tho and hope u do too; I wanted to get past Patrick's death. As always, if there are any comments whatsoever, feel free to post! Thanks for all the votes and reads and love, WE ARE AT 400 READS OMG GUYS!!! Love all you so much. Thank you guys! Enjoy!