slut [ eddie munson ]

008

Max Mayfield had been the unfortunate pick of the group, the other three deciding that she was the best decision. Dustin had just pissed off Talia, Robin was slightly scared of her, and Steve was obviously on her shit-list.

Max, on the other hand, had somewhat of a working relationship with the girl. They were not close by any means, but the two had gotten along well when Billy was still alive.

After coming up with a game plan on what to tell the girl, Max had begrudgingly left the store and walked towards Talia's black impala. Her heart fell as she took in the sight of the older girl practically slumped over the steering wheel, her shoulders softly shaking.

"Talia?" Max called softly, thankful that her windows had been slightly cracked open. It was quiet for a moment as the girls shoulders slowly stopped shaking, Talia clenching her eyes closed as she tried to control her breathing and calm herself down.

Pulling her head up, Talia sighed softly as she rolled her window down fully, "Hey, Max." A defeated expression was on her face, her cheeks wet with tears and her eyes slightly puffier than they had been in the store.

"I'm sorry...about Chrissy, and for what  my friend said. He wasn't thinking, clearly," Max said, a timid smile on her face as she tried to reconcile Dustin's mistake, "He wanted to come apologize himself, but we figured he'd probably piss you off more than he already did."

"It's whatever," Talia muttered, wiping her cheeks unconsciously, "how...how did he know that it was...Chrissy? The police said they weren't announcing who it was."

Mild panic washed over Max before she gathered her thoughts, "I live across from Eddie. Last night, I saw her come back with him. Then, this morning—I just figured..."

Talia felt a small bit of jealousy grow in her stomach, pushing it away with the reality that even if Chrissy had hooked up with Eddie, it wouldn't change the fact that Eddie had murdered her. It wouldn't change the fact that Talia desperately wanted to feel nothing but hatred for the boy who had unknowingly helped fix her broken heart, only to recklessly break it again.

"Oh..." Talia whispered, glancing away from Max as she spoke, "does that mean you..."

The words on the tip of Talia's tongue went unspoken, her pain filled eyes latching back onto Max's sorrowful one's.

"Know about you and Eddie? Kind of," Max said, an unknown emotion settling in her chest, "I've seen you a few times—Eddie's music isn't exactly quiet, so it's kind of hard to ignore."

A grim smile ghosted over Talia's lips, "And I thought I was so sly about it. Guess I was always a dumb bitch, huh? Hooking up with my best friends would-be killer."

Max frowned, "You're not dumb, Tal. And..." she paused, dreading bringing up Eddie's possible innocence, "I don't think Eddie killed her—I saw him last night and he looked so scared. If anything, it looked like he was running from something."

Talia's breath hitched, her voice coming out rough, "Yeah, from the person he just killed."

"It's just..." Max scrambled to find the right words, silently cursing the trio who had forced her to come out here even though they knew she'd probably mess it up, "I heard screaming, and it wasn't Chrissy, then Eddie came running out like he was being chased. I don't know what happened, obviously, but I don't think it was him."

The parts of Talia that struggled over her feelings for the boy begged her to believe the redhead, but Talia couldn't.

"The only person who knows what happened is Eddie, Tal. I just want to find him—find out for myself what happened." Max couldn't let one bit of the true reason she didn't believe Eddie was guilty slip. She had tried so hard last summer to keep the girl out of it, even when Nancy and Mike had practically begged the group to tell Talia some twisted version of the truth to even slightly lessen her pain. If she found out now, then all of the wounds that had been slowly closing would just tear open again.