Partners in Crime-Eddie Munson x OC

Chapter 16

"Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?"

Eddie sat trying to get ahold of Dustin, or anyone for that matter, on the walkie talkie that had somehow survived this long. Well, it had barely started working again after getting soaked in the lake. We were still at Skull Rock hiding out, but now the rest of the gang didn't know our whereabouts either and they weren't answering. As usual.

"Eddie, holy shit. Are you guys okay?" Dustin's voice answered almost instantly, shocking both me and Eddie.

Eddie grimaced and rubbed his eyes. "Nah, man. We're pretty goddamn far from okay."

"Where are you?" Dustin asked through the walkie talkie.

"Skull Rock. Do you know it?"

"Uh, yeah, that's near Cornwallis and uh..." Dustin trailed off as he tried to recall the name.

"Garrett. Yeah, I know where that is." Steve's voice sounded quietly in the background.

"Hold tight, guys. We're coming. We're coming," Dustin said before he turned his walkie talkie off.

I watched as Eddie squeezed his eyes shut, nodding vigorously even though Dustin couldn't see. He set the walkie talkie down and put his face in his hands briefly. He looked so tired. Well, we both probably did. I knew I was definitely a wreck.

I wasn't sure how to comfort him through this. It's not like I ran from the law often. I'd never even gotten a fucking speeding ticket, so who knew that I'd end up wanted for murder with my best friend? Life was just full of surprises.

I grabbed hold of Eddie's hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "The kid's gonna be here soon. Dustin will know what to do. Or Nancy. She seems like she has some secret badass energy."

He flashed me a small smile and kept hold of my hand. He leaned his head against my shoulder as we waited. I wondered how long it had been since he really slept. Once this was over, if this ever was over, he probably wouldn't leave his bed for a week, since he tended to sleep in anyways. Well, he did before.

Thankfully, the group found us fairly quickly. I was half-convinced they forgot we existed and we really could've used some help.

"In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face." Steve voice was growing closer and closer to us.

"Doesn't make sense," Dustin murmured as they approached.

"Yeah, yeah, even with it staring you right in the face you can't admit it. Can't admit that you're wrong, you butthead."

Eddie and I hopped up quickly. He, in true Eddie fashion, made a dramatic jump entrance. "I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead."

"Jesus, man, we thought you were a goner." Dustin hugged Eddie.

Eddie hesitated, but hugged him back regardless. "Yeah, me too, man."

I hurried over to Steve and threw my arms around him. "Thanks for finally showing up, Harrington. I was worried about you all."

Steve scoffed. "Okay, first off we saw you like two days again. Second, I think you're the ones we should be worrying about."

More footsteps crunched through the woods as the rest of the group arrived. Nancy, Robin, Lucas, and Max. The gang was all here. I wasn't even sure if we could be considered a gang, since I hadn't ever talked to Lucas, and only Nancy a handful of times, but something about the situation made it feel like we were all connected. What caught my attention, though, was Max. She looked a little shaken.

I went over to pull her into an embrace. "Hey, is everything okay? Did something happen?"

"Um, yeah. Something did. I should probably catch you up."