slut [ eddie munson ]

012

"I hated you for the longest after that," Talia muttered, a sad smile on her face, "I was so embarrassed that I hid in the bathroom for the rest of the day. I got into so much trouble for it."

Eddie couldn't contain his laughter. It only got louder when Talia eyes went wide and she swatted at him playfully, "It's not funny, Eddie," she whined, failing to hold back a smile, "I had detention for like a week, my parents were pissed."

"Sorry, sorry," Eddie said between laughs, biting his lip in attempt to hold them in, "it's a little funny though, you gotta admit it."

Talia pursed her lips, "okay, maybe a little."

As Eddie's laughter died down and the two teens found themselves left gazing at each other in silence, Talia could feel the air around them become serious.

"I won't tell you that I love you, Eddie, not when I'm still not over Billy," she breathed out, her heart aching at the sadness that pooled in his eyes.

"I don't expect you to, Talia. I never did," he admitted.

Eddie could read Talia like a book. He could tell just by the saddened gaze she gave him that she did love him, and that was enough for him.

Talia moved suddenly, lifting up slightly from her seat on the floor as she wrapped her arms around him. Eddie instinctively did the same, resting his cheek on her head when she buried her face in his neck. As his hands slowly began to rub soothing circles into her back, she felt her body relax into his hold.

—————

Talia was startled awake the next morning. The arm wrapped around her stomach had tightened around her and then abruptly been yanked away. The boat rocked as she felt Eddie scramble across her, a small thud as his feet hit the ground echoing. Still half-asleep, Talia groaned.

Shushing him harshly, Talia rolled onto her back in attempt to get comfortable, her eyes still shut.

"Shit. Oh, shit." Talia heard Eddie mumble from wherever he had gone off to. It was quiet for a second before a loud bang sounded out, followed by a loud, "Jesus!"

"Eddie!" She whined, desperate to fall back asleep.

"Delivery service," Dustin's cheery voice rang out, a small rustling of plastic accompanied it.

Talia groaned again, shoving her face into her hoodie that she had taken off and used as a makeshift pillow last night. She ignored the group as they moved about, chattering amongst themselves.

"Sleep good, Wheeler," Steve called out from above her, Talia peaking her eyes open for a momentto glare at the older teen.

"Fuck off, Farrah."

A laugh rang out through the boathouse, "you should have seen your face, Steve," Dustin said. Talia could practically hear the smile on his face.

The others made no attempt to bother the girl, and Talia continued to hopelessly try and fall asleep until Eddie had climbed back into the boat and started chewing loudly above her.

"God, Munson, can you be any fucking louder," She complained, finally pushing herself up into a sitting position. She caught sight of the others—Dustin sitting on a stool next to Steve, who leant against a support beam on the right, and Robin on the left, standing next to Max who had sat on an overturned crate.

"I'm hungry," Eddie complained, glancing at her as she grabbed her hoodie and pulled it over her head. She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed, but still moved to rest her head against Eddie's shoulder.

Content with the girl's lack of words, Eddie continued to scarf down the Honeycomb cereal in his grasp.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," Dustin started off, "how do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always," Eddie said, his words muffled by the food in his mouth.

"All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you," there was a slight pause, "Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, a hundred percent kind of convinced," Max said.

"And the good news?" Eddie asked, looking from Max to Dustin.

"You're name hasn't gone public yet," Robin answered, "but if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too. And, once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie muttered. Talia felt her heart ache for him, hearing the pain in the voice.

"Exactly," Robin confirmed.

"Shit." Talia wrapped her hand around the arm she was leaning on, trying to comfort him.

"So, before that happens," Dustin cut back in, "we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence."

"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" Eddie asked, a tinge of anger in his voice.

Dustin's voice went high, "Yeah, no, that's pretty much it."

"Listen, Eddie," Robin started, clearly seeing his frustration, "I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean they...they have a few times before and...and I have once, like you know. Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this."

"That's...inspiring," Talia muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, see, we usually rely on this girl who has super powers—you know, the one we told you about last night," Steve continued, "but, uh, those went bye-bye, so..."

"So, we're technically in the...the more—"

"Kinda..."

"Brainstorming phase," Max finished for the two older teens.

"Brainstorming," Steve said more surely, pointing at Max in agreement.

"There...there's nothing to worry about."

"Absolutely none of that, whatever the fuck that was, was reassuring in any way, at all," Talia said, mouth slightly agape as her eyes darted around the group.

Before anyone could respond, the sound of sirens wailing startled the group.

"Shit," Steve said, abruptly moving from where he leant against the beam.

"Tarp...tarp, tarp," Robin directed hastily, Eddie snatching the edge of the blue tarp and throwing it over himself and Talia. The rest of the group rushed towards the small window that faced the street, watching as police cars and first responders flew past.

"It's not for you," Max said once they had passed. Talia and Eddie collectively let out a sigh of relief.

Talia threw the tarp off of them, clambering out awkwardly.

"If it's not for him, then what happened?" She asked, a bad feeling in her gut.

"Let's go find out," Steve said, holding up his keys.

——————

Literally shitting, crying, screaming in anticipation of volume two.