slut [ eddie munson ]

014

Talia, Robin, and Nancy had come to the decision that it was best to drop Talia back off at Reefer Rick's. She'd fill Eddie in and then meet back up with the group, hopefully they would have a plan by then.

Luckily, Dustin had left a walkie-talkie with Eddie, meaning that Talia could continue to communicate with the group.

Eddie had been sitting in the boat with his back to the door when Talia arrived, still snacking on the food the others had brought him. He flinched and hastily threw himself onto the bottom of the boat when the door creaked open, Talia throwing a hand out when she saw that she had scared him.

"It's just me, don't worry," she said, fully entering and shutting the door behind her. Eddie audibly let out a sigh of relief, slowly picking himself up and returning to his seat as Talia approached a stool next to the boat.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me," Eddie said, his heart still racing. Talia smiled sheepishly, playing with her fingers out of nervousness.

"Sorry."

"All good, Wheeler," Eddie grinned for a moment before his face slightly fell, as if he had suddenly remembered why the girl had left in the first place.

Catching the look on his face, Talia frowned, "There was another...body. This guy Fred. He was on the school paper, with Nancy. They went to the trailer park yesterday and he kind of...disappeared. Someone found him on the road, a little aways from here. Must have cut through the forest."

"Oh," Eddie said sullenly, his eyes unable to meet Talia's, "was it—?"

"Vecna? Yeah. Definitely looked that way." She shuttered, flashes of Chrissy's broken body playing in her mind.

"They're going to blame me, aren't they?" Eddie's voice was filled with sorrow. He didn't have it in him to try to throw up a facade of strength—not when Talia would see right through it, anyways.

"Probably," Talia muttered, her gaze focused on Eddie. The look on his face made her want to find this Vecna and tear him apart with her bare hands. She wanted him to pay for what he did—not just to Eddie, but to Chrissy and even Fred, too. Talia clenched her jaw, "We're going to get you out of this, I swear to fucking god—even if it's the last thing I do."

Eddie's smile was strained, "I know you will, T." He was lying. There was no getting out of this—at least, not any way he could see. There was enough evidence for the cops to connect Chrissy murder to him without any proof he had actually done it, which meant every other victim of Vecna could be as well. Killing Vecna wouldn't change that.

"I think I have Uno in my car," Talia suggested, desperate for a change in subject. Even though she was telling the truth, Talia knew how grim the possibility of them clearing Eddie's name was.

Eddie perked up, "As long as you're not a sore loser, sweetheart."

——————

"Oh, suck it, Munson!" Talia exclaimed, a triumphant grin on her lips as she slammed down her last card. Eddie groaned, whining as he threw his cards down onto the table.

The two teens had been playing Uno for the past three hours, and Eddie had won only once—Talia had felt sorry for him.

"There's no way you aren't cheating," Eddie complained.

"You're just a sore loser, you baby, and I'm just that good."

Eddie rolled his eyes, beginning to collect all the cards. After Talia kept winning, he had accused her of messing with the cards and banned her from shuffling the deck or passing them out. Talia watched as he arranged them, taking a sip of her drink.