ATTACHED ~ eddie munson

seven

"Woah woah woah! Eddie! Eddie! Stop!" Dustin yelled.

Eddie was shaking tensely as he glared at Steve and the others.

"It's me! It's Dustin!" He tried calming him down, "This is Steve... he's not going to hurt you. Right, Steve?"

"Right. Yeah." Steve whispered, trying not to move.

I stood behind Eddie, ready to grab him in case things escalated. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"We're looking for you." Dustin answered.

"We're here to help." Robin offered.

After some quick introductions, Dustin continued, "We're on your side. I swear on my mother!" and everyone agreed. Eddie looked at me for reassurance.

"We can trust them." I said quietly and put a hand on his back. He flinched and hesitated, but soon retracted the sharp edge from Steve's throat. I ran over and hugged Robin after she had made sure Steve was okay. Eddie turned around and sat down against the shed wall, Dustin knelt down in front of him.

"Eddie... We just want to talk." He tried reaching for the beer bottle, but Eddie was still in a sort of blinded terror. "Okay?"

Robin knelt beside him, "We want to know what happened."

"You won't believe me." He teared up.

"Just tell them what you told me." I managed to grab the glass away from him and set it down on the floor.

"Yeah, try us." Max said.

As Eddie retold the story for the second time now, it didn't get any easier for him. He still shook and stuttered, he still paused because he couldn't bear to remember the image, let alone describe it. It was tough to watch, I sat next to him on a crate and constantly whispered assurance and support to him. "And her bones... she..." he blinked back tears.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, you got this." I would say, and then he'd go back to telling the story. There were times when I needed to think of something else because I felt nauseous. Finally once he finished, he assumed they thought he was crazy, but they all seemed to be just as understanding as I was.

"We believe you." Robin said, "I mean, if Kat does, then I do too. And I've seen some weird shit this past year."

"Look, what I'm about to tell you both might be a little... difficult to take." Dustin started. "You know how people say that Hawkins is cursed? They're not way off." Eddie and I both looked at each other, then back at Dustin. "There's another world, a world hidden beneath Hawkins, sometimes it bleeds into ours."

"...A curse." "Vecna's Curse." Dustin and Eddie conversed.

"Who's Vecna?" Steve and I said at the same time.

"An undead creature of great power."

It took a couple hours for Eddie and I to grasp the whole concept of dimensions and monsters and a girl with super powers, but after some pressing and questioning, there was nothing left to ask except what now?

They decided they were going to go check in with their families and grab some supplies. "You wanna come with?" Robin offered.

I looked at her and then back at Eddie who was still on edge. "I don't think I should be going out into public, my name's probably on a wanted poster by now. Just swing by my house and make sure everything looks okay." She nodded and then gave me a hug, I hugged her back tight. "Wait why didn't you tell me any of this before?" I asked.

"Government." She shrugged and laughed.

"Alright, alright, c'mon we gotta go. It's almost this guy's curfew." Steve motioned towards Dustin who scoffed and rolled his eyes. Robin laughed and closed the shed door behind her.

I walked over to Eddie who had gotten quieter since our visitors arrived. "Everything okay?"

"I just can't believe..." He looked down, "I just can't believe I ran away. I should've taken her to a hospital or done something."

"Eddie, there was nothing you could do. Trust me, you did everything you could."

"No I didn't! I should have never taken her to my house. It's my fault."

"Your fault? After everything you just heard, you think this is your fault? These are powerful beings we can't even begin to comprehend, don't give yourself so much credit." I had both hands on each of his shoulders now, I was practicing shaking him.

"Okay, okay. I got it." He sat me down and stared at me. I looked away quickly, I could feel my cheeks getting red. "I hope you don't think this is your fault either." He tilted his head.

"I don't."

Bullshit.

But I couldn't lie to him, "Well, we had a fight. Chrissy and I. I was being too pushy and protective and she ran off." I admitted.

"Protective?" Eddie questioned.

"Yeah, she didn't have the best home life. There was some abuse and her boyfriend was a spitting image of the same thing she had tried to escape."

"That douche, Jason? Oh fuck no, I swear I'm gonna beat his ass next time I see him."

"He's probably out for you blood as we speak." I said, Eddie's temper had soon turned to fear. "Oh shit, sorry."

"It's fine, heh heh." He fake laughed, "Tell me more about Chrissy though."

"Well, she loves to bake, she's Christian, she has this cute little bunny stuffed animal from when she was little, she love to sing and dance and just be herself." I said almost wistfully.

"Sounds like you're in love with her." Eddie joked.

"WHAT? No! No, no, no. We're just friends."

Eddie's smile became serious and he furrowed his brows at me. He stared intensely and I could feel sweat building on my palms.

"You were in love with her?" His eyes widened and he covered his mouth.

SHIT SHIT SHIT

"I- uh- no- I-"

He reached over and pulled me into an embrace to shut up my frustration. "Shh, it's ok." He whispered to me, returning the reassurance from earlier. I felt tears roll down my face and onto his jean jacket, he didn't let go until I finally had to wipe my eyes.

"Thank you." I sighed, blowing my nose in a napkin.

"Yeah, no problem." His gaze didn't divert from me.

I looked up, "I still don't know exactly what I like, so don't worry- I mean there's no reason for you to not worry- I mean I just don't know if I like girls maybe it was just Chris- Well I don't even know if I like my boyfriend- It's just... I don't know what I'm talking about." I rambled.

"Hey, nobody does. I don't even know what I like. I just do what feels right. It's okay, you're okay." He was being so vulnerable with me and I didn't know why.

I smiled at him and then hopped inside the boat to go to sleep. "You know, there's enough room for the both of us to sleep in here if you'd take off those bulky-ass jackets. I's like 70 degrees out, I don't know why you even where them." I threw him a pillow that we took from inside.

"It's called style. I'm committed to my image, Kat." He started taking them off and setting them carefully on a workbench. He turned off the light, stepped inside the boat, and laid next to me. We could hear the water beneath us trickling and the body warmth was comfortable. I was glad he finally decided to get some rest, he was fast asleep within minutes. I turned to face him, I covered him with some of my blanket and admired his hair, the way he breathed so quietly you could barely hear, the green stain left on his hands from some of his rings. He was quite beautiful actually.

After a few more minutes, I also dozed off, but again having another nightmare.