MATILDA, eddie munson.

039.

MARCH 22ND, 1986
📍reefer rick's boathouse
11:00 AM

"who's vecna?" steve asked. a question which everyone except eddie and dustin was keen to know the answer to.

"an undead creature of great power," dustin answered him.

"a spell caster," eddie added.

"a dark wizard," dustin finished.

the group were in an awkward silence for a short moment, before matilda scoffed in disbelief.

"this is crazy," she said. "this is actually crazy. you do realize that, right? i mean, dark wizards? undead creatures casting spells and killing people, are you serious?" she began pacing around the room.

the others shared looks, unsure of how to calm the girl down. if they were in her position, they would likely have an even bigger response. steve looked at eddie and moved his head in tillie's direction, signaling for the boy to do something.

eddie understood what he was saying and stood up, taking a step towards her. "mattie.." he spoke softly.

but true girl ignored him, continuing to ramble as she ran her fingers through her hair. "this is— you know, three hours ago i was still asleep? and then i woke up and boom, my little sister is dead, and she was killed by a wizard from a board game and—" she paused herself and took a deep breath.

"this is just a nightmare," she told herself. "this is just a nightmare, tillie. you're going to wake up and chrissy will be hungover in her bed next door, and your mother will complain about your body and the chaplin fundraiser and then your father will come home late and blame it on work, when everyone knows he's been having an affair for years and—"

"mattie!" eddie exclaimed, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

she jumped out of the trance she was in and faced the others, noticing them all looking at her with worry. her breathing was heavy and disoriented and she felt a single tear roll down her left cheek.

"i need a minute," she told them, but it was barely audible to anyone other than eddie, before she turned on her feet and walked out of the boathouse.

the others watched her leave, feeling sorry for the girl. "she's really shaken," robin commented.

"she just found out her dead twin sister was killed by a undead wizard and that there's a whole other world below hawkins," steve replied. "and by the sounds of it, she has a shitty home life too, so.."

max glumly picked at the skin around her nails. "believe me, i know exactly how she feels.."

"i'm going to go make sure she's okay," eddie announced, following her outside.

"i'm still confused on how they even came to be.. whatever they are," steve remarked, watching eddie leave.

"they were working on an assignment together," dustin responded with a yawn. "they started hanging out because of the assignment, but then eventually they became friends and just started hanging out for fun. that's what eddie told us anyways."

"just friends, my ass," max replied. "that's like saying el and mike are just friends."

dustin raised his arms in defense, "that's what eddie said, don't blame the messenger. it's weird though. she's changed him. not a bad way, he just constantly looks like a lovestruck puppy. he even wrote a song about her."

"a song?" steve grimaced, whilst robin and max awed.

"i know, right," dustin nodded with steve's disgust. "it's gross."

"it's romantic," max corrected them. "you're just jealous because no one's ever written one about you."

— 📻🪐🏹—

MARCH 22ND, 1986
📍outside reefer rick's boathouse
11:06 AM

eddie scanned the surroundings in search of tillie. he spotted her sat down against a large tree, looking at lover's lake in deep thought.

he slowly made his way towards her, sitting down beside her which made her stir from her thoughts and turn to see him.

"hey, princess," he said softly.

"hey," she muttered with a small smile.

"can i stay, or do you want to be left alone?" he asked.

"please, stay," she mumbled, her voice sounding broken. "you're literally the only thing keeping me sane right now."

"same here," he said in response. he paused for a moment, before beginning to apologize. "i am so sorry, mattie. i'm sorry i didn't do more to help her. i'm sorry i didn't try harder. i'm sorry i ran. i'm—"

"it's not your fault," she interrupted. "i know you, eddie. i know you will have tried your best to help her."

"but it still wasn't enough," the boy said. "and i'm sorry for that. i will carry this guilt to my grave."

"you're not the only one who feels incredibly guilty," she replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. "i knew she was struggling, i mean, she wanted to buy drugs from you for gods sake. that's, like, the least chrissy thing ever."

"yeah, i should've told you about that, i'm sorry," he apologized again.

"i knew something was going on between you after the game yesterday," she told him. "i honestly you thought you guys might have been hooking up or something behind my back."

"me and chrissy?" eddie exclaimed. "are you kidding? no, she's.. she's too prim and perfect for me. besides, i have my eye on someone else. she was lovely though. i had two conversations with her and i could tell she had the purest soul."

"yeah, she did," tillie smiled. "she was the least deserving person of this fate. i can't even imagine how painful it was or how scared she must have been," she said, her voice beginning to crack as tears formed in her eyes. "b-but, i'm glad you were the last person she was wi—"

she turned away from eddie and tried to blink back her tears, but he knew what she was doing. she was trying to suppress her emotions like her mother had always told her to do, but he could tell all she needed to do was let it all out.

he grabbed her gently and turned her around, pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her, and immediately she broke down into sobs.

he could hear how much pain and sadness was in her cries, and it made his heart break.

"it's okay, i know," he whispered, resting his head on top of hers. "i know, princess."

"i need her. i don't know to do this without her," she cried. "it just hurts so much and i—" she had to stop herself as another round of sobs escaped her throat.

"i know, i know," he said, planting several kisses to the top of her head.

"it should've been me," she said, panting heavily. "why wasn't it me?"

— 📻🪐🏹 —

i can't tell if this is cute or heartbreaking or both

i literally have a two hour maths exam tomorrow and yet i've spent my entire weekend crying and writing instead of revising #slay

WORD COUNT — 1157.