not the freak ~ eddie munson

my chances

it was night time and i lay in my bed as eddie's note and necklace taunt me from my nightstand. i get up from bed to see steve, robin, and dustin looking out the window "we figured you weren't sleeping so... a couple people are here for you" dustin says as he opens the front door.

jonathan walks in along with mike, will, eleven, joyce, argyle, and... hopper. my mouth drops open. i look from eleven to joyce then back to hopper. he pulls me into a hug "oh my god..." i say breathless as i hug him tighter.

i see dustin smiling and robin as well. i pull away to see he's skinner with a shaved head "nice look" i laugh slightly and he smiles at me. i walk over and hug joyce. jonathan smiles at the sight.

everyone gathers on the couch and floor as steve starts telling our story of what happened, from the beginning. steve stops the story when they parted ways with eddie, dustin and i.

he looks over to me and i clear my throat "we had separated, eddie distracted the demobats by playing his guitar-"  "which was pretty damn awesome" dustin adds and i smile "we didn't cover the vents and some of the bats got through" i mess with my rings.

i sit in the doorway of the hallway with my legs stretched out, i shake my foot and continue the story "we were going to come back through the gate but... i don't know what possessed us to stay. dustin had made it though but after that eddie cut the rope" i swallow hard as i feel my throat closing up with tears following

"we started biking away to distract them more but.. eddie thought he was running away again, so he stayed and fought" i say as dustin watches me tell the story intently, his eyes start glossing over "we were doing okay but then all of a sudden it was too many... we thought- we thought we could do it" tears spill from my eyes but i wipe them quickly

"they had taken ahold of him and too many of them swarmed me, so i couldn't get to him in time" i shake my head, disappointed in myself "once steve, robin and nancy had weakened vecna all its creatures died, but it was too late" i gather myself and jonathan hangs his head low, so does argyle who's sitting up against the wall next to me

"by that time dustin was there and we stayed with eddie... he told us what he needed too" i push my glasses up a bit and finally look over to hopper and joyce who sit there with sad looks on their faces "what did he tell you?" eleven asks and i look from dustin then back to her.

i stay quiet and dustin speaks up for me "he said he loved her and some other things that are more personal to them but... he loved mollie and he did it for her, he played the most metal concert for her" dustin says and i laugh. i stand up and step across argyles legs that are stretched out "i just need a minute" i say quickly as i shut my bedroom door.

i slide down the back of my door as i stifle my cries trying not to be loud. "buckley come on" steve knocks on the door.

i get up and open it to see jonathan's with him. steve's holding something behind his back "i know it's.. hard right now, that's not even the word to describe it but- i thought maybe this would either help or make things worse so i took my chances"

he says handing me a blue jean vest. i see the megadeath patch on the bottom of it. my heart races as i turn it over to see the back, it's eddie's battle jacket.

the big dio patch stays safety pinned, along with a few band pins on the pocket. steve leaves and jonathan stays.

he sits next to me on the bed and i rest my head on his shoulder "it's not fair..." i whisper as a tear falls on the vest in my hands.

it smells like eddie too "i'm sorry you had to go through that.. i'm sorry" he tells me and keep my eyes on the vest "we tried calling" i wipe my face and pick my head up

"eleven helped... just not with the right group" he tells me and i nod my head "he was a good one jonathan... a really good one" i say as my voice grows higher with tears spilling from my eyes

"today could have been the day, we'd be at our spot and finally get our day" i tell him and he rubs my back slowly. i sigh and get up "i need a cigarette" i open my door and walk out.

i motion for hopper to come outside with me "do you have any cigarettes?" i ask and he looks at me with his eyebrows raised "look yes i know they are bad but... just one is all i need" i tell him.

he pulls a crumpled pack out and hands me one, he hands me a lighter and i light the stick. the end sticks a bit to my lips and i curse under my breath as i let the smoke out "and guess what?" i ask hopper and he looks at me

"parents? aren't even aware of what's going on" i tell him and he shakes his head "haven't been home, they are out of states last i heard" i say "i'm always here kid" he tells me as he pulls me in under his arm

"i think everyone would have liked him, eddie" i tell hopper and he smiles "he sounds- sounded brave... protective" he says with a smile and i nod my head "he was" i take one more puff from the cigarette and we go back inside.

i look at everyone around the living room "why don't you all just... stay here? there's room" i suggest and robin nods her head "tons of it" she smiles and everyone agrees to stay.

robin and i set up will, mike and eleven in the living room, hopper and joyce in my parents room, jonathan and argyle in the spare room, and dustin and steve in my room.

dustin and steve argue who gets to sleep on my bed "hey!" i raise my voice slightly "dustin had the floor last night so steve, you're on the floor" dustin happily lays in my bed as steve gets comfortable on the floor.

dustin took my side so im on what used to be eddie's side when we shared my bed.

my pillow smelled like him slightly, i sigh and turn over on my side. no matter how hard dustin, eddie and i tried... it wasn't enough. we wanted eddie back, i wanted eddie back. i just wanted my person back home, safe.