Head Over Heels for Eddie Munson

Ch 14: Grunts and Groans

    It felt like two seconds. I was out and then back in ready to fight off the last of the bats around us. However, I was nowhere near the lake and was not on the ground. I opened my eyes, jumping awake in what felt like someone's arms. "Eddie?" I say hoping that I'd see him carry me, but to my disappointment, it was just Steve. "What? No," Steve said, "Guys! Lori's awake! Guys? Shit." He set me down, making sure I was steady and putting his arm around my waist to hold me up. I grunted, screamed almost as I looked down at my leg. The blood still managed to escape the cuts, the bites, the pieces of flesh missing in my thigh and my arms and my hips. "Hey, you alright?" He asked as he steadied me, holding me and looking at me worried. "Am I alright? Am I alright?" I was in shock, "Steve we were both attacked! I have at least, at least, a pound of flesh ripped off me and you were strangled for more than a minute! I am not alright! And you? You are definitely not alright!" I held back the vomit in my throat so as to not embarrass myself, but struggled as I stared into the body of Steve Harrington, shown clearly through the wounds on his abdomen. "Lori, I know this is all crazy and it hurts, believe me, I get it," He stated pointing out our injuries, "But we have to stay calm alright? We gotta fight this. We lost the others, it's just you and me now." I scoffed at him, grabbing my wet hair with my good arm looking straight at him. "Steve, you...you lost...the others!" This couldn't be how I died, I wouldn't let myself go down like this! "Look Lori, it isn't easy to carry another human while you are bleeding out, okay?!" He pointed at me, his other hand on his hip. I nodded, looking down at his wounds again. "You're right, I'm sorry. There is probably a way for me to locate them, if I can just see where Robin or Nancy is right now," I grabbed my head to concentrate on one of the two and started to locate their minds. Steve grabbed my hand and walked me over to a tree. "Maybe we don't have to find them right now, okay? Can we just...talk?"

    "Oh no. Did I just get into trouble with Mr. Harrington?" I chuckled, pouting my lips to tease him. He laid his arm beside my neck onto the tree behind me and chuckled too. "Lori," He suddenly got very serious and hesitated, "You mean...a lot to me." I looked up at him, a bead of sweat dripped down his neck and disappeared into his chest hair. "And," he laughed a bit, "It's so stupid because I wasn't like this before, but I...I really like you." He said it so sincerely, all thoughts of it being a joke disappeared and I started to believe him. His eyes gleamed as he stared me down, getting closer, eyeing my lips. I opened my mouth to say something, but his lips touching mine stopped the words trying to escape. He pulled me into a deeper kiss. His lips were gentle and kind, softly laid onto mine, but acting so passionately. It was the best first kiss ever, like fireworks going off in the background and sappy music playing slowly behind us. It felt like a warm sunset breeze on the beach, a moment you wanted to have last forever, a feeling that satisfied you for life. But when I imagined pulling out of the kiss, the only face I wanted to see, the only face I could ever think of kissing, was Eddies'. Realizing that this was the wrong person, I pulled away, breaking what felt like the best feeling in the world. He stepped back, fixing his hair that I had unknowingly messed up during whatever had just happened. "Steve," I said. His face looked so hurt and confused, like he knew what I was thinking. "No...no, I get it. This isn't my first rejection, Lori. Don't worry about it, alright? Just act like it didn't happen." He started walking in the direction we were originally going. "It wasn't a rejection, Steve," I caught up to him, limping and falling into him, "It's just that—" He cut me off, "I'm not the right person, right?" He looked back at me, I rested my face, hesitating to say something, "I see the way you look at Eddie, Lori. I notice how you talk to him...and...and how he...touches you," He wiped his face, "You two are perfect for each other." He started walking away again and I ran after him, grabbing onto my leg and wincing. "Steve, have you ever thought that maybe I'm not the right person?" He paused and looked at me confused, "Right in front of you is a girl who is 100% down bad. Nancy loves you, Steve, I just know it. And I know you love her too, so stop chasing after someone who doesn't share the same feelings." He looked down and furrowed his eyebrows, I knew he was mad at what I had said. "You know nothing about me or Nancy!" He waited, watching my eyes sadden, "Come on, we need to find the others."