MATILDA, eddie munson.

049.

MARCH 26TH, 1996
📍the upside down
22:16 PM

"it's only natural, but why did it have to be me..?"

tillie gasped heavily, feeling herself quickly drop to the floor. before she felt the impact, she landed in someone's arms and turned her head to see a smiling steve.

"hey there," he said softly, making the girl sigh in relief. "it's okay, you're safe."

the blonde turned her head in the opposite direction, scanning for one face in particular. once she met his gaze, he grinned widely, discarding his guitar onto the floor as he ran up to her.

immediately, the girl leapt from steve's arms into eddie's, throwing her arms tightly around his neck. in an instant, eddie wrapped one arm around her waist, using the other to stroke her head gently.

she began to sniffle, burying her face in his neck and inhaling his scent to bring herself some comfort. eddie smiled, kissing her forehead repeatedly.

the other three watched them embrace happily. "they're actually so cute, i'm going to cry," robin remarked.

as her heartbeat and breathing began to pace, tillie whispered, "i thought you'd rather die than learn how to play an abba song."

eddie chuckled lightly and shrugged. "life or death situation."

after a moment, tillie's grip on him began to loosen and she removed her hands from his neck, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. eddie, however, still kept an arm clung to her waist, something he wished he'd done before.

"what happened, tillie?" nancy asked. "you didn't have any of the symptoms, i don't understand.."

"he didn't give me any of it," tillie explained. "he said he only discovered who i was today, but he wished he'd found me sooner as i would've made a better kill than chrissy."

"i swear to god, i am going to rip out the heart of that slimy little asshole," eddie hissed. "i doubt he has one, but still."

"i'm sorry that none of us realized you were gone," nancy told the girl, noticing how shaken she looked. "it's like one second you were there and then.. you just vanished."

"yeah," tillie swallowed. "we were just talking to dustin and then i heard chrissy calling to me, and then i saw this vision of her but then she turned into him, and then.. we were in this house with.. with a clock and there were like these pillars with chrissy, fred and myles in them, like their bodies were some.. some trophies on display and-" she paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "can we just get out of here, please?"

nancy nodded, beginning to lead them back into the house. "dustin thinks he found a way, so, if we're lucky, we'll be out of here very soon."

as they headed back into the house, tillie cautiously looked around, making sure nothing strange was going on.

"hey," eddie said softly, his arm still around her middle. "it's okay, mattie. you're safe, i promise you that, okay? i'm not going to let anything else happen to you, i swear."

tillie nodded and smiled, looking up at him. "you saved me, you know? again. if i'm the princess, you're literally my knight in shining armor."