Head Over Heels for Eddie Munson

Ch16: Does S.O.S count?

We continued walking as I started recognizing the woods around me more and more. "So..." Robin started, holding the flashlight to the ground, "You and Eddie, huh? You guys seem pretty.." I paused and coughed, choking on air and chuckling a bit. "No, Eddie and I? Ha! That's weird," I said, watching her smirk,"...what, did he say something about me?" Nancy looked back at me with a wide smile and Robin giggled, "I was just going to say that you two are pretty good friends. Friends, Lori!" I took in a deep breath of embarrassment and continued walking, not daring to make eye contact with Robin or Nancy. They continued to speak amongst themselves giggling every now and then. But, I caught a bit of the conversation Steve and Eddie were having, talking about Dustin and his love for Steve. We all stopped as we heard a nearby growl followed by a breaking branch and I tried scoping the area for any heartbeats. "There's nothing here that I can feel," I said as blood dripped from my nose, "It's all so weird." We continued walking in silence, "That's alright, Lori. I fear that whatever is in these woods is not necessarily...alive," Nancy flashed her light around the trees, seeing nothing. I noticed that Steve and Eddie were stopped and I heard Eddie's words faintly. "But wheeler, right there. She didn't waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in," Eddie said and continued, but his voice got too quiet and all I could hear next was, "Sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen." I walked slower, staying somewhat close to them as a smile came across my face. It seems that I wasn't the only one rooting for Steve and Nancy. But Robin was not the only one rooting for me and Eddie either. "Yeah?" Steve asked, "Well what about you and Lori? Dude, I can tell by the way you look at her, you can't get her off your mind. She can be like that, man. But you....you might actually have a chance. She seems dif—" Steve was cut off by another quake and, again, we all found our ways to the floor. I winced as I fell onto my bad leg, "God Dammit! Son of a bitch!" Robin breathed heavily as she tried stabilizing herself with the help of Nancy. "Second on my list of least favorite things!" Robin screamed as the ground shook, "Earthquakes! Seriously, I'm unsteady enough as it is." Nancy and I had held onto trees nearby as I made my way back to my feet, but Nancy began walking forwards. "Nancy!" I yelled, "Where are you going?" Robin and I called out to her but she kept on going through the violent shakes. Eddie came up to me, grabbing my arm and keeping me upright, "Come on," I realized why she had left, "We're close." We jogged into an open field, red flashes lighting up our faces and the broken surroundings of an upside down Hawkins. There, amongst all the wreckage, stood the Wheelers' home.

It only took a short while to reach the front door and I took a breath in as I walked up to the familiar front door. "I go in first, alright?" I said to the group, walking to the front of them, "You come in only when I say so, yes?" Who knows what could be lurking within the walls of the house and I wasn't taking chances. I walked in the house slowly, dragging my feet along the familiar floors and through the house I came to know so well. Voices heard in the distance, almost like an echo, startled me, but I figured it must have been the group outside and continued. "We're good!" I called out to them and heard their footsteps creeping in slowly. I watched as the light from Steve's flashlight approached the kitchen I was standing in, vines overtaking the walls and ceiling. "Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler," Robin remarked and I snickered, eyeing the disgusting moving tentacles that painted the rooms. "Come on," She said walking up the stairs, "I don't want to stay here longer than we have to. Lori, find your things and I'll find mine, alright?" Robin and Steve followed her up. "Sure thing, ma'am," I nodded, smirking and turning towards the basement. I walked down, hearing footsteps as Eddie came down after me. Expecting to see the bed the Wheelers' have provided me and the new additions to the basement that made it into a room, I was surprised to see nothing. "This...is your room?" Eddie asked, leaning back and scratching his head with a disappointed look, "It isn't what I was picturing but..." I walked around, completely confused as I saw no traces of any knife or anything that linked to me ever being here. "This...this is not my room, Eddie. It's almost like everything is stuck in 1983 or something. I mean...my stuff! It should be right here!" I pointed at a desk that was supposed to be thrown out and replaced with a bed frame, and yet, it stood there in front of me, "Wait you were picturing my room?" I turned to him, a million thoughts flowing through my mind and I searched each one thoroughly. Before he could answer, mostly because I got tired of his stuttering, I realized. "Nance!" I called out, looking above me. I started walking up the stairs quickly, but Eddie grabbed onto my wrist, "Lori, what is it?" I pulled him up to me and continued walking upstairs. When we were fully up I grabbed onto him and pushed him up against the wall, "I'm not sure, but I think that, at this time at least and... please bear with me... because it...it will sound crazy, my room doesn't exist yet." He watched my face, looking deeply at it like he was absorbing everything he had heard. "It doesn't....exist?" He asked slowly. I pulled his arm and dragged upstairs to Nancy's room. We walked in when she started talking to Robin. It seems she had also figured out about the house being frozen in time, "This diary should be full of entries. It's not. The last entry is November 6, 1983. The day Will went missing. The day the gate opened. We're in the past!" Robin looked behind towards me and Eddie in the door frame, we all shared the same look on our faces.

Eddie jumped as Steve started screaming, "Dustin! Dustin!" I led the way as we all ran towards him in the living room, "Dustin! Can you hear me? Dustin! Du—Hello? Hel...Hello?!" Eddie and I covered our mouths and turned away towards each other, trying not to laugh as Steve spun around like a crazy person. "Maybe he really does have rabies," Robin smiled and I lost it, giggling with Eddie as quietly as we could while Steve continued shouting. He put an arm on my back to stabilize him as he tried to contain more laughter, feeling his fingers touching the bare skin on my back. "Guys, stop," Nancy shook my shoulder which made me laugh more as I tripped on my other foot and fell into Eddie's arms, "Steve! What are you doing?" He turned towards us crouching and moving frantically, his flashlight shining in our eyes. "He's here. Henderson. That little shit, he's here," Steve was out of breath, "He's like...he's in the walls or something...just listen, listen. Dustin." I waited, held my breath even, for a sound. Perhaps it wasn't the group talking that I had heard before, maybe I heard Dustin. Before we could make out any voice at all, Steve began screaming again, "Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me?" He started walking around the house, leaving us to watch as he slowly descended into madness. But, as if by magic, a clear voice of Dustin's could be heard right where we were huddled. "That brings us to the question you first raised," He said, but only faintly you could hear it and it had an echoing quality to it. It was amazing, truly, the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. Which took me back to a conversation me and Will had together, where he told me he could hear people from the upside down. He told me how he had tried talking to someone but couldn't seem to get anyone to listen. "Dustin!" I screamed while walking around, "Guys....Steve may not be as crazy as we think. Nancy, remember when Will said he could hear Joyce from the upside down? Dustin!" I walked around the house, to all the places I usually saw Dustin. I was happy to hear everyone else had caught on and started calling out for him too. I walked up next to Steve. "All right, either this kid can't hear us or he's being a total douchebag," he smiled at me and I looked around towards the lights. Nancy practically read my mind when she spoke, "Will found a way. Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce...through the lights!" I ran over to the switch with Nancy and she watched as I flicked them on and off, nothing happened. We heard as Dustin continued speaking in an echo and Nancy tried more lamps and lights. "It's not working!" We both said as the lights continued failing to turn on, but Steve was more interested in something else. He shined his light on the fixture, watching a reddish glow shine on the chandelier, "Guys? You seeing this?" We turned towards what his light was pointing at, the glow shining brighter radiating off the chandelier, an energy flowing through it like magic.

I walked up to it, hearing its mystical noises and watching as a glitter-like dust formed around it. I placed my hand inside the surrounding dust, sparkling brighter with my touch, tingling my fingertips. It tickled and I smiled as the light got brighter the closer I got to it. Now, on my tippy toes, I saw the increasing brightness, making its way into the real world. I swirled my hand around and Eddie came up behind me, "Whoa!" Dustin continued speaking as we all stuck our hands into the glitter, getting a feel of the energy surging into us. "It..." Eddie started and I finished his sentence, "tickles?" We chuckled softly looking at each other and taking in the sensation from the light as the bulbs became brighter. "It kinda feels good," Robin said and Nancy pulled her hand away. "Does anyone know Morse code?" She asked. I remembered the night that I taught Eddie "S.O.S" in morse code, it seemed like so long ago, we were so happy. Before anyone could say anything else, I spoke out, "Uh...Eddie knows a little...yeah. Does S.O.S count?" He nudged my arm a little and I gave him a smirk, "You better have remembered it, Munson," I whispered to him, "I spent so much time teaching you." He smiled, looking down at me with his big eyes glowing in the soft red light. I smiled back, I felt safe.
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A/N: Hey yall, today was so hectic that I completely forgot about posting lmao!!!! Anyway...thanks for all the love yall i rly appreciate it and I hope u like the story so far, this chapter is a bit lengthy. I told you guys that I wanted to take this love story slow, but its all coming soon i promise. If u have anything to say at all, dont be shy to comment. Love yall so much.XOXOXO