𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙎 𝙒𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙀 ᵉᵈᵈⁱᵉ ᵐᵘⁿˢᵒⁿ

☼ 20

; F E E L I N G S 2 . 0
i found by AMBER RUN

"Hey, man, uh... Listen, I just— I just wanted to say thanks. For saving my ass back there", Steve mumbled hesitantly as Eddie started walking beside him. Eddie frowned and then scoffed.

     "Shit. You saved your own ass, man. I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there", Eddie responded, sounding like he still couldn't quite believe it. Steve frowned.

     "Ozzy?"

     "When you took that bite out of that bat", Eddie explained with a slight grin, but Steve still looked confused. "Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? He— He bit a bat's head off onstage."
     "I don't—"
     "Whatever, doesn't matter. It's very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying." Steve chuckled darkly, not looking nearly as impressed with himself as Eddie sounded.

     "Oh, well, that was Matilda's idea." Now Eddie was the one to look confused. 
     "Matilda?" Steve nodded.

     "Yeah, she, uh, I think she wanted to help me. But the bat-thing was going crazy, so she couldn't get a grip. And then she yelled at me to bite it. At first I thought she was telling me to just let it kill me", Steve mumbled with a chuckle, "but then I realized and, well, I guess it worked." Eddie looked completely overthrown and when Steve turned to him, he saw the long haired boy was staring in Matilda's direction, who was currently talking to Robin. Steve scoffed amused.

     "Is there, uh, something going on? Between you two, I mean." Eddie turned back to him immediately.
     "What? No. We just— I don't know. We get along, that's all." Steve sighed and Eddie noticed his look shifting to Nancy, who was still leading the way.

     "You, uh, you got something going on with Wheeler?" Steve's look shifted to the ground and then he slowly shook his head.

     "No, uh, I mean, we used to, you know, see each other. Before that whole other-dimension-crap went down. But that's not— That's not why I asked. I just know that sometimes out-of-the-ordinary-situations can create out-of-the-ordinary-bonds and, uh... Well, we don't know how this one will play out, so, maybe don't waste the time you have." For a few seconds, Eddie just stared at Steve, not knowing what to say. He had tried to not give this much thought as the situation seemed to require all his energy on survival-mode, but now that Steve had started the thought-spiral, all of the unsaid words, and the un-thought thoughts surfaced.

     He had now idea how he felt about Matilda. And, considering their situation, it felt weird to make figuring those feelings out a priority. Especially considering it was highly unlikely that they'd reach common ground. In the end, she was still Matilda Bluford and he was Eddie Munson. If Chrissy hadn't died the exact same way at the exact same time in the exact same place, there would have been nothing connecting the two. And bonding over a murder didn't seem very solid.

     "Sorry, uh, I didn't mean to— We don't know each other. I shouldn't... assume", Steve mumbled and waved the whole conversation off and Eddie scoffed.
     "Well, I do know that you're a bad ass. From Henderson, I mean. He insisted on the matter, in fact." Steve looked weirdly pleased by the statement.
     "Henderson said that?"

     "Oh, yeah, shit. Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It's kinda annoying, to be honest. I don't even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve", Eddie went on, not daring to make eye-contact. "I guess I couldn't accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually... a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him? Not a douche? No way, man. No way, That, like,  flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine." He looked toward Steve who was still grinning like a puppy. "Still super jealous as hell, by the way." Now they both laughed and Steve scratched the back of his head. 

     "Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh, normal circumstances. Nope. Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that's what I learned about myself this week."

     "Give yourself a break man. I'm sure Matilda would never—", Steve tried to interfere, but Eddie wasn't about to keep the conversation about him. If anyone had told him he'd open up to Steve Harrington like that a few months ago, he would have laughed in their faces.

     "See, the only reason I came here was because those ladies came in straight after you. Even Matilda. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. But Wheeler, right there, she didn't waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in. Now, I don't know what exactly happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen." Steve awkwardly looked back and forth between Eddie and Nancy and then his face hardened.

     "You know what that reminds me of?", he asked, looking a little too pleased with himself. Eddie raised a brow.
     "No. What?"
     "You know, following a guy a girl as apparently no important feelings towards into the face of unknown and maybe undefinable danger, risking her life in a seemingly helpless situation? Sounds kind of like—"

     "Oh, shut the—" before Eddie could finish his interruption, the earth ruptured again, making all of them lose their balance immediately.

     "Second on my list of least favorite things: earth quakes. Seriously, I'm unsteady enough as it is", Robin proclaimed, trying to somehow hold up both herself and Matilda, who was pressing a hand on her waist in pain. Instead of answering, Nancy suddenly pushed herself away from the tree she had been holding onto and ran towards something unknown. Robin yelled after her, but the girl didn't react.

     The rumbling stopped and as everyone caught up to her, they realized why she had picked up the pace. They were looking at a downright depressing copy of the Wheelers' house, almost obviously presented in the middle of nothing. Nancy's face hardened.

     "Let's go."