Innocent | Eddie Munson x OC

Chapter 16

"Paging Mystery Incorporated, we have a problem here," Eddie urged into the radio in agitation. This was his fifth call.

A staticy voice finally returned, "What kind of situation?"

"Vecna sized. How do you, like, beat the guy? Because-" He glanced over to me, as I took a shaky sip of water. "-well, it's not just Max who's been marked."

This morning I'd slipped into a sort of trance, chased by my mother in mind-flayer form, the same image I'd gotten the night before. I had been thinking about it ever since, my every sense overtaken by the possibility of another attack. I was on edge, but I had found time to tell Eddie, when he seemed least likely to transform into a nightmare version of himself.

I should have never come back. I should have gone to Hawaii, or somewhere on the coast- I should have given my dad a good old fashioned phone-call as a visit, just like he'd done to mom and I time and time again. I shouldn't have hung onto my idealization of Eddie.

"It's music," Dustin Henderson returned, the brains behind this operation as far as I could tell. "Play your favorite song, keep it playing."

"Gotcha." Eddie responded, maneuvering over to the boombox. "It's, uh, it's not my favorite song, though."

"Wait- who?" Dustin responded, curious.

Eddie made eye contact briefly, then turned away from me. He responded in a whisper, leaning nonchalantly against the wall.

"Oh thank god she's finally back, man, like, you're awesome and everything, but you've kind of been a wreck-" The crackly voice responded, loudly.

"Yeah, I get it, thanks for that, dipwad," Eddie grouched, struggling to find the off button. I smiled at his struggle.

"Oh shit, she's right there isn't she? Uh, Milo-"

Eddie finally slammed it onto a nearby side table, silent. He shook his hair out, acting innocent, but seeming disoriented.

He pointed at me, catching his train of thought. "Music."

He grabbed the Fleetwood Mac cassette, shaking his head in mild annoyance, but pushed it into the player. He handed it over with a flourish. I gave a weak smile in response, another sip of water easing my worried throat. I raked a hand through my hair.

"So, I just listen to this and then all the scary thoughts go away?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, well, that's all Scooby Doofus reported, so," Eddie gestured to the boombox, "I'm guessing we'll find out one way or another."

I couldn't help but gulp at that conclusion, being the one who would find out one way or another. It was so flippant, so uncaring. There was such a strong collision of emotions I had been going through the entire time I'd reunited with Eddie. Sometimes I was excited to be seeing him again, sometimes he'd cut me deeply. Even when he said something harsh, though, I felt I deserved it to some extent. Leaving had crushed him. We'd bonded very quickly and deeply through not only a rapidly romantic allegory, but alongside each other through major trauma. He drove me to work every day, offered a place to stay, he saved my life, he stayed when the Mind Flayer was taken down- and I had left him completely. So while I wanted to bite back at every snarky or disagreeable remark, I had to consider what eight months without distraction had done to him- I deserved this.

He must have noticed my worry, heaving a heavy breath and crouching down in front of my seated position. "Listen, Milo, I've seen this all happen once, and I'm not gonna watch it happen again."

He paused, not meeting my eye. Then he rushed out. "Not to another person I care about, not when I can stop it."

I pick at my nails. "You really cared about her?"