your lips on my red cheeks

my north

"Paddle faster!" Eddie yelled, his movements becoming hard to keep track of and awful, if that was the right word. Even if it wasn't, it should be; the water he was pushing with his oar was splashing into your face.

"You paddle faster! Stop that!" You yelled back, berating him for his skills. The two of you were in the middle of Lovers Lake with the two jocks swimming behind the two of you. With a glance back, you spotted the blonde one closer than before, causing a scream to come out of your mouth. "Faster! Faster!"

Eddie looked in your direction to glare at you, only to spot the athlete. He halted his actions, pushing you towards the front, and began attempting to start the boat engine.

"It's not fucking going to work!" You yelled, beginning to hold the oar like a bat when you saw Jason only a few feet away.

"How do you know that?!"

"I fucking tried, dingus. Don't you think that's the first thing I would've fuc- Oh shit, get away." You screamed, interrupted by the athlete just near your boat. You made a horrible attempt at swinging the oar down at him, missing and only splashing the water. This brought Eddie's attention away from the engine and towards the two of you.

"Hey! Stay back, man. Stay back!" He grabbed his oar, swinging it wildly. It almost hit you, but you didn't care at that moment because, for some reason, Jason stopped. He looked towards the other and attempted to encourage him to continue swimming; the boy, Patrick, was just looking towards nothing.

After a few more seconds of encouragement, Patrick was shot up into the air. It surprised you enough to scream out a "Holy shit!" and tip over the small boat. Unfortunately, this didn't mean you missed out on the paranormal shit. You watched as the boy's bones were broken and bent in impossible ways when you resurfaced. The three of you were frozen in shock, unsure what to do. You knew the blonde would begin blaming Eddie again, but now you would also be part of the blame. It was clearly Vecna, but how were you supposed to explain it to someone like him?

You knew what would happen; you just didn't think you'd actually see it in person. If it wasn't for Eddie, you'd probably still be in the water. He took control from there and began paddling towards shore, leaving Jason with the body of his dead teammate. There was a sense of understanding from you now. Who wouldn't become insane after seeing that? You weren't sure if it was the worst death you've seen because, weirdly enough, multiple people have died in front of you before. The difference between the death you just witnessed and the others is that you didn't see anyone or anything do it. It was creepy.

***

It took a while before you and Eddie found a secure location, added to the fact that you had to steal a walkie-talkie because the other got damaged. Eddie already contacted the others about the location change and what happened. Your mind kept going back to the incident and the ones from recent years. Have you really been this unaware of the traumatic events you've been through? Perhaps the adrenaline kept you occupied. You weren't sure.

"You okay there, [Y/L/N]?" Eddie asked, looking at you with concerned eyes.

You mindlessly nodded, your eyes scanning the area. "Just reevaluating the past few years."

The older boy hummed, "You really dealt with all this shit, huh?"

"We had El, though. Girl with powers. And, for the most part, you could see what you were fighting."

"Wouldn't that be creepier?"

You raised an eyebrow at him, signaling that you were judging him.

"What? I'm just saying... Monsters coming at you? That's creepy as hell." Eddie defended, moving his hands as he talked.