Lover's Lake | Eddie Munson

25

small  note: before we get into the chapter, I just wanted to thank you guys for sticking around and reading Lover's Lake. We've just hit 10k reads, and that is an insane number to me. this is by far the longest chapter, but I didn't want to break it into two or three chapters, so buckle up!

"Oh boom!" Steve exclaimed as he spotted the infamous Skull Rock. "Bada bing, Bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face."

"It doesn't make sense" uttered Dustin, looking at the huge rock.

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead." Steve rambled on as Dustin trailed behind him, still in disbelief.

From behind the two guys, Eddie jumped down from a rock, startling them a bit.

"I concur," he said, leaning back. "You, Dustin Henderson, are a... total butthead."

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner, man" Dustin breathed out at the sight of Eddie, going in for a hug. "Me, Ann and even robin. You should have heard her in the car-"

"Yeah, me too, man," he said, but his eyes widened once he heard about who had been worried. "Wait, what do you mean, Ann? Did you talk to her? Is she okay?"

"You can ask her yourself, man," said Steve, hands on his hips.

"What?" Eddie replied, eyebrows knitted together.

And at the same moment, Ann emerged from the bush Steve and Dustin had passed through only a minute ago, pulling out a leaf that had gotten stuck on her shoulder somehow.

"Hi, Eddie." Said the girl in question quietly, a smile threatening to spill out on her lips. You could see the relief flood her eyes as she spotted him.

Eddie looked at her for a couple of seconds before taking a couple of strides towards her and pulling her into a hug, cradling the back of her head with his hand and burrowing his face in her neck.

"What are you doing here, Ann? This is too dangerous; you could get hurt." He whispered, still holding her tight

Ann breathed out in relief and snickered, "I don't care. I couldn't just stay home while you're out here, alone, practically hunted by the town. I'll get hurt if it means I can stay with you."

"You stupid girl. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of genius?" he said, tightening his grip on her before loosening it as the missing party members came through the bush too.

"It doesn't take being a genius to do the right thing, Eddie" Ann replied, as Eddie maneuvered her out of Nancy and the rest's path, holding onto her hands.

Before Eddie could reply to the blonde girl, someone coughed loudly, trying to get the duo's attention. "I hate to interrupt this romantic reunion, but we have some questions for you, Eddie." Said Steve, crossing his arms. "What happened yesterday?"

Everyone gathered around Eddie who walked closer to the rock and crouched down to grab a water canteen and take a swig out of it. "When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but uh, my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh I did the thing that I do now, apparently." He said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, and handing the water to Ann. "I ran." He finished off with a chuckle.

"Do you know what time, this was? The attack?" asked Nancy, as Dustin paced behind the group.

"Yeah, no, I... I know exactly what time it was." He said, fiddling with his watch "If I could just get this damn thing off but uh, my walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked."