Vecna's Pawn || Eddie Munson

~Alone with Munson~

I haven't seen Max since I left with the Byers but I've heard from the others that she's been more closed off since the death of her brother.

I have no clue what to say to her.

Billy is dead and I can't bring him back, but I could've stayed. I could've been there for her but I wasn't.

"Max I am so, so-"

She cuts me off with yet another hug. "I forgive you. I understand. You were closer to Billy than I ever was." She sniffles into my chest. "I just wish we could have gone through it together."

I give her a sad smile and bottle up my guilt before turning my gaze over to Dustin. "Dust man! What's up?!" I shout as we perform a super complicated bro handshake that we made up after Steve helped us bait Dustin's pet Demo-dog.

"You've missed so much!" He exclaims before filling me in on everything. As he does so, I can't help but notice the pair of eyes burning a hole through my head.

What is his problem?

"Alright," I say after Dustin finishes filling me in. "So, what do you need me to do?"

Robin buts in. "We need you to protect Eddie." She states nervously.

Robin knows I hate being put on the sidelines.

I give them all a look. "So you're telling me...that there's a monster tryna destroy the world...and you want to put me on babysitting duty??!" I ask them incredulously.

Eddie scoffs and Steve gives me a look. "We know what you're capable of, but we don't need that kind of power right now when we don't even know how to take down Vecna yet. We need you because you're the one with the best chance at keeping this guy safe." He gestures to Eddie who has been unusually quiet this whole time.

Their reasoning makes sense so I hesitantly agree.

Sirens then go off in the distance, making everyone jump. Eddie quickly climbs in a boat and covers it with a tarp.

"We'll go check it out" Steve says. "Stay here with Eddie." I internally groan.

They leave and Eddie stays in the boat.

"Hey, Munson!" I shout. "There's no one here except you and me. You can come out now."

I hear a scoff from inside the boat. "And why should I believe you?" He questions, his voice muffled by the tarp.

I laugh bitterly. "You shouldn't. You can't trust anyone these days." I mutter that last part to myself.

Eddie comes out from inside the boat. "Why are you helping me, Wheeler?"

I'm taken aback by his question. "What?" I ask dumbly.

He scoffs once again. "Why are you helping me? What are you getting out of it?"

I stare at him a minute before answering. "Nothing. I'm helping you because that's what I was told to do." I state simply.

Now it's Eddie's turn to look taken aback. "Do you always do what you're told?" He asks with a strange expression on his face.

I think of my past. I think of the days I spent in the rainbow room with Eleven, being told what to do all the time and always having to obey. I think about Billy and how he would beat me if I didn't do what he wanted me to do.

I look Eddie in the eye and say in a cold demeanour, "yes."

"Why?" He asks me curiously. His facial expression is confusing and it unnerves me so I do the one thing Papa always told me never to do without permission; I read his mind.

I looked in and explored his emotions, his thoughts, his worries. Everything he was currently feeling is now etched into my brain.

An ounce of guilt creeps into me at what I have done but not enough to care.

"Hey, your nose is bleeding." He tells me.

I wipe the blood away in a hurry before answering his earlier question. "You want to hate me."

He looks suddenly agitated. "I don't want to hate you, I do hate you."

I ignore him. "You want to hate me because I used to play basketball with the same people who bullied you. I am just like them in your eyes...but let me tell you this." I say threatingly. "If you truly knew me, you would be running the other way. However, why I do anything is quite frankly none of your business." I say before sitting down in my little corner and rolling a joint I got from Argyle.

Eddie stares down at the joint in confusion. He looks like he wants to say something but thankfully he doesn't.

Good. His voice annoys me.

At least that's what I try to convince myself as his silence leaves me alone with my thoughts.

•••••

After many hours of getting high and Eddie watching in amusement, I get an idea. "Heyyyy Eddieee???" I drawl out.

"Yes, Wheeler?" He asks with an annoyed smile...or maybe I'm just too high to realize he's frowning at me.

"Does Rick of the Reef have a telephone?" I ask with a pout and he smiles slightly. "I wanna call my weed buddy." I tell him with a laugh.

As if realizing that he isn't supposed to like me, his facial expression drops back into a frown. "As much as I would love to meet your weed buddy," he says with a cold edge to his tone. "I'm wanted for murder and I don't intend to get caught because you feel like having a little chat." He spits at me.

I frown. Did I say something wrong?

"I'm sorry Eddie. I didn't mean to upset you." I say with tears in my eyes. God, why am I being such a baby?

His glare softens slightly. "Don't be a pussy." He tells me with a slightly less intense glare.

"Don't be a pussy Aaron!" Billy tells me before he storms off.

In an instant I am sober with the horrible memories of Billy Hargrove running through my mind.