Vecna's Pawn || Eddie Munson

~Fugitive~

I turn towards Eddie.

"Pardon?" I say, slightly put off.

"I call bullshit." He repeats.

"Something made you laugh. You were smiling but you made yourself stop." He stares at me like I'm a puzzle that needs to be put together. "Why?"

My temper suddenly flares. I don't know why.

As I said before, I rarely ever lose my temper, but something about his prodding is setting me off.

"That." I spit out. "Is none of your god damn business." I stand abruptly and head over to the house. I can't stand to be in the same room as him right now.

I carefully make my way over to the house.

Once I reach Reefer Rick's bedroom, I lay down for a nap.

It's not an extremely comfortable mattress and the room stinks of weed, but it's more comfortable than the shed floor.

I lay my head back and my eyes catch on something shiny hanging from the headboard. I take a closer look and am shocked by what I see.

Reefer Rick is one kinky bastard.

Hanging from his headboard is a shiny pair of handcuffs.

Damn, Reefer Rick, you go man! I laugh silently to myself.

Just then I hear a car pull up. I walk to the kitchen and look out the window. I relax when I realize it's just Steve and the gang.

I sigh before heading back to bed. I'll let them deal with Eddie's shit.

I'm resting in bed and about to fall asleep when the weight of the bed shifts. I look up ready to beat a bitch up until I see Max looking down at me solemnly.

"Hey Max." I say softly. "What's going on?"

"Eddie told me you were in here...Vecna had me." She sniffles and my blood runs cold.

"Music is the key to escaping Vecna's curse apparently." She tries to laugh but it comes out as a sob.

"Oh, Max." I say as I bring her into a comforting hug.

I'm not ready for what she says next.

"I saw Billy."

I go stiff in her arms. "W-what?" I stumble over my words.

"I know we promised not to talk about it..." she starts. "But I need to tell someone and I think you're the only one who would understand."

I wanna say no.

I wanna rid my mind of everything to do with Billy forever, but I can't. Max needs me, so I will be there for her.

"Tell me everything." I barely whisper.

She does.

She tells me what Vecna said about Billy.

About how Max was relieved that he died.

She tells me how part of her believed that to be true.

She tells me how a part of her longs for Billy while a part of her hopes to never see him again.

She says she feels awful for thinking those things.

She calls herself a monster.

I tell her she's not.

Max is not a monster...because if being relieved that Billy is dead makes her a monster than I am one too.

I feel the same way that she does.

I tell her that.

We talk about our memories of Billy; The good, the bad, the in between.

We shared the stories of our most precious and darkest moments spent with him.

I never considered talking about Billy to be an option. It all seemed so private. Too private to share.

Now that it's out there, I feel so much weight lifted off my shoulders.

"To Billy Hargrove." I fake raise a glass and Max copies my actions. "Once a hero, always a dick."

She laughs. "Amen." We clink our fake glasses together.

Once our laughter dies down, Max looks at me fondly.

"You know you're like a brother to me Aaron, right?"

I give her a soft smile in answer.

"For what it's worth." She continues. "If Billy got his head out of his ass sooner, you two would've made a great couple."

I smile sadly. "Yeah...we would have."

Max clears her throat. "So..." she says while looking at me accusingly.

I raise my eyebrow at her, urging her to finish her thought. "Aren't you supposed to be on Eddie watch?" She teases playfully.

I let out a short laugh. "Yeah...he's just so annoying though." I whine dramatically.

We both dissolve into giggles.

"Am I interrupting something?" A familiar voice buts in.

Eddie walks over to the bed and admires the handcuffs hanging from the headboard. "kinky." He mutters, and I don't know why, but I blush.

"What do you want, Eddie?" I try to say confidently. I end up sounding slightly nervous.

"The monster hunter gang is here and they wanna talk to you." He shrugs. "They say it's urgent."

I immediately make my way to the shed. Whatever this is, it can't be good.

When I open the door I come face to face with a panicked looking Robin and an extremely nervous Steve, while the rest of the gang is behind them tryna keep themselves together.

Steve breaks the silence. "We managed to get word from Jonathan. There are bad men after Eleven. She's with Doctor Owens right now so she's safe..."

I look at him expectantly. "But...?"

"They don't just wanna kill El." He tells me and my blood runs cold. "They're in Hawkins. They're looking for you Aaron."

"Shit." I mutter as I take a seat on the floor.

"That's not all." Steve continues hesitantly.

"It's not?" My voice cracks.

Steve shakes his head. "They've labelled you as a dangerous individual."

"You're officially a wanted person." Robin informs.

I feel like screaming.

"You and Eddie are now both officially in hiding, except if they find Eddie they'll arrest him, but if they find you...they'll kill you Aaron."

I haven't felt this afraid since I was back at the lab.

I do the one thing I promised myself I would never do again; I showed my weakness.

I put my head in my hands and I cried.

I cried as they all watched.