Grand Adventure

Chapter 34

 The screams reached their ears first, the van doors being wrenched open, before Eddie had even had a chance to put it in park. Robin was grabbing at Dani, pulling her from the van and into a bone crushing hug. Dustin practically climbed into Eddie's lap in his rush to embrace his friend he'd been missing for the last two months.

"Whoa there, big guy," Eddie laughed, ruffling the kid's hair playfully. "Can you let a guy at least get out of the car first before you attack him?"

"Sorry, man. We've just missed you guys so much!" yelled Dustin, backing up so Eddie could climb out.

"Yeah, man, we've missed you too," he laughed, sliding out of the van, patting Dustin on the shoulder. 

Eddie looked around, grinning like a fool as he took in everyone who'd rushed to Dani's house to greet them. They'd put out the call yesterday with an ETA on when they'd be home and everyone had come. Dustin, Robin, Vickie, Gareth, Jeff, Mike, Lucas, Dani's mom Mary, Chief Hopper, Uncle Wayne, and even Harrington who was giving Dani a big hug as she got out of the other side.

"Alright, my turn!" yelled Dani's mom, snatching her away from Steve to hold onto her daughter. Her face turned to Eddie and she beamed, pulling him in for a hug too, holding onto them both as if she were afraid they would float away if she let go. "Jesus, I am so glad you two are home. You have no idea how much you've been missed around here. This house has been a constant revolving door of your friends asking if we'd heard when you'd be back. You would think it would annoy me to have teenagers in and out all the time but, quite honestly, it was nice."

Dani offered a small smile and Eddie watched her closely. She'd been quiet ever since that weird moment last night after they'd talked about their favorite parts of the trip. He'd tried to figure out what was going on but she'd remained tight lipped, providing him with nothing. Eddie didn't know what had happened. He couldn't think of anything he'd done that would have upset her but something was definitely off.

She'd assured him she was fine, just tired after their whirlwind adventure. Eddie wasn't buying it. He knew Dani too well for her to bullshit him like that. He would have to let it go for now, being surrounded by all their family and friends, but he was definitely bringing it up again later when they were alone again. He hated when she was like this. He hadn't seen her smile all day, not a real smile, and it was killing him. Dani offered up the best version of a smile she could manage to Robin and Vickie as they chatted off to the side but he could see right through it. It wasn't reaching her eyes. From the look on Robin's face, she wasn't buying it either.

"Hey there kid," Uncle Wayne said, approaching and pulling Eddie in for a bear hug. "It's damn good to see you. It's been a bit too quiet around here without your big mouth."

Eddie chuckled, shaking his head, "It's good to see you too, old man. We had a blast on this trip but we were ready to come home. We missed everybody."

"Well, I got some dogs and burgers and we're going to have a cookout," Hopper announced, walking up and patting Eddie on the back. "I have a feeling we're not getting rid of any of these kids anytime soon. That curly headed friend of yours has been here for four hours just waiting for you two to get home and he does not ever stop talking."

"Dustin?" laughed Eddie. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. He's hard to get rid of, like a fungus." Turning, Eddie crossed his arms over his chest, a serious expression on his face. "So, I was told some interesting things about you and Mary while we were gone. I need to know, what exactly are your intentions with my girlfriend's mother, chief?"

Hopper's eyes went wide, his eyebrows almost reaching his receding hairline. Eddie cringed, wondering if he'd taken it too far. He never knew what he was getting with the chief. Sometimes he was gruff and no nonsense and other times he was playful and funny.