Eddie Munson: 2023

Episode 3: No Longer Kids

"The two of you married instead... I was so sure that you and Nancy were going to get together." I'm looking at Steve and Robin's hands. identical rings on each of their hands. On the right hand, they are married. Robin isn't shy about it, she shows off her rings coming over to me. Steve on the other hand is more focused on the fact that I'm here. Standing in front of him."We had a funeral for you and everything." It's hurt. The words are harsh and could cut right through the glass.

They're aren't tears in his ears, but there's some sort of relief all in the same sentence. "Rob, He's right here and standing in front of us and you're concerned with showing off that fake ass ring." Steve is harsh and mean. I can only imagine. Dustin will be throwing and chunking shit at me."Oh yeah, I got over that the second I saw him. What's the point of yelling at him, he looks like he hasn't aged a day. Let's just go. We're too old to be fuckin' yelling at each other." Rob yells back at her husband, at Steve.

He rolls his eyes. I open my arms. In an attempt at a friendly hug, Robin is there within seconds. Steve watches, "Come on you dingus." I hear Rob mutter from the side of her face. I open my arms again and make more room for him. He comes over slowly, there's a little bit of a limp in his left leg. He manages and makes his way into our hug. There's a relief that hits my chest. The urge to cry is strong, but instead of crying I breathe steadily.

I take in the time that Steve is giving the both of us. "What happened?" Steve whispers. I try to explain to come up with words, but a shrug is all I can give him and Robin. "Have you seen Dustin or any of the other kids?" I ask as Steve leaves the hug, Robin is still stuck. "Rob? Come on let the guy breathe." Steve fusses at her. I smile shortly at the way that they haven't changed a damn after nearly forty years.

"Sure we see Dustin all the time. His kids gosh they're like extremely like him. He tells them stories about the upside down all the time." Rob rattles off, Steve is back to rolling his. "Robin." He shouts, "Sorry." She apologizes but at who, I shrug my shoulders. "The other kids haven't left either. Everyone stayed right here. Dustin didn't want to leave after you disappeared. He felt like he wasn't doing the right thing, something about you being the best of friends and how you wouldn't dare leave if he had died." Steve says.

The three of us are standing in front of my uncle's grave. "What are you two doing here at the damn cemetery?" My thoughts running with the ADHD. Running back and forth between one and four different things. "Oh, we have to stop by and make sure that Steve's parent's grave look proper." Robin is pointing out a few rows forward, there's a huge mausoleum."We came to fix it up," Steve says coldly. I gather that he wasn't close to his parents. Close was the wrong word to pick. "They were dipshits and forced me and Robin to marry just so they would get the fuck out of my hair about how I wasn't married," Steve mumbles.

"Oh" Was all I could think of, so close was the worst word. "Steve's parents were pricks," Robin says, she took the word right out of my head. I just shook my head. "We were at his funeral," Steve says simply as he looks down at Wayne's grave. "Dustin was the one that told your uncle that you were gone. Dead. God Dustin gonna flip when he finds out you aren't dead. Oh shit Rob we have to go get Eds, Claire, and Beth from that camp class." Steve is rushing trying to grab Robins wrist.

"Hold on a fuckin' sec." She looks over at me. "We still live in Steve's house, it's brighter now. Come over in a few days. We can re-introduce you to everyone. Some people you never got the chance to meet too. I missed you, Eddie. Glad you're back." Rob says sweetly coming into my space and grabbing me tightly hugging me hard that it causes me to cough a little when she lets me go. Steve waves at me while the two of them walk away. I look down at Wayne's grave.

"I should have figured that this shit would happen once I left Lilly's trailer. I bet you're loooking down at me with absolute horror at the mess I've caused for myself." I can imagine his chuckle and the roll of his eye as he'd wave me off. There's something that I just miss about my uncle. Wayne had been through everything with me. It's hard to imagine that I wasn't there for him when he needed it the most that some other person was there. Regardless though I guess I have to suck it up and be glad that someone was there for him.