Peaceful bliss, just moments away (Stranger Things)

Two

"Be careful, okay?" Nancy says as she and Fred head for her car. She's taking him to the video store so she and Robin can keep an eye on him while the others find Max and Patrick.

Max is their number one priority, so their first stop is at the trailer park. Maybe Eddie should've talked to her before he left with Chrissy, but it was too late to be thinking of that now.

"Can I help you?" Max's mother stands there in the doorway, puzzled at the three teens standing before her.

"Hi," Chrissy smiles all politely, the way parents seemed to love. "I'm a friend of Max's from school and I was hoping to talk to her?"

"So was I," Max's mother mutters. Then she says more clearly, "She's not here right now."

"Oh. Do you know where we can find her?"

"When you find out, let me know."

-

If there's anyone who might know where Max is, it's Lucas. On the bright side, Eddie knows where Lucas is. On the not so bright side, Jason's there, too.

The same friend with the curly hair answers the door again. "What the hell are you doing here?" Then, when he looks past Eddie, "Chrissy?"

"Let us in, Andy," Chrissy says in a no-nonsense tone.

Andy's brows shoot up, but he steps aside for them.

Inside, Jason shoots to his feet. "Chrissy? Where were you?" He looks between Eddie and Steve, brows knit in confusion, then in anger. "Did they hurt you?"

Chrissy rolls her eyes. "They didn't hurt me, Jason, they helped me." She looks over at Patrick, sitting in one of the chairs. "I need to talk to Patrick and Lucas."

Lucas, already standing as soon as he saw Steve, asks cautiously, "Why?"

"There's a... situation," Steve says, and understanding dawns on Lucas's face.

Patrick, on the other hand, is lost. "What kind of situation?"

"The really, really important kind," Chrissy says. "Just come with us. Please." When Jason starts to move toward her, she snaps, "Not you."

Eddie would feel bad for the hurt look on Jason's face, but the guy has it coming. If it was that easy for him to jump to actual murder, Eddie can't help but wonder how Jason acts behind closed doors, or how big the push needs to be to tip him over into violence. His skin crawls at the thought.

Case in point, Jason's hurt look turns to anger as he turns toward Eddie. "Did the freak put you up to this?"

"No, and he's not a freak! You're being a jerk."

"How am I supposed to act when you won't tell me what's going on?" Jason's voice raises with every word until he's yelling.

"Alright, alright," Steve says, stepping between Jason and Chrissy. "Look, you know who I am, right?" he says to Jason.

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay, come here. Let me give you a little advice." Steve steers a confused Jason away toward the kitchen, looking over his shoulder at Eddie and mouthing, Go, as he drops his keys on a nearby table.

Eddie snatches the keys up and gets Lucas's attention, nodding his head toward the door. He sees Andy catch the look, confusion on his face, and just hopes he doesn't alert Jason.

"We've gotta go," Eddie whispers to Chrissy. They've got Lucas, they can come back for Patrick if they need to. Right now, Max is in trouble.

Chrissy frowns and looks at Patrick one more time. "Please, Patrick."