Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 71

"Look, Eddie," Angie turns to him, conflicted by the situation, "I don't want to leave either, but you're safer if you're hiding alone."

His expression pleads with her. She doesn't want to leave him here, and he doesn't want to be left alone.

"We're just gonna run to the store, okay?" She questions, momentarily wrapping her arm around his waist, "We'll be right back. I promise."

Eddie nods softly, allowing her the opportunity to leave. Steve salutes him as they exit the shed, bidding him goodbye as Angie leans into him for comfort. He places his hand on the small of her back, letting her know that she wasn't alone.

The trip to the store was beginning to feel like an eternity to Angie. She was longing to get back to her brother, so when Dustin began grabbing every item in the store, Steve began to get antsy as well.

"Come on, dude." He whines.

"What?" Dustin shrugs, "I'll pay for it."

Steve scoffs, grabbing the box of cereal from Dustin's arms, "We don't need all of this." He glances back at Angie as she shrinks into herself, "What we have now is plenty. Let's just go."

"Alright, alright."

He extends his hand to her, which snaps her out of her thoughts long enough to walk down the aisle with him.

"We'll be in the car." Steve mutters to Robin, leading Angie outside.

She nods, looking at Dustin and signalling for him to hurry up.

"Ange," He coos, drawing her attention to him as she moves to enter the passenger seat.

She pauses, turning to him, "Hm?"

"I can't imagine what must be running through your head with Eddie being involved with all of this. It's hard enough being uprooted by The Upside Down again."

Angie shrugs, wiping a line of snot on her sleeve.

"I don't know about you, but I was getting pretty content with the little life we had going." He jokes, smiling when he spots a small grin on her face, "So I need you to promise me something."

Her expression shifts into one of curiosity and concern, "What is it?"

"I need you to promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

Angie opens her mouth to scold him, so he corrects himself.

"Now, I'm not trying to belittle you-– at all." Steve begins, "I just know how protective you can be–- and I love that about you. I just don't think I'll be able to survive this if you're not on the other side of it with me." He grabs her hand softly, lowering his voice to hide the tremble in it, "I know it's selfish. Trust me." He sighs, preparing himself, "Please don't sacrifice yourself for Eddie or Dustin or even me because if you do... I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you."

Her eyes gloss as he confesses, "Steve," she pauses, unable to come up with the words, "Are you really asking me not to protect my own brother?"

He sniffles softly, "I'm asking you to be careful... for me and our future that only exists if you're here to live it with me."

Her silence kills him, "Please say something." He begs.

Angie's hand falls from his own, "I'm not really sure what you want me to say."

Steve gently places a hand under her chin, pulling her gaze from the ground, "I want you to promise that you'll be here with me when this is all over."

A tear falls onto her cheek, "You know I can't do that."

"Then promise me that you'll at least try."

"Okay," she mumbles, closing the distance between their lips, "I'll try."

He pulls her close, wrapping his arms around her, "I love you too much to live this life without you."

She nods, "I love you too."

"Everything good?" Dustin questions, exiting the store.

Steve pulls away first, "Yeah, everything is good."

Angie follows his lead, taking a seat in the car.

Dustin doesn't seem to believe them, but he doesn't find the courage to call them out on it. Instead, he mutters an "okay" and dumps the groceries in the backseat.

The car ride is silent– a rare expression of awkwardness between the few of them. Sure, this crew had been to the ends of the earth with each other, but this time was different. With the exception of a failed relationship, they had become comfortable with their new life. Things were finally going well for them. There were no demogorgons or Mind Flayers or evil Russians lying around. For the last year, they finally had the opportunity to be kids– normal kids. But, this time, The Upside Down was hitting closer to home than it ever had before. It involved their classmates and loved ones, and that made it scarier than ever.

They remained quiet as they approached Reifer Rick's residence. It wasn't until Dustin announced himself to Eddie that any of them spoke a word.

"Delivery service," he smiles.

"Jesus," Eddie exhales roughly, lowering his knife.

Before he can set down the bags, Eddie reaches for one and snatches the box of Honeycombs from it.

He eats when he's stressed.

"So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news." He begins as Steve takes the other bags from him, "How do you prefer it?"

Eddie raises his head from the bag as Angie hands him a bottle of Yoohoo, "Bad news first, always." He mutters, taking a swing of it.

"Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you– Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

Max butts in, "Like, 100% kind of convinced."

"And the good news?" He sighs.

"Your name hasn't gone public yet." Robin replies, "But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you."

"Hunt the freak, right?" He jokes solemnly, looking at his little sister.

"Yeah," she mumbles, "hunt the freak."