Chapter Text
Eddie slumps down in the corner of the boathouse, tucked away from sight just to be careful. Exhaustion is creeping through his bones. Eddie can't even remember when he last slept, actual sleep, not just a short nap laced with nightmares.
He dozes off.
It's that curled up position that makes his limbs and back ache the next morning when Eddie heaves himself up. No one is around, so Eddie takes a quick leak and washes his hands and face in the lake. He considers drinking some of it since his throat feels like sandpaper, but the slight muddy color of the water makes him reconsider.
Since he promised to stay out of sight, he goes back to his hiding spot. In the quiet, his mind latches back onto Chrissy's gruesome death and the fact that apparently there's a whole other dimension right under Hawkins. Images pop up from the funeral of Will Byers who then emerged quite lively, Barb Holland going off the grid, the mysterious gas leaks, newspaper articles of police chief Hopper and Billy Hargrove, who allegedly died in a mall fire when the sprinklers malfunctioned, even though the shopping center had just opened.
What did they even do there after hours?
Didn't Harrington have a busted face after the fire?
How much bigger is this?
What else don't I know?
Eddie is ripped out of his head when the door to the shed flings open with a bang. He screams in surprise as his heart plummets and he instinctively grabs the broken bottle from the table, holding it out towards the intruders.
“Jesus!”
In walks Dustin, holding up a plastic bag, grinning innocently at Eddie, like he didn't scare the shit out of the metalhead just now.
“Delivery service!”
His sing-song voice and cheeky grin lets Eddie deflate since Dustin is clearly not a threat. Steve smirks at him from the doorway, amused that they made Eddie jump. Then Steve catches himself and gives Eddie a little wave, wiggling his fingers.
Adorable.
What?
Eddie is letting out a relieved sigh as the others all enter the boathouse. Eddie drops down unceremoniously onto one of the boats as the others gather around him. Shamelessly he snags the bag from Dustin and instantly tears through the box of cereal, only now becoming aware of his hunger.
Dustin takes the seat closest to Eddie and explains their situation while Eddie stuffs his face with Honeycomb. “So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?”
Eddie sends the kid a look and mumbles with his mouth full “Bad news first, always.”
As if it wasn't an obvious choice.
His voice is scratchy so Eddie grabs the bottle of YooHoo from the bag and takes a sip while Dustin goes on.
“All right. 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.”
“Like, 100% kind of convinced”, Max chimes in from the side.
Not great but not unexpected. But there is more.
A little hopeful Eddie asks “And the good news??”
Only there isn’t really good news. Just that his name has not gone public yet and they don't really have a plan besides finding and killing Vecna to then prove Eddie's innocence before it escalates into “Hunt the freak”.
According to Robin, the whole squad has multiple prior experiences with the Upside Down; she tries to reassure him. But they have no actual plan for the current situation and Eddie doesn't feel convinced they can do anything. Apparently it shows, since Dustin once again tries to pacify Eddie that they can figure it out.
“There… there’s nothing to worry about.”
When Steve, leaned against a pillar, scoffs, Eddie can't help but look at him once more. Harrington smiles and shrugs his shoulders, but when he reads Eddie's insecurities he gives him a small but encouraging nod.
It feels like a private moment, and even though Eddie's anxiety is still going strong, he's convinced he can trust Steve. A nice warmth is emitting from his arm.
Eddie breathes in, about to ask about the girl with superpowers Steve just mentioned, when the police sirens pierce the quiet of Lover’s Lake.
Someone hisses “shit” while Robin gestures wildly, emphasizing her “tarp, tarp” chorus and Eddie dives under the boat cover. The noise outside is muffled but the sirens move away again.
“Air is clear,” Max states, as they pull the tarp off. Blood is still rushing in Eddie's ears, his heart beating wildly.
“They just drove by. I wonder why?”
“There's something else going on. We're gonna check it out. Stay here.”
Eddie nods as they hurry out to Steve's car and follow the police down the empty road.
It's only after Eddie makes sure Steve's Bimmer is out of sight and none of the cops cars stop anywhere near that he finally feels himself relax a little.
His brain is still buzzing with all the new information the four had dumped on him, along with the lingering feeling of hopelessness.
What are the chances of defeating this dark evil wizard?
His normal life feels like he's left it behind him ages ago, not that it has ever been completely normal, but in hindsight, with all the new revelations, it seems pretty basic.
Eddie lets out a wistful sigh and rubs his face. The whole situation still seems like a wild dream brought on by a bad trip. He presses his knuckles into his closed eyes until he sees bright spots of color. When he releases the pressure and blinks them open, he's still in the dusty boathouse.
Eddie glances at his side. The broken bottle is still within arm's reach. It's not the best weapon, especially considering there are a bunch of oars lying around, but he loves how dangerous it looks. How powerful he felt while holding it.
An image flashes through his mind of Steve, with wide eyes, pinned against the metal wall with the sharp glass edges at his throat. His delicate skin there was so exposed.
Steve.
My soulmate.
Fucking hell that’s weird.
Eddie's eyes wander down to his arm. If he focuses, he can still feel the warmth running through his veins.
Eddie crumples up his jacket sleeve to finally expose the dark mark running up from his wrist all the way up the inside of his inner arm. The bunched up fabric doesn't comply easily, and Eddie mentally curses the thick material. He wrestles it a bit so he can gain access to the whole picture painted across his skin.
Most prominent is a big baseball bat with long sharp nails through the wood. Dark vines wrap around it and the image looks slimy and gross, almost as if it was alive, clinging to the bat like an infection, dark goo dripping from the vines, leaving Eddie feeling uncomfortable. The vines reach out towards the sky, where a small bird tries to flap its wings, but it's being pulled down. Scattered on the ground are pieces of a broken crown that looks suspiciously like the one the prom king always wears. Eddie thinks the material was supposed to look metallic and shiny but it's also partially covered in the dark ominous substance.
Eddie takes a deep breath and swallows past the bile, willing it to go down.
Sure, the nail-bat looks metal and tough, but the rest just leaves a foul taste behind.
Constricted.
Bound.
Shattered.
Dark.
It's not at all what he would have expected.
Maybe a basketball or Steve's infamous car.
Eddie doesn't see the warmth that ran through him when he sparked represented in the mark on his skin. It just looks... broken.
A deep sadness latches onto his heart. With nimble fingers he carefully traces the outline of the dark ink. The edges are frayed and a little red and sensitive, since they branded themselves onto his delicate skin.
Eddie can't help feeling off. Something about it is wrong.
Even more wrong than the universe trying to tell him that "I laughed at queer people getting shoved into lockers" Steve is supposedly the epitome of romantic partner for Eddie "the Freak" Munson.
The soulmark is supposed to be a representation of oneself, one's interests or things that are essential to one. Often there are links to one's upbringing and close connections like family, loved ones or pets.
But all Steve has is darkness and shattered pieces of the persona he once was. Maybe it's a sign - the broken crown. Eddie should just let go of his prejudice and give Steve an honest chance. Maybe the universe is right and they're it for each other.
Highly unlikely.
They might not be compatible and they might not end up together, but if the mark says anything about Steve's mental state, the guy could definitely use a friend.
Hell, Dustin is friends with Steve. He can't be that bad.
When Dustin and the others rushed off that morning, they didn't say when or if they would be back. Eddie has to keep the last bit of remaining strength up, especially if they're supposed to fight interdimensional wizards or whatever.
He rubs his eyes and lets out a sarcastic laugh.
Me? Fighting anything?
His noodle arms won't stand a chance. As established, he can't run away either, not without getting caught and convicted. He's trapped at Rick's place, and, not for the first time since he hid out here, Eddie hopes the man would come home. He misses the easy comfort he always provided. He misses Wayne. Is his old man at work? Or did he get interrogated by the police?
The stale air feels like sandpaper when Eddie sucks in a harsh breath to will away his guilt.
And then he's running again.
Jason and his goons show up that evening.
Luckily Eddie saw them pulling up, being on the lookout for Wheeler or Harrington but the jeep pulling up was all too familiar. In a bad way.
“Hey Dustin. You there? It’s Eddie. You remember me, right? Hey, if anyone’s there, I really think I might be in a bit of trouble here. Okay? Wheeler?” He glances back out the window as the basketball lads hop out of the car. When he gets no response he slams his hand against the walkie if it would magically strengthen the connection or get Dustin on the line. The feedback echoes crackle. Frustrated and nervous, he pushes the talking button again and asks “Anybody?!”
Getting away and hiding in his safe spot are the only options left for Eddie, so he sneaks back out to the boathouse. In the distance he can hear Jason bark out orders.
With trembling hands he gets his walkie out. His voice is shaking when he radios his friends.
“Dustin? Please. Are… are you there?”
The quiet fizzing of the static is deafening. He's on his own. Not only did they leave him hanging these past couple of days, fending for himself, no one is coming for him now.
Alone. Just like he was before. Just like he always was.
“Nevermind.”
Eddie's chances against Jason, accompanied by fellow jock idiots, are non-existent. So, he grabs one of the boats and quietly paddles out to Lover's Lake. He only makes it a few yards from the shoreline when Jason bursts out of the boathouse, roaring after Eddie.
Goddamn it!
Suddenly Jason starts getting undressed. He's about to get into the water to swim after Eddie's boat.
That crazy asshole.
Eddie grabs the oar and paddles like crazy. Between wheezing breaths, Eddie curses and grumbles.
When Jason gets dangerously near, Eddie readies himself with the oar. “Hey, stay back, man!” He swings the paddle clumsily. “Stay back!”
But Jason is busy calling for Patrick, who's swimming closer quickly, but then he suddenly stops. Still drifting in the middle of the lake, halfway between the shore and Jason. With a loud splash, his body is pulled under water. Eddie watches the scene unfold with increasing uneasiness.
“Patrick? Patrick?” Jason's obnoxious voice echoes over the dark water of the rippling lake.
And then Patrick is floating. Levitating, like Chrissy.
No! Not again. This can't be happening!!
Eddie tumbles back and plummets overboard into the water, luckily submerged and disoriented enough so he doesn't hear Patrick's bones crack.
When he comes back up, Jason is screaming. Eddie's head is ringing.
The cold water soaks through his clothes, clinging to him like invisible claws, reaching out to pull him under next. If it's that image or the temperature of the water that makes Eddie shiver, he's not sure.
Shit. I need to get away from them. And get out of the water. Now!
Moonlight illuminates the environment enough that Eddie can make out the shore. He distantly realizes that Jason is paddling away from the boat so Eddie heaves himself back onto it, rowing towards the shore.
“What did you do, you freak?!” Jason shrieks.
Eddie can't bring himself to turn around. The chilly air sends goosebumps down all over his body. Or maybe it's Jason's screams. But if the basketball captain still thinks he had something to do with it after witnessing the surrealness first hand, then all hope is lost.
‘Hide! Run!’ the little voice in his head whispers. It kept him alive so far, so Eddie does exactly that.
On shore he grabs the remaining stuff in the boat and stumbles into the woods, finding shelter close to a nearby fallen tree. The dusty blanket Eddie snatched from the boat wrapped around him, shivering from the cold and the shock.
When Eddie gets out the walkie, water drips out at the bottom. It’s completely gone. Frustrated, he flings it into the next tree over and it smashes into pieces. The sound is echoing through the woods, prominent in the otherwise quiet night. Eddie curses under his breath and listens to any indication that he was overheard, but everything stays silent, aside from the hooting of an owl and the chirping of nearby crickets.
After collecting himself and drying off a bit, Eddie starts to wander aimlessly through the woods. He’s explored the area around Lover’s Lake before, but everything looks different in the darkness. Every snapping branch is loud like exploding fireworks. Every rustling in the bushes has Eddie frozen in surprise, straining his eyes in the dim light for nearing danger. Every step in the damp shoes is uncomfortable, every breath makes his lungs burn but he walks on.
At some point his heart rate drops back to a normal level and his limbs are deaf from walking in the cold. Near a wide tree, Eddie slumps down. He has no idea how late it is, or how early. His watch is just as dead as his walkie.
“Fuck! Goddamn it. Fucking Vecna, man.” He buries his head in his knees and tugs at his hair, curled up in a small ball.
Fuck Jason too. What’s up with that asshole?
The shocked screaming is still echoing in his ears. He can’t believe he once again witnessed Vecna killing some teen. Warm tears mix in with the dampness of his jeans.
Why? Why does this have to happen? Why me?
Eddie sighs and exhales into the dark night as he lets his head fall back against the tree. His hair is tangling up in the bark of it but he can’t bring himself to care. Absentmindedly Eddie runs his fingers up his arm, letting the warmth of the soulmark run through him. He cradles his arm close to him, shutting his eyes to focus on the cozy feeling, willing away the events of the night.
Sunlight is tickling him awake. Eddie doesn’t even remember falling asleep but, evidently, he did. In the morning glow, the woods appear way less scary and ominous. Rumbling machines and unintelligible voices can be heard in the distance and Eddie remembers the new construction site outside Hawkins where some rich people decided to build cottages.
Better than being completely lost in the woods.
He snatches a walkie from the workers there and runs.
Cause apparently that’s his thing now.
Running.
Running from the trailer.
Running from Chrissy’s dead body.
Running from the police.
Running from Jason.
Running from Vecna.
So he runs to the next best place he knows in these woods. Somewhere vacant but familiar. Skull Rock. It’s a famous makeout spot among the students, not that Eddie has any experience on that front, but he’s been there before with some of his Hellfire friends to smoke one out. Back when he didn’t openly smoke in the trailer.
“There’s nothin’ wrong with a bit of green”, Rick had said.
Eddie chuckles fondly at the memory.
Of course Wayne had found out too, when Eddie came home obviously smelling like weed. Eddie expected him to be mad or disappointed, maybe for Wayne to lecture him, but the man had just shrugged and shaken his head with a fond eye roll.
“Be smart about it, boy.”
Smart? Me? You should have known better, old man.
But there is something smart he can do now. After tuning the walkie to the right frequency, Eddie prays to the holy lord of Metal, Dio, that he did everything right. Reluctantly he presses the button of the radio.
“Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?”
“… your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.”
Steve's bitchy voice is the first he hears. Aside from the tingling sensation running up his arm, Eddie is just happy to have a familiar person around. Next one to emerge from the bushes is Dustin, who looks genuinely confused.
“Doesn’t make sense.”
Harrington is looking like a soccer mom who's tired of arguing with her kids, with his hands on his hips and a small pout on his face and that stunning yellow sweatshirt.
Goddamn it, Eddie. Get a grip.
“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit you’re wrong, you little butthead.”
Eddie chuckles quietly and then drops down from the huge rock he climbed when he got tired of waiting.
“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a…”, Eddie draws in a huge breath and turns up the smirk already on his face, “total butthead.”
“Jesus,” Dustin sounds genuinely relieved and a part of Eddie feels bad for worrying the kid, “we thought you were a goner.”
In a few fast steps Dustin is in his personal space and flings his arms around Eddie, hugging him tightly. For the first time in days, Eddie's shoulders feel lighter and he relaxes into Dustin's embrace, slapping the child's back reassuringly.
“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.”
When Eddie looks over Dustin, Steve is watching them. He offers Eddie a small approving nod, clearly worried for the boy as much as Eddie is.
Soon after, the rest of the crew shows up. Nancy in tow with Robin, and finally Lucas and Max.
Eddie thanks Nancy profoundly when she offers him water and snacks. He's ravishing through his stuff while he fills them in on what happened as well as he can.
“...my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran.”
The chuckle that escapes his lips sounds off, even to himself, and by the looks on the faces around him, it really hadn't hit the way he hoped. Normally he likes being the center of attention, but only if he is in control. And since this whole thing with Vecna started Eddie hasn't felt like he had any control.
It's Nancy who rips him out of his starting downward spiral when she clears her throat.
“Do you know what time this was? The attack?”
Eddie hands over his watch and suddenly they're all talking about energy surges and Vecna striking again. The conversation moves on too quickly for Eddie to comprehend anything, but apparently Steve is as lost as he is.
Max once again mentions El. Something in the back of his mind is ringing but Eddie can't place his finger on it. Like he sensed that Eddie has no idea who they're talking about, Steve turns towards Eddie.
“We had this girl. She had superpowers.”
“Mmhmm… Superpowers. Yeah, you mentioned her.”
It would be endearing if Eddie wasn't distracted by Dustin pacing back and forth, mumbling under his breath. He looks at the others for an explanation but none of them seem to notice.
“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not, uh, cursed, is he?”
“Cursed? No, no. He’s fine.” Steve doesn't sound concerned at all. Then he lowers his voice and whispers to Eddie with mischief “Mental? Absolutely.”
Eddie can't help but chuckle, which evolves into an embarrassing little snort that luckily no one hears because Steve and Dustin are back to arguing about the location of Skull Rock, which then sparks a whole discussion about electromagnetic fields and gates.
“...because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.”
Determinantly Dustin stomps away until Steve calls the kid back.
“Eddie is still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”
Thank you, ‘Mr. Chivalrous’ Harrington. Not like anyone asked me yesterday…
Dustin looks at him with big eyes, expectantly, and Eddie just knows he'll go with whatever stupid plan the boy just came up with.
Fuck Vecna and this hell dimension.
“So, Mordor it is.”
The sun is already setting when they finally wind up back at the shore of Lover's Lake.
Great… this is just great…
Back again.
Of course, Steve is offering himself up to check out the bottom of the lake while simultaneously bragging with all his successes linked to swimming, making him the best candidate.
Man, I'm not stopping you. I just got out of this damn lake, I'm not keen on getting back in.
And then Steve is undressing, flinging his sweatshirt right at Eddie.
Fumbling, Eddie tries his best to grab a cigarette, forcing his gaze away from Steve's muscular and hairy chest before he starts drooling, only it's plucked right out of his mouth and flicked overboard by Robin. Eddie shoots her his best stink eye, but she's unimpressed.
Everyone is impressed though with how long Steve can actually manage to dive. Anxiously, Eddie is tapping his foot as Robin checks in with Nancy.
They all gasp when Steve suddenly breaks the quiet water surface, excitedly babbling about discovering the gate Dustin talked about. Nancy gets ready to help Steve onto the boat when he gets pulled underwater with a surprised yelp. He comes back up for a second, gulping for air and then he’s gone.
Nancy’s screams are only met with the noise of rippling water.
Fucking hell! Is she getting ready to jump?!
“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not going in there, are you?”
Wheeler tells Robin and Eddie to wait on the boat and dives in right after Steve, wasting no time. Only Robin is not listening either and moments later she slips into the water too.
And what is Eddie supposed to do? Wait? Alone?
Goddamn it!! Back in the water I go.