To say Eddie Munson was an idiot was an understatement.

Because what the absolute fuck was he thinking?

He breathed shallowly on the ground, bleeding out from the wounds in his sides as he watched as the horrific bat-like monsters from hell all fell to the ground.

This was all for nothing, he had realized. If only he had waited a bit longer and climbed through the portal with Dustin, they wouldn't have even had to worry about the bats, as they would've dropped dead minutes later.

He really was a fucking idiot. Who was he kidding? He wasn't a hero, just a self sacrificing dumbass who couldn't stand the thought of running anymore.

But, what made it worth it was the thought of Dustin and the others having a chance of being safe.

He heard the sound of rapid, staggered footsteps as he was scooped up into someone's arms.

"Oh god, Eddie..."

Nevermind. Dustin came back anyway.

Well, atleast he wasn't going to be alone when he kicked the bucket.

He let out shuddered breaths as he tried to gather more air in a futile attempt to stay alive a bit longer.

"That bad, huh?" He let out weakly.

"No. No no no no." He heard Dustin stutter out. "You're gonna be fine, we just gotta get you to a hospital, OK?"

Dustin's voice was broken and strained, trying to hold back tears, and it broke Eddie's heart.

Despite not believing Dustin for one moment that he was going to come out of this alive, he played along for the kids sake.

"OK."

He tried not to wince when Dustin attempted to pull him up off the ground.

Realizing he was making a mistake, Dustin lowered him into his lap instead.

"Alright, alright, just give me a second OK?" Eddie choked out, his throat slowly but surely filling with blood.

Taking a shuddered breath through his nose, he smiled in an attempt to sooth Dustin.

"I didn't run away this time, right?"

Tears filled his eyes as he spoke. He didn't want to die. Not like this, anyway. He always hoped he'd go out in some blaze of glory, a death worthy of being put in the history books, or something of the sort.

But that wasn't the case.

No one was going to remember him the way he was. No, they'd only remember the person who was a murderer, a cult leader, a freak, whatever the hell they decided to put on his grave.

He could almost see it in his blurring vision. A headstone engraved with his name, marked 'Eddie Munson, Local Freak. He won't be missed.'

The only people who would know of this were the only people who had put their trust in him these last few days.

Dustin, Robin, Nancy, Lucas, Max, Erica, Steve.

Steve...

And just when he was starting to come to terms that the guy had changed, when they were starting to become friends, getting to know each other, he had to go and get himself killed.

Yeah, he was an idiot alright.

He was broken out of his internal monologue by Dustin's voice once again.

"No. No no, you didn't run." The kid choked out, on the verge of sobbing.

Eddie reached up and gripped Dustin's forearm with all the strength he could muster, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"You're gonna have to look after all those little sheep for me, OK?" His throat was still filling itself with blood, making it harder and harder to speak through the pain.

"No!" Dustin sobbed once more. "You're gonna do that yourself!"

Eddie shook his head, knowing what was coming, what was inevitable.

"No, I'm not." He slurred out, his voice and body giving up on him as his hearing and vision grew dimmer.

"Say 'I'm gonna look after them'" Eddie demanded weakly, watching as Dustin struggled to shake his head.

"Say it." He said quietly, sternly, as the child above him, because that's all he was, held back tears.

"I'm gon- I'm gonna look after them." He sobbed, voice hoarse.

"Good. 'Cause I think I'm gonna graduate this year. I think it's my year, Henderson. I think it's finally my year."

Things were growing darker. Or as much darker as they could be in the Upside Down, and he was slowly losing the feeling in his body, every wound numbing substantially with a growing chill.

He shivered as he clutched Dustins arm tighter, tears falling out of the corners of his eyes.

"I love you, man."

Dustin sobbed harder, tears falling down his face.

"I love you, too."

Eddie's eyes flickered around, struggling to see as his breathing slowed, as well as his heart.

The only thing that comforted him as he slowly slipped into the deep dark depths of death, was Dustin frantically calling his name, as weird as that sounded.

It showed him, in his final moments, that someone still cared for him after all of this mess.

His final thoughts registered in his mind.

'God, was I lucky to have this kid.'

Hello and welcome to the prologue of my first ever MLM fic! I can't promise updates will be frequent, but I am so in love with this ship so I will try my hardest!

If you didn't read the description, please do, as there are trigger warnings for what will appear in this fic.

Side not as well, I did not finish the last episode of Volume. 2 for obvious reasons, but I know that basics of what happens after Eddie's death.

If you'd like to see more, please leave a comment below and a vote!