Lily's eyes cracked open to the sunlight peeking in through the blinds covering the window, and she shifted softly in her spot, taking in her surroundings. She still lay on her side, facing the wall, but she had a much clearer vision of the room in the daylight, and was now able to make out the small figurines that sat on the nightstand next to her, whereas last night they had simply been small shapes propped up against the wooden surface.

"Morning," Eddie's voice came from the other side of the bed, and Lily reached a hand up, tiredly rubbing at her eyes.

"Morning," she murmured sleepily, her eyes still shut to block out the light.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Surprisingly enough." she said. "You?"

"Decent," he said simply as she forced herself up into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry about last night." she apologized quickly, pulling her hair back into a ponytail and securing it with the scrunchie around her wrist to keep it out of her eyes. "I was just so overwhelmed after everything happened with Max, but thank you for staying with me."

Eddie shrugged, sitting up next to her and leaning back against the headboard. "Don't mention it." he said. "Seriously, it's the least I can do since you've been staying to help me. You slept in a canoe for me, I think I can manage sleeping in the same bed as you."

Lily leaned forward slightly, the neckline of her t-shirt dipping down in the back, just enough to reveal the small image inked between her shoulder blades, quickly catching Eddie's attention. "I forgot about this," Eddie spoke up, reaching forward as his fingertips lightly poked the image of a small flame.

"I guess I did too." Lily mused, her eyebrows furrowing together slightly as she reached back to put a hand over it, Eddie pulling his hand back as her fingers grazed his lightly. She hadn't thought about it in months, not since she realized her cheerleader uniform had hidden it from view, anyways.

"Really?" Eddie asked. "I guess I thought you would've gotten it removed after all this time. Doesn't really fit the Tiger Cheer Squad look, right?"

"Removed?" she asked, feigning offense. "How could I ever bring myself to remove the stick and poke tattoo you gave me in my basement last spring break? Did you and Nick get yours removed?"

Eddie scoffed. "Please. Like we Munsons regret the stupid tattoos we give ourselves." he reached up the sleeve of his shirt to show her where his own flame rested just under the elbow of his left arm. "So, what does McKinney think of it?" he asked hesitantly, changing the subject.

"He, uh, doesn't know about it, actually." Lily admitted, causing Eddie to raise his eyebrows slightly as his eyes widened.

"He's never seen it?" Eddie asked, and she shook her head.

"The cheer uniform hides it, or my hair does." she explained quickly. "Just never came up, I guess."

"Right," he said, his eyes moving down to the ground briefly before pulling himself out of bed. "On that note, I should make us some breakfast. That is, if Rick has any food in this wasteland."

Lily watched as Eddie left the bedroom in pursuit of the kitchen, leaving them in a silence that was soon punctuated by the sounds of drawers and cabinets being quickly opened and slammed closed in Eddie's desperate search for food. Lily finally climbed out of bed after him, walking into the kitchen to see him holding a can of Spaghetti-Os, his eyes finding hers as he gave her a sheepish smile.

"What can I say?" he asked. "Beggars can't be choosers, right?"

Eddie found a can opener in one of the drawers, pulling the tool out as Lily rummaged through the cabinets for a pot. She placed it on the stove as Eddie grabbed a wooden spoon, dumping the contents of the can into the pot and turning on the appliance as the blue flames roared to life. He got to work heating up the food while Lily continued to look through the cabinets, brandishing two bowls in front of them before pulling two forks from the silverware drawer.

"Voila," she said proudly as Eddie smirked, turning off the stove and pouring half of the pot's contents into each of the bowls.

"Breakfast of champions," Eddie said, picking up his bowl and clanking it against hers softly in a form of cheers before they made their way back over to the couch to take a seat. "I'm gonna give Henderson a call, let him know we could really use more food around here, and we can check in and see how Max is."

Lily nodded as he grabbed the walkie talkie from the coffee table in front of them.

"Hey Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there?" Eddie spoke into the walkie talkie, but they were simply met with radio silence in return. "Dustin, can you hear me?" he asked again after a moment. "Dustin? Earth to Dustin,"

"Maybe they're just asleep," Lily suggested, though she couldn't shake the nervous feeling that had begun to settle in the pit of her stomach. They had promised her they'd call if anything had changed with Max, so it took everything in her to believe that things were okay on their end and they hadn't had any reason to need to call.

"Hey, it's Nancy," the walkie talkie crackled to life as the voice came through from the other end.

"Wheeler!" Eddie exclaimed. "Hey, we're gonna need a food delivery, like really soon, unless you want us going out into the world."

"No, no no no no no, don't do that." Nancy said. "Just stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"How's Max?" Lily asked, grabbing Eddie's wrist that held onto the walkie talkie and pulling it closer so her voice could carry through the device. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm okay," Max's voice rang through the walkie talkie, and Lily let out a relieved sigh, tears threatening to spring at the corners of her eyes. "Kate Bush is still working, so everything's good on our end."

"Good," Lily breathed out, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her flannel as she began to smile. "We'll see you guys soon, then."

"Hey, could you guys pick me up a six pack?" Eddie spoke up suddenly, causing Lily to look over at him with narrowed eyes.

"Eddie, is this really the time?" she asked.

"I know, it's stupid as shit, drinking right now," he explained, "but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves."

"Yeah, sure, fine," Nancy said. "We'll see you guys later."

The walkies reverted back to their radio silence as Nancy turned theirs off, leaving Eddie and Lily alone once more as they continued to eat their makeshift breakfast. Once they were finished, they left their bowls in the sink before making their way back to the boathouse, careful to make sure that no prying eyes were lurking about that would see Eddie outside.

"Well, I suppose we've got a while before they get here," Eddie said. "Want to play a game?"

"Okay," she said, smirking softly in amusement. "What kind of game?"

Eddie shrugged. "I don't know. I Spy?"

"Sure," Lily said, taking a seat on the stool as she looked thoughtfully around the room. "I spy, with my little eye, something... gray."

"Gray?" Eddie scoffed. "This entire place is gray."

Lily shrugged nonchalantly. "Get guessing, then."

"Well shit, okay," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender as he looked around the room. "Is it the floor?"

"Nope,"

"Is it the boat?"

"Uh-uh,"

"Shit, I don't know," Eddie murmured, looking around before his eyes landed back in the direction of the boat. "Is it the tarp?"

"Ding, ding, ding," Lily said. "Your turn."

"I spy with my little eye something blue." he said matter-of-factly.

"It's the water, isn't it?" she asked, looking past him to where the waves of Lover's Lake moved against the edge of the boathouse, and his cocky smile slowly faded.

"Damn it," he muttered, and she couldn't help the laugh that escaped at his words.

Lily looked around for her next object when her eyes fell on her purse lying on the ground next to the canoe, where she'd left it Saturday night, and her eyes widened. "Wait a second," she said, getting up from the stool and crossing the room to pick it up.

"What?" Eddie asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion as she picked up the accessory, bringing it back and taking a seat on the ground. He sat down next to her hesitantly as she placed the purse in between them.

"I just remembered I have food in here." she said, opening the purse to reveal its contents.

"Mayfield," he said tentatively, studying the objects in front of him. "Pray tell, why do you have a packet of PopTarts and an almost empty bottle of apple juice?"

"It's my party fuel," she explained. "Parties are dark enough that apple juice looks like beer and nobody can tell that I don't drink, and I keep the PopTarts in case somebody gets too drunk and needs a snack. I didn't get a chance to empty my bag after the party Friday night."

Lily watched as the expression on Eddie's face softened at her words. "You still don't drink?" he asked.

She shook her head. "You know I never wanted to end up like my mom." she said softly, a feeling she knew Eddie had always felt a little all too well about his father. "If the team thinks I'm already drinking, it saves me the effort of having to refuse anybody pressuring me to just have one. It was just easier that way."

"I guess I just thought that when you started partying you'd-" Eddie started, but quickly cut himself off, shaking his head. "Never mind." he murmured. "So those PopTarts," he continued, changing the subject, and Lily pulled the small foiled package out of her purse.

"They're the best flavor, too." she said.

"Oh rad, blueberry?" he asked, but she simply furrowed her eyebrows back at him in response.

"Gross, no," she said, tearing the package open. "They're strawberry."

"Strawberry?" Eddie scoffed. "All the flavors you could've chosen, and you went with strawberry?"

"Are you hungry or not?" she asked, taking one of the pastries out of the package and holding it out in his direction.

"I mean yeah, I don't know about you but half a can of Spaghetti-Os doesn't make for much of a meal." he said. "I just can't believe you picked strawberry as your favorite."

"Just take the PopTart, Munson," she said, exasperated, and his eyes widened in response.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, taking it from her, and she pulled the other one from the package, taking a bite.

"I just can't believe you like blueberry," she spoke up after a minute.

Eddie shrugged with a sly grin. "What can I say? I have good taste in toaster pastries."

"Toaster pastries, huh?" Lily mused. "That's pretty fancy for your vocabulary."

"Well, what can I say?" he retorted. "I'm a musician, so I know a few big words. If only I knew enough to finally pass O'Donnell's fucking English class, though."

"You know, you're a lot smarter than you think you are, Eddie." she assured him.

"Yeah, well, you seem to be the only one who thinks that." he said with a slight scoff as he paused for a moment, looking back in her direction. "Then again, maybe that's all that matters."

A silence fell between them as they finished the PopTarts, Eddie seemingly lost in thought as his eyes widened slightly before he turned back to Lily.

"Hey, there's something I've been thinking about." he spoke up. "You said it was music that saved Max from Vecna last night, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, if music's the key to escaping him, then maybe we should swap tapes of our favorite songs, just in case?" he suggested. "You know, in case anything happens to either of us. It's good to be prepared, right?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's actually a really good idea. Do you have one with you?"

Eddie nodded, reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket. "I don't go anywhere without it." he said proudly, brandishing the Metallica tape in front of him as he passed it to her. "'Master of Puppets' came out recently, and I've been trying to learn it on guitar for one of our upcoming shows. If I ever get the chance to play it for a crowd, that is. So I've been listening to it nonstop."

Lily took the tape from him before slowly reaching back into her purse and rummaging through a few before she found the one she listened to most often, and she handed it to him. Eddie looked at the blank image on the front with a confused expression, noticing that it was a homemade tape before he turned it over in his hand to reveal the title scribbled on the side, and he continued to stare at it in silence for a moment.

"This is a Corroded Coffin song," Eddie stated, looking back up at her with his eyebrows still furrowed together.

"Yeah," she said with a slight shrug. "That was always my favorite one, and I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it."

Lily watched the small smile that spread across Eddie's face as he tucked the tape into the pocket of his jacket where the Metallica one had previously occupied, and she placed his tape into her purse, under the bottle of apple juice with her others. However, their heads snapped up in the direction of the window at the sound of tires squealing against the gravel outside, along with car doors opening and shutting.

"Is that them?" Lily asked as Eddie quickly stood up from the ground, hurrying over towards the window. "Did they bring the groceries?"

Eddie looked out the window, and Lily watched as the color drained from his face. "Shit," he hissed, looking back at Lily with a terrified expression in his eyes. "We've got company."