❝𝐍𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆❞

"Wait did you get the chips he wanted?" Dustin glanced up at you while looking through the bag full of snacks you guys had gotten for Eddie. "Yeah, they should be in there!" You snatch the bag from him, digging through the bag. "Don't make a mess in my car please!" Steve looked at you through the rearview mirror. "No one's gonna make a mess." You spoke, pushing past the variety of candy. "Yeah, Steve," Dustin looked at him, "we're not five." Dustin said with a scowl.

"You sure do act five." Steve mumbled. "I found them!" You threw the bag of chips at Dustin causing him o fumble with the bag as he tried to catch it. Steve slowed down the car, taking the key out of the ignition as you stopped in front of Reefer Rick's house. "Let's go." Steve stepped out of the car. You grabbed two bags full of snacks, Dustin and Max grabbing one each. You shut the car door behind you as you followed Steve down the small hill to the boathouse.

"It's kinda quiet. Do you think the cops found him?" Robin quietly asked, looking at you. "He's probably still hiding under that stupid tarp." You chuckle. "Oh yeah, the tarp Steve was so afraid of." Dustin smiled, holding back his laugh. "Listen, something dangerous could've been in there." Steve stuck true to his word, pushing open the door to the boathouse. "Woah!" Steve placed his hands up in defense as you all entered the boathouse.

Eddie was tucked into a corner, holding the broken bottle out. Everyone gave him a small wave. "It's just us." You reassured him. "Jesus," he sighed, "you can't just barge in like that." He slowly let down the bottle. You walked over to him first, handing him his back of snacks and candy. Max and Dustin did the same, stepping back from him. "I'm starving." He grabbed a bag of chips, ripped it open, and immediately stuffed his face. "If you were that hungry we could have gotten you some real food to eat."

Eddie shook his head, repositioning himself near the edge of the boat, sitting on it, "I'll eat whatever at this point." He chewed loudly, stuffing more food into his face. "So, junk food was your first choice? Nothing from a diner or a pizza house?" You shrug, a hint of sarcasm in your voice. "Listen, there are more important things going on right now." Dustin interrupted the two of you. You rolled your eyes, tip-toeing your way back over to where Robin was standing. Dustin grabbed a free stool, pulling it under him as he sat down. Eddie watched him as he continued to stuff his face full of sugar and salt.

"So," Dustin clasped his hands together, forcing himself to look at Eddie, "we have some good news and some bad news. Which one would you like to hear first?" Dustin slightly leaned forward. Eddie opened a bottle of coke, taking a huge sip to wash all his food down before answering, "bad news. Always." Eddie wiped the crumbs off of his mouth with the back of his leather jacket. "So, bad news, we tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're looking for you. Also, they definitely think you murdered Chrissy." Dustin said bluntly but tried to lay it on Eddie as soft as possible. "Yeah, like, one hundred percent." Max added. Eddie's expression dropped, his eyes softening as he took the news.

"And the good news?" Eddie looked at Dustin, slight concern on his face. "Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do and that obviously won't lead to good things. Everyone and their mom will come looking for you." Robin explained, looking at Eddie. You could tell Eddie was on the verge of freaking out, panic was written all over his face even if he tries desperately to hide it in front of everyone. "Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie said, his voice shaking as he shared looks with everyone in the boathouse.

"But, before that happens," you started, "we have to find this Vecna guy, kill him, and then, boom, you'll be proven innocent." You said with a smile, trying to break the tension. "Yeah," Dustin gestured to you, "what y/n said." He nodded. "That's all, y/n? That's all?" Eddie asked, blinking at you. "Yeah. That's pretty much it. I mean, unless you have another way of proving your innocence, feel free to share with the class." You said in a high-pitched tone. Eddie turned away, a disappointed smile on his face.

"Eddie, listen, I know everything y/n is saying sounds ridiculous right now, but we've actually been through this stuff before," Robin looked at you. "Except for y/n. And I have been once. The others," Robin pointed as Max, Steve, and Dustin, "have been through it multiple times. Mine was kind of more of a human experience and there's was otherworldly creature related, but, overall, I really feel like we have this in the bag." Robin said with confidence. Eddie looked at her as if she was insane, trying to process every piece of information that was said.

"Yeah, we usually rely on this girl that has superpowers but those went kaput-bye-bye. So uh-" Steve folded his arms across his chest. "So we're basically in the-" Robin began. "Brainstorming phase." Max looked up at Robin. "Yeah! Brainstorming!" Steve agreed. "Wait, so all of you knew about this?" Eddie looked at everyone in disbelief. "No, no, not me. I honestly just learned a couple of days ago when trying to find you. Still trying to wrap my head around it but, yeah." You shrugged. "There's nothing to worry... about." Dustin tried to comfort Eddie. "Yeah." Steve agreed, nodding his head. Dustin looked at Steve nodding his head in agreement as well. Eddie looked at the two with raised brows, not even a little bit convinced everything was going to be fine.

Silence filled the room when sudden police sirens could be heard in the distance, approaching Reefer Rick's house quickly. "Shit. Shit!" Steve panicked. "Tarp! Tarp!" You ran over to Eddie. He immediately laid down, hugging his food close to him as you grabbed the tarp, tossing it over him. All you ran towards the window as the police sirens got closer, only for the cop cars and an ambulance to pass by. "What the hell is going on?" You mumbled as you watched at least five cars speed by. "Wanna go check it out?" Steve asked, looking at all of you. "Well, someone has to stay here with Eddie." Dustin added. His eyes slowly landed on you, "y/n" He pointed. "No! No!" You argued.

"You're the most responsible and smartest out of all of us. If it's anyone that knows how to keep Eddie out of trouble it's you," Dustin gave you a complimentary pat on the shoulder before he decided to follow the others. "Wait!" He stooped in his tracks, pulling out a walkie, "use this if you need to contact us, alright?" He handed it to you before running off with the others to follow the herd of police cars.

Max quickly turned back, running back towards the boathouse, "forgot my bag." She squeezed past you. Your brows furrowed as you noticed blood coming out of her nose. "Max, your nose." You warned her. "Huh?" Her fingers touched the red liquid, her eyes widening. "It's alright," you grabbed a clean rag out of your pocket, handing it to her, "I get them too sometimes." You chuckled. "Is that why you're carrying this around?" She looked at the rag before using it to wipe her nose. "Yes, but I promise it's clean. Plus, it's for yesterday when you gave me medicine for my headache." You smiled at her. "Right. Thanks." She quickly walked out of the boathouse, following the others.

"Son of a bitch." You whispered, closing the door to the boathouse carefully. "Is it okay to come out?" Eddie asked, his voice muffled from being under the tarp. "Yes. Munson." You sighed, the wood creaking under your feet as you reached the boat, pulling the blue tarp from over him. Eddie quickly sat up, "where did the others go?" He looked around, watching as you sat on the stool Dustin was previously sat on. "To check out where the cops were going," You looked down at the walkie in your hand before looking at Eddie. "Here," you tossed the walkie onto his lap. "You'll need it more than I do."

Eddie looked down at the walkie, wiping his hands on his black jeans. "Thanks." He grabbed the walkie. "Do you just sit under this tarp all day?" You stood up, walking around the boathouse, kicking at the food wrappers on the floor. "Well, what else is there to do when the police think you've murdered someone." Eddie scoffed. "Right. Sorry." You looked back at him with pursed lips. Your hands reached up at the random tools on the wall, grabbing and touching them out of boredom. "So, wanna tell me why you decided to hide at your dealers' house and leave without saying a word to me?" You asked not turning to look at him.

Eddie was almost surprised by your question, watching you carefully as you walked around the place. "Didn't think your first reaction to me being a murder suspect was to help me so I had to hit the road while I still had a chance." Eddie took a swig of soda, placing the can down on the floor. "Understandable. But still, you had me worried shitless that night." You admitted, turning around and walking back to the stool. Eddie just blinked, unsure of what to say. "And don't let that get to your head, please." You flicked his forehead, causing him to flinch. "I can't believe I had the y/n worried about me." Eddie teased.

"Yeah and if you pull some shit like that again once this is all figured out, I'll slam the door in the face next time." You gave him a sweet smile before holding your hand out. Eddie looked down at your hand in confusion. "Care to share? I didn't have breakfast this morning." You looked at him. "Oh." He quickly dumped some chips into your hand, holding his hand under yours to catch the crumbs. "Thank you." You smiled, placing a chip into your mouth. "You know, this is like the first time we're actually having a normal conversation with each other."

You nodded your head, "most of the time you're annoying me." You squinted your eyes, giving him a look. "It's only cause I don't wanna work on those boring projects. But you," Eddie glanced up at you as he placed the bag of chips onto the floor, "you do it so effortlessly and it ends up saving my ass. You end up saving my ass." Eddie admitted. "Yeah, Dustin told me you're always mentioning me saving your ass. It's quite nice to know that you do appreciate me in some way, Munson." You smirk at him, placing another chip in your mouth.

He lets out a small laugh, looking away from you. "Just like you saved my ass that night too," His tone changed as he looked at you. "Why'd you let me in?"He asked, his tone serious. "I don't know," You shrugged. "Like I said, I was worried. I didn't know if you were hurt or something. Plus, that night, you weren't acting like the Eddie I know which told me something definitely wasn't right." You ate another chip. Eddie slowly nodded his head, clasping his hands together. "That day after school, I saw you and Chrissy walking out of the woods together," Eddie looked at you, "to be honest, it shocked me," you dusted your hands off, leaning forward towards Eddie. "To see the freak of the school walking out the woods with Chrissy Cunningham was a sight I'd never thought I see in a million years."

"She was a lot different than I'd thought she'd be." Eddie admitted. "What do you mean?" You asked. "I knew her in middle school," Eddie adjusted in his seat, "and when I mentioned that to her, s-she remembered the name of my band. She was...nice." Eddie looked at you. You could sense he was feeling some type of guilt in all of this, his eyes never making eye contact with yours. "What were you guys doing?" You asked out of curiosity. "She just wanted to buy some drugs. And that night, I brought her to my trailer to give her something...stronger per her request. That's when I found her," Eddie slowly turned his head to look at you, his brows furrowing. "Y/n, your nose...it's bleeding." Eddie blinked.

You quickly straightened up in your seat, your fingertip coming in contact with the blood dripping from your nose. As you reached for the rag in your back pocket, you realized you had given it to Max earlier, "shit." You mumbled, turning away from Eddie. "Hey, you okay?" Eddie sat up, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Yeah, don't worry it's just a nosebleed." You wave him off, using your sleeve to wipe off the blood. "Does that happen often?" Eddie asked, now standing in front of you. "It just started a few days ago. I've just been overworking myself that's all." You sniffed, continuing to wipe away at your nose, slightly embarrassed.

"Did you tell your parents? Maybe they can take you to a doctor?" Eddie suggested. "Yeah, like they would actually give a shit and find the time out of their busy lives to do that," you scoff. "Sorry," You turn away from him once more. "I promise I'm fine." Eddie took your word for it, but was still slightly worried, "maybe you should clean up." He looked at you. "But, you can't leave the boathouse." You responded. "I know, but it's not like anyone comes out here anyway." Eddie grabbed the fabric of your sweater, pulling you towards the window, poking his head to see if anyone was around. "I think we're okay." You glanced at him, pulling your arm away as you opened the door, walking towards the back of the house.

"Wait up." Eddie walked beside you, frantically looking around him as you walked up to the backdoor. You turned the knob, only for it to be locked. Obviously. "Great." You rolled your eyes. "I have a little trick up my sleeve, don't you worry." Eddie reached into the potted plant beside the door, pulling out a gold key. "Your dealer leaves his spare key outside?" You chuckled as Eddie opened the door. "Don't ask me." He grunted, pushing open the door, allowing you inside first. The house smelled stale like no one had been living in it for months. "Welcome!" Eddie through his hands up in the air with a smile, slamming the door shut with his foot.

"Idiot." You rolled your eyes, walking to the kitchen sink, turning it on. You cupped water in your hands, bringing it to your nose in hopes it'll wash the blood away quickly. "Here." Eddie tossed a rag at you, smirking as it hit your head. "At least give me a heads up!" You said in annoyance, grabbing the rag off the counter, and wetting it under the sink. You wiped your nose, turning to Eddie.

He leaned against the counter, watching you. "Did I get all of it?" You asked, tilting your head up. "Mmm," Eddie squinted his eyes as he inspected your nose, his handing tilting your chin up a little higher, "let me see," he reached for the rag. He gently wiped away the blood, "there."

Eddie placed the rag on the counter, his eyes still staring into yours, "thanks." You mumbled, pulling away from him. "Yeah, no problem." He cleared his throat. "I think we should head back to the boathouse." You walked past him, heading for the backdoor. Eddie followed behind you.

━━━━━

Max, Steve, and Dustin searched through the school counselor's file drawer, pulling out Chrissy's file. "Do you think we'll really find something in here about Vecna?" Steve asked, shining his flashlight on Max. "I saw Chrissy walking out of here the day she died. She must have said something to Ms. Kelly." Max placed the file down on the desk, shining her flashlight on the page. "What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." Max spoke, reading Chrissy's file. "Well, whatever Nancy and Robin find out at the library, hopefully, it connects with Chrissy and Fred." Steve added. "We're gonna need to fill y/n and Eddie in on everything once we get back." Dustin sighed. Max's eyebrows knitted together as she read the writing on the page.

-Reoccurring headaches
-Nosebleeds
-Nightmares
-Lack of sleep

Max quickly read over every one of the words written down on the paper, all of them seeming too familiar to her liking. Her breathing quickened and her mind raced. "Max?" Dustin called out to her, watching as she just sat there. "Hey, Max!" Dustin shined the flashlight on her. She just sat there, staring into space. "Max, hey!" Dustin shook her. Max jumped at the sudden contact, looking at Steve and Dustin. "You okay?" Steve asked. "Did you guys not hear that?" Max asked, looking at both of them.

"Hear what?" Dustin asked. Max immediately got up from her seat, running down towards the hall. "Where are you going?!" Steve yelled, both of them running after her. "Guys!" Robin yelled, running down the hall with Nancy. Max stopped at the end of the hallway, pointing her flashlight at the wall, "I saw a clock. An old grandfather clock. It was right here." Max insisted as the others listened. "You saw a clock?" Nancy asked. "It was so real," Max breathed out. "And when I got closer, I just suddenly woke up." She looked at the wall. "It was like she was in a trance. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy." Dustin added.

"That's not the worst part." Max shook her head. She walked between the group, heading back to Ms. Kelly's office, the others following behind her quickly. She swiped Chrissy's file off of the desk, "Chrissy came to Ms. Kelly for help. She was having headaches, like bad headaches that wouldn't go away, nosebleeds, nightmares, trouble sleeping, and then they started seeing things." Max explained, recalling each and everything that happened to her. Robin grabbed Chrissy's file from Max, looking over the notes Ms. Kelly took. "And you were having all of this?" Nancy asked, looking up at her. Max nodded. "What about Fred?" Nancy asked. "I didn't check."

Nancy immediately opened the file cabinet, hoping to find anything on Fred, her manager for the school newspaper, who was found dead this morning in the middle of the road. His bones were snapped in an inhuman way his eyes were torn out of their sockets. Just like Chrissy. "He was seeing her too." Nancy placed his file on the desk, opening it up. "Was he having the same symptoms?" Dustin asked. Nancy skimmed the notes, stopping after a few seconds, "the exact same ones." She looked at the others.

Everyone turned to look at Max, noticing her skin was pale, her eyes wide. "Max, what's wrong?" Dustin asked. Max looked up at him slowly, "y/n." She spoke, her voice was subtle. "What?" Robin asked. "The other day, she said she had a headache and I gave her some medicine from my bag. And then today, my nose started bleeding in the boathouse, and y/n told me she gets them too," Max said, her voice barely audible.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago. Mine, five days ago. I don't know how long y/n has been having them, but neither of us has much time, especially after I just saw that goddamn clock." Max said with tears in her eyes. Robin's eyes widened. Steve and Nancy looked at each other in disbelief. "Call y/n on the walkie now!" Steve yelled. "Shit! Shit!" Dustin yelled, fumbling with his bag as he pulled out his walkie.

"Y/n this is Dustin, we have a code red! Do you copy?!"

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬:
Here is the third chapter! I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far!