❝𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒❞

"Y/n..."

You jumped awake, eyes shot wide open. You sat there for a minute, trying to process waking up. Slowly sitting up, you looked around you, noticing you were still under skull rock, yet Eddie wasn't by you. Your brows furrowed in confusion, looking left and right for him. Fear filled your body as you crawled from under the rock. The woods were dark, the moon still shining high in the sky. You grew worried, reaching to grab your bag, but it wasn't there. "Where is it?" You mumbled, your palm rubbing over the dirty ground as you tried to reach around in the darkness. You swore you had brought it with you.

"Eddie?!" You called out, standing to your feet. The woods were still slightly visible thanks to the moonlight. You spun around on your heel, looking over your shoulder. Maybe he went to use the bathroom? You rubbed your eyes with the back of your hand. "Y/n!" Eddies voice shouted from the distance. You looked all around you, "Eddie?!" You shouted back. You couldn't determine where his voice was coming from, it sounded like it was all around you. "Eddie, I'm at the rock!" You shouted again, hoping he could hear you. "Y/n!" Eddie screamed. You grew concerned. He didn't sound like he was looking for you, but rather calling for your help.

Old twigs cracked under your feet and leaves crunched under your feet as you started walking in any direction. "Eddie!" You shouted, hoping he would respond, that way you could try and figure out where he was. This time, it was completely silent. You coward in fear, hugging yourself as you walked through the woods. It was so quiet. So quiet you could hear the sound of your breathing. No sound of owls hooting. No sound of crickets. Not even the sound of wind blowing through the trees. Just silence. "Eddie, stop dicking around and come out! You're scaring me!" You gulped, looking over your shoulder. Eddie didn't respond.

Why would he play some stupid trick like this knowing you guys are on the run? You sighed, stopping in your tracks. "It's useless," you muttered, turning back around and heading down the same path to skull rock. "Eddie, I'm going back to the rock! I'm not playing your stupid game, okay?!" You rolled your eyes, shuffling your feet against the dirt. You hugged yourself tighter, trying to warm yourself up. The sweater you had on wasn't doing you justice. "And you better have my bag too, asshole!" You shouted to your left. Skull rock came into view, a small sense of relief washing over you. Scanning the woods one more time, you saw nothing but trees. Did Eddie go back to Lovers Lake?

Crawling under the rock, your hand slipped as it touched something much softer than the ground. You grabbed onto it, realizing it was your bag. You looked around, becoming nervous. "Eddie, this isn't funny! Stop hiding!" You shouted, holding onto your bag tightly. You crawled out from under the rock again, tossing your bag over your shoulder. The woods were still quiet as you stood there, waiting for Eddie to pop out from behind a tree and scare you, or even call out your name again to try and lure you to him. Except there was nothing. "Alright, I'm leaving!" You shouted, quickly walking away. Luckily you sort of knew your way back to the road from here. Hopefully, you wouldn't get lost.

A twig snapped behind you, causing you to turn around. You squinted your eyes, seeing Eddie's figure in the distance. He was maybe about thirty feet away from the rock. "Yeah, that got your attention, huh?!" You shouted to him, a smile on your face. Eddie didn't respond. He just stood there. You were waiting for a slick remark from him, but nothing came out of his mouth. Not even a peep. Your smile faded. The wind suddenly came out of nowhere, blowing through the forest. You squinted your eyes, the air making your eyes dry. "Y/n..."

You gasped, flinching at the voice behind you. You spun around so fast that you tripped over your own feet, falling onto your back. In the distance, there was a figure slowly walking towards you. Managing to get back up on your feet, your eyes widened as you turned around and ran. "Eddie!" You shouted, running in his direction, hoping he would help you. But he was gone. It was like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. Breathing heavily, you looked behind you, the figure getting closer. It looked like a human. Or was it human? One of its arms was much larger than the other, like it was longer, extended. "You can't run." It spoke.

Fear struck your heart, recognizing that the voice was the same one that's been calling your name. You ran without thinking, your feet carrying you through the woods, running in whatever direction. Your throat was dry and your chest hurt from breathing so hard. "Eddie!" You shouted in terror, wanting his comfort so bad. Tears flooded your eyes as you contented to run, your hands getting scraped and cut from the branches that you blocked from your face. "Why do you run, y/n?" The thing asked, its menacing voice surrounding you. You clenched your eyes shut, ignoring it. Your chest hurt so much from running before you saw the light of the moon reflecting off of Lovers Lake. You came to a stop, breathing heavily as you saw Reefer Rick's house on the other side.

Looking down at the water, you pondered whether or not you should swim across the lake and call for help, or run along the edge and hope for the best. "You can't hide forever." The voice spoke, drowning out every other sound. Hearing footsteps behind you, you gasped out of fear, turning to face the thing that was facing you. Your eyes widened so much, it felt like your eyes were going to pop out of their skull. Its hand wrapped around your throat, gripping tightly. You clenched your eyes shut, trying to gasp for air. "There is no fighting this." It looked at you, its head slightly tilting to the side. It began lifting you in the air, its grip still strong around your throat. You coughed as you tried to breathe, kicking in the air and hitting its hand to try and break free from its grasp. "Join me."

You couldn't help but look at it. It's slimy like skin, but almost burnt texture. It had no nose, but it had human-like eyes. And it had no hair. Its eyes were sunken in like the body was decomposing. You couldn't really describe it. It was unlike anything you have ever seen. Like it was something from another world. You tried to scream, still kicking around. You could tell your oxygen was depleting, your vision started to fade to black. Feeling weak, you hit it one last time, your flailing legs coming to a stop. Your body became limp. You stared at the creature before the black cloud overtook your vision. "Your time will soon come."

━━━━━

You woke up gasping for air, reaching for your throat as you looked around in a panic. You fell back onto the ground, feeling your heart beat out of your chest. "Hey, hey!" Eddie suddenly woke up as he felt you jump, he rubbed his eyes, seeing the frightened look on your face. He reached out for you, watching as you backed away in fear. "Where is it?! Where is he?!" You shouted, your hands shaking and your lip quivering. "Woah, calm down, y/n." Eddie reached for you again, gently grabbing your wrists. He could feel your entire body shaking as you hesitantly accepted his touch. "Eddie..." You mumbled, tears filling your eyes. You jumped onto him, hugging him tightly, your hands clasping onto his jean vest. Eddie was confused, but he slowly wrapped his arms around you, holding onto you.

You silently cried on his shoulder, calling the nightmare you just had. You have never been so happy to see Eddie, to hold him, hug him, and take in his scent. You never felt so alone and so scared. Everything felt so real. Too real. "It's okay." Eddie rubbed your back, trying to soothe you. He could hear you sniffle, your grip on his jean vest still as tight. "What happened?" Eddie asked as you slowly pulled away from him. You were too embarrassed to even say anything and too embarrassed to be crying in front of him. "I," your voice cracked as you tried to hold back your tears, "I think I saw him." You looked up at Eddie, a tear rolling down your cheek. "Vecna?" Eddie questioned. You nodded silently, "he got me, Eddie. I tried screaming. I tried fighting. I screamed for your help. I thought I saw you, but it was just him-"

Eddie pulled you back in for another hug, exhaling deeply, "I'm here now." He assured. Holding onto Eddie tightly, you didn't want to let go of him. You needed him by your side right now. "I don't have a lot of time." You mumbled. wiping away your tears. Eddie pulled away from you, watching as you wiped your tears. "I'm sorry," you gave him sad smile, "all my tears are on your vest." You giggled, wiping his shoulder as if that was gonna do anything. Maybe you just wanted an excuse to touch him. "Don't...apologize." Eddie shuffled his feet, adjusting himself. "Sorry."

"You're doing it again." Eddie pointed at you. "Sorry!" You laughed, wiping your eyes with your sweater. Eddie pulled your hand away from you, "let me do it." He stuck the tip of his tongue out, focusing on wiping away the tears of your eyes with the pad of his thumb. You smiled at him, placing your hands in your lap, "you know you do that a lot." You spoke. Eddie looked at you, bringing his hand away from your face, "do what?" He gave you a puzzled look. "The tongue thing," you pointed at your mouth. "I noticed you do it when you're really focused on something." You gave a half-smile.

Eddie smiled at your words. A part of him was happy that you paid enough attention to him to notice such a small detail in his body language. He looked down at his feet, fidgeting with his rings. "Why are you smiling?" You tilted your head at him. Eddie looked up at you, shaking his head, "nothing." He looked at you. "Okay." You giggled, rubbing away the dirt on your jeans. Eddie took notice of your smile, finding himself staring at it, staring at you. "I missed that."

You looked up at him, "missed what?" You asked, scooting closer towards him. "Your, uh, smile." He hesitated to answer at first, scared you might find it weird. "Are you saying you like my smile, Munson?" You arched a brow, placing a hand on his upper arm. "I mean, it's better than seeing you cry. Nothing too special though." Eddie scoffed. You rolled your eyes at him, shaking your head, "I'll let you in on a little secret," you paused. "I like your smile too." You moved away from him, grabbing your bag as you began to crawl out from under the rock.

Eddie's eyes were slightly wide, unable to form words at your sudden compliment. "Wait, where are you going?" He asked, crawling from under the rock to follow you. "To find a walkie, or a phone, or whatever I can use to contact Dustin and them." You slung your bag over your shoulder. Luckily, it was morning, or afternoon, you weren't really sure what time it was, but you still needed to find the others. If the cops got to you or Eddie first, there would be no going back. "You're not going by yourself." Eddie pulled up his pants, looking ahead into the woods.

"Duh. But if your ass gets caught by the cops, I'm running." You began to walk, hoping to find a road soon. "How sweet of you." Eddie squinted his eyes at you. Eddie followed you, walking shoulder to shoulder through the woods. Birds chirped as they flew from tree to tree and hopped branch to branch. Squirrels scuffled through the piles of leaves, running off as they took notice of you and Eddie. "You plan on telling them about what you saw?" Eddie looked to his left. "At my house or in the dream?" You glanced at him, carefully stepping over a log. "Both."

"Yeah," you nodded. "I should have told Steve what I saw yesterday. I just didn't want to make them worry even more." You shrugged. "Where did they all go anyway?" Eddie watched his feet as he stepped over hidden rocks and branches. "Victor Creel's house. Nancy found out that's where Vecna resides. It's like his hiding spot I guess." You informed Eddie. "I wonder if they found anything." Eddie added. You came to an abrupt stop before looking at Eddie, "you're a genius."

"I am?' Eddie gave you a confused look. "When Jason came looking for us, they weren't responding on the walkie which means they must have been investigating the house. And the time Jason's friend got killed by Vecna, they must have still been at the house." You looked at Eddie with amusement. "You think they saw something?" Eddie folded his arms across his chest. "I'm not one hundred percent sure they saw something, but something could have happened." You shrugged before continuing to walk. "Maybe that's why you had the nightmare about him."

You looked down at the forest floor, "maybe." You spoke quietly. Eddie took notice of your sudden change in behavior, "sorry, I didn't mean to, you know, remind you of that." Eddie looked at you, his expression softening. "Oh no, it's fine." You dismissed him. Eddie gave you a half-smile, even though you weren't looking at him. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he mindlessly followed you, walking side by side. You quickly turned your head and looked at Eddie before looking away. "Hey Eddie, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it." He responded. "Okay," you let out a breathy chuckle. "Have you ever had a crush on anyone?" You asked, fidgeting with your hands. Eddie looked at you, "yeah. I mean, who hasn't?" He chuckled. "True," you smiled. "If you don't mind me asking, what was her name?" You pursed your lips, picking at the already chipped nail polish on your nails. "Um," Eddie pondered, "Janelle. Yeah, Janelle Washington. She was in my math class last year, but she obviously graduated and went to college, blah, blah." Eddie rolled his eyes. Letting out a small laugh, you looked at him, making eye contact, "did you ever talk to her?"

"Yeah," Eddie scratched the back of his neck, "only when she wanted to buy weed from me though." Eddie lowered his head. You frowned at his response, "too personal?" You arched a brow. "Personal? Jesus, no! You're getting too soft for me, y/n!" Eddie spoke aloud, grabbing ahold of your arm, jokingly pulling you back and forth. "Okay, Okay! Fine," you looked him straight in the eye. "She wasn't missing out on too much." You said in a snarky tone. "Ouch!" Eddie winced, looking away from you. "That one hurt."

You and Eddie shared a laugh, bumping into each other as you walked deeper into the forest. "You're the one who told me to stop being soft." You pointed at him. "A little sympathy wouldn't kill you!" Eddie frowned. Smiling to yourself, your eyes stayed on Eddie, walking without looking where you were going. Eddie, on the other hand, was watching his footing, stepping over the large branches and rocks. Your foot got caught up on one of the rocks causing you to stumble forward. "Woah!" Eddie quickly grabbed your arm, pulling you towards him.

Your eyes fixated on the large rock before slowly panning your eyes up to look at Eddie. "Thanks..." You nearly said in a whisper, and both of your eyes locked onto each other. You couldn't help but notice how close you two were, your chest pressed up against his while his hand had a strong grip on your arm. "You okay?" He asked. "Yeah, I just wasn't looking," you looked back down at the rock, "where I was going." You looked back up at him. Eddie let go of your arm, giving you a small smile.

You nervously swallowed before turning away from him, dusting yourself off. "I think I hear something over there." You tried to change the subject, walking ahead of Eddie. Eddie followed after you, seeing a clearing ahead. "It sounds like," Eddie paused, squinting his eyes, "construction?" He looked at you. "Maybe. Stay here, I'll talk to them." You slipped your backpack off, throwing it at Eddie. He caught it in his hands, as you began running towards the sound. "Y/n! Hey, where the hell are you going?!" He yelled in a whisper, trying to run after you. "If anyone sees you, you're dead meat. Just stay." You turned back to look at him. "Jesus Christ." Eddie sighed, his shoulders slouching as you jogged over towards the clearing.

You slowed down, pushing past the trees. There were definitely people talking and the loud sounds of machines. Looking past the branches, you could see groups of men in hard hats with tool belts on their waists. The dirt smudged across their faces and clothes was enough to tell you these were construction workers. Eddie was right. Your eyes widened as one of the guys slowly walked towards the portable toilet, removing his belt. Did he see you? No, he would have said something. "Hey, I'm gonna take a bathroom break." He called out to the others, placing his belt on top of a pile of wood.

You could tell from afar he had a walkie on his belt. Of course, he would. You smiled deviously, a plan already set in motion. The guy walked away from his tool belt, leaving an open window for you. Running as silently as you could, you reached for the walkie, looking around you carefully to see if the other men had noticed you. Eddie, who was still in the woods, panicked as he saw you run out from behind the branches. He was too stunned to speak, stumbling over his words. He ran after you, pushing past the branches, "son of a bitch." He spit out a piece of a leaf that had gotten into his mouth.

"Eddie!" You yelled in a whisper, catching him off guard. "What is wrong with you?" He stared at you as you walked past him. "What do you mean?" You furrowed your brows. "Running out into the open. That's what I mean." He followed after you back into the woods. "No one saw me, it's fine." You turned to look at him, noticing he had a leaf in his hair. Eddie just looked back at you, an unamused look on his face. "Oop, you have something in your hair," Your hand reached for the leaf, brushing it out of his hair. "There you go. Also," you grabbed his hand, placing the walkie in it, "look what I found."

Eddie looked down at the walkie, "holy shit." He smiled. "Hurry and call the others. Tell them to meet us at Skull Rock." You grabbed your bag from Eddie, and walked back into the woods, going down the same route you used to get here. Eddie played around with the walkie a bit, following you as he did. "Hey Dustin, you there? Can you hear me?" Eddie spoke. "Eddie? Y/n? Holy shit are you guys okay?" Dustin's voice came through. You and Eddie both looked at each other in amusement, happy to hear Dustin's voice. You jogged over to Eddie, grabbing the walkie, "we're pretty goddamn far from okay!" You nervously laughed. "Y/n, oh my god!" Robin's voice came through. You smiled at her voice, clenching your eyes shut. "Where are you guys?" Dustin asked in a panic. "Skull Rock. Do you know it?" You asked. "Uh, yeah, I think I do," Dustin responded. "Hold tight guys, we're on our way!"

You and Eddie both inhaled deeply, a sense of relief washing over the both of you. Eddie dragged his hands down his face, letting out a deep breath. "We're gonna be rescued, Munson." You smiled joyfully at him. You couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Without thinking, you reached out and hugged him, wrapping your arms around him tightly. "Looks like today is our day." Eddie hugged you back, finally happy to hear some slightly good news out of all of this.

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬:
Okay I lied, chapter 9 is where we're gonna get back into more of the st storyline lmao. If I wrote the entire thing I feel like it'll be over 7k+ words and that is not how much I usually write for chapter. But, we still got some more Eddie and y/n content!! Hope you enjoyed!