MATILDA, eddie munson.

042.

MARCH 25TH, 1986
📍reefer rick's boathouse
10:54 AM

"we need to find something to eat," eddie stated, sitting opposite tillie on the floor.

"i'm not hungry," matilda replied, tying her hair back messily.

"mattie, you've hardly eaten these past few days," he told her. "you have to have something."

the blonde glanced towards the floor, fiddling with her fingers. the food dustin had brought for them a few days prior had completely run out, and the two hadn't heard from the rest of them since.

eddie stood up and took a few steps towards her, offering her his hand. "come on, princess. rick might have something in his house."

nodding, tillie reached up and connected her fingers with his, allowing him to help her up. they made their way to the door, and eddie peeked outside to check no one was nearby, before hastily jogging towards the house, dragging her along with him.

"we couldn't have walked?" she hissed in annoyance once they were inside. "i don't have the energy to run."

"i'll carry you back then," eddie replied, leading the way to the kitchen.

matilda watched in amusement as he opened every drawer and cupboard searching for something to eat.

"nope," he muttered, before looking in the oven.

"why would there be anything in the oven?" tillie asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her brows lightly furrowed.

"you've never hidden something in the oven before?"eddie shrugged. he opened a top cupboard, spotting a can of tomato spaghetti. "yeah. you'll do."

after turning on the stove, eddie began searching for a pan to cook the spaghetti. he plopped the contents of the tin into the pan and allowed it to warm up, mixing it aggressively with a wooden spoon.

"have you ever tried this?" eddie asked, taking the pan off the heat.

"spaghetti from a can?" matilda responded. "absolutely not. have you met my mother?"

"thankfully, no," eddie smiled, approaching her with the pan and spoon in his hand. he scooped up some spaghetti and began blowing on it gently to cool it down, before offering it to tillie.

"i'm fine," she told him. "thank you, though."

"mats, come on, i know you're hungry," the boy responded softly. "besides, just think, you're already rebelling against your mom by hiding with a supposed murderer, what's a little more rebellion by eating some highly processed, kind of disgusting spaghetti?" he joked lightly.

rolling her eyes, the blonde smiled. she gave in and opened her mouth, allowing eddie to feed her the cooled food. "you know, it's actually not as bad as i thought it'd be."

eddie took a mouthful himself, nodding, "yeah, it'll do." he cocked his head to the side and gestured for the girl to follow him, and began leading her towards the living room, where they took a seat on the sofa and started sharing the spaghetti.

taking the supercom from his belt, eddie began trying to contact the other group. "hey, dustin, this is eddie the banished. you there?" there was no response. "dustin, can you hear me? dustin? earth to dustin."

"hey, it's nancy," a voice came through the radio.

"wheeler!" eddie exclaimed in relief. "hey. um, we're gonna need a food delivery, like, really soon, unless you want me or mattie going out into the world.."

"no," nancy replied. "no, no, no. don't do that. just, stay where you are, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"yeah, yeah, yeah," he nodded. "listen, um.. can you pick me up a six-pack? i know, it's stupid as shit, drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves," he asked, watching tillie nibble on the spaghetti with a smile on his face.