𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 ✯ eddie munson

15| 𝐉𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔

"You okay, Little Red?" Eddie asked in worry. He trod closer to her, holding out his arms so he could hold her elbows, but she backed away, throwing her hand onto her damp forehead.

"Y-Yeah, the weather is just really hot right now," Cerise monotonously said, her gaze glued to the scaly rigid tree bark. Eddie scrunched his eyebrows and he noticed how his fingertips were bleakly numb from the frosty wind.

"Um, Cerise, it's like fifty degrees right now," Eddie cautiously declared his concern for his girlfriend, rising by the second.

Cerise looked up straight at the sky, the thin cirrostratus sheeting a delicate blanket over the cerulean skies. The sun's beaming light rays peeked through the clouds and when the blinding gold sun glittered on her skin, she winced, subconsciously pulling her arm away from the light.

Eddie inspected her intently, stalkingly examining the way she winced at the harsh sunlight that shone on her. It seemed as if Cerise was acting like a vampire, but Eddie knew the legends weren't true.

"Oh? Well, I'm just not cold right now."

That was nearly impossible. Eddie knew Cerise well enough to know that she gets cold easily. That's why he always kept his own stash of jackets and shirts specifically labeled for his girlfriend.

Minutes went by and Cerise still hasn't spoken a word to Eddie. He insistently stared at her, internally wishing that he could simply hug her, but he couldn't. Not when he didn't know what was wrong with her.

Wrestling sounds of twigs snapping and reverberating voices echoing in the forest perked Eddie's ears. He instinctively grabbed Cerise by the waist, a small yelp escaping her lips as he put his hand on top of her mouth. His cold rings sent a shiver down her spine and she was about to scream until Eddie gave her a sign motioning to 'be quiet.'

"Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring at you in the face, you can't admit it. You can't admit you were wrong, butthead." Eddie instantly recognized the voice as Steve Harrington and he audibly sighed in relief.

He stood down from the rock, Cerise by his side, scaring both Dustin and Steve as they jumped in their places, panic-stricken expressions written on their faces.

"I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead." Eddie rested his hands against his hips, internally fighting back a smile of relief when he saw Dustin shoot him a grin. The young curly-haired freshman wrapped his arms around one of his father figures and Steve took this opportunity to embrace his sister, considering that he hasn't seen her for nearly an entire day.

Steve sauntered towards his sister, raising his arms to tackle her body in a heart-wrenching embrace, however, the older Harrington's relieved face was twisted into an enraged one when he noticed the lacerations and throbbing purple bruises decorating her face.

He immediately caressed his sister's cheeks, his chocolate brown eyes mercilessly scanning her body, his body indignantly freezing from alarm and anger. Cerise backed away from her brother's touch, swatting his hand away.

"I'm fine. Just a little banged up," Cerise nonchalantly assured, backing away from the boy. Her head was held low and her eyes did not meet Steve's, something that he instantly noticed and his sibling radar went off.

It was a small action Steve always detected with his sister. Whenever he would converse with her, she would direct her eye contact straight to Steve's. So when Cerise held her gaze to the dirt, Steve's worry skyrocketed.

"Are you sure? I'm your brother, I can when something is off." Steve's tone was uneasy, not buying for a second that his sister was fine.

"Yeah, don't worry, bro, I'm okay," Cerise reassured with a smile that was sinisterly creeping up to her face. Steve reciprocated a contrived smile, but once Cerise turned away, that grin was slapped off his face and replaced with concern.