Winter break was flying by for Dustin. Christmas had come and gone already and they were steadily approaching New Year's. Before he knew it, he'd be back in school, something he was kind of dreading. Christmas had gone as well as it could have. Delilah had sat in the corner, nursing whiskey all day until she passed out on the couch watching It's A Wonderful Life. He wasn't sure what had gone down between her and Eddie, but the two hadn't been seen together for a good while. Hell, Dustin even had to deliver Eddie's Christmas gift from Delilah to him. She said it was just because Fuzzy's was so busy for the holidays, but for some reason, he really doubted that was the reason. He knew she was under a lot of stress though. She was trying to get adjusted to Charles being back in their life. It was a little exhausting. There was now another person who felt they had responsibility over them and was constantly asking what they were doing, who they were seeing, or where they were going.
Delilah never seemed to give in though. She was an adult though technically so he didn't blame her resistance to the change. She would still let Claudia know when or when she wouldn't be home late, but totally ignored their dad. Dustin had gotten quite a lot of different things for Christmas but the best thing was a hoard of new games for his NES. He had spent most of Christmas playing them, but tonight was a Hellfire Club meeting, finally. It was at Mike's house this time which he was thankful for. He couldn't imagine trying to explain to the guys about his estranged father sleeping on the couch. Hell the only person he could really talk to about his dad was Eddie since he was also drug into the situation. He had seemed kind of off as well.
Just another reason he thought something had transpired between the couple that still to his knowledge weren't officially a couple. Eddie had made some kind of comment about it the last time the two saw one another. He figured that was delivering Delilah's Christmas present to him. He hadn't opened the gifts in front of him, so he wasn't sure if the gifts were good or not, but he knew for a fact one of them was a record.
The game couldn't have gone worse. Eddie was really taking it out on them that particular night. All the guys were complaining about the hordes of monsters they were having to tackle. It seemed like he was just trying to torture them. Eventually they reached a good stopping point at an Inn however and the game came to a close. It was late, the sun had set hours ago and when the group went upstairs, Mike's dad was passed out in his recliner with the television still on. Dustin made his way to his bike, wishing all the other boys a good night as they headed for their bikes as well. Eddie was leaning on his van smoking a cigarette, congratulating the boys nonchalantly on their victory of the horde as he was affectionately calling it. Mike went inside and it was just Eddie and Dustin.
"Well, have a good night, Eds," Dustin said, kicking up his kickstand and throwing a leg over his bike.
"You need a ride home?" He asked, still sounding kind of despondent.
"Uh, yeah sure. I think Delilah's home to if you wanted to-"
"Nah that's okay, we're taking some time apart I think," He said, honestly.
Dustin's jaw hung kind of ajar before he nodded and closed his mouth. He knew something had happened and now he had felt even worse about the state of Delilah on Christmas. Eddie helped Dustin put the bike in the back of the van before the two headed the way to the Henderson home.
"So," Dustin said, finally breaking the silence, "What'd she do?" Dustin asked, assuming Delilah had made the mistake for some reason.
Eddie rolled his head over to him before shaking his head, "Nothing kid, just been spending a lot of time together and we both decided that we should spend some time apart," He lied, Dustin was sure of it. He could tell by how dejected and irritated Eddie sounded when he explained it.
"You can tell me you know?" Dustin offered, looking over at him, "We are still friends after all."
"I appreciate that Henderson, but there's nothing to tell," He stated, still looking kind of morose.
Dustin figured he was sparing him some details due to it being about his sister. She had seemed pretty worse for wear ever since she came home, but he kind of chocked it up to Charlie. The two couldn't stand being in the same room as one another. Anytime he tried to make contact with her, she either acted like he didn't exist or made a snippy remark back at him. Tensions were very high in the Henderson home right then. It wasn't how he wanted to spend the new year, but it was looking more and more likely.
"I think she really misses you," Dustin spoke, knowing he was out of turn.
"Dustin, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but your sister and I are fine," He stated, more assertively this time, "Just. Friends."
There it was. There was a notorious fight that happened between Billy and Delilah about the two of them just being friends. It was at a party that he had unfortunately been subjected to, though locked up in his room with his friends. The girls ridiculed her for turning down Billy Hargrove and he had made a spectacle out of the moment, fooling around with as many girls as he possibly could. He had been especially drunk that night, or at least Dustin assumed from how many keg stands they had cheered him on for. He had given her his letterman jacket and everything, but she still turned him down. He never understood what the big deal was, but he couldn't only assume that it had something to do with the way she was raised. In a broken family. Things about his sister made more and more sense to him the closer she got with Eddie. Things started to piece together that he never could quite wrap his head around before. He had quite the effect on not only her, but the Henderson household.
"Ya know, she did the same thing to Billy," He said, unable to keep his mouth shut on the drive for some odd reason, "But you're not that asshole. I hate to speak ill of the dead and all, but Billy wasn't a good guy. Especially to my sister. Or to me or even his own sister!"
"Can we please not talk about the man that made my life a living hell right now?" He begged as they turned the corner on his street. "What the hell is going on here?"
Dustin was taken aback as they pulled into the Henderson household, but had to park across the street due to the driveway being full of cars. Music bumped lightly from inside and Claudia's car was no where to be seen. The couples retreat. Dustin swore out loud when he remembered that Delilah had planned on throwing a pre-new years bash or at least that was what he had heard from Laurie Hardesty.
"Is your sister having a party?" He asked, his tone turned even more confused.
"Shit, yes, my parents are at this bullshit couples retreat thing this weekend," Dustin stopped and looked over at the lack jawed Eddie, "She didn't invite you?"
The two sat in silence for a moment before Eddie began nodding his head a little manically if he had to guess. "Oh no, she did. I just forgot. I'm such a busy guy," Without another word, he jumped out of the van.
"Oh shit," Dustin said quietly before jumping out of the passenger side as well, "Eddie wait!" He pleaded, seeing him make a B-line for the door. He chased after him before the two entered the house. It was all decorated up for New Years and there were people everywhere. Music was blaring from the living room loudspeaker and people were dancing and grinding on another all over the place. "I'm gonna try and find my sister!" Dustin shouted over the loud music.
"Yeah, me to," He spoke back, heading off into a crowd, his denim jacket disappearing into a horde of people.
This was not good. He momentarily thought about calling Claudia, but also really didn't want to get his older sister in trouble. She was already going through a hard time and he didn't want to rat his sister out. He pushed through people before he landed on the kitchen where a large keg was along with champagne. Surely cheap stuff since it was for a group of mostly high schoolers. He didn't think they were sipping on dom at this particular rager. That's when he saw a familiar face.
"Steve!" He called, running over to his older friend.
"Hey hey hey! Henderson! Didn't know you were a party guy now? Look at you go!" He said, smacking the young boy on the arm playfully. He had an unknown girl on his arm and a beer in the other hand.
"I'm really not, have you seen my sister?" He asked, frantic to find her before Eddie did.
"Uhhhh . . . come to think of it, nah man, I haven't," He shrugged his shoulders, "She's probably outside smoking with her friends or something though."
How Steve could take this so casually, he hated. He understood that Steve didn't know the entire situation or maybe even half of it, but his panicked demeanor should have made him more concerned.
"Okay look, if you see Eddie Munson, do /not/ let him out of your sight!" He shouted over the music, waving his hands in an enthusiastic but determined fashion.
"Eddie Munson is here? Damn, she really does get everybody to these things huh?" Steve asked, impressed more than anything that even Eddie Munson would attend a popular kid party.
Dustin ran outside as fast as he could before he spotted a letterman jacket with the name Hargrove printed on the back and he was suddenly relieved. It was just his sister sitting outside with one of her bongs, taking rips off of it and blowing the smoke into the cold winter air. She was wearing a black beanie, the letterman jacket and a tulle skirt that had pink and black colors intertwining between one another. He wasn't used to seeing anyone in a skirt in this weather, but it didn't seem to be bothering his sister.
"Delilah?" He spoke softly before she looked up and began coughing at the sight of him.
"Hey!" She coughed out a couple more times before she set the bong beside her on the patio, "How was Hellfire?" She asked, trying to blow the smoke her bong and lungs had created out of the air.
"Eddie's here and I don't think he was invited, right?" Dustin asked, looking frantic until h e saw his sister smile.
"I mean, he hasn't called me since before Christmas so I guess no technically he wasn't, but he can be here," She said, trying to play it off he figured.
"I don't know, D," Dustin started before shaking his head, "He seems really pissed."
"Dustin," She said, waving her hands towards him to come closer to her, "Please," Dustin had eventually started to step closer before he was near enough for her to grab his arms, "Let me handle this, okay? I appreciate the heads up though. Good looking out," She smirked at him before placing her finger on his chest. Dustin naturally looked down, though he knew that he had made a mistake once again as she flicked his nose.
The two smiled and talked outside for a moment before they heard a shout from inside the house,
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"