EDDIE SLAMS down the phone book, James and Steve on either side of him. "Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once. It's huge. They got everything you need for, uh... well, uh, killing things, basically." He says as he glanced around at the staring faces.
"You think fake Rambo has enough guns there?" Robin asked and Eddie glanced at her as James pointed. "Is that a grenade? I mean, is any of this even legal?" He asked, looking at Eddie who glanced down at the book. "Well, lucky for us, it is, so..." Eddie sounds passive aggressive as he glanced up at James who just looks back at him, furrowing his eyebrows.
"This... this place is just far enough outside of Hawkins," he then said, his tone changing as he pointed. "As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops, and, uh, angry hicks." Eddie then says, glancing around at the others. "If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone." Erica says.
"Normally, I'd agree, but we need the weapons so I think it's worth the risk." Nancy says, crossing her arms. "Me too." Lucas sighs, glancing at the others. "Yeah, but is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back." Dustin says and James furrows his brows. "Why would we bike?" He asked and Eddie points over his shoulder at James.
"Yeah, who said anything about bikes?" He asked. "What? You got some car we don't know about?" Steve asked and Eddie stood up straight. "It's not exactly a car, Steve." He grins. "And it's not exactly mine." He looks at James, smirking a bit. "But, uh... it'll do." He says before he turns around, to Max.
"Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?" He asked and Max just raised her brows before glancing up at Eddie. She disappeared off into her bedroom then returned with a Michael Myers mask. "Oh, my God, my favourite slasher!" James laughed and Eddie immediately pulled it on once he said that which made Max give a weird look to the pair, then they were on their way.
They hide behind a trailer where Eddie peered out then looked back at the others and James couldn't help giggling. "Sorry, you just look so funny." He whispers to the Munson who flipped him off before waving his head to signal them to keep going, rushing around another trailer then they got to an RV where a man and a woman sat out in the front, watching tv.
Eddie opens up the back window, tossing his back in, before pulling himself up and James followed after him. "That was suffocating." Eddie said, taking off the mask before going towards the front, locking the door on his way with James right behind him, sitting in the passenger side. He looked at Eddie who pulls out some wires, "holy shit." James whispers.
Steve came over, standing directly between them. "Where'd you learn how to do that?" James asked, watching when Eddie cut the wires. "Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire." Eddie said and James kept watching the Munson's hands at work on hot-wiring.
"Now, I swore to myself, I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto." Eddie says as he kept glancing at James or Steve behind them. "So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name." He looks at Steve as Robin came over to the three men. "Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving." She tells the boy.
"Oh, I'm staring this sucker. Harrington's got her. Don't you, big boy?" He leaned towards Steve who stared at him in shock as James glanced between them, but then the engine roars to life. "What the hell? Hey! Open this door!" The woman came knocking as the man appears at the window on James' side making him flinch before looking at Steve and Eddie who quicklt glance at one another before the Munson rushed off and Steve sat down.
"It's just a car. Everybody, hang onto something!" Steve shouted back at the others as they all quickly took their seats. "Go, go, go!" James tells him and he drove off. "Shit, they look pissed." Dustin said as he watched from the back window with Max. "I mean, it's not everyday you lose your house and car in one fell swoop." Robin says as James spots the garbage bins up ahead. "Hold on! Hold on!" Steve exclaimed before he took a sharp turn.
"Okay..." He turns again, onto a paved road and James let out a sigh before looking over at Steve then back at the others to see if they were okay. While on the drive to the War Zone, James' eyes were gazing off into the woods as Steve was driving. James kept glancing back at the others, seeing Dustin and Robin sitting together with Lucas and Nancy, Erica sitting behind Nancy and her brother as Eddie was sitting off all by himself, as was Max. He watched Max a bit longer, worried for her.
"You know, it's silly, but I've actually... I always had this dream that I'd have this really... really big family." Steve suddenly spoke up and James looks over at him. "I'm talking like, uh, a full brood of Harringtons. Like five, six kids." This came up so unprompted but James smiles. "Six?" He asked curiously and Steve glanced over, nodding. "Yeah. Six little nuggets." He says and James just smiles wider.
"Three girls, three boys. And then... every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something." He says as James glanced away.
"That... sounds perfect." He whispers, smiling because he can honestly see it too. Steve having six kids, maybe the perfect wife too. It pains him to think of Steve with anyone else, glancing down. Someone like Nancy. "Yeah?" Steve says as he glanced over but James just looked up quickly. "Well, except for the six-kids part." He shrugs and Steve smirks.
"If only I had some practice." Steve nods his head towards the teens in the back and James nods. "Oh, yeah, we definitely have." He says and Steve stared at him for a moment before glancing back at the road quickly, a small little grin on his face that made James chuckle softly, his cheeks feeling all warm.
James glanced back at the others again to see Lucas and Max smiling at one another, shaking hands so he smiles as well, watching them. He glanced at Eddie next and their eyes met for a split second, so he sent a small smile and slowly moved out of his seat, going over to sit beside him. "You doing okay?" He whispers to the Munson who just sighs.
"As okay as anyone running from the cops can be." He nods and James just stared at him. "So you also had the curse?" Eddie asked in a quiet tone and the Hopper glanced away. "Uh, kind of, yeah." He says, nodding softly. "I was listening to Queen in Steve's car and then Max saw the clock, so... it was my fault." He fiddled with his fingers and Eddie nudged him. "Don't say that, Jamie. It wasn't your fault..." He says right away and James looks at him.
"It's always my fault..." He mumbled quietly and Eddie quickly shook his head. "You can't put so much on yourself for things out of control. You do know that, right?" He tells him and James just sighed, glancing away. "Besides, according to her, Red's been a target for Vecna since a while before you came to visit." Eddie added on and James just sighs quietly,
When they got to the store, they all come to a stop as they had left behind Lucas and Dustin with Eddie. "So much for avoiding angry hicks." Robin tells the others. "Let's be... fast." Nancy tells them. "Yep." Max agrees. "Definitely." Erica says as they all go their separate ways, Erica pushing a cart, Max grabbing a basket, Robin pushing a cart as James grabs Steve by his jacket. "Let's find you a proper shirt, a new jacket and some shoes." He says and Steve just followed behind the taller.
In the clothes section, James grabbed a jacket and Steve doesn't even take it. "Um... can you have it so I can keep yours?" He says softly and James just sighs, pulling on the jacket. "How does it look?" He then gave a little twirl and Steve just smiles widely. "Really good..." He says and James grabs the first shirt off the rack, holding it up. "Here. No choice." He shrugs and Steve took off his army green jacket to pull the shirt on but James' next movements cause him to stop dead in his tracks.
He grabs Steve's waist, tilting his head, "are you sure you're okay?" He asked and Steve pulls down the shirt quickly over to cover the bandages. "Yeah." He says instantly. "Just... a little worried, I mean, remembering what happened El got flesh torn from some Upside Down monster." He says and Steve just pulls on James' jacket.
"Well, I feel fine. I think I would've died if it was anything like what happened to Eleven." He chuckles and James reached out, grabbing his hand. "Can... we talk about us once we kill this Vecna/Henry/One dude?" He asked and Steve just smiles softly, nodding.
"Of course..." He says and James smiles. "Come on, let's go find you shoes. You're literally walking around barefoot everywhere. It's unsanitary." He says and Steve shrugs. "You gave me the bottom half of your shirt to bandage me up, I don't think you care anything about sanitation." Steve says and James chuckles as they got to the boots, finding any right fitting pair for Steve.
"Right... right. You're welcome by the way, if it wasn't for me, you'd bleed out." He says and Steve shrugs. "Nancy was also there, she probably would've done the same." He says and James just points at him. "You're irritating. Just put these boots on please. Your legs will hurt from how cold your feet are." He scolded Steve who just rolls his eyes, bending over to pull on the shoes as James watched.
They walk over to Robin now who glanced over. "How many of these do you think we need?" She asked as James stared at all of the fire related products on the shelves. "God, I love lighting shit on fire, can I do all the molotov throwing?" He asked and Steve looks at him. "First, the flamethrower now the molotovs? You have a serious issue." He shakes his head and James just grabs one of the jugs.
"I just love fire." He whispered then noticed Robin looking off in the distance to see a redheaded girl, looking through mace. "Someone has a crush? How am I just now finding out about this? What's her name?" James whispers as she stood to Robin's right side.
"Vickie." Robin whispers quietly and James smiles widely as Steve looks at Robin. "What are you gonna do, Robin? Just stand here and gawk?" He asked and Robin doesn't tear her eyes away from Vickie as she spoke, "shut up." James chuckles as he and Steve watch Robin step forward a bit but stop.
Because some little blonde boy ran up to Vickie, grabbing her arms. "Ah!" He yelled making her scream in fright. "Jesus, you scared me." She turns around. "Woah. You gonna mace me with that?" The boy asked the girl. "If it keeps you in line, yeah." Vickie answered and the blond boy scoffs. They laugh and share a kiss as James glanced at Steve behind Robin. The boys pulls back, "see? Not so scary."
Vickie giggles as the boy pecks her on the lips, trailing his kisses towards her neck. But then Vickie looked directly their way and her smile faded away. Robin rushed past Steve. "Robin." Steve turns around and so does James. "Rob!" He says but the girl ignored them so James sighs, looking at Steve.
"How did I not know she liked someone? I mean, I knew about her liking girls because gays sense other gays, like... a sixth sense or something." He shrugs and Steve glanced at him. "Because we didn't talk after I left." He shrugs. "And that was around the time I found out." He added and James sighed quietly.
"Poor Rob."
authors note rewatching the six kids dream is so awkward and uncomfy, but it works with james and steve bc james can make the money for their rv and travelling off his books and they can travel all over america together 🫶 (let's pretend the end of ep 9 doesn't happen 😍)