"You're sure you'll be okay here without me?" Lily asked Max hesitantly as she leaned back against Steve's car.
Max nodded, gesturing to the headphones that rested around her neck. "I'll have Kate Bush with me at all times, and everyone's taking shifts to watch me. You have a job to do, don't worry about me, okay?"
"I always worry about you," she said, pulling Max into a hug, which her sister returned as she looked over at Nancy. "You guys will call me on the walkie if anything happens, right?"
"Promise," Nancy agreed, and Lily nodded, finally letting Max loose from the hug as she got into the passenger seat of Steve's car, where he already waited with Debbie and Sarah in the backseat.
Lily leaned back in her seat as they left the Wheeler house, following the road to Lover's Lake that she'd grown accustomed to over the past few days. They had yet to hear anything from Eddie and Nick since the others had come to pick her up from the boathouse the night before, and while Lily had always considered no news to be good news, she could only hope that they were okay.
"So what was he like?" Lily finally asked, breaking the silence that had befallen the car as she turned to look back at Debbie and Sarah. "Victor Creel?"
"Terrifying," Sarah said simply as she stared out the window.
"It's horrible what happened to him." Debbie said. "Vecna got his entire family, and he would've been killed too if it hadn't been for the music playing. He was sent straight to Pennhurst."
"He took his own eyes out." Sarah explained. "Said he was trying to join his family, but the doctors there patched him up. I'm going to see that in my nightmares tonight, I swear."
"Speaking of nightmares," Debbie said softly, her eyes moving back to Lily. "You haven't had any signs of the curse, have you? I mean, you and Max have been through the same kinda things, I don't think it's a stretch to say that you should be careful too."
Lily shook her head. "No, Dustin made sure of that this morning. The nightmares have been happening for a while, but aside from that, nothing new."
"Well, if you're a similar target to Max, then we can't rule it out." Steve pointed out. "We don't know how this asshole picks his victims, but our next plan should be to make sure you've got eyes on you at all times, too, in case something goes south."
"I'll be fine," Lily insisted. "I'll be with Eddie. If anything new starts happening, I'll be sure to call you guys right away."
As Reefer Rick's house finally came into view, pitch dark except for the streetlamp that illuminated the road, Steve pulled into the gravel driveway, bringing the car to a halt. The boathouse sat quietly on the edge of the water, and Lily got out of the car, following the others down the hill with her flashlight held tightly in her hand. She pushed open the door with a creak, though where she expected to see Eddie and Nick only sat the boats, still filled with life jackets as they had been the night before.
"Guys?" Lily called out, but was only met with silence in return. "It's us, you can come out." she continued, moving the flashlight beam around, but the room was empty.
"I don't think they're here," Steve said, moving his own flashlight around in an attempt to find them.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." Sarah scoffed, stepping further into the boathouse.
"But if they aren't here, where are they?" Debbie asked. "You guys don't think Jason and the others found them, do you?"
An uneasy silence settled between them as Lily surveyed the scene in front of them. The boathouse looked untouched, except for a few extra food wrappers she assumed Nick had brought for Eddie last night when the two girls had swapped places. If Jason, Patrick, and the others had taken Eddie, there were no obvious signs of a struggle, which didn't seem like Eddie or Nick.
"Hey guys," a voice suddenly spoke up from the doorway, and the four of them jumped, turning to see Nick standing with her arms crossed over her chest, giving them a sly smile as she leaned back against the doorframe.
"Jesus!" Steve exclaimed as he jumped, trying to get his breathing under control. "What the hell, Munson? Where did you guys go?"
"We got Rick's house unlocked." Nick said nonchalantly, gesturing back to the house at the top of the small hill. "I figured it was a comfier place to sleep than in here. Everything okay with Max?"
"Yeah," Steve assured her as Nick led them back up to the house. "We think she's going to be alright, we figured out how to stop the curse."
"Good," Nick said with a small smile as they reached the front door, and she turned towards Lily, giving her a small nod. "He's inside." she said simply.
"Call us if you need anything." Debbie reminded Lily, and she nodded.
"And you call me if anything changes with Max." Lily replied, bidding the others goodbye as the four of them piled into Steve's car.
Lily watched as the car backed out of the driveway, heading back in the direction of the Wheelers', and once they were gone, she turned the doorknob to the side door of the house, letting herself in. As she entered the dark room, her eyes adjusted to the figure sitting alone on the couch, a head of long curls turning in her direction.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Lily asked as Eddie rose from the couch, walking over to meet her at the door. "Does Rick not pay for electricity?"
"So funny story," Eddie began. "Rick's actually in jail, so if anyone drives by and sees the house lights on, it'll look a little suspicious. Hence, us standing in the dark."
As Eddie came closer, his voice faltered a bit as he took in Lily's appearance, slightly illuminated by the streetlight outside. He took in her red-rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks, as well as the way she slightly turned in on herself while she chewed on her bottom lip, still holding onto the doorknob for dear life as if she could crumple at any moment.
"Hey," he said softly, eyebrows pinching together as he looked her over. "You okay?"
Lily shook her head slowly, eyes falling down to the floor as a sob managed to escape, and her arms crossed over her chest as she began to cry again. She'd forced herself to be strong when they left the cemetery, putting all her focus into Max being okay that she hadn't let herself process the helpless feeling she'd had all day until the moment she'd stepped away. Eddie stepped forward, tentatively wrapping his arms around her in a hug, and, where he expected her to pull away, she reciprocated, her face finding its way into his chest as her tears began to soak into his Hellfire t-shirt.
"Whoa, hey, it's okay," she heard Eddie's voice murmur as she continued to sob into his shirt, her hands shaking slightly where the fabric bunched up in her fists, and his arms tightened around her as he pulled her closer. "I've gotcha, Mayfield. I've gotcha." Only when she began to get her breathing steady did he pull back slightly, still holding her tightly as his eyes studied her closely. "Tell me what happened."
Lily nodded, stepping back from his embrace and taking a seat on the couch he'd previously occupied, bringing her knees up to her chest, and Eddie took a seat next to her with his arm resting behind her over the top of the couch, his eyes never once leaving her. She rested her chin on top of her knees, trying to figure out where to begin.
"Max wanted to go to a couple places today," Lily began. "Just wanted to do a couple things before... he happened." Eddie nodded in understanding. "One of the stops was to the cemetery, to see Billy. Steve got worried that she was taking a while and he went to see if she was okay. When he got to her, she wasn't moving, like she was in a-"
"Trance," Eddie finished for her, and she nodded, the color draining from his face at her confirmation.
"Nancy, Robin, Debbie, and Sarah went to Pennhurst today." Lily continued, causing a slight look of confusion to cross Eddie's face. "When Nancy interviewed your uncle Saturday morning, he told her about a man named Victor Creel who got arrested in the fifties for murdering his family, said Chrissy's body was exactly how the Creels were described. They went to see what they could find out about Victor surviving Vecna that night, and he mentioned hearing music. Dustin called them, and decided to try it, so we played her favorite song.
"We were almost too late." she continued, her voice faltering as she shut her eyes tightly for a moment, the image of her sister's body floating in the air fresh in her mind. "Right after Dustin put the headphones on her, Max lifted into the air. I don't know how long she hung there for, it felt like hours, and I was just waiting for her to-" her voice cut off in a whimper, and she felt Eddie's hand on her shoulder as he nodded slowly for her to continue. "God, I just felt so helpless. She was right in front of me, but I couldn't do a thing about it, and I was about to lose her, just like we lost Billy."
"I know what you mean." he said softly, and she nodded. "I didn't know Chrissy like you know Max, obviously, but I was terrified, seeing her like that right in front of me and not being able to do anything to help her." A small silence fell between the two of them as Eddie waited for Lily to continue.
"But Max woke up," she said finally. "She came back down, and she was okay." a slight relieved smile turned up at the corners of her mouth. "I don't know what it was about the music, but something about it helped tether Max back to reality and allowed her to escape."
A relieved smile crossed Eddie's features as he nodded. "She's okay," he assured her, "Max is okay, and that's what matters, alright?"
Lily nodded, wiping her eyes. "Yeah," she said, nodding tiredly.
Eddie's eyes narrowed at Lily as she tried to fight off a yawn. "When's the last time you slept?" he asked.
Lily shrugged. "The other night in the boathouse. I stayed up with Max last night, just in case."
"Not sure if that counts as getting any sleep." he retorted. "I seem to recall hearing you toss and turn all night in that canoe."
"Alright then," she conceded. "Then at my house after the basketball after party."
"So you haven't slept since Friday?" he asked, and she nodded with a small shrug. "Lily, it's Monday."
"Have you slept at all since then?" she asked. "And I doubt you got any sleep Friday night."
"You have a point there," he admitted. "Though I did manage a few hours last night. But what do you say? Think it's time we get some sleep?"
"Yeah, okay," she said, nodding.
"Come on," he said, standing up from the couch and grabbing her hand, pulling her up onto her feet with him. "I'll show you where the bedroom's at. You'll probably be more comfortable there than on the couch."
Lily followed Eddie through the dark house and into what she assumed was Rick's bedroom. It was much tidier than she'd initially anticipated, the room nearly empty except for the furniture and a few knick knacks placed on the dresser and nightstands. Nothing at all like what she'd expected from someone who went by the alias Reefer Rick.
"Here you go," Eddie said. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?" Lily nodded. "Alright, goodnight, Mayfield."
"Eddie?" Lily asked as the boy turned to leave the room, causing him to pause in the doorway before pivoting back around to look in her direction. "Would you, uh... would you stay with me?" she asked. "I really don't want to be alone right now. Not after... everything."
Eddie's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded. "Yeah," he said, "Yeah, sure, okay."
Without another word, Lily climbed into bed, curling up under the covers as she faced the wall. She felt the bed dip behind her as Eddie silently got in on his side, keeping just enough space between the two of them that they weren't touching as they laid with their backs to one another, a silence filling the air except for a couple small creaks from the bed frame as they both shifted about in their attempts to get comfortable.
"Goodnight, Eddie," Lily said softly, forcing her eyes shut to attempt getting at least a couple hours of sleep as the exhaustion finally managed to settle over her brain.
"Goodnight, Lily."