As Steve made it to the top I couldn't help but take a sigh of relief. He was safe. They were safe.
"Come on Munson." Steve shook the bed sheet lightly.
I sighed before grabbing on once more. Had to climb this stupid thing once before and now I have to again? Why couldn't the first time just be successful?
The sheet felt more slippery this time as I climbed up. I couldn't tell if it was the sheet or my sweaty palms but it was way harder than last time.
As I got to the top I gripped the edges of the ceiling to pull myself up to be thrown into a backflip landing face first into the mattress below.
A chuckle came from up above. I looked up to see Dustin holding in a laugh.
I sighed as I got up to dust myself off. "God my back hurts what did I do to it?!" I tried to stretch out but with no avail it still hurt like hell.
"Might've ate it in the upside down too." Robin patted my shoulder lightly.
"Damn...never get a break." I sighed before plopping down onto the couch.
"We can't stay here...it's too risky." Dustin hit my shoulder to catch my attention.
"Then where do we go?" I mumble before covering my eyes with my forearm.
"Anywhere but here." Robin said before grabbing my arm and yanking me up.
"You're surprisingly strong, Buckley."
Robin shrugged before heading out the door at a quick speed.
"Let's go before Jason finds us again, yeah?" Steve smiled awkwardly before heading out the door close behind Robin.
I quickly followed suit.
As we made our way through the forest near the trailer, Steve looked over to me with a soft smile. "You scared the shit out of me back there Eds."
"Eds?" I laugh before lifting an eyebrow. I didn't take Harrington as the type for nicknames.
He shrugged "I dunno...thought it would be a nice nickname so I just gave it a go. Probably won't use it again though."
"I don't mind it...I mean...no one's called me that before... just not used to it is all." I smiled lightly. "So if you want to continue...you can."
Steve nodded before looking the other way. He was always pretty vigilant when it came to the kids' safety. When it came to himself though...he was pretty shit at it.
Whenever I feel like we're getting somewhere and he might feel the same it's like fate pushes me back. I've tried playing out hints about how I feel but he's just not catching on.
"Harrington...I need to-"
"How'd you make it out of Vecna's grasp?" Dustin popped his head between the two of us with furrowed eyebrows. "We didn't play music or anything."
Probably best he cut that off...
"I don't know...he just kinda...let me go." I shrugged "well...in exchange for a message."
"A message?" Robin joined in, curious to hear more.
"Yeah..." I awkwardly backed up. "He wants us to leave him alone or he's gonna do messed up shit... well...more messed up than what he's already planning."
"What the hell does that mean?!" Max jumped into the conversation with her usual angry face.
"Well...uh... he's gonna take over Hawkins."
"WHAT?!" The group yelled back at me in unison.
"Yeah, I mean you guys probably should've expected as much... he's been doing that, right?"
The group took a second before they nodded at my statement.
"Did he tell you anything else?" Robin blurted out before clasping her hands together.
"Well... not so much told but showed..." I laughed before leaning onto the closest tree. "It dealt with our families, Max, and...uh...Steve."
"Me?!" Steve yelled out while pointing at himself. "Even worse...Max?"
Max awkwardly smiled before coming closer to me "what did you see?"
"Well uh... Steve was upset...you were in danger...falling I think...? And our families...they were screaming and trying to find each other."
"Well that sounds lovely..." Nancy sighed before leaning on a tree as well.
"Well...that's just what Vecna wanted us to see. It's not the future." Steve stepped between me and Nancy with a smile. "We can change it"
"Okay smart guy...how?" Robin folded her arms.
"We take down Vecna."
-Steve's perspective-
Yeah... as badass as that sounds...how?" Robin laughed before looking over to Dustin who stated the last sentence.
I awkwardly stared at him as well. I mean he was the one who suggested it.
"We go back into the upside down"
"Oh hell no." Eddie slouched further onto the tree he was on. "There has to be another way"
"There's not." Nancy sighed while stepping forward. "There just isn't. The only place he has his guard down is when he's in someone's mind. Even then...it's not even confirmed. It's our only way..."
I sighed before covering my face with my hands and squatting where I stood. "And who...would this person be that he was in their mind?"
"I don't know, we can find someone else who's been having headaches and nosebleeds..." Dustin sighed before crossing his arms.
"No." Eddie stood up straight. "We can't get someone else involved. We don't have any time to catch them up."
"I mean yeah but..." I started before I realized. "No...Eddie. There's gotta be another way."
Eddie sighed before crossing his arms. "There's just not. I mean, I've escaped from him twice now. What's a third?"
Eddie... I can't deal with you floating again...it's... too much.
Dustin shook his head lightly "I guess it's the only way."
"Come on guys! There's gotta be something else we can do. We always think of something!" I yell hoping someone will cut in.
"Steve." Max cuts in "it's the only way we can have him weak enough to do something."
I sighed into my hands once more "fuck...okay... then you guys have to be prepared. Like heavy artillery prepared."
Nancy nodded "Well I have some things at my-"
"More than that. This guy is powerful and we don't even have Eleven. So more than that."
"Well there's one place I know of." Eddie chimed in. "But it's kinda far away."
"Where are you thinking, Munson?" Robin raised an eyebrow at him.
"It's this place like an hour away. It's called War Zone. It's got big shit...but the people there are kinda crazy." Eddie chuckled awkwardly. "I went like once with my uncle."
Nancy nodded "how would we get there though? We don't exactly have a car that people aren't looking for."
Eddie made a devious grin before walking forward as if we were supposed to follow him. "I have a car. It's not exactly mine...and it's not exactly legal."
I facepalmed before following Eddie's lead "we're stealing a car?"
Eddie shook his lead lightly "it's not a car. It's a home."
"That's somehow even worse..." Robin sighed before following along.
"Well... come on." Nancy waved to Max and Dustin to come along.
"Where the hell did you learn to steal a car?" I whisper behind Eddie.
"My dad...he'd steal cars...remember?" He whispered back.
I nodded. He told me that just today and yet...I forgot. In my defense...a lot happened.
Robin grabbed my shoulder from behind "are you willing to do this? I mean it's not legal"
I shook my head. "We don't have a choice though."
As we walked Eddie kept looking over to me.
"Scared I'll get lost, Munson?" I teased before hitting him in the arm lightly.
"Kind of, yeah. Mostly scared you'll run off."
"Why would I do that?" I laughed lightly.
"Most people do." He mumbled under his breath.
"Well I won't. And you better not either."
"Okay..." Eddie said before looking down.
"Are you sure that... you wanna go through with this? I mean what if you can't get out this time?"
"I'll think of good times I've had. That's how I got out the first time...I'll just hang out in a good memory."
"Would I be there?" I blurt out without thinking.
"That's...very presumptuous of you to think that in my good memories you'd be there...but you might be in one...yeah." Eddie laughed before putting his hands in his pockets.
I felt my face heat up so I turned away. "That's cool I guess."
"Yeah..."
(A/N:Dude I'm writing this with one brain cell because it's so late lol uh yeah hopefully it's not terrible but I'm an old lady when it comes to sleep...I got Eddie's bat tattoo on inkbox today and I really like how it looks so that's a fun little update.)