Chapter Text
Eddie Munson, twelve and angry, sits on the steps of his Uncle Wayne’s trailer with his fingers picking at an unrelenting weed. There is dirt under his nails, the dust of it stinging the injury of hangnails and the paper cut on his index he got earlier in the day.
Wayne had to work a double shift, closing as well as night. That means leaving Eddie all alone in a trailer he’s been in for less than two weeks. When Wayne had told the boy with an apology Eddie had stubbed his nose and said he’d be fine. Wayne’s face had held the obvious expression of disbelief, but he couldn’t afford not taking the shift with a whole new mouth to feed.
So that leaves Eddie alone with the setting sun and a terror for both the dark and the desperation that comes along with unwanted solitude.
The weed gives way to his angry grasp- snapping at the very base and leaving the roots in the dirt. He scowls at it, throwing the top of the weed onto the ground and curling up his knees to his chest. The point of his chin digs into the scrape on the bend of his left knee, something he got from a fall a few days before. The bandage Wayne had put in it had been torn off, Eddie doesn’t want to be the sissy his dad believed he was. A man should be able to feel pain without the well of tears.
And yeah, Eddie hates his old man, but he’d still do anything to prove to the abandoning asshole that he’s man enough to take back.
Tears find the ducts of Eddie’s eyes regardless of his thinking (perhaps because of it) and he wipes them away with a scowl. He makes himself stand up, limbs long and awkward with puberty and malnutrition. His head feels cold with the lack of hair that his father had made him shave off. He runs a palm over it, hating the brittle texture.
An angry yell comes and dies in his throat. He kicks at the spot of ground he had been digging into until his shoe comes away covered in dirt and toes feeling like they’ve been stubbed time and time again. He glares down at it with a toothy scowl, uncaring to how he is being perceived by the neighbors. Shuddering on a breath and crossing his arms he looks up at the trailer siding.
Despite the awkward air suspended between the two Eddie wishes his uncle was here.
He doesn’t like being alone or the quiet that comes along with it.
He spits at the ground and storms off in a randomly picked direction. The summer heat is sweltering underneath his long sleeve shirt. He hates the heat, but he hates the way his uncle (and everyone else) stares at the cigarette burns on his arms. He doesn't know why he cares- he didn’t when he was with his dad. Maybe it’s the way people look at Wayne after seeing them. Most of all he hates the judgment in their ever assuming eyes.
Sticks crunch under his dirty shoes and leaves mush into the dirt as he ventures into the woods in hope of shade. It’s better under the trees but not by much. He rolls up his sleeves and then back down again after a few minutes of that uncomfortable bunch at his elbows. With anger still stuck in his ears he doesn’t notice he’s not alone until it’s too late.
A young wolf in the brush watches with brown curious eyes.
Eddie trips over a root and hisses out in pain as his already scuffed knees scrape against pinecones and sticks. His hands sting with the result of catching himself and he glares down at the dirt with angry tears in his eyes.
He just wants to go home.
He doesn’t even know what home is anymore.
He rolls onto his butt and sits in the dirt. Alone in the woods he lets himself cry.
After the worst of it is over and he’s sniffling away the snot and the tears- wiping with his sleeve- he realizes he’s being watched and freezes.
In front of him only a few feet away a small honey-brown wolf is poorly hidden in the underbrush.
Very manly and very bravely- Eddie screams.
The wolf’s ears flatten on its head and the small animal hurries away back into the trees. Eddie holds a hand over his chest as he stares in the direction it left with wide eyes. He’s there for just a second then- “Wait!”
Eddie scampers into a stand and runs after the wolf in a boyish bravery. “Wait! I didn’t mean to scare you!” Though it may also be paired with his loneliness.
He chases after the wolf the best he can- the canine being very poor at stealth and camouflage. Though he does somehow manage to lose it when trees change to bushes and then into houses even bigger than the forest itself.
Eddie stops running when he reaches the edge of the neighborhood. He tugs at his sleeve and turns around back into the forest.
Stupid dog.
Stupid boy.
It isn’t even a few hours later when he sees the wolf again. He’s back near the trailer park throwing pinecones at trees when he catches sight of that same honey-brown fur badly hidden in the near distance to his left. He smiles to himself- picking up another pinecone and throwing it at a nearer tree. “You’re not very good at that, you know.”
Of course the wolf doesn’t answer.
He throws another pinecone. “What kind of wolf doesn’t know how to wolf properly?”
He hears what he assumes is a huff coming from the wolf’s direction and laughs. He doesn’t grab another pinecone, instead he turns to the wolf. “But that’s okay. I don’t really know how to person properly either.”
The wolf watches him.
“I’m Eddie.”
The wolf tilts its head and Eddie beams. “So you can understand me!”
He takes a step closer and the wolf holds itself closer to the ground almost like it’s scared. Eddie holds his hands up placatingly, smiles for what feels like the first time in ages. “M’ not gonna’ hurt you. I just don’t want to have to keep yelling.”
It feels like a victory when the wolf doesn’t back away as he gets closer.
He sits down in front of it a good five feet away, legs crossed and hands held out in front of him. “Hi boy, you are a boy aren’t you?” The wolf huffs again. “I swear I read somewhere that it’s the boy animals that had prettier coats than the girl ones.”
The wolf’s big brown eyes blink up at him- his head rising slightly to be more level to Eddie’s. Eddie grins at him- toothy and wide. “That’s it, good boy! You like being called pretty, don’t you?”
He reaches his hand out further until his arm strains with the effort. “It’s okay.”
The wolf watches him, looks at his hand then back at his face like he’s contemplating.
“I just want a friend.”
The wolf stays where its- he’s at and for a moment Eddie feels extremely stupid for trying to communicate with an animal but then the wolf stands up- and woah he’s way bigger up close.
Eddie watches as the wolf steps closer and giggles at the wet cold feeling of his snout sniffing at his hand. He brings it up to pet through the wolf’s unbelievably soft fur and marvels at the glisten of the golden-like color even in the moonlight. “You do too, huh?” Eddie giggles, scratching behind the wolf’s ear as he sniffs at Eddie’s face. “I think I’m gonna’ call you Ozzy.”
Ozzy huffs and Eddie laughs.
“Yeah. Ozzy suits you perfectly.”
Ozzy becomes a staple in Eddie’s life in a way he could never have predicted. When he had first met the wolf, he never had imagined that friends is exactly what he would find. Within only one summer between them so far, the two have become nearly inseparable.
Other than the one week every couple of months that Ozzy disappears into the woods he never leaves Eddie’s side.
The day after Eddie had met Ozzy, he had found the wolf waiting for him outside the trailer- or more so Wayne had found him. Unlike Eddie’s very manly reaction to seeing Ozzy for the first time, Wayne had wanted to grab a gun and scare the wolf off.
Eddie begging his uncle not to hurt Ozzy just so happened to be the first time he had started a conversation between the two and not only did it allow Wayne to spare Ozzy, but it had made the man stop where he was and turn to give his nephew a bone crushing hug. He had told a sobbing Eddie that he’d never actually hurt the wolf- the same way he’d never hurt him.
Eddie had returned the hug with a force to rival Wayne’s own.
Wayne let Ozzy stay after that.
At first Ozzy spent nights and days outside guarding the Munsons whenever Eddie wasn’t outside with him playing fetch or wrestling around. A few times Ozzy snuck half of Eddie’s grilled cheese off his plate when he wasn’t looking but after the first five repeats Eddie got smart and swatted away Ozzy’s snout whenever it got too close to his delicious, melted cheese and burnt bread slices. (Though he did feed Ozzy peeled off pieces throughout the entire meal after that.) But after a few weeks that changed.
The other residents of the trailer park had begun to veer away from Eddie and his wolf whenever Ozzy was around, as though the wolf was in any way scary and not downright adorable. Eddie wishes he could say it didn’t hurt- his previously sweet neighbor Debbie hurrying past him and not making eye contact when he calls out to her.
For some reason Ozzy got better at hiding after that.
When the summer nights had creeped into cold Eddie had tried sneaking Ozzy into his room and out from the natural weather. The honey-brown shedding gave them away in less than a week.
Wayne had just smiled when he found out, scratched Ozzy’s head, and turned on a game on the television. Eddie groaned in annoyance as Ozzy left him to join Wayne on the couch- having no choice but to follow his wolf into spending time with his uncle and watching stupid jocks throw a ball around.
But it was that same night that Wayne began complaining about the Harringtons being back in town. He had supposedly seen their car on the drive home from work as they passed him on the way to their mansion.
Eddie decides right then and there that he doesn’t like the Harringtons. If his amazing kind uncle doesn’t like someone then they have to be horrible people who deserve no mercy. He verbally agrees- not even knowing them- just how horrible the family is while scratching the soft fur of Ozzy’s head on his lap. He’s too caught up in making his uncle proud with shared opinions to notice how the wolf stiffens against his side from where he was curled in sleep.
That night was the first time Ozzy disappeared.
But in the town square with his uncle the following day (searching everywhere for his missing wolf) Eddie catches sight of a boy around his age with that same honey-brown hair and big brown eyes. The boy follows a woman tall and beautiful with sharp feathers and a permanent frown. They make eye contact for just a second but then the boy hurries away.
It isn’t until he’s home that he learns the boy is a Harrington.
For some reason hating him feels harder to digest than the boy’s parents. Something twists inside of him every time Eddie tries.
At the end of the week Eddie overhears about the Harrington’s leaving for another business trip from his uncle talking with a friend.
That night Ozzy returns.
Eddie’s so overcome with joy that he doesn’t even notice that the eyes and the hair are the same as the boys. Ozzy licks at his face as Eddie giggles- threading his fingers through the soft fur.
Why should he care about a family he doesn’t know when what was missing of his own has returned to him?
He forgets all about the boy in the town square.
Night comes and the moon rises. Curled up in Eddie’s bed the two lie. Eddie’s face is buried in Ozzy’s neck and Ozzy’s tail wrapped around his side as he sleeps. Following suit Eddie is lulled into dreams by the soft vanilla scent of Ozzy’s coat.
However strange that is for a wolf to have.
Summer ends and school begins. It happens during one of the weeks Ozzy has disappeared, so Eddie’s mood is extra sour as the day goes on. He doesn’t want to be in class at some stupid middle school. He wants to be outside with his wolf and his uncle having fun and not being forced to sit still in a stuffy classroom with mean people.
He throws away his collection of syllabuses at the end of the day and storms out of the building ready to get home- but somehow, he manages to run directly into a boy from the grade directly below him in his hurry. Honey-brown hair collides with his nose and both boys fall to the ground.
Eddie groans and rubs at his nose as the boy in front of him apologizes while gathering up the stuff that he dropped.
“I’m really sorry.” The boy repeats, holding out his hand to help Eddie up. Eddie’s about to spit a mean comment at the boy but then their eyes meet, and Eddie is frozen.
The most beautiful brown he’s ever seen reflects back to him. Freckles like stars on the kid’s face.
“I’m Steve.” The boy smiles. He’s missing a tooth.
There’s a flutter in his stomach at the sound of Steve’s angelic tone.
Eddie assumes it’s hatred.
He slaps Steve's hand away. “Fuck off.”
Steve’s previously soft expression falls into something hard with hurt.
Ozzy doesn’t come back that night. Or the next. Or even the following few after that.
When he does return, he is distant. It isn’t until Eddie feeds him extra bacon and bats his eyelashes with dramatic pleas that Ozzy forgives him for whatever he did.
He doesn’t talk to Steve in school. He sees him- it’s kind of hard not to with the very air the boy carries around with him, but every time he watches him, he has to force his face into a scowl and remind himself that he doesn’t like him.
Honey-brown hair glistening in the sun.
He wonders if it's as soft as it looks.
He finds himself hoping it’s brittle like straw with a confused pounding in his chest.
He spends the school year glaring at the stupidly pretty boy in the halls and coming home to his best friend to rant about classwork and play.
It’s around finals when the first …weird thing happens.
Eddie had left his unfinished math homework on the floor next to his bed- stained with tears of frustration and splattered mac and cheese sauce- in favor of reading Ozzy his favorite book. “With that one of the fat spiders ran along a rope till it came to a dozen bundles hanging in a row from a high branch.” Eddie scratches Ozzy’s soft fur behind his ears as he reads from his favorite chapter in The Hobbit. Ozzy sniffs at his freshly washed hair. “Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed them for the first time dangling in the shadows, to see a dwarvish foot sticking out of the bottoms of some of the bundles, or here and there the tip of a nose, or a bit of beard or of a hood.”
He could have sworn that Ozzy was just on the edge of his wolf seat as Eddie was when he first read the chapter- brown eyes wide and glistening as he stared up at Eddie unblinking with captivation. Eddie smiles at him, kisses his forehead and keeps reading. He doesn’t notice how Ozzy freezes up (ears flat against his head)- too entranced by the chapter.
Around the time Eddie has begun to doze off with the book still in hand he feels a wet snout being pushed against his cheek and a huff coming from Ozzy when he swats him away. “M’ tired.”
The ugly paper that holds his math work falls onto his face. “Hey!”
He shoves it away, sitting up and frowning at Ozzy who just sits in front of him expectantly. “I’ll do it tomorrow.” He lies. Ozzy huffs and Eddie can swear the wolf rolled his eyes. “If you’re so bugged about it then you do it.” Eddie turns on his side, letting the paper fall back onto the floor.
Ozzy grumbles and Eddie sticks his tongue out at him.
He falls asleep.
Usually, Ozzy wakes him up when it’s time to get ready for school but for some reason the chirping of an annoying loud ass bird is what does it for him. Eddie jumps up with a shout as he sees the time- Ozzy doing the same with his four legs sprawled out in a comedic form of panic. The two of them run around each other getting ready- Eddie getting dressed with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth and Ozzy dragging his bookbag over to the front door with his teeth. He comes running back with Eddie’s shoes in his mouth just in time for the boy to hop to the door while slipping them on.
He waves a rushed goodbye to Ozzy while sprinting in the direction of the school. He doesn't notice the wolf doing the same but through the direction of the woods.
He gets to school thirty minutes late. He gets detention for it but otherwise nothing much else other than a stern look from his math teacher as he makes his way over to his seat in the back of the class. It’s then that he realizes his math homework. He panics- opening his bag and digging through all the loose papers in hopes that he'll find it in time to do the work and turn it in. He looks up to see Mr. Gordon beginning to collect the stupid shitty sheet at the front of the room and begins to lose all hope.
Luckily, he finds it at the bottom of his bag and smooths the crinkles out on the table- smiling at the slight tear in the corner from one of Ozzy’s canines. But instead of empty answers and a mental rush to form an explanation “My dog ate my homework” he finds all the work filled out in a chicken scratch handwriting that isn’t his own. He blinks down at it- checks the name on the top.
Eddie Munson
Well, it’s clearly his.
He takes it as a miracle from the D&D gods- smiling cockily up at his teacher as he hands it in. Mr. Gordon raises an eyebrow at the completed work but otherwise doesn't question it. A classic case of I don’t get paid enough for this coming to save Eddie’s lying ass once again. The class continues on (Eddie not paying attention once) and by the end of it his homework is returned to him on his desk.
A solid C plus.
He grins wide and thanks his own mystery miracle man in his mind. Tonight he drinks to him!
He nearly forgets about detention.
With his bag half slung on his back Eddie jogs through the halls- sliding over the flooring due to the worn away soles of his shoes. They squeak as he stumbles, using the wall to push him into another run like he’s back in the public swimming pool annoying every teen and mom in the vicinity. He’s excited to get home to Ozzy so they can binge watch the horror movies that Wayne had rented out for Eddie’s birthday the week before like Eddie had promised him. Wayne gets home early tonight so the man can even join them in their binge!
He nearly makes it to the front door when- “Munson!”
His bag falls off his shoulder when he bends into a full body groan- plans foiled and entire life ruined.
“Come on kid, before I have to give you a second day.”
Stupid Mrs. Meyers and her nice and forgiving personality. He scuffs his shoe on the floor- picking up his bag and grumbling the entire way back to her classroom.
She closes the door behind him. “Small group today.” She hums, patting Eddie’s shoulder as she walks to her desk.
But Eddie doesn’t give two flying shits about what she’s doing or saying as she reads them the rules for detention. Not when Steve is currently hunched in his own seat staring out the window with a glare on his stupidly angelic face. Eddie hates how the scrunch of his expression makes his stomach flutter with evil evil bugs.
“Sit down Edward.” Mrs. Meyers tells him patiently with a smile. He looks at her, nodding slightly and sitting as far away from Steve as he can.
He puts his head on his arms and pretends to sleep (poorly due to the stiffness of his shoulders and the tapping of his finger on the desk) so he can try and ignore the feeling of beautiful (familiar) brown eyes watching him.
About fifteen minutes into detention Mrs. Meyers tells the two- and only two- students in her classroom that she has to leave for a few moments. “I trust you two will behave.”
Steve nods (soft honey-brown hair bouncing in the sun coming in through the window) and Eddie thinks meanly to himself no promises.
They watch her leave and an awkward quiet settles over them.
Surprisingly it’s not Eddie who breaks it.
“Hi.” Steve waves slightly at him from where he’s sitting on the other side of the room. “You’re Eddie, right?”
“What’s it to you?” Eddie sneers back, trying hard to not let his hard expression waver when Steve flinches slightly at his tone.
Steve is quiet for a second, then- “I like your hair.”
Instinctively Eddie runs his fingers through the short curls, a frown pulling at his lips. He wants to assume that Steve is being mean but the genuine expression on the boy’s face doesn’t let him. He sighs and shrugs, turning his head away to mumble into his arm “I like yours too.”
“What?” Steve asks, unable to hear him.
“I said you’re stupid!”
Maybe it was the way Eddie’s voice pitched higher when he said it, the way it always does when he’s lying (though there is no way for Steve to know this), but Steve doesn’t take offense to Eddie’s mean words. Instead- he laughs.
The rest of detention goes smoothly- Mrs. Meyers comes back right after their short conversations so they can't talk anymore, but the quiet is back once awkward turns to calm. The same way it always is when he’s with Ozzy.
Guilt eats at Eddie for the rest of the hour as he imagines Ozzy being upset with him for being late (something the wolf is fond of doing) to their movie night.
This train of thought nearly causes Eddie to miss the first of the weirds to happen around Steve. While hurrying out of the classroom the single most immediate second that the hour is up, Eddie notices the work Steve is packing away neatly into his bag. On Steve’s paper- English homework from the looks of it- Eddie is forced to confront two truths about the pretty boy he hates so very much but also doesn’t.
One: Steve turns out to be a Harrington. (Bad.)
Two: Steve Harrington has the exact same chicken-scratch handwriting as his mystery savior. (Much, much worse.)
Eddie sprints home after that, heart pounding in his ears instead of his chest. He doesn’t notice Ozzy being late.
He doesn’t notice the same brown eyes reflected back to him through both wolf and memory.
He pets the same honey-brown fur and worries and worries.
They don’t watch any movies that night.
Wayne comes home late anyways.
Summer comes around again and instead of allowing himself to worry about high school- Eddie makes the heat and the sun his bitch.
He tugs at the end of an old dirty sock- Ozzy on the other side glaring at the fabric with determination in his big brown eyes. Eddie giggles to himself how the lighter brown part of Ozzy’s fur right above his eyes looks like eyebrows. The laughter makes the wolf perk up and Eddie uses the distraction to yank the sock free.
In the effort he falls flat on his ass and within a second Ozzy is tackling him all the way down onto the ground and licking at his face until he pushes him off with a cackle and throws the sock back into the woods for Ozzy to chase. He watches the still young wolf- though becoming a bit more mature just like Eddie- chase it into the trees.
He must have thrown it farther than he thought (having rolled up the sock into a ball) because Ozzy doesn’t come back right away.
But as he waits- something else does.
It starts in the form of whispering.
Eddie turns his head- curiosity still kind with youth- yet to be broken down by the cruelty of others.
It always starts with whispering.
A group of boys- no- teens sit together under the pavilion laughing to themselves. Eddie watches them for a second, smiling in an echo of their joy, unaware- still ignorant with innocence.
The first break.
“What are you looking at, freak?” One of them jeer, a mean upturn of his lip.
Eddie nearly flinches at the cruelty, jerking his head away to stare at the ground. Tears of anger and embarrassment well in his eyes- his breathing suddenly manual in his try for control.
He hears them laughing.
It sounds mean.
The sock drops at his feet and a wet snout nudges his hand.
Laughter.
Ozzy turns his fluffy head to look at the teens.
A snarl.
Eddie watches his wolf with confusion- having never heard that sound come from Ozzy’s mouth before.
The teens quiet- noticing Ozzy.
Suddenly the wolf doesn’t look as domesticated (saliva falling from bared sharp canines, a rumble loud and violent coming from deep in his chest.) Ozzy takes a step forward and the teens fall over themselves to get up and leave.
“Control your fucking mutt you freak!” One yells as they scatter.
Instantly the hair on Ozzy’s back is back to silky smooth and flat, the growling stopped with a happy panting replacing it. Ozzy’s tail wags as he moves his nose to nuzzle into Eddie’s hand, a self-satisfied yap falling through those previously terrifying teeth.
Eddie pets him as the wolf stares up at him with what seems to be a question in those deep brown eyes. He smiles. “I’m okay.” He scratches behind Ozzy’s ear. “That’s a good boy, did so good.”
Ozzy leans into his hand and the tension in Eddie’s shoulders falls away like snow.
He rewards him with another throw of the sock- closer this time.
Just in case.
Unfortunately, the cruelty Eddie finds in Hawkins is not a solitary event, but a constantly developing beast of its own that feeds and thrives on misery.
Highschool starts and the people there are horrible. He’s tripped, slurred at, assaulted.
He comes home with bruises and tears in his eyes.
An echo of Freak on repeat crowding the very air around him.
Ozzy always looks so sad to see him like that- licking at his face and not resting until Eddie is laying down in bed with the wolf in his arms.
It’s like he’s back with his dad.
He hates it.
Hates it so much he can feel his anger returning- a natural defense.
They call him Freak so he leans into it. His style becomes more out there, his music more loud. He puts everything about himself people hate onto the extreme and relishes in their insults like it’s praise.
He becomes Eddie the Banished. Eddie the Unwanted. Eddie the Freak.
But with Ozzy he’s just Eddie.
He likes being just Eddie.
They spend more time inside now- Eddie practicing on his guitar or working on his hypothetical D&D notes (that is if he can get other people to play with him and not just his uncle.)
The man does make the perfect wizard.
“What do you think of this?” Eddie asks his wolf before playing part of a riff he’s been working on. Ozzy (almost the size of a Great Dane now) huffs from where he’s laying on the floor- ears flat to his head. “Yeah, you’re right, it’s too soft.”
By this point Eddie is used to the eye rolls Ozzy gives him.
It isn’t even a few minutes later- as Eddie continues to rewrite the chords used- that Ozzy lifts his head with a low growl.
That’s another thing Eddie likes about being home- the immediate protection.
He stops playing and tries to listen for whatever Ozzy can hear that he can’t.
He isn’t given a chance as Ozzy is up and jumping through the window Eddie keeps open for him- barking deep bellied viscous barks at whatever the threat is. Eddie scampers up to see, nearly tripping over himself to get to the window.
He’s just in time to see Ozzy chasing away a group of jocks with rocks in their hands as the wolf’s growl echoes through the entire park.
Then there's a yelp.
Then a violent bark followed by a high pitched scream.
Eddie wishes he could see, panic in his bones as the group is now behind a trailer and out of his sight.
He’s just about to run after Ozzy (already slipping on his shoes) when he hears a clatter coming from behind him through the window. Soft fur rubs against his side as Ozzy lets out a stressful sigh and plops onto the ground. Eddie sits down right next to him, petting down his heightened fur and singing praises of Ozzy's heroic bravery. The wolf preens under his touch and words.
But then Ozzy turns his snout to face him and Eddie gasps- blood caked into the honey-brown fur of his muzzle. “Oh my god!” Eddie shrieks, throwing himself all the way down onto the floor so he can search for an injury. “I’m gonna’ kill them!”
Ozzy's eyes are wide from where they are mere inches away- almost crossed as he watches Eddie's franticness.
After a good long rage plus rant Eddie gently cleans away the blood on Ozzy’s snout- finding the wound on the tip of his nose. It’s a lot smaller than he assumed it would be based on the amount of blood, but Eddie still nearly sobs when he sees it.
With his face buried in Ozzy’s fur and his hands clasped around his neck in a hug he gives muffled promises and swears that he’s never going to let anyone hurt him again. He can hear Ozzy’s tail wagging as he does so.
The phone rings.
Both Eddie and Ozzy let out a sigh- Ozzy pulling away despite Eddie’s groan of frustration.
He’s pushed to the phone by the wolf and picks it up with an annoyed “what?” right before the final ring ends.
“What did you do?” Wayne asks him on the other side- voice tight with emotion.
Eddie feels himself bristle; Ozzy sits next to him on the ground- head tilted in curiosity at the sound of Wayne’s voice. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Well, there's a kid in the hospital and your name bein’ said enough to the point that one of the nurses called me.”
“In the hospital?” Eddie’s eyes widen. Ozzy lays on the floor and whimpers.
And- oh.
Oh.
The blood.
“Fuck.”