Chapter Text
Eddie had just about had it. Laying around, just laying around.
It's all he's been doing for weeks. It was the summer holidays again, and Eddie was going stir-crazy. He just barely passed this year; he'd need to put in more effort soon, and now he had nothing to do for the entire break. He would be hanging out with the rest of Hellfire, play songs with the band, anything. But no, there had to be a heatwave in Hawkins, and no one wanted to go out. They were all glued to their fans or the AC. The few times he did go over to Gareth's place, they just lazed around doing nothing but complaining about the weather. It was frankly pathetic how little there was to do in this shithole, and Eddie felt like he was melting. He groaned and turned over again. Face in his pillow, random junk lying on his bed poking into his stomach. It shouldn't even be this hot, but for some godforsaken reason Hawkins fell into the asscrack of hell this year. Eddie would have wished to sink into the ground, but that'd just be even hotter, wouldn't it? So there he was, hair laid out over his bed in any way to not touch his neck, probably getting spit on his pillow. What a summer…
Wayne was rolling his eyes at him anytime he came to check on him. It wasn't malicious, but Eddie would have threatened to throttle him if he had the energy. It's not even that much hotter this year, according to Wayne, not a thermometer. Not that they had one, but Eddie would have bet all of his comic books that that was bullshit. There was simply no damn way.
“Hey, kid.” Eddie didn't know what time it was, but when he lifted his head, he didn't expect it to be golden hour. What had he even been doing all day? “You should go take a walk before you start ripping the place apart.” His uncle appeared at the door and threw a pointed look at Eddie. Now that he said it, it did feel cooler than he thought it was. But was it really walking weather? “And open a window now that you're awake; it's like walking into a wall here.” With that he left again, and Eddie scrambled off his mattress. The wind hit him the second he lifted his window open. Wayne was so right, actually. Eddie huffed, as if I'd actually tell him that. But the longer he stayed inside, the more ripping out the walls actually sounded appealing, so he begrudgingly tore his sweaty clothes off and threw on something thinner. Tank top and ripped jeans, probably good enough. “I'm only leaving so I can go bite some trees, not because you told me to go out.” He passed by the kitchen and grabbed a random cereal bar lying on the counter. When he got to the door of the trailer, he heard Wayne say something like “Of course not,” but he was already outside. The door closed behind him, and he breathed in the fresh air, making a show of raising his arms to the sky and sighing. It was still too warm to not feel like he was breathing a blanket, but it was definitely better than earlier. The sun was beginning to glare into his eyes, though, so he settled on a walk through the woods.
Now this was better. It was so refreshing. He just kept walking, not paying super close attention to where he was going. He knew these woods pretty well enough to find his way back later, so he didn't think that much about which path he took. His legs felt stiff from the stupid way he was lying all day, apparently. The phantom pain of the book he had been lying on was still stabbing into his stomach, and he groaned again. He should have just moved. Tomorrow he would move around, because he was very sure it'd be just as hot again.
A while into his walk, he sat down on a random tree that was lying on the ground to eat whatever he took from the trailer. His stomach reminded him that he hadn't had any lunch or even breakfast, and everything was being annoying. The heat made it impossible to eat food, let alone a meal. Nah, fuck that, and fuck cooking. Eddie decided he simply wasn't made for summer. But somehow every year seemed to get worse. Somehow. He wasn't sure if that even made sense; shouldn't it get easier the longer he lived here? But Eddie never claimed to be a scientist, so maybe it did make sense.
The thing he grabbed was one of Wayne's. One of those gross chocolate cereal bars with no sugar or anything. But he still ate it. As if he would just not eat it after bringing it all the way. So he choked it down while cursing Wayne's terrible taste and his own lack of paying attention to what he was grabbing, but that was secondary. He took another minute to just sit on that fallen tree with closed eyes. Heard some sort of bird around him that he couldn't identify. It was quite nice, but after a few more seconds of this, he got bored. How people could do this stuff all day he had no idea. Meditation seemed like actual torture, so the people that did it for fun were basically masochists to Eddie. Why else would you do that to yourself? He stood up and patted down his ass; thinking about it now, the tree could have been moldy or rotting. Not that thinking about the state of random trees was his strong suit.
Eddie looked around for a bit to make out where he ended up. It took a bit, because it was actually getting dark now, but the place felt familiar enough for Eddie to pick a direction and start walking. He had forgotten which way he came from, but he was pretty confident that this path would get him back to the trailer park. Maybe it was a shortcut. Only one way to find out. He heard another bird again, and by now the sound that took over everything else was the crickets. This time of year they were always especially loud, and Eddie was not good at tuning them out. Another thing that didn't make sense as he understood it. He should have learned how to stop hearing them by now, but no. Of course not, just his luck. Maybe his brain didn't have that setting, or maybe his ears were just too good. Wayne had called him a bat a few times for hearing the smallest sounds, so that was probably it. Either way, he didn't enjoy the noise out here that much.
Okay, so maybe, just maybe, Eddie had to admit that it wasn't a shortcut. This was definitely a longer way back, but he was just unlucky. It was already pretty dark, and the path was hard to see now. Great. And maybe Eddie was getting paranoid because he felt like he kept hearing things that shouldn't be there.
Crack. It came from his left, and Eddie whipped around. Nothing. He wrapped his arms over his chest and hunched over a bit. It was now getting colder, but he didn't need a jacket yet. It was just freaky out. The longer he walked, the more he was convinced that he was going the wrong way. Which… wasn't ideal.
Crack, crack. His right this time, he sighed as he found nothing. God, he should have brought a flashlight. Maybe he wouldn't be so lost then. Or maybe he would see that he wasn't actually lost and was just taking a longer way home.
Crack. His left again. Maybe he was just walking slower. He was basically speedwalking earlier since he hadn't moved all day. That was probably it.
Crack. Behind him.
Behind him?
Crack, crack.
He turned around just in time to practically get run over. He almost toppled over as the guy grabbed onto him, and Eddie panicked. What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK? Some random man just ran at him and was shoving him into the woods. Eddie would like to believe that he was a fighter in case of a fight-or-flight situation, but he was currently panicking and freezing up as a stranger dragged him deeper into the woods. “Fuck—what the fuck-fuck off!” He didn't know if the guy had understood what he had said; it was basically intelligible. The guy just threw his hand on Eddie's mouth and shushed him.
This is how I fucking die. Holy shit, I'm gonna get murdered.
The hold on his arm was so tight he was scared his bones were gonna break. Eddie whimpered as he got shoved to the ground, stumbling down into some bushes as the guy threw himself down with him. Eddie was expecting the worst; he flinched when the man got that close to him. He had never believed in God, but he felt like he should pray in this moment. I'm gonna fucking die.
But the man didn't strangle him, didn't pull out some secret knife from his pocket. He just held Eddie down in the dirt and covered his own mouth. Eddie couldn't see his face; it was too dark under the bushes they were lying in, but he could tell whoever this was wasn't looking at him. What the hell? And then he heard it, more crunching. There was something else. A person? He heard loud grunts from somewhere, labored breathing, and grumbling. Holy shit, was this guy being chased? Eddie tried to catch a glimpse of the man's face, but it was pointless in the shade. The person chasing him didn't come close. They could hear him yell, though. It was hoarse, and Eddie couldn't make out the words. Apparently the guy had been a lot faster, and whoever it was didn't see the direction he went. Which…was probably good? Eddie still felt like maybe this was still a horrible idea. To just lie down and stay quiet. What if the guy was being chased because he fucking killed someone? If that's true, would he kill Eddie now? Would he need to? Eddie didn't know anything; he was just taking a walk in the woods. He was okay, right? He begged his lungs to keep breathing. This was so stupid. Why today? Nothing ever happens in Hawkins, so why on the day he goes outside? Is this really how I fucking die? But the guy let go of him. The chaser was gone, and the stranger that had run into him was shivering. Eddie couldn't see his face, but he could hear his breathing, short and panicked. He also noticed something else though.
Holy fuck, is that blood?
He felt it on his face; there was blood on his face. The guy had blood on his hands. Eddie had blood in his mouth. His hand flew to his lips, desperate to wipe it off. He was stupid; this was stupid. What the fuck? The guy was looking at him again, probably for the first real time, and Eddie froze under his gaze. Couldn't tell if he was even breathing. He looked at where the guy's eyes should be but still couldn't see him. The man had a hood pulled over his head, casting a shadow over almost his entire face. The ground was uneven, and there were sticks and small pebbles stabbing into his side. Eddie's legs felt mushy from the weird way he was lying down; they were pressed uncomfortably against a rock and probably falling asleep. Eddie could barely make out his mouth if he squinted. He felt the stranger touch him before he saw him move. He flinched again; the stranger wiped the blood off Eddie's face with his sleeve. The stranger was still shaking; it wasn't cold enough to be shivering with a jacket. Eddie grabbed his arm, and the stranger winced under his touch; his sleeve had more blood on it. “Is—” It was barely above a whisper, but the stranger heard him. “—is that yours?” His mouth opened but closed again before he could speak; he pressed his lips together into a thin line and just gave him a shaky nod. Oh, what the fuck? How was Eddie supposed to know if this guy was lying or not? And if he tried to investigate, the stranger was alone with him in the middle of the woods. With how fast he ran into him earlier, Eddie knows he couldn't make it out on time. And even if so, would the guy just stop once they got to the treeline? Probably not. Maybe he would.
He wiped off more blood from Eddie's face. It was surprisingly gentle; Eddie didn't know what to do. “Who—” Don't ask, don't ask; the less you know, the better. His eyes had drifted off behind him, where the sounds had come from. But he snapped his mouth shut as the stranger pulled his face back towards him and ignored the question Eddie was obviously going to ask. What do I even do now? Do I just wait for him to get up and leave? But before he could think of what to do, the guy grabbed his arm again. Eddie willed himself to not react. The stranger's fingers traced over the small bruise that Eddie could feel forming there. “Sorry…” Eddie barely heard it. It was so quiet and rough that he almost missed it. “It-it's…it's okay.” Fuck, what do I even say? The stranger shook his head, and Eddie felt like a child that needed to be told what to do by an adult. The guy let go of his arm, and Eddie's lungs worked again. Now what the fuck do I do? But the stranger had already crawled out from under the bushes and lightly pulled on Eddie's shirt to do the same thing. Sitting on the dirt, Eddie could make out tiny details about the stranger. They were around the same height, and now he could see a few blood stains on him. The guy tugged his hood down lower into his face after wiping it with his sleeve. It stained the jacket more; he definitely had a bunch of injuries on him that he didn't want anyone to see. “Are—” Was he actually gonna ask? This is a horrible idea. “Are you alright? I… I could help with the…” Eddie vaguely gestured at his face. Maybe this was actually a worse idea than he thought. But the stranger shook his head and slowly stood up from the ground. Eddie was still on the gross dirt floor; he wasn't sure if his legs worked. But when a hand was waved in front of his face, he thought it was probably a good idea to cooperate, so he shakily grabbed it and got pulled up to his feet. He stumbled a bit; just as he expected, his legs felt like static. He almost fell into the stranger, and he felt the guy's arms hold onto him lightly. “S-sorry, think my legs fell asleep.” Eddie felt stupid. The person just hummed under his breath and let him go. Eddie could still hear both of their heartbeats, still full of adrenaline from whatever it was that just happened.
Crack It was farther away this time, but they both flinched at the sound. Is it the other guy? Are we fucked? But he heard Wayne's voice. “HEY KID, IT'S LATE. WHERE DID YOU GO?” He sounded worried, and Eddie let go of the breath he was holding. He was fine; they weren't in danger. But the stranger didn't know that and tugged on his arm to pull them further into the woods. Eddie shrugged him off. “It’s—he’s my uncle; he can…help you.” The guy stared for a second, Eddie got nervous again. Shit, that wasn't a question, was it? He isn't letting me go…
But he did; he gently shoved Eddie towards the sound of Wayne's voice but shook his head. “What?” Why wasn't he talking to him? The stranger pointed at himself and shook his head again. He wasn't coming with them back to the trailer. Eddie threw a glance behind him to where his uncle was looking for him. When he turned around again, the guy had already started moving away. “W-wait just—” But he just shook his head, his final answer. “Just…take-take care of yourself…” It was a dumb thing to say, probably, but the stranger nodded shakily and retreated into the shadows the trees threw on the ground. “EDDIE!” Wayne was close now; there was the beam of a flashlight not far away now. Eddie glanced into the woods one more time before he yelled back. “WAYNE! I'M HERE!” He ran to the voice of his uncle, who immediately embraced him. “God, what are you doing? You're gon’ give me a heart attack one day, kid.” Eddie chuckled wetly into his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Wayne. Fuck, he was so happy to see his uncle again. “ ‘m sorry Wayne…” He felt the fight leave his body; the entire thing was catching up to him, and he felt his hands shake. “I jus’ got lost somehow—it got dark too quick…” He knew Wayne wouldn't believe him, but he also knew that he had absolutely no clue how to tell him what had actually happened. Still slightly terrified that he had pissed off the wrong person. But Wayne was here now, Eddie was with his uncle, and he was safe.
He was okay.