Stevehharringtcns·:

STRANGER THINGS 4.01 The Hellfire Club

mmuscles·:

.

“the fuck is your deal?” thad responded in turn. there were some people he could feel were up to no good, and there were some he could just tell. well whoever this random was fit the bill to a t. he let go of the stranger’s shoulder, shoving him back slightly on release, then folded his arms across one another, laying them flatly over his puffed out chest to prove that he was not one to mess with. from the other guy’s hair, to his clothes, and even the look in his eyes, thad wasn’t going to let him detect any sort of weakness. 

it didn’t help that almost immediately after, thad was all but laughed at. which really pushed at his buttons. “what’s funny about that?” he asked flatly, nose twitching. “i’m trying to buy my girlfriend flowers, sure you know all about that, pal.” he breathed out. unsure of why he was even listening to this guy’s suggestions, thad still looked around. where was melvald’s? what was melvald’s? uncomfortable with the whole situation, but wanting to walk away with something suitable for nancy. reluctantly, thad asked, “what the fuck is a melvald’s? where is it?”

+++

eddie’s brows shot up, looking the other up and down with a bemused and bewildered expression on his face. everything about him screamed ‘preppy’ and eddie scrunched up his nose. a scoff drawn out of him as he was shoved back. not that he was too surprised, of course, still plenty enough people in town who’d love for him to meet a gruesome end, he was sure. but he’d never seen this... perfect carbon copy of a ken doll around town before. eddie thought he even saw the other puff out his chest and he snorted.

“well...no, i don’t know ‘all about that’ but i don’t see how that’s, like, relevant here ? “, he asked cautiously, pressing ‘stop’ on his walkman. “i mean, you’re the one who approchaed me, in need of my services. but whatever.” as much as he liked to press people’s buttons, rile them up, he wasn’t looking for a fight, either.

“melvald’s. it’s a store, mike brady.”, eddie said and frowned. “down the main street, turn left when you see the church. think you can manage that?”

dvstybuns·:

WHO: Henderson & @eddiemcnson·

WHAT: Screaming Crying Throwing Up Post Event

WHERE: Eddie’s Trailer 

Everything at the carnival after they’d exited the Tunnel of Love had seemed to happen so fast. One minute, Dustin was trying to study some black goo, and the next he was watching people die. People get knocked out. Eddie get arrested. If Steve hadn’t been hurt, Dustin would have tried to intervene, convince Callahan that he couldn’t arrest Eddie just because. Because… because what proof did they have that he was even connected? Why was Eddie always the scapegoat? Why couldn’t he catch a fucking break for once?

He’d gotten out of jail sometime later, before Steve was out of the hospital. Dustin had already gone home by then, collapsing after explaining everything about the Upside Down to his extremely understanding and wonderful girlfriend. When he’d woken up and convinced his mother that he was fine and didn’t need to be watched so closely every fucking minute, Dustin had set out for Eddie’s trailer. 

Dustin didn’t know if Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, would have had time for grocery shopping or anything like that since everything that had happened. He couldn’t imagine that he did. So, on his way over, Dustin had picked up a pizza for the Munson’s. They all needed to eat something, no matter how poor their appetites were right now. 

“Eddie?” Dustin called, knocking on the door. “Dude, are you here?” He hoped that Eddie was okay; Dustin couldn’t imagine being in jail. He knew he wouldn’t make it. But thankfully, Eddie was a lot tougher than him. He was a hero, after all. “I thought you could use some dinner.” 

+++

eddie blamed his lack of sleep and judgement but somehow, steve had managed to convince him to leave his bedside for a while. leave the hospital altogether, and despite swearing high and holy that he’d not leave steve out of his sight again, now or ever, he’d eventually complied, after not even fifteen minutes of protest. he’d grabbed his stuff, pressed a kiss to steve’s lips, promising to come back in two hours tops. the rest was hazy. wayne had waited for him at home, pulled him into a bone crushing hug, he remembered that much. one of them had cried, maybe both. it seemed to be all eddie was capable of doing since the carnival. then his uncle had steered him into his room and lights out, the world had gone dark the second eddie’s body had hit his disgusting, worn out mattress. 

he’d woken up with that icky feeling you got from napping too long, mouth dry and sticky, eyes seemingly glued shut, a faint buzz all over his body. no sense of time at all. it was darker outside, he noted as he blinked, eyes narrowed, but not by much. rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he’d dragged himself out of bed to open the door, a faint smile playing at his lips as dusting came into view.

“hey, henderson, hey, man. how’s it going.” it wasn’t a question and eddie didn’t wait for an answer as he pulled dustin into the trailer and into a tight hug, not as strong as wayne’s hug had been earlier but nearly. eddie pressed his lips into a thin lip, exhaled sharply through his nose. he’d only just woken up but he was ready to cry again. god, if he could he’d jump straight into his van and drive back to chicago. taking dustin with him, of course, and max, and steve, and everyone who was near and dear to him. in time he released dustin from his grip, reached up to ruffle through hair. “thanks, man.” you didn’t have to. but dustin never had to and he always did, anyway. eddie gave him a sleepy smile. “how are you holding up? are you okay? you’re not hurt or anything?”

elevcnhops·:

WHERE ; benny’s burnt down diner WHO ; el &. @eddiemcnson·

of course he was an admired hero in their party - dustin wouldn’t stop talking about him on more than one occasion. even mike had mentioned the other once or twice. eleven just never imagined she would be meeting him in a deserted diner. even more surprising that he was still around after… everything. remembering his absolute panic as the lights went out. and even all the things after. feeling a bit guilty, their experience felt all too familiar. this was probably her fault. the never ending twinge of guilt ever since she returned.

better yet, he was back at the place of their first actual encounter. el’s better judgement leading her back to the diner. the other night with nancy and Hop… but he was there. she could recognize that hair anywhere. she wasn’t the only nosy one in this town apparently.

eleven smelled the ash before she could sense it. sure, the smell of burnt concrete was a grim reminder of the fact.. this place was done for. “ do you see anything? “ she didn’t know his name, only that he was to be trusted. inhaling briefly in the aftermath of the destruction that they brought upon themselves. “ eleven. “ giving him a second of truth as she roamed through the debris. “ and you? “ hiding the rosy tiny upon her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her questioning tone. “ i’m sorry, i should know that. “

+++

it was stupid. it was a horribly, horrifically stupid idea but, staying true to the munson name, eddie actually found himself standing where benny’s diner once had been, just... staring. contemplating, maybe? he didn’t know. didn’t know what had posessed him to hop into his van and drive back there in the first place but there he was, standing in the midst of the burnt down ruins, just looking.

eddie liked to think that he didn’t know what he was looking for but that was a lie,  eddie knew exactly what he was looking for as he absent-mindedly kicked some pieces of gravel through the ash. those ‘eggs’, those freakishly large eggs that had had tears and cracks running through them. and the weird sludge, just... clues. he was looking for clues. upside down clues and he hated the thought of that with a fiery passion. 

“god - jesus - fuck!”, eddie jumped, one heart coming up to clutch at his heart as he whipped around violently, curls whipping through the air like daggers. the frame of ... hopper junior, eddie didn’t know her name, came into view and a shaky yet relieved breath was drawn from his lips. hands on his thighs, eddie dropped his head, took a couple beats to get his breathing under control. “shit, man! you can’t just creep up on people like that.”

after what had happened at benny’s, eddie was even more on edge than usual. he frowned. “no, i...don’t see anything, kid. ‘cept for you, scaring the freaking daylights outta me.”, he muttered, eyes travelling over the site once more. confirming to himself that he was definitely not seeing any eggs or the like.

eddie narrowed his eyes, brows drawn together tightly. “huh? eleven?”, he echoed, looked her up and down. then looked behind her, to see if he’d missed anything. or anyone. “eleven what?”

this exchange was getting weirder by the minute, eddie planted his hands on his hips. “uh, eddie. munson.”, he said after a moment, smiled. “well, i mean i’ve got no idea who you are, hopper junior, so no offense taken.”

loverboymontgomery·:

who: Cole & @eddiemcnson·

where: the shores of Lover’s Lake

What a weird fucking night it had been. It was already weird enough for Cole to come to an open-invitation camping trip. Add onto that that Adam, his resurrected boyfriend, was helping to plan it. And then everything that had actually happened in the lake. Ninety percent of Cole was internally screaming at him to go home– but he wanted to be a good sport and a supportive boyfriend, and besides, whatever ‘injury’ he had earlier was now gone. 

Still, Cole needed a reprieve from the crowd; apparently shit had gone down in the cabin, too, and Adam was being the usual Good Samaritan and helping some stragglers put their tents together. So, Cole slipped away back towards the lake. He was certainly going to keep his distance from the water, but something about the scene and the sun setting on the lake’s horizon was enough to calm his fears from before. 

As he rounded the corner and heard the chatter behind him die down, Cole spotted a figure closer to the shore. That hair was unmistakeable, and a grin broke out onto Cole’s face. “Hey, Munson!” he called to announce his presence. Though they hadn’t spoken much since that day in the mall (and they hardly spoke that day either, to be fair), Cole felt incredibly comfortable with Eddie. Like they’d been friends for years. “You hoping to find the Lochness monster down here or something?” 

+++

god, it had been an eventful six-ish hours at the lake,and eddie was more than ready to just fuck it and go home again. he'd even debated sleeping in the van but after what had went down he wasn't sure if he'd be brave enough to be on his own tonight.

a nice, simple, fun, relaxing camping trip had sounded like a hell of an idea, once he'd found out about it he'd been all game. not to say that the fact that they were camping at lover's lake didn't make him uneasy, oh god it did. everytime his gaze fell on the open water he gulped, a ghastly shiver running down his spine as he remembered the events of spring break '86. watergate. the upside down.

still he'd come along, because what else was there to do? soon enough the fun had turned sour, when adam and cole had been dragged down in the water, when dustin had started acting weird, apparently some shit had gone down over at the cabin, too, but he could barely even wrap his head around what had happened at the shore. in true hawkins fashion, the paranormal apparently couldn't take a day off.

he needed a break. he needed some time to clear his head, so eddie had split from the group. to breathe, have a smoke, be alone with his racing thoughts for a moment. though the solitary didn't last long.

a lopsided grin, eddie awkwardly waved at cole, cigarette between his fingers. a faint blush rising to his cheeks as memories of the day of the mall protest flooded his mind. "nah, not here for nessie. just.... needed a break. from all this." he shrugged, took a drag. "how's your ankle, montgomery?"

murray-baumans·:

who: murray & @eddiemcnson·

where: the music center

After the semi-successful investigation at the border, Murray decided to treat himself to a relaxing night in– he’d cook a lasagna, pour some wine, and unwind to some jazz. In particular, he was looking to replace his George Benson record; he’d discovered earlier that day that he’d left it in Illinois. So, Murray found himself a the Music Center, which must have been run by a middle schooler because the organization was completely senseless.

Approaching who he assumed to be an employee, Murray cleared his throat to make his presence known. “Excuse me, could you point me in the direction of your jazz collection?” he asked, investigating the button’s on the young man’s jacket. “You a metalhead?” he wondered aloud.

+++

the music center was one of his more frequented places, eddie made sure to stop by at least once when he came back to hawkins. though vastly different from the record store he worked at in chicago - which was more specialised on alternative music and the sort - he enjoyed browsing through the stacks of vinyls and tapes, spending time rummaging through the bargain bin. it reminded him of his childhood and early adolescence. really, eddie had spent hours on end in the store, some days only leaving if he was explicitly asked to do so.

today, however, he’d simply come in to take his mind off things. off the ‘tragedy at benny’s diner’, more specifically. he wanted to browse through some new releases, see if they got any heavy stuff at all. drop by to make sure that cole was okay, too - they’d left things on a rather....awkward note, too, having had their encounter in the mall cut short by max’s arrest. 

“sorry?”, eddie’s head popped up from behind the shelf, he threw the other a puzzled look. eyes narrowing as the man in front of him mentioned the words ‘jazz’ and ‘collection’. “uh, i don’t....work here, man. sorry.”

eddie stared at him for a moment, wondering if his question was, perhaps, a trap of sorts. and because, quite frankly, he was an odd looking fella. “uh, yeah. sure am. what gave it away?”, he asked jokingly and laughed, gesturing down at his buttons.

stevehharringtcns·:

.

steve nodded as the other said that water was good, but he didn’t move. for some reason that he couldn’t explain, he didn’t want to leave eddie alone in the room. not because he didn’t trust him, but because he felt like he couldn’t just leave him like that. and he doubted that he wanted to be alone too. so he just stood there, staring at eddie as he waited for him to relax a bit, but it seemed like panic was going to consume eddie and steve didn’t know what to do. he looked at eddie to see the look that he sent his way once steve made the joke, but in all honesty, he was just trying to calm the other down in the best way he could.

“i leave town for a week and you guys… manage to set fire to a whole diner. how is that even possible?” steve asked, knowing that it probably wasn’t anyone’s fault, but he thought that if he were there, that everything could have been avoided. after all, he was a pretty damn good babysitter after all, and he could have prevented the whole thing - that’s what he thought anyway, because he clearly didn’t know what had happened at benny’s diner.

he couldn’t help but to notice eddie’s hand ghosting his own hip, which made him frown slightly. he was hurt. steve didn’t even think about his next move as he grabbed the edge of the other’s shirt and lifted up slightly only to reveal eddie’s bruise. it looked painful, steve thought to himself as he looked back into eddie’s eyes, only to realize what he was doing. “eddie, you should… go to the hospital and get this checked out. it looks… bad.” he said, looking over at him, his face turning slightly red by only looking at eddie’s bareskin, even if it was bruised.

steve kept his other hand, however, on eddie’s shoulder, giving it small reassuring squeezes as he was trying for the other to feel better with just his touch. he didn’t move when he felt eddie’s hand on his own, but it didn’t help with his blushing. he kept his hand there, nodding his head slowly as he heard the other talk. “i believe you, eddie… i mean, it would be stupid not to believe you, we’ve all seen shit… i just don’t know what it could be. we closed the gates. all of them… it can’t be vecna. he’s dead.” he reassured the other, hoping that he wouldn’t end up regretting his words. “you’re not alone, okay? we’re all here for you… i’m here for you, and we’ll figure everything out. you just need to rest or something.” he said, nodding his head.

“i just came back two days ago, it couldn’t have been me, eddie… i’ve been out of town.” he said, letting out a sigh as he grew concerned about people seeing him around town when he clearly was out.

“i’m sure… my parents are out of town again, so it doesn’t matter, we don’t need to worry about them… coming back or something of the sorts.” he said with a small sigh, looking over at eddie with a small smile on his lips. hearing that the other wanted to make sure that he was safe made him smile, nodding his head slowly. “don’t get all soft on me now, munson… i’m fine.” he said with a chuckle. “you can stay in my room, i can stay in the guest room. c’mon.” he said as he finally moved his hand from eddie’s shoulder and grabbed the other’s hand without thinking as he started leading the other up the stairs to his room. “you’re lucky, most girls don’t get to see my room until the third date.” he teased.

+++

“see, you can’t just leave town for a week, harrington. we need our fearless leader.you’re lucky the town still stands, actually.”, eddie muttered, a small grin tugging at his lips - not that he wasn’t spooked anymore, oh no, he absolutely was, but steve’s company did wonders for calming his jangled nerves. and that fact was definitely something to unpack another day. although, thinking about it, there wasn’t really that much to unpack, other than the fact that eddie’s big fat schoolgirl crush on steve harrington was slowly but surely resurfacing. clawing its way to the surface and growing stronger with every day he spent in hawkins.

though, could anyone blame him, when steve went ahead and did things such as yanking his shirt up to reveal his bruise? eddie’s breath hitched in his throat, eyes widening as he glanced between steve’s eye and his hand, fingers not quite touching his bruised skin but ghosting over it, hovering and even that made eddie’s heart hammer in his chest. he gulped, managed a weak smile. “ah, no, no, it’s nothing. nothing to worry about. i’m just clumsy.”, he waved it off with a shrug.

 “i’ll live.”, he repeated “i mean, i’ve survived worse.” and the memory of the swarm of demobats circling above him made him grimace, slightly, he hoped that steve didn’t notice. eddie leaned into steve’s touch, relaxing with every little squeeze he gave his shoulder. he hummed and nodded, more to himself. “yeah. yeah, you’re right...i’ll be fine.” eddie swallowed. “sorry, i - i shouldn’t’ve come. it’s stupid. i woke you up, didnt i? i’m sorry.”

chewing on his bottom lip nervously, eddie looked up at steve again, considered just...leaving instead of making things awkward. but the look on steve’s face, the smile, suggestes that he hadn’t just offered for eddie to stay simply not to be rude. it seemed genuine - he relaxed, slightly, nodded again. fingers tracing over steve’s hand on his shoulder as if to ground him. 

steve took his hand, led him up the stairs - eddie nearly forgot to breathe as he stumbled up. forgot to walk, too. he’d only ever imagined this scenario in his dreams, though with a vastly different premise and outcome. he grinned, wide and toothy. “well,well, well, aren’t i a lucky gal.”

dvstybuns·:

Dustin was glad that Eddie was out - he still for the life of him couldn’t figure out what the fuck they were even charging Eddie with. Hopefully they hadn’t, because a court case was the last fucking thing any of them needed now. He was glad that Eddie was a free man currently, and that he’d finally gone home to rest here instead of with Steve. He had to take care of himself right now too, which Dustin knew was easier said than done. After all, he was struggling with that himself - he assumed most of their group was.

When Eddie finally opened the door and pulled him into a hug, Dustin set the pizza down on the end table beside the couch to wrap both arms around him. He needed this - they both did. It was proof that they were both okay, that they’d made it back here in one piece and comfort from the shit they’d experienced. Dustin hugged him tightly, just happy that he was okay, as a few tears slipped out. He wiped them away quickly when Eddie let him go, smiling at the familiar hair ruffle. Dustin had missed this while Eddie had been in Chicago, although part of him wished now that Eddie had stayed, if only because it meant that he would be safe and not at risk of being arrested again. 

“No, I’m okay.” Dustin told him, shaking his head. “Some bruising and scrapes, but nothing major.” There was a lot happening emotionally, but he didn’t need to talk about that shit right now. Not when he was worried about how Eddie was holding up. “What about you, though? Are you okay? Do we need to find you a lawyer or something?” He asked, brow furrowed in concern for his friend. That was a terrifying prospect, but they’d handle it if they had to. 

+++

eddie pulled away from the embrace very reluctantly, tempted to draw dustin right back in again as he spotted the few wayward tears on his cheeks. why did everything about hawkins have to be so complicated? why could this town not grant them more than a year’s peace? they had no control over where they’d been born, so really, the universe was quite cruel for roping them into the curse so undeniably interwoven with hawkins’ very core. “good. ‘m glad. i  - i saw you going in the tent with suzie and - “ he stopped to take a deep breath, shook his head softly. it didn’t matter, no need to dwell on the tragedies that could’ve been. “you gotta be more careful, kid. got it?”

and eddie gave him a stern look that soon faded into another weak attempt at a smile. the mention of lawyers brought the ever present nausea back to the pit of his stomach and, with a sigh, he turned around and plopped down onthe couch, gestured for dustin to follow along. one hand reaching up to rub at his temples, he shrugged. “i don’t know, man, i - all i know is they released me. said i’m still a ‘prime suspect’ or whatever, that was it, that was - that was all they told me. apparently they think that hargrove and i are responsible for the explosion - or, well, they’re pinning it on us, anyway.” another shrug, he let his head fall back against the cushions. “but it’s - don’t worry ‘bout me, henderson. i’ll be fine. always am.”

loverboymontgomery·:

xx.

With a grateful smile, Cole took the cigarette from Eddie’s hands and lit it. He took an extended drag, hoping the hit of nicotine would numb the panic swirling around his insides. It had subsided to a dull ache now, to the point where he was just coexisting with it, but after the lake, it was loud again. He was determined not to let it show, lest he worried Adam.

Cole nodded, his lips pulled into a thin smile. It was reassuring for his sanity, at least, but he couldn’t deny that it is not what he wanted to hear. “You’ve known about… this stuff for a while, right?” he asked, meeting Eddie’s eyes. “Does it get… I don’t know, easier?” Everyone else seemed relatively well-adjusted, like they were taking all of this in stride, though, Cole supposed that could just be for show.

He couldn’t help but smile at Eddie’s characteristically nervous response. “Okay,” Cole breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, yeah. I just wanted to… check in, I guess.” He paused, sucked on the cigarette again. “Because you’re not half bad, and I think it’d be cool if we were friends,” he suggested. 

It would be hard for Cole to forget the relief he’d felt when Eddie had approached him at the mall– not in a romantic way, the kissing had been good and all– but because Eddie was also like him. Other than Adam, Cole hadn’t met anyone he could be honest with. And that was refreshing. Maybe even one day, after the dust settled and Cole had finally told Adam, all of them could be friends. 

A blush rose to Cole’s cheeks at the other’s comment. “Shit. I didn’t realize we were so obvious,” he said with a breathy laugh. But it was probably true; this time around, Cole cared very little about who saw and more about being near Adam. “Thanks. I know he is,” Cole gushed. Even after all this time, Adam’s smile made him feel like he was staring at the sun. “And he’s like… an incredible person,” Cole said, dopey smile and all. 

Feeling exposed, Cole quickly turned the conversation back to Eddie. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you and King Steve,” he raised a brow, lifting his cigarette once more to give him a chance to respond. 

+++

pursed lips, eddie took another drag, buried one hand in the pocket of his jeans. he huffed. oh, he’d known about this stuff for a while, alright. the mere thought of it made his stomach drop, he squeezed his eyes shut for a second, softly, almost unnoticeably, shook his head. trying to shake the image of red skies and black lightning, swarming bats from his mind. 

eddie clicked his tongue, absent-mindedly kicked some gravel. “’easier’.”, he echoed, musing. wondering if he should shield cole from the truth. but he’d been roped into it, too, now. so what good it denial do him. and how cruel would it be of eddie, not letting him in on all the crazy. “remember....remember spring break ‘86? the.. ‘earthquake’ - it wasn’t an earthquake. anyway.”, another drag, eddie quickly exhaled. “anyway. anyway, shit .... went down, basically. like, supernatural shit. and i, well. i almost died.” eddie shrugged, resigned. it seemed so far away now, unreal. though it became frighteningly present again, every other night when eddie woke up in a cold sweat, heaving and panting and clutching at his chest to remind himself that he was alive and breathing. “it’s not .... it’s serious stuff, cole. but it - well, in a way, it sort of gets better. when you get outta here, it gets better.”

he glanced at cole, a small smile tugging at his lips, he nodded. “yeah. friends, i’d like that. that’d be cool. you’re not half bad yourself, montgomery.”truly, eddie hadn’t expected to make any new friends during his summer back in hawkins. and this was a pleasant surprise. 

quirked brows, eddie watched with an amused expression on his face as cole went on about adam, gushing about him, and he felt a warmth swelling in his chest. he was genuinely happy for cole, even more so since they were both so alike. which made eddie hopeful that maybe he could be just as happy as cole one day. “yeah, he seems pretty cool. great catch, cole. well done.”

eddie quickly looked away, flustered chuckle, the mention of steve brought a blush to his cheeks. “it’s... ah, it’s nothng, not really. it’s - “he was cut off by his own incredulous laugh, eddie ran a hand through his hair, then rested his palm on his forehead, he turned to look at cole. “i just can’t wrap my head around the fact that i, like....i made out with steve harrington. king steve. that’s - that’s not real, you know? like, guys like him don’t... they don’t go for guys like me. it’s mental.”

colemontgomeryx·:

Cole hadn’t realized what he’d gotten himself into by volunteering to bring a keg– scratch that, multiple kegs– to this shindig. It might not bother everyone, but the sticky beer dripping on the linoleum made Cole’s spine shiver, so he dug into his backpack for something to clean it up with. Digging to the very bottom, he found a black handkerchief. Perfect. Cole wiped down the side of the keg and the floor beneath it, and decided to perch nearby in order to nag people not to let it drip on the floor. Really, how hard was it?

In his bag, Cole caught a glimpse of his cigarettes and felt a familiar pang in his gut. Surely it wouldn’t be in bad taste to smoke inside, given the circumstances? Absentmindedly, he tucked the bandana in his back pocket and grabbed a cigarette. “Hope no one minds,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, and lit up.

Shutting his eyes, Cole allowed the blaring music to distract him from the fact that he was inside the mall where the love of his life died. Light stuff. He wasn’t mad at the music choice, surprisingly. Cole tried not to be pretentious about music, but he could only take so many days of people coming into the Music Center asking for the new Rick Astley or Whitney Houston. Thankfully, this music had some teeth. He wondered who’d been recruited to play it. 

When Cole opened his eyes to take another drag, he was shocked to see Eddie Munson running right at him. Cole leaned back instinctively, confusion written on his face, “Uh, sorry. What’d you call me?” He followed Eddie’s eyes to his pocket and pulled out the handkerchief. “Wait– flagging? I’m cleaning up the keg because these goddamned kids can’t be bothered to catch their beer…” he paused, suddenly curious. “What did you think?”

+++

shit. shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. he should’ve known, should’ve known that this was a bad idea, should’ve known better than to ask a current resident of hicksville, indiana if he was flagging. stupid, stupid, god, what had he been thinking? nothing, apparently, and now his mind was wiped empty once more as he stared at cole blinking at him in confusion - and, what was that, curiosity? - as eddie scrambled for something to say. he cleared his throat. 

“never....mind.”, he said slowly, cautiously, tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth. shit. eddie shook his head. “nothing, nothing. i just thought -” oh my god, munson, shut the fuck up. “i just - “ no matter how hard he tried to stop himself the words now fell freely from his lips. “well, i wondered if you...well, do you know someone named - “ if he didn’t stop talking right then and there he was going to explode. well, spontaneous human combustion it was, as he simply carried on. “are you...perhaps a friend of, uh. of dorothy’s ? “ a beat passed, eddie sucked on his bottem lip nerverously. he waved it off. “you know what....nevermind. nothing. it was stupid.”

he flashed him a pained grin, nodded, ‘right, then’,  and turned on his heel. already squeezing his eyes shut because oh, the embarassment now creeped up on him, made his cheeks flush. at the last minute he decided to turn back, walk back to cole. “can i bum a cig off you?” please, please, heaven, god, if there is one - eddie thought to himself as he stared at cole expectantly -  please just don’t let him bring it up again.