Monsters. Hawkins had monsters. That's what Dustin and his two pet jocks told Eddie.
If Eddie hadn't watched Chrissy die himself, he would've thought they'd lost it, but nothing else could have killed Chrissy like that. She'd been ripped apart from the inside. Eddie had seen her break and he ran.
Monsters are fucking real everybody, a part of him wanted to scream it into the empty abyss that was Hawkins.
This is why people hated small towns.
If the government wants to do something weird, they, do it somewhere no one would care, at least that's what Gareth always said. Gareth had a lot of theories, and Eddie agreed with some of them but sometimes the guy got a little insane. He was starting to miss hearing Gareth rant about the cocaine-selling CIA agents. He was starting to miss people.
Eddie should've known this place would have no food. He'd only been here for three days and all of the cupboards were empty.
"Hey anybody on this thing?"
"Eddie you're supposed to keep this clear unless you're in danger, over," Dustin said through the speaker.
He pressed the button down, "Kid, find someone who can drive and ask them to bring me food."
There was a pause before the speaker crackled to life again, "Munson."
"Hargrove."
"What do you want I'm only doing this once."
Eddie gave Hargrove a list and got stuck waiting for two hours. He never thought that running from the police would be this boring. He always assumed that if he got caught selling he would have to at least leave the state. He was a little disappointed in the Hawkins police department if they couldn't find him and they thought he was a murderer. Dustin had said that Hopper would help him out, but every other police officer could not be this stupid.
Eddie heard a tapping noise from the back window. At the noise, he dropped to hide behind the couch. Glancing through the window he could see a curly mop and a redhead. When he opened the door, the kids burst in while giving him a lot of information.
Apparently, two other people had died and Eddie is a serial killer.
When the kids got to a part of the story where Eddie only knew some of the characters he turned his attention to Hargrove. He noticed how different Hargrove was outside of the Hawkins High bubble. The man didn't radiate the same energy. He was quieter, content to sit and watch the kids, less in command of the room but somehow more present. He had a small notebook in his hands but it was closed while Dustin and Max spoke. Billy actually cared about the little shits.
Eventually, Dustin started begging him to spoil the next campaign.
It was scary the way that they could pretend like nothing was happening. They had been doing this for so long that the kids could just forget about it. A small part of him was impressed but mainly he was disgusted. Eddie hadn't been the government's biggest cheerleader but how did this fall to a bunch of kids.
As Dustin rambled on, Eddie noticed Billy wearing a Walkman. When he asked what Billy was listening to, Dustin stopped talking. They were sitting in silence for a moment before Max punched Billy in the arm. He watched as they started a staring contest. He thinks Max won because when she looked away Billy told him about the consequences of being a monster hunter.
Billy was cursed.
Whatever was going around killing people wanted him next. They explained that the best way to escape the monster was music. Eddie couldn't help but think that maybe he was losing his mind. All things considered, he would've preferred to find out he was slipping into a psychosis. He liked the sound of that more than a mind-reading monster that could kill you at any time.
When Billy was done talking Max volunteered to make the four of them food, bringing Dustin into the kitchen with her. As they walked away Billy opened his notebook.
"Didn't peg you for homework on the weekends guy Bill," Billy looked up from his notebook. "Don't you have someone to do that for you?"
"It's not homework."
Eddie could've guessed that, "Enlighten me then, captain."
Billy pulled a pen out of a bag Dustin brought and let his eyes fall back to his notebook.
"Alright, you're so secretive y'know that? With your little book. Tell me are they your love poems, are you waxing poetic about some girl?"
"It's not poems."
"Oh, but you are declaring your love in there, aren't you? Should Max be preparing a speech for the wedding?"
"Alright Munson, if it'll get you to shut up," Billy tossed the notebook over.
Eddie opened it and stopped breathing. Inside the notebook were drawings. Some he recognized. He started flipping through the pages as he did he saw something. A rose, simply drawn, but somehow so detailed. He looked over at Billy, who was already staring at him.
"It's you?" Eddie breathed, "This whole time?"
Billy stood up and Eddie followed him onto his feet.
"Yes."
They were still just looking at each other until Eddie moved forward and gave Billy a hug. Billy let him. He could even feel Billy hugging back.
"I won't tell anyone."
"I know."
In the background, they could hear a loud bang. Which was a pretty good reminder that Max and Dustin should never be unsupervised. When they walked into the kitchen, they found Dustin on the floor while Max boiled noodles. Billy helped Dustin up and asked Eddie where the plates were.
It was the first time Eddie had eaten an actual meal in a while. He'd been living off of jerky and ham sandwiches for a while. Eddie realized he might need Wayne to teach him to cook before he moved out.
The last time Eddie tried to make something the macaroni and cheese caught fire. Since then Wayne hasn't let him in the kitchen. The old man cooked before he left for work and let Eddie fend for himself for breakfast, while the school provided breakfast. Wayne worked the night shift so Eddie usually helped by cleaning a little, he kept the house just clean enough that they didn't feel like slobs.
After dinner, Dustin, Max, and Billy left. About a half an hour later he felt something on his calve. That night he and Billy spent hours writing back and forth.