The whole procession took an hour. One painstaking hour of watching Chrissy bare her soul to the world with only a sniffle and a sharp inhale at the first click of the camera to show that she was even bothered.
Eddie took his time with it, giving her grace and space all at once, but she wanted to plow along, refusing to take a break when he offered.
As he raised the camera to her face, where her cheek was turning ugly shades of purple, he noticed the bags underneath her eyes.
It must be an exhausting day. How stupid of him not to realize?
When they were done, she pulled on the clothes she'd been given slowly and then used one of the many phones scattered throughout the house to call her parents.
He didn't hear the full excuse, but it was weak. Nothing that would really hold up if they wanted to look further, but he could see she just didn't care anymore.
"Can you stay with me? Until I fall asleep?" She asked, curling up under the covers of the guest bed, bigger than Eddie knew beds came in.
He looked at her face, so desperate to stay strong, but breaking as the night wore on.
How could he say no?
So he curled up next to her, careful not to make sudden movements, stroking her silky hair until she was dozing in a much-needed slumber.
Eddie didn't think he would be able to sleep at all, so he carefully extracted himself from her arms and went downstairs.
He found Steve also awake, staring outside blankly, a beer in his hand.
"Going down memory lane?" He asked and Steve only jumped a bit as he approached.
"You see that pool there?" Steve pointed outside.
"Uh-huh."
"A few years ago, back before I knew any of what the world was actually like, Barb got taken to the upside down there. And I was up with Nancy. I never heard a single scream," He muttered, "And it's brought me all the way here."
"If I'm recalling Dustin's recounting of events, no one knew. It's not your fault, man."
"I know," Steve said, but his voice didn't quite match his answer, "I just know Nancy never really got over it." He shook his head, "We can't take one more dead girl in this town," He whispered.
Eddie understood in an instant.
"We're all going to protect Chrissy, you know it, to the death." Eddie leaned against the wooden slabs on the wall, "Speaking of which, I agree that Jason needs to go down in a…legal way. But I want a good crack at him."
"Eddie," Steve sighed, pinching his nose.
"If it were Nancy," Eddie said, cutting him off sharply, "Would you be at ease, just watching cops cart him away? And yeah, let's say he's an outcast, no scholarship, the town hates him, but it's not…enough," Eddie stressed, "What he did to Chrissy is un-fucking-forgivable. I'm not going to kill him," Eddie assured, which he honestly thought was a fear of Steve's, "But you gotta get me alone with him."
"I can't promise anything," Eddie said, sipping the beer and wincing at the taste, "But, yeah, I guess I know what you mean."
XXX
The wait was utter agony.
The fact they couldn't walk out of there the next day and hold Jason down in the woods and castrate him frustrated Eddie to no end.
Eddie was fairly sure that Steve was worried he was going to go rogue and do just that because Eddie now had a shadow at all times.
Totally unnecessary…okay, maybe a tad necessary.
But it was hard to stay 'good' in this situation. Whenever he caught a glimpse of Chrissy's skin, tiny galaxies of color underneath her flesh spreading and ginger to the touch, he wanted to literally scalp Jason and hang him in the parking lot.
His shadow today was Max, which made sense as he was running back to his trailer to grab a few necessary items, as well as to watch Max and Steve take their pictures. So yay, double babysitting.
Luckily he managed to convince Max and Steve they didn't need to sit awkwardly in his trailer's living room. Jason was certainly not in there.
But someone else was; Wayne.
"You've been a ghost here, boy," Wayne said, "I hardly see ya recently."
Guilt coiled in Eddie's stomach. He knew he hadn't been home recently, and even if he was, things were so fucked that he didn't have the energy to even make small talk with his uncle. Hell, he'd never even thanked him for giving him the heads-up about Gareth.
"Sorry, I do want to change that," Eddie said sincerely, setting a pillowcase full of random toiletries and clothes down on the couch, "But I gotta do something first."
"Is it legal?" Wayne asked, "You know we can't afford to be caught doing something that could ruin us, Edward. We're not like the other folks in town."
Eddie looked at the ceiling. Framing someone was certainly not a morally good thing, and he had d hunch it was legally bad too. But…
"It's for someone really important, Wayne," Eddie said quietly, "Someone I care about a lot."
Wayne examined his nephew for a few hard seconds before he sighed. It sounded like a sigh of utter exhaustion, or perhaps just acceptance.
"It's that Cunningham girl, isn't it? You two are steady."
The way that Eddie's head shuddered back to hear his uncle so confidently guess worried him. As he was floundering for something to say, Wayne laughed out loud. He couldn't remember the last time he heard his uncle genuinely amused.
"I may not have gotten a fancy college degree, nor do I know much, but I'm not completely blind. I long ago guessed you found yourself someone, but you're about as subtle as a bull."
Eddie winced, knowing it was probably true. Subterfuge or subtext were not his strengths.
"Do we have to have the talk?:" Wayne asked, making Eddie truly shudder.
"No, no, I'm good, Uncle W. Public education isn't good for a lot, but it did tell us about the birds and the bees."
Wayne looked embarrassed and Eddie watched a blush ride up his throat.
"That wasn't…I didn't…" Wayne coughed, "I meant about how you treat a lady. That you-."
"Respect her. Take her seriously. Listen to her thoughts and feelings. Never lay a hand on her. Talk through arguments instead of yelling. Be open and vulnerable sometimes too. Let in affection." Eddie listed off and he could see Wayne's surprise growing with each statement.
"Oh, I didn't know your father had time to talk to you about that."
Before he died. That's what Wayne left out.
Eddie laughed, "I think we both know even if I had been able to talk to him about this, he wouldn't have said that stuff," And at Wayne's crinkled face of confusion, Eddie shrugged, "I learned it from you, Wayne. I know none of your dates have ever gone anywhere serious, but I was always watching."
Wayne stood for a second, and then Eddie wondered if he'd offended him by bringing up his history of failed dates, but instead Wayne's eye twitched with a tear, and his lips curved into a wide smile.
"You are a good, kind man, Edward Musnon," Wayne said, pulling Wayne in for a hug, "And never let anyone tell you otherwise. I hope this girl knows that."
"She does." Eddie whispered, "I'd really like you two to meet properly when this is over." Eddie said.
Wayne pulled back, "I'd really like that, son."
Though Wayne called him son often, this time, Eddie actually felt like it might be a deeper admission of affection for him than just a knee-jerk nickname.
Though he doubted he'd ever call Wayne 'dad', he was as close to a dad as he ever got, and honestly, a pretty darn good one in his books.
He left with his pillow case in a good mood, hopeful that maybe they could just pull this off.
XXX
Robin got Chrissy off with a fake flu note, making sure she didn't have to go back to face Jason until he was behind bars.
Jason didn't seem worried at all that she was gone.
That was part of his vileness, Eddie decided. His absolute arrogance.
He would never even deign to imagine that Chrissy would be plotting against him for his actions. To think that someone would dare go up against him? Absolutely unthinkable.
For once, his superior attitude worked in their favor.
He didn't even seem to be bothered that Chrissy was missing.
Prick.
Everyone else's roles were going quite swimmingly. It's like the universe looked at all the crazy schemes the Party had tried but saw the genuine good in this one and said 'hey, take a break, let's make this easy'.
It almost felt too easy to Eddie.
Max and Steve got pictures.
Nancy, now deciding to help Eddie, got some shots of Jason to merge into the aforementioned photos.
Nancy worked them to the point she could and then sent them in overnight delivery to Utah.
They started collecting stories.
As expected, there was no shortage of people who were now starting to come forward to express disgust for Jason. Nancy's cover on doing 'male masculinity in sports' was the perfect cover.
She never directly asked for stories about Jason, and while some uncomfortable truths were being discovered about others, Jason racked up the most stories all without digging for it.
And once one person was talking, everyone on that level of hatred was talking, wanting their two cents or their horrible story recorded officially.
It was also easy to get some of the mid-tier people to talk. They were mostly similar in nature; gave lots of stories, but Jason was the star.
Even getting people that were supposed to be Jason's closest friends and allies were going well. Sure, they weren't out her outright vilifying Jason to his face, but almost all agreed there was some dark pull, some weird reaction that Jason had to win the championship game. It was as though his drive to be the best wasn't satiated when he won, but instead now fueled to prove even more, even at the downfall of others.
One of the more surprising ones was Midge, knocking on Nancy's door at the end of Friday night.
"I hear you're collecting perspectives?" She asked. Eddie, helping chart and write answers, tried to fold himself away from her.
She was high on his list of people he wanted to bitch slap.
"For my new news article, yeah," Nancy said, "Do you have some information to share?"
Nancy motioned for her to sit, but Midge paced. As usual, she wore her prissy, obnoxious scowl that seemed to be glued onto her.
"I didn't think he'd do it," Midge started.
Nancy frowned, exchanging glances with Eddie.
"Do…what?"
Midge turned, crossing her arms, huffing, "Chrissy's face. I saw it. I didn't think he'd hit her, you know. I thought I was doing a solid. Cheating sucks." She said. Eddie was almost sure she knew it was him, except for the fact she wasn't even glancing at Eddie. Meaning that she actually probably still had no idea.
"Okay," Nancy said, ever professional, "It surprised you?"
"Of course it did," Midge muttered, "Jason Carver? The sort of guy that does that? It seemed unreal. It's not him, or logic tells me it shouldn't be him. But it was all too coincidental, you know?"
Nancy took a few notes as the camera rolled, nodding and humming, "And you think sports changed him?" She asked, to keep the cover of her story. Which, with all that was told to her, Eddie reckoned Nancy could actually do a kick-ass cover of.
"Yeah, I do. Being the best in a celebrated sport messes you up. You get used to everyone wanting something from you. You like the power you have over others, to command anything, and get it. The entitlement is unreal. He became this like…god that the school worshipped." Midge picked at her fingernails, "I think as soon as Chrissy denied him what he thought he was owed, that's what broke him."
"Do you think he regrets it?"
Midge stared hard at the camera. As though realizing where she was, she inhaled sharply, picking up her bookbag from the floor. She shook her head hard before raising her chin.
"Look, if you want to do a smear piece on him, whatever. Karma's a bitch, huh?" She asked with a dry, emotionless chuckle, "I have to go, though. I'm very important. With Chrissy out with the 'flu', I need to make sure the cheer team doesn't fall into shambles."
Nancy gave a warm smile, "of course, Midge. Thank you for your time."
As soon as she left, Nancy and Eddie exchanged glances.
"Think she actually has a heart buried in there somewhere?" Eddie asked.
"Naw," Nancy said with a grin, "I think it's all just values and gears."
Eddie snorted, "Yeah. Me too."
XXX
Chrissy spent a few nights at her parent's house, or at least, the illusion of a few nights.
It was easy enough to create false reasons for her to stay out late. With college fast approaching, entrance exam study sessions, grades to bring up, or cheer practice were easy ways to give Chrissy reasons to crawl home early enough for her parents to see her there, but late enough they were less than an hour before going to sleep anyway.
She would wait and then crawl outside. Someone would be on watch when she was at home, always.
At first, she was almost embarrassed about the treatment the Party was so willingly giving her. They were sacrificing their nights to make sure Jason didn't appear and doing so without a complaint. They all took a turn.
When she tried to express this to Robin, Robin just hugged her, "We know that you'd do it for us, right?" She pointed out, "We all need different things at different times."
And it was true. At least, for Eddie it was. If any one of them called in distress, no matter where Eddie was, he would drop everything for them.
He knew Chrissy would too. She was just that sort of person anyway.
Tonight, Wednesday of the week after the incident, her brother Matty almost caught her. But when she'd explained she just needed to go somewhere for a few nights, and after she'd offered him $5 bucks to stay quiet, he'd agreed to keep her cover.
"I think he knows something," Chrissy said as she drove in Eddie's car back to Steve's house, "He asked if it had to do with the night Jason came over. I think he heard or saw or I don't know. He seemed…worried." She said, "I hate that he's caught up in this. He doesn't deserve it."
"Is it possible he took the money as a cover, but he would have anyway because he does love you?" Eddie asked.
Chrissy chewed on her lip, "Maybe."
Somewhere, Eddie knew they couldn't keep this up forever.
He'd done all that they could.
The pictures of Max's house were taken.
The pictures of Jason were taken.
Nancy had doctored them enough and sent them to Suzie.
The article with all the tell-alls was ready to be written and sent.
And yesterday, they'd managed to snag the shoes he'd used to kick Chrissy out of his gym locker while he was at practice.
It was just a waiting game now.
Eddie fucking hated waiting.
Though Chrissy didn't say it out loud, he knew she did too.
XXX
He got the news on Friday.
After school, at the lacrosse game, which Jason would no doubt be playing. Frankly? The whole high school and half the town would be there.
It was a quick, hurried smile passed from Nancy to Eddie in the hallways, and he just knew…all this was coming to a close soon.
"Think it'll work?" Chrissy asked him when he told her. He'd asked her to meet him in the woodsy clearing during lunch.
"It has to," Eddie insisted, "Or else I will end up in jail for someone's attempted murder. Not yours; his."
She may have thought him joking, but he wasn't.
At the news of Jason's impending hopeful arrest, he expected Chrissy to be ecstatic. But all that happened was that the color drained from her face and her whole body shuddered.
"What if it's not enough?" She asked, eyes filling with tears, "What if he worms his way out of it? What if-,"
"Hey, hey," Eddie dropped the books he was holding to reach out for her shoulders, "You know I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You gotta know that, right?"
Chrissy wiped her eyes, nodding and sniffling, "I know that logically, but I'm just so tired of this. Of him. Of all this planning. I just want life to go on."
Eddie pulled her into a deep, nearly-crushing hug, "It will. And I'll do whatever I need to do. You know I love you, right?"
He felt Chrissy stiffen at those words. On some level, Eddie hadn't even realized what he was planning to say until it was too late. And though his mind went through eight stages of panic at his realization of what he'd just said, it was out there now.
The truth. The whole, uncensored truth.
He pulled back, expecting to see a sour look on Chrissy's face. Instead, she was crying again.
"Shit, Chrissy." Eddie muttered, "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I-,"
"You…love me?" She asked tentatively. He paused, halfway through his words, before swallowing hard.
"Of course I do." He said sincerely, "I'm surprised you didn't know." He said, reaching to brush the tears from her cheek.
"I just never assume anything anymore," Chrissy replied with a weak smile, "You know I love you too, right?" she asked carefully.
Eddie snorted, "Now who's lying? A pretty girl like you with me? Naw." He said, winking and watching as she smiled widely.
"Stranger things have certainly happened here."
XXX
The sun was starting to grace Hawkins with its presence on this beautiful sunny Friday. Eddie was beaming brightly, almost unnaturally so, as he paid his fee to get into the lacrosse game and bought a box of popcorn and a soda. He even thanked the junior working the stand, and his happy mood clearly set the kid on edge.
Nothing at all was going to harsh this vibe though.
He caught Chrissy sitting on the bench, in her cheer sweatpants and jacket, but not performing. She'd come back to school as of yesterday, citing a really bad fall down the stairs. He suspected a few of her friends knew, but no one was courageous enough to say anything.
He didn't see the Party but assumed they were working out the kinks behind the scenes. He saw Steve, who gave a thumbs up, and that was enough to assure him that it would all be okay.
He found a spot alone at the best vantage point on the stands and lounged across three benches, flicking popcorn into his mouth.
Down at the base, he saw Gareth.
Life was short, he told himself. He doubted they'd ever be best friends again, but there had been genuine regret about how it had gone down. He had clearly stopped sleeping with Midge, who was now moved onto a more usual stake-out of a baseball player, so that was something.
And if Eddie thought about it…they might have just continued this secret thing and Chrissy could have tried to break up with Jason in college. And by then they might not have been able to do anything. Jason being put in jail was a far superior end to this. Of course, he wished Chrissy didn't have to be hurt so badly for the wheels to put in motion - he would give anything to go back in time and save her of that pain - but wasn't seeing your high school nemesis thrown in jail what every teen movie protagonist wanted?
Yeah…it was.
He waved Gareth up.
Gareth was wary.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" He asked. Eddie just thrust his popcorn in Gareth's face.
"I just fucking love lacrosse. And Fridays. And popcorn. And justice."
Gareth raised an eyebrow, but perhaps felt he had no right to judge Eddie or do anything to get Eddie mad.
"Oh. I, uhm, didn't know that," Was all he finally said, "What do you love about it? Lacross, that is?"
Eddie grinned, "The drama."
The first half went with no interruptions. Jason played to the crowd, like he always did, though Eddie could now see the violence underneath his actions. But who would ever notice, right? Being aggressive in lacrosse was basically a given.
Still, it made Eddie's blood boil. Mostly he was angry at himself. No one had ever noticed, huh? But why would Eddie have? Sure, he thought Jason was a piece of shit previous to knowing Chrissy, but this was a whole other level.
The sirens sounded as the second part of the game was drawing near. No one made any notice. Why would they? No one here could probably guess they were headed straight for the high school fields.
Eddie, though, leaned over the back of the bleachers, chewing on his popcorn and watching with a deep-seated sense of satisfaction as they squealed down the road. When he looked back, Gareth's eyes were wide.
"Ed…what's going on?"
"What do you mean? We're here enjoying a nice lacrosse game." Eddie said.
Gareth frowned, but couldn't figure it out, so didn't bother prodding.
The sirens were now getting closer to the entrance to the gates. A few people in the stands started twittering in confusion, wondering if someone fainted from exhaustion or what might be going on. The lacrosse game continued, because until they were told to stop, why would they?
No one had to wonder long.
The Hawkins Police Department exploded out of their cars, headed up by Hopper, who Eddie recognized from before. They stormed the gate and, to Eddie's sheer delight, marched right onto the lacrosse field as it was benign done.
"Eddie…what did you do?" Gareth whispered.
"Me?" Eddie turned, acting innocent, "How could I have anything to do with this?" He asked seriously.
The game paused. Eddie leaned forward as he watched Jason stop, utterly confused, searching his teammate's faces, wondering which one the cops were here for. He didn't even seem to register that they were stalking right his way until they had him surrounded.
Eddie saw his lips move to ask a question, but everyone heard Hopper's voice projecting. Eddie had a feeling Hopper might have been hamming it up, just a bit, but it was quite the spectacle.
"Jason Carver. You're under arrest for the attempted murder of Chrissy Cunningham." Hopper said.
Ripples of shock waved through the crowd as people turned to each other, eyes wide and horrified. Eddie gasped, pretending to be as surprised as everyone else. Jason's eyes went wild and he tried to back up.
"I didn't try to kill her! I just wanted to show her a lesson. She's a cheating slut, you know!" He pointed an accusing finger, "A few bruises don't equal murder." he scoffed.
Hopper just raised an eyebrow, "I was actually referring to the night of March 21st, but please continue and give us more evidence. Makes our lives much easier." He said, and Eddie saw his fellow police officers laugh behind him.
"Office Callahan?" Jason pleaded, turning to the person that had once been on his side. Instead, Callahan just shook his head slowly, a fury behind his eyes.
Hopper took the handcuffs and started reading him his rights, all in the face of Hawkins High school watching.
Eddie leaned back, grinning, "I told ya. I just really love lacrosse."
XXX
Practicing his guitar later that night in absolute bliss, Eddie could not have imagined this is where his life would be.
A world where Jason Carver was arrested for premeditated murder.
Ah, life was good.
Chrissy went home with her parents as they worked through the 'shock and horror' at the truth, Mrs. Cunningham whimpering while her father proclaimed he 'never liked that lad!'.
The rest of the Party had split, their stories already long ago planned. He expected they'd all be called in for statements tomorrow. And none of them would falter.
There was a knock on Eddie's door.
He expected it to be Chrissy and considered opening the door naked because he was a horny young adult so what else would she be here for except a good celebration fuck, but was very glad he decided against it.
It was not Chrissy.
It was Mike and, erm, a small…bald boy?
"Hi…?"
"Jason hurt the one that you love?" The boy, who didn't sound like a boy, asked.
Eddie blinked and turned. "Mike, who is this?"
"This is Eleven." Mike seemed entirely offended that Eddie did not know what his girlfriend - who by the way, Mike had never shown a picture of- looked like right away.
"Oh. Hi. Uhm, what?" Eddie scratched his head.
"Jason. The boy my father arrested. He hurt Chrissy, right?" She looked at Mike, who coughed.
"Uhm, Steve might have mentioned something about you wanting to, erm, get your pound of flesh, I guess."
"He's right," Eddie said, eyes narrowing, "So what's this?"
"Just answer."
"Yeah, he did," Eddie replied, crossing his arms as he stared down at El, "He tried to kill her, didn't you hear?" He added with a wry smile.
"Come with us," Eleven said, "Now."
Eddie, though confused, was also curious. Mike just shrugged helplessly at him, offering nothing more than, "El really cares about justice, you know?"
They drove in Eddie's car to the middle of the woods. It was a small cabin with smashed windows and leaves littering the front porch.
"Am I about to get ax murdered out here?" Eddie mumbled.
"No, my dad and I live…" El frowned, "Used to live out here."
"Oh!" Eddie blinked, not wanting to offend a girl who had - allegedly - superpowers, "Cozy."
Hopper was sitting outside, a shotgun across his lap. He stood when the trio got out of the car. But Mike and El stood there, motioning him forward.
"Are you sure I'm not going to be killed?" Eddie asked in a hushed whisper.
"That would make this entire exchange…rather useless," Hopper said from the front porch, "Drive around. Come back in twenty." He instructed his daughter. Mike nodded, and Eddie turned to warn Mike that if there was one smudge on that car, but was too nervous to even muster a threat.
"Why am I here?" He asked Hopper. The bearded man stared down.
"I would want to kill someone for trying to hurt those I love too. In fact," He gave an almost eerie grin, "I have."
"So what? I'm going to take that shotgun and go in there and blow Jason's brains out? Off the grid?" To be honest, the idea almost thrilled Eddie. Hopper scowled.
"No! Justice will decide what to do with him. No killing." He threatened, "And nowhere that will be obvious. We can turn a blind eye to someone wincing in pain and bending over, but it's harder if you break his jawbone." He said sternly.
"Sir…how am I even allowed to be out here?" Eddie asked, "Won't someone…notice?"
Hopper paused, staring out into the forest, "Nancy, who contacted me, was right. Hawkins is fickle. They love Jason until they have a reason to hate him. But once they hate him…" He snorted, "They're an obstinate town. No one'll question it. Besides; could have happened anywhere. A sociopathic former All-American Golden Boy?" He laughed, "Who knows who roughed him up? Hard to say."
Eddie nodded. Hopper checked his watch and tapped the glass.
"You got fourteen minutes now. Make 'em count."
Eddie cracked his knuckles, "I intend to."
He pushed open the creaky door of the cabin to see Jason handcuffed to the wall. Certainly an abuse of police power, but Eddie didn't really care what happened to him.
As Eddie approached, Jason struggled.
"What the fuck are you doing here, freak?" He demanded.
"I'm here to show you what hell looks like," Eddie said with a smile, "A preview of what's to come." He pulled back and kicked Jason in the shins, making him go down.
Jason yelled. Let him. No one was going to hear shit out here.
The more Jason cried out, the anger and the most furious his punches and kicks became. All in easily coverable places; his stomach, his ribs…places covered by clothing. All he could think was that this is how Chrissy must have sounded, and he just kept on going. And the fucker probably enjoyed it as much as Eddie enjoyed it now.
"Fuck you," Jason spat, coughing up spittle on the ground and he used his free arm to try to shield his body, "I didn't fucking try to kill her. I don't know what you did, but you're going to pay."
"How?" Eddie laughed, "Seems to me like you're the one chained and hated."
"So what?" Jason asked, still attempting to stand tall, "This is revenge? For me going after you? I'm sorry I assumed you tried to kill her. That's what you want to hear? Is that why you're here?"
"Wow, you're stupid as hell," Eddie laughed, "I thought for sure you would have realized it by now."
Jason shook his head, "Realized what?" He demanded, pulling on his handcuffs.
Eddie leaned in just close enough to be out of Jason's reach, grinning maniacally, "I'm the one sleeping with Chrissy." He whispered, watching the horror and disgust spread over Jason's face, "She's been with me for weeks. You're a fool, Jason Carver."
Jason angrily yanked at his confides, "I'm gunna murder you man! And you know what? Great idea telling me. Super smart of you," He sneered.
"It is, though. Because if you do tell anyone, I see it shaking out one of two ways. One; no one gives a shit. You're a monster and they'll probably be glad she found someone in her grief and anguish. Or two; you just give yourself even more reason why you tried to murder her on the 21st. If it comes out we're together…wow, that's basically a motive, huh?" Eddie snorted, "Funny how that would work out."
"I don't know what satan voodoo you did on her but-,"
"Oh, let it go, man. You lost. Like…really lost. Enjoy prison."
He turned, but then thought of Chrissy black and blue. He turned around and punched his face as hard as he could. Jason's nose cracked and Jason yowled.
"That one is for Chrissy. If she were here…I bet she'd stomp on your face until there was nothing left. And I'd watch." Eddie spat.
He closed the door as Jason yelled profanities at him.
Outside, Hopper looked at Eddie's bloodied knuckles and raised an eyebrow.
"Broken noses can be re-set easily," Eddie muttered, "Easy to break, too. Could have just…tripped in his cell. For an athlete, he's sure clumsy."
Hopper gave an aggravated sigh.
"You have a problem with authority or something? You can't follow directions well, huh?"
Eddie gave a wry grin, "Actually, yes." He paused, "Than-,"
He hardly got through his appreciation before Hopper waved him off.
"Don't mention it. Seriously. Never mention this."
Eddie saw the lights pull around, his car unharmed. He gave Hopper his best-confused look before replying, "Never mention what?"
He couldn't be sure, but underneath the frown, he was pretty sure he saw Hopper stifle a grin.