Hellcheer S4 rewrite WIP
Takes place right before everyone splits up for the finale showdown
Chrissy POV
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Nervously she folds her fingers into the too long soft blue sleeves. "I'm going to go with Max."
She knows they've all heard her clearly, still, Steve clarifies, "Chrissy, are you sure?"
"I know you don't know what to do with me, and I appreciate you all trying to keep me safe, but if Max is right wouldn't the two of us be better? I can help draw Vecna in too."
"Yeah but–" Eddie says, face pinched in worry. Everyone looks doubtful, Nancy's eyes tighten as she purses her lips and Robin stares at her shoes.
Clenching her fists and cringing when her voice wavers, she protests, "it's not right for me to hide wherever you want to put me while a freshman goes and risks her life alone. And a middle schooler."
Erica scoffs while Lucas looks doubtful and Max bristles, "I've faced things from the upside down before, I'll be fine–"
"It's just that Max is…" Nancy says and she doesn't need to finish her sentence. Max is tougher. Max has fought creatures before. Max isn't as afraid, Max is braver, stronger, a fighter–
Chrissy knows what she looks like in her borrowed blue sweater and white pants, cheer shoes tied with perfect bows and her hair carefully pulled up. She knows what they see when they look at her. Something small, something fragile. She isn't brave, or a fighter, she's a doll to be carefully protected in her glass case. Chrissy Cunningham will be placed back on her shelf when the danger is past with not a single crack in her perfect porcelain.
"Eddie." She whispers, looking to him for something, some sort of backup. And when he meets her eyes she's relieved to find support there; the two run-aways, the cowards understanding implicitly that this time they don't want to run from what scares them. If he's going to face his demons, so will she.
"You sure about this, Cunningham?" He checks with her once to be safe, when she nods resolutely he ruffles the back of his hair and shrugs to the others. "She's sure, she can make her own choices. Who're we to stop her?"
"It'll be harder for Sinclair to watch over both of you but if he thinks he can do it, I say screw it, this whole thing is already a long shot to begin with." Steve puts his hands up as if surrendering to her and Chrissy almost smiles.
"I can do it." Lucas says, "but I think this whole thing is stupid and dangerous."
When Max looks like she's gearing up to argue again he quickly adds, "not that I think you can't, just…"
"It either works and we kill the most evil this town has yet to see– which is impressive, or, we all, you know. Die." Robin says almost cheerfully. Next to her Nancy adds in her intense and serious way,
"But at least we'll have tried."
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When everyone is almost ready to split up and the nerves are starting to weigh so heavily it's near crushing Chrissy catches the sleeve of Eddie's jacket.
"Thank you." She whispers, still holding on. "Uhm."
At a loss for words she glances around them quickly to make sure no one is watching before darting up onto her toes and kissing him on the cheek. "Please be careful. You– you don't have to prove anything, okay?"
It's such a dumb thing to blush about but she knows her face is bright red as he touches his cheek with awe. "Yeah. Chrissy, uh, you too."
Even though she can tell he's just as filled with dread as she is, he's still Eddie and he groans, rolling his eyes and bouncing the heel of his palm off his forehead, "Wow, not much of a bard, huh? They should write that down to keep when they write our epic tale of adventure, 'uh, you too.' Yikes."
His smile is wide when she giggles, and she'll always give him credit for his seemingly effortless transitions from endearingly awkward to incredibly smooth, "lets try that again, yeah?"
His warm, wide eyes are inches from hers as he leans down close, hands on her shoulders,
"You keep those squirts safe, I'll go play one of the most metal sets in the history of music to save these stupid heros, then we get out of this hellhole and do whatever the hell we want together. How's that sound?"
"Sounds like a date." Eddie's shocked face is going to be imprinted on her eyelids, right next to the shy smile he gives her as he licks his lips nervously and reaches to pull free her scrunchy. "It's like a good luck charm, I know it's dumb but I always feel like I can be better when I wear it."
"For luck." He says when she doesn't protest or ask for him to return it, putting it on his wrist and tucking it under his sleeve.
"I, I'll need you to give that back you know." Chrissy says, chest tight with worry. "Make sure you bring it back to me."
Make sure you come back to me. She thinks, surprising herself.
She's about to let him go, she can see Dustin getting antsy behind him, before she takes his hand and gently slides free one of his rings. The vampire one, miniature fangs bared. It sort of fits on her index finger and she holds it in place with a tightly clenched fist.
"And I'll give this back when you do."
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Will this be a whole fic? IDK but I have a lot of other things to finish first.
I know hellcheer fans love the idea of Chrissy saving Eddie from the bats but personally I immediately thought of how different it would be if she was there to confront Jason. It A) solves a huge part of my problem with S4V2 of having Lucas and Erica's biggest threats be regular (white) humans instead of fictional monsters and how much I hated those scenes for them, and B) Gives Chrissy the chance to stand up to Jason and have a great character moment