As Long as I Have You | Eddie Munson
Summary: You tried to stop Vecna but you failed. Hawkins has split open and the only thing you managed to successfully do was save Eddie from near death. Now, you have to figure out what happens next.
TW: Blood, injury, mention of open wounds, alcohol use, drug use, MDNI, 18+
Word count: 1.5k
Authors note: This is part one of a three-part series. I will link the other parts as they are released.
The world felt as if it were falling apart. In fact, it was falling apart. Hawkins had cracked. A gaping hole tore through the town. Ash fell from the sky, snow-like but with a darkness to it. The town shook with earthquakes as buildings fell. Everything in that moment felt hopeless. Vecna had succeeded in opening the four gates.
You. You had failed.
You stood just outside of the trailer you had crawled back through, seeing the town start to tear apart. Your eyes shifted up to the person beside you. Eddie. He was badly injured by some demobats, almost didn’t make it out, but you managed to stop the bleeding long enough to get him out of there.
“We…we didn’t make it. We didn’t stop him.” You said in a whisper, your voice shaking as Eddie held an arm across his stomach. There was something about the intensity of the situation that almost made you forget this man, this man who had been your best friend since you were preschool-aged; this man almost died.
Eddie finally looked down at you with the smallest bit of tears building up in his eyes. He had tried. He had tried so damn hard to protect this town. For some stupid reason, he was trying to save the town who ultimately hated him.
“What now?” Eddie asked in a whisper so soft you almost didn’t hear it. You glanced back at the crack. The upside down was now connected to the real world. You had no idea what would happen now. Whatever it was, it felt devastating. Horrendous. And final. Everything suddenly felt bleak and hopeless.
“We find everyone else,” Dustin replied as he stood off to the side. He had returned to the trailer with you after Eddie had been injured. The three of you stood together, watching as the town you had grown up in was becoming something foreign and strange and terrifying.
Dustin went to his house first to make sure his mom was okay, while you took Eddie into the trailer to fix him up. He was able to take exactly four steps into the home before he fell onto the couch with heavy breaths.
“We need to get these clothes off.” You said as you helped him sit up a bit, pulling the jacket off before carefully pulling off his shirt. He lay back, wincing as you glanced over the cuts he had. Deep ones too. There were so many. You had made some makeshift bandages on a few with his bandana and the bottom half of your shirt. But they were both soaked now with blood.
“Is it bad? Lie to me.” Eddie said, that stupid sense of humor he had still seemed to work just fine. You felt the tiniest curl on the corner of your lip as you started to peel back the blood-soaked pieces of cloth.
“Barely even a scratch. I think you’ll be fully healed by tomorrow.” You lied, trying to hide the obvious worry that was in your voice. You reached over for the nearest bottle of liquor that sat on the table, something his uncle had always left out. “This is going to sting.”
You poured the bottle over the cuts, and Eddie screamed out in pain, along with a few curse words. You hated seeing him like this. You hated seeing the pain you had caused him. He threw his arm up across his forehead as he closed his eyes for a moment.
“Sorry…” You whispered as you went to pour a little more. Eddie groaned some more, and his body writhed from the pain. You closed your eyes this time, squinting them as if that would make all of this go away. But it didn’t. Nothing would.
You heard sirens in the distance as you dug through the medicine cabinet. Bottles and bottles and bottles of pills. You finally found painkillers along with some needle and thread. It was at least something that could hold off…for now.
“Here. Take these.” You said, handing Eddie the pills. He didn’t even hesitate before popping them in his mouth and dry swallowing them. He let out a sigh as his body rested more into the couch.
“You didn’t have to do all this. You could’ve just left me there to die, you know?” Eddie mumbled out as you started to carefully stitch him back together. He spoke through winces, though they seemed to be getting smaller as the medicine kicked in.
“Why on Earth would I leave you there to die?” You asked with a concentrated tone. You pulled the thread back, watching as the skin slowly started to pull back together just a bit. Eddie let out the smallest little sigh, his head turning to the side so he could watch you.
“Because maybe that’s what I was meant to do.” He finally said, and the words alone made you stop what you were doing. You hated those words. Why would he ever be meant to die in the upside down? To you, it made no sense. To Eddie, it was the sacrifice he thought he had to make to protect this town.
“You’re delirious with pain. Stop talking.” You finally said after a moment as you went back to cleaning him up. After getting all of the wounds cleaned and stitched, you placed some large bandages and wraps over them.
“Am I clean and saved now?” Eddie asked as you grabbed a blanket and tossed it over him. You sat on the floor beside the couch, tilting your head at him as you pulled your knees up to your chest.
You and Eddie met as kids and immediately clicked. The two of you would ride tricycles together through the trailer park. You were nearly inseparable. Even when your mother remarried to an insurance salesman, and you moved to the suburbs, you still hung out every single day after school. Your friendship was unmatched.
“Here to stay for another 30 years. Minimum.” You teased softly as Eddie turned his head to let his dark eyes meet yours. The smallest smile crawled across his face as his color slowly started to return.
“Woohoo.” He said in the most sarcastic and quiet tone. You let out the tiniest laugh as you let your head tilt back just a bit. For a world that was falling apart, this moment felt like nothing but calm.
The door opened, and Eddie’s uncle stumbled in. His eyes were wide as he seemed to be wanting to catch his breath. Eddie sat up a bit, a groan coming out from moving too quickly.
“Thank God you’re okay,” Wayne said as he walked towards the two of you. He glanced down at Eddie’s injuries before looking at you. His eyes went between the two as he tried to take everything in.
“Are you alright? What happened?” He asked, and you quickly stumbled to your feet.
Fuck. Think of something. Quick.
“He’s fine. Or, well, he will be. We were outside near the playground. It collapsed during the earthquake, and Eddie got hurt, but I helped him.” You managed to say as Wayne’s eyes shot back to Eddie, who just nodded his head.
“Yeah. Exactly that.” He said in agreement. Wayne nodded, letting out a breath he seemed to have been holding. He glanced around as the sirens started to get louder in the distance.
“I’m going to go check on the neighbors. Stay here.” He said, pointing to the two of us. Thankfully, Wayne was never really one for questioning us. He walked out of the trailer and left us alone inside.
You stared for a moment longer before sitting back down beside Eddie. Your eyes went to his once more as he settled into the couch. He let his head roll to the side as his curls followed him. One thing you always liked: those damned curls.
“You don’t have to stay here all night, you know?” Eddie said in that soft voice he only ever seemed to use when he was around you. You let out a small laugh, pulling your knees to your chest once more.
“Where else would I go? I mean, Hotel Munson is pretty hard to give up.” You teased as Eddie let out the smallest laugh under his breath. You could tell his eyes were getting heavy, the adrenaline of everything starting to crash as his body relaxed from the pain medicine.
“Then stay. At least until I fall asleep.” He whispered as his eyes started to close. If you stayed until he fell asleep, you’d be gone in five minutes. You smiled just a bit as you reached up and pushed back one of his curls.
“Goodnight, big hair.” You whispered, teasing that nickname you had called him since he was just a small kid with a mop of curls on his head.
You watched him for the rest of the night, or at least for most of it. You watched as he slept peacefully. Even if all of Hawkins was crumbling apart, piece by piece, your world…your moment in here was safe. It was whole. Because you had Eddie and, really, that was all you needed in this life. The road ahead was going to be long…complicated, but it was doable with Eddie by your side.
