am I DREAMIN' ?

Billy’s a terrifying force. He ripped through Hawkins like a hurricane and made sure everyone knew who he was, what he was capable of. And… it all seemed like a carefully constructed facade to Eddie. Even after all this time.

Eddie breaths in deep, laborious breaths as Billy holds onto him, damn near ruining his favorite shirt. He doesn’t dare try to pull away, though, that would only make it worse in more ways than one. He figures he’ll try the peeling method if Billy doesn’t let go soon, his eyes darting around looking for an exit out of his own damn home.

“Sounds like you got more answers than I do.” Eddie replies flatly as the lighter falls into his lap. It makes him jump, like it’s going to burn him or something, and it takes him a long moment to look back up at Billy, his eyes squinting just a little.

They weren’t all that different, were they? Steve and Nancy and Robin had all just… said goodbye to him, went on with their lives because this shit was fuckin’ normal to them by this point. “Maxine?” He repeated, checking his mental inventory before it clicked and he nodded. “Ah, yeah, Red. No. I only really know Dustin, Mike, and Lucas. I can’t help you, man. All I got is weed.”

Part of him HATES how perceptive Munson is underneath those doe brown eyes and wild hair. Everyone always overlooks the guy but Billy knew, how could he not, there was more there. After all, a few nights hiding out in Eddie’s trailer was nearly fucking heaven compared to what Neil would do if he smelled the weed on him.

No matter how he bares his teeth, Eddie never ran.

Billy always wondered WHY it was the guy was brave in all the most stupid ways. Maybe, just, maybe it’s why he always keeps coming back. Eddie fucking Munson was the one surefire reliable thing in his life and loathe as he is to admit it a part of him was starved for stability. “Maybe,” he agrees, “or maybe I was given answers when I didn’t even know what questions to ask.”

It speaks volumes he takes the time to bend down, tap the ash into the tray between them, then straighten up with a long pull of his cigarette. “Jesus, that what they’re calling her,” Billy scoffs, shaking his head, and looks around the shitty little trailer that shouldn’t be so goddamn familiar.

But he knows where Wayne keeps the beer and kicks the fridge close once he’s fetched two. Popping the tab, he hands the other to Eddie and hums a little, “See, that’s where I think you’re wrong Munson. I think maybe you have the right answers and I’ve just been asking the wrong questions.” Finishing his cigarette, he snubs the end into the tray and circles around wreathed in smoke. Dropping to the couch, Billy takes a long gulp of beer as if parched and settles for pointing at Eddie with a small half smile.

“So we’re gonna play a game, alright? Just the two of us for old time sake.” Another sip, Billy’s arm falls along the back of the couch and blue eyes narrow. How quickly the smile fades.

“Where’s my sister?”

Eddie has spent enough time around Billy Hargrove to know when the energy is changing. It rises up like a black fog, it’s stifling – suffocating, impossible to wriggle free of.

His eyes are wide, very wide, and cautious as he keeps them focused on Billy – like a prey animal in the savannah with their eyes peeled for danger. He knows Billy could pounce, attack, at any moment. He just hopes he’ll have the reflexes to react the right way.

And… he doesn’t.

Billy’s fingers are twisted into the fabric of his shirt – twisting and pulling, and Eddie just knows it’s going to have a permanent stretch to it. He can hear the threads popping. “What the fuck?” He replies, his heart rate hiking. This is when he would normally flee but there’s no way out.

“Listen, man, I got dragged into that hell by coincidence only. There’re some creepy fuckin’ monsters in there, and… and… I don’t know, there’s some superpowered girl out here who can fight them. What do you want from me?”

They’re not friends. But . . . they’re not enemies.

Billy has known about the guy since Neil dragged them to this sleepy little shit stain of a town in the part of Indiana everyone happened to forget. But befriending Munson came hand in hand with controlling the party scene. It was a business transaction keeping things amicable between them, nothing more nothing less.

At least he tells himself that, gripping the guy’s shirt and staring into his face for answers. Some part of him trusts the guy to be honest. Eddie hasn’t lied yet so that’s worth something. His grip tightens a moment, yanks hard until the threads warp and nearly break now.

Why the FUCK was Munson lying now?

Unless -

Billy looks over his face, chews the words over slowly. Blue eyes narrow and there’s a tilt of his head. No, Eddie wasn’t lying. There was no fucking way to explain how he knew without sounding absolutely insane. Then again, maybe the guy would believe a dead man.

Slowly he lets go, rolling his lower lip between his teeth and sighs with an audible pop. “Answers.” It was obvious he didn’t have them. Billy leans over, plucking Eddie’s lighter from the table. “Her name is Jane or Eleven.” Half smoked cigarette balanced between his lips, Billy flicks the lighter and sighs around the coiling smoke. Tossing the lighter in Eddie’s lap unceremoniously, Billy takes another pull.

“Guess you’re not as close to Maxine and her friends as I thought.” A huff of laughter slips free. “You’re just like me.”

Eddie shrugs his shoulders. “It’s all I’ve got.” He replies, figuring Billy will decide what he wants and make the best out of it. He does nothing but watch Billy as the other man rummages around his things, lights the cigarette Eddie’s offered, blowing the smoke in Eddie’s face.

Eddie pulls a joint from the pack, tucked there for safe keeping. He puts it between his lips and sparks it up, taking a hit before looking up at Billy. He looks him up and down again, still trying to figure him out.

“Are you talking about the upside down?” What else could he possibly be talking about? “I don’t know that much.”

“Guess it’ll have to do for now.” Ash is flicked to the side, the only consideration he gives the guy. Billy takes another slow pull and mulls it over a bit. Eddie Munson was a fucking nuisance and annoyance but even he had to admit watching those ringed fingers roll a joint was a thing of beauty. He’s almost more pissed off seeing the pre-roll than anything else and huffs out a laugh laced with smoke.

Upside down? Guess it made sense. Everything there was wrong. His house hadn’t been his house and everything was familiar and yet -

“Sure,” Billy says, leaning forward to gesture idly with his cigarette. “Let’s go with that.” Snubbing the end between his fingers with a quick twist, it’s easy to tuck the cigarette behind an ear as he catches Eddie by the shirt dragging him forward. “So why the fuck do I get the feeling you’re lying to me, huh Munson?”

Looking over his face, he doesn’t shy from the smoke coiling up between them. It’s pungent and smells like some fucked up blend he’d come to expect from the guy.

“You know something so, get to talking.”