The Dead Kid’s Brother and the Freak (Part Three)
eddie munson x male!hargrove!reader
STRANGER THINGS SEASON FOUR SPOILERS
summary: three parter! first part is about how reader and eddie met, second is them getting together, and this one is reader being infected by vecna’s curse ! (Yay this part is finally done!!)
warnings - mention of death, mention of attempted unaliving, arguing/fighting, cursing, mentions of abuse
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“When the hell are those idiots getting back here?” You hissed angrily, trying to wipe off some blood that had randomly started flowing from your nose. “Shit, and now my nose is bleeding.”
You were at your wits’ end at this point. You were so fucking tired of everything. You wanted to go home and sleep in your own damn bed. You wanted to eat as much garbage as you wanted. You didn’t want to live as a murder suspect for the rest of your damn life. You needed to go back and support Max and Susan. You were still young!
“They better be back soon. I’m getting freaked the hell out!” Eddie exclaimed, pacing around back and forth on the ground. “Oh god oh god…we’re so screwed! We’re so damn screwed!!”
Your face was twisted into a snarl as you watched him walk around, head absolutely pounding. You pulled off your jacket and threw it down at Eddie from the top of the rock. “Would you stop that?!”
Eddie stopped in his tracks, the jacket you threw at him falling to the dirty forest floor. His eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head at you like a confused puppy. He then seemed to finally register that your nose was bleeding. “Oh- shit, doll, here-!” He was about to come up and help you with your bloody nose, but he hadn’t expected you to smack his hand away once he got up there. “Baby..?”
“You pacing down there and muttering all that pessimistic shit isn’t helping the situation, Ed!” You snapped. “My head is fucking killing me and I didn’t get an ounce of sleep because of that damn nightmare I keep having! So please, cut it out!”
Eddie stopped, not knowing how to react exactly. You hadn’t ever used that tone of voice with him before. It would probably be expected. He felt terrible you were in this kind of situation. You didn’t deserve any of it, especially being treated like a suspect because of you having a dead brother. Apparently the story had gone something like ‘he went crazy after the death of his younger sibling’, which Eddie personally thought was bullshit.
He sat with you every night when you had nightmares about that fateful night. He remembered bolting out of his trailer in the trailer park when he heard your scream faintly from the trailer across from his. You would tend to leave your window unlocked after the first few nights this happened, so Eddie could hurriedly climb inside and practically leap onto your bed so he could hold you. He would cradle you in his arms and stroke your hair, whispering sweet nothings into your ear.
The last thing you were was crazy. All you were was traumatized. You were guilt-ridden. You would never hurt anybody, much less hurt someone like the way Chrissy was killed.
“Look, baby, I’m sorry…” Eddie sat next to you on the rock. “If you want to try and get some more sleep, I’ll hold you. All that stress might be getting to your head or something, so some rest could help you feel a little better.”
“Oh, we are way past that.” You muttered, crossing your arms and not acknowledging Eddie’s frown at you.
“Okayyy…I dunno what your problem is, but can you maybe not talk to me like that? I know this is a shitty situation but I’m trying to help you, babe.” He said, tensing up. Was this about to be an argument? A fight? He never thought he’d have one of those with you.
Yeah, a couple that doesn’t fight is a bit unrealistic, but the only fights you two ever had were small disagreements that the both of you knew were never serious. You’d yell at each other over Dungeons and Dragons sometimes but you both would smile by the end of it.
“My problem?” You looked at him in disbelief. “Well, Munson-”
“Oh, so we’re not even on first name basis anymore-?”
“-my problem is that I’m hiding out in the fucking woods from the cops because I’m a murder suspect! That’s my damn problem! Not to mention I’m a murder suspect because my brother is dead, which a handful of people think I did, by the way!” You stood up on the rock, the bottled up rage you had finally spilling over. “I’m scared, I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I keep having these stupid headaches and nightmares! Every night I’m reliving the worst moments of my life! And who the hell knows what’s happening to my sister right now? What if something happened to her while I’m here like a fucking sitting duck?!”
“Well, you don’t think I’m scared, hungry, and tired too?!” Before he knew it, Eddie was shouting back at you, standing up to meet your level. “Goddamn it, babe, there’s nothing we can do about this, so I would really appreciate it if you quit acting like I can just make everything better! If you wanna leave, then be my guest, darling!” His face moved close to yours, his voice painfully condescending.
“Maybe I will!” You snapped. “I’ll go get fucking arrested, how about that?!”
“What do you want me to say?!” Eddie shot back. “Jesus christ, I don’t know what you want from me!”
That’s when you realized, you didn’t know what you wanted from him either. Why were you yelling at him? What did he do wrong? Eddie was only trying to help. Apparently you’d been quiet for too long, as Eddie kept talking.
“See? You don’t even know! So why the hell are you yelling at me?! Try watching Chrissy Cunningham’s bones snap in all different directions, then see what it’s like!”
“Oh yeah?!” Your fire only got refueled. “Try watching your little brother get fucking murdered by a fucking Mind Flayer! Yeah, you really think he died in a damn fire?! I sat with my sister and held him while he died!” Tears filled your eyes and fell at the memory.
“A what?” Eddie spluttered, but then shook his head. “That’s not what this is about! It’s not my fault he died, so why are you taking this out on me? If you wanna leave, go right on ahead! If you wanna get caught by the damn cops or whatever killed Chrissy and Patrick then be my guest!”
Then, within a couple seconds, he was on the ground. You had shoved him. “Goddamn it, Ed!” You hopped off the rock. “Fuck you!”
Eddie watched from the ground as you stomped off into the woods alone. When you were out of view he sighed to himself.
After around a minute or so of walking, you leaned up against a tree and started to cry. Why the hell did you do that? Eddie was only trying to help you, and you flew off the handle at him. Maybe he wouldn’t have said what he said if you hadn’t started screaming at him. Nonetheless, it still hurt. You didn’t really know how long you sat and sobbed for, but you were interrupted by a loud sound.
You stood up, intrigued by the sound. You nervously walked in the direction of it.
“Ed..?” You called out, but there was no response. “Eddie..?” Your eyebrows furrowed as you saw an antique grandfather clock just…stuck inside of a tree.
“The hell?” You mumbled, and then a voice spoke behind you that sent a horrifying chill down your spine.
“You think that pothead’s gonna come and save you after what he said to you, big brother?”
You weren’t sure if you wanted to turn around or not. Your curiosity got the better of you and you slowly turned around, the air being drawn out of your throat in a gasp at the figure standing there.
“Buh-Buh-Buh-!” Billy mocked, his eyes holding fake sympathy and innocence. He was in the same outfit as you last saw him in. White tank top and jeans, but the only difference was the appalling, disgusting, grotesque hole in his abdomen. You hadn’t seen his face in such a long time, except for in your nightmares. So…what was this? Another nightmare?
“Billy…” You managed out, trying not to let your voice get caught in your throat. “I-I-It’s been so long…I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry for everything!” You blurted, your apologies you wanted to tell Billy since his death spilling out like a pot of water boiling over.
You apologized for what happened to Mom. You apologized for not being able to prevent Neil from hurting him. You apologized for neglecting him when you moved to Hawkins. You apologized for not saving him.
All he did was stare at you. His thick eyebrows were pulled downward and his mouth didn’t move. His fists stayed clenched by his sides. You weren’t even sure if he was blinking.
“Billy? Please, say something!” You begged, and you were about to walk over to him, but his words stopped you.
“You aren’t really sorry, are you?”
“You’re just like Max. Part of you wanted me to die that day, hm?”
“What?! Billy, no, that’s not true!” You stammered. “Billy, I love you more than anything, I never wanted you to die!”
“Then why did you leave me alone?” Billy scowled. “You’d go and fuck around with those assholes who never even gave a shit about you. You’d fuck around and hardly even think about me. Then you tried to kill yourself like that would solve anything. I saved your goddamn life and you were about to throw it away.”
“It’s time for your suffering to come to an end, big brother.”
“Shit…” Eddie mumbled, his body trembling as he sat at the base of Skull Rock. “Baby just come back…I’m so sorry…Jesus fucking Christ I screwed up so so bad…” he stared in the direction you’d stormed off in. He obviously knew you couldn’t hear him, but just maybe if he begged quietly enough you’d come back. He couldn’t leave. What if the others showed up and no one was there?
Eventually, he spotted Steve and Dustin push through the leaves. Before he could even say anything, Max shoved through everybody there. Her blue eyes stared into Eddie after they darted around the area.
“Where’s my brother?” She asked, stepping closer to Eddie. Her gaze intensified when Eddie averted his eyes and gave no answer. “Eddie Munson tell me where my brother is!!” She exclaimed, but Steve came forward and gently touched her shoulder as a way to tell her to back off.
Robin squeezed between the two and looked at Eddie.
“Look Munson, you gotta tell us what happened to Hargrove.” She said seriously.
“…I screwed the hell up.” Eddie mumbled quietly.
Robin’s eyebrows furrowed. “Did something happen?”
“We were…both stressin’ the hell out, y’know? So I think I pissed him off a little and he started yelling at me, and we were fighting…” Eddie explained, Robin taking a seat next to him. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Then I…I told him to leave. And he did. I-I dunno where he went but-”
“You told him to leave and didn’t look for him?!” Max exclaimed.
“I was waiting for you guys!” Eddie stammered back.
Max was fuming, Kate Bush still blaring through her ears. “You idiot! Which way did he go?!”
Eddie immediately pointed in the direction of where you left, and Max stormed off in that direction, calling out your name.
“Shit, are you serious?” Steve mumbled, running a hand through his gorgeous hair. “Let’s all go look for him. In groups.” He said.
“Nance?” Robin looked over to her, who averted her eyes.
“Sure.” She said curtly, going with Robin into the woods.
“I’ll find Max.” Lucas quickly said and ran to where Max had gone.
“Come on, Henderson. You too, Eddie.” Steve demanded.
“Just volunteer me like that, okay.” Dustin mumbled, going up to Steve and following him into the woods, Eddie not too far behind.
It didn’t take too long for someone to find you. Eddie, Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Nancy were alerted by the sound of Max’s panicked yelling.
“Well, looks like they found him!” Steve exclaimed, but Eddie was already running to where they heard Max’s voice. Eddie wasn’t sure he’d ever run so fast, but he about froze in his tracks when he found Max and Lucas.
There stood you, his boyfriend, in the middle of the woods. Your eyes were puffy and face tear-streaked, but that’s not what he was worried about. Your eyes were rolled into the back of your head. You looked exactly like Chrissy had that night.
Max was in tears, frantically shaking you despite the fact she knew it wouldn’t do anything. “Come on, you gotta wake up!” She choked out.
“Shit!” Dustin exclaimed when he and Steve arrived. He hurried over and grabbed multiple tapes from Max’s Walkman. “His favorite song! What is it?!”
“I-I dunno-!” Max replied, still trying to shake your still body awake.
“Why do we need to know his favorite song?!” Eddie exclaimed, finally finding his voice and going up next to Max. Although he knew he needed to do something. How would he be able to live with himself if you died the same way Chrissy did after what he said to you? He finally realized how badly he was shaking when he reached out to touch you, Max’s screams beside him deafening.
“Just- what is it?!” Steve exclaimed, and Eddie realized all eyes were on him. They figured he would know it.
“Wh- she doesn’t know it?!” He gestured to Max, silently cursing himself for his voice cracking.
“No! You talk to him more than me!” Max shouted, Robin and Nancy finally showing up to the scene. “Hurry up and think!!”
Eddie’s breathing increased, searching for any memory of a conversation of which you mentioned a particular song you liked. It was hard to think with the redhead screaming next to him and everybody freaking out. You tended to listen to stuff like AC/DC or The Scorpions, or sometimes Def Leppard. Although Eddie could never recall you saying that a song by say, Guns N’ Roses was your favorite. What about special moments between the two of you? What songs tended to pop up?
‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper played when the two of you had your first kiss up on that rock.
You both had your first time later that night to the tune of ‘Africa’ by Toto.
He went through some more songs and then he remembered.
Dungeons and Dragons that day hadn’t gone too well for Eddie, plus school hadn’t been great for him either. It was pretty obvious people thought of him as a freak. This man was like 20 and still in school. Usually people’s words didn’t bother him, but something about today was a little different. He had also had a nightmare the previous night too, which had freaked him out pretty bad. He just had a bad day, which you picked up quickly whenever he called you from across the street. Usually he just came over.
You’d walked over to where he resided, waving to Mr. Munson who was on his way out to go work. He almost instantly met you in the living room, hardly giving you any chance to speak before he hugged you tightly. He ignored all your questioning, just focusing on your embrace. He let out a soft, content sigh as he felt you run your fingers through his frizzy hair.
“Bad day, Ed?” You had crooned.
“Mmhm…” he softly mumbled in agreement, letting his face find a nice hiding spot in the crook of your neck. “Today sucked ass.”
You let a soft chuckle escape your lips at his phrasing and kissed the top of Eddie’s head. “Let’s go lay down and we can talk about it.” You gently removed his face from its little hiding spot and kissed his cheek before you led him back to his room.
After he explained everything to you, you kissed his cheek before hopping up and telling you that you would be right back. He waited about a minute or two and you came back with a walkman and a certain tape.
“We’ve known each other for a while,” you’d started, a faint pink hue in your cheeks. Were you embarrassed? “And when this song came out, I started to listen to it whenever I was sad. I would kinda dance around to it in my room like a total idiot. Billy caught me once and never let me hear the end of it.” You chuckled sadly at the memory. “I’ll let you listen to it since it might help you too, but you have to promise not to make fun of me.”
“Aww, is my wittle baby embawwassed?” Eddie teased, standing up and pulling you in close to him, kissing all over your face.
You huffed and gently punched his chest. “I’m trying to open up to you right now Eddie and make you feel better. Do you wanna hear the song or not?” You puffed out your cheeks in irritation.
“Okay, just stop making that face.” He joked, poking your cheek. “You look like a pufferfish.”
“You love me, doll. I promise not to make fun of you either.” He hummed, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “Alright babe, hit me.”
You sighed a little at his antics, but there was a smile on your face. You gently placed the headphones over his ears, pressing play.
He waited a little and let the song start playing before he giggled just a little.
“I told you not to make fun of me-!” You whined.
“I’m not!” Eddie quickly defended, still letting soft giggles out. “It’s cute!” You didn’t seem to believe him, so he stood and slipped the Walkman into his pocket. You were confused but then he placed his hand on your waist and held your hand on the other. You understood what he was getting at and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Do you even know how to dance?” You asked, squinting at him. “Besides, I’m supposed to be comforting you.”
“This is comforting.” Eddie shrugged. “And I can figure it out. Probably.”
“I know!” Eddie shouted out. “I know it! Lemme see the goddamn tapes!” He took them from Steve and looked through them. “It’s not here!”
This only aroused more panic, especially from Max. Then Eddie got an idea.
“…” All eyes immediately went to a certain member of the group.
“Shit.” Dustin muttered, raising his hand.
You had been running, and long story short, you were in some kind of…blood dimension. It was something you might see out of a movie. You just had to get away from this thing. Was it the thing that killed Chrissy? As you ran, you eventually made it to some sort of…was it a house? But then you saw it.
Your breathing only increased if that was even possible. You turned to run away, screaming Eddie’s name. As if he would or could come and save you. Something wrapped around your leg and dragged you back screaming. In a heartbeat you were trapped up against a weird, fleshy pillar. It was really gross.
“Let go! Get off!” You cried out at the disgusting creature in front of you. You squirmed and kicked but nothing happened as a weird…thing slithered up and grasped your throat. Vecna said something to you, but you couldn’t exactly tell what it was. This was it. You were gonna die. There was so much you had wanted to do in life, but you weren’t gonna be able to. Billy’s words repeated in your head. Was he gonna say the same thing when you saw him in the afterlife? What was Eddie going to think when he saw your limbs twisted like a snapped twig.
“Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes, there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh, so sad, so quiet”
Chiquitita. The song you always listened to when you were sad. The song you made Eddie listen to and danced with him in his bedroom to. But it wasn’t ABBA singing it. Was that…Eddie Munson and Dustin Henderson? A small hole/portal opened up in the far back of the scary dimension. You were floating in the air where you first heard the clock. Dustin, Lucas, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Max, and Eddie were panicking below. Dustin and Eddie’s mouths were both moving slower than the others, and then you realized they were singing to you to help you.
His grasp on your throat tightened, and you could feel your eyes roll back into your head before you snapped out of it. You couldn’t die here. Not while Max and Eddie were there. Billy gave his life for yours and others, so you couldn’t let what he did go to waste.
“Get…off…you…FUCK FACE!” You wheezed, lifting your leg and kicking Vecna where the sun doesn’t shine. Well, where it would be. He instantly let go, and you had never run so damn fast in your entire life.
“Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now, I see you've broken a feather
(How it hurts to see you cry)
(And how it hurts to see you sad)
I hope we can patch it up together”
Vecna started to throw…well, something at you. You weren’t about to look back and risk being slaughtered. One of the objects fell directly behind you and caused you to fly forward face first in the…blood? Yucky. Choking on the crimson substance, you scrambled up and started running once more.
“Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go
And the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky
(The sun is shining in the sky)
Let me hear you sing once more
(So let me hear you sing some more)
(The way you used to do before)
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more, like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita”
You were almost there. You could see the group better. It broke your heart to see Max and Eddie both crying. Eddie’s voice shook while he sung. Max was trembling in Lucas’ arms, which only kicked up your adrenaline and you ran even faster, yelling your sister’s name.
“MAX!” You screamed out in desperation. “I’M COMING, MAX!”
Then your world turned stark white.
Your eyes opened, and you were suddenly falling, screaming out as you did.
Your ears were ringing and your vision was blurry, but you felt a pair of arms around you and frizzy hair was seen from the corner of your eyes. Eddie? Your breathing was quick, grasping onto Eddie tightly and inhaling in the small scent of his house that was left after hiding out in multiple places. Eddie was saying something to you, and you felt his lips touch the top of your head, but you weren’t focused on him.
“Max…” you whispered, trying to get your vision to work properly again. “Max…you okay..?”
You recognized the red hair approaching and your vision and hearing came back to you. Max knelt in front of you, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“You idiot, you almost got killed and you’re asking if I’m okay?” She mumbled, wiping her eyes furiously. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t…bullshit me.” You said softly, and pushed away from Eddie, ignoring your body trembling. “C’mere…sis.” As soon as you held out your arms, Max was in them, hugging you tightly.
“I…I’m glad I didn’t lose you, too.” She muttered quiet enough for only you to hear.
“I know…I’m sorry I got you worried. But I’m not letting some nasty-ass monster get me.” You chuckled, grinning when she laughed a little as well. She pulled away with a soft sniffle.
“Yeah, of course.” She said, already seeming to be doing better. She looked to Eddie beside you, who unbeknownst to you, was still in tears. He felt so guilty about what he said. She pondered for a moment before standing up. “I think Eddie wants to say something. In private.” She pointedly looked at the others.
“Yeah, come on.” Robin nodded, leading the others away a little to give you both privacy.
You turned a little to look at Eddie, who definitely looked like he was aching to say something. You opened your mouth to say something, but he beat you to it.
“Baby I am so so sorry.” He blurted, tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to forgive me, I’m not expecting you to. I-I fucked up so so so bad. There was no reason for me to have said what I said. There’s no justification or any of that shit. I-I never m-meant for this to happen, I swear to whatever God is out there. God, Zeus, who the hell ever! Just please know I never want to see you hurt, and if I could take back what I said, I’d do whatever it took.” His voice shook like you’d never heard before, and it broke so many times. Tears spilled from his gorgeous eyes, but he never looked away from you.
“Eddie-” a sob escaped your throat and you threw your arms around him. “I’m the one who should be sorry…I started saying that awful shit when you were trying to help. I’m so fucking sorry. I thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with me…just please don’t leave me…” you whimpered pathetically into the crook of his neck. “I thought I would never see you or Max ever again. I don’t care about some argument anymore. I just want you.”
“Oh, thank fuck.” Eddie sighed out shakily in relief, holding you close and cradling you like he had countless times when you were sad.
The both of you sat together and cried. You both cried until Steve came back and made you come to Skull Rock. But even then…you never stopped making contact. You held each other’s hands the whole time.
“Eddie..?” You whispered softly after he picked you up in his arms.
“Yes, doll..?” His voice was delicate glass.
“You really sang Chiquitita for me with Dustin Henderson?” You giggled, and he just smiled and kissed your temple.
“For you, a thousand times over.”
