chapter xxiii .
real or fake
IT ALL CAME TO AN ABRUPT HALT. Val was holding Eddie in her arms, heart shattered in a pain beyond relief, and then.. it was over. A pressuring sensation began to envelop her whole body, as though she were in an airplane and the altitude was rising by the second. Her stomach lurched. Everything went black.
She opened her eyes, and she was back where she started. Standing in the middle of the trailer park in the pale, minimal light of the moon, staggering around as she came back to herself. She looked around, still sobbing to herself, but she was no longer in the Upside Down. The walkie talkie was still in her hand. Lucas's Walkman sat on the porch, right where she'd left it.
When she knelt down to pick it up, confused beyond her wits, the screen door of Eddie's trailer burst open, and out tumbled Dustin. He was limping, just like Val's vision—if that was even what it was; she was not sure what she could qualify as reality anymore. It was as though the rigid line between the real world and fiction had blurred in a way beyond repair.
Dustin wasn't crying, though. He was smiling. He threw his hands in the air, laughing victoriously.
Val stood up slowly, her head cocked to the side as she watched Dustin's triumphant cheers. Behind him, Val could make out a figure falling out of the gate and onto the mattress. Whoever it was let out a melodramatic grunt, mumbling to himself.
Dustin must have slowly caught onto the idea that perhaps something was wrong, because he tilted his head to the side, his cheering coming to a halt. He scrunched his brows together. Val faintly registered him asking her if she was okay, if something had gone wrong—but she just pulled him out of the doorway and stared down at the mattress.
And a wave of sobs hit her all over again as she laid her eyes on Eddie.
Eddie, who had only moments ago been dying in Val's arms. The same person who had sacrificed himself for Dustin. Who had been killed by the demo-bats. Who had died, right before Val's eyes. He was standing right in front of her.
He looked up when she burst in, and a smile split his lips. "Hey there, Princess."
A whimper of confused relief escaped her lips and she shot forward, throwing herself at him. He caught her against his body and his arms wrapped around her. Some part of her couldn't believe it—that he was actually there, she was actually hugging him. It had all been one intricate, stupid vision from Vecna. The motherfucker had been tricking her all the way up to his death.
"Woah, Val," Eddie said, leaning back so he could look at her, but keeping his hands on her shoulders. He raised his eyebrows, amused and curious. "What's this for? Never thought you to be a very physical kinda g—"
Swiftly and decisively, her hands were on his cheeks, pulling his face in to meet hers in a heavy kiss. He was taken by surprise, clearly, as his hands jumped off her shoulders out of pure shock, but it didn't take long for him to acclimate to the kiss. His hands found their places—one on the back of her head, tangled in her hair, and the other sliding around her waist, pulling her body closer to his.
They broke away some moments later, their faces still inches apart. Eddie smiled against her lips and pressed his forehead against hers.
"Well, damn, White," he said, hitching his arm tighter around her body. "If I knew I'd get that kinda reaction, I would've pitched myself at the bats a long time ago."
She laughed weakly, her hands hooked around his neck, and shut her eyes. "God, Eddie. I love you."
"And you, Val.." Eddie smiled mischievously, his thumb tracing her cheek. "You are pure heaven to me. I'm goddamn addicted to you."
