takes place during chapter xix "kerosene bottles"

VAL WASN'T SURE HOW KEEN SHE WAS on the idea of everyone going into a destructive weapons store called The War Zone, especially if she couldn't be there to stop Mason from making some stupid decision to 'accidentally' set off one of the hand grenades. But she was still somewhat wanted for murder, so she and Eddie had no choice but to stay in the stolen trailer while the others stocked up on all they needed for taking down Vecna. Dustin had offered to stay with them so they weren't alone, but the overall consensus was for him to go in with the rest of them. Val and Eddie weren't too heartbroken over it.

"Okay, we'll be back soon," Steve said, standing at the front of the trailer and looking between Val and Eddie with a serious look on his face. "If anything goes south here, you radio us. If you see anything weird, you radio us. If you need anything, you radio us. If one of you so much as sneezes, you radio us."

"Jesus," Val said, widening her eyes in judgement. "Little intense, don't you think, Harrington?"

Eddie nodded in agreement, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "Val and I are big kids, Steve. We can handle ourselves."

"Yeah, sure," Steve said, disbelievingly. He pursed his lips and glanced out the window of the trailer to see Robin gesturing for him to hurry up, and he nodded to her before looking back to Val and Eddie, wagging a finger between both of them. "No funny business in here, alright? This isn't our trailer."

"Just go, Steve," Val said, rolling her eyes. She watched as he left the trailer, shutting and locking the door behind himself. When he was finally gone, Val stood up, expelling a heavy sigh from her lips. "God, he really is like a babysitter."

     Eddie peered out the window, waiting for the last of their group to make it inside the store, before he broke into a smile and shifted his gaze to Val. "It's down to just us, Valerie. Any ideas on how to... pass the time?"

     She glanced him up and down, then gave him an unimpressed look. "Yeah, no. Not in the parking lot of a long-range weapons store, Munson."

He shrugged a nod. "That's... reasonable. But we still are going to be in here for at least thirty minutes, maybe forty. We could... uh, play a game?"

"I already told you, I never want to play Dungeons and—"

"Not D&D, obviously," Eddie interrupted, holding up a hand. "I meant a different one. You know, something easy, like.. spin the bottle."

"We're the only people in here."

He raised his eyebrows, smug. "I'm sorry, did you want an audience?"

She curled her lip in a sarcastic smile. "There are plenty of things I want right now, and kissing you in the back of a stolen trailer is not number one on my list."

"If it's number two, you can say that."

Val surprised herself when a laugh broke through her lips, a short and genuine snicker at his dry humor. He caught it and his ego visibly rose a notch. Val had to fight the urge to physically take back her laugh.

"Kiss, marry, kill," she said instead, the idea hitting her like a brick upside the head. "It's this stupid game I've heard Mason and the basketball team playing a few times. Somebody says three names, and the other person has to decide whether to kiss them, marry them, or kill them. Could be just the scandalous pastime you were looking for."

     Eddie's lips formed a thoughtful frown, his head cocked to the side and eyes squinted. Finally, he gave in, frown splitting into a coy grin as he nodded.

     "Kiss, marry, kill it is, then," he agreed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, chin sitting atop his fists. "Alright, Val. Harrington, Wheeler, and Buckley."

     Val raised her eyebrows in shock. "Jesus, straight to the point, aren't you?" She pursed her lips, leaning back in her seat and tapping a finger against her lip in thought. "Mm.. I'll have to kill Wheeler—she's too stuck-up for me, y'know. And Robin.. I could handle a marriage with her, I guess. Which leaves Steve, so kiss him."

     Eddie's lips parted in amused surprise. "Interesting," he hummed, nodding. He narrowed his eyes suddenly and suspiciously. "You would kiss Steve?"

Val blinked. "Over Nancy and Robin, yes."

"Seriously." Eddie looked unimpressed. "Over me?"

"You weren't an option."

"Okay, fine," he said, sitting up straight. "Between me and Steve."

"That's not really how you play, Eddie."

"Oh, please. Since when have either of us ever really cared about the rules?"

Val simpered, lowering her head to hide the smile. "Good point. Between you and Steve, hm.. I'd have to marry you, kiss him."

Eddie screwed up his face affectedly. "You're still kissing him over me."

"Did you.. not hear the first part?" Val blinked, blank-stared. "I said I would marry you."

Finally, he broke into a self-satisfied smile, like he had at last achieved his plans. "If you say so, Val. I can book us an officiant by noon tomorrow if we hurry."

     "God, Eddie," Val said, though she was smiling, amused. "You're relentless."

     "I'll take that as a compliment," he said, pleased. Their conversation drew to a pause, a pleasant silence overtaking the pair of them as they sat in the trailer. Eddie's eyes were on Val, clearly in deep thought. His lips were upturned in the slightest of smiles as he fiddled with his fingers.

Val glanced at him, then shifted in her seat so her knees were pulled to her chest. She tilted her head, curious. "What are you thinking about now, Munson?"

His fingers stopped their fidgeting and he smiled fully, exhaling a chuckle. "You remember Christmas break of the eighth grade?"

Her cheeks grew warm and she parted her lips, feigning a confused look. "Not sure that I.. uh, I do. Why are you thinking about the past, anyways—?"

"Nah, you remember," he insisted coyly. "I can tell by how pink your cheeks are."

Val shook her head, hiding a smile by pretending to rub her nose. "It was stupid."

"It most definitely was not stupid," Eddie said, raising his eyebrows and leaning forward in his seat. "It was your idea, after all. And I, for one, thought it was brilliant. Still do."

Val remembered the day like it'd been yesterday: She and Eddie, still best friends, innocent children. Val hadn't yet learned about box dye so her hair was its natural red. Eddie had a buzz cut. They both looked like polar opposites than they did as seniors in high school.

They had been spending the entire break together, being side-by-side for hours on end without growing sick of each other. Val was still living in the trailer park with her biological parents. By twelve and thirteen, everything between the White family began to decline: Bills, arguments, debt, accusations of unfaithfulness. Val was young enough to stay out of it, but just old enough to understand what they were fighting about.

     Needless to say, she and Eddie tried to avoid Val's family's trailer as a hangout spot. Instead, they spent most time at Eddie's trailer, sometimes playing games with his uncle Wayne if he wasn't sleeping in after his nights at the plant. Val liked it at the Munson home; even if Eddie didn't have a mom or a dad, he had someone who really cared for him, and their trailer was constantly filled with laughter and joy. Val couldn't remember a time when her dad had made a 'dad joke' and caused a fit of laughter from her and her mother.

     Christmas break of '81, the particular memory Eddie had stirred from the back of Val's mind, was a cold one. Colder than usual. Snow fell in blankets over the trailer park, and those lucky enough to have a heating system in their houses were spending all their time bundled up next to the radiator. Val was over at Eddie's house, because even though he didn't have a heater, he had a working stove that Wayne was using to make hot chocolate.

     As they sipped their sweet drinks and laughed at the whipped cream mustaches that resulted from them, Val and Eddie sat on the porch of the Munson's trailer, staring out at the whiteness of the snow. Eddie had a beanie on to cover his shaved head. Val wore one of Wayne's snow jackets since her mom had forgotten to go winter shopping before the snow hit.

She took a sip from the hot cocoa in her hands, humming in delight as the warmth spread all throughout her body, like magic shielding her from the cold. But it was only a momentary sensation, because next thing she knew, there was a shouting match coming from the trailer two plots down from Eddie's.

Val swallowed, her eyes darting to her house and back to Eddie.

"How bad is it today?" Eddie asked, leaning forward to see around her.

"It's not.. good," she replied, hiding her face in her mug.

Eddie nodded, staring forward and knowing not to press her for any details she wasn't going to share of her own will. Instead he frowned and scrunched up his eyebrows thoughtfully.

"Have you ever thought about what you're going to be like when you get married?" he asked, voice innocent and small. "For me, I think it would mostly depend on who I end up falling in love with. 'Course I can't tell the future, though, so who knows if I'll ever even fall in love?"

Val stared at him, head tilted to the side. Her feet kicked through the snow beneath them. "I've never heard you talk about love before."

"Well, we're gonna be in high school next year," he said, shrugging. "Maybe.. maybe I could go into high school and find a girlfriend."

"Or maybe you don't even have to go into high school to find one," she said, facing forward, unblinking.

Eddie peered at her, lips parted. "What d'you mean? Like.. you?"

"I dunno." Val shrugged, taking a long sip of her hot chocolate. "Like, boyfriends and girlfriends aren't really a thing we know a lot about. I know that. They kiss and.. stuff. But, you know, it was just an idea."

Eddie broke into a grin. "I love that idea," he said. "Do you think you could set me up with that girl that's in band? Do you think she plays D&D?"

Val rolled her eyes, but didn't try to fix his direction of thinking. "Yeah, I'll give it a shot for you. She's kinda weird though; talks a lot. But if she's who you want to be your girlfriend, then I want that Byers guy. The one with the camera. He's cute."

"I'll work my magic," Eddie guaranteed. "But what if neither of us are in a relationship by the time freshman year is over? What then?"

"Then.. we'll just have to date each other," Val said, frowning. "It's like a pact. We get along well, and I bet you could be a good kisser if you tried."

Eddie grinned widely at her. "Thanks, Val. I think you have nice eyes. Dateable."

The memory faded to a blur and Val found herself back inside the stolen trailer with Eddie across from her, smiling up at her like they were in on some inside joke. He cocked his head to the side.

"We never really got to follow through on our pact," current-day Eddie said, shrugging.

     "Because my mom killed herself and my dad kicked me out and I had to move in with the Andersons and stopped being friends with you," she said flatly. "Things happen. People fall apart. Pacts are broken."

     "Sure, we fell apart," Eddie said, "but we made it back together in the end, didn't we? I mean, here we are, together."

     "In the parking lot of The War Zone waiting for the rest of our friends to get back from shopping for weapons and traps to kill an undead demon," she added, nodding. Her eyes drifted out the window. "Speaking of, I think they're done."

     Mason was rushing out of the store, an exhilarated smile on his face and Erica at his heels with a cart full of weapons. Steve, Nancy, Dustin, Robin, Max, and Lucas were behind them, carrying bags at their sides.

     Eddie nodded to Val, returning to the front of the trailer to unlock the doors for them. "Nice talking to you, Val."

     She stayed seated at the back, watching silently as the rest of their friends began to pour in. Dustin started giving Eddie a haul of everything he'd bought. Mason peeled straight to the back of the trailer and collapsed into a seat next to Val.

     "You alright?" she asked him, turning her head to face him.

     He just split into a breathless smile. "Never fuckin' better, man."