The three walk out of Dustin's room in a hurry. "Have you talked to anyone else?" Dustin asks, "No, just you and Ava." Max says, trying to keep up with Dustin's pace. "I cant find Lucas, or Nancy, and Mike's in-" Max says before getting cut off by Dustin.

"California. Shit, shit, shit." Dustin mumbles. "Dusty, where are you going?" Dustin's mom asks, "To see a friend." He responds, opening the door and gesturing for Max and Ava to walk out, which they do quickly.

"You heard the news, it's not safe!" His mother says frantically, "We'll be extra careful, thanks, love you, bye." Dustin says, shutting the door.

~~~

The three rode to Steve's job, Ava awkwardly walking in. "Hey, Steve." Dustin says, jogging into the video store. "You see this?" Steve scoffs, pointing to the TV. "How many phones do you have?" Dustin asks, ignoring the boys question.

"Someone was murdered." Steve interjects, referring to Chrissy. "How many phones do you have?" Dustin repeats in a firm tone. "Two. Why?" Steve responds, "Technically three, if you count Keith's." Robin adds. "Yeah, three works." Max speaks up.

"What are you doing?" Steve questions, but Dustin ignores him, and tosses his bag over the desk, knocking over Steve's video tapes, "Woah, what are you doing?!" Steve scoffs, "My pile!" Robin shouts. "No, no, no! My tapes dude!" Steve mumbles.

"What are you doing man?!" Steve scoffs. "Setting up base of operations here." Dustin responds, making Steve absolutely dumbfounded, "I'm sorry, base of operations?" Steve asks, looking at the computer that Dustin was using.

Max was trying to hop over the desk but ended up nearly falling, but was caught by Ava. "Be careful next time.." Ava mumbles, helping Max over the desk. Max nods, "Thank you." She responds a bit coldly and walks over to Dustin.

"Get off." Steve demands, "No, i need it." Dustin responds, "For what?" Steve scoffs. "Eddie's friends' phone numbers." Dustin sighs, "Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?" Steve scoffs. "Yes, although i never said that." Dustin responds, "Seriously, you guys, maybe on Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday." Robin says, putting the tapes back where they belong with the help of Ava.

"Right, i'm so sorry for the tapes by the way." Ava says with an apologetic smile after helping Robin finish setting the tapes up. "Okay look Robin, i empathize, but this cannot wait." Dustin says, "What, cause calling Eddie's friend is an emergency?" Robin scoffs.

"Correct!" Dustin shouts, "Want me to strangle him or do you want to?" Steve asks Ava and Robin, "We could all take turns." Robin responds with a cheeky smile. "Can you fill them in while i do this?" Dustin pleads to Max, "Fill us in on what?" Robin asks, returning to the boy.

Max fills them all in on what happened to Chrissy. "And so.. We think that a creature.. More preferably something from the upside down or something killed her." Max admits weakly, not wanting to say the word 'Demogorgan' or 'Mind Flayer'.

~~~

"I really don't think he's at the arcade. Yep, i'm pretty sure." Robin says on the phone, "Reefer rick? No. Does this Reefer Rick have a last name?" Max says on the phone, making Ava gulp. Ava knew exactly where Reefer Rick was, and who he was.

"Hey guys, i might have a lead." Max speaks up, making them all turn to her. "Seriously?" Dustin asks with a smile, "Yeah." The redhead responds. "Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick." Max says, looking over at Ava, who tried to do her best poker face, but it didn't work in general.

"Sometimes Eddie crashes there." Max says, still looking at Ava. "Sounds promising, where does Reefer Rick live?" Robin asks, "See, that's the thing. No one knows." Max says. "He's more of a.. A legend than someone that people actually know." Max scoffs.

"Last name?" Dustin asks, "I don't know that either." Max sighs. "Bet the cops know the last name." Steve speaks up, "What?" Max says, "Cops." Steve repeats. "I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, i guarantee you he's been busted at some point." Steve says.

"Means he's in the system." Steve says, "The cops?" Dustin scoffs, "Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" The boy continues. "I mean, i just think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on." Steve says.

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" Dustin scoffs, "Woah." Steve says with his raised up in defense, "I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit." Steve mumbles.

"I just don't think we can you know.. Rule it out." Steve says, "That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." Max speaks up. "And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend, and more time trying to find Eddie." Dustin scoffs.

"Oh, well, somebody has to attend to the customers." Steve scoffs, "Especially if they're babes, right?" Robin says with a wink, making Ava chuckle. "Hey, not fair. Okay?" Steve says, pointing at Robin.

"I attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike." Steve says, "We've got a very big selection in here. It can be super overwhelming for people." Steve defends. "Look, all i'm gonna say is, Reefer Rick has most likely not been caught before." Ava sighs, leaning against the wall.

"And you know that.. How?" Steve asks, making both Dustin's and Max turn to Ava. "Um.. I don't.. It's just i don't think he's been caught." Ava says, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. She was a horrible liar.

"Ava, if you actually know something about Reefer Rick, you have to tell us, now." Dustin says, making Ava sigh. "Hold the phone." Steve scoffs, "How exactly would you know about a drug dealer?" He asks, eyeing his sister.

"I-I don't know him, okay? I don't." Ava says, looking at the ground and crossing her arms. "This is serious, we have to find Eddie, Ava." Max speaks up, "If you know where Reefer Rick is, tell us." She pleads, making Ava clench her jaw.

Robin takes Ava out of the uncomfortable situation and gets on the computer. "What are you doing?" Max asks, turning over to the older girl. "Maybe we don't need a last name." Robin says, typing in 'Rick' on the computer. "Twelve Rick's have accounts here." Robin speaks up.

"Lots of Ricks." Max says, "So, let's narrow it down." Robin says, "Rick Alderman's latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo." Robin says with a light chuckle. "What are the chances our drug dealer has a family?" Robin asks, "Not likely." Max responds.

"Alright. Rick Conroy." Robin says, "Sixteen candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone." She says. "No." They all say, "Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease." The older girl says, "Nah." They all say. "Rick Kimbrough." Robin says, making Ava zone out.

Ava was hoping they all forgot about her drug thing, i mean, sure, she knew Rick's last name. But there's no way he was in the system.. Right?

"Rick Lipton." Ava hears them say, making Ava glance up. "Lipton?" Ava mumbles, making Max turn to look at her with a nod. The redhead walks up to Ava, knowing that the other girl doesn't like situations with a bunch of attention, even though she's a cheerleader.

"Ava, is that him?" Max whispers, making the other girl gulp lightly. "Come on, it's important." Max whispers more, making Ava nod. "It's him?" Max asks, not whispering anymore, making them all turn to her.

"I- uh.." Ava mumbles, making Max look at the girl apologetically. "Ava, seriously, how do you know about some shitty drug dealer?" Steve asks. "I-I don't." Ava mumbles, looking down. Steve glares at the younger girl, making her slightly lean against Max for comfort. The redhead just gently held onto her hand, knowing she needed it.

"I just know about him." Ava tries to lie, "M-Maybe it's time you tell them?" Max says, making Ava glare at the redhead and let go of her hand. "Tell us what?" Steve asks, "Seriously, Max?" Ava scoffs, and ruffles her hair a bit.

"Don't tell me you.. Buy drugs?" Steve says weakly, making Ava glance up at him. "We don't have time to talk about this." Ava speaks up, hopping over the counter. "Yes, we do!" Steve scoffs, walking after the girl. The rest decided to stay behind the counter, knowing the two siblings needed to talk.

"Ava, why are you taking drugs?" Steve asks, grabbing the girls arm so she doesn't keep walking. "Ava." Steve says firmly, demanding for an answer. "So what if i do?" Ava scoffs, "It's not a big deal, Steve!" She says. "Not a big deal?!" Steve scoffs.

"It's nothing deadly, i'm not THAT stupid." Ava says, "What is it?" Steve asks, "It's just weed, Steve. It's not even a lot, just a dime bag." Ava says, snatching her arm back from his grip. "As soon as we get home, we're gonna discuss this, and you're going to throw away that damn shit!" Steve demands.

"No way, i payed like.. $45 just for a dime bag!" Ava scoffs, "Then i'll give you $45 back. Just throw away that shit." Steve says angrily, "Now we're going back to them, and then once we get home, we will talk about this!" Steve says, bringing Ava with him back to the others.

Ava and Max make eye contact almost immediately, but Ava looks away, too frustrated with the redhead.

~~~

They all drive to 'Reefer Rick's' location. As soon as they get there, Dustin rings the doorbell a good 10 times. "Okay. Well, that's settled. I guess he's not here." Steve sighs, but Dustin ignores it and knocks on the door. "Eddie! It's Dustin!" Dustin shouts, "Great." Steve scoffs.

"We just want to talk. No cops, i swear, we just wanna help!" Dustin continues to shout and knock. Ava walks past the others and walks towards a shed, which she has been in with Eddie multiple times.

"Hey guys!" Max shouts, making the others well aware that they were at the wrong spot, and that Ava was walking to the right one. "You dumbasses we're at the wrong area." Ava shouts, opening the shed door.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Robin asks as Ava opens the door. "What a dump." Steve mumbles, flashing his flashlight around the place. Ava sees an opened crate, and looks inside. "Holy fuck!" Ava shouts, then covers her mouth and acts like she was looking at the roof. Everyone turns to her, "What?" Steve asks.

"Nothing, just uh.. Nice roof." Ava says with a slight smile. They all sigh and look around once again, except Max of course, she knew something was up. Ava kneeled down and took some weed from the crate, shoving it into her jacket pocket.

She found a note attached to one of the dime bags. 'This is for you, lil H. I knew you'd come looking for me.' - Reefer Rick. Ava chuckles and takes the dime bag into her pocket. "So?" Max says, glancing at the girl, making Ava stand up and dust off her hands.

"Oh, um, there were a whole bunch of spiders in that crate." Ava mumbles, making a disgusted face. "So you shoved some in your pocket?" Max scoffs, pointing at the pocket on Ava's jacket.

"Why do you care? We wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you." Ava mumbles, still angry about what the redhead did at the video store. "Look, i understand that you're mad at me, but so many people care for you, and i don't think they'd be happy knowing what you do. They deserved to know." Max sighs.

"Yeah, well i would've told them eventually. But thanks to you, i had to just tell them at a fucking video store of all places." Ava scoffs, and grabs her flashlight, walking away.

The redhead follows. "Listen, i didn't mean to make you upset. I know you feel somewhat relieved about telling them." Max says, "I just care about you. You know i do." The redhead sighs. "That doesn't matter." Ava responds.

"Yeah, it kinda does." Max says, stopping in front of the girl. "Things ended badly between us, i know that. I just want to make up for them." Max pleads. "You wanna make up by telling everyone that i smoke weed?" Ava says, scoffing.

"No. No, i want to make it up properly. Like, i want to know.. If we can be friends or something." Max sighs, looking down nervously. "I understand if you don't want to." The redhead says almost disappointingly.

Before Ava could answer, she heard a scream, and also heard Steve shouting "Wait, wait!". "Woah! Eddie!" Dustin shouts, "Stop!" He continues to shout. "Eddie! It's me, it's Dustin. This is Steve." Dustin says almost out of breath.

"He's not gonna hurt you." Dustin assures, "Right, Steve?" Dustin says. "Right, yeah." Steve whispers. "Steve, why don't you drop the oar?" Dustin says, making Steve drop it.

Eddie raises the knife up to Steve's neck more, making Steve groan. /Woah😳./ "He's cool! He's cool!" Dustin says, "What're you doing here?" Eddie asks weakly, "We're looking for you." Dustin says.

"We're here to help." Ava says, "Little Harrington?" Eddie says, turning to them. "Um, yeah, me." Ava mumbles, waving. "Eddie, these are my friends." Dustin says, "You know Robin, from band. And we all know how you know Ava." Dustin says, "And this is my friend, Max, the one who never wants to play DND." He says, making Ava chuckle.

"Eddie, we're one your side." Dustin says, "I swear on my mother!" The boy says, "Right, guys?" Dustin asks, "Yes, yes, we swear." Max speaks up, "Yeah, on Dustin's mother." Robin says softly. "Yep, Dustin's-Dustin's mother." Steve says weakly.

Eddie let's go of Steve, "Sorry, little H." Eddie says apologetically, almost killing her brother. "Should've done it." Ava whispers to him, patting his shoulder with a smile.

{2360 word count}

UGH I ENDED THIS SO BADLY. But the chapter itself isn't too bad, i had no idea what to say when Ava and Max were talking, so sorry for the awkwardness. But i'm glad Eddie's back, i want Eddie and Ava to be a good and funny duo. Thanks for the patience, and thanks for reading as well. I love you all!<33