Eddie brought us over to a boat, and with a quick flashlight inspection it was safe to say that it was probably the rock bottom of what I had expected from him. Not that I was waiting to see a whole cruise ship the size of the titanic pop out once he took off the tarp, but the second he did take it off it was very clear that this wasn't in the best shape. It was rusty right below the seating areas, not to mention dead mosquitoes and flies stuck to the codensated side wall, and it was overall just hell summed up into a boat. I'd honestly rather swim to the middle of the lake then use this thing.

Eddie picked up one side, after very rudely urging me to shine the way and spot him while he was doing so. The metal clanged against the rocky shore and panic shot straight up and down through my system, "Easy." I muttered as the bang echoed against the tall trees lining our dark gaze. He slammed it down onto the water, somehow even louder than last time. "I said easy, man." I confronted his poor work, he replied with a shallow scoff as he squatted down lower. "Sorry, dude." He mocked me quietly, obviously focused on redocking the half-dead boat. It hit the water with a ear-splitting splash, which soaked both me and Eddie. I shook off the water, and Eddie slapped my shoulder with the back of his hand, pushing my nackwards into Dustin. "Dude, stop shaking your shit off like a dog and—," he was cut off by Robin's hand reaching his head, and also mine. She pushed down harshly on my hair, which forced me into looking down at a crawling maggot on the side of the deck. "Yeah, I'm just gonna do that." She mumbled, very concentrated on getting herself into the boat, and not into the lake right beside her. "Thank you." She said, releasing her grip on my head. I sighed, rubbing the spot on the back of my neck that she had been pushing down on. "Yeah, that works too." I muttered, glancing at Eddie, who was running a hand through the back of his hair to fix it as best he could.

The warhead got on by himself, the black skull bandanna dangling from his back pocket as he did so. The boat dipped a bit underneath his weight, but once he was on safely, it seemed to resurface. Nancy walked over as carefully as she could, stepping over my outstretched fingers in the doing I couldn't help but worry about her boot's heel digging into my knuckle, a pretty gruesome but real thought. Eddie took her hand in his like he was about to offer her a dance, "Wheeler." He recognized her, Nancy offered a pressed smile as she hopped on, "Thanks." She said, glancing over at Robin as she took a seat next to her.

Dustin looked back at Max and Lucas and began trying to board the rickety motorboat, but Eddie put a stop to that pretty quickly. "Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?" He said quickly in that odd monotone voice of his. "This thing holds three people tops," he pressed four fingers to his forehead and pushed him backwards, further onto shore. "Okay?" He glanced at me, jerking his head backwards to signal me to get on. I rolled my eyes, "It's better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble." Nancy perked in, removing her head from Robin's shoulder to take a glimpse at Max and Lucas, who had since been looking at us like we were lab specimen. "You keep an eye out." Dustin said in a latter tone. She cocked her head to the side, glaring at him. He took offense to that action, and his eyebrows knitted together. "It's my goddamn theory." He squeaked, his teeth shining the sudden light. Robin shook her head, placing a secure arm around Nancy's shoulders and giving her a quick shake. "You heard Nance." She replied to the rambling teen. His head immediately was rigged towards Robin's. "Who put her in charge?" He said, jabbing a finger her direction.

She smiled toothily in retaliation, "I did." She reponded, nodding up at him. Nance stood up from her seat, which also removed Robin's arm from her slim shoulders. "Compass." She demanded simply, holding her right arm out to Dustin, who gave her a nasty look as he shoved a hand in his hoodie pocket and took the small device out, slapping it in Nancy's palm.

Eddie gave me another look, jerking his head towards himself. I stood up from the previous squat position I was in to avoid dirt on my ass. I don't know how the younger would react to my betrayal, but he would have to live with it either way. I slid Dustin's backpack by the strap off my shoulder, "Hey, there you go." I said as Eddie moved forward onto the boat. I threw it at him, the keychains on it clanking against each other in Dustin's pudgy hands. "Ow." He whispered as I pushed the boat off the shore, taking Eddie's outstretched hand to jump on. His grip clamped my hand, and he yanked my body forwards. My foot was submerged in the water, but a little water in your shoe never hurt anybody. I had dealt with much more disgusting things.

Dustin's mouth immediately opened once he saw the sight, "You said three." He shouted at us, I looked back at him, my eyebrows furrowed together as I took a seat right beside Eddie. "Sorry." I whispered to him, just as Robin and Eddie took the oars and began paddling us away from the three teens sitting at shore. Eddie looked at me, curving the wings of his lips upwards into a cheeky grin. I put a hand on his cheek, pushing his face the other way with a playful scoff.

The further we got, the more drenched in moonlight it became, "Bedtime at 9, kiddos!" Robin yelled out to them, I looked at Dustin, who was unamused as ever by my co-worker. He flipped her off, keeping his hand close to his chest. Robin smiled, though it was hard to catch the disposition in the dim light. "Miss you already!" She tacked on, standing up and waving her left arm out over her head.

And just like that, we were sitting in the middle of Lovers' Lake, with two soon-to-be couples aboard. Though, none of us knew yet.