Growing Pains| Eleven Hopper/Jane Hopper

xxvii. 𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫

"Remodel?" Eddie rose an eyebrow in his direction. "What a strange way to think."

Bradley smiled. "Strange is my middle name."

"That it is." he confirmed, turning his head with his own little grin. "I can't believe we somehow ended up here. Like, D&D monsters are what's gonna reunite us."

Bradley glanced at his shoes. They were new and white a few days ago, now smeared with dirt and a little blood. "I never got to tell you how so-"

"You know I hate apologizes. It's a thing." he cringed in return, like something had crawled down his back. "Makes me sick."

"I know." Bradley inhaled. "But, I am. I won't say it. But, I really am."

"I get it." Eddie shrugged as he threw a leaf, it didn't go very far though. "You weren't gonna make it out of the shadows with me in your corner."

It was quiet a second, Bradley gave a single chuckle. "I guess what's funny is now I feel more like a shadow with them then I ever did before."

Eddie waited for him to go on, the Naswell boy shook his head. "I always wanted you in my corner."

"Yeah, well.." Eddie inhaled, letting out a deep sigh. "-I never saw you like a shadow."

"I know." Bradley turned his head, they were face to face. "I should have never let that go."

Eddie laughed. "You got me there."

"I-" he began, a crashed echoed.

"Peter!" Dustin's yell frightened the pair, Bradley was to his feet and sprinting back into the trailer in no time. He shoved Eddie's door open, immediately met with the smell of marijuana.

Max and Peter were laughing so hard they had started to cry.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Eddie gapped.

"And I said, 'No, it was a polar bear!'" Peter smacked his knee as he laughed even harder, Max fell over in pain as her face began to burn from laughing.

"Idiots." Erica shook her head.

"They were locked in the bathroom a while, so we went to check on them..." Lucas trialed off. "You can do the rest of the math."

"You better pay for this, you little thief." Eddie shut his stash box quickly as Peter held the already rolled joint, that had half way been finished between him and Max. "For me?"

"The murdered and the murderous?" he suggested as Max smiled up at Eddie. "What do you say, Eddie the Banished?"

"He stole my line." Dustin mumbled.

"What do you say Eddie the Banished!" Max shouted.

"Eddie the Banished!" Peter got to his feet. "He's a polar bear!"

"Eddie the polar bear!" Max threw her hands up, Peter did the same. Because of his height, his hand smacked into the light and busted it. They all screamed as the room fell dark.

It was quiet before the youngest Clarkes whispered crawled up their spin. "Eddie the banished polar bear."

"He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw...a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this...this giant creature with a gapping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then...he showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..." Nancy's words were slow and easy the next morning, spoken with care as they all came down their night before.