Eddie Munson - A Collection of One-Shots!

002. Welcome Home, Nell.

I saw her every night.

Crying in her car.
At the same time, every night.
Just crying.

I'd be on the steps of my uncle's trailer, smoking a joint at precisely the same time each night, my night time ritual.

Hers appeared to be crying against the steering wheel of her car.

I had no idea who she was.

But I watched her cry her heart out every single night and I didn't know why. I watched her, unable to tear my eyes away from her but also never making a single move to go and see if I could help her. All I knew was that she captivated me. Her sadness, her rage, her tears as she cried enthralled me in ways I couldn't necessarily verbalise.

In most ways, I silently related to her.
That was often how I felt on the inside, too.

Crying appeared to be her release, as much as smoking was mine.

She never looked over at me, she never returned my gaze nor did she ever seem to notice that I would stare at her until I'd finished my joint, before heading back inside.

She wasn't aware of anything around her, just appeared to be completely consumed in whatever grief she was experiencing.

And when I'd get into bed each night, I'd stare up at the ceiling wondering what could possibly be making the beautiful woman in the car cry so much and cry every night.

She cried as though her entire world was ending.
Maybe it was.

***************************************

"Listen up sheep's, I have something I need to hash out with you." I said the next day, at lunch.

"If this is about me asking to postpone, I'll never ask again." Dustin said.

"It's not that." I answered.

"If this is about not finding a sub for Lucas, we really tried." Mike said.

"It's not about that either." I said.

"If it's about the $20 I owe you, I'll have it this week." Gareth said.

"JESUS H CHRIST! Just shut up and listen, it's not about that either." I cried, frustrated.

"Ok..." Jeff said, a little wide eyed.

"For the last couple of months, when I smoke before bed..... I've continuously seen this woman crying in her car. Every single night, parked in the same spot. Just crying." I said.

"Weird...." Dustin said.

"I literally watch her, and she never so much as looks my way. Doesn't see me, when I'm blatantly sitting there. It's like she cannot see anything else past whatever she's going through." I continued.

"And when you say crying...." Mike said.

"I mean, really crying. Like her entire world has crumbled and there's no hope left. She's practically distraught... bereft." I interjected.

"And she never notices you?" Gareth asked.

"Nope. I'm in her line of sight every night, the trailer porch light is on, practically lights me up like a beacon but no, she never sees me." I said.

"But you see her." Mike said.

"Every time." I answered, with certainty.

"I mean if a stranger was staring at me whilst I was having a breakdown in my car, I think I'd have something to say at least." Dustin said.

"Exactly. You'd ask what I was looking at, surely?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Jeff answered.

"Have you considered asking her if she needs help?" Dustin asked.

"No..... it's almost like something keeps me planted firmly on the spot.... Like if I go over there, it's gonna be bad. I feel fear and I'm curious at the same time." I said.

"Do you want to ask her?" Mike asked.

"A huge part of me does, yeah. It's horrendous to watch man, she's virtually inconsolable. But then the other feeling I have is that I also don't want to." I said.

"So strange man." Dustin said.

"We've seen stranger things, but yeah. It is weird." I said.

"We've seen a lot. Just not something like this." Mike said.

"What does she look like?" Gareth asked suddenly.

"God... uhm.... She has long dark brown hair, maybe black.... She's pale, uhm... that's it really." I said.

"That's all I can make out anyway." I added.

"Does she seem young or old or like a teenager?" Dustin asked.

"My age." I said, estimating.

"What should I do?" I asked, conflicted.

"Tonight? I'd get a better look if it was me." Mike said.

"Definitely. Maybe not too close but perhaps enough to see if she notices you? If she wants to talk, she will I guess." Dustin said in agreement.

"And then let us know what happens." Gareth added.

*************************************

Night time soon rolled around and it was hard to ignore that I was a little more apprehensive than usual.

Thankfully and conveniently, the joint I was rolling would soon quash it, but I almost felt sick with the nervous feeling swirling around in my stomach.

I knew she'd be there, she had been every night for the last two months.
Why would tonight be any different?

But it would.
Because I'd actually be going over there, to get a better look and potentially end up speaking to her.

"You've got this Munson." I said, as a pep talk to myself.

I crossed the living room and turned the handle on the trailer door, before taking a deep breath.

I braved it and opened the door, and screamed out at the sight of a pale, crying face on the other side.

She'd never gotten out of the car before.
She'd never noticed me before.
But she was here.

What the fuck was I supposed to do now?!

************************************

"Hey.... Uhm, are you okay?" I asked her, when I'd finally found my voice.

It came out uneven, and a little high pitched.
Expected, seeing as my heart was beating loudly in my chest.

She was crying, holding herself as a form of comfort, but her gaze was to the side of her, and not in my general direction.

"Hey.... Can you hear me?" I asked her.

"I need help...." She said, her teeth chattering together.

It wasn't really very cold outside, but when I managed to brave a long, inspective look at her, I noticed she was wet.

Soaking wet.
To the bone.

"You're soaking wet. You need to dry off." I said, keeping my voice quiet.

"It's so cold...." She whispered, through her chattering teeth.

"You can come inside, and get warm." I offered, as she shook her head.

"I need help...." She said again.

"I can help." I said.

"I just need someone to find me...." She whispered.

"I have found you, I'm here." I said.

"You can come inside, you can get dry and warm." I continued, as she sobbed softly.

And then as I went to move towards her, her head snapped towards me and one of her trembling, grey hands wrapped around my outstretched arm.

I stumbled back in complete, spine tingling terror and surprise, unable to speak for a moment.

She pulled me closer to her, and I couldn't deny that her touch was cold. Ice cold. Unnaturally cold.

But that wasn't bothering me as much as when her eyes met mine.

They were clouded, white and her face was a mottled grey.
Her eyes....

"I CAN'T GET OUT!" She cried, inches from my face. 

The volume of her voice and her proximity caused me to fall backwards onto the floor as she released me and I let out a loud scream of sheer fright.

And then I blinked and she was gone.

Just gone.

Oh god, her eyes.....

************************************
"She just disappeared?!" Dustin asked, the next day.

"I blinked and she was gone. Her eyes man..... It was like Chrissy all over again. Except they were more cloudy. She looked..... Dead..."  I said, fighting back tears.

"Dya think she's a ghost?!" Mike asked.

"When she touched me, when she grabbed me by my arm, it felt real." I argued.

"Tangible?" Dustin asked.

"Precisely." I said.

"But there was something unnatural about it." I added.

"What do you mean?" Dustin asked.

"She was there in front of me.... But it's like she wasn't really altogether there." I said.

"And she said she couldn't get out." I added.

"Well she can't mean the car, she got out and was at your door." Mike said.

"So if she doesn't mean the car, she said she can't get out. So she can't get out of somewhere, like a place or something like that." Dustin surmised.

"Hey man, Eleven radio'd this morning." Lucas said, appearing at the table.

"I missed it?" Mike asked.

"Apparently so." Lucas said.

"What did El want?" Dustin asked.

"She was searching you know, as she always does, just making sure there's nothing out there. But last night she said she found something." Lucas said.

"What did she find?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"A car with a girl inside, she was crying." Lucas said.

"That's who Eddie has been seeing!" Dustin cried.

"It is!" I said.

"A green Chevy. With a girl inside, dark hair, pale, inconsolable. Her?" I asked Lucas as he nodded.

"And she's in the upside down?" Mike asked.

"It looks like it. All the gates are closed." Lucas said.

"Wait a minute......" Dustin said, seemingly having an idea.

"That's what she meant when she said she can't get out." I said, catching on.

"The gates are closed." Dustin repeated, with emphasis.

"She's stuck." I continued.

"She was asking you for help." Dustin said.

"You said she was in a green Chevy?" He asked me suddenly.

"Yes." I said.

He looked at me like I was an idiot and I glanced at him, as if to say "What?!" And he shook his head.

"Where did you see a green Chevy in the upside down?" He asked, as though it was obvious.

"I don't know?" I offered.

"When we were distracting the demo bats..... I saw a Chevy parked up. Two trailers away from us. She's stuck there, she must have been hiding in the car, from the bats. From Vecna." Dustin said.

"That's why we didn't see her." He added.

"But we know where she is." Mike said.

"We can't leave her there." I said.

"How long has she been there?" Lucas asked.

"As far back as when we fought Vecna. So, months." Dustin said sadly.

"We have to help her." I said.

"El could open the trailer gate just long enough for us to go find her and bring her back to Hawkins. She probably has parents still looking for her." Lucas said.

"The notice board is empty, everyone was accounted for whether alive or dead." Mike said.

"No, not everyone. There's one poster still on the board. I walk past it every other day for Chemistry. I stopped looking at it though, it's sad that it's the only poster left.... The only person left." Dustin said.

"What's the name on the poster?" Mike asked.

"You really haven't noticed it?" Dustin asked.

"I have. It has to be her." I said.

"Did you notice the name?" Mike asked.

"No, but I'm gonna go and look." I said.

"When?" Mike asked.

"Right now." I said, rising to my feet.

I started to walk away, before realising that they weren't following me.

I spun around, and stared at them incredulously.

"Well? Are you coming?!" I asked.

Dustin and Mike scrambled their things together and clumsily rose to their feet, Lucas in tow.

"Shit yeah, sorry." Dustin said.

"We didn't see her. The least we can do is try and fix that." I said.

We could try. And I was for sure going to try my absolute best.

To bring her home, whoever she was.

********************************

"I'll be damned, how did I not see this was still here?" Mike asked, sighing.

"You'd be surprised." I said.

"Out of sight, out of mind." Dustin added.

"Is that her?" I asked, as we gazed at the poster.

"It sure looks like it could be." I said.

"Eleanor 'Nelly' Barnes. Missing." I read.

"I don't recall her name." I said, eyeing them both carefully.

"She was... is 17." Dustin said, narrowing his eyes at her date of birth.

"She was almost a senior." Mike noted.

"Do you remember her Ed?" I asked.

"Jeez, I flunked twice, and again last year. Wasn't my fault, busy fighting Vecna and saving the world but they couldn't even bring themselves to let me graduate for the trouble." I said.

"Exactly. So surely out of us all, you'd have seen her." Dustin surmised.

"Did you have any classes with her?" Mike asked.

I scoured my brain for the answer, wondering when I'd seen her, if I'd seen her and was almost coming up with nothing until I glanced at her photo again and noticed a bracelet on her wrist.

A bracelet with delicate beaded butterflies on.

"Wait.... I think I did have classes with her. I remember that bracelet." I said, as Dustin's face lit up with an expectant expression.

"She'd twist it when she was nervous, which was a lot. She was really quiet, the studious type, and kept her head down. Occasionally let some of the other students copy her quiz papers. I think I might have copied her papers once. She caught me and still let me." I said.

"She looks really pretty." Dustin said.

"From what I can remember, she was." I said, sighing.

"Just real quiet." I added.

"Did you ever see her around?" Dustin asked.

"I never really saw her outside of the classroom, like around school. Just in lessons." I explained.

"Which might explain a lot. She blended in, didn't stand out, didn't really engage with anyone." Mike started to say.

"Unfortunately, easily missed then." Dustin replied.

"God, this is just awful." I said, feeling a pang of regret and guilt hit me in the stomach.

"That poor girl." Dustin said, sadly.

I inspected the poster carefully and noted her address and the description of her last sighting.

"Address was 335 Juniper Drive. Last seen wearing a black jumper, padded coat and was possibly driving a...."

"A Green Chevy!" Dustin interrupted, reading over my shoulder.

"It is her." I said, with no doubt in my mind.

"We have to ask El to just open the trailer gate. We destroyed everything from there, so it would only be a case of getting in there and getting her out. She's alone out there, with no way out. If we can help, we should." Lucas said.

"Yeah, and get her home to her parents." Mike said.

I bowed my head then, and shook my head.

"Her parents lost hope and moved away. She's alone there and she'll be alone here. I'm not sure which would be worse for her." I said.

"She'd have us." Dustin said.

"Where would she stay Dustin?" I asked, pleading internally for him to see the bigger picture.

But the typical, kind and loving Dustin was just thinking about how to help and no further ahead.

"With one of our families, until we could reach her parents." Dustin said, with a shrug.

"I think we should focus on getting her out, and she can decide what she wants to do and where she wants to go." Lucas said.

"Mike, can you speak to El?" Dustin asked.

"Sure, I'll radio her after school. I'll let you guys know what she says." He said, nodding.

"We can't do nothing. We have to do something." I pressed.

"And we will, I promise." Dustin replied, squeezing my shoulder.

******************************************

"Tell us what you saw." Dustin said, as Eleven nodded.

"A girl. She was crying, in a car. She was so sad. She just kept on calling out for someone to help. Someone to find her." Eleven said.

I found this all a little too much to bear.

"I'm having a real hard time with this. We have to do something." I said, impatiently.

"I'll open the gate. We all go." El said.

"Just in case there are any nasties." Mike said.

"Go where?"

I turned, and Nancy was suddenly in the basement with us.

"There's a girl stuck in the upside down." I blurted out.

"What?" She asked, horrified.

"She may have been there for months." Dustin said.

"We're going to open the gate and bring her back." Mike said.

"I'm coming too." Nancy said, immediately.

Wheeler had balls, I'd give her that.
Anyone who had guns in her bedroom was badass.

And Wheeler was pretty badass.

"When do we go?" She asked.

"Tonight. Once my Uncle goes on his shift." I offered.

"How did she get there?" Nancy asked.

"We're hoping she can tell us that." I said.

"How has she survived this long?" Nancy asked.

"Will survived there for a good while." Mike reminded her.

"It wasn't months though." Nancy argued.

"Either way.... We go tonight. This is killing me." I said.

"We know Ed. We're gonna go tonight and we will find her." Dustin said, sympathetically.

"And we know where she is?" Nancy asked.

"In a green Chevy, two trailers away from Eddie's." Dustin said.

"Nelly Barnes used to drive a green Chevy." Nancy said.

"It is Nelly Barnes." I said, adamantly.

"Her parents moved away, so when we find her.... She'll need a place to stay." Dustin reminded us.

"That we can figure out later, she can't stay there." Nancy said.

"I agree." I said.

"God, we're really going back?" Nancy asked, a little nervous.

"We have to." I said, with a grave nod.

**************************************

"Okay, so your Uncles gone to work now, right?" Nancy asked as I invited her into the trailer.

"Yeah." I said, as everyone piled in.

"And the crack in your trailer is still there?" She asked me.

I answered her by pointing towards the cracked ceiling above our heads.

"There's gonna be a mess." She warned.

"It's been threatening to fall in on us for months, I don't think my Uncle is gonna be surprised." I said.

"We'll just have to try and repair it after." Dustin said.

"Can you try and do it with as little damage as possible, El?" Mike asked.

"I'll try." Eleven said, smiling weakly.

"We ready?"

"Where the hell did you two come from?!" I asked.

"Nancy filled us in." Robin said, with Steve in tow.

"Yeah, we wanted to help. That's okay right?" Steve asked.

"The more the merrier." I said with a shrug.

"We're really doing this?" He asked.

"We are." I answered.

"What's the plan?" Steve asked, as Nancy turned to him.

"El is going to open the gate, Dustin will go first with the rope, and then we follow. She should be two trailers away, near or in her car." Nancy said.

"Is it really Nelly Barnes?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, you knew her?" I asked, as she nodded.

"A little yeah. We'd say hi in the hallway practically every day. She was quite shy, but really nice." Robin said.

"Did she have any friends?" I asked, as Robin shrugged.

"Maybe.... But I didn't see her with anyone." She said.

"Okay, let's do this." Nancy said, as I nodded with determination.

"We're ready El." I announced.

"I think we should step back." Mike said, as we all took a step backwards in almost perfect unison, giving Eleven the necessary space.

She raised her left hand, and closed her eyes.

And we watched in awe as she slowly but surely opened the gate.

True to her word, she tried to inflict as little damage to the trailer roof as possible and eventually formed a neat hole, big enough for us to all fit through.

"Okay, you ready Henderson?" I asked, as he nodded.

"Remember, there isn't anything there. But we're right behind you." I said.

"I know Eddie." He said.

He tossed the rope up through the hole and it hung down the other side, and he began to climb.

When he was through, he positioned the mattress we'd previously used, and waited for us all to climb through.

I was second, wanting to get down there urgently so Henderson wasn't alone, but also because I was eager to find Nelly and bring her back. I wanted to do this.

No one should ever be left behind.
And she had been.

I felt guilt for all the times I hadn't spoken to her, and probably should have.

I possibly didn't need to, this wasn't anyone's fault really.

But I did.

When we were all through, I peered through the trailer window and could just make out the Chevy.

"The cars still there." I noted.

"Let's just hope she is." Nancy said.

"Let's go." I urged.

"Does everyone have something, just in case there's anything out there?" Nancy asked as we all produced a weapon of some form, previously concealed in our jackets.

"I think we're all set." Steve remarked.

"Then let's do this." She said, with a tight nod.

**************************************

After a quick scope, we had almost deduced that there was nothing here, no bats, no demo dogs or demogorgons and quickly scanned the landscape for any sign of life.

For any sign of Nelly Barnes.

"You said you saw her every night?" Eleven asked, appearing at my side.

"For around two months, yeah. Last night, she was at my trailer door. She told me she couldn't get out." I explained.

"I hope we find her, and she's alive." Eleven said.

"You and me both." I replied.

"Nelly?" Nancy called softly.

"Nelly Barnes?" Robin called after her.

And when there was no answer, I stepped forward, past them both and looked all around me.

We reached her beaten up, worn, ash covered Chevy and I figured that perhaps she didn't recognise their voices.

Would she recognise mine?

"Nelly, we're here to help." I called out.

And just when we'd started to give up hope, a small, trembling body in a torn and dirty black padded coat, crawled out from under the car, startling us all.

Long dark hair, wet and stuck to her face.
Pale faced, almost grey with startling bright blue eyes.

Different to the white grey I'd seen the night before.

But she still startled me.

"JESUS H CHRIST!" I cried out in sheer surprise.

Startling her then, she darted back under the car and we could hear her crying.

She was terrified.

"Eddie, try and coax her out. I think she recognised your voice." Nancy whispered.

I slowly crouched down by the side of the Chevy and braved a look under it.

I could see her trembling, and she was crying softly.

"Nelly, we're not going to hurt you, we're here to get you out of here." I whispered.

"You can come out, we've come to get you." I urged.

"Who are you?" A small voice whispered.

I could hear the fear in her voice.

"I'm Eddie, Eddie Munson. You came to my trailer last night and asked me for help. We're here to help you. We're not going to hurt you. We know you've been here for a long time, but we're going to take you back now." I said.

"Take me where?" She whispered.

"Home. To Hawkins". I said.

"What about him?" She asked, with emphasis.

I realised after a few seconds that she meant Henry.

"He's gone, he's dead. You don't need to hide from him anymore." I reassured her.

And slowly but surely, she began to crawl out from under her car.

When she was close enough to me, I gently grabbed both of her hands and assisted her, pulling her slowly out towards me.

She was nervous of my touch, but when her eyes met mine and she saw my face, she gasped.

"It really is you..." she said.

"It is. You asked me for help." I said.

"How are you even here?" She asked, unable to believe it.

"Let's get you out of here and if you want to talk about it, we can." I said, coaxing her fully out and upright onto her feet.

"Robin?" She asked, as Robin waved slightly and smiled weakly.

"Hey Nell." She said, as I watched Nelly look at each of us in turn.

"We came to find you." Nancy said, stepping forward.

"We should go." I urged, as I held Nell in my arms.

She was unsteady on her feet and as I looked down into her pale, wet, dirtied face I realised just how pretty she was.

And my eyes wandered to the unmistakable butterfly bracelet on her wrist and felt a wave of sadness wash over me.

It wasn't sparkly anymore.

**********************************

We returned to my trailer, and I sat Nell down on my beat up, worn sofa, as everyone rallied around.

Dustin was filling a large bowl up with hot soapy water to wash off her shoes, whilst Robin hunted through my clothes for something for Nell to wear.

Steve was pouring a mug of tea, whilst Nancy went into the bathroom with a fresh towel.

Mike and Eleven were busy fixing the crack in the ceiling after she'd closed the gate, with tossed out wood from across the road.

I was sitting with Nell on the sofa, as she hadn't let go of my hand since we'd come back.

"This is where you live?" She asked me, her eyes scanning the room.

"It is. I live here with my Uncle. It's not much, but it's home." I said with a sigh.

"I really like it. My house never had a homely feel like this." She admitted.

"Can I just take your shoes to wash them?" Dustin asked politely.

She nodded and he knelt at her feet, untying the laces of her soiled trainers and gently removing them from her feet, before sitting on the step in the open doorway, armed with a scrubbing brush.

Whilst he set about cleaning her shoes, Steve handed her the mug of hot tea, and knelt down on the floor in front of her.

"Do you know how long you were stuck there?" He asked, softly.

"Not really. I just know it was a long time." She said.

"How did you get there?" He asked.

"I was driving home.... On route 31 and the road was sort of....split open. My car fell into the hole.... I thought I was going to get stuck but I seemed to fall through it and my car landed in the trailer park. And then I saw you." She said, turning to me.

"Me?" I asked.

"Yeah, you and him." She said, pointing at Dustin, still busy with her shoes.

"You were playing guitar on the roof. I remember it was Metallica. And then I saw the bats... I was going to shout or come over to you.... But there were so many of them... I hid under the car and when I crawled back out you'd both gone." She said.

"I'm so sorry that we didn't see you." I said.

"You wouldn't have known I was there. I went into the trailer a while after that and you'd gone. There was a crack in the ceiling but I couldn't get through. I wasn't able to follow you. I tried to find other ways, but then I just gave up." She said.

"We had to close the gates. It was the only way." Steve said, sounding regretful.

"I never thought I'd get out of there." She said, shivering again.

It was a trauma response, that was obvious and I squoze her hand gently.

Robin appeared from my bedroom, holding a Led Zeppelin T-shirt and a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms.

"You can shower and change into these, Nell. Me and Nancy can bring you some of our clothes tomorrow so you have something proper to wear." Robin said, as I smiled weakly.

"I'll wash these clothes when you shower." Nancy said, motioning to the clothes she was currently wearing.

"Thank you.... All of you." Nelly said, her eyes glassy.

"I'll take you through to the bathroom, once you've drunk your tea." I said, and with that statement, she took a small hesitant sip.

And then sighed loudly.

"I forgot how much I liked tea." She said.

She hadnt meant to, but she broke a small part of each of our hearts when she'd said that.

It reminded us that she'd been stuck there for a long time, never knowing if she'd be found.

"You can stay here tonight, if you're comfortable?" I asked her.

She glanced around the room once more, before nodding.

"Yes, thank you. That's really kind of you." She said.

"Drink your tea, make yourself at home." I replied.

*************************************
She'd drank her tea, and she'd had a shower.

Robin helped her dress, and when they emerged from the bathroom, she looked much like how I remembered her.

Less scared, less dirt.
She also didn't look as pale; there was a flush to her face, likely to have been from the hot water.

Her hair was wet, and as she sat back down on the sofa, I draped a thick blanket across her shoulders. She nested into it, cocooning herself into it and crossed her legs underneath her.

Eleven and Mike had finished repairing the ceiling and had to leave.

"I'm glad we found you." Eleven said to her.

"We'll stop by tomorrow, see how you are." Mike offered.

Nell had smiled and nodded, watching them leave.

Nancy was next to go, as she needed to drive them both home.

"Your clothes are in the wash now, I'll bring you some things over tomorrow. I hope you sleep well." She had said.

Robin and Steve settled on the opposite sofa next to each other, staring at us both.

Dustin placed Nell's newly scrubbed and now clean shoes on the doormat next to the door and adjusted his cap before giving her a wide toothy grin.

"Good as new. I can bring some snacks tomorrow, what do you like?" He asked her.

"Uhm...." Nell started to say, seemingly unable to remember.

"That's okay, I'll bring a few things, we'll see what you like together?" He offered.

"Yeah that'd be nice, thank you Dustin." Nell said.

"We're gonna go, you'll be alright?" Steve asked me.

"We'll be fine." I said.

"What are you gonna say to Wayne?" Robin asked.

"I doubt he'll even notice." I said, chuckling softly.

I bade them goodbye, with a promise from them that we'd see them tomorrow and I closed the door.

"Will your Uncle mind that I'm here?" Nell asked, as I shook my head.

"He comes across as a hard, grumpy old man, but he's alright. Works longs shifts, always tired. He knows a little about what happened, not sure he believes me though. So I'll just tell him the truth. He won't mind you staying tonight." I said.

"I can't exactly go home." She said.

"No, I'm sorry but you can't." I replied, sadly.

"Most will think they gave up looking for me and left because they couldn't handle being here. But that won't be why." She said.

"You're sure?" I asked, in disbelief.

"I'm positive. They were a part of all this. They were both scientists." She said.

"With the Soviets?" I asked, shocked.

Even more so, when she chuckled softly.
The first time I'd heard her laugh.

"No, not that hardcore. With the US division. They knew a lot about science, they didn't know so much about teenagers and that they'll snoop where they're not supposed to. I saw their work, saw the projects. And when it all started, they started to come home, a little more scared and panicky than usual. Always whispering to each other, they were on edge. They would have been removed, or they left and went on the run." She said.

"They wouldn't have even tried to look for you?" I asked, unable to believe it.

"To risk being reprimanded or imprisoned? No, they wouldn't have thought to look for me. They weren't your ideal, suburban parents. They were regimental, distant and very secretive." She said.

"Did they ever treat you like their daughter?" I asked.

"Not really." She answered, gazing down at her crossed legs.

"My parents weren't the best either. My mum left me with my uncle, never saw her again. My dad's incarcerated." I said.

"It's nice to have something in common, I guess. Even if it is that we both have useless parents." She said, as I chuckled softly.

"Okay, let's see what else we might have in common?" I asked her.

"Okay, I'd like that." She said, with a shy smile.

And so we talked for the next few hours about everything we liked and disliked, from music and movies, to animals and foods.

That she could remember anyway.

And it became late, and I helped her get settled in my bed.

When she was tucked up and comfortable, I grabbed the fleece blanket from my bed and went to walk back to the living room.

"Eddie?" She inquired, her voice small.
She sounded tired.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning back around.

"Would you stay here with me?" She asked.

"Of course, I'll sleep on the floor." I said, smiling.

She handed me the spare pillow and I settled on the floor, before reaching upwards to turn the light off on my bedside table.

"Can you keep that on?" She asked, sounding panicked.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I don't think I can sleep in the dark." She whimpered.

"I can leave it on, that's not a problem at all." I said, reassuringly.

"Thank you." She whispered, as I nestled against my pillow.

"Goodnight, Nell." I whispered back.

And I listened to her slow, steady breathing and when I was satisfied she was finally sleeping, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep myself.

*****************************************

The next morning, I was woken by the familiar sound of my grumbling, tired uncle who when I snapped my eyes open, was standing over me.

"What happened to the ceiling, boy?" He asked, in his thick Texan drawl.

"Shhh! Go in the kitchen, I'll tell you in there." I said, scrambling to my feet.

"Who's in the cocoon?" He asked, as I ushered him out of my room.

"You have a girlfriend, boy?" He added, as I gave him a rough shove and he stumbled into the kitchen.

"Will you keep your voice down?" I asked him, heatedly.

"I want answers, by the time I've brewed myself a coffee." He grumbled as I stood behind him with my hands on my hips, disgruntled.

"Okay, you know when I told you about what really happened during the quake?" I asked.

"Something about an alternate dimension was it?" He asked, with a snort.

"Real funny. Yeah, that. Well last night we had to go through the crack in the ceiling to that very same dimension and the person in the cocoon in my bedroom was stuck there. We helped her." I said.

"Okay, yeah sure." Wayne said, turning around to face me.

I could see he was laughing and not taking me seriously, and when he met my gaze and saw my stony, very serious face his laughter soon ceased.

"I'm serious. We went last night and brought her back here. She was stuck there for months, she has nowhere to go and she needed our help. So she stayed here last night." I said.

"So she's not a new girlfriend then?" Wayne asked, clearing his throat.

"No, she's not a new girlfriend. And her name is Eleanor Barnes." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Arthur Barnes' kid?" Wayne asked, in sudden disbelief.

"Yeah." I said, assuming so.

"Jesus, they bailed months ago." He said.

"That's what I meant when I said she has nowhere to go." I said, rubbing my head in frustration.

"She was always a good kid. She can stay here if she wants. But if she does, you're on the sofa from now on. No sharing a room." Wayne said.

"I'm an adult." I said, as he eyed me sternly.

"Is she?" He asked.

"She's 17." I said.

"Exactly, so she's a minor then." He snapped, as I lost my cool.

"I know she is. What do you take me for? I aren't going to do anything to her. Jeez Wayne, I slept on the floor and we slept with the damn light on." I said.

"Your mom was a minor when she had you. Don't want no history repeating itself, that's all boy." He said, raising his hands up in surrender, his fingers clasped around his mug of coffee.

"And it won't." I said, adamantly.

"If she wants to stay here, she's welcome to. I ain't gonna see a kid out in the cold cause her parents ran out on her when she was still missing. I always see her poster... Used to make me real sad.." Wayne said, with a sigh.

"But you found her and she's back in Hawkins, from that, you know... other dimension you were on about." He added, swigging his coffee.

"Thanks Wayne.... I'll ask her when she wakes up." I said, smiling weakly.

"Aren't you gonna be late for school?" He asked me, checking his watch.

"Yeaaahh... about that...." I said, as he raised an eyebrow.

"You're skipping aren't you?" He asked.

"I just don't want to leave her alone, today." I argued.

"No, you probably shouldn't do that. You go in tomorrow, I'll write you a note. Make sure you cough a lot, make it look convincing.... I'll say you had the flu." He said, walking towards his bedroom.

"You're the best!" I called after him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" He called back, waving me off dismissively.

"And boy?" He asked, appearing around his doorway.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Keep the noise down, I'm on another late tonight. And this man needs his sleep." He said, as I saluted him.

"You got it, Sir." I said,'playfully.

"Yeah, you're a real joker." He remarked, before closing his door.

The question now was, would she want to stay?

I wanted her to, I knew that much.
I had liked her in high school, she'd always seemed nice and pleasant, even if she was really quiet and shy.

But I couldn't remember her ever being unkind to anyone, or ever even really saying a cross word.

Before last night, I'd never really heard her speak or smile.

I wanted to know, aside from if she would stay with us, how she communicated with me from there.

She didn't seem to remember appearing at my door and asking for help.

Out of the two of us, only I remembered that exchange.

Maybe it hadn't been power or magic, just her wanting to escape.

Perhaps that had come across to me.
But then, why me?

Why choose me?

************************************

Later on that morning, she appeared in the living room whilst I idly lay on the sofa, watching daytime TV.

When I noticed her, I lurched upright eagerly, with a smile.

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I really did, I didn't think I would but I did." She said.

"It's been a long time since you slept in an actual bed." I said, as she smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yeah, forgot how much I'd missed that." She said.

"I can make you a cup of tea, if you like? Sit down, I'm just watching some really corny infomercials." I said, as she chuckled softly.

Her laughter sounded like bells.
I really liked the sound.

"That would be great, thank you." She said, before settling down on the sofa.

"Hey, uhm I was talking to Wayne earlier, about you staying here." I said, pouring hot water into a mug.

"If I'm intruding, I can go." She said, hurriedly.

"You're not. No, he knew your dad. He's said you're welcome to stay here with us. If you'd want to, that is." I said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, we have the space. I'll be staying on the sofa though, he's old fashioned and for some reason doesn't trust me. But yeah, he told me you could stay here. He's not fond of the idea that your parents ran out on you." I said.

"Then yeah, I'd like that. I feel comfortable, safe here. My home never felt like this, it's nice to be in a place that does." She said.

"Thank you." She added, as I approached her with a mug of hot tea.

"You're welcome." I said, handing the mug to her.

She took it and whispered another thank you, before I settled down next to her and we both watched the Tv for a while, in a comfortable silence.

"Do you remember asking me for help?" I asked her, after a time.

"Kind of. I just knew I recognised your voice, when you found me." She said.

"You were at my door, the night before." I said.

"I was? Yeah I was..." she said, seemingly remembering.

"You asked for help. I tried to get you to come inside but you shouted that you couldn't get out." I said.

"I don't know how I did that." She answered.

"Maybe it can't be explained." I said, with a shrug.

"Although.... It felt like a dream. I think I dreamt that I came here. Like I always dreamt that I was in my car.... Crying because there was no one and no one could hear me. I dreamt that for a long time." She said.

"I saw you in your car every night for a couple of months." I said

"How?" She asked, surprised.

"That place is awful.... There were many things there that nobody would ever truly believe, except for us because we've been there and we fought a lot of them. The man you were so afraid of, was called Henry Creel." I said.

"Victor Creel's son? He was murdered." She argued.

"He wasn't. He was taken in by a doctor on the same project your mom and dad were involved in. Henry had some kind of power, but he was evil. Only ever wanted to inflict pain on people and hurt them. Eleven is like Henry, only she's never used her power for that. She banished Henry to the upside down, and that's when this all started. He wanted revenge, he wanted to destroy Hawkins and the world, and bring the upside down up here. He wanted to kill Eleven for beating him. We fought him, only we called him Vecna." I said.

"That's fitting, really. He seemed like a dark wizard." She said.

"You know D&D?" I asked, elated.

"I played... before I got stuck there. Mainly on my own though, or with friends I had over the radio. I've never really played it with people in the same room as me. I don't know whether you remember me from school, but I wasn't exactly what you'd call popular, if anything the total opposite. No one ever really noticed me." She said, bowing her head slightly.

And that's when I decided I'd tell her that I had noticed her.

I'd noticed her unbiased kindness, and I'd noticed that she'd be nice to anyone, no matter who they were or what circles they moved in.

"I noticed you." I said, as her head snapped up, her eyes meeting mine with surprise.

"No, I did. I noticed how you'd twist your butterfly bracelet, whenever you were nervous. How you'd let kids in class copy off your quiz papers, and not tell on them. How you were kind to anyone, even when they probably weren't kind to you. That's how I knew it was you. I recognised the bracelet from your missing poster." I admitted, as her eyes grew glassy with tears.

"Thank you for seeing me." She said, with a smile that quivered. Her bottom lip trembled as she fought the tears back, that were threatening to tumble from her beautiful bright blue eyes and fall down her rosy pink cheeks.

"I noticed you too." She whispered, as I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not exactly the quiet type." I said, chuckling softly.

"No, you're not. But I meant that I noticed you, despite that." She said.

"How so?" I asked, my interest piqued.

"I noticed that you liked Metallica, from the badges and patches on your jacket. I noticed that when you were nervous, your leg would bounce or shake, and you'd tap a pencil on the desk for the whole lesson. I noticed that it would be the beat of a song, and so I never said anything or asked you to stop. I could tell that was how you'd get through the class. I noticed how you'd take all the kids in, that would likely get bullied by the jocks and take them under your wing, almost protecting them. I saw that you were nice to a lot of people, even when they weren't nice to you. I just kept to myself, was never sure if I could talk to you." She admitted.

"You didn't think you could approach me?" I asked.

"Oh no, of course I knew I could. I meant more that I could never quite brave it enough. School wasn't easy for me." She said.

"You sure? It was the constantly jumping on the lunch tables and shouting stuff wasn't it? I wouldn't approach me either, Nell." I said, jokingly.

We both laughed and she sighed softly.

"I wonder if the school even noticed I went missing?" She asked, more to herself.

"They did. They still had your poster up. It's still there." I said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Really." I said.

"I doubt I'd be able to go back now." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I have no parent or guardian to confirm my re-enrolment." She said, with a sigh.

"Would you go back?" I asked.

"I'd have liked to graduate, yeah." She said, with another small sigh.

"Well then little lady, why don't we go on down there and get you back on the books?"

We both turned to the voice and Wayne was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the countertop, clearly listening to our conversation.

"You'd do that?" I asked, in shock.

"Think you could keep him in line?" Wayne asked her.

"I could try." She said, nervously.

"That's good enough for me. Let's get to it then." He said, securing his hat to his head, before swiping his keys off the side.

"Now?" I asked.

"No time like the present, besides I couldn't sleep anyway." He grumbled as I saw Nell smile widely as she followed behind him.

"I really like him." She mouthed to me.

**************************************
One week later.

Wayne had been true to his word, he'd helped Nell re-enrol back at Hawkins High.

He hadn't needed to, the principal had invited us all into his office, had overlooked me skipping that day as I had been settling Nell back in, and was happy to forego the usual procedures.

He was more relieved that she had been found, was safe and well and that she was keen to get back into school.

When the subject of money had cropped up, Wayne very honourably offered to provide the funds to pay for any textbooks or supplies she'd need, despite us having very little between us but the principal had politely declined.

The school were privy to her parents leaving, and that she was staying with us, having nowhere else to go and the principal had secured the necessary funding to see her through to completing her education. She'd be able to graduate.

I watched Nell the entire time, watched every emotion flicker across her beautifully elegant, pale face.

I doubted she'd ever witnessed this amount of kindness, more so towards herself.

For her.

She had tried to argue, tried to say she'd try and cash in her trust fund she believed had still been left to her, but neither Wayne nor the Principal Higgins would hear of it.

"We just want to ensure that you graduate, that's what's most important." Principal Higgins had said.

And so, when everyone had come around that afternoon, Wayne had cooked nachos with cheese for everyone and left for work, leaving us to catch up.

Nancy, true to her word had provided Nell with spare clothes, a backpack and Robin had raided her piggy bank and had been to the local store to get her stationery supplies.

Nell had voiced that she wasn't sure how she'd repay any of us, and it had been Steve that had reassured her before I'd had the chance to.

"You're our friend." He'd said, and he'd said it with sincerity and certainty.

Dustin had given her an old calculator of his, we shared a range of snacks he brought with him, and Eleven had passed on a lunchbox she no longer used.

And so, by the end of that afternoon, Nell was ready for her introduction back into school.

"You'll sit with me, with us at lunch?" I'd asked her that evening.

"I'd love to." She'd replied.

And here we were now, standing in the parking lot of Hawkins High, and Nell took a shaky deep breath before we walked towards the school entrance.

"You ready?" I asked her.

"As I'll ever be." She replied, her hand clasping the handle on the door.

"Hey it's Zombie Girl, thought you were dead!" Jason Carver cried, his witless wonders laughing along with him.

And as I went to defend her, I realised she didn't need to.

She stared him straight in the eyes, with some newfound confidence and tilted her head, closed her eyes and outstretched her arms.

"Braaaaaaaaainssss....." She moaned loudly, imitating a zombie.

Jason abruptly stopped laughing.

"Do I look dead to you, Carver?" She asked him.

"Touché Barnes." He said, throwing her a wink.

She scoffed loudly and he leaned forward to prop the door open for her.

"Got plans for later?" He asked her cockily.

"I do yeah, thanks." She replied, airily before turning to me.

"Come with me to sign in?" She asked.

I smiled broadly, impressed with her sheer defiance and confidence and confidently strode in behind her.

"Sure thing sweetheart, lead the way." I said, as we left Jason standing in the entrance, his mouth agape with shock.

Nell signed in and we studied her timetable together in the hallway, the bustle of the other kids drowning out.

It felt like it was just us there, poring over her timetable, seeing what lessons we had together.

"Seems like Principal Higgins also wants you to keep an eye on me. We're in most classes together. Hey, we can be lab partners ." I said, as she smiled.

"Yeah, we should probably go to home room, we're already late." She said, checking the clock above us.

"Let's go then, new girl." I said, with a wide grin.

A grin she returned almost instantaneously.

**************************************

She met me outside the cafeteria at lunchtime and we walked in together, hearing the whispers but choosing to ignore them.

We walked to my usual table together, and Nell beamed when she saw Dustin and Mike.

"Lucas, Jeff, Gareth, this is Nell." I said, introducing her.

Admirably, they all scurried around to make room for her, and she perched in a chair next to mine, setting her lunch down on the table.

"You settling in okay?" Lucas asked, as she smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm getting a lot of looks and there's a lot of whispering going on, but yeah. Same old Hawkins High." She said.

"Jason called her Zombie Girl this morning." I noted, as everyone scoffed, annoyed.

"It's alright though, she humoured him." I said, nudging her playfully.

"It made me laugh." I added.

"What did you do?" Mike asked, as Nell re-enacted her Oscar worthy Zombie impression.

The Sheep all laughed loudly, and Dustin high fived her.

"He's a real ass." Dustin said.

"That's probably the only time he's ever spoken to me." Nell noted, with a snort.

"And the last I'd say." I replied, as we all laughed.

"You're staying with our Dungeon Master I hear... how's that going?" Jeff asked, with a smirk.

"Yeah! It's going great." She said, smiling.

"Barely know she's there. I think Wayne likes her more than me." I said, nibbling a pretzel.

"He's grumpy, real grumpy but I really like him." Nell said, giddy.

"He's a grumpy ass old man, but apparently a charmer." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he passed none of that onto you." Jeff said, coyly.

"Maybe rubbed off on him a little." Nell added, playing along.

"Just a small hint here and there." Jeff continued, before they both laughed.

"When you've both finished.... I wanted to speak to you guys about something." I said, with a sly smirk.

"Oh god...." Gareth said, nervous.

"I was thinking that Nell could join Hellfire." I said.

"Seriously?" Dustin asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Nell used to play. On her own or with people over a radio, but she used to play." I said, with a casual shrug.

"You did?" Dustin asked, open mouthed with shock.

"Yeah, I love D&D." Nell said, blushing slightly.

"You'd join Hellfire, play with us?" Mike asked, equally surprised.

"If you'd want me to, I'd love to." She said.

"And so I will cast a vote. Raise a hand if you want Nell to join Hellfire?" I said, in a dramatic voice.

Nell grew very nervous, and eyed everyone, almost afraid of their answers.

Her eyes met mine and I gave her a small wink as I raised my hand in the air to signal my approval.

And when she turned to the rest of the group, she saw five other hands all firmly raised in the air to signal their acceptance, teamed with happy, excited smiles.

"Well new girl, it's unanimous." I said, almost bursting with happiness.

"It is..." Nell said, in awe.

I outstretched my hand, and gave her a coy smile.

She took it and as we shook hands, I stared into her crystal blue ocean eyes and my smile spread across my face.

"Welcome to Hellfire." I said, proudly.

*************************************

We'd held a D&D campaign later on that week, and it was now Friday, the night after.

Nell was still giddy from her first game with people actually present, and wanting her on their team.

The sheep had been really kind to her, and she'd soon gotten used to being present with us. It had been a real honour to watch.

I was still glad I'd been a part of it. We were watching Nightmare on Elm Street, lying on the sofa at opposite ends, comfortably content with each other, now used to living together.

She was becoming the welcome addition to my life that I hadn't realised I'd needed.

It was almost like she slotted into my life, and it felt like she'd always been here.

I wasn't sure I could think back as far as this last week and remember a time when she wasn't in my life.

I knew I didn't want her to leave, anytime soon.
I was happy for her to stay.
For as long as she wanted.

Wayne was certainly in better spirits with her around; he seemed more fatherly, less stern.

He even seemed to be relenting on me a little more these days; I'd deduced that perhaps helping Nell was proving to him that I wasn't necessarily my fathers son and was more like his.

Maybe I'd needed to save Nell, to show him that.
To show him that I was trying not to be my parents.

Trying not to be like his sister and brother in law.

He'd never made me feel like I had to prove that point to him, he'd never made me feel like I had to prove anything. It was more that I'd wanted to prove to him.

He just wanted me to stay on track, a simple wordless request he'd always given me.

He was hard on me sometimes, because he'd always wanted better for me.

"You still with me Eddie?" Nell asked, as I realised I'd been lost in my own head.

"Yeah, sorry. I was gone for a minute there." I said, chuckling softly.

"Where were you?" She asked, curiously.

"Just in a thought, Nell. Just in a thought." I said, reassuringly.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked her, as she shook her head.

"Could I maybe, lie there with you?" She asked, nervously.

"You want to lie with me?" I asked, shocked.

I'd never really been asked that by a girl.
Sure I'd been intimate with a few, but there was never any want to actually be close to me in this way.

"It's okay if not." She added hurriedly.

"No, sorry..... I'd really like that." I said, feeling privileged.

I shifted over to make room for her, and she crawled across the sofa, curling up in front of me.

Nervously, I wrapped my arm around her and she settled in my arms, our eyes on the TV.

Once the nerves subsided, I found the confidence to pull her closer to me, securing her in my arms and she let me, covering my hand with her own, as if to secure my arm across her.

And we lay there, comfortably entwined until we fell asleep.

***************************************

The smell of coffee roused me from sleep the next morning, and I noticed Nell still asleep in my arms.

The realisation dawned on me then and my head snapped up to see a pair of familiar green eyes staring back at me.

"Morning, boy. Sleep well?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We must have fallen asleep, watching the film." I said.

Remarkably, he chuckled softly.

"I got in at 2am, covered you both up." He said, my eyes focusing on the throw blanket draped over us.

"I know that there's rules, it was an accident." I explained, hurriedly.

"Settle down Ed, I know." Wayne said.

"She's comfortable with you, I think you make her feel safe. And you should be proud of that, after where she was for so long. It's got to have been real scary for her, for a good while. But she has you, and I think she's happy with that." Wayne said, as I gazed down at her sleeping frame.

"She feels safe because you make her feel safe. That's on you boy, and I'm proud of you." He added.

"You are?" I asked, amazed.

"I always have been. Your father might not like what I'm about to say, but screw him. You're my boy." He said.

I couldn't help but smile then, my head spinning.

"Don't get all soft on me." He grumbled, as my eyes glossed with tears.

"I won't." I said, laughing softly.

"What's the plan for today then?" Wayne asked, clearing his throat.

I thought about what he'd said, and decided I was going to chance it.

"I'm gonna ask Nell when she wakes if she'd like to go on a date, maybe?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"If you're waiting for my blessing, kid, you've already got it." Wayne said, before raising his coffee as a toast.

"I'm gonna go lie down for a few hours." He said, walking to his bedroom.

I felt Nell stir beside me, and I shifted slightly to let her wake up.

Her blue eyes met mine, and she raised herself up on an elbow, her hair cascading down her shoulder, in raven black waves.

"Good morning." I said, with a warm smile.

A smile she returned in a heartbeat.

"Hey." She said, as she realised we were both still on the sofa.

"Yeah we both fell asleep here." I said, with a small laugh.

"Wayne's home?" She asked, suddenly nervous.

"He wasn't mad. He's gone to bed." I said, reassuringly.

"I wanted to ask you something, actually." I said, as she stared up at me, her piercing eyes staring into mine.

"Okay?" She asked, with a slight crease in her brow.

She was beautiful even when she frowned.

"I was wondering, if you'd maybe go on a date with me?" I asked, feeling my palms start to sweat.

"You want to go on a date with me?" She asked, almost unable to believe it.

"Yeah I'd love to." I said, as though it was obvious.

"I'm sorry.... It's just, I've never gone on a date with anyone." She said, a slight blush creeping across the bridge of her nose.

"You've never been asked?" I said.

Finding that it was now my turn to be unable to believe it.

"No, I haven't." She admitted.

"Could I be the first one?" I asked her, tentatively.

"I'd really like you to be the first one. I'd love to go on a date." She replied, with a beautiful smile.

"Where will we be going?" She asked, seemingly excited and nervous at the same time.

"Let me think about it. Let's say tonight. Gives me a few hours to decide where we're going." I said, with a smile.

"Okay." She replied, smiling back at me.

**************************************

"I've been thinking....." Dustin said, later on that afternoon.

We'd met them all at the park, and we were sitting on blankets, lapping up the sun. Dustin as always, had brought plenty of snacks.

"If this was anyone else, I'd say it was a dangerous past time." Nancy remarked as I snorted with laughter.

"But seeing as it's me, you're not going to are you?" Dustin asked, pointedly.

"No, and because you're my favourite." She replied with a smile.

"I've been thinking about how Nell managed to communicate from the upside down, with no radio or way out or anything and I had a theory." Dustin said.

"Okay?" I asked, curious.

"I was thinking that maybe there were still some remnants of a psychic connection there. And without realising or meaning to, Nell somehow tapped into it." Dustin said.

"I think I was dreaming a lot of the time. I feel as though they were dreams." Nell explained.

"Conscious or subconscious, I still think that's how you did it." Dustin said.

"That was what Henry had been building. A psychic network, he absorbed the consciousness of a person, absorbed everything they were and that's how he became as strong as he was." Dustin continued.

"It was pretty vast." Nancy said.

"He'd killed a lot of people. Perhaps it was just still live in some shape or form." Dustin said.

"Maybe you're right." I said.

"You were a victim of Vecna, either way." Steve said, to Nell.

"He couldn't get to you, because you kept hiding." Nancy said.

"Like Will." Mike suggested.

"Hiding, and often singing myself to sleep." Nell said, remembering.

"Music stopped him. Makes sense." Dustin said, adamant.

"What song did you sing?" I asked, as Nell bowed her head.

"It's not a happy song, far from it." She said, hesitantly.

"None of us are going to judge you." Steve said reassuringly.

"When it's cold, I'd like to die." She said, hurriedly.

"Moby." I replied to which she nodded.

"Like I said, it wasn't a happy song. It isn't a happy song." Nell said.

"If it brought you comfort whilst you were there, then it served its purpose, happy for not." I said.

"That was deep for you." Dustin noted, with a grin.

"Bite me, Henderson." I snapped, as he stared at me in surprise.

"With these pearls?" He asked, with both a gappy and toothy grin.

"Yeah actually, don't." I said, changing my mind.

"That's what I thought." He said, clicking his tongue.

"Maybe you're right though, Henderson." Steve said.

"Either way, it worked and you're here now." Robin said, smiling.

"I couldn't have done it without any of you." Nell said.

"Once we knew you were there, there was no doubt in any one of us. We were coming to get you." Mike said, as Eleven nodded.

"We're glad we saved you." Eleven said.

"We're friends now, there's no getting rid of us." Dustin added, as I watched her face illuminate with a wonderful smile.

"I wasn't planning on it." She replied.

*****************************************

Nell's POV

Later on that night, Eddie drove us to a roadside diner, and as we pulled into parking lot, he seemed nervous.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, his eyes on the diner windows.

"Jason Carver is in there." He said, through a tightly clenched jaw.

"Fuck him." I said, with a shrug.

"Did you just curse?" He asked me, surprised.

"I did. Shall we go in then?" I asked him.

"I know it's not the Ritz or the Hilton, but I loved coming here as a kid." Eddie said.

"I'm sure I'll love it too. I don't mind where we were, so long as we're together. I love your company, the place isn't important." I said, as his jaw softened and he smiled.

"Come on." He said, seemingly listening to me.

We climbed out of the car and walked inside the diner.

We immediately caught Carver's attention but neither of us reacted, much to his dismay.

So much so, that he was standing at our table in under 30 seconds, with a confused look on his face.

"Listen.... I'm not here to start anything." He blurted, as Eddie raised an eyebrow.

"Are you feeling alright?" Eddie asked him.

"I just wanted to say sorry for what I said at school. I lost Chrissy to that monster and it was insensitive, when you were stuck in that place for so long." He said.

"Who are you and what have you done with Jason?" I asked, confused.

Even his friends looked confused.

"I'm serious." He said, with a shrug.

Neither of us were convinced.
Neither were his friends.

"I think you should just cut to the chase and be done with it." Eddie said.

"Okay. I'm only sorry because I wanted to ask you out but you chose the freak." He said.

There he was.

"He's not a freak." I said, calmly.

"And you only wanted to ask me out because I've been getting a ton of attention since I got back here." I added.

"So by dating Zombie Girl, you'd get some recognition from your peers, so I suspect that's why you wanted to ask me out." I continued.

"She getting close?" Eddie asked, a furrow in his brow.

"And I have a pretty huge trust fund." I noted, with a casual shrug.

Jason scoffed then, but he looked scorned.
Which only confirmed to me that I had him bang to rights.

"That's not it at all." He argued.

I leaned towards him then and sighed.

"Jason, you're as transparent as thin air. I see you. I see what you're doing. You want the credit, you want the attention. Both of which you'll only get from me. I'm not interested." I said, clearly.

"So you're really choosing this freak over someone like me?" Jason asked, as I watched Eddie's jaw clench.

"You're a nobody." I answered, before reaching across the table for Eddie's hand.

Our fingers laced and I squoze his hand reassuringly.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say to me?" Jason asked, his temper suddenly flaring.

"Give it up, man." Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

"Nah, I don't think I ought to. I want you to say that again." He ordered me.

"Jason! Just FUCK OFF." I said, exasperated.

And just as he went to approach our table further, Eddie was on his feet and standing in front of me, protecting me.

"No, you're done here. You saw that place, you saw what killed Chrissy......I don't care what grudge you want to hold against me, hold it. Hold it with everything you got, I can handle it. I got a mother who wanted nothing to do with me and a father in jail. Her parents? They cut and run even when she was still missing. Left her a trust fund and it's possible she doesn't have the documentation to access it. So she's about as broke as I am, as my uncle is. So you won't get any notoriety from her, as much as you think you will. And you don't really like her in that way, you just figured she's emotionally damaged and easily manipulated. She's made it very clear she's not interested, she's told you she doesn't want to go out with you and I think she's definitely proved that there isn't a chance in hell that you'll be able to control her. I know you did that with Chrissy, and sadly she did fall for it. But from what I know about Eleanor Barnes, she sure ain't no pushover. You're wasting your time, and you're wasting ours. So like the lady said, fuck off." Eddie said.

I was blown away watching him fiercely defend me in the way he had.

My heart swelled at his chivalry, how gently he'd quietened Jason down but firmly too.

"From what I'm seeing, there wouldn't be much to use anyway." Jason sneered, referring to me.

Eddie held his ground and watched him walk away from us, before coming to sit back opposite me.

"Thank you....." I whispered.

"We had each other's backs, thank you too." Eddie said, as I decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Come on then, we sharing a banana split or what?" I asked.

He grinned broadly and nodded.

"Not before sharing the cheeseburger bonanza first!" He said, excitedly.

"I can't wait." I replied, dreamily.

*********************************************
After Jason had finally exited the diner, I watched her relax and the conversation flowed without us having to be on edge.

I relaxed too, and we talked about all kinds of things.
Things I'd never really talked about with a girl.

We shared a rack of cheeseburgers, laughing at each other when our faces were covered in cheese, and laughed when we fought over the ice cream in the banana split.

The walk to my car was a comfortable one, and neither of us immediately spotted Jason and his witless wonders lying in wait for us.

"You think you can refuse me, insult me and get away with it?" He asked, from behind us.

He wasn't asking me.
He was asking Nell.

"My God you just don't give up, do you?" She asked, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" She continued, her eyes bright with anger.

"You insulted us too." She said, finally.

"Oh so that makes us even then does it?" Jason asked, sarcastically.

"It ought to, yeah." She said, as though it was obvious.

I saw him turn it over in his hands, and so did she.
She watched the sudden shine of the blade as he flicked his switchblade knife and pointed it towards me.

"He's the nobody. The cops might think he didn't kill Chrissy, but ask him why she was at his trailer that night. Ask him why the cops found her dead." He spat.

"I'm supposed to believe some monster from another dimension killed my girl?" He added, sneering.

I'd expected her to be surprised, horrified, but she was surprisingly the opposite.

Oddly calm if anything.

"I saw Chrissy there. I was in that place, and I saw her. I saw what killed her. I saw who killed her. Eddie doesn't have to tell anyone why she was there that night. He especially doesn't need to tell you. There wasn't a single shred of evidence, and the cops knew it. That's why he was never charged. No human being could do that to another." She said.

"She was my girlfriend." Jason snapped, brandishing the knife in her face.

She didn't even flinch.
I did.

"And yet you failed to see just how messed up she was. She was troubled. She couldn't come to you, you're far too narrow minded, chauvinistic and ignorant. She knew that." Nell said.

"You know nothing about Chrissy, you know nothing about me." Jason argued.

"There are always people like you." She said.

"You're a lot more like Henry Creel than you'll ever realise. He was like you, saw himself as above everyone else. Saw himself as superior. You act like everyone is beneath you, your girlfriend's mental health wasn't important to you, you didn't  believe in it. Henry Creel killed Chrissy. You may as well have killed her yourself. You're more culpable than you think." She said, holding her ground firmly.

"Maybe if you'd just listened to her, maybe if you'd have helped her, she wouldn't have reached out to Eddie for a little Special K to help her sleep at night. All you had to do was be there. Too busy being the King of Hawkins to notice that she needed you." Nell continued.

How the hell did she know?

"You can either stab me with that, or leave." She said, finally.

"But if you so much as even try to touch Eddie with that, I'll punch you so hard in the face you'll be spitting teeth for a week." She snapped, suddenly.

"You wouldn't touch me." Jason spat.

And in a split second, I saw her reach out, I heard a loud crack and I watched Jason spit two teeth out onto the asphalt.

True to her word, she'd punched him.
Punched him so hard, he'd lost two teeth.

So far.

"HOLY SHIT!" I cried, both shocked and overjoyed.

"Let's go." She mumbled, as we clambered into the car.

Last thing we saw as I reversed out of the parking lot was Jason picking his teeth up off the floor.

"That was seriously badass!" I cried, laughing in disbelief.

Nell wasn't laughing, and she was very quiet.

Well, except for the loud, deep breaths as her head was tilted back against the headrest.

She looked pained, her eyes closed as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Shit, are you okay?" I asked her, as she wordlessly shook her head.

"No...." She said, her voice strained.

"Talk to me, tell me what's wrong." I said.

"I think I've broken my hand." She said, pressing her lips together until they formed a tight, white line.

"Oh fuck...." I said, my eyes widening.

When I could see we were safely far away enough from Jason and his goons, I pulled over and leaned over to inspect her hand.

It was swollen, and it was already bruised.

"Yeah, you've broken a knuckle or two. You'll need to go to the hospital." I said, sighing softly.

"I don't have insurance." She said through gritted teeth.

"I might know someone, buckle up." I said, hurriedly.

I wasted no time pulling off the curb, and I sped down the road, trying to remember the address.

I'd dropped him off a few times and his mom had always been really nice. Fussed over him a lot, she was a worrier, but she was a nice lady. And she was also a nurse.

"Mrs Henderson." I said, when she answered the door.

"Eddie! Are you here for Dustin, he's just upstairs." She said, sweetly.

"Actually no, we're here for you. We need your help." I said.

"You do? What's the matter?" She asked, as I motioned to Nell who was cradling her injured hand.

"Fallen soldier. She's broken her hand." I said.

"She needs to go to the hospital." She said.

"Yeah, she doesn't have insurance." I said, as she glanced at Nell sympathetically.

"Oh sweetheart.... You'd better come in, let's see what we can do, okay?" She asked, with a warm, motherly smile.

She invited us in and as we walked down the hallway she shouted up the stairs to Dustin.

"He can come and help." She reasoned.

"Hey guys! Wasn't expecting to see you." Dustin said, bounding down the stairs.

He threw his arms around me and we hugged tightly before he released me and went to grace Nell with the same sentiment.

"She's broken her hand, Henderson." I said, hurriedly, when Nell withdrew backwards.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" Dustin cried.

"Dusty, sit her down in the living room, I'll be there in a second." His mother called from the bathroom.

"Okay mom!" He called back, before gently coaxing Nell into the living room. She sank down onto their sofa, and I asked the question that was burning on my tongue.

"How did you know Chrissy came to me for drugs? You were right about everything." I said.

"You weren't alone that day in the woods. I was there. I used to go there, when I wanted quiet, from everyone in school. That's where I'd have my lunch. Neither of you noticed me, but I heard you both." Nell admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

"I didn't need to. I knew you'd never have hurt her like that." Nell said.

"That's when I realised how nice you were. She came to you and you were kind to her. If you were worried I'd care about you drug dealing, I really don't. I didn't. We all have to do what we can to get by. It's obvious you were trying to help your uncle with money, rent, bills and stuff. Drugs will always make a quick buck, so long as there's people alive and breathing." She continued.

"I know you're not a bad person." She said.

"I did exactly realise what she wanted them for, until it was too late. It's not surprising that she wanted oblivion, when Vecna was tormenting her." I said.

"She came to you for help, and you showed her kindness. She wasn't getting that anywhere else." Dustin said.

"Happiness from the drugs she was buying off me." I said, scoffing slightly.

"I heard the conversation. You didn't just deal and then leave. You sat with her, she asked you questions, you were honest and you related to her. You made her laugh, you made her feel like she wasn't weird for feeling the way she did. She just wanted someone to talk to, someone to listen." Nell said.

"You need to forgive yourself at some point." Dustin said.

"You didn't kill her. You tried to help." He added.

"Okay, let's take a look at you!" Mrs Henderson said, supplies bundled in her arms.

I moved to sit next to Dustin, so she had room to tend to Nell's hand and we watched in silence.

"Dare I ask how this happened?" Mrs Henderson asked.

"She punched Jason Carver." I said, with a weak smile.

"He just wanted leave us alone, wouldn't take no for an answer." Nell explained.

"No to what?" Dustin asked.

"Going out with him, he was talking about Chrissy, tried to get me and Eddie to fight about how she died..." Nell continued.

"He needs to let that go. That was horrible, but everyone knows Eddiehad nothing to do with her passing. God, are people still talking about it?" Mrs Henderson asked.

"Just Jason." I mumbled.

"I'm glad I punched him." Nell said.

"Not that I usually condone violence..... but I'm glad you did too." Mrs Henderson replied, as Nell let out a groan of pain.

"Sorry.... It's a makeshift cast, I'm a little rusty." Mrs Henderson said, apologetically.

"No, that's okay. Thank you for helping me." Nell said.

"Wayne is gonna freak." She continued.

"Not when he finds out why." I said, laughing slightly.

"I reckon you'll get away with it. More than Eddie would anyway." Dustin said with a goofy smile.

"You're my hero." He added to Nell, with an excited shrug.

She was my hero too.

*************************************

"Okay, what's happened? Are the cops gonna knock on the door?" Wayne asked when we got home.

"I doubt it, Jason treasures his pride." I grumbled.

"Carver?" Wayne asked, as Nell shifted slightly, visibly uncomfortable.

"You don't need to be scared Nell, I ain't mad. Just worried is all." Wayne said, sounding apologetically.

"He threatened us with a knife." Nell said.

"He did what?" Wayne asked, his tone changing.
He was angry now, just not at us.

"That stuck up little shit pulled a knife on you two?" He asked again, when we didn't answer.

"He did." I answered.

"He asked me out and I said no, and he just wouldn't leave it." Nell said.

"Okay, get in the truck. We're paying the little shits dad a visit." Wayne said, grabbing his keys.

When neither of us moved, he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh it wasn't a request boy, it was an order. We're going, and we're going now." Wayne said, ushering us to the door.

"Are we in trouble?" Nell asked.

"For defending yourself when that little bastard pulled a knife on you? Hell no. But how did you hurt your hand?" Wayne asked.

Ah, he wanted the full story before we went anywhere.

Or most of it at least.

"I punched him." Nell said.

"Atta girl, let's go." Wayne said, fighting a proud smile.

One he hadn't hidden very well.
I saw it.

The drive to Jason's house was a tense one, for myself and Nell.

We'd left out the minor detail of Jason missing two teeth at the very least, and god help us when he found out.

We slowly walked up the pretensious gravel pathway, and Wayne rapped harshly on the front door.

Jason's father answered, and I felt my stomach sink.

"Wayne, I was going to swing by. You're here about Jason, I assume?" He asked.

"You bet your ass I am." Wayne grunted.

"You're her guardian, I'm told?" He asked.

"I am." Wayne said.

"So can you ask her to explain to me why my son is missing three teeth?" He asked, as Wayne coughed abruptly with shock.

"Oh you didn't know?" He asked.

"Oh I knew, she told me. Did your boy tell you that he pulled a knife on them? She was defending herself and my boy." Wayne said, recovering quite admirably.

Jason's father shifted slightly, and Wayne smirked.

"Oh he didn't tell you, did he? Pulled a switchblade on these two, because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Am I right Nell?" Wayne asked.

"Yeah. I said no, and he didn't like it. Wouldn't leave it." She said.

"Think you need a real long hard talk with that boy, John. If he so much as pressures her again, he'll be picking more teeth up from the sidewalk and it won't be her that punches him." Wayne warned.

"Are you threatening my son?" John asked.

"Nah, I ain't threatening anyone. I'm just telling you like it is. I'm telling you that will happen. Unless you remind him about consent and what it means, and that Nell here has a god given right to decline any advance from any boy, including my own. She said no, and she shouldn't have had to punch him for him to understand. You hear me?" Wayne asked.

John hesitated then, unable to disagree.
It was a pleasant experience, watching him squirm.

"He really pressured you?" John asked Nell.

"He said some really nasty things, because I said no. And when he didn't like it, he pulled a knife on us. That's why I punched him." Nell said.

John turned around then and hollered up the stairs.

"JASON! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

And within a matter of seconds, a sheepish face missing his two front teeth appeared at the door and his dad grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"You apologise to these kids right now, you hear me?" John said.

"What? No way. She knocked my teeth out." Jason hissed, as his dad tightened his steel grip on his neck.

"Apologise. Mr Munson is right, the lady has a right to consent, and I ain't raising you to pull a knife on a girl for saying no. If you don't apologise I swear to god, I'll finish what she started." John threatened.

"Alright alright! I'm sorry Nell." Jason mumbled.

"Mean it." John demanded.

"I'm really sorry." Jason said, sounding a little more sincere.

"Get out of my sight." John spat, shoving him away.

"Listen, I'm sorry. It won't happen again." He said.

"Good. That'll be all then John. Be sure that he refreshes himself on what consent means, otherwise I'll be calling again." Wayne warned.

"I got it Wayne." John said, before slamming the door.

It was a moment before Wayne turned around and stared at Nell in awe.

"You really knocked three of his teeth out?" He asked.

"And broke her hand." I added, as Nell blushed.

"Well, I'm proud of you. We're gonna go home, and I'm going to make my special hot chocolate for us all." Wayne said, chuckling softly.

"Would you be doing this if I'd hit him?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"Absolutely not." Wayne said, with great emphasis.

"How's that fair?" I complained as he grinned broadly.

"We'd be cracking open a beer, but we've run out. So hot chocolate it is. Proud of you both, you know I hate bullies." Wayne said.

"Let's go home." I said, with a smile.

***************************************

After a mug of hot chocolate, Wayne left for his shift at work and we settled down to watch TV.

"How's your hand?" I asked.

"Hurts a little, but it was worth it." She said, softly.

"I could have done more, I'm mad at myself." I admitted.

"I didn't give you much time to react, I just saw red. And you more than stuck up for me." She said.

"I should have the broken hand." I argued.

"Instead of the broken ego?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that bad that I kinda do?" I asked.

"No, you're a guy. It's a guy thing. Traditionally, you'd defend my honour. But this isn't the 19th century. Girls can defend a guys honour too." She argued.

"I should see the bigger picture, really I know that. He's missing three teeth for being a class A prick. It's just..... It bothers me that you're hurt." I said.

"It'll be fine I'm a few days, I'll barely notice it." She said, dismissively.

"I was scared he was going to stab you, back there." I admitted, as her face softened.

"I was scared too, for you." She said.

"He ruined our date." I said, with a sigh.

"He didn't. I had a lovely time with you." She said, as I smiled gratefully.

"I had a lovely time with you too." I said.

"And we were there for each other." She said.

"We were." I agreed.

She curled into me then, and I wrapped an arm around her as her face grew level with mine.

I stared into her blue eyes, losing myself in them as she stared back at me, the two of us in the centre of a comfortable, sudden silence.

Her good hand reached up to cup my cheek and I leaned into her touch, turning into her hand to kiss it gently.

She coaxed my head back so I was facing her again and she leaned forward, her thumb stroking my cheek.

"You're amazing, Eddie Munson. I'm glad I found you." She whispered.

"I'm glad I found you." I whispered back.

And upon that declaration, I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips gently against hers. I felt her lean into me, her body virtually melting into me, as she kissed me back with a soft, keen desperation.

**************************************
Jason's POV

I was livid, raging.

It had been over a week, I'd had my teeth replaced and now I was just straight up pissed.

She'd embarrassed me, as much as she did pack a serious punch. I'd never know a girl to ever hit so hard.

She fought like a man, I couldn't deny that.
She'd stood up to me in a way no one ever had.

She'd also refused me, and chose the freak over someone like me.

No one refused me.

No one.

So much so, that I already had a plan.
A plan for her to see things my way.

I hadn't really noticed her before, but seeing her back at school with her raging blue eyes and raven hair, she sure was pretty.

Beautiful even.
It didn't matter that before all of this, she didn't stand out enough for me to notice.

She stood out now.
Because she chose Eddie.

She had a target on her back.
And it wasn't long before she'd see things exactly how I did.

It was in her best interest to learn.
And learn quickly.

****************************************

I wasn't sure how it happened, or why..... but Nell never came to lunch in the afternoon.

She had been supposed to meet me, as normal outside the cafeteria.

And today, she hadn't.

She hadn't told me she had alternative plans nor had she said she couldn't make it. She'd said the same as usual.

"Of course Ed, I'll see you there."

And she'd let go of my hand, and gone off to English with a smile and a wave.

She'd never come from English though, which was near the gym.

And that's where the dread in the pit of my stomach has come from.

Jason might have apologised but he hadn't been happy for it and I was acutely aware of how long he could maintain a grudge for. He still held one against me, for something I didn't do.

So to hold a grudge for something Nell and I had actually done, had me worried. He was unstable, a bully, a hot head who genuinely thought his worth was above everyone else's.

I'd known he wouldn't be happy about it, especially adding Wayne and his impromptu visit to his house to the list.

"Everything okay Eddie?" Dustin asked, looking at me with a worried expression.

"Where's Nell?" Jeff asked with a frown.

"Yeah that's what I'm thinking, she didn't meet me outside." I said.

"You don't think?" Dustin asked trailing off, as I glanced over at the jocks table.

Which was unusually empty.

"Yeah I'm thinking as much, we need to go. The gym first." I instructed, scrambling to my feet, the others immediately in tow.

"And if I'm right, this isn't going to be good." I added, as we rushed down the corridor to the school gym.

And just as I'd thought it, his goons were already running down the hall towards us.

But they looked unusually jittery.

"Thank god man. We couldn't talk him down." Luke said, pacing.

"Why didn't you grab us?" I asked, furiously.

"He wouldn't let us." Tyler said, equally pacing.

"We have to get in there." I said, pushing past them.

"He wouldn't listen to us, said he wanted to embarrass her like she embarrassed him." Tyler said.

"What has he done?" I asked, incensed.

"Said something about making her look real stupid. And everyone getting to see it." Luke said, panicked.

Without further comment, I barged into the school gym, just as Jason was cutting a chunk out of her long, beautiful raven locks.

She was tied to a chair, her mouth taped, her eyes crying.
Her eye was black, from a hard punch I suspected, and she was crying out against the tape.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER NOW!" I yelled, rushing over to her.

I tackled him around his waist as he was about to cut another portion of her hair and we crashed to the floor of the gym.

I punched Jason hard in the face and he cried out.

"You think you've got any spare teeth to remove?" I asked him, taking another swipe to his face.

"Did you just slap me?!" Jason asked, gruffly.

"I punch a man, but I slap little bitches with a grudge. And you are the biggest little bitch I've ever met." I spat, grabbing him by his throat.

Dustin and Mike hurried over to Nell, untying her from the chair and Jeff quickly removed the tape.

"It's okay Nell, we're here." Dustin said, trying to reassure her.

I pinned Jason down, as Principal Higgins rushed through the doors and his eyes widened at the sight of us all.

"What on earth is going on here?" He booked, loudly.

"Sir, he tied Nell to a chair, hit her and cut her hair." Dustin said, as two more teachers tried to remove me gruffly from on top of Jason.

"I'll fucking kill you, I swear! You hear me, I will kill you." I hissed in Jason's face, resisting the restraints.

"Get him off, get him up and she needs to see the nurse." Higgins ordered.

I was finally removed with further force and I snatched myself from their grip, breathless and enraged.

"And you wonder why she hit you. You just don't know when enough is enough. She said no." I spat at Jason, who was wordlessly escorted out.

But not without glaring at me as he was walked out.

I turned to Nell then, who was still on the chair and my heart sank as I noticed her discarded underwear a few metres away.

"No...." I whispered, as she couldn't look at me.

"Please tell me he didn't...." I said, tears filling my eyes.

Higgins walked towards her and I stood in front of her.

"Don't touch her!" I cried, before lifting her out of the chair and into my arms. I held her like a husband would carry his wife over the newly marital threshold, cradling her to my chest as a mother would with her child and made it very clear that no one would be coming remotely near her.

"He didn't....." she whispered to me, sounding so small.

"He tried, didn't he....?" I asked, trying my hardest not to break.

"I kicked him, that's why he tied my feet together." She whispered.

"Call the Sheriff's office, there's been an attempted sexual assault." Higgins said, to one of the teachers standing by.

I was grateful that he did it discreetly, and he proceeded to let me carry her out of the gym, giving us a wide berth.

"Get the kids out of here, we're not moving her anywhere until they're gone. They don't need to see this, as much as they think they want to. I'm not prepared for any further embarrassment, to Eleanor." Higgins said to the same teacher before stopping me.

"We'll just wait here. Jason Carver won't be getting what he wants today." He said to me.

"And before you ask, you're not in trouble. Just don't make a habit out of it." He added.

"And Jason?" I asked.

"Arrested, if I don't expel him first." Higgins said.

I sighed with relief and looked down at Nell, who was trembling and still crying.

"Sweetheart, you're safe with me I promise." I whispered.

"You saved me again Eddie....." She whispered.

**************************************
One week later

After a gruelling examination at the hospital, and Jason's arrest, both myself and Nell were struggling with our emotions.

I was angry, guilt ridden and wishing I'd gotten there sooner.

She was withdrawn, sad, and feeling like a burden.

So much so, that after this last week, Wayne had apparently and very clearly had enough.

"Right, I have half an hour before I'm due to leave for my shift. So I want you two to listen to me." He ordered, hands on his hips as he stood in front of us, myself and Nell at opposite ends of the couch.

The furthest distance we'd been from each other in days.

"You're punishing yourself because you think you were too late getting in there, you're angry at the Carver boy and I understand that. But this guilt you're wearing like a coat? Nah, you need to stop that. You did get to Nell, you saved her like you saved her all those weeks ago. You ain't got nothing to feel guilty for. Save the guilt for the guilty. She's home and she's safe. Because of you. And because of Dustin and the other boy. Distancing yourself from Nell, isn't going to help." Wayne said, addressing me.

Nell eyed me with deeply sad eyes, one with a yellowy purple ring around it and I felt my heart clench painfully.

"And you lady.... I know that was real scary for you. Shit, it's a really scary time to be a woman, in this world some men and boys don't know what the word no means. Carver is one of them, but hey, he's been charged with assault and attempted sexual assault, he's pled guilty, so there won't be a trial just a sentencing. Daddy forced him too. He'll do some time, might just sort him out right. I can only imagine how that all felt to you, but my boy here..... he just wants you to be okay. He just wants you in his life. Now, usually I'd be trying to put out any teenage feeling fires, 'cause of your age and his parents and he knows that.... But you two like each other, you get along so well and right now, you need each other. So do me a favour, the pair of you stop pouting now, and be there for each other." Wayne said.

"I'll be going now, give you two some time to talk." He added, with a final pointed stare.

"Don't make me come home in the morning and have to bang your heads together." He called as he walked down the trailer steps.

The door closed and I heard Nell whimper.

"Am I better off here Ed? Or where I was?" She asked, her gaze on the wall in front of her.

"I'll never want you to go back to that place..... or anywhere where I wasn't. You started off as the girl I sometimes saw around school, with the pretty butterfly bracelet and the kind smile. Then, you were the girl I wanted to save from that place.... Then the new friend who came to live with me. Then you became that girl who knocked a guy's teeth out for me, for us. The girl I really like." I whispered back.

My eyes fell on her shorter, raven locks and I sighed softly.
Robin and Nancy had fixed what Jason had done, everyone once again had rallied around to help.

I loved our friends.

I loved Nell.
I didn't want her to leave.

"The girl I love...." I whispered, when she didn't answer me.

"You love me?" She asked, shocked.

"I think I've always liked you, but since I've gotten to know you, it hasn't taken long to turn into something else. I do.... Yes I do, Nell." I said, finding the courage.

"I've been nothing but a burden." She said, sounding sad.

"If you're a burden, you've been the best kind. Wayne is different, he's less grumpy, I think he always wanted a daughter, or a kid of his own. I think he sees you that way. He sees me that way too, but a man is different with his son, than he is with his daughter. You've changed me too, brought me out of a dark place. I was smoking every night just to sleep. I don't need to do that when you're here." I said.

"I came to you, I reached out to you for help..... because out of all of those faces in school, in Hawkins.... I only saw you." She admitted.

"The boy I've always liked..... The boy I love." She continued.

"You love me?" I asked, sighing with relief.

"I've always liked you.... And your face was the only face I ever saw when I was in the upside down. The kind face I'd see in class, who cheated off my quiz papers. I'm sorry I've pushed you away and shut you out. I just feel so dirty.... No matter how many times I stand under that shower, I can't seem to truly feel clean." She admitted.

I braved it and shifted along the sofa to her and she met me in the middle, moving herself over too.

I took her good hand into my own, and searched her face until her eyes met mine.

"You were the victim, not the perpetrator. If anyone needs to feel dirty, it's Jason. He's an entitled, rich little slimy ass prick, who tried to force himself on you out of revenge for getting rejected by you. And he's gonna do time. You're not dirty, you're perfect and you're beautiful." I said.

"He took the one thing I loved the most about myself.... My hair." She said sadly. She was blushing madly though at my compliments and I suspected she'd never heard herself called those things.

"The positive thing that comes from this, is your hair will grow back. And it's just as beautiful, even if it's a little shorter now." I added.

"You're perfect to me too, Eddie." She whispered, squeezing my hand.

"I'm sorry that I've been too busy with my own feelings." I said.

"You don't need to feel guilt for anything. You saved me. You've saved me twice. I doubt I'll ever repay that." She said.

"You could." I said.

"I could?" She repeated.

"If you'd be my girl....." I said, with a coy smile.

She chuckled softly and I felt her relax against me, her head resting on my shoulder.

"I think that without even realising, all this time.... I've always been your girl." She said.

"Always?" I asked.

"From the first time you cheated off me." She answered, as I found myself laughing loudly.

"I'm absolutely yours." I whispered in her ear.

It was Eddie and Nell once again.

The band was back together.
The dynamic duo.

*******************************************

The following night, the most amazing few hours followed.

Wayne went to work as normal, happy to see us back as we were, together and close.

It had been a mutual glance that had started it all.

I had been plumping the sofa cushions, preparing for our horror movie night and she was retrieving the popcorn from the microwave, when we'd both stopped what we were doing and had turned towards each other in unison.

We'd glanced at each other and I could see it in her eyes, as sure I was that she'd have seen it in mine.

The feeling had started to stir in the pit of my stomach, as I watched her slowly place the bag of popcorn onto the kitchen counter, her hands suddenly falling down at her sides and she came to a halt. The cushion slipped through my fingers as I stood upright and our eyes locked.

Desire.
Tension.
Love.

"You don't have to look at me like I'm fragile. I know I said I'd never been asked out on a date before.....and that's true I haven't. But I am familiar with how this works." She said to me.

"What are you saying, Nell?" I asked.

"I'm saying that I'm not a virgin." She answered, very clearly.

"There were two occasions. I'm not experienced, just familiar." She added.

"And you want to do this with me?" I asked.

"I do..... but I'm a little scared, after what happened." She admitted.

"This would only happen when you were absolutely sure you wanted it to. I'm not expecting anything from you. We've been on one date, we've kissed once. Held hands a few times, I'm not expecting it to progress to such a level right now. I'd never make you do anything you didn't want to. I'd never force you, I'd never pressure or push you. I need you to know that." I said.

"I already do." She answered, calmly.

"I'm not a virgin either, but that means nothing. Whether either of us were or not, it's irrelevant. What matters is when both of us are ready. Time matters, and we have more than enough of it." I said.

I could see her vibrating slightly, enough to know that she was evidently reciprocating and returning the same feelings as me.

It was obvious, but it didn't have to go any further.

We could still have those feelings, and take our time.

"I just haven't experienced it with someone I feel this way about. I trusted them, but I didn't feel this way about them. It was almost like a childish deal we made." She said.

"Like a pact?" I asked.

"Exactly. It was stupid, but I guess it got it out of the way. The second time, we slept together to see if there was anything between us and it was very clear afterwards that there wasn't. I perhaps should have viewed my virginity as something a lot more special that deserved a more loving, intimate experience but you live and learn I suppose." She said, with a heavy sigh.

"I can't say the times I've had were great. They just sort of happened, there were feelings involved, but not the good kind. Toxic more than anything, I haven't always had the best taste in girls." I said.

"But not Jason toxic, more for the wrong reasons. After an argument, a one night stand here and there, girls who wanted to use me so they weren't a virgin anymore. Girls who used me to then have more experienced sex with their boyfriend who they'd lied to saying they weren't a virgin. That kind of thing. I was always just a means to an end." I explained.

"You don't have to explain, I understand." She said.

"You're not a means to any ends I might have." She added.

"Nor are you to me." I replied.

"Although, I have been intrigued as to what you look like, naked." She said, suddenly and quite forwardly.

"You have?" I asked, feeling my arousal grow.

"You haven't pictured me naked?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well yeah, of course I have." I said.

"Do you want to?" She asked, moving to the hallway.

"Now?" I asked.

"Do you?" She asked, giving me the choice.

Wordlessly, I walked towards her as she backed towards my bedroom, and she hovered in my doorway.

"We don't have to." I said.

"Eddie, I want you to see, at the very least." She said, with emphasis.

"And I want to see you, if you'd let me." She added.

Again, I answered her with silence.
Silence, combined with my hands reaching for the hem of my Metallica t shirt, as I bundled it up in my hands and pulled it upwards and over my head.

I tossed it to the floor, and she gazed at me in awe.

An awe I'd never seen.

Her hands reached for the buttons of her button down plaid shirt, and I approached her with a new confidence, placing my hands over hers.

"Could I?" I asked, as her hands fell to her sides in response.

She backed further into my room, and I followed, kicking the door shut behind me without looking.

Once I heard it close shut, my fingers worked the buttons of her shirt slowly, my eyes never leaving hers.

When I got to the last button, it was already sliding off her shoulders and I could see her collarbone and a part of her chest.

I slid it gently from her shoulders and it dropped to the floor, pooling at her feet and we were both naked from the waist up, our eyes locked.

"You can look." She whispered, and as my eyes slowly cast downwards to her petite breasts, a breath caught in my chest as I watched the cold air hit her skin and her perfect nipples responded to the sudden exposure.

My hands ran up her arms softly, as her eyes drank me in, her hands running across my chest.

We were slowly but surely bridging the gap between us, and our bodies were almost touching, when she broke us apart, to unbutton her black jeans.

She pushed them off her hips, along with her panties and she shrugged out of them until they too pooled at her feet.

She stepped out of them, completely naked before me.

I mirrored her actions and removed my own jeans and boxer shorts, before standing upright, as naked as she was.

"You're beautiful." She gasped, as an eager hand reached out to run along my torso.

When I sensed she was okay with the presence of our equally naked bodies, I bridged the gap between us again by stepping closer and our arms automatically wrapped around each other.

"You're beautiful." I whispered, as she leaned up on her tip toes and her lips pressed softly against my own.

I kissed her back, our lips parting and moving in perfect sync, our arms pulling tighter around each other.

She stepped forward, moving me until the back of my knees hit the end of the bed and she gently pushed me down.

Before I could say anything, she'd expertly straddled me and she was sitting on my presently hard and throbbing erection.
She ground her hips against me and the contact from her core sent a shiver up my spine.

"Do you have anything?" She asked, as I stared at her in shock.

"I told you, I'm not expecting this, not right now." I said.

"I know you're not. But I want this." She said.

"You're not scared?" I asked.

"I'm nervous." She confirmed.

"I don't need to be scared with you. I know that. So do you?" She asked.

I reached above me and blindly rifled through my bedside drawer, before hearing a familiar rustle as i clasped my hands around it and removed it from the drawer.

She waited patiently whilst I opened it and gently rolled it over and onto myself and she settled herself above me.

"You're sure?" I asked.

"I am. Are you sure?" She asked.

"I am." I said, repeating her statement.

And upon my answer, she slowly but surely lowered herself onto me and I heard us gasp in perfect unison, which sent a welcome second shiver up my spine.

"How do you feel about foreplay?" She asked me.

"Right now, I'm thinking it's overrated. Mainly because I don't think I could wait." I said, practically breathless.

"My sentiments, entirely." She answered, with a shaky breath.

And then she began to work her hips against me, riding me and I was immediately lost in a newfound ecstasy.

"Oh my god...." I whispered, as she leaned down and nuzzled her nose against mine. I searched for her perfect rosebud lips and plucked them into mine, kissing her as I wrapped my arms around her.

She leaned up again, resting her hands on my stomach, grinding her hips against mine effortlessly, her body moving rhythmically above me. I watched the natural bounce of her petite, perfectly shaped breasts with each thrust against me, and I reached up to massage them softly in my hands, unable to resist touching her.

I writhed underneath her, almost unable to take how good she felt around me, how good it felt to be inside of her, to see her on top of me and just how good she looked doing it.

If this was inexperienced, I'd take it every day of the week.

Her face lowered to mine again and I welcomed a slew of passionate but sloppily executed kisses, both of us lost in the moment. I wrapped my arms around her, her hair pooling around my head like a raven halo.

I held her to me as I bucked my hips upwards, thrusting into her and she cried out with pleasure which was like music to my ears.

"Oh god, yes....." she whispered, as I laughed in between my breathlessness.

"Is this okay?" I asked, panting.

"Don't stop....." She panted back.

And so I rolled her underneath me, and my lips left a trail of loving kisses along her collarbone as I worked my hips against hers, thrusting deeply inside her.

Her legs wrapped around my waist and my eyes almost rolled into the back of my head from the wave of pleasure that practically ripped through me.

And then to her surprise, I slowed right down, wanting to make the most of our first time together, not wanting to climax just yet.

I locked eyes with her, our noses touching as I lowered my face to hers, gently but deeply grinding my hips against hers. I felt myself go deeper inside her and her back arched slightly, a delicious sounding moan of pleasure emitting from her lips.

I pinned her arms above her head, spreading my body along the entire length of hers, her legs still tightly wound around my waist, intensifying my ongoing pleasure.

"Next time, there'll be foreplay." I whispered, against her parted lips.

"Oh I'm counting on it." She whispered back, her tongue peeking out to leave a small lick on my top lip.

I shivered, a loud groan rumbling from the walls of my chest and I needed her to do it again.

"Do that again...." I painted, my voice deep and full of lust.

I felt her tongue run the length of my top lip and my hips bucked against hers, faster and harder as I felt my climax creeping up on me.

Her moans intensified as she writhed underneath me, signifying to me that she too, was very close.

"That's it baby.....do it with me...." I pleaded, breathlessly.

"Together...." She panted, as her head tilted back and her legs clenched painfully but pleasurably around me. I felt her walls clamp around my shaft and I relished in the joyous cries of pure ecstasy that followed from her beautiful rose coloured mouth.

"I'm coming...." She cried out, her voice strained.

And that's what sent me cleanly over the edge of sexual bliss.
I followed, climaxing hard, sending harsh quivers up my spine.

I collapsed against her and she welcomed me in her arms, cradling me to her chest as I recovered.

I moved my head to look up at her, to find her already smiling down at me.

"Not experienced eh?" I asked her.

"I'm not." She argued, chuckling softly.

"I beg to differ. No girl has ever ridden me quite like that before. You're an actual minx." I said, as we both laughed loudly.

"You make me confident. You make me feel like I can do anything." She reasoned.

"You can do anything, you don't need me." I said.

"You saved me. And you're right, I don't need you, I want you." She replied.

"Baby girl, you have me." I said.

We both manoeuvred underneath my bed covers and settled again, lying facing each other, entwined in each other's arms.

"That was okay for you?" I asked her.

"It was wonderful, Eddie." She said, with a breathtaking smile.

"I've never felt like that with anyone." I admitted.

"Neither have I." She said.

"How did I get so lucky?" I asked, as she chuckled softly.

And then she stared into my face with a look of longing, love and desire before parting her lips to speak.

"I'm the lucky one, Eddie." She said softly, stroking my cheek.

"I feel like I can't remember what my life was like, before you were in it. And I don't think I want to. I think I only want to remember from the day you walked into it." I said.

"I nearly gave up, I was so close. And then you found me. That's when I knew you were the very reason I didn't give up. I was meant to be saved by you. And I do feel saved. Because you did." She said.

"It's the only thing in my life that I will never regret. I couldn't ever regret you. And I never will." I said, stroking her back softly.

"I love you, Eddie." She whispered.

"I love you too, my girl in the green Chevy." I whispered back.

"Promise me one thing." She asked suddenly.

"Anything." I answered, unfaltering.

"That you'll never buy a green Chevy for as long as I live." She said, as I chuckled softly.

"I wouldn't dream of it." I answered.

"But there's something I do want to say, I've been meaning to say it for some time." I said.

"Go on...." She said.

"Welcome home, Nell." I said, as she kissed me softly.

"Home is wherever I'm with you." She replied, with certainty.

**************************************
THE END.