Eddie Munson - A Collection of One-Shots!

017. NINE

"Jesus Christ, I didn't think that was really going to work." I said.

"You always underestimate me." Dustin said, with disdain.

"You know I think you're the smartest kid around." I argued, rolling my eyes.

"And my favourite little butthead." I added, as Steve groaned with impatience.

And a hint of jealousy.

"Yeah this is all really touching, but we need to go through there. So who's first?" Steve asked, as we all looked at each other.

When no one answered, I groaned slightly.

"Seeing as there's no volunteers, I guess I'll go." I said, as they all moved aside.

"See you on the other side." I said, praying this would both hold and work.

I climbed the sheet ladder and as I emerged through the hole on the other side, I suddenly turned the opposite way around and got sucked straight down by some weird gravity.

"That was trippy." I said, as I landed on the mattress.

Someone suddenly outstretched their hand to me, and it wasn't anyone I knew; it was no one that any of us knew.

I didn't know the face; I didn't recognise them.

"Who are you?" I asked, as she stared down at me.

The first thing I noticed, was her eyes.
Big ocean blue, doe eyes.

I noticed her raven black hair, pale complexion with a few freckles and her cute little rosebud lips.

And she was quite cute.
Real pretty.

"We've never met." She said, her hand still outstretched to me.

"Eddie man, what's going on?" Steve called.

"Uhm..... There's someone here." I called back.

She retreated slightly and shook her head.

"I'm not gonna hurt any of you." She said.

I scrambled to my feet, stepping off the mattress and as Steve climbed down the sheer ladder, she took another step back as I stared at her.

"Woah, you weren't kidding." Steve said.

She held her hands up in defence and I realised that we were standing pretty defensive and it was causing her to be cautious of us.

"How did you get here?" Steve asked.

"The gate on the road." She said.

"Who are you?" Steve asked.

"Steady man, she's not on trial." I said, as Steve's demeanour immediately softened.

"Sorry." He said, as Nancy climbed down behind me.

I helped her up off the mattress and she was startled by this new girls presence.

"My name is Paisley." She said, her hands still raised in surrender.

"You know about the gates?" Nancy asked.

"I'm familiar." Paisley said.

"How?" I asked.

"Since I got here." She said.

"I've been seeing this figure.... This monster." She added, as Steve and I eyed each other carefully.

"You've been having visions of Vecna?" I asked.

"Who's this?" Dustin asked, appearing at my side.

"This is Paisley." I said.

"We call him Vecna." Dustin explained.

"Like the dark Wizard from D&D." I said, as she tilted her head in question.

"You're trying to stop him." She mused.

"We are." Nancy said.

"And you?" I asked her.

"I'm trying to stop him too." She said.

"On your own?" Steve asked.

"Hopefully not, now." She said.

We all looked at each other, as Robin and Max appeared and Nancy shrugged.

"I'm not about to refuse help. Are you?" She asked Steve.

"Nope." Steve said.

"You?" He asked me.

"Definitely not." I said, as she lowered her hands.

She was still cautious, but relaxing a little.

"I'm Eddie. Eddie Munson." I said, holding my hand out.

She shook it and smiled weakly.

"This is Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Robin Buckley and Max Mayfield." I said, introducing them all.

"You got a weapon?" Steve asked.

"Just my wits." She said, as I smiled coyly.

She had a keen sense of humour; Steve seemed to take note of this too.

He reached behind him, retrieving his baseball bat and handed it to her; she took it and admired it for a second.

"Nice. The nails are a nice touch." She said.

The humour again.

"I'm glad you approve." Steve said, with a smile.

"So where are you headed?" She asked.

"We're going to check out Lovers Lake." Nancy said, eyeing Steve with some disdain.

But not me, I noticed.

"That's not far from here." Paisley noted.

"There's a gate there, we're going to see what's there. See if we can find anything." Nancy said.

"See why there's a gate, and what the significance of that is." Dustin added, as I watched Paisley watching Max.

"What's with the headphones?" She asked.

"Music stops Vecna. He's targeting Max." I explained.

"Good to know." She said.

"What's your favourite song?" I asked her, curiously.

"I don't have one." She said.

"Everyone has a favourite song." I argued, laughing.

"Where I come from, there was never music." She said.

"And where do you come from?" I asked her.

"That's a story for another time." She said.

"It could save your life." Dustin noted.

"I guess I'm shit out of luck then." She said, airily, swinging the bat in her hands once.

Seemingly satisfied, she leaned it against her shoulder and looked at us expectantly.

"So you're going out there. What can I do?" She asked.

"Use that if you need to." Steve said motioning to the bat in her hands.

"We all stick together." He added.

"You ready?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I think so." She said.

And as we all rolled out, I hung back to walk with her. She'd piqued my interest, quite a lot.

Steve's too; he had already looked back towards her a few times.

"You really don't have a favourite song?" I asked her.

"No." She answered.

"Mine would have to be Master of Puppets." I wagered, as we walked outside.

She stepped down out of the trailer and looked all around her.

"Yeah? Any of your friends know it?" She asked.

"Henderson, probably. He'd be my only hope." I said.

"He would?" She asked.

"Max only has one song on that tape, it's on a loop. And it's not my favourite I have to say." I said.

"Shit out of luck like me then?" She asked.

"If Henderson didn't come through? Absolutely." I said, with a nervous laugh.

Curious how I was casually joking about my potential death.

"Why's he after you?" I asked.

"Oh he has plenty of reasons." She said.

"He does?" I asked.

"Story for another time?" I added.

"You catch on quick. Definitely." She said, in agreement.

"Answer me this question then." I offered, as she stared at me curiously.

"You're not on the dark side are you? I don't have to worry about you being some Sith Lord in league with Vecna?" I asked.

"I'm not sure what a Sith Lord is, but it doesn't sound good. So, no. No I'm not. And I'm not in any league with Vecna." She said.

"You don't have a favourite song and you don't know Star Wars?" I asked, almost offended.

"Okay. Just so we're clear, imagine I've been locked in a cage for almost two decades. All I know is what's in the cage. I don't know what's outside, I've never seen it. I was born in the cage and the cage is all I know." She said.

"That sounds like the simile of the cave. Plato." I said.

"That's because it is Plato. And the cage is the cave." She said.

"So you don't have a favourite song, you don't know Star Wars, but you know Plato?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"My guardian... he was a lover of science and philosophy. There were some books in the cage." She offered.

"That's all I get?" I asked.

"That's all you get." She said.

Paisley had just become all the more interesting and intriguing.

A girl of intense mystery.

I digged that.
And I digged her.

I digged her already.

*************************************
Eddie's POV.

We hadn't found much at Lovers Lake, just a swarm of bats.

They'd attacked and Steve had been hurt; we were laying low and had been for weeks.

In that time, Paisley had slotted in with us and it felt like she'd always been around; Robin had taken to her and they seemed to have become good friends.

Dustin liked her a lot; I did too.

Nancy was a little guarded with her at first and I figured out why quite early on; Steve would often steal glances at Paisley, and it was causing a little jealously.

He'd make conversation with her a lot too, and I found myself taking an automatic step back.

Until Paisley would suddenly come back and match my pace; she'd fall back in line and in step with me.

There had been nights where I had stayed up until the early hours, talking her through the Star Wars movies whilst the others slept, and she had hung on my every word, learning about all the characters, discovering my favourites as I had described them excitedly.

She'd gifted me in return with vague bits about herself.

She was twenty, the same age as me.
Homeschooled. Lived with a guardian for most of her life. She didn't tell me much else, and I didn't ask or pry.

I'd considered that perhaps she'd tell me in time.

Maybe.

"Who gave you that bracelet?" I asked, as she toyed with it.

"I made it. I like rainbows." She said.

"Have you always liked rainbows?" I asked.

"Since I was a kid, yeah." She said.

"Is it the colours?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think so. They remind me of my mom." She said.

"Do you see your mom?" I asked.

"She died. As sad as this is gonna sound, I don't have anyone." She asked.

"That's not true. You have us." I said, nudging her playfully.

"What's the plan after this?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I haven't really thought past this." She said.

"What about you?" She asked.

"First on my list, is making sure you have a favourite song. Second, is making sure you watch all the Star Wars films. Call it a bucket list." I said, with a grin.

"What's a bucket list?" She asked.

"It's a list of things you want to do, before you die pretty much." I said.

"What about things you want to do?" She asked.

"Those are things I want to do." I said.

"You know what I meant." She said, rolling her eyes, as I chuckled softly.

"I did. Uhm, let's see...... See more of the world, watch Metallica in concert, play guitar in somewhere other than the Hideout every Tuesday night..... make enough money that I could move me and my Uncle off the trailer park and into an actual house." I said.

"Those sound like nice things." She said, resting her head against the wall.

I did the same as I sat close to her, and she searched my eyes, as mine wandered to her lips briefly.

She watched me, and when my eyes met hers again, they were narrowed slightly.

Busted.

"Dya think we should perhaps try and sleep?" She whispered.

"Possibly. It'd be a good idea." I said.

"You could lie down on my lap if you wanted?" I asked.

She nodded, and I shrugged out of my jacket and waistcoat, folding them into a small pillow type square and settled it on my lap.

I straightened my legs, resting them flat down on the floor and she curled up on the floor, resting her head on my jacket. She settled, facing towards me, and I peered down at her, smiling slightly.

"Goodnight, Paisley." I whispered, folding my arms across my chest.

"Goodnight Eddie." She whispered, as I rest my head against the wall, and closed my eyes.

*********
When I stirred, someone was shaking me softly by the shoulder. My eyes snapped open and jerked a little, startled.

"It's just me, man." Steve whispered, as I blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes to focus.

He peered down at the sleeping frame, sleeping across my lap, her head resting on my jacket and he gently roused her too.

"Nancys had an idea." He whispered.

"I'm up." Paisley said, slowly lifting her head from my lap. She sat up and stretched, yawning softly.

I watched her and smirked slightly, as she rubbed her face free of sleep; she was cute when she was sleepy, I noticed.

Careful not to stare at her too long, I turned my attention back to Steve, who was eyeing me with a raised eyebrow.

"What idea?" I asked, deflecting.

"I'm gonna go to the library." She said, as I peered around Steve.

She was on her feet, and so was Robin.

"Okay, what's the plan there?" I asked.

"It's a shot in the dark. But we're gonna check records and old articles. See if there's ever been anything else like this that could be about Vecna." She said.

"Will there even be anything?" I asked.

"That's why I said it was a shot in the dark." Nancy said.

"You should still try." Paisley said.

"What are we doing in the meantime?" I asked.

"We're going to the hunting warehouse. Get supplies." Steve said.

"With Jason on the prowl?" I asked.

"It is what it is. We see him, we sort it." Steve said, with a shrug.

"That's too easy for you to say. Especially when he thinks you all had something to do with Chrissy." Paisley said.

"He does. But there are bigger things to worry about." Steve said.

"You're both right." I answered.

"So we go there, and then you radio if you find anything?" I asked, as Nancy nodded.

"Keep the radio on." Robin said, as we nodded.

We watched them leave and we headed out to the warehouse.

I'd thought we were running out of ideas.
But we had one; Robin and Nancy were currently following up on what Nancy had described as a shot in the dark, going to the library in town to look at old records and news articles for anything and everything.

I had mentally agreed with Nancy; it was a shot in the dark.

Until we'd been driving from the store with bags of supplies and she'd radioed.

She'd said they'd found an article on Victor Creel and his ramblings to the local authorities about how a demon had killed his family.

And so, Robin and Nancy had driven to Pennhurst Asylum and had managed to get fifteen minutes with the man himself, who'd given us some useful information.

He'd confirmed that music could stop Vecna; something we'd figured out on our own, already.

But the demon he'd described had killed his wife, his daughter, and had turned on him and his son, Henry.

His son had become withdrawn, animals had been found mutilated and dead on the front lawn and there were inexplicable things going on inside the house.

He'd described seeing his darkest secrets, his deepest regrets and being put into some kind of trance; it was only after hearing the radio that he'd been able to follow the music and break from it.

And when he'd awoken from his trance, he'd found that his son was dead, and he'd been the only one to survive it all.

Suspected and charged with the murders, he'd talked about wanting to be with them, he'd gouged out his own eyes and the orderly's had reached him before he could successfully take his own life.

They'd saved him and he hadn't wanted it.
He was bereft that he was left to rot in a cage, unable to join his family.

We'd deduced that it hadn't been a demon; Vecna had terrorised Victor and his family, and killed then. He'd tried to kill Victor and had failed.

And we were all here now, planning on how to get to Creel House, waiting for Nancy and Robin to return.

"Where's the closest gate?" Paisley asked, as she zipped up a khaki body warmer over a grey turtleneck jumper. She pulled her hair out of the back of it and it tumbled down her back in loose waves.

She looked around her, and I realised she was looking for something to tie her hair back with.

She eyed the rainbow bracelet in her arm for a moment before apparently deciding against it.

And so, I reached into my back pocket and passed her my bandana.

She looked up at the one tied around my head, and smiled.

"We'll match." She said as I chucked softly.

"I was counting on it." I said.

"And the closest gate is Forest Hills." I said, as she tied the bandana around her head, her hair away from her face.

"The gate in your trailer?" She asked.

"Where we found you." I confirmed.

"Aw, you match." Robin said, adjusting the beret on her head with a smile.

"That's cool." Dustin said, with a grin.

"So we go through there and then what?" She asked, fighting a wide smile.

"The bats are guarding the house." Max said.

"So we need to distract them." Steve said, visibly disappointed.

I felt bad.... They did get along, they did talk and they laughed together a lot.

But it seemed different with me, when she talked to me.

When she laughed at me and with me.

"But how?" He added, clearing his throat.

"It would need to be big and loud." Dustin surmised.

He looked up at me then and we seemed to share the same idea.

"Metal Show." We said, in unison.

"Explain for the cave girl." Paisley said, as I smiled broadly.

She smiled back; it was coy and playful.

Something else we'd started to do between us lately.

"We plug my amp in on the roof of my trailer, I play music and it'll draw them away. We can get to Creel House then." I said.

"Okay, so you, Dustin and Paisley can draw them away. Me, Nancy, Robin and Max can head to Creel House to check it out." Steve said.

"It's not a good idea to take Max." Paisley argued.

"You're taking her to somewhere he might be. He's after her." She added.

"She's right. It's not the time for that." Max said.

"I'll stay with Lucas." She added.

"You okay with that Sinclair?" Steve asked.

"Fine." Lucas answered.

"Keep her safe." Paisley said.

"What about you?" Max asked her.

"If he goes for it, I'm the distraction." She said.

"Like bait?" I asked, bowing my head slightly.

"The bats will come if I'm there." She said.

"She has a point." Dustin said.

"Let's get set up." Steve said.

****************************************
I watched as they set up outside on the roof, unsure what was happening.

Eddie was plugging his guitar into the amp, and Dustin was sitting nearby, waiting to turn it up.

Steve, Nancy and Robin were about to make their way towards the house; they just needed Eddie to start.

I was on the ground, serving as the indicator and the look out, binoculars around my neck.

"Okay, he starts, you head that way." I ordered, as Nancy gave me a nod.

"Stay safe." She said to me.

I looked up at Eddie, the guitar firmly poised in his hands, and he smiled down at me.

"Ready for the most metal show ever?" He shouted down at me.

"I think so." I said, as he beamed.

"Let's do this." He said, as I turned to Steve and nodded.

"We're ready." I said, as they prepared themselves.

"Paisley, this is for you." Eddie shouted.

Dustin turned the amp up to the maximum, and Eddie struck a chord on the guitar.

A strange loud noise filled my head, and I was transfixed.

And as my foot started to involuntarily tap along to the song he was playing, I peeked at him through the binoculars and he was smiling broadly.

It was a wide, breathtaking smile. 

He'd seen me.

I turned back to the roof of Creel house, and I could see that the bats had started to fly towards us, alerted by the noise.

"Okay, they're coming." I shouted.

"You should go now." I called, to Nancy, Steve and Robin.

I lowered the binoculars and signalled to Dustin, who looked over immediately.

"About 45 seconds!" I shouted, before watching Eddie again for a moment.

Judging by Dustin's face, I deduced that Eddie was good at playing guitar.

Dustin counted down to Eddie, letting him know that we were slowly coming to time, and he glanced over at the bats that were heading straight towards us.

I removed the binoculars from my neck, tossing them over to the trailer door, and picked up the baseball bat that Steve had gifted me, and stood with my feet apart, planted into the ground, poised and ready.

I bounced slightly, psyching myself up as they approached, a feeling of nervousness growing in the pit of my stomach.

"I'm ready." I told myself, as one broke from the swarm and flew straight towards me.

And as Eddie and Dustin clambered down off the trailer roof, I swung the bat and it flew into a nearby fence.

"Good swing!" Eddie cried, but I didn't have time to thank him.

We'd clearly underestimated how many there were.

Steve too, had noticed and he'd hung back.
Nancy turned to us, and she looked at Steve, torn on what to do.

"Go! I'll stay!" Steve cried, doubling back towards us.

Eddie and Dustin came level with me and I grabbed Eddie's hand so he could raise the makeshift shield in front of us.

"Dustin, you need to get inside." I said, as she shook his head.

"I want to fight." Dustin said.

"Nows not the time." I said.

"Get him inside, I'll cover until Steve gets back to us." Eddie said.

And as Steve reached us, he helped me bundle Dustin through the sudden swarm of bats as they circled around us, pushing him towards the trailer.

We reached the door and I paused, looking back at Eddie.

"What are you waiting for Paisley? Go!" Eddie cried, crying out as they flew into the shield.

He wasn't going to fight them off alone, for long.

"Gooooooo!!!" He roared, and I turned back to Steve.

"We might have to." He said to me, his face grave.

I prised the trailer door open, shoved Dustin inside.

"So go." I said, before pushing Steve inside too.

"Paisley no!" Steve cried.

"I'm not leaving him behind." I said with a steel tight resolve, before shutting the door on Steve's and Dustin's panicked faces.

I turned back around and grabbed my bat from the ground, fighting them off from my left and my right.

"I told you to go!" Eddie cried, as he pushed back against the swarm surrounding him.

His face was creased with panic, some determination and sheer fear.

"And I didn't listen!" I cried back, trying to push my way through to him.

I saw him get tackled to the ground and in my horror, I realised he was pinned to the floor.

His shield had been discarded in the scuffle and I told myself that I was getting him back, whatever it took.

In a series of successful swings, I managed to push through the swarm to where he was, and I hit the bats that were biting him. Pain and fear replaced the determination on his face and it was hard to see.

I realised that I liked him; seeing him get hurt was causing me pain too.

"What are you doing?!" He shouted.

But it just gave me more reason to reach him and get him back with me.

I reached out and grabbed him roughly by the scruff of his neck, falling onto my knees as I made a desperate grab for the shield.

My fingers curled around it and I raised it, feeling the bats fly into it forcefully; I started to push myself back up onto my feet and with all the strength I could muster, I started to drag him back with me.

"Paisley you need to go!" He cried.

"Not without you!" I called, just as several bats attacked me from my right.

I wasn't defended on my right and I could feel them biting and scratching me.

I cried out, and through gritted teeth, I continued to drag him towards the trailer.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, through the trailer door and we were pulled inside.

We landed in a heap of limbs on the floor, as Steve pushed the door shut and stood against it.

All of us were breathless but Eddie and I were also a little shell shocked as Steve stamped his foot down hard on the bats that were still attached to me.

I heard the loud squelches and my stomach swirled, as I tried to breath the sudden nausea away.

"You guys okay?" Steve asked, as Eddie nodded, his chest heaving.

"He was bit a couple of times." I said, resting my head on the floor as I lay underneath him.

"They're on the roof." Dustin said, fearful.

"We can't hang around, we have to go back through." Steve said.

"What about Nancy and Robin?" I asked, peering up at Steve.

I was still holding onto Eddie I noticed; he also wasn't in a rush for me to let him go.

In fact, his hands were now clasped firmly over mine as we tried to calm down.

"They're close to water gate. The bats won't be guarding it now. Let's hope they realise they and think the same as we are." Steve said.

"No one gets left behind Steve." I said.

Dustin peered through the window and beckoned Steve over.

"Morse code. By the playground." He said.

The radio on his belt crackled loudly with static.

"They're okay." Steve said, as we all sighed with relief.

"They're heading to water gate." Dustin confirmed.

"It's them on the radio." He continued.

"Let's go." Steve said, helping Eddie up onto his feet.

"We head for Hops shack. Wait for them there. We can look at your wounds then." Steve said.

Eddie reached down and helped me up onto my feet and we shared a glance for a moment.

His face was creased with relief and something else.

Anger.

I didn't dwell on it too much, and it was a quiet, hurried journey to Hops shack.

Where I'd soon find out why there was cause for him to be angry at me.

*****************************************
Eddie's POV.

As much as I knew I was going to regret ambushing her the moment Steve closed the door to Hop's shack, I was struggling to hold the anger in. It was despite the gesture she'd clearly been trying to make and it was despite the gratitude that today wasn't the day I died, but it was the day she could have.

That's why I was angry.

The moment she was inside the room, I rounded on her and she wasn't expecting it.

Neither were Steve and Dustin.

"Why did you do that?! Why, huh?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" I yelled, incensed.

She was furious immediately.

"Pulling you out of there? No one gets left behind." Paisley shouted, angrily.

"You needed help, and that's what I did!" She added, like it was obvious.

"You should have kept going!" I yelled, angrily.

"Why didn't you keep going?!" I cried, grabbing her roughly. I found myself shaking her slightly with anger and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Eddie..." Steve said, with a warning tone.

She whimpered in shock and I knew I'd surprised and slightly scared her but I couldn't help it.

"Eddie man...." Dustin bleated, distraught.

And I saw the hurt and anger flash across her face in a split second.

"So you didn't and don't end up on a missing poster or on an obituary in the paper! So you get to go home to your Uncle!! So every single one of us goes home!!!" She cried, before shoving me away from her angrily.

I approached her again, wanting her to understand that she'd put herself at risk for me and that it had been reckless.

"You have to stay alive Paisley!" I cried.

"And what about you?!" She yelled.

I was about to close the gap between us once again when a body stepped in front of me.

"Guys!" Steve yelled loudly, forcing his way in between us. He parted us and as she stumbled back, she cried out in pain, holding her side.

"What's wrong?" I asked, immediately concerned.

"Nothing, it's fine." She said, waving me off.

But her face was creased with pain and discomfort and I wasn't convinced it was nothing.

"You're hurt...." Dustin said, wide eyed.

"I'm fine." She said, and as I reached for her, regretful, she slapped my hand away.

"No, don't do that. Don't touch me." She snapped.

And then Steve's hands gripped her shoulders to stop her.

"Paisley, one of us will need to take a look. Nancy and Robin aren't here, and I understand that you're hurt in a place you probably don't want one of us to see. But it's going to need looking at." He said, understanding what I hadn't.

She let him walk around to stand in front of her, and she let him peel the khaki bodywarmer back; as I watched, I didn't like that she'd pushed me away and let him in.

I didn't like that she was angry at me, as much as I was angry at her.

I peered around him, and her grey turtleneck jumper was soaked with blood.

He was careful not to lift it too far, but it was obvious to me then where she was hurt.

She was breathing sharply, clenching her teeth and I could see bites on her ribs, as they led up to her breasts, still concealed by her jumper; kind, heroic Steve protected her modesty, whilst he took a closer look.

She was hurt and I was jealous to the back teeth.

She was hurt from trying to and successfully saving me and I was too busy wanting Steve to stop touching her.

It was killing me inside.

"None of us would be looking at it in that way, we'd just be helping... clean your wounds, find something to wrap them with." I said, finding my voice and the resolve to agree.

"Let us help you." Dustin urged.

And then she gently moved Steve's hands away and muttered a thank you his way with a small smile, before her eyes fell on me.

"That's good to know." She said.

I understood and walked to the door at the far end of the shack, beckoning her over.

"Dustin, I'll need a bowl of water and something to wash the blood off with. Also, bandages." I said, as he set about finding what I'd asked for.

Steve, mildly surprised at her wordless choice, rummaged in his bag before passing me a battered first aid kit.

"There's a bandage in there, and a gauze." He said, as I nodded, taking it from him.

And when Paisley had safely slipped past me, through the door and into the room, and Dustin had armed me with a bowl of warm water and some ripped up rags, I too went inside and closed the door behind us.

*******************************************
"Can you lift your jumper?" I asked, calmly after I'd helped her to remove her bodywarmer.

"Didn't you get bit anywhere?" She asked.

"One or two, but they're just superficial. It seemed they attacked you more than me." I said.

She lifted her shirt slowly, and her face creased with discomfort; I immediately felt guilty.

"Don't do that." She said.

"What?" I asked.

"Blame yourself." She said.

"You're hurt because of me." I argued.

"I dove in there." She argued back.

"I told you to keep going." I shot back.

"This isn't a dick measuring competition." She noted, as I immediately softened.

"No it's not.... You're right." I said, with a sigh.

"I'd do it again." She said, without hesitation.

"Yeah? That's what worries me." I said, as she fell silent.

I cleared my throat then, and focused on her wounds; they were furious, deep gashes, and they were still bleeding.

The bites started on the underside of her breast and down her ribs. Her bra was shredded and her chest was covered in blood. They'd taken a real chunk and she was in pain.

"You know, I'd say the underwire of your bra stopped them from getting through to your skin, here." I said, inspecting it with a furrow in my brow.

"Well, some of your skin." I added.

"Let me guess, we're gonna have to take it off?" She asked, as I looked at her sympathetically.

"Yeah, there's a small bite near the back strap that I can't get to. And the wire is exposed so I'd rather that it didn't irritate or cut through the bandages, when they're on." I said softly.

She eyed me carefully, and she was hesitant.

"You trust me right?" I asked.

"Yes...." She said, swallowing hard.

"Then trust what I said. I'm not looking at this in any other way, other than to clean your wounds and dress them." I said, as she nodded finally.

She let me lift her jumper over her head and I removed it carefully.

I reached around, unclipped her bra single-handedly and she raised her eyebrow slightly.

"You've done that before." She said, as against my better judgement, I smirked at her, meeting her gaze.

"A couple of times." I whispered, as she finally smiled a little.

There was so much she wasn't familiar with; my bra opening techniques she was. She knew what it meant and why I had the experience. It was almost poetic that she didn't know little things like music and movies, but she was aware of sex and intimacy.

I gently peeled her bra away from her body and I shrugged out of my waistcoat, draping it carefully across her shoulders.

"Thank you." She said, with a weak smile.

"No problem." I said softly.

And then I set to work tending to the bites; she hissed through her teeth as I dabbed at them with the dampened rags and I muttered the odd apology, saddened that it was hurting her.

I didn't want my touch to hurt her, but it was.

Once I'd cleaned the blood and dirt away, I snaked my hands inside the waistcoat to thread the bandage through, as she held the dressing over them, holding it in place.

I was close to her body; I could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed. Her petite naked chest peeked through my open waistcoat but neither of us seemed deterred.

They were small and perfect, but I wasn't looking at them in a sexual way; now really wasn't the time.

And when I was on my knees, I looked up at her and she leaned forward, toying with a lock of my hair.

I tied a knot in the bandage in the middle as her hands stroked my hair gently; the look she gave me was one I'd seen glimmers of throughout our short friendship. It was a look of longing and things clearly unspoken.

I let her recover a little as I hunted around the shack for something for her to wear in place of her jumper.

She sat in my waistcoat, her arms gripping the edge of the table, as she accustomed herself to the snug bandage tied around her.

I managed to find a black T-shirt, hanging up in the wardrobe; it looked a little big but it would serve the desired and intended purpose.

I gently removed my waistcoat from her shoulders, as she raised her arms, wincing slightly.

"Take your time." I whispered as I leaned forward to pull it over her head.

She thread her arms through the holes and I eased it down her chest, until the hem sat below the waistband of her dirtied jeans.

"How does that feel?" I asked.

"Better." She answered.

"Steve quite likes you I think." I said suddenly, with a small smirk as she eyed me with a stoic expression.

"And yet when the bats were closing in on you, I dropped everything to save your ass." She said.

"You'd do that for any of us." I argued.

"I would, you're right. But I didn't just jump in there to pull you out to make sure you get home to your Uncle at the end of all of this. I had my own reasons too." She said, hissing slightly through her teeth as I helped her back into her bodywarmer.

"Tell me the reasons." I said, as she swallowed hard.

I wanted to distract her as I zipped it up, knowing it would put a little pressure on her chest.

"I jumped in there because...... because I don't think I can get through this if you aren't here.... I don't want to get through this without you." She said, flinching as I zipped it up.

I muttered an apology and then I realised what she'd said, to which my newly widened, surprised eyes met hers.

"Harrington's charm hasn't worked on you?" I asked, in complete disbelief.

"No, it really hasn't. He's a nice guy.... He's lovely, but he's just not you." She said.

"I was sure I'd lost out." I said, as she shook her head.

"Why do you think I asked you to help me with this?" She asked.

"Because I thought you liked Steve, so I figured perhaps you'd asked me because you saw me as a friend and you were comfortable with me helping." I said.

"I asked you, because if it was gonna be anyone here, you'd be the only one that I'd be okay with seeing my boobs." She said, as I chuckled softly.

"By choice or default." She added.

I smirked a little and nodded.

"Not that I was looking in that way, and even though they were covered in blood and dirt until around five minutes ago, they sure are pretty." I said, as she laughed softly.

It was a nice genuine laugh, and it was good to hear, despite what was happening.

"I like you, Eddie." She said.

"I like you, too." I answered, honestly.

Our eyes locked and I reached out to stroke her face gently with my hand, her head tilting to lean into my touch, as she sighed softly.

Her face turned into my hand and she kissed my palm gently.

"I'm sorry for grabbing you..... I shouldn't have done that." I said, regretfully as I rubbed her cheek with my thumb.

"I'm pretty sure I would have reacted the same way. And I did shove you..." She said.

"I grabbed you first." I argued.

"You're forgiven." She said, quickly.

I smirked slightly, and I believed her, as she relished my touch.

This wasn't hurting her. Neither was it hurting her when I gently played with a lock of her beautiful, raven black hair.

"What happens now?" She asked.

"We find the others." I said, lowering my hand from her face.

She nodded, and went to slide off the table I'd had her sit on top of, when I stopped her gently by her knee.

"But not before this." I said, leaning towards her.

I took her dirtied, bloodied face again with one hand, the tips of my fingers curling around her neck and I tilted my head, pressing my lips onto hers.

I kissed her softly and she returned it, kissing me back.

It was slow and soft; it was a nervous, first kiss with anticipation on both sides as to how the other would react.

Her body relaxed and her hand gripped my arm that was holding her to me by her neck.

"I didn't want to miss the chance to kiss you before we go back out there." I whispered against her lips, after I'd broken the kiss.

I pressed my forehead against hers and she went to answer, as someone cleared their throat behind us.

"Sorry. I came to see how you were. We just got back."

Wheeler.

We moved apart and Paisley turned to face Nancy and gave her a thumbs up.

"All bandaged up. I'll be fine." She said, with a forced smile.

"We'll need to move out soon." Nancy said.

"I'm ready." She said.

"We both are." I said, with a nod.

And sensing that Nancy wanted to speak with her alone, I left the room, closing the door on them, behind me.

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

"Boy am I glad you're back and you're okay." I said, relieved.

"Back at you." She said, rubbing my arm softly.

We'd clearly reached a mutual level; saving Eddie had confirmed one thing to her.

I wasn't interested in Steve.

"You wanna tell me what that was?" Nancy asked, fighting a broad smile.

"It was exactly what you saw." I said, with a raised eyebrow.

"He's a nice guy." She noted.

"What? You had money on Steve or something?" I asked.

"Some of the others did, but a certain guy and eventually myself knew it would be Eddie." She said.

"A certain guy?" I asked.

"Dustin. He saw it too." She said.

"Saw what?" I asked.

"You saved Eddie. Without hesitation, you saved him. He said not to, and you dived right into the bats and pulled him out. And even when they were biting you, you kept going. He was lucky to get out with a couple of minor injuries; you took the brunt of those. For him." She said.

"Just like you dove in for Harrington." I remarked as she smiled.

"We have history." She argued, as I shook my head.

"I don't think so, Nance." I said, unconvinced.

"He's changed. I can see that. But I can also see that he likes you." She said.

"He likes me, but he loves you." I said.

"He'll get over liking me, but he's not over loving you." I added.

"You think?" She asked, hesitant.

"You and Dustin aren't the only ones who see things." I warned her, with a knowing look.

"You good to move out?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Dr Munson did good. I'm ready." I said confidently, albeit a little stiff.

And when we walked into the living room of the shack, several familiar, bloodied and dirtied faces were staring back at me.

Robin, Erica, Lucas and Max.

"Thank god you're okay." Robin said, rushing over to hug me.

"Careful." Nancy said, hurriedly.

"You're hurt?" Robin asked, her voice hushed.

"Just doing what I had to. I'm okay." I assured her.

"Yeah, saving Munsons ass." Dustin declared proudly.

Eddie shot him both a glare teamed with a frown and Dustin gulped slightly.

"I mean, I guess I did." I said, with a casual shrug.

It was playful and he did get the memo.

He shook his head, reluctantly smiling and Dustin beamed.

"She did. She was quite the hero. And now paying a price for that." He said, as I rolled my eyes.

"I'm fine." I insisted.

He folded his arms across his chest then and bowed his head slightly, chuckling to himself.

And when he was sure no one was looking, he glanced up at me and we shared a long, mutual gaze.

'You're my girl?' He mouthed.

I went to answer when I heard my name.

"Paisley, that's where you come in." Nancy said.

"Oh I'm up." I said, taking a nervous deep breath.

"You think you can draw him out with Max?" She asked.

"For some reason, he's drawn to me." I said, sensing it was feasible.

"Two of us would be better than one. He'd be more tempted." I wagered.

"We need to get to the house. Which means going through the woods, over the vines, past skull rock." Dustin said.

"We can take shelter there, stop for a while." Nancy suggested.

"And then move onto Creel House." Steve weighed in.

"Exactly." Nancy replied.

"We ready to go?" Steve asked.

There was a chorus of nervous agreement and we all made our way out.

This was the only way.

*****************************************
Eddie's POV.

We'd all gone through the gate in my trailer again, and the bats weren't there, thankfully.

The walk through the forest was a steady, cautious one, and I watched as she walked a little ahead of me, talking to an anxious, chatty Robin.

"You're really okay? You're sure?" She asked.

"Robin, I said I was okay." Paisley argued.

"How bad?" Robin asked her, unconvinced.

"Quite." She admitted finally with a slight huff of impatience, as Robin seemed worried.

"Where?" She asked.

"My ribs, my stomach.... On my back. They were biting me as I was pulling Eddie back to the trailer." Paisley said.

"He didn't want me to. He told me to go." She added, as I pretended I wasn't listening.

"I'd like to think I'd be that brave." Robin said, which surprised me.

"None of us get left behind. None. That was all it was. We pull through, all of us together. If that means I take a hit every time, so be it." Paisley said.

"And you are brave." Paisley added, nudging her playfully.

The courage was astounding; I wasn't sure whether to be reassured or intimidated.

But then I told myself that I'd been that courageous too; I'd distracted them to keep them from Dustin.

I'd charged head on into the bat storm, holding them off until I'd seen that Paisley had reached him, and I'd been relieved, able to fight the bats so they could get out.

I hadn't run away; I'd faced it head on.

But they'd outnumbered me fast and they had started to overpower me.

Paisley had seen that, and teamed with an equally courageous Steve, they'd shut Dustin inside the trailer and fought alongside me.

And when I'd been pulled to the ground, and one or two had started to take a serious chunk out of me, she'd dived right in, pulling me out of the middle of the storm.

She'd dragged me out and across the ground, as some had started to bite her. She pulled me back to the trailer, we'd gone back through the gate and headed to the shack, where once I'd caught my breath and myself, I'd berated her for it.

I'd been angry about it.
Angry at her courage.

I had been very wrong; each of us had shown a fierce glimmer of bravery and determination throughout this.

Dustin had been by my side to distract the bats, Steve had been the first to dive into the water, to check for the water gate; Nancy had dived in straight after him.

Robin had delivered a speech generated around an entire fabrication and had successfully convinced the head of Pennhurst to grant her and Nancy fifteen minutes of wisely used time to speak to Victor Creel and gain knowledge about Vecna that we didn't have before.

Max had acted as bait a couple of times now, and whilst they'd been unsuccessful, she'd still volunteered.

Erica and Lucas had become quite the formidable brother and sister team, and Erica had some steel type sass that I doubted anyone had and she was resourceful. Lucas had successfully duped Jason onto a wild goose chase, getting him off our trail.

So why had I been so angry with Paisley, for coming to my much needed rescue?

Because at that time, I hadn't thought I was worth saving. And because I was developing feelings for her in this short time we'd known each other.

I didn't want to lose her.

She hadn't wanted to lose me either; that's when I realised that it didn't matter if I didn't feel I was worth saving.

What mattered was that Paisley did.

"My money was on Eddie too, you know." Robin said, with a smile.

Again, I pretended I was none the wiser, looking away from them as they continued to talk quietly.

"What do you mean?" Paisley asked.

I suppressed a laugh; of course she knew what Robin had meant.

"Steve told us that he helped you. And he kind of hinted that you needed privacy because of where some of the bites were on you. He didn't say anything more than that, but he seemed a little sad." Robin explained.

"Because I didn't ask him to." Paisley deduced.

Deduced correctly.

"The chance to take care of you? It's probable, he likes you." Robin said.

"He's a good guy..., a great babysitter. But I don't have anything towards him other than a friend." Paisley said, which had me smiling broadly.

"You like Eddie though." Robin said, in a low voice.

"It's so totally obvious, and you still asked. There were clearly bets hedged on either of them." Paisley said, as Robin grinned.

"If I'd actually put money down, I'd be going to the bank with a big win." She said.

"I'm pleased for you." Paisley said, a little sarcastic.

"Does Steve know?" Robin asked.

"That I like Eddie? I'm guessing he noticed the hint when I asked Eddie to help me and not him." Paisley said.

"I mean, have you physically vocalised that you don't like him that way?" Robin asked.

"Does it look like I've had a chance?" Paisley asked.

"You're right, we're a little busy right now trying to save Hawkins and the world, whilst trying to stay alive in the meantime too." Robin rambled.

"Hey, I'm sorry...." Paisley said, apologetically.

"Don't be." Robin said.

We came to a stop by skull rock, meeting the others who'd all sat down for a moment's respite.

"We can regroup." Nancy suggested, opening her rucksack.

She checked the contents, as I leaned against the wall, gathering myself and my thoughts, Paisley and Robin crouched together, near my crossed feet.

There was a slight tremor, and we all felt it suddenly.

"You felt that right?" Steve asked me.

"I did." I confirmed, as everyone slowly rose to their feet, cautious.

A second tremor came, a little larger than the first and myself and Paisley met each other's eye.

She was holding her side, frowning slightly as the third tremor came.

"Shit...." She whined, holding onto the rock behind her.

"You okay?" I asked.

She didn't get to answer me, as the fourth came and it was more of a quake than a tremor.

She lost her footing, quickly recovering and she reached out for me, lunging forwards.

I caught her in my arms and we slid to the ground, Paisley pulling Robin down; one hand was holding onto me, the other holding Robin against the rock face.

I heard Paisley whimper loudly in pain, and I held her to me, willing in my head for the quake to stop.

"God damn it!" I shouted.

As it subsided, the hand holding Robin made its way to me, and she turned into my arms.

"That's twice now we've not been able to finish a conversation." Paisley said, sounding frustrated.

"We'll have many conversations after this is over." I promised, breathless.

"But for now, I'll ask again. You okay?" I added.

"Yeah, you?" She asked, a little surprised.

I nodded and I glanced around at everyone, all of us a little surprised but intact. I caught Steve's eye as he steadied Nancy and he seemed a little disappointed.

It was a similar glance he'd given me back at the shack, and I knew why.

Her urge to protect me, and my urge to protect her just the same in return had been noticed by him.

She'd reached for me without hesitation and we were wrapped around each other, shielding each other as the ground had shook underneath us.

We'd looked for each other, and had found each other, one pulling the other close and out of the way of potential danger.

He'd witnessed finally, that she had made her choice.

And that choice was clear to him.

Me.

He looked at me for a moment, before giving me a nod of understanding and respect, which I returned.

"We should check our bags, check our weapons and get moving." Paisley said, as I helped her onto her feet.

"Good idea." Nancy said, tossing me another first aid kit.

"But you should check your wounds, too." She added, looking at Paisley.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

"Once we leave here, we don't know how long it'll take to get to Creel House. I think it's wise to check now, incase it's a good while before we can." Nancy argued with a motherly tone.

"Everyone, pack up and move outside." Steve said.

They all did as instructed, leaving myself and Paisley inside of skull rock.

She unzipped her bodywarmer, and I helped her to shrug out of it. Sadly, when I'd lifted her jumper, she had already bled through the bandages.

"I'm worried you're losing too much blood." I said, panicking slightly.

"It needs more pressure." She said.

"How?" I asked.

"Something else to put over them and then you're gonna have to tie the bandage tighter." She said.

"Will that work?" I asked, as she glanced at me, her eyes holding uncertainty, sweat across her brow.

"It has to." She whispered.

By chance, Nancy peered around to check on us and I took the chance to ask.

"We need something else to put over the wounds; we need to put more pressure on it. She's still bleeding out." I said.

Nancy looked all around her, before looking down at the hem of her jumper.

She tore the bottom off, and folded it in half and half again.

"Put this on the worst ones, pack the rest with the dressings in the kit. Then when you put the new bandage on, you're gonna have to cinch it even tighter." Nancy said.

When she'd gone back out and around the corner, I set about removing the blood soaked bandage from around Paisley's waist, and she breathed deeply through the pain, through her nose.

I reached into her backpack for a bottle of water and I doused her side, washing the fresh and congealed blood off her skin.

She writhed, clearly in pain and my heart clenched painfully.

"I'm just gonna need you to try and hold these in place whilst I wrap the bandage around you." I said, pressing both the dressing and the hem of Nancy's jumper to her side.

She did as instructed and I wound the bandage around her before pausing.

"Okay.... On the count of three." I said, indicating that I was going to cinch it and she took a deep breath.

"One.... Two....." I said, and on three I tightened the bandage;  the strangled, wounded cry that came out of her mouth caused a clammy, panicked sweat to break out on my neck and hands.

They'd all heard it too.

"Everything's fine.... She just needs a few minutes." I reassured the panicked, worried faces they were peering in.

And then Max had a brainwave.

"I've just realised. I have Tylenol." She said, rummaging in her bag.

Thank God for Maxine Mayfield.

"Take two." I said, handing Paisley the water.

She took it from me a little roughly and I let it slide; the pain was talking right now.

She rinsed two tablets down, and gathered herself.

"Sorry...." She whispered, glancing at me, regretfully.

"You don't need to be. I'm sorry...." I said, sadly.

"You did what you had to." She reassured me.

"We're going to need to move. Think you can?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She said, a little shakily.

"They're fast acting." Max said, from outside.

"Good, because we all know I don't need slow release right now." Paisley said, as I helped her onto her feet.

"How does that feel?" I asked, as I helped her back into her bodywarmer.

"I can barely breathe, but I don't feel as lightheaded." She said, as I zipped her bodywarmer up.

I guided her out of skull rock and we began the further walk towards our main destination.

Creel house.

She walked ahead of me again, of all of us and I sensed that she just needed a little time for the pain to subside to a manageable level.

Giving her the space she was clearly needing, I walked close enough behind to keep a watchful eye on her but not to encroach, Steve came level with me, wordlessly matching my pace, as we walked.

And when he knew she was out of earshot, he squoze my shoulder.

"The best man won." He said.

I paused and he continued to walk, sighing softly.

"Harrington?" I inquired in a low voice, as he half turned back to face me.

"She chose right, Munson. You coming?" He asked.

I jogged towards him, catching up to him and squoze his shoulder in return when I reached him.

"I go where you go, man." I said, with a small smile.

*************************************
Considering I'd been around them for weeks, I was invested. I was invested in their safety and their survival and that wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

What surprised me though was that they weren't initially questioning why.

I was thankful; I didn't want them to question it.
Because with questions, came answers.

Answers I wasn't so sure I was ready to give.

The secret I had held close to my chest, that I wasn't ready to part with.

I wanted this group of loyal, unfaltering friends to pull through and I wanted to pull through with them.

If the upside down bled through, we'd never know our world again.

That world would disappear.

And all that would take its place would be darkness and evil.

Evil I'd seen first hand. Evil I'd escaped from.

I toyed with the bracelet around my wrist and sighed slightly.

No, I wasn't ready.

"We're close." I said, as they all reached me, coming to stand behind me.

"Okay, remember the plan." Nancy announced.

"We need to draw him out." She explained.

"He'll be there." I said.

"It's only logical that he is." Dustin said, in agreement.

Logic didn't necessarily have anything to do with it.

I could sense him.

"Max and Paisley will go in, and when they do, he's going to know, and he'll likely react immediately, which doesn't leave us with much time." Nancy said.

"So weapons up." Steve said.

Eddie tightened his grip on the spear in his hand, and bounced on his heel as he psyched himself up.

And as he came level with me, he delivered a statement that wouldn't surprise me, and one he ultimately knew I perhaps wouldn't listen to, but delivered it all the same.

"No heroics this time. You need to get out? You get out."

***************************************
Eddie's POV

Dustin was going in with Max and Paisley, to signal to Erica once they'd located Vecna; Myself, Robin, Steve and Nancy were waiting by the playground opposite.

Lucas was on the lookout for Jason and his goons.

Dustin would signal to Erica with his torch using morse code. Erica would shout to us and we'd make our way inside after.

Erica and Lucas would then remain outside and signal to Dustin if Jason came.

The plan was set but I was still uneasy.

"You think she'll stick to the plan?" I asked Steve in a low voice.

"If you're in trouble? Hell no." He said.

"So stay out of trouble." He added.

We waited in the bushes by the playground and I quietly called Erica.

"Anything?"

"Nothing yet." She said.

I watched as a blue light appeared in the attic window and I shared a concerned look with Nancy.

"They're in the attic." She confirmed, as I nodded.

It was followed closely by a blinking white light.

Dustin.

I turned to Erica who blinked her torch twice and we sprung into action.

"Let's go." I said, as we quietly rushed over to the house, Lucas keeping a steel tight look out.

"Stay safe, Sinclair." I said hurriedly, as we passed him.

Steve turned to me then, with a look of concern on his face.

"Do I have to have the heroics talk with you too?" He asked.

"I've learned my lesson. No trying to be a hero." I said.

"Take your own advice. We work together." Steve said, as I nodded.

**************************************
I wasn't sure what I was seeing, I just knew I didn't like it.

He'd come along way since I'd last encountered him, and this was something evil and extensive.

"What the hell?" Dustin asked.

"It's his network." I answered, forgetting myself.

"How do you know?" He asked, taken aback.

"Think about it, every time he's killed someone, he's gotten stronger. He's in some kind of trance. Think of it a little like Ghost in the Shell.... The Puppet Master. The Puppet Master was using their ghosts... their minds, to create his own network, to transcend beyond consciousness. This is like that, but he's using people's energies, their life force.... He behaves like a parasite, absorbing everything he takes. And he gets stronger each time." I said.

"The vines.... They connect him to our world. That's his link." I continued.

"No.... No, that makes sense." Dustin said.

"I know, because it's right." I said.

"He feeds off everyone he takes. He focuses on our darkness, our fear and overcomes us. And when he kills us, he takes everything we are and he uses it." Max said, in agreement.

"We need to get him out of that trance." I said.

"How?" Max asked.

"You're getting behind me, to start." I said.

"I want to help." She pleaded.

"You are helping. Just from behind me." I urged.

She did as instructed, stepping behind me, and I closed my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked.

"Ask me later." I said, before pressing a finger to my lips.

"Got it." Dustin mumbled, falling silent.

And as my eyes opened, so did his.

Dustin gasped and stumbled back, as Vecna's eyes fell on me.

"I have guests." He announced.

"I mean technically, we're breaking and entering. And no one in their right mind would want to be a guest of yours." I remarked.

Dustin fell behind me, and he slowly unzipped my bag, reaching inside for the bottle of petrol, and the rag stored away in there.

Robin had the rest.

And I was hoping that they were ascending the stairs and would be here any second now.

"How did you reach me?" Vecna asked.

"You don't get to ask questions." I said, as Dustin slipped the lighter into my hand.

We watched as Vecna lowered himself from the vines, coming to rest on one knee, before his head lifted, meeting my eyes again.

"Maxine...." He said, with a smile.

"NOW!" I cried, as Dustin handed me the bottle with the rag stuffed in.

I heard a scramble of footsteps behind me, as I lit the rag and tossed the bottle towards him.

It hit him square in the chest as he rose to his feet and we watched as he was set ablaze.

He roared in pain, and I pushed Max and Dustin back, Robin stepping in where they'd been, lighting the rag on the bottle on her hand.

"Now." I ordered.

Robin threw the next bottle as Vecna approached, and he stumbled back again.

I felt a pair of elbows part me and Robin, and I watched as Nancy walked in between us, firing a round from the shotgun in her hand.

She fired every single round from the gun, until he crashed through the window and down onto the ground outside, by the front door.

"Paisley, how did you do that?" Dustin whispered.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Do what?" Robin repeated, as Eddie eyed me carefully.

Dustin, sensing that I didn't want to go into it at that point, quickly thought of a cover story.

"Light that as quick as you did, man that was badass." He lied.

"Yeah, badass." Max said, but her eyes were on me.

She too wasn't convinced but sensed I didn't want to disclose.

It was wrong to keep it secret; but I wasn't proud of it.

I didn't want the association with Vecna.

Steve crossed the attic floor then and peered down out of the window.

"He's dead right?" Eddie asked, as I already knew the answer.

Steve turned to face us, his face grave as he shook his head.

"He's gone." Steve said.

"How didn't any of that put him down?" Nancy asked, in disbelief.

"Because it's like Paisley said." Dustin said.

"And what did Paisley say?" Steve asked, his eyes on me.

"Are you familiar at all with Ghost in the Shell?" I asked, as Steve stared at me blankly.

"Amazing graphic novel." Eddie commented, as I fought back a smirk.

Of course he knew.

"The Puppet Master, he was hacking the brains of cybernetic people everywhere, using their ghosts to create a network." I explained.

"Ghosts?" Steve asked.

"Their minds, their souls." Eddie explained, looking towards me as I nodded with confirmation.

"He wanted to create a network to transcend all consciousness and become it. Literally become it." I said.

"Vecna is doing something similar." Dustin said.

"With each kill, he's creating a gate so that the upside down bleeds into our Hawkins. With each kill, he absorbs the energy of the person and he becomes stronger. Rounds from a gun and two Molotovs weren't enough to take him down. He's clearly too strong for that now." I said.

"So what do we do?" Nancy asked.

"What only one person did before this." I said.

"Eleven." Dustin confirmed.

"She did it before." I said.

"Would she reach us in time?" Steve asked.

"I don't know, but it might be the only way." I said.

"We should radio them, see how far away they are." Dustin said.

"In the meantime, he's gonna be angry. He's gonna be coming for us. And we need to try and hold him off until Eleven reaches us." I said.

"There's something you're not telling us." Eddie said suddenly.

I turned slowly and I met his eyes.

"Like what?" I asked.

"How did you wake him?" Eddie asked.

"We have a connection to him. Every single victim was taunted by him, stalked and hunted by him, through their mind. I let him in. He was looking." I said.

It wasn't exactly a lie.

"And he found you, just like that?" Eddie asked.

"He was looking for us." I said.

"Can we save this discussion for later?" I added.

I wasn't sure why I was so afraid of them knowing; they'd accepted Eleven. I was sure they'd accept me too.

My guess was that I was ashamed of my powers, ashamed of running away and leaving Eleven to fight him alone.

She was no older than nine or ten at the time, and I was ashamed that she had been far braver than me.

It was definitely pride.
Pride, guilt and shame.

I'd been able to reach Vecna, because I was like him.

He was drawn to me, because he knew deep down that there was something about me he was familiar with.

***************************************
Eddie's POV.

She was sitting away from us all, her guard up as she loaded Nancy's shotgun.

She was silent, brooding and she had a deep furrow in her brow.

She knew we were all a little suspicious and it was greatly affecting her mood.

When she set about adding more nails to my makeshift shield, Nancy sat down next to me and I smiled weakly.

"I think I'm the grand scheme of things, we were successful because of what she knows." Nancy said.

"I'm thinking the same." I answered.

"There's more to her story, but are we thinking we have a right to know? All she's done really, is help us." I added.

"We are and we don't." Nancy said.

"We know who's side she's on, isn't that enough?" I asked.

"For me? Yeah. She's not asked any of us for our back stories, yet we were expecting hers back there. However she was able to get Vecna's attention, in hindsight, doesn't matter. What matters is that she did and we had a chance to attack. He's still out there, but he has to be injured at the very least. Weakened if anything." Nancy said.

"Has she told you anything?" She added.

"Homeschooled, lived with a guardian. He was a lover of science. She's twenty, the same age as me. But she did describe living in a cage and not having a great deal of interaction with the outside world. She knows things from books, such as Plato and Ghost in the Shell. She didn't talk about how she came to be here, out of the cage. I didn't ask, and I didn't pry. She's closed off about it, and that's pretty suspect. But only because I think something bad happened. She talked about her mom, and that she died." I said.

"She's resourceful, fiercely loyal already.... To you in particular. But she's been with us on everything we've done with her on our team, so far." Nancy said.

"She is. And I was the first to be suspicious." I said, regretfully.

"You weren't. I was." Dustin said, from behind us.

I raised an eyebrow and he elaborated.

"When she closed her eyes, I asked what she was doing. She told me to be quiet and to ask her later." Dustin said.

"What do you think, about it?" I asked him.

He seemed surprised that I wanted his opinion, but he offered it to me all the same.

"She doesn't know much about any of us, not really. Only what we've managed to tell her in between trying to save the world and ourselves. She's taken what she knows and helped us anyway. We know a little about her, and we've expected answers straight away. She saved your life Eddie. She went back for you. Put herself in danger to get you back. She saved me and Steve. As soon as the danger was there, and even though I wanted to fight, she told me to go. Demanded that I went to the trailer... and she made sure I got there." Dustin said.

"If you want my opinion.... from the moment she met you she liked you, Eddie. I heard you some nights, talking for hours. Talking about all kinds of things. I heard laughter, I heard deep conversation. And when it came to leaving you behind, I told her at the time that potentially we had to. And she flat refused. Shut us both inside of the trailer and went back. There's something she's not telling us. But it's up to her if she does or if she wants to." Steve said, suddenly sitting next to Nancy.

And with that, my mind was made up.
I rose to my feet, and crossed the grass verge onwards her, as she was inspecting the additions she'd made to my shield.

I made a point of sitting opposite her, as she lay the shield down on the grass, her raven hair falling around her face as she reached for Dustin's shield to do the same.

"Can I help?" I asked, as she leaned upright, reaching for the pile of nails at the side of her.

"Tighten the knives on those two spears." She offered, as I nodded and reached for one.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what I said back there. It doesn't matter how you did it, you did. And we managed to attack Vecna, caught him off guard. That was enough." I said, as I unravelled the jute string from around the wood of the makeshift spear.

"I'm right in how he's doing all of this." She said.

"Oh I believe you, we all believe you." I said, requiring no explanation.

"We've just never gotten that close." I added.

"We'll have to get that close again." She warned me.

"We know. I know." I said.

She sighed softly, and hesitated with the hammer poised in her hand. She lowered it, and rubbed her face before taking a deep breath.

"The guardian I lived with..... he wasn't really a nice man. He wanted me to think he was, and for years I thought that everything he did was in my best interests. And then there were things I was told, by someone else there. He didn't just tell me, he told another kid too. People got hurt." She said.

"He had other children?" I asked, surprised.

"Several." She answered.

"So you left or you escaped?" I asked, wanting to know the difference.

"Escaped in a manner, I suppose. I didn't want to be there anymore. And then this all started to happen and Vecna started to come after me and here we are." She said.

"I don't need to know. You don't have to tell me." I said, reassuringly.

"It's not a wholesome story. It's not a story of love or family; quite the opposite." She said.

"I didn't realise that once I was out and around people, just how much I'd have to learn. I got into a fair bit of trouble early on. I stole from places, food and clothes and things like that.... I didn't realise I had to pay for them. I didn't know what money was. I didn't know I needed it. Someone did take me in, took pity on me..... I didn't stay, I left and came here." She said.

"But they helped me with various things. My communication wasn't the greatest. So the months I was there, they helped me to speak and here I am now. I'm still learning." She said.

"And what have you learned here with us?" I asked.

"I've learned that working in a team is more effective. I've learned what liking someone means, and that there's variations of it. I like Nancy, I like Robin... a lot, I like Steve, Max, Dustin, Erica, Lucas.... And I like you. But I like you a lot differently to them." She said, as I fought back a coy smirk.

"And how do you like me?" I asked.

"You already know." She said, eyeing me with a pointed look.

"I see them as my friends. I see you as more than a friend." She added.

"I know. And I like you in the exact same way." I said.

"Which you already know, because I kissed you." I added, as she blushed slightly.

"And we've been close since the start really." She said.

"We have. There were a lot of nights where we were talking for hours." I said.

"I just seemed to connect with you." She said.

"I feel the same way, sweetheart." I said, sincerely.

I was touched; she really was amazing.
Misunderstood, like me.

"I trust you. More than I've ever trusted anyone." She admitted.

"I trust you. I'd sure trust you with my life. You've saved it once already, without hesitation." I said.

"Because I can't do this without you. I need you here, I need to be able to look for you and find you there. If you're not here, I don't know what I'd do." She said, as I shuffled closer towards her.

"I don't think it's that you can't. You were alone and more than capable of defending yourself, before you met me or any of us." I said.

"Okay.... It's like I said before, its that I don't want to." She admitted.

"I don't want to do this without you either." I said, reaching for her hand, the hand free of the hammer.

She let me take it, and I squoze it reassuringly.

"I'm glad that I met you. Out of all of this, I'm glad you found us, I'm glad you found me. You're an amazing girl..... you're interesting, you're badass, you're loyal, you're brave.... You're quite the sass pot and in some wild, outrageous twist of fate which don't get me wrong I'm quite grateful of, you're the sass pot that likes me. That clearly cares about me and wants me to be with her, by her side to get through this. The sass pot that I want to be by my side too. You make me strong, and you make me more brave than I ever thought I could be." I said, as she smiled.

"You're already brave, you don't need me for that. You sacrificed yourself." She said.

"I'm learning from you too." I said, not taking the clear compliment she'd given me. I chose instead, to give her one.

One I meant, wholeheartedly.

"You are?" She asked, surprised.

"I am. I did a great deal of running before you came along. You give me the means to be brave and you give me reason to fight, and not run." I said, as she squoze my hand reassuringly.

"I understand why you were suspicious." She said.

"I know I don't need to be. That's why I wanted to apologise." I said.

"It was already forgotten about." She said, as I smirked then, not entirely convinced.

"You sure? You weren't picturing that shield as my head for a moment when you were hammering the nails in?" I asked playfully.

It earned me a smile though, and I decided I'd take it.

"Probably for the first two or three." She said, playing along.

"For at least three? Wow." I said, as she chuckled softly.

"You know I'm only joking." She said.

"It'd be okay if you weren't. I have broad shoulders, I can take it." I said, chuckling softly.

"Why are we keeping an eye out for Jason as well as Vecna?" She asked me, suddenly.

I sighed softly and chose to explain, seeing as she'd shared a little more with me.

It was only fair.

"His girlfriend, Chrissy..... She came to me for help. Came to us for help. We couldn't and she died. Vecna got to her before we could help her. Jason thinks we killed her." I explained.

"When you say running?" She asked.

"She came to me, for help with the nightmares, the hallucinations. She just wanted quiet, respite from it all. I had the means to do that and I offered it before I really knew what she meant and before I really knew what was going on. If I'd known, I'd have tried to help in other ways." I said.

"What means did you have?" She asked.

"When these guys tell you I'm abit of a rogue, you should believe them. My Uncle, he works hard but there's little money really, we've never had a great deal of it. So I have helped where I can. If anyone wanted weed, pills, special K.... They'd come to me. I've sold drugs for years." I admitted, waiting for the potential judgement I got from most people.

When it didn't come, I was surprised.

"Chrissy thought the drugs would shut out Vecna." She correctly surmised.

"If I'd known at that point that music would hold him off, I'd have suggested that immediately. When it happened, it happened fast and it happened in my trailer." I said.

"And that's why the gate was there." She said, correct again.

"And Jason thinks you killed her?" She added.

"A lot of people do. They think we're all involved somehow. Mainly me." I said.

"They have no idea what's really going on, do they?" She asked.

"No, they don't. They've figured it's an earthquake so far. If the time comes where this gets worse and we can't stop it, they'll wish that it was just an earthquake." I said.

"They think because some of us play D&D, that it also has something to do with it. They think it corrupts kids who play it." I added.

"It's just a game." She argued.

"It's killing the kid's." I said, with a shrug.

"People are real strange, sometimes." She said, sighing softly.

"It's fear, through not understanding. A table top game didn't cause this." I said, sounding distant.

"That's still a little loose." She said, motioning to the spear in my hand.

"It is?" I asked, inspecting it.

She leaned forward and nudged the knife attached to it and it moved; she was right, it was still a little too slack.

"You wanna swap?" I asked, with a smile.

She smiled broadly then and it was nice to see.

"I think it's probably for the best." She said, as I chuckled softly.

We switched and she made light work of the spear, going as far as to show me after.

"Well, now you're just showing off." I said, playfully.

"Is that for Erica?" Nancy asked, approaching Paisley.

"Yeah, I just need to fix Lucas's." Paisley said, as Nancy reached down to grip her shoulder.

"We don't need to know anything you don't want us to. What we do know, is that you've done nothing but help us and that's more than enough." Nancy said.

"He's already served me with a convincing pitch." Paisley said, nodding her head towards me.

"We're all sorry, all the same." Nancy said; Paisley smiled slightly and nodded.

She went to answer, before something drew her attention over my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She was suddenly fighting something, something we couldn't see.

I looked behind me and saw nothing; I looked back and she was shaking.

"Paisley? What's wrong?" Nancy asked.

"He's here." She whispered, as her hands wound tightly around the spear in her hand.

She wasn't scared; she was angry.

"I can hear him, in my head." She whispered.

"Tell Max to put her headphones on." She added.

I looked to Max, oblivious as she chatted casually with Dustin.

"Eddie, he's here for her too." Paisley warned.

"He's here for both of you?" I asked, feeling the air leave my chest as I looked behind me for a second time and saw a familiar figure walking over the brow of the hill.

"Paisley....."

"Okay, everybody up!" Nancy cried as we all scrambled to our feet.

"Max, get your headphones on!" I shouted.

"It's time Paisley...."

"No it's not." She said, refusing to give in.

She rose to her feet, arming herself with the spear and shook her head.

"You know it's time...."

"It isn't Henry." She said.

I turned to her sharply; we all did.

"Henry?" I asked, surprised.

"Vecna, is Henry Creel." Paisley said.

"He died." Nancy argued as we all came together to form a tight line.

"That's what they'd have you believe." She said.

"Who?" I asked, my eyes on Vecna, who was fast approaching.

"Dr Brenner." Paisley said.

"How do you know Brenner?" Steve asked.

"Please don't ask me anymore." She said, as Vecna pointed an elongated finger towards her.

"You." He said.

He moved and pointed towards Max.

"And you." He said.

"You're not taking her." Paisley said.

"He's not taking you either." I argued.

"Maxine is the one that will break this world. You will be the one who helps me rule. Join me." He said.

We all stopped dead and turned to her.

"I'll never join you." Paisley argued, emphatically.

"I didn't know you'd be this disappointing. After everything I did for you." He said.

"You tricked me." Paisley said.

"Tricked you? No. I saved you." He said.

And we watched in horror as he lifted her off the ground. Her body tensed as she tried to fight him, and I could hear her whimpers as I tried to pull her down.

I tugged on her feet, crying out, but I couldn't bring her down.

Nancy aimed her shotgun at Vecna and he laughed manically.

I tried to pull on Paisley's foot again and marvelled in fear and surprise as her hand started to move.

She was fighting it.

She landed abruptly back onto the ground, onto her feet and we all gasped as her hand outstretched towards him, and her nose began to bleed.

"No. This can't be." Vecna said, as he suddenly began to struggle against her.

"It can. It is." Paisley said, her expression one of anger and determination.

"You lied to me. Tricked me. You killed everyone there that day. One." She said, through clenched teeth.

"You've been hiding a secret all this time. You want them to know what you are? Who you are?" He asked her.

"What's happening?" I asked, unable to comprehend it all.

"He's Henry Creel. He's One. The first." Paisley explained before inexplicably being thrust towards him.

Straight towards Vecna.

She landed at his feet and she had no time to recover or move.

He pinned her down with a foot clamping hard down on her chest and her back slammed against the ground.

She fell limp and I feared the worst.

"No!" I cried, as we all stared on in horror.

And then her arm suddenly reached up and she slashed at his foot. He cried out and clambered back, giving her the opportunity to roll away.

Just not quite far enough.

"Come on, show them who you really are." He said, as he towered over her.

He sank to a knee and gripped her around her throat.

"No." She said through clenched teeth, shaking her head feverishly as he pinned her to the floor.

"I thought I'd gotten them all that day..... I thought it was only Eight, who escaped. But no, Nine too got away and I always wondered where she would have ended up." Vecna continued, laughing maniacally.

"She was at the lab?" I asked, understanding.

"That's how she knows Brenner." I continued.

"The cage she talked about. She was there in the lab." Nancy said, realising.

"Shall we show them?" Vecna asked.

And as she tried to slash him with the knife in her hand, he gripped her wrist forcefully with his free hand and lowered his face to hers.

"No." She said.

"Yes." He answered.

And he roughly yanked the sleeve of her jumper down, ripping the handmade rainbow bracelet we'd all seen her wearing.

I squinted and could just make out a small tattoo.

A tattoo on her wrist.

"Oh god..... She was..." I said, as everyone behind me gasped.

009.

She was like Eleven.

"Come on Nine." Vecna taunted, as she screamed loudly.

"I'm not like you." She shouted, struggling against him.

"What do we do?" Dustin asked, as Steve came level with me.

"You know what she needs to do." Steve said.

"And she won't listen to just any of us." He added.

"She needs to fight back. If she has power, she needs to use it." Nancy said.

"And use it now." Robin added, fretfully.

She'd dove into a hurricane of bats to save me.
Now it was my time to save her. It was my turn to get her to listen.

"Cover me." I said, hurriedly.

And then I took a run towards them both, and as I sank onto my knees skidding across the ground, I looked to Nancy, who understood and tossed her shotgun in the air; I leaned back and reached out to catch it.

Successful, as I skidded on my knees past the girl I knew as Paisley and the girl Vecna knew as Nine, I aimed the shotgun and fired.

The fired round blasted through the wrist of his left hand as he was about to strike her in the face and I watched as his hand exploded into a mass of blood and bone.

He roared and she scrambled out from underneath him, and when she quickly turned to face me, she was unrecognisable.

Her eyes were almost black, and there were dark circles underneath them, her skin grey and slightly mottled.

And she was covered in blood.

She raised her hands in front of her again and I watched as similar to Eleven, she lifted him into the air.

He struggled against her and I could see she was angry; she was consumed with rage.

"You can do this without using your anger! Remember what Eleven did." I called to her, as I sat on my knees a few feet away from her.

"Focus on a happy memory! He can't do that. He has no good memories. Only bad." I shouted.

"You're more powerful than him when you focus on the good." I continued.

"You've got this Paisley.... You've got this!" I cried.

And in my peripheral, I saw someone running towards us, and they stopped when they reached her side.

Eleven.

She too had her hands raised in front of her, and she too was shouting words of encouragement to Paisley.

"We're not like him, we have happy memories, happy thoughts. That's one thing he doesn't have. All he has is fear, hatred, and he only ever focuses on the darkness. You and me, we have light in us." Eleven called.

"Light against dark, Paisley!" I shouted.

"This is all very touching. But the end of your world is coming. And the beginning of mine will soon be here." Vecna said.

"Not today!" I shouted, rising to my feet.

I cocked the shotgun and aimed it at him.

"Not today, you son of a bitch." I spat.

And upon those words, our friends broke into a heroic run down the hill, towards us.

Towards him.

***********
The once pretty hill where we'd all sat during one summer or another, had become a battlefield.

I saw various faces mixed in with the Demogorgons and the Demodogs, as one by one we all started to fight, started to defend Hawkins in a way we never had.

To the death.

And as I fought alongside Steve, all I could think about was Paisley.

This was her secret; this was what she'd been hiding.

She was like Eleven; they were like Henry.

One, Nine & Eleven.

001, 009, 011.

It shouldn't have made sense, but it did.

She had a different resilience, she had trauma, she had a determination I'd never seen in someone before.

She'd seen a lot of death.
And I understood why she didn't judge me for running.

She'd ran too.

It wasn't just a secret she was hiding.
It was shame, guilt.

She blamed herself, for this.
And she so desperately wanted to make it right.

I had no further time to think, as a swarm of bats came towards myself and Steve.

These fucking bats, man.

Always coming towards me.

And when I was just about to raise my shield, they fell to the floor at our feet.

I spun around to see Vecna on his knees.
He was missing an eye; it was on the floor a few metres away.

They'd beaten him down; they'd bested him.

The dogs and the gorgons all shrieked loudly and I dropped the shield in my hand to cover my ears, crying out.

And as though all sound around us disappeared into a vacuum, Paisley turned to me and her voice was all I could hear.

"It's almost over Eddie." She whispered, a fond look on her face.

I stumbled towards her, Steve in tow as we gathered around her and Eleven, taking in the scene before us.

"It's almost done." She said, as a sharp wind engulfed us. Her hair lapped at her face, and I could see tears in her eyes as she solely focused on me.

She was speaking with her blackened eyes, and the message was suddenly received, loud and clear.

"No...." I whispered, feeling my heart pound in my chest, painfully.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Don't go..." I pleaded, as everyone else realised, their faces growing scared, sad and confused.

"I have to...." She said, as Eleven reached for her.

"Don't do this." I begged her.

"It's the only way." She said, staring fondly at me.

"Don't you be a hero, that's what I said." I said, looking at Eleven, who looked as devastated as I felt.

"I take him back, it closes the gates." Paisley said.

"Why you?" I asked, desperately.

"This makes everything right." She said, her eyes crying.

"Eddie, it's the only way." She added, giving me a fond look.

"I'll come with you." Eleven said.

"No you won't. You'll stay here. He's done, he won't fight me. The moment we're through, you need to ensure that this works. You need to help to close the gates behind us." Paisley said, as I tried to reach for her.

Steve gripped my arm, and I looked at everyone around me, equally in turn to see them all crying, but accepting this; I couldn't.

"We said we'd have conversations after this.... We'd talk, we'd go places, do things. Stay." I begged, shaking my head, unable to accept it.

"Please stay." I begged.

"STAY!" I cried.

"One of us has to take him back through. If we leave it like this, he can potentially find a way to come back and it will just happen again. This has to happen. We said enough. Not as much as either of us would like; it's okay that we didn't get time or the chance..... I'm happy with what we did get to say. It's enough for me." She said, as I made a hasty grab towards her.

I didn't reach her, as Steve, gravely understanding, suddenly pulled me back.

"Get off me!" I spat, trying to pull free of his grip.

I turned to her and I could hear the grief and desperation in my sobs, as I shamelessly begged her.

"No, no Paisley...." I pleaded.

"It's okay. Let me go." She whispered, softly.

And as she nodded encouragingly, we watched her and Vecna disappear in a distorted, ash cloud.

She disappeared before my eyes, and I cried out to her, for her, Steve holding me in place in front of him.

"El?" I asked, horrified as she closed her eyes.

"I have to make sure they close." She said, as tears rolled down her face.

I watched her nose bleed, and the gates around us all started to close.

I knew it was over when the sun peeked through the grey clouds and the red of the sky turned to blue.

I knew it was over as the monsters all around us turned to ash and faded with the summer breeze.

The grass turned from grey to green.
The flowers sprouted from the soil, in reds, blues and yellows.

The trees had green leaves, and the birds started to chirp loudly.

And as much as I was relieved, I was also bereft.

I stared ahead of me, and Steve tried to get me to walk with them.

"No." I said.

"She's gone, buddy." He said, sadly.

"You don't think I know that Harrington?" I asked, sharply.

"He just needs a minute Steve." Robin said, from behind me.

"I'll catch you up." I said, unsteady on my feet.

I sank to my knees, staring at the spot in front of me, where I'd seen her last, and I heard their footsteps fade away as they reluctantly left me behind.

It was only when a body sank down next to me, that I realised one had remained behind.

Dustin.

I turned to face him, as his bottom lip quivered, his eyes red with tears as he sniffed slightly, evidently upset.

The kid was breaking my heart even more.

Hastily, I pulled him to me and held him tight, feeling him cling to me as he broke down, crying into my chest.

It was obvious that he'd grown fond of Paisley in the short time we'd known her; I had too.

"You should go home, Henderson. Be with your mom." I said, loosening my hold on him.

I wiped my face roughly with one hand and sighed softly.

"What will you do?" He asked, as I shrugged.

"Go home too, I guess." I said.

"None of us thought we'd be here for this. For the end." Dustin said.

"We have the chance for things to start over. I guess we take that." I said, sadly.

"My mom always said to never look a gift horse in the mouth." Dustin remarked.

"I think I understand. Either way, I think it's what Paisley would want. So I'm gonna try, for that reason." I said.

"She wanted you to live. Don't make her regret it." He said.

*******************************************
Hoppers POV

"You're sure this is the one?" I asked her.

"Yes. This is the one I used." She said, adamant.

"It's still open?" I asked.

"It's small. It's not powerful, not really. Not enough for anything other than say a person to get through." She said.

"Did you purposely keep this open?" I asked.

"Just to give her one chance. If she doesn't come through tonight, I'm closing this too." She said.

"It's been weeks." I said.

"I knew there was little risk. I came back through this. He's gone. There's almost no chance of him or anything coming back through." El said.

"So what now?" I asked.

"We wait." El said, simply.

*******

It was around midnight, when I heard movement and it startled me. I gripped the shotgun in my hand and Eleven held her hand up to me.

"No." She said.

She was staring straight ahead of her, and I strained my eyes in the dark, seeing a figure infront of us.

I quickly turned on my torch and shone it ahead and the figure immediately shielded their eyes.

"It's me."

"Jesus kid!" I cried, lowering it immediately to pull her into a hug.

"You cut it real fine." I added, sighing with relief.

"It took alot out of me." She explained, as I released her.

Eleven embraced her and they seemed both happy and relieved to see each other.

"I wasn't sure if you'd know where to look. I just hoped you'd find it." Eleven said.

"I did." Paisley answered.

"Thank you." She added.

"We should get you inside." I said.

She didn't refuse or protest, as we led her to the car and drove to the shack at the edge of the wood.

And we weren't alone when we got there.

"Jesus Christ." I said, huffing slightly as I climbed slowly out of the car.

"How did you know?" I asked them.

"One, you're not great at being subtle. And two, we remembered that Eleven came back, through the exact same gate. We wanted to be sure before we tell him." Steve said, leaning casually against the front door.

"Tell who?" I asked.

"Eddie." Eleven said, understanding.

"You're not gonna tell him until tomorrow. She needs to clean up, she needs medicine, food and sleep. So come back tomorrow." I ordered.

"We just want to see her." Dustin said.

"Please." Nancy said.

I grumbled with frustration but deep down I was in awe at these kids in front of me, loyal and unfaltering.

Wanting to see their friend who'd miraculously managed to find her way back to us.

"Five minutes." I said, gruffly.

I opened the rear car door, and Eleven stood aside as Paisley emerged slowly from the car.

"Oh my god." Nancy said, in shock.

They all raced from the shack, talking hurriedly and animatedly at her, excited and relieved to see her.

I watched as she blinked rapidly, shocked as she tried to keep up with their excited ramblings.

"Guys!" I cried.

"One at a time!" I said, as they all fell silent.

"Sorry. We're just really glad you're back." Robin said, sheepishly.

"It's good to see you all." She said, managing a shy smile.

"Where is he?" She asked.

It seemed to me that this kid liked Eddie as much as he liked her. Against my better judgement, I felt myself soften momentarily; it was sweet.

"We wanted to be sure, before we told him. We literally figured this out earlier today. We raced here and wanted to see if you did come back." Steve explained.

"And if you did, then we'd let him know." Dustin said.

"He's been..... he's not been good." Nancy warned.

"He's been a mess." Robin added.

"Okay, all of you go home. Paisley needs food, medicine, and rest. I'm ordering you not to tell him tonight, tell him tomorrow. He can come here then." I ordered, with a fatherly tone.

One by one they obeyed, embraced her and said their temporary goodbyes and I could see a look of pain and longing on Paisleys face.

And as I led her inside, she voiced the reason for such an expression.

"It would have been real nice to see him." She said.

"We wanted to be sure. If you didn't come back tonight, I was closing the gate." Eleven explained.

"You literally come back in the nick of time, kid." I said, in agreement.

"We didn't want to give him any false hope. They'll tell him tomorrow and I'm sure that he'll run all the way here when he finds out." Eleven said.

"But first, we need to check those bites. You need to shower, eat and rest." I said.

She didn't argue; Eleven tended to her wounds, she cleaned up, changed into some clean clothes, ate a little and it wasn't long before she'd fallen asleep.

I was sitting on the sofa with Eleven and we both sighed in unison, with relief.

"We should rest too, it's late." I said.

"See you in the morning kiddo." I added.

*****************************************
I was awoken by a loud, sharp, consistent knocking on the door, and it startled me. I bolted upright, broken sharply from the deep sleep I'd been in, and Eleven sat up from her makeshift bed on the floor, as dazed as me.

"Alright! Alright!" I heard Hopper shout loudly.

"ALRIGHT! Knock it off!" He shouted, sounding annoyed.

And through the gap in the door, we saw him open the door, and someone pushed their way through.

"Jesus, did you have to tear the door down like that?" Hopper grumbled, annoyed.

"I'll apologise later. Where is she?" The familiar voice asked.

My heart lurched in my chest and I suddenly couldn't move.

I was rooted to the spot.

"She's sleeping." Hopper said.

"I need to see her."

"You need to just give me a minute to wake her, if she isn't already." Hopper said.

"Please Hop."

Eleven rose to her feet and turned to me, with a timid smile.

"He wants to see you." She whispered.

I climbed slowly out of bed, adjusted my hair and looked over at her for reassurance.

"You look pretty." She said with a giggle.

I hesitated by the bedroom door, before taking a deep breath.

I walked into the living room and the moment I saw him, I felt a warm rush flood me all over.

He seemed to react the same, and before I could process seeing his beautiful face, he'd crossed the room in three large strides and I met him in a hurried, desperate embrace.

I heard him start to cry, holding me tightly to him; as though if he let me go, I'd disappear again.

"I thought I'd lost you." He whispered into my shoulder, as I stroked his hair gently.

"For a moment, you did." I whispered back, tightening my hold on him as I felt his body rack with sobs.

Tears rolled down my face and I sighed with sheer relief; I was back, he was here.

He was happy to see me; I was happy to see him.

He hadn't forgotten about me.

"You're really back?" He asked, unable to let me go.

I didn't want him to.

"I'm really back." I whispered.

"We'll give you two some space." Hopper said, as him and El grabbed their jackets and left.

I released Eddie and he stared at me, with a mixture of pain, shock and relief.

He sat down on the sofa and I stared down at him, unable to tear my eyes away from him.

"You were gone..." He whispered.

"I was. I'm not sure where I went, it was just darkness. Darkness for a while... and then I woke up and I was in the upside down. It was quiet.... So quiet." I said, my eyes on the view outside of the window, my voice distant.

"I wasn't sure if I'd ever find a way back here. I knew that before I did what I did. I accepted it.... Until I realised.... Sensed there was a small gate open somewhere." I continued.

"And when I saw it I thought to myself, that I needed to get back here. I wanted to see the sun again. I wanted to feel it on my face. I wanted to be able to look for you, and find you." I said.

And when I met his eyes, he was staring at me, listening to my every word, his hand clasped against his trembling mouth.

He paused, just looking at me and I shifted nervously.

It was coming.

"Why didn't you tell me? Us?" He asked.

There it was.

"I ran, Eddie. I ran.... I should have stayed, should have helped Eleven. But I didn't." I said.

"I was ashamed that I was like him. We'd started in the same place." I added, bowing my head slightly.

"You were never like him." Eddie said.

"You're not like him." He added.

He rose to his feet and came to rest before me, his shaking hands on my shoulders.

"I always want to be able to look for you, and find you there, right beside me." He said, echoing our previous words.

"Still?" I asked.

"You think that this would change how I feel about you?" He asked.

"It hasn't?" I asked, as he smiled slightly.

"No." He said, reassuringly.

"It's changed nothing." He added.

"You've been the nicest surprise to ever walk into my life. You swept in here, saved my life, saved everyone's life, and you're asking me if you having some kind of superpower changes the fact that I said I liked you?" He asked.

"That's the general gist." I answered.

"Then again, no it hasn't. It wouldn't." He answered.

I sighed with relief, and he reached for my arm, the arm with the telltale and damning tattoo on wrist, holding it out to him. With his free hand, he rummaged in his pocket, retrieving the one thing I was sure I'd lost.

My rainbow bracelet.

I gasped slightly and he eyed me carefully as he wound it around my wrist and tied it securely.

It sat snug against my skin again, hiding the tattoo and I immediately felt better.

"You kept this?" I asked him.

"I found it..... I kept it to remind me of you." He said, with a weak smile.

"But you get to wear it again, now." He added.

He released my arm and it fell to my side, and our eyes met.

I noticed that our bodies shifted awkwardly, and for a moment I believed we both had the same urge or idea, unsure of who was going to make that particular move.

And in true Eddie fashion, he found the confidence that I hadn't quite summoned from within myself, cradled my face in a nervous hand, stepping forward to close the gap between us and his lips pressed against mine.

What followed, was weeks of emotion poured into a slew of feverish, desperate, hurried, deep kisses, hands weaving into each others hair, urgent, impatient bodies pressing together.

I felt my body collide with the wall behind me, and a whimper of surprise escaped my lips.

He pulled away, eyeing me with caution.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I was alittle eager, huh?" He added, as I shook my head.

"I'm okay, it was just when my back met the wall." I explained with a nervous laugh.

"I didn't hurt you? Your side?" He questioned.

"They're healing now." I said, shaking my head.

"Will you come to my house with me? Spend the day with me?" He asked.

"I've been cordially invited to the Munson Mansion?" I asked, as he scoffed.

"It's a box on wheels." He argued, rolling his eyes playfully.

"Whatever it is, the answer is yes." I said.

"Do you need to tell Hopper where you're going?" He asked, as I snorted with laughter.

"No. I'm nearly 21." I said, as he grinned broadly.

"So am I." He said.

"There's no danger anymore Eddie." I reminded him.

"I'll get used to it eventually." He remarked, with a sigh.

******************************************
Eddie's POV.

We left Hopper a note in the end, so he wouldn't worry. It was short and sweet and just said that we were heading to mine and she'd be back later.

We walked slowly to Forest Hill's trailer park, and I noticed that as we walked, she relished the sun on her face. Our hands were entwined and they were swinging back and forth between us, as we felt the warm summer breeze on our face.

"Nancy said you hadn't been doing too good.... Is that true?" She asked, breaking our comfortable silence.

It sounded like it had been a burning question she'd wanted to ask, and so I opted to answer it as honestly as I could.

"I know it's not been a long time, but I felt like we had this connection..... I haven't connected with anyone this way. You weren't in my life and then suddenly you were, and the moment I first saw you, I think I liked you. I liked how gutsy you were, feisty, strong.... Witty and my first thought was just how pretty you were. Real pretty, with big blue eyes. I was glad that there was someone else on our team, shit we needed all the help we could get. And then we were a team. It was suddenly me and you. I felt like I was drawn to you, in more ways than one. When you came to help me in the bat storm and Steve helped.... I wasn't mad at him, but I was SO mad at you. I didn't want Steve to get hurt, I didn't want Dustin to get hurt and you saved that kids life. But I knew I definitely didn't want you to get hurt." I admitted.

"And when you said you were going.... I thought.... This is it, this is the universe screwing with me again. Here comes this amazing girl, with the big ocean blue eyes, lashes for days and the most beautiful raven black hair, shit my ideal girl.... And she's leaving. And the only thing I'd done to show her I liked her was a single kiss.... There was still so much unsaid. She's leaving and we haven't finished the conversation I knew we both wanted to have. I watched you fade into ash and I just couldn't get my head around it." I continued.

"I know you had to do it, there was only you and El that could. I know you thought that El had done enough..... but you had too. I know it couldn't have been any of us, but I selfishly wondered why it had to be you. Why you? I went home, my Uncle was relieved I was safe, and I didn't care. It didn't matter to me. Nancy was right; I haven't been good. I've been far from good." I said, bowing my head slightly.

"How do you feel now?" She asked, as I laughed slightly, my eyes a little blurred with fresh tears.

"Like I owe the universe an apology." I said, as she chuckled softly.

"You don't." She said.

"Don't I?" I asked.

"If anything it owes you the apology." She said.

"Ain't gonna happen. It owes me a fair few apologies for my screwed up life." I said, as she squoze my hand, reassuringly.

"Who told you I was back?" She asked, as I smiled broadly.

"Dustin." I said.

"Of course he did." She answered, chuckling.

"He's fond of you. We all are." I said.

"I care about all of you too." She answered.

We stopped by the door of my trailer, and I took a deep breath.

"Welcome to the Munson abode." I said, as I opened the door. I led her inside, and she spun around slowly in a curious circle.

"So many hats." She said, as I laughed softly.

"My Uncles. It's his collection." I said.

"Why hats?" She asked.

"I think he started to pick them up from service stations. He drives a truck, works nights. And I think it just went from there. He picks one up whenever he stops and they make it on the wall. It used to be mugs. But when they started falling off the wall and off the shelves he changed tact." I explained.

"I've never collected anything." She said.

"Do you have any belongings?" I asked.

"Like personal things? Clothes, trinkets?" She asked.

"Yeah, things like that." I said.

"I did...." She said.

"Where are they?" I asked her.

"Lost." She answered.

"You lost them?" I asked, sadly.

"Yeah." She said.

And then I had an idea.

"Wait right here. I'll be right back." I said, as she watched me rush off into my bedroom.

I rummaged through my sock drawer, pulling out a single black one, and slid my hand inside, pulling out a roll of dollar bills secured with an elastic band.

"Jackpot." I said, excitedly.

I walked out of my bedroom, finding her exactly where I left her and she stared at me, expectantly.

"Wanna go to Target?" I asked her.

"Target?" She repeated.

"Yeah, get you some 'belongings'." I said, with a smile.

"I don't have any money." She argued as I chuckled softly.

I held up the roll of bills and she immediately shook her head.

"That's yours." She said, as I shrugged.

"I'm not even sure what I was saving for. But this seems as good a reason as any, to spend it." I said.

"Eddie, I can't pay you back." She said.

"I'm not asking or expecting you to." I answered, with a casual shrug.

She hesitated and I smiled broadly.

"We're going." I said, as she sighed softly.

"I don't even really know what I'd need." She said.

"Believe it or not, I can help with that." I said.

***************************************
Eddie's POV

It was an interesting afternoon in Target, watching her look at everything on the shelves, unsure of what to get.

When I'd pressed and asked what belongings she'd had, her answer had been a pair of shoes, some clothes, a toothbrush and a hairbrush.

Basic things.

She was aware that girls and women wore make up but never knew how to apply it on herself and so had never really looked to own anything like that.

Which suited me fine; she was painfully, naturally pretty without it. She was beautiful.

"So you're gonna need the obvious basics again aren't you?" I asked, giving her a place to start.

It was obvious she was trying not to be too much of a fuss, but I wanted to do this for her.

"So those will be toothpaste, toothbrush, hair brush, shampoo, body wash, a couple of towels. So maybe let's start there and see how we get on?" I asked, as she nodded shyly.

Confident enough to push through a swarm of killer bats, but wasn't in Target? I smiled to myself, it was something so trivial and she was unsure of herself.

Once the basics were in the shopping cart that I was pushing idly along the aisle, as she walked by the side of it, I decided that the next step was clothes.

"Okay..... now for something to wear for bed." I said, guiding her towards the clothes section.

I let her browse and she chose a pair of tartan pyjama pants and shyly asked for one of my band T-shirts back at home, which I chuckled at and agreed to without hesitation.

"Absolutely sweetheart." I said.

"Underwear is probably next, right?" She asked.

"My favourite section." I mused as she stared wide eyed at me.

"I'm kidding." I said, with a grin.

And as we rounded the corner to the section I walked past her with the cart and whispered to her.

"Or am I?"

"Oh my god.... You're such a dork." She said, chuckling softly.

"He's more than a dork." Someone said.

We turned in surprise, to see Jason Carver casually leaning against the clothes rack.

He'd obviously been watching us from afar.

"What do you want, Carver?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Shopping for underwear, huh?" Jason asked, immediately approaching Paisley.

"I don't think we've ever met. Where's he been hiding you?" He asked her, as she stared back at him with a stony faced expression.

She didn't answer, and he continued none the less.

"I don't think lavender is really your colour. You should go with this." He said, holding a scantily laced black bra.

She eyed the lavender underwear in his hand that she'd taken from her and I pressed my lips together to suppress a laugh as she subtly used her powers.

The lavender underwear flew out of his hand and she caught it deftly.

"Yeah, I like the lavender." She said, with a casual shrug.

"How did you do that? You're like that other kid?" He asked, in surprise.

"Just back off, for the love of God." I said, impatiently.

"Does she know what you all did?" He asked.

"None of them did that." She said.

"You do know. Interesting." He said, laughing slightly.

"What's interesting, is just how far away from the truth you are right now." She said.

"You know why you're alive and everything has gone back to normal?" I asked, feeling myself growing heated.

"Because of what we did. Because of what she did. We can't tell anyone about it, no one would ever believe us. It wasn't a quake. Chrissy was murdered, but she wasn't murdered by any one of us." I continued.

"She was with you though." Jason argued.

"She was, and there was nothing I could do. I'll never forget it for as long as I live. But that's the thing Carver, I will never need you to remind me, as much as you seem to really like to. Rest assured, I'll remember." I said.

"Go home." Paisley said, with great emphasis.

And surprisingly, he didn't argue.

"What just happened there?" I asked, in disbelief.

Paisley turned to me and grinned.

"A little mind control, nothing major." She said.

"You can do that?" I asked, floored.

"I can. But I don't like to, not really. It's not fair to make someone do something they don't want to. It's easy to manipulate people and I've had enough of that for one lifetime. But he did need to go home, he should go home. He's clearly grieving and just looking for someone to blame." She said.

"What were the odds of it not being me?" I asked.

"Slim, apparently." She answered, nudging me playfully.

"So, the lavender then?" I asked, as she grinned.

"Yes." She answered.

"Go ahead and put them into the cart then, sweetheart." I said, as she lowered them in.

She picked a few more, and we simply browsed then. We finished her official tour and experience of Target with some hair ties, socks, sanitary items for her monthly's, T-shirts, jeans, two pairs of converse, two hoodies, a denim jacket for the summer, a coat for the winter and her own blanket and pillow for if she ever wished to stay at mine; when I'd suggested it, she was quite excited which just made my heart swell.

She despaired when we reached the till and the cashier confirmed some lengthy numbers at me; even Paisley could see it was a lot.

"This is too much, Eddie." She said, really unsure as she bit her nails, nervously.

"Hey, it's okay. I'd only wind up buying another guitar or spend it on something totally stupid. This is a far better and more practical reason. Just let me, it's honestly okay." I said, reassuringly.

"It's okay?" She asked, making sure.

"It's okay." I repeated, confirming.

"Thank you.... You don't know how much this means to me." She said, as I snaked my arm around her, pulling her close to me.

"I have a fair idea. And I understand." I said, kissing the top of her head softly, as she nestled into me.

***************************************
After my first shopping experience in Target, we went back to Eddie's trailer and we idly sat on his bed in his room, talking about anything and everything we hadn't up to yet, managed to.

"I wrote a song you know." He said, as I raised a curious eyebrow.

"You did? What about?" I asked.

"You." He said, with a smile.

"Can I hear it?" I asked.

"You promise not to be too mean to me when you realise how bad it is?" He asked, a little nervously.

"I'm sure it's not, and I wouldn't. But I promise." I said.

He reached down the side of his bed for his acoustic and pulled it off the floor, settling it down onto his lap.

He took a shaky, nervous breath and started to strum on the guitar.

My second time hearing real music, my second time seeing him play guitar.

'I'm always wondering what it would be like, to die, she asks me why......

Always smile when I feel like I'm gonna cry, she asks me why..... over the cliff and phantom sense, she's always offering me her hand.....

I hear her coming....

Through the echoes, through the echoes, through the echoes, straight to me.....over and over, over and over, over and over again....'

His voice sounded gruff and soft at the same time; it was like a natural rasp and he could hold onto a note. It sounded lovely already, and I really liked it.

'She's always wondering what it would feel like to fly, I ask her why....

She says everything she sees shine is in the sky, up there shining......

When your belly's rumbling down the phone,
When you ask for better than a storm,
When you feel like you're alone,

Listen for me coming.....

Through the echoes, through the echoes,
Through the echoes.....
Straight to you....

Listen for me coming, through the echoes, through the echoes, through the echoes,
Straight to you....

Over and over, over and over, over and over again.....'

He strummed the final chord and I stared at him in complete awe.

"It was terrible wasn't it?" He asked, as I smiled broadly and shook my head.

"I loved it. I loved everything about it. It sounds like us." I said.

"You think so? Like, really think so?" He asked.

"I do. You protected me and I protected you." I said.

"You saved me." He said.

"You saved me too. You shot him when he was about to strike me." I said.

"In one way or another we saved each other and saved everybody else too." He said, as I smiled weakly.

"I'd become obsessed with taking him down, ending it all for good that I don't think I know what normal is. I was born and raised in that lab. How do I get to the point that Eleven is? Will I ever get to that point?" I asked.

Sensing the fearful tone to my voice, he moved the guitar from his lap, pulling me to him and settling me there instead. His strong arms wrapped around me and he held me tight and reassuringly.

And I felt like I belonged there.

"You'll get to that point, one day at a time. And then there'll come a day where you won't be able to look back and see a day when you didn't know what normal is. I can help, if you'll let me." He said.

I turned in his arms, and cupped his face in one hand.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"You can ask me anything." He said.

"What am I to you?" I asked.

"Well, about that.... You never did answer my question." He said, with a grin.

"No I didn't, did I?" I asked, laughing nervously.

"I guess we could start there. Are you my girl?" He asked, as my heart fluttered in my chest.

"I am." I answered, honestly.

"Then that's what you are to me, sweetheart. You're my girlfriend." He said.

"I have another question." I said.

I did, but this was a little more daunting to ask.

I didn't get to ask it because through some kind of significant intuition, he answered it for me before I could.

"I'm experienced, and I've guessed that you're not. You're familiar, you're aware of it.... You've just never experienced it. It does come with the territory eventually, it comes with a relationship between two people. But only when they're ready.   Only when you're ready." He said.

"What is it like?" I asked, as he smiled.

"When there's feelings on both sides, it can be and feel wonderful. You're close, it's intimate, and it's a way for two people to show how they feel about each other." He said.

"And you've experienced that before?" I asked.

"Now that's where I'm as familiar as you are. I'm aware it can be, and I've come close to it.... But I'd say my experience of it was more from a fun, fleeting, one night angle." He said.

"And it can be fun, even in a relationship. Fun but still meaningful. It can be wonderful, fun and meaningful, if you want it to be. It can be all of those things." He continued.

"But most importantly, there's no timeframe for being ready for that to happen. It takes however long it takes. You'll know when you'd want to, and whenever that is, is okay." He said.

"Would you want to, with me?" I asked, nervously.

"You're the prettiest girl in all of Hawkins. I would love to experience that, with you. Would you want to, with me?" He asked, as I noticed he was nervous now, and blushing slightly from his admission.

I smiled broadly, blushing myself and nodded.

"You're the sweetest, nicest, kind and caring guy I've ever met. I know that it would be wonderful with you. If it was going to ever happen for me with anyone, I'd want it to be with you." I said, as he smiled widely, albeit nervously.

"Only when you'd want to. Got it?" He asked.

The gap closed between us and our lips met in a soft and gentle kiss. I did want it to be with him, eventually.

When that time came.

I broke from him and he smiled sincerely at me.

"I got it." I answered, with certainty.

**************************************
One month later.

Eddie's POV.

Paisley had moved with Hopper to his proper home, and Eleven had gone back too; they behaved almost like siblings lately, which was nice to see.

Paisley had taken on the role of the older sister, but was learning more from the younger Eleven, every day.

Hopper was secretly overjoyed at having gained not one, but two daughters and had resumed a fatherly role over them both; he'd grown accustomed to the fact that I was dating his newly acquired daughter and my presence at his house, along with Mike Wheeler's was something of normalcy these days.

Hopper was happy with it, as long as we kept the doors open by 3 inches.

It was his one rule.

I was happy to oblige, wanting to respect her new father figure.

And Paisley had a lot of respect for Hopper; she trusted him, and she had learned that this was how a parent cared for their child, informally adopted or otherwise.

I stepped into her bedroom and as always, she was excited to see me.

"Hey princess." I said, bundling her up in my arms.

"Three inches!" Came a shout from downstairs.

"Got it!" She called back down, before laughing.

"Hey." She said to me, finally.

"Like we could ever forget." I said, as she giggled.

"Exactly." She said, shaking her head.

"Okay, so I might have planned something." I said, with a grin.

"What?" She asked.

"Can't tell you. But you'll need this." I said, producing a bag from behind my bag.

She was immediately suspicious, when Eleven appeared in her doorway.

Eleven pushed the door ajar and peeked inside.

"Okay, you need to go so we can get ready." She said to me, as I smiled broadly.

"I'm going, I'm going. I'll meet you at Hawkins school at 6pm." I said to both of them.

I pecked Paisley softly on the lips and smiled.

"See you soon." I whispered as she eyed me carefully.

"What are you up to?" She asked, as I stepped back towards the door.

"All will be revealed." I said, dramatically.

**********************************
"You're ready for this?" Steve asked, adjusting his tie as he stood beside me, running a quick hand through his already coiffed hair.

He was in your typical tuxedo, I was in a tux myself but with a black shirt. I forgo a tie, but had buttoned the shirt to the collar.

"She deserves this, you know? She missed so much." I said.

"Not disputing it, it was more that you looked nervous." Steve said, as I chuckled softly.

"I am." I said, as Steve smiled coyly.

"She's gonna love it." He said.

Nancy popped her head in and smiled broadly.

"Hopper has just dropped her off outside." She said.

"That's our cue. Let's go." Steve said, outstretching his hand to me.

I took it and shook it, sharing a mutual look with him.

"Thanks man." I said, sincerely.

"Anytime." He said.

We wandered out into the gym, that we'd decorated with streamers and banners, to represent a school dance. There was a DJ, and I'd gotten permission off the school to have the party here.

With an exclusive guest list.

* Nancy, Mike & Steve
* Dustin, Lucas & Will
* Johnathan, Erica & Robin
* Joyce, Hopper & Eleven
* Myself, Gareth, Jeff & Grant
* Maxine & my Uncle Wayne

And I'd managed to track down the man who'd taken her in for those crucial months, and it had been someone we weren't expecting.

Dr Owens and his wife.

We all waited patiently as she walked through the doors; Nancy had strategically placed me at the front, so I was the first person she saw.

And it was pure magic when she was led through the doors, on Hoppers proud arm.

Her eyes looked all around her and they eventually fell on me, as I took her in.

Her hair was loosely curled, she was wearing a little make up, and her dress was stunning.

It was sage green, with a corset style bodice, and a sweetheart neckline. It was strapless and fit her perfectly.

The skirt was floor length and tulle, sage in colour. And it was covered in embroidered wildflowers, with a hidden meaning.

One she was due to find out.

"What is this?" She asked, in disbelief.

"It's your prom. It's a party." I said, as she immediately reached for me.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart." I added, as her ocean blue eyes glazed over with tears.

"You look wonderful." She said, her voice breathy with surprise.

"There'll be music?" She asked as our hands met finally.

"Yes, and photographs, there's a booth over there. Jonathan has kindly offered to take photos of us all, so you can remember this." I said.

"Oh I'll never forget this." She said, as I smiled broadly.

"You planned all of this?" She asked me.

"I had help." I said, as she turned to all of our friends, waiting patiently to greet her, all with wide and proud smiles.

"It's a beautiful dress." Hopper said to me, under his breath.

"I did good?" I asked him, as Joyce appeared at his side, nodding and smiling.

"Oh yes. It's gorgeous." Joyce said, smiling proudly.

"She was okay getting ready?" I asked.

"A little overwhelmed, but she was fine." Joyce said, smiling coyly.

"She was very excited to see you." Hopper said, clapping a hand on my shoulder.

"You did good, kid." He added, with a crooked grin.

"Shall we get this party started then?" I announced, as she was saying hi to everyone.

There was a chorus of loud agreement and I waved to the DJ, who immediately started with the music.

I watched as Paisley jerked slightly with mild surprise, and she became fixated on the lights all around her, her eyes on the ceiling and the floor.

I watched fondly and happily, as Dustin explained that they were disco lights, what you normally had at a party.

And I watched further as he outstretched his hand to her in a gentleman like manner and asked her for a dance.

I was hoping for the first, but I didn't mind one bit.

If anyone was going to have the first dance over me, if I was to ever choose, it would be my favourite little butthead.

She was a little reserved, apologetically advising him that she didn't know how to dance and so I approached Joyce and nodded towards them.

"Shall we give her an idea of what to do?" I asked as Joyce beamed.

"Let's do it." She said, taking my hand.

I led Joyce to the centre of the dance floor, level with them both and Paisley looked to me for reassurance.

"Just copy me and Joyce. You'll pick it up. Let Dustin lead you." I explained, and myself and Joyce started to dance.

She did as instructed and soon, Dustin was leading her around the dance floor quite admirably and really well; I couldn't help but laugh at the planet sized grin plastered on his face, as he whirled her around.

"You're a fine boy, you know that?" Joyce said, as I looked down at her.

"I don't know about fine." I said, modestly.

"You are. You have a kind heart, and an infectious way of looking at life, at everything. You're a credit to your Uncle." Joyce said, as I bit down on my bottom lip, nervously.

When I met her again, she was blurred and I realised that my eyes were brimming with tears.

"Oh I mean it. You're a fine boy and she cares about you a lot." She said, smiling at me.

I blinked and the tears rolled down my face; Joyce was quick to wipe them from my face with a motherly touch.

"Look around you, you did all of this. Enjoy it. You deserve it too." She said, before releasing me.

I looked at the door as Dr Owens walked through with his wife in tow, my Uncle shying in just behind them.

I waved to them and my Uncle removed his cap as a gesture of respect and nodded to me.

Paisley had seen Dr Owens too.
She stopped dead in the middle of the dance floor and her eyes widened with surprise.

"Sam?" She said, as he approached her.

"My my, look at you." He said, smiling broadly.

"How did you?" She asked me, as I chuckled softly.

"I had to invite the man who helped you." I said.

Dustin released her and she threw her arms around Dr Owens and then his wife; both returned her embrace happily.

"You look wonderful." He said.

"Thank you." She said, shyly.

"This is quite the party, Eddie. It all looks great." His wife said.

"It's all come together perfectly." I said, in agreement.

I snaked an arm around Paisley and she nestled into me happily.

"I'm gonna get a dance in whilst I can, I can see that there'll be a lot of requests with the lady of the hour." I said, before stealing her away.

The sounds of The Police started to play, Every Breath you Take, providing a slow pace for us both.

"Why did you do all of this?" She asked, as I slow danced her around the floor.

"You deserved it. I wanted to show you how much I care about you." I said, resting my head on hers, as she rest hers against my shoulder.

"Oh you've shown me alright." She said, as I chuckled softly.

"Do you like the dress?" I asked, as she giggled.

"I feel like a princess." She said, approving.

"You're a princess to me." I said, as her eyes met mine.

"I really like the flowers." She said.

"Yeah there's a reason for that." I said.

It was true, there was.
It was bittersweet, really.

"What's the reason?" She asked.

"When you'd gone, I knew it was really over when the wildflowers started to bloom on the hill. I told myself that was your way of letting me know it was all going to be okay, from there. They were all different colours, like a rainbow. And I believed for a while that you were telling me I'd be alright." I admitted.

"It felt like a sign." I added.

Her eyes grew glassy and she smiled through them as they rolled delicately down her beautifully blushing cheeks.

"Thank you for all of this. It's wonderful. You're wonderful." She whispered as I held her close.

"I care about you so much, Paisley." I whispered.

"God I really do." I added.

"I care about you too. I care about you a-lot." She whispered back.

"You're still my girl?" I asked her, as she smiled widely. I returned a similar smile and she nodded without hesitation.

She leaned up on her tiptoes and we met in the nicest, softest and tender kiss, the world and everyone around us slipping away for a moment.

We broke apart and both smiled at each other shyly, both chuckling softly,

"I'm yours." She said, with certainty.

**************************************
Eddie's POV.

The night went smoothly and it went so incredibly well. There were smiles all night and everyone was so happy; this was all I'd wanted.

I'd wanted everyone to experience normal again, Paisley especially.

Paisley had officially met my Uncle and after an hour he was truly taken with her; he even danced with her, much to my surprise.

He never danced but tonight he made an exception.

The night sadly came to an end, and Paisley had decided to stay over at mine for the night; I'd welcomed it, not wanting the night to end any other way.

We had photos, all of us did; couples and group shots that I was sure we'd all cherish for a long time.

Even perhaps forever.

My Uncle bade us goodnight, heading out to work, leaving us alone and there was a moment where she stood in the doorway of my room, staring at me with a certain glimmer in her eye.

I met her eyes, searching them, as she stood solely focused on me.

There was tension in the air, one I was vaguely familiar with, and I felt the nerves growing in the pit of my stomach.

Nerves formed butterflies the minute I knew what she was telling me, with her firm silence and her intense eyes.

I approached her slowly, and when I reached her she started to tremble with anticipation.

She remained rooted to the spot, as my hands softly ran up her bare arms, moving to cradle her face in my hands.

My lips pressed on hers as I kissed her softly, like I always did and she leaned into my touch, her body responding to mine. We melted together, as I wrapped my arms around her, my fingers weaving into her raven curls.

Her hands reached inside my jacket and she inched it off my shoulders as she kissed me.

It fell to the ground with a small thud as her fingers deftly and blindly unfastened the buttons of my shirt; my fingers were working the ties of her corset and as it sagged, it hit the ground, revealing her partially naked body.

She was wearing a green strapless bra and matching underwear, which I broke from her briefly to admire, and to also shrug out of my dress shirt.

My hands ran up her back as our lips met again, and she walked us towards my bed.

"Are you sure?" I whispered against her lips.

"I'm sure." She whispered back.

I took the lead then, gently lying her down on my bed and she shuffled up towards my pillows, as I followed, all the while arched over her, taking her all in with my eyes.

"You're beautiful." I whispered, my hands running along the hem of her underwear.

She trembled under my touch, as my hand ran up her stomach, towards her petite breasts and I squeezed one softly, her back arching slightly in response.

Once we were free of clothes, I leaned over her, kissing her softly, blindly rummaging in my bedside drawer.

Hearing the familiar rustle, I curled my fingers around the square package I was looking for, pulling it out and bringing it to my lips to tear it open with my teeth.

She didn't question it; she knew what it was.

She lay patiently underneath me, as I rolled it down onto myself and encouraged her to open her legs.

She did as instructed, and I moved to position myself in between them; I leaned down and kissed her softly, leading a trail of kisses down to her neck and her shoulder blades.

As her fingers run through my hair, I slipped a hand down in between our bodies, and she gasped slightly as my fingers gently stroked her. I bit down on my bottom lip as a small moan escaped her lips, her eyes fixed with mine.

The sounds she was making, were already driving me crazy.

I nuzzled my nose against hers, feeling a sudden wetness on my fingers and I planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"This might feel uncomfortable for a short while, but I'll take it slowly. If you want me to stop at any time, you have to tell me." I urged, as she nodded, seemingly nervous and apprehensive.

"It's going to feel strange.... But then it'll feel nice. It'll feel good." I assured her.

And with that I gently pushed against her, meeting some resistance. She tensed a little and as I rested on my elbows, I stroked her forehead softly.

I pushed slowly past the resistance and felt myself then slide inside her, and her brow furrowed slightly as she adjusted to the way it felt.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

She nodded wordlessly, and I started to thrust, slowly and gently. After a time, the furrow in her brow disappeared and she seemed calmer.

Her hands ran to my back, and a series of exquisitely soft sounding moans escaped her lips.

She took it all in her stride from there, responding to my touch, responding to my lips on her skin as I slowly and surely made love to her.

Her eyes searched mine and I knew that she was slowly reaching the peak of her arousal and wasn't too sure what was happening.

"It's alright, you're close to it, like I am." I whispered, as I held her to me.

I felt my movements grow slightly sloppy and my breathing quickened, hers too doing the same.

Her hands weaved into my hair, and she held me close to her, her hips instinctively pushing up against my own. The friction of our bodies moving together pushed her sweetly over the edge of release and her breath caught in her chest as her head tilted back and she climaxed before my eyes.

I picked up the pace slightly and shortly followed her climax with my own, and I came to a slow but sure stop, leaning down to kiss her softly on her trembling lips.

"Was that okay?" I whispered, as she smiled broadly.

I found myself smiling just as broadly back, knowing that if she asked me the same, my answer would be that it had been the most wonderful time I'd ever experienced with someone.

I gently climbed off her and discarded the condom in the bin, and I covered us both with my duvet, pulling her to me as she lay facing me.

"I've never felt anything like that in my life. I knew what this all was, and you helped me understand when people did this, and it was everything I'd hoped it would be." She whispered.

"Was it okay for you?" She asked, as I smiled widely.

"I told you I was familiar, and experienced. But the way it felt tonight, that was new to me too." I said.

"Tonight has been perfect." She whispered, her eyes growing heavy.

"It really has, baby girl." I whispered.

And we enveloped each other in our arms, and fell asleep together.

*****************************************
Over the course of the next few months, there were many more times of intimacy and with each time it happened, I found more of myself as both a person and also, sexually.

I knew what I liked, and Eddie was more than receptive to what I'd ask for every time.

I was equally receptive of what he liked and what he'd ask for, and it had brought us closer together.

Our friends had noticed our gradual closeness, and it was Nancy who had deduced that we had been intimate and had some sound advice for me.

"You're the closest now, that you'll ever get. Enjoy it and be happy." She'd said.

And as we all sat on the brow of the hill, where we'd had our previous monumental showdown with the ultimate evil, I looked all around me as I sat in Eddie's arms, leaning casually against his chest with my legs resting on the grass, taking the view in.

The sun was high in the sky, my flowers as Eddie now called them, were still in full bloom, serving as a reminder of what we'd overcome and what we'd gained from it all.

I even had a favourite song now; the song Eddie had written for me.

Through the Echoes.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves in individual moments, and I was lost in the moment I was having with Eddie.

His hands idly played with the ends of my hair as he held me to him, his lips planting sporadic kisses on my cheek, and I felt the mild flutter in my heart that I'd been feeling for a few days.

I could feel him breathing against my back and I could tell he was relaxed and serene as we sat together; I too was relaxed, comfortable, and in love.

Totally, irrevocably in love.
In love with him.

His face tickled my face as he leaned down to kiss me on the cheek again, and I took the opportunity to tell him.

I turned my head to meet his lips and he gladly kissed me softly, holding me tightly for a moment.

"What are you thinking about, princess?" He whispered, as I smiled and bit my bottom lip with anticipation.

"You. Always, you." I whispered back, as he chuckled softly.

He looked out at the view for a moment, seemingly touched as a blush formed across his nose.

"And just how much I'm in love with you." I said, as his head snapped back turn to me.

"I love you, Eddie." I continued as the worlds biggest smile formed on his face and his eyes grew glassy with happy tears.

He laughed through them, flattered and happy and he nuzzled his nose against mine.

"God, I love you too. I love you so much." He said, peppering my face with thrilled kisses.

I turned in his arms and wrapped an arm around him, sitting upright. He leaned up, his face coming level with mine, and his arms wound around me as he looked into my eyes with a serene smile on his face.

"My girl. My special, beautiful girl." He confirmed, gazing at me fondly.

And I surprised him a final time, confirming that I really did listen to every word he said, as I answered him in a way I hadn't quite, before this.

"You bet your ass I am." I replied, with certainty.

THE END.