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COMPATIBLE!
( irl )
epilogue.
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3 YEARS LATER!
IT WAS ONLY 6 MONTHS after Melody started dating Sadie that things started working out to her benefit. Melody Stewart was talented in many ways, but she always had a specialty in makeup. Cosmetology was an area Melody was passionate about, yet never really voiced and showed off until her senior year of high school. Not along did she become more popular online because of her work, but she started getting noticed by bigger organizations and people as well.
Sadie had helped Melody get a couple small jobs using her luck of knowing people from her Stranger Things fame, and it led to offers from so many different places that Melody wasn't sure what to do. She never expected to go places with makeup, so the craziness of it all took her by surprise when it all came into play. She gained followers and fans from around the world from doing what she loved most, and it felt like a dream come true for her.
After graduating high school, Melody had bigger offers that she couldn't attempt resisting. She had planned on attending Stanford University fresh out of high school, but her plan was held off for a few months when the Duffer Brothers offered her a chance to work with the cast and crew for her friends' makeup and styling on Stranger Things.
Melody started attending Stanford soon after where she began her freshman year of college while working with her girlfriend and friends on her favorite T.V show. It was a great experience and learning for Melody, but she knew she wouldn't always be working with them. All good things came to an end, but Melody knew that she would be able to score other positions for more movies and T.V shows in the near future, after all is said and done.
As for her relationship with Sadie, there were some rough times for the two. To some of their friends' surprises, they lasted, going 3 1/2 years strong— and counting. Shortly after Melody and Sadie graduated high school, they decided it would be a good idea to move in together in an apartment complex in Stanford. The idea was for Melody to able to easily attend grad school while living with Sadie, and Sadie didn't exactly care when they moved in together as long as she got to stay with Melody.
For her friends, well, life changed them for the better in a lot of ways. Liam and Oliver both scored roles in a new T.V show after going through with auditioning, and they ended up being roommates ever since, living in a small home in Fresno, California. Of course, they traveled a lot, so they weren't always home.
Grace and Noah ended up not working out, and they had broken up for a long time. It turned out their relationship wasn't always as stable as everyone thought it was, and even though Grace used to never want to admit so, she had pretty bad commitment issues. Though Noah liked her a lot, Grace had lost feelings for him, and had gained a crush on Caleb Mclaughlin, who she knew was too old for her but it wasn't like she was planning on making a move on him.
Grace Ridley became a small actor who worked on shows for YouTube and such, but never got the chance to get on the big screen. She still didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, but she was still inseparable with her best friend, Melody, so she made sure to rent the apartment right above Melody and Sadie's, much to the couple's dismay. It didn't bother them at all, but sometimes it would get annoying when they wanted alone time and Grace would visit them all the time to 'bother' them.
The iconic friend group that once hung out all the time barely got to hang out at all. With different lifestyles and places they lived, it was relatively difficult to spend time with each other often. Melody and Grace hadn't seen Liam or Oliver in months, even though they still managed to text every day in their group chat.
There was a special occasion for Melody and Sadie, though. The premiere of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things was taking place on a night that Melody's best friends had free time, and Melody didn't hesitate to invite them to attend the premiere when Sadie told her she was able to let them tag along.
"How did you even put this thing on," Liam grunted as he attempted to pull the zipper all the way up on the back of Melody's dress. "Woman, if you don't suck in.."
"There weren't any smalls so I figured the extra small would fit at least somewhat okay," Melody sucked in her stomach as much as she could, as if it would even help with the fact that the dress she bought was indeed too small for her to wear.
"Because that was a smart decision," Liam scoffed.
Sadie entered her and Melody's shared bedroom with a grey dress similar to the one Liam was trying to zip up, and she tossed to Melody who in turn, caught it with both hands.
"Wear that one. It's a small, not whatever that it," Sadie said and Liam heaved a sigh of relief as he released Melody's zipper from his hold and shook his hand out.
"Thank you so much, angel," Melody smiled at Sadie with appreciation before going to swap out dresses in the bathroom. Sadie returned the smile and looked at Liam who was smoothing out his shirt in the mirror.
"I told her it wasn't going to fit," Liam shook his head. "She's such a stubborn little shit."
Sadie chuckled, "Yeah... I definitely rubbed off on her with that one."
"Well, stop it. She needs to go back to being good listener Melody."
"Hey, I am still good at listening," Melody scoffed after walking out of the bathroom, throwing her old dress at Liam.
Oliver and Grace joined the mini party in Melody and Sadie's bedroom, sitting on the bed. Grace flopped backwards, her back laying on the bed as she stared up at the ceiling. Not only was it the first time in a few months that she got to hang with her friend group, but it also happened to be the night where she would have to go face to face with someone she hasn't seen in years. Melody knew Grace was nervous, they all did.
"I'm going to see Noah tonight," Grace said to no-one in particular, but Melody sighed and set down her flat iron after straightening her last piece of hair and sat down next to Grace.
"You'll be fine. Nothing to worry about," Melody had pat Grace's knee reassuringly and tried to get her to stop worrying so much. It was a premiere after all, she wanted her friends to have fun.
"What if he hates my guts?"
"He doesn't hate your guts, Grace," Sadie turned around. "Trust me. You sound like you're 16 again. And you of all people should know he doesn't hate anybody. Especially not you. Don't worry about it, okay? What's the worst that could happen? He wants to be friends again?"
"He'll want to be friends again," Grace shot up in place with wide eyes.
Melody groaned. "Can you just... not worry about a stupid boy potentially ruining your night when he won't even ruin your night and just enjoy the damn premiere. It's only going to be weird if you make it weird and if I hear one more complaint about seeing him, you are not going to this show," she scolded.
"Okay, okay. Jeez you might as well punch me in the face while you're at it with that attitude," Grace stood up and stretched, putting on her heels afterwards so she was ready to leave.
"Shut up, jackass," Melody flicked Grace on the cheek which caused her to flinch away from the sudden small sting of contact.
"Joe's limo is gonna be here in like four minutes," Sadie announced after she checked her phone for any messages.
"I still can't believe he said he'd send his driver all the way over here to pick us up," Melody laughed.
"That's Joe Keery for you," Sadie laughed with her.
"I think this bow tie looks snazzy, don't you think," Oliver finished putting on his bow tie and turned around to show it off to his friends.
Melody smiled, "It may be a clip on, but it looks great, Ollie." She stepped forward to give him a hug and wrapped her arms around his torso, closing her eyes after resting her head against his shoulder. "I missed this."
"Me too, Mel," Oliver wrapped his arms around Melody and gestured for Liam and Grace to join in for a group hug, to which they obliged.
Sadie watched the group of friends in admiration. She was happy for them, though she was a little jealous that she didn't have friends like Melody to be super close with all the time. She had her friends from the cast which she was lucky to be with them all later that night, but with being an actress and doing different things, Sadie never got to hang out with them as much as Melody's friend group was able to hang with each other.
She cleared her throat, feeling bad to break up the sentimental moment. "We should get going."
Melody immediately broke out from the hug. "Okay," she said, grabbing her phone and turning off the lights to the room.
The group made their way out of the apartment complex and toward the limo that waited for them, all making jokes along the way that made Melody feel like she was finally at home again— with her family.
"Hi, Tony," The young adults greeted the limo driver after climbing into the limo and shutting the side door.
"Hey, kiddos. You got everything," Tony, the limo driver, asked. When everyone checked and agreed that they weren't missing anything, Tony started driving to the premiere, where lots of people would soon be gathering.
"Wait, I wanna sit next to Sadie. Move, Liam," Melody crouch-walked across from where she was sitting to sit next to Sadie.
Liam didn't budge though. "I'm not moving."
"Yes the hell you are."
"No the hell I'm not," he laughed.
Melody scoffed. "I will deadass sit on you."
"..Fine."
Liam moved over to allow Melody to sit down. She flopped down on to the seat in between Liam and Sadie with a satisfied smile on her face and thanked Liam. She leaned her head against Sadie's shoulder, intertwining their hands gently to comfort herself seeing as she was a little nervous. Though it wasn't a huge premiere, taking pictures and standing in front of many people bothered her just a little bit.
"You guys look so in love, it's disgusting," Oliver stated from his seat across the couple. He was clearly watching them interact and it was sickeningly cute, in his mind.
Melody giggled as she looked at Ollie, head still laid on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Thank you, we try really hard to disgust you."
"Liam is still basically in love with Millie," Grace mentioned.
"Doesn't she have a girlfriend..." Oliver questioned and looked over at Sadie for confirmation.
"Nah, she used to for like... nine months," Sadie said.
Liam furrowed his eyebrows. "Why'd they break up?"
Sadie shrugged. "Don't really know. It was a mutual thing— they both decided it was the best. It's a shame, she was a really sweet girl! I guess things didn't work out or something," she sighed. "It was a while ago, though. Like... high school long ago."
"Wow, really," Grace asked. "Can't believe I never knew."
"Yeah, I don't know I think she only told the cast and family about her. Wasn't really a public thing."
Melody smirked, "I knew about it."
Graced gasped, "What? No fair!"
"Only because you met her on set. You probably wouldn't have known if you hadn't been there when you were," Sadie pointed.
Melody huffed in fake annoyance and mumbled a small 'Whatever loser' which was loud enough for Sadie to hear. It earned a light shove from the red head, and Melody smiled, giving a small shove back at her.
It was a bit of a long ride, but the group made some fun out of it. They still had about 25 minutes left of a drive, and it wasn't like they could sleep— in fear of ruining their hair and the girls' makeup— so they played karaoke, which managed to be a bit of a mess. Turned out, Liam was a really good singer.
"Alright, enough of the fun. We're here, kids," Tony announced.
They could already hear commotion from the cameras and people there as the friends each climbed out of the limo, careful with their step.
Melody was waiting for her friends to get out of the limo when she turned her head and saw Caleb walking in her direction with a big smile on his face. She gasped loudly and ran to her friend, taking him into her arms for a tight hug. A deep laugh was heard from the man as he hugged her back equally as tight. "I missed you so much," Melody spoke with loud volume, excited to see her close friend again.
"My favorite best friend! I missed you too," Caleb pulled back from the hug to put his hands on either side of Melody's face and mush her face like a baby. "Look at you, all grown and shit."
Melody laughed and removed his hands from her face. "It's only been like ten months."
"Yeah, but you turned 19 within those ten months. Such an oldie now."
"Oldie!? Dude, you can't talk! You're 21!"
"Shut up. At least I'm of drinking age."
"At least I'm still a teenager. Nineteen."
Caleb rolled his eyes playfully. "Whatever, oldie."
Sadie walked up to the pair happily and greeted Caleb with a hug. Melody parted from them, mentioning something about saying hi to the rest of the cast there. Sadie nodded to Melody before she turned her attention to Caleb once again, "How are you?"
"I'm great! How about you?"
"Good, just living my best life," Sadie looked over to where Melody was and watched as she made up goofy poses with Millie and Noah for the photographers. A faint smile was visible on Sadie, and she looked back over to Caleb. "My very best life."
"You love that woman too much," Caleb shook his head.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing! Not with her at least. She's a good girlfriend to you."
"She's a good person."
"You are too, Sades."
Sadie laughed and shook her head, "Shut up, stupid."
Melody stumbled over Noah's foot with a gasp, causing a laugh from her, Noah, and Millie to erupt. They were trying to come with multiple iconic poses to later see on the internet, and as Melody was trying to get around Noah to be in the middle, she had stumbled over his left foot that he stuck out.
"You shrimp! You did that on purpose," she laughed.
Noah smiled innocently, hands on his hips. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."
Millie laughed along with her friends, but she couldn't help but notice Liam standing off to the side with Oliver as they conversed.
"I'll be right back," she told Noah and Melody.
She approached the two men on the side. "Hey, guys."
Liam looked surprised that she was even speaking to him seeing as they haven't spoken in almost three years. "Hey, Millie. How's it going?"
"It's great! It's a bit saddening that I won't be working with all of these great people anymore, but I can't wait to watch the new season. I'm so excited," Millie gushed. It put a smile on Liam's face for sure. "What about you? What's new? I heard you're an actor now!"
Oliver sensed that he should give the two some alone time to talk to each other and walked away to find Finn and Grace, knowing they were probably goofing around doing something stupid, but fun.
Liam scratched the back of his neck out of nervous habit. "I've been really good, actually. I haven't done much since Andi Mack ended, but I'm auditioning for a new movie coming."
"That's amazing, truly. I'm so happy for you," Millie smiled. "Maybe one day we'll star in some big movie together! You never know."
"That would be so cool!"
"Right?!"
There was a small awkward silence between the two for a moment before Millie spoke again. "Uh, listen.." she started off to grab Liam's full attention even though she had it since she walked over to him. "I've been wanting to tell you that I want you to know that I think you're a really good guy. The reason why I constantly rejected you back when we were still in high school was because I actually had a girlfriend for a while... plus, I just couldn't really see us together that way? I don't want you to think I secretly disliked you or something."
"No, it's okay! I know you didn't dislike me or anything. And I did come on pretty strong sometimes. You've always been a sweet person, Mills. It's part of why I liked you then," Liam explained. "Thank you for calling me a good guy, by the way.. makes me feel appreciated."
Millie giggled and nodded. "I'm sure it does."
"Very much," Liam chuckled, his hands tucked into his front pockets of his dress pants.
"Are you going to the party after this," Millie asked with a hint of hope in her tone.
Liam nodded enthusiastically, "Sure am! Perks of arriving with Sadie Sink part 1000."
"Millie! Liam! Get over here," Gaten yelled over to the two of them from the red carpet and waved them over once they turned to the sound of their names being called. The rest of the kids, including Melody, Grace, and Oliver were all grouped together, planning to take many group pictures.
Millie excitedly took Liam's wrist and dragged him over to join their big group of friends for pictures.
The friends all posed multiple different ways for pictures. Some serious, some goofy. When they wanted to do a sweet one, Sadie was quick to wrap her arms around Melody's waist and went to 'bite' her cheek which made her laugh and back her head away as the cameras captured every moment of it.
There were no worries or sorrow. No sad moments or sad feelings. Happiness surrounded them all. They all laughed and stumbled, having the most fun they've had in what felt like a long time after finally getting all together again. It was everything a person could ever want.
As Melody looked around at all of her friends, and settled her eyes on her girlfriend who was already staring back at her with love clear as day in her features, she knew this was all she wanted and more. She wouldn't trade it for the world.
So she wrapped her arms around Sadie's neck and looked at her with the brightest smile. "I love you, Sadie Sink," she whispered.
"I love you more, Melody Stewart," Sadie responded, and it was those first four words that meant the world to her. It was something she'd never let go off as long as she had Sadie. She had a feeling they could last forever, and she hoped she was right— for she never loved someone as much as her 84% compatible red headed girl.
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ THE END ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
hi okay so i'm literally so emotional because
this book has come to an end and i love all of
these characters beyond words. thank you all
so much for reading this book, and i hope you
loved it as much as i loved writing for it.
— love, hannah <3