What we could have been

Chapter 1: Moving In (Eddie's POV)

A/N: Okay here is the timeline for this! This fanfic takes place after ST4. Eddie survived, with some pretty serious injuries (I mean bro was munched on by demobats) but he's healed.

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The last thing I needed to worry about was moving. With everything that happened in Hawkin, and me practically being a wanted man, for murder; a murderer that I didn't even commit, mind you! I did not want to move across the country to sunny California. Sure, maybe Wayne and I did need to move out of that shit trailer home, but I actually grew quite accustomed to it, but I know if we stayed there, I would have been in an electric chair by now.

Don't get me wrong, this new place is much much nicer, but it's almost too... What is the word?

Suburban... 

The minute my uncle and I pulled up into our new driveway, there were already kids riding on their bikes and messing around in the middle of the street. The scene here is definitely different from our trailer park home. Parents wouldn't really let their kids just run around considering the area was... sketchy, to say the least. 

We started moving some boxes into the garage, but it didn't take long for us to be finished, considering we didn't have much furniture.

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Time skip (2 hrs)

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Once we got all our furniture settled, I decided to go outside and just have a smoke. Today was fairly stressful. I sit at the end of my driveway, pull out my pack of cigarettes, and grab one. I put the cigarette in my mouth, and just when I was about to light it, some chick, with this obnoxious bright red hair, sat next to me.

"Hi, are you the new neighbor?! Also, just FYI, smoking is pretty bad for you." She says and pulls the cigarette away from my lips, throwing it on the floor, then proceeds to step on it. Seriously? I was looking forward to that smoke all day.

"No, I'm actually here to rob them :D" I finally replied.

"Well then, good luck robbing an empty house! In Aspen Sawyer-Brown, by the way! What's your name, robber?"

I truly do not understand how this chick has so much fucking energy. "Eddie".

"Eddie? Does Eddie have a last name? Middle name? What's Eddie short for or is that just your name? OH! Where did you move here from? I'm sure where you came from is much more exciting than California'' Aspen says as she bombards me with 10 questions at once.

"Eddie Munson. Also 'Eddie' is short for 'Edward', but everyone calls me Eddie. You ask way too many questions, Aspen Sawyer-Brown. Would you like my social security number as well?"

"No, just your number, Edward Munson"

I looked at her with a confused look, but I will say, she was fairly slick with it. "It's just Eddie. No one calls me that."

"Wow okay. someone is bitter. So, Eddie, where are you from? What makes you come to the golden state" she smiles and shifts her body slightly, just enough to face mine. 

"Hawkins, Indiana. It's a small town. I'm sure you haven't heard of it. It's not that interesting anyways. My uncle and I decided we wanted a fresh start, away from everything, so we moved here."

"Fresh start from what? Did you have problems with people there? OH ooo OR are you secretly wanted for murder so you ran away and are now a fugitive" her eyes immediately light up as she made her "joke" and she just started to laugh.

"Ha Ha, very funny, Aspen. No, I am not wanted for murder. I just wanted a clean slate. I lived in Hawkins my entire life. Thought it was time for a change in scenery."

"Aw man, I was hoping I'd actually have a cool interesting neighbor, who wasn't a suburban white soccer mom. Well, I wish I could stay and talk more but I actually do have to go, unfortunately, otherwise, my mom will kill me if i'm late for dinner. Just wanted to introduce myself to the new neighbors, but it was very lovely meeting you, Edward Munson. I'll see you around :D'' Aspen says, as she proceeds to get up and run back to her house.

"It's Eddie! For the love of god..." Does she not listen? I sigh and run my hands through my hair. She definitely has... character.

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Time skip (night time; around 9pm)

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A few hours passed after my very interesting conversation with my new neighbor, Aspen. I'm not entirely sure if I like her too much, yet. She's got quite the personality, I will say. Nothing bad, but she reminds me a lot of Dustin, almost? She laughs at her own jokes from what it seems like. I hate to admit it, but I'm glad she's my neighbor and not some old grumpy person. Maybe I'll be able to play my guitar late at night again. Back at the trailer park, I'd have to go to Gareth's place if I wanted to practice because we would get so many noise complaints. Man, I miss them. They all think I'm dead.... I miss hellfire. I miss my friends. I even miss Dustin's tone about certain shit. I know I can't go back, but I wish I could.

All I could do was just sit and stare at my ceiling. I'm honestly still shocked that I absolutely shredded the master of puppets. It was the most metal concert ever, even if Dustin was the only one to witness it. One of my prouder moments. It truly was amazing, I will say.  Just as I started to doze off, I heard a knock on my window.

What the fuck???? What is she doing at my window? I move from my bed and open the window and she just climbs into my room.

"Hey, neighbor." She smiles and sits on my bed. "Nice room! I see you haven't unpacked your room stuff?"

"What are you doing here? How did you even know where my room was???"

"Well for one, I was bored and wanted to hangout with you and secondly, your blinds were open and I saw you. Keep your blinds closed if you don't want any creeps watching you. It's like you were asking me to come by to hangout. You looked bored. Oh! Shit, that made me sound like a creep. I wasn't watching you. I glanced towards your house and saw. That's all!"

"Do you ever stop rambling? I mean that in the nicest way possible. I don't mean to sound rude but you say so many things in a span of 5 seconds' ' I ask her.

"I'm not sure." She gets up from my bed and starts opening some boxes. She notices a guitar case and walks over to it to open it. "OH this is the coolest looking guitar ever! Do you play? I mean of course you play. You wouldn't have a guitar if you didn't play. What are some cool things you have rehearsed? How long have you been playing? Are you in a band? God this is so cool!"

I can't help but just smile. "Yes I do play and yes I am in a band. Well, I was in a band. Until I moved here. Recently, I actually played Master of Puppets. It was amazing."

"Dude! No way!! That literally came out like a month ago! That is amazing... wow. A man with many talents."

"Yeah it was pretty cool. Only one person saw me play it, but it was honestly the best metal concert ever."  I look down and just fiddle with the rings on my finger and sit at the edge of my bed.

"I want to hear you play sometime. This is literally the coolest thing to me! All the people that live in this neighborhood are SO boring. Anyways, I should probably leave. You look tired considering you just moved in today. I didn't mean to bother you, by the way." she  says and starts to climb out my window. "Goodnight, Edward Munson. Sweet dreams :D"

"Yeah, goodnight Aspen."

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AHHH okay okay chapter 1 is done :)) i hope you guys enjoyed it ahh!!!

follow my tiktok @/anniemunson_for updates :)

this is my first real fanfic that im actually serious about ahahha. I want to try to update weekly but with my schedule, updates may vary.