Waiting Room | A Stranger Things Story - Eddie Munson | VOLUME II

Where The Streets Have No Name | Part IX

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐍𝐨 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞 | 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐗

'𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓! 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖?' Dustin's shrill and excitable voice exclaimed as he wandered down his drive to meet me as I scrambled out of the car.

It was a six hour drive back to Hawkins from Pittsburgh. I hadn't allowed a single thought to enter my mind for the entire journey, in fear that if I did my fight or flight would kick in and I never would have made it back.

The anxiety and the realisation soon set in as the repetitive highway signs would count down the miles the closer I got.

I hadn't given any thought as to what would await me as I drove at a slow pace through the seemingly desolate and dismal streets of Hawkins.

Buildings cascaded in scaffolding, communities of people still trying to return what was taken from them.

It was dystopian, apocalyptic almost. How even though it seemed like the end of the world, the world didn't stop to grieve with you.
It kept going.

My eyes met his as we exchanged grins of gratitude to be in each other's presence again. Everything that made him Dustin had been perfectly preserved. Unscathed. The same toothy grin, the same signature cap with crew neck and button shirt combo.

'I wish!' I called back, slamming the door behind me as I fiddled with the keys in my hands.
'It's my flatmates. This cost her like four hundred bucks from some rando guy standing outside a gas station. Pretty sure he just wanted drug money.'

I pulled him into a tight hug, feeling his tight curls brush lightly against my nose as I felt a heavy weight alleviate from my shoulders.

'Look at you!' I cried out, pulling away from the hug, gripping his shoulders as I leaned back to look at him. 'You're old!' I laughed.

'It's good to see you, Kat.' He smiled, tilting his head to the side.

'Oh my God.' I sighed nostalgically.

'What?' Dustin enquired at the sudden shift in tone.

'Nobody has called me Kat in literally the longest time.'

My entire reality felt as though it had been dented in this moment. Like the life I had created for myself since Hawkins wasn't really my life at all. Almost as though I had been on autopilot or in survival mode. Hawkins was never my real home, it was a pit stop.

But it was the place where I finally found who I really was. Where I discovered the things I enjoyed, the things that I cared about. The people that I loved.

'Bad or good?' Dustin enquired, furrowing his eyebrows.

'I don't know, good I think.' I said, a breath getting caught in my throat.

'This is just -.' Dustin started, stopping himself in his tracks.

'What?' I asked, folding my arms as I dangled the car keys idly in my fingers, looking on at him in discernment.

'I don't know, I guess I figured we wouldn't see you again.' He stated, apprehensively.

'Yeah well, I don't know. I guess I kinda owed it to myself to just come back. Maybe to see that it's not so big and scary anymore after all.' I said, swallowing hard.

I glanced at my surroundings, noticing a SOLD picket sign in Dustin's front yard.

'You're moving?' I asked, pointing over to the sign.