'86, Baby!

003

I struggle to open my eyes as they are swollen shut from crying all night. Everytime I close my eyes, I see Chrissy. I hear her pleads for Eddie. I think of how we ignored her and she needed us. As I'm spiraling in my thoughts, I hear a soft knock on the door. I sniffle, "Come in." Robin walks in with a smile, Steve, Max and Dustin following her. "Are you okay?" Max asks, sitting on the end of my bed. I nod ever so slightly, wiping my eyes. "We're making a delivery to Eddie...care to join us?" Dustin smiles. I nod in agreement. They all leave, except for Robin. She looks at me and grabs my hand. "You know you don't have to be okay, right?" She says in a sincere tone. "I know, but I have to be if we're going to figure this shit out." I say, looking down in my lap, playing with my fingers. She nods, pats my leg and walks out of my room, to join the others downstairs.

I get up and head to the bathroom to shower. I sigh, letting the water hit my face. I don't know how much time has gone by, but I hear everyone whispering outside the door. "Do you think shes okay?" I hear Steve ask. "I don't know, Steve. Why don't you ask her again for the 40th time!" Dustin whispers angrily. I hear their footsteps retreating down the stairs. I sigh, grabbing my towel and turning the water off. Once I get dressed and head down stairs, we grab all of the stuff for Eddie and pile into Steve's car. We head to lovers lake, listening to the police reports on the Cerebro. "They think he did it..." I say quietly, trying to keep it together. Robin and Max, sitting on either side of me, both place a hand on my leg.

Once we reach Lovers Lake, I run out of the car. Not seeing Eddie is starting to kill me. I forcefully push open the door as he jumps, holding up the same broken bottle he tried to kill Steve with. "Delivery Service!" Dustin yells, following me in, everyone trailing behind him. I run over to Eddie, giving him a big hug. He picks me up off the ground, squeezing me. I continue to hold onto him as he nuzzles his face into my neck. "Ehem.." Dustin says, clearing his throat to get our attention. "Sorry..." Eddie and I both say as we let go of each other. Dustin puts down the bags of food and takes a seat.

Eddie cracks open a box of honey comb cereal and a yoohoo and takes a seat in the boat. "So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news." Dustin starts. "How do you prefer it?" He questions. "Bad news first, always." Eddie responds, his mouth full of cereal. Dustin sighs, shifting in his seat. "All right. Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy." He states awkwardly. Eddie looks at him in distress. "Like, 100% kind of convinced." Max adds. I put my head down in between my knees, hugging them. I look up at Eddie, who is staring at me with concern in his eyes. "And the good news?" He says, taking his eyes off of me. "Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you." Robin says, looking down at me, and then up at him. "But we will try our best to not let that happen, Eddie." I add, picking my head up off my knees. "Hunt the freak, right?" He says, looking at me in anguish. "Exactly." Robin and I say together. "Shit." Eddie says, looking back down, avoiding my gaze.

We try and talk him off the ledge when we hear sirens approaching. "You've got to be kidding me." I yell, as Eddie lays down in the boat, putting the tarp over himself. We all run towards the window and see cops and an ambulance racing past the boat house. We all let out a sigh or relief. "We've gotta go..." Dustin says, looking at all of us. "I-I think I'll stay here, go find out what happened and come back for me." I say, looking at Eddie. Dustin sighs and nods, rounding everyone up and walking out to Steve's car.

Eddie and I sit in silence for a few moments before I see him getting up, out of the boat. "Ellie, thank you for staying with me." He smiles, walking over to me. I lift my head up to see his hand, reached out in front of me. I grab it as he pulls me off the floor and into a deep embrace. I take a deep breath through my nose, while pressed in his chest. After all of this, how does he still smell so good. I look up at him, "There's no place I'd rather be." I struggle to smile back. He places his hand on my cheek, brushing my hair out of my face with his thumb. I see his eyes start to well up with tears as he tightens his grip on me.