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Moving to Indianapolis was terrifying. Hawkins was so different from a big city and, even though you had toured the campus of your college and had scouted out everything you would need, you still had reservations about moving at all. One of the biggest reservations, understandably, was Eddie.
Over the summer, the dynamic of your relationship shifted. While you were getting ready for college, packing your whole life into as many boxes as would fit in your car, Eddie was becoming an adult. You knew that he was pretty handy and you had witnessed him working on his van every so often, but you didn't really know exactly how handy Eddie was until he bounced into your house one afternoon and announced "I got a job!"
"Oh my God, Eddie!" you squealed, and he caught you as you wrapped him in a tight hug. "Where at?"
"Just the auto garage on Main Street," Eddie told you. "They needed a new mechanic, and I figured... Y'know? I have a high school degree now."
"Aw, a- A mechanic?" you repeated. "I didn't know you knew how to do all that."
Eddie shrugged. "Wayne's taught me bits and pieces," he told you. "But, baby, I'll be getting paid and everything, I can finally take you on a nice date."
"Aw," you pouted. "I like our dates."
"I know," Eddie told you, mimicking your pout. "But you're such a doll, you deserve something better than smoking weed in my uncle's trailer and letting me eat you out."
"If you say so," you told him, and you tugged on his shirt. "I'm so proud of you, Ed, you have no idea."
Now, with Eddie getting a job and you getting ready to move three hours north, you felt less like lovesick high school kids and more like adults. You started a routine of being at Eddie's trailer when he got home from work, stinking of sweat and the garage, usually in the process of making dinner for him and Wayne while Wayne got ready for the night shift.
