𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞

THREE: monster hunting.

JAMES WAS so glad that Eddie said yes, they headed back to the Hoppers where James had to take a quick shower while Jane and Eddie sat on the couch together. "So, do you like James?" She asked suddenly as he was showing her his sets of D&D dice and he quickly looks up. "What?" He choked out and she chuckles. "You like James. Right? As a friend." She tells the older teen.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked a bit quietly and she shrugs. "James likes that he can talk to you. Or not talk to you." She explains then she scratched her chin at the sight of a very confused Eddie Munson. "Like, you can sit. In quiet together." She just explains furthermore and he nods. "Oh..." He says.

"And he says you can tell each other everything. He also says he thinks you get along well. You like him back, don't you? As a friend?" She asked curiously and he just stared blankly at her before quickly nodding and glancing down. "As I was saying... This one's a twenty sided dice. Do you wanna roll it?" He held it out to her and she gave a confused stare. "Why?" She asked and he shrugs. "For fun?" He asked and she does so, the dice landing onto the counter top. 11. "Eleven." She looks at him and he grins. "It has a ring to it. How about it be your nickname?" He asks her.

She smiles softly. "Nickname?" She asked and Eddie nods quickly. "Yeah. My full name's Edward but people call me Eddie." He grins wider and she nods. "Oh, because my name is already short. So... El would be a nickname?" She asked and he shrugs. "Yeah. Ellie. El. Eleven." He says and she smiles wider, looking at the twenty sided dice.

"And James, what about his nickname?" She looks to Eddie who shrugs. "Jay? Jamie..." He simply says and she smiles wider, glancing around. "I like having you around, Eds." She said and he just smiles back at her. "I like being around..." He says quietly. "For Jamie?" She asked in a sing-songy voice.

"No!" He says, waving a hand at her and she giggles as she backed away, looking over to see James coming down the hall. "We should head to bed now." He says, ruffling his hair and Jane stood up. "Can we have warm chocolate milk?" She asked and he furrows his brows. "Hot cocoa?" He questions and she nods quickly. "Mm-hmm!" At this, James glanced at Eddie who just shrugs, getting up.

"You heard the little lady!"

The three sat, drinking hot cocoa as Jane listened intently to Eddie with a small smile and James just watched them. The only thing he knows is they're discussing Dungeons and Dragons, some nerdy game Eddie is very weirdly obsessed with. Jane seems to be super interested in it, enough to forget she had a bedtime, at 10:00, so James taps his watch. "We better get to bed. It's already 10:25." He tells her and she just nods.

The two say goodnight to Jane and they're off to James' room, same again as the night before, laying side by side in bed. "That Jane is really cool. I'm nicknaming her El, or Eleven now because she rolled my dice and got the number 11, like it just striked me how cool it would sound as a nickname, you know?" Eddie rambled on, glancing over at James.

"Yeah." James smiles back and the Munson turns to lay onto his side. "Is anything the matter?" He asked the Hopper who followed his movements. "Just... wondering what's wrong with my dad." Tears filled James' eyes and Eddie panicked momentarily in his mind. "What?" He says quietly and James covered his eyes, sniffling loudly. "My sister." He mumbles and Eddie furrows his brows. "Is it Eleven? I don't understand, is she already your sister? Oh my God, was it a secret affair your dad had?" He asked and James looks at him with a confused stare. "What? No."

"Sorry... you can continue explaining." Eddie whispered and James chuckled. "You can be cute sometimes." He murmured, sniffling and wiping at his nose. "Um, no, it's not any of that. My sister, Sara, she, uh, passed away when I was younger... And now I'm just wondering if my dad is trying to... fix that or get over it or something, by taking in El. It wasn't even his fault, you know? Like..." He paused and looked away, wiping away his tears. "He thinks it's his fault. He's usually always drinking. And bringing home women. And stuff." He said then turns to look over at Eddie.