𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 || eddie munson

PROLOGUE

1970

june was lifted out of a station wagon with a pillowcase filled with clothes, toys and whatever else june might’ve needed.
“just knock on the door, baby, okay? mama will be right behind you,” said bianca hopper. she kissed june’s forehead and watched as he walked to the front steps of someone’s trailer. she made it seem like she was looking for something, and when june made it to the person’s home, she sped off.

june was too far away to hear, or see. he raised a tiny fist and gently knocked on the wooden door. “uncle jim?” he called. “sarah? auntie diane? uncle jim!”

june knocked harder, and yelled louder for his uncle, until the door swung open. the trailer rattled and june took a step back, staring up at the door.

when it opened, the door revealed a middle-aged man. he was chubby, wearing nothing but a wife-beater and sweatpants. he smelled too, but june didn’t comment on it. his eyes lit up, but he didn’t smile. he just stared.

jim was.. initially confused. i mean, his nephew, who jim hadn’t seen since the boy’s 4th birthday, was now on his doorstep, with no other adult in sight. not even jim’s sister, bianca. just a little boy who had no idea what was happening, or where his mom was.
eventually, jim discovered his sister’s reasoning for leaving june behind. this reasoning was in the form of a handwritten note, which had previously been crumpled up in june’s hand.

i can’t do it by myself, jim. take care of my boy while i go find myself. i’ll be back in a few months, i swear. he’s not bad, he’s quiet. just be there.

that was the end of the note. that was all she said. that was all that needed to be said. bianca just needed to ‘find herself’. whatever the fuck that meant.

bianca was always finding herself. finding herself into trouble. sure, jim wasn’t one to talk as he got into quite a bit of trouble as a kid, but bianca was.. different. bianca got into trouble with boys, drugs, and the girlfriends of the boys she hung around. jim got into trouble with teachers, and bianca would have it out with the law. that’s how she ended up with june.

june sat in jim’s dining room, colouring with some crayons and notebook paper. jim sat down beside june and watched him colour.

“when’s mama gonna be back?” june asked, looking up at jim.

he hesitated. “did your mama not tell you anything before she left?”

june shook his head. “no, but she should be back. ricky has to get picked up from school,” june said.

jim didn’t question who ricky was. maybe it was a boyfriend of bianca’s, and the ‘school’ thing was just a lie, or maybe it was another kid that bianca babysat. he wasn’t sure.

at 2, jim’s wife came home, and jim told her everything. diane was understanding. she knew bianca personally, having worked with her when they first met in hawkins. they were friends, and then jim and diane met, and then diane saw bianca’s true side. diane understood, and the couple began planning to start june in pre-k.

this was the start of a happy family. a happy family of three, and, a year later, a happy family of four. what was usually just a 6 week to 6 month arrangement, became long-term. bianca never came back for her little boy.

unsurprisingly, june asked about her all the time. he’d wake up in the middle of the night crying out for her, and jim would have to do his best to comfort his nephew. there was no way of contacting bianca. nobody had seen or heard from her in years, and after three years jim assumed she was simply dead.

june was the center of jim and diane’s world until sarah came along, but all he had to do was share the center, which he did so graciously. diane even took a few photos of june with ‘best big brother’ signs. he really was part of their family. it was sweet. 

however, something in june still never settled. jim had hoped that being left at such a young age would be easier, it’d give june more time to adjust. it did the opposite. even as he got older, as he began to talk more, grow mentally and physically, june still never was okay. he still had nightmares about his mom, and nightmares about a little boy named ricky, who jim had guessed was an imaginary friend.

jim did his best with what he could for june, and june did his best with what he had. even after sarah’s death and diane leaving him, jim did everything he could. a part of him wished that bianca left june somewhere else. if she had to leave, june could’ve gone to their parents, or an orphanage, a home where june didn’t have to experience more loss than he already had.

the years went by quickly. before they knew it, jim and june were back in hawkins. june started middle school, and started going by his middle name, june, but jim still called him junebug. jim became chief of the police department in hawkins, and june began making friends and ‘finding himself’. june started high school, let a few people call him june, and jim tried harder to do his best, to be what his june needed him to be.

otherwise, june would end up like bianca.

A/N: hey guys rewrite core :3
Word Count: 928 😔😔😔😔