#wereswriting

Stella never presented any enhanced senses during her childhood, and, at 12 — almost 13 — years old, she decided she was glad for it. Dad didn’t really talk about how his three enhanced senses came online, but she wondered. If it had been as bad as it was going for Danny lately — and he was at the age where only one sense came online — then she could easily accept she had none of it.

She found him sitting on the floor of his room, scratching rather frantically at his arm and sniffling sadly. Stella crouched in front of him, not daring to touch.

“‘Tella,” Danny called. He didn’t open his arms for a hug as he usually did, instead pulling his t-shirt away from his body. It was a sad, pathetic sight that pulled at her heartstrings.

Not that she would ever say that out loud. She actually really loved her little brother.

“Hey, Danny.” She kept her voice soft. “Mom and Dad are not back yet,” she trailed off, watching his face scrunch up again. “What if I run you a bath, huh?”

Danny nodded, still sniffling and teary eyed, but doing his best not to cry again. Stella ran out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, setting what she needed up. Watching the tub fill, she kept an ear out to her brother, though the sound of the water drowned out most of the little kid noises Danny would make.

At six years old, their parents’ only surprise — well, Dad’s only surprise — was that the first sense to come forth had been touch. It had been a few months now, but this week was the first time it really seemed to bother Danny. The fact that touch didn’t seem to be a sense that ran in the family was what surprised Dad; it was also what made Stella believe her little brother would be a guardian.

She wasn’t quite sure what that would entail. All five senses enhanced, sure. But Dad was always saying that there was more to it than just the senses. All the stories in his side of the family said so. She didn’t really understand those stories, to be honest.

She shut the water off, tested the water, and, satisfied that the temperature wouldn’t aggravate his skin, the way Mom had told her. Well, time to get her little brother all set before their parents arrived with Matty and Bri.

————

Itchy, itchy, itchy.

Danny’s clothes hadn’t bothered him before, he didn’t think, but it was really bad this week. Mom and Pops were busy with Matty and Bri, somewhere not in the house, but he knew that it was important. Stella was there with him, though, and that was fine; she was kind of boring, but for once he wasn’t in the mood to play.

His sister had left to run him a bath, since it usually helped a lot with the itchiness and the heat. He was thinking he didn't like summer much.

A clicking sort of sound came from behind him just as Stella turned on the water in the bathroom; she wouldn't hear the noise.

Danny turned around quickly, facing the big animal that was suddenly in the room with him.

————

The first thing she heard when she left the bathroom caught her off guard. Giggling was not the type of sound Stella associated with her brother struggling with his sense of touch.

Maybe it was one of those “laugh so you don't cry” things. Danny seemed to try his hardest not to cry when it came to his sense of touch being weird. Instead, he threw one heck of a temper tantrum that only Dad seemed able to get through, sometimes.

Either way, Danny's bath was ready and—

Well, shit. May her mother never hear her thoughts at the sight that greeted her.

“Hi, ‘Tella!” Danny waved from where he lay on the flank of... a really large wolf. Larger still when next to a six-year-old boy. Stella was hard pressed to admit that she was gaping. “I have a friend!”

The wolf nosed at Danny’s cheek, gently, making her little brother giggle again. It was, somewhat disturbingly, an adorable sight.

“Uh, Danny?” He made a questioning noise in return. Or, heck, that had been the wolf, she wasn't sure. But they were both looking at her with equally curious faces. “Where did it come from?”

The kid frowned, hard, looking between her and the wolf as if her question didn’t make sense at all.

“He’s my friend,” he repeated. “He came here.”

Stella nodded. It was all she could do, really; she was pretty sure that every window was closed and the doors were locked. And, well, someone would have said something if a wolf had escaped a zoo, right?

The wolf was watching her, not as though cautious of her, but just... Analyzing her? She shook her head minutely, choosing to ignore what sounded like a huff from the animal.

“He’s my family,” Danny stated, quite simply, “His name’s Fen’ee.”

It dawned on her quickly after that. Family. Familiar, the wolf was Danny’s familiar. Well, Mom was gonna love this. This Fen’ee was huge. But Danny was lying down, using its flank as a pillow and back rest, and, for the first time today, he looked downright peaceful.

The wolf nosed at Danny again, this time at his ribs, in order to get him to stand up. Her little brother scrambled upright, using his companion to balance himself.

“Ready for that bath?” Stella asked as she stood up. Danny nodded happily, eager even though he wasn’t scratching at his arms anymore. The wolf — Fen nipped gently at Danny’s t-shirt, making the boy giggle one more time, and turned his attention her. There was intelligence in the golden eyes, as well as a good dose of humor. It let its tongue loll out, gently wagging its tail. “Thanks, Fen.”

Between joint recoveries and sharing almost the same group of people (and eventually truly having all the same friends), they had spent a lot of time together. They had become friends, good friends, not necessarily by choice, but the truth was that Eddie wouldn't change it for the world.

But sometimes, it was nice to just… exist. To be able to not think about the feelings he’d realized that were growing not too long ago. About how, even though he’d only noticed them recently, the feelings hadn’t been really new. About how it looked reciprocated, sometimes.

Eddie expected to hear about Steve’s plans to get out of town any day now, maybe tag along with Robin, so why do anything about the something that was brewing, right?

Deep down, Eddie knew Steve wouldn’t leave before the kids’ senior year started. At the earliest. Eddie felt pretty much the same already, after knowing them for only a little over a year. According to Robin, they did have that effect somehow.

(Something about how young they all were to have been at the whole supernatural thing for years.)

After dropping El and Will back home, he’d driven himself to a secluded little clearing, having to go the long way around so he’d actually be able to drive his van into it. But it was worth it, it’d always been worth it.

Eddie grabbed a few of the blankets stashed at the back of his van and threw them on top of it before climbing up himself. Setting up his little makeshift bed up there was a quick process; a couple of blankets to make the roof a little more comfortable, and the rest bunched together into a pillow.

It wasn’t particularly good, but it was part of his summer routine at this point, so he settled down, lying on the roof of his van. He watched the clear, evening summer sky fade into night, watching the stars come out slowly and then all at once as the animal sounds faded and changed to accompany the sky.

Some birds — owls, if he had to guess — and bats were flying overheard, occasionally cutting his vision of the stars and changing the tracks of his thoughts; the song he’d been working on, the campaign Will wanted to run for Hellfire next, Robin’s entirely too chaotic packing process, and how that girl might have surpassed him in terms of organizational chaos. At least Eddie could find his shit in half the time it had taken her to find the shoes she was taking with her.

The crunch of steps on fallen branches drew him out of his thoughts, making him turn in its direction.

“Jesus, how far is this place,” Eddie heard in a very familiar grumble. Steve was closer than he probably expected to be, and it didn’t take long before Eddie could see him on the treeline. “Uh… Hi.”

“Hi,” Eddie returned, waving at him from where he lay with a grin. “Funny seeing you here.”

Steve rolled his eyes and walked closer. He was wearing some ridiculous yellow shorts and what looked like an old NASCAR shirt, color and design faded with time. It was a little different from what Eddie was used to; more relaxed, like he didn’t have anyone to impress. Which was good, Eddie didn’t need to be impressed by style.

(Eddie knew, objectively, that Steve genuinely enjoyed the polos and all that, but it was still nice to see him in something else. Something softer.)

“What are you doing out here?” Steve asked once he was close to the van, just enough to still be able to see Eddie.

“Looking for Scorpius,” he stated simply, gesturing for Steve to come up. While Steve climbed to the roof of the van, Eddie adjusted the pillow of blankets so they could lie side by side. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was expecting to find you in the trailer,” Steve started, leaning back on top of the blankets on his elbows with a frown on his face. “Wayne directed me over here.” Steve looked around, frowning even harder when he glanced at the ground. “You said you’re looking for scorpions?”

“Scorpius, not scorpions,” Eddie corrected softly, turning back to the stars. “The constellation.”

Steve let out a soft “Oh,” turning to glance at the sky before lying down and making himself comfortable.

Eddie had the vague knowledge that Scorpius was closer to the horizon line, but he’d have to drive up to Hop’s old cabin and the nearby hill to actually look for it, and he just… didn’t want to go that far.

(Didn't really want to be looking over all of Hawkins.)

“What’s the story?” Steve asked after a couple of minutes spent in silence. When Eddie turned to look, Steve was already watching him, his little smile illuminated by the moon. After a beat, he added, “Constellations have those, don’t they?”

Eddie nodded, struggling a little to find his words with the way Steve was looking at him. “It’s uh…” He cleared his throat and turned back to the sky. “It’s the scorpion that killed Orion.”

He could still feel Steve’s eyes on him, waiting for more.

“Orion was a hunter, the best one humanity had to offer,” Eddie started, gesturing to their surroundings as if it could encompass every person in the world. “But he was just a human, you know? And if even the gods of ancient Greece were flawed, imagine how bad a human could be.”

He glanced at Steve, finding all of his attention still focused on him.

“His flaws are not really the point, though.” He shook his head, continuing the story. “At some point in his life, Orion was hunting with Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and wild animals, and… Well,” he grimaced, “He claimed to be able to hunt every animal on Earth.”

“To the goddess of the hunt?” Steve questioned with that particular tone he had when he thought something was stupid. “Rather arrogant of him.”

“Yeah, but Artemis was fond of him.” Steve raised an eyebrow at that, but it took Eddie a moment to realize how his words could be taken. “Not like that,” he added, chuckling. “Artemis was a virgin goddess, none of that.”

Steve hummed, his expression betraying his surprise. “Good for her.”

Eddie blinked at Steve, at this tone of awe that he had.

“Where does the scorpion come in?” Steve asked, a little furrow appearing between his brow that Eddie wanted smooth out, though he had a story to finish.

“Right,” Eddie sighed out, turning once again to the stars. “Gaia, the personification of the Earth itself, didn’t like Orion’s claim.” He paused, then added, “She’s the mother of all life, so.” He gestured nonsensically upwards, finishing his story with as much a deadpan tone as he could muster. “She sent a giant scorpion to kill him.”

“A giant—” Steve burst out laughing, shaking his head in some kind of attempt to regain his composure. “Sorry, I’m sorry, just—”

“It’s kind of a silly conclusion?” Eddie asked with a smile on his face as well as in his voice. Steve nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “Greek mythology is kind of… Dramatic, like that,” he explained with a shrug. “Orion’s hubris got him killed by a giant scorpion—” Steve snorted, but reined himself in quickly— “And they were both raised to the sky as constellations as a warning against humanity’s arrogance.”

Steve hummed, gaze unfocused when Eddie looked at him. “Where are they, then?”

“Uh…” Eddie blinked and turned to the sky to blink some more. “Orion is not visible this time of the year, and Scorpius is closer to the horizon,” he said, raising his arm to point in the general direction he remembered the constellation being.

Steve hummed, but didn’t say anything, letting the silence and the warm evening air envelop them. Eddie expected it to grow awkward, for Steve to say something, for himself to end up fidgeting. Instead, it was easy to just exist together like this, lying side by side and watching the night sky.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, some indeterminate time later. Eddie could feel Steve move about, slowly as to not risk falling off the side, and settle on his side, holding himself up on his elbow. “El was all…” He gestured toward his face. “All frowny, and she only does that when she’s worried. Dustin also said you seemed down.”

Eddie sighed, wishing those kids paid just a little less attention. “I’m good,” he said, keeping his tone light. “Just thinking, you know?”

“About?”

“What happens now, I guess?” He hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question. “We got a couple more practice sessions before Jeff and Arnie are going back to college.”

“Gareth’s not going anywhere out of state, though, right?” Steve asked with a thoughtful little frown that Eddie couldn’t resist smoothing out with a finger this time. It earned him a soft laugh and a smack to his hand. “You guys can keep Corroded Coffin going?”

Eddie shrugged as much as he could while lying down. He tried that once, making it on his own, but it didn’t seem as worth it now.

“Think I’d rather not split the band,” he said, grimacing and knowing that Steve would pick up the story he wasn’t telling.

“So,” Steve drawled, eyes narrowed at Eddie like he’d be able to figure out whatever was going on in his head. “The plan is just to wait?”

Honestly, Eddie hated that idea, but what else could Corroded Coffin do? “Sure.” Steve eyes narrowed further, going unfocused again. “What?”

“The kids will be starting their junior year,” he stated.

Eddie hummed to let Steve know he was listening, but he had no idea where the guy was going with this.

“You should come to Indianapolis with me,” he announced.

Eddie blinked at Steve, processing his words for a moment. The offer seemed to come out of nowhere. He expected Steve to leave Hawkins at some point, he’d been preparing for that news, and now it came with an offer to tag along?

“I don’t really have any plans yet,” Steve continued, probably taking Eddie’s silence as hesitation. “We’d have to look into places, and Indianapolis is just an hour away, but it should be enough for a fresh start, right?”

Eddie nodded, a little numbly. “You, uh…” He shook his head to dislodge his surprise. “I think Gareth’s going to community college in the city, actually.”

“Is he, now?” Steve raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed and not surprised.

“Right, you two talk a lot now.” It was still rather amusing that the two of them hung out so much, even without Eddie. “Will?”

“Of course it’s about Will,” Steve scoffed, waving a hand in a flourish. “It’s why he picked Indianapolis. But don’t change the subject,” he added with a smack to Eddie’s arm.

“Alright, alright!” Eddie laughed, rubbing his arm. He’d have rolled away from Steve if it didn’t mean rolling off the roof of the van. “I guess Indianapolis is pretty good…”

Steve beamed at him, a smile he’d been seeing more often as the time passed. Usually, Steve was being a little shit when he smiled like that, but sometimes, he just seemed… happy.

“You could, I don’t know, teach kids how to play the guitar.”

That made Eddie laugh, surprised at the suggestion. Not that he necessarily disliked it.

“Who’d even let me?” He asked. “Maybe I’ll find work at a record store, that seems more likely.”

“If you want to, I’m sure you could find something.” Steve shrugged, that grin not fading from his expression. “Who says you can’t do both, anyway?”

And… Well, Steve had a point. Maybe he could find a store that offered lessons?

“Why are you asking me to go to Indianapolis with you?” The question was asked before Eddie even processed that it was something he wanted to know. He grimaced as soon as it was out. “Not that I don’t want to, god knows I wanted to be out of this town three years ago now, but just— I thought you might tag along with Robin?”

Steve’s expression softened, a serene smile replacing the wide grin. “I thought about it. Robin’s going to Indianapolis University anyway, though, and…” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I think I’d like you there too.”

“You think?” Eddie questioned with a raised brow. It was easier to tease and joke than really look into that sparkle of mirth in Steve’s eyes and hope it meant what he wanted it to mean.

Steve shook his head, sending his hair all over the place. “I know. Got used to your noise, Munson.”

“Well, I’m making your life interesting, so you’re welcome.”

They were both smiling when Eddie finally let himself look Steve in the eye, finally relaxed enough even though he hadn’t escaped thinking about Steve, or his actual presence. It was fine. There some tentative plans to get out of Hawkins, together, and maybe Corroded Coffin would forever be a high school band that didn’t really go anywhere — Eddie was only starting to be okay with that idea, though — but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do something else with music.

Steve laid back down on the van after a moment of silence, turning his gaze to the sky. Like this, they were touching pretty much from shoulder to knee, and Eddie was trying not to move too much, conscious of the warmth radiating from Steve.

Steve, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have the same hang-ups, nudging Eddie’s hand until he could take it in his own.

“This okay?” He asked softly, not turning his head and not seeing Eddie already looking at him. Eddie squeezed his hand and intertwined their fingers as response. “I wasn’t planning on talking to you about Indianapolis tonight, you know?” His admission was soft, barely above the ambiance of the woods at night. “I was just gonna keep you company.”

“I’m glad you did.” Eddie let himself take in Steve’s face and what freckles he could see in the dark before turning away. “Easier to think I can actually get out of here when I have a tentative plan.”

“You can, Eddie,” Steve said, firmly squeezing his hand. “I meant it, I’d really like if you came to Indianapolis with me.”

He could feel Steve’s eyes boring a hole into the side of his head, and he refused to loosen the hold on his hand. Eddie sighed, turning to face Steve’s small, determined frown.

“Sometimes,” he started, hesitating before pulling their joined hands closer. “I kinda wish you were still some degree of asshole.” Steve frowned, ready to interject, but Eddie continued before he could. “‘Cause it would make getting over this ridiculous crush so much easier.”

Steve pulled their hands closer to himself this time, and Eddie could see him pursing his lips. He’d been paying too much attention, enough to know this was Steve trying to rein in one of those rare, goofy grins that had been one of the things that made Eddie fall in the first place.

“What if,” Steve started, slowly letting the grin take hold, as he started absently playing with the one ring Eddie forgot to take off before climbing up the van. “I don’t want you getting over this ridiculous crush?”

Eddie blinked at him — he felt like he’d done that a lot tonight, almost constantly surprised by Steve despite how close they’d gotten. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t seen this coming, too close to see what, eventually, might become obvious in hindsight.

“You mean that?”

Steve’s grin came out, full force, in the face of Eddie’s soft tone. He slowly brought Eddie’s hand closer and pressed an oh so soft kiss to his knuckles.

“I mean it.”

Eddie didn’t really know what to say to all that, the smooth jerk knew it and could probably see the blush undoubtedly rising on his cheeks. But there was one thing that he needed to double check.

“You know I’m—”

“Asexual?” He filled in after Eddie cut himself short. “Yeah, I do.” Steve was back to messing with the ring on his hand, looking at it with an expression Eddie still hadn’t figured out. “And I think…” He paused, frowning a little. Eddie kind of wanted to bite him. “It might apply to me too?”

Eddie rolled closer to Steve and pressed a kiss to cheek, feeling the heat rising the longer he stayed there.

“Thanks for telling me,” he mumbled against Steve’s cheek. He pressed another quick kiss before settling back down. “Feels good to know, doesn’t it?”

Steve’s laughter was light, giddy. He rolled onto Eddie this time, hugging him as close as possible.

“It really does.”

“We didn't know where else to take him.” That was Robin's voice, coming in a little muffled through the closed door to her room. She sounded nervous. “Steve's parents are coming home tomorrow, if not later today, and everyone else lives with their parents; I know Joyce wouldn't mind but—”

“It's fine, Buckley,” her dad assured, as El finally got out of her bed. She heard some more muttering, then Robin's hurried steps out. El opened her door just in time to see Steve carrying someone — Eddie — inside.

“Is that him?” Another voice questioned, surprising El. Agent Stinson met her eyes and smiled briefly at her, though it looked a little like a grimace.

She didn’t react and turned back to Steve. He’d asked her to check in on Eddie a few days after they all returned from California, and Russia, and the Upside Down. The fact that most people she knew had to go there made her so angry.

El opened her door further, nodding at Steve to bring Eddie to her room.

She wanted to help in any way she could.

(She hadn’t realized then, but that decision left her with another very good friend.)

——

Somehow, Eddie was mostly used to a bunch of rambunctious teenagers just barging into his new house, nearly on the edge of town. The thing was, there was usually a lot of noise heralding their arrival; some car or another, their shouts as they approached the front door.

They made noise, and the noise let him and Wayne know they would be getting company.

Maybe Eddie had been too distracted writing, or the music was too loud this time, but hearing the creak of the front door opening sent ice through his veins. He stood up, grabbing the closest thing he could use as a weapon — his dice bag — and walked slowly to the front door.

But instead of any intruder that still wanted his head on a pike, he saw one of the kids standing there, smiling at him.

“Hey, Eddie,” El greeted him, wiping her feet on the mat before walking in. He saw a flash of red hair right behind her. “We tried knocking, but the music was too loud.”

Eddie sighed, lowering the dice bag. Max walked past him with a smirk, heading straight to the cassette player and replacing his Heaven & Hell tape with one of her own.

“We are here to practice braiding,” Max announced, raising a plastic bag she carried on her free hand.

He knew better than to argue with the two of them; Eddie had been told that El was feeling self conscious over her slow-growing hair — he'd certainly been there — and Max hadn’t really gone out at all since everything happened — he’d also been there, just recently being forced to go out by Wayne and Nancy of all people.

He waved his arms towards his couch. “Have at it, then,” he conceded, watching as El walked over and sat down, eyeing his D&D stuff curiously. “I need to finish that.”

El turned to look at him, and Max glanced between the two of them, putting her hands on her hips in a move so reminiscent of Steve that Eddie had to hold in a laugh.

“We are not practicing on each other,” Max said pointedly, looked straight at him with a raised brow. “The only other person who could help is Mike.”

Eddie made a face at that. He could not see Mike letting his hair be braided, which…

“This is about the curly hair?”

Max looked at him with an expression that screamed “duh”, while El was smiling brightly at him and nodding.

He sighed, silently resenting the fact he’d lost his ability to say no to these shitheads. No matter how nice and sweet some of them were.

“Let me get these out of the way, then.” He gathered the things he’d left in the living room floor and placed them on the nearest chair.

He sat on the floor in front of El on the couch, and Max sat next to him, taking a magazine out of her bag. She flipped through it with a face of concentration, but soon sighed in frustration and tossed it away.

“I don’t know why I thought that would help.” Max propped her elbow up on her knee, resting her head on her fist and staring at Eddie with a frown. “I don’t think you know what to do either.”

“Hey,” Eddie admonished, but he didn’t have much defense; he never bothered figuring it out. “I at least know you don’t brush curly hair dry.” He frowned, trying to remember what he knew. “Or at all, I guess.”

“That's a start,” Max said with a shrug.

“Eddie,” El called softly, leaning forward a little while Eddie leaned back to see her. “Can we try braiding your hair, please?”

Eddie nodded — it probably looked ridiculous upside down — and stood up again. “I’ll deal with this,” he said, gesturing to his hair, “and put on something that won’t bother me when it inevitably gets wet.”

He left the girls to chat, stopping first to change, then to wet his hair. He grabbed a towel and the wide-tooth comb Steve had left weeks ago.

If the idea was practice, they’d all probably be here for a few hours.

(And, shit, it had been fun. The girls bombarded Steve with questions when he showed up, also without warning, and seeing the guy speechless when he finally looked at Eddie was nice.

But, as Steve also pointed out that evening, he should probably start remembering to take care of his hair. Example, and all that.)

——

It took Eddie a few seconds to place what woke him up, but the final notes of Creeping Death faded and a soft click kept the next song from starting.

“Thank you,” El said, keeping her voice down. She’d come over earlier in the afternoon, no real excuse as to why, just a couple of books and worksheets in her bag. They’d been doing their own thing since.

“No problem, kid.” He could picture Wayne as he spoke, standing just a couple of steps away from their cassette player, looking over the mess of papers the two created in the time it took him to get groceries. “Need anything else?”

“Music?”

El and Wayne had interacted a few times since she started showing up at their house, but El was still a little wary of his uncle. It was funny to watch, even though Wayne was increasingly lost on what to do for her to like him.

Not that she disliked him. El had said once that she struggled a little with strangers outside of the Party, but explaining that was pretty complicated.

Eddie opened his eyes to see his uncle glance at the kid briefly, a twitch of his fingers that Eddie was familiar with after years of living with the man; he wanted to reach out and ruffle El’s hair, but it was clear they weren’t at that point yet.

Her hair was just starting to grow out, curling in the heavier parts like Eddie’s when he’d been in that same situation years ago, and no one but Hopper and Joyce were allowed to touch it.

(Well, and Steve, as of late. That guy was meticulous, so of course he’d be allowed.)

By the time Eddie’s attention snapped back into the present, The Call of Ktulu was a couple of minutes in, and Wayne had already gone back to whatever he was doing. He stretched, groaning at the pull on his scars.

“Hi,” El said, smiling once he turned to her. She had their box of tapes in front of her, a few of them set aside; some of Eddie’s metal tapes, some of Wayne’s country ones. “Wayne said you needed some sleep.”

“Wayne says a lot of things,” he retorted, voice raised so his uncle could hear him. He heard a loud, wordless affirmation from the kitchen. Eddie stood up and leaned over to see just what tapes El had set aside to listen to.

“Oh, hey.” He spotted his Rising tape and pointed at it. “This is one of my favorites. Wanna give it a listen?”

El nodded. Eddie thought she might like this one; she’d already listened to a few songs from DIO’s The Last in Line and Black Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell and liked them just fine.

He hoped she’d enjoy Rising; it meant a lot to him.

Once Tarot Woman started playing, he sat back on the couch and picked up the book that had fallen on the floor at some point during his impromptu nap.

Eddie opened On a Pale Horse where he last remembered reading but didn’t try continuing it. Instead, he watched El get back to her worksheets in silence, gently bobbing her head along to the music.

Maybe they could pay a visit to a music store soon.

——

They were well into summer, now, and the kids were starting to get ready for their sophomore year. The entire group had gone to Steve's place to use his pool, probably for the last time this summer, and while Steve seemed to enjoy running around for their friends — for all he complained, the twitch of a smile didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie — Eddie himself needed to get away from the sun, the noise, and, most importantly, the water splashes.

The kitchen was empty, and the only sound came from the back. Eddie took the moment to check the fridge for any other snacks, but came up empty. Of course the little shits got everything, he couldn’t even be surprised.

It also seemed that Steve hid whatever alcohol had been here from the kids, and Eddie wasn’t about to snoop around and potentially cause problems for him.

He turned around and spotted El walking into the kitchen, head down and a frown on her face. She pulled a stool out and sat at the counter before she even realized he was there.

Eddie waved with a bemused smile. El blinked at him a couple of times before returning his greeting, though with a much more sheepish smile.

“Got tired of the noise too?” Eddie questioned, moving to lean across from her. “Because the boys are particularly noisy today.”

“No,” she said, only to immediately frown. “I mean, yes, but that’s not it…”

He raised a brow, waiting for her explanation.

“They are talking about school,” she mumbled, rubbing the tip of the beige towel over her shoulder. “I don't like hearing it.”

Eddie nodded. He hadn't liked school since the end of his sophomore year either. He supposed it was all a little different for her, though.

“Anything specific they’re saying?”

She shrugged, tracing some pattern on the counter. “They seem… excited.”

El didn’t elaborate for a long moment, and Eddie hummed, moving to the other side of the counter to sit next to her. He waited another beat, but she didn’t look up from the patterns she was drawing.

“I’m guessing that excitement is not shared.” It wasn’t a hard guess at all. He didn’t know much because Jonathan didn’t seem to know much, but if he’d had to guess, Eddie would bet the move to the other side of the country was rough on the three of them. “Moving around and changing schools suck.”

El nodded and finally looked up to face him. “School sucks.”

“Hey!” It startled a laugh out of him. “You’re the one saying it, not me.” Eddie shook his head, seeing El smile a little. “But you’re right, especially when you’re somewhere new.”

“I didn’t know anyone!” El exclaimed with a little more energy than Eddie expected. “Will was there, but…”

“He was your brand new sibling, not quite the same,” he hedged. “What was it like?”

Her brows furrowed, and Eddie expected her to shrug and change subjects; most of his friends did that when he inevitably poked into something they didn’t want to talk about.

“It was nice, at first,” she mumbled after a moment. “Going to school, with everyone else.” She placed her arms on the counter, resting her chin against her arms. “It got really hard, and people are stupid.”

Ah.

“Felt worse than everyone just telling me about school,” she added. “School is hard.”

With a sigh, Eddie adjusted himself on the stool, mimicking her position as much as he could. “I can’t really help with the actual school part of this experience,” he started, lightly tapping a song against the counter. “But I agree that people are stupid. And you wanna know something?”

He waited for her questioning hum before continuing. “People out there,” he answered, raising his head enough to gesture toward the front door. “They don’t know us, right? They don’t know what happened. And they’ll say shit to make themselves feel better about something.”

Eddie turned his head to face El. She was looking at him with slightly wide eyes, and god, she was too young. They all were, of course, but El had had even less chance to just be.

“You, young lady, are probably the coolest of us all, y’know?” He added. “I cannot begin to imagine just going on as normal after all I heard you went through.” El narrowed her eyes, staring at him with an expression he didn’t know what to make of. He ignored it. “Makes you pretty cool.”

El kept staring at him until she sighed, looking away. Eddie waited, knowing that whatever she had to say would come out when she was ready. She looked at him again, a confused little frown on her face that Eddie poked without much thought.

It made her laugh as she smacked his hand away, so that was a win.

“There was this girl,” El started slowly and softly, looking back at the doorway to make sure there was no one else listening. “She seemed nice, but… she wasn’t. She said and did things.”

“Ah, some of the worst, I see.”

She nodded and started messing with the tip of her towel again.

“How do you…” She trailed off, looking a little hesitant. But she took a deep breath, and asked, “How do you just ignore what they say?”

Well. Eddie pursed his lips, looking away. “Wayne helped a lot, actually.” He shrugged as best as he could while resting his head on his arms. “There’s nothing wrong with being different, right? He’d say, ‘wrong are the people who have a problem with you’.” He hadn’t really said it like that when he first did, but it was what stuck to Eddie all the same.

“There’s always gonna be something that people won’t like about you, something they’re gonna complain about.” He straightened and nudged El with his shoulder. “Personally, I think you have a lot to be proud of, not everyone can say they are a superhero.”

El nodded slowly, but her smile was growing little by little. “I can’t actually say that either.”

Eddie turned to her slowly, trying to maintain the unamused expression. Thankfully, she broke first and dissolved into giggles.

“This is what I get for trying to be sincere,” he complained halfheartedly.

She leaned against his side, resting there for a moment. “Thanks, Eddie.”

——

“Shit!”

“Well,” Eddie started, trying not to laugh at Dustin's indignant expression over his awful roll. The boy was always particularly fun to torment in D&D. “That’s another one down, I guess.”

They were close to the end of this one-shot, one final puzzle away from reaching the ceremonial sword they needed to deliver to the elven kings to end their feud on who should rule the kingdom, but since they got to this maze, it had been one failed roll after the other; the attacks, the wisdom checks he had not explained the purpose of at all.

Or, he hadn’t explained to any of his players. El was also trying her best not to start laughing next to him, though her smile was far too amused. Eddie had also told her not to mess with the dice, and she hadn’t as far as he could tell, so this was all their damn bad luck.

Dustin sat down with a huff, which meant that Arnie was the last one standing for the end of this adventure.

Will, who had taken being the first to fall gracefully enough, Jeff, Mike, Lucas, Gareth, and now Dustin.

This was not supposed to be that hard, but he supposed it was quite a difference from his usual plans; no one had realized the secret to getting the sword yet, and he wasn't sure anyone would.

What a shame.

“So, Thokas,” Eddie called to Arnie. The dwarven bard was the last one standing, and whether he would make the right call or not remained to be seen. “What are you going to do? There are five doors in front of you.”

Arnie was frowning, looking at his character sheet tensely, doing his best to ignore the divided clamoring of their friends.

With a deep breath, he announced, “I’m going through the fourth door.”

Hm. Solid thinking, no one had tried that one yet.

“You know the drill,” Eddie replied, gesturing to the dice in the middle of the table.

Arnie’s roll was better than most previous rolls, but El’s grimace as she looked between the dice and Eddie’s notes caused him, and everyone around him, to groan.

“Are you kidding me?!”

Eddie shrugged, keeping his face neutral. They really seemed out of luck, but he was hoping someone would finally get it!

“This is ridiculous!” Mike groused. He kept on complaining about the door room while Eddie rolled for damage.

Well, at least it wasn't over just yet.

“Fuck it,” Arnie shouted, folding his arms over the table. “I’m putting my dagger away, I’m not fighting anymore.”

Jesus H. Christ, finally.

Eddie heard El let out a relieved sigh next to him. Granted, Thokas only had 3 hit points left; the way things were going, he wouldn’t have been able to do much even if he’d still been willing to fight.

Everyone else, though, was complaining loudly. Even Will, but he was glancing at him and his sister with suspicion.

“The moment the dagger is back its sheath,” Eddie started, slowly standing up. El stepped away, closer to Will. “You see the room around you shift as if it were all made of smoke.” He waved his arm over the table. “The only doorway left is wide open, and you can see your goal on the other side.”

Thokas did get the sword, finding all his allies alive and well when he stepped back out of the vault room. Most of his players seemed a little lost on just what happened, though, but no one said anything until the actual end of the session.

“Dude,” Mike groaned after putting his notes away. “Why was this entire thing non-combat? You never run a non-combat game!”

“This clearly wasn’t non-combat,” Gareth interjected with a smirk, always willing to antagonize Mike for some reason. “But you have a point,” he added, turning to Eddie with narrowed eyes. “You have not done anything like this in years.”

Eddie shrugged with forced nonchalance without getting up from his chair. “Gotta spice things up, y’know? Besides, illusions are fun.” Gareth’s eyes narrowed further. “If any of you have actual complaints,” he added, voice slightly raised to be heard over the pockets of conversation that had formed around the table, “Take it to the lady over there. It was her idea, not mine.”

El smiled brightly at the hush of conversation when everyone turned to her. Will was glancing between the two of them as if he’d suddenly made sense of something — probably why she was asking about D&D at home.

“Should we be worried you two are hanging out?” Will asked after a moment, trying to sound exasperated but, in reality, sounding far too amused.

“Absolutely,” they both replied in unison and without looking at each other.

——

There were only so many people they could fit inside their new, government-issued house, and Eddie kind of needed a break. Well, there weren’t that many people, it wasn’t a capital-P party.

It was just his 20th birthday.

Eddie was trying not to feel bad for sneaking out of his own birthday party. There was even a cake that he suspected came from Claudia. Or maybe Joyce. Hell, maybe they worked together, he wouldn’t know.

Either way, he needed a break, so he’d snuck out to the front porch, pack of cigarettes and lighter in hands.

He was almost done with the second stick when he heard the front door open.

“Had a feeling you’d be out here,” Hopper declared after he sat down on the steps. Eddie turned to him with a raised brow but still held out the pack in offering. Hopper shook his head. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, frowning a little. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

The expression Hopper turned on him was… unimpressed, he supposed. But it was a valid question.

“Wayne mentioned that Al called.”

Eddie groaned, loudly, as he dropped his head onto his knees and the cigarette into the ashtray between him and Hopper.

The sole reason this party was happening in November was his dad’s admittedly empty promise to visit in the week of his birthday. Eddie wasn’t sure why he bothered not making plans. Some distant hope, he supposed.

The party was only happening at all because Wayne insisted that the company would lift his spirits a little.

“He’s been in and out of my life since I was eight,” he started, his voice probably muffled to Hopper. “And after everything, I’m not sure I even want him around.”

“But he said he’d be here.” Eddie heard Hopper sigh. “Almost dying tends to make people want to give out second chances.” Eddie snorted, raising his head and turning to Hopper with a disbelieving expression. “New chances, fine.”

Eddie nodded slowly.

When Al had called, Eddie had expected some excuse, another scheme, something. Anything but the check-in full of concern he’d gotten. He wanted to be upset it had taken him half a year, but the government people kept a tight leash on what information ever made it out of Hawkins, let alone reached wherever the hell Al Munson was this time; he wouldn’t really have known to call — or where to call, he supposed — for a while.

But given how everything went down in ‘84, Eddie should have known he wouldn’t keep his word.

“Since we’re on the topic,” Eddie started with a grimace. Hopper turned to him with a raised brow, expression pretty much unreadable. “I, uh… wanted to say thanks? For, you know,” he gestured to his surroundings and paused. “Everything.”

Hopper hummed, turning back to stare out at their driveway and the handful of cars parked there.

“Clearing your name is the least they could do, Munson,” Hopper said. “And so is getting you and your uncle a new place. No one ends up tangled in this shit willingly.”

“Most people don’t even know this shit is there to get tangled in,” Eddie immediately said. He shook his head soon after. “It’s just… You know,” he shrugged, “Thanks for doing it twice.”

Objectively, Eddie knew Hopper hadn’t been a very active part of the process, busy trying to come back from the legally dead and making sure El was safe to exist in Hawkins. But still, it was kind of nice to have one more person try to keep his already abysmal reputation from sinking further.

“I still stand by what I said.” Hopper briefly glanced at him. “You’re not your father, Munson.”

Eddie opened his mouth to interrupt, but Hopper continued before he could figure out what to say.

“Running after seeing—” your very nice classmate die— “what you saw this year is perfectly reasonable, if you ask me, but you still decided to help.”

“That wasn't entirely selfless…”

“Sure,” Hopper shrugged. “You still stuck around. After.” Hopper gestured back to the house and turned an assessing glance at him. “Which is good, because I have no idea how you and Harrington keep taking in these kids. They are all far too loud.”

That startled a laugh out of Eddie, which, given the seemingly satisfied smirk on Hopper’s face, had been his intention with the topic change.

“Guess it’s all the trauma bonding,” Eddie said.

“Nah, it's more than that.” He shook his head. He was frowning a little in thought. “I think other than Sinclair, none of them had much in the way of decent male figures in their lives.”

“Will has Jonathan,” Eddie corrected before frowning. “Wait, are you saying I'm a ‘decent male figure’?”

“Yep,” Hopper said, eyebrow raising in an unspoken challenge. “And I know Will has Jonathan, but Joyce says he hasn't been this excited about that game you all play since the summer of last year.”

Eddie nodded. Will had mentioned that he hadn't played any D&D at all since he moved last year. He didn't even take his books, everything going to Erica instead.

He supposed that, sometimes, it helped to have a new group to play with.

“And it also helps he’s moving on from Mike Wheeler.”

Eddie almost choked on his laughter. “Not you too!” He groaned. “Mike’s not that bad!”

“Whatever,” Hopper said, shaking his head. “The point is that those kids are better off for having you around and having a place to be.”

Hopper said it matter-of-factly, not realizing — or ignoring — that his words kind of… brought Eddie up short.

(Eddie knew what he wanted the Hellfire Club to be, what he did by playing it all up. Hearing it acknowledged by anyone else, let alone by Hopper, was just a little surprising.)

“Now, I’m pretty sure you’re to blame for the weekly fight over the stereo,” he said with a raised brow, but the stern expression didn’t hold for long, giving place to a fond smile. “But El’s looking lighter lately, less worried about everything.”

The sound of the front door opening drew their attention from the conversation, saving Eddie from having to figure out a response, and they could see El’s expression brighten once she spotted them.

“Found them!” She shouted back into the house. “Time for cake,” she announced before turning to walk back inside, leaving the door open for them. A lot of voices drifted out.

“See what I mean?” Hopper asked, hooking a thumb in his daughter's direction. “Loud, all of them.”

“She's the quietest,” Eddie argued because it was true, at least in comparison. Her and Will, the two of them tended to let things… happen around them, for the most part, not really intervening until they were asked or had to. Though Will had his moments of being right in the middle of the chaos, especially during D&D.

“She also has psychic powers.”

Fair enough.

Eddie stood up, dusting imaginary dust off of his knees. Hopper did the same, though not without groaning. He would have poked fun, but it didn’t feel right to.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Eddie.”

“You too, Hop.”

(They didn’t really talk for the rest of the night, but Eddie did learn, due to a slip up from Dustin, that El had defended him, loud and clear, in the middle of the school cafeteria. No one really explained what happened, but Eddie did notice how some people stared at them. Weeks ago.

El, local superhero, standing up for his honor? Unexpected. And maybe a tally under the Not Quiet column.

Hopper and Joyce only smiled in his direction, Hopper decidedly more smug than anything. They surely knew.

“You two ready to go?” Wayne asked, poking his head inside the kitchen. Wayne had joined his Ma on full moon runs years ago, before Eddie even knew they were all werewolves.

To his nine-year-old self, that had been the coolest revelation. His parents had spent the last year teaching him everything he needed to know for his first shift. But neither of his parents warned him it would itch so much!

Wayne laughed when he told him that, ruffling his hair. “It does suck,” he agreed. “I think I was itchy that whole week, when I first shifted. Very restless, too”

Eddie looked up at his uncle, horrified. He thought that if he’d had to deal with this for anything more than a day, he would have gone insane.

His Ma laughed softly, shaking her head at the two of them. “You’ll get used to it in no time, Eddie,” she reassured. “Shouldn’t be itchin’ much after tonight.”

He looked at Wayne, who nodded seriously.

They were out of the door after his mom grabbed the bag of extra clothes. His dad was in the car, looking at them with a smile. He always looked a little happier during the full moon.

“I’ll see y’all in the park,” Wayne told them as he walked to his own truck.

There was no one out on the street, but Eddie still looked around carefully; he understood pretty quickly the importance of being careful after many horror stories, real and fairy tales alike.

Once he figured it was safe, Eddie ran to the car and clambered into the backseat, making his dad laugh as he stumbled slightly.

“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted, turning on his seat to face Eddie. “Feeling itchy yet?”

“So much!” he groaned, dramatically falling sideways until he was lying down. His mom entered the car at that moment. “Can’t wait to shift!”

She laughed lightly. Eddie knew she worried about how he’d fare when the full moon actually came, but he maintained that it was one of the coolest things about them all.

——

Well. Eddie knew it wasn’t gonna be painless. Everyone told him that the first shift is hard. But he was already exhausted, and he’d just shifted. He still had a run to get through!

He felt a nose poking his back, heard a nearby huff of amusement, but he didn’t move, not yet. He was left alone for another few minutes as the aches in his body subsided.

Now that he was getting used to the new shape, it wasn’t so bad. He flexed a hand — paw? — and knew it wouldn’t go unnoticed. He flexed the other paw, slowly working on getting all his limbs under him so he could stand up.

It was a little weird, this difference in… everything. In a move that felt very natural, Eddie shook his entire body as he stood, feeling a little more settled.

He blinked his eyes open slowly, adjusting to his surroundings. The full moon illuminated the woods well, but there was a sharpness to everything around him that he knew for a fact he didn’t have as a human.

It was kind of cool.

The first wolf he saw was a black one, lying down a few feet away from him in the middle of bright snow. He recognized his dad almost immediately. Once Eddie managed to focus on his face, his brown eyes looked proud, and he tapped one paw on the ground, calling him over.

Eddie moved on unsteady legs, slowly trying to gain confidence. His dad nosed at him once he got close enough — checking in — and grumbled something that Eddie registered as a question.

He tilted his head, unsure how to respond. They hadn’t actually talked about what would come after the shift yet. He had time to figure it out, though; as soon as he figured out how to move around on snow without stumbling.

——

The full moons that followed were easier. He still ached and felt sore all over, but it wasn't as disorienting anymore.

The four of them had just returned from a run. Wayne had already shifted back and left to get the car, probably for Eddie’s benefit; he’d run a lot, feeling free in a way he hadn’t expected. They are in the same park, the same four wolves spending even more time together.

(Pack runs had always been his favorite way to spend the full moons, even when the pack was reduced to two people. It took a good few years for it to properly grow once more, but it was a happy, united one. Eddie couldn’t complain.)

Despite the freedom, though, tonight he was exhausted. There was something about spring that seemed to have energized him in the beginning of the evening, but whatever it was, it was long gone.

He grumbled something meaningless, moving closer to his mom. She was still in wolf form, her dark brown coat almost disappearing into the night.

Using her side as a pillow wasn’t exactly soft, but it was warm and brought him comfort anyway — it was his mom, there was no comfort like his mom’s.

She nipped at his neck, causing him to shift around trying to escape her. He leaped away from her, growling tiredly, and earning a huff for his troubles.

His mom grumbled in response, glancing at his dad a few steps away from them. Nap with him, then. His dad — pretty much invisible at the moment if he hadn’t known he was there — was always the first to fall asleep after runs, and Eddie was always the one to wake him up when Wayne arrived with the car. But he didn’t want his dad right now, and he wasn’t above whining about it, not here.

She huffed, amused, but let him rest next to her all the same, in one of the best naps he’d ever had.

——

Eddie knew a few things about being a werewolf so far.

Eddie knew he had the size of a normal, near-adult wolf; knew that the actual adults, especially his mom, were much bigger than him.

He knew that being able to run with his parents and his uncle was the best part of it all.

It hadn’t taken him long, two or three moons, to get the hang of moving and communicating as a wolf; a lot of it came naturally.

What wasn’t coming as naturally was the control needed. It had been months since he first shifted, and, so far, he’d only been able to do it during the full moon.

And he understood it was early, it hadn’t anywhere near a year, but… he wanted the practice.

So, here he was, in the middle of the woods with his uncle.

Which, in retrospect, might not have been the best idea.

“Sorry, kid, I don’t know how else to explain it.”

He groaned, flopping backwards onto the ground. “This is hard,” he drawled.

At least it was summer, so if anyone showed up, the fact that Eddie was wearing nothing but shorts wouldn’t raise too many questions.

“I think you’re stressin’ about it,” Wayne declared a moment later. “It takes time, Eddie, you gotta let your body get used to it all.”

“I know,” he mumbled, staring at the sky. The late afternoon always had the prettiest colors during the summer. “It’ll come naturally when the time is right,” he quoted, with an honest attempt at imitating his father. It got a snort of laughter out of Wayne, at least. “I just…”

He trailed off. Wayne let the silence be only for a beat before he made a questioning noise. Eddie sighed.

“I don’t know,” he grumbled and closed his eyes with a sigh. “You guys are like, cool.” He raised a hand as if to wave his comment away. “The coolest people I know!” Eddie sat up once more and shrugged, not raising his eyes to meet Wayne’s. “I just… wanna be like you guys.”

He did look up when Wayne approached him, kneeling in front of him and ruffling his hair gently. Eddie grumbled halfhearted complaints about the curls becoming messy.

“Don’t think that’s possible, Eddie,” Wayne replied just as gently. “You’re probably the best part of us all, combined. Your own cool person.”

“Yeah?” Eddie straightened, trying not to smile too wide; given the way Wayne smiled in return, he probably failed.

“Definitely,” he reached out and patted his head. “Now come on.” Wayne stood up and helped Eddie up. “Let’s get some lemonade, yeah?”

——

It wasn’t even a full moon. It wasn’t even night, yet. Eddie had just wanted to help his aunt Mara gather some plants and flowers before fall truly set in, before their runs were closer to home because they couldn’t really justify not being bothered by the cold.

It was supposed to be the first step of his favorite part of the year.

But he’d heard the heavy steps, the distant growl. He saw his mom tense, noticed the scent that didn’t belong in early fall. He froze, clutching the jasmines in his hands and breathing deeply like his dad had taught him to.

Eddie heard the soft whimper, and looked up at his Ma. Whatever she saw in his face was enough to get her moving, taking his hand and walking briskly to a denser part of the woods.

They walked until they reached an old den made by the wolves in the territory, now abandoned.

“Shift,” his mom whispered, “and get in there.”

He would’ve complained about his clothes, but there was a stranger in the territory, and aunt Mara might have been hurt; he knew not to question his mom.

He wished he could celebrate, though; this was the fastest he’d been able to shift outside of a full moon so far, but other than a faint smile from his mom, there was no acknowledgment. There was no time for one.

She walked further into the woods, leaving Eddie to burrow into the den. But he couldn't stay, refused to.

Until he hit his growth spurt, he would look like a normal wolf, which there were plenty of in the surrounding area of his mom's pack; he could sneak back into the house and get help.

He crawled out of the den, listening for any approaching sounds, but everything was distant. Even the birds seemed to have momentarily stopped singing.

And so, he ran.

A pained howl echoed throughout the woods, closer than he’d expected — halfway to the house. He turned, seeing a flash of brown-black fur to his left, just in time to see his mom hunch over and almost fall into a growing pool of blood.

She was hurt. The whimper that escaped him was drowned out by her warning howl.

It was cut short by the sound of a gun.

Eddie was running back to the house before the hunter could overcome his surprise at his presence.

A full week after finding her body in the trailer, he got a call from the hospital, saying that Eddie had been admitted during the night. He spent the rest of that day as well as the night there. The next morning, the press announced his kid's innocence — to some people's surprise, apparently, if the nonsensical noise he heard from the TV was anything to go by.

They went on about a man called Peter Ballard, obsessed with the Creel murders and determined to recreate them. He chose their targets, stalked them, and killed them a few days later. Chrissy Cunningham happened to be most vulnerable when she decided to reconnect with an old middle school acquaintance.

Wayne didn't pay much attention to the TV after that. He made the calls he had to in order to stay with Eddie in the hospital, but he'd still have to work some nights. Not many, but some.

He met the people who claimed to have helped Eddie, and despite the insane story they all told him, he found he believed them. Hopper coming back from the dead — or wherever he was taken to, he supposed — and confirming it all helped. A little.

The Henderson kid was there as often as he could, often doing his homework next to Eddie's bed and talking about it as if Eddie would reply to him at any moment, tired of all the science talk. Wayne worried about the kid, but he didn't know what to tell him, especially not when the first thing he did was hand over Eddie's necklace.

Dustin was there. With him, the Wheeler girl had said. Wayne couldn't imagine what that must have been like.

Eddie had been admitted ten days ago. This was the third night Wayne had to go to work since then. He'd been doing his best to ignore the guilty looks as much as the disbelieving ones, and so far, no one had tried talking about it all in his vicinity. Now, he knew people were talking elsewhere, but as long as he didn't hear it, it should be fine.

Wayne shouldn't be here. He knew that, his coworkers knew that, his boss knew that, but apparently he didn't have a choice.

The call came close to 4 am, about two hours before the end of his shift. One of the supervisors, a man he could never remember the name of given how rarely he saw him, called out for him, saying there was someone on the phone.

"It's from Hawkins General," he clarified softly once Wayne was close enough. "Didn't say much, but I assume it's about your nephew."

Wayne was quick to thank him and walk into the office. He picked up the phone with a deep breath.

"Hello? This is Wayne Munson."

"Mr. Munson," a woman answered, sounding too chirpy for the hour. "It's Linda." Right, Eddie's nurse every other night. She was one of the nicest ones he'd met so far, always a kind word and gentle touches where his nephew was concerned. "You might want to get here soon, Eddie just woke up."

She had promised to call him if anything happened, personally. Wayne's heart was racing, at first for the fact she was calling at all, but then for the fact that Eddie had woken up. She spoke some more, though he wasn't sure he absorbed much of it.

He hung up with a promise to be there as soon as possible. He spoke briefly to his supervisor before the man was waving him off.

"Just go, I got this."

He never drove so quickly in his life.

Linda was waiting for him at the front desk, her smile widening when she saw the state he arrived in.

"I told you he was tired, Mr. Munson," she said, turning to walk further into the hospital without preambles. "You could have taken your time driving."

Wayne shook his head even though she couldn't see it. "You said he asked for me? No way in hell I'm keepin' him waiting."

Linda didn't try making small talk after that, leading the way to Eddie's room. Not that Wayne needed directions after spending most of the last ten days here, but the sentiment was nice.

She opened the door gently, letting Wayne step in first. Eddie seemed to be asleep, but it was clear he had woken up at some point; the thin blanket covered only half of his uninjured leg, the other slightly elevated with a pillow. It looked like Eddie had tried to move around. His left arm was in a sling, probably to keep him from stretching the wound on his chest and shoulder.

"Let me know if you need anything," Linda said from the door.

Wayne nodded absently as she closed the door. He moved the chair closer to Eddie's bed, the scraping noise enough to make his nephew's face scrunch up.

"Hey, kid." He kept his voice soft, not wanting to disturb Eddie if he wasn't awake but letting him know he was there just in case.

"Wayne?"

God, the kid's voice was rough. He gently patted Eddie's forearm, avoiding the bandages, and kept his hand there.

Eddie's eyes fluttered open, face creasing in drowsiness and confusion. "You…?"

"I'm here, Eddie," he reassured. He was probably smiling a little too wide for what Eddie was used to, but he didn't really care. Wayne helped him drink some water from a cup left on his bedside before asking, "How are you feeling?"

Eddie moved to shrug a little, but grimaced in pain. "Achy," he said, with a scrunched up expression that told the discomfort was a little deeper than that. "What happened?"

Wayne shook his head. There wasn't much point in talking about it when Eddie looked on the verge of sleep once more. If Eddie had actually forgotten the circumstances of his injuries, he guessed having the rest of his little monster slaying group around would help more than Wayne talking about it could.

"We'll talk when I'm sure you won't forget it."

Eddie hummed, nodding slowly. "Stayin'?" He asked, slipping into an accent that didn't come out often. His eyes slipped close, head slightly turned to him. "Missed you."

"I missed you too, kid." He squeezed the arm he was still holding. "I'm not goin' anywhere, go back to sleep."

Wayne made himself as comfortable in the hospital chair as he could, not once letting go of his nephew. The kid seemed relaxed, though that might be the work of the painkillers; Wayne had been told the state Eddie arrived in, and he guessed the painkillers would be needed for a while.

Minutes passed in silence, as Wayne watched Eddie breathe. It had become routine, making sure his nephew was still there. It was because of that routine that Wayne saw his face contorting into a frown right before he groaned.

"Eddie?" He asked, leaning closer to him. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Thinkin'," he mumbled, slurring with sleep. "Not goin' to the concert next week, huh?"

"That's, uh, that's tomorrow, actually." Eddie let out a questioning noise that sounded awfully confused. "It's…" He trailed off, glancing backwards at the clock on the wall. "It's almost 5 am on April 7th, kid."

Eddie was staring at him, confusion clear in his eyes despite the low light. He looked away after a moment, turning his gaze forward.

"Oh," he whispered. He took a deep breath — as deep as he could, all things considered. "Okay."

Wayne couldn't help but raise a brow at his non-reaction. Eddie had been excited for this concert for weeks, going on rants about the concert whenever he lay eyes on the tickets that Wayne was safekeeping. Metallica and Ozzy. Eddie had learned a song or another from one of them, Wayne couldn't tell which one. He'd spent so much time practicing it…

"Don't look at me like that," Eddie mumbled, frowning. "Can't do shit about it now." He pulled his arm free of Wayne's hold and slowly rubbed his eyes. "Should've just—"

"Not been attacked?"

Eddie froze. So he did remember. He slowly turned to look at Wayne, who wanted to grimace as the movement seemed to stretch the bandage on Eddie's neck. His eyes were wide, looking afraid in a way Wayne hadn't seen since Lauren brought him over at 7 years old.

"I—I didn't…" His breathing picked up, and his hand pressed against the bandage on his chest. "I didn't do it." He shook his head, grimacing. "I wouldn't—"

I wouldn't hurt them.

Eddie couldn't finish his sentence, but the desperation in his eyes made it clear what he wanted to say. Wayne knew he didn't do it, that he would never hurt anyone. He knew who the actual murderer was.

"Eddie, son," he grabbed his hand, one of the few areas free of bandages. "I know, okay?" Eddie's gaze was fleeting between his eyes, looking for a catch he wouldn't find. "I need you to breathe, Eddie, as deep as you can."

It took a couple of minutes and many repeated words before Eddie was breathing easily once more. He was frowning, clenching his hand around Wayne's fingers.

"There you are," Wayne said softly. "Your new gaggle of friends made sure I knew what was going on."

Eddie's expression didn't change, but he nodded. "You… You believe 'em?"

"Got no reason not to." He shrugged. "Hopper coming back from wherever he was sure helped."

Eddie opened his mouth to question it, most likely, but all that came out was a tired sigh. "Sure, whatever."

Chuckling, Wayne patted Eddie's head, making a bigger mess of the kid's hair. He was sure that Eddie would demand a wash soon.

"Get some rest, son, I'll be here."

Eddie hummed and, surprisingly obedient, closed his eyes. He moved a little to adjust himself on the bed and was out almost as soon as he got comfortable.

“You ready, kid?” Wayne asked, appearing at the door of his room in the pack house. His uncle had a saddened expression, his mouth pulling into a frown as he stood there, patiently waiting for Eddie to take one last look around.

It felt like his entire life had been packed away and put into the back of a moving truck, no trace of him remaining to ever tell anyone that a ten year old boy had lived here. The walls were bare and repainted, back to the white they had been when Eddie was first allowed to decorate his own room.

Eddie shrugged in response to his uncle's question; he wasn't ready, they were going to be in a car for hours, moving two states over, because his dad had sent them away.

Al Munson had explained it many times at this point, but all Eddie got from it was that he'd lost his mom and his dad was leaving.

At least, he was pretty sure Wayne had tried convincing his dad not to go anywhere.

“Come on, then,” Wayne urged him, not unkindly; the room probably looked depressing for everyone that was still around. With a warm hand on his shoulder and the other ruffling his hair, he led Eddie back to the room they were going to share on this last night before they left Tennessee altogether. “We gotta wake early tomorrow.”

—

Hawkins was… weird. There was something about the town that unsettled Wayne as well, so his uncle got in touch with a couple of local witches, to try and figure out what was so different about the town they moved into.

One of them lived in the trailer park, in the trailer closest to the woods; they were pretty much next door. Granny Ecker insisted on feeding them both, but at least Eddie made his first friend in town, Granny’s granddaughter Ronnie.

(Eddie didn't get to meet the Buckleys for a few years, but Wayne had said they were the ones to go to if he ever needed anything for silver wounds, so Eddie had made sure to know where he could find Melissa Buckley.)

—

Hawkins had a considerable amount of nature surrounding its borders, and Eddie assumed that had been why Wayne chose this tiny little town as their destination.

No one else from the pack had followed, though, so the runs he sometimes spent among cousins, and uncles, and aunts, and even his grandparents? It would become a run of two. Not a pack, not even close, but it was enough to settle the part of the young wolf that demanded family.

Wayne wasn't unaffected either. Wolves and werewolves, they were all social creatures. They lived with families, by blood and by choice, they led loud and happy lives, provided they could stick to their own and let their wolves loose for a bit.

But they'd lost that when the Beaumont-Flynn pack disbanded and everyone scattered. Eddie sometimes wondered what happened to the big house they all lived in on the edge of the Appalachian mountains, but most of the time, he tried not to think about everything they left behind.

Sometimes, trying to ignore it all worked. Other times, not so much. People would ask him about his parents, and Eddie would freeze, leaving Wayne to answer their questions and deal with the resulting awkwardness. It was a small town, though, and it didn't take long until no one else needed to ask them about Lauren and Alan Munson.

—

Eddie knew this would have counted as abnormal behavior for him. He didn’t really sulk or stomp around, no matter what his uncle said, but it was like every little thing was pressing in all around him. Too loud, too bright, with scents too strong. His skin felt too tight on his body, but somehow he felt stretched thin at the same time.

He was overwhelmed.

Eddie hadn't noticed September passing by, hadn't felt the need to shift, not with all he and Wayne'd had to do before they could move. But, well, he was feeling it now, after school on October 26. The day of the full moon, and three days before his birthday. The Harvest Moon passed by unnoticed, and his body was letting him know just how much skipping a full moon sucked.

And with that itch had come the realization that a month had already passed since their old house was attacked mid September.

He spotted Wayne's truck on the school parking lot almost as soon as he walked out, waving at Ronnie as she moved to the bike rack; she'd have gotten a ride with him and Wayne, but she had some club or another before going home.

"You okay, kid?" Wayne asked, frowning at the way Eddie was frowning at everything. "Something happen today?"

Eddie shook his head. "Jus' loud," he mumbled, throwing his head back against the cushion and closing his eyes. "Full moon."

Wayne hummed. He probably felt just as shitty as Eddie did, but he'd managed to call off work today, getting everything sorted for tonight. Eddie distantly wondered what went into "getting everything sorted out", since he usually just had to show up. Food, maybe, but Wayne had never been much of a cook, so he probably got their blankets out. Or whatever they managed to bring from the old house.

He ended up dozing on their way back to the trailer, and Wayne gently shook him by the shoulder to rouse him. The routine of it all helped a little; get home, have a snack, change out of school clothes, homework — or the portion of it the two could figure out and was more urgent tonight — help his uncle set up their bags for being outside until late at night.

But the electric whirring was still buzzing in the back of his head, seeming louder now that night was falling, and even Wayne's breathing was getting on his nerves today. Eddie hated it.

"At least you ain't a vampire," Wayne joked. "They get to hear people's heartbeats all the time."

That, Eddie thought, would drive him crazy really fast.

—

The run had been a short one. They didn't know Hawkins enough to really let go yet, to really run all they could, so they kept to the area they were sure surrounded the trailer park. Branching out and adventuring could come later, once the town didn't feel so unsettling and different to them.

On their way to the trailer, Eddie looked back into those woods, cataloging the ways it differed from the one back home; the plains in place of the old mountains, the animals... Hawkins wasn't that much smaller than his old town, but being the new kid sucked anyway.

It wasn't home. Not yet, and Eddie wasn't sure it would ever feel like home, but it was where he would be for the foreseeable future. He had Wayne, and he loved his uncle, but the joy of running with a full pack was incomparable, and two wolves didn't make a pack. But that was where they were, and they could only have each other, and the only thing Eddie could do was map these woods to the best of his ability. He could learn trails, how to keep away from people.

So he turned back around, ignoring his uncle’s calls as he circled the trailer park and its section of woods once more. It would take a long time to actually memorize how far the woods stretched, where the woods thinned to make way to roads and to the houses in the fancier part of town.

On the other hand, he knew he could learn scents, wouldn't have trouble memorizing those, or the shape of the trees they would run among for most of the time. He would be able to tell when something was wrong this time.

Eddie didn't know how long he took on this second lap of their corner of the woods, but Wayne was waiting for him just where they had separated. His uncle stood out against the trees, his coat of fur a lot lighter than his dad's — a mix of gray and white, aged when compared to his dad only beginning to gray last month.

Wayne made a questioning noise, poking at Eddie with his nose to ensure he was okay, unhurt, only stopping with the whine Eddie let out at his fussing. His uncle watched him carefully for a moment, time Eddie spent with his eyes closed, breathing fast because of more than just another lap of a run.

Eddie felt himself being lifted off of the ground and hugged. Wayne was warm, shielding him against the cold breeze as he ran a hand up and down his fur to try and calm his breathing down, but there was more in Eddie's mind than his breathing.

Wayne started walking, though Eddie wasn't sure where to. His uncle didn't demand Eddie shift back to human nor did he shift back himself, so he was comfortable simply resting against him and trying to mimic his much calmer breathing.

His uncle's meaningless grumbles, low in his throat, were the same Wayne would hum and sing while human; soothing. It was familiar. And Eddie thought they needed familiar right now, in some small town two states over from home.

He wanted to go back but he knew he couldn't. Even if they were to return, who would be there?

The whine escaped unbidden from Eddie's throat, one he knew he'd used to call for this mom however many moons ago it was that he'd fallen down a ravine.

He hadn't been hurt then, not really; scrapes healed overnight, for the most part.

But it did hurt now, with yet another realization that she was gone, dead, that his dad hadn't come with them, that he and his uncle were two strangers in a small town that seemed closely knit in everything.

Eddie only realized he'd been put down on the ground when Wayne, back on all fours, circled him before lying down, effectively blocking him in and forcing him to lie on top of his body.

It was like a drop of tar on top of a mound of snow, the way Eddie's own fur contrasted against Wayne's.

Time passed, uncounted, before Eddie eventually shifted back and started crying. For his mom, his dad. For Uncle Wayne. For changes he didn't know how to handle. For knowing that, most likely, he wouldn't see anyone from home in a long time, if ever again; when werewolves scattered, they spread far.

But Wayne was wrapping himself around him, keeping him warn. They had each other.

He'd always known there was something different in him, in certain ways. It wasn't anything that bothered him, so he never really talked about it. Not for a long time.

Not until his classmates started talking about girls and crushes, and he was left staring at them like they'd lost their minds. Was he the only one who thought there were more interesting things to do than sucking face?

The thing was, though, Eddie Munson wasn't against being with someone. But with a relationship, came certain expectations he knew he couldn't meet. Didn't want to meet. So it was easier to just... not be in one.

(He didn't necessarily have a preference as to who his potential partner could be, either, and when Wayne had given an accepting and very inclusive Talk, he'd decided that men also had a ridiculous amount of expectations, and that was also easier to just ignore.)

So, for the most part, he played dumb; he warded off advances after a show, directing them to a member of Corroded Coffin that was currently single—usually most of them—or telling them he was taken, or that he was just leaving, or any other excuse that seemed most believable at the time.

For the most part, it worked. He never gave the real number for the trailer to anyone that wasn't a friend, and he always ignored the ones he was given despite trying to send these people away.

It was nice and easy. He could show his friends the affection he had to give instead.

His flamboyant personality helped keep the people of Hawkins away, and he had other things to focus on as well.