Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You promised,” Nancy’s glare shot through the phone and into your skull. If your older sister was good at anything, it was getting her way. Usually with you or Holly. Mike always managed to slip through her fingers. You really needed to get him to teach you how to do that.

“I’m not backing out on that promise!” You said, flipping through a patient’s chart. Oh, he needed a CT scan before you could ask your attending on releasing him. You placed that file to the side.

“Are you even listening to me?” Nancy demanded, a loud sound of the timer going off behind her. “You said you’d be here by six!”

“I will be!”

“The hospital is a thirty-minute drive.”

“So?”

“It’s five forty-five,” she said, dryly.

You shot up, looking at the clock and wincing. “I meant six thirty.”

“Please don’t show up in scrubs.”

“I won’t! Jesus Nance, have some faith in your sister, please. You’re turning into mom.”

Nancy’s sigh was audible through the phone. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, I’m just worried. You can’t keep going this way, you’re going to burn out. Undergrad, med school, your residency – it’s been nonstop for almost nine years. You need to do something other than your career, that’s what your twenties are for!”

“Hey, I took you on vacation!” You exclaimed, remembering the beach in Mexico fondly.

Nancy’s voice was like a cold bucket of water. “That was three years ago.”

Rolling your eyes, you hauled your charts back to the nursing station and dumped them into the correct bin. “I promise you Nance, I’ll be there. I will wear that dress you bought me, I’ll be nice, socialize, be a regular human being.”

“You better be!”

“Alright, alright, I love you,” you huffed, rolling your eyes again. If you strained them, you were billing her for the invoice.

“I love you too. Hurry up!”

Hanging up, you walked towards the bathroom and smiled when you saw Barb at the sinks washing her hands. “Hey you,” Barb said, glancing at her watch. “You’re still here?”

“It’s only been a few hours,” you said defensively.

“Try twenty,” she shook her head. “You did you long night two days ago – you’re not scheduled on for this long until next week.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, fixing your hair and making sure you didn’t have anything stuck in your teeth. “Besides, I’m on my way out.”

“Good. You need food and sleep, doctor’s orders.” She winked.

“Ha ha! You’re so funny Holland!”

Barb glanced at your fretting and smiled. “Nancy finally get you to go on that blind date?”

“Yes,” you groaned, “I fought her off for years and now she’s back at it again with a vengeance.”

“She only wants what’s best for you,” Barb said, laughing. “She’s always been like a dog with a toy when she wants something.”

“It’s because our parents moved to a different town after the earthquakes. She’s worried that I’ll feel alone,” you huffed.

“It’s a valid concern,” Barb said, shooting you a look, “although, with our schedules who has time for anything? Charlie and I have rescheduled our date for three weeks now.”

Barb had recently moved out of your building and into a new condo with her long-time boyfriend. You were almost positive he was trying to propose but if you barely left the hospital, Barb practically lived here. She was a senior resident, vying for a permanent position that had recently opened up.

“See, and you’re pointing the finger at me,” you said, applying some lipstick. Barb laughed and nudged you.

“We’ve known each other for too long for me not to,” she said, handing you some blush.

Before long you were finally making your way towards the elevators. “Wheeler? I need another set of eyes on this,” a notoriously cranky senior resident called out. You hesitated, flickering towards the opening doors and sighing when the resident snapped their eyes to you.

“Sorry, were you busy? Should I find another willing intern?” He goaded.

“No, sir. What did you want me to look at?” You said, sighing internally as you followed him towards the nursing station.

An hour later, you were half running towards your car and all but flinging yourself in. Checking the time, you winced when you saw 8:00PM flickering back at you.

“She’s going to kill me,” you sang softly to yourself as you backed out the spot and drove a little faster than needed towards the highway. “But she has to love me anyway!” You tried to console yourself.

You’d managed to catch an issue in the scan that the senior resident hadn’t – in front of the attending, who had congratulated you on your foresight. Not wanting to pat yourself on the back in front of the scowling resident, you let yourself celebrate a little now. Turning the radio onto your favorite station you bopped your head along, wiggling in your seat a little, and grinned. Tonight, was going to go well, you could feel it.

Just as you came to a stop, you checked both ways before letting your foot off the break. A flash of lights - a screeching sound that reverberated in your bones - and the world went dark.

Eddie looked up at the building with skeptical eyes. The façade was crumbling brick with a peeling brown painted trim. The front door, next to a bar, was an ugly yellow color. Or, it’d once been yellow and had now faded to a pale oxidated orange. Following his friend, he walked into the makeshift, narrow lobby and fought the urge to scrunch his nose. The inside was even uglier than the outside, if that was possible.

“Are you sure about this place?” Eddie asked Robin, his brows raising at the dated interior. The bar directly under all the units might also have been the reason for his question. While Eddie had absolutely no room to judge questionable bars – the Blue Ocean Bar looked…bad.

“Yes, and considering that you didn’t like any of the other nicer places in your budget, you should really try and tone down that judgmental tone Munson,” Robin said, shooting him a look over her shoulder. “Besides, don’t judge a book by its cover. You should know that more than anyone.”

Clasping his chest, as if she’d shot him in the heart, Eddie gasped. “Alright, there’s no need to be rude,” Eddie said, laughing when Robin rolled her eyes at him.

He groaned, climbing up the fourth floor walk up that Robin had managed to help him find at the last minute. He’d been looking for a new place for almost two months now, with nothing but a brand-new appreciation for real estate brokers to show for it. Robin was the only one who’d managed to not sucker punch him after so many apartments. Although being one of her best friends might have something to do with her sympathy for him.

“How’d you even find this place?” Eddie asked, catching his breath at the top of the stairs. Man, he needed to cut down on the cigarettes. “You said it was a sublet right? Someone can’t own a unit in this building, right? No one’s that demented.”

“Again with the judgmental tone!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Eddie wheezed as Robin pushed the key into the door.

“It was listed almost two months ago, fully furnished, but with a month-to-month lease. It’s not ideal but we’re both desperate right? Holy shit, look at the kitchen in this thing,” Robin whistled. “I’m not sure who’s listing it since the leasee is working through a private broker. She was very tight lipped about it. There are a few conditions with the apartment but Jesus, look at that view.”

Robin was right, Eddie mused. The apartment was small, a one-bedroom, but it was beautifully designed. The kitchen and living room were open concept, everything looked modern but homey. It looked…lived in. Like someone’s entire life was in this apartment but they hadn’t bothered to come back and retrieve any of their things.

It was clear that photographs were removed from the walls, and other personal items, but it did have pretty much everything he was looking for. The windows were big and spanned across the entire west wall, letting the setting sun warm the entire space. The apartment fit him.

Goddamn it. He hated it when Robin was right. She’d be smug for weeks.

“Alright,” Eddie said, not wanting to prolong the torture, “you were right. It’s pretty good.”

“And you haven’t even seen the best part,” Robin said, smirking. She motioned for him to follow her and walked back out into the hallway. There she procured another key to a door directly to the left of the apartment. “It’s only accessible to the unit on the last floor, private entrance. The handyman told me that the previous tenant mostly climbed up through the fire escape in the bedroom but knowing you – you’d fall out.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Eddie said dryly, climbing after Robin up the steep stairs. Eddie popped his head out and realized they were on the roof. There was rooftop deck. Jesus, she’d really never let him live this down.

“Shed has some of the previous tenant’s stuff, a few musical instruments apparently. We’re to leave it alone if you’re interested in the storage. I took a look and it’s just an acoustic guitar and some gardening tools,” Robin explained. Eddie’s interested peaked at the guitar but his attention was pulled onto the sectional in the middle of the roof. It had a tarp over it, clearly in a lazy effort to conserve the sofa’s integrity, but….

“How the fuck do you get a sectional that big up here? That staircase is too narrow.”

Robin shrugged. “Don’t question it, it’s comfortable.”

“Yeah, fine, fuck it, I’ll take it.”

Pumping her fist, Robin stuck out her tongue and mimicked his earlier statement. “Are you sure Robin? It looks old Robin,” she said in a high-pitched poor imitation. “That’ll teach you to doubt the Buckley intuition.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Eddie said, sighing.

Walking back down into the apartment, Eddie took a quick glance at the bedroom and bathroom down the hall. “So, like I said – the tenant had a two-year lease and was only halfway through. The owner of the building and the previous tenant’s family wants to keep the apartment as is. You’ve got to keep the furniture in the same condition and the major point made by the agent was that the books need to be left alone,” Robin said pointing to the bookshelves that framed the television. “They’re important to the people leasing this out so, you keep your paws off them. Don’t eat near them, don’t drink near them, shit don’t even think about them. Alright?”

“Yes mom,” Eddie huffed. “What’s with all the ladybugs?”

The question was out before Eddie could stop it but, he was curious. The apartment was sprinkled with random ladybug trinkets. Most of them were cluttered by the shelves but he had to ask.

Robin glanced at the shelves. Two ladybug paperweights winked at them as a sunbeam hit them, a crystal shaped ladybug sat at the top of the left shelf while the other had a ladybug clock above it and a pretty large stuffed animal.

“I don’t know, they remind me of an old friend though,” she said, smiling a little sadly. “Alright. Let’s call them and see when you can move in, yeah?”

And it was really that easy. Eddie had met the owner, Chief Hopper of all people, and his wife and kids. Joyce, Jane, Will, and Jonathan. Eddie faintly recognized Jane and knew Will was one of Dustin’s friends. They didn’t live on site – rather in a house in the woods on the other side of town – but, Eddie was confused as to why Hopper would own a building in downtown of all places.

“It was my dad’s,” he had huffed at Eddie, scowl on his face. “Haven’t been able to sell it yet. Keep the apartment clean, don’t go breaking shit, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie promised.

“If you need anything, don’t call me, call Saul.”

So, with that warm and generous welcome, here he was. Fully moved in three days later sitting on the couch with the coffee table cluttered in beers and the ashtray overflowing. Shit, he’d have to dump that soon.

“Fuck it,” he said, pushing the tape into the VHR. He sat back down with a grunt and felt the familiar sucker punch when he heard her laugh.

“Corroded Coffin, first real gig!” She giggled, her blonde hair swaying. “I’m so proud of you babe!”

Eddie’s wide grin filled the camera, his lips coming down to hers in a loud smack. The guys behind the camera groaned and wolf whistled until they separated. “Alright guys! Let’s do this!”

The camera was shaky but it zoomed into the well-lit stage with a moderate crowd and everyone grabbed their instruments. Chrissy cheered, her hair falling into the lens, creating a curtain of blonde strands. He watched himself, eyes happy as he glanced at her, announce into the mic: “This one’s for Chrissy!”

“Fuck this,” he groaned, heaving himself up to his feet and going to grab a joint to go with his beer. He was still too sober to get through the entire video. Eddie held his freshly rolled joint and padded his way back to the living room, feeling his heart drop into his feet when he saw you standing by the couch, looking confused.

Whirling around at the sound of him, your eyes widened. “Who the fuck are you?” You screeched, voice bouncing off the walls.

“Me? Who the hell are you? This is my apartment!” Eddie said, fumbling with the beer in his hand.

“I don’t know how you got in here,” you said, voice steady and no nonsense, “but you need to get the hell out or I’m calling someone.”

“Oh yeah, what are you going to tell them? You’re in my home!”

At that, your calm stance cracked and your eye twitched. “For fuck’s sake I live here!” You ran for the phone at the same time he did and Eddie watched you completely disappear before you touched.

Eddie froze. His eyes darted around the room, as if you’d pop up from behind something, and frowned down at the joint clutched in his hand. Slowly putting it down onto the dining table, he stepped back. Maybe…that was enough for one night. Clearly, grief and booze were clouding his mind.

They’d been clouding his mind for years now, that’s why he liked them, his mind supplied.

Yeah, but he’d never fucking hallucinated. Holy shit, he was finally going crazy. He was cracking under the pressure.

Either way, that was enough for one night.

By the next morning, Eddie had managed to convince himself that he’d been seeing things. It was new to him but definitely not uncommon. His counselor had told him that – grief did strange things to people. Maybe he needed to slow down on the beer and smoking.

Eddie had just managed to convince himself of the fact when one morning, he was woken up by ABBA screeching from the stereo. He jolted up, stumbling blindly into the living room and almost tripping over his pile of discarded clothes.

“Fuck,” he groaned, drowsily slapping a hand against the volume and half-landing on the couch. “What the fuck?”

A loud chuckle echoed faintly behind him and Eddie’s hair stood on end. Whirling around, he saw nothing.

It was fine. This was a fluke. Shit like this happened all the time, right? He wasn’t going crazy. He wasn’t.

At the end of the week, Eddie finally cracked and called Steve. In a span of six days, Eddie had managed to find his cigarettes snapped in two – no matter how many he bought – the stereo waking him up with increasingly bad bands, and most worrisome, it felt like someone was watching him.

He’d entertained the idea of having lost his mind, descending fully into paranoia, and if anyone was up for the task – it’d be Steve.

“What the hell is this bar choice man?” Steve asked quietly, making a face as he sipped his drink. “The beer on tap is shit.”

“His new place is upstairs,” Robin reminded Steve, taking a big gulp from her fruity drink before offering it to Steve who didn’t hesitate in swapping. “How’s that going for you?”

“Well,” Eddie started, eyes glancing around the deserted seating area. How the hell was this place still in business? He never saw more than a handful of people. Shit, the bartender had told him to call for her if he wanted any more drinks before disappearing.

“I’m seeing someone,” Eddie admitted, fingers picking at the beer’s label.

Robin and Steve exchanged excited glances. “That’s great!”

“What?” He blinked at his friends, confused.

“The last time I tried to set you up you bailed, you made me look like an asshole,” Steve said, shooting Robin a look. “The fact that you initiated this? That’s amazing dude, you’re getting out your comfort zone!”

“Who is she? Do we know her? Is she from school?” Robin asked, her expression so eager that Eddie had to take a moment and appreciate his friends.

“I’m seeing someone who isn’t there,” Eddie clarified.

Steve frowned. “Someone who’s emotionally unavailable? I mean, so are you – why are you judging her for it?” Robin elbowed Steve at Eddie’s look and understand dawned on him. “Oh, you mean a hallucination?”

“Twice, in my new place,” Eddie mentioned, pointing upwards. “A woman.”

“Was she hot at least? Ouch, Jesus Robin, it’s a fair question.”

“I think I’m stuck more on the fact that he’s now hallucinating Harrington,” Robin hissed.

Steve’s expression morphed into something more serious, his brows furrowing like they usually did when they were psychoanalyzing him. His hand reached for a napkin and he grabbed a pen from his pocket. “Alright, were you on something when you saw her?” Steve asked in his therapist voice. Eddie had always thought that the jump from babysitter to psychologist wasn’t much. Steve was always a natural at being a good listener.

“I was a little drunk, I’d been watching the last performance Ch-” Eddie’s voice caught on her name. “I’d had a few beers. I was going to light up when she appeared. Why are you writing this down?”

“It’s a shrink thing,” Robin sighed, reaching across the empty bar and pouring three shots, “he can’t help it.”

“I gotta stop drinking,” Eddie muttered, dropping the beer in his hand, the label in tatters.

Steve straightened. “No! God, don’t. I mean, keep it in moderation obviously – when it becomes a problem, I’m here for you. I can give you a good discount-”

“-when?” Robin snickered at Eddie’s narrowed look.

“Until then, drink, smoke, whatever! Just do it with people. Socialize. Look around, this is the first time you’re at a bar in how long? Rejoin the world Munson, it’s been two years. It’s time,” Steve said, eyes going soft in a way that Eddie hated. He hated the sympathy. It’s all he got from people for the past few years.

“Hey, we’re not pitying you,” Robin said, proving his guess that she was a mind reader. “We’re just saying that we’re your friends dude. We’re available, come out with us every once in a while.”

Eddie sighed. “I’d really rather listen to ABBA on repeat than go out and socialize.”

“Dude,” Steve said, with his therapist ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look. It usually worked on Eddie. “Come on.”

“It’s – I’m not ready.”

“You’ll never be ready, you just gotta throw yourself back out there,” Robin said.

Eddie rolled his eyes and focused back onto his drink. “It’s a scary world out there Buckley, it’ll chew me up and spit me back out.”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, then you get back up and try again.”

“Isn’t that the beauty of it all?” Robin asked.

Eddie sighed. He hated when they ganged up on him.

Eddie wasn’t willing to admit and say that getting out of the apartment had helped this little ‘losing his mind’ moment of his but he’d managed to have another week go by with no incidents. Maybe Steve was right? Eddie snorted. Words he’d never utter aloud in his lifetime.

Coming back to his apartment after a long day of unpacking and packing up equipment for a local band, Eddie had only one destination in mind. Locking the door behind him clumsily, he stumbled over to his bed and flopped down. God, this stupid bed was comfortable.

Groaning when his knees cracked, Eddie pulled the pillow under his head tightly and started drifting to sleep. While he didn’t want to admit it, Eddie did miss the pull of performing. He’d been with his band for almost a decade before he suddenly dropped out. Jeff and Gareth were always calling him, letting him know he had a spot ready for whenever he wanted to come back. But…Eddie wasn’t ready. The story of his life. Never ready. So, he’d settled for being a crew member, helping wherever he could locally.

It was good work, he liked the band he was working with now, but his joints were always sore for the two days after a tour date scramble. Glancing at the time, Eddie promised himself that he’d get up and order some pizza in an hour – after this nap.

Finally, some peace.

“Oh my God are you still here?” You screeched, shattering his illusion of tranquility.

Eddie jolted up, a familiar situation nowadays, and saw you standing in the doorway. You were illuminated by the light in the hallway and stood with your arms crossed – like an angry toddler. Eddie fought the delirious, exhausted urge to laugh.

Apparently, he didn’t try hard enough because your expression went from mildly annoyed to livid.

“How the hell do you keep getting in here?” You asked, hands moving to your hips. Tapping your shoe against the floor, Eddie sighed.

“You are a hallucination. You are not real.” Eddie said, flopping back onto the bed and pulling the pillow over his head. “Go away!”

“Oh,” your voice came out softer this time, as if you’d discovered something fascinating. “I see what’s happening here.”

“Please, enlighten me, figment of my imagination,” Eddie huffed.

“Has your recent alcohol consumption increased?”

What? That was not what he was expecting.

“Yeah. So?” Eddie asked, sitting up against the headboard, wanting to keep distance between you two. Hallucination or not, he didn’t want to touch you.

“Are you seeing things that aren’t really there? Auditory hallucinations are most common. Hearing anything?” You asked, stepping closer to him.

Eddie snorted. “I’m looking and hearing one right now.” You barely batted an eye, a sympathetic expression coming over you.

“Have you recently sought mental health support? From a professional?”

“How the fuck did you know that, wait a second, stay away from me,” Eddie said, a touch louder than he meant to as you took another step. Eddie felt like a cornered animal in a cage with some kid’s meaty paw swiping at him.

“Right, okay, a little defensive.”

“You’d be too if you were me, okay?!” He exclaimed, hand going to his hair.

“I was afraid of this. Okay, listen to me, you’ve somehow convinced yourself that you live in an apartment that in fact belongs to someone else. This is my apartment. I’ve been leasing it for almost a year.” At Eddie’s silence and confused stare, you continued. “I’ll prove it. These bedsheets? They have a hole in the top right – right there.”

Eddie’s fingers traced the small coin sized tear he hadn’t noticed. “I tore them like two seconds into getting them, I was so mad. There’s a cracked tile in the shower, right? I broke it recently, I slipped and slammed into the wall. That’s why one of the shower curtain rings is broken. How would I know that if this wasn’t my apartment?”

Holy shit, how would you know that? Eddie felt his grip on his sanity loosen. Maybe he needed to call Steve again.

“These are my bedsheets, that’s my nightstand, those are my photos- wait, where are my polaroids?” You froze, hand midair while Eddie was contemplating his existence in the universe.

“What polaroids?”

“My entire wall above that desk, I had taped polaroids to them!” You placed your hands back on your hips and Eddie frowned.

“When I got here there were no polaroids, I swear.” Great, now he was trying to placate the woman who’s apartment he stole – or the hallucination. Oh my God, maybe he really was mentally ill.

“Did you take them? Who does that?” You snapped, stomping over to the phone on the wall. “That’s enough! I’m calling the police!”

Eddie shot up, worried for his sanity either way. “Wait please!” Eddie’s voice trailed off as he watched your hand disappear through the phone.

Holy shit.

“What’d you do to my phone?” She hissed. Her hands unable to grab the phone, disappearing angrily as she swiped for it. For the first time, Eddie saw fear bleed into her eyes. “Stay right there, I’m using the one in the kitchen.”

Your footsteps lightened until you’d disappeared completely.

Eddie slumped, rubbing a hand down his face. Had he almost been convinced by his hallucination that he was delusional? Had he almost believed you?

This was getting fucking ridiculous. If he didn’t do something, he was going to end up in a nuthouse. He wasn’t going to let the community of Hawkin’s get that satisfaction.

This ended now.

And that was how Eddie found himself at the occult bookstore downtown. He’d passed by it so many times coming and going from school years ago but he’d never really given it a second glance. People in this town already thought he was devil worshipper.

Which, from his point of view, wouldn’t be the worst thing. He eyed the crystals lining all the bookshelves and front desk warily. Maybe they wouldn’t be so bad at this point.

“Hey Robin?”

“What’s up Munson?” Robin asked, her voice booming through his phone.

“Do you remember anything that broker told you about the previous tenant?”

Robin hummed, the sound of a printer in the background echoing. “Not really, the agent told me that there had been a tragedy in the family. They didn’t seem to want to talk about it so I didn’t press. I didn’t even get the name of the tenant – the apartment is under Chief Hopper’s name. They’re family friends, I think. Why?”

“No reason.”

Eddie had woken up this morning from the worst sleep of his life, and contemplated his options. He was either hallucinating and needed to be institutionalized. Or this woman was really there and for some reason, only he could see her. A ghost.

The first option didn’t leave much to be desired so Eddie was steering into the latter. As dumb and ridiculous as it sounded. He had to admit, he’d come up with weirder twists during a campaign.

Eddie glanced at the spiritual section, the books blending together and giving him a headache. A familiar voice came from over his shoulder. “Can I help you with anything sir? Wait, Eddie?”

“Sinclair?” Eddie said, grinning despite his situation. “Dude, I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Holy shit, yeah,” Lucas said, surprising Eddie with a hug.

“How’s Dustin? I haven’t seen Henderson in almost a year either,” Eddie asked, his older memories shaking off their cobwebs.

“He’s good, everyone’s good,” Lucas said, a familiar look seeping into his eyes and Eddie groaned. He could recognize that look from a mile away. It’d been his whole life since the accident. “Hey man, I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“It’s-” the word fine died on his tongue and he watched Lucas smile genuinely at him. Maybe other people didn’t mean it but he knew Sinclair – he’d known him since he was a short little freshman. Lucas didn’t have a malicious bone in his body. “Thanks, man. How’s Mike? I haven’t seen him since I graduated.”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Lucas asked, sympathy morphing into sadness.

Eddie frowned. “What?”

“His-”

“Lucas!”

Max popped up, chewing gum. She pointed to the flickering lights by the UFO section. “They’re going haywire again, can you check downstairs? Oh, hey Munson,” she said, as if it hadn’t been a good six years since he’d last lived in the trailer across from hers. Her red hair was still neatly braided into pigtails, her expression characteristically serious.

“Hey Max,” Eddie said, smiling at her attitude. He had always liked her.

“It was good to see you man,” Lucas said, “we should get a beer or something.”

“Jesus, you’re old enough to drink? Get out of here man.” Eddie joked, shoving his shoulder. Lucas laughed, his head shaking as he walked over to inspect the light.

“Sorry, was he helping you with anything?” Max said, crossing her arms.

“Uh, do you believe in this stuff?” He asked, a little confused as to how someone like Max worked here.

Something flashed across Max’s face but it was gone before Eddie could pinpoint it. It looked almost, worried. “Yeah,” she glanced at the book he’d picked up. “Don’t take that one, it’s outdated.” She pointed to one in front of him and another a few shelves above.

“Thanks,” he said, pulling them from their spot.

“What kind of encounter had you had?”

“What?”

“People only come in here for a few reasons. Most common, a weird fetish. Second thing? Encounter,” Max said, sounding like the leading expert on the topic. She’d always had enough confidence in her that she could sell water to a fish.

At his stunned silence Max rolled her eyes. “Here, these should help if you’re trying to get rid of it,” she piled on a few books into his arms and Eddie frowned. He was glad she hadn’t assumed he had a fetish but – to just believe him? That he wasn’t going insane wasn’t the easiest and most logical answer?

His life was getting weirder by the moment.

Not wanting to waste any time, Eddie plowed through the books. Some seemed weirdly rational – if you had energy and spirit when you were alive, why would death take that from you? Others seemed downright idiotic. Apparently rubbing lemon onto your elbows and putting some skunk’s pee under his bed helped ward off evil.

Were you even evil? Eddie thought back. Annoying? Yes. Evil? No. The most you’d done is shed a few years off his life by blasting Dancing Queen at six in the morning. And snap his cigarettes – making him chain smoke his pack before he got into his apartment.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Eddie muttered to himself, feeling ridiculous. He waved the special candle he’d bought from the store a few doors down, and waved it in the air. “My intentions are pure, I mean no harm, I seek only to guide!”

He repeated the chant a few more times before sighing. This was bullshit. Before he could put the candle down, Eddie felt his hair stand on end. The air in the room shifted to something weirdly appealing and Eddie couldn’t help but feel like he was being laughed at.

“Are you there? I think you are,” he said, feeling stupid when there was no answer. Great. This is what his life was reduced to. Doing some weird demonic ritual thing and calling his hallucination ghost girl forward.

Alright, fuck this. He grabbed the first book he saw off the forbidden bookshelves, popping it open, he grabbed at the base of the page and held it up, like he had an audience.

“I’ve got one of the fancy books in my hands. It looks expensive and old. I’m going to oops – accidentally tear at the corner…”

“Don’t you dare!” You admonished, a wonderfully deep scowl in your face, and Eddie immediately dropped the book. “Oh my God! That’s a first edition, pick it up!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Eddie put it down back on the shelf gently. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” You asked, as if any part of this conversation was normal. Like you’d both always been roommates.

“Do you find it weird, about how you’ve been spending your days?”

“Yeah, it’s weird having some fucking stranger in my living room, squatting!”

“I’m not-” Eddie reigned in the fire that lit within him. This woman drove him up the wall. “Let’s start over – I’m Eddie Munson.”

“I’m…uh, I’m…” You frowned eyes glancing around the room. “I – don’t worry about it.”

Eddie fought a smile at the sight of your frustrated glare. “Fine, let’s settle on Lou.”

“Lou?”

“Short for hallucination,” he said, only mostly joking.

“I am not a hallucination.”

“Alright then, uh, what about Bug?” He said, gesturing to the thousands of random ladybug assorted items.

Weirdly, your face smoothed out at that. “Sure. If that gets us to the end of this conversation, sure.”

“When was the last time you remember speaking to anyone? That wasn’t me.”

“The other day!” You said, indignant.

“Okay, what do you do when you’re not here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” you responded with so much venom that Eddie really had to take a second not to smile.

“Has anything traumatic happened to you recently?”

“What?”

“Like, oh, maybe dying?”

“What.”

“I’m trying to help you face the fact that you’re dead,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder only for it to go directly through.

“Do not touch me!”

“I’m sorry! I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to help!”

Her face twisted into something resembling heartbreak and Eddie froze. “What would help me is if you’d get the hell out of my apartment!”

“Do you see a light? The books say to not be afraid of the light!” Eddie said, picking up the book he’d left opened. He’d read some passage about guiding troubled spirits to the light. The afterlife, the big paradise, whatever. He could be someone’s guidance counselor as long as you got the hell out of here.

“There’s no fucking light weirdo! I’m not dead!”

“Have you tried, Bug?”

Your face twisted into something endearingly stubborn. “On second thought I hate that nickname and for the fiftieth time, I’m not dead!” Eddie realized he’d backed you into the middle of the table, only your torso visible. You glanced down and gasped. “What is happening?”

“You’re dead! I just want to live in peace in my own home!” Eddie exclaimed, frustrated.

“This is not your home!” You screamed, hands planting themselves on his chest and subsequently disappearing when you toppled through him and out the window.

“Rest in peace!” Eddie huffed, feeling relieved. He turned and jumped when he saw you with your arms crossed.

“I’m not leaving.”

Jesus, why was it always him? Couldn’t he catch a break?

Chapter Text

Eddie didn’t know how much better off he had been when he’d questioned his reality. Because now? Now you were present in any goddamn room he was in. Before, you’d been a fleeting glimpse in his peripheral.

Your favorite thing had quickly become sitting on the coffee table in front of the television – while he was trying to watch something. Or swapping his cassettes for pop songs.

“For the love of sweet baby Jesus,” Eddie groaned, startling awake after Elton John echoed throughout the apartment. He turned and pulled a pillow over his head.

“Oh sorry, were you sleeping?” Your voice drifted in from the doorway. Eddie glared at you through the pillow and was rewarded with your cackling laughter.

After two entire days of this, he’d given up on ignoring you until you disappeared. Clearly, he’d underestimated you. Enough was enough. If he wanted you gone, he’d need to go to desperate measures.

“A priest?” You said, tone bored, as you sat cross legged on the seat by the windows.

“You won’t leave me alone!” He hissed, watching the portly priest wheeze from the five flights of stairs. The man smiled jollily, and started opening his bag.

“There’s nowhere to go!” You snapped back.

He placed a huge cross and a bottle of holy water onto the dining table and Eddie heard you scoff. Shit, he hoped this worked. If he woke up half-scared out his mind one more morning, he was going to lose it.

“The water is going to stain the wood,” you said.

Eddie glanced at the condensation and rolled his eyes. “You’ll be gone soon, don’t worry about earthly matters.”

“God, you’re infuriating.”

You both watched as the priest started praying, his rosemary beads and cross clutched tightly in one hand. With the other, he flicked water out into the room. Maybe this guy wasn’t the best idea, Eddie thought, watching him trip over the living room rug. Surely, he wasn’t going to throw water on his stereo? When the priest showed no sign of realigning himself, and you laughed as he managed to miss you completely, Eddie tried to offer up some help.

“A little to your left!” He said.

With renewed vigor, the man flung the cross out and you blinked at it. Your eyes turned to his and shot him another deadpan look. “Ah, it burns, ahhh,” you joked, pretending to melt.

Okay, clearly, not the best plan.

You were less annoyed with his second option. A woman who’d claimed to be a psychic showed up with a flourish. She was dressed eccentrically, her hair wilder than his.

“I like this one better,” you said, circling her. “She’s pretty.”

After watching her thoroughly sage the apartment with some truly awful smelling sticks, Eddie was ready to pull his hair out when you started humming Dancing Queen.

“Are you even trying?” He snapped at you. “Do you see the light?”

“You need to stop fucking saying that, there’s no light!” You said, exasperated.

The woman waved her hands in the air, her bracelets loud, and nodded. “I’ve spoken to him. He was confused…he’ll leave you alone now.”

“Him?” Eddie said, hope disappearing.

You snorted again; eyes bright. “What else did I say Obi-Wan?”

Eddie jerked his head towards you, surprised at the Star Wars reference but before he could comment on it, he ducked to avoid being smacked in the face with the sage.

Helena, the self-proclaimed witch, had offered him a few crystals – of which she assured him would keep the spirit from coming back.

“A hundred and twenty dollars for that rock? A steal,” you said, laughing. Watching her set them up by the windows. “You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen…” you hummed.

The sound grated on his soul and Eddie resisted the urge to chuck his new, overpriced, rock at you. “I hate you.”

At the end of his rope, Eddie made his way back to the store he’d seen Mayfield in. All but throwing the door open, Eddie stomped in and looked for Lucas.

“The books didn’t help I take it?” A voice by the register said. Eddie turned and saw Max sitting there, book balanced on her knees and her brows raised.

“No,” he grumbled, “she’s no longer hiding.”

“So, they did help.”

“She won’t leave me the hell alone,” Eddie groaned, exhausted from the lack of sleep and smacking his head down onto the counter. “Please, I need anything that’ll get her out.”

“Eddie? What’s wrong with him?” Lucas’ voice floated over from his right side.

“The spirit won’t leave him alone now,” Max said, tone uninterested.

Eddie lifted his head and saw Lucas’ pinched expression. “Max what if its…”

“It’s not.”

What if it’s what?

Lucas, however, didn’t look convinced. “Max has had a knack for this stuff – ever since her accident a few years ago. Why doesn’t she come by and take a look?”

Max huffed. “Offering up my services for me, Sinclair?” She turned back to Eddie; who must’ve looked as desperate as he felt because she sighed. “Alright. I’ll be over tonight.”

“You’re a goddamn angel,” Eddie said, because at this point he’d take anything. Anything. He just wanted to smoke his cigarettes in peace.

The front buzzer had decided to stop working that morning, Eddie was sure by your innocent grin that you’d had something to do with it, so when Lucas arrived that night – he had to climb down all the stairs.

“Hey, thanks for this guys,” Eddie said, feeling a tiny, tiny, flame of hope.

Lucas smiled from behind the wheel. “I’m just dropping Max off, I’ll be back in an hour,” he said, eyes pensive. Max hopped out the passenger seat, bag slung over her shoulder, and nodded to him. “Why does this place look familiar?”

Eddie glanced up at the façade of the building and shrugged. “Probably a few hundred others that look exactly a like?”

Snapping, Lucas pointed to the first floor. “Hopper owns this building, right? With Joyce?” He nodded, satisfied. “They’ve never lived here before so I’ve rarely seen it. I think I came once with Will. Alright, I’ll be back – gotta go pick up my sister.”

Max rounded the car and dipped her head into the driver’s seat. Eddie watched her mumble something and Lucas grinned. They kissed before she walked towards him. With a blank look, she motioned towards the front door. “Lead the way, Munson.”

Barely out of breath, Max walked into the apartment without hesitation and ignored Eddie’s gasps for air. Stumbling into the kitchen for some water for his dry mouth, he chugged it heartily.

“I have a friend who likes ladybugs,” Max said, staring up at the small figurine on the bookshelf.

“Bring her over, she’ll love this place,” he said, sitting onto the couch. He glanced around, looking for you.

“Where is she?” Max asked, eyes drifting a little over his shoulder. Eddie glanced to his left and jumped when he saw you standing with your arms crossed.

“Who’s next? The babysitter’s club?” You snorted at your own joke, pleased, and Eddie had to fight not to smile at your amusement.

“She’s angry…doesn’t seem to like you very much. She feels…familiar.” Max frowned and walked towards the kitchen, eyes wandering slowly. “I would leave if I were you.”

“I like her,” you said, looking at Eddie. “She’s got a gift.”

“No!” Eddie said, ignoring you. “She’s dead and I’m supposed to leave?”

“You really wouldn’t survive a horror movie, huh?” You snipped. “And I’m not dead!”

“She’s clinging to the fact that she’s not dead,” Eddie said, “but if it quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck…”

“I loathe you,” you hissed, face scrunched up and hands thrown into the air. “You’re not listening to me!”

Eddie shot you a look before turning back to Max. She had a brow raised and was glancing in the vicinity of which he’d been talking in. “I don’t know, it feels like – like, she might be right – she’s not dead. It’s weird, I’ve never felt something like this before. I don’t think I can be much help.”

You lit up at her words. “I told you, holy shit this girl is a genius. I knew I had a good feeling about her, I knew it.”

“Shut up!” Eddie snapped, pinching his brow. “Can’t you just tell her to leave? To go to the light?”

“There’s no light!” You snapped, plopping down onto the seat by the counter. “At this point, I’d throw myself into the ocean to get away from you!”

Max furrowed her brows and looked at him. Eddie shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. Her blue eyes didn’t stray from him. “You seem more dead than she is,” she said, eyes coming up to his. “You should let her go, she’s at peace.”

“Peace? She won’t leave me alone!” Eddie said, hand going out to her.

Max stood, grabbing her bag, and shook her head. “Not ghost girl, the other one. The one that keeps you from rejoining the living. Her memory is haunting you.”

The silence in the kitchen was pointed. Eddie felt his heart start to race and his hands got clammy. She couldn’t be…there’s no way she was talking about…

“Oh my God, is that why you’re such a prick? A girl dumped you?” You asked, head popping up from the kitchen island. A flash of anger shot through his chest.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eddie said, hands clenching. Chrissy’s face jumped into the forefront of his memories. Her blonde hair as she curled it in the mornings, the way she’d giggle at all of his jokes, the smell of her perfume…

“What, I can’t ask a question? You refuse to acknowledge that I’m alive and I ask about your little tantrum source and you snap?”

Eddie saw the doctor’s sympathetic face as she handed him her personal belongings in a bag. Like that’s all that was left of Chrissy. A bag with her wallet and jewelry. Her wedding rings.  

This was too much. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore! End of discussion.” Eddie hissed, whirling and turning towards the fire escape. His feet echoed as tried to catch his breath, your voices still audible.  

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Max said quietly as he ascended. “Just a heads up, you should show some respect for the dead, ghost girl.”

Eddie heard the soft click of the front door and gulped down some of the spring air as he stepped onto the roof.

It’d only been a minute before he heard a soft voice call out to him. He closed his eyes and for a brief second, trying to push back his memories into their box.

“Eddie, I’m sorry. That was a dick move – I obviously don’t know you all that well and I shouldn’t have pushed it.” Eddie opened his eyes to see you with your head ducked, expression flustered and apologetic. He hated the lack of fight in your voice – it sounded…wrong. When he didn’t answer, your nose scrunched in discomfort and you start talking nervously.

“I know this place is kind of shithole. Hopper got it from his dad and he hates it. The rent is cheap, the inside is decent, but the roof? Man, it’s all mine. Hopper has an entrance in the hallway only I have the key for. I think I used to come here when I was stressed. I know most of Hawkins likes the sound of nature and shit but, the whole nightlife – cars, people, the bar – it helps me feel less alone. You know?”

He tried not to smile. You rambled when you were nervous. “I do,” his voice came out shaky. Eddie cleared his throat. “I do know what you mean.”

You glanced up at him through your lashes and Eddie fought his smile. “Sometimes talking about it helps…”

“I’m not ready,” he said quickly, realizing it sounded like a lie.

“What was her name?” You asked, pushing, as always.

Biting back another smile, of course you wouldn’t listen. “Chrissy.”

“That’s a pretty name,” you said, tone sincere. He sighed, imagining what she would’ve had to say about this situation. She was always more open-minded than he was, she probably would’ve befriended you already.

“Yeah, it is,” he said, looking up at the stars. He’d been told a bunch of bullshit since her death but Robin had once said she believed she’d be reincarnated into a star when she died, so she could watch over her family. If Chrissy was up there, he hoped she wasn’t too disappointed in him. “She was my wife.”

“Your wife?” Your tone was surprised, like most people.

Eddie smiled this time. “Of almost five years.”

“Jesus, how old are you and what skincare do you use?”

Laughing, Eddie’s arm came across his stomach and he shook his head. “We got married right out of high school. Well, when she finally did. We didn’t want to wait – we’d been dating since we were in middle school. I took one look at her and knew she was it for me, you know?”

Sitting down next to him, you propped your chin on your hand and motioned for him to continue. He didn’t want to admit it but it felt nice. Talking about her to someone who didn’t know her – who hadn’t known him before and after her.

“I am – was – in a band. Corroded Coffin?” He offered up. They weren’t wildly famous but they’d had a few good songs on the radio recently. When you winced, he laughed. “Considering you don’t remember your own name I’m not going to take it personally.”

Memories pushed their way up towards the surface and Eddie, for once, didn’t flinch back. “We started taking gigs wherever anyone would let us play. A few scouts managed to like our music and we started to gain traction. We finally booked a real gig, right after graduation, opening for some mid-level band. It was our break, we knew it. Chrissy insisted on coming with me. She’d gotten into some fancy college and I tried to convince her not to put it off but once she had an idea in her head it was like prying nails out.”

You laughed, eyes bright, and expression revered in his recounting. Encouraged, he continued.

“She came with us for the first three years before finally deciding to start college, the way her parents wanted her to. I think she’d finally started to feel guilty, you know?” He rubbed a hand down his face. “I always knew she was the academic type, so I was happy for her. Plus, I thought it’d finally ger her parents to hate me a little less. Chrissy kept joking that she’d start her own band. She’d picked up some guitar over the years.”

“Guitar?” Eddie watched your face twist like it was trying to grasp at smoke. “I think…I wanted to learn to play guitar. Did I have a guitar?”

Eddie straightened, pulled out of his reverie. “I saw one in the shed! Is it yours?”

“Yes, the black one? I remember that, Eddie – I remember!” Eddie had to take a moment as you cheered over the small crumb you’d discovered. The smile you wore, the wide beaming ridiculous smile, was growing on him.

“Please tell me you play guitar and you’ll play something for me?”

“I do play guitar, more of a metalhead than acoustic calls for but – oh, wait, the shed was locked by Hopper. I don’t have the keys,” he sighed, wondering if Robin would be able to get that for him. He doubted it.

“Can’t you just pick it?” Eddie fought the urge to laugh.

“Bug, sorry to break it to you but I’m not as much of a delinquent as I seem.” You scrunched your nose at his retort and sighed.

“Great.”

“I owe you one.”

“Yeah, you do,” you said lightly and Eddie smiled at your haughty expression. “Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you the only one that can see me?” You asked, voice so incredibly sad.

His eyes darted over to yours, your shoulders dropping and arms tightening their hold around your torso. “I don’t know.”

“When I’m not with you…it feels like I don’t exist,” you turned to him, eyes wide with what looked like tears. “What if…what if I am dead?”

Hearing the defeat in your voice, despite him trying to convince you of that for the past few days, made his chest tighten. “Look, I’m sorry I kept saying that – maybe you’re not dead. You heard what Max said.”

“She called me ghost girl. Ghosts are usually dead,” you shrugged.

“Usually, but not always,” he said, thinking of his old dnd campaigns.

You shot him a searing look. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You don’t make any sense.”

“That’s – actually true,” you shrugged. “If I could just fucking remember something about who I was or my life or, if…there were people out there who loved me. Who miss me? I don’t know.”

“Of course, there were – are,” Eddie reassured you.

“I’ve been trying to remember, I swear, I just can’t do it on my own. I can’t pick anything up,” you groaned, dropping your head back.

“Well, milady. Now that we’ve declared a ceasefire,” Eddie said, standing and bowing with a flourish. If he couldn’t help himself, he’d at least try to help her. “I’m at your service.”

“Is this the best idea?” You asked again, peering into the second-floor landing. “We haven’t gotten anything good. Besides it’s the last one and it feels ominous.”

Eddie walked around you, ignoring your worried tone and waved you off. “Oh relax, what’s the worst that could happen? Besides, do you have any better ideas?” At your disgruntled silence, he shot you a look and knocked on the door.

This morning, Eddie had woken up with a plan. To find out what had happened to you, they needed to know who you were. The building was small, only five units apart from yours and one being Hopper’s, but if you’d lived here for a year one of the neighbors had to know you.

Unfortunately, the first two apartments they’d tried had only recently moved in, so they knew either nothing or very little about you. The third neighbor was a man who spoke no English but Eddie had managed to understand that he was trying to say a young woman lived there alone.

This was their last apartment.

The door swung open and a woman smiled at him. Her blonde hair was tied up into a high ponytail and she was dressed in athletic gear like she’d just finished working out.

“Ugh,” you grunted from behind him. Eddie tried to tune you out and introduced himself.

“Well how cute of you to introduce yourself,” she said, batting her eyelashes, “I’m Dana.”

“Nice to meet you,” Eddie said, shaking her hand. “I was actually wondering if you knew much about the tenant before me?”

Dana’s eyes lit up a little with recognition and she nodded. “There was someone up there, but she was super antisocial. I tried to invite her over to margaritas once and she totally stood me up. Made up some excuse about how she was called into work.”

Eddie’s eyes slid over to yours and he almost laughed at your disgruntled expression.

“She was kind of a homebody, you know? And not in the good way,” Dana said, leaning her shoulder onto the doorframe. “Kind of a loser?”

“Fuck her,” you snipped and Eddie cleared his throat. Clearly this was getting out of hand.

“Did you know where she worked?” Eddie asked, excited at the prospects of a lead and of getting away from her before you lunged for her neck.

“As if,” she snorted, “we never spoke again. I barely saw her after that anyway. She had horrible bags under her eyes. I would’ve been able to help her with that, you know? She also seemed a little desperate.”

“I do not have horrible bags under my eyes and at least I wear a shirt when people knock on my door,” you hissed and Eddie couldn’t help but drop his eyes to her top. “Who the hell answers the door in a sports bra?” You huffed, grumbling. Eddie bit back another smile at your annoyance when he realized Dana had kept talking to him.

“This is so cliché, but like, I got this window that I can’t get open. Do you mind trying for me?”

“Are you kidding me?” Your voice dripped with disdain.

“What?” Eddie asked.

“What?” Sarah parroted.

You turned to him, eyes flashing. “She’s hitting on you. That’s a line – oh, and I’m the desperate one?”

Hitting on him? As in flirting? Eddie’s eyes snapped back from you to Dana, who was talking about what she’d tried to get it open. “Uh, I mean, if you hit it with a screwdriver that should help-”

“I’ve tried that,” she said, tugging the end of her hair a little, eyes widening. “Still nothing, can you believe it?”

“R-really?” Eddie gulped, feeling anxiety course through him. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

Your head whirled around in his direction. “Did you just stutter?”

Eddie put every ounce of energy into ignoring you. “Sorry, I’ve got dinner plans. Some other time?”

With a wave and firm about-face, Eddie took the stairs up to his apartment two at a time.

“Some other time?” You mimicked, teasing him with a weird expression. “Cool, Munson, real cool.”

“Give me a break, I dated one girl throughout my entire life,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “We met when we were twelve, I don’t know when women are flirting with me! Chrissy asked me out first anyway.”

Lifting your hands in the air, you conceded suspiciously quickly. Launching into a tirade about how Dana was probably a bully in school, grumbling midway about the decency of being fully dressed, Eddie was too lost in his own mind to pay close attention. This had been the second time he’d mentioned Chrissy to you…and it didn’t feel like someone had sucker punched him in the gut.

“Hello? Are you listening?” You snapped in his face and Eddie, out of habit, tried to push your hands out of his face.

“I’m listening!” He lied, striding into the kitchen for a beer and a cigarette.

Dropping your head, you motioned to the carton of cigarettes. “Do you have to smoke inside? The smell is going to sink into my furniture!”

“Just this once, please, for the love of Christ let me smoke,” Eddie said, searching for a lighter.

You rolled your eyes but continued your rant, hands waving in the air as you spoke. “-what are you looking for, oh- it’s in that drawer,” you pointed to the one next to the sink and Eddie shot you a grateful look. He dug in hand in blindly, finding a small metal lighter instantly.

“Wait, what’s this?” His hands curled around a scrap of paper, a receipt, and a pen with a hospital name on it.

“You see, you weren’t listening!”

Eddie shot you a look and waved the items in his hand. “Hello? These are clues!”

At that, you snapped your mouth shut with an audible click and rushed forward to him. He spread them out onto the counter and observed them with you.

“That’s an address,” you said, pointing to the scrap of paper.

“Yeah, but is that a five or a six? Jeez, you have sloppy handwriting.”

“I do not! We don’t even know if that’s mine!”

“I think it’s a six,” Eddie said, squinting.

You shook your head. “Nope, definitely a five,” you said.

Eddie shrugged, “You would know your own chicken scratch handwriting.”

“It’s not chicken scratch!”

“Wait, is this a Family Video receipt? Maybe someone from there will recognize you!”

You brightened and Eddie almost stumbled at the force of your smile. “What time is it? Can we go today?”

“Yeah, fuck it, let’s go now,” Eddie said, picking up his wallet and keys from nearby. “These have to lead to something.”

“Does any of this look familiar?” Eddie asked you, his eyes darting across the small parking lot. Maybe someone in the store would recognize you. All you both needed was a name.

Looking a little disappointed, you shook your head. “No, it’s not ringing any bells.”

“Well, let’s go in first – maybe the inside will trigger something,” Eddie said, hopping out his car. You stepped out, your body walking through the car door like it wasn’t there. He shook his head, not sure he’d ever be used to that.

“Welcome to Family Video,” a bored voice announced.

Eddie watched you recoil a little at the sight of the man at the counter. “Do you recognize him?” Eddie whispered, staring at the guy himself. Why did he faintly recognize him also?

“No, but he smells horrible,” you whispered, as if not wanting to be impolite. Eddie had to bite back his smile – considering he was the only one who could hear you.

“Munson?” The guy asked, straightening. “Dude, I never thought you’d come back to this side of town again.”

Keith, his mind supplied. He still worked here? Eddie gaped internally.

“You know him?” You asked excitedly. “Or does he know you from your band?”

“Both,” Eddie said into his fist before turning towards him. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

Keith grinned; his smile uneven and making Eddie’s skin crawl. “Just got promoted to supervising manager, so it’s been a good month for me. What about you man? I heard you stopped touring after-”

“-yeah,” Eddie interrupted, voice a little high. “Yeah, I did. I’m on a hiatus for now.”

“Cool, cool.”

Eddie decided to go for broke. “Hey, actually, can I ask you for a favor?”

Keith’s smile disappeared and his eyes narrowed. “Depends.”

You rolled your eyes and plugged your nose. “I don’t like him,” you whispered again, your head disappearing behind Eddie, like you were hiding.

“I found this receipt and was wondering if you could tell me the name on the account?” Eddie showed Keith the receipt and he nodded.

Spinning in his chair towards the computer, Keith tapped a few times before humming and closing everything. “I know who this is,” he said, “she was friends with some old employees a long time ago when they were all in high school. I didn’t know her that well though, she always comes in when I’m not on shift.”

“Clearly there’s a reason,” you grumbled from behind Eddie.

“Really?” Eddie said, coughing to avoid his laughter.

“Yup,” Keith nodded, “she’s pretty hot too-”

“- damn right -” you huffed and Eddie snorted.

“-but she seemed antisocial.”

“Again!?” You squawked. “Enough with the criticism from everyone! Maybe I liked being alone for a reason! Just – find out my name so we can go.”

“What’s her name?”

Keith grinned and Eddie’s heart sunk into his stomach. “I can’t tell you, against company policy.”

“Dude, are you serious?” Eddie growled.

Straightening, Keith bobbed his head a little unsure and took a few steps back. You, however, stepped delicately around him and glanced at the computer. “What a shithead, he closed out of my account.”

“Keith, can you just do me a solid? I really need to know.”

“Why?” He asked, squinting his eyes. “How do I know you’re not a pervert?”

You snorted and Eddie’s eyes darted down to yours. “What? It obviously would take one to know one.”

Eddie rolled his eyes at you but Keith’s eyes narrowed. “Against company policy man, my hands are tied.”

“Yeah, alright, I get it,” Eddie said, raising his hands. He turned and walked back to his car, annoyed and already contemplating what he needed to learn to hold something over Keith.

“Hey, it’s alright,” you said, hopping into the passenger’s seat. “He wasn’t ever going to tell us anything. His ego was so big it barely fit in the store.”

“But he knows what we need,” Eddie growled, frustrated. “There has to be something he wants to give it up.”

You frowned, hand coming out as if to put it on his and you stopped halfway. “Sorry, I forget most of the time. Why don’t we go to the address and if we don’t find anything we’ll regroup and try Keith again?”

“Yeah, alright,” Eddie grumbled, already pulling out of the lot. “I actually don’t think the address is too far from here. It should be a few blocks up.”

“Do you have any women who owe you a favor?” You asked.

Eddie’s brow rose and you laughed.

“Keith looks like the type of person you could trick into giving you the info – you just don’t have the right hardware.”

“Ew,” Eddie wrinkled his nose, turning into a cul-de-sac. “But, true.”

“I’m just saying, you’d have to come up with some dumb story about why you want the information but, maybe it could work?”

“Maybe,” Eddie said, already wondering if Gareth’s girlfriend would do him the favor.

“Is that it?” You asked, straightening. “Seventeen fifty-five.”

Eddie looked towards where you pointed and parked by the curb. “Let’s hope this one is easier.”

You crossed your fingers, nose scrunched, and Eddie felt a rush of affection for you. Blinking, he shook his head like that would help erase that from his mind. What the hell?

Straightening his jacket, Eddie sighed. “Alright, here goes nothing.” He rang the doorbell twice and within a minute an older man was pulling the front door open.

“Hello?”

“Hi Sir, my name is Eddie Munson,” Eddie said, shaking the man’s outstretched hand. “This might sound odd, but I wanted to know if you’d recognize this?”

Showing the man the scrap of paper, the man frowned. “You’re at the right address but I don’t know what that’s for. I don’t recognize the handwriting. Doesn’t look like my wife’s.”

“Well, we think it’s in reference to a woman,” Eddie began to describe your physical appearance and spun the fake story you’d both come up with for why he was looking for you.

“Honey? Who’s at the door?” A woman’s voice called. The man’s face drained of color and he shook his head adamantly.

“Just some guy selling something, don’t worry!” He called out, shutting the door behind him. “Listen here, I don’t know what she wants or why she sent you but you tell that bitch that I paid her what she wanted.”

Eddie blinked and you seemed to choke on air. “What?”

Taking advantage of his stunned silence, the man leaned in. “I don’t know what she’s promised you but don’t fall for her tricks, okay? She told me she’d stay away from my family once I paid. She broke up with me! I want nothing to do with her again! Whatever she’s paying you, I’ll pay you double. Come by tonight, I’ll have the money for you.”

“Money?” Eddie sputtered. Before he could clarify, the man rushed back into the house and closed the door.

You both gaped at each other and Eddie broke into a smile first. He choked back his laughter at your outraged expression.

“Shut up, they don’t know me, he’s clearly confused!”

“Right,” Eddie said, smirking. He gestured towards the car and you gaped, stumbling towards it.

“I mean, he has to be confused, right?” You said, more to yourself than to Eddie.

Eddie shrugged. “I know how it sounded like…” He flinched reflexively when you hand came up to smack his shoulder. You both glanced at your hand when it went straight through him. He glanced up at you, to find you already smiling. Both of you broke out into laughter and Eddie shook his head. When the hell had this ease settled between you two?

Settling into the car, Eddie lowered his window for some air and watched as you sighed. “Was I a homewrecker? An antisocial, mean, homewrecker?”

“I mean, Keith did call you hot,” Eddie reminded you. Snorting, you shot him an unamused look and he chuckled. “Hey, a compliment is a compliment.”

Both of you sat with the new information of the day. “So, the pen?”

You rolled your eyes, dropping your head back. “I could’ve had that pen from being at the hospital – which they’ll never tell you if I was. We don’t even know if it was mine! What if someone I know left it there? What if I needed a pen at the bank and some woman just handed it to me and I forgot to give it back?”

“That seems like a stretch.”

Crossing your arms, you glanced out the window towards the opposite row of houses. “Homewrecker is not surprising but stealing a pen, too far?”

Eddie opened his mouth to retort when a nearby shout floated in.

“Besides! What if…” you continued to ramble over the noise but Eddie glanced over at the car parked into the driveway across from this one.

“Barbara! Do you need help with those?” The voice called out, pulling you both out of it. “Be careful!”

Eddie watched the redheaded woman balance an armful of groceries before a tall man rushed out to help her. You heaved another sigh and his stomach grumbled. Maybe they could regroup over lunch.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Chapter Text

“I don’t know why you’re asking me where to go eat, I can’t actually eat,” you said and Eddie smiled, realizing that at the same time as you had.

He shrugged, walking along the sidewalk next to you. “It’s a habit,” he said, “sorry.”

“That’s okay, it’s nice to have the only person who can see me act like I’m not just a ghost,” you joked.

Eddie frowned. “You’re not dead – hey, weren’t you the one who was trying to convince me of that? You’re going to wimp out now?”

You rolled your eyes, scrunching up your nose, and Eddie bit his cheek to stop the smile on his face from growing. That expression, including the look you cut him, was quickly becoming his favorite.

“Wait, Eddie,” your hand came up and he walked through it. Glancing over his shoulder at you, he watched you glance up at a fancy French bakery he’d walked past. “I recognize this place.”

His heart jumped into his throat. A new lead? “Did you eat here a lot? Or maybe know the owner?”

“No,” you said softly, eyes still stuck on the sign. Taking a few steps forward, Eddie opened the front door for you. You shot him another look he recognized, one that said – I’m incorporeal, remember? and Eddie just shrugged. He glanced around the room; it was a decent size and had a long line of people waiting to order. “I don’t think I’ve been in here before. I remember looking through the front window and wishing I had the time to come in.”

Eddie huffed at you, “What? Were you the president? Why wouldn’t you have ten minutes to come in and order something?”

“I just never got around to it!” You said, crossing your arms, but your glare lacked its usual heat. In fact, you looked a little forlorn.

“Let me buy something then, I can eat in my car so I don’t look like an insane person talking to myself in public,” he whispered.

You lit up, despite not eating anything yourself and pointed to a ladybug shaped cookie. “That looks good!”

“Of course, it does,” Eddie teased. He saw you try and hide your smile but you were too slow.

“It does!”

Before Eddie could suggest something not bug shaped, a clatter behind him startled you both.

A tall, blonde, man had his hands around his neck. His skin was turning red quickly, his eyes bulging, and a woman at the table next to him screamed. “I think he’s choking on something!”

The waiters clamored over, smacking him on the back. “I think I remember some of the Heimlich, it’s worth a shot,” one of the women on line said, jogging up to him. Eddie could tell from here that the woman was way too small to have any affect on the man’s plight.

“She’s doing it wrong,” you said quietly, voice almost lost to him in the panic.

He turned to you and saw your hands settled against your stomach – as if you knew. “What?”

You turned to him and pointed to your own ribcage. “She’s doing it wrong. Her hands are in the wrong spot – he’s too tall for her to do it correctly. She’s not pressing hard enough. You have to help!”

“Me?” Eddie hissed, lowering his voice when someone turned over to look at him incredulously. “I don’t know how to do the Heimlich!”

“Is anyone a doctor? Can anyone help?” One of the waiters screamed out.

Eddie started to sweat. “But I do, that man is going to die if someone doesn’t help him Munson – just go!” He let you usher him close.

“Tell them you’re certified and you need everyone to give you some space, hurry!”

The waiters helped create some space and Eddie watched the man’s skin turn a worrying purple-red color. “Bug,” he hissed.

Your eyes trailed around the man frantically. Eddie followed your instructions, wrapping your arms around his torso and adjusted as you stumbled over your words.

Ready to start pressing down, your next words stopped him. “You might feel the ribs crack or give a little – that’s fine, just keep pumping!”

“What?” Eddie said, a touch hysterical.

“What?” One of the waiters said, confused, eyes panicked.

Squeezing his eyes shut, willing himself not to puke, Eddie pressed down and felt something creak beneath his hands. Fuck, Jesus Christ. “Wait, wait,” you motioned, noticing the sound of his gasping. “He doesn’t have anything stuck, let me check his airway.” Eddie opened the man’s jaw and swiped his fingers through like you instructed.

“His entire mouth is too swollen?” Eddie said, confused. “I can’t see anything!”

Your eyes trailed around his arms and you motioned for him to pull up his shirt. At the sight of his skin, your eyes dropped to his wrists. “He’s not wearing a bracelet, but check his pants!”

“What?” Eddie shouted, scaring a few people nearby.

Waving an impatient hand, you pointed to a bulge in his left jeans pocket. “He’s not choking! He’s going into anaphylactic shock!”

“What?”

The waiter closest to him kneeled onto the floor next to Eddie. “What’s wrong? Why’d you stop? Oh my God look at his skin!”

“Tell them!” You urged.

Eddie couldn’t remember what you’d said. “He’s going into aniltopic shock!”

“Anaphylactic!”

“Anaphiltropic!”

You threw your hands up. “Oh my God. Forget it! He’s allergic to something he just ingested – look for an epi-pen!”

“A what?”

“Christ Eddie, an epi-pen!”

Eddie checked his pockets and pulled out a large yellow plastic tube. “Okay, good, that’s it. You can inject him through his pants – it’ll administer. Take off the cap, yes that’s good! Then you’re going to swing down with pressure. Really push it in! Press down and count out the seconds!”

With a deep breath, Eddie slammed the tube down onto the man’s outer thigh and counted with you. After a few seconds, the man on the floor gasped – his eyes flying open.

“Oh my God,” the waiter next to you both said, tears in his eyes, “you saved him!”

Eddie’s hands were shaking, he felt like he could crawl out his skin. A loud ambulance siren alerted him that help was nearby and he let himself slip out through the chaos.

You herded him to an alley around the corner and he slumped against the wall. “I just put a needle into someone’s body,” he said, looking at his trembling hands.

“I’m a doctor,” you said quietly, eyes in the direction of the bakery. “I think I’m a doctor.”

“Wait you know a little bit about allergic reactions and now you’re a doctor?” Eddie asked, his heart still galloping, “what if you have an allergy?”

“No,” you said, turning to Eddie. “I might’ve been a mean homewrecking antisocial bitch, but I was a doctor! I’ve helped save lives!”

Eddie took in your face for the millionth time and frowned. “Are you even old enough to be a doctor?”

“A second-year resident probably, an intern maybe,” you said, excitement clearly building. “Do you trust me?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m a doctor,” you said, the light in your eyes returning. His hands itched to grab yours but he nodded instead.

“Okay.”

You blinked, expression a little disbelieving. “Okay?”

“Yeah. I believe you.”

A soft smile overtook your face and Eddie felt his heart skip. Clearly, it was due to the adrenaline. Obviously. Definitely. “The hospital pen,” you said, surging forward – scaring the crap out of him. “We need to get there. I probably worked at that hospital!”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “I told you!”

“Yes, yes, you were right! Come on, we gotta pass by. Maybe I’ll remember something else!”

Eddie watched your face clear the moment you stepped into the hospital. “Eddie, I worked here,” you said, breathless. Your eyes darted across the entire reception area, wide and anxious.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Eddie couldn’t help but smile at your obvious elation. “That’s Amelia our receptionist – that’s Dr. Goodman. That nurse! She’s got triplets at home. It’s coming back to me now!”

“Holy shit, we did it,” he whispered, awed. You’d done it – you’d remembered.

“We did it!” You squealed, wiggling your arms into the air in excitement. “Come on, we need to ask Amelia – I think it’d be best if you asked to see a doctor maybe? Pretend like you don’t remember my name. It happens to patients all the time.”

The receptionist smiled warmly when he approached. “I just don’t remember her name.” He began to describe you and the color from her face drained. A heavy feeling immediately replaced the excitement from seconds ago and Eddie watched your brows furrow.

“Dr. Wheeler?” She asked, swallowing. “She – uh, she’s not active on our roster at the moment. Could I set you up with someone else?”

“Lie,” you said, eyes serious, “you need to tell her something so she won’t just push you off to another doctor.”

“Actually, we were friends from college. I dropped out of med school,” he lied quickly, “saw her here recently for some stitches and we promised to hang out after. Catch up, you know? But like an idiot, I lost her number and then I was away…I just wanted to see if I could drop by and apologize.”

Amelia’s face softened and Eddie watched her glance over her shoulder. “Um, let me just – get someone okay?”

“She’s using the tone.” Eddie turned to you and noticed you were nervous.

“What tone?” He asked

“The tone – the sympathetic tone. The one that’s subtly telling you that your friend is dead.”

Eddie frowned – was there a tone? He hadn’t noticed. Although, he didn’t notice most things like that. Definitely not in a hospital, something he was trying not to focus on too much. Before Eddie could really think it through, she’d returned. “Can you go to the third-floor reception? Someone will be able to help you there.”

“God, someone’s going to give you the I’m so sorry Mr. Munson but Dr. Wheeler is dead and you need a new primary health care physician,” you said, shoulder slumped in a dejected manner that made his chest tighten.

Eddie punched the third button and shook his finger at you. “Have you always been so negative?”

For the fifth time today, your head reached out – as if to shove his shoulder – but you froze halfway there. Eddie shot you a look and you sighed. “This is so frustrating,” you said walking out onto the floor. You straightened when you both saw the doctor standing there. “Oh no, that’s Barbara. She’s my mentor – she’s been trying to convince me to stick in cardiology.”

The doctor’s smile was soft, genuine, and a little tense. “Hi, I’m Dr. Barbara Holland. You’ve been inquiring about Dr. Wheeler?”

“Yes, that’s right, could you tell me what happened to her? I’ve been looking for her,” Eddie said.

Barbara nodded. “First, could I ask how you knew her?”

For a brief moment, his mind blanked. Why hadn’t they fleshed this out better in the car? Your hand waved frantically in front of his eyes and he cleared his throat. Ignoring you, he sputtered out, “We uh, went to school together. I dropped out due to some personal reasons and she went on to med school. We’d just recently reconnected after one of my trips to the ER.”

She nodded, eyes narrowing just a little and Eddie knew he wasn’t selling it as best as he could.

“Tell her we were dating,” you said to his left. It took everything in him not to whip his head around to you. “She won’t tell you anything unless she knows you meant more than a friend. She’s really protective of me. I think…I’ve known her since I was a kid.”

Here went nothing. “Uh, we had just – um – started dating again,” Eddie said quietly.

Barbara’s face flinched and Eddie saw you step back. “I’m sorry I have a hard time believing that.”

“What? Why?” You both said at the same time.

“Wheeler’s whole life was this hospital. The first year of your residency is a crazy one – she wanted to learn as much as she could from whoever would let her. She rarely went home – I don’t think she even saw her other friends that often. She barely saw her family.”

As Barb continued but you groaned. Eddie shot you a look that clearly meant, what now?

“She said was, Eddie. Was. Past tense.”

Eddie realized you were right. She was using past tense. “I’m guessing you don’t know about the accident then,” Barbara said slowly.

“Accident?” Eddie parroted back, a little stunned. Shit, there had been an accident.

As if someone had slapped you, Eddie watched you stumble – eyes darting and unseeing. “Oh my God, Eddie, I remember.” Your hand went to your stomach, as if you were holding it together. “I was in a car crash – it hurt so bad, I wanted to die. The pain was unbearable.”

Eddie blinked, realizing that Barbara was waiting on him to speak. “I’m a musician so I’ve been traveling for work for a while. We were very casual, it was early. I didn’t know – I thought…”

“It was three months ago,” Barb started, starting to explain the details of your accident.

His heart sunk into his stomach, despite her news that you were alive. A coma. You were in a coma.

Out of his peripheral Eddie watched you float down the hall. Your arms flailed in the air, like an invisible thread was pulling you forward. He fought his instinct to dive for you, his attention barely on what Barbara was saying.

“I have some time right now, if you’d like,” she said.

Eddie zoned back into his own conversation, eyes still frantically searching for you “I’m sorry, I’m a little bit in shock, what did you say?”

Barbara’s eyes softened. “I asked if you’d like to visit her? She’s down that hall, last room on the left. I’ve got a few minutes.”

“That would be amazing, thank you so much,” Eddie said, practically sprinting down the hall that you’d floated off towards.

Opening the door, Eddie’s breath caught in his throat. You were there! Obviously, you were standing by your body with a hand to your chest but…the real you was lying on the bed. You had tubes in your mouth, wires and machines everywhere – but you weren’t dead!

“Holy fuck, it’s you!” Eddie said, excitement building. “You’re alive! You were right, Bug, you’re alive!”

“I’m – I’m in a coma,” you said, voice a little bewildered. “Three months is a persistent coma, Eddie. That’s not good.”

“It’s better than dead!” He exclaimed, coming up to your body. Someone had clearly been coming by to brush your hair and take care of your room. Despite the machines and wires, you looked…peaceful. “You’re beautiful,” he said, unable to stop himself.

Blinking up at him through your lashes, despite your ducked head, he caught your smile. A small part of him warmed at the sight. “Thanks. I think we need to find a way to put myself together again – I just don’t know how,” you said, examining the notes on the whiteboards.

Films flashed through his mind. How did anyone do this? You had to at least try. “Well let’s do something!”

“Like what?” You asked, chewing on your thumb.

“Wheeler, I don’t know, you’re the doctor!”

Your head bobbed uncertainly. “Right…right, okay, um…” Your eyes went to the chart at the end of your bed and again to the notes on the pads above your head. “Let me see if I can just like climb in?”

“Yeah, that sounds as good as any to start.”

Eddie’s hands itched to help you climb onto the bed. Panic shot through him when you settled into the sheets and disappeared from sight. “Is anything happening?” You asked.

A machine beeped and Eddie jumped. The squiggly lines seemed to bob up and down. “Yeah, I think so!”

When nothing happened after a beat, you sighed. “Ugh, let me try and really focus.”

“Search for the light or something!” He said, thinking of an older movie his dad had liked.

“Why is it always the light with you?” You said, tone amused. Eddie bit back his laugh and crossed his arms.

“Are you focusing?”

You sighed again – this time louder. “I am! Fuck, Eddie – it’s not working. It’s like I don’t belong to this body anymore.” Eddie’s heart broke at the sound of despair in your voice so he urged you to turn around as you climbed back out onto the floor.

“What?”

“Just – do it. Turn around.” He grabbed your limp hand and traced the shape of a guitar pick on the back of it. Eddie watched you jump from across the bed and raise your hand as if mystified. “See, you felt that.” You palm was cold underneath his hand, and instinctively, he curled his hands around yours.

“I felt your fingers,” you said, turning around with an awed look.

That had to mean something, right? “You’re still connected to your body; you just need a moment. Time maybe.”

“The notes don’t agree, Eddie. My charts? They’re not good.” You hand went out to the whiteboard with scribbling he couldn’t understand.

“Doctors and machines don’t always know everything.”

“I’ve spent nine years of my life studying that they do,” you insisted.

Frustrated with the situation, Eddie flung his arms out. “Then explain how we’re having this conversation!”

A knock echoed in the silence and you both whirled around to the door. Barbara popped her head in. “Mr. Munson? I’m sorry, I need to get to an appointment and I can’t leave you unattended outside of visiting hours.”

“I just need another minute. I’m saying goodbye to her.”

She smiled empathetically. “Of course.” She closed the door quietly behind her. A soft gasp had Eddie panicking a little, turning towards you.

“Eddie, look,” your voice called to him, his feet taking him over to you. “It’s the polaroids.” The wall to the left had a few pictures hung on some string and Christmas lights.

“Whoa,” Eddie said, taking a few steps closer before getting distracted by bright picture frame. You were alone, with your hair plastered to your face, in a bathing suit. Hands in the air, sun behind you, you beamed at the camera.

“That was a few years ago. My sister and I went to Mexico – I’d always wanted to go. It was just the two of us for a whole week. My last vacation.”

“You look happy.”

“I was.” Your eyes glanced behind you both. “Look at me now.”

Eddie glanced at his watch. “I think my time is up, Bug. Do you want me to wait for you downstairs?”

“No, it’s okay, thank you for helping me,” you said softly, eyes on your sleeping figure. Eddie’s heart dropped down to his feet. You weren’t coming back?

“You can always come back, it’s your apartment you know,” he stammered. That went against everything he had initially wanted but…the thought of never seeing you again made his stomach twist painfully.

The small smile you shot him made his heart flip. Shit. This couldn’t be the last he saw of you. It couldn’t – not after…after what’d you’d gone through.

“I can’t imagine leaving myself, you know?” You said, eyes going back to your body.

Of course. If he’d been in your shoes, he would want to stay close to his body too. “Yeah. I just hate the thought of leaving you here alone.”

The door opened and Barb’s sympathetic face swam into his vision. “Sorry, Mr. Munson.”

“No, thank you for letting me in,” he turned to the bed and tried to memorize your sad smile. “Goodbye Bug.”

“Bye,” you whispered.

The door closed behind him and Barbara was mentioning that she could clear him for visiting hours if he’d like to come by during the week. He tried not to think what it meant that he’d eagerly accepted.

Chapter Text

Your chest felt like it was tethered to Eddie as he walked out the room. Since the moment you’d woken up in this strange limbo – you’d felt a connection to him. At first you thought it was because he was some creep squatting in your apartment, then you thought it was because he was the only one able to see you. Now…it felt like something more.

As if you couldn’t help yourself, you stepped out the room and watched the elevator descend as it took him down and out the hospital. You found yourself next to Barbara and Jenny – one of your favorite attending doctors. She’d also taken you under her wing your first few months here.

“I hate this,” Barbara said to Jenny, her nose scrunched up like it did when she was upset. She logged his visit and gave him visiting hour clearance. “She finally gets a life and this happens.”

It was indicative of your emotional state that you didn’t even bat an eye at the affectionate barb. You stepped closer, glancing at Jenny’s contemplative expression. “He’s cute, I didn’t peg metalhead as her type but – he seemed sweet.”

“I do recognize him from somewhere but he might just have one of those faces.” Barbara turned to Jenny, eyes looking suspiciously misty. “You should’ve seen his face when he said goodbye. He called her Bug.” Barb’s voice hitched a little, her hand fluttering up to her brow.

“Aw, Holland, it’s alright,” Jenny said, her own voice shaky.

Barbara waved a hand in the air then straightening her lapels. “She’s been my friend since we were kids, you know? I’d come see Nancy and she’d be running around with us. I can’t believe this happened to her. She deserved better. She was a good one.”

“Hey, we still don’t know, okay?”

She nodded, eyes sad. But you did know…you all knew. “Walk with me to the ER?”

“Of course.” The two of them walked down the hall and into the elevators.

You thought about following them but a familiar brunette stepped out of the side elevator banks. The ducked head had a massive bag on his shoulder and you startled when it moved on its own. The man’s hand came down to pat the side and he ushered himself forward quicker.

A waft of cologne floated over to you and you straightened. The memories floated back to you like they had earlier. “Jonathan? Will?” You called out as a second person jogged up next to the first. Wait…if they were here then…

You whirled your head around looking for your sister. “Nancy?” You called out, your eyes finding her immediately. She signed a paper by the nurse’s station and marched down towards you, her determined expression fierce. They disappeared quickly into your room and you followed.

“Phew, that was close,” Will said, a silly smile on his face.

“Ah, you know Jenny always turns a blind eye,” Jonathan insisted, placing the bag carefully onto the floor. Within seconds, a small brown dog jumped out and onto your bed.

Joey. Your mind supplied, a warmth attached to the memory. That was Jonathan’s dog – you loved her so much you’d consistently kidnap her away from Nancy’s place. Joey padded up to your hip and curled into your touch.

“Here she is, pretty girl, she’s still here,” Nancy said, her voice cracking; almost as if she was reassuring herself.

Will came over to your side and took your hand at your other side and you frowned. “Why can I feel Eddie and not you guys?”

“Hey kiddo,” Jonathan greeted, squeezing your leg. “Weather’s nice outside, just the way you like it, wanna wake up and go for a walk?”

Will huffed sadly. “It’ll work one day,” he said. “El said she was willing to take another look for her.”

Nancy sighed. “I think she’ll just end up hurting herself again. She’s tried so many times already.”

El? Your memory yawned open further, the image of demogorgons, Eggo waffles, and a blonde wig flashing through.

“Excuse me, Jonathan? Nancy?” The knock on the door startling all of you.

“Hi Jenny,” Nancy said, Jonathan tossing the blanket over a sleeping Joey.

“I didn’t see anything,” she joked, eyes on Will who sat by your hand. “I – uh, I have something we need to speak about.”

Nancy nodded, coming over to the other side of the room. You followed closely – that tone. You knew that tone.

“-when we come to work here, we’re asked to sign release forms,” she explained.

Shit. A flash of a mountain of paperwork that you’d filled out crossed your mind.

“Did you know your sister’s opinion on artificially prolonging life?” Jenny asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“What does that mean?” Nancy’s brows furrowed.

Jenny cleared her throat. “She was against being kept on a machine. To live. Her forms indicate she wanted to be cut off after three months. Most in our profession tend to agree.”

Fuck. You had said that. “That was before!” You shrieked, panicked at the idea. “Nance – Nancy, please. You’re my sister – you have to feel me somehow!” Your voice, as always, fell on deaf ears.

“But she’s had some brain activity, right? Especially recently. People have woken up from this type of coma, right?”

“Yes!” You shouted.

“Not likely,” Jenny said softly. “I know your parents and brother come down every week to visit but I wanted to bring this up to you since I know you and Jonathan come by every other day. Also…you’re listed as her medical proxy.”

Nancy took a deep breath and you groaned. “Nancy!”

“Due to her special circumstances, we won’t take any action without your explicit authorization. It’s just something we wanted you to think about considering the timeline. We’ve prepared the appropriate paperwork but you can take your time in deciding. There is absolutely no pressure.”

“Okay, thank you,” Nancy took the enveloped from Jenny’s hands and sighed again. Her expression was pinched and she looked oddly young when she glanced up at Jenny. “Ninety days? She wanted that?”

Jenny smiled sadly. “I’ve included a copy of the paperwork she filled in so you can read her words for yourself. Remember kid,” she placed a hand on Nancy’s shoulder, “there’s no pressure. Just think it over.”

Nancy nodded, thanking her again, and Jonathan barely waited a second before he crossed the room. “Are you okay?” He asked. Nancy’s eyes were filling with tears and your heart broke to see her like this. Nancy never cried.

“Why would she choose me? And not mom or dad?”

“Because it’s you,” you whispered, hand hovering over hers. “You’ve always looked out for me.”

Jonathan barely hesitated. “Because she loves you, Nance. More than anyone.” You reached for them both, missing them with every single fiber in your being.

“I love her too,” Nancy said, turning into his arms as tears fell. “What do I do Jonathan? She’d be the person I’d call to ask…I just…I want my little sister back.”

“I know, Nance, I know.”

“What do I do?”

Eddie hated the fact that the first thing he did upon entering your apartment was to look around for you. With no sight of you, obviously, he padded into the kitchen and pulled out a beer. Leaning his hip against the counter, Eddie felt alone. No, worse – he felt lonely. Again.

Shit.

He hadn’t asked for this. He didn’t want to miss you.

But the echoing, haunting, silence of the apartment clearly indicated something else. Not able to stomach the silence, Eddie walked over to the stereo and pressed play.

You are the dancing queen! Young and sweet, only seventeen!

He could hear the echoes of your horrible tone-deaf singing, and his lips twitched. Eddie’s chest tightened and he didn’t know if the music was better or worse than the silence. Sinking into the arm of his couch, Eddie took a long drag from his can.  

How had he gotten so used to someone in just a week?

A knock at the door was barely audible over the music and Eddie straightened. Bug? No, he shook his head. Not only would you have just barged in, you physically couldn’t knock.

Opening the door, Eddie blinked when he saw Dana standing there with a wide smile. “Hey! I’m locked out, can I use your phone?” Without waiting for an answer, she slithered past him and into the apartment.

“Wow,” she said from the living room. Eddie stood at the door, a little dazed and unsure as to what had just happened. “Your décor is so chic. I never would’ve pegged you for having such a good eye.”

Eddie closed the door and turned, ready to tell her it was all you but he remembered the look of distaste on her expression when talking about you. Not sure he could stomach someone talking bad about you, especially now, he just muttered a thanks.

“Oh!” She squealed, hands clasped in front of her, “the ladybug clock is super cute? Let me guess, a little sister or niece gave it to you?”

He didn’t have an answer, not that she waited for one, but Eddie briefly wondered what was the reasoning behind the ladybug collection. Eddie had been so preoccupied with the ghost in his apartment he’d never remembered to ask.

Blinking away the thoughts, Eddie realized she’d grabbed herself a water bottle and was glancing at your books. Her hand came out, as if to touch them, and Eddie’s heart surged.

“Please don’t,” he said quickly, voice a little too loud. “Sorry, those are…expensive and rare books. They can’t be handled when your hands are wet.” He motioned to the condensation on her hands she grinned.

“Expensive huh?” She asked, voice doing a strange thing, and lounging onto the window seat like she was setting up shop. Before Eddie could ask what specifically had happened with her door, she’d launched into a long-winded story about her day. She paused only to take a sip of her water before continuing.

“Sorry,” Eddie interrupted, not feeling all that sorry, “does the locksmith know to ring my doorbell? It’s been an hour.” It’d felt like an eternity. Eddie just wanted to get drunk out of his mind, ignore the fresh hollow feeling in his chest that you’d left behind, and go to bed.

“I think so,” Dana said, not sounding at all sure. She straightened, her hands fluttering out nervously, “do you mind if I use the bathroom?”

Eddie nodded, waving a hand towards the general direction and she sauntered off.

The moment she closed the door, he thumped his head against the wall a few times, wincing when it finally started to sting. Why the hell had he opened the door? He never opened the door for anyone. Shit, no one ever came to see him.

“You can’t be so bored without me that you’re willingly giving yourself a concussion.”

Eddie’s heart jumped into his throat, beating loudly, and he saw you standing a few feet away from him with a small smile.  

“Bug!” The hollow in his chest filled with warmth at your smile. His eyes danced over you, as if you’d disappear at any moment.

“Yeah, I’m back,” you said, smiling wider. “Why do you look so surprised?”

“No, I just – I thought you were going to stay with your body at the hospital.”

You slumped and Eddie felt his stomach drop. “Eddie, it’s so shit. The hospital needs my sister to sign paperwork saying they need to take me off life support. We’re coming up on three months and that’s the time limit I set when I first started working there. Most people – doctors – usually set a ninety-day limit when being kept alive by life support and I don’t know if she’ll sign them.”

Ninety days? “What? No, they can’t do that!” He said, panicking. If they took you off you’d – they couldn’t.

“I know, of course no one heard me,” you sighed, “so, I just wanted to talk to you about-”

“Eddie,” a voice sang down the hall.

Your neck whirled around towards the sound and Eddie winced. Shit.

“Just a sec!” Eddie shouted out.

Eddie watched your eyes flutter. “Well, apparently my presence was cramping your style,” you said, something flashing across your expression before disappearing. Eddie suddenly felt nervous and he scrambled to explain.

“W-what? No! She barged in, she got locked out her apartment.”

“You don’t have to explain, I get it,” you shrugged, looking anywhere but his face.

Eddie felt like he was trying to catch smoke with his hands. “No, you don’t get anything – she’s just using the bathroom.”

“That sounded like it came from the bedroom.”

“Come here, I wanna show you something,” she called out, her bra landing on the floor in the hallway before you both.

His heart sunk into his stomach and he suddenly felt desperate that you not get the wrong idea. “I-I had no idea, I swear!” He insisted.

Your expression turned blank. “You can go ahead if you want to,” you said, hand flipping in the air. “I can make myself scarce.”

Eddie’s heart froze. No, if you left, he didn’t know when you’d come back. If you’d ever come back.

“You sound jealous,” Eddie said, realizing it as he said it.

Your expression immediately became flustered, lashes fluttering as you looked anywhere but at him. “I’m not jealous,” you hissed adamantly.

Holy shit. His heart flipped. You were jealous.

“Eddie? Who are you talking to?” Dana’s shrill voice asked.

“Just, give me a second to process,” he said, feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening. It felt like he was having a heart attack. How had he gone from an inconspicuous life to this in such a short time span?

“Sure,” you said, eyes narrowed, and you disappeared.

Fuck.

“Wheeler! Bug, please, come back!” He shouted at the air, whirling around for a glimpse of you.

“Hey?” Dana stood in the bedroom doorway, a blanket wrapped around her body, and her head tilted to the side. “Did you need to take something before? That’s cool with me.”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jesus Christ.

He found you on the roof, a few minutes later, sitting on the sofa curled into yourself. “That was fast,” you said, eyes dragging down his body. Eddie felt his nerves stand at attention, something warm unfurling behind his rib cage, and he didn’t know what to do with that.

“Come on, give me some credit. Nothing happened,” he huffed.

Eddie tried not to pay attention to the way the tension bled out of your body at that. “What’d you say?”

“That I was seeing someone,” he huffed a laugh, “I didn’t say I was the only person who could see her – but, you know. She left.”

After a beat of silence, you looked up at him and a slow, gradual, smile split your face. Eddie wanted to curl a hand around your cheek and feel it against his skin. He wanted to trace the smile, the shyness in your eyes. “You’re an idiot,” you said, turning to the night skyline.

It sounded a lot like something sweeter. Eddie dropped into the sofa next to you.

“I haven’t…dated anyone since Chrissy,” he said, exhaling as he kept his eyes on the lights. “She was the first girl I ever kissed you know? My first everything. We were stupid kids – it’s so cliché really. I was the ‘bad guy’ and she was the head cheerleader. Her parents hated me.”

“It sounds like a movie,” you said, smiling softly. Attention finally turning back towards him. You rested your cheek against your palm and motioned for him to continue.

Eddie snorted, picking at a loose thread on the sofa’s arm. “She um…she was on her way to campus. She’d finally started her new semester and was so excited about being back in school. She wanted to look perfect, you know? She had asked my opinion on like five dresses before she picked one. I walked her downtown, she was practically walking on air – talking about this new elective she was taking - when she said she’d gotten dizzy. We stopped, she put a hand to her head and then just…” his voice cracked.

Your voice sounded like it was far away. Eddie saw Chrissy, her hair curled and bangs blowing in the warm air. “Aneurysm?”

“Uh, cerebral hemorrhage,” Eddie said, a memory of her body on the ground flashing through his mind. He flinched away from it, as if burned.

“Eddie, I’m so sorry.”

He smiled emptily. “I couldn’t uh, do anything to help her. You know? That’s what kills me. She was in so much pain and just went still and I couldn’t help her.” He touched the guitar pick on his necklace and shook his head. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye, she was just – gone. This girl who’d been in my life for a decade. This force of nature…my wife – she was just…gone.”

“That’s fucking stupid,” you said, grumbling. Surprised, Eddie turned to you. Eyebrows drawn down and hands curled into fists, you frowned angrily. “What? It is. I hate that shit like this happens to people. I had an older woman come in unconscious my first week and we couldn’t save her. She’d had a brain aneurysm. I had to tell her husband of forty years. He thought she’d be okay… but she wasn’t. I had to call time of death. I had to hold his hand while he cried. It’s not fair, you know? It’s so fucking frustrating.”

Eddie’s chest warmed at your frustrated words. Telling someone, getting the words out in front of someone he trusted, it felt cathartic. The fact that you understood – that you knew how unfair it felt, you didn’t rush him to move on or to get over it…or worse, that she was where she belonged – you just knew. It was like it’d healed the last sliver inside of him.

“Would your sister sign those papers?” He asked, the thought nagging at him.

You sighed, dropping your head to the back of the sofa. “I don’t know. I don’t think she would but if she feels like she’s honoring what she thinks is my last wish, she might. It won’t matter soon anyway; my brain activity is decreasing daily. That’s not good. I won’t have a body to get back to.”

Eddie didn’t like the tone of defeat in your voice and pretended to elbow you. “Well maybe that’s good – you’re too much of a smartass for your own good anyway. It’ll bring you down to my level.”

Snorting, you shot him a look. “You’re not dumb, just stuck in a rut.”

“I wasn’t always like this you know. I was going places. We were going places,” he said, but the sting of mourning a life that wasn’t meant to be didn’t cut so deep anymore.

“Yeah? What were you like then?” You grinned.

An idea popped into his head and he turned to smile at you. “You wanna see?”

“Eddie, did you bring me out to watch you drink?” You asked him, eyeing the crowded bar. A woman stumbled out the front door, Eddie sidestepping her easily.

“No,” he said out of the corner of his mouth with a playful look in his eyes. Your attention was pulled towards a man stepping out the door – his eyes on the woman who was now taking a sip of some water. He walked over to her, kissed her soundly, and she beamed up at him. The love between them was palpable and you felt like you were intruding on an intimate moment.

Your eyes dropped to their hands, fingers intertwined, and you flexed your own hand as a reflex. Eyes swinging back to Eddie, you found his already on you. Flustered, you motioned to the door. “Well? Did you make me hike all the way here for nothing?”

At that, Eddie laughed, but barely anyone turned to look at him. “We walked like fifteen minutes.”

“I said what I said,” you huffed, walking through the door when he just smiled at you – eyes amused. Eyeing the indoors, you tried your hardest not to let the fondness in his gaze get to you. The bar was pretty large inside, a stage towards the main area and a wraparound counter to the side. People were swaying to live music and the lights were warm enough to give it a friendly ambiance. It felt…familiar. Why did it feel so familiar?

“What is this place?” You asked, never having been inside. You had to have passed by it before - it was barely a few blocks down from your building.

“The Hideout,” Eddie said, voice muffled by the sound and you froze. “My band, we used to play here all the time. They still do, when we’re – they’re – not on tour.” The crowd of people at the front of the small stage shifted, giving you a clear sight.

You’d…you’d had dreams about this place. “Eddie, I think I’ve been here before.”

“Really? I mean it’s a pretty popular spot…”

“No,” you shook your head, still a little dumbstruck. “Before the accident, I used to dream about this place. I was always by the stage – waiting for something.”

“Maybe that’s why we’re connected? This place?” Eddie looked surprised but eventually shook his head. “At this point, Bug, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were psychic.”

Psychic? You huffed. “Eddie!”

“What? It’s true. I didn’t believe in ghosts and now look at me, risking being sent to an institution by talking to my hallucination.”

You rolled your eyes and were interrupted by someone shrieking. A woman nearby hurled herself over the bar and pulled Eddie into her arms.

“Eddie Munson as I live and breathe,” she said, voice warm and low. Her smile was welcoming and you wanted to bask in the warmth she radiated. “I thought I’d never see you come through those doors again.”

He glanced at you, the stupid fondness making your heart race, and you smiled at him. “Yeah, well, I wanted to show someone I wasn’t always a hermit.”

The woman straightened. “You’re here with someone?”

“Kind of,” Eddie said, smiling when you rolled your eyes again.

“On a date? Munson, I’ve never been prouder of you. Where is she?”

Your eyes immediately went to the counter at the word date.

Eddie shook his head. “You’ll make it weird, Cat.”

“I would not!” She said, gaping indignantly.

“Listen, I need a favor,” Eddie said, urging her onto a new topic.

She crossed her arms, faux angry expression apparent but even you could see her mouth twisting into a small smile. “You got a lot of nerve, Munson.”

“Isn’t that one of the reasons you love me?” He asked, laughing when she swatted at him.

“What do you want?”

Eddie nodded towards the stage. “You think Karl will let me play?”

Cat’s eyes widened, her playful demeanor dropping and genuine surprise colored her features. “Shit, Eddie. You really have come back.”

With a quick glance at you, he shrugged. “I’m trying to.”

“You know we’ve always got space on the sheet for you,” she said, “you want something to drink before?”

“Sure,” he said, “same as always.” Cat kissed his cheek affectionately and hurried back to the bar.

“She seems sweet,” you said, watching her work on Eddie’s drink – smiling at a group of girls who had come over to order.

“She’s a riot,” Eddie snorted. “Catalina is the daughter of Karl, the owner. I spent so much time in this bar, you would’ve thought I worked here.”

You grinned, watching Eddie pick his drink up. He herded you to a quiet corner and he downed his drink in one go. “This is where we got discovered, me and the guys, and it was…a whirlwind.”

Contemplating your words, he caught your hesitance and nodded. “Just ask, you can ask me anything.”

Your stupid heart flipped again and you dropped your eyes to your hands. “Why now? After all these years?”

Eddie’s eyes softened and he placed his empty glass onto the counter behind you. “Because even if this bar is filled with memories that hurt…they were happy ones once. I want them to be happy again,” he said, turning to look at you, “and I told you I was going to show you who I was. This place – it’s a huge part of who I am. I think you make me want to be brave.”

“Me?” You said, incredulous. You weren’t brave – not at all.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I stopped trying a long time ago. Maybe it’s time to get out the rut – or at least try.”

His brown eyes pinned you in place and you’d never wished you could reach out to touch him more than this moment. Something crackled between you and you didn’t know what to do with it – but you didn’t want it to end either.

“Munson!”

“Yeah?” Eddie replied, eyes still on you.

“Karl said you owe him a beer and to get your ass up on stage,” Cat shouted.

A few people nearby cheered good-naturedly and you watched Eddie’s wide smile grow. “He owns a bar!”

“Says it’s the principle of the matter – considering you up and disappeared on us for years!”

This time, Eddie rolled his eyes and huffed a laugh. “You coming?” He asked you.

You’d taken a step when you glanced back at the bar. “Do you mind if I watch from here?” You asked. “In my dream…I’m always off stage waiting for someone. I want to really see you.”

Eddie nodded, pointed you in the direction of the best spot to see everything and disappeared through a door. Within a few minutes, he was walking out on stage – a guitar in his hands – and he adjusted the mic stand.

“Hey everyone, how are you doing tonight?”

The crowd cheered, a few people gasping, and the murmurs started.

“I’m a little rusty, so I hope you don’t mind,” he said, plucking at the strings experimentally, “this was a little spur of the moment.”

The cheers were much louder this time, the people in booths scrambling up to the stage floor.

“So, this one goes out to…Ladybug. For being an insufferable pain in my ass but I wouldn’t have had it any other way,” he said, eyes somehow finding you in the mess and you flipped him off – your grin practically splitting your face.

Then, he started to play. To say you were floored was an understatement. You watched Eddie completely make himself at home up there.

“Who is that? He’s great,” a voice near you asked. You turned to see a man in a leather jacket up against the bar, sipping at his glass.

“That’s Munson, the guy I’ve been telling you about,” Cat said, expression proud.

“From Corroded Coffin?” The guy sputtered. “What’s he doing here? I thought he disappeared like two years ago.”

“Yeah. That kid’s got talent like you’ve never seen before. Been playing since before he could sit up,” she sighed. “He’s been going through some rough shit but I really hope this is him coming out the other end.”

The man nodded, lifting his drink and Cat knocked her beer bottle against his. “To making it to better times.”

“To making it,” she said, eyes a little sad, downing her beer.

Your eyes were glued to Eddie for the next twenty minutes. The crowd sang along with the songs he played, a few other musicians joining him towards the end. As people moved and shifted around you – you listened to their excited murmurs. Clearly, he was well known here.

Eventually, he waved and took a bow before walking off stage. Clapping despite the fact that no one else could hear you, you cheered for him.

Sitting onto an empty stool, you rested your chin on your palm and waited for him to find you.

“Hey, you still got it,” Cat said, smacking Eddie on the shoulder. He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck – his own sign of nerves – and his eyes settled on you.

“Was that ever in question?” He asked, nodding towards the door. You smiled, without going through the crowd, and stepped through the window and out into the street.

Waiting for him to take the long way round, you grinned when he glared at you. “That’s not fair, I can’t just morph through walls.”

“If I wasn’t able to, I really would’ve gotten the raw end of the deal,” you joked.

“So, what’d you think?” Eddie asked, walking back towards your apartment.

You grinned. “That was amazing. You came alive up there, Eddie. Why did you stop?” You asked, immediately wincing. “Shit, sorry I know why you stopped.”

Eddie laughed. “It’s just hard knowing that when I’m up there she’s not going to be waiting backstage, you know? She was always there for my concerts. Always.”

You understood, grief manifested in different ways. “What about the band?”

“They’re on tour – going through a few guitarists. Jeff, our lead singer, is sure I’ll be back,” he said, shrugging. You watched Eddie maneuver himself so that he was walking on the outer end of the sidewalk. Biting back a smile, and an entire wave of something that felt weirdly like endearment, you chose not to remind him that he was the alive one.

“Will you?” You asked instead.

Eddie frowned, eyes going up to the sky and he pondered it for a few blocks. “One day.”

That didn’t sound entirely truthful to you and what a sad world that would be. One where Eddie Munson didn’t return to a stage. You climbed the stairs to your building quickly, smiling when Eddie grumbled about needing more air than you.  

He unlocked the door and you turned to him. Eddie eyed you warily, “You’ve got that look in your eye.”

“Promise me. Whatever happens with me, you’ll get back up there.” You stuck out your hand. When he didn’t move, you widened your eyes in the way that always got your dad to give you the last pancake. “I might die, Eddie. It’s my last wish!”

Eddie snorted and rolled his eyes. “Alright, Bug. Alright.”

“Say it,” you urged, his hand coming up to yours at a distance.

“I promise to get back up on stage,” he said quietly, eyes resembling a storm. “I swear.”

Ignoring the thumping of your heart, you dropped your hand but the tension from earlier settled again. Your hands itched to grab his and you had to curl your fingers around the hem of your shirt to avoid the inevitable disappointment.

Eddie opened his mouth but a shrill ring echoed throughout the quiet apartment. “Ignore it.”

“It could be something important,” you said, taking the out and settling onto the sofa.

Groaning, he walked over to his cordless phone and yanked it up. “Hello?”

You watched him straighten, like someone had pulled his strings, and a solemn expression settled onto his face.

“Are you sure?” He asked, face contorting into something that looked like grief. “Fuck. Okay, thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“What happened?” You asked, worried.

Eddie rubbed a hand down his face and shook his head. “That was my friend, she’s a realtor and she helped me get this apartment.”

“Okay?”

“I was just offered a yearlong lease for the apartment. She knows the family of the woman who lived here before and she found out that she’s not likely to come back.”

The ground shook beneath you and the walls spun. Nancy.

“She signed the paperwork,” you said, breathless. You were going die. Well, you were already dead but…you’d be going – beyond or whatever there was.

Shit.

“We have to go talk to your sister.”

What?

Holding up a hand, you paced in the living room. “Eddie, it’s not that easy.”

A frantic energy buzzed around him as he looked for his car keys. “We have to do something, Wheeler, we can’t just fucking sit here and let her kill you!”

“She’s not killing me,” you said, “I signed a waiver, Eddie…she thinks she’s respecting my wishes.”

Not listening, Eddie triumphantly held up his keys. “I’m going with or without you.”

Jesus Christ did you just attract stubborn people in your life? “It’s late,” you exclaimed, glancing at his clock.

“You wanna wait until tomorrow?”

Alright, fuck it. “Yeah, okay let’s go.”

For it being eleven on a Thursday night, it seemed everyone was out in Hawkins. Eddie cursed the traffic for the fiftieth time and passed a slow-moving car.

“What’s something only you would know about her?” Eddie asked, eyes a little tense. “Something that she would have to believe us?”

Your mind immediately went to the thing you swore not to talk about again. What you’d all needed to move on from. The reason…you went into medicine in the first place.

“Um…” you chewed on your thumb nail, “tell her that I told you about the Upside Down.”

Shooting you a look, Eddie overtook another car and frowned. “The what? Is that a drug?”

What if Nancy thought he was somehow connected to all that? Governments and Russians knew about it too. She wouldn’t think twice before swinging. “Fuck. Actually, that might freak her out more. Don’t say that – um…I know that her ex-boyfriend drunkenly professed his love to her like a month before her wedding! She had a mental breakdown about it. If she still doesn’t believe you tell her you know she has a sawed-off shotgun in storage.” You could picture Steve’s face, his breath smelling of shitty Tequila and his mortification the day after.

Eddie blinked and shot you an impressed look. He was trying to disguise it as incredulous but you could see the curiosity. “What kind of family are you from?”

“Don’t ask,” you muttered, gripping onto the door handle as he exited the highway. He took a sharp left and you pointed towards a specific street. “The last house on the block!”

He screeched to a stop, the car jolting. You watched his chest heave and you climbed out. “I haven’t been here in a while. I was driving to her house when I crashed.”

“We’re going to fix this,” Eddie reassured you – sounding determined.

“Eddie, go easy on her, she’s…going to be difficult,” you warned him.

He nodded, striding up to the door and ringing the bell. A beat later, Nancy opened the door and her smile seemed tentative.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Eddie said, looking a little confused.

“Eddie,” you said, waving a hand in front of his face. “Eddie!” Why the hell had he frozen? You glanced at Nancy who was squinting at him.

“Do I know you?” She asked.

Eddie frowned, his hand coming up to his face – a habit, you’d noticed, he had when he was concentrating. “Did you go to Hawkins High? I think you were almost four years ahead of me.”

Duh, you almost slapped your forehead. Of course they knew each other! They had to be around the same age.

“Yes!” Nancy snapped. “You had a shaved head then.”

Forgetting yourself for a moment, you whirled around to stare at him and he rolled his eyes. “You had a shaved head!?” You asked, voice high and shrill.

“Yeah, that was me.” He shot you a look as Nancy turned her head to open the door wider and you laughed lightly. “Sorry for the hour, I just wanted to speak with you.”

Not able to picture Eddie without all his hair, you sputtered. “A shaved head? Holy shit I need to see pictures!”

“Over my dead body,” he mouthed to you.

You smacked a hand to your chest, scandalized. “That was insensitive.”

Eddie bit his lip to keep himself from laughing and shot you a glare.

Nancy furrowed her brows as she turned back to you both. “With me?”

“Yes, about your sister? Dr. Wheeler?”

At that, Nancy looked more confused. “My sister?” She parroted again. “I’m sorry, come in, please.”

“Thank you,” Eddie said, following her into the living room. The sight of the familiar room had your chest constricting. Your eyes darted to the fireplace, where you knew there were photos of all of your graduations.

“Did you want some water or anything?” Nancy’s voice broke your string of thoughts.

Eddie shook his head, “No, thank you.”

“How did you know my sister?” Nancy asked, sitting on the nearest chair.

“I, uh – well, you see,” he cleared his throat as two other men walked into the room.

Eyes darting immediately to them, your heart broke. You saw Will’s swollen red eyes and immediately knew you couldn’t do this – not to Will. “Don’t do this in front of Will. He’s been through enough as it is. Abort. Abort!” You said to Eddie suddenly, not wanting to hurt him.

“Uh, you see, uh,” he sputtered nervously. “Wait. Will? Will Byers? You’re Mike’s friend. Mike Wheeler. Holy shi – I, need to use the restroom.”

Will rubbed one eye and waved with a smile that made your heart hurt. Nancy, however, looked at him weirdly. “Down the hall to the right.”

He ran and you followed, curious about the connection to your brother.

“You’re Mike Wheeler’s older sister?” Eddie hissed as he turned the faucet on.

Surprised, you nodded faintly. “How do you know my brother?”

“I went to school with him!” Eddie exclaimed. “He was in my club.”

Immediately, you remembered the t-shirt Mike used to live in. “Hellfire,” you both breathed at the same time. “Holy shit.” You said, panic and a swell of emotion building in your chest.

“Oh my God talk about fucking coincidence! Wait, if we’re almost the same age how come I didn’t see you in school?” Eddie asked.

“I didn’t go to Hawkins High. I went to a private school across town. Holy shit. You came by to pick up Mike once in a sketchy ass van and I told Mike-”

“I remember! He told me his sister thought I looked suspicious and I told him everyone thought I did.”

“Holy shit.” You both blinked at each other, processing.

“Okay we need to abort, completely, we need to regroup,” you told him, “Will’s disappearance – he’s – they – we just can’t. If they signed the papers, he’ll be a mess.”

“Shit, yeah, that’s all the town talked about,” Eddie said, chewing on his thumb nail. “You’re right, we can come back in the morning.”

You nodded, walking through the door and back to the living room. A quick glance around the room let you know that Will and Jonathan were gone but Joey was curled up on the sofa. As Eddie sputtered through a weak excuse to leave in the kitchen, you realized Joey had walked up to your feet and gone belly up, like she always did around you.

Heart freezing, you crouched down to the floor. “Joey? Can you see me?”

As Joey wiggled her feet in the air, eyes pleading for her belly rub – you thought of Will. How he talked to Joyce through the lights.

The lights.

You weren’t able to touch things exactly but – you could manipulate things. Like the stereo and ABBA. Without wasting time, you ran towards the closet where you knew Nancy kept the Christmas decorations. You stared at the door, eyes focused, and grunted when nothing happened. A memory of El with her hands out, nose bleeding, came to mind.

What the hell, it was worth a try. You raised a hand and channeled all your energy into opening the door. In a second, it creaked open and you pumped your arms triumphantly. Fuck yeah!

“Wait, I’m sorry, how did you know my sister exactly?” Nancy asked again, her voice wavering a little.

“I was her friend,” Eddie said, his voice carrying down the hall. “I knew her through Mike.”

You stepped forward, watching her. Nancy nodded; expression still confused. “I know you said you had to leave but, you said you had something to tell me.”

Fuck. You leave the lights buried in the closet and walk towards your sister.

“I…I wanted to ask you not to sign the papers. Your sister…I – we-” Eddie stammered, his eyes dancing across you. “Please. Just give her a little more time.”

Nancy’s eyes softened and they started to tear up. “I signed the papers already. I spent my whole life trying to push her into being free and into doing things she clearly didn’t want to do. I need to respect her wishes. It’s been ninety days.” She scrubbed a hand down her face. “I…I’m glad to know she had you, though, in whatever capacity. Before she – before…”

You knew Eddie was panicking, frantic, but you heard the crack in her voice. You knew her. You knew Nancy Wheeler better than anyone – even Jonathan.

“Oh, Nance,” you whispered, hand coming up to her face. Her eyes closed and you wished you could give her some closure. Reassure her that she’d never pushed too hard or forced you into anything. She was your big sister – you’d grown up wanting to be just like Nancy.  “I’m so sorry Nance. I love you.”

The silence in the room felt like a sinking ship, a weight in your chest. So of course, Eddie broke it.

“Alright, fuck it everyone in this town thinks I’m a freak anyway. This is going to sound strange to you-”

Panic swelled within you and you reached out towards him, “No, no Eddie, don’t-”

“Your sister is here with us right now.”

“What?” Nancy gasped, frozen.

Eddie’s words stumbled over each other in their speed. “I can see your sister’s spirit. I know it’s crazy but I can talk to her and she’s not ready to go yet. I – I don’t know why only I can see her, but it’s the truth. I swear.”

The silence after his declaration was painful. Nancy’s eye twitched and she leaned forward. “You can see my sister’s ghost?”

“Her spirit,” Eddie said, “she’s not dead. Not yet.”

At that, she nodded. “Okay…”

“Okay?” Eddie asked, looking at you. Shrugging, you walked up to her and tried to get a read on her reaction.

“Is she here in the room right now?” Nancy asked.

Eddie’s hand pointed to you. “She’s standing to your right, she’s…stuck here in this limbo.”

“Right,” Nancy nodded again, “okay. And she wants me to not take her off life support?”

“Exactly.”

Nancy stood; her hands clenched. “Right, okay. One second,” she said, turning and walking out the room and into the hallway.

“Did she just believe us?” Eddie asked, eyes wide.

You frowned. “That was too easy, I don’t…Eddie, I don’t know.”

“If she did believe us, what do we do?”

Well, you’d need to retract the paperwork. “We’d need to go straight to the hospital. She needs to be the one to do it because she’s my medical – oh my God! Eddie!”

With a hand on your old bat, Nancy swung it wildly. The nails you’d hammered in were still sharp, you knew, and your heart jumped into your throat.

“Who the fuck are you? Do you know what you sound like?” She screamed. “Get out of my house!”

Eddie fell onto his ass, scrambling to get away from her. “Jesus!”

“Tell her about the ex-boyfriend!” You screamed over her.

He struggled to duck behind the sofa and shouted: “I know about your ex-boyfriend before your wedding!”

Freezing, the three of you stood in the living room – chests heaving. “What?” Nancy sputtered eventually. Her eyes narrowed and she glanced down the hall. “How the fuck could you know that? I never told anyone…”

“But your sister?” Eddie half-yelled, still panicking. “She told me!”

The suspicion stubborn stuck in her expression and Eddie, instead of giving her a moment, went for gold.

“I know about the Upside Down too! And the sawed off shot gun!”

Fuck. You whirled around to her and knew it was the wrong thing to say. Her cautious curiosity vanished and indignation took its place.

“How the fuck do you know that?” She screamed. “Are you KGB? CIA? Who sent you? You said you’d leave us alone! It’s been years!”

“W-what? No one!” Eddie said, scrambling to his feet.

Nancy swung again and Eddie barely dodged it in time. “Eddie, she’s too freaked out – just – just – run!” Taking your advice, Eddie turned tail and ran out.

You hesitated, glancing at Nancy, and watching her catch her breath. You half-expected her to follow but the sound of the front door slamming closed made her shoulders drop. Frozen in place, as if she could see you, you waited to see what she’d do. Nancy had always been ready for a fight but she was calculating – she never rushed in. That was always Jonathan and Steve.

Before either of you could move though, the sound of Joey’s claws scratching furiously at the closet door caught both of your attentions.

“Joey?” Nancy said, eyes falling to the small dog. Nancy opened it further, placing the bat by the door. Seizing the opportunity, you focused all your energy onto making the abandoned Christmas lights flicker. After your earlier surge of energy, trying to open the door, you hardly had anything left but you put your entire being into it.

Come on, come on, come on!

You watched her freeze as the lights barely flickered twice before returning to the dark. Gasping for air, you placed a hand to your chest and leaned against the wall to your left.

“Please, Nancy,” you pleaded. You watched her blink, going still at the sight. Her hands reached out towards the lights, her fingers trembling. “That’s it, Nance, it’s me! It’s me!” It felt like you were on the precipice of something – just a few more steps forward - when Eddie’s voice screaming your name made her eyes harden.

“Shit,” you muttered. Deciding not to wait for something that you knew was either only going to hurt Nancy or cause her to get angrier, you ran out towards Eddie’s car.

“I don’t think your sister liked me very much,” he said, grip on the steering wheel tight.

You sighed, hand coming up to massage your temples. That had been a mess, a whole ass mess of a conversation and attempt. “She’s just…been through a lot. She was always going to be a tough sell.” You knew, her first thought would always be to be suspicious. It was just a side effect of what you’d all been through. She was probably setting up the bat signal for the group right now.

“I mean, you could’ve mentioned the fact that she had weapons in her home!”

At that, you snorted. “I’m sorry, I genuinely forgot!” The look Eddie shot you made you laugh again. “I swear, she’s had them since high school! Besides, I told you about the shotgun!”

“Nancy Wheeler, with guns – plural. Who would’ve thunk?” Eddie said, shaking his head.

Hopper’s steady voice teaching you how to shoot drifted up from an old memory and you smiled. Oh, the stories you had to share – you shook your head. One earth-shattering problem at a time.

There had to be a solution to this – there had to be. Eddie had gotten caught up in his narrow escape from your sister’s house but, the silent – almost contemplative – drive back to the apartment made him feel like he was going to crawl out his skin.

This wasn’t the end. It couldn’t be. There was always an answer, it had to have been something Eddie had missed. You couldn’t just…go. Jesus, Eddie thought, he couldn’t even think the word. Death. His grip on his keys tightened at the faint echo of the word.

No. There was something else.

“What are you doing?” You asked, eyes looking suddenly exhausted. Slumping into the sofa, he took a second to admire the sliver of exposed skin as your hem rode up.

Focus, his mind reminded him.

Right.

Eddie continued rifling through the books he’d bought from the bookstore. One of them had to have the answer of how to get you back into your body. He’d read through the night if he had to.

“The answer to getting you to wake up is in one of these books,” he said, flipping through one Max had recommended. “It has to be – I’m not…we can’t just give up!”

You grunted, not moving.

“Maybe a chant or a spell or something?” Eddie asked, mostly to himself. His eyes darted across the pages, frantic.

Immersing himself in a recounted story about a man claiming to have seen the other side, Eddie startled when you finally spoke a few minutes later.

“Where did you get this?” Your voice was soft.

He glanced at you and watched you pick something up. Well, fuck. Eddie closed his eyes, mortified. You’d found the framed photo of you on the beach, the one where you were beaming at the camera with a flower behind your ear.

“The hospital.”

At that, you finally cracked a smile. Eddie’s heart flipped at the sight. “Yes, doofus, I got that. Why did you take it?”

Not wanting to lie to you, he shrugged. “I wanted something to remember you by. I thought…I thought that I wasn’t going to see you again. I know it’s creepy but, I can’t exactly take a picture of you. At worst we’re at least friends? Right? We learned to get along eventually.” Eddie tried to keep his tone nonchalant but the glint in your eyes told him you’d seen through him.

“And at best?”

Eddie felt like he’d been struck by lightning. “What?” He croaked.

You placed the frame back onto the window frame. “You said at worst, we’re at least friends. And at best?”

His heart stumbled again, beating so frantically at his chest that he was sure you could hear it. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable and Eddie knew you weren’t really looking for an answer. You were teasing him because he was a breath away from a breakdown. Really, since last week. You were already turning away from him, playful smile widening, when he answered.

“At best, we’re an opportunity at something I don’t want to let go of,” Eddie admitted, watching your eyes soften.

The admission settled between you both, sinking into the air. Your smile morphed into something sad, a reflection of what he felt. Your eyes stayed on his for a moment and Eddie’s heart jumped into his throat. For a brief moment, he contemplated flipping the world the bird. Because how was any of this fair? How could you just look at him like that and he…he knew you understood what he meant. How do you come crashing into his life, make a space for yourself, then get ripped out of it so quickly? What was the point in Chrissy, in after, in all of this then?

“Of course I find the one guy who isn’t an asshole when I’m dead. I feel like the universe is laughing at me.” You said, skirting around it just like he had, trying to inject levity into the tension.

Eddie snorted, hand coming up to the back of his neck. “Welcome to the club, it’s been laughing at me for years.”

“Keep the photo,” you said quietly.

Wincing, still acutely aware of how weird that was, Eddie glanced at you. “I’m sorry.”

You ducked your head and smiled. “Don’t be – it’s…that’s really sweet. I wish I’d have something to remember you by. I don’t think I need one though – you’re unforgettable, Eddie Munson.”

Eddie’s heart gave another painful thump but you kept going.

“If there’s an afterlife, you’ll have two people looking over you,” you joked, like that hadn’t just been like taking a punch to the throat. “I’ll check in every once in a while, obviously I’ll be super busy.”

“Obviously,” Eddie said faintly, eyes trailing after you as you paced. Suddenly whirling around to him, you crossed your arms.

“If you start dating the girl downstairs, I’ll flicker your lights and unplug your fridge for years,” you threatened.

Eddie laughed, surprised by your glare and he held up a hand. “I promise.”

“Good,” you said, satisfied. You gave the photo one last look. “Something to remember me by. If you move that is. In fact….”

You walked over to the bookshelves and pointed to a small ceramic ladybug on the top shelf. “That is my favorite. My first one. I found it in a second-hand shop near my dorm during undergrad. Before they come in to clear the rest of my stuff, take that one. Even if you’re afraid of my sister, go to my funeral. Okay? I’ll be watching.”

The idea of him at your funeral made his stomach drop to the floor. He couldn’t even fathom it.

“You’re not dying.” Eddie said, eyes stinging as they returned to the book in his lap. You couldn’t. “I’m going to find something.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to spend my last few hours frantically looking for a solution that might not exist. You did the best you could, Munson. Okay? Let’s not waste the last night.”

Eddie hated the resignation in your voice. The tears that shined despite the effort you were putting in to conceal them from him. Eyes back on the book, he nodded. “What do you want to do then? Where do you want to go?”

“What?” You asked, smile returning. Eddie’s chest tightened and his eyes burned but he couldn’t think about the incoming familiar grey clouds of grief. He’d be damned if you didn’t get to do exactly what you wanted with whatever time was left.

“You said you don’t want to spend your last night being sad or wasting it looking for an answer we might not find. So, what do you want to do? I can get a flight out anywhere. I’ll do anything. Wherever you want to go. Anywhere that takes visa,” Eddie said, momentum building.

Smiling at his enthusiasm, the way you always did, Eddie watched you turn bashful. “Can we…try something?”

Curious, Eddie took a step in your direction. You didn’t get embarrassed, at least not with him.

“Whatever you want, Bug,” Eddie said. Which is how he found himself on the bed, on his side facing you. Your eyes were wide, one arm tucked under the pillow. “Why do you look so nervous? I haven’t been able to touch you before.”

Your eyes darted down to his lips then back up to his eyes. “I think that’s why.”

Furrowing his brows, Eddie didn’t understand. “That makes no sense.”

“You don’t make sense,” you scoffed, crossing your eyes and sticking out your tongue. Eddie fought his grin and shot you a deadpan look.

“Cute.”

Looking too pleased with yourself, you grinned. “I thought so.”

“At the hospital, you said you could feel my touch,” Eddie thought back to what felt like days ago. Your hand beneath his.

“I could.”

“Maybe if we concentrate here, it’ll work again,” he said hopefully. The universe owed them that much.

Eyes scrunching in an emotion he couldn’t place, you sighed. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“When have I ever?” Eddie asked, indignant. Amusement flickered across your expression as your eyes settled on his hand.

“I really want to hold your hand,” you said quietly, barely audible. “It sounds stupid now that I’ve said it out loud but…that couple outside the bar? I just – it’s not fair.”

Eddie smiled, throat closing, and he knew you heard what he couldn’t say. Lifting your palm up, Eddie placed his by yours and sighed when yours disappeared through his.

“Maybe our luck’s just run out?” You asked, eyes sad.

“Did we ever have any to start with?”

You looked up from your hands to his face and nodded. “Even if it hurts, I got to meet you. That was worth the luck.”

Jesus Christ, Eddie felt like every single nerve in his body was reaching towards you – wanting to feel something, anything. A little morsel that he could turn into a memory and cling to after you were gone. Fuck, you were really going to go. The denial was starting to crumble around him and Eddie felt his sanity slip.

“I think I know what my unfinished business is,” you said quietly, interrupting his mental breakdown.

“What?” He whispered, not able to get any louder. Your entire face beamed at him and Eddie wanted to bottle the warmth you radiated.

“You.”

Eddie’s eyes darted between yours, his heart sputtering awake again – after all these years, after all that heartbreak. It beat twice as fast, each second bringing it closer to jumping out his chest and into your palms. Because of course it would. Of course, he’d find someone he liked who was also destined to leave him.

And goddamn if that was not the curse of his fucking life.

Chapter Text

Eddie’s body felt like it was on fire, high off the adrenaline rush, he waved to the crowd of fans and ran off the stage.

You stood there, jumping up and down with a beaming smile on your face. “That was amazing! Holy shit, did you hear them cheering?” You said, arms coming around him the moment he was within reach.

Happy, he wrapped you in his arms, nose dipping to your hair. Ticklish, you laughed and squirmed away from him. “Eddie!” He wanted to live in the sound of your laughter.

“Hey, post-show hug is practically mandatory now. You can’t just leave me hanging,” he insisted, his hand finding your bare hip under your shirt.

“Alright, alright,” you said, burrowing into him. “You guys played so well.”

“Thanks Bug,” he said, kissing your temple. “You hungry?”

“Always.” With a glance around, you frowned. “Where are the guys?”

The guys? Eddie took his eyes off you, arms loosening as he searched for Jeff and Gareth. “They were right behind me.”

Your hand came up to your temple and Eddie’s heart dropped into his stomach. “What’s wrong?”

“My head,” you grumbled, “it hurts.” Without warning, you went limp in his arms and Eddie screamed your name.

“Don’t do this to me. Wheeler!” He shook you, his voice trembling.

Not again. Please, not again.

Eddie felt his hands clench and he jerked up from the bed.

A dream. It was a dream. He brought his hand up to his forehead and took a few deep breaths. Eddie turned to the other side of the bed and realized it was empty. He glanced at the windows and noticed the sun high up in the sky. Shit. What time was it?

“Wheeler?” He called, voice shaking and a touch too loud. You couldn’t be gone, you couldn’t.

When you don’t answer, he scrambled to stand – tripping on his shoes – and running out into the living room. You were bopping your head along to a song playing softly on the radio, your eyes watching out the bay window.

The wood floor creaked with his movement and your head whipped around towards him. Eyes softening, Eddie’s heart flipped at the sight of the slow smile on your face.

“Good morning,” you said, tucking one of your legs under you. “Sleep okay?”

Eddie blinked. The echo of the feel of your limp body in his arms made it hard to shake off the last bit of dread. He thought of your words last night.

“I just want to hold your hand.”

Glancing at the clock by your head, a crazy idea started growing in the back of his mind.

“Eddie?” You called out, standing. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Fuck it,” he said, turning towards the room and grabbing his sneakers.

“What?” You asked, following close behind him. “What’s happening? Are you okay?”

“No, Bug, I’m not okay,” he said, almost bashing his head against the desk as he struggled to slip his shoes on.

“I’m confused, what’s going on?”

Eddie turned to you, slipping his jacket on. “What’s happening is that I’m not letting you die.”

“I – I don’t know what that means,” you said, hands on your hips. You looked grumpy, annoyed that you weren’t following.

Why was that frown on your face so endearing?

“I’m going into that hospital. I’m not letting them take you off life support – we can figure out how to save you. We just need more time and if Nancy isn’t going to listen…then we just gotta do it this way.”

Without waiting for you to answer, he grabbed his keys, wallet, and locked the door behind him.

“What the hell Munson!” You half-yelled, jogging behind him on the stairs.

Turning abruptly, you skidded to a stop on the landing behind him. “When we first met, I kept telling you that you were dead. It was me though, I was the one who was dead and you brought me back. You saved me. Now it’s my turn to save you,” he said, crossing his arms and daring you to contradict him.

“How?”

“I’m going to steal your body.”

The silence that followed echoed throughout the stairway. “What? Are you insane?”

Contemplating the question for a moment, Eddie nodded. “A little yeah,” he said, turning and pushing the lobby door open.

“Eddie! You can’t do this,” you insisted, following closely behind him as he walked towards his van.

“Why not?” He asked, not caring if anyone saw him talking to himself.

You threw your hands in the air. “Because for one, I’m pretty sure it’s a felony!”

“So what? You think I care what happens to me if you’re not okay? At least this could buy us more time,” he said, turning around to face you.

Your expression softened and Eddie could feel the tide turning as you scrunched your nose. “The shit you’d have to know to even start pulling this off-”

He punched his fist though the air and you rolled your eyes. “- you know them. You’ll walk me through it.”

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you tapped your foot like you usually did when you were thinking through something. “You’re going to need help, someone who you trust entirely and will do what you say no questions asked.”

Eddie grinned, knowing exactly who to call. “I got someone, come on – we don’t have a lot of time.”

Eddie braked loudly, the tires screeching. “Jesus Eddie, be a little more subtle,” you grumbled, hand coming out as if to steady yourself.

He shot you a look and you shot him one right back. Ducking your head to glance out the window, Eddie watched your brows furrow. “I think I know someone who lives here.”

Eddie snorted. Steve lived in a fancy building downtown that had a pool Eddie sometimes came by to use. “Yeah? I’d say I’m surprised but considering we’ve had a million chances to meet in person but haven’t I’m no longer shocked by anything.” Which was true, at this point – he’d be more shocked if he was thrown into a parallel universe.

The passenger door was suddenly yanked open and he watched you scramble into the back seat before you were sat on. Eddie glanced back at you but you waved away his worried look. He reached out to tug Steve into his seat hurriedly and grunted when Steve smacked his hands away.

“Munson, it’s too early for your bullshit. What’s the emergency?” Steve said, rubbing a hand down his face. Without an explanation, Eddie pulled out into the street and Steve pulled his seatbelt on. “Jesus man, where the hell is the fire?”

Before Eddie could answer, you popped your head between the seats and turned to Steve. Eddie felt a slither of jealousy and tried his hardest to stomp it down. Steve tended to draw the most attention out of everyone, he’d always known that. Your attention, however, surprised him.

“That’s who I know who lives there! The Hair!” You screamed, expression completely gob smacked at the coincidence. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Eddie – do we know all the same people!?”

“The Hair?” Eddie asked, confused. Where had he heard that before?

Steve’s head whipped around to Eddie. “What? How do you know that? No one’s called me that in years.”

You brought your hand up to your mouth. “That’s Nancy’s ex-boyfriend!” You exclaimed as Eddie glanced at you. “You had to have heard they were dating in high school. Oh my God! That’s the ex she freaked out about!”

Eddie’s eyes widened, remembering the story you told him from last night. “This is the guy who confessed his love to Nancy before her wedding?”

Steve straightened like he’d been struck and gaped. “How the fuck do you know that? If you tell Robin I’ll murder you and hide the body. I’m a psychologist, I can do it.”

“Eddie, you have to tell him,” you said fervently, “Steve’s my friend. I haven’t seen him in a while but we spoke on the phone all the time. Him and Dustin used to always come over my old place. He has to know.”

“Not yet,” Eddie said.

Steve shifted, expression turning worried. “Not yet what?”

“What?” Eddie parroted.

“Okay, you’re scaring me dude,” Steve said, with his therapist voice. “What’s happening?”

Shit, this just got a bit more complicated. The sight of the medical bay bought him a few more minutes.

“We’re here! I’m…buying medical supplies. For work. I need your help moving it,” Eddie said, words stumbling together.

You rolled your eyes and scrambled to follow Eddie out the car. “Medical supplies? I don’t know if my body counts as medical supplies!”

“Shut up,” he hissed, walking over to the elevator. Steve followed close behind, grumbling.

“Third floor,” you said, “the supply closet is on the left-hand side, third door on the left. You can override the system with a code.”

Steve’s tentative voice floated over to you both. “Uh, this doesn’t look like a medical sale Eddie.”

“Jesus Christ Steve,” you said, rubbing your forehead. “75231,” you pointed to the keypad on the wall.

Pushing into the room and hurrying in, you started pointing to all the supplies he’d need to go through with this. “Breathing tube, one of those – not that one, yeah that!”

Eddie started dumping everything into a crate nearby until Steve’s shout made you all freeze.

“Munson, tell me what the fuck is going on!”

His eyes darted to you, standing by the door, and you pointed to the clock. “Eddie, you’ve got to tell him. Now.”

Steve put his hands on his hips and Eddie watched you struggled not to smile. “Okay, remember how I told you I was seeing someone? Well, my hallucination isn’t a hallucination – she’s the spirit of a girl who’s in a coma down the hall who they’re about to take off life support and we need to save her.”

The silence afterwards was actually painful. Eddie tried his best to keep his eyes on Steve’s but the way the blatant disbelief in his expression screamed at him, Eddie fidgeted.  

“Holy shit you’re actually having a mental breakdown. Munson. Seriously,” Steve whispered, taking a few steps back.

You looked to Eddie. “Tell him about me – tell him who I am.”

“It’s Nancy’s little sister – she’s standing right behind you,” Eddie said, eyes on you.

At that, Steve straightened. “Nancy Wheeler’s little sister? MD? Oh my God, she is in this hospital. The accident. How do you know her? I thought you guys didn’t – she never went to school with us.” Steve looked at him suspiciously. “She behind me right now?”

“MD?” Eddie asked, brows furrowing.

You smiled, as if remembering something. “That’s what he calls me sometimes, since we were kids – before he was a douchebag – he called me MD. Said he knew I’d always be a doctor.”

Eddie’s eyes softened at your smile but his eyes flittered back to a stressed looking Steve. “Harrington, how long have you known me?”

Steve frowned. “Since kindergarten.” You rolled your eyes and Eddie fought to mimic you.

“Okay, how long have we been friends?”

“Summer after graduation when we both started working at Family Video.”

Eddie nodded, crossing his arms. “Would I be shitting you about this?” At Steve’s look Eddie grunted. “Harrington.”

“I don’t know man.”

You rubbed a hand down your face and glanced again at the time. “We don’t have time for this!” Eddie looked stressed before Steve nodded.

“Okay if she’s behind me right now, then what am I holding up rock paper or scissors?”

Steve hid his arm behind his back and Eddie watched your nose scrunch up in worry. “Rock,” you said, eyes on Eddie over Steve’s shoulder.

“Rock,” Eddie relayed and Steve frowned.

“Lucky guess.”

Eddie waved an impatient hand and Steve’s hand swapped to paper. This went on for a few rounds until you gaped.

“What?” Eddie asked you.

With a growl, you crossed your arms and hissed, “He’s flipping me off!”

“Are you flipping her off? Don’t be an asshole,” Eddie said, stressed.

Steve shook his head, eyes looking wary and a little scared. “Okay, lucky guesses. There have been studies of people who’ve dealt with trauma having empathetic abilities.” What the hell did that even mean? Eddie thought, grabbing another item you’d pointed at and dropped into the crate. “Dude, even if this was real – let’s just say I believe you – why are you doing this for a girl you’ve never met?”

Eddie’s eyes crashed with yours and the world seemed to quiet. This was it, the question you’d both danced around for the last few days. It was crazy, totally and completely insane because really – he’d barely known you for a month. If that. But it didn’t make it any less true. Eddie had always thought that he’d be alone after Chrissy but he hadn’t been counting on you. Surprisingly, the words were easy to admit. “Because I love her.”

Your face softened and the small, little smile on your face broke his heart. How was any of this fair? “No one’s ever said that to me before,” you whispered and Eddie suddenly felt the need to show you in the thousand different ways that he could.

Steve popped the bubble you were both in and Eddie turned to him. “If it’s really her, ask her to tell you something only she and I would know.”

Eddie glanced back at you and you chewed on your lip, looking haunted. “Tell him…tell him I said I know what really happened at Starcourt. With the Russians. Don’t ask me, not now – he’ll know though.”

At that, Steve’s face went still. A flash of something crossed his face and Eddie restrained himself from picking at the wound. “Shit. It really is her, isn’t it?” Steve whispered, looking haunted. Holy shit, did Steve believe him?

“I tried to tell Nancy but she didn’t believe me,” Eddie rushed to tell Steve, explaining the last week in a disjointed manner.

“You know what,” Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair and nodding. “I’ve seen stranger things. Fuck it. If we get caught, I’ve never seen you before in my life. Let’s do this.”

Both of you broke from your trance, not wanting Steve to change his mind and rushed forward.

“Tell him thank you,” you said, jogging alongside them.

“We’re grateful,” Eddie said.

Steve snorted. “I’m not doing it for you.”

“What?”

“I’m doing it for MD. She’s a good kid. Nancy’s probably struggling under the weight of everything and isn’t thinking clearly. Or maybe she is and we’re being assholes. Whatever. MD is my friend and I’m not letting her die. Not after everything we’ve been through.” He sighed. “Also, one day I’m going to need help burying a body and I don’t wanna hear shit from you the day that comes. Or her.”

Sneaking into your room without raising alarm, Eddie couldn’t help but think that their luck had to run out soon.

Steve froze, eyes on your still body. “Wait. Holy shit, wait.”

“We don’t have time to wait!” You hissed, looking around frantically.

Eddie started following your instructions and snapping at a frozen Steve. “Dude!”

Steve insisted, his hands pointing to your body. “Wait I just remembered – I don’t know how I forgot. This is the girl, MD.”

Eddie shot him an annoyed look. “I know you said that.”

“No, I mean – she’s the one I set you up with. The girl you stood up. Nancy’s little sister.”

“What?” You both said, glancing at each other. Then he watched your face go blank.

“I was going to meet Wheeler?” Eddie stuttered.

“Yeah. You stood her up because you said you weren’t ready and she didn’t make it either because…well, shit she had the accident.”

Feeling like he’d be upended and dumped into cold water, Eddie felt his stomach flip. “It was you,” he breathed. “Is that it? Why I can see you?”

“I was supposed to meet you,” you said, hand reaching for his. “Oh my God, Steve called me that week. He promised me that he wouldn’t ever set me up with another weirdo after his coworker. He said you were a solid guy, someone who deserved someone like me.”

Eddie frowned, looking mildly annoyed. “You set her up before?”

“That’s what you focus on?” You huffed, crossing your arms and shooting him a look.

Okay, fair, but it’s not his fault he was picturing you with some hotshot therapist.

“How do you know that?” Steve asked, looking around the room.

“She’s here! She said you called her and promised no more weirdos. That I deserved someone like her.”

Steve blanched. “Holy shit, this is really happening.”

“Yes!”

“Okay come on,” Steve said, lighting up. “We gotta help her. I’m not letting MD down. We made it through Billy and demogorgons, I’m not letting this shit kill her.”

“Demogorgons?” Eddie scrunched his nose. “Like in Dungeons and Dragons?”

“Don’t ask questions!” Steve shouted, hurrying. Eddie helped him slowly make your bed mobile, your instructions coming from all sides as you hovered and inspected everything. With a quick check out the room, Eddie pushed your body towards the hallway and down towards the elevator banks.

“Why do I feel like everyone is staring at us?” Eddie asked under his breath.

Your wide eyes glanced around you and your hands hovered by his. “Because we’re committing a felony,” you hissed. Eddie’s heart pounded in his ears as a familiar face turned the corner.

Dr. Holland.

“Quick, run! Before she sees you!” You shouted. “A hospital is the only place where people don’t question when you run!”

Eddie picked up the pace, his breath catching, as you all skidded around the other corner. The elevator banks blinked to life and a nurse walked out of the furthest elevator with Nancy.

“Steve?” Jonathan called out. Eddie cursed, ducking his head and Steve turned.

Barbara’s voice echoed down the hall. “Wait! Hold on! Security!”

“Shit, Munson, we’re made,” Steve grunted as the elevator door in front of the bed opened and a security guard frowned.

Without hesitating, Steve knocked him back into the elevator and Eddie felt trapped. Your sister to his left and the doctor’s to his right.

“Eddie!” Your voice was his beacon in the chaos. Turning to you, he followed your pointed finger to your body. “Steve yanked my breathing tube out, I can’t – I’m not breathing on my own.”

“Fuck, fuck!” Eddie screamed. They were cornered. The machine attached to your left started screeching, your heartbeat and blood pressure dropping. This all couldn’t have been for nothing – it couldn’t have. “Don’t leave, please don’t leave me.” Eddie frantically searched the monitor like it could manifest an extra breathing tube.

“Eddie,” you said, sounding weak. “I’m fading – I see it, it’s pulling me.”

You flickered, like a television signal being interrupted. “Please, stay with me,” he said, desperately. Everyone hovered around him, he could see doctors scrambling for extra supplies – rushing towards you. Without a second thought, he leaned over your body and pressed his lips to yours. He heard you, to his left, gasp. Looking up, you had your hand up to your lips and heartbreaking look in your eyes.

“Eddie.”

“Bug.”

Before he could even speak, a security office hauled him off your bed and pushed him into the wall. The last thing he heard before chaos erupted was a soft cough.

What the fuck? You groaned, trying to roll to your side but your body wouldn’t listen. Panicking, you realized you couldn’t move. Why did your throat feel like it was both dry and on fire? Also, who the hell was yelling so loudly. Jesus, were you hungover? You were never drinking again.

The first sound to filter in was Barb’s voice. She was shouting commands and firm pressure on your arm alerted you to her presence. After a lull, as you coughed up a lung, eyes stinging – you heard your sister.

“Ladybug?” Nancy whispered. “Oh my God. She’s awake. Jonathan – she’s…she’s opening her eyes.”

“Wheeler?” Barb’s voice stung as the bright lights tried to blind you. The light flickered in and out of your vision until the burn wasn’t as painful.

“Water?” You rasped; your voice barely audible.

A flurry of movement made the world tilt sideways.

“We can’t have her out in the open, move her into room 315.”

“Is she alive? Am I hallucinating?”

“Is she okay? Please, just tell me if she’s okay!”

“Stats are looking good, blood pressure is rising back to normal, temperature is good, oxygen is climbing, holy shit this is…a miracle.”

As the pounding in your head subsided, you opened your eyes again and saw Barb’s face reading through your vitals. The blood pressure cuff around your bicep tightened painfully and you winced. “Where the fuck am I?” You said, voice finally working.

Every head in the room whirled to you and you blinked.

“Oh my God, she’s really awake,” Nancy said, breathless. “I can’t believe I almost let you tell me what to do. The one time I listen to you!” Her eyes welled and her hand was cold as she wrapped it around yours.

The pulsing in your head had died down but everything felt so overwhelming. “My head hurts, please don’t cry.”

Barb snorted, tears at her eyes. “She’s back, Dr. Wheeler is back in the house.”

The sound of something metal being knocked over had you wincing. A frantic voice called out: “Just let me see, please, I just-” Nancy’s tearful face left your side.

“Hey, no it’s okay – he’s a friend. Please, let him go,” she said, her hand coming back to yours.

Barb moved from your side to your chart, scribbling furiously. Jonathan quickly took her spot and his hand wrapped your other one. He squeezed tightly and looked like he’d aged a hundred years. “I’m so glad to see you.”

A little confused still, you squeezed back.

“Eddie?” Nancy said, reaching out for someone you couldn’t see. “I can’t – thank you enough. Honey, look its Eddie. Your friend?”

Your eyes turned towards the long-haired, watery eyed man at the door with a hopeful expression and you frowned. “I don’t know him,” you said, squinting. His expression dropped and you felt a little bad at the overwhelming sadness that replaced it. You felt like you’d just killed his puppy.

Nancy’s brows furrowed, looking back at him. “What? He said-”

“Bug, it’s me,” Eddie whispered, reaching out for your hand.

You pulled your hand to Nancy’s, feeling overwhelmed and panicked. Who was he? You didn’t – recognize him. A small twinge in your chest burst, as if begging your hand to reach back out to his. But you didn’t know him…why did it feel like you should?

Nancy turned to Barb who frowned. “It’s not uncommon for coma patients to wake up with memory loss. Her body has been through a lot.” She said, frowning sympathetically. “We’ll need to do extensive testing. For now, I need everyone to get out. We need to give our patient some time to recover. See what else was lost.”

Lost.

Why did that hurt you more than it should? When you glanced back at the doorway, Eddie was gone. Why did it feel like you’d fumbled on something important?

“Are you sure you should be working again?” Nancy asked, helping you drag your stuff up your walk up.

You stopped midway to turn and glare at her. She sighed before waving a hand. “For the hundredth time, yes Nancy, I’m fine!”

“Listen it’s not unheard of for me to be a little antsy about my little sister who was in a coma for months and who has the tendency to overwork herself,” Nancy argued. “Jonathan agrees.”

With a gasp, you turned to crane your head and glare at Jonathan. He winced and shot you an apologetic look. “I’ll always worry about you,” he said, and really what could you say to that? With a dramatic eye roll you turned back to the stairs and climbed the last few steps.

“Home sweet home!” Mike called from your couch, where he hung upside down next to Will and Eleven.

“Gosh, you guys are so helpful,” you said, rubbing the stitch at your side, “it’s not like I just got out a coma or something.”

Will winced, looking guilty but Mike just rolled his eyes. “You were just arguing about how we shouldn’t take it easy on you because of that.”

“I was literally hit by a truck! I get to use that whenever I want,” you huffed, walking towards your bookshelves and slumping over onto the bay window seat. Everyone began talking at once and you smiled. The chaos of your little family was always one you loved – it could be overwhelming at times but it was familiar and comforting mostly.

As Mike and Nancy began to argue, you sank into the cushion and frowned when a soft, faint scent floated to you.

Sniffing the air, you wrinkled your nose and realized the window seat smelled like cigarettes. Heart racing, you placed a hand to your temple in an effort to curve the sudden headache that bloomed. For the past month, ever since you’d woken up, you’d felt like everyone had moved everything two inches to the left. The world was just as you had left it but something was…off. There was something missing and it was driving you crazy that you couldn’t place it. The scent of cigarettes and…leather? Seemed to be the closest you’d gotten to putting your finger on it.

You didn’t have an answer but it was like muscle memory. Standing, you walked over to the stereo next to the bookshelves and ejected the cassette already inside.

Iron Maiden? You frowned and turned to your collection. You didn’t own any Iron Maiden…

As you tried to remember where you could’ve gotten it, you glanced up at your shelves. Eyes narrowing, you realized one of your figurines was missing.

“Hey, who took my little crystal ladybug?” You grumbled.

Ignoring you, everyone continued to argue over the toppings to the pizza Jonathan was ordering.

“Ladybug?”

You turned to the sound and saw Jonathan wiggle the phone in his hand. “Yeah?”

“It’s your homecoming, what do you want?”

“She wants Hawaiian,” Will exclaimed and with that, your stray thoughts were filed into the back of your mind.

Mike, Nancy, and you wrinkled your nose. “Ew, gross.”

“How’s work?” Steve asked, hands in his pockets as you both shivered against the sudden wind by the river.

“It’s good, I’ve finally finished all my physical therapy so I’ve been cleared for full shifts again,” you said, guiding Joey towards the left as a couple jogging passed you three. Her tail wagged wildly, excited to be out and in the park. “You?”

“I’m fine. I’m sure Nancy’s hovering, per usually,” Steve said, smiling when you snorted. “I’m glad you’re doing okay. You scared us there for a minute.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, “Barb’s thinking about writing a paper on my accident. Something about the benefits of certain therapies in helping consistent coma patients in waking up.”

“Only you would step into the ring with a four-wheeler and come out winning,” Steve joked, elbowing you. “The Great MD.”

“Shut up,” you said, laughing at Steve’s silly expression. You continued to catch Steve up on your week. These walks in the park with Steve, and sometimes Robin, had become a welcomed new habit between you both. It’d only been three months since you’d been discharged from the hospital but the accident had served as a good reminder to what was important.

Nancy had practically moved into your apartment from the number of times she’d come by. You could tell Mike had been worried because he’d drag his friends down to your apartment once a week. Even Holly had decided to take a weekend off and drove down from her campus to see you.

As you approached the end of the trail, you watched Steve fidget with his fingers and you knew exactly what he was going to bring up. “Steve,” you sighed.

“I just don’t understand,” he said, also knowing, “I know what I heard, what I saw – it has to be true. He’s explained it to us like thirty times. You’ve seen the look on his face, he’s not lying.”

Your mind conjured up the image that never seemed to leave the forefront of your mind. Eddie’s big sad eyes had been haunting you since you woke up. He knew you but you had no memory of anything Steve would tell you. He’d been asking you to have lunch or coffee with him but you’d clung to the notion that you were still healing from everything.

“It’s just impossible that it’s amnesia, Steve,” you reminded him, “how could he be the only person I forgot? I remember everything else.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “You said you didn’t remember the day of the accident.”

“That’s common with trauma injuries like mine,” you sighed, ignoring his triumphant smile.

He kicked a small rock with his shoe and shrugged. “I’m just saying, it’s not impossible. Improbable? Maybe. But we both know we’ve seen weirder shit and survived worse.”

“I’m not ready,” you admitted quietly. Not ready to confront the overwhelming sadness and…longing you felt at the hollow spot in your chest. You didn’t know what to do with it and you were afraid of what would tumble out if you went poking around.  

“Okay, I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at the floor and running a hand through his hair. Your heart squeezed in your chest at the sight of guilt on Steve’s face. “Coffee?”

“Only because we always get coffee,” you grumbled, elbowing him softly. He followed close behind as you made your way to the busy shop at the corner. “Can you hold Joey and grab me my regular? I’m going to run into the bathroom.”

Steve smiled and shot you a knowing look. “You’re trying to get out of footing the bill,” he teased.

“I paid last time!” You huffed, waving a hand and padding back to the bathroom. You waved at the on-shift barista and greeted one of the waitresses that you’d become familiar with.

A few minutes later you walked out, patting your damp hands on your jeans and froze when you rounded the corner. The mop of hair that haunted your dreams, and most of your waking hours, shifted uncertainly by the front door.

What the hell was he doing here? Your pulse raced, heart slamming against your ribs, and head aching like it always did when you went into overdrive.

You crept towards a pillar by a table and sat, hidden by the bookstand next to the display case. Trying not to let your mouth drop in shock, you watched Joey wag her tail furiously as he reached a heavily adorned hand down to rub her ears. Joey never let strangers pet her.

“-I just can’t do it anymore,” Eddie said, the sound of his voice making the butterflies in your stomach flutter awake. Why did he have this affect on you? Who was he?

“I just need more time – she’ll come around man,” Steve said, voice tinged with sympathy.

Eddie snorted. “Harrington, I can’t go through this again. Her and Chrissy haunt me, they’re always just out of my reach and the more I try to run to catch her, the further she gets.”

“But Wheeler isn’t dead, Munson, she’s alive-”

“-and that’s good enough for me, Steve. It really is. When we’d talk at night, she’d mention how she had so much life left to live. She had things she wanted to do and shit she hadn’t accomplished yet. Now she’s got the chance to do that and…that’s all I really wanted for her.”

“Eddie…”

“Look man, it was good to see you. I didn’t know you’d be here with her. I’m going to go before she comes back. I’ll see you, okay?”

You were surprised to feel tears welling and with every ounce of sneakiness in your body, you slunk back into the bathroom to splash water on your face.

Get it together Wheeler, get it together.

“All hands-on deck!” A familiar voice jolted you out of your half-sleep. Jenny scrambled behind you as you both darted from the on-call room and ran to the ambulance bay.

Hiding a yawn, you tugged on your gloves and watched the junior interns line up next to you. “What happened?” One of them asked you, rubbing their eyes.

Shrugging, you turned to Jenny whose mouth set into a firm line. “Five car pile up on the expressway. Diverting to us since we’re the closest level two trauma.”

Rolling your shoulders, you rocked onto to the balls of your feet and cracked your neck. As the first two ambulances parked, a flurry of chaos, frantic hands, and decisive instructions, you readied yourself for your turn.

The third ambulance screeched to a stop and a familiar paramedic shot you a desperate look. “Wheeler,” he breathed, almost relieved. He ran down the woman’s injuries and you studiously ignored the lump in your throat at the declaration that her car had been stuck under the truck. “Her name is Christina Jones.”

Working on the worse injury first, you started shouting direction to your interns. They hurried around you, hands working as you worked to stabilize her. “Christina?” You spoke to her as her eyelids fluttered as the intern to your left set the splint on her leg. “Christina, can you hear me?”

She groaned and you leaned in closer. “My name is Dr. Wheeler. You’re at Hawkins Hospital, if you can hear me, please squeeze my hand.”

Her fingers twitched in your hand and a small tinge of relief shot through you.

“I promise we will do our best to get you back up on your feet okay? We’re going to take you to get some scans. This is Alexandra Singh and she’ll be with you the entire time.”

The intern stepped up, wrapping her hands around Christina’s fragile one before nodding to you. “We’ll take her up to get a CT and we’ll beep you if we find anything.”

You squeezed her arm and pointed to Jenny, who was doing CPR on an urgent intake. “I’m going to assist here. Page me the second you get any results.”

A chaotic hour later found you scrubbing blood from your hands as you changed your scrubs. Barb squeezed your shoulder and she passed and slumped onto the nearest chair. “I heard the ER had a crazy night, how’s your patient?”

“Getting scans,” you said, checking your pager for the fiftieth time. “She hit…uh, a truck on the expressway and I haven’t gotten any news yet. I went up to check on them but she was still stable. Ortho was checking her leg.”

Barb’s face softened and she smiled at you sadly. “But she’s alive.”

“For now,” you grumbled, the memory of a flash of bright lights echoed through your mind.

Barb opened her mouth to no doubt say something wise when your beeper rang loudly, the note shrill. You glanced down at it, the 911 evident and you ran for the stairs like a madman.

Alex, a first-year intern, had yet to develop a poker face. And it was because of that, and that only, that you feel your heart plummet to your feet before she even spoke. “We think – she has a cerebral hemorrhage. They called Neuro and we’re going to get bumped.”

Cerebral hemorrhage.

“Her hand went up to her head in pain and she fell. Then she was just…gone.”

The memory and the voice it belonged to were gone before you could grasp at it. The news sent a pang through your chest and your hands curled into fists. Why did you feel so protective of her? A flash of a white coat and a familiar set of blonde curls at the end of the hallway had you moving.

“I want in on this case, she’s my patient,” you said to the on-call neurosurgeon. Peter blinked at you, surprised, before glancing at the scans.

“Alright, Wheeler, you can stay on,” he said, shoulders dropping. “Have you seen the results?”

You shook your head, already reaching for the lights. “Have you? What do you think?”

“Here’s to Dr. Wheeler!” Jenny’s voice echoed in the bar. Nancy’s beaming expression directed at you. “The woman who saves everyone she touches.”

“That sounded wrong,” you joked, wrinkling your nose as she laughed and your entire group cheered. Closing your eyes, you threw back the shot of dark liquid and winced as it burned on its way down.

A familiar arm came around your shoulders and you smiled up at Jonathan’s flushed expression. “What’s wrong?” He asked, ever the empath.

You shrugged, thinking back on this morning.

“She’ll make a full recovery? Thank you, thank you so much,” the man said, tears building in his eyes. His trembling hands reached for yours and you let him pull you into a soft hug. Blinking back your own tears, you smiled wobbly at him and smiled.

“She fought hard, your wife…she’s a fighter,” you said, squeezing his hand. “Did you want to see her?”

His head bobbled, gathering his things quickly and following you to her room. At the sight of her, breathing tube and all, he rushed forward.

“Oh, honey,” her husband said quietly, hands enveloping hers. “Chris, look at you. Chrissy love, I’m here. I’m right here.”

The pang that had hit you almost had you doubling over by the sudden headache.

“Nothing, it’s been a long week,” you said, wanting to switch the subject. “Who picked this bar? I’d never seen it before. It’s so close by too.”

Jonathan glanced around and you followed suit. You’d barely arrived five minutes ago, a small headache at the base of your skull, when Nancy and Jenny had rushed to the bar. The bartender was friendly, hair pinned up neatly, and hadn’t minded when you stared at her a little too hard.

“Nancy I think, she said Steve or Robin had told her about it. I think it’s open mic night,” he shrugged, pointing to the bar again. “I’m going to grab another. You want a refill?”

You nodded and settled better into your seat. Everyone was scattered across the bar, the interns who’d come along eager to let off steam and your friends were trying to get a good seat for the first performance.

Nancy startled you by slamming into the booth next to you, her drink spilling onto the table a little, and her wide smile told you she was a little tipsy.

“Hello you,” she giggled, her arm coming to intertwine with yours.

You laughed, happy she was finally letting go. “Hi Nance,” you squeezed her hand. “We’ve been here five minutes; how many shots deep are you?”

“I lost count,” she admitted freely, “Jenny’s really persuasive.”

Snorting, you tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and pushed some of the nachos at the table towards her. “Eat,” you instructed.

She grinned, taking a huge bite and almost choking on it when the lights darkened. “It’s starting,” she cheered, clapping. You took a sip of your almost empty drink and watched Jonathan try to balance four drinks in his hands as he made his way back over to the table. You were a second from standing and offering help when a familiar voice shocked you to your soul.

“Hey everyone, it’s been a while,” his voice sent shivers down your spine and you gaped up at the stage.

Eddie stood there, his guitar around him, and a confident smile on his face. The crowd in front of the stage cheered, hands reaching for him. He winked, hands securing the mic to its stand. Your throat went dry, eyes prickling with tears, and you felt trapped.

A sharp jab at your side startled you out of your spiral and you turned to see Nancy’s serious stare. Blinking, you both said nothing. Her hand came to yours, squeezing it tightly. Her gaze spoke for her.

Don’t be afraid. Stop running.

Nancy had been sure you were suffering through some type of amnesia. She’d told you all about his visit to her home – and while she wasn’t as sold as Steve, in her eyes he’d helped save your life. And that was plenty enough to earn her lifelong loyalty.

“Does he know?” You croaked, voice sounding pathetic.

Nancy shook her head. “I only knew a few minutes before we went to get you that he’d decided to play for the night. His friends convinced him and I knew you’d never stop running from whatever this is unless someone forced you.”

“Nancy, you had no right-”

“-I’m your sister,” she said firmly, all traces of her inebriation evaporating. The noise in the background faded as she held both your hands in hers. “We’ve been through so much – I’ve known you the longest. Before Mike and Holly – before everyone, it was me and you. It’s always been me and you. I don’t know what happened between you two, all the pieces aren’t adding up but we’ve been through enough to know that sometimes shit just doesn’t make sense sometimes.”

“Nance.”

“Talk to him. It doesn’t have to be tonight but just…give it a chance.”

Before you could think of a comeback, the first few notes of a familiar song pulled at a forgotten memory in your head.

Ooh, you can dance

You can jive

Having the time of your life

Ooh, see that girl

Watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen

Your mind was racing, your chest heaved like you’d been running a marathon. You didn’t want to pick at this, you didn’t want to learn you’d lost something. A nagging thought in your head had you turning to glance at the bartender, who stood clapping with an older man.

Why did you know the bartender’s name was Catalina? And her father, the owner, was Karl? How did you know when you’d never been here before?

I need air. Desperately, as the song wound down, you climbed over Nancy – ignoring Jonathan calling out your name and ran towards the blinking exit sign. Pushing the door opened, you found yourself in the side alley and gasped for air. You curled your hand around your throat, feeling like you couldn’t breathe.

Gulping down air, you let your heartbeat come down slowly. The panic in your chest settled after a few minutes. After a while, the feeling of the rough brick behind you and the sounds of cars whirling past filtered back in. The cold air nipped at your skin and you pulled your sweater tighter around you.

Blinking, you came back to yourself and realized you didn’t know how long you’d been out here. Stretching your stiff fingers, you shook out your arms and stilled when the door next to you opened.

Of course.

“Shit, sorry, I didn’t think anyone knew about this-” Eddie’s voice trailed off into a strangled inhale of breath and you both stared at each other.

Neither of you said anything, frozen in a weird limbo. Why did you feel happy to see him?

Eventually, Eddie cleared his throat, his eyes darting away from you. “I can smoke somewhere else,” he said, unsure. Suddenly, you felt horrible about how you’d been avoiding him.

“No, uh, it’s fine,” you said, straightening.

He glanced at you from the corner of his eyes. “Okay,” he said, lighting up. “I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”

“Neither did I, I’m sorry if I ruined it,” you said, wringing your hands. “You play beautifully. I always wanted to learn how to play the guitar.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Eddie’s face, dropping quickly when he glanced at you. “It’s not hard,” he said quietly.

After a moment of awkward silence, you felt like you were going to crawl out your skin. “Can I get a puff of that?” You asked.

Surprise flashed across his expression and you tried to bite back a smile. “It’s a bad habit, someone once told me I’d get lung cancer and die young,” he said, taking another deep drag.

“It’s true,” you said, blinking and feeling the déjà vu creep up again. “I just – need to get the edge off.”

He nodded, pushing off the wall and leaning forward to hand it off to you. His fingers brushed against yours, warm and familiar. A small shock had you fumbling and dropping the cigarette.

Faintly embarrassed, you couldn’t help but keep your eyes on his. Cigarette forgotten, his wide brown eyes pinned you to the spot and it suddenly became hard to breathe again.

“How do I know you?” You asked, desperate for answers to questions you didn’t know you’d asked.

Eddie gaze didn’t stray from you, eyes soft and understanding. “Maybe from another life?” He said quietly, words wrapping around you. He seemed suddenly anxious, his fingers lighting another cigarette and Eddie leaned forward once again.

Your eyes, however, darted to his fingers. Your own hand itched to grab it -- why did you want to hold his hand so badly? You were almost weak with it and for once, in this entire shitshow of a journey, you gave into what you wanted.

Intertwining your fingers together, your palms met and you faintly heard Eddie inhale sharply.

Forgotten memories came to you quickly, flashing through your eyes, slamming back into place with a click.

“It wasn’t another life,” you whispered, the hollow spot behind your rib cage filling to the brim. The constant headache at the back of your head cleared and you were able to take a deep breath for the first time since you’d woken up.

How could you have ever forgotten Eddie?

“No, it wasn’t,” he sighed, squeezing your hand with a sad smile.

“Eddie?” You stepped forward recognition lighting up inside you. Of course it was him. “Oh my God, Eddie?”

Surprised, he dropped the second cigarette. “Bug?” He exhaled, relieved. “You’re back.”

“I am,” you said right before he pushed you against the wall, lips crashing together fervently, desperate, and needy. Finally, you sighed, curling your fingers through his wild hair. His hand came up to your neck, molding your bodies together. Your teeth nipped at his bottom lip and you swallowed the small sounds he made.

When you came up for air, you shot him a look. “I can’t believe you tried to steal my body,” you said, catching your breath. God, you wanted to drown in him.

Eddie laughed wetly, his eyes glassy, and you didn’t have it in you to tease him about it. “I saved your life,” he said, wiping his face. “Shouldn’t that warrant a thank you?”

“Thank you,” you said, surprising him with your sincerity. “It’s been almost four months since I woke up. And you’re…you haven’t forgotten me?” You frowned; you’d spent longer apart than you had together.

His responding smile lit up the entire alley. “How could I forget someone like you?” His thumb swiped across your cheeks.

You smiled, warmth filling you from the inside out.

“I love you,” Eddie whispered, the words bouncing off the brick walls and slamming into your chest. “Even if you didn’t remember me, even if we barely spent any time together, nothing could change that. Nothing could take away what we’d gone through.”

Leaning back, you watched Eddie intertwine your fingers together and you felt like something within you finally clicked into place. “I love you too, Munson,” you said, cradling his jaw with your free hand. “I’m sorry I forgot it for a little while. I promise never to forget again.”

Music floated in from the propped door behind you and you leaned your forehead against Eddie’s.

Dancing in the deepest oceans

Twisting in the water

You're just like a dream

The woman’s voice was soft, words dancing and twirling into the air. They whirled around you both and settled into your skin.

“I can’t believe you played Dancing Queen,” you said, your snort echoing in the open air. “You really do love me.”

Eddie leaned away, brows disappearing into his hair. “I’m sorry, can we return to the fact that I committed a felony for you?”

“I mean, you were stopped midway so you attempted to commit a felony for me,” you teased, stroking the fire.

The look of fierce indignation on Eddie’s face made you bite your cheek to keep from laughing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that there were levels to this!”

“There’s not,” you shrugged, “I was just pointing it out.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes at you. “You see what ABBA does? It destroys relationships.”

“Oh my God,” you huffed, rolling your eyes, “leave ABBA out of this!”

“I can’t, you blasted their album every morning for a week straight!” Eddie exclaimed.

At that, you finally smiled. “Because you kept saying I was dead!”

“You were incorporeal and disappeared whenever you touched something at the start, you can’t exactly blame me!”

“I’m just saying that I was right – I was right then and I’m right now.”

Eddie gaped and the two of you continued to bicker good naturedly. Halfway through his impassioned speech you couldn’t contain yourself and you reached up to press your lips to his. Because, well, you could now.

“Was that a way of trying to shut me up?” He asked, eyes dazed, as he chased your lips.

You grinned. “That depends, is it working?”

Pretending to think for a moment, Eddie nodded emphatically. “Yeah, it’s working. Feel free to use this method whenever you want. In fact, maybe we should find a better place to do this.”

“What, the back alley of a bar isn’t romantic enough for you?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, happiness and affection practically bursting out of him, and shot you a look. “I feel like this is going to be our new normal, Bug.”

You shrugged a shoulder, looking up at him through your lashes. “Should I tone it down then?”

“Nah,” Eddie squeezed your intertwined fingers and you glanced down at them together. “I love it.”

Your heart skipped and you tightened your grip on his hand. “Yeah, me too.”