4 MONTHS LATER

Eddie had never been unhappy exactly. He just had never been particularly happy either. Never satisfied with his life in Hawkins, always aware that there was something just beyond the horizon that was waiting for him. Something amazing.

He had always thought he would have to leave Hawkins to find it. It wasn't a big loss, after all he only had his Uncle and Hellfire keeping him around and it's not like he couldn't come and visit every once in a while after he left this shithole. Other than them, this town meant uppity snobs that looked down on him for his lack of money, his taste in music, his tattoos... He was the reject, the idiot that had to repeat his senior year not once but twice. The satanic worshipper, the cult leader that sacrificed virgins to goat gods.

Then, the number of people that cared about him, that saw him, just suddenly doubled at the beginning of the school year. The sun shone brighter every day over this shit town because of four freshmen.

Will was the only one of them that was close to his social class, yet Mike Wheeler gasped in excitement over his tattoos and told him all about his girlfriend and her sister who had tattoos of their own. Dustin let out a cheer when Eddie mentioned one of his favourite bands. Lucas awed over his collection of bandanas. And all four of them enthusiastically participated in his long drawn out D&D campaigns and regaled him with the highlights of their own games that they held at the Chief's daughter's house.

And then Hawkins really showed how it took the term 'shithole' to a whole new level. With an entire monstrous parallel world right under their feet, a horrific murder and over half the townspeople calling for his head despite the police protesting that they hadn't even interrogated him yet.

Those 24 hours had been a horror show. An actual please-wake-me-up-I-don't-like-it-here-at-all horror show of epic proportions.

But after that had come the happiness. The real happiness, not just content patience. That something that had been waiting for him, it was there, it had finally shown up. And wouldn't you know it, he only needed to cross over into the aforementioned monstrous parallel world not once, but twice, for it to reveal itself.

The Party was a Godsend, even all this time later he still thought so. He had believed that the four youngest boys of the batch were a blessing but he had not been prepared for the others.

Max, the tough girl with a fiery temper to match her hair. She had made him laugh so hard he had fallen to the floor holding his stomach so many times with her sass that he had lost count.

Little Eleven, who had intrigued him back when Mike talked about her so reverently, now teased him like a brother and inspired both awe and fierce protectiveness in same amounts. It was enough to drive him mad, but he had been considered crazy for long enough that it didn't matter. The wide smiles she sent him made up for any mischief she caused.

Steve, with whom Eddie had grown closer than he ever would have imagined following the extensive injuries that scarred half his face. He loved the man like a brother, had spent many an evening with him at the lake, watching the government set up their new watchtower and drinking their nightmares away, sharing secrets and confessions.

Prissy Nancy, the secret badass who could outshoot them all even in those frilly little dresses of hers. She still scared the shit out of him, but he would suffer through it if it meant he got to bask in her complete awesomeness every once in a while.

Robin, the girl that had shared many of her own secrets on the nights she joined Steve and Eddie. The one that he had held while she sobbed on his shoulder over the lump of useless flesh that now replaced her left ear and her hearing difficulties that came with it, even as Steve cried on his other shoulder.

Even Hopper, who remained stern and stoic as ever when they saw each other, who gave Eddie a subtle nod of respect every single time. The Chief of Police who actually approved of and cared for an ex drug dealer.

And Nora. The light in his life for these past few months (sometimes literally; he found he didn't do too well in the dark after a nightmare and her abilities had come in handy a fair few times), the woman who inspired him to be the man that he knew he could be. Brave, selfless, caring, protective. That had always been him, underneath the quiet patience and simmering fury, she had just helped him realise it. The woman who had opened her home to him in his hour of need, who had fed him, clothed him, hidden and protected him.

Eddie was so different now compared to the days before he watched Chrissy die, before he met the Party, before he fought an army of monsters.

Everyone and everything they had been through had a role to play in helping him see who he truly was, what he truly wanted.

As agreed, he had quit dealing to earn Hopper's approval, though he had mainly began the business as a way to get free drugs when he was sixteen. Turns out, it doesn't work that way and he had been too broke to continue his habits if he wanted to buy a new guitar, so in the end, the drugs were just another means to make money. And Hawkins was not short of available jobs; in fact, he was quite happy in his new position at the record shop and it allowed him to share his music with like-minded people that came in.

He was also working on a secret project. He hadn't gotten far, and he still had a lot of work to do before it would lead anywhere, but it had been pointed out to him that he had a very creative mind. He had to, to make the D&D campaigns successful. So he had taken his horrific experiences in the Upside Down, his creativity and narrative capability, had taken a leaf out of Stephen King's book, and had began planning a series of short horror stories.

An author wouldn't be a bad job. He had always been good in English and his campaigns were always the best, so writing was something he knew he could be good at. He just needed to work, and plan, and stick to it. It was a big project.

Of course, he hadn't given up on his dream of becoming famous with his music. He still practised every day, he still wrote songs, he still met with Hellfire in Gareth's garage. Nora and he were going to go to Los Angeles for a week for a relaxing holiday and they would be sure to scope out some record studios for him to keep in mind when the time came.

But first, graduation.

At last, he had made it. He had passed chemistry and now his family, old and new, was in the crowd watching him walk across the stage in his gown and cap, a great grin on his face as he stopped in front of the principal and accepted his diploma and shook the man's hand.

Then he turned, lifted his arms in victory, eyes closed as he savoured the screams of the crowd. Screams that quickly turned into gasps of shock and outrage as he lifted his middle finger and flipped the lot of them off.

The list of people he loved may have quadrupled in the past year, and he may now be celebrated as 'one of the brave heroes that took down Hawkins' serial killer' thanks to Dr Owens and his friends, but he didn't forget Jason and his clique, and all those like him.

"I love you!" He mouthed at Nora when the sound of her laughter reached his ears.

"I love you too!" She called, her voice carrying over the multitude of people between them.

He was going to rule this town. Hawkins had no idea what was coming.