Chrissy pulled into the trailer park, nervous that Eddie's uncle would finally lose his patience. She knew of overprotective dads that would threaten their daughters' dates. Would Eddie's uncle do the same to a girl that repeatedly called his nephew and was now making an unannounced visit? She was relieved when she saw Eddie sitting at a table outside, reading a book. No need to knock after all.

Despite her fear of what was happening in Hawkins, she smiled as she approached. "Are you actually studying?"

Eddie let out a short laugh. "Nah, this is something else. I was finally able to get a copy of this." He handed the book to Chrissy. She accidentally read the first word as "friend" and stopped herself. "Fiend Folio?" Given recent events, she wasn't sure how thrilled she was by the sharp toothed monster on the cover. It looked just a little too much like…him.

"It's for Dungeons and Dragons. Henderson wants to use spring break to get a new campaign going. With that book, he won't know what hit him."

"I see," Chrissy said. She didn't want to stray too far from what she intended to say, so she got right to it. "Did you see the news this morning?"

Eddie scribbled something in a notebook. "Nah. I can't say I keep up with current events."

"Someone was killed last night."

Eddie looked up. "Oh jeeze. I thought this stuff was over last summer."

"If I tell you something," Chrissy began before sitting down across from Eddie. "Will you promise to hear me out? Not judge, or think I'm crazy?"

"I think you're great, but I can't make that promise when you preface what you're going to say with 'don't think I'm crazy'."

Chrissy took his hands in hers. His rings poked her thumb but she didn't care. "Please."

Eddie looked directly in her eyes. "Fine."

Chrissy sighed. "I didn't believe the stories about monsters in Hawkins until a week ago. When I approached you about buying drugs, I was trying to escape. To get away from someone that was haunting me."

"Who?" Chrissy had half expected Eddie to be smirking, but he looked genuinely concerned.

"This man…but he's not really a man. I started seeing him everywhere. He's tall, his face is almost skull-like."

Eddie dropped his face onto the table. He covered his head with his arms.

She felt irritation grow inside her. "Eddie. You promised. Don't laugh."

"I'm not laughing." His face shot up, and his eyes were watery. On the verge of tears. "I'm freaked out. I saw the same guy."

"When?"

"Last night. I was dreaming, and you were in it."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"Nothing like that, honest. You were taunting me. We were at school, talking. Then I turned and your boyfriend gets me with a right hook. I go down, and you start laughing. But it wasn't like your real laugh. This was a cackle. You were saying we could never be friends. That I was a loser."

"No," Chrissy protested. "I would never do that."

"I believe you, but it felt so real. Then he showed up and…" Eddie trailed off.

Chrissy got up and walked around to the other side of the table. She didn't care what it looked like. She put her arm around Eddie's shoulder. "I think he would have killed me if it wasn't for you. I would never talk to you like that. But I did something worse. I think I brought him to you. I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me."

"I could never hate you," Eddie said. "You didn't know, and you needed help. I could tell on Friday afternoon that you were terrified, and not just from getting caught buying drugs." They sat like that for a minute before Eddie spoke again. His voice dropped into a lower tone.

"At least…we'll both die together."

"What?" she whispered.

Eddie grinned, but it was just too wide. His eyes fogged until they were completely grey. He lunged forward and clamped his teeth together as if to bite her and she shrieked, falling backward off the bench onto the grass.

"Chrissy!" Eddie reached down to take her hand and she scooted back. "Hey, it's me. It's me."

She started to have trouble breathing. Neither of them was safe, she realized. Her own safety had lasted a mere day and a half. Eddie grabbed her hand. "Hey, I'm going to have your back. I don't want to sound controlling or something, but I don't want you leaving my side. For both our sakes."

Chrissy got up and hugged him. "Yeah."

After letting go, she wrapped her arms around herself. "It's still cold this morning. It should have warmed up by now."

Eddie took off his jacket and held it in front of her. She took note that he waited for her to take it rather than move to put it on her. That would have been a boyfriend move. She eyed the patch on the back before slipping an arm into the jacket. "Dio?"

"Hell yeah. Holy Diver was like one of our theme songs in Hellfire Club. It reminds me of good times."

Even with the jacket, Chrissy wrapped her arms around herself again. "Eddie?"

"Yeah?"

"You think we should maybe, try to take the edge off again?" Chrissy put her index finger and thumb together like she was holding a joint and put them to her mouth.

They headed into Eddie's trailer. He gave her the joint first, and took it when he thought she had enough. "How long will it take to kick in?" she asked.

"It will probably be pretty quick."

Chrissy sat on Eddie's bed, playing with a strand of her hair. Before long, she grew impatient and stood up, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Eddie's Iron Maiden poster. The red devil and the yellow flames were so bright and beautiful.

"Eddie, this poster is really pretty."

Eddie started to laugh. "I think it's kicked in."

She joined in on his laughter, and didn't stop.

"Sometimes, I write for the D and D campaign after I smoke. It's how I come up with some of my best stuff. The stuff that really frustrates the hell out of Henderson."

Chrissy continued to giggle. "You are such a nerd." Eddie's smile faded. She remembered the discussion of his dream. How she had been cruel. It wasn't how she intended her comment. "I love it!" she added.

She made her way to the couch and watched as Eddie wrote. He brought a bag of chips and placed it next to his D and D books. Every now and then, she would break out into giggles again. It made Eddie smile.

"I was like that too before I built up a tolerance."

"Can I put on some music?" Chrissy asked.

Eddie nodded, and she walked over to the tape player. Master of Puppets was still inside. She was looking forward to listening to it again. When the first two songs were over, she spoke up.

"I'm a puppet."

"What?" Eddie said. He put his head up to look at her.

"A puppet. I'm a puppet."

"I know the song is about drugs, but sharing a joint doesn't mean you're going to be an addict now."

"I finally see the strings."

"Chrissy, did you get into the rest of my stash when I wasn't looking?"

"No, I don't really see the strings. But I know the metaphorical ones are there. Jason and my mom. They're the puppet masters. Can I have some chips?"

He handed her the bag. "Of course."

She began talking with her mouthful. "I have a goal. I want to go back to Enzo's."

"That Italian place?"

"Yeah. I'm going to order the lasagna. I'm not going to think about calories. I'm not going to think about fat. I'm going to enjoy it."

"What will your mom say to that?"

"I'm not there with my family. Or Jason. When I think about it, you're there."

Eddie grinned. "I am?"

"Yeah. For sure. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I don't want to be all controlling or anything, but when I imagine it, you're dressed up. You don't mind?"

"Assuming we live to see graduation, let's go there to celebrate. I'll dress to the fucking nines."

"Then it's settled. I'm going to survive, and you're going to survive, because seeing Eddie Munson dressed up will be a sight to behold."

"It's that simple Chrissy? Our survival?"

"It is," she said with a nod. "Because I'll make sure of it."

Chrissy and Eddie returned to the bench outside. Chrissy grabbed a Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook, since there wasn't much reading material that she could access without wading through the mess of Eddie's bedroom.

"So basically, what you guys do at Hellfire is…more math?"

"Yeah, but it's storytelling as a group. Each player has their own small piece of the story that they're helping to create. As the dungeon master, it's my job to referee and try to bring a little order to the madness."

Chrissy giggled. "It's hard to imagine you bringing order. I'm sorry."

"I can prove it to you. Come to a session."

"Do you think your friends would be okay with that?"

"Well, you know Sinclair already. I met his sister recently, and she's…enthusiastic. Just don't piss her off. I think Mike's pretty cool, and Henderson would be accepting. He comes off a little arrogant but he's a good guy. That leaves the other members of Corroded Coffin. I think they would be skeptical at first, but I know they would warm up to you in a hurry."

Chrissy found the idea of struggling to fit in a refreshing challenge, the more she thought about it. She resented everyone telling her how great she was all the time. She saw the way it turned Jason into an asshole, and she had to constantly fight the urge to just give in and allow herself to embrace the entitlement.

A car pulled up in front of Max's trailer. Chrissy's eyes were glazing over at the charts in the D and D book, so she looked across the road. She recognized Steve, who had graduated a year earlier and who she had hung out with at parties before. His ex-girlfriend Nancy was there too. Were they getting back together? The other girl had a familiar face, and Chrissy felt a little guilty not recognizing her. She was in band, that she remembered. Lucas, and Eddie's friend Dustin stepped out of the car also.

"Henderson!" Eddie called out.

Dustin walked across the trailer park, a frazzled look on his face. "I'm afraid we're going to have to postpone this time. Really. Holy shit, Chrissy's here?"

Chrissy put on as stern a look as she could manage. "Why wouldn't I be here? I'm not allowed to have friends outside of cheer and the basketball team?" She could tell that Dustin was staring at Eddie's jacket, which she still had on.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little surprised is all. Anyway, there's something really big going on and I don't know when the next game could be."

"You're talking about the murder, right?" Chrissy said.

"Nancy knew him. We're trying to piece things together. The neighbors said it looked like he was levitating."

Steve stood in the middle of the road, his hands on his hips. "Hey Dustin! Get over here."

"Sorry, gotta go."

"Wait," Chrissy said. "Maybe we can help."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure…"

"He almost got me after the basketball game."

"And I saw the same guy in my nightmare last night," Eddie added.

Steve ran over and put a hand on Dustin's shoulder. "This is not the time to be chatting about your magical monster campaign or whatever the hell it is."

Dustin turned to the older boy. "Let's hear them out."

Note: Since this alternate version of season 4 is going to be focused on Hawkins, I felt like incorporating Enzo's in a different way. It had significance for Joyce and Hopper, but what if it was important to another character for a different reason?

I know other Eddie/Chrissy stories on here have depicted them taking drugs together, and I hope it doesn't seem like I'm copying anyone. As I was writing this chapter, having Eddie and Chrissy smoke together to try to relax after a scary moment seemed like the next scene to go to.