"How did the appointment go today?" Robin asked as we were finishing up some minor tasks at work. Steve and Robin had put in a good word with their manager at Family Video for me, and I had been their favorite little coworker for the last two weeks.

"Fine." I answered as I was counting down the register. "They did a sonogram today, little baby freak is all healthy."

"Are you going to find out whether it's a boy or a girl?" Steve asked as he was stocking candy in front of the counter.

"I doubt it. I think I want it to be a surprise." I mused. "I don't care either way."

"Are you sure you're not just afraid that it will make it more real?" Robin asked.

"I mean, the fact that I spend all day every day with my head in the toilet makes it pretty damn real." I answered with a small laugh.

"Fair point." Robin stated, continuing to sweep the floors.

"How far along are you now?" Steve asked.

"16 weeks, or so they tell me."

Steve looked confused.

"Four months, dummy." Robin cleared it up for him.

Steve grumbled under his breath, "I can do math."

Robin paused, tentatively making her next question. "Have you spoken to Eddie since…."

"He broke my face?" Steve finished. For the last two weeks Steve wore a black and blue shiner around, and his nose was now slightly crooked from the break.

"No." I answered shortly.

"You know you can't avoid him forever, Wimey." Steve reminded.

I deflected. "I'm trying to count here, guys."

"Steve is right," Robin added. "This isn't like a normal breakup, you can't just not talk to him. Eventually he's going to want answers, and want to be involved, and to do that you have to balls up and talk to him."

"Robbie," I began, "If you could spend one day not obsessing over the drama between Eddie and me, that would be helpful."

"No need to be so moody, geez." Steve huffed. "We're only trying to help." Steve reached into the box of goodies and threw me a bag on dark chocolate M&M's. "Here, have a snack."

I gladly caught them and didn't retort something smart back. "Yes! I fucking love these!"

"Speak of the devil," Robin muttered, nodding towards the door. Sure enough there was Eddie and Rick getting out of the van in the parking lot of the strip mall.

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath.

"I'm going to go see what needs to be done in the back." Steve disappeared through the doors behind the adult video section. I couldn't blame him, the last time he and Eddie came face to face it ended poorly.

The bells on the door chimed, signaling their entry. From the corner of my eye I could see Rick immediately go roaming the door. Eddie paused for a moment, clearly not expecting to see me working here. I rolled my eyes dramatically at Robin and she gave a small smile.

"I didn't know you worked here." I hadn't heard his voice in so long that I forgot how much it affected me. My stomach did a backflip.

I turned around and plastered a fake customer service smile on my face. "Can I help you with something?"

Eddie stood there, chewing on his tongue. He clearly was not expecting such an icy reaction from me. "So that's what we're doing, is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I turned heel and started restocking the movies to their spots around the store. Eddie kept up easily.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Wyatt." Eddie retorted. "Are we still not speaking to each other?"

I stopped suddenly and wheeled around to face him. My voice was venomous, "How's your hand?"

A smile threatened the edges of Eddie's mouth, but he knew better. He glanced down to the cast on his hand and shrugged. "How's Harrington's face?"

I turned back around, continuing the task at hand. "You're absurd."

"What are you doing when you get out of here?" All of the hatred had melted from his voice. Instead there was a small sense of desperation.

I didn't let the tone in his voice sway me. I was sticking to my guns this time. "Not you."

Eddie laughed, still following me. "That's no fair, baby. You know I've only got one free hand, and it's not my good one."

"First, that's a you problem as you did that yourself." I hissed. "Secondly, I'm not your baby."

Eddie leaned casually against the wall, and I mentally cursed myself for finding him attractive. "Maybe not," Eddie teased, glancing down at my stomach, "But that one is."

Shit, I had hoped he forgot all about that. I sighed heavily, crossing my arms at him. "What do you want from me, Eddie?"

Eddie's eyes were soft as melted chocolate when he looked at me. I forgot how long it had been since we really were face to face with each other like this, my heart yearned for me to reach out and hug him, but I knew better. "I want you to talk to me, or even just hear me out."

My voice was quieter and void of any attitude. "There's nothing left to talk about."

I was relieved when Robin's shy voice rang out from the counter. "Guys, I hate to interrupt but we close in five minutes. So if you are getting something I'm going to need you to get to it so we can leave."

It took Eddie a moment to peel his eyes from mine and part of me hurt when he did. Eddie pushed himself off the wall with a sigh and called out across the room. "I'll meet you outside, Rick!"

My insides were screaming at me to go after him as he walked out the door, but my brain knew better. I knew that whatever I was doing, was for my own good and for Eddie's too. There was no sense in complicating everything. But my god, how I missed him.

"Is the coast clear?!" I heard Steve yell from the back.

"Yeah, you chicken shit, you're good!" I yelled back.

Steve emerged out of the doors with the keys for the front. "You know, Wimey, I'll allow you to call me a chicken, but keep in mind I did get punched defending you."

"I didn't need your help, Steve." I reminded him.

Steve shrugged after pulling on the door making sure it was locked and switching over the sign to 'Closed'. "Eddie has a temper, I saw him grab your arm and I got worried."

"Eddie wouldn't hurt me." I reminded him firmly.

Steve leaned against the counter casually. "Okay, but if you don't remember, he did push me against you and knocked you over."

"On accident." I answered quietly. I never understood the hate between Steve and Eddie, and even though I was still angry with Eddie, I hated when Steve made him out to be a bad guy. Steve didn't know my Eddie.

Or what used to be my Eddie.

"Come on, Wyatt." Steve said quietly, dropping the subject. "Let's get you home."

The three of us piled into Steve's car and drove the winding roads of Hawkins. I was grateful when Steve stopped through the drive thru and bought us all a heaping pile of greasy cheese fries to chow down on and some chocolate milkshakes.

The drive home was fairly quiet. Steve didn't blast music like Eddie did. Instead of heavy guitar the only thing that filled the air was Steve and Robin gossiping about the students of Hawkins High. Gossiping was something I didn't like to take part in.

Driving at night always reminded me of Eddie. At least three times a week he'd come steal me from my bedroom and we would just drive around all night. I missed the way his van smelt of cigarettes and weed. I missed the way his warm, calloused hands held onto mine. I missed when things were simple.

Of course that isn't something I would ever speak to Steve and Robin about. It made me sad to think that aside from Eddie and Seth, these two were the people I was closest to and I still held back my feelings. They didn't like Eddie, and they never quite understood why I did. So, to them, the idea of missing him the way I do is laughable.

It wasn't long before we pulled into my lot at Forest Hills Trailer park and the car came to a stop, pulling me from my thoughts of Eddie. "We'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Why is that a question?" I forced a laugh, taking a sip of my milkshake as I exited his car.

I walked to the door of the trailer and twisted the handle, it was locked. "Fuck." I patted down my pockets and realized I didn't have my key because I didn't drive. I knocked on the door hard, hoping to wake Seth up.

After a moment, Steve called out the window. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't have my key!" I shouted back. I knocked again at the door, "Seth! Seth! Wake up!" It wasn't like him to lock the door knowing that I was coming home, and he was usually a light sleeper.

I stood on a crate outside the kitchen window and peered into the dark trailer where he was laying on the couch. I knocked on the window, hoping the change of sound would stir him. Nothing.

Next moment Steve was next to me on the porch, "Are any of the windows unlocked?"

"No." I knocked at the door again.

"Give me a second." Steve went around to the trunk of his car and returned with a screwdriver. "What? I've had to break in after curfew a few times."

"Steve, I'm surprised at you." I slapped his shoulder teasingly as he popped the door open with ease.

"That's me. Full of surprises." Steve smiled, gesturing for me to enter.

I turned on the living room light. "Good god, Seth. Didn't you hear me practically beating the door down? Why'd you lock me out?" I flipped on the kitchen light.

Seth didn't move.

I felt my stomach sink. "Seth?"

I flipped the other light switch, so the heavy fluorescent light above the couch flickered on. I walked towards the sofa where he was covered in a blanket, all but his large foot that was sticking out. I nudged his shoulder. "Come on, Seth. This isn't funny."

I could feel panic bubbling up in my chest, I shook him harder. "Seth, wake the fuck up!" I saw something fall out of the blanket onto the floor. A needle.

I was done playing around, I yanked the blanket off of him with force. There he was, his usual brown skin with a greyish blue hue. I couldn't silence my scream. "SETH! OH MY GOD, SETH!" I quickly went around to him, trying to pull his stiff body from the couch onto the floor. I glanced up to Steve in the doorway with sheer terror flooding my voice. "STEVE, HELP ME!"

Steve flew to the side of the sofa with me, but instead of helping me pull him, he tried to pull me away. I yanked myself hard from his grasp, "Help me, Steve, help me get him on the floor!"

"Wyatt," Steve tried to get me to pay attention, "Wyatt, it's no use."

I knelt down at his side on the couch. The blood was already pooling to one side of his body. I kept shaking him, my entire body numb. He was already so cold. "Please, Seth! Get up! Please…"

I felt my body begin to shake, Steve was already across the room on the phone for an ambulance.

I ran my hair through his wavy chocolate hair, "Please don't do this, please wake up!" I looked at him, he didn't look much like my brother like this. I was waiting. Waiting to see his chest rise, waiting for a blink, waiting for him to wake up with a shit eating grin and say 'syke.'

"What's going on?!" Even his voice couldn't pull me from my thoughts. Eddie stood breathless in the doorway. "I heard her screaming, what's going on?"

"You promised me," I whispered to his lifeless body. "You promised me you'd be here." I felt my eyes start to get wet as I instinctively knew it was too late. He was gone. "You promised me I wouldn't go through any of this alone."

I felt my numb body collapse onto the floor, sobs racking through my chest uncontrollably. "I need you, Seth. You have to wake up. I need you." I took his hand in mine. It was cold and too stiff to move his fingers. "We need you."

Someone was next to me, their hand on my shoulder, trying to pull me back away from him. "Wyatt, you need to step outside and get some air."

I slapped Eddie's hand away from me. "Don't fucking touch me! I have to wake him up!"

"Seth, please," I pleaded on dead ears. "It's just you and me, remember? You're always going to be here to take care of me, right?" All I wanted in this whole world was for him to hear me and come back. "Please, come back to me."

"You have to help me get him up," I looked up to Eddie, vision completely blurred over with tears. "Please, we have to wake him up. I can't do this without him, Eddie, please wake him up."

Eddie gently knelt down and removed my hand from his body and held it tightly. It was clear he didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, Wyatt. I'm sorry."

Steve spoke to Eddie, their voices sounded so far away. "Take her out of here, she doesn't need to see him like this."

Eddie tried to pull me up, but my body was dead weighted to the floor. I couldn't peel my eyes of my brother, my best friend in the whole world lying on the couch. Nothing around me felt real. Eddie didn't waste any time, lifting me off the yellow shaggy carpet with ease and walking me outside. The lights from the police cars and ambulance were blinding. Someone in a uniform with a badge was already on the porch trying to ask me questions that rang in one ear and out the other lifelessly.

Eddie sat me down in a chair on the porch, and when he noticed I was shaking, he covered me in his jacket. Everything around me was spinning around but my insides felt weightless and hollow.

I remembered the last time I saw police cars like this. The night they came to tell us that mom was gone. I felt my body begin to break down as I sat there in the cold midnight air; "You promised you'd always be here. You promised. You promised…."