"Is this everything?" Eddie asked, carrying another box into his trailer and dropping it onto the coffee table. Eddie did most of the packing for me, seeing as I was still not mentally well enough to bother touching any of Seth's things.

I glanced into the box briefly, noticing that it was a box full of my brother's clothing. "Yeah, that should be the last of it." I was so grateful for Eddie helping me out and trying his best to make this easy on me, especially knowing that I was completely against moving in with him in the first place. It took him a solid week of convincing.

Truthfully, these last two weeks with Eddie were the only times I had truly felt anything since Seth died. I almost felt alive. I'd never admit that to him, though. Eddie would never let me live that kind of confession down.

Eddie noticed the flash of grief in my eyes when I saw the contents of the box, and he immediately took it out of sight until I'd be ready to go through his things. Once again, something I appreciated him for. I never had to explain to Eddie what I was feeling, it was almost like he could read my thoughts.

"We're really glad to have you stay here, Wyatt." Wayne said as he was eating the dinner I had made and gathering his stuff for work. "I know I really missed a good home cooked meal."

I smiled at him, "Was Eddie letting you starve to death again, Wayne?"

Wayne laughed teasingly. "You and I both know that you're better off starving than eating what he cooks. That boy could burn water."

"I believe it." I answered with a playful smile at Eddie. "I just figured I'd help out as much as I can. I don't want to be too much of a burden while I'm taking up space here."

"You're never a burden." Wayne assured. "Besides, Eddie told me the good news. There's going to be another little Munson Monster running around, raising hell. You're going to need all the help you can get."

I shot Eddie a look. I wasn't aware that he had been telling people that I was pregnant.

"I was a nightmare of a child." Eddie laughed.

"As a child? You grew out of it?" I answered. "That's news to me."

Eddie shot me his signature devil horns and stuck his tongue out at me, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. The sensation felt foreign to me after so long.

"I heard you're going to go back to school tomorrow?" Wayne asked, helping himself to another scoop full of mashed potatoes.

Eddie had sat opposite him, making a plate of his own. "She's going to." His answer came before I could voice any hesitation on the matter. "If I have to go to school, she's going to school."

"Eddie…"

Wayne interrupted before another round of bickering could break out. "At least there's only one day until Spring Break. You can give it a go and if it's too much on you, you'll have some time to recover."

Wayne knew I wasn't going to shoot back at him. "I suppose so." That didn't stop the sick feeling in my stomach. I didn't know if I was ready to be out and about yet. However, if I bailed on school there was no way I could convince Eddie to go. Eddie was on track for graduation, and I wasn't going to let my grief be the reason he didn't get that diploma finally.

Everyone finished their plates, and I cleared the table, filling the sink to start the dishes as Eddie loaded the sink. Wayne threw on his boots and jacket, "I'm off. You two kids behave."

Eddie yelled after him with a laugh, "You can't make me!"

It was quiet for a few moments as I washed the dishes and Eddie dried them, putting them away in their various places. Eventually Eddie spoke. "I have something for you."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, "What's that?"

"I found some things when I was packing stuff up." Eddie stated, his tone difficult to read. "I think it may help you figure out some things about your dad."

"Don't sound too excited for me or anything." I mumbled sarcastically.

Eddie rolled his eyes, dramatic as ever. I took a handful of suds and smacked them playfully into his face. "Don't roll your eyes at me either, Munson."

Eddie wiped the bubbles from his face with too much force, blowing raspberries everywhere. "Oh now you've done it." He took the hose to the sink in his hand and switched on the water, absolutely soaking me as I tried and failed to duck out of the way.

"Eddie!" I shrieked.

His devious laugh shook the walls.

"That's fucking freezing." I complained.

"And that's what you get." Eddie teased as he turned off the water, and put the hose back into its proper spot, he threw me a towel while cleaning up some of the water off the floor. When he stood up to look at me, he laughed. "You look like a drowned kitten."

"Very funny." I hissed.

"Go put on some dry clothes," He said, stepping aside to let me through the hallway. "I'll go get the box and meet you in the room."

I did what he said, feeling somewhat anxious to see what he found. It took him a few moments to return with a small lockbox that had been broken open. Eddie sat down on the bed, handing it to me. "I'm sorry that I broke into it. I was just curious if what was in there was important enough to pack up. I didn't go through most of it, but it looks like documents and shit."

I dumped out the contents all over the bed and started sorting through some of it. "I wish I knew where to start."

Eddie was hesitant to speak, but when he did his voice was quiet. "Can you just promise me something?"

I looked at him, giving him my undivided attention but he didn't meet my eyes. Eddie was playing nervously with the rings on his right hand. "Whatever we find out about your dad, can you just promise me that you aren't going to just shut me out?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Eddie sighed heavily, and I could tell that he rolled his eyes again. "I mean, Wyatt, I don't want to have to chase you all over the country because you get some wild hair up your ass to go live with a man you haven't seen or heard from in years. It's a stupid thing to do."

I muttered sarcastically. "Gee, tell me how you really feel."

Eddie took both my hands firmly. "I'm being serious. I know how impulsive you can be. I need you to promise me that if it comes down to it, you aren't going to run away from me." When he spoke again, his voice was soft and there was a hint of pain behind it. "I can't lose you….not again."

"Again?"

"Wyatt, we went almost two months without speaking." Eddie reminded me. "You completely went AWOL. We lived two houses away from each other…I found out you're pregnant with my child…I told you that I am in love with you and you literally disappeared. We spent every single day together this entire year, and then you completely checked out."

I went to speak but Eddie stopped me before I could interrupt him. He held up a hand, "I'm not finished. I know this isn't the ideal circumstance for you to be staying here, and I know this doesn't change anything between us because you've made that very clear, but I have you again and I'm…. Wyatt, I'm scared that you're going to disappear." Eddie was choosing his words carefully. "So, forgive me, but I need a little reassurance here. I know that isn't your strong suit, but you have to give me something."

It took me a moment to decide what I wanted to say. No, scratch that. I knew what I wanted to say, but the walls I had built up wouldn't come down. Not even for Eddie. "I really don't want to have this conversation right now."

Eddie stood up in a flash of anger. "You never want to have this conversation, Wyatt! That's the problem! I'm leaving myself open here and you can't even meet me halfway!"

"Eddie, can you please calm down?" I pleaded quietly.

Eddie's laugh was dark. "Damnit, can you show some sort of emotion?! I'm sick of being the only one who cares, I feel like you've played me like a fiddle this entire time! There's no way you don't feel anything!"

Little did Eddie know how much I had felt for him, especially over the last few months. I don't know why I couldn't just force my mouth open to tell him. It's like I was broken, and no matter how much he pleaded, my brain refused to make the words that my heart desperately wanted to say to him. Seeing him upset like this made it even more difficult to say anything at all.

Eddie snatched the keys off the dresser and snagged his shoes, headed for the bedroom door. "Where are you going?" I asked breathlessly.

"Out." His voice was harsh, and he called out to me as he opened the front door with a voice full of venom. "The phone's on the wall there. I'm sure you'll want to call dear old Steve and tell him all about this the second I pull off."

The door slammed hard, knocking something off the wall in the living room. I made sure to flip him the bird out of the bedroom window as I heard the van peel out on the gravel. I hated moody Eddie, but even worse I hated spiteful and jealous Eddie.

I sat there on the bed with my head in my hands for a moment. Frustrated wasn't the word for what I felt. I was truly angry, but the anger wasn't towards Eddie. I was angry with myself for being so cold towards him, he had every right to be angry with me. I groaned heavily, turning my attention to the mess of shit all over the bed, grateful for the distraction.

I looked over to the ornate box on the nightstand and spoke. "Well, Seth, I guess it's time to find dear old dad." I flipped through some of the papers and noticed a few pictures. There was one of me when I was small, maybe four years old.

I vaguely remembered this photo. We were at a carnival, and I remembered riding the carousel over and over again. The white unicorn. If I thought hard enough I could almost hear the music and smell the funnel cake.

There I was holding this stupid stuffed bear. I remembered that the only way I could be convinced to get off that ride was for someone to get me this bear. I laughed, realizing that I was always this fucking stubborn, even as a child.

I was on the shoulders of a man. The man was young, but I know that my mother had me at a decently young age. It was funny, the man was handsome, and I could see that he had the same cheekbones as me, but other than that there was not much resemblance. I clearly got my looks mostly from my mother.

Seth was standing next to the man, holding his hand and looking up to him with his classic shit eating grin. Seth and I had different fathers, that was never a secret, but Seth looked truly comfortable with him. I looked at the back of the photo to see if I could see any names written or anything giving away the man's identity.

Hawkins Fair, 1971

"Hawkins?" I questioned out loud. I was confused, I hadn't known we had ever been here before. That didn't make sense to me. "How is that possible?" I wondered if Seth had known we had once been here, and maybe if there was some reason he had moved us here.

I set aside the picture and moved on through a few more. I found another one of the same man with my mother. Mom looked so happy, her tan skin glowing and her face broken into a beautiful white smile, we had the same green eyes. I couldn't see much of the man's face, but he was placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head. They looked happy. They looked to be in love.

The next papers I grabbed were paperclipped together, and appeared to be official paperwork. I noticed that the top page had 'State of Indiana Birth Record' written across the top. It was Seth's. It had our mother listed, she gave birth to Seth at the tender age of fifteen years old. Father, unlisted.

"Like mother, like daughter." I muttered out loud.

I sighed heavily, nervous to look at the next page. I unclipped the papers and moved the second page on top. My heart raced as I read the second page top to bottom.

State of Indiana Birth Record

Name: Wyatt Louise Stephens

Date of Birth: September 12, 1968

Place of Birth: Indianapolis, IN

Mother's Maiden Name: Diane Louise Stephens

Father's Name: Henry Isaiah Creel