March 26th, 1986

The mobile home was eerily quiet, except for the radio buzzing at the driver's seat and small conversations happening in whispers. Robin had fallen asleep against the window, Dustin and Lucas nodding off ever so often. Lorraine watched them all sleep, a small, although sad, smile crawling on her face as Dustin's head leaned on her shoulder, bobbing up and down with the rugged road.

Her eyes moved over to Eddie, who was quietly watching the floor from the bench aside from the table. He wouldn't look at them, or her, which worried her. His hands tightly grasped each other, pressing his rings into his skin. Knuckles white, jaw clenched, brows furrowed. Lorraine couldn't imagine what was going through his mind, although she had maybe a few ideas.

A sharp right turn knocked Dustin off of her shoulder and out of his sleep, giving a loud grunt as he collided with the window beside him. Steve pulled the car into park, as he turned his head to look at everyone.

"Okay, we'll go in and get everything." He said sternly as he got up out of the driver's seat, Nancy close behind. "You guys stay put."

"No way!" Dustin objected loudly, banging his hands on the table.

Steve groaned and rolled his head back in annoyance. "Okay, okay, you and Lucas go stand look out."

Lorraine quickly got up to let Dustin pass by her, trotting off behind Lucas, Robin and Nancy. Steve stopped to look at Eddie, seeing he was still in his own little world. He shot a glance at Lorraine, with eyes of concern. She simply rested a hand on her arm, giving a small shrug, pursing her lips.

"I'll stay." She whispered to Steve, as he leant over and placed a head on her shoulder. Although they didn't hang out as much as he did with Robin, in that moment Lorraine could feel the concern and love he had for them, although conjured in a short period of time. He stared into her eyes deeply, squeezing her shoulder and giving a reassuring nod.

Quickly, he turned around and followed the others to the store, creating another eerie silence in the vehicle. Lorraine, hesitant, sat back down on the nook, her back facing the window and pulling her legs to her chest. She seemed to wait for what felt like an eternity before Eddie said something, but he never opened his mouth. He never even glanced at her.

"Eddie, what's wro-"

"You can't go by yourself." He hissed at her, only motioning his head towards her as his hands fumbled in his own.

"What do you mean?" She asked, puzzled.

"You can't go with them by yourself." He said, finally meeting her gaze. His demeanor didn't change, the look in his eye confirming he was both terrified and angry.

"And why not? They can't go without someone." She huffed, annoyed. "They're kids, Eddie."

"Yeah, well," He chuckled evilly, tossing his head from side to side "They've done this before, haven't you heard?"

"I don't care. I'm not letting them deal with Vecna by themselves," She sat up a little, leaning towards Eddie as she felt the rush of blood go through her.

"Well," His voice cracked and rose as he grew frustrated. "You can't!"

"To hell with that reasoning!" Lorraine raised her voice to match Eddie's, chucking her hands into the air in anger. "The only way we get out of this is if we help, Eddie. We can't just stand around and watch! If we do nothing, you'll still be 'Eddie the Banished' and Max would most likely be dead!"

"And I'm not about to let that happen." She finished off in a huff. Eddie's face went cold, a small part of Lorraine felt horrible for shouting at him, but she couldn't let him treat her like she was a child, or that she needed protecting.

"I never asked for their help," Eddie mumbled, turning his face from her.

"Excuse me?" There it was again, the rush of blood storming through her chest. "You didn't seem to complain, either."

"Well had I known what all this shit was about," He began to shout, but tried to keep his voice down, throwing his hands up in the air and looking at the floor before covering his face, muffling his shouts. "Had I known people were gonna die left and right I wouldn't have gotten anyone involved damnit!"

Lorraine then understood, with that last sentence, what Eddie was so worried about. He thought he was at fault, that everything they were doing was because of him. Her heart sunk in her chest at the thought of him blaming himself for everything, which is quite literally not what was going on. Her lips spread to say something, but her voice was lost in pain. Eddie rocked back and forth, his hand rubbing his face still as he shook his head as though he was reliving everything again, like he was trying to change the past.

"Go, go, go!" Steve ran into the mobile home, throwing a bag at Lorraine who quickly grabbed ahold of it.

"Our friends are here." Robin said, raising her eyebrows in panic, tossing another bag to the floor as the others scrambled to take their seats.

"Shit, shit, shit" Eddie mumbled, leaning back into the driver's seat as he tried to duck and cover as best as he could.

Steve quickly turned the engine on, pulling out of the alleyway where they parked. As they did, Lorraine saw a quick glimpse of Jason and his gang coming out of the War Zone, ready to fight or follow them. Luckily, he didn't seem to in a rush, or was just stupid enough to realize it wasn't them. She sighed in relief as she looked over to Eddie, whose eyes were still glued in front of him, lips sealed tight.

Lorraine continued to cut up the rags that Robin stuffed into the makeshift Molotov cocktails they had been preparing, passing them over to her as she did so. If it hadn't been for the fact that they were all shaping some type of weapon, she could have sworn it was just an afternoon with friends - plans to have a barbeque, play some games, drink and fall asleep under the stars. Reality, however, griefed her.

She stared out onto the field, the soft breeze creating waves in the tall grass. Lucas and Erika were making spears, although it seemed that Erika was doing most of the making - and teaching. Probably the two most badass women she had ever met were sitting together, committing a felony by sawing off the end of a shotgun.

Eddie and Dustin, a little further away, were wrestling. Lorraine's heart melted at the sight, smiling softly at the two adorable nerds. She saw Eddie in him, in Dustin, how lost he was as a kid and how damn proud he was. Lorraine was glad that Dustin had Eddie, that he could be there for him, and of course - being giant goofballs together.

"We need more, Lorraine," Steve said softly, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, shaking her head slightly as she continued to tear the pieces of old clothes they found in the mobile home.

"Dustin said you two were arguing." He continued, casually. "You okay?"

Lorraine bit her lip and raised her brows, Steve Harrignton caring for Eddie and her? It was such a weird thought.

"Yeah, I guess." She sighed, passing another dirty cloth to Robin.

"That wasn't convincing." Robin said slyly, smirking and nudging her on to continue. Lorraine chuckled, groaning in a playful way.

"He just doesn't want us to get hurt." She bit her lip, ripping the cloth a little more aggressively than before. "He blames himself for all of… this."

"Well he shouldn't." Steve said plainly, almost scoffing at the ridiculous thought. "It's no one's fault. This shit just… happens in Hawkins."

"I wish I could get it through his thick skull, though." She pursed her lips, raising her gaze to the two sitting at the door of the mobile home.

"Match made in heaven." Robin laughed, sticking out her tongue before Lorraine could say anything. Chuckling, she threw an old tshirt at her, almost causing her to spill the bottle she was currently filling.

With a deep sigh, she looked over at the others once more. Seeing how they were either chatting or playing away like it was a normal day during Spring Break, she smiled again trying to imagine that it was just that. A normal afternoon.

"We'll make it out." She said convincingly.

"Yeah, I mean the odds are on our side," Robin said, frightened almost. "But what if, just this once, it didn't work out for us?"

Lorraine tried to ignore the question, but as it entered her ears she looked on to what looked like a happy moment between everyone. She tried to picture them, just like that, eternally feeling unstoppable, like the end wasn't just around the corner.

"We'll make it work." Steve said, now only a few inches from Lorraine. At other times, she would have been startled, but having Steve wrap an arm around her shoulder gave her a sense of security that was easily found. He shook her back and forth, trying to wipe off her worried face, as he gave her a gleaming smile. She surrendered and began to laugh with him, as he leaned in a small hug.

"I think we'll need some more food, though," Robin said, interrupting the small moment. "I mean I'm starving."

"I'll get that going then," Steve said, placing a hand on Lorraine's head to lift himself off the ground. She smacked his hand playfully before he turned and entered the trailer, already scavenging for what the Bowman's had around. She could hear Robin place the bottles on the floor as she followed Steve, beginning to bicker like an old married couple over where the plates were or how to start the stove.

Lorraine smiled as she turned to the group once more, the sky beginning to change color as the sun hid behind the trees. She blinked slowly, giving a sigh of peace.

"We'll make it out."