Here we are at the last chapter! I really hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :) Each comment you guys left made me smile and I'm really glad you stayed along for the ride.
January 7th 1985
Charlie looked up at Hopper's cabin, a box of toiletries in her hands and butterflies in her stomach. She'd been to the cabin more than once in her short time in Hawkins yet it looked different somehow this time, despite everything being the same. The title of home was the only thing that had changed.
She felt an arm wrap around her waist only a second before Steve appeared by her side. Though she could tell he was doing his best to suppress an expression of worry he wasn't doing a very good job of it. "You okay?"
Looking up at him she nodded her head, her bangs brushing in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm good." She said, flashing him a smile to convince him. "It's just… a big change."
"I know." Her boyfriend leaned down to press a kiss on the top of her head. "But it's all good change, right?"
"Right." Charlie agreed. "How many more boxes are there left to bring in?"
"Two after this one." He said, tapping the top of the box she was holding. "Then we can go out for lunch."
Charlie excitedly headed inside the cabin to the room she now shared with Eleven. Another bed had been put into the room, both against the wall on opposite sides of the room. Steve had helped her pick out bedding, clothes, and anything else she might need for the move. His parents were coming back from their vacation later on that night and Charlie was glad they managed to move her out in time.
After setting the box she was holding Charlie took a step back and looked around the room she now called her own. The cabin was small and modest to say the least, and no place on earth would have quite the same place in her heart as Steve's house, but it was her home. The first proper home she'd ever had.
To think she could never met Steve and his friends had dreams about the lab not been bothering her blew her mind. Though she'd only been in Hawkins for a handful of weeks she couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
Hopper poked his head into the doorway and interrupted her train of thought. "Everything's brought in." he said. "We're thinking of going to lunch at Benny's. That sound good?"
She turned to look at him. "Eleven's coming too?" Hopper nodded, to her surprise. "Okay, I'll be out in a second."
"We'll meet you in the car."
Once he was gone and Charlie heard everyone go outside to wait for her she went into the bathroom down the short hall and closed and locked the door behind her. It was like an itch on the back of her head, somewhere inside her brain, that she'd been doing her best to ignore for the better part of the hour. Once she was alone in the privacy of the bathroom she walked over to the mirror and gripped her hands on the percaline of the sink.
Charlie squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head down, a groan of struggle escaping from her throat. She knew it was only a matter of time before either she'd have to tell them or someone would notice, specifically Steve, but for now she was keen on keeping it to herself.
She let out a sigh and opened her eyes back up to look at herself in the camera. The sight of brown eyes on her familiar face was jarring and she immediately brought her hands up to rub her eyes.
It took a little while, and a lot of focus, for her eyes to return to their icy blue color and for her mind to be cleared. When she felt normal once more she let out a sigh of relief and hurried to join her friends before she started to slip again.