Eddie had watched the others leaving, the taillights of Steve's car getting smaller before they finally became little more than pinpricks, before he finally turned back to the boathouse. Belle stood near the boat, hands on her hips as she surveyed the room. She was staying with him. Staying in the crappy boathouse when she could have been going home and seeing her brother. She was staying with Eddie despite the fact he'd attacked her, that he'd just admitted to seeing something impossible. Even in the midst of the madness, she was still there.

'You didn't have to stay, Barrow,' he said, leaning back against the windowsill, keeping as much distance as possible between the two of them.

Belle didn't look at him straight away, but he saw her shrugging the comment away.

'But… thank you.'

Slowly, she looked up at him, folded her arms across herself. 'Didn't think being alone after all that was a good idea.'

'You guys actually believe me?'

She chuckled softly, a sound he knew came from disbelief rather than maliciousness; nothing ever came from a spiteful place with Belle Barrow. 'You're many things, Eddie Munson, but a killer isn't one of them.'

There was such conviction behind her voice that Eddie felt a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

'Anyway,' she said, tilting her head a little to the side and scrutinising him, 'when was the last time you actually slept?'

'Belle –'

'I'm serious,' she told him, taking a step closer. 'You need to sleep. Like actual, proper sleep.'

'Not really anywhere to sleep in here,' Eddie said, waving a hand around the place.

Belle's brow furrowed. 'True,' she mused, turning back to the boat. 'But we might be able to make something.'

'It's fine,' Eddie said, pushing himself away from the window. He wasn't even sure he really wanted to sleep. Chrissy's face would probably come back to him; the nightmares chasing away any actual rest that he tried to grab onto.

Belle scoffed. 'For a storyteller, you're an awful liar.'

Eddie gasped dramatically, earning her attention in an instant. He put a hand to his chest, as if she'd wounded him with her words. The small smirk pulling on her lips assured him that whatever concern she'd initially felt had been replaced with the realisation nothing bad had really happened.

But the look softened into something closer to concern. His insides twisted. How she could still look at him like that after everything?

'About earlier,' he started, but Belle shook her head and stepped closer to him.

'I get it,' she said softly. 'We didn't exactly give you a reason not to attack. Fight and flight and all that.'

'But still.' His attention dipped to her throat. There was no mark there now, no sign of how close he'd come to actually injuring her. And she could still say she didn't think he was a killer?

'You know what'd help you cope with it, even if only a little?' she asked, gently placing a hand on his arm.

Eddie swallowed the scratchiness of his suddenly dry throat. Belle wasn't necessarily the kind of person to initiate contact like that. Where he casually draped arms around people and bumped into them, jostled them as a reminder that he was there, she just shot small looks; quick glances to check in with people.

'What?'

Belle retracted her hand and headed towards the boat. 'Sleep. Now –'

'What about you?'

'I slept last night,' she said, grabbing the tarpaulin and bundling it up into something that resembled a pillow. She tucked it neatly into the boat, not glancing at him as she worked. 'Guessing you didn't.'

'I…' Eddie scoffed, there was no point denying it.

'Yeah, so…' Belle straightened and glanced down at the boat.

Eddie took a cautious step closer to the boat. It was mostly clear, his doing from when he'd scrambled to hide in it.

'Not exactly five stars,' she said before moving to take her jacket off.

Eddie hastily put a hand on her arm, stopping the movement. 'It's fine. Just… Talk to me?'

She nodded, shifting to flatten her jacket's shoulder back down. 'What about?'

He stepped into the boat, took his denim vest off to put on the tarpaulin in the hopes of stifling the sound it would probably make. 'Anything. Got three years to catch up on.'

'Eddie,' she said softly as he carefully settled himself in place.

He shifted a few times, unable to get comfortable. But it was easier to talk when he couldn't see the concern behind her eyes; the almost pitying look.

'Three years, Cinderella. That's a long time.'

'It's not exactly a cheerful story,' she whispered.

'But it's yours?'

He heard her settling, felt the boat shifting and he assumed she was leaning her back against the outside of it. 'Yeah, it's mine.'

'Good,' he said, still not daring to close his eyes even as the exhaustion tried to pull his lids shut. 'I missed you.'

'I missed you too.' She cleared her throat. 'I think we need a happy story right now though.'

'OK,' Eddie whispered, his eyes shutting before he forced them open again.

'Once upon a time –'

'A fairy tale?'

'Hush,' Belle said softly, and Eddie felt a small smile pulling at his lips. 'Once upon a time there was a young boy who climbed everything...'

Eddie felt his eyelids drifting closed. Belle's voice was soft, a gentle rhythm to her storytelling that he felt himself being drawn into. He had no idea where the story came from, how she knew it by heart, but he didn't care. She was there with him, and her vow to Steve that she wasn't going anywhere was something he clung to.

Mia had offered to do the weekly grocery shop if only so she didn't have to think about what Luis might be doing. He'd gotten home late the previous evening, resolutely avoided looking at her even as their mother chastised him for not coming home sooner; for not letting them know that he wasn't dead. He'd been silent, knowing better than to remind her that she'd known he was fine, but his hands had been balled into tight fists on his knees and Mia knew that whatever had happened, whatever Jason had said, the basketball team weren't going to give up until they'd found Eddie.

She turned a corner, attention caught by the little group of people having a harried conversation by the cereal.

'Steve?' she asked, spotting her best friend in an instant.

'Mia,' he breathed, detaching himself from Robin, Max and Dustin and giving her a brief hug. He pulled back, his hands on her shoulders as he surveyed her. A slight frown pinched between his brows. 'You OK?'

'Headaches,' she muttered, before shaking her head and only jostling her brain further. Dustin was still complaining at Max, but Robin had made her way over to the two of them. 'Um…' Mia chewed on her bottom lip nervously. 'Did you guys see the news?'

Steve glanced briefly at Robin.

'We don't think it's a normal murder,' Robin said, the words tumbling from her mouth in a whisper.

'So not the Russians?' Mia wasn't sure why the revelation that this wasn't normal actually soothed her concerns about it all a little. But it did.

Until she remembered Luis.

'Or Eddie?'

Steve shook his head slightly. 'Not by the sounds of things.'

'You know where he is?' Mia asked, looking at him sharply.

Shock flashed across Steve's expression, before he frowned at her again. 'Why?'

Mia let out a long breath, idly rubbed her temple by putting her finger beneath the arm of her glasses. 'Jason's looking for him.'

'Jason?' Dustin asked, and Mia noticed that he and Max were now standing nearby, their basket filled with random food items and a couple of drinks. Snacks more than proper food.

'Luis said they just wanted to talk to him but…'

'That sounds likely,' said Max, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Come on,' said Robin, glancing briefly around the aisle as if someone might have been listening to them. 'We should go.' Her gaze landed on Mia; her stomach fluttered, but she tried to ignore it. 'You coming?'

'Yes,' Mia said without hesitation. 'Just, what is actually going on?'

Dustin patted Steve on the back. 'Your turn to explain it.'

Steve scoffed but nodded. Mia just hoped that this wasn't going to be anywhere near as terrifying as last year; but something told her Hawkins no longer did "non-terrifying" in the way she'd come to expect.

Robin had spent most of the journey back to the boathouse glancing in the rear-view mirror, her attention skimming over Mia in an attempt to figure out what exactly was bothering her. She couldn't ignore the fact relief had flooded Mia's expression at the realisation none of this was normal. That they were once again being thrust into the realms of the Upside Down. But she understood.

However, as they neared the boathouse she found her thoughts straying back to Belle. To the determination she'd seen behind her best friend's eyes when they'd left her behind the previous evening. It had somehow helped her to find the courage to call Tey and lie to him. She'd kept it short and sweet, noted that Belle had gone to shower so she was calling him, and hastily hung up before he could ask too many questions.

'Do you think they're OK?' Steve asked as he killed the engine. Dustin was practically out of the car before it had fully stopped.

'Of course,' Robin assured him, attention on the boathouse. There was no sign of anybody having come to find them. No sign that anything had happened. Oddly, that didn't stop her from worrying though. What if Eddie had lied, or was somehow the target of all this? What if Belle had been killed simply by proximity?

She couldn't lose her best friend again. She just couldn't. Tey had done his best to reassure her that things were fine the first time, and the look of sadness behind his eyes was something that had stopped her questioning him as much. But this time, Tey had no idea the dangers that Belle could be facing. There was nobody to reassure her Belle would pull through – because Belle always found a way.

And it was her fault Belle knew about everything. Not telling her had been worse than revealing the truth, especially when she knew there was no chance Belle could leave Eddie alone with it all.

But Belle had seen the Upside Down before. She knew a little about it all, and Robin still had no idea why that was the case. It was something she hoped there'd be time to ask her about.

Movement snapped Robin's attention back to the present. Mia slid out of the car and carefully closed the door behind her. 'This is where he's hiding?'

'It's where we left them, yeah,' Steve said, locking the car before hurrying after the younger teens.

Mia merely nodded before following, offering Robin a small smile.

Robin just hoped that this time things would be a little easier to deal with.

Axel? Belle pressed, despite the absence of his presence. With all the strange goings on in Hawkins, she wondered how much of it he'd been involved in. If he'd known about it all while she'd been in hospital, or while she was away in Canada. How linked was he to the world the others had called the Upside Down? With Eddie finally sleeping – however much he was tossing and turning – Belle had decided to use the quiet.

She'd first heard Axel the day after the incident. She'd thought she was going crazy; thought that it was her subconscious trying to remind her that there really had been nothing she could have done to save her grandmother. He'd been a constant ever since. A voice that even medication couldn't perturb.

And then, when she'd returned to Hawkins, she'd seen him. Not in her imagination, not a ghost, but a real corporal person that even Tey had noticed. It changed everything. He'd suddenly gone from what she assumed was a trauma response to an even bigger question.

'It wasn't a nightmare.' Eddie's voice pulled her attention towards him. He was sitting in the boat, his arms folded across the edge and attention on her. He looked awful, though she supposed it was only to be expected after everything he'd been through.

'No,' she said softly, pulling her knees up to her chest, crossing her arms over them and resting her chin against them. 'Sorry.'

Eddie rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. He still looked exhausted.

Belle opened her mouth, before closing it again. She knew how he felt. Sure, there had been nothing supernatural about her grandmother's death, but the guilt he was feeling wasn't something she was a stranger to. Her heart thundered. Eddie needed words of comfort, and she was in a place to offer him some. The words stuck in the back of her throat though. She'd rather think of anything else. But a broken Eddie was something she couldn't bear to see. It broke her heart.

'When my nan died,' she said, lowering her eyes to the floor, unable to look at him as the memories came spilling out of her, 'I was the only one with her. I… I'd gone upstairs to grab a cardigan and when I got back she…' Belle sucked in a deep breath, released it slowly. Maybe her story wasn't one to share, maybe it wouldn't help, but now she'd started she wasn't sure she could stop. She dug her fingernails into her jeans, felt the slight pressure of them. 'Heart attack. That was what did it. Apparently she… she was dead before her head even hit the table. So, what I'm trying to say…' She scoffed bitterly, shook her head. 'I know what it's like feeling helpless in that situation.'

'Belle,' Eddie said softly, but she couldn't drag her attention back to him.

'I know it's not supernatural,' she continued, idly tracing her nail down a line in her jeans, 'and I know that it's –'

'Claribel.' Eddie's voice was slightly firmer this time. Belle looked at the door, worried somebody might have been coming, and then slowly allowed her attention to drift towards Eddie. He was already part way out the boat, making his way towards her. His dark eyes were filled with sadness. He crouched in front of her; a distance between them that she knew had everything to do with the attack the previous evening. 'That's what happened?'

Belle chewed on her tongue softly. There were still times, even after the hospital and medication, between spending time away from Hawkins and trying to remind herself the reassurances of the paramedics who had arrived on the scene, that she felt she'd somehow disappointed her grandmother. Still times when she wondered how things might have turned out if she hadn't have grabbed that cardigan.

She felt the prickle of tears burning behind her eyes as she nodded. She could have sworn there was a warm stickiness on her hands that still needed to be washed away.

Tentatively, Eddie reached for her hand. He gave it a brief squeeze as she slowly looked up at him again.

'You didn't run away though, Claribel the Courageous.'

A wet scoff escaped her. 'I did, though. It just took me longer.' She used her other hand to wipe her eyes. 'You're not going to be on the run for almost three years.'

The barest flash of a smile passed across Eddie's face. There and gone in a matter of seconds; so quickly Belle wondered if she'd imagined it.

'It's going to be OK, Eddie.'

She could tell he didn't quite believe her; that he was still mulling over everything that had happened. The complete unknown of everything had to make it that much harder for the events to sink in.

He looked like he was about to say something, but his expression crumpled. He put a finger to his lips, his hand finally moving away from hers. Belle frowned, forced herself to listen. Footsteps, heavy footsteps at that, seemed to be coming towards them.

'Maybe you should…' Belle's voice faded as Eddie awkwardly hurried to the window at a crouch.

'Shit,' he whispered, breathing fast as he grabbed another shattered bottle from the floor. 'Oh shit.'

The door swung open. Belle, closest to it, jumped up and prepared herself to fight.

'Jesus!' exclaimed Eddie.

Belle chuckled softly as she took note of the others, Mia with them now and looking a little paler than normal.

'Delivery service,' Dustin said, holding the groceries up as the others piled in through the door behind him.

Steve waved, waggling his fingers as a smile grew on his face.

'Well at least it's better than hitting everything with an oar,' Belle teased, accepting the hug Robin offered her and hastily wiping the remains of tears from her eyes.