Belle paced in front of her bedroom door, chewing absently on her thumb nail. Last night's sleep had been interrupted by thoughts of Axel, of the fact her grandfather's name had been written on the sheet, and of Eddie. Each new thought clamoured for her attention, and she wasn't sure which one to focus on. Part of her wanted to ignore the mystery of Axel for the time being, needing to try clearing Eddie's name before something more terrible happened. But then… Axel had been a part of her life for three years. He'd been the reason so much of her life had been upheaved.

And, if he was somehow linked to the Upside Down and everything that had happened, then surely she needed to figure out more about him?

A quick glance at her clock, and Belle realised that there was still time to do all of it.

'Maman?' she greeted softly, interrupting the soft music of the radio as she entered the kitchen. Her mother gave a slight start, but offered a small smile as she continued tidying. With her father and Tey out for the morning, there was no one to get in the way of reorganising their chaos; the task her mother had decided was morning work, apparently. 'We were talking about middle names yesterday, just like why people have them and stuff.'

Her mother hummed; it wasn't unusual for Robin's conversations to come back to the house, things that her best friend had randomly thought up and then Belle couldn't quite let go of. Belle wasn't sure where she was going with the conversation, what her mother might know, but she needed to try something.

'And I was thinking, why'd Tey not get Grandpa Godfrey's name?'

For a moment, she thought her mother had frozen. A stutter in her movements before she carried on, her back to Belle as she settled herself at the kitchen table. She kept her eyes on her mother, trying to figure out why there had been that blip in her actions. Why the simple question would garner that reaction, and yet she couldn't figure it out.

'Your father and I decided to use his father's name first,' her mother admitted softly.

'But not both?'

'Non.'

'In case I was a boy?'

Her mother was silent for a few moments, long enough that Belle opened her mouth to say something else, to steer the conversation in another direction. But her mother slowly turned to face her. Belle could have sworn there were tears in her eyes, tears that Belle hated to know she had caused in some way. She'd just wanted a segue into thinking about her grandfather, to ask about his past or anything to figure out why Axel wanted her to think about him. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction.

'We were going to take it in turns,' her mother said, a small smile flitting across her lips. 'Would have moved onto middle names next.'

'Did Grandpa Godfrey mind?'

Her mother chuckled, shaking her head.

Belle chewed gently on the inside of her lip. Part of her wanted to ask if he'd seen things, if he'd heard things that he couldn't explain. She'd never met her maternal grandfather, but perhaps he'd had an Axel too. Then again, if he had, would anybody have known?

'Now,' her mother said, and Belle thought she heard her sniffing as she turned to the counter, 'would you like some tea?'

'Um, yes please,' she said, wondering if perhaps there was another way to look into her grandfather. A way that might just help her figure out what Axel had been suggesting to her.

Eddie peered out of the window once more. With the others gone it was easy to think he was completely alone. Alone with the horrors that still plagued his thoughts; alone with the knowledge that at any moment the police could find him and arrest him for something he didn't do.

Or the basketball team.

He wasn't sure which option worried him most. Least of all when it came down to everything Mia had said. The look behind her eyes at the thought of her brother being with them. There had been genuine fear there; concern that he wasn't sure who it was for.

Would they have already spoken to Hellfire, or would Mia have warned them to keep themselves hidden? The not knowing was eating Eddie alive, and without the others there to distract his thoughts, it was easy to spiral. Easy to think about the worst case scenarios.

And what about the others? Would they think to find Dustin if Hellfire didn't tell them anything? At least Mike was safely away; there was no chance of them bothering him. And he hoped Lucas had played it safe, had offered to help them find him rather than putting himself in the firing line.

What about Belle?

Eddie crouched back beneath the windowsill and rested the crown of his head against the wall. He chewed on a hangnail, attention out across the water. He'd been grateful for Belle staying with him, but part of him was glad she was back home. At least when she was home she had her family around her, people who would be able to dissuade the jocks from talking to her. People who would stop her doing anything too reckless.

Not that Eddie would have let her put herself into danger, but sometimes that was easier said than done with Belle. He'd already been unable to dissuade her from moving his van.

Maybe he should have told her to stay home. Should have argued that she went back with the others and stayed home. This wasn't her fight. Maybe he should have tried to make her angry at him in the hopes it would have kept her away.

With a sigh, Eddie moved to rest his forehead on his knees. He wasn't sure he could take the idea of her hating him; wasn't sure he could have done what needed to be done to earn that ire from her. Seeing the way she interacted with Steve Harrington had only reminded him that she was a forgiving person. Even the uneasiness between them was surrounded by a care, a friendship, that nobody could have imagined back before she'd gone.

Perhaps he could find a way to persuade her to stay away when she next came back.

But, no matter how much part of him wanted to do that, a larger part was grateful that throughout all of this she'd been there for him. That she'd been willing to spend time in the creepy boathouse with him just so he wasn't faced with it all alone.

Belle rode slowly through the streets of Hawkins, her thoughts further from the road than they probably should have been. She'd lied to her mother, told her that she was going to stay with Robin again; in fact, she'd even packed a bag of things including her uniform for work, just in case. She'd hoped the ride to the boathouse would clear her thoughts, but if anything it was allowing her more time to think. To wonder about her Grandpa Godfrey, and if he'd known about the Upside Down. There was still so much about it she didn't know, things she probably should ask Robin about when she next saw her.

If there was time.

She had contemplated heading to Eddie's trailer, grabbing him some things, but she wasn't sure she could face Wayne. And what would she have said, anyway? It wasn't like she could just ask for some of his stuff without it being glaringly obvious that she knew where he was. Tey's clothes might have been an idea, but she couldn't do that without asking him. In the end, she'd settled for grabbing a spare pillow and blanket.

A figure on the side of the road caught her attention. Their shoulders were slightly hunched, but she was pretty sure she would recognise Axel in an instant now. Without thinking, she indicated and pulled over. Axel's attention shifted to her quickly, and she was pulling her helmet off as he rushed over to her.

'You're going to them, aren't you?' he asked, barely letting her dismount the bike before he spoke. His attention skittered around them, looking anywhere but at her. He looked more like he was searching for something than simply avoiding her eye. 'How have you been feeling? Have you –?'

'Jesus, what is this twenty questions?' she asked, trying for a small smile despite the feeling of unease that uncoiled inside her. She wanted to be angry with him, wanted to rage at the fact he kept giving her snippets of information rather than anything useful; information that made her question just what side of things he was on. But the panic behind his eyes, the dishevelled look of his hair as if he'd been running his hands through it, only made her concerned.

Axel's attention finally rested on her; she could have sworn tears glistened in his eyes.

'I… Clary, Hawkins isn't safe.'

She scoffed, unable to keep the sound back. 'Why, because of the Upside Down?'

Axel shook his head, ran his hands through his hair as he turned away, started pacing the sidewalk.

'Why can't you just tell me the truth?' Belle's question came out in a small voice; she was worried the words might be lost, but she needed him to give her something. Needed to understand who he was and why all of a sudden he was trying to stop her from doing things rather than pushing her towards them.

'You wouldn't believe me.'

'You know that's not true.'

Axel stopped, slowly turned to face her. She could practically see him debating whether to tell her everything, figuring out if now really was the time to tell her exactly what had been going on for the past few years. He opened his mouth.

Her heart thundered; what if he told her something awful?

'Belle!' Mia's voice shattered the moment.

Belle's attention snapped over her shoulder. Her friend was jogging towards her. Belle turned back, but Axel was already walking away, his hands in his pockets and head bowed.

'Who was that?' Mia asked, head titled a little to the side.

'Um, Axel. He's… He's a friend,' she said, not quite sure how the word fitted with him. She shook the uncertainty from her mind though, tried not to let herself be too irritated by the interruption, and shot a small smile to Mia. 'What're you doing here?'

'Easier to explain once,' Mia said, nodding towards the bike. 'You headed to see Peter?'

Belle rolled her eyes, though she was glad for the affectionate lilt to Mia's voice when she mentioned Eddie's nickname. 'All right. Let's go.' Her attention strayed to where she could still see Axel. Part of her wanted to follow him, to find out where he went, but right now Eddie needed her more than her curiosity.

The low rumble of an engine startled Eddie's attention away from the water yawning out behind the boathouse, and towards the window. Daylight should have made everything that little bit more comforting, however he was beginning to realise that being on edge was just a state of being for him at the moment.

'Shit,' he cursed, hurrying to the window. He crouched, peered over the windowsill. Belle's bike was easy to recognise, and he felt the knot of tension easing in his chest. Why she was back so soon, he wasn't sure, but he was grateful just not to be alone. With her, he realised, was Mia. The other girl looked slightly paler than normal as she finally took her helmet off, and Eddie wondered if it was the drive over or whatever news they were about to tell him.

'Peter!' Mia called as Belle pushed the bike a little towards the house in the hopes of giving it some cover, he assumed. At least they were both taking some type of precautions, just in case anybody was around.

Eddie carefully pulled himself away from the windowsill and headed towards the doorway. The danger of them being there, especially if the jocks were trying to find him, hadn't completely escaped him. But his need to not be alone had wormed itself deeply inside him.

A soft knock on the door, and Eddie realised that he'd completely frozen. He shook his head clear before hurrying to open it.

Belle shot him a small smile.

'You look like shit,' he said to Mia.

'Good to see you too, Peter,' she noted as the two of them stepped into the boathouse.

Eddie settled himself back into the boat, attention straying between the two of them as if he could distinguish what exactly they were about to tell him.

'Stupid question, but how've you been?' Belle asked, settling herself on the small stool. Mia lent beside her, a pinch between her brows that did nothing to settle Eddie's nerves.

He scoffed, a bitterness behind it that he'd hoped to avoid. His attention strayed to his hands. 'Nothing terrible has happened.'

'The most non-answer answer I've ever heard,' Belle noted, but there was no accusation behind the comment. Still, she didn't press and Eddie was grateful for that.

'So,' she said, tone shifting and Eddie glanced up to see that she was looking to Mia, 'what did we miss?'

Eddie's full attention went to Mia. Only now did he really notice that there was a haunted look about her that hadn't been there the last time. She'd looked weary, that much he remembered, but now there was something else.

'Well, we know how Vecna's picking people,' Mia said, her dark eyes dropped to the floor, shadowed slightly by her glasses. 'Everyone so far has been seeing Ms Kelley. Getting headaches, nightmares, that kind of thing.'

'Belle –?'

'How do we stop it?' Belle asked, cutting across Eddie's concern. Her attention was resolutely on Mia, a slight furrow between her brows.

She was the only person he knew that went to Ms Kelley regularly, and yet her fully worry appeared to be for Mia.

Mia exhaled deeply. 'We don't know yet,' she admitted, slowly looking between the two of them. 'But we're going to. We have to.' She heaved another breath. 'Max might be next.'

'Shit,' cursed Eddie, and Belle gave a gasp; her hands jumped to her mouth, but she slowly lowered them again.

'What else?'

Mia shot her a wry smile. 'All the warning signs? I've been getting them too. But,' she said quickly, eyes widening as Belle stood, 'I've been having the headaches for longer, whatever that means.'

'Mia –'

'Belle, right now, Max is the one in danger,' Mia said resolutely. 'And I've never been to Ms Kelley.'

'Belle,' Eddie said, trying to temper the thought that perhaps Ms Kelley had something to do with everything, 'any of those things sound familiar?'

Her attention remained on Mia for a moment, the concern obvious, before she slowly turned to him. 'They're familiar. But not because I've been dealing with them.'

A little of the fear receded.

'So, what's the plan?' Belle asked, dropping back to the stool.

'Sticking together, making sure nobody's alone just in case. Where possible.'

'What do we do though?' Eddie's voice was soft, regret coating each word. He'd not been able to do anything for Chrissy, not been able to help her when Vecna decided she was next. How could he deal with that again if he saw it? What if Mia was next? If Belle was lying?

'We'll figure it out,' Mia said, a soft conviction behind her voice.

Eddie just hoped that she was right.