This love is good,

This love is bad,

This love is alive, back from the dead.

Hawkins, April 28, 1986

Though Jason was dead and gone, the havoc he wreaked before going was not.

Mrs. Cunningham staunchly refused to believe her daughter had been missing for nearly a week of her own volition. It was the topic of several arguments the two had between the day Chrissy's mom picked her up from Hawkins General to the present day.

"I just can't believe it," Mrs. Cunningham would say, shaking her head, her lips set in a grim line. "I know you better than that, Christine."

"Obviously not," Chrissy answered, crossing her arms over her chest. Under different circumstances, Chrissy was sure her mother would be thrilled with the fact that she was maintaining her lowest weight in years despite Eddie's unspoken rule that she ate with him every day. Between Eddie's healing, news of Jason's death, her mom's attitude, and today's headache—giving a statement at Hawkins PD—Chrissy had been eating little and purging more often than she would like, though she was giving a concerted effort to stop. "Because what I've told you over and over, and what I'm going to tell the police, is the same. I left on my own. Nobody made me. No matter what lies Jason told, I went to Eddie, not the other way around."

"You shouldn't speak ill of the dead, Christine," her mother pushed on. She had stopped calling Chrissy by her preferred nickname and now only used her full, legal name when addressing her.

"How is that speaking ill? It's a fact that Jason lied. If he didn't want me to say he was lying, then he shouldn't have lied." Chrissy snatched her car keys out of the little, rose shaped porcelain plate that sat on the table in the entryway. She let the door slam shut behind her, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt. Caleb didn't deserve to have to listen to the two of them fight every day and Chrissy knew that. Her little brother was spending more and more time in his bedroom, with the volume on his video games set louder and louder.

It was the anger she tried to focus on as she drove to the police station. The call had come into the Cunningham residence that morning requesting that Chrissy give a testimony. Thanks to Jason, the list of suspects for the murders still included Eddie's name. Chrissy meant to rectify that.

Walking into the bland, gray space, Chrissy gave her name to the receptionist and took a seat in a chair that was hard as bricks despite sporting a cushion. She watched the minutes tick by on the wall clock while she waited. Ten had passed before a gruff voice called, "Miss Cunningham?" into the lobby.

She hated the way her knees shook when she stood to follow the officer. His name was immediately lost on her though he introduced himself to her with a warm smile. He led her to a small room and offered her a bottle of water before instructing her to sit across from him at a tiny, blue plastic table.

"Can you state your full, legal name for me?"

"Christine Anne Cunningham."

"And can you describe your relationship to one Edward Munson for me?" His voice was soft but firm, not nearly as intimidating as Chrissy had feared. Some of the tension melted from her spine.

"Eddie's my friend," she told him. "He's a good friend. We went to school together before… well, everything."

This time the officer's smile was sympathetic. "Can you tell me about your whereabouts between March 24th and March 27th, Miss Cunningham?"

"I was with Eddie those four days."

"And what were you and Mr. Munson up to for the duration of those four days?"

"Well," Chrissy had decided before coming to the station that it was best to err on the side of truth as much as she possibly could, "I stayed at his house on the night of the twenty-fourth. On the twenty-fifth, we were with friends for most of the day, and that evening, we went back to Eddie's house and Jason Carver was there waiting for us."

"Who were the friends? And what happened with Jason Carver?"

The questioning went on in this fashion. Chrissy gave as honest of answers as she could, revealing who they had been with and that they were exploring the Creel House during the day. She described her argument with Jason, how she ended their relationship, how the physical fight between Eddie and Jason played out. Her first fib came in telling the officer she and Eddie had spent the night at Benny's Burgers on the twenty-fifth rather than Reefer Rick's shack. The officer asked her a few pointed questions about Eddie's involvement with dealing drugs, to which she faithfully denied having any knowledge of.

Of course, she couldn't let the officer know that much of her days on March 26th and 27th had been spent in the Upside Down. Instead, she told him that those days were spent hiding out at Benny's Burgers and the surrounding woods.

"And if I speak with Mr. Munson, once he's able, he'll tell me the same things you just did?"

"Yes, Officer," Chrissy said softly, nodding her head. He better. We've been practicing for a month.

In the end, Eddie never did receive a line of questioning. Robin, Steve, Nancy, Dustin, and Lucas were likewise interrogated. Their testimonies lined up far too well for Eddie's name to stay on the list of suspects.

The murders of Fred Benson, Patrick McKinney, and Sarah Thompson remained an unsolved mystery to the general public of Hawkins, Indiana.

May 12, 1986

For all that Chrissy denied, denied, denied, Dustin was right about at least one thing: once he found the strength to do so, Eddie was very invested in making out with his girlfriend. It was easily one of his favorite past times as spring wore on. The chaste kisses Chrissy gave him each morning began to linger sometime around late April, when he was no longer deathly pale, and his bite wounds had finally begun properly healing. By mid-May, Eddie had successfully convinced Chrissy she wasn't going to hurt him if she touched him.

"See?" He told her, taking Chrissy's hand and pressing it hard into the bite wound on his chest. The new skin was insanely sensitive, tingling under her palm, but it didn't hurt. And he needed her to see that. "I'm not gonna shatter like glass, Chris."

"I just don't want to hurt you," she said softly. When kissing him, she tended to keep her hands only on the unmarred patches of his skin, which were far and few between on his torso. His legs had fared better, only a few bites there, but if Chrissy was hesitant to touch his freaking jaw, there was no way she was going to go below the belt.

Smirking, Eddie took Chrissy's chin in his hand and gently pulled her mouth open. "Huh, I don't see any sharp-ass fangs in there."

Chrissy narrowed her eyes at him and snapped her mouth shut with a click of her non-fang teeth. Her lips immediately settled into a petulant pout that Eddie simply could not resist kissing. To really punctuate his point about how very not breakable he was, Eddie coaxed Chrissy into his pajama pants clad lap. Her legs straddled his on either side, a hesitant thumb skimming over the ropy, forming scar on his jaw.

Though it was near agony, Eddie kept his own hands carefully on her hips, letting Chrissy build her confidence. He was far from a saint, though, plying her lips open with his own and deepening the kiss as it wore on. The same hand that so carefully touched his jaw now trekked down his neck, fingertips leaving a pleasant tingle in their wake. Over his collarbone, lightly touching the demon head and spider tattoos on his chest. When Chrissy reached the damaged stretch of skin covering his ribs, Eddie shivered under her touch.

It emboldened Chrissy. She went on to touch each one with a gentle reverence that made Eddie lose all semblance of restraint. He spanned his own hands upward, holding her by the waist as he turned her, giggling, to lay her on the couch. Her skirt slid toward her hip, revealing the matching scare on Chrissy's thigh. Eddie ran his hand over it, enjoying the way Chrissy's blue eyes darkened as he did so.

"See?" He told her again, dipping his head to kiss the side of her neck. "Not so fragile." Chrissy sighed and relaxed beneath him, weaving a hand into his hair.

"You earned the reputation yourself," she reminded him, helpfully stretching her neck to give him better access. Eddie was all too eager to explore this new territory, and gladly would have, were it not for the knock on the front door.

"Goddammit, Henderson," Eddie all but growled, lifting his head from the point where Chrissy's neck curved into her shoulder. He rocked back, giving Chrissy room to sit up, helping her fix her mussed ponytail.

"Be nice to Dustin," Chrissy chided him. "You told him he could come over."

Max was still comatose and Lucas, ever vigilant, spent much of his time at her bedside. Mike and Nancy Wheeler were in California; with school closed for the year, the siblings had been permitted to visit the Byers family for an extended period. According to Dustin, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler just wanted their kids out of trouble for a beat.

Take his friends' preoccupations and couple them with the fact that, no matter how he tried to hide it, Dustin was still clearly shaken up from the trio's experience in the Upside Down, and it was no surprise the younger boy had developed a habit of spending most of his time with Eddie and Chrissy.

"I'm always nice to Dustin… mostly," Eddie tacked on to the end at Chrissy's reproachful look. "And I know. The kid just has impeccable timing."

Pushing away from Chrissy, Eddie made his way to the door. "Hey, kid. What'd you bring us?"

Unfortunately for Steve and Robin, the video rental store had been spared from damage in the earthquake and business was booming. Those who remained in Hawkins were choosing to escape through movies.

"Teen Wolf and The Goonies." Smiling, Dustin held up a VHS tape in each hand. "And popcorn, too, courtesy of Robin."

Chrissy made each of them bowls of the fresh popcorn, pouring a pack of M&Ms into Dustin's per his request, while he and Eddie debated which movie to watch first. The trailer was theirs for the night, an occurrence that was becoming more common. Now that Eddie wasn't so needy and able to leave his bed and fend for himself until Wayne came home, his uncle had been taking on extra shifts. Eddie felt terrible about that, but as Wayne pointed out, the hospital bills had to be paid for one way or another.

Dustin settled on the floor wrapped in a blanket he filched from Eddie's bedroom while the beginning credits to The Goonies played. Chrissy deposited his popcorn and candy in Dustin's lap before curling up on the couch beside Eddie. She tucked her legs beneath her, pulling their own shared blanket up around her shoulders. While it wasn't his preferred choice of activities for a Friday night, Chrissy was warm beside him, and Dustin was laughing.

All in all, it wasn't a bad night by any means.

May 23, 1986

The first time Chrissy told Eddie about her mom, it was with the help of weed. Darkness was her balm, now. The two of them sat on a blanket in the stretch of grass between the Munson trailer and the forest behind. Chrissy was trying her best to ignore the sense of déjà vu that came over her and shivered down her spine when she thought about the last time, she had been under a sky full of stars with Eddie on a spring night.

Last time, Eddie had lain bleeding on the ground, his head in her lap. This time, Chrissy sat tucked between his bent knees, her back pressed to his chest, a second, larger blanket wrapped around them. Eddie had been running cold in the wake of his healing.

"It's all such bullshit," Chrissy was venting. "Never mind that I lived it, there's just 'no way' anything I say is right because she 'knows better'. She doesn't even know me, she's too busy looking at the Chrissy she makes up in her head! Or 'Christine', I guess I should say, since she doesn't even call me by my own name anymore."

"Have you ever considered," Eddie began, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her with him so he could lean back against the trailer, "calling her a fucking bitch?" That was certainly Eddie's preferred name for her mother, as she well knew.

Chrissy scoffed, snuggling closer to Eddie. He planted a kiss on her cheek, coaxing a smile out of her. Beneath the blankets, Chrissy twined one of her hands with his. "It's the same thing," she continued, meaning my mom doesn't listen just like Jason didn't, but Chrissy hadn't managed to say her ex's name aloud around Eddie since his death, "Mom's just a lot meaner about it."

"Like I said—"

"Fucking bitch," Chrissy finished for him. She let go of his hand, rotating herself in his hold so she could kiss his lips. As she knew he would be, Eddie was all too happy to comply. One hand cradled her head, an arm held her steady about the waist as he lowered her to the ground. Grass poked through the blanket beneath them, and Eddie tugged at the other blanket, so it covered them completely and created a pocket of warmth around them. "You know, Wayne's inside," Chrissy reminded him when he slid a hand under the hem of her t-shirt.

"Henderson, Wayne," Eddie grumbled, trailing kisses along the ridge of her jaw. "I personally know too many cockblocks."

Chrissy laughed outright at that, running her hands up his bare arms and then down the soft, cotton t-shirt covering the contours of his chest. "I know you're feeling better, bet let's not push it, Munson."

He smirked at her in the moonlight before taking a moment to kiss her hard. It felt like a promise. "All in good time, Cunningham."

June 1, 1986

The last time the Hellfire Club met it was to complete the Curse of Vecna storyline. This fact of life was ironic for Eddie, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike. Gareth, Adam, and Jeff, of course, were none the wiser when the group convened for Eddie's belated graduation party in Adam's basement.

This graduation party was combined with a birthday party—Eddie's twentieth was on June tenth. It was also Eddie and Chrissy's first experience with tiptoeing around the topic of Vecna and the Upside Down.

Though it was his party, Eddie wore a pair of sweatpants and a very old, very soft Judas Priest t-shirt, because the thought of any other clothing touching the tender, new skin that largely comprised his body at that point made him want to pull his hair out. He was in stark contrast to Chrissy, who, in quiet rebellion of her mother, had opted to wear the pastel pink dress that had been purchased for the high school graduation ceremony she would never have.

In lieu of a commencement, the Hawkins High graduating class of 1986 had simply received their diplomas in the mail.

Chrissy seemed entirely unbothered by the fact that she was far overdressed compared to the members of the Hellfire Club. Save for Eddie, they were all dressed in their club t-shirts.

He was tired. It didn't matter that he wanted to be there, that his friends smiled at him, and that Chrissy brought him beer and the first slice of his birthday cake without his asking. Steve Harrington was stronger stock than him. He should have spent his time playing basketball and swimming in high school instead of guitar and D&D. Harrington had bounced back fairly quickly from his demobat bites and so had the little cheerleader sitting on the armrest of his chair.

It didn't matter that Eddie wanted to get up and play pool with the guys. Or that he really wanted to correct Henderson's horrible aim in the game of beer pong Jeff was overseeing between Mike and Dustin. Instead, he ate his cake and accepted sweet kisses from Chrissy. When he was done with his cake, he set the plate aside and tugged Chrissy into his lap. "C'mere."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Eddie buried his face between Chrissy's shoulder blades and deeply inhaled the scent of her floral perfume. "You good?"

He grinned at the humor in her voice, and the turnabout of the phrase he had often used just months ago while they were in the thick of it with Vecna. "Just tired." Eddie lifted his head and tucked Chrissy more comfortably into the overstuffed armchair with him just as Gareth and Adam came to perch on the couch across from them.

"There he is, our little graduate," Gareth teased, raising the neck of his beer bottle. Adam and Eddie obliged him in a toast.

"'86, baby," Eddie responded, kissing Chrissy on the temple. "Told you doubters it was gonna be my year."

"About that," Adam said after a long pull of beer, using the neck of the bottle to gesture between Eddie and Chrissy, "how the fuck did this happen?"

In his lap, Chrissy giggled. "It's one of those dark magic spells you Hellfire boys are so good at," she told them, deadpan. Eddie bit back his own laugh. There was a beat where Gareth and Adam sat staring wide-eyed at Chrissy before they, too, were laughing.

"That's a high-level spell, Chris. Plus, my prodigy is over there getting his ass beat at beer pong," Eddie continued, hooking a thumb over his shoulder in Dustin's direction. "That's why Henderson's got a girlfriend, and these two dorks don't."

Eddie earned himself twin glares from his friends at that, but he didn't care. Honestly, he was just happy to be there, even if the exhaustion was starting to settle heavily over him. He didn't even really mind that, though, not with Chrissy warm and solid in his lap.

"Is it, like, a life debt thing?" Gareth continued to tease. The guys had all been fed the official story: that Eddie saved Chrissy and Dustin from a fire started by the fire. More specifically, a fire that broke out at the abandoned Benny's Burgers when a snapped powerline fell on the former restaurant. They both stiffened a little at the question and Eddie found himself unable to form a response through the pleasant, sleepy fog that had settled over his mind.

"We've been found out," Chrissy pretended to lament. She turned her head, laying it on Eddie's shoulder and gazing up at him. "They know I suckered you into dating me after I went back for you."

Adam and Gareth laughed and Eddie sighed, running his thumb over the line of Chrissy's ribs in silent thanks for her quick thinking. "And Henderson? How does he factor in?"

"I used my life debt over him to gain undying loyalty," Eddie joked. "That's why the kid follows me around like a shadow. As an extra perk, it makes Harrington jealous as hell." Which was not entirely a lie; last week, Henderson had been hilariously flustered when Dustin declined joining him in going to the drive-in after his date canceled to spend a Saturday night showing Eddie how his ham radio system worked.

Just then, Eddie's shadow called for him from across the room. "I've been summoned." Taking Chrissy by the hips, Eddie maneuvered her out of his lap and went to assist Dustin in his beer pong game. Lucas returned from the corner where he had excused himself momentarily to talk to Max on the phone.

She had woken from her coma a few days prior. Lucas spent pretty much all of the allowed visiting hours with her every day and, now that she was conscious, he called her before bed every night. With a smile on his face, Lucas let himself fall onto the couch between Adam and Gareth.

"How's Max?" Chrissy asked over Dustin's victorious whoop. Less than a minute at the table and Eddie was already turning the game around for his self-proclaimed prodigy.

"Getting better every day." His smile widened, relief and joy coloring his words. Adam and Gareth both turned to look at the younger boy now between them before sparing glances at Eddie and Chrissy in tandem.

"Actually…" Adam began.

"Don't start, you two," Chrissy chastised them. She had heard the entire, unfiltered story of Lucas and Max from Dustin. "They dated before the accident."

June 10, 1986

Eddie spent his twentieth birthday in the hospital.

Not for himself, thank God. For Max Mayfield, visiting his little neighbor now that she finally felt up for company not named Lucas Sinclair.

"Hey, Red," he greeted, taking the chair that at beside her bed. Max looked up from her chocolate pudding with unfocused, pale eyes. Eddie started at the sight, but Max didn't react, her eyebrows still furrowed.

"Eddie?" Lucas didn't fucking tell any of us she was blind.

"Yeah, it's me, kid. In the flesh." Though her eyes were unable to home in on him, Max turned her head toward the sound of his voice. "Chrissy's here, too, but she wasn't…"

"She can come in, too," Max said. A slight blush rose in her cheeks. "Actually, could she…? I-I kind of need help, and I don't think you want to feed me like a baby."

"Yeah, uh, I'll get her. Hang tight for a second."

Max laughed humorlessly. "I barely learned where the bathroom was a few days ago. Don't worry about me going anywhere." He hoped she couldn't hear the way he practically scurried from the room. Eddie and Chrissy, shockingly, were the first visitors Max had asked for, even over Dustin and Mike.

Slipping through the door of Max's room, Eddie very nearly collided with Chrissy, who was still waiting in the hallway. "Chris, she's fucking blind," he whispered, catching his girlfriend by the shoulders.

"What?!" He watched Chrissy's eyes go wide, her face falling into a mixture of concern and sadness. "Poor Max."

They all knew—hell, all of Hawkins knew—that part of Vecna's M.O. was gouging the eyes of his victims. While Max had escaped that, twice, her second brush with Vecna had obviously been too close.

"She needs help. They gave her pudding and left her alone to eat it."

Chrissy nodded, her brow drawn tight, and followed him into the room. Just as she had earlier, Max turned her face toward the sound. Chrissy gave a start at the sight of Max's formerly bright blue eyes drained of their vibrancy. Now her irises were just a few shades darker than the whites surrounding them. "Hi, Max."

"Hi, Chrissy." Max held up her pudding cup in one hand and plastic spoon in the other. "Would you mind…?"

Chrissy went to her immediately. Eddie watched as Chrissy took Max's spoon hand in hers and helped her scoop some pudding. "Did they forget you need help?"

"There's a bunch of new nurses. The one who brought it didn't stay long enough to realize. She sounded like she was rushing." Once Max had eaten two spoonfuls of pudding with Chrissy's help, she waved the other girl off. "I think I got it now. I'm still getting used to eating."

Max blushed again, as if she had any reason to be embarrassed for being left worse for wear after facing off against an otherworldly demon creature. Twice. Eddie told her as much and brought out a bashful smile from the girl. "I'm just happy it's over. And that I'm still here."

A searching hand found the nightstand next to Max's bed so she could deposit her empty pudding cup there. The spoon clanged on the wood when the cup toppled after being set down unbalanced. All three of them pretended not to notice.

"So, uh, not that we're not honored, Red, but why'd you wanna…" Eddie nearly said see but caught himself in time, "have us visit you before Henderson or Wheeler?"

Max's smile was rueful, letting Eddie know his almost slip up hadn't gone unnoticed. "I asked Lucas not to tell anyone… about me not being able to see, I mean. I-I wanted Chrissy to know first so I could tell her… tell you, I mean, I know you're in the room, I didn't forget." Though becoming visibly flustered, Max plowed on. "I wanted you to know, Chrissy, that me being blind isn't your fault. I… it was going to happen, either way, I think. Whether Jason was there or not. This was all Vecna, not him, but… I just didn't want you to blame yourself."

Tears were falling down Chrissy's face before Max was halfway through her explanation. She nodded before remembering that wasn't going to cut it, not with Max unable to see her answer. "Th-thank you, Max," Chrissy managed to force past the lump in her throat.

"Lucas told me that movie nights at the Munson trailer are a thing now," Max said, shrugging off Chrissy's thanks. "Blind or not, I better be invited once they let me out of here."