Before long, after trekking through the mountainous region for a couple of hours, they reached a small town called Pearling, just outside of Roanoke. Their first mission was to find a pay phone. Right next to the booth was an electronics shop, where in the window, all different types of news channels were on, showing different, horrible scenarios.

A bird's-eye view of different towns were being filmed, showing a similar circumstance. Hawkins, Indiana. Roanoke, Virginia. Layton, Utah. Rapid City, South Dakota. All four cities had a giant, x-shaped fissure that had spanned across a number of city blocks.

"I knew it," Eddie said energetically with his hand to his head, but she could tell he was irate. "We need to find a pay phone. Now."

When they finally did, Eddie was the first to make a phone call, shuffling around in his pockets for one of the quarters he had stolen from the wreckage. As he did, several more coins came spilling out.

Lillian, still trying to absorb everything that was going on, fumbled with the strap on her stolen bag. She looked around. There was one person in the electronics shop - likely the owner, but he looked very on edge, his face washed in paranoia.

Almost no one was walking the streets.

This town was quiet. Too quiet.

After a delay, she picked up the dropped loot while Eddie made his phone call. He was antsy, too, curling his hair around his index finger as he waited for someone to answer the phone. Then, finally...

"Uncle Wayne, hey..." He immediately looked relieved, pumping his fist in front of him in mild victory. He told him he couldn't share where he was right now, knowing that sharing that he was currently in Virginia would either raise more questions or more suspicions. He had to cut it short, and as Lillian stood by him, she saw he was holding the phone out to her.

"Do you want to call your dad?"

She paused, looking at him for a moment. She wanted to so badly, but she didn't want to just say she'd been in some alternate dimension for six months. Her dad would think she had gone crazy! "Do you think I should? I... it's so out of the blue, I don't know what I should say..."

Eddie took her wrist, placing the receiver into her hand and squeezing her fingers around it supportively. "Your old man never gave up on you, you know. I think with everything that Hawkins has going on right now, he could really use hearing his daughter's voice." He popped another quarter in without even waiting for her approval.

So, Lillian dialed the number, inhaling deeply. Her heart raced with uncertainty. She hated to be vague with her father; she usually told him everything, but she imagined that he would only think the worst if he knew she was with Eddie in another state, especially since he was a wanted criminal.

They still needed to address that elephant in the room.

There was no answer. The phone rang and rang, until finally, she was forced to leave a voicemail.

"Dad, it's me." Her voice cracked. She was already thinking the worst, but she felt Eddie's hand on her shoulder giving her comfort. "I'm okay. I hope you're okay, too. I heard what happened in Hawkins. I'm...nowhere near there, but I just wanted to let you know I'm going to try and get back home soon. I love you."

Lillian placed the receiver back on the hook with a trembling hand. Eddie, whose heart was made of gold at times, took a few minutes to console her. He held her as she cried and gave her words of comfort. "I'm sure he's okay. I need to call Dustin. I'll ask him to check on him for you, okay?"

Eddie, who had little time to explain to Dustin how he managed to survive, simply summed it up to a long story he would have to tell him later.

Nonetheless, his best friend was ecstatic to hear that he was okay. Eddie kept to his promise, asking Dustin if he knew anything about Mr. Ross and his whereabouts. It probably seemed out of nowhere at first, but when he explained that Lillian was alive and well and had been trapped in the Upside Down, Henderson's energetic words got even louder, to the point that even she could hear him. It was good to hear his voice, too. It seemed he couldn't believe the all-around good news, but he promised he would call back if he heard anything about Mr. Ross.

Dustin, in his typical demeanor, rapidly explained the strange crevice that stretched across Hawkins. Eddie swore, then followed it with an explanation that they were only about fifty miles or so away from the one in Roanoke.

Dustin had to hang up in a hurry. Apparently, Lucas was trying to reach him on the walkie, and though it sounded distant, it sounded incomprehensible with panic. placed the receiver back on the hook, looking quite apprehensive.

Once they sought a hotel, they were able to get a room long enough to get themselves cleaned up and changed, separately.

The sun was setting by the time they were able to settle down in their cheap, motel room. This was when they were able to finally explain everything. Eddie started, though he was vague about the details at first. As they shared a box of Cheez-Its and drank sodas, he talked about being accused of murdering Chrissy, even though he never even touched her. He told her about the unnatural deaths, and how they went into the Upside Down a couple of times to try and take down Vecna.

To most people, this might have sounded outrageous, but after everything she had seen, Lillian was less alarmed. They stayed up all night, music playing low on the MTV channel, and while Lillian didn't get into too many details, she told Eddie that she had been with Billy while she was down in whatever realm she was. Guilt bubbled in her gut. She explained herself to him, how she thought he had moved on and was seeing Chrissy. Of course, she realized now that she had ducked out of that trailer just before the murder happened - the one most definitely not committed by Eddie Munson.

She expected him to be upset with her, and though he didn't seem overly thrilled over hearing about Billy, he audibly laughed at her assumption about Chrissy.

"I was in a really dark place when you disappeared, I will admit that. I did some questionable things I shouldn't have, and the drugs and the dealing were a couple of them. But Lily..." He took her hands as they sat on the couch, his thumb brushing over the stone in the ring he gave her. "I never stopped thinking about you. Even with all the shit that hit the fan, I missed you like hell. Chrissy was never anything." He stressed it, and she understood. "It was the furthest thing from my mind."

As if to solidify that he meant it, he pressed his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes, their closeness giving her serenity that she hadn't felt in a long, long time. She believed him, but there was still that small itch of guilt nagging at her. She acted on anger when she initially slept with Billy. After that, it almost became addictive, although she couldn't quite explain why or how. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't love that they had. It was merely physical, and ultimately unhealthy.

It was Eddie she had always truly desired, and all she truly adored.

Lillian knew she should be taking some time to rest, but unwilling to pull herself away from Eddie, she procrastinated. Instead, they reassembled their relationship, and as Ric Ocasek's "Emotion in Motion" played quietly on the small television that sat on the table, he pulled her up from the couch and pulled her close, taking her hands and draping her arms over his shoulders. He was such a smoothie when he wanted to be, that she just couldn't help but disintegrate against him.

Back and forth, they swayed. No words needed to be spoken in this moment. It was the sense of belonging and compassion that she really needed, not some mindless hanky panky.

Although hanky panky really wasn't so bad, but right now, the time didn't really feel right for it. Lillian just appreciated his presence, and the tenderness they were currently sharing. For months, she was in a state where she was certain she would never feel that again.

"Remind me again why we never went to prom?" she heard him say. Lillian chuckled to herself.

"Because my dad was not about to let me go with you."

"Oh, that's right. He was a little sour that his little girl was going out with Eddie the Fig Snatcher."

It was a little more than just that, as they both knew. The Munson family was notorious for having a criminal history, like his father, and Mr. Ross already had it in his mind that Eddie was just like him before he even gave him a chance.

Eddie was far from perfect, even Lillian could admit that, but there had been no other guy in that school that made her giggle like Eddie Munson.

"Remember the first time we met?" he asked her, to which she immediately recalled.

"Wasn't that at the Halloween party?"

"Pretty sure you were with good ol' Billy, at the time. I'll never forget, you were dressed up as Dorothy, with the little braids and everything. It was the first time I ever saw you showing off your legs. I knew right then and there I had to have you." He spun her around, pulling her back against him so they both faced the window of the room. "Just couldn't figure out how just yet."

Lillian laughed a little. She remembered it as clear as day now. Eddie was right. She was dating Billy at the time. She was at a stage of their brief relationship where she realized he just wasn't for her. Billy was a party animal, chugging down drinks in the front yard, thinking he was all that, and Lillian had easily been cast aside like an old photograph. She remembered a guy in a leather jacket and blue, denim jeans coming up to her, making some snide remark about Billy Hargrove and how he treated girls. Pretty sure she remembered him calling him a narcissistic dickhole, even though not to his face.

That was the night when Lillian found out about Hellfire, too, when he invited her to come hang out with the club some time. She also came to the realization that she could do better than who she was with. Not that she was thinking about Eddie that way at the time, but well, that escalated down the road.

"Wasn't that the party where Nancy and Steve Harrington were getting in an argument? Didn't they break up after that?" Lillian recalled hazily.

"Um... Funny you should mention that." Their dance ceased, and she turned to see he was puffing out his chest a little. "I guess you could say that a little birdie recently got into Harrington's ear and might have gotten that love train back on track."

Lillian gave him a look of surprise.

"You?" she scoffed. "Eddie the Dragon? Since when did you start becoming little matchmaker of Hawkins?"

"Hey, watch it. This dragon's still got his claws." He leaned in, curling his fingers menacingly. "And he still knows how to use them." Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist, pushing her back into the couch, and Lillian started laughing uncontrollably. She fell back against the cushions, trying to wiggle away from his tickling fingers.

"Stop!" She erupted in mad giggles, trying to push him away, although not with much effort.

"The elder dragon sweeps in, tearing his monstrous claws into his rival's flesh!" He announced in a dramatic voice, as if narrating for one of Hellfire's games. "At long last, after all this time, he finally has her. Going in for the kill, he swoops his head down, and his fangs penetrate her skin as he begins to feast!"

Eddie borrowed his face against her neck, eliciting a roar. Again, Lillian could not contain her laughter. She fell completely against the couch, surrendering to the attack. Then, she stopped moving. She would play dead until he was ready to break character.

Although that was a little hard to do once his playful nibbles started becoming more sensual kisses. She felt his nails lightly dig against the small of her back. She pouted.

"Eddie, I'm dead. You ate me."

He rested his head against her chest. "No. Don't die. I don't want to lose you again."

She almost felt her heart shatter at his words.

It was around two in the morning when they repositioned themselves on the couch so that Eddie was behind her, and they finally succumbed to sleep, curled up together. They could have easily gone to the bed, but somehow, they were perfectly comfortable where they were. The both of them had been through so much hell, that the first sign of real, still comfort was nearly impossible to separate from, even if only for a few seconds.