CXXVI
To Eleven's—and possibly Max's—surprise, Henry is not blind: he has suspected the end of her relationship with Mike for a few days now. His physical absence could have been explained by school responsibilities, but the nonexistence of his name in the teen's mouth? Eleven still needs a hundred years of experience before she can satisfactorily hide things from him.
However, right now…
There is indeed something hidden here: something that haunts them, stalks them, but has not yet fully materialized. He had thought it was the breakup, but…
But it is not that.
Henry buries his nose on the top of Eleven's head: her characteristic scent of sunshine and mint leaves calms him.
If she is here, with me, safe in my arms…
Then everything will be fine, right? Whatever the shadow, whatever the threat, the two of them will prevail.
For the moment, he will choose to console himself with the fact that Mike Wheeler will never set foot in his house again. The only thing that could bring him more happiness right now is if he disappeared from Eleven's life altogether, but, oh, well.
You can't have everything you want.
Though now, gently pressing the most important person in his life against him, he's sure it's the closest he's ever come to it.
When the song ends—and for some reason Henry feels the final chords resonate in his rib cage—Eleven carefully steps away from him, her head bowed.
"Uhm." She clears her throat and looks up before continuing; in the dim light of the lights Joyce has strung across the backyard, Eleven's dark eyes command his full attention. "I'm going to the bathroom for a moment. Then we can go home, if you want to."
"As you wish," he replies. And she is already heading toward the Byers residence when she suddenly stops. "Eleven?"
She turns to him and takes the hem of her dress in her hands to curtsy. "Thank you for the dance, Henry."
Henry returns the gesture with a smile and a bow more from centuries past than from today. I did it for you, he doesn't say.
She is aware of this—yes, she must be—and that is why, now, when she leaves, she does so with a lighter, less rigid step.
And Henry hopes, with all his heart—if one can allow a person as ruthless as him such an expression—that whatever she is hiding from him—whatever she has been carrying on her shoulders for the past few weeks—does not burden her for much longer.
"This is crazy." Chrissy laughs as she takes Eddie's offered hand to get out of the car. "How could you change clothes so fast? Just now you were in jeans and a T-shirt, and now—"
Eddie lets out a whistle as he closes the car door behind her. "Are you saying next time you wanna see how I do it?" At Chrissy's confused look, he adds, "How I change clothes so fast."
They both burst out laughing.
"I couldn't not come, even if it was after the concert."
"You were fantastic." Chrissy smiles, remembering Eddie on stage, so full of life, so handsome and… She swallows and decides to change the subject. "Here lives one of the guys you usually play Dungeons & Dragons with, right?" she asks, taking her friend's arm and walking towards the house.
"Right. Will Byers' mother got married today, and I wanted to stop by and say hi—"
"This is a wedding? I thought it was a birthday!"
"Why would I come to a birthday party wearing a shirt and a tie?" Eddie retorts with a horrified expression. "Chrissy, your rich girl side is showing—" In response to this, she pinches his arm. "Ouch! We're under attack!"
"Eddie—!"
But she stops herself when she notices two silhouettes about fifty feet away from them.
It's Jane and a man who looks familiar.
A tall, blond man with beautiful blue eyes who opens the door of a car. A man to whom Jane gives a smile before climbing into the passenger seat.
The man… I saw in front of Angela's house?
"Chrissy?" The man closes Jane's door and goes to climb into the seat next to her. "You okay?"
Eddie's words snap her out of her reverie; the car is already starting up, backing up, and driving away down the street.
"Oh. Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." She forces a smile on her face. "Sorry, I got distracted."
He doesn't scold her or make her feel bad for not paying attention to her surroundings. "If you don't feel well…"
But Chrissy rests her head on Eddie's shoulder: his presence keeps her grounded and brings a genuine smile to her lips.
"I'm fine. Just… Just don't leave me alone, okay?"
"Never," he promises solemnly.
And Chrissy hopes he isn't talking just about the party.
That he isn't talking just about tonight.
