❝𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏❞

"Y/n!" Dustin screamed, barging into the door. "Y/n!" Dustin screamed, breathing heavily as he rushed through the house, limping. He looked down at the floor, noticing the trail of blood that lead to kitchen. "Oh, god..." He breathed out. "Y/n!" Dustin screamed. His eyes widened as he saw you slumped over against the kitchen cabinets. His eyes fluttered down to the dead bat on the floor, a knife sticking out of it's head. "Y/n..." Dustin limped to you as he dropped to his knees, cupping your face. You were out cold, your body limp. He looked down at your arm, noticing the pool of blood under it. "Shit, shit," He muttered, trying to shake you away. "Don't be dead. Don't be dead." He put his two fingers under your chin, feeling for your pulse. "Dustin!" Eddie came running through the door.

"She's in here!" Dustin screamed. Eddie dropped his spear and shield, holding his stomach in pain as he rushed towards the kitchen. "She's passed out." Dustin looked over his shoulder. "Jesus Christ..." Eddie noticed the bat and the pool of blood around you as kneeled in front of you. "She cut her arm pretty bad. She lost a lot of blood." Dustin grabbed the bandana from off of his head, lifting your arm carefully. "Y/n, hey." Eddie grabbed your face, your head limp in his hands as he looked at you with worry. "Wake up. Wake up." He muttered through clenched teeth, tapping your face lightly. Eddie grew worried, noticing the small and bloody cuts on your face. Most likely from fighting off the bat.

Dustin breathed out as he lifted your sleeve, seeing the old bandage you had wrapped around your arm were completely soaked in blood. "Shit." He blinked, carefully wrapping the bandana around the wound, tying it tightly to put pressure on it. "You better wake up." Eddie's eyes scanned your body searching for any sign that you would awake soon. He didn't even notice that you had his guitar on your back, too busy worrying about you. "Y/n, come on," Eddie breathed out. "You promised me." He sighed. Dustin grabbed ahold of your shoulder, shaking you.

"Y/n..."

"Y/n..."

You could faintly hear your name being called. "Wake up." You could hear Eddie's voice. Eddie? How? Were you dead? "She's moving." Dustin spoke, his voice very echoey. Your brows furrowed, feeling the throbbing pain in your arm returning. "She's moving!" Dustin exclaimed. "Y/n!" Eddie shouted. You could feel a pair of warm hands holding your face as you tried to open your eyes. Taking a deep breath in, you pried your eyes open, your vision very blurry. From what you could make out, someone was in front of you. Someone you recognized. It looked like Eddie. "Eddie?" You said in a whisper, barely able to speak. "I'm right here." He responded. You blinked, trying your best to clear up your vision. "Eddie?" You asked again. This wasn't real. You had to be dreaming. He died. In your arms.

"Yes, yes, I'm right here." As he spoke, your vision cleared up, catching a glimpse of his brown eyes staring into yours. He was looking directly at you, a smile on his face as relief washed over him like a wave. "But...you..." You breathed out, lifting your hand to his face. As your skin touched his, you brushed over his cheek with the pad of your thumb. It was very much real. You could feel the heat radiating off of him. "You're here." You said breathlessly, tears pooling in your eyes. Gathering all of your strength, you jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly as the tears poured out from your eyes. "I'm okay. I'm sorry." He whispered into your ear, hugging you back tightly. You sobbed, clutching onto his jacket, never wanting to let go.

The scent of him put you at ease as you continued to hold onto him. "I thought..." You choked out. "I thought you died," you pulled away from him, cupping his face. "I saw it. I felt it. It was so...real." You sniffled, looking into his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He shook his head, his hands holding your waist tightly. "You must have had some sort of nightmare when you passed out." Dustin explained. You looked at him, confused before your eyes caught the pool of blood on the floor and the dead bat.

You remembered. When you were fighting the bat, you felt so weak that you could pass out. And you must have. The rest was just a nightmare. A nightmare that you created out of your own very fear of what could have happened. "Oh, Eddie." You looked at him, smiling. Eddie placed his forehead on yours, "we're gonna get you to a hospital, okay?" He leaned into you. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you nodded. "I'm just glad you're okay." Tears ran down your cheeks. "You saved me," He smiled at you. "I heard you playing the guitar." He looked at his guitar on your back. Your eyes widened, "I don't know if I would call that playing the guitar." You chuckled, wiping your tears.

"Well, it's a start." He smiled back at you, helping you wipe away your tears. "What happened to your arm? That's too much blood to be a bite." Dustin looked at you. You turned to him, seeing that he had tied his bandana around the wound. "When I broke the trailer window and climbed out, I cut it pretty deep." You twisted your shaky arm around, examining it. "So, that's why the window was broken." Dustin nodded. "You're fine though, right?" Eddie gently placed his hands on you, turning you to look at him. "Just a little lightheaded. It's nothing a few stitches can't fix." You assured him. "Dustin, go out and see if the others are coming." Eddie looked at him. "Yeah, yeah." Dustin scrambled to his feet, limping out of the kitchen.

"If it wasn't for you, I'd be a goner." Eddie nervously spoke. "You scared the living shit out of me, Eddie. Why did you do that?" You asked, looking at him with concern. "I...I don't know...I was just tired of running away from this. After Chrissy and then Patrick...I felt like I would finally be able to do something right." Eddie clenched his eyes shut, running his hands down his face. "Eddie, none of this is your fault. What happened to Chrissy or Patrick wasn't your fault. You ran, and that's normal! You were scared, Eddie," You looked at him. "Look at me," You spoke softly. "You did do something right." You nodded at him. Eddie looked at you, his eyes softening. "You saved me, Eddie. You saved me," Your voice was still soft. "You don't need to prove yourself to anyone."

Eddie let out a deep breath, nodding his head at you. He leaned against the cabinets, letting himself relax. Eddie needed to hear that. He needed to hear every word that you said. He didn't want to believe he was the bad guy for running away. He was scared. And you were right, it was normal for him to run. But hearing those words come from your mouth were more comforting than anything else. He couldn't explain how grateful he was for you and the thought of almost losing you several times within the last hour were more than enough for him to realize that he truly cares about you. Love you, even. Eddie Munson loves you.

He may sound insane, which people think he is, but it was the truth. Dustin told him what happened. How you immediately jumped through the gate and ran after him without hesitation. And seeing how you risked your own life to save his. Eddie was starting to get the idea that maybe, just maybe you felt the same way about him too. Though, he was too scared to say anything. Eddie looked down as he felt your hand intertwine with his. Looking at Eddie, every single memory and moment you had with him flashed in your mind like movie. From the first day you seen in your class, the first time you got paired up with him, and up until now.

A part of you was starting to realize that maybe a small part of you cherished him from the very start, and started to grow as you grew closer to him. You've both been so vulnerable with each other, so open, that it allowed you two to actually get to know one another and to bond. And the warmth you felt in your chest and the smile on your face every time you were around him never went away. Ever. You wanted to play dumb. Wanted to ignore the feelings that started to grow, but you couldn't. And you almost lost your chance to speak your truth, to tell him something that you've been wanting to tell him. "Eddie..."

He looked at you, a lazy smile on his face as you leaned against the cabinets, facing him. "Yeah?" He questioned, still holding your hand in his. "I need...I need to tell you something." You exhaled. The look in his eye made you nervous. More nervous than ever before. "I think I need to tell you something too." His tone of voice was low. You looked at him, slightly surprised. "But, ladies first." Eddie gestured to you. "Right." You nervously chuckled, looking down at the floor. Your heart pounded in your chest, your mouth open but nothing coming out. You sat there, stuck.

"I love you." Eddie spoke abruptly. Your eyes flickered to his, the corners of your mouth curving into a smile, "I...I love you too." You said in shock, smiling at him. "That's what you were gonna say...right?" Eddie asked in an awkward tone, furrowing his brows. You smiled, "yes." You laughed, nodding your head. "Okay, I was just making sure," He tried to hold back his smile. "Is it true though?" He questioned, fidgeting with the ends of his jacket. "Yes," you nodded. "It's true. Every word." You looked at him. "Then, kiss me." He smirked.

You slowly leaned in, your faces inches away from each other. His lips touched yours first, pulling you in closer to him. You smiled, kissing him back slowly. Eddie chuckled in between the kiss, pulling away from you, "we're, uh, still on for that date, right?" Eddie raised a brow. "Yeah. Your place. For obvious...reasons." You snickered. "Yeah...obvious reasons-woah!" Eddie shouted as the ground began to shake, things falling all around you. You both quickly stood to your feet. "Jesus!" Eddie shouted.

You let go of his hand, quickly running towards the front door to see if Dustin was back with the others. You yanked open the front door. "Shit! Shit!" you heard Dustin scream. "Go!" Another voice shouted. Robin. The group came running behind Dustin. "Guys!" You shouted, running down the stairs towards them. "Y/n! Holy shit! You're okay!" Robin screamed. "What the hell is going on?!" Eddie yelled. "Just get back to the trailer!" Nancy ran towards Eddie's door.

All of you followed her as she ran inside. She looked up at the gate, trying to catch her breath. "Where the hell is the rope?!" She looked at you, Dustin and, Eddie. "Uh, about that..." Eddie trailed off. "Screw it!" Steve grunted, getting on one knee. "I'll boost you guys up!" He shouted. Nancy stepped on Steve's hand with no hesitation, jumping at the same time he boosted her. She caught ahold of the gate, pushing herself through and falling onto the mattress. She kicked the chair out of the way, looking at Robin, "let's go!"

Robin nervously mumbled, stepping on Steve's hand. She grunted as she jumped, Steve propelling her up as she grabbed onto the gate. She pulled herself through, screaming as she landed onto the mattress. "Dustin! Let's go!" Steve ushered him. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" Dustin nervous rambled, stepping on Steve's hand. Steve pushed Dustin up, Dustin barely catching onto the gate. He had enough strength to push himself through, falling onto the mattress. "Go! Go!" Eddie spoke. You gave him a worried look before placing your foot onto Steve's hand. You jumped, catching extra air as he boosted you.

You let out a gut wrenching scream as you grabbed onto the gate, the pain in your arm becoming unbearable. "Come on, y/n!" Nancy shouted, looking up at you worriedly. You grunted, gathering all of your strength to climb through, gravity taking hold as you fell on the mattress. "Come on, Eddie!" You looked up at him. "Go, man!" Steve looked at him. "Here goes nothing." Eddie jumped onto Steve's hand, grabbing the gate tightly as he pulled himself up. He clenched his teeth, groaning as he made it through, falling onto the mattress. "Steve! Hurry!" Dustin screamed.

"Okay, okay." Steve nervously looked around, noticing the chair laying on the living room floor. He hurriedly grabbed it, placing it under the gate before jumping onto it, propelling himself up. He struggled to get through the gate, his hands holding onto the edge as he pushed himself up just far enough to fall onto the mattress. The gate seemed to be getting bigger, expanding on its own. "Let's go!" Nancy shouted. She opened the door to Eddie's trailer, everyone following after her within a heartbeat. You all ran towards the woods where the van was still parked. "I still don't get what's going on?!" Dustin yelled. "The gates, they're opening!" Nancy shouted. "But doesn't that mean..." You remembered what Lucas said earlier. Four chimes. Four gates. Four kills.

Chrissy.

Fred.

Patrick.

...Max.

"Max!" You shouted. "Vecna must've gotten to Max! We have to get to the Creel house now!" You shouted, all of you sprinting as fast as you could. "Jesus Christ!" Eddie yelled.

━━━━━

"Faster!" Dustin shouted at Steve. "I'm going as fast as I can!" Steve shouted. All of you sat in the van, worried to death about Max, Lucas, and Erica. "Her plan must've worked when he realized he couldn't kill me." You breathed out. "Or, he just gave up and went after Max instead-shit!" Nancy shouted as Steve pressed on the breaks. The tires screeched loudly, all of you nearly falling over. The ground shook under all of you before the road began to crack in front of you. The pavement exploded as a red glow came up from the ground.

"Oh my god!" Robin screamed. "Holy shit!" Dustin yelled. "The gates! They're opening!" You said in terror. "Steve! Reverse! Eddie yelled at the top of his lungs. "I can't!" Steve said in a panic. The ground shook even more. "Drive!" Dustin shouted. "I can't!" Steve responded. "Son of a bitch!" Dustin cowered in fear. The road to the Creel house was blocked off. There was no other way of getting to Max. All you just sat there in the van, waiting for whatever the hell was gonna happen.

You grabbed onto Eddie, clenching your eyes shut. "We're gonna die!" Robin nervously yelled, slamming her hands down on the seat. "No, we're not!" Steve yelled, gripping the steering wheel. "There is no other way we can get to Max?!" You asked. "This is the only road!" Nancy looked back at you. Tears filled your eyes. You told her to get out of there. You told her. Why didn't she listen? Max...

Suddenly, the red glow from the crack in the road began diminishing and the shaking came to a stop. "What's happening?" Robin asked, looking outside the van window. "It...it...stopped." Nancy said in slight shock, her eyes fixated on the large crack in the ground. "Are you okay?" Eddie pulled you towards him, looking at you. "Yeah." You nodded, gulping. "We have to go around." Steve demanded, putting the van in reverse. "We'll get to Max, right?" You asked.

"Hopefully."

━━━━━

Two days have passed. Two days of constant confusion and reports. The earthquake that struck Hawkins has sent the town into a frenzy. People are packing up and moving out. People still talk about the Hellfire Club being a cult. And of course, the mention of Eddie being involved in Chrissy's murder. That night, you were all able to reach the Creel House. Though, police and an ambulance were there before you arrived. To keep Eddie safe, you left, deciding to meet up with Lucas and Erica later.

The group took you to the hospital to get your arm stitched up that night too. The hospital was packed full of people. Everyone running around the waiting room like headless chickens. The doctors did stitch up your arm, advising you to stay off of it for a few weeks until it healed. Luckily, they didn't ask any questions about what happened to you, most likely thinking you took damage from the earthquake.

Eddie, on the other hand, still had to go into hiding. The van you guys stole? That was now his home. It was parked in the middle of the woods on an abandoned path that had been blocked off by the city for years. There was nowhere else to hide him as he was still a wanted man. You had your doubts, scared that someone will find him and rat him out, but where else would he go? He couldn't go back home, as it was destroyed when the gate had expanded. And, he couldn't go back to your place for obvious reasons.

Your parents rushed home as soon as they heard the news. They were relieved to find you at home, sitting up in your room. Your mother ran towards you, hugging you tightly as tears poured from her eyes. "You're safe!" She said breathlessly, placing a kiss on your temple. "Oh, my sweet girl." Your dad gave you sad smile, hugging you as well. "We're so, so sorry!" Your mom cried. "We should've never even left." She wiped her tears. You smiled at her, tears stinging your eyes as you tried to hold them back. "It's okay." You looked at her. "It's not!" She exclaimed. "I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you! We love you so, so much!" She sniffled.

Max had somehow survived Vecna's attack. Lucas even claimed her heart had stopped but she came back to life. It was a miracle. Though, she was in the hospital now, in a coma. After gathering yourself over the past two days, you finally got the courage to visit her. Knocking on the door, you slowly walked in. "Hey." You waved, seeing Lucas and Erica were sitting in the chairs by her bed. "Y/n!" Lucas smiled. "You're okay!" Erica ran over to you, seeing that your arm was all wrapped up. You hugged her, smiling at her warmth.

As you walked further into the room, your eyes landed on Max. Both of her legs and arm were in a cast, and she had a brace around her neck. You frowned at the sight, noticing how pale her skin looked. "Hey, Max." You spoke quietly, looking down at her. The monitor that kept track of her heart rate beeped over and over. "Dustin told me what had happened. How Vecna almost got you." Lucas looked at you with sad eyes. "It doesn't matter now. He's gone" You bit the inside of your cheek. "Hey, I brought flowers for her. I don't know where I should put them." You shrugged. "I'll take them." Lucas grabbed them from your hand, placing it on the table next to her.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, you grabbed Max's hand, squeezing it lightly. The sight of her like this made your heart ache. The last time you saw her, she was perfectly fine. She was talking. She was awake. And now she's not. "I'm sorry, Max." You whispered, looking at her with sorrow. "It isn't your fault," Lucas spoke. "Once she wakes up, I bet she'll be proud to hear you escaped Vecna," Lucas paused. "You know, back at the Creel house, she told me she was worried about you. She was scared the plan wasn't gonna work and Vecna would kill you before we had a chance." Lucas admitted. You smiled at Lucas's words, your heart happy to hear that Max cared about you just as much as you cared about her.

"You'll let me know if she wakes up, yeah?" You raised your brow at Lucas. "Yeah, yeah, of course." He quickly nodded his head. "Okay." You smiled. Looking at Max, you let go of her hand, "I'll see you soon." You whispered to her. "Be back tomorrow?" Erica asked, looking at you. Nodding your head, a smile formed on her face. "See you then." She hugged you one last time. "See you tomorrow." Lucas hugged you tightly. "Stay strong. For her." You whispered into his ear.

"I will."

━━━━━

The leaves crunched under your feet as you walked through the woods. The wind howled and blew through the trees as you silently walked to where Eddie's van was parked. "My god!" You groaned in annoyance, carrying the six pack in your hand as you stepped over a log. The van came into view as you turned the corner. It was completely silent as you grew closer. You didn't hear the small tv playing or anything. Walking up to the van, you kicked the door three times, letting Eddie know you were here. "Eddie! I have your precious six-pack!" You said in a sing song voice. The trailer slightly shook as Eddie walked up to the door, quickly unlocking it. "Did I hear you have my six-pack?" He questioned smirking at you.

You rolled your eyes, pushing past him on the stairs as you walking inside the van, "hello to you too." You mumbled, placing the beer on the table. Eddie chuckled, shutting the door behind him. He slowly walked up to you as you shrugged your bag off, throwing it on the seat, "hi, sweetheart." He said in a smug tone, wrapping his arms around your waist. "Oh, now you wanna say hi?" You looked at him. Eddie ignored you, leaning in so his lips touched yours. Kissing him back slowly, pulled you in closer to him, his hands gripping your waist. He deepened the kiss before smiling, "I missed you." He pecked your lips. You playfully rolled your eyes, "I missed you too." You smiled. "How's your arm?" He asked, looking down at it before gently grabbing it. "It still hurts, but they gave me medicine for it." You looked at him.

"That's good." He gently caressed your arm, placing it back down to your side. "So," you smiled at him, "I got us Halloween! And I got our snacks!" You excitedly spoke, grabbing your bag. Eddie chuckled, watching as you pulled the vhs out and placed it on the table. "And, all of our snacks are in here." You plopped the bag down next to the vhs. Eddie smiled at you, seeing how excited you were to start your date, even if it was in a stole van that was in the middle of the woods because he's a wanted man. "You okay?" Your brows furrowed as you looked at him.

"Yeah, I'm just uh..." Eddie shook his head. You walked over to him, wrapping your arms around his neck, "you can talk to me, Eddie." Your eyes searched his. He let out a deep breath, "I know." He nodded. You pursed your lips, not wanting to push him too far. You just laid your head on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. His hands slowly snaked around your waist, holding you close to him. The two of you stood there in silence, embracing one another and enjoying each other's presence. You closed your eyes, while your hand played with his hair.

"What the hell?" Eddie spoke in a breathy voice. Your brows furrowed as you lifted your head to look at him, "what?" You asked. "Look." Eddie pointed at the window. You turned your head, seeing something that looked like dust or ash fell from the sky. "Is that...?" You questioned, pulling away from Eddie as you walked closer to the window. It looked like the particles that fell from the sky in the upside down. "You don't think that's...?" Eddie scrunched his face up, watching them fall.

You quickly ran outside, busting through the door. As your shoes touched the dirt, you looked up at the sky. It was coming from all over. "You've got to be kidding me..." Eddie looked up at the sky with you. You watched as a flake fell onto your hand, examining closer. Both you and Eddie slowly turned towards each other, a slightly shocked look on your faces.

"The upside down."

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬:
Another chapter that has not been proofread because I am lazy. Also, some of y'all really took chapter 14 to the heart and got a little too out of hand...and all I have to say is relax lmao. But here is chapter 15 which I originally wasn't gonna give you guys bc some of you were being little assholes, but it's okay. I hope you enjoyed.