The house is loud in the way it always is when Dustin Henderson is running a campaign — voices overlapping, dice clattering across the table, papers shuffling, arguments about strategy rising and falling like waves. Eddie leans back in his chair at the head of the table, grinning as he watches the chaos unfold, fingers tapping idly against the table while Mike protests a move and Lucas accuses Will of sabotaging the party.

It’s normal. Comfortable. Familiar.

Then the front door opens.

Dustin freezes mid-sentence, head snapping toward the sound like he already knows. For a split second there’s silence — and then his chair scrapes loudly against the floor as he bolts upright, practically tripping over himself in his rush toward the door.

“You’re here!” Dustin’s voice bursts through the house, bright and breathless with excitement. “You actually made it — Mom said tonight but I didn’t think—”

His words blur into laughter, into the unmistakable sound of someone being pulled into a tight hug.

Eddie doesn’t mean to look. He just… does and then he forgets whatever he was about to say.

You step inside carrying the last of your things, tired from the drive but smiling — real, warm, alive in a way that instantly shifts the air in the room. Dustin is talking a mile a minute, already asking questions, already telling you everything at once, clearly unable to contain how happy he is that you’re finally home.

Mike, Lucas, and Will are already halfway out of their seats, grinning in recognition. They remember you from before — from summers, from stories, from a time when things were simpler — and they greet you like you never really left.

Eddie stays where he is. Because to him, you are entirely new and for reasons he doesn’t quite understand yet, he can’t seem to look away.

For a moment, the world narrows — just long enough for Eddie to take in the way you move, the sound of your voice, the light in your eyes — and something in him stirs before he can stop it.

Then Dustin turns, still half-holding onto you, and beams.

“Oh! Yeah — this is my sister. She just moved back home.”

Eddie stands automatically, like he forgot how to stay seated, suddenly aware of himself in a way he wasn’t seconds ago. His usual confidence falters for just a moment as his eyes meet yours for the first time.

“Uh,” he says, voice softer than expected, almost caught off guard. “Hi, I’m Eddie.”