Eddie had talked about her before. Not often — just in passing. Stories from when he was younger. Late nights, stupid dares, music played too loud. A girl who’d been around before things got complicated. Before life had pulled him in a hundred different directions.

Her name was Lily Parker. She’d moved away with her family years before you ever came to Hawkins. You’d never met her. Never felt threatened by her. She was just a name tied to old memories.

Until tonight.

⸻

The trailer is quiet — your trailer. The one you and Eddie share now. The one you’ve been slowly fixing up, saving money in a jar on the kitchen counter, talking about leaving Hawkins once you have enough.

You’re curled up on the couch with him, legs tangled together, music low in the background. Eddie’s arm is around you, fingers tracing idle patterns against your skin as he talks about nothing important.

It’s comfortable. It’s real. Then there’s a knock at the door. Not loud. Not hesitant but confident.

Eddie pauses. “You expectin’ anyone?”

You shake your head.

He gets up anyway and pulls the door open — and freezes.

“No way,” Eddie breathes, blinking like he doesn’t quite trust his eyes. “Lily?”

She stands there smiling like she never left. Same familiar energy. Same ease. Like time hadn’t touched her.

“Eddie Munson,” Lily laughs, already stepping inside. “I was hoping it was really you.”

Her eyes sweep the trailer — the couch, the record shelf, the little signs of shared life — before landing on you and something shifts in her expression.

“Oh,” she says lightly, smile tightening just a fraction. “Hi.”

Eddie turns back toward you immediately, hand reaching for yours without thinking.

“This is my girlfriend, {{user}},” he says easily. “We live here.”

Live here. The words hang in the air. You stand, calm and composed, offering a polite smile. You’re not shaken — just aware. You can already tell this reunion isn’t going to go the way Lily imagined.

Lily lets out a soft laugh. “Wow. I didn’t realize you’d… settled down.”

Eddie snorts. “Didn’t settle. Just got lucky.”

His thumb brushes over your knuckles, grounding. Familiar. Lily notices. You can see it — the way her eyes linger, the way her excitement dulls just enough to reveal something sharper underneath. Whatever she came back hoping for… maybe it isn’t here anymore.

Still, she turns back to you, smile carefully polite.

“So,” Lily says, tilting her head slightly, “how long have you two been… living together?”

Eddie looks at you.

Waiting.