ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴜʀɴ
A week had passed since the Upside Down split into fours, merging with the world above it and though it was in shambles, Hawkins finally had a chance to rest—some residents more than others.
Everyone flocked to churches, Hawkins High, anywhere they could start to rebuild from what they had thought was a natural disaster but only a few knew what had actually happened. El, Mike, Jonathan, and Will had returned after their whirlwind trip and greeted Nancy with open arms. Dustin, Steve, and Robin had spent the week at Hawkins High, helping out. Jim Hopper, Murray Bauman, and Joyce Byers had even returned from Russia and Lucas spent nights in the hospital beside a bed-ridden Max who was still out cold in a coma.
It had been a week since ash fell from the sky.
But for now, things seemed steady in Hawkins as steady as they could be.
Monitors beeped, wires and an IV drip were hung up and a nurse came around every hour to check up on the patient in room 218 at Hawkins General whose room was littered with balloons, get-well cards, flowers, and teddy bears—most being from the workers of the circus. Eddie Munson sat in a chair beside the hospital bed, holding a bandaged hand with his left hand while using his right to write in a basic composition notebook. He had the notebook for years, since middle school, and he'd write anything in it. From songs to his thoughts to campaign ideas, he kept his whole mind in it. Even thoughts of Soleil when he realized he fell hard for her were written down, right next to the three songs he had written about her in the past week.
He looked up from his writing through his eyelashes to Soleil who lay on the bed, she had a tube down her throat, gauze was placed over the burns Adelaide couldn't fade away, and Soleil was knocked into a coma from being brought back to life. Between her and Max, the hospital staff was no less than shocked that they both survived.
The dirt from her face and hair was gone. Eddie had made sure that the hospital was able to wash her hair and if they weren't doing it right, he'd take over, the way Soleil showed him how to. He even managed to get a silk scarf from Cassie, who was one of the first ones to visit the young woman, and tied her hair up for her.
Cassie visited Soleil the most besides Eddie and when she saw her in the bed, she had to step out of the room. She had thanked Eddie for staying with her girl and Eddie couldn't accept her thanks—his guilt was too heavy to hold but he tried to forgive himself, he knew Sol would tell him not to beat himself up over this.
Soleil was stable now but when she got to the hospital, it was a frenzy, Eddie could barely see her as doctors and paramedics swarmed around her. All he could remember from the ambulance ride was the paramedics sticking a needle into Soleil's chest because they had to "release the pressure in her chest." That was just terrifying but not as terrifying as when they had to rush her into surgery to put a tube into her chest.
He stayed with her the whole time, slept in the room, and he even spoke to her as if she could hear him. Dustin and the rest of the group also visited her and checked up on Eddie, they knew he was taking it hard.
Soleil's father had visited too and he broke down as soon as he put one foot into the room, Cassie had to hold him up. He started apologizing profusely and he cried at his child's side but still, he couldn't forgive himself that easily. He only visited during the short times when Eddie wasn't there and those times only came about when Uncle Wayne urged Eddie to get some proper rest in the form of a nap on his own bed and a warm breakfast instead of opting for hospital food.
Even Eddie's uncle had come to pay a formal visit. He couldn't thank the girl more for what she had done, showing the town of Hawkins that his nephew was truly an innocent man. She had single-handedly, although with help from Cassie and her brothers, had people coming up to Eddie and his uncle to apologize for what they had said and assumed. He even received a formal apology from the Hawkins police department. Now that was something.
Eddie had squeezed Soleil's hand just a bit tighter as he took a look at her, he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand just before he heard a knock on the door.
Thinking it was the nurse, Eddie called out. "Come in!"
To his surprise, Uncle Wayne opened the door with two duffel bags in hand. A black one and a blue and yellow one. Eddie got up and took the bags from his uncle and set them down by Soleil's bed.
"Got some more clothes and everything else you wanted in there and I stopped by the circus for her bag as well."
He nodded. "Thanks, she's gonna want to dress up nice when she wakes up and gets out of here." Wayne watched as his nephew stared at Soleil on the bed with these soft eyes, those eyes you gave someone when you were completely, and utterly, infatuated with them and Wayne knew then. His nephew was truly head over heels for Soleil.
This was just like him and Aunt Betty after all.
"Eddie,"
"Yeah?"
He gestured to Soleil. "You found yourself a great person Eddie and I'm so proud of you." Wayne started to tear up. "I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier but this young woman came to me and told me how much of an impact you had made on her, how you changed her life. You made her want to fight for you Eddie and I couldn't be more proud of you."
Eddie pressed his lips together and rushed to his Eddie for a silent hug that spoke more than words could. His uncle patted him on the back. "You make me and your Aunt proud."
"Thank you," Eddie let go of his uncle and gathered himself. "I'm gonna sleep over tonight if that's okay?"
"Do what you have to, make sure to call me if anything alright?"
"Alright." Uncle Wayne left the room as Eddie went to sit back down next to Soleil and this time, he had folded his arms and rested them on the bed. He brushed a loose piece of hair out of her face and watched as her chest moved up and down. It felt good just to know that she was still breathing at least.
He started to think back on the many memories that they had made. Their first meeting, skull rock, the arcade, there were just so many good ones but one always stuck out to Eddie. The beeps of the heart monitor started to fade into nothing as he dug deeper into his memory.
He had thought back to the day they had snuck into the Hawkins' community pool and had come back to Eddie's trailer. At the time, Soleil was the first girl he had ever brought to his house and though he felt slightly embarrassed, she never made one comment about his living space. They were dressed in those band t-shirts and his boxers and he had just nailed that handstand before falling over.
Soleil had fallen on the floor next to him as well and it didn't go without her soft laughter that still rang in his head. That laugh, the one he so badly needed to hear again.
It was just something about how she had looked at him at that moment with a big smile, dressed in his clothes, and being so close to him—that was what had got him hooked.
That was the moment when Eddie had realized he had fallen madly, madder than he already was, for Soleil.
That was also the night he suddenly spilled everything to her, he had told her his life story as she had already told him much of hers. He didn't know if he was just tired from swimming or maybe it was the chlorine that was in the pool water but something about that moment and Soleil made him feel so safe like he could just tell her everything and anything and he did.
He told how he sort of felt like a bunny that was trapped in the woods living in Hawkins. So full of active potential but unable to find its way out. It had been like that since middle school.
He had no mother, his father was too busy getting locked up and staying out to worry about him till his uncle Wayne stepped up and took care of him. He couldn't be more thankful that he did because if he stayed with his Dad, he'd probably turn out even worse.
But Hawkins was hell for him, he was constantly bullied for every little thing, he didn't have many friends till he found people like him but that wasn't till he was almost done with middle school. Eddie had often spent time alone, listening to music that many would give him odd looks for. He didn't have many people to turn to besides his Uncle but even Uncle Wayne didn't know every aspect of his life, not even the full extent of what Eddie had experienced living with his father before and it wasn't pretty. Drug deals, strange people, and the police constantly showed up. They had even come home one day to see the house riddled with bullets.
Eddie's life was as complicated and hellish as they came but, he made a deal with it. Maybe he had accepted so much that when he told Soleil, it didn't even sound like a big deal like it wasn't as bad as it actually was. He was a bit scared about telling her all of this but soon, the fear dissipated.
Soleil didn't interrupt him once. She didn't laugh, didn't do anything. She just laid on the floor with him and listened with nothing but an expression of understanding like she was thankful that he felt comfortable enough to trust her. Once Eddie had finished speaking, she said something so simple yet so effortlessly special, words that had stuck with him ever since.
"Despite all of that Eddie, all you've been through and still go through, I think you're amazing and you shouldn't think of yourself as less than that, ever."
Then she had done the unexpected after she had spoken. Soleil had leaned in and kissed Eddie on the cheek. It wasn't in a romantic way at the time but more of a gesture to show her care, to show that she wanted him to feel good about himself. He had sat there, rubbing the spot in shock as he turned red. He had turned back to look at a smiling Soleil and he couldn't help but smile back.
He had smiled back at her just like he did when she was in that hospital bed, with just as much admiration as any other time before.
He quietly spoke to the young woman. "Thank you Sunny. Thank you for finding me on that night and thank you for making my life so much better and I'm—I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner but I really do love you and you have to wake up soon because we made plans, okay? I'm this close to graduating, and I've been studying like you told me. Soon we can get out of here and we can go anywhere." He rose her hand up and cupped it with both of his hands, he kissed Soleil's hand before lowering back down. "You gotta wake up."
He had been saying that for the past week, still full of hope but, he didn't expect much to happen—except when it did.
Soleil's eyes popped wide open and she started to frantically look around the room as if something had forcefully pushed her spirit back into her body. She looked at her skin, wondering where most of her burns had gone as her memory slowly came back to her. Confused wasn't the word to describe her emotional state.
Eddie's eyes popped open just like Soleil's and he started to form a smile that stretched ear-to-ear. In his excitement, he jumped up from his seat, hitting his leg hard on the side of the bed and startling Sol in the process. He hopped with his hands holding his hurt leg all the way to the hallway, slightly yelping.
He spotted a nurse that was just about to pass the room. "I need some help over here!"
Soon enough, a doctor and nurses crowded Soleil's bed. One of the nurses even offered to take a look at Eddie's leg since he was still rubbing it but he declined. The attending doctor quickly removed the breathing tube from Soleil's mouth and she was breathing fine. They ran a couple of tests on her that in reality only took a couple of minutes but for Eddie, it felt like an eternity. Soleil didn't speak the whole time, she just stared at the doctor and then at Eddie, back and forth.
"Alright, Ms. Alastair," The doctor started to speak. "Everything seems all good, you're probably gonna feel sore and a bit of pain for a while but we'll get you some pain medication and a prescription for some cream for those burns, and soon, you'll be out of here. Nurse Roberts will call your emergency contacts."
Cassie and Soleil's father was sure to drop everything to head over to the hospital. Soleil nodded at the doctor's words and Eddie thanked him before he and the nurses left. When they were finally alone, Eddie pulled his chair as close as he could to Soleil's bed and held her hand yet again.
This time, she was actually able to grip it.
Soleil looked over at Eddie and just like everything was back to normal, smiled at him. "Hi, Eddie."
Eddie put his other hand over his mouth, he was about to cry happy tears, very happy tears. "H-Hi, Soleil."
"How long was I out?"
"A week."
"Shorter than I thought." Suddenly, a slightly mischievous looked graced her face. "Did you miss me?"
"...Yeah, I missed you a lot." His voice started to crack. "You have no idea."
Soleil carefully extended her arms in his direction and Eddie immediately dived into them. He went for a kiss, and it almost seemed just as magical as the first time. Her skin was softer than before but her beauty never changed. When Eddie pulled away she opened her eyes and showed all her pearly, white, teeth yet again and Eddie couldn't resist. He started to plant kisses all over her face, non-stop.
Soleil squirmed around and couldn't hold back her laughter. It sounded like the best song Eddie had ever heard. "Eddie!—stop it!—it tickles!"
"No," He kept going. "I want to hear—that beautiful laugh—because—I was so close—to never hearing it again!"
Soleil kept laughing and not saying another word about him stopping. He had missed her that much, and that warmed her heart—in a good way. Eddie finally let up on her but didn't lose the grip on her hand.
"Next I tell you to get your ass up here, you get your ass up there." She carefully rose herself up. "Now I'm all sore and stuff."
"As you wish madame." Soleil laughed again. "—and they uh, they had to put a tube in your chest."
"They did what?!"
"If it hurts that bad I can get the nurse—"
"No, no, stay Eddie. It's not that bad."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure."
Eddie's mouth was tugged at the corner, not fully believing her but laying off. "Alright." He inhaled. "I...I really did miss you, Sunny. I was here every day and I wrote three songs about you and they're sad, and I never write sad songs, and—"
"You wrote songs about me?"
"Uh," Eddie lowered his eyes, trying to hide. "Yeah."
Soleil suddenly gave him a huge kiss. "I want to hear every single one of those songs."
Now, Eddie, was the one laughing. "You will, when I can get my hands on my guitar."
"Okay, I' m holding you to that."
"Did I tell you that I loved you?"
"A million times but it's okay because I love you too."
Eddie pressed his forehead against Soleil's, he felt his heart pound against his chest, heavy with love, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. All through his life, in middle school, even in high school, he'd see couples all close together, whispering into each other's ear, and never understood it. He hadn't ever heard his Dad talk about his Mom, and when Aunt Betty died, Uncle Wayne never remarried. He didn't get it but now he did. Uncle Wayne never remarried because his heart only was for one person, Aunt Betty and if Adelaide hadn't made it in time—Eddie didn't know if he'd ever love anyone else how he had Soleil but at least he'd never have to find out.
So he looked at her once again as he carefully laid next to her on the bed and like old times, Eddie let her rest on him. He fixed the scarf that she wore. They didn't break eye contact, not even for a second.
"My hair's washed."
"Mhm."
"So you were paying attention when I
showed you."
"Of course I was Sunny."
She placed her head into the crook of his neck. "God I love you." Eddie hummed a quiet, "I love you too" to her. They'd never get tired of each other saying it.
Just then, as Eddie sat there, another thought came into his mind. He sure was happy that he had that crappy day and he was more than happy to have found Soleil, like the universe had truly waited years for them to meet. Soleil was just as thrilled to have found him. There was no one better for them than, them. And now,
They were two lonely teens who weren't lonely anymore.
THE END
A/N: Wow, this book is actually finished. All that aside, thank you so much for reading and I really do hope you enjoyed Eddie and Soleil's story (which may be continued depending on Stranger Things 5). I had a lot of fun writing their adorable relationship and I hope you guys loved it too don't be shy to share your favorite moment between them, I love comments.
I'd also love to hear what you guys would think about a Billy Hargrove fic which will definitely not be a love story (but it will be an X-Men crossover and sort of a dark story at times) with the OC developing a close sister-like, relationship with Max.
With that being said, I have another book coming out very soon.
Dallas Winston, a girl with one blue eye, and a burning mystery as the main premise. So let me know if you're interested and again, thank you so much for reading and supporting me!
- Rose ♡︎