Chapter Text
The wind blew in from the window and harshly into Eleven's melancholy face. It was probably ruining her hair but she couldn't be bothered to care just then. After the tearful, painful goodbyes, she'd watched as Hawkins had grown smaller and smaller in the distance. It had hurt. Hurt in the good way, like Hop had said in his letter. But as the long hours of boring traveling passed, she found the hurt faded. Little by little until she was left with only a longing ache.
She knew that wouldn't last forever. It was only a matter of time before something came up that reminded her of her friends. Of Mike. And she knew when that happened she'd be hit with a fresh wave of hurt all over against. But for now, she stared out the window of the hot Uhaul, rested her cheek on her fist, and watched with mild curiosity as a sign rolled by.
Welcome to Derry!
The Byers' new house was in Maine, where Bob had suggested they move before he died. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't just the Byers house. It was her's too. Because the Byers are her new family. Her new home.
Home.
Family.
She's had three of them in as many years. She wonders how long this one will last.
The house they pull up to is yellow. Joyce got a good deal and was able to afford a larger house than the one in Hawkins. There's an upstairs and a basement instead of a shed. There's only three bedrooms, though, so Johnathan and Will have to share. But Joyce says that's fine becuase Johnathan will be headed to college in a year anyway.
The whole trip, Joyce has been talking about what the house could be. It could be a nice place for a barbecue. It could have flower boxes in the windows. It could have more space to breathe and stretch. It could.
El recognized what she's trying to do. She's trying to fill this house with promises and possibilities and potential. She wants this place to be all of those things and wants her family to want it to. And on some level El appreciates it. But it doesn't change the fact that this house is none of those things now. It's just a building painted yellow.
El misses her powers sorely when it comes to unloading the truck. She feels a pang of uselessness in her stomach as she watches Johnathan and Joyce struggle to unload the sofa.
"Yoo-Hoo!" Am overly cheery voice rings out
"Jesus." Will whispers next to her and she's not sure if it's from the surprise or the natural reaction to have at the sight of the woman approaching them.
She is without a doubt the fattest woman El's ever seen. Thin dark curls are pulled back on her head, highlighting how large her head is and how little hair she has. She wears an atrocious pink track suit and pearls which don't match at all. In one meaty hand she holds a plate of cookies.
The woman dosen't even bat an eye at El and Will and she makes her way to Joyce, setting down the couch, and remarks loudly that they must be the new neighbors and is that their couch? Goodness.
El is so busy looking at the woman she barely notices the short boy with dark hair and a polo shirt approaching them until he speaks.
"I'm sorry about my mom." He says "She's just here to snoop around. No respect for other people's privacy."
"Oh, great." Will comments dryly "Mom's gonna love her."
The boy gives a small smile "I'm Eddie. I live next door." He introduces, pointing to the larger, ivy covered blue house next to theirs "Do you want some help with that? It looks heavy." He dosen't even wait for El to respond before he's lifting the heavy box from her hands. El let's him because her arms were starting to feel tired. That pang of uselessness hit again.
"Anyway, welcome to Derry I guess. Were you guys coming from?" Eddie continues as he begins making his way towards the front door.
"Hawkins, Indiana. Bit of a-"
"Eddie!" His mother calls, cutting Will off "Eddiebear! What are you doing carrying those heavy boxes? Let someone else handle that, sweetie. You know you can't-"
"I can handle it, Mom!" Eddie says with surprising forcefulness. Suddenly the air between mother and son is thick and electric as the two stare each other down and El gets the not unfamiliar feeling she's missing something here.
Joyce is the one who breaks it "You know, we were just about the take a break anyway. You can just set that down, hun."
Eddie continues to stare at his mother for a long moment. And when he does set down the straighten up again, he does it all while holding eye contact with her.
Will clears his throat loudly "So, uh, you got like an arcade here or something?" He asks, visibly uncomfortable
Eddie offers no explanation as he continues the conversation "Yeah we've got an arcade. It's over on Main Street, next to the movie theater. My friend Richie spends almost all his free time down there playing Street Fighter."
"Yeah? Is he good?" Will asked, sounding hopeful
"I'm pretty sure he sucks, actually."
The conversation continued idly for a while. They talked about school starting soon and what teachers they had and what fun stuff there was to do around town. Eddie seemed nice. Though it was a little weird that he stressed to Will and El to stay away from the sewers and the scary looking house in Neibolt street. What he thought they'd be doing down there in the first place was a mystery to El.
It took most of the day just to move all the boxes from the truck to the house. They still weren't even close to being unpacked yet, but Mom said the rest could wait until tomorrow which was a relief to Will. The work was hard and left him sore and sweaty. It was so much easier to pack everything up when all their friends. But Will dosen't want to think about them right now. He's already got enough achey muscles for one day, thank you very much.
So he sits alone in his room while Johnathan showers, listens to his David Bowie cassette, and tries not to think about home.
He looks out his window and finds he has a pretty clear view of Eddie's house next door. The window across from his is illuminated and he can see into what must be Eddie's bedroom. He smiles to himself, remembering the kind boy from earlier. That was something, at least. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe they could set up flashlights on their windows and send messages in Morse code like he'd read about in books. Maybe-
There was someone on the Kaspbak's roof.
A tall, slender figure was struggling to get up to the lower level of roofing, with easy access to Eddie's bedroom. The figure was dark and hard to see but it was definitely there.
A robber? But they were clearly home, the light was on. Should he call the cops? Did they even have their phone set up yet? Will wasn't sure. So, he did the only thing he could think to do. He opened his window, leaned out, and gave a loud "Hey!"
The figure, in the middle of pulling itself up, lost it's balance and toppled over, hitting the ground with a loud "thunk". Eddie appeared in the window, his wife eyes locked with Will's and his mouth moved, saying words Will couldn't hear but would've bet good money were "Oh, shit!"
Quickly, the other boy scanned the backyard, where the tall figure was standing up without much grace and looking a bit pained in his efforts. He managed to give Eddie a thumbs up, and then Will a middle finger. Eddie was making hurries shooing motions and saying more words Will couldn't hear.
Will connected the dots, remembering how Mike said he'd caught Steve doing something similar with Nancy's bedroom window. He winced.
The figure ran off and Eddie disappeared from the window. A tense ten minutes followed as Will tried not to scream into his pillow. God, he was so stupid!
When the knock came not unexpectedly at the front door, he was quick to call out that he'd get it and hurried down the stairs. Waiting there, eyes still wide and panicky, was Eddie.
"Okay, look, I- I know what that looked like." He said as soon as Will opened the door, giving no room for Will to apologize "And I-I-I just- It wasn't. What it looked like I mean."
"Eddie."
"It's just, Richie, he-he got hurt. He tripped and he hurt himself. And he needed, you know, a safe place to come get patched up."
"Eddie."
"And he was sneaking through the window becuase my mom totally hates him and if she knew he was here she'd kill me. Like totally kill me. And probably Richie too. She's-"
"Eddie!" The other boy finally seemed to get the message and snapped his mouth shut. His expression was panicked and desperate, like a cornered animal. Will knew that feeling. He bit back another wince of sympathy.
"Look I'm not gonna rat you out or anything, okay? I…" He hesitated, then decided "I'm actually pretty good at keeping secrets."
Will saw Eddie hesitate, not sure if he could trust him or not. But there was also a bit of hope in his eyes too "Yeah?"
"Yeah. I promise. And I never break a promise."
Eddie must've decided he was telling truth becuase his face melted into pure relief. Will smiled. It felt like he'd been entrusted with something very important. It felt good.
"Thanks Will. You have no idea what deep shit I'd be in if that started going around town."
Will thought to himself that he had a pretty good idea but instead he said "Hey, man, my lips are sealed."
Eddie smiles again and starts to turn to go, then he turns back around and looks Will up and down and when he speaks again, he points a finger at Will, like he's making a decision.
"Hey you, uh, you wanna come swimming with me and my friends tomorrow?"
Will blinks, not expecting that "I, uh, I mean I'd have to ask my mom. And we still have all these boxes to unpack. But… yeah. Yeah that sounds like fun."
Eddie smiles again, big and toothy like his other's weren't "Cool. We're meeting at the quarry after lunch tomorrow. I'll show you where it is. Bring your sister too." He took off for his own house
"Uh, she's not actually my… oh never mind." Will gave up.
He went back inside and said down on the unmade mattress he'd be sleeping on tonight, his head spinning. It was his first day in town and he'd already managed to find a friend. And maybe a friend like Mike and Lucas and Dustin, try as they might, weren't. He decides his mom was right about this place. This was a place where they could start fresh and make new memories. He went to sleep with a smile on his face, deciding that he did like the town of Derry, Maine, after all.