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dwobbitfromtheshire · 8 months ago

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From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

@emen-98 @1lostsoul0fishbowl @vulpixsworld

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chrissy was running through the woods, the trees changing with quickly transitioning seasons: red, yellow, green, and the whiteness of snow. Suddenly, she was falling with the leaves, and she was in the Upside Down. The vines slid around her wrists and ankles, pining her to her knees. Eddie stood in front of her, his eyes red.

"You failed to save Barb," he said, his cold voice echoing in the darkness as Barb's body appeared before her.

"You failed to save Will." Will's body appeared next to Barb.

"You failed to save your mom. Your brother. Your friends. My friends. How can I love someone so heartless. . . So fat. . . Little Piggy?"

Eddie plunged his hand into Chrissy's chest and pulled it out of her chest, revealing her very own beating heart. Suddenly, it was switched, and Eddie was on his knees with Chrissy holding his heart in her hands.

"Either way, I'm dead. . . Either way, you killed me. . ."

Eddie lay dead at her feet with her friends and family while a demogorgon stood over them, blood dripping from its open face. Chrissy screamed.

"Little Piggy, Little Piggy. . .let me in. . ."

Chrissy woke up with a gasp. She was twisted up in her sheets and covered in sweat. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She looked at her clock on her bedside table. Ugh. 4:30 in the morning. Yeah, there was no way that she was going to get back to sleep. She scribbled in her journal as she sat by her window and wrote until the sun started to come up. Chrissy sighed as she watched the sunrise. It was a little warmer now and getting closer to spring, but it was also the end of the month, which meant that she was going to go to the lab for a check-up with Will. She hated going there. . .well, Dr. Owens was nice enough, but the place still gave her the creeps. She got up and walked over to her dresser, looking at her pig figurine.

"Well, Wilbur, now what?" Chrissy asked as she poked Wilbur's snout.

Her eyes landed on the framed photo of her and Eddie locking eyes with her while he was on stage. He looked so good in that picture, and Chrissy smiled. Now, would be a perfect time for a shower.

"I'm just saying you took a long time in the shower!" Dustin said as she pushed him into Steve’s car.

"Shut up!" Chrissy hissed. "It was early. No one else was supposed to be up."

"Tell that to my bladder!" Dustin exclaimed.

"What's happening?" Steve asked.

"Nothing! Nothing!" She said quickly, blushing.

"Chrissy was trying to take the hot water away from the other people living in the house," Dustin said.

"I was not!" Chrissy exclaimed. "I was just - I just got lost in thought."

"Who wants to guess what she was thinking about?" Steve asked with a grin, and Robin snickered.

"What?! Oh! But Mike said women don't do that," Dustin said.

"Don't listen to Mike," Robin and Nancy said in unison.

Chrissy put her hands on her face and groaned.

"Don't worry, Chrissy, you're not the only one," Nancy laughed. "Robin takes long showers too."

"Nance!" Robin exclaimed. "You're a terrible sister. I was going to be the one to educate our idiot brother, but I think I'm going to leave it up to you."

Chrissy moved away from them as quickly possible. She was terribly embarrassed. Maybe she could avoid them all today. Maybe Eddie and the others wouldn't be sitting with them at lunch today because they had Hellfire business. Chrissy smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into school. Maybe he wasn't even here today. She was quickly proven wrong, however, when she saw Eddie leaning against her locker.

"Did you get here early this morning?" Chrissy asked.

"For once, I did," Eddie grinned.

Robin and Nancy were walking by at that moment. They laughed and wiggled their eyebrows at her.

"You should ask her if she had a good shower this morning," Robin said teasingly as she walked away.

"Uh, did you have a good shower this morning?" Eddie asked nervously.

Chrissy sighed loudly and pressed her face against the cool metal of the locker. It actually helped cool her warm face down.

"I hate Robin," Chrissy muttered.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of falling in the shower. It happens to the best of us. I do it all the time," Eddie said. "Uncle Wayne keeps telling me that it's a terrible place to air guitar and to use the showerhead as a microphone."

Chrissy felt her face grow warmer as she tried to beat that image out of her head.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed. "I didn't fall in the shower."

"Oh, did you piss? Yeah, sometimes that happens," Eddie said.

"You don't have to keep guessing, Eddie," Chrissy laughed, her forehead still pressed to the locker.

"Oh, was it the other thing?" Eddie whispered.

"NO!"

"Oh. Oh! OH! Fuck, Stan told me women don't do that," Eddie said.

"Do I need to educate you on the female body?" Chrissy asked, her head snapping to look at him.

"Hm, a little forward there, Henderson," Eddie grinned, and she rolled her eyes. "But you should know that I've only slept with one woman, so you're going to have to be gentle with me."

"Fuck off," Chrissy said with a laugh and then paused. "So, only one woman?"

"Yeah, pretty sure she was daring herself to sleep with me," Eddie sighed. "But that's okay, I'm not heartbroken over it. I'm not looking to be anyone's boyfriend."

"Oh, you're not?" Chrissy asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly boyfriend material, not for anyone," Eddie said, shrugging.

"Oh, well, that's too bad," Chrissy said, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach. "I'm sure you would make an excellent boyfriend."

"Yeah, right," Eddie said with a snort. "That's about as likely as the basketball team winning the championship this year."

"They're working really hard this year!" Chrissy exclaimed, trying not to laugh.

Chrissy let Eddie walk her to class as she tried not to think about what he told her. She didn't want to be one of those girls who thought she should change a boy. If Eddie doesn't want to be a boyfriend, then that's his right, and if he ever decided to change his mind, then it should be up to him. Still, it didn't stop her from being disappointed. She pouted all day, and when she got to lunch, she was glad to see that Hellfire wasn't going to be eating with them for once.

"Hellfire business?" Chrissy asked Robin.

"Hellfire business," Robin replied. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Chrissy huffed as she dove into her food.

"Is it because of this evening? Will gets antsy when he has to go too," Jonathan said. "But you know that."

"I mean, yeah, I hate going, and I get that it's necessary or whatever, but it's not just that," Chrissy said with a sigh. "Eddie doesn't want to be my boyfriend."

"What? That's crazy!" Steve exclaimed. "I've seen the way he looks at you."

"I'm sorry, Chrissy," Nancy said softly.

"I mean, he actually doesn't want to be anyone's boyfriend which I guess includes being my boyfriend," Chrissy said.

"So, he didn't actually tell you that he didn't want to be your boyfriend?" Robin asked.

"No, not directly," Chrissy said. "He says he's not boyfriend material."

"Maybe he was hurt in the past, wounded, and he's not ready to be in a relationship with anyone yet," Robin said.

"Has he dated anyone?" Jonathan asked.

"Not really. He said he slept with one woman before, and he said it was like she was daring herself. That's when he said he wasn't exactly heartbroken over it because he wasn't looking to be anyone's boyfriend," Chrissy said.

"Maybe it hurt him a lot more than he thought it did," Nancy said. "And maybe in his own way without knowing, he was telling you that he wasn't ready for a relationship yet."

"Maybe," she said. "Okay, can we talk about something else? I'm not even sure I should have told you all of that."

Chrissy tried not to get her hopes up about what Nancy told her. If he wasn't ready yet, Chrissy was patient enough and understanding to wait for him. She wasn't going to wait forever, though. She didn't pay attention to any of her other classes because now she was thinking about how this evening was going to go. When the bell rang, signaling the end of school, she wandered out into the parking lot to find Hopper waiting to pick her up. Just as she was about to head toward his vehicle, Eddie stopped her.

"Hey, do you need a ride?" Eddie asked.

"Hop is picking me up for my therapy session," Chrissy said.

"Therapy session?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, to talk about what happened in the woods, you know," Chrissy said. "Sorry, I didn't tell you. I don't really like talking about it."

"I get it," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

Chrissy smiled but didn't say anything. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Eddie froze for a moment before hugging her back. She stood in his arms for a moment, her head buzzing as she enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. Chrissy pulled back and pressed a hard kiss to his cheek. She pulled away and watched his stunned reaction. He let out a quick burst of laughter and twirled around way too fast, which caused him to run right into a pole. She caught him before he hit the ground and stood him up right.

"Eddie!" Chrissy exclaimed, looking worried.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Eddie said quickly, rubbing his forehead. "Go on!"

Chrissy giggled as she walked over to the car. Hopper was struggling not to laugh.

"Your boyfriend is a goddamn idiot," Hopper finally laughed.

"Not my boyfriend," Chrissy said, grinning and pausing. "So, you're not worried?"

"He's more likely to hurt himself than he is you," Hopper said.

Hopper spent the rest of the car ride teasing Chrissy about Eddie until she blasted the radio and glared heavily at him. He turned it off with a laugh. She rolled her eye as he pulled into the parking lot of the lab. She knew what he was doing, trying to take her mind off of where she was going. She climbed out of the car and smiled at the sight of Joyce's car. She was prepared this time when Will threw himself into her stomach.

"Oh, thank God, my savior," Chrissy said, hugging him tightly.

"Uh oh, what'd Hop do now?" Joyce asked in amusement.

"It's not what I did," Hopper said laughing.

"It's not that funny, Hop," Chrissy rolled her eyes.

"She gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. He got this goofy looking grin on his face, turned around, and ran right into the pole," Hopper said. "Smacked his head pretty good."

"Oh no!" Joyce laughed.

"That's hilarious," Will grinned.

"He's not my boyfriend," Chrissy rolled her eyes.

"Right," Will grinned as he took her hand. "Dustin said he runs a D&D Club at the high school. Do you think it's going to still be there when we get to high school?"

"For your sake, I hope so," Chrissy said.

"Do you think we could meet him? He sounds so cool," Will said.

"He'd be up for it," Chrissy grinned.

"Jonathan says he plays guitar," Will said. "He said he could be better though."

"What?! That's crazy. Eddie's really good already, I don't know how he could possibly need to get any better," Chrissy said furiously. "And I guess he was lying when he that he loved the way he played."

"He actually never said that, but Jonathan did say you really liked him," Will said slyly.

"You shithead," Chrissy laughed and ruffled his head.

With her arm held tightly around him, their laughter stopped as they entered the building. Chrissy and Will shivered. They both liked Dr. Owens well enough, but it was the building itself that unnerved them. It was what it represented: all the pain that was inflected because of one man and his need to play God. Barb was dead because of this place. . .because of Dr. Brenner. They reassured them that he was gone now, but she had this feeling on the back of her neck that made her think otherwise.

"Thanks for being my friend," Barb's voice whispered in her mind.

Benny was dead because of them, too, and despite the fact that the woman who put a bullet in his head was dead, it still didn't feel like enough. Chrissy felt a tug on her hand, and she looked down at Will. He looked encouragingly at her before pulling her inside with him. They dealt with the tests together and separately. They dealt with constant questioning, and they talked with them about what happened in the Upside Down, what they both went through. They even talked about their nightmares, and Chrissy talked about the voice in the darkness that kept calling to her. She rolled her eyes openly when the doctor told her it was perfectly normal after everything she went through. It certainly didn't feel like it. Chrissy knew they were doing the best with what they were working with, though, because she had a feeling like they were out of their element. Chrissy and Will walked out of there with both of their arms wrapped around each other. Then they just stood in the parking lot, hugging each other.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me today?" Chrissy asked.

"No, that's for you and Dustin," Will smiled. "But thank you."

Chrissy hugged Joyce goodbye before hopping into the other vehicle.

"Same thing?" Hopper asked her as he drove off.

"Yeah," Chrissy replied.

They picked up Dustin and went to the baseball field. Chrissy always told Hopper that it wasn't necessary to wait, but there was a part of her who appreciated it. Chrissy put on a helmet and stood at the plate with a bat. Dustin threw the first softball, and she hit it with the most satisfying sound that always came with hitting the first ball.

"You know, you have a really good throwing arm. You should really think about playing," Chrissy told her brother.

"Yeah, not a chance," Dustin said. "I told you before that the game isn't for me, I just like playing with you. I know how much you need this."

"Thanks, Dusty," Chrissy said.

She hit the softballs again and again, getting all of her frustrations out. She imagined them as Dr. Brenner's face on every single one of them. She hit the last one out of the park. Chrissy was quick to run around the bases, jumping onto the home plate with an excited yell. Dustin hollered as he ran over to her and hugged her. Chrissy hugged him tightly, kissing the top of his head. God, pretty soon, he was going to be the same height as her, maybe even taller than her. She didn't want this moment to end. All of a sudden, she heard a familiar wolf whistle. Chrissy broke away from the hug and looked to find Eddie sitting in the bleachers with Hopper.

"I called him," Dustin said with a shrug. "Are you mad?"

Chrissy grinned wickedly for a moment before wandering over to the fence. Eddie met her there, sliding his fingers through the holes.

"You make sports look good, Henderson," Eddie said.

"Come around here, and I'll show you just how good they are," Chrissy said.

"That would ruin my image of being a complete and utter nerd," Eddie said.

"Don't you know?" Chrissy gasped.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"You mean, you haven't heard?" She asked.

"Heard what?" He asked.

"Jocks are nerds. Every single one of them, it's just that they don't realize it," Chrissy said.

"They're closeted nerds," Eddie said in confusion.

"Well, they obsess over the games rather enthusiastically in ways I have seen Dustin do. Some of them memorize statistics like no one's buisness. They gather together in convention like places while wearing costumes. Don't get me started on the fantasy leagues," Chrissy said. "Also, equipments like the bat. . . It's almost like wielding a sword."

"Oh my God," Dustin said in realization, standing behind her.

"Shit, those poor closeted bastards," Eddie cursed. "Do you think they take it out people like me because they don't want to admit we're the same?"

"Hm, their hate is learned behavior, passed down from people who believe their interests are better when in reality they're equal," Chrissy said. "Different interests, equally important to the people that care about it."

"Alright, you convinced me, but only because you said it's like wielding a sword," Eddie said.

He walked onto the field and plopped the helmet off of her head before sitting it on his head.

"Georgous," she said, and he cackled before getting into position. "Don't hold the bat like that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, there's a wrong way to hold a bat?" Eddie asked.

"Yes, especially if you're pretending it's a sword. You're touching the blade," Chrissy laughed. "Unless you decided that it's an ax, then yes, that's exactly how you hold it."

Chrissy grabbed his hand and slid it a little closer to the other hand. Eddie grinned.

"How am I standing?" He asked as he slid his legs further apart in a very ridiculous way. "Is this good?"

"Close your legs, you slut," Chrissy laughed.

"Hey, are we going to play ball, or are you going to continue to flirt with my sister?!" Dustin asked.

"Is this a trick question?!" Eddie yelled back.

"Eye on the ball, Edward!" Dustin shrieked.

"Throw it, you shrimp!" Eddie exclaimed.

He hit the plate with the back and wiggled his hips wildly, squating while jutting his butt out. Chrissy snorted with laughter and held up a hand to tell Dustin to wait. She pressed her other hand to her stomach as she almost bent over laughing. Once she got control of herself, she stood behind Eddie and kicked his legs a little closer together. She pushed his butt back in a little bit before placing her hands on his hips and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"You're standing on the battlefield. You're facing a fiercesome beast. On the other side of the beast are your friends. Do you run and hide or face the beast to save your friends? What do you say, Eddie the Banished?" Chrissy asked.

"Ugh, what are you doing to me, Chrissy Henderson?" Eddie said.

Chrissy giggled as Dustin tossed him the ball, and when he missed, Eddie yelled in frustration. Eddie managed to finally hit the ball on the third try, knocking it out of the park. Eddie whooped and started running the wrong way. He winked at Chrissy as he ran back and ran around the field. He skidded into home plate with a wide grin. He grabbed Chrissy from behind and twirled her around.

"Unhand my sister, you scoundrel!" Dustin shrieked.

"I shan't! Do you think you can defeat me?!" Eddie exclaimed as Chrissy giggled.

Dustin picked up the bat and held it out like a sword. Eddie gasped and set Chrissy down. He quickly grabbed the bat out of Dustin's hands and tossed it. Dustin shrieked and rammed into his stomach. Eddie laughed as they wrestled. Chrissy bit her lip as she watched him with her brother. She was going to do everything in her power not to hurt this man. It was days like this that having her friends, her family. . .having Eddie made things feel all better.

Chapter Eight

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kennahjune · 9 months ago

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Having thoughts of The Party being touchy as all fuck after everything.

Like you cannot enter nor leave any kind of hang out without a hug, high-five, pat, or anything from everyone you were hanging out with.

And then, suddenly, you aren’t able to leave without a kiss or hug of some kind from Steve.

It started after the bullshit that was the Starcourt Mall. The kids were leaving Steve’s house from a DnD session maybe 2 months before the Byers left for Cali.

Dustin was taking forever to pull his shoes on and get out the house to his moms car and everyone was complaining. It was one of those rare times where Steve wasn’t the one carting them all around— they all had their own rides.

Dustin got his shoes on and Steve handed him his bag and— without thinking— pressed a kiss to the top of his hat before waving him out the door.

The rest of the kids are silent until Mike speaks up bitchily “what about us, asshole?”

Steve has no idea what they mean until El points to her head with a grin. Steve deals out head and forehead kisses for everyone and waves them off to their respective rides.

And then it just— sticks. At first it’s with just the kids whenever he sees them. He’ll usually greet them with a hug or an exasperated sigh and then say goodbye with a kiss to their foreheads.

Not even Mike complains. This is the kind of shit he never got while growing up— might as well make the best of it.

And then it migrates to Robin as well, and the Nancy is joining in on the hugs (they’re still too awkward for the kisses but the hugs are enough for now).

And Steve never holds back, not even in public. Again, no one complains.

And that’s how Hellfire finds out about the kissing arrangement (that might be the title of this if I make it an actual fic). They watch as Steve presses a forehead kiss to Mike, Lucas, and Dustin before waving them off and then presses a kiss to Max’s head and giving her a tight hug.

The guys try to make fun of the kids for it but none of them are embarrassed.

“It’s Steve, dude. He’s like a mom.”

“The kisses are actually really comforting.”

“It’s a Party thing.”

And then the fuckery of 1986 and Vecna happens and suddenly Eddie’s in on the hugs and pats and high-fives.

And then.

He’s in on the kisses.

Steve doles out the kisses like usual one night after Hellfire and gives one to everyone— including Eddie.

And Eddie panics and gives Steve one right back.

And then the kids are going feral about wanting to give Steve a kiss too.

And Eddie leaves during the chaos.

And then they don’t talk about it.

Until Steve and Eddie do it again.

And the kids accept is as the new normal; you have to give Steve a kiss back.

And then Steve and Eddie have an excuse to kiss each other on the foreheads and cheeks and noses.

One night they’re hanging out, just the two of them at the trailer after Wayne left for work.

Steve had greeted Eddie with a tight hug the moment he’d gotten in the trailer. Eddie had squeezed back just as tight if not tighter.

Steve was getting ready to leave, and on instinct leant in to kiss Eddie, but Eddie was also leaning in to kiss Steve. So they meet in the middle and accidentally kiss on the lips.

And then the new normal for Steve and Eddie is kissing on the lips goodbye.

Idk, just Steve being a very touchy feely person makes me so happy

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