I See You (Please See Me): Chapter 14

A Stranger Things Fanfic

Trigger warning: mentions of abuse and eating disorders

Chrissy’s mom didn’t speak to her when she came down for breakfast the next day. She handed her the small plate without meeting her eyes and turned back to the stove. Chrissy joined Brian at the table without a word. He glanced up at their mom, then quickly turned back to his food.

Chrissy had finished eating and was in the middle of washing her dishes when someone knocked on the door. She didn’t look up as her mom answered, but she turned the water down to a trickle and slowed her scrubbing.

“Good morning, Mrs. Cunningham. I am so sorry that we didn’t call.” It was Nancy. “Chrissy wanted to call you, but my mom was on the phone with her friend, and they always talk for hours, so I told her to wait, but then she fell asleep by accident, and I forgot to call you, and once again, I am so sorry.”

Chrissy could just picture her mom’s expression: lips pinched together, eyebrows raised, head slightly inclined. “Yes, well, I think children should always keep in mind their parents’ concern.”

Chrissy finished the plate and pulled out a dishcloth to dry it, glancing over at the door. Nancy gave a polite smile and clasped her hands in front of her. “Of course.”

“Did you come for anything else?” Chrissy’s mom asked, her tone carefully polite.

“Yes, actually. Did Chrissy tell you why she came home so late last night?” Chrissy stilled, listening carefully to every detail she might need to remember later.

“No, she did not.”

Nancy shuddered. “She and I ran into a strange man last night, and when I mentioned him to the police, they thought he might have had something to do with the two recent murders. They wanted to talk to us both, so I promised I would drive Chrissy over to the station since I know you probably have to head to work.”

“Chrissy!”

Chrissy jerked, nearly dropping the plate, but she managed to tuck it into the cabinet before running over to her mom. “Yes?”

“Why didn’t you mention this last night?”

She dropped her eyes. “I didn’t think it was important.”

“He scared us pretty badly,” Nancy explained, “but some boys from school heard us and came to help, so there wasn’t really a problem. I just figured I should mention it to the police this morning.”

“Hmm.” Chrissy’s mom snapped over her shoulder. “Brush your hair before you go out, and come home right after.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chrissy ran upstairs, brushed her hair quickly, tied it up with a scrunched, then hurried back down to where Nancy waited. They climbed in the car, and Nancy started it before turning to Chrissy.

“Are you okay?”

The words “I’m fine” rested on her lips, but she forced them back, instead giving a small shrug.

Nancy closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat. “I’m so sorry I forgot to call your mom again, and I didn’t even consider that the basketball team might show up to Creel’s house. I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize,” Chrissy said quickly, shaking her head. “I—I’m okay. I’m just glad everyone else is too.” She glanced over at Nancy nervously. “They are all okay, right? I mean, Brian said Lucas said everyone was back, so I assumed—”

“They’re fine. Dustin and Eddie . . . had to be patched up a bit at the hospital, but they’re fine. We’ll see them at the police station.”

Chrissy smiled. “Are they the ones who saved us from the serial killer?”

Nancy grinned and glanced out the back window, pulling out of the driveway. Mmhmm. Explains their injuries too.”

The engine hummed softly, and neither girl spoke. Silence felt strange now with no music flooding her brain. It would take some time to get used to.

“So Vecna’s gone now, right?” Chrissy asked, needing to hear for certain.

Nancy sighed, and Chrissy’s chest tightened. “Not quite. He somehow managed to get away, but he’s very injured, and Max said our friend El has her powers back and fought him, so as soon as we can get her back here, she’ll be able to get rid of him permanently.” Nancy reached over and squeezed Chrissy’s hand, flashing a quick smile before turning back to the road. “But you’re safe. Don’t worry. You can focus on navigating graduation.”

Chrissy smiled, though graduation was the least of her worries, and she was sure the other girl knew it. She fidgeted with her cast, turning over in her mind the question that had been poking at her since the day before. “Nancy?”

“Yes?”

She paused, wondering how to word her thoughts. She didn’t want to sound rude, or like she was talking badly about someone, but she needed to know the answer. “How do you know . . . if you should break up with someone?”

Nancy spun around so fast it looked like she would get whiplash. She studied Chrissy for a second, then turned back to the road. “I told you, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life, but if you want advice . . .” She trailed off and glanced over at Chrissy, who nodded. Nancy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I think you should think about whether you’re happy with him and whether you can see yourself marrying him one day. If you can, I think you both just need to sit down and talk things out. If you can’t, well, maybe you should consider moving on.” Chrissy tugged on her sleeve and stared out the window.

When they arrived at the police station, Eddie and Dustin were already waiting for them. Chrissy stared at them. “Patched up” was an understatement.

Scratches, scrapes, and bandages covered every visible inch of skin. Eddie sat stiffly in his chair, and she guessed his shirt covered even more bandages. Dustin wore a brace on one foot, and Eddie had so many bandages wrapped around one arm it looked like he was the one wearing a cast. Dustin glanced up as they walked in.

“Chrissy!” He leapt up and limped over. Eddie whirled around, then winced, holding onto the back of his chair so he could face them.

“Don’t get up!” Chrissy protested, but Dustin was already in front of her. “I was going to come to you.” She hugged the boy, careful not to be too tight.

“Are you alright?” Dustin asked.

“Am I alright? Look at you! What happened?” The question slipped out before she remembered the police officers standing around the room.

“Well, after you girls ran off, that guy turned nasty,” Eddie said with a wink. “Pulled out some weird weapon I’ve never seen before. I didn’t get a good look at it, but it would probably be cool to add into a campaign sometime, huh, Dustin?” Dustin laughed.

Officer Callahan pulled over a couple more chairs for Chrissy and Nancy, then launched into a series of questions about their mysterious assailant. When he began asking about the man’s height and appearance (they all insisted he wore a mask), Chrissy felt she was being incredibly vague, but she didn’t want to cause problems by forgetting details later.

When she finally described the man as “very tall”, Eddie snorted, and she shot him a glare. Officer Callahan rolled his eyes.

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Munson.”

Eddie flashed a large smile. “Well, pain medication does wonders for your mood. You should try it.”

The officer opened his mouth, most likely to make a snide comment, but Nancy broke in to explain how she and Chrissy had been attacked.

The boys followed along, providing a blow-by-blow account of their fight that left Chrissy dizzy. She wondered how many of the details had been established beforehand, and how many they came up with on the spot.

Finally Officer Callahan decided he needed a break from the four teens, and left them alone. Chrissy turned to the boys as soon as she checked to make sure no one was watching them. “What really happened? You were supposed to be safe in the trailer!”

Eddie shrugged. “We forgot to block off the vents.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “I notice you’re leaving our your stupidity.” He turned to Chrissy. “He jumped on a bike and rode off, trying to draw them away.”

“My stupidity? You broke your ankle trying to follow me!”

“Because we’re a team! What do you think that means?”

“You left the trailer?” Chrissy asked. “Eddie, what were you thinking? You promised me you’d be careful!”

Nancy turned at this, raising her eyebrows. “You did?” Eddie shifted in his chair, resolutely studying his fingernails.

“Eddie,” Chrissy whined, flushing when she realized how desperate she sounded.

Eddie threw up his hands, then winced, clutching his ribs. “Those bats could have gotten into Hawkins, like, the real one, and then who knows how many people could have been killed! I was trying to protect everyone.”

“You can protect everyone without being so suicidal,” Dustin grumbled.

“I—”

Dustin shoved his finger in Eddie’s face, and Eddie shrank back and swallowed as though Dustin were the adult and he the child. “Self-preservation is not a bad thing.”

Chrissy swallowed and studied her hands, remembering Nancy telling her she should let herself live. She couldn’t keep living her life on eggshells, afraid to say the wrong thing, to look the wrong way, to misstep. If she stayed with Jason, if she married him one day, she would never escape. She had known this longer than she cared to admit, but she had been afraid of losing the direction in her life. Afraid of the uncertainty that would come with freedom. I have to break up with Jason, she realized.

“Good for you,” Dustin said, and Chrissy felt the blood rush to her face as she realized she had said the last part aloud.

She glanced up and found Eddie’s dark eyes studying her carefully. He looked like he wanted to say something, but fear kept him back. She was far too familiar with the way that felt, and she was tempted to tell him just to say what was on his mind.

Then Dustin looked at Eddie and snorted. Loudly. Eddie shot the boy a glare and kicked his leg. Dustin groaned and clutched his brace.

Eddie jumped and reached for the boy, eyes widening. “Sorry, sorry, are you okay? I forgot about your foot.”

Dustin grunted. “I’m fine.”

Eddie crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, glaring again. “Well maybe that’ll teach you to keep your thoughts to yourself.”

Chrissy turned to Nancy, wondering if the other girl understood what was going on better than she did, but Nancy had her eyes rolled up to the ceiling, and Chrissy wasn’t sure she wanted to ask.

“Alright,” Officer Callahan said, coming back into the room clutching a large mug of coffee and sitting behind the desk again. He sagged and rubbed his hand down his face. “I think I have everything I need from you all, so why don’t you just head home now.” He plastered a worn, very obviously fake smile across his face and waved his hand. “Run along now, children. Run along.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back, letting it scrape loudly on the floor. He walked off, and Dustin ran after him. Nancy stood up, smiling, and thanked the officer for his time. Chrissy nodded along and hurried after the boys.

She paused in the doorway. “Oh, Officer Callahan?”

He looked up dully. “Yes?”

“Would you please make sure Jason Carver and the other members of the basketball team know Eddie couldn’t have killed Patrick? Because they were out looking for him yesterday, and I think they were planning to hurt him.”

“Yes, I’ll look into that. Can’t have vigilante kids running around town scaring people.” He shook his head.

Nancy took Chrissy’s arm, and they walked outside. They found Eddie and Dustin waiting for them, leaning against the station wall.

“So it’s really over?” Eddie asked.

Nancy nodded. “He’s run off, wounded, to hide, and as soon as I get back in touch with Mike and Jonathan, we’ll make sure El can come back and close off the Upside-Down for good.”

Eddie nodded, tapping his fingers against his leg. “That’s good. Make sure you send your friend over to the trailer soon, cause I know Wayne’ll want to move back in as soon as it’s not a crime scene.”

“Do you have someplace to stay?” Chrissy asked.

Eddie shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.” He made a face. “Harrington offered the guest rooms at his place while his parents are out of town, but I’m not sure we’ll take him up on that.”

Chrissy bit her lip, wishing she had something to offer. Eddie nudged her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. There are plenty of motels and stuff around here. We’ll find someplace, and I won’t let those cops alone until they get the trailer cleared out.”

She grinned. “I bet you won’t.”

He grinned back and held out his hand to shake hers. “See you around, Chrissy.”

She didn’t take his hand. Instead she took a few steps closer, stood on her toes, and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much!”

He raised his hands slowly and patted her awkwardly on the back. “I, uh, I didn’t really do all that much—”

“Yes, you did,” she hummed in his ear, and he stilled under her. “You did everything.”

She stepped back, and a wave of self-consciousness rushed over her when she noticed his wide eyes and the flush now covering his face. She pushed it aside and smiled. “See you around, Eddie!” She waved, and she and Nancy headed back to her car.

“So you’re going to break up with Jason, huh?” Nancy asked, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

Chrissy frowned at her. She didn’t see what was so amusing. “Yes. I thought about what you said, and, honestly I had been considering it a while, and I just . . . think I should.”

Nancy nodded. “I hope that goes well.”

As they drove, Nancy chatted about school, the tests coming up after break, the school newspaper, and graduation. Chrissy smiled, enjoying the luxury of idle chatter and the freedom from Vecna hanging over their heads. It felt strange to know she would be going back to school so soon, returning to a world she didn’t belong to anymore.

But it would only be for two months, and then she could make her own plans, find her own path in life, and finally escape her monsters.

“Will you be okay?” Nancy asked when they pulled up to the Cunningham house.

Chrissy smiled as she reached over to give the other girl a hug. “I’ll be fine.”

And for the first time she could remember, the words felt completely true.

The End

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