The Light Never Went Out | Eddie Munson x Reader

Hawkins, 1987 Everyone believed he was dead. But I never turned the light off. It had been months since the Upside Down was supposedly closed for good. Months since Eddie Munson and Jane Hopper had sacrificed themselves so the rest of us could live. Everyone kept telling me that they were gone, that there was nothing left to do, that I had to accept it and move on. But how was I supposed to move on when I had never even told him how I felt? Eddie had been my best friend. The boy who could make me laugh when everything around us was falling apart. The boy who played his guitar like the whole world belonged to him. The boy I had fallen in love with long before I was brave enough to admit it. And now, everyone spoke about him in the past tense. Everyone except me. Every night, I left a small lamp on beside my window. It was stupid, I knew. Eddie wasn't going to magically appear because I kept a light burning. But some part of me still hoped he would find his way home. Then, one night, the light flickered. Once. Twice. And then it went dark. I sat up so quickly that I nearly fell out of bed. My heart hammered against my ribs as I stared at the lamp. It was probably nothing. A power outage. A faulty bulb. Anything ordinary. But I couldn't stop thinking about the lights in the Byers' house. The way they had flickered when something from the other side was trying to communicate. The next morning, I went to Eddie's trailer. I hadn't been there since his funeral—or what passed for one. There hadn't been a body to bury, only memories and a grave that felt like a cruel joke. His uncle wasn't home. The trailer was quiet, and the familiar smell of old records, cigarettes, and Eddie's cologne seemed to cling to everything. I sat on his bed and picked up one of his shirts. It still smelled faintly like him. That was when I finally broke down. I pressed the shirt against my face and cried until my throat hurt. I cried because I missed his stupid jokes, his dramatic reactions, his laugh. I cried because I had never told him I loved him. And I cried because, deep down, I couldn't believe he was gone. Two days later, Steve, Robin, and Nancy came to see me. I told them about the lamp. About the flickering light and the feeling that something was trying to reach me. Steve immediately shook his head. "No. Absolutely not. We're not doing this again." "Steve, listen to me—" "No," he repeated. "We've already lost enough people." Robin looked worried, while Nancy remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Even if there's something left on the other side, we don't know what it is. Going back could get you killed." "Then I'll take the risk." None of them liked that answer. They tried to convince me to stay, reminding me of everything we'd survived. But they didn't understand. I wasn't trying to bring back a memory. I was trying to find Eddie. That night, I waited until the house was quiet. I packed a first-aid kit, food, water, a flashlight, rope, a lighter, and a weapon. I took an axe, too. I had no idea what I would face, but I wasn't going to walk into the Upside Down unprepared. At midnight, I slipped out. Hawkins felt different after dark. The streets were empty, the wind cut through my jacket, and every distant noise made me turn around. I searched places connected to the old lab, following scraps of information and rumors that most people had long forgotten. Then I found it. A Russian walkie-talkie, hidden among abandoned equipment. At first, all I heard was static. Then a distorted voice mentioned Hawkins Laboratory. I froze. The lab had been destroyed, or at least abandoned. But if someone was still transmitting from there, perhaps there was something left to find. I followed the signal to an underground passage and made my way inside. The air smelled of dust and rust. My flashlight swept across broken machinery, cracked walls, and cables hanging from the ceiling. Every step echoed through the darkness. Then I saw it. A tiny opening in the wall. A gate. It was nothing like the enormous, terrifying rifts we'd seen before. This one was small, unstable, and barely glowing, as though the connection between our world and the Upside Down was almost dead. But it was there. My hands trembled as I approached it. I took out my lighter and held the flame near the opening, hoping to provoke a reaction. The light danced against the strange, dark surface. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the gate pulsed. I stumbled backward, my breath catching in my throat. "Eddie?" I whispered. The only answer was the low, unnatural hum coming from the opening. I tried again. I moved the light, calling his name, desperate for any sign that I wasn't losing my mind. And then— A flicker. A response. I stood completely still. It could have been a coincidence. It could have been my imagination. But I couldn't ignore the possibility that someone on the other side had seen the light. Someone who knew what it meant. Someone who might be Eddie. I tightened my grip on the flashlight and stepped closer. My heart was pounding so hard that I could barely hear my own breathing. I didn't know what waited for me beyond that gate. I didn't know whether I'd find a monster, a nightmare, or nothing at all. But I knew I couldn't turn back. Not now. Not when I might finally have a chance to find him. Taking one last breath, I stepped into the darkness. And the world I knew disappeared behind me.