The woods seemed to stretch out for miles as the group continued to hike through the forest in search of the Wheeler residence, each step taking them closer to what was hopefully the start of getting back home to the real world. Nancy, Robin, Debbie, and Sarah led the front of the group, chatting amongst themselves while Steve and Eddie were engaged in a conversation in the back, talking in hushed voices so as not to be heard by the rest of the group. In the middle of the group were Lily and Nick, the two having kept a small distance between themselves, but had gradually grown closer together the further they walked.

"Hey, Lily," Nick spoke up finally, in a soft voice. "Could we maybe... talk?"

"Y-yeah," Lily stammered out, in a hurried voice as her eyebrows furrowed together slightly. "What about?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Nick said, causing Lily's eyes to widen slightly in confusion. "I've been a total bitch to you all week, when all you've done is try to help Eddie. I didn't trust you, and I thought you were just going along with it so you could report everything back to Jason. But then Eddie told me what happened when the basketball team showed up at Rick's, and how you helped him, and I realized I was wrong."

"I can't say I've given you much of a reason to trust me this past year." Lily admitted. "I threw you guys out as if you meant nothing. If I was in your place, I probably would've thought the same thing." she looked back at Nick, the one who was once her best friend in the entire world that she trusted with any secret that came her way, but had become nothing more than a stranger the past seven months.

"Yeah that was, uh, really shitty." Nick agreed with a shrug. "I understood why you did it, after everything at Starcourt. If that had been my first time with the absolute hell that is the Upside Down, I would've done everything in my power to get out of here too. But I was just so fucking angry that getting rid of anything keeping you from getting out of Hawkins meant that you were getting rid of me, too. You didn't even look at me that day you showed up at the trailer, and that's what hurt the most."

"I was selfish." Lily said. "After Billy died, I started seeing everything holding me back in Hawkins as collateral damage. Hellfire, the people in it, anyone who was there at Starcourt that night. Even Max. When I started thinking about this new plan for myself, and what I needed to do to get out of here, I stopped thinking about her, and how much she still needed me."

"Max loves you," Nick assured her, "And she knows you love her, too."

"Well I've done a fantastic job of showing it lately." Lily laughed humorlessly. "I left her, I left everybody, and I joined a group of people that I had to lie to in order to feel accepted. I figured my happiness was a small price to pay, and I'd make up for it someday when I was as far away from Hawkins as I could get."

"And was it?" she asked. "Worth it, I mean?"

Lily shook her head. "I convinced myself it was, for a while." she admitted. "I kept telling myself that having surface level conversations with people that I didn't trust to know that I lived in a trailer was fun, and that I actually liked going to parties where people drink until they black out while I nursed a bottle of apple juice all night, but I'd take a Hellfire campaign over that any day. You don't know how many times I got to the school for a basketball game and considered going to the drama room instead of the gym to try begging for forgiveness."

"Well, begging for forgiveness doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world right now." Nick joked, causing Lily to smile softly.

"Nick I am so, so sorry for the way I treated you." Lily said, stopping walking for a moment and looking the girl in the eyes. "For the way I treated all of you. You were my best friend, and I really hope that maybe we could get back there again someday."

Nick smiled, reaching out and pulling Lily into a hug. "I forgive you." she said, glancing over to where Steve and Eddie were laughing as they still chatted at the end of the group. "But that brings me to another subject."

Lily followed the girl's gaze as she stepped back from the embrace. "Which is?"

"The protective younger sister talk." Nick explained. "I've noticed that you and Eddie have become really close again. Not that I blame you, if I was stuck on the run with somebody for five days and witnessed everything the two of you have, I'd have done the same thing. But if you want back in our lives, back in his life, you can't leave us again."

"I won't," Lily insisted, shaking her head.

"He'd deny it if I ever said it to him, but you didn't see how hard it was for Eddie when you left." Nick said solemnly. "How hard it was for both of us. I don't know what's about to happen with Vecna, but no matter how things end, you can't disappear again."

"I'm here," Lily assured her friend. "I really care about Eddie, about both of you. I'm not running away again, not after this. Do you trust me?"

Nick nodded, and a relieved smile crossed Lily's face. "I trust you."

"Hey," Eddie's voice spoke up behind them, forcing the girls apart as he stood between them. "Nick, mind if I borrow Lily for a second?"

"Not at all," Nick agreed, giving them a nod before walking over in Steve's direction.

"What's up?" Lily asked as she and Eddie continued to walk, stepping over any vines in their path.

"So I was talking to Steve, which, by the way, did you know my sister has a thing for Steve Harrington?" Eddie asked in disbelief, shooting a glance back to where the two were now walking together at the end of the group.

"Your sister's always had a thing for Steve Harrington," Lily pointed out.

"I should've known, I mean every girl in Hawkins has, right?" Eddie asked, crossing his arms as they walked.

"I mean, not every girl," Lily pointed out nonchalantly with a slight shrug, causing Eddie to narrow his eyes in her direction.

"Bullshit," he retorted.

"No, no it's true," she insisted. "I don't know, I guess Steve was never my type. We're friends, don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm more into musicians." she said, her eyes finding their way back to his as a nervous smile crept across his face.

"Is that so?" Eddie mused for a moment before shaking his head. "Anyways, I was telling him to stop being an idiot and just go for it, after she jumped in the lake after him, and then I realized I should also stop being an idiot and take my own advice for once."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, coming to a stop where she leaned back against a tree, and Eddie stepped closer, fiddling nervously with the rings on his fingers.

"Do you remember back at Skull Rock, when I mentioned what happened last summer?" Eddie asked, and Lily nodded. "Well, the truth is, I wish that timer had never gone off."

"Eddie," Lily breathed, and he took another step towards her.

"I know that was supposed to just be a one time thing between us, to make Gareth happy with his stupid dare." Eddie continued as he began to ramble. "But I'd liked you for a while at that point, and after that night I planned on asking you out. I figured we'd, I don't know, go to the arcade for a bit and then to that pizza place you like so much. Maybe even split a milkshake. But then Starcourt happened, and the next time I saw you was when you showed up at my trailer to quit Hellfire, and I missed my chance."

"Eddie," Lily said again, but the boy kept talking.

"I never hated you," he admitted. "But you know me, I'm a cynic. I just kept thinking that I did something to make you never want to talk to us again, that maybe that night at Skull Rock hadn't meant the same thing to you that it did to me, and it just made me so fucking angry to see the life you were living without us. But then all this shit happened, and we became friends again, and this timing is probably way off and this isn't what you want to be hearing right now, but I just really wish that damn timer never went off." He finished with a humorless chuckle.

"Eddie," Lily said again, reaching up to cover the boy's mouth as she gave him a soft smile. "It's okay," she assured him, moving her hand away from his mouth to rest against his cheek. "If it's any consolation, pizza and the arcade actually sounds really great. As long as we don't forget the milkshake, that is." she chuckled softly.

Eddie smiled, a little hesitantly at first before his eyes briefly moved down to her lips and back up. Lily looked back up at him from where she still leaned against the tree as Eddie moved closer, his face leaning in towards hers before the ground once again began to shake, surprised yells from their friends cutting through the air.

"Here we go again," Eddie muttered through gritted teeth as his arms leaned forward, wrapping around the tree with Lily between them in order to keep the both of them steady.

"Okay, second on my list of least favorite things, earthquakes." Lily could hear Robin talking loudly in the distance, where she now clung to the ground along with the other girls. "Seriously, I'm unsteady enough as it is." As Robin spoke, Nancy broke into a run, despite the ground still shaking violently beneath them. "Nancy!" Robin yelled. "Where are you going? Nancy!"

Lily buried her face in Eddie's chest, her eyes shut and arms holding tight around his waist to keep her anchored to him as the ground continued to shake. When it finally came to a stop, Eddie leaned back, taking her face in his hands as he studied her for any sign of injury, a look of concern evident in his gaze.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worry clouding his tone, and she nodded.

"Y-yeah," she stammered, nodding. "I'm okay. Come on,"

Lily took his hand as she began to run after the group, the two of them coming to a stop next to the others, her gaze following where Nancy stared into the distance ahead of them. They'd reached the edge of the forest, now finding themselves in a clearing she barely recognized as a cul de sac in town. Ahead of them, covered in vines amidst the collapsed telephone towers was the Wheeler residence, standing out stark white amidst the red lightning flashing across the dark sky.

"We made it," Sarah muttered in disbelief.

"Well, we've got no time to lose." Nancy said, gesturing towards the house. "Come on."