December of 85'

November had passed slowly and it was now December. The air was chilly, the snow stuck to the ground, and everytime Kathryn went outside she had to bundle up.

She hated winter with a deep passion, but she was glad November had passed, specifically the whole scenario from thanksgiving.

Kathryn's parents of course didn't like the fact that she had ran out and drank up their wine, but they understood that what her grandpa said had been out of line. They were just relieved when Eddie brought her back inside.

       When he got there and was told she ran outside he panicked.

He mostly blamed himself. He was already running late trying to make himself look less like a... freak, when dustin called him up frantically. He knew Eddie was pretty good with mechanics, or at least knew someone who was. Dustins' moms car broke down and they didn't know anyone else who would help at a cheaper cost, so he went to fix it.

      He had called to tell Kat he'd be even later and Philip answered the phone, soon hanging up when he found out who it was.

"Asshole." Eddie muttered to himself then.

When Eddie was finally able to make it to Kat's house he was tired, exhausted, and feeling guilty about missing the dinner. At that point he just wanted to apologize for not being able to make it.

He knocked on the brick house's milky white door.

The person who answered was teary eyed Mary Callahan.

"We don't know where Kathryn went, she ran off through the back yard."

Eddie's heart was beating really fast. He was scared that something might have happened to her, so he went through the back door and started running, making it through the thick forest of trees.

    He stopped when he heard crying.

    That was when he spot her on the bench.

     That moment between them in the chapel in the woods caused something.

     It caused Kat to realize that she didn't know what she would do without him again. At first she was angry that he ditched the dinner because she wanted him to be there, but when he told her why he wasn't there she understood.

Even the fact that he stayed out there with her because she told him to made her care about him more.

    Maybe she was starting to like him then, but she wouldn't admit it until later on.

     It didn't just help her realize she might have feeling for Eddie, but she also found a place where she could hang out when she needed to be alone.

    Even on the coldest days she would throw on warm clothes and trek through the woods to hangout at her spot. The one only her and Eddie knew about then.

Eddie didn't go out there again until the week before Christmas.

   Most of the Callahans were out busy Christmas shopping while Kathryn was in the woods on a bench reading.

     The whole chapel was renovated by Kathryn throughout the past month. She brought out brooms to sweep the stage, paint buckets to paint over the worn out wood, and Christmas lights to hang everywhere.

    Now the chapel was a nice beige color that was well lit up and gave off a homey feeling.

     The homey feeling left though when she heard footsteps and sticks breaking under someone feet.

    She put the book down and stood up to look for who was there with her. She wasn't alone.

    She didn't know it was Eddie and when he snuck up on her to scare her she chucked her book at his face.

    "Shit! Sorry you scared me." She rushed over to him.

    "I shouldn't have tried to surprise you." Eddie was holding a hand to his cheek where a bright red mark was.

    "How'd you know I was here?" She picked up her book from the ground. Now the pages were slightly crumpled and dirty.

    "Wild guess."

     "Seriously, I just threw a book at you and all you can say is wild guess?" She takes the seat nearest to them.

      "I figured that since no one else was home you would either be here or out with your friends."

    "So you took your chances and went hiking through the woods?" She honestly didn't doubt that he would do that.

    "Well i might have asked one of them."

    "You're crazy." She laughed.

    "Would someone who's crazy have this baby?" Eddie pulled a corner of his shirt down exposing a fresh new tattoo.

    "Yea, I think they would." The tattoo still had covering on it.

   "Okay you're right that wasn't the best example."

   "Nope." She trying to rub some of the dirt off her book, only making it worse.

      Eddie took a seat beside her.

     "Maybe you should get a tattoo." He took the book from her hand so he could talk to her.

     "I plan to soon, I just don't really know what id get."

"What about some drum sticks? You are a pretty kick ass drummer."

"Eh, I feel like I want something more meaningful."

"Like what?" Eddie had some meaningful tattoos, then some of them were just random.

"I still don't know yet. I'll know it when it comes to me."

"Well since right now isn't the time, how about I give you your present." He held out a box

"Is that why you came out here in the first place."

"You know me so well Kit Kat."

"What the fuck." She cringed.

"It sounded a lot better in my head, now it just sounds sorta."

"Dumb."

"Yea a little bit.

"What does it even m-"

"You're kidding right?"

"No what?"

"Kathryn. Kat. Kit Kat. One of the best candies of all time." He flails his arms around.

"You have to be kidding."

"What, about the nick name?"

"No barf face. Kit Kats being one of the best candies of all time." She immediately regretted using the phrase barf face. She's always been someone who's said things without thinking into it.

"You're joking?" Eddie gasps dramatically.

"Absolutely not. Three musketeers are the way to go."

"You're shitting me Callahan. Have you been hanging around Henderson lately? The kid loves nougat."

    "Me hang around him? I'm surprised you don't like nougat. He follows you around like a puppy now."

    "He's a good kid."

    "He is a smart ass though."

    "How do you know that?"

    Eddie had no clue that they even knew eachother aside from the times he would come over to listen to the band, in which they didn't talk a whole lot. She liked leaving the summer in the past.

    "Well for one he cusses like a sailor, he always comes up with something to say and he's a nerd."

     "You play dnd."

    She stopped then

   "Okay true but."

"I'm going to stop you there. Here's your Christmas present."

He handed her a small box. The box was wrapped in Christmas tree wrapping paper and had a bow on it, Dustin's mom had to help him wrap it.

She opened the box and in it she found a mixtape and a pair of drumsticks that had corroded coffin engraved on them.

"How do you know im going to be in corroded coffin for much longer?" She held the drumsticks up.

    "Do you plan on quitting?"

    "Well no.." she rubbed the back of her neck.

    "Then there you have it."

     "Thank you, I really do love them. And the mixtape, I'm going to have to listen to it when I get home." She gave him a quick hug.

   "I think you'll like the music on there. I mean it isn't as good as ours or anything." He said sarcastically pointing at the tape.

    "I don't have your present yet, but you and your uncle should come out for Christmas since you weren't able to for thanksgiving. I'll give it to you then."

   "We'll come over. Sorry again about last time." He would make sure he could come.

    "Let's not even talk about last time, that shit was embarrassing."

"What was embarrassing about it?"

"I was drunk out of my mind." She hated that she let him see her like that.

"Hey I don't blame you. I know you didn't tell me why you ran out here, but your mom did a few days after."

She placed a hand to her head. "Of course she did."

"You had a reason to be upset, your grandpa sounds like an ass."

"He always has been an ass. I don't even know why the dick decided to show up." She was getting chilly, crossing her arms to stay warm.

"Are you getting cold?" He asked.

"A little."

"How about we go back. If it's okay if I come in?" He'd been over a few times now, mostly if he needed help with school or wanted to ask her about band.

       "Yea come on." She grabbed the book that Eddie set on the other side of him and started walking ahead of them.

        He sped up and wrapped an arm around her as they walked, it would have been something normal for her a few months ago. You wouldn't have expected it under the tattoos, hair, rings, and metal music taste, but the boy always showed physical touch.

     When they were younger he would welcome her into hugs every time he saw her, now it was less often but he still found little ways to share affection: Little brushes of legs during band practice, placing his hand on her shoulder, gazing his hand upon hers, he was always finding ways to be close to her, though she didn't really realize that he wanted to be close, she just thought it was accidental and it drove her crazy.

       They walked to Kathryn's house spilling jokes and stories the whole way there: talking about things that happened at school, like how a lunch lady got fired for serving expired meat, how Kat's best friends Lori and Judith were coming over for Christmas to do a gift exchange with her, how Jeff was at the beach, and Dustin had to cook a turkey with his mom for Christmas. They enjoyed the time they spent together.

When they got back to the house eddie stayed with her a little longer. The two of them drank hot chocolate and listened to music, he told her not to listen to the mixtape till she was alone .

     Kat even tried to get Eddie to watch a Christmas story and they eventually started it (even after Eddie begged her to pick something else to watch) , but he dozed off in the first 30 minutes. Christmas movies were not his thing.

       Kat got up while he was still asleep to wash their mugs of hot cocoa out. Her parents still weren't home.

   When they did get home she had fallen asleep on the couch too and her dad woke her up to talk to her in the other room.

    "What's the Munson boy doing here?" He was furious.

    "He's my friend dad we were just watching a movie." Kathryn defended.

    "Still that boys bad news, remember when he almost got you and his no good friends thrown in jail?" Her dad said it like she didn't agree to it in the first place.

      "Dad it wasn't just all his fault. And he's coming to Christmas. Both him and his uncle."

    "Whatever you just behave can't have you getting into problems like Mark and Amy."

   "We're just friends." She walked back into the living room to wake Eddie up, it was later anyways so he needed to go home.

    When he left she told her mom him and his uncle were coming to Christmas she was happy, but wanted to make sure he was actually coming.

    "Now you're sure he's coming?" They we're in the kitchen and her mom was taking a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven.

    "Yes mom, I mean he came last time he was just very late." Kathryn was peeling potatoes for their supper. Roast and vegetables. Kathryn's least favorite.

     "Alright I just don't want to see you get hurt."

    Kathryn wanted to say something like, then why are you never there for me? Or, how come you're always busy?

    "Mom i'm a big girl I can handle myself."

    Her mother truly had no clue how much she had to to handle in the past year. She had no clue what really happened to Barb and what went on at the mall.

   "I'm sure you can." Mary set the loaf on the table.

      "Here I'll finish these, you go on and clean up for dinner your brothers are coming over." She came over to where Kat was peeling the potatoes and took the peeler from her.

     Kat made her way up to her room. She had yet to play the mixtape Eddie got her so she decided she would.

      When she listened to it for the first time she thought about how special it was to her that someone made her a mixtape. Someone thought about songs she might like, and songs that reminded them of her.

     The songs on the mixtape weren't just one specific genre there were AC/DC , the runaways, Pat Benatar, Metallica and blondie songs on the mix.

    One specific song stood out to her.

   'I was made for lovin' you' by kiss played, she really listened to the lyrics. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe it wasn't.

     That was the first mixtape she received from him and for the next week she listened to it on repeat.

     She didn't know how important it would be in the future.

        A/N: hey guys it's been a while! This book finally hit 300 reads tysm!

     Here's a shortish chapter unedited. Next chapters the Christmas chapter and then.. there will only be around 3 or 4 more chapters til we get to volume 1 of season 4.

   It might be a little bit. I'm currently getting ready to go back to school sadly.