Here's to Us | A Stranger Things FanFiction
Chapter 5
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Flickering lights and a blonde with a nose bleed sends Joan Destiny back in time to 1985 as Joan Agatha, supposedly her aunt whose existence she had never heard about before. A fan of Back to the Future and Doctor Who, Joan knows how changing the course of the future could end for her, so she decides to act the part - no matter how hard it can be. Between Russians, drug dealers, and interdimensional monsters Joan is left with one question...
ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴊᴏᴀɴ ᴀɢᴀᴛʜᴀ? ¿ɐɥʇɐɓ∀ uɐoſ oʇ pǝuǝddɐɥ ʇɐɥM
The month without Dustin was filled with sleepovers with Heather, trips to the pool, and meeting people who already knew her. It was exhausting with a capital E. Some nights, she would stare off into the nothingness in front of her and try to remember her mom and dad's face - staring at kid pictures of Dustin only did so much - and silently cry herself to sleep because fuck she missed her family.
She missed her children in The Hellfire Club and her family outside of that. Sometimes she would see a younger version of an adult she knew and it would send her into a downward spiral where she'd spend ten minutes calming down in the nearest bathroom.
"Oi, Henderson! No looking that sexy at the pool!" Heather hollered down at her from her post on the life guard tower. Joan grinned up at her friend, flipping her off, and howling at the return bird sent her way. Dustin was coming home in two days, so she was enjoying the time as an only child as much as she could. "Love you, dork."
"Bite me, Holloway!"
Heather imitated a bite in Joan's direction and Joan scoffed with a shake of her head. Behind her the housewives started acting up and she groaned, realizing the time and what was coming next.
Billy Hargrove.
Her friend had already started to descend the lifeguard stand and make way towards the locker room so she could complete her daily ritual of flirting with her future husband and then head out with Joan for their last June sleepover before Dustin came back.
Joan's lips mocked the words of her friend to her right with the low sensual tone of hi Billy drawn out in an unashamed flirty tone. Billy was just as good of a flirt as Heather was, returning the favor with a smirk.
"Hey Heather. Your new sunglasses are bitchin'."
Joan was smart enough to know where exactly Heather had placed the glasses.
She was packed up by the time Billy climbed up on the lifeguard stand and Joan didn't really care for the graduate. He was certainly hot and belonged on magazines instead of here in shitty Hawkins, but the dude was a grade A asshole looking only for a hole to fill and that hole was not his heart.
"Are we still hitting the mall, Heath?"
"For sure."
The mall was a new addition to the town and Joan was excited to see it in all its glory before it burned down and took a gruesome amount of lives with it. Her dad had always refused to talk about it and Joan was pretty sure he had lost a friend or two, or something, because he always got this weird look on his face at the mention of it.
And then would make fun of Uncle Steve's old uniform.
Her side quest was to get a picture of Uncle Steve in uniform and store it somewhere within the walls of the home so when she went back to her time she had some leverage over the man to buy her food.
For lack of better words, the mall was gnarly. Hawkins never did rebuild the mall and politicians whoever spoke about bringing one back were Hawkins-politicians no longer. Both Joan and Heather squealed in delight at the sight of the large building and shopped for hours in the stores.
Joan tried to be Agatha, but it was hard to be someone you weren't. The clothes made her feel uncomfortable and the music was okay - Joan didn't really listen to a lot of 80's music - so she started buying a few more outfits that made her feel more at home.
Jeans, t-shirts, and high tops.
"Joan!"
And apparently Agatha had more than one friend.
The shout from behind her was one she had heard before at the pool and mall, and made Joan grin in delight as the head cheerleader made her way merrily over to Joan and Heather.
"Chrissy!"
The cheerleaders were not as bad as she had expected, Joan realized throughout her month long stay in the 80's. Chrissy was the new captain and was the sweetest person in the world and Burnett, Nicole, and Stephanie were all so kind to Joan and Heather.
It was so weird for Joan to be with the popular crowd. She was used to having to defend herself from girls like these so being one of them was kind of... nice. To Joan, the 80s were so much better than the new millennia. People hung out tother, ate dinner with their families, and just were nicer all around.
"What are you guys doing here?!"
"Just looking around, getting some new threads for the new year!"
"Us too!"
"Oh wow, Steph. That shirt looks so cute, where'd you get it?!"
"Oh my God, Joan, is your eye okay, homegirl?"
The pleasantries were making her eye twitch in annoyance, because okay yes she liked the girls - they were super fucking kind and welcoming - but the small talk and pleasantries were something got on her last nerve.
"Y-yeah, totally, Nikki. Just some allergies or whatever." The concern on the girl's faces made her heart melt and the twitching soft as she instantly felt bad for being so annoyed at the girls. "Hey, we were going to get ice cream, do you guys want to come?"
Chrissy's face dropped at the invite, but the other three girls lit up like Christmas lights, linking arms with each other and heading over to Scoops A'Hoy. Joan frowned at the cheer captain, joining her in the back of the group.
"Everything okay, Chrissy? Do you want ice cream?"
There was a silence before the kind-hearted cheerleader looked up with a blinding grin and wrapped her arms around Joan's right arm. "Of course I want ice cream, but, uh, I was just thinking... are you sure you wanna go there?"
"Why wouldn't I want to go there?"
"Because of who works there, duh." Nicole had turned her head to respond with a roll of her eyes and a scoff. Joan only grinned maliciously knowing what they were hinting at and shook her head with evil surrounding her.
"Oh, ladies. Why, that's exactly why I need to go, my loves." She teased, gaining a laugh throughout the crowd of girls. "I've heard the costumes are... something else."
And boy were they everything her dad had said.
Sure, Steve technically broke up with Agatha not her, but it was satisfying watching the dude turn around with a smile on his face and watch his eyes dart at each girl in the group before landing on Joan. His smile dropped and his eyes widened, hand fluffing his hair anxiously.
"J-Joan! What a, uh, surprise!"
"Hi, Steve." Joan had almost purred - it shocked her, she had never flirted in her life! - and giggled as Steve became flustered, taking off the hat to fluff his hair once again, and Joan leaned on the counter. "Could I sample the chocolate pecan, please?"
"Oh, oh me too!"
"And can I do the mint chocolate chip!"
"What kind of vanilla ice cream do you have?"
"Can I do, like, a mix of two or, like, three?"
"Do you have anything diet? Why not?"
It wasn't planned, the psychological torture of Steve Harrington, but by the time the girls paid and left the graduate looked positively exhausted and it brought Joan a sick satisfaction that had all of the group giggling to each other. Eventually the found some benches in the back of the mall on the quiet side to gossip about old and new news.
"Gag me with a spoon, no way, Heather!"
"Uh, yes way. Billy and I totally made out in the girls locker room after hours on Monday and it was pretty sick."
"What was he like?"
"A fucking dream, Burnett. A fuckin' California sunset on a cool summer evening." Joan gagged a little at the description and Heather wasted no time to kick her friend's shin. "Oh shut the fuck up Jo. You were, like, so worse with Steve."
"Yeah, even though we dated for, like, what, a week?"
"Listen it only takes one time to get forced into a lifetime." Nicole mentioned and the other girls nodded in confirmation. "I mean, remember Rebecca Sawyer?"
"Uh, no?" Joan trailed off softly before wincing and regretting the response as all eyes whipped towards her with disbelief heavy on all of their faces. "S-sorry, I don't-."
"Listen homegirl, let me refresh your brain on the deets." Stephanie snapped seriously, gesturing for Joan to lean in close. Stephanie's eyes darted behind Joan and unconsciously Joan went to look behind her, but all got was a glimpse of blue before the blond snatched her head to look back. "Don't draw attention!"
"U-uh, I'm pretty sure this-" Joan pointed between the two of them awkwardly with a matching weak grin, "-is drawing more attention than, uh..."
"Like, whatever, Jo. Just don't look at the thing behind you okay, seriously." Stephanie rolled her eyes, leaning back at Joan's nod in acceptance. "So, Rebecca Sawyer was this slut who got knocked up last year."
Oh. Oh.
Oh shit.
"O-oh is she okay?"
Nicole and Burnett snorted into soft laughter behind their hands while Stephanie only smirked over at Joan. The looks made Joan uneasy and alarms went off in her head, but she pressed snooze on all of them, looking intently at the blonde.
"Okay? Sure. Her mama just made her marry the poor guy and now they live in that shit hole Forrest Hills in some slummy trailer."
Joan sat back and laughed half-heartedly with the cackling girls and looked over to the bench that Chrissy and Heather was once sat. Heather wasn't really laughing and Chrissy was missing, giving Joan a perfect way out.
"I-I'm going to go check on Chrissy."
"Alright, Jo! Watch out for trailer trash on your way there!" Stephanie called out while Joan smiled back with a thumbs up before disappearing into the corridor to the bathrooms. Once hidden fully, Joan's smile dropped and her hand met her forehead.
Fucking, shit! She had just been thinking about how nice everyone was, but oh my God. Agatha-Joan was a bully. Her dad's sister - is she her own aunt now? - was the stereotypical high school bitch who picked on others which is why her brother acted so... timid towards her.
She was going to be sick.
Chrissy. Right.
When she had the courage to open her eyes and move, Joan paused as her eyes watched two figures at the water founts shake hands and one walk away, passing her a little quicker almost nervously sticking his hands in his pockets.
She watched the guy nearly run around the corner before her eyes met the second figure, leaning up against the wall and playing with his fingers, ignoring her presence completely.
He looked familiar and perhaps he was one of dad's friends that she'd seen around Hawkins once or twice. Her feet walked closer to the bathroom that stood bast the fountains and subsequently the long-haired stranger on the wall. In the distance she could hear the girls laughing about some freak from the trailer park.
"U-uh, is your friend okay?"
He didn't even look up and Joan's heart kept in her chest the closer she got.
"H-he took off in a hurry. L-looked nervous, just, uh, making sure he's-." Her mouth went dry as her eyes flickered down to the familiar baseball t-shirt and devil on the front, and black-and-white pictures of a grinning weirdo with long hair on her her dad's desk and on the walls of the theater room plagued her minds eye. "H-holy shit, you're Eddie Munson."
Perhaps that wasn't the right reaction or the way to show her awe, eyes wide and slightly shaking, stuttering in her words, but this dude was a legend! Heck, they still used his shirt design decades later and some of his campaign notes were stored in Mr. Clarke's office storage cabinet.
Joan had always wondered what happened to him.
But just as the word vomit was about to burst through her lips with a bright grin to start talking about world building and character sheets, and wether or not haflings or hobbits were a better name, her heart stopped. Eddie looked up and his dark eyes were not the welcoming warmth that was in every single photo she'd seen, but instead they were encased in steel as he took three step forwards into Joan's personal space.
Eddie said nothing and only glared down at Joan intensely, his lip curling a little in disgust. Before she could even squeak in surprise, Eddie Munson had turned to the side and started to stalk off out of the corridor.
Her mouth opened and Joan watched as the most legendary DnD DM in Hawkins High history stuffed his hands angrily into his jacket pockets and walked off.
