You had just recovered from a year long battle with cancer. A brain tumor that you had luckily found just in time. But it had been a long and hard recovery. Now you were back to normal, back to school, and you somehow found yourself dating Steve Harrington of all people. You weren’t even quite sure how the relationship started. One day he sat next to you in class and then a week later he was kissing you in his car. He was already a lot sweeter than you had imagined, and you were finally starting to feel normal again. But when Will goes missing it seems like your newfound normalcy was about to be turned on its head.
(An episode by episode fic, possibly with extra chapters. Hopefully I make it through them all.)
(A/N) This is inspired by the song "Sk8er Boy" by Avril Lavigne.
TW: Swearing, Homophobia If You Squint
This one's kinda short.
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...He was a skater boy...
Y/N Wheeler walked down the hallway of Hawkins Middle School as usual, wondering when anything would be different. Wondering if something in her boring life would ever change. When, suddenly, a flash of hair whipped by her face.
She looked up to see her friends all staring at Maxine (She remembered her snapping at Mr Clark earlier. "It'S mAx!") Mayfield standing by her locker.
Not, she wasn't gonna lie she had developed quite the crush on the new girl from her science class since she had arrived yesterday, but she lived in Hawkins, and being gay wasn't exactly appreciated.
...She said see ya later boy...
So two of her friends, Dustin and Lucas, decided to go talk to her in their stupid Halloween costumes.
After some time passed, and the redhead looking pissed, Y/N decided to go collect her friends.
...He wasn't good enough for her...
Max tried to engage in an actual normal conversation with the younger Wheeler twin, but she just rolled her eyes and dragged her friends away, leaving a very disappointed looking Max.
...She had a pretty face, but her head was up in space...
As the next few days passed, Y/N couldn't stop thinking about Max. But Lucas liked her. Like, like-liked her. A lot. Plus, Max probably didn't even like her back.
Those stares in class and the hallways probably meant nothing. Right?
So she kept on pressing 'ignore', 'ignore', 'ignore', and 'ignore' in her head.
...She needed to come back down to Earth...
And, after a couple of weeks, when Y/N finally decided to stop being a coward about it... Max had brand new feelings for Lucas.
After Henry’s attack, you somehow survived, but you had lost almost all ability to speak. It didn’t matter if you were only one of two left, Papa hated you. You were always the weakest and he despised you for it. He only kept you around after the massacre as incentive for Eleven; his pride and joy. When she didn’t, or couldn’t do as he said he would hurt you. Papa decided that if you couldn’t use your powers then he would make you stronger in other ways and appointed you a tutor to strengthen your mind. When an opportunity to escape came you took it. You grabbed Eleven and the two of you ran as far as you could. You thought you were safe, but when Papa’s men came you and Eleven you were forced to run again. You lost her in the woods, but you stumbled upon someone else. A boy who appeared to be your age. He said his name was Steve.
Another Henderson
You had gone missing a month ago. An entire week where your mother and your brother and the entire town searched endlessly for you. But you didn’t remember any of it. One moment you were riding your bike home from a party and the next you were lying in a hospital bed. You thought that you had crashed, that you had gotten into an accident, but when the Chief of Police explained that an entire week had passed you didn’t know what to think. Apparently, someone had found you in the woods and had called the police. But you didn’t remember a single moment of it. There was nothing, not even the flicker of a memory. Not even a dream. You moved on with your life, blocking out the weird stares and snide comments. The only thing you cared about was your little brother. He was your entire world and you would do anything to protect him, you had done everything to protect him. But Dustin didn’t know that. Dustin didn’t know anything. Not about your disappearance and not about your late father (curse his soul). And you were not about to let him know any of it. You were not gonna taint the perfect family image he had in his head. You were going to move forward, a happy smile on your face. Even if it was fake. But there was something preventing you from pretending. Something that kept cracking your perfectly crafted mask. Something that had made you forget, and something that you wanted to forget.
Damn Mayfield
You hated having to move halfway across the country. A fresh start? Yeah, right. It was just another way for Neil to have control. He wanted you to act like the picture perfect family; happy and content. Neil was an asshole, Billy was a jerk. Your mom put up with it for God knows what reason and poor Max just wanted some peace. Not a day had gone by since your mom had married Neil that you felt like you could breathe. And as much as you hated leaving California, maybe Hawkins wasn’t as bad as you thought. It had its downsides and secrets, but maybe not all of the people were so bad. Maybe this Harrington guy that Billy was so intent on hating actually had a heart.
Fourth Wheeler
You had just recovered from a year long battle with cancer. A brain tumor that you had luckily found just in time. But it had been a long and hard recovery. Now you were back to normal, back to school, and you somehow found yourself dating Steve Harrington of all people. You weren’t even quite sure how the relationship started. One day he sat next to you in class and then a week later he was kissing you in his car. He was already a lot sweeter than you had imagined, and you were finally starting to feel normal again. But when Will goes missing it seems like your newfound normalcy was about to be turned on its head.
You were busy feeding Holly at the table, trying to give your mom a small break. Nancy, of course, was eating her food like a normal human being while Mike was just stuffing his face full of waffles.
Mike stopped for a second and turned to her. “You do a lot of studying last night?”
Nancy’s eyes flickered to you for a brief second before she refocused on her food. “Yeah, actually, I did.”
“What was your test on again?” Mike sassed. “Human anatomy?”
Nancy gave Mike a stern look and then kicked his leg. He kicked her right back, sending his chair into yours and you kicked him right back over before refocusing on Holly.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Your mom asked sternly.
“Nothing.” The three of you said.
Holly was just watching on, one hand on her juice, but not drinking it.
“Come on, Holly.” You encouraged. “You gotta drink your juice.”
You grabbed Holly’s hand and started leading the juice to her mouth. She shook her head at you and you fixed her with a stern look and pushed the juice towards her again. She then relented and started sipping away.
One of the things you had feared most as the doctors had prepared you for surgery was that you were never going to be able to see Holly grow up. At least with Nancy and Mike you had gotten some time with them, but Holly wouldn’t even have remembered who you were if things hadn’t worked out. You were just so glad they did.
~~~~~
You, Nancy, and Barb were walking down the hallway, Barb reading off the flashcards you had made so that you could get some last minute studying in. After Steve had had his fun with the video camera last night he had sat back down and went back to helping you study. You were honestly shocked he had done it so willingly, you not even having to ask him again.
“When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become…” Barb read.
“Unoccupied space.” You answered.
“A molecule that can—“ Barb started reading the next card when Steve showed up out of nowhere and snatched them from her hands. “Hey!” Barb complained.
“I don’t know.” Steve said. “I think you’ve studied enough.”
“Steve—“ You said sternly when he cut you off.
“I’m telling you, you know, you got this. Don’t worry.” Steve shoved the flashcards into his back pocket. “Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom’s gone with him, cause, you know, she doesn’t trust him.”
“Good call.” Tommy joked.
“So are you guys in?” Steve asked.
“In for what?” You sighed.
“No parents?” Carol chimed in. “Big house?”
“A party?” Nancy asked, unsure.
“Ding, ding, ding.” Carol said, earning a small laugh from Tommy.
“It’s Tuesday.” You pointed out, not saying that there was no way your mom would let you and Nancy out of the house.
“It’s Tuesday.” Tommy mocked with a laugh and Steve gave him a light slap.
“Come on.” Steve said. “It’ll be low key. It’ll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?”
“Um…” You thought about it for a moment when Carol’s voice snapped your attention to her.
“Oh, God. Look.” Carol said and you all followed her gaze over to Jonathan where he was pinning up a missing poster of Will.
“Oh, God, that’s depressing.” Steve commented.
“Should we say something?” Nancy asked.
“I don’t think he speaks.” Carol mocked and you felt the urge to punch her.
“How much you want to bet he killed him?” Tommy said and now you really felt the urge to punch. Jonathan’s brother was missing and all they could do was make jokes.
“Shut up.” Steve hissed and punched Tommy in the chest. It wasn’t nearly as hard as you would’ve liked Tommy to get punched, but at least it was something.
Nancy started making her way over to Jonathan as the rest of you just hung back. They were too far away to hear what was going on, but all of your attention was focused on the missing poster. If it had been Mike’s picture up there then you would’ve been losing your mind.
Briiiing!
The bell rang and people started clearing out of the hallway. But that stupid bell of course had to go straight to your head, making you wince slightly as Nancy made her way back over.
Attention, faculty and students. The loudspeaker went off, and that just made the pain worse. At eight pm tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office.
You broke away from the group as you took off to class, instead heading for the bathroom. Nancy shot you a quick look that you returned and she understood immediately. You had your stupid chemistry test that period, but if you didn’t get your headache under control then you would never pass it.
You pushed open the bathroom door and checked to see if anyone was in there first before you took out the Tylenol and quickly down two of them. You could hear the door opening and quickly shoved the pills back into your bag before turning to see who it was.
“What are you doing?” Steve asked. “Don’t you have your test right now?”
“I do.” You confirmed. “And you stole my flash cards.”
“Sorry.” He laughed and pulled the flash cards from his pocket and handed them over as you gave him a playfully stern look, earning a sheepish smile and a blush from him. “My bad. But, uh, shouldn’t you be getting to class?”
“Yes.” You drawled out. “And I’m going right now.”
“So then what were you doing in here?” Steve asked as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
“I said, I’m going.” You said as you tried to make your way to the door when Steve put an arm out, blocking your path. His eyes then darted around quickly before he leaned in.
“Good luck.” He smiled and gave you a quick peck on the lips before pushing you towards the door.
~~~~~
You were all sat around the table that night, Dustin and Lucas there too, your mom insisting that they stay after they came over after school. You were on Nancy’s left, Holly sitting between you and your mom, who was at the head of the table.
Steve had found you again after your test, asking if you were going over tonight. You told him yeah. Your plan was to convince your mom that you and Nancy were going with Barb to the assembly at the school. You all knew Nancy would have to go to Steve’s too in order to keep up appearances and she wasn’t really against going, but it was Barb who needed a bit of convincing. But Nancy had managed to talk her into it before dinner.
“Something wrong with the meatloaf?” Your mom asked and you turned to see the boys all mindlessly pushing their food around.
“Ah, no.” Dustin looked up. “I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch… I don’t know why.”
“Me too.” Lucas faked a smile.
“It’s delicious, mom.” You said sweetly, hoping to earn some brownie points.
“Thank you, sweetie.”
“So, there’s this assembly for Will at the school field. Barb’s driving us.”
“Why am I just hearing about this?”
“I thought you knew.” You said with feigned innocence.
“I told you.” Your mom said, feeding Holly her juice. “I don’t want you guys out after dark until Will is found.”
“We know, we know.” Nancy chimed in. “But it’d be super weird if we’re not there. I mean, everyone’s going.”
Your mom sighed. “Just… be back by ten.” She turned to the other end of the table. “Why don’t you take the boys, too?”
“No!” Dustin and Lucas yelled in unison as Mike took a sip of his milk.
Your mom turned to Mike. “Don’t you think you should be there? For Will?”
Mike’s eyes drifted to behind your mom and he suddenly spat his milk out all over the table. You and your mom both started to turn around to see what he was looking at when—
Bam! Bam!
You and your mom whipped your heads back around, your own hurting just a bit from the sudden loud noise.
“Sorry.” Dustin said sheepishly, sinking into his seat. “Spasm.”
Next to you Holly slouched down in her chair, spooked by the loud noises, about to cry.
“It’s okay, Holly.” You comforted her. “It’s just a loud noise.”
“Nice.” Nancy scolded the three of them.
~~~~~
After dinner Barb had picked you and Nancy up. You could tell she was still apprehensive about the whole thing, but you were actually excited, Nancy too. Even if it was just Steve, Tommy, and Carol there it would be both of yours’s first party. Nancy still being a bit too young and you having gotten that year ripped away from you.
“Barb, pull over.” You said.
“What?” Barb asked.
“Pull over.” You said again and she did, parking the car on the side of the road.
“What are we doing here?” Barb turned to you in the backseat. “His house is three blocks away.”
“We can’t park in the driveway.” You pointed out.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, the neighbors might see.”
“This is so stupid.” Barb complained. “I’m just gonna drop you guys off.”
“Calm down, Barb.” Nancy placated. “Come on. You promised that you’d go. You’re coming.”
“We’re gonna have a great time.” You added.
“He just wants to get in your pants.” Barb announced.
“No, he doesn’t.” You laughed.
“Seriously.” Barb said. “He invited you to his house. His parents aren’t home. Come on, you are not this stupid.”
“Tommy H and Carol are gonna be there.” Nancy pointed out. “I’m gonna be there.”
“You’re only there as cover.” Barb argued. “And Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade. It’ll probably just be, like, a big orgy.”
“Gross.” You complained, scrunching your face in disgust.
“I’m serious.”
“All right, well…” Nancy said as she began taking off her shirt. “You can be, like, our guardian. All right? Make sure we don’t get drunk and do anything stupid.”
Barb sighed and looked down at the new shirt in Nancy’s hands. “Is that a new shirt?”
“No.” Nancy shook her head.
“Yes, it is.” You teased as you leaned yourself between the seats. “Who are you trying to impress?”
“No one.” Nancy laughed. “I just wanna look good, okay? I can’t exactly wear my regular clothes to a party, now can I?”
“I am.” You gestured down to yourself, still dressed in your clothes from school and then you gestured to Barb. “And Barb is.”
“God.” Nancy rolled her eyes. “Am I not allowed to have fun, too?”
You raised your hands in mock surrender as Nancy threw on the new shirt. You really didn’t care if she wanted to wear something nice. Maybe you should’ve too. But you didn’t really care that much. If Steve didn’t like you showing up in your regular clothes, then that was his problem.
~~~~~
You were all out by Steve’s pool, Tommy with Carol in his arms as he kept threatening to throw her into the pool as she shrieked. The sound was grating against your head, but you forced yourself to power through it. You’d be able to go to the bathroom and steal some painkillers at some point if the pain got too bad.
“One! Two!” Tommy counted. “Three!”
“Stop it, Tommy, no! Don’t!” Carol screamed and Tommy finally put her down. “You’re such an asshole, Tommy.”
Steve came walking back out of the house, a pocket knife in one hand and a six pack in the other. He set the six pack on the table and grabbed a cold beer from the cooler before sticking the knife into the can and quickly shotgunning it.
You watched on, trying not to laugh at the obvious display as he plopped down into the lounge chair and slipped the cigarette out from behind his ear.
“Is that supposed to impress me?” You joked.
“You’re not?” Steve asked, the unlit cigarette stuck between his lips.
“You are a cliché, you do realize that?” You smiled, because despite the obvious display it was still hot.
“You are a cliché.” Steve fired back as he lit the cigarette. “What with your… your grades and your band practice.”
“I’m so not in band.” You laughed.
“Okay.” Steve mumbled through the cigarette as he put the lighter down and switched it out for the pocket knife as he handed it to you. “Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then?”
“Okay.” You smirked as you took the knife from him and grabbed one of the beers as you stood up.
“You gotta make a little hole right in the—“
“I got it.” You cut him off.
“Yeah, he’s smart, you douche.” Tommy chuckled before crushing his empty can against his head and tossing it to the ground.
You pressed the tip of the knife into the side of the can, cutting open a small slit, and you quickly lifted it to your mouth and started drinking it as quickly as possible. Everyone started chanting ‘chug, chug, chug’ as you kept going right to the bottom of the can. When you finished the beer you held the can up in triumph as Steve smiled up at you, Tommy whooping from the side.
“Nancy?” You said when you noticed her watching on excitedly. “You wanna try?”
Nancy looked between you and the knife for a second before standing up and taking it from you. She grabbed one of cans and fiddled with it for a second before figuring out what to do and she jabbed the knife into the can.
The beer started dripping onto the ground and Nancy hastily brought it up to her mouth and started chugging, the rest of you cheering her on. But you noticed Barb wasn’t having as much fun. Nancy finished the beer and Tommy cheered again as she did a little bow.
“Barb, you wanna try?” Nancy asked when she noticed Barb’s quiet demeanor.
“What?” Barb said, shocked. “No.” Nancy ignored her and grabbed another beer. “No, I don’t want to. Thanks.”
“Come on.” Nancy encouraged.
“Nance, I don’t want to.” Barb said quietly.
“It’s fun.” Nancy smiled as she held the beer and the knife out to her. “Just give it a—“
“Nance.”
“Just give it a shot.”
Barb reluctantly took the beer and knife from Nancy and stood up, mumbling a bit to herself as she tried to figure out how it worked. She then pressed the knife down, but it slipped to the side and went right through her hand.
“Gnarly.” Tommy chuckled.
“Are you okay?” You asked hastily when you noticed the blood running down her hand.
“Yeah.” Barb lied.
“Barb, you’re bleeding.” Nancy pointed out.
“I’m fine.” Barb reassured before looking over at Steve. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Oh, it’s…” Steve said as he pushed himself up, a little unsteady on his feet. “It’s, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.”
“Okay.” Barb nodded as she walked off. “Thanks.”
“I’m just gonna…” Nancy pointed her thumb over at Barb as she started walking towards her. “I’m gonna go help her.”
You watched Nancy and Barb disappear into the house, feeling bad about encouraging the both of them. Well, Nancy had willingly went along, but you should’ve just let Barb be when she said she didn’t want to do it.
Splash!
You whipped back around to the pool to see Tommy laughing down at Carol who he had just pushed into the water.
“Oh my God!” Carol complained. “What the hell, Tommy?”
Tommy blew out the smoke from his cigarette before jumping into the pool after her. You could hear Steve laughing behind you right before his hands landed on your back and he pushed you in.
As soon as you breached the surface Steve came jumping in after you, whooping in excitement as the water splashed right into your face. Steve popped back out of the water and immediately shook his head around, sending the water from his hair splashing you in the face again.
Tommy came up from the side and jumped on top of Steve, tackling him into the water before Steve managed to throw him off. Tommy just laughed as he made his way back over to Carol where the two of them started making out.
Steve sidled up next to you and made a disgusted face at them before splashing them with water with one hand and grabbing your waist with the other as he pulled you away. Once he backed up a few steps his other hand landed on your waist and he lifted you up and tossed you to the side.
You sank under the surface and it took a second for you to get your bearings before you planted your feet on the bottom and pushed yourself back up, splashing Steve as soon as you broke the surface. He just laughed and splashed you back before making his way over to you again.
Steve’s hands grabbed your waist again and you were afraid he was going to throw you again. But, instead, he just pulled you into him as he spun you around a bit, planting a soft kiss to your shoulder.
~~~~~
After you had all gotten out of the pool you were all freezing, the cool night air hitting your wet skin and making you shiver. You made your way inside where Steve handed out some towels to everyone and you gratefully wrapped yourself up.
“It’s freezing.” Carol complained.
“Well.” Tommy smirked. “I hear his mom’s room has a fireplace.”
“Are you kidding?” Steve said.
“Oh, yeah?” Carol mused, completely ignoring him as her and Tommy went upstairs.
“Okay, well, you know, you are cleaning the sheets.” Steve called out after them before turning his attention to you. “You all right?”
“Yeah.” You smiled
“Yeah?” He confirmed as he waved you along. “Come on, let’s get you some dry clothes.”
You followed Steve over into the hallway and up the stairs when you were stopped.
“Hey.” Barb called out. “Hey.” You stopped and turned around to see her and Nancy at the bottom of the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Nancy asked.
“Nowhere.” You said. “Just… upstairs. To change. I… fell in the pool.” You gestured to yourself with a small laugh. “Why don’t you guys go ahead and go home. I’ll just… I’ll get a ride or something.”
“Come on.” Barb pleaded.
“Barb.” You smiled at her, trying to show her that you were all right. “I’m fine.”
“This isn’t you.” Barb shook her head.
“I’m fine.” You said again, the smile dropping from your face to show her you were serious. She was always worried about you and Nancy. “Just… go ahead and go home, okay?”
You gave them one last small smile before turning back around and heading the rest of the way up the stairs. The house was huge, with so many doors to so many rooms. You saw one of the doors were open and peaked inside to see Steve in there and you realized it was his room.
You finished drying yourself off as Steve closed the door and grabbed some fresh clothes for you. Your gaze was drawn to his window for a moment, looking out over at the pool down below.
“Here.” Steve said as he handed you a stack of dry clothes.
“Thanks.” You smiled at him as you set the clothes aside and stripped off your shirt. You then noticed his eyes on you and you got a bit flustered from the look. “What?”
“Nothing.” Steve smiled as he continued to stare at you. “You’re just really beautiful.”
Steve stepped over to you, one hand reaching up to cup your face and the other landing on your waist as he pulled you in, connecting his lips with yours. You tossed your shirt aside as you grabbed his hip with one hand and snaked your other to the back of his neck.
Steve gently guided you over a few steps before you hit the bed and you sat down, your hands and lips never leaving each other. Steve’s thumb brushed across your cheek and you melted at the touch, returning the gesture by carding your fingers through his hair.
Steve slowly leaned forward, gently pushing you backwards until you were laying on his bed, him on top of you. He broke the kiss for only a second as he ripped off his shirt and tossed it aside before leaning back in, your chests going flush as your lips moved against each other, his hands resuming their position.
You thought that maybe you were ready to go further, but now that you were getting to that point you realized that you weren’t. You had only been together for a week, after all. You really liked Steve and you didn’t want this to end up being just some stupid fling.
“Steve?” You said as you broke the kiss and looked up at him.
“Yeah?” Steve asked, his thumb brushing across your cheek again.
“I, um…”
Steve slowly backed away. “Look, we don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.” Steve sat up, his hands leaving your body as he got off of you. You followed him up, slightly embarrassed at trying to call it all off. “We can just talk. I like just talking.”
“Sorry.” You apologized. “I just…”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Steve shook his head.
“I know, I just, um…” You stammered, unsure of what exactly you should say.
“Hey.” Steve said softly. “Don’t ever apologize for saying no. You do whatever you want to do.”
“Sorry.” You apologized and then you both started laughing when you realized what you had done. “Shit. Sor—my bad.”
“You know.” Steve laughed as he positioned himself into a more comfortable position, the two of you next to each other but facing one another. “We’ve only been together a week and we’ve both already done a lot of apologizing.”
“I guess we have.” You laughed.
“Well, they say commutation is the key to a healthy relationship.”
“Saying sorry is communication?”
“Well.” Steve shrugged. “We’ve already established that we both know how to make an apology.”
You knocked your knee into his. “A simple sorry is not an apology.”
“It’s the start to one.” Steve smiled. “I’ll go first.”
“Go first for what?” You asked.
“Making an apology.” He said, like it was obvious.
You scrunched your brows at him. “An apology for what?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Did I do something that requires an apology?”
“No.” You shook your head.
“Guess I’ll just have to make something up then.” Steve mused.
“Why?” You asked, a small laugh escaping you at the complete shift in behavior.
“To show you that I can.” He said earnestly.
“That you can lie?” You joked.
“That I can apologize.” Steve looked at you softly, his right hand grabbing your own as he started mindlessly playing with your fingers.
You smiled at him, not quite believing what was happening. “Why do you need to show me that?”
Steve laced your fingers together as he scooted closer. “Because I want you to know that I can and am willing to apologize.”
“You don’t need to do that.” You said softly.
“I want to.” Steve said, squeezing your hand lightly.
“Fine. Fine.” You rolled your eyes playfully. “Make your apology, Harrington.”
“I’m sorry for…” Steve trailed off for a second as he thought about his words. “For not being the best study partner yesterday. You actually needed to work and I was getting in the way of that. I promise that next time you want to study that I’ll actually be prepared to study.”
You were taken aback for a second from the earnest apology. You really didn’t think he would say something so meaningful. Everyone always said that Steve was this playboy type, but all you’ve seen of him was someone honest.
“That was quite the apology.” You breathed.
“It’s because I meant it.” Steve fixed you with a soft look.
“Well.” You smiled at him. “Apology accepted.”
“Good.” Steve smiled back, letting out a small, shaky laugh. “Cause it’s been stressing me out all day.”
“No, it hasn’t.” You shook your head, not sure if you really believed that.
“Yes, it has.” Steve nodded. “I felt bad for just assuming. I don’t want to just jump into that either.”
“King Steve doesn’t want to jump into something?” You joked.
“Not this time.” Steve said seriously. “I really like you. I don’t want to rush this.”
He seriously didn’t want to jump into anything? He didn’t want to rush it? You felt the same, but you had been almost positive that Steve didn’t share that same sentiment. But, apparently, he did. And that just warmed your heart.
“Well, don’t worry.” You reassured, squeezing his hand back. “You didn’t ruin anything.”
“Really?” Steve asked shyly.
“Really.” You confirmed.
Steve removed his hand from yours and scooted over, turning himself so that he was facing the same way as you. He wrapped one arm around your shoulders, his fingers grazing your skin as his other hand retook its spot in yours.
“So.” Steve drawled out, a dopey smile crossing his face as he went back to playing with your fingers. “What’s your favorite color?”
You couldn’t help but just start laughing. “What?”
“Well, I need to know your favorite color.” He said in a jokingly stern voice. “That is the basis of any good relationship.”
“A color?” You asked incredulously and he just nodded and hummed in response. “Okay. Well, my favorite color is blue. What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.” Steve smiled at you again, so wide that it showed his dimples and you thought he looked absolutely adorable right now. “What’s your favorite food?”
“My mom’s meatloaf.” You answered.
“I like spaghetti.”
“Spaghetti’s good.”
“What’s your favorite candy?”
“Jesus.” You laughed at the spew of mundane questions.
“Come on.” Steve bumped his knee into yours. “What’s your favorite candy?”
“M&Ms.” You said. “What’s yours?”
“Three Musketeers.” Steve answered.
“Really?” You asked.
“What?” He said innocently. “You don’t like Three Musketeers or something?”
“No, I do.” You stammered. “But they’re not my favorite. The only other person I know whose favorite candy is Three Musketeers is Dustin.”
“Who’s Dustin?” Steve asked.
“He’s my brother’s friend.” You explained. “Actually, I think you’d really like him. He’s a sweet kid. Insanely smart. Also, very sassy. You’d certainly get along better with him than you would with Mike.”
“You don’t think I’d get along with Mike?” Steve asked, a small hint of sadness in his tone.
“Eh.” You shrugged. “He’d tolerate you. But he is very bitchy. Not in a bad way. He’s just very opinionated.”
“Then maybe I would get along with Dustin better.” Steve said and then you could feel his eyes on you, more than just a gaze. It was like he was waiting for something. “So, um…” He said nervously. “What exactly happened last year?”
Your face dropped at the question. You were hoping he wouldn’t bring it up again. At least, not so soon. You were still a bit unsure if you should tell him, afraid he might decide it was too much for him and that he would break up with you before you even really had a chance to be together. But he had already been so sweet the whole time. Even apologizing for not being a good study partner last night. And you wanted to be closer with him, to make this real and last.
“I had… cancer.” You said quietly, waiting for him to say something. But when you weren’t immediately bombarded with questions you continued. “Only my family knows about it. I started getting a lot of headaches. I’d sometimes get nauseas for no reason. Even my vision was off for a bit. And the dizziness. And my grades just started to slip. There was no way I could’ve understood chemistry back then, not while I felt so sick and tired all the time. I couldn’t do it.”
“And now?” Steve asked slowly.
“Now what?” You questioned, eyes trained on the wall ahead, too scared to look at him.
“Now did you… beat it? Or is it still sort of, like, there? Sorry for sounding stupid, I just don’t know anything about this.”
“Most people don’t.” You shrugged. “But you’re the only one to ever ask about my recovery first. Everyone else’s first question is always what type of cancer. And then they go on to suggest a bunch of bullshit doctors.”
“Well.” Steve said, pulling you a little further into his side. “Lucky for you, I don’t know any bullshit doctors.”
You laughed, your body shaking against his as the hand holding yours tightened its grip slightly. “It’s gone.” You said after a second. “Had surgery to remove it. Brain tumor. Now I have this scar running across the top of my head.”
You pointed to the left side of your scalp where the faint scar was. It had messed up the hair growth there, but you had managed to cover it up well enough. It’s not like you particularly cared about scars, but it was the questions that came with them that you didn’t like.
Steve scooted himself up slightly and you bowed your head to let him see. You were a bit tense and nervous at him really looking at the scar, still afraid of what he might think or do. And then he leaned down and he pressed his lips to the top of your head.
“I’m glad you’re better.” Steve mumbled against your head.
“Thanks.” You whispered as he pulled you into him again, bringing your head down to his shoulder as he rested his own on top of yours.
After getting Will back from the Upside Down Steve did go on to apologize to Nancy. She ended up forgiving him, but not before giving him a hard time about it. She was probably even angrier than you had been and she did not hold back.
Nancy was still covering for you, still pretending that she was the one dating Steve, but you could tell that it was starting to take its toll on her. You had tried to talk to her about it, about the way she was with Jonathan, but all she said was that there was nothing between them. A total lie if you ever heard one. You appreciated her still covering for you, but she still deserved to have her own, real boyfriend. And if it was Jonathan of all people then that just made it all the more better. There was a bond there from last year and it didn’t hurt that he knew about you and Steve and could easily keep a secret. You just hoped Nancy would realized that.
Your headaches had subsided slightly since that night as well. You did end up going to the doctor to make sure everything was okay and they said you were fine. You chalked up the more frequent and worse headaches to stress. A full week of trying to find a missing Barb and Will and looking for and trying to kill an interdimensional monster was definitely no help. But they said the tumor wasn’t back, so you took your good grace where you could get it.
Tommy was still an asshole, always making snide remarks or jabs at you whenever you were alone. He placed all of the blame on you for Steve leaving him. But seeing the way he was handling the situation—the anger, the outrage, the fights—you knew it was definitely not your fault. Maybe you had helped Steve realize what an asshole Tommy was, or maybe he had realized that on his own. Either way, you were just glad Steve had left him and Carol. He seemed so much happier now.
Steve was happy a lot recently, even more so when you were alone. But you never told him about Tommy, letting him believe that Tommy only made jabs at him. You didn’t want him to worry, especially since that once you graduated neither of you would have to deal with Tommy’s bullshit anymore. You just focused on the good things, the two of you growing into a real couple. There were a few arguments, sure, but that happened in every relationship. And you guys worked your way through them, figured out how to communicate and fix whatever problem there was. You were stronger for it.
~~~~~
Nancy had been going over Steve’s college application on the way to school, trying to help him edit it. She was up in the passenger seat, you in the back. It’s how it always was. It would look weird if Steve’s supposed girlfriend was always seen riding around in the back of the car while her brother got shotgun privileges.
“It’s crap, I know.” Steve said.
“No, it’s not crap.” Nancy said sweetly.
“It’s not good.” Steve muttered.
“It’s going to be.” Nancy reassured. “Just… it needs some reorganizing. Can I mark on it?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So, in the first paragraph.” Nancy said as she held the paper out. “You used the basketball game versus Northern as a metaphor for your life, which is great. But then, around here.” She circled a spot on the paper. “You start talking about your granddad’s experiences in the war. And I… I don’t see how they’re connected.”
“It connects because… because, you know, we both won.” Steve stammered and Nancy just stared at him for a moment. “Do you think I should start from scratch?”
“No.” Nancy shook her head, sounding very unconvincing. “I mean… when’s the deadline?”
“It’s tomorrow for early application. Can you help me tonight?”
“We have our dinner tonight, remember?”
“Oh, my God.” Steve sighed.
“We already cancelled last week.” Nancy placated. “You don’t have to go. Just work on this.”
“No, no, no.” Steve ripped the paper from Nancy and crumpled it up. “What’s the point?”
“Hey, calm down.” You tried to soothe him. He had been stressing about this application for weeks.
“I’m calm. I’m calm.” Steve lied. “I’m just being honest. You know, I mean… I’m just gonna end up working for my dad anyway.”
“That’s not true.” You argued.
“I don’t know.” Steve said. “Is that such a bad thing? There’s insurance and benefits and all that adult stuff. And if I took it, you know, I’d still be here. It’s not like you’re going to college.”
“Steve.” You sighed, not wanting him to give up an education just because of you.
“Just look after you a little bit.” Steve continued. “Make sure you don’t forget about this pretty face and stuff.” You just sighed again, not knowing what to say. “I’m serious.”
Before you could say anything you were cut off by the sound of an engine roaring. You all turned to the noise to see an unfamiliar Camaro pulling into the parking lot. You got out of the car and watched as the car pulled into one of the spots. A redheaded girl got out of the passenger side and started skating towards the middle school while a blond guy got out the driver’s side. You could just make out that the license plate said California.
~~~~~
You were sitting in the back of the class, just idly taking notes. You hated having classes alone. When Steve was in class with you the two of you would pass notes back and forth the entire time, always writing on each other’s paper to pass the time.
You were just finishing up your sentence when the words started to swim on the page in front of you, swirling and mixing together. You closed your eyes for a second, trying to clear it up, but when you opened them again the words were still swimming around. And then you felt something, like someone was watching you, like they were standing right behind to you.
You glanced behind you and were just met with empty space. Nothing abnormal, you were sitting in the back row after all. But you could still feel eyes on you, like they were right there. So you turned your attention to the rows of kids next to you and all but one had their eyes on the teacher. The guy with the Camaro, Billy, had his head slightly turned towards you, his eyes catching yours. But it still felt like there was something else.
The feeling grew stronger, like someone was now leaning right over your shoulder. You whipped towards your other side, but all that was there were windows. But that weird feeling was gone now, the presence gone. And when you glanced back over at Billy his eyes were off of you too.
When the bell rang you left the room quickly, heading straight for the bathroom. You were stopped for a moment as you turned the corner, an orange piece of paper, an invitation, thrust into your hands by Tina. You stuffed it into your pocket quickly and opened the bathroom door.
You quickly checked the stalls to see if anyone was there before turning on the tap and splashing some cool water on your face. You didn’t know what that feeling was back there, and you really hoped it wasn’t your tumor regrowing.
You had just grabbed a paper towel and dried off your face when the door opened. The lock clicked shut immediately and you were scared for a second that it was Tommy coming to annoy you. But when you looked up it was just Steve.
“I missed you.” Steve said as he crossed over to you.
“It’s been an hour.” You smiled.
“Yeah.” Steve drawled out, his hand reaching up to cup your face. “But I didn’t get a kiss yet.”
“You’re an idiot, Harrington.” You laughed as he leaned in closer.
“And you’re beautiful, Wheeler.”
Steve closed the gap, your lips gently connecting for a moment before you deepened the kiss. He did this every day, seeking you out in the bathroom at some point just to kiss you. He could never wait until after school. One day, when you had stayed home because you weren’t feeling well he had called you several times during the day. When he dropped Nancy back off at home he had gone straight to your room and proceeded to kiss you even though you warned him not to. He got sick two days later.
Steve broke away slowly, his face just an inch away as he gazed at you softly for a moment. He then gave you a quick peck on the lips before letting you go and unlocking the door.
“Are you really not gonna turn in that essay?” You asked.
“I don’t know.” Steve shrugged. “I mean, if you’re not going anywhere then why should I?”
“Because it’s an education.” You countered. “And you shouldn’t throw it away just because of me.”
“Why not?” Steve smiled. “And, besides, my grades really aren’t that good. Even if I send in applications I probably won’t even get accepted.”
“Well, you think like that.” You said. “Do you even want to go?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I don’t even know what I would study. There’s nothing that I’m, like, really interested in, you know.”
“But you’d rather work for your dad?” You asked, not at all believing it was the truth.
“No.” He said honestly. “I mean, what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” You laughed. “I mean, God, Nancy already has her whole plan set. Go to college, become a journalist.”
“It is fitting.” Steve said. “Imagine her investigating some crime story?”
“Oh, I can’t imagine her doing anything else.” You agreed. “But what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Why are you asking me?” Steve joked. “I don’t even know what to do with my own life.”
“Guess we’ll just figure it out together.” You smiled.
You glanced at the door and then quickly leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips. A small blush creeped up his cheeks, causing you to smile wider. Even after a year together he still got so flustered whenever you kissed him first.
~~~~~
Throughout the entire day you could feel someone’s eyes on you. It wasn’t constant, but it would keep returning. A few times it had been Billy, why, you didn’t know. Once, it had been Tommy, and you made sure to stay in a populated area. But there were other times where no one was even facing in your direction and you could still feel someone’s eyes burning into the back of your skull.
You, Steve, and Nancy showed up at the Hollands a few minutes after five. There was a for sale sign out in the yard and you were afraid of what that might mean for them. But they seemed just as cheerful as always, just as hopeful.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to cook.” Mrs. Holland apologized as you all ate the KFC takeout they ordered. “I was gonna make that baked ziti you guys like so much, but I just forgot about the time, and before you know it, oh my god, it’s five o’clock.”
“It’s fine.” Nancy smiled politely.
“It’s great.” You agreed.
“I love KFC.” Steve added, earning a small laugh from Mr. and Mrs. Holland.
“So, I noticed a for sale sign out in your yard.” Nancy started. “Is that the neighbors, or…”
“You wanna tell them?” Mrs. Holland asked her husband.
“Go ahead.” Mr. Holland motioned her on.
“We hired a man named Murray Bauman.” Mrs. Holland said. “Have any of you heard of him?”
“No.” Nancy shook her head.
“No, I don’t think so.” You said.
“He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times.” Mrs. Holland explained.
“He’s pretty well known.” Mr. Holland handed you this Murray guy’s business card.
“Anyway, he’s freelance now.” Mrs. Holland continued. “And he agreed to take the case.”
You inspected the business card for a moment before handing it to Steve who glanced at it before passing it along to Nancy.
“Oh, that’s… that’s great.” Steve said sweetly through a mouthful of food. “No, that’s really… that’s really great, right?”
“Yeah.” You lied. “It’s great.”
“Um, what exactly does that mean?” Nancy asked.
“It means he’s gonna do what that lazy son of a bitch Jim Hop—“ Mr. Holland started when his wife placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Sorry.” He apologized and took a deep breath. “What the Hawkins police haven’t been capable of doing. Means we have a real detective on the case.”
“It’s means…” Mrs. Holland said. “We’re going to find our Barb.”
“If anyone can find her, it’s this man.” Mr. Holland added. “He already has leads. By God, he’s worth every last penny.”
“Is that why you’re selling the house?” Nancy stammered.
“Oh, don’t worry about us, sweetie.” Mrs. Holland tried to reassure her. “We’re fine. More than fine. For the first time in a long time, we’re hopeful.”
Nancy glanced down for a moment and you could see the distress on her face. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Nancy got up and left the table, leaving you and Steve to continue your dinner alone with Mr. and Mrs. Holland. Nancy had always been closer to Barb than you had, so all of this had hit her a lot harder than you.
“It’s finger-lickin’ good.” Steve said, trying to break the silence and earning hums and nods of agreement from Mr. and Mrs. Holland.
You took another bite of your mashed potatoes when you felt a presence, like someone was standing right behind you. You tried to ignore it but it just seemed to get closer and you whipped around on instinct, but there was nothing there.
“You all right?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, no, I’m fine.” You stammered as you turned back around. “Sorry. Just thought I hear something.”
“Probably just the fridge.” Mr. Holland said. “It’s been making this humming noise recently.”
“Guess that was it.” You smiled uneasily and took a sip of your drink when you felt Steve’s foot press against yours.
~~~~~
After dropping Nancy back off at home you went back with Steve to his house. You had felt fine after that incident at dinner, but there was still a general unease that had settled over you. It could just be the time of year, the anniversary of Will’s disappearance and Barb’s death coming up. But, for some reason, it felt like more than that.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Steve asked as you settled onto the couch. “You’ve been acting off all day.”
“It’s nothing.” You lied. “Just, you know, the time of year.”
“Okay.” Steve said, clearly unconvinced.
You rested your head on his shoulder and wrapped your arm around his, placing your other in his lap where he immediately started fiddling with your fingers. His restlessness was somehow more calming than his touch alone. It let you know that even when things were wrong it was still the same old Steve next to you.
“See?” Steve suddenly said. “This is why I don’t want to go to college. I’d miss you too much.”
You let out a small laugh. “You’re such a dork.”
“How?” Steve laughed. “Because I like spending time with my boyfriend? I like to kiss him and hug him and just be with him?”
“No.” You laughed and shook your head against his shoulder. “Because I think you might actually die if you went more than twenty four hours without seeing me.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Steve mused. “That I love you that much.”
“Jesus Christ.” You laughed.
“It’s the truth.” Steve said softly. “I can’t imagine living the rest of my life with someone else.”
“Really?” You asked quietly, a shy smile settling on your face at the open confession.
“Really.” Steve confirmed and kissed the top of your head. “I love you.”
You lifted your head and kissed him right on the lips, causing him to melt instantly. “I love you too.”
Jonathan grinded to a halt in front of the house and the three of you immediately jumped out of the car. You unloaded all of the gear from the trunk and brought it inside before Jonathan handed you and Nancy each a box of lightbulbs and told you start putting them back on the wires.
It had taken nearly an hour to get all of the bulbs back on the lights, the house completely decorated with the colorful display. As soon as you were done with that you moved right on to the other parts of the plan. You set up the bear trap in the hallway; planning to lure the Demogorgon into the hallway where you would run into Will’s room, the Demogorgon getting stuck in the trap and you would light it on fire. Once the trap was nailed down and opened up Nancy took the canister of gasoline and poured it all over the trap before trailing a line into Will’s room and setting up a yo-yo as the signal.
After the trap was set you held down the bats for Jonathan as he hammered some nails through them while Nancy loaded the revolver. She seemed to carry that thing very naturally. The final part of the plan was for the three of you to cut your hands, the blood hopefully luring the Demogorgon to the house.
Jonathan grabbed some knives from the kitchen and handed one to you and Nancy. “Remember…” Jonathan started.
“Straight into Will’s room. And—“ Nancy continued.
“Don’t step on the trap.” You cut her off.
“Wait for the yo-yo.” Nancy added.
“Then…” Jonathan held up his lighter and flicked it on for a moment. You and Nancy nodded in confirmation. “All right. You guys ready?”
You and Nancy each took a deep breath before answering in unison. “Ready.” You lifted the knives to your palms.
“On three.” Jonathan said. “One… two…” He glanced up, catching sight of Nancy’s worried face, and stopped counting. “You don’t have to do this.”
Nancy shook her head. “Jonathan, stop talking.”
“I’m just saying, you don’t have to—“
“Three.” Nancy cut him off and you all dug the blades into your palms, thick blood flowing from the cuts and trailing its way down the sides of your hands.
You let Nancy and Jonathan go over to the couch to wrap each other’s wounds as you retreated into the kitchen to deal with your own. You could tell there was something up between the two of them, shared feelings blooming. They did seem like they would be good together, the two of them always seeming to be on the same page. You wanted to give them a moment to talk alone. Well, hopefully talk alone.
As you grabbed the gauze and wrapped it around your hand you could hear the two of them talking quietly to each other and a small smile formed on your face. But you felt bad about Nancy having to cover for you, and who knew what would happen after you finally got a chance to talk to Steve. You didn’t think you wanted to break up with him, but you really did need to talk about what happened. You needed to hear it from him what the hell exactly led to that disgusting message. But that would have to wait until at least tomorrow. You had this monster and Will to think about right now.
Bang, bang, bang, bag, bang!
You flinched instinctively at the sound, afraid that it was the Demogorgon there to try and kill you. But that was stupid, the Demogorgon wouldn’t knock, it would just rip through the wall.
“Jonathan?” You heard Steve’s voice call out from the other side of the door. “Are you there, man? It’s… it’s Steve!” You slowly walked out of the kitchen and caught Nancy and Jonathan’s eyes. “Listen, I just want to talk!” Steve started banging on the door again.
You crossed over to the front door and unlocked it, slowly opening it up a crack and making sure to put yourself between Steve and the insanity inside.
“Steve, listen to me.” You said.
“Hey, what—“
“You need to leave.”
“I’m not trying to start anything, okay?” Steve sounded tired, almost like he was pleading.
“I don’t care about it.” You said sternly. “You need to leave.”
“No, no, no. Listen, I-I-I messed up, okay? I messed… I messed up. Okay? Really. Please.” You just stared at him, hoping he would take the silent message and just drive away. But he didn’t. “I just want to make things right. Okay? Please. Ple—“ Steve caught sight of your hand and you froze. “Hey, what happened? Is that blood?” He grabbed for your hand, but you pulled back quickly, trying and failing to hide it from him.
“Nothing.” You stammered. “It was an accident.”
Steve glanced into the house briefly before turning back to you. “Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Nothing.” You deflected.
“Wait a sec.” Steve started trying to push his way inside. “Did he do this to you?”
You pushed back against him, trying to keep the door closed and Steve out. “No. No. No, Steve!”
Steve didn’t listen and kept pushing against the door. “Let me in!” He finally managed to push you away from the door and rushed inside before coming to a halt. His eyes flickered around the house, his eyes landing on Nancy and Jonathan and then the weapons on the coffee table. “What is… what the…”
Jonathan stepped over to Steve, putting an arm against his chest as he started pushing him back towards the door. “You need to get out of here.”
“Whoa.” Steve pushed back. “What is this—“
“Listen to me.” Jonathan said. “I’m not asking you.”
“What is that smell?”
“I’m telling you, get out of here!”
“Is that gasoline?”
You heard a metallic click and saw Nancy raise her gun at Steve. “Steve, get out!” Nancy shouted.
“Wait. Wait. Wait.” Steve panicked. “What? What is going on?”
“You have five seconds to get out of here.” Nancy demanded.
Steve put his arms up in surrender as he continued freaking out. “Okay, is this a joke?” Nancy cocked the gun. “Stop. Put the gun down.”
“I’m doing this for you.”
“Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.” Steve stammered and the lights started flickering. You felt a sharp pain hit your skull and then your head started throbbing lightly.
“Nancy.” Jonathan tried to get her attention.
You grabbed your nail bat from the table and held it at the ready in front of Steve. “Steve, get out!” You shouted.
“Hold on! Hold on!” Steve waved his arms around, eyes blown wide. “Just hold on!”
“Three.” Nancy started counting. “Two.”
“No, no, no, no, no!” Steve shouted, flailing his arms around frantically and the lights started flickering faster.
“Guys!” Jonathan shouted, finally getting Nancy’s attention. “The lights.” She looked up, just now noticing the Demogorgon’s signal. “It’s here.”
“Wait, what’s here?!” Steve shouted.
Jonathan ran over to the table and picked up his own bat as you whipped yourself around, eyes raking around the room.
“Where is it?” Nancy asked as you all started to circle around the room, forming into a huddle as you kept your eyes trained on every part of the house.
Steve started shouting again. “Where is what?!” As you all spun around your bat whipped closely by Steve’s chest. “Whoa! Easy with that!”
“Where is it?” You asked.
“I don’t know.” Jonathan said. “I don’t see it.”
“Where is what?” You all ignored Steve, continuing to circle around, your eyes peeled for the monster. “Hello? Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going—“
A loud growl sounded from above you and you whipped yourself around towards the ceiling, your headache steadily growing worse. The Demogorgon was ripping its way right through the ceiling. Nancy released a few shots at it before Jonathan started dragging her away.
“Go! Go! Run! Go!” Jonathan shouted. “Get out of here!”
You stepped forward and put yourself between the others and the monster as it came crashing into the living room. Jonathan grabbed Nancy and ran into the hallway. As soon as they were gone you grabbed Steve’s hand and pulled him along after them as the Demogorgon growled from behind you.
“Jump!” Jonathan shouted.
You kept a tight grip on Steve’s hand as the two of you jumped right over the bear trap and dragged him into Will’s room. As soon as the two of you were inside Jonathan slammed the door shut.
“Jesus! Jesus!” Steve shouted. “What the hell was that?! What the hell was that?!”
The three of you whipped around and yelled at Steve. “Shut up!”
The monster screeched outside the door and you whipped back around, your bat held at the ready as Jonathan took out his lighter and flicked it on. There was a low growling and footsteps from the other side of the door as you all waited.
“What’s it doing?” Nancy asked.
“I don’t know.” Jonathan said.
You glanced down at the yo-yo, the lights still flickering above you, but it didn’t move. The lights suddenly stopped, going back to normal, and the hallway went silent.
“Do you hear anything?” Nancy asked.
You and Jonathan shook your heads as he flicked off the lighter. “No.” He said.
Jonathan stepped over to the door and slowly opened it as you all quietly crept back out into the hallway, weapons held at the ready. But there was nothing there. The bear trap was open and empty and clean. You all continued on to the living room, but there was still nothing. And the hole in the ceiling was gone. Your head was still hurting, still throbbing, but the pain had subsided slightly.
“This is crazy. This is crazy.” Steve started mumbling to himself. “This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy! This is crazy!”
Steve ran into the kitchen and picked up the phone, starting to dial the numbers. You rushed over and ripped the phone from his hands, throwing it onto the floor and it shattered.
“What are you doing? Are you insane?”
“It’s going to come back!” You said sternly. “So you need to leave. Right now.” Steve stared at you worriedly for a moment, giving you a strained look before running out the door.
The lights then started flickering again and your headache worsened. You quickly huddled back together with Nancy and Jonathan, your weapons up and ready. You started turning in a circle again, eyes raking across the room, on the hunt for even the smallest of movements.
“Where is it?” Nancy asked.
“Come on.” Jonathan said to the air. “Come on, you son of a bitch. You see it?”
“No.” Nancy shook her head.
“Come on.” Jonathan said, voice rising in anger. “Come on. Where are you? Come on!”
The lights picked up their pace, blinking rapidly for a moment before shutting off, plunging you into darkness. A growl sounded from behind you and you whipped around, coming face to face with the Demogorgon as the lights came back on and started flickering again.
You quickly swung out with the nail bat, managing to land a hit right in the monster’s side. It screeched in pain and you ripped the bat out before swinging again. But the monster was prepared that time and it threw its arm out, tossing you across the room and to the floor with a pained groan, a sharp pain blooming in your skull and the bat went flying from your grip.
Nancy released a shot at the Demogorgon, but the bullet just bounced off of its skin and only seemed to anger it. Jonathan quickly pulled her aside and tried to swing out with his own bat when the monster lunged forward and jumped on top of him, knocking him to the floor as his own bat skidded away.
“Jonathan!” Nancy screamed.
The Demogorgon was right on top of him, its claws laying dangerously on top of his chest as it held him down, its face just inches from Jonathan’s own.
“Jonathan!”
The monster opened its flower face and growled at Jonathan, rows and rows of razor sharp teeth staring down at him as it leaned closer and he tried to turn his head to the side to escape it.
You stiffly pushed yourself back to your feet, the world swimming slightly in your vision and sending you stumbling. But a pair of hands grabbed you and you looked over to see Steve standing there, a scared but determined look on his face.
“Go to hell, you son of a bitch!” Nancy shouted, your eyes flickering over to her as she started unloading her gun into the Demogorgon.
The monster turned to her and growled and Nancy kept firing. The monster slowly rose to its feet as Jonathan pushed himself away from it, trying to get as far away as possible.
The Demogorgon growled again and you could hear the metallic click of the gun as Nancy tried to keep shooting at it, but she was out of bullets. Steve suddenly let go of you and snatched up Jonathan’s fallen bat before yelling and swinging out at the monster.
You quickly snatched up your own bat and ran over to help him, throwing out your own hit. You and Steve kept throwing swing after swing at the monster, it getting confused by the dual attack and aimlessly throwing out its claws. Steve would duck under the attack as you swung out, and then you would duck and he would swing. You kept going back and forth, landing hit after hit as you sent it down the hallway and right towards the trap.
Cling!
The sound of metal on metal rang out.
“He’s in the trap!” Steve shouted. “He’s stuck!”
“Jonathan, now!” Nancy yelled.
Jonathan ran into the hallway, pulling out his lighter and lighting it up. He tossed the lighter into the puddle of gasoline and the Demogorgon screeched horribly as it blew up in flames.
Your head exploded, a sharp stabbing going straight through your skull and into your brain as you all drew back, throwing your arms over your faces as the heat of the flames licked dangerously at your skin.
“Get back!” Jonathan shouted as he ran forward, fire extinguisher in hand and started dousing the flames.
The entire house went black as it filled with the smoke. You all threw your arms back up again as you started coughing, trying to keep the smoke from entering your lungs. But your attention was still on the hallway and your now throbbing head.
“Where’d it go?” You asked, peering through the dissipating smoke, but the Demogorgon was nowhere to be found.
“No.” Jonathan sighed in exhaustion. “It has to be dead. It has to be.”
You lowered your gaze down to the bear trap and saw a puddle of goop sizzling away on top of the metal. But the thing wasn’t dead. You had definitely injured it, sure. But it had managed to escape before you could finish it off for good.
The lights above you suddenly started turning on one by one. You and Steve cautiously readied your bats as the lights continued to blink on, trailing down the hallway and the four of you carefully followed after it.
“Mom.” Jonathan whispered as he stared up at the lights. “Is that you? Mom.”
The lights blinked again and started leading out the door. You all continued following after it, coming to a stop at the edge of the porch.
“Where’s it going?” Nancy asked.
“I don’t think that’s the monster.” Jonathan said.
You continued watching as the streetlights flickered on one by one, creating a path down the driveway before it was gone.
You all stared off into the distance for a moment before turning back around and making your way back inside. But your head was still pounding and your vision blurred for a moment, the world swimming around and you went stumbling again.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Steve called out as he dropped the bat and quickly grabbed onto you before you could fall. “You okay?”
“Dizzy.” You whispered. “My head hurts.”
“Let’s get you on the couch.” Nancy said as she grabbed your other arm and her and Steve gently guided you over and sat you down.
The world slowed down a bit, clearing up as you just stared out. You slowly reached into your pocket and pulled out the aspirin you had stolen from Hopper and swallowed two of them. The movement made your head swim again, but once you righted yourself it stopped.
“It’s okay.” You breathed. “I just need a second.”
“You’re getting worse.” Nancy said worriedly as she sat next to you. “I think you need to go to the doctor.”
“No.” You said. “I’m fine. It was just a lot for me. Okay? I’ll be fine once I rest.”
Nancy didn’t believe you, she never did, and you could see that Steve didn’t believe you either. Even Jonathan, who had no idea what was going on and who looked on in both confusion and worry, clearly didn’t believe you. And they were all right, because it was a lie. You probably would go to the doctor, make sure everything was okay. But not right now. That could wait until tomorrow. It could wait until you knew Will was home and safe.
~~~~~
When you got to the hospital you ran straight for the waiting room where everyone else was. Your mom shot out of her chair and came running over the moment she saw you, hugging you and Nancy close as she released a stream of worries. Your dad stood up slowly, watching, and when your mom let go of you he sat right back down.
You and Nancy then went over to the boys, hugging Mike first and checking him over. You then noticed Dustin and Lucas staring up as you, heartbreak written across their faces and you held out your arms. They shot up from their seats in an instant, their arms wrapping around your middle and squeezing down in a bone crushing hug as you wrapped your own arms around them, just holding them close for a moment.
After a while, you let the boys go and they sat back down in their seats and you could see just how exhausted they were. You were exhausted as well, but thankfully your headache as cleared up by the time you arrived. You retreated over to the free seat next to Steve and sat down.
The two of you stared blankly at the floor, both of your faces covered in bruises and cuts. You still needed to talk to him about the graffiti, but now was not the time or place. And, despite that, you wanted his comfort. So you decided to just suck up the hurt feelings and moved your arm over, pressing it against his, and he stayed there.
You found out from Hopper that him and Joyce had found Will and the doctors said he would be okay. He was off in one of the rooms resting. He also told you about what happened to El, the boys having already relayed the story to him. You hadn’t known her for long, a few hours at most, but it cut you deep knowing that she hadn’t made it. That she had sacrificed herself to save the boys. Someone that young shouldn’t have had to go through all of that.
~~~~~
After Will had woken up and the boys ran off to visit him everyone started slowly trickling out of the hospital. When the boys came back Hopper was getting ready to give Steve, Dustin, and Lucas a ride home. It had taken a bit of convincing, but you managed to get your mom to agree to let you go home with Steve. Telling her you were worried he had a concussion and you didn’t want to leave him alone.
Hopper had dropped the two of you off at the Byers house to pick up Steve’s car and you drove the two of you to his house, an awkward silence hanging in the air the entire time.
He led you up to his room in silence, setting his alarm for two hours so that you could wake him up and make sure he wasn’t dead. And also to make sure you weren’t dead either.
“I didn’t want to write that.” Steve suddenly said.
“What?” You asked tiredly, not in the mood for this conversation right now. But he had started it, so now you were stuck.
“The graffiti.” Steve said. “I didn’t want to write it.”
“But you still let it happen, Steve.” You said harshly. “You were complicit.”
“I know. I know.” Steve’s face fell. “And I’m sorry. I really am. It’s just that… I was… when I saw you two with Jonathan I got angry. And worried. I mean, how was I supposed to know about any of this?”
“That’s not the point.” You argued. “And if you were worried then you should’ve talked to me instead of going off and doing something like that.”
“I know.” Steve said desperately. “I kicked myself for not stepping in when I thought something was wrong. Even if it wasn’t, I still thought that, and I should’ve tried to protect you. Not just run off in… in jealousy.”
“Jealousy?” You echoed. “Steve, come on. I’ve been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Telling myself it was all Tommy’s fault. But he wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t said anything to him in the first place.”
“I’m sorry.” Steve apologized again. “I just… I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never felt this way about someone before and I didn’t know what to do with that. It was a shitty thing to do. I messed up. Big time. I know that.”
“Can we please just talk about this in the morning?” You sighed and you could see Steve’s face fall even more, his eyes going glassy.
“Please.” He whispered. “I swear, I will never ever do something like that again. I won’t let something like that happen again.”
“Okay.” You said plainly, your own eyes starting to brim with tears at how heartbroken he sounded.
“I just need you to understand, okay?” Steve begged.
“Sure, Steve, okay.” You bit back, your anger starting to rise as he didn’t listen. “Can we please just go to bed right now?”
Steve’s eyes dropped to the floor and he didn’t say anything else. You felt bad for not letting him talk right now, but you were exhausted. You didn’t want this to turn into a full blown fight right now no matter how angry you were.
“I left them.” Steve whispered, his voice so quiet that you almost didn’t hear him.
“What?” You asked, confusion slightly overtaking your anger for a moment.
“Tommy and Carol.” Steve said and raised his eyes to look at you again. “I left them. I called them assholes, told Carol to shut up, and Tommy shoved me against my car. I drove off after that.”
You didn’t quite know what to say. You never expected Steve to drop Tommy and Carol like that. They had been attached at the hip for so long that it was almost impossible to find one of them without another one right there.
You glanced around the room for a second, too unsure of what to say to keep looking at him straight on when your eyes landed on the discarded pajamas on his bed. You reached over and picked them up, handing them over to him as a sort of silent peace offering.
“We’ll talk in the morning.” You said, praying that he would leave the rest of the conversation, the part about how and if the two of you would proceed together, until tomorrow.
“Okay.” Steve nodded and then he turned towards his dresser, pulled out more pajamas, and handed them over to you.
The two of you got changed in silence, slipping into the bed together but not touching. You just stared up at the ceiling, your exhaustion hanging over you but your eyes refusing to close. You then felt Steve shifting beside you.
“I was just scared.” He whispered. “You know, about what would happen if… you know.”
You sighed and turned yourself over until you were both facing each other. “Jonathan’s not gonna say anything.” You reassured. “He actually said that he doesn’t care. I’m more scared now what Tommy might do.”
“He won’t say anything.” Steve shook his head. “It doesn’t matter that I yelled at him. He wouldn’t put me at risk like that.”
“And me?” You asked quietly and Steve just stared at you for a moment, heartbreak in his eyes.
“He won’t.” Steve said, but he sounded unsure. “If he outs you then he outs me too.”
“And if we break up?” You asked despite the fact that you wanted to table this conversion till morning. But you just needed to know.
“If he doesn’t know, then he won’t.” Steve said softly. “And I don’t want to break up. Do you?”
“I…” You had been so unsure about the whole thing, but you could see that Steve had been honest with you the entire time, a real apology with a real explanation. You still liked him. You really, really liked him. And he had gone to the Byers not looking for you, but looking for Jonathan. And when you had yelled at him to leave he came running back in when he saw that something was wrong. “No.”
Steve smiled softly as you, his whole body relaxing like a weight had just been lifted. You reached your hand out and placed it on the bed between you, letting Steve reach out and take it, fiddling with your fingers instead of holding them and that just brought a smile to your own face.
“You still need to apologize to Nancy.” You said.
“I know.” Steve said, eyes trained on your hands.
You just stared at his face, taking in the damage that Jonathan had done. It broke your heart seeing him like that. He had always been so put together and now he just looked like a mess.
You retracted your hand from his and he frowned at the loss of contact, making you almost want to laugh at the adorable reaction. You lifted your hand up and placed it on his head, lightly carding your fingers through his hair and he sighed at the touch, his face relaxing.
You looked at face again and you removed your hand, earning another frown from him as you turned yourself back onto your back before motioning him over.
“Here.” You said softly and he just looked at you, confused. You smiled softly and gestured again and he listened that time, scooting up next to you and placing his head on your chest.
Steve wrapped one arm around your middle, his hand going flush against your side as you started to run your hands through his hair again, your other arm wrapping around his back. He closed his eye with a contented sigh. You moved your hand a little lower, rubbing your thumb across his temple and he instantly melted into your touch.
Yeah, you really didn’t want to break up with him. He wasn’t King Steve, he was just Steve. All that bullshit he had done, you could tell, had always assumed, it was Tommy and Carol. The moments without them around he turned into one of the sweetest guys you had ever met. You still had more to talk about, you knew that. But the tension had been cut for now. And you took the opportunity to just enjoy his steady presence.
Jonathan came back to your house with you and Nancy, none of you, especially her, feeling like sleeping alone after what just happened. The monster apparently really didn’t have a face, its mouth like a flower and filled with razor sharp teeth.
Nancy was still covered in the slimy film from the tree, the stuff all stuck in her hair. But she wasn’t ready to leave your room just yet. She was sitting between you and Jonathan, a sweater over her shoulders as you both comforted her in silence, not quite sure what to say.
You caught sight of your video camera sitting in the corner, right where Steve had left it. Only a few days ago he was sitting in your room, getting distracted by everything as he tried to help you study. That all suddenly felt like a lifetime ago.
“I’m… gonna go shower.” Nancy said quietly, slowly pushing herself off of your bed, her eyes still half vacant.
“We’ll be right here.” You soothed.
Nancy just nodded before she slowly retreated out of the room and into the bathroom. You glanced at Jonathan, the tension still hanging between you after that fight. The only good thing about it was that Jonathan said he wouldn’t tell anyone that you were dating a guy, and that he didn’t even care that you were dating a guy. It kind of shocked you, but it also kind of didn’t. No matter how weird or creepy everyone said he was, he still seemed the type to be accepting. Well, at least not rude about it.
“There’s a sleeping bag in the closet.” You said, your eyes never leaving the video camera.
You could feel Jonathan glance at you for a second before getting up and crossing over to the closet to get the sleeping bag. He started unrolling it on the floor and you could feel his eyes on you again.
“I really am sorry.” Jonathan said. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I took the picture.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” You dismissed him as you took your shoes off, but his eyes were still on you. “It’s forgotten about, okay?”
“Yeah, uh, okay.” Jonathan stammered, but his stupid eyes still didn’t leave you and you turned to him with a huff.
“What?” You snapped.
“I just… it’s nothing.” He gave a dismissive shake of his head as he went back to work setting up his bed.
You took a deep breath, calming yourself before you started a fight and surely alerted everyone else in the house. “What?” You asked again.
“I was just… curious.” He shrugged. “I mean, how does a guy start dating Steve Harrington of all people?”
Oh, that wasn’t what you were expecting at all. Although, you probably should’ve assumed he would’ve asked. It was a valid question, after all.
“Well, it was kinda all his doing.” You said. “He sat next to me in class one day. Started talking to me. Asked me to hangout. And then after a week, when we were alone in his car, he kissed me.”
“Huh.” Jonathan nodded.
“Huh?” You echoed. “What, huh?”
“You just… don’t seem like his type.” Jonathan mumbled.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” You asked incredulously.
“Nothing.” Jonathan said hastily. “Just that I usually see him with more… outgoing people.” You fixed him with a look. “Not in a bad way.” He added quickly. “Well, maybe for them. I just mean that you’re not full of yourself is all. You’re down to earth.”
“Oh.” You said, taken aback. “Thanks. I guess.”
“You’re welcome.” Jonathan chuckled lightly.
“And thanks, you know, for not being a dick about it.” You muttered.
“Hey.” He said, turning to fully face you. “Even if all of this wasn’t happening, I still wouldn’t have said anything. Okay? No matter how I found out.”
You just nodded, unsure of what to say. The whole thing was still weird, but at least you really did have one less thing to worry about now. As long as no one found out about you and Steve at least you would be safe from people, even if you were trying to find and kill some faceless monster.
You heard the click of the door handle and you and Jonathan both turned to see Nancy walking in, still a little out of it. But she was clean now, and dressed in some pajamas.
“Better?” You asked.
“Yeah.” Nancy nodded.
“Is this okay?” Jonathan asked. “He told me it was in the closet. I can go home. I just figured—“
“Yeah, no.” Nancy cut him off. “I… I don’t think any of us want to be alone.”
“No, uh…” Jonathan stammered. “No.”
You got up and pulled the covers back, letting Nancy get in the bed first before getting in next to her. You really didn’t want to sleep alone that night, and you didn’t want Nancy sleeping alone either. But Nancy still seemed nervous, her eyes darting towards the window every few seconds.
“Can you just come up here?” Nancy suddenly asked.
“Yeah.” Jonathan said quietly and then he appeared from the floor and got in the other side of the bed, above the covers, the gun with the him. “Do you want to lights off, or—“
“On.” Nancy whispered.
“You know.” You said softly. “It can’t get us in here.”
“We don’t know that.” Nancy responded.
You all fell silent after that, Nancy’s statement being right. You had no idea what this monster could do. It could easily come crawling through the wall right there and then and rip you all the shreds. You just hoped it didn’t.
~~~~~
You woke up the next morning to the sun already high in the sky, shining through your windows. You pushed yourself up slowly, trying not to disturb either of them. But it looked like Nancy was already awake, sitting up at the foot of the bed with papers and a book out in front of her. When you glanced over to the other side of the bed Jonathan had just woken up too.
“Couldn’t sleep?” You asked as the two of you sat up and joined Nancy.
Nancy shook her head. “Every time I close my eyes, I just… keep seeing that… thing. Wherever I was, that place… I think that it lives there. It was feeding there. Feeding on that deer. That means that if… if Will and Barbara…”
“Hey.” Jonathan said softly. “My mom said she talked to Will. If he’s alive, there’s a chance Barbara is, too.”
“That means that she’s trapped.” Nancy argued quietly. “In that place. We have to find it again.”
“You wanna go back out there?” You asked.
“Maybe we don’t have to.” Nancy said. “When I saw it, it was feeding on that deer. Meaning it’s a predator, right?”
“Right.” You confirmed.
“And it seems to hunt at night, like a...” Nancy continued, pointing at the book in her lap. “A lion or a coyote. But it doesn’t hunt in packs like them. It’s always alone, like… like a bear. And remember at Steve’s, when Barb cut herself? And then, last night, the deer…”
“It was bleeding, too.” Jonathan provided.
Nancy flipped to a new page in the book, one all about sharks. “Sharks can detect blood in one part per million. That’s one drop of blood in a million, and they can smell it from a quarter mile away.”
“So you’re saying it can detect blood?” You questioned.
“It’s just a theory.” Nancy whispered.
“We could test it.” You suggested.
“But if it works…” Jonathan continued for you.
“At least we’ll know it’s coming.” Nancy finished.
The door handle suddenly rattled around and all three of you jumped back in surprise. You threw an arm out in front of Nancy, and when you looked down you saw her and Jonathan holding hands.
“Honey, are you up?” Your mom’s voice called out from the other side of the door.
“Yeah.” You called back. “I’m getting dressed.”
“Where’s Nancy?” Your mom asked.
“She’s in here.” You replied.
“Hi, mom.” Nancy stammered.
“I, uh, made some blueberry pancakes.” Your mom said.
“We’ll be down in a second.” You said, dropping your arm from Nancy now that you were sure your mom was gone and now realizing that there wasn’t any danger.
“Your mom doesn’t knock?” Jonathan asked.
You glanced at him and let out a small laugh, the both of them returning it. No, your mom usually never knocked.
~~~~~
You, Nancy, and Jonathan snuck out your window after Nancy had snuck back into her room to change her clothes. Your plan was to set a trap for this monster, so Jonathan drove the three of you to the army surplus in town.
You were walking down the aisles, grabbing whatever you could that looked useful, the other two doing the same. You walked back over to Nancy and Jonathan and you all stopped as you noticed the bear traps. You glanced at each other, the same thought going through your minds. Those would be very useful.
You grabbed one of the bear traps and made your way over to the counter, unloading all of the supplies as the cashier just looked on, a mixture of boredom and confusion crossing his face.
“And I’ll have four boxes of the .38s.” Jonathan said and the man grabbed the boxes and placed them on the counter.
“What are you kids doing with all this?” The man asked and the three of you glanced at each other before Nancy looked back at him, nonchalant.
“Monster hunting.” She said casually.
“Huh.” The man nodded noncommittally before he started ringing you up without another word.
You grabbed the box as Jonathan grabbed the canister of gasoline and Nancy the bag before making your way back out to his car and loading it all in the trunk.
“Monster hunting?” Jonathan laughed as he popped open the trunk.
“You know, last week…” Nancy said. “We were shopping for a new top that we thought Steve might like. It took us and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, you know?” She laughed and you joined in. “And… and now—“
“You guys are shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers?” Jonathan provided.
“Yeah.” You agreed.
“What’s the weirdest part?” He asked. “Me or the bear trap?”
“You.” You joked. “It’s definitely you.”
Beep! Beep!
“Hey, Nance!” Some guy called out and you all turned to see a car driving by. “Can’t wait to see your movie.”
“What the hell was that?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know.” Nancy said distantly and then she suddenly whipped around.
“What?” You asked, but she didn’t answer you and started taking off. “Hey! Where are you going?” You and Jonathan started running after her as she ran for the center of town. “Nancy, wait! Nancy!”
You ran right across the street, but slowed down at the same time as Nancy when you saw what that guy was commenting about. Written on the movie theater sign, in big red letters read: Nancy The Slut Wheeler
You could feel your blood boiling, your anger rising in an instant. Who the hell thought it was okay to say that about her? Who thought it was okay to say something like that at all? You were gonna tear whoever it was apart.
Clink, clink, clink.
You suddenly heard the rattling of a spray can and someone chuckling off in the distance. You glanced over at Nancy and saw that she had heard the noise too. The two of you took off towards the sound, Jonathan hot on your trail.
“Tommy, you write like a three-year-old.” You heard Carol’s voice say from up ahead in the alleyway just as the two of you rounded the corner.
You saw Tommy standing on a stack of wooden pallets, spray painting something on the wall. Of course it was Tommy who would do something like that. Carol, Steve, and Nicole were all standing around, watching him.
“Shut up!” Tommy said.
“I didn’t know you could spell.” Nicole retorted.
Everyone suddenly turned towards the two of you as they saw you approaching. “Awe, hey there, Princess!” Carol cooed.
“Uh oh.” Tommy said. “They look upset.”
You both ignored them, your eyes trained on Tommy when Nancy suddenly walked right up to Steve, swung back her hand, and slapped him right across the cheek.
“Oh!” The girls cried out.
You were not expecting Nancy to slap Steve like that. You weren’t even thinking of doing that. Steve probably had a hand in writing that, but it was definitely Tommy who had suggested it. You knew this was his way at getting back at you for what happened in the bathroom the other day. The only way he could do that without outing Steve.
“What is wrong with you?!” Nancy shouted.
“What’s wrong with me?” Steve echoed. “What’s wrong with you?” He suddenly turned his attention to you and you looked right back. “I was worried about you. I can’t believe that I was actually worried about you.” He scoffed.
You wanted to believe him, to be angry with him, but you just couldn’t. After those two nights you had gone to him for comfort you really couldn’t believe that he would’ve suggested any of this.
“What are you talking about?” You decided to ask.
Carol stalked forward. “I wouldn’t lie if I were you. You wouldn’t want your baby sister to be known as the lying slut now, do you?”
“Speak of the devil.” Tommy stepped down from the pallets and you turned to see Jonathan making his way over. “Hi.”
You turned back to Steve. “You came by last night?”
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” Carol said. “Does he get a prize?” She was starting to piss you off as well, and you wished you were a girl so that you could just punch her and shut her up.
“Look.” You said. “I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t like that.”
Steve glanced over at Jonathan as he spoke. “What, you just let him into your room to…” He shifted his gaze back to you. “Study?”
“Or for another pervy photo session?” Tommy chuckled, his arm now slung over Carol. You were only one comment away from punching him.
“We were just—“
Steve cut you off. “You were just what? Finish that sentence.” You went quiet, not sure what to say that wouldn’t make you sound insane. “Finish the sentence.”
You kept your mouth shut and refused to say anything that would make this worse.
“Go to hell.” Steve said and maybe you were delusional, but you could swear you saw genuine heartbreak in his eyes as he said it.
“Come on, let’s just leave.” Jonathan grabbed your and Nancy’s shoulders and started pulling you away and you tried your best to keep your anger from boiling over.
“You know what, Byers?” Steve spun back around. “I’m actually kind of impressed.” Steve shoved Jonathan’s shoulder, sending him stumbling. “I always thought you were just a pussy, but I guess you’re just a little screw-up like your father.” He shoved Jonathan’s shoulder again. “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups.” Steve pushed him again and you were trying so hard not to react. “You know, I shouldn’t really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family.”
Jonathan suddenly stopped, looking like he was about to say something in return.
“Jonathan.” Nancy said. “Leave it.”
Steve walked closer, continuing to taunt Jonathan. “I mean, your mom… I’m not even surprised what happened to your brother.”
You rounded on Steve. “Shut up.”
Steve shut up, just for a brief moment, a fraction of a second where you saw real remorse in his eyes as he looked at you. And then it disappeared, the anger taking back its place.
“I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it’s a disgrace to the entire—“
Jonathan whipped around and punched Steve right in the face, sending him flying into a railing. Steve pushed himself up, looking back slowly before charging at Jonathan, body slamming him into the hood of the car.
“Steve!” You called out, but he ignored you.
Steve ripped Jonathan off of the car and threw him to the ground before getting on top of him. You and the girls tried to call out to the boys, trying to get them to stop and to break it up all while Tommy just cheered, egging the fight on.
“Kick his ass, man!” Tommy encouraged.
You rounded on Tommy, your anger boiling right over and threw a punch straight across his face, sending his body flying to the side. He was the one who wrote that on the sign. He was the one who had suggested that all in the first place. He told you he would try to ruin your relationship with Steve and now he had done it. He had used Nancy to get back at you.
“Don’t you ever talk about my sister like that!” You shouted. “You fucking hear me?!”
As Tommy recovered from the blow you saw Jonathan push Steve off of him and jump to his feet. He threw another punch, hitting Steve square on the jaw and Steve stumbled back.
Tommy was looking at you with pure rage in his eyes when he suddenly saw that Jonathan had the upper hand. He ran forward and got between Steve and Jonathan and shoved Jonathan back.
Steve pushed Tommy to the side. “Get out of here!” He shouted at him.
You took that as your opportunity to grab Tommy’s shoulder and spin him back around to you as you threw another punch to his face. It felt great to finally let out your anger on him. To make him pay for saying that about Nancy. But, unfortunately, Tommy had been in more fights than you.
Tommy’s fist came flying at you, colliding right with your left eye. Your head whipped to the side, your body following the force. You could feel his hands twisting into the front of your shirt as he started shoving you backwards. But you were also filled with rage, and you quickly grabbed his hands and spun yourselves around, shoving him right against the railing before throwing out your own punch again.
“You have to stop it!” Nancy yelled, but none of you listened to her.
Tommy’s leg came flying up and his knee landed right on your groin, sending you doubling over as you backed up a few steps, trying to put some distance between the two of you so he couldn’t throw another hit while you recovered.
Tommy came charging forward at you and you quickly used your lower position to grab his waist and shove him back into the railing again. You tried to straighten yourself out so that you could hit him again when he beat you to it, his fist colliding with your jaw and sending your head whipping to the side.
Tommy’s hands were on you again and he quickly switched your positions, shoving you up against the railing as he glared at you. You glared right back and could feel a sharp sting in your lip as you did so. Tommy had probably split it. But before either of you could throw another punch a police siren sounded from down the alleyway and a police car pulled up.
Tommy shoved you back again and his hands left you as he turned back to Steve and Jonathan, grabbing at Jonathan’s shoulders as he tried to pull him off a bruised and bleeding Steve. “Hey, he’s had enough, man.” Jonathan shoved him back. “I said he’s had enough!” Tommy shouted angrily.
You turned back to the police car and saw Powell and Callahan exiting the vehicle. You wanted to run, to get away before they could catch you. But Jonathan was still on Steve and it didn’t look like Nancy would go anywhere without him.
“All right!” Powell shouted.
Callahan ran towards Jonathan, reaching down to pull him up when Jonathan swung back again, his elbow colliding with Callahan’s face and sending him into the side of the car.
“My nose!” Callahan shouted, dazed.
Powell managed to grab Jonathan and yanked him off of Steve, slamming him face first onto the trunk of the car. You pushed yourself off of the railing just as Tommy reached down and dragged Steve to his feet, pulling him along as the two of them started sprinting away.
“Come here, little guys!” Callahan shouted as he ran after them. “Come here!”
“I got this one!” Powell called out.
You turned to see that Powell had Jonathan handcuffed now as Nancy had her head in her hands, completely distraught at the entire situation. You walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, your adrenaline draining from you and the bruises now really starting to hurt and a headache starting to form.
~~~~~
The cops had brought the three of you back to the station, handcuffing Jonathan to the desk. Nancy walked off to go find some ice for the two of you as you waited there with him. You were afraid you were about to get handcuffed too, but you hadn’t hit the cops, and they hadn’t seen that you had been fighting, only getting hit.
“You okay?” Jonathan asked.
“I’ll be fine.” You muttered. “My head hurts worse than my face.”
“Your head?” He echoed.
You froze for a second, completely forgetting that no one besides your family and Steve knew about your headaches. “Yeah.” You sighed. “Just a stupid headache.”
“I meant… you know… what happened.” He clarified.
“Yeah.” You lied. “Don’t worry about it.”
Nancy came walking back into the bullpen then, two towels filled with ice in her hands. She crossed over and sat down at the desk, handing one of the towels of ice to you.
“Found some ice.” Nancy said.
“Thanks.” Jonathan muttered as Nancy held the ice to his face and you held your ice to your own face. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Nancy said unconvincingly. “Everything’s fine.”
Everything was definitely not fine, but what the hell were either of you supposed to do right now with Jonathan handcuffed? Your mind just kept going back to the fight, to the heartbreak and the remorse in Steve’s eyes. You couldn’t believe that it had been his fault, despite the fact that he was involved. He had seemed to genuinely care about you when you were alone, and you didn’t believe that it stopped in public. But you could believe that Tommy had gotten into his head. He seemed to get into Steve’s head a lot.
You knocked on the door a few times, the sun long since set. You, Nancy, and Jonathan had all went back home after seeing that thing in the photo. There wasn’t much you could do with Will’s funeral happening tomorrow. But the three of you didn’t believe it was him. And, apparently, Joyce didn’t either. It was starting to mess with your brain a little and you just wanted to escape it for a while, to see Steve who had no idea what was really going on and pretend everything was normal for just a few hours.
“Hey.” Steve said, confused as he opened the door.
“Sorry.” You apologized. “I know it’s late and I didn’t call or anything. I just wanted to see you.”
“You just wanted to see me?” Steve repeated, a hint of hopefulness in his tone.
“Yes, Steve.” You said slowly. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Oh.” He said, a bit surprised. “I was just about to have dinner. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat.” You shrugged.
Steve finally moved out of the way and let you inside, leading you over to the kitchen where a plate of chicken was already sitting on the table. He then grabbed a new one from the cabinet and started making a second plate.
“You can have that one.” Steve said over his shoulder. “It’s just chicken and some rice.”
“Do you cook a lot?” You asked as you sat down.
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “My parents are away a lot, so I kinda had to learn. I mean, with their money, I could just pay for dinner. But even nice restaurant food gets sickening after a while.”
You took a bite of the chicken and it tasted delicious. “It’s really good.” You complimented.
“You like it?” Steve asked shyly as he sat down next to you. “I tried a new recipe.”
“Well, whatever you did.” You took another bite. “It’s delicious.”
Steve beamed, just staring at you for a moment before turning to his own plate. The chicken really was delicious. You honestly didn’t expect Steve to be such a good cook. But you supposed his parents rarely being around would have that effect on him. Whether he wanted it to or not.
“So, why did you really come here?” Steve asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I don’t know.” You shrugged.
“Well, there has to be some reason you came here.” He pried. “Not that I’m not happy that you just want to see me. But why?”
“I just… I don’t know.” You sighed. “I guess I just wanted to get away for a bit. Pretend things weren’t so… crazy for a few hours.”
Maybe there was a small part of you that wanted to see Steve in order to gauge whether or not Tommy had gone through on his threat. You hadn’t gotten to see Steve since that morning due to that police questioning and you were hoping that Tommy hadn’t used that opportunity to get inside Steve’s head.
“Well, do you, I don’t know. Do you want to watch a movie or something?” Steve asked.
“No.” You shook your head. “Too much to focus on. I just wanna relax for a little bit.”
“Okay.” Steve smiled and bumped his knee against yours.
~~~~~
After dinner—Steve insisting that he had to be the one to wash the dishes—you ended up on his couch, an old sitcom playing as he draped an arm over your shoulders. You had your head on his shoulder, one hand laying in his lap as he fiddled with your fingers. He seemed to do that every time you tried to hold his hand. It was endearing how he could never sit completely still.
You turned your head slightly, trying to get more comfortable when a sharp pain stabbed through your temples, imbedding deep in your brain and causing you to wince and squint your eyes shut. There wasn’t even any loud or sudden noises that could’ve triggered it. One second you were fine and the next it felt like someone had taken a nail and jabbed it straight through your head.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Steve said hastily, retracting himself from you so he could properly look at you. “Are you okay?”
“My head.” You groaned. “Fuck, it hurts.”
“I’ll get you some Tylenol.” Steve said quietly as he stood up. “Just hold on.”
Steve practically ran from the room, your skull pounding. But the second he was out of the view the pain stopped, completely gone. That was definitely weird. Your headaches never cleared up that fast. Normal headaches didn’t clear up that fast. You were really starting to worry that something was seriously wrong.
“Here.” Steve came running back with the painkillers and a glass of water.
You didn’t need them anymore, but you didn’t want to worry him further, so you took the pills with a small smile and downed two of them. Steve was already so sweet and considerate about the entire thing, you didn’t need to scare him.
Steve slowly sat back down, his worried eyes searching yours. You simply lowered your head back down to his shoulder, silently telling him that you were okay now. He resumed his position from before, one arm wrapping around your shoulders as he took your hand and started fiddling with your fingers again.
~~~~~
“Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God.” Pastor Charles stood at the head of Will’s casket, giving the sermon. “I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” To your left stood Dustin and Lucas and their families. “How, if He is truly benevolent could God take from us someone so young, so innocent?” Closest to Pastor Charles sat Joyce and Jonathan and Jonathan’s father, Lonnie. “It would be easy to turn away from God, but we must remember that nothing, not even tragedy, can separate us from His love.” You glanced back down at the boys and none of them seemed to be truly grieving. “We are here today to find comfort in the truth of scripture. And to surround Will and his family…” You weren’t sure if it meant anything, but maybe…
“Just wait till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral.” Dustin said and you quickly shushed him.
But that comment, the smile on his face and the small laugh that escaped, that all but confirmed it to you. Dustin wasn’t one to hide his emotions like that. If he had been truly grieving right now then he surely would’ve been crying. Maybe the boys knew something. Maybe they knew that it wasn’t really Will who resided in that casket. But what the hell could they have possibly figured out?
~~~~~
After the sermon, as everyone started making their way inside for the reception, you, Nancy, and Jonathan broke away from the group and sat down behind some graves to get out of sight.
“This is where we know for sure it’s been, right?” Jonathan said as he pointed at the map in his hands.
“So, that’s…” Nancy trailed off.
“Steve’s house.” Jonathan provided. “And that’s the woods where they found Will’s bike and… that’s my house.”
“It’s all so close.” You said.
“Yeah.” Jonathan confirmed. “Exactly. I mean, it’s all within a mile or something. Whatever this thing is, it’s not traveling far.”
“You want to go out there.” Nancy said.
Jonathan nodded. “We might not find anything.”
“We found something.” Nancy said hastily, glancing at you for a moment. “And if we do see it… then what?”
“We kill it.” Jonathan stated plainly and then pushed himself to his feet.
You and Nancy quickly followed after him as he made his way over to the cars. He ripped open the passenger door on one of them and slipped inside as he started fiddling with the glovebox.
“What are you doing?” You asked.
“Just give me a second.” He responded as he popped the glovebox open and pulled out a gun.
“Are you serious?” Nancy said incredulously.
“What?” Jonathan said. “You want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?” He shut the glovebox and got out of the car.
“This is a terrible idea.” Nancy argued.
“Yeah, well, it’s the best we got.” He shoved the gun and the boxes of bullets into his pocket. “What? You can tell someone, but they’re not gonna believe you. You know that.”
“Your mom would.” You pointed out.
“She’s been through enough.”
“She deserves to know.”
“Yeah, and I’ll tell her. When this thing is dead.”
You thought it was a sort of stupid plan, the three of you traipsing through the woods looking for some faceless monster with just one gun between you. But Jonathan was right, no one would believe you. And Joyce had been through too much already for you to drag her into it.
~~~~~
After the funeral you had gotten changed and went down to the garage, looking for your own weapons for you and Nancy. If you were about to run into some monster in the woods then it was best you were all prepared.
You spotted two wooden baseball bats in the corner and picked one of them up, backing away from the car and taking a few practice swings to get the hang of it. You took another swing, your body turning towards the driveway, and you quickly retracted your arm before you could hit Steve.
“Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa, whoa.” Steve exclaimed as he ducked out of the way.
“What are you doing here?” You asked nervously.
“What are you doing?” Steve asked, glancing down at the bat.
“Nothing.” You lied.
“I hope that’s not meant for me.” He joked lightly.
“What? No.” You glanced down at the bat. “Oh, no, I was just... it’s nothing.”
“Oh.” Steve’s brows scrunched in confusion. “Well, uh… I actually came here to apologize to Nance. About yesterday. I mean, even before you threatened me with a baseball bat.” He crossed over to the car and leaned against it.
“What for?” You asked, not sure what happened between them yesterday.
“When she told me about the cops.” Steve explained. “I panicked and… I ended up being a total dick.”
“Oh.” You said, because that was all you could think to say.
“I got worried that she wouldn’t keep her side of the story straight. Which was stupid cause, you know, obviously she would. I was just freaked out, is all.” He sighed. “Any news about Barbara?” You shook your head sadly. “Parents heard from her? Or…”
“No.” You shook your head again.
“Hey, listen.” Steve said as he pushed himself off the car and stepped over to you. “Why don’t we, uh, why don’t we catch a movie tonight, you know? Just kinda pretend again that everything’s normal for a few hours. All The Rights Moves is still playing. You know, with your lover boy from Risky Business?”
“Yeah, I know.” You tried to cut him off, but he just kept talking.
“You know, Carol thinks I actually kinda look like him. What do you think? Huh?” He pointed at his own face, turning it from side to side as he displayed it to you, and then he stared singing. “Just take those old records off the shelf. I’ll sit and listen to them by myself.”
“I just, I…” You managed to actually cut him off this time, no matter how adorable he looked right now. “I don’t think I can. I’ve been really busy with this whole funeral thing and… with Nancy and my brother. It’s been really hard on them.”
“Yeah, sure.” Steve nodded sadly. “Sure, yeah, yeah.”
“So…” You trailed off, not really wanting him to leave. But you had other things to do.
“I should go.” Steve provided for you.
“Sorry.” You apologized. “I’ll call you later. Is that okay?” You gave his arm a comforting squeeze, wanting to do more but unable to while out in the open like that.
“Yeah.” He said. “Yeah, of course.”
Steve gave your own arm a squeeze before he walked away, singing to himself as he left. He really was such a dork, and you hated blowing him off without an explanation. But what else could you do without making him think you were insane?
You waited until Steve was out of sight before taking a few more practice swings with the bat, making sure you were ready to use it if you had to. Once you were satisfied you grabbed the other bat from the corner, that one for Nancy.
~~~~~
You and Nancy walked up to where you were meeting Jonathan and found him already there, the gun in his hands as he shot as some empty cans across the way. But he kept missing them, all of the bullets flying between the cans.
“You’re supposed to hit the cans, right?” Nancy joked as the two of you approached.
“No, actually.” Jonathan said. “You see the spaces in between the cans? I’m aiming for those.” You and Nancy threw your stuff down. “You guys ever shot a gun before?”
“Have you met our parents?” You scoffed and then held out your hand for the gun. Jonathan handed it over and you raised it up.
“Just point and shoot.” He instructed.
“Actually, I was just thinking of holding it here.” You joked, earning a laugh from the both of them. You then lined up the shot and pulled the trigger. The bullet didn’t hit the can, but it did hit the wooden stump it was sitting on.
“Not bad.” Jonathan complained. “I haven’t shot one since I was ten.” He took the gun back from you and started changing out the bullets. “My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit.”
“A rabbit?” Nancy echoed.
“Yeah. I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week.”
“Jesus.” Nancy breathed.
“What?” Jonathan chuckled lightly. “I’m a fan of Thumper.”
“I meant your dad.” Nancy clarified.
“Yeah.” Jonathan sighed. “I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but… I wasn’t around for that part.” Nancy held her hand out and he gave her the gun. “Just, uh, point and shoot.”
“My mom was young.” She continued as she raised the gun. “My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family.”
“Screw that.” Jonathan said.
“Yeah.” Nancy agreed. “Screw that.”
Nancy pulled the trigger and the shot rang out, the bullet flying straight into one of the cans and knocking it off of the wooden stump. The three of you chuckled lightly, amazed at the perfect shot.
~~~~~
The three of you had been trudging through the woods for the past hour, no sign of anything weird. Jonathan had given Nancy the gun and took the other bat for himself since she was a much better shot than him. You were starting to think that maybe the whole thing was a bust. But that didn’t mean you were going to stop looking.
“You never said what I was saying.” You suddenly announced.
“What?” Jonathan asked.
“Yesterday.” You explained. “You said I was saying something and that’s why you took my picture.”
“Oh, uh… I don’t know.” He stammered and you fixed him with a look. “My guess… I saw this guy, you know, trying to be someone else. But for that moment… it was like you were alone, or you thought you were. And, you know, you could just be yourself.”
“That is such bullshit.” You exclaimed.
“What?” Jonathan asked as he stopped walking.
“I am not trying to be someone else.” You argued. “Just because I’m dating Steve and you don’t like him—“
“You know what?” Jonathan said angrily, taking off again. “Forget it. I just thought it was a good picture.”
“He’s actually a good guy.” You continued, still more angry about the fact that Jonathan had caught you with another guy and not that he had caught you getting undressed.
“Okay.”
“Yesterday with the camera… he’s not like that at all.” And it was the truth. The thing with the camera was not at all the Steve you knew when you were alone. It was the Steve that came out around Tommy and Carol. Mostly Tommy. “He was just being protective. I don’t really think I have to tell you why.”
“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” Jonathan huffed.
“Oh, and I guess what you did was okay?” You mocked.
“No, I never said that.” He stammered.
“He had every right to be pissed—“
“Okay, all right. Does that mean I have to like him?” Jonathan exclaimed as he stopped walking again, turning to face you.
“No.”
“Listen, don’t take it so personally, okay? I don’t like most people. He’s in the vast majority.”
“Is it because he’s King Steve?” You mocked. “Or is it because his name is Steve?”
“Look.” Jonathan said pointedly. “I don’t care that you’re dating a guy, okay? And I’m not gonna say anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Yeah, but you developed those photos at school. Where anyone could’ve seen.” You argued. “Do you know just how lucky we are that it was Nicole who saw them? Imagine if it had been someone else, Jonathan. What do you think would’ve happened to Steve? To me? His popularity might’ve given him some grace, but I would’ve gotten nothing.”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Jonathan said harshly. “It was a stupid decision to develop them there. But I had nowhere else to do it. And it’s not like I could have them sent out, now could I?”
“You shouldn’t have taken it at all.” You poked him harshly in the chest, sending him back a step.
“I said I was sorry. How many times do I have to say it?”
“A lot, Jonathan. You’re gonna have to say it a lot. People die because of this shit.”
“All right, all right.” Nancy finally cut in after staying silent the entire time. “I think you both get the point now. And if you want to continue fighting, then fine. But just do it after we get out of here, all right?”
“All right.” You and Jonathan mumbled in agreement before you all took off again. You may have been a year older than Nancy, but when she got stern like that you never argued with her.
~~~~~
The sun had set a while ago, the three of you continuing your search in silence after you and Jonathan’s little fight. You still hadn’t been able to find anything when Nancy suddenly stopped.
“What, are you tired?” You joked as you turned to look at her.
“Shut up.” Nancy said quickly.
“What?”
“I heard something.” She whispered.
You did as you were told and listened until you heard a soft whimpering off in the distance. Jonathan had heard the noise too and the three of you quietly followed after the sound until you saw a small deer, covered in blood, laying in the leaves.
“Oh, God.” Nancy said sadly as she knelt down next to it, you and Jonathan following suit. “It’s been hit by a car.” The deer whimpered again and Nancy turned to you two. “We can’t just leave it.”
Nancy slowly raised the gun to the deer’s head, the thing still whimpering and you heard Nancy sniffle back her tears.
“I’ll do it.” Jonathan offered and held out his hand for the gun.
“I thought you said—“ Nancy started when Jonathan cut her off.
“I’m not nine anymore.”
You all stood up as Jonathan held the gun out, cocking it as he prepared to shoot. Nancy winced back, preparing herself for the shot when the deer was suddenly dragged away behind the bushes. The three of you jumped back in surprise, and you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. Your stupid head was also affected by the jump scare and it started throbbing lightly.
“What was that?” You whispered.
The three of you started circling around the area, shining your flashlights at the ground as you tried to search for the bloody deer.
“Where’d it go?” Nancy asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” Jonathan said shakily, gun raised as he kept his eyes peeled. “Do you see anymore blood?”
“No.” Nancy said.
The three of you shared a quick look and then slowly started walking away from each other, trying to spread out and cover the area. You kept your bat ready in one hand as your other shined the flashlight around, but you didn’t see any sign of blood. You didn’t see any sign of anything.
Guys! Nancy’s voice echoed out and you whipped around and started running back to where she was.
“Nancy!” You call out. “Nancy!”
You grinded to a halt, Jonathan doing the same as you both came upon Nancy’s bag and the other baseball bat. You reached down and picked up the bag, looking around for her.
“Nancy?” You tried again, but you got no answer. “Nancy? Nancy, where are you? Nancy! Nancy!”
You and Jonathan started running around the area, calling out Nancy’s name as you hastily searched around. But you got no answer. Your breathing was starting to get shaky, your heart pounding against your chest. You tried not to think of the worst, but your mind just kept coming back to it. What if what took Barb and Will took Nancy?
Y/N! Jonathan! Y/N! Y/N, I’m right here! Nancy’s voice suddenly echoed out again.
“Nancy!” You yelled back. “Nancy!”
Y/N, where are you?! Y/N!
“Nancy!”
Y/N! Y/N, I’m right… I’m right here!
“I’m right here!” You screamed back.
Y/N!
“I’m right here! Nancy! Just follow my voice!”
Y/N!
“Follow, my voice, Nancy, I’m right here! Nancy!”
You suddenly heard Nancy’s terrified scream echo and ran straight towards it and back to the tree where you found her stuff. Jonathan came running back too and the two of you stopped and stared at the weird, slimy film covered hole right in the trunk of the tree.
“Nancy?” You asked shakily as you knelt down towards the hole, shining your flashlight at it. “Nancy. Nancy! Follow my voice!” You heard a weird growling coming from the other side as you and Jonathan leaned in closer. “Nancy?”
A hand suddenly shot out of the tree, startling you and Jonathan so bad that you both fell back and you felt a sharp pain shoot through your skull. But it was Nancy’s hand. It was Nancy.
“Y/N!”
“Nancy!”
You and Jonathan scrambled up and grabbed onto Nancy’s hand, trying to pull her out of the tree, but it was like she was stuck in there, and you were straining against the force. But you finally managed to pull her out and she landed right on your chest, sending you back into the ground and making your entire head explode in pain. But your own pain didn’t matter. What mattered was that you had almost lost your little sister, that you managed to get her back, and that she was now sobbing in your arms.
“I got you.” You whispered as you squeezed her close to you, eyes trained on the tree as the bark started moving until it was completely closed up.
