Stranger Things: Looking Out For You (Steve Harrington X OC Reader)

The Vanishing of Will Byers

NOVEMBER 6th, 1983: Hawkins, Indiana

Catherine Michelle Henderson sat at home Sunday night after work, watching tv in the living room of her home in Hawkins, Indiana. Her mother, Claudia was out late for work, leaving her in charge of making sure her little brother Dustin got home and got to bed at a decent time. Their mother wasn't overly strict, she was actually pretty great. Laidback and caring. She just could be a little overbearing sometimes, as she would hover because of how much she cared about her children. She wasn't home a whole lot, often leaving Catherine in charge.

Cate looked at the clock realizing it was nearly 7:50. Dustin was supposed to be home by 8. She paced around the front door and front window waiting to see the headlight on her little brother's bicycle. She could hear faint shouts just as the clock ticked past 8:00pm. She rolled her eyes and opened the door to her home, leaning up against the molding with her arms crossed.

"Hey! Hey!" Dustin's voice echoed in the night air. "I didn't say go!"

Dustin and little Will Byers were racing on their bikes down the hill of the main road just in front of their house which rested at the bottom.

"Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!" Dustin shouted.
"I'll take your X-Men 134!" Will shouted back at him just as he was about to pass the house.

"Good night, Will!" Cate called out as he passed by.

Will turned as he continued on his bike past the driveway and let out a heavy wave with a bright smile.

"Good night, Cate!"

"Son of a bitch." Dustin huffed.

He slowed just in front of the driveway watching his friend ride off home. Dustin climbed off his bike and pushed it up the rest of the driveway, kicking out the bike stand and leaving it near the front door.

"You're late." Cate sang still standing in the front door.

"What? I am not." Dustin scoffed and walked by her.

Cate closed the door and followed inside after him. Dustin stood in the living room looking up at the clock on the wall.

"All right, I'm late. Only by 13 minutes." Dustin rolled his eyes.
"Told ya." She giggled. "Hmm, to tell Mom or not to tell her. That is the true question." She grinned tapping her chin questionably.

"Come on, Cate. D-Don't tell! It's only a few minutes. Actually, wait, wait! I brought you home something." Dustin gave his older sister a large grin, pulling out a bag from underneath his coat. "I'll give you this delicious pepperoni and sausage pizza slice if you don't tell." He sang waving the bag in front of her face.

"Hmm... Alright, deal." Cate smiled and grabbed the bag and bringing it towards the kitchen to heat it up. "You know, I would have done it for nothing. But thanks anyway for the food!" She laughed victoriously and Dustin grumbling about the last slice. "Okay, okay. So how was your campaign?"

Dustin's face lit up at the question, almost instantly forgetting about the pizza slice. He loved the fact that his sister took an interest in the things he liked to do. None of his other friends siblings were like that.

"Oh, man it's so fun! Mike has done a fantastic job on it. 10 hours! That's how long we played today and we still didn't even get to finish. Mrs. Wheeler said we could come back next weekend." Dustin explained excitedly.

"Wow, 10 hours. That's insane. You know..." Cate started to talk but suddenly all the power went out in the house. "What the hell?" She huffed.

Quickly she moved about the kitchen and pulled open one of the drawers, digging around in the dark for a flashlight until she found one. She hit it on the palm of her hand a couple times and the light finally flickered on. She turned with it faced upward and nearly blinded her brother, until she lowered it.