Stranger Things - Imagines

Platonic!Party X Wheeler!Reader - Rise

A/N - This chapter was semi-inspired by the song Rise by Gabrielle. There's no romantic pairing but has many mentions of an old relationship between Billy and Reader, which ended badly. It's just a really self-serving, I-Wish-I-Could-Have-A-Big-Friend-Group chapter tbh. Reader is Mike and Nancy's sister.  I hope you all enjoy it.

You had been perfectly content with lounging around in the basement on your own, moping over how you had wasted the last year of your life on a relationship with a man who had never even deserved the time of day. I mean, you had always known that he had a mean streak, but you had never thought that would end up hurting you. He loved you, he had told you so more times than you could count, and then, you'd caught him practically eating another girl's face at a party. 

Even then, you hadn't walked away. You'd let him persuade you that somehow it was your fault that he had strayed. Let him convince you that it would never happen again. And then, less than a week later, you'd seen him at the mall with the very same girl that he'd cheated on you with, and it had been the final straw. So, you'd dumped him, unwilling to compete with another girl for the man you had thought loved you, and it had sucked royally. 

It was easier to just isolate yourself after that. It hadn't taken more than a couple of days for Billy to make it official with his new girlfriend, moving on before you could even catch your breath, and you couldn't handle the looks of pity you got from the other girls at school. They had all whispered when you'd started dating, bickering over how quickly the relationship would end. Turns out, they'd all been right when they'd told you it wouldn't last, and you were too embarrassed to let them see just how right they had been. Billy had broken your heart, just like they had thought he would and now, you were alone and he was still happy as ever.

You had just settled down in front of the TV with a bowl of popcorn when you'd heard the door of the basement open, a heard of footsteps tramping down the steps until you were met with a cluster of people. 

Mike looked pretty reluctant to be there, but Nancy was giving you the brightest smile you had ever seen on her, and behind them, was your little party of friends, all putting on faux smiles for you. 

"Hi," you murmured, brow furrowing slightly. "I thought you were doing DnD at Will's today-"

"We were," Mike murmured. "But Nancy said that we had to come here and see you instead because you and -"

Nancy quickly slapped his arm, causing him to yelp and fall quiet. "We thought you'd like some company," she told you. "And then I told Max that I was going to hang out, and she wanted to come too. And you know that wherever she goes, Lucas goes too, so-" her words trailed off and she shrugged. "Can we hang out?" 

You let out a soft sigh before nodding, lifting up your blanket for her to come and sit beside you, watching as they all carved out space for themselves in front of the TV. 

"What are we watching?" Steve murmured from his spot on the ground, back pressed against the bottom of the couch. 

"You guys can choose-"

"Nope," he uttered, cutting the kids off before they could start arguing over what film to watch. "What were you going to watch?"

You let out a soft sigh. "Grease," you murmured. "It's already in the VHS player."

The boys all let out dramatic groans as Nancy clapped beside you, grinning from ear to ear, and you couldn't help but chuckle at their responses. 

"Grease is so cheesy," Max teased, rolling her eyes. 

"We should watch Gremlins," Dustin perked up. "Gremlins is great."

Steve smacked him on the back of the head. "We're watching what Y/N wants," he corrected. "And Grease has a great soundtrack. I mean, come on-"

"Hopelessly Devoted to You was nominated for an Academy Award that year. Can't get higher praise than that," you added.

"It didn't win, though, did it?" Mike muttered, rolling his eyes at you. 

"Neither did that Ghostbusters song; doesn't mean it isn't amazing," you bit back. 

"We should watch Ghostbusters," Dustin piped up again, a bright smile pulling at his features. 

Steve smacked him again. "We're watching Grease," he uttered, grabbing the remote from the arm of the couch and hitting play. 

There was something so nice about how normal this all felt. Like nothing had changed at all. They were all still bickering and messing around like they always had, and for a moment you almost forgot about Billy completely. You almost forgot that your world had been turned upside down a couple of days ago. And God, it felt incredible to be thinking about literally anything else for more than a few seconds. 

You leant over, resting your head on Nancy's shoulder and taking her hand in yours. A couple of years ago, the two of you could barely get through a conversation without it turning into an argument, and now, she was pulling out all of the stops to cheer you up. 

"Thank you," you whispered, squeezing her hand lightly in yours. 

"You're welcome," she hummed back, quietly enough that the sound of the TV covered your conversation. "You know, you're going to be alright, right? It'll take time, but you'll get there."

You nodded. "I know."

"And whilst you are getting there, you'll have us here to help." 

She was right. No matter how low you got, you would always have your party to help pick you back up again. You would do anything for them, and they would do anything in their power to make you feel better. Even if that meant sitting in your basement, screaming the lyrics to Summer Loving completely off key, just to see you smile for them.

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