MY TEARS RICOCHET 𛲕 STRANGER THINGS

13. Bank Robbing & Match Making

CHAPTER 13: Bank Robbing & Match Making

No one teaches you what to do when a good man hurts you
And you know you hurt him, too
— Happiness, Taylor Swift

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

November 12th, 1983: Hawkins Town

HOPPER DIDN'T RETURN THE NEXT MORNING.

Daphne awoke with a sinking feeling in her gut, shivering in spite of the layer of blankets covering her body. The feeling didn't leave all morning, as she paced helplessly around her empty house. Around noon, she went next door to Nancy's, but Mrs Wheeler informed her that Nancy had already left.

With nothing left to do, Daphne picked up her phone and called Steve. The last thing she wanted was to involve him in any of this, but it wasn't like she had many other options. He picked up on the second ring; his voice bright and eager as he greeted her. Daphne felt a pang in her chest, knowing just what she was about to drag him into.

She didn't try to explain what was going on over the phone; worried that Hawkins Lab would be monitoring her phone correspondence as well as her house. She told Steve she needed to see him — urgently — and fortunately, he seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.

Daphne waited anxiously on the other side of her front door until she heard the crunch of gravel as Steve's BMW pulled up in her driveway. The taller boy was just getting out of the car when she burst down the steps; her backpack stuffed full of weapons that would more than likely prove useless.

"Woah, Daph," cried Steve, as the blonde-haired girl barrelled down the driveway towards him. "Where's the fire?"

"Sorry, I don't have time to explain," said Daphne frantically. "Get back in the car; we have to go."

Steve's thick eyebrows knitted together in the centre of his forehead, but he went along with it nonetheless, pulling Daphne's door open before jumping in himself. Daphne strapped herself in and double-checked her backpack to make sure she had everything she needed, before urging Steve to floor it.

"Where are we going?" asked Steve, as he hastily started the engine of the car.

"Jonathan Byers' house," said Daphne firmly. When she received no answer, she looked over at her boyfriend — and sighed at the baffled expression on Steve's face.

"Okay, you're going to have to give me more than that," he said dubiously. "Why are we going to that freak's house?"

"I'll explain on the way. Just drive."

With Steve speeding down the main road, Daphne launched into as brief an explanation of the past few days as she could. She left out a few of the more... bizarre details, including her house being bugged and Will's body being a fake, but she did tell her boyfriend about the trip to the woods she had been on with Nancy and Jonathan the previous night.

"—I don't know what it is we were chasing," said Daphne, half-truths slipping over her chapped lips as easily as she breathed. "I think it might have been some kind of wild animal."

There was a heavy silence. Then —

"Why the hell were you chasing wild animals in the woods with Jonathan Byers?! What's wrong with you, Daph? Are you crazy? We need to go to the police!"

"No," she said, exasperation lacing her tone. "It's a waste of time. We have to find Nancy and Jonathan and figure out what to do next."

"No way," said Steve firmly. "You're not going anywhere near that psycho ever again. I can't believe he dragged you into all of this!" Daphne opened her mouth to protest, but Steve quickly cut her off. "I knew I was right about him. There's always been something off about him. I mean, think about it — he's probably the one who offed his kid brother in the first place!"