𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 - 𝐒.𝐇 (𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬)

𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞

Dried blood tasted like copper on the girl's tongue. She sat in front of a mirror, feeling Joyce Byers' hands combing through her knots.

Lea didn't care that her lips barely had any skin left. She was numb. "Honey, you've got to stop that." Joyce whispered gently, squeezing the girl's shoulder. She tore it away and stood up abruptly.

The black dress that she wore fell down to her knees and she walked out of the room. Joyce sighed and shut her eyes, letting her head fall.

They were having a memorial at the station. It had been organized by Jonathan, Nancy, and Joyce. It was tough getting Lea and El to agree to it but eventually, they did.

Today was the day.

Lea slowly walked into the living room where Mike, Will, Lucas, and Steve were sitting around. All of them in black and white. The blonde girl saw Steve talking to the three boys. He looked close to tears as did the boys.

She shut her eyes and backed away and turned in the other direction, going into the room where El sat. Her eyes were red amd puffy and her fingers were fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. The sight of her broken little sister almost killed her. Honestly, Lea wished it did. Everyone was absolutely sick over the death of Jim Hopper. But Lea hadn't shed a single tear since the battle of Starcourt.

El looked up at her and sniffled, patting the bed next to her. Lea shuffled over and sat next to her. El's sniffles turned into cries and her cries soon became sobs. Lea let the girl lay her head in her lap. She stared at the wall as she stroked the girl's soft hair. The shakes of El's trembling body made it hard to keep her in place.

After a good twenty minutes of sitting in sobs and silence, Steve softly knocked on the door frame. Lea looked over and up at him and realized that El was no longer crying.

"Hey. It's time to go." He nodded solemnly. El was the first to stand, making her way out of the room. Lea stayed in the spot.

Steve made his way to her and held his hand out for her. She took it and stood up, walking slowly with him towards the door.

°•°•°•°•°

The station was crowded with people. Lea saw people who she didn't know, she saw many people who she did know but didn't even like. She knew her dad hated them too.

So, she stood in a corner observing. She saw how someone people whispered things to each other, she saw how some of the older people were actually shedding tears. Doc Owens even stopped by. He didn't bother approaching Lea because he knew she wanted nothing to do with him or anyone there, really.

Steve stayed in the general area of his girlfriend just to make sure that he was around if anything happened. Mike and Will stood by her side for a few moments, their hands intertwined with hers until they saw El crying over one of the pictures that Nancy had put up of him. Max, Lucas, and Dustin also stood with her for a while.

She almost lost her shit when she saw Callahan and Powell actually enter the station. She had seen them sitting in a car outside when she first arrived. It was like they were debating whether or not to come in.

Callahan made eye contact with her for a second before he looked away when seeing her glare harden. He began talking to Flo and another lady that she didn't know.

Lea scoffed and rolled her eyes after he saw him smile. Who could smile at a time like this?

About an hour later, the memorial service was coming to an end. People were leaving and walking past Lea muttering an "I'm so sorry for your loss."

This made Lea want to scream. But all she did was stare at them as they passed.

Powell walked up to her. "I'm sorry, Lea. I have no idea how hard this must be for you."

He walked away and then came Callahan with his hat in his hands. "I'm sorry-" He stopped seeing the bored expression on her tired features. The bags under her eyes were basically purple, her skin was paler than a ghost and she looked malnourished. "Y'know, Lea, I met you when you were thirteen." He nodded. He began to smile a little. "The first week that Cheif got the job here, he had to leave early because you had uh... oh what was it? That's right, you punched a boy in the nose for talking about him."

What is he trying to do?

"He had to bring you back here to finish work and you stayed with me for a few hours." He said, placing his hands on his hips.

Lea could see Steve looking puzzled a few feet away. "You were being so sweet to me all day and when I went to get up and grab coffee, I realized that you had handcuffed my ankle to the table." He laughed a little. "When I told on you to your dad, he got mad at me for leaving my cuffs out on my desk."

She almost laughed. That was a vivid memory for her. "I said all that to say, we may have had our ups and downs but I know how hard this is. I want you to know that Cheif will forever be with you. And he will always be on your side." A small sniffle came from Lea.

She didn't even realize it. She did it. She had finally cried. Callahan got all awkward and weird like usually and started stuttering nervously and looking around for help.

Callahan made her cry.

The blonde girl looked up at him before tugging him into a hug. God, if she was a year ago Lea, she would check herself into the nut house in Kerly County.

Callahan looked over at everyone else who watched in amazement. Jonathan, Joyce, Nancy, the boys, El and Max all looked at her with wide eyes. Callahan hesitantly patted her back trying to be comforting.

Steve and Will took over for Callahan as the flood gates opened and she started to sob softly.

The officer sighed heavily and nodded to all of the people left in the room.

Callahan made her cry and if Hopper was there to see it, he would so fire him right then and there.

°•°•°•°•°•°

HIIIIIIIIIIIII

JUST A LIL SOMETHING BEFORE SEASON 4 VOL. 1 COMES OUT

I'm super excited and cannot wait to see it.

I hope you all are living wonderfully!
Stay safe out there!

❤❤❤

Also, not Callahan being nice to our girl Lea 🥺

Lmk if you want more chapters like this while you're waiting for more Steve and Lea!

ALSO I WILL BE ADDING MORE STEVE AND LEA ONE-SHOTS SOON LIKE VERY SOON