𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 [𝐬.𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐅. As he cries, Laurie sits on the couch with Dustin's head in her lap. She softly messes with his hair to help calm him down while their mother is on the phone with the moms. She wipes tears quickly because she has to be strong; this isn't the time for her to be vulnerable. She has to be strong for Dustin.

"It's going to be okay, Dusty. It's going to be okay." She whispers to him as the crying slowly stops, and he falls asleep. Once she knows he is out, she gently gets off the couch and places his head down softly. His body gets covered by a blanket, and she heads to find her mother.

"Sweetheart, Nancy is on the phone. She needs to talk to you." Her mother says when she walks into the kitchen. She nods while taking a deep breath before putting the phone to her ear, "Hey, Nance. What's going on?"

"It's Barb. I went back to Steve's this afternoon, and I saw something. It looked like a guy with no face. Laurie, something isn't right." As if her heart couldn't break anymore, it does. Barb, a girl she's been friends with as long as she has with Nancy, could be dead. First Will, now Barb.

What in the hell is going on in Hawkins?

"Nance, this has been a crazy fucking day." Her voice cracks as her eyes water for the millionth time today. "First Wil and now Barb. I don't even know what to do. Dustin has been hysterical since he got home, and I just don't know anymore. I genuinely think that I am going numb."

"I wanted to let you know because the cops will interview us tomorrow. So don't be afraid and just tell them what you know." She nods, but Nancy can't see that. "I will. Thanks for calling Nancy. Give Mike a big hug from me."

"You do the same to Dustin for me." They bid each other goodbye, and Laurie goes to her room. All she wants to do is sleep and wake up to this all being one big nightmare.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The first thing Laurie does when she sees Nancy is hug her tightly. Both girls stand in the hallway, embracing tightly as they hold back tears. "I can't believe this is all happening. What the actual fuck?" Nancy lets out a sad laugh before they release each other.

"I told Steve about Barb, and he was such an ass. Told me not to mention the beers, scared his dad will bust him." An annoyed laugh comes from Laurie after hearing Nancy's words. "First off, the officers have more important things to worry about than underaged drinking, and secondly, his dad has always been an ass. Beers or not, if Mr. Harrington finds out about the party, he will be dead meat. Barb is the most important thing right now, we already lost Will, and we can't lose her too." Nancy pulls her into a hug as she starts to cry again.