Head Over Heels --- N. Wheeler

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕝𝕖𝕒 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕥

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕝𝕖𝕒 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕥

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"Are you hanging on the edge of your seat...

Out of the doorway the bullets rip...

To the sound of the beat, yeah..."

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It had been a slow morning. Everything about it was slow. Jeremiah was slow to wake from his alarm, he was slow to eat, he was slow to get ready.

The Henderson brothers were late to leave, rushing throughout the kitchen for some kind of gift to bring Joyce Byers. They settled on a tin of week-old chocolate chip cookies. Even though the offering was bad, Jeremiah was sure that Joyce would understand; She's always been like that.

Dustin reaches the door first, hand slamming to the doorknob and pulling it open. He rushes out, completely forgetting about the cookies he was meant to carry out. Jeremiah rushes back into the kitchen area, scrambling for the tin on the counter.

"Remmy?"

Jeremiah's eyes widen, his neck snapping toward the noise, "Ma?"

"Where're you going, honey?" She asks softly, standing up shakily from the couch. Her voice is scratchy since she hasn't spoken or had anything to drink in days.

"W- Will's funeral..." Jeremiah says breathlessly, unable to believe that his mom is talking to him.

"Oh," She says, her eye still cloudy, "Well, wait for me."

"No," Jeremiah says. His mother winces at the harshness of his voice, which he didn't even mean to include in the word, "We're already late, so, um, maybe after the funeral we can drop something off for Joyce."

She deflates a bit, "Yes, yes. Good idea, honey," She mumbles out, feelings obviously hurt.

"Ma," She looks at him, "Thanks. For waking up this time."

She just nods at him and walks past his frame into the kitchen. Jeremiah huffs and walks out the door, starting the car and driving to the cemetery.

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Jeremiah stands awkwardly a few feet from his brother and his friends, silently waiting for the service to start.

"You tied your tie wrong," The voice of Nancy Wheeler informs from beside him.

Jeremiah continues looking forward respectfully, "Yeah, I guessed when it didn't look the same as Dustin's."

Nancy laughs a bit, her fingers reaching beside his neck. Jeremiah flinches a bit when her hand makes contact with his skin, relaxing afterward. She steps in front of him in order to reach the tie better, and she smiles up at him sweetly. She begins undoing his incorrect knot, "How'd you get Dustin's right, and yours so wrong?"

Jeremiah feels an embarrassed flush in the side of his neck, "I dunno," He mumbles out with a smile.

Nancy smiles at him again, and his face grows splotchy with red, his hand shooting up to the back of his neck nervously. She finishes the knot quickly, pushing his chest playfully, "There,"