𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

TRAPPED UNDER A MISTLETOE !

☀︎

IT HAD A BEEN A MONTH AFTER THE EVENTS HAWKINS LAB HAD UNLEASHED ON THE GROUP. There had never been a sign of Eleven, but there was always someone that had never given up on trying to reach her. Will Byers had managed to get back to what he had hoped was a normal life-- but what had been most important was being with his friends once again.

It had been winter and the snow had been slowly falling as Jonathan Byers and Alex Henderson had pulled up to the Wheeler's house for their brothers. Both had sat in the warmth of the car as they looked up to the house before they had to head in.

"Are you sure you can't come to dinner at my place?" he asked her.

Alex had pulled her eyes off the house long enough to look to Jonathan with disappointment. "I wish. But my mom wants us to be home because she apparently made something special... whatever the hell that means." She sighed as she turned back over to the window. "Do we have to go in there? Steve and Nancy are hanging out there tonight."

"I hate that they're back together too," Jonathan admitted quietly. "What else can we do but move on, right?"

"Right," she whispered, but it had felt a lot harder than that. After what they had all experienced, the two thought that things could possibly change. Instead, everything had fallen right back to normal. Shaking her head, Alex cracked open her door, "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."

As soon as she had stepped out of the car, the cold air had hit her right in the face as snowflakes landed all around her. Normally, she had hated the winter, but lately she hadn't minded it so much. After what had happened with the Upside Down and the monsters that lurked in it, it felt like there was much worse to worry about than the cold.

Coming up to the front door, Jonathan gave her one last look before he had knocked on the Wheeler's door. Without having to wait longer than a minute, Nancy's mom had been ushering in the two from the cold.

"I'll get the boys," Jonathan stated, already rushing down to the basement and leaving Alex alone with Mrs. Wheeler in the kitchen. Alex had stood awkwardly at the counter, watching as she had prepared dinner for her family.

"Hey!" A voice had came from the other room before Steve Harrington had stood in the doorway. "You hanging out for a bit?"

"Oh, no. Jonathan and I are here for Dustin and Will."

"Right," Steve nodded in understanding as he made his way over towards her. Mrs. Wheeler had continued her work as she kept a careful eye on the two before her. After Steve had already broken Nancy's heart before, she made sure to keep an extra eye on him. "You feelin' okay? No offense but you look like crap."

"I'm fine," she laughed, placing the back of her hand against her cheek. "Just a little toasty in here."

Steve reached out and placed the back of his hand on her other cheek. In return Alex dropped hers as she watched him look her over. Managing a small laugh, Steve cleared his throat uncomfortably as he pulled his hand back and grew red in the face. "Yeah, kinda is, huh?"

Alex took a step back from Steve with a smile. "So, you hanging out with Nancy or all the kids?"

He gestured back towards the living room door with a nod. "Nance! You know your brother would kick my ass if I tried to hang out with him. He hates me."

"Eh, not really," Alex laughed. "I think he's just jealous of the hair."

Steve lightly touched the top of his head at the mention of his hair. The sound of footsteps coming up from the basement had been a signal that their goodbye was coming very soon. Diverting his eyes to Mrs. Wheeler, who had been pretending to mind her business, Steve quickly extended out his arms out to Alex. "Merry Christmas, Henderson. Just be glad you're not trapped under a mistletoe with me."

Alex looked up above them just to be sure before allowing him to pull her into his embrace. Steve had been warm and on any normal given day, Alex would've felt herself melt into his arms wishing to never leave, but tonight had been different. Maybe it had been the watchful eyes of Mrs. Wheeler or had been the guilt of feeling that way for her friends boyfriend, but either way, she felt the need to pull away sooner rather than later.

Slipping out from his arms, she gave him a tight lipped smile as Jonathan came into the kitchen with their very loud brothers. "Merry Christmas, Harrington."

Without a thought to it, Jonathan had slipped his hand into Alex's to bring her along, giving a quick goodbye to both Steve and Mrs. Wheeler. While Mrs. Wheeler had watched Steve, he had his eyes curiously follow the two as they headed out of the kitchen and to the front door.

The moment they had left, Mrs. Wheeler had cleared her throat loudly as she raised a brow at Steve. Flashing her a nervous smile, he tapped on the counter in a playful manner before spinning around. Heading back to the living room, he had kept his head down and his hands in his pockets, wondering what could have been different if he had told Alex how he felt when he had wanted to.

『••☀︎••』

ARRIVING AT HOME, DUSTIN AND ALEX HAD HIT BOREDOM AFTER THEIR FRIENDS HAD DROPPED THEM OFF. Each had started to make their way towards the living room, Dustin throwing himself down onto the couch with a groan, causing their cat, Mews, to flee in an instant. Feeling uneasy, Alex had taken a seat beside his feet, trying to focus on the tv as Dustin flipped through channels, but her attention always seemed to drift off.

With a sharp kick in her side, she stood up and made her way to the bathroom. Rushing towards the sink, she gripped on the edges, breathing heavily as the room had felt as if it were consistently increasing in temperature. Trying to find her calm, she turned toward the window, lifting it open to feel that rush of winter air come rushing through. There was a wave of relief as she stood before the window, feeling that chill fill her body in a comforting manner. However, the coldness surrounding her did not take away from the pain in her stomach.

Making her way back towards the sink, her knuckles turned white as she gripped the sink, a horrible feeling lurking up her throat. Closing her eyes tightly, she let out a long breath of air, hoping to relieve the pain in anyways. That sickness never did go away.

The memories of the demogorgon in the Upside Down and that tube that went down her throat flashed through her mind. Suddenly, a coughing fit sent her hunched over the sink. The feeling in her stomach disappeared but it felt like something was crawling its way up her throat.

Her body ached and tensed as she coughed until she saw something fall into the sink in front of her. She kept telling herself that she was just sick and there was no way that the thing she saw crawl towards the drain resembled anything from the Upside Down. Yet, there it had been, wiggling it's way towards the drain and the nightmares felt as if they were never going to go away even if this sickness did. A flash of fear raced through her at the thought of what the others around her would think if they had known not only the things she had seen, but now the monster that made it's way towards the drain. Turning on the water quickly, she watched as the slug had disappeared and despite being out of sight, it was never out of mind.

Quickly cleaning out her mouth, Alex slammed the window shut and rushed out of the bathroom. Heading down the hall, worry had caused her hands to shake as she reached towards the phone. Calling the Byers, or even Hopper felt like the right thing to do as they had been the most helpful. She swallowed hard as she went to call Hopper for help when her mom had called the two for dinner. Slamming the phone back, she nervously wiped her hands against her clothes to keep herself calm enough to get through dinner and hopefully the rest of her life.

SEASON TWO—

COMING SOON