To say Mavis was exhausted after the night they had would have been an understatement, Joyce rushed them to the hospital with news that they found Will and alive. They weren't allowed to see him yet, which made Mavis so mad she swung at the doctor but Lucas's Mom calmed her down. The angry and tired and sad brunette found herself falling asleep on her neighbor's shoulder, Steve Harrington.
"Mav! Mav! Wills up! Wake up!" Mike said as he shook Mavis's shoulder causing her to shoot up, knocking Steve in the jaw. With a quick apology, she took off down the hall with the boys by her side.
"Will!" Mavis shouted as she jumped into his hospital bed next to him, ignoring Joyce's pleading for them to be careful. The boys quickly piled in, hugging him one by one.
"I missed you so much," Mavis said to her smallest friend, hugging him close to her as he laughed.
"I missed you more, Mavey Wavey" he laughed, using the long-term nickname he made clear he was the only one allowed to call her. Mavis laughed while wrapping her arms around him and cuddling closer to his side.
"You won't believe what happened while you were gone, man!" Lucas laughed with a huge smile on his face.
"It was mental!"
"You had a funeral!"
"Jennifer Hayes was crying!"
"And Troy peed himself!"
"In front of the whole school!" Dustin finished but was cut short by Will coughing, making them all drop their smiles and look at him concerned.
"You okay?" Mike asked Will as Mavis brushed some hair off his forehead.
"The Demogorgon. It got me" Will said as he looked to Mike and then to Mavis who sighed.
"I stabbed him in the side of the head, don't worry," Mavis said, making Will giggle and hold her close again.
"Carrie... she was asking for you," Will said as Mavis frowned her eyebrows in confusion, looking down at him.
"Carrie? Who's Carrie?" Mavis asked as Will pointed to the curtain, indicating she was behind it. Mavis slowly got out of bed and pushed the curtain back before shutting it back. She was a girl, she was small, her hair was raven black, it was short.. like a pixie cut.
Mavis slowly shook her awake, hoping she didn't hurt her in a way. The girl's smaller eyes fluttered up as she looked up at Mavis in confusion. She didn't seem to know who she was, which confused Mav because she didn't know who she was either.
"Hi, are you in pain?" Mavis spoke softly, not sure what she was supposed to say.
"You're- you're Mav, aren't you?" she asked as her voice came out a little raspy. Mavis nodded her head.
"How do you know who I am?" she asked her confused as Carrie coughed before looking up at her.
"Your voice... I heard your voice in that place" Carrie explained with sad eyes as Mavis shook her head, still confused.
"How?" she asked her while adjusting her body in the chair, a chill running down her spine.
"The girl... when she was there. I could hear you talking to her, she calmed down" Carrie said as Mavis sniffled and let tears run down her face at the mention of El.
"Are you okay?" Carrie asked her concern as Mavis nodded quickly and wiped her face.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just, the girl... her name was El. I lost her" Mavis explained as she sniffled and looked down. Carrie gave her hand a small squeeze with sad eyes.
"She really... really cared about you" the short-haired girl explained as Mavis let herself cry again.
The next few months were okay. Mavis missed Eleven more and more each day but she'd gotten better at not showing it. She wouldn't sleep on her bed anymore, it reminded her too much of El. She slept on the small pink couch in the corner, falling asleep staring at the space they use to sleep together.
Mavis and Will were closer than ever. He listened to everything she had to say about El, it was like he understood. They would spend a whole day together at least once a week, either at his house or somewhere private so they didn't have to deal with the people in town. She was glad he was back, only wishing he'd been here to meet El.
Carrie was an orphan before she was taken to the Upside Down, she lives in a group house before. Joyce knew it would be difficult but she signed papers and used the money she'd been saving up to adopt the girl. Carrie and Mavis became best friends in no time, spending nearly every day together. She'd grown a small crush on Mike, which he returned, which wasn't a surprise. He'd even gotten her a Christmas present that she and Mavis gushed over for hours until she needed to leave.
Mavis's Mom still was the same. Still a drunk and a horrible human being. Mavis found it easier to ignore her now, knowing she'd experience worse things than her Mother. They rarely spoke and when they did it was just yelling at each other, Mavis now dares to yell back though. Mavis was arrested a few times, let off by Hopper though, knowing she was going through a rough time. Or so Mavis thought.
She spends Christmas with the Sinclair's. Cuddled up to Lucas and Erica by the fire, Christmas lights shining above them. Mavis got, more like a stole, a present for each Sinclair family member. They treated her so well, loved on her, and cared about her in a way she'd never had before from her own family. It was comforting to her, having people she could almost call family no matter if they didn't share blood or not.
She was okay, she wasn't good, but she was okay. And for now... that was an improvement.
••••
and we're crying again.
Also...
Peyton Elizebeth Lee as Carrie Byers
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