Y/n's pov
Three months after the battle of Starcourt.
After Hopper's death, Joyce made the decision that her, Jonathan, Will and El would be better off away from Hawkins and the upside down.
I was getting my shoes on to go over to the Byers' and help them finish packing up with the rest of the party.
Steve was picking me up, and he was already ten minutes late. He and Robin had a job interview today at some movie store that Keith worked at, Family Video it was called, and Steve was really upset that he didn't get to say goodbye with the rest of us.
I heard a car honk from the driveway and hastily said goodbye to my parents, kissing them both on the cheek.
"Say goodbye to Joyce from us, honey and we love you! It'll be okay." My mom said.
"Love you too!" I called, racing out the door.
I got into Steve's car, shutting the door.
"You're Late." I stated.
"Hello to you too." He smiled.
"What took you so long?" I questioned.
"Seatbelt." Steve reminded, ignoring my interrogation.
I quickly buckled up and Steve rolled out of the driveway, towards Will's house.
"So. Are you ready for the job interview?" I asked.
Steve nodded. "I think so, yeah."
"Did you remember to mark me down on your resume?" I asked.
"Yep." Steve nodded, popping the 'p'.
"And your mom?" I reminded.
"Yeah. I remembered this time." He affirmed.
"Good." I nodded approvingly. "Don't worry. You'll get the job."
"I mean, do I really have to apply for this job? It sounds boring." Steve grumbled.
"What, more boring than slinging ice cream all day?" I laughed.
Steve shrugged. "Fair point." He chuckled.
"Are you ready to say goodbye?" Steve asked reluctantly.
My body tensed and I begged myself not to cry.
"No." I replied. "Of course I'm not."
"Are you- It's gonna be okay. You'll be okay. You'll get to see them on holidays and plus, you've still got Dustin and Me and Robin and Max and Lucas and Nancy and Mike." Steve tried to comfort me.
I nodded, as we continued down the road in silence.
Steve's car slowed to a stop at the end of the road, Mirkwood, and at the beginning of the Byers' lot. A large U-haul truck sat out in front with it's back open to the house.
Cardboard boxes were spread out all over the lawn with messy labels in permanent marker while Jonathan and Nancy carried a mattress out to the truck.
I stiffened in my seat as the weight of everything sank onto me.
"Hey, y/n! You're finally here! Hurry inside!" Dustin called from the porch before walking back into the house.
"Thanks for driving me, Steve." I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.
"Anytime, kid." Steve said, before putting a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright." He stated firmly.
I took a deep breath. "Okay. Thanks... mom."
Steve groaned, rolling his eyes as I got out of the car.
"Good luck at your interview! Tell Robin I said hi! Don't be late for our movie night, don't forget to bring the popcorn or Dustin'll kill you and remind Robin the address!" I called as I shut the door. Steve flashed me a smile and a nod, before backing out of the driveway, leaving me alone.
With a heavy sigh, I walked the short distance to the house, nearly tripping over boxes marked 'board games' and 'goodwill.'
I peeked around into the back of the U-haul truck to see Jonathan and Nancy finding a place for the mattress.
"Hey, guys." I greeted.
"Y/n. Hi." Nancy smiled.
"Hey... Y/n." Jonathan, nodded, struggling to lift the mattress.
"Everyone's inside packing up." Nancy nodded in the direction of the house, going back to the task on hand.
"Thanks." I said, running inside.
In the living room, Lucas and Max sat on the floor across from Dustin, taping up boxes, placing things inside boxes or labeling boxes.
While they were doing so, Max and Lucas were singing Never Ending Story, Dustin and I's song, and from the looks of it, Dustin was livid.
"In her face." I joined in, making Max and Lucas almost piss themselves from laughter. "The mirror of your dreeeeeeeeeams."
"Y/n!" Dustin snapped with a pleading look as I sat down next to him. "We talked about this."
I laughed, kissing him on the cheek.
"Rhymes that keep their secrets will, unfold behind the clouds." They continued.
"Wait, did we get that verse right?" Max asked Dustin with pursed lips. "It's 'Unfold behind the clouds'?"
"Yeah, yeah you got it right." I nodded, folding a table cloth.
"Y/n." Dustin hissed, his eyes burning into mine.
"Sorry, Sorry." I grinned, dropping the tablecloth into the kitchen box and raising my hands up in fake surrender. "I'll stop."
"And you." He then turned to Max and Lucas who were barely restraining themselves. "You're butchering it, so could you please stop?"
"So then join in, dusty bun." Lucas said in a breathy voice, blowing Dustin a kiss.
"Okay, I do not sound like that, and for the record, I only said that once!" I whacked Lucas with a stack of placemats.
"Yeah, come on, dusty bun." Max nodded, the both of them ignoring me. "Why don't you join us?"
"You guys are so funny." Dustin deadpanned. "You should be on Carson."
"Cant we just hear your rendition?" Max pleaded.
Dustin stared at her. "No."
"Please!?" She begged. "Just one verse?"
"No! No way!" Dustin refused. "It's reserved for Y/n's ear and Y/n's ears only."
"Well, she's right here." Max gestured to me. "So let's hear it."
"Y/n's ears Only." Dustin said. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna sing to her anytime any place."
Max and Lucas nodded at each other before launching back into song.
"Turn around. Look at what you see." They sang, terribly off-key and out of tune.
I began clapping along to the beat as they sang and Dustin flipped us off with a bored expression, making me laugh and hug him.
——
Max and I were standing with El in front of the mirror in the bathroom, the three of us with tear-stained faces.
"We never got to have that sleepover." I sniffed.
Tears started sliding down El's face again and Max and I both launched ourselves at her in a hug.
"God, I'm gonna miss you." I cried.
"Me too." Max agreed in a broken voice.
"I'm going to miss you guys so much." El snivelled.
"I love you guys." I hugged them tightly.
"I love you guys." Max sobbed.
"I love you both." El tried to smile through her tears, which only resulted in more tears.
——
I carried the last box outside and placed it in the now full truck, the others following out behind me.
We all looked at each other, knowing what time it was but not wanting to say goodbye. Not yet.
"Oh, god." Joyce broke the silence, wiping a tear that had started to make its way down her face. She hugged Nancy and everyone started to hug each other.
Tears started to well up in my eyes for the third time that day and before I knew it, I was crying.
I hugged Jonathan, saying goodbye and walking over to Joyce.
"Mrs. Byers." I said.
She turned around, holding her arms open and I jumped into them, hugging her tightly.
"Y/n, y/n, y/n." She sniffed, stroking my hair.
After I let go, I turned to see Will hugging Lucas with tears streaming down his face and when they pulled apart, I hugged him tightly.
"I'm gonna miss you, Will. So much." I cried.
"I'm gonna miss you too." He told me. "Take care of them for me, okay?"
"I promise." I nodded through my tears.
He stepped back to say goodbye to Dustin and there was one last person I had to say goodbye to.
I looked at Eleven, the girl who changed my entire life and felt the tears become stronger.
She looked up at me with a heart broken face and we immediately engulfed each other in hugs, sobbing into each other's shoulders.
"Hi." I whispered, sniffling.
"Hi." She said back with a broken voice.
"Hey, now." I pulled back to look at her properly. "Everything's gonna be fine. Alright? You're gonna be fine."
She nodded slowly, holding onto my arms. "Thank you for everything." She said.
"No." I sniffed, hugging her one last time. "Thank you."
Taking off my favourite necklace, I placed it in the palm of her hand. "Write me lots of letters, okay?" I asked.
She nodded, holding the necklace tight to her chest. "Promise."
"Alright." Joyce called suddenly, her voice wavering. I turned to see her leaning against the truck. "We should get going before it gets dark."
I let El go with one final hug and she smiled and waved at everyone, following Joyce into the U-haul. Jonathan and Will got into Jonathan's car and when the truck pulled out, so did they.
I stood with Dustin, Max, Nancy, Mike and Lucas at the house as we watched them go in silence.
Dustin's hand reached for mine and I grasped onto his tightly, a knot growing in my chest as more and more tears flowed down.
All the years of D&D, fighting Demogorgons and having fun with the party had turned them from my closest friends, to my family.
They weren't just the kids I had befriended in town one day.
They were family.
And as I watched the truck and Jonathan's car drive down he road and out of sight, I was sad, but my tears dried.
Because I knew, family is forever, and family always comes home.
Word count: 1753
(Hi! Wanna know something? I think I cried at least six times while writing this. Oh my lord. Why does it have to be so sad?? On a more positive note, I'm super excited for season four to come out and I've poured my heart and soul into this book so writing a new season wont be too hard. I love you all SO much and I really hope you enjoyed this book so far!! Have a merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate or if you don't celebrate anything, have an amazing rest of your year!! I'll see you soon my loves<3)
Xoxo, Maia Jane