In a run-down house under a starry sky, everyone was on edge. They should've been. Will Byers was dead. Julie liked to think that because Will was gone, he was in the stars that were overhead. It made her feel better.
The lights were still strung up, and the cops were combing through every inch of the house with flashlights, while the two remaining Byers sttod, and their loaned child sat on the couch.
Jim Hopper was in front of them, explaining how Will was found, but it was all white noise to Julie. She wasn't paying attention to anything besides her shoes, which she was intently staring at.
Julie knew that Joyce wasn't listening either. The way she stared off into space was the key. Julie didn't even pay attention when Joyce started ranted, and Jonathan tried and failed to calm her down.
Before Julie felt that any time had passed, the police lights diminished, and Jonathan was snapping in Julie's face to wake her up. So, Julie went to bed, not even bothering to change her clothes.
She was numb. She cursed herself for getting so attached to that family, that it hurt that much to see Will gone. More than anything, Julie wished she wasn't such a screw up, because maybe she wouldn't be here crying herself to sleep over the death of a little boy.
A little boy, Julie thought. So much life left to live, and so much more to see. All ripped away. All gone. And Julie wanted to know why life was so cruel.
•••
Jonathan and Julie didn't go to school the next morning. Julie probably should've, to give Joyce and Jonathan their space, but Jonathan insisted that she go see Will. He wanted her there for someone to lean on.
It was a sad, heavy, and tense atmosphere in the house that morning. To Julie, it felt that they were all in a powder keg, and all it would take was one match for everything to go to shit. The match was flickering, and Julie felt it.
"You ready?" Julie poked her head into Jonathan's room, seeing him tying his shoes.
Jonathan nodded, and Julie and him went to wake up Joyce, who spent the night in the living room with an ax.
"Mom. Mom! Wake up." Jonathan leant towards Joyce's face, the woman very out of it.
"What... what time is it?" Joyce stammered, opening her eyes.
"It's almost 8:00. We have to go." Jonathab said.
"Go where? Where?"
"To see Will."
That's exactly what they did. The three people, two emotional and one with a stoic expression on her face piled into the car and drove to the morgue.
Julie was using all of her energy to remain emotionless. She didn't want to appear weak, and she felt that she shouldn't be able to be heartbroken. Will wasn't her brother, after all.
Once in the morgue, Julie and Jonathan stood on either side of Joyce, waiting for the coroner to reveal Will. He pulled the sheet back, and Julie gasped softly. Her eyes immediately traveled to Jonathan, who coughed and left the room on the verge of tears.
Julie rubbed Joyce's shoulder soothingly, before going after Jonathan. She followed him out to the waiting area where the Chief was, pulling on his arm and hugging him tightly.
Jonathan barely had the energy to hug her back, but he did, and the pair sat down next to Hopper.
"How's your mom doing?" Hopper asked softly after some silence.
Jonathan let out a shaky breath. "I don't know." he answered honestly.
"How long's this stuff been going on? With the lights, and, uh... Will and the thing in the wall?" Hopper tried to make his words softer and less agressive, but Julie didn't like the way he talking about Joyce, as if she was crazy.
"Since the first phone call. Are you a therapist now, Hop?" Julie said snarkily, looking at the large man next to her.
Hopper scoffed. "I tried to get you a therapist. Clearly you still need one." he remarked, and Julie chuckled sarcastically, shaking her head.
"You know, she's had anxiety problems... in the past. But this... I don't know." Jonathan got back on topic, ignoring Hopper and Julie's exchange, the latter who was now fumbling with her necklace.
Jonathan breathed deeply. "I'm worried it could be... Ugh, I don't know." he sniffed.
"She'll be okay. We'll be okay." Julie said quietly, looking to Jonathan who nodded.
"My mom... she tough." Jonathan chuckled softly.
"Yeah, she is." Hopper agreed, reaching across Julie's body to clasp a hand on Jonathan's shoulder. "Hey. She is." he convinced him, Julie looking skeptically between the two males who were staring at each other.
"Ma'am! Ma'am, I need you to sign!" the corener yelled, rushing out behind Joyce who pushed the door open.
"I don't... I don't know what you think that thing is in there, but that is not my son!" Joyce yelled, pointing in the corener's face, while Hopper, Jonathan and Julie stood up.
"Joyce, wait a second." Hopper tried.
"No!"
"Mom!"
"Ma'am, I-- Ma'am!"
Joyce walked out the door, Jonathan and Julie quickly following after grabbing their coats.
Jonathan and Julie basically chased Joyce out the door, Julie quickly realizing it would be better to follow with the car. Julie drove, despite having no license.
"Mom, will you get in?" Jonathan called from the passenger window.
"No, I... I need to think. Just go on home." Joyce uttered,
"Mom, will you just get in, please?" Jonathan tried again, and Joyce only waved them off.
Jonathan looked at Julie, and the girl parked the car very badly on the side of the road, both teens clammering out of the vehicle and up to Joyce on the sidewalk.
"Mom!" Jonathan called, running through the street with Julie behind him.
"Joyce, stop." Julie tried, turning the woman around.
"Just go home, guys." Joyce said.
"No, this is not an okay time for you to shut down." Jonathan said fiercely.
"Shut down? What..."
"We have to deal with this, Joyce. We have to deal with the funeral." Julie pleaded with a soft voice.
"The funeral?" Joyce asked, apalled. "For... for who? For that thing back there?"
"Okay, let me get this straight. Will, that's not his body, because he's in the lights, right? And there's a monster in the wall? Do you even hear yourself?" Jonathan said.
Joyce breathed in. "I know it sounds crazy. I sound crazy!" she stammered, tripping over her words.
"Yeah." Julie agreed, shrugging her shoulders.
"You two think I don't know that? It is crazy! But I heard him, guys. He talked to me! Will is... is calling to me! And he's out there, and he's alone, and he's scared, and I... I don't care if anyone believes me! I am not going to stop looking for him until I find him and bring him home. I am going to bring him home!" Joyce ranted, shouting at the teenagers in front of her as she neared the end.
"Yeah, well, while you're talking to the lights, the rest of us are having a funeral for Will! I'm not letting him sit in that freezer another day!" Jonathan yelled as Joyce walked away, shocking Julie.
The two of them started for the car, until Julie realized a crowd had formed. "Shows over, you entertained?" Julie called to the bystanders as she followed Jonathan, running her hands through her hair.
•••
Jonathan and Julie were shopping, but not for clothes, or shoes, or anything exciting. No, they were shopping for caskets for Will. They wanted it to be perfect. But how could anything be perfect?
"It's made of soft wood with a crepe interior." the man at the funeral home spoke softly, describing what Jonathan and Julie were looking at. "Uh, now, I... I don't know what your budget is, but over here, we... we have copper and bronze." he lead them to another casket.
Julie sighed, and then turned her head to see Nancy in the doorway. She nudged Jonathan, who turned to see the girl.
"Can we have a second?" Julie asked the man, who nodded.
"Of course." he said, and Julie smiled a bit, following Jonathan out the door.
"Hey." Jonathan said.
Nancy looked up from the ground. "Hey. Your mom, um... she said you guys would be here." the girl said quietly, failing at keeping her gaze from Julie's bandaged hand.
"I just..." Nancy continued, breathing deeply. "Can we talk for a second? The three of us?" she asked, her voice at a whisper.
Nancy, Julie and Jonathan left the doorway, and went to sit on a bench outside of the casket room. Nancy was in the middle of the other two, showing them a picture that Jonathan tooks nights before.
"It looks like it could be some kind of perspective distortion, but I wasn't using the wide angle. I don't know." he said.
"It's really weird, Nance." Julie said, piping up.
"And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" Nancy asked, looking at Julie and Jonathan.
Julie shook her head. "No. Just us. She was there one second and then she was just gone."
"Figured she bolted." Jonathan shrugged.
"The cops think that she ran away." Nancy revealed.
"That's not Barb." Julie said, taking into account the times she had hung out with Barb and Nancy in school and outside of school.
"I know." Nancy nodded solemnly, resting her head on Julie's shoulder affectionately. "And I went back to Steve's... and I thought I... saw something. Some... weird man or... I don't know what it was." she continued, lifting her head from Julie's shoulder to look at Jonathan.
"I'm sorry." she said suddenly. "I... I shouldn't have come here today. I'm... I'm so sorry." Nancy apologized, standing up and grabbing her bag.
"What'd he look like?" Jonathan called out to Nancy as she walked away.
"What?" the girl questioned, turning around.
Julie understood where Jonathan was going with his question. "The thing you saw in the woods. What'd he look like?" Julie asked, leaning forward on the bench.
"I don't know." Nancy stammered. "It was almost like he... he didn't have--"
"Didn't have a face?" Jonathan interupted, looking briefly at Julie who held the same shocked expression on her pretty face.
"How did you know that?" Nancy inquired.
"Better come with us." Jonathan said, and Julie nodded.
•••
In the creepiest room ever according to Julie, the girls were crowded around Jonathan as he developed photos.
"And you're..." Nancy trailed off, leaning on her elbow as Julie sat on the counter behind her.
"Brightening. Enlarging." Jonathan muttered as he worked.
"Did your mom say anything else? Like, um, where it might have gone to, or..." Nancy asked.
Julie shook her head. "No, just that it came out of the wall."
Jonathan continued working on the pictures, making an already anxious Nancy even more frustrated. "How long does this take?" she asked.
"Not long." he answered.
"Have you been... doing this a while?" Nancy asked, and Julie rolled her eyes. She did not want to witness Jonathan and Nancy flirting, so she ducked out of the room, heading towards the high school bathroom.
On her way, she bumped headfirst into the chest of a man who she deemed a high schooler. As she started to fall, the stranger grabbed her hand to keep her upright. It was her wounded hand, and Julie fell hard on her back, groaning upon impact.
"God almighty." she groaned, rubbing her face with her hands.
The stranger chuckled from above her, and as she peered at him through her fingers, she saw Steve Harrington looking down at her. "Sorry about that." he said, offering her his hand.
Julie pulled hersef up, anazlying him. "Better be careful, Harrington. It's starting to seem like you want to assault me." Julie said, brushing herself up.
"Maybe I just like to see you, considering you haven't been in school." he joked.
"Wonder why." Julie muttered sarcastically, looking at the boy.
"That was... that was really bad. I'm sorry." Steve apologized quickly, earning a light chuckle from Julie as she looked at the ground.
"Don't sweat it. And don't think I'm above ratting you out to anyone. 'Cause I'm not." Julie said, pointing at him as she started to walk away.
"I'll keep it in mind." he said, and Julie turned away from him fully, walking to her destination, her brain completely erasing Steve from her thoughts the further away from him she got.