Six months had passed since Eleven closed the gate, and life couldn't have been better. Her and Mike had officially started dating, kissing each other every chance they got, you wouldn't see one without the other. You were ecstatic when they finally told you, happy that they were finally together.
You and her still had girl night outs occasionally, most of the time consisting of you going to get food and bringing it back to the cabin. Hopper was insanely grateful that she wasn't spending all of her time with Mike, even if it was the vast majority of it. You constantly told each other the newest gossip of the town, always gushing over boys and the new mall.
You visited Steve and a new girl named Robin who was his coworker at 'Scoops Ahoy' regularly, not only due to your love for ice cream, but also to you watching the kids on a regular basis. The Starcourt Mall was their new hangout, and they loved having you around, so why not??
You had considered getting a job at said mall, but didn't when you got a call from Dustin's camp. You spent the first two weeks of you summer at 'Camp Know It All', working there to help wrangle kids. You had gone to it many times before to help Dustin out, and you were a backup person in case someone got hurt, which just so happened to happen this year around. It was now two weeks since you got back, and today was the day that you were bringing Dustin home.
You were currently at the Harringtons residence, both of you seated on the humongous couch they had next to the TV, your head resting on Steve's lap as you were in a deep sleep, the hand he had running through your hair probably the only thing keeping you asleep. If you had known what position you were in, you would have gotten up immediately.
You and Steve had many moments like this as of late, and they always made your heart race with anticipation, never wanting the moment to end. Nothing ever came out of it, though. The mere sight of his stupidly handsome face made your heart skip a beat for some reason. You constantly had to keep your emotions in check when he was around, scolding your constantly nagging heart all the time. You didn't know what it's deal was.
"Steve..." You murmur out, sleep coating your eyes as you groggily say his name, finally waking up from your fantastic nap. You were still really out of it, brain not fully processing the situation you were in. His hand stops stroking your hair much to your hearts disapproval as he lets out a soft, "Mmm."
"What times it..."
"Dunno." He responds, yawning as he continues his soft petting. You draw your eyes away from Indiana Jones that was currently playing over the TV. You look up to see Steve's face looking down at you and panic, bolting upright, accidentally knocking Steve in the chin as you do so. You wince. "Sorry!" He groans. "I liked it better when you were asleep." He states playfully, making you scoff, looking away so he couldn't see the blush coating your face. You get off of him, stretching your sore body before looking at your watch.
"Shit." You say, grabbing your jacket from the other side of the couch, leaning over Steve's body. "I gotta go get Dusty, wanna come??" You ask, looking up into his gorgeous eyes before getting up from your place on the couch. "That's today???" He asks, excitement sparkling in his eyes. You laugh. "Yep. We've already had this discussion yesterday." You state, recalling your time at the 'Scoops Ahoy' the night before when you drove all the kids to have a free viewing of 'Day of the Dead' using the back rooms to get to the movie theater unnoticed. Something... Strange happened that night. There was a huge power outage, which would've made sense if it was just the Mall due to faulty wiring or something, but it was everywhere in Hawkins.
He groans, bringing you back to reality. "Do you have to?? We haven't even finished the movie!" He exclaims in dismay, not answering your question as he realizes that this conundrum would mean you leaving him.
"Yes, I have to go, Steve. We can finish the movie sometime else." You say, putting your jacket on before you feel his arms wrap back around your waist, pulling you back into his clutches before collapsing back onto the couch. "Steve, come on! I have to go!" You say, nervously laughing and blushing profusely as he nuzzles into the side of your neck. He grumbles his displeasure at the mention of you leaving.
"Whatever, you're no fun. I have to get to work anyways." He says, finally releasing you. You burst out into laughter at the image of him in his stupidly cute sailor uniform. "I'll make sure we stop by sometime today or tomorrow then!" You call to him, making him groan in displeasure. You salute to him before making your way out of the front door and into your car.
Due to being best friends with Steve, he had helped you get over your fear of driving. You now drove everywhere you could, no longer fearing the outcome of it.
It was a solid hour until you got to Camp Know Where, so you put a cassette tape into your car, bopping your head to the music it made.
——————-
You finally got home, one of Dustins many bags in hand, opening the unlocked door with a giant smile plastered onto your face. Lucas, Will, Mike, El, and Max were all currently hiding in the house to surprise Dustin. You had planned this about a week ago, wanting to make his first day back special after a whole month of not seeing anybody. You had left the key for your house under the welcome mat sign at the door for them to let themselves in.
"Alright, Dusty! Where do you want this?!" You call to him loudly, making the others aware that you were finally home. "Uh, my room?? Where else?!" He shouts back from the outside, still gathering up his stuff from the back. He was decked out in 'Camp Know Where' merch from head to toe, even his cap you got him all those years ago had been replaced, much to your dismay.
You heave the heavy bag into his room just as he asked you to, plopping it down onto his bed before racing back to the living room where the rest of the group was hiding behind the wall. You hear Dustin go into his room with a hearty sigh, and turn to Eleven who was standing next to you.
"Now." You state softly. She smiles up to you, nodding in understanding before closing her eyes, a small drip of blood running from her nose. You hear all Dustin's vast array of toys come to life, all of them wandering into the living room from his bedroom.
"You're dreaming. It's just a dream." You hear your brother utter, all of you going from your hiding place to behind him. Lucas puts the poster up in front of himself, Max counting down until...
"WELCOME HOME!" You all yell from behind him, yelling into your noisemakers as Dustin screams, attacking Lucas with his Farrah Faucette spray he got after Steve's advice. They both yell, Dustin with a war cry, Lucas in pain, and you go to separate the two.
You start to laugh at the situation at hand, as it was all quite amusing to you. "IT HURTS!!" Lucas yells, squinting his eyes to not get anymore in them.
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. Come with me." You say, leading him and Max to the kitchen to wash the substance out of his eyes. You turn the sink water to cold as Lucas whimpers in pain.
"It hurts it hurts..."
"Yeah, I know. Here, Max, bring him over here." She does exactly that, and you gently put Lucas's head under the running water.
"Better?" Max asks him as he lifts his head from the cold water. "Still stings..." You sigh, going into one of the drawers before handing him a towel. "Yeah, that's what getting sprayed in the eyes with hairspray will do to you... Sorry about that buddy." You apologize, running his back in sympathy.
He rubs his eyes, wiping the stray water droplets from his bronze skin until he looks at Max with a weird expression on his face. "Is that a new zit?" You gawk at him. "The hell is wrong with you?!" You ask, as Max shoves his head back under the water forcefully.
"I was just asking!!" He says, screaming at the water gushing into his eyes. You suddenly see the other five children rushing out the door. "Hey, what are you doing??"
"We're going to meet Dustin's girlfriend!"
"Girlfriend?!" Lucas and Max ask in unison, looking to each other before bolting out the door as well. You sigh, shaking your head as you laugh to yourself, going outside the door to follow them and drive them... Wherever the hell Dustin wanted to go.
——————-
"Are we high enough???" Lucas asks Dustin. You were all hauling ass up a huge mountain, Dustin would soon be hearing from your lawyer if you died, especially due to the fact that you hadn't signed up for a hiking trip in the midday blazing summer heat of Hawkins Indiana.
"Cerebro works best at a hundred feet."
You were all gasping for air, everyone holding and carrying something besides Mike and El, who were lingering back, talking amongst themselves. "You know, I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones."
"Yeah, but she's mormon." Dustin replies to Lucas. "Oh shit, she doesn't have electricity??"
"No, that's the Amish, dipshit." You respond to him, rolling your eyes. "What are Mormons?" Will questions from up front. "Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff but... Since I'm not Mormon, they would never approve of me." Dustin explains before sighing, before looking back to all of you.
"It's all a bit... Shakespearean." He says dreamily before turning around. You snort. "... Shakespearean?" You repeat.
"Yeah, like Romeo and Juliet."
"Right..."
"Star crossed lovers."
"I got it, Dustin."
"Hey guys!" Mike suddenly yells to all of you. Everyone looks back to see what he had to say. "This is fun and all but uh..." He puts his watch up for everyone to see the time. "I have to go home." El finishes for him, smiling starstruck at him.
"We're almost there!" Dustin exclaims to the two, but to no avail. "Sorry, man. Curfew." Mike replies. "Come on, let's go!" He says, pulling Els hand before charging down the hill. She looks over to you all.
"Good luck!" Is all she says, giggling, before the two run down the hill together. "Curfew at 4:00?" Dustin asks to no one in particular, looking down to his watch.
"They're lying." Lucas exclaims.
"It's been like this all summer." Will says in a sad voice, watching as the two run down the hill. "It's romantic!"
"And sweet." Max agrees with you, looking over to you with a smile on her face. "It's gross." Will replies. "It's bullshit. I just got home." Dustin says a bit sadly, and you look over to him with a sad expression. They did kinda do a douchey thing, leaving you all behind and lying to you, but hey it was over and done with now.
"Their loss, right? Onwards and upwards!" He says finally after a few moments of silence, and you all groan in response, grabbing each of what you were carrying from the ground and back into your hands.
"Made it!" Dustin finally calls back to the rest of you, putting his backpack and duffel bag down onto the grassy ground.
"Yeah, only took five hours." Max sasses back, obviously fed up with having walked so long for the whole day, to be honest you couldn't blame her. "Why couldn't we just play D&D?" Will asks, disappointed. "I'm so thirsty." Lucas says, putting his bag down onto the ground before taking his and Maxes water can out of it, before taking many large gulps, successfully drinking the whole bottle while Max watches the whole scene unfold.
You roll your eyes in annoyance as Max looks up to him with a done expression. "Did you seriously just drink all our water??" She asks, to which he spits some of the water still left in his mouth back into the canteen, smiling innocently as he hands it back to her. She looks to him in disgust, shaking her head before she walked over to you. At least he tried... You think to yourself, laughing at his wannabe nice gesture.
"Here, you can have the rest of mine." You tell Max, handing her your own water bottle filled about halfway with cold water. She looks to you gratefully before taking it into her hands, finishing off the can before handing it back to you.
"So much better, thanks Y/n." She says, smiling up to you. You return it before emptying out your bag filled with all of Dustin's supplies filled with the radio towers supplies.
You all work hastily and quickly, as the sun was going down, signifying just how long you all had been out in the heat. You put each piece together by hand, connecting it all together one material at a time. Eventually, after about thirty minutes, you hoisted the stupid thing up before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.
"Pretty impressive, right?" Dustin asks, to which you give him a thumbs up in return, still on the ground. "Ready to meet my love?" He asks everyone.
"Well, didn't come up here to just watch the sun set, so, yes. Let's give Suzie a call." You say, excited to see her. She was probably your favorite kid at camp Know Where, and she was a genus. She kept Dustin in line, which is why you were so excited when he told you that he had finally manned up and asked her out, to which she said yes. The rest was history now.
He sits down next to your unmoving body, turning the radio on before speaking into it. "Suzie, this is Dustin, do you copy? Over?" Static is the only thing that copies. "One sec, she's probably.... She's still there." He defends himself, pausing before trying again. "Suzie... This is Dustin, do you copy? Over." Nothing.
"I'm sure she's there it's just-"
"Yeah..."
"You know, maybe she's, like, busy or-"
"Yeah!" Lucas says encouragingly. "It's around dinner time. Here." You all nod slowly to his accusations. "Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin, over." Still nothing. "Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin, over." Only the radio static answers him, once again. You groan, turning over to rest your eyes and take a nap. You feel the others sit down next to you, Max laying down to the side of you as Dustin keeps trying to contact her. You feel yourself start to doze off, eyes slowly starting to fall, before finally.
You were out.
——————
"... Do you copy? This is Dustin over." Dustin says once again. Hours had gone by, as evident by the now moon peeking through the clouds. You rub your eyes, yawning as you wake up from your well deserved nap. Apparently the one you had at Steve's wasn't enough for your body. You turn over to face the sky, admiring the beautiful stars scattered throughout it. You could name probably 5 constellation off the top of your head that you saw. You sigh in ecstasy, looking around to the others, who were laying on the perfectly green grass scattered with yellow flowers as well.
You could imagine Steve taking you here for.... No. You couldn't think like that. What the hell brain?! You think to yourself, shaking your head in dismay.
"Suzie! This is Dustin, do you copy? Over!"
"Suzie, this is your Dustin, do you copy?! Over!"
"Suzie-"
"Dustin, come on! She's not there." Max says from beside you, fed up with the amount of times Dustin had been saying that same sentence just in different formats over the past couple hours.
"She's there, all right?! She'll pick up!"
"Dustin, did it ever occur to you that maybe she just crashed the minute that she got home?" You say a bit grumpily, voice gravely from having just woken up.
"Or maybe Cerebro doesn't work." Will tries to reason. "Or maybe, Suzie doesn't exist!" Lucas exclaims, throwing his hands up into the air. "She exists!" Dustin says, very offended by the accusation.
"She's a genus, and she's hotter than Phoebe Cates?? No girl is that perfect." Lucas states matter of factly, and Max sits up from the side of him. "Is that so?" She questions. Lucas follows her in suit, sitting up as well. "I- I mean... You're perfect! I mean, like, per-perfect in your own way, in your special- your own special way." Lucas stutters out, sighing when he finally got the words out.
"Nailed it dude." You say cheekily from the side of Max, and she laughs at your statement. "Relax, I was teasing. I'm obviously perfect and Dustin is obviously lying!" She reassures Lucas before turning over to Dustin.
"Well, Y/n went to the camp before, right? Is she real?" Will questions you, and you smile up at him, sitting up.
"Oh yeah, she exists alright. Great kid. Even greater voice." You say, smirking as you look over to Dustin. He gives you a look that says 'shut up' before Max gets up, holding her hand out for Lucas to take.
"Whatever you say, Y/n. Come on, Don Juan." She says, taking Lucas's hand into her own before trailing down the large hill. "Where are you going?"
"Home!" Max answers Dustin immediately, rushing on down the hill. "Well, guess it's just us, Byers." He says to Will, not counting your existence since you lived together. "Um... Its, late... Sorry." He says, looking up to Dustin with apologetic eyes. "Maybe tomorrow we can play D&D? Or something fun? Like we used to do?" He asks, standing up next to Dustin. You look to him with sympathetic eyes, knowing Will didn't like everyone else growing up so fast before his eyes.
"Yeah... Sure."
"Welcome home." Will says before walking down the hill as well. "Yeah... Welcome home." He says to himself sadly. You get up from your spot on the ground, wiping the grass and dirt from off the underside of your legs before making your way over to your brother, wrapping your arms around him.
"If... It means anything to you at all... I missed you a lot, I only had Steve around to keep me company, I only saw the others occasionally." You say, and he nods from inside your arms.
"Let's get home, yeah? You've had a long day." You comfort him, starting to walk down the hill before you hear a distorted booming voice come from the Cerebro.
"Shit!" He exclaims, immediately pushing you off of him, making you fall to the ground due to your now unbalanced weight. "Dude what the hell?!" You yell, getting off of the hard ground, brushing your knees to rid it of blood and dirt before seeing Dustin collapsing onto the ground, taking the radio in hand. His graceful fall making you laugh. "Shut up!" He yells to you, taking the microphone into hand.
"Suzie?!!? Suzie is that you?!" He asks hurriedly. "I hate to break it to you, but I don't think Suzie has a middle aged man voice." You sass, walking over to your brother, to which he puts a finger to his mouth, thoroughly shutting you up.
He turns the volume up, tuning it to the channel better so you could hear what the man was saying more effectively. It was a man speaking russian. You and Dustin both look to each other in fear, as you immediately get an unused tape, recording the message.
"And to think... You were about to make us leave."
——————-
hey guys!! ik this one wasn't as long as some of my others, and not as eventful but next chapter will be better i can promise you :)
also besties i have band camp tomorrow and i'm literally gonna kms. /j
anyways, i hope you liked it either way! hope you have an amazing morning/afternoon/evening
question of the day : whats your favorite show besides stranger things (if it is stranger things)
word count - 3461