tw - talks about death
Holy shit. There's a little ballerina in here.
I've always wanted one of these!
VIOLA SAT NEXT TO Dustin on the couch in front of a pacing Steve Harrington. "Okay, be honest. Uh.. do you guys understand any of this?" He asked.
Viola wasn't paying attention to them at all though, her eyes were on the girl behind Steve who was hunched over a desk in the Wheeler basement.
She was writing something, the brunette didn't know what she was writing but she's been writing since this morning. It worried Viola. It scared her to death.
And don't get her started on Savannah. She cried just thinking about it.
"Vee? Vee?" Steve waved a hand in front of the brunette's face. "Do you know what she's writing?" He asked, motioning to the girl behind them. Viola sighed, keeping her eyes on her girlfriend. "No, I don't. Why would I?" She asked. "'Cause you guys are da-" Viola widened her eyes at Steve. "are close. Really close. I just figured." He saved himself. "Well, I don't." She told him.
Viola rubbed her eyes which were closing slightly at the lack of sleep she had gotten last night. She had stayed up thinking about Oliver, her parents, Savannah. Max. Her head was jumbled and everything was hitting her all at once and she hated it. She hated it so, so much.
The basement door slammed open, the three young-adults walking down the stairs with slight proud smiles on their faces. "Okay, so.. we have a plan." Nancy told them. Nancy handed Steve some documents. "Thanks to Nancy's newspaper minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame." Robin told them.
"I'm now Ruth." Nancy said. "I'm Rose." Robin added on. "And I'm Ruby." Savannah smiled. "Ruth?" Steve asked Nancy while raising a brow. "Nice GPA." Dustin complimented, looking up at the girls. "Thanks." Nancy smiled before turning back to Steve. "So we called Pennhurst Asylum, told them we'd like to speak with Victor Creel for a thesis we're co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics—"
"To which they not-so-surprisingly said no to." Savannah interrupted Nancy. "But we landed a three o'clock with the director." The Wheeler continued. "Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor." Robin said. "Then maybe we can rid Max and Sav of this curse." Nancy reminded Savannah of the curse.
Even though she wasn't sure she had it, which was mostly because she didn't want to accept the fact that she most likely did, it scared her so bad. She didn't want to die. She can't die. Viola looked over at her older sister, a sad look on her face as a tear escaped her eye. But she held it in like she always would, staying strong for her sister.
Steve nodded. "Yeah, about that. We've been doing our Victor Creel homework, and, uh.. we got some questions." He told them. "Lots of questions." Lucas added as he handed Viola Savannah's fake student file with her GPA, name, and more. "So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers." Nancy said.
"Wait.. wait.. wait a second." Steve said, looking up at the girls. "Uh.." He closed one of the student files. "where's mine?" He asked. Savannah couldn't help but chuckle.
Steve and Nancy walked ahead of Sav and Robin as they barged into said Wheeler's room. "Nancy, you're outta your mind if you think I'm babysitting again." Steve told her. "Okay, first of all, they're not babies anymore. And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her." Nancy opened her closet as Steve nodded. "I know. But why does it always have to be me?" He questioned as Savannah and Robin entered the room, becoming easily fascinated by Nancy's stuff.
"Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster." Robin exclaimed, walking towards the paper on the wall. She then paused and turned to Nancy. "You have a Tom Cruise poster." She smiled cheekily. "That's old." Nancy lied as Savannah looked at her accessories on her desk. Robin laughed, crouching down next to her nightstand to look at her cassette tapes. "Can you two please not touch anything?" Nancy asked.
Savannah and Robin glanced back at Nancy before looking over at each other. "I'm gonna keep looking." Savannah muttered, looking at Nancy's delicate, gold, shiny rings, which were much different from her own rusted, silver, chunky ones. "I can't do anything here, Nance. Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude." Savannah turned, already getting ready to fire a insult of some kind at him or make a joke out of what he says. "I don't know. I could turn on my.. my charm." He said.
"Again, Goldilocks, I did not know you swung that way. Glad you have the strength to tell us!" She cheesed. Steve turned and glared at her. Nancy chuckled at Savannah's joke before shaking her head. "Thanks, but that's not the kinda charm we need." Steve wore a fake hurt look. "Ouch."
Savannah turned, surveying Nancy's pictures on her bulletin board. "Woah, baby Nance." Savannah teased, casting Nancy a glance while wiggling her eyebrows. Nancy's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she turned back to her closet, shifting through it. "Look, I did a little digging last night, and it turns out this Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world. If we're gonna win him over, we're gonna have to convince him we are too. That, like him.. we are true academic scholars." Nancy exclaimed. "You just said a bunch if shit that I did not understand." Savannah muttered, walking back over besides Robin to continue snooping.
Robin opened a small jewelry box, making music come from it. Savannah gasped, looking at it with fascinated eyes. The two brunettes with the mindset of kids turned to Steve and Nancy. "Holy shit. There's a little ballerina in here." Robin said in a whisper tone before bitting her lip. "I've always wanted one of these!" Savannah did a small happy jump. Steve gave a thin-lipped smile to Nancy, motioning to the girls. "Academic scholar? They're giving you academic scholar vibes?" Savannah rolled her eyes as Robin shut the small jewelry box. "Heard from a little birdie you failed half your classes junior year. Just saying I got all A's and B's throughout high-school while raising two kids, and being a dumb teenager, so." She put her arms up and shrugged. "Not tryna brag, but, just saying." She smiled.
"Okay, so maybe they don't give off the most academic scholar vibe, but.." Nancy pulled out two dresses from her closet, showcasing them to the three. "they will."
Robin's mouth dropped at the same time Savannah's did. "Oh, please, tell me you're joking." Robin begged. "I agree with Robby here." Savannah chuckled, staring at the pastel colored dresses that Nancy held out towards them.
Nancy sighed and shook her head. "Nope." Savannah looked down at her feet. "Hey, Steve." She said. He hummed, looking up at her. "You wanna be Ruby?"
•••
OLIVER SAT ON WILL'S bed with a tired look on his face. "Can I open this now?" He suddenly asked making Will's head snap to look at him. Oliver held the rolled up painting. "I just need something to lighten the mood, y'know? And I'm also really curious." He chuckled towards the end of his sentence.
Will's cheeks turned a light shade of red. "Yeah, yeah. Of course." The Lockeheart boy smiled before taking the small string that was wrapped around the painting off of it. He then unrolled it slowly to reveal a small painting of a pair of headphones. The background was a light yellow as it was Oliver's favorite color.
His eyes traveled to small lyrics next to the headphones which were written small and neat, music notes around them.
"I try to laugh about it. Cover it all up with lies. I try to laugh about it. Hiding my tears in my eyes cause boys don't cry.." Oliver muttered the lyrics under his breath, a soft smile playing on his lips. Will had remembered his favorite song.
"Will. Oh my God." He chuckled, looking at the attention to detail in the headphones, each indent and line, each detail being perfected to perfection.
The Lockeheart boy had never had anyone do this for him. It felt unnatural almost. He wanted to cry. Will looked at his boyfriend with hopeful eyes. "Uhm, I know you like music so much. I remember during summer you talked about how much it calms you and stuff. And I know you're favorite song is Boys Don't Cry." He began to ramble nervously. "And this idea came up.. and I thought you'd like it."
Oliver placed the painting down besides him before attacking Will in a hug. "Will, I love it." He exclaimed, holding onto the Byers boy tightly. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" He pulled out of the hug to see Will smiling at Oliver, he adored the boy so much it was unbelievable.They stared at each other for a minute. "I wanna kiss you." Oliver suddenly said. Will's cheeks tinted red. "I'd wanna kiss me too." He said back.
Oliver put a hand in Will's face and pushed it away from his. "Doofus. You ruined the moment." He chucked. "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry." Will chuckled.
Mike suddenly walked in making both boys snap their heads towards him in sync. "This is bullshit." Mike muttered, still holding the same note from El in his hand. "You owe me." Oliver mouthed towards Will. Will held back his laughs. "They.. they can't just take her and not tell us where she is. It's stupid!" He yelled. Will stood from his bed abruptly. "Obviously. I wouldn't except them to tell us stuff though, Mike. They're the government. I don't think they've even thought this through." Will told him.
Oliver sighed, rolling his painting back up and securing the string once again so it wouldn't unroll. "I mean, if this goes on for a month, or months, and people can't get a hold of us," Will began to pace as Mike sat down next to Oliver on Will's bed. "they're gonna totally freak out. Meanwhile, my mom's probably having a panic attack already. And what about Hawkins? That lady's just supposed to keep it "contained.". Like you can contain any of this without El. I mean.." Will cut himself off, seeing as Mike wasn't replying.
"Yeah." Mike said with sorrow. Oliver glanced over his shoulder seeing the note that El had given him.
Dear, Mike
I have gone to become a superhero again.
From, El.
"If you keep staring at that, it's not gonna change. You know?" Will told him. Mike looked up at Will. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." He said, crumpling up the note and throwing it in the garbage can. Oliver bumped Mike's knee with his own, waiting for Mike to explain the note. Mike sighed and looked over at Oliver. "Before the cops came, me and El, we.. we had a bad fight. We never fight. I mean, we've fought before, but just, like, silly fights, stupid fights." Mike told them, looking up at Will before looking away and down at his shoes. "But, I don't know, this one just felt more adult. Like, it.. it just felt more real. Like, a fight you can't come back from." He explained his feelings.
Oliver and Will nodded along. "Maybe I should've said something, and if I would've said that thing, then maybe she'd want me there with her, wherever she is." Will shook his head. "No. Look, Mike, you're gonna see her again, and whatever it is, whatever you didn't say, you can say it to her then. Okay?" Mike nodded in response, a small smile forming on his face. "Yeah. Yeah."
Oliver placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. "She's gonna be okay. Jane's a strong girl." He reassured. "She's not in Hawkins. That's what we should be worrying about." Will added on. "You don't trust Owens?" Mike questioned the Byers boy, looking up at him. Will looked away, towards his window. "No. I don't know. I mean, he's been good to us and good to El, but he wasn't able to protect me. That was you guys who saved me." Will told Mike, finally looking back down at him. "That was you guys."
Mike sighed. "Looks like it's gonna be up to us again." He chuckled. "Always is isn't it?" Will laughed. "Probably always will be." Oliver added on.
"Which is why we can't stay here." Jonathan said from behind the boys. The three turned their heads to see the eldest Byers walk into Will's room. Jonathan placed a can if coke on the desk before taking a seat in Will's chair. "Listen," He scooted in front of the boys. "let's assume these friends of Owens are telling the truth. I mean, we can't call Hawkins without alerting the military, putting El in danger." Jonathan shrugged. "Fine. Then we'll just have to go to them."
"Go to Hawkins?" Oliver asked confused. "How? Will said. "What are you worried about? Ponch and Jon out there? They're half-asleep. right now watching golf." The young-adult shrugged. "No, Jonathan. I mean, we don't have a car or money." Will explained his question further. "Then we'll hail ourselves a ride." Jonathan held up a small card for Surfer Boy Pizza. "A cheap one."
Oliver smiled and putt his hand out for the paper. Jonathan returned a small smile, putting the paper card in Oliver palm. The Lockeheart boy removed himself from Will's bed, walking towards the door.
"Wait." Will said, following after him. "I'm bored." He shrugged, walking out of his room. Oliver chuckled, following after him.
The two boys made their way down stairs where the government men sat, making themselves at home in a home that wasn't theirs. "Excuse me?" Oliver said. Nether man turned their head. "Excuse me?" He repeated, his tone more annoyed.
The man in the arm chair sighed before turning to them. "What?" He asked. "We're hungry." Will shrugged. Oliver nodded, holding up the pizza place card. The man looked over to his friend with a shrug. "I could eat."
Oliver refrained from an eye roll.
•••
"IF YOU SEE THAT god forsaken clock, Sav. You contact us right away. Please." Viola begged her sister who threw a small satchel over her shoulder. "Vee, breathe. You're starting to have a panic attack." Savannah whispered, crouching down to her sisters height.
Viola just continued to breath ragged, tears streaming down her face. "Savannah, I'm being serious, okay?" Viola exclaimed. "Don't treat me like a baby right now." She told Savannah who had a scared look on her face. Savannah sighed. "Listen, if I see that clock I'll tell Robby and Nance. They'll contact you. We'll figure it out.. okay?" She asked. "Mark my words, Viola. I'm not dying. Not right now at least."
The twin hiccuped as she tried to catch her breath. "Savannah, we can't loose you." She sobbed. "Promise me. Please promise me you won't die." Viola desperately begged. "Please. Please."
Savannah let out a shaky breath. "I can't promise anything Viola." She whispered, cupping Viola's cheek. "I can't even promise that our parents won't come for us." That made Viola remember the posters. "They already are." She spoke up. "There were missing kid posters at school. For me and Oliver. You didn't have one."
The eldest Lockeheart sibling scoffed. "Of course I didn't." She muttered under her breath. "C'mon." Savannah stopped crouching and grabbed Viola's hand and walking out of the basement bathroom, now dolled up looking like a proper academic scholar. "Goldilocks." She called. Steve looked up at her as she put a finger out making a "Come here" motion. Steve stood up and walked over, chuckling a bit at her unnatural appearance.
"Now is not the time." She put a finger up before he could talk. "Listen, so help me God, if you don't take care of my child, Steve." She said. His eyes widened at his name. She never used his name. "You will never hear the end of it." She made direct eye contact with the boy who laughed nervously. "I will, promise." He said. She pointed a finger into his chest. "You better."
a/n
i watched ldshadowlady while proof reading and editing cause shes the best fr
also also also also I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE the fact school starts in less than 7 days. imma cry
viola 🤝 oliver
using the same "I wanna kiss you" line but never getting kissed