"G'night, Mike," I called out the passenger window as the boy stumbled out of the car and got his bike from the trunk. After our 'talk' with Jim Hopper, I had been given instruction to take care of the kids until their parents were home. After a long night of just sitting around our house, I was relieved when both Mrs. Sinclair and Mrs. Wheeler called to say that they were home.
"Night," Mike called back with a lazy wave. I waited until I saw he was inside the house before driving away. Dustin and I had already dropped Lucas off, so now we were on our way back home.
The car was silent for a few minutes, until I finally spoke up.
"How're you doing, Dusty?" I asked. He was sitting in the passenger seat, looking aimlessly into the rear view mirror.
"Fine, I guess," he responded with a shrug. I sighed, knowing that trying to get anything out of him would be a challenge. "What about you?"
My eyebrows raised, surprise. Dustin shifted in his seat to glance up at me.
"I don't really know," I answered.
"That's a great answer," Dustin said, rolling his eyes.
"What, and 'Fine, I guess," is!?" I teased.
"Better than 'I don't really know!'" Dustin teased back. I elbowed my brother in his shoulder causing him to flick the side of my head.
"Hey!" I jumped, swerving the car in the dark roads before jerking back into the lane. Dustin erupted into laughter, and I felt happy for a second, knowing that I had taken it off his mind, even just for a second.
The laughter eventually died down, and the car returned to a thoughtful silence.
"I'm scared, (Y/n)," Dustin said softly, his voice breaking. I grabbed his hand from where it sat in his lap and held it tight.
"I know," I whispered. "Me too."
Dustin squeezed my hand softly, making me sigh again. Then, I took my hand from his and swung a left at the stop sign.
Dustin looked up at me questioningly. "You were supposed to take a right there?"
"Let's go get some ice cream, yeah?" I asked. "Maybe stop at the arcade along the way."
A smile returned to my brother's face.
"What about Mom?" He asked excitedly. I rarely took him anywhere without our mother telling me to.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," I shrugged. "We'll just tell her that we stayed at the Wheeler's a bit longer."
Dustin laughed, partly in disbelief, and partly thankful, I think.
"Hey, can we go back and get Lucas and Mike, too?"
"Don't push it, Squirt," I told him, a grin plastered across my face.
~~~
I was in my room, laying on my bed when I heard Dustin's footsteps in the hall. I assumed that he was just getting a drink, but I got up when I heard the front door open.
"Dustin?" I yelled out. I left my room and hurried into the hall, just in time to see Dustin staring guiltily back at me, halfway out the door. "Dustin, what are you-"
He hastily put a finger to his lips, making me stop, and then pointed to the living room where Mom had fallen asleep in the barcalounger, watching The Price is Right. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind us.
"Where are you going?" My voice was low as to not wake our mother up. "Do you what time it is?"
"Well, Mike and Lucas are-"
"Don't tell me you're going to try to find Will," I said. Dustin pursed his lips. "Dustin! What is the one thing Hopper told you not to do?"
"I know! I know," Dustin said, beginning to reason with me. "But he's one of our best friends! What if it was Nancy or Jonathan? Or me? Wouldn't you go looking for one of us?"
I let out an annoyed breath, knowing he was right.
"Just, please let me go."
The chocolate brown eyes that stared up at me made it hard to be strict. I bounced my leg for a second in annoyance before rolling my eyes and giving in.
"Fine! You can go," I huffed. "But, on one condition. Give me your walkie talkie."
Dustin stared at me suspiciously before reaching into his bag and pulling out the device. I grabbed it from him and raised the antenna.
"Mike, Lucas, do you copy?" I said into the microphone. "It's (Y/n)."
"(Y/n)?" I heard two very surprised voices talk back to me.
"Where's Dustin? Is he coming?" Lucas asked.
"I'm right here," Dustin responded.
"Hey, what's (Y/n)-"
"Shut it, Dipshit," I interrupted Mike. "I'm coming with you twerps."
A chorus of "What?"s and "Are you kidding?"s sounded from all three of the boys.
"Unless you want me to call Hopper, or worse, your mothers, I'm coming." I told them. "Over and out."
I lowered the antenna and shoved the walkie talkie back to Dustin who stared up at me in awe.
"Now, where are we meeting them?"
~~~
The night was cold, and too quiet for my liking. The only light along the dark side road were the ones coming from the front of our bikes, even then the shadows took over. I rode behind the three boys, eyes trailing through the forest beside us on both sides. They had put up a fight at first, but I think that they were secretly glad I was coming along.
"Ah man, this is it," Lucas said suddenly, pointing out an orange caution barrier. We pulled to a stop in front of it, peering down the path that it blocked off.
As we looked, thunder rumbled in the distance. I pulled my coat tighter to my skin with one hand, the other holding onto my bike handle.
"Hey, guys, you feel that?" Dustin asked, his head tilted up at the sky. Rain landed on his nose, and he quickly brushed it off. "I- I think maybe we should go back."
I was about to jump in when Mike disagreed.
"No," the raven haired boy said, a determined look on his face. "We're not going back. Just, stay close."
Lucas got off of his bike before parking it near the barricade, Mike following.
The plan was for Dustin and I to stay back and guard the bikes while the others went into the forest to search for Will.
"Just stay on channel six," Mike said, referring to the walkie talkie. "Don't do anything stupid."
The boys ducked under the fence and began walking down the seemingly darkening path. Dustin watched them nervously before getting off his own bike and looking back at me.
"Your call," I told the boy, watching as he struggled to make the decision to go with them. As he was about to answer, more thunder sounded, accompanied by a flash of lightning. My brother jumped and I smiled softly.
"Hey, guys," Dustin called. He hopped the fence and I followed. "Wait up!"
The two waited for us as we caught up, and just as we reached them, it started to rain. It wasn't hard with the leaves blocking the drops, but it still got my hair wet pretty quickly. The cold mixed with the rain quickly got to all of us, and we were shivering after only a few minutes. Lucas' jacket was quickly soaked through, so I pulled him back behind Dustin and Mike to give him mine.
"You sure you don't need it?" He asked as he put the oversized coat on.
I waved a hand dismissively and he smiled before giving me a small hug.
"Thanks, (Y/n)." He then jogged back to the boys, and I wrapped my arms around myself. I didn't mind, as long as they all were safe and warm.
"Will!" Mike was the first one to call out his friend's name, and the rest of us paraded after him.
"Byers!" Lucas yelled out.
"Will!" I yelled, my voice growing hoarse after what felt like hours of walking.
"I've got your X-Men 134!" Dustin bribed. The rain was starting to get heavier, and my socks were wet. "Guys, I really think we should turn back."
"Seriously, Dustin?" Lucas said. He had to talk loud to get his voice heard over the storm. "You wanna be a baby, then go home already!"
I out a hand on Dustin's shoulder.
"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!"
"No, you're just being a big sissy!"
"Boys," I warned, my tone bored. Mike, Will and I were used to their constant arguing, as everything typically ended in a screaming match between them.
Dustin sighed. "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons, or anything?"
"Dustin, shut up!" Mike said suddenly.
I tilted my head to one side thoughtfully. "He has a point, Mike-"
"No, no," Mike put a finger out at us. "Just, shut up for a second."
He stopped walking, and the rest of us had to stumble back to not run into each other.
"Did you hear that?"
I focused on the sounds around us, and sure enough, I heard a rustle in the woods next to where we stood.
The boys pointed their flashlights at the spot, and I put my arm out in front of Dustin. More rustling continued, growing louder as the second went by. Then, one came from behind us.
All four of us whipped around to see a young girl, her head shaved, shivering in a huge tee-shirt, drenched. My eyes widened as Mike shone light in her face.
I stared in shock. "What the-"
~~~
Hey, Lovelies!
Yay, second chapter, as promised!
I hope you all loved it. Thank you for all the positivity I got on my first chapter. I love you all <3
Until next time :)