#ditcr

Though, truth be told you might have, given that you almost thought about Mews instead of the kitten by your feet. You could potentially blame being half asleep for that one, though. You’d still have to remember to ask Dustin about Mews running away later in the day. The cat food is, thankfully, still in the same spot it always had been in the pantry and you fill up Tews’s bowl, petting her head as she begins to chow down on her own breakfast while you begin to work on the pancakes you planned. 

Humming along to the music on the radio, you’re stirring the pancake batter while letting the pan heat up, and you hear footsteps behind you. Without turning around, you say, “I’m making pancakes. But it’ll still be a couple minutes. Could you set the table?”

“Can do.” Comes the yawn of a reply, but not from your cousin like you had expected. 

You hesitate to glance in the direction of the cabinet opening and spot Steve, hair out of place from sleep, as he’s pulling plates down like he’s done it countless times before. 

Quickly, you turn your attention back to the pancakes on the stovetop, flipping them as needed while you speak, “I didn’t realize you’d spent the night. Do you do that often?” 

“Just if Mrs. H is gonna be out late,” Steve replies, grabbing everything they need and then setting the table for the three of them. It was still relatively new for him to be in the Henderson household, but he’d acclimated quick, and was accustomed to being in their house and in their kitchen far more than he was his own. “She learned my parents aren’t around much, and she worried.” Plus, Steve himself had been worried given everything that happened, so he was grateful for Mrs. Henderson and the place to crash, too. 

“Yeah, that’s Aunt Claudia, she’s a worrier.” You laugh softly, putting some new pancakes in the pan once the others are safely on the plate you’d taken down earlier. “I think she kind of took all the worry genes in the family between her and my dad.” 

It’s supposed to sound like a joke, but you’re not sure your words truly gets the tone you were going for. And while Steve doesn’t say anything, or ask any questions about it, you can feel his eyes on you while he moves around the kitchen. 

Clearing your throat, you decide to change the subject, “Thanks, for last night, though.”

“What do you mean?” Steve pauses, eyebrows furrowed, looking at you while he was grabbing cups. 

“Well, unless Dustin has gotten super strong since the last time I saw him, I don’t think he’s the one who carried me up the stairs and put me in bed last night.” You reply, pointing the spatula in Steve’s direction with a smile. “I am sorry that you had to sleep on the couch, though.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Steve waves you off, “Don’t mention it.” It was no big deal, he wanted to say. He would do it again in a heartbeat, he would have added. He was sure that he’d be spending a lot of time with Y/N now. 

“Tell Dusty that. Cause I swear, he’s going to come down those stairs any minute and be like,” you pause, trying to make your voice sound like your cousin’s when you continue speaking, “Y/N I can’t believe you fell asleep last night during the movie! I mean seriously, who even are you? I’ll never live it down.” 

Steve’s eyes widened briefly as he looks at you, shaking his head, “The scary thing is you really did kind of just sound like him.” Then, he turns toward the staircase and shouts, “Hey, dipshit, time to get up. Your cousin’s down here making pancakes and if you don’t come down soon, I’m going to eat your share.” 

“That is one weird term of endearment, y’know.” You keep to yourself, flipping the last of the pancakes as you glance over to look at Steve. 

“Yeah, well, he knows I mean well.” Steve shrugs his shoulders. What’s he supposed to do? Explain everything to you? He’s not even sure you know what he knows, and he doesn’t think breaking all of the news about some sort of other dimensional demon thing would go with pancakes. It’s not like he got the chance to ask Dustin if he had told you everything between the video, moving your sleeping form upstairs, and cleaning up when Dustin finally went to sleep himself. “Coffee?” 

You’re about to nod your head when Dustin comes barreling down the stairs, probably worried Steve will be true to his word, and took a seat at the table piling pancakes onto his plate. “Morning Steve, Y/N.” Dustin yawns, glancing up to look at you as he takes the syrup on the table and pours it on his plate, “I can’t believe you fell asleep last night. I mean, like, totally passed out on the couch with Tews in your lap and your head on Steve’s shoulder. I mean, c’mon, Y/N…it’s The Karate Kid, it’s not a boring movie, right Steve?” 

“Need I remind you about the time I took you to the movies in town and we watched The Rescuers.” You begin, a heavy pause as you take your seat at the table. Dustin glances up from his plate, eyes wide looking at you with a look of betrayal as you continue to speak, “because I remember someone holding my arm in the chair next to me and crying because he didn’t think the mice were going to save Penny.” 

“I thought we promised to never mention that day.” Dustin says rushed before holding his hands up in accusation to add,” Also, I was six.” 

“Just remember that while you tease me,” You reach across the table, poking Dustin’s cheek only to be swatted away by his hands, to which you just shake your head and pick up the cup Steve’s put down in order to go grab your usual fix-ins for coffee, “I’ve got lots of embarrassing Dustin stories to go around too, Baby Henderson.” 

“Baby Henderson? Should I call you Old Lady Henderson?” 

“Do you want to piss me off?”

Dustin just sticks his tongue out at you, to which you return the same gesture as you sit down once again. 

“Children!” Steve waves his hands between the two of you, causing you both to look in his direction. “God, you two are so alike.” 

Instead of either of you addressing the comment Steve had just made, Dustin’s turned his attention to Steve completely with a mouth full of pancake and asks, “So are you coming today?” 

“To…” 

“Mike’s house, Steve.” As if the comment was obvious. Dustin rolls his eyes as he continues to speak, “For D&D. I mean, I know what you’re thinking, we kept making fun of you last week, but it’s only because you…well, you sucked, buddy.” 

“Dustin, you can’t just say that.” You add, turning your eyes to Steve and offering a sheepish look as if you were apologizing for your cousin’s own words. 

“What? It’s true, Y/N. I mean, it’s not like I’m saying he can’t get better. But he just needs to keep coming by. Or a miracle. Or practice. But probably just practice, I think.” Dustin explains with a nod of his head in your direction. “I’d tell you the same thing. Do you want me to lie to you? I’m not going to send you into a battle like that with false information.” 

“How kind of you, Dustin. It’s what we all need, to hear how bad we are at these kinds of things.” You can’t help but laugh at the comment. 

“Plus, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan are gonna be there. And so will Y/N. I mean, who else do you hang out with now?” Dustin asks, looking at Steve with a smile. You know that realistically this is his way of asking his friend to come without acting like it’s the one thing he wants, but you’re still intrigued by their dynamic. Truthfully, you have a lot of questions you still want answered. 

“Well now that you’ve made me sound both incapable of learning D&D and like a loser for having no friends,” Steve winced slightly, but managed to laugh too, as he worked on his plate. “How could I say no?” 

“Hey, dude, you have friends. I mean, we’re friends.” Dustin says with a glare, gesturing to himself as he shakes his head. 

The comment gets Steve’s attention and instead of replying, Steve picks up a piece of pancake from his plate and tosses it in Dustin’s direction. 

Before you can say anything, Dustin slings back his own piece of broken apart pancake and it becomes an all out battle between the two of them. 

You stand up, rolling your eyes as you make your way to the sink avoiding the bits being thrown. “You two are so cleaning this up. I’m going upstairs.” 

You go back to the guest room, stopping in the hallway to pick up the chorded phone that lives on the hallway table, so that you can call up Nancy to chat. Despite not having called her in a while, the Wheeler’s phone number is still ingrained in your memory. 

“Wheeler residence, this is Mike.” 

“Mikey!” Your grin is wide when you speak, picturing the group of kids on his front lawn when you were younger, chasing them around. “Oh my God, you practically sound all grown up.” Knowing your cousin and his friends were teenagers now was freaking you out, if you were honest. 

“Y/N?” Mike’s surprise is genuine, but so is the happiness you can hear in his voice too. “I thought Dustin was lying when he said you were back in town.”

“Yeah, I think I’m getting that impression.” You laugh at the comment, shaking your head as you play with the chord in your hands. “How are you?”

A pause on the other end, static for a moment too long before the reply comes in, “I’m good, Y/N. Dustin said you’re gonna come with him today, right? He promised to bring you by, cause no one thought you were really here.” 

“Is that Y/N?” You can hear the muffled comment on the other end of the line. Nancy’s voice, you’re sure, as you hear movement. “Give me the phone, Mike, she called for me.”

“Nu uh, she called and I answered. That’s how it works. Besides, Y/N wants to talk to me, right?”

It takes you a moment to realize Mike’s asked you a question and you have to shake the thoughts out of your head, “C’mon Mikey, I’ll see you later. Nance did want me to call, and I totally passed out yesterday, do you mind?” 

You can hear the grumpy fine and the shuffling of the phone between hands and footsteps retreating, and you’re pretty sure you hear Mike’s voice calling back that talking on a walkie is even better than on the phone before Nancy comes on, “Y/N? You still there?” 

“Still here.” You reply. “Is Mike okay?” 

“Mike’s fine,” Nancy brushes off your comment as she focuses back on you. She has about a million questions to ask and not a lot of time with you before you’re around everyone else. “I’ve missed you. Why are you back? How’s New York? What have you been up to? How’s everything? You’ve got to tell me all about it.”

“Nance, I missed you too, but can you take a breath for a second? You almost sounded like Dustin for a second there.” You shake your head at the thought. There was a lot Nancy had missed in your life, and quite a bit you’re sure you’ve missed in hers as well. “Before we get into me, can we discuss you, cause Dustin told me something and I have got to make sure I heard him right. You and Jonathan are dating? Since when?”

“It’s very recent,” You can practically tell Nancy’s smiling when she’s talking about it. “I’ll tell you all about it sometime.”

“Now isn’t going to be that time?” 

“Well you’re giving me literally nothing. Can you blame me?” 

“Fine, I swear we’ll do a girl’s night soon and fill each other in on everything we’ve missed. Cause last time we talked you were…” You pause, sitting up straight on the bed and turning your attention to the noise you hear downstairs before looking down at the phone chord in your hand, “dating someone else.” 

“Yeah, that’ll be a story for our girls night.” Nancy replies, and you can feel some hesitation in her tone. Is it hesitation because she’s in the middle of her house and she doesn’t want to talk about it there or is it because you haven’t talked in a while and she doesn’t think she can share everything with you like you two used to? 

“Y/N!” You hear your name being called from downstairs followed by footsteps. Dustin pokes his head into your room and looks at you, “There might be a bit of a problem with cleaning. Which is that, well, Steve’s never cleaned anything in his life.”

“What do you mean Steve’s never cleaned anything in his life?” You reply, eyes wide. 

“Steve’s there?” Nancy asks, her voice coming through the phone in your hand. 

“Hey, Henderson, did you leave me with all this cleaning to go rat on us to your cousin?” Steve’s voice echoes from the kitchen. 

“Rat on you for what…” You turn your gaze from behind Dustin to look him in the eyes with a light glare. “What did you break, Dusty?” 

“Nothing, I swear.” Dustin holds his hands up as he takes a step back into the hallway. “Anyway, can you give Steve a hand cleaning up?”

“Why can’t you?” 

“Cause I gotta go to the arcade to hang out with Lucas and Max before we’re going to Mike’s. Tell Nancy we’ll see them at three!” 

Before you can reply, Dustin races off to his room and you’re left holding the phone in your hands and watching out the doorway. 

“Uh…Y/N? Are you still there?” 

You hear Nancy’s voice on the other end of the phone and pull the phone to your ear with a nod of your head. “Sorry about that, Nance. I swear, Dustin is the kid brother I never wanted.” The fact is you were always glad to have Dustin because he was the sibling you never got to have. Him and his whole group of friends. “I should probably go see what mess he left in the kitchen.” 

“Did I hear that Steve is over?” Nancy asks.

“Yeah, he and Dustin had a movie night last night. He stayed on the couch. I think he’s gonna join today. Three, right?” 

“Uh, yeah, that’s right.” Suddenly Nancy is sounding weird. 

“Oh my God. His name was Steve, wasn’t it? The guy you were dating before. Is it this guy?” 

Nancy winces, groaning as she replies, “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Didn’t you say he had some ridiculous nickname?” You ask, standing up and walking around your room and speaking again, “I have so many questions here, Nancy.” 

“Hey, Y/N, didn’t Dustin tell you I’m practically drowning down here?” Steve calls from the kitchen.

“Nance, I gotta go save Steve from doing chores, apparently.” With that, you hang up the phone and wonder what your cousin has gotten himself into. 

Just how is Dustin friend’s with Nancy’s ex boyfriend? 

You make your way down the stairs, realizing that at least the kitchen doesn’t look like a total war zone like you had worried it might. Pancake pieces aren’t coating the floor, syrup isn’t staining the walls or anything like that. It’s all relatively contained and seems to be fairly cleaned up from what you can tell. 

“So what seems to be the problem, Steve?” 

Steve turns to you, holding the pan you’d been cooking with in his hands and looking at you, “I don’t know if it’s obvious, but I’m not really the best cleaner.” 

You laugh, “I didn’t get that from the help I’m drowning down here call you shouted just a few minutes ago.” 

“I’m more of a take out or go out kind of guy, not really a cook.” He explains, glancing between the plates as he puts the pan back down in the sink, making room for you. “My parents aren’t around much, y’know.” 

“So you said.” You reply, moving in front of the sink to get everything organized as you look over at Steve. “Neither are mine, you know.” 

“What?” Steve asks, picking everything else up from the table and turning back to look at you. 

“My parents are pretty absent too.” You explain, shrugging your shoulders. “Anyway, do you think you can handle drying while I take over washing?” You pick up the cloth from the counter and hold it out to Steve, looking expectant as you wait for him to take it from you. 

You let silence take over between the two of you as you wash the dishes, passing them to Steve once you finish. You watch out of the corner of your eye as he dries them, placing them on the mat. 

Instead of making conversation, you find yourself humming along to one of the songs that had been playing on the radio earlier. 

Even Steve, who often felt the need to fill any sort of silence because it could feel awkward was comfortable in this moment. It was surprising, as if it had been something to just be expected. 

The two of you finished dishes quicker than you expected to given Steve’s I don’t really wash dishes attitude, and as you moved to put everything away he had gone to his car. He’d brought a bag with him, just in case he’d put it. 

As Steve went upstairs to get ready, you went to the phone to leave a message for your Aunt Claudia. You knew she was staying at her friend’s house, so you figure it would be safe to call there, finding the name Mary in her phone book and giving it a ring to let your Aunt know that both you and Dustin were going to be heading out for the evening. 

Then, you finally go up to get ready yourself. You almost consider putting on overalls for old time’s sake, but think better of it. Plus…did you even pack the overalls you bought right away or would they be shipped out later on? You weren’t entirely sure. 

Steve’s just glad that he’s let Dustin in on his little hair care secret, so that way he didn’t have to schlep the whole process with him to the Henderson house. By the time you get back downstairs he’s waiting with his car keys in his hands, nodding, “Okay, ready to head over to the Wheeler’s?” As if he’s done this a hundred times before—and you suppose that he has, man you really do need to ask Nancy about that when you see her. 

“Yeah, but it’s not that far, we can just walk over.” You explain, buttoning up your jacket as you look at Steve with a confused look on your face. 

“Y/N, it’s freezing out there.” Steve answers, as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “We’re taking the car.” 

“Alright, fine, if you insist.” 

You thought it was crazy, but then again, you’d been living in New York City for a while and had been walking most of the time so you were used to walking no matter what kind of weather conditions. 

And there was now.  Now that you’re sitting in the cab in the still familiar driveway for far too long after the driver had stopped, the same nice man who had spent most of the drive giving you a tour of what he called the “sleepiest town I ever lived in” ( “Well, minus that one incident where the ol’ lab nearly exploded one night, but that’s not somethin’ to worry your head about, dear.” he had said that as he drove you past the place a while back, causing you to look up, but not for long, not thinking much of it because...what really happens in Hawkins anyway? ) had yet to speak up and question why you had yet to get out of his cab, but you could see his eyes glancing in the rear view mirror at you.  

The nervous feeling that had been bubbling in your stomach since you boarded your early morning flight was beginning to go away, slowly, as you look up and spot the front door opening. It’s your cousin, not noticing the cab at first, as he had been heading for the bike that’s leaned up against the side of the house. The sight makes you smile, despite the distance and the years, you had always kept in touch with Dustin as best as you could, the last year being hard on the both of you.

When his hands are on the bike that’s when he notices the cab in the driveway and he drops the bike, instantly forgetting it, and runs toward the yellow taxi, knocking excitedly on the back window as he’s spotted you, “Y/N, is that you?” Dustin’s curls are barely tempered by the cap on top of his head, and he’s pulling open the door to the cab, a rushed apology to the driver as he does, looking at you expectantly with a bright smile. “I thought you weren’t coming until winter break!” 

You grin at him, letting the door open as you pulled out money to pay the driver and say a quick thanks as he pops the trunk for you, “Can’t a gal come early and surprise her favorite cousin?” You ruffle the top of his head, covered with the baseball cap, as you step out of the cab. “Obviously I’m talking about the whole gang, too.” You move toward the trunk, pulling your things out. You know that you don’t have much with you, sure you had multiple bags; a large luggage you had checked as well as a carry on and your backpack. 

But in reality there wasn’t much stuff packed in there other than necessities, or things you had seen and grabbed for Dustin or your Aunt Claudia on the days leading up to your departure knowing that the holidays were upcoming. Truthfully, you had packed quick as you wanted to get the hell out of your house and away from your parents as much as you could tell they wanted you out of the house after all the disappointment you had caused this past year, and expected that your parents would send anything else they might think you would need before they go away themselves. 

“Oh they’re never gonna believe that you’re back! I can’t wait to tell them. I didn’t want to say anything until I saw you just in case…” there’s a bit of hesitation, as if your younger cousin didn’t believe you would actually come to town. Which was fair, there had been misled promises over the years since you had moved, but that had been from your parents, “I was headed over to Mike’s when I saw the cab and, here, let me help you with that,” Dustin’s still the same as he had been years ago—excitedly talking a mile a minute to over-explain everything—and he doesn’t even wait for you to say anything as he grabs the duffle bag out of your hands while the two of you walk up the drive. “I got the guest room all made up for you, like old times. Mom picked out new sheets for it too, just for you and I really think,” Dustin opens the front door pausing mid-sentence to call out for his mother as the two of you continue up toward the guest room, “you’re going to like it. I mean it’s totally your style. Or, your style from a couple of years ago, I guess. I hope that hasn’t changed too much.” 

You’re unable to stop the laughter from your lips as you’re traipsing beside Dustin through the familiar house, “C’mon Dusty, look at me. I don’t think I’ve changed that much.” 

But the comment hangs in the air, at least on your end. There was so much that Dustin couldn’t possibly know about yet, that you weren’t exactly keen on telling everyone about right then and there as you were barely ready to unpack your bags and settle in for the next few months time. 

“Except maybe my hair, I kinda grew out of the whole pigtail phase of my life.” You and Dustin shared what you liked to think of as the trademark Henderson curls—both your father and aunt had them too—, and when you were younger your mother had done a lot of pigtails or braids to keep your curls as tame as possible—spoiler alert: it wasn’t possible, they were still a bit untamable, or at least they were frizzy if they were put up like that. 

“And you’re not in overalls anymore either,” Claudia Henderson commented from the doorway of the guest room, a smile on her face as she looks between the two kids. “I missed having you around, sweetie. It’s good to see you.” 

A flash of memory hits you. You, pigtailed braids and overalls covering a sweater, chasing around your cousin and his friends in the fallen leaves around the front lawn of the Wheeler’s house. 

“Pretty sure I’ve still got some overalls in my wardrobe, though.” You shrug your shoulders with a slight smile on your face, “Sure I could still give those kids one hell of a race if need be.” 

Dustin rolls his eyes at the comment, as if he wants to say more but all he winds up saying is “I’ll have you know we’ve gotten faster.” 

“Aw, of course you have Dusty, I’m just teasing.” You grin, nudging his shoulder and glancing back at your Aunt Claudia. “Sorry to put you out like this, but whatever help you need around the house or…”

Claudia cuts you off, holding her hand up to you as she shakes her head, “Nonsense Y/N, sweetie, you’re not an imposition or anything at all. You’re always welcome here.”

If you had any anxiety about anything before then, the easy way your aunt had just said that brushing away any sort of worries you might be feeling took it all away. The welcome you had gotten from both of them just reminded you of everything you had always felt being in Hawkins—it was like being home, moreso than anything or anywhere else. 

You felt more at ease being in your Aunt Claudia’s house than you ever felt in New York City. Unpacking wasn’t a chore, and sure you didn’t even have everything from back home with you but it was enough to make the space in the guest room feel at least a bit lived in. 

Dustin had left to go to Mike’s like he had originally planned, and your aunt had gone back to doing whatever she had been doing before your cousin had called her to greet you. 

Honestly, it was the most normal you had felt in a while. Instead of feeling eyes watching your every move, you felt like you could breathe again. 

As you move about the room, a familiar sound echos in your ears; the patter of paws against the floor. You expect Mews to come peering through your room door any moment, but instead are greeted with a kitten poking their head through the door sniffing out the new scent of everything you’ve brought with you. 

“Oh, hello,” you murmur, stopping what you’re doing to cautiously greet the kitten. “I’m Y/N, and you are,” you speak as if the animal can answer while you search for the name tag. “Tews.” 

Curiouser and curiouser. 

Where was Mews? 

You let the kitten explore another moment before reaching out to greet her, noticing that like Mews she’s easy to get along with and ready to welcome you into the home. You pick this kitten, Tews, up into your arms forgetting the rest of your unpacking and head down the stairs whispering softly to the kitten as you do. 

“Aunt Claudia?” You’re looking around when you reach the base of the stairs, still holding onto the kitten and smiling when you see her. “I’ve met your newest family member. I’m surprised Dad didn’t tell me you got a new kitten. She’s adorable. But, where’s Mews hiding? I haven’t seen her around and she’s always trying to get into my suitcase whenever I leave it out, I swear it’s like she knows.” You let out a small laugh, shaking your head at the thought—you’d even sent your aunt several polaroids over the years, and a couple in the mix were of Mews in your suitcase.

Claudia’s face falls briefly, looking away before she turns back to you with a smile. “Isn’t Tews just the sweetest? I’d like to think she and Mews would have gotten along. But…Mews ran away in October. We still haven’t found her, and Dusty and I went to the shelter and brought home Tews last weekend, right after Thanksgiving.”

“Oh God, Aunt Claudia I’m so sorry.” You let Tews out of your arms and go to comfort your aunt with a sad smile. You’d grown up with Mews during your visits. 

“Thank you sweetie,” Claudia replies, patting your hand with hers and shaking her head. You know how much the animal meant to her, even Dustin’s own turtle in his room though she wouldn’t admit it. 

“I wish I had known, maybe I could have come and help you look.” The problem was, you didn’t know—which was probably a good thing, given everything else that had happened, but you didn’t know all of that. Your parents kept you in the dark about so much, which in turn had made you keep your parents in the dark. Hence everything blowing up. 

You promised yourself Hawkins would be different. 

It had to be. 

The phone ringing startles you both, and Claudia jumps out of her seat to pick up the chorded phone in the kitchen, talking for a few minutes. You do your best not to pay attention while she speaks to give her some privacy and instead focus on the kitten playing in the corner with some toys. 

“Y/N,” Claudia says to get your attention back on her, phone cradled in her hand as if she’s waiting to get a response from you for something before turning back to her conversation, “Would you mind watching Dusty tonight, dear? He’s got a friend coming over. Don’t worry, there’s ingredients to make some dinner in the fridge. But if you and Dustin want there’s also money for a pizza or something in the cookie jar. My friend Mary's wondering if I can come give her a hand.” Claudia places her hand over the receiver to block her voice from her friend and continues with a whisper, “Her cat just had some kittens and she’s terribly unprepared for it, but I still have some things from way back when.” 

You wave a hand brushing off the way she’s asking, as if she’s putting you out with her question, “Go be a cat whisperer, Aunt Claudia, I’ve got Dustin and his friend covered. We’ll be fine.”

“I wanted to talk to you about everything before…well, there’s still time.” Claudia shakes her head, before telling her friend she’ll see her soon. “I might have to stay the night just to make sure everything is alright. Are you sure you’ll be fine with Dustin by yourself?”

“Aunt Claudia, I used to watch Dusty when I was barely tall enough to see over this kitchen table. Trust me, we’ll be fine. I practically lived here, so unless you’ve changed where you keep the forks or something, I think I’ve got everything here under control.” 

Claudia’s features relax, and she leans down to place a kiss on the top of your head, “Everything is exactly as it was, Y/N. Thank you.” She begins heading up the stairs, calling out, “It’s good to have you home,” as she disappears to her room.

You wander around the kitchen, glancing in the fridge to see what your aunt has left for dinner while you wait for Dustin to return. It should be soon, given that there’s company expected. 

“Nancy says you need to call her, and I’m paraphrasing, ASAP.” Dustin’s voice carries as the door opens, nearly causing you to jump. “And I promised everyone that you’d come with me to Mike’s tomorrow night. ‘Cause that’s when we play D&D. You remember that, right? I told you about the campaign and everything?” He doesn’t give you a chance to actually answer, instead continuing on his own as he moves around the front of the house kicking off his shoes and hanging up his coat, “Nance and Jonathan usually stay for a bit and then disappear, but I’m sure now that you’re back they might actually hang out. I’m not sure if everyone actually believes me, but we’ll show them tomorrow night, right?” Dustin drops his baseball cap on top of the radio before turning back to you with a grin, “Oh, and you’ll get to meet Max and El. They’re gonna love you. I mean, who wouldn’t? I’m really happy you’re back in town, Y/N. But when I asked mom she didn’t know how long you were gonna be here for. So, uh, how long are you here for?” Dustin drops himself into one of the kitchen chairs and looks up at you expectantly. 

“Til summer at least. So long as that’s okay with you and Aunt Claudia.” You close the fridge door and lean against the countertop.

“Why wouldn’t it be okay with me and mom?” Dustin asks. “Also, where is mom?”

“Don’t you know your mom, my Aunt, is some great cat expert that everyone calls when they need a hand?” you ask with a shake of your head, “I mean, the little cat-astrophe just needed her helping hand.” 

Dustin lets out a laugh that was more deadpan than an actual laugh as he looks your way, “You think you’re so funny.” 

“Well, I could have made a worse pun. Like she lent a helping paw.” 

“I stand corrected, it could be worse.” 

“You wound me, Dusty.” Taking a seat you then continue, “anyway, should I attempt to whip up this casserole Aunt Claudia left us or should we order a pizza and also I can make cookies?” 

“Pizza, obviously.” Dustin replies, looking at you as if asking are you serious with his eyes.

“Fine, you order and set up for whatever it is you’re doing with this friend of yours. I’ll see where your mom keeps the supplies to make cookies now.” 

“It’s a movie night, and you’re totally joining us.” Dustin says, getting up from the table and moving to the phone dialing the number for the pizza place like he has it memorized. “Then again, it is Steve’s turn to pick a video so, maybe you should save yourself. He’s still trying to get me back for watching Star Wars multiple times.” 

You can’t help but laugh at the idea of what your cousin’s friend could pick, or why he might be getting back at him for watching Star Wars “too many” times. While Dustin orders pizza, you rummage through the kitchen to get things out to make chocolate chip cookies, which you used to do all the time with your aunt. 

“Call me when Steve gets here, or when pizza comes, whichever first.” Dustin says when he hangs up the phone before running off to his room. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the blur of his curls moving around the house with blankets and pillows back down the stairs, carefully avoiding the spot where Tews had fallen asleep. 

Moving Dustin’s baseball cap, you turn on the radio on and hum along to the music playing once you find a good station as you begin to make the cookies. 

Feeling more free than you had at home, you were just being yourself—something you could lie and say you always were, but truth be told you had been putting on a front for so long, you really hadn’t been you in a long time. The music blasting, you lost yourself in it allowing yourself to hum and sing along to some of the words as you got to bake. 

Let’s Hear it For the Boy, one of the songs in a movie that came out earlier that year, had begun playing on the radio and you were singing along to it, probably off-key, and bouncing around the kitchen dancing as you get the cookies put in the oven and set the timer. 

You couldn’t help but be glad that Dustin was probably in his room, at least for now ignoring you—glad that your display in the kitchen wasn’t going to be something he would use for embarrassment right then and there. 

Except, there was someone there as you move about the kitchen. 

With the Henderson door unlocked, Steve Harrington had just let himself in. He had been about to announce his arrival when he heard the radio playing and stops in his tracks. He pauses, hands crossed over his chest as he studies you, unsure what to make of the scene before him. Clearly you’re familiar to the Henderson’s too, but he doesn’t know you and he’s been spending a lot of time here recently. Still, some sense of familiarity pings in the back of his mind, but he can’t quite place it as he watches you. 

You’re moving as if you lived in the Henderson’s house your whole life. You know where things are as to not bump into them while you move, and you’re singing along to the song on the radio, managing to lower the volume as you move with your eyes closed so that you can listen out for the timer. 

Steve is completely captivated, and knows that he should say something to announce his presence. But the truth is, he feels like he’s intruding on something and he can’t bring himself to break whatever it is that’s happening right then. 

“Steve! Buddy! You made it. Y/N, why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Dustin’s voice breaks through the music as he races down the stairs. 

You gasp, your cousin's voice startling you, and fall to the floor your curls falling into your face as you land. Pushing them out of your eyes, you’re about to tell Dustin that he’s wrong and no one else is there...

...except you’re met with a teenager standing in the kitchen greeting Dustin with what appears to be an overly complicated handshake. 

“I didn’t know he was here.” You answer, doing your best to sound totally cool and like you didn't just fall down in front of both of them, standing up and brushing any possible dust off from your hands onto your clothes as you move to the oven and check your timer. “You know when I was told Dustin had a friend coming over I expected…well, not someone my age.”

“And I didn’t expect Mrs. Henderson to get us a babysitter for the night. Does she not trust me or something?” Steve looks between you and Dustin with raised eyebrows. 

“Uh, no, I’m Y/N Henderson, Dustin’s cousin.” You say firmly, shaking your head. 

“Y/N is my cousin, Steve. Not a babysitter. She’s kinda moving to town for a while.” Dustin says at the same time. 

That’s when it seemed to click in Steve’s head. 

He had seen Y/N around before. Running around town with the kids before he really knew them, before he paid attention to them. He could picture it now, even if he didn't think you'd ever spoken before. He could see it. A younger you, running around with the group of kids he now knew, or sitting by the movies with Nance, or following Mrs. Byers throughout Melvad's, or walking through town with Nancy and Jonathan.

“Cousins? Shit—you’re that girl who used to watch Dustin all the time, right? Weren’t you friends with Nance or something too?” 

“Guilty as charged, I think.” You reply with a shrug of your shoulders.

Did Dustin’s friend actually know you?

You couldn’t really place him in your own memories, the name Steve not ringing any bells from when you used to come around town. He wasn’t one of Nancy or Jonathan’s friends from back then, at least.

Then again, everyone in Hawkins was at least somewhat familiar, given that the town was pretty small. 

The timer to the oven dings at the same time as the doorbell rings. You go and grab for the cookies and Dustin gets the money for the pizza. 

“So what video did you bring?” You ask while you pull the cookies out of the oven and put them down on the top of the oven. You grab the cooling tray from where it was and begin to move the cookies from the baking sheet to there while you wait for Steve’s answer. “Dustin said he thinks you want to get back at him for watching Star Wars too many times.” 

“That’s cause it’s the first movie that Dustin picks every movie night.” Steve shrugs his jacket off his shoulders, dropping it down to one of the chairs and looking at you. “I brought The Karate Kid.  But, if I thought that that dipshit was going to bring up Star Wars, I would have rented both Indiana Jones movies or something.” 

“Next time you pick you can do that, buddy.” Dustin walks back, dropping the pizza onto the table and patting Steve on the back with a smirk. “Are we ready for movie night or what? C’mon, Y/N even made cookies.” 

“Pizza and cookies?” Steve looks at Dustin with wide eyes, a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. “All we need is popcorn.” 

You roll your eyes, moving to the cabinet and looking around before pulling out the stovetop popcorn and looking back at them. “Why don’t you two go get the movie set up and I’ll make the popcorn?”

It feels both easy and a bit like you’re intruding on your cousin’s time with a friend. You watch as the two of them walk into the living room taking the pizza and cookies with them. It’s as if they have their own rhythm that you don’t know and you feel like you’re watching something totally unfamiliar as you see them go. 

Tews curls up against your feet while you stand at the stove, waiting for the popcorn to be ready and you can hear Steve and Dustin going back and forth. 

Because, even if you’re not sure that’s what your parents had thought of when they sent you here, you want to stay through the end of the year. You’ll find a way to make that happen. Hawkins is the one place that has always felt like home. 

Mike and Will pull back, letting you greet everyone else. And truly, that's how it feels. Like you’re finally home now that you’re seeing everyone. Your friends. The kids who aren't really kids anymore. Honestly, being around Dustin and your aunt is just one part of the equation. Being around the kids and Nancy and Jonathan? It was like coming home completely. 

“Hey Nance. Jonathan.” You smile before turning your attention to the other girl, holding out your hand, “I’m Y/N, and you must be El.”

There’s some hesitation, but she puts her hand in yours and shakes it, “Jane.”

That’s a weird nickname for a name like Jane, but you’d have to ask Dustin more about that one later. Then again, you’ve heard weirder nicknames, right? 

“Holy shit!” Comes the last familiar voice, making you turn your head toward the end of the driveway as three figures appear. You can't help as your smile grows even wider at the kids, two of which are on bikes and one on a skateboard. “I thought Dustin was playing some kind of cruel joke when he said you were back.” Lucas stops, putting his helmet down on his bike and racing to greet you like Mike and Will had. 

“Dude, I told you she was really here.” Dustin replies, rolling his eyes as he takes his own helmet off. “You guys never believe me.” There’s some latent bitterness in Dustin’s tone, but no one mentions it. 

Lucas ignores Dustin’s comment and instead pulls away from you in order to grab the hand of the girl who had a tight hold on her skateboard closer to the two of you, “Max, this is Y/N. She’s the cooler Henderson.” 

“I can hear you, Lucas.” Dustin groans, however it’s more in jest than anything, and he’s playfully shoving at Lucas’s shoulder as he walks past to greet everyone else that’s standing in the driveway. 

“That’s the point, dude.” Lucas’s tone is full of jest, teasing Dustin with a smirk as he looks away from his friend and turns to look at you. 

“I’ve missed you too, Lucas. It’s nice to be appreciated for being the coolest Henderson around.” You joke, hearing Dustin scoff soon after the words have left your mouth. “And it’s nice to meet you Max.” 

Dustin had brushed past everyone, heading toward the basement’s entrance to the Wheeler house. “Let’s get this campaign going, everybody!” However when he realizes that no one’s following him, he turns around with his hand on the doorknob and looks back at you all, rolling his eyes. “Hello, guys. D&D night? New campaign? Bringing El and Max into the fold? Let’s go.” He waves his hand into the basement with a flourish to attempt to get everyone’s attention, a slight whistle to his words as he does. 

It feels like everyone’s waiting just a bit longer before heading down, as if not wanting to give Dustin the satisfaction, but then they all follow behind quickly. Especially the younger ones, all excitedly chatting about the campaign they have planned. 

You’re having a hard time remembering the last time you felt this easy around a group of people. In New York City, around your friends, you always felt like you had to put on some sort of front as if you had to impress everyone and do everything just to make sure that you were in their good graces. You never felt like you could contribute in those conversations without thinking everything through a couple dozen times, at least not without everything going the opposite way than what you had expected. Which is one of the reasons you’d wound up in some deep shit with everything, but you were doing your best not to think about all of that. 

So whether it was Lucas and Dustin’s squabbling, or Max making some snarky comment toward the rest of the boys, or the commentary from Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, you felt like you were at ease to hop into the conversation whenever or wherever you saw fit. 

Watching them go back and forth, you could still remember when it was the beginning of all of this. 

You can recall when you had first heard of Dustin’s friend’s Lucas, Mike, and Will—it was over the phone one night when Dustin must have been going into kindergarten, and he had been so excited to tell you about the friends he made and how he couldn’t wait for you to meet them, asking quickly after that moment when you were back to town to visit. 

Back in the days when the boys spent most of their time outside chasing each other, and you during your visits, and sometimes Nancy or Jonathan, on one of their elaborate made up adventures. 

If you followed anything from what Dustin had told you over the years since you moved farther away, and from this night so far, D&D felt a lot like one of those old elaborate adventures.  

The fact of it all is that when you had sat down earlier in the night, Dustin had placed what he called a character sheet in your hands and mumbled something about if you got any ideas to jot them down, but you’d been too enthralled in everything happening around you to even focus on the piece of paper that you still hold clutched in your hands. 

“They don’t take a break?” You whisper, looking at Nancy, as to not distract the brood of kids around the all too crowded table—it doesn’t seem big enough for all of them and every elaborate thing they’ve got for the campaign ( dice, binders, spare papers and pens ) to fit and somehow it all works. “I’m getting tired watching this go on.”

“Yeah, I don’t get it.” Nancy shrugs her shoulders, looking back at you, but leaning against Jonathan whose focus was intently on his brother and the campaign in front of them. Nancy’s laughing when she speaks again, “I think the only time they stop is if mom calls them for food.” 

“Sounds about right, I think the only time they used to stop racing around outside was if one of the parents used to call that it was time to eat.” 

The sight before you might be different than what you’re used to, but you can steadfastly see the teens before you as the kids they once were. 

There’s Will, with a cape on his shoulders, rolling a set of dice while Mike’s narration explains what’s going on in their campaign at the moment. 

Mike, whose eyes are focusing on everything on the table before them, but are often turning towards the girl beside him. As if for reassurance that she’s still there. 

Lucas, who’s arm is not too casually brushing against the redheaded girl’s to his side as as he makes jabs both at and with Dustin. 

Dustin, who bounces excitedly in the seat captivated by every word and play happening on the table before them. However, if you would ask anyone else, they would say that Dustin’s gaze continued to glance back at you to make sure that you were still there. 

But, once upon a time, there would be all of them in some similar arrangement. Each of them would be holding onto some sort of branch to use as a sword, or a shield. Their jackets to be used as capes, draped along their shoulders. And there would be a story coming together in their heads, dialogue shouted out loud, as they chase each other across the grass. 

Back then it would be easy to drag you into the fray, following along with everything that would be happening. Now, you could only barely follow the campaign that was unfolding before your eyes. 

You used to spend your days counting down the time until you would be visiting Hawkins on your calendar, crossing off the days, counting hours when it came closer, and even planning the perfect travel mix tape that would last however long from where you would be coming from that time — whether it be Chicago, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, or even Houston. Often, back then, you would pack your bag, or bags, with trinkets for Dustin and his friends, and your own friends Nancy and Jonathan, from wherever you had been at the time—you often packed so many trinkets that the bag would be overflowing. 

This time it was different, you had packed enough for the beginning, knowing more bags would arrive after you did. You were here for a much longer stay than you would normally have been. This wasn’t going to be your normal long weekend or summer weeks long stay. 

If you would ask your parents, they would consider this to be punishment.

To you, this was a breath of fresh air. You’d always wanted to be in Hawkins more than your parents did. As much as your father hated small town life, you loved every minute of it. So while your father might have thought sending you to Hawkins would be a punishment, a way to figure everything out, it was more like it would be a reset. 

“She just needs a break from everything,” you had overheard your father speaking on the phone one day. “No…no, Claud, nothing serious happened. At least, nothing like that.” 

There was a long pause, as if he had been listening to your aunt on the other end of the phone say something. You could see his head nodding, face serious, as he was tapping his pen to the paper while he mumbled softly. 

You quietly raced to the other room where you knew a phone would be, quickly picking up the receiver and holding it in your hands making sure to keep quiet so neither of them knew there was anyone on the line listening in. 

“Well if you’re sure it’s nothing like what happened with us back… Why do you make it sound like Y/N isn’t okay?” Claudia’s voice is full of concern. 

It begs the question — what don’t you know about your father’s life. 

“She’s…” his voice grew in volume before he cleared his throat, as if remembering you were home and could hear him if he raised his voice, “completely gone off the rails. These kids she’s spending her time with, Claud. They’re…you know how teenagers can be, but,” he stopped himself and then changed the subject. “She got suspended. They’re this close to pulling her from school.”

“What happened?” 

“She won’t tell us anything. We just know what’s in the reports and the papers and what we had to sit through with her. And all the other kids are saying it’s her idea. I mean, hell, Betty’s even gone as far as to see if she keeps a diary. She doesn’t.” 

“That you know of, Charlie.” Claudia almost laughed, but there was something stopping her. A hesitation as she then asked, “her idea to do what?” 

“Claud, I just… Will you help us? Can she stay with you?” You’ve never before heard your father sound so desperate, so raw. You shake your head at the thought that you’ve caused all of this pain. “Maybe Hawkins will do some good for her. She can finish the year out there if that’s okay.”

“Charlie, that’s my niece you’re talking about, my god daughter. Of course she’s welcome any time for as long as she wants to stay.” Claudia paused on the other line before adding in. “It would be nice to see you too, you know.”

“Claud, I just…”

And after that, you hang up your end of the phone, not wanting to intrude on the conversation between the two siblings any longer. 

It was always too many excuses with your father, especially lately. Work was giving him too much grief, the cases were hell to plan anything around, her school work should be her priority. 

Everything came with an instead, instead, instead. 

You didn’t need to hear those same excuses uttered back to her Aunt Claudia when you’d heard them time and time said to yourself..

At least you’d be packing up your things soon enough, and getting the hell out of town. Maybe your father was right about one thing, that would do you some good.

You shake the thoughts out of your head, trying to focus back in on everything in front of you when you’re startled by the doorbell sounding from upstairs. 

“Eight already?” 

“Is that the time?”

“Fuck.”

“Already?” 

“Shit.”

“Language.”

The basement is a flurry around you as everyone is moving about, speaking all at once, in an attempt to try and clean up the table and their things. You’re not sure what’s going on, but you’re certain that you haven’t seen the kids move as fast as they have in front of you in a while. You want to ask questions, but there’s a bit too much commotion for you to focus on any one thing. 

You figure if anything you’ll get the story afterwards. 

The basement door opens, and as soon as it does it’s like Max jumps out of her chair and moves as far away from everyone as she can. The redhead is grabbing her things, but it’s obvious that she’s eyeing the doorway as if she’s nervous about what’s standing at the top of the stairs. 

Which you’re certain is not the look she’s giving Karen or Ted Wheeler, whichever one would have opened the door without warning. 

“Max, sweetheart, your brother’s here to pick you up.” Karen’s voice echoes down the stairs. “Go right on down Billy. Nice to see you.” 

“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Wheeler.” a voice you don’t recognize says while the basement door closes again. Everyone’s busied themselves with something, but you’re looking in the direction of the footsteps, and when the new voice is downstairs you look between him and Max. 

As if answering your question, Nancy leans over and comments, “They’re step-siblings.”

“Grab your shit and let’s get out of here, Max.” Billy says, puffing out his chest when he’s at the base of the stairs, barely looking around the room. He’s done this once before, but since everything happened he knows not to say anything and just let Max do whatever. As requested. He will, however, let her know it annoys her to no end having to pick her up and drop her off places. “I ain’t getting any younger, Max.” 

Just to add to it all, Max goes around and says goodbye to everyone individually. You watch as her step-brother seems to get irritated just at the millisecond of spending more time in the Wheeler basement while Max goes around to everyone like she knows what it’s doing. 

“It was really nice meeting you, Y/N.” Max says. “Hopefully you’re as cool as these guys say you are.” 

“Well, if they lie to you I will personally offer my punishment services of cleaning and forcing them to watch the worst movies imaginable.” You laugh at the comment. At least you hoped she was joking, but you could see the way Lucas and Dustin were looking between each other. 

The amount of questions you had. 

“Okay, let’s go Billy. See you dorks at school on Monday.” Max picks her skateboard up from the floor and heads toward the basement door.

But Billy’s voice stops her in her steps as he addresses you, “Y/N, huh? You new to town?” He takes a step forward, looking you up and down. You take the opportunity to really study him now. He’s wearing a dangling earring from one ear, and his shirt is only buttoned with the bottom few buttons, which practically makes you roll your eyes. It seems like he’s trying a bit too hard to play up something. “When you get bored with these losers give me a call.” 

“Don’t hold your breath.” You scoff, watching as the two leave the basement. 

The rest of the kids pick up their things, moving them around the basement, knowing they can’t continue the campaign without Max even if they wanted to. 

It’s much quieter while they’re packing up for the night, as if the slam of the basement door took all the air out of the room with it. 

As soon as everyone’s getting their things, you spot Nancy and Jonathan sneaking out the basement door to get a few minutes to themselves. It’s nice to see, you can tell your friend is happy. The rest of you are saying your goodbyes in the house, heading up the stairs to say goodbye to the Wheeler’s as well. 

“It’s really good to see you again, Y/N.” You’re practically crushed by a hug at your side from Will that catches you by surprise as you wrap your arms around him too with a smile. 

“It’s good to see you too, Will.” You say softly, glancing at the rest of the kids still around. “I missed my little bunch of nerds.” Which was true, you couldn’t name the amount of times you had seen something and thought of one of them since the last time you had been in town. The amount of trinkets, things small and big, you had gotten for them.  “I’m here for a while, though, I promise. So tell your mom I’ll see her at Melvald’s okay?” 

Will nods his head, heading to the door to meet Jonathan who’s waiting outside. He passes Nancy who’s heading back in. 

“Did you have fun out there?” You mumble to your friend, quirking your eyebrows up and giggling. 

“Shut up.” Nancy practically gags, halfheartedly elbowing you in the side as she walks past to the kitchen. 

When the door opens again, it’s a man in a cop uniform looking around. He doesn’t say much, and he looks like he’s studying everything which makes you feel nervous but no one else feels that way. 

“Time to go home, El.” The grumpy looking man says, a cigarette behind his ear that he pulls down as he moves from the doorway and looks around the house awkwardly. 

“Okay.” The short haired girl bounces toward him before turning back to everyone with a smile, directed specifically at Mike when she says, “Goodnight.”

“Lucas, do you need a ride home?” You find yourself asking, glancing at your cousin’s friend. 

“I’ve got my bike.” He gestures toward the door, toward where it’s likely pushed up against the house with Dustin’s. 

Of course you know that your cousin and his friends bike around everywhere, but it was dark outside. You looked out the window and then back at your cousin and Lucas, shaking your head. “It’s dark outside. What if you got lost or hurt?” Dustin, Lucas, and Mike share a look but don’t say anything. “Steve will drive you home.” 

“He will?” Lucas sputters out, shocked.

At the same time Steve looks at you, realizing he’s in the conversation, “I will?” 

You glance back at Steve, where he’s positioned himself in the corner and nod your head firmly, “I mean, I guess I should have asked if you were still planning on giving Dustin and I a ride home. But the Sinclair’s is practically on the way,” it’s not but you weren’t going to say that and Steve knew you were lying through your teeth but he wouldn’t say that either, “so if you’re giving Dustin and I a ride it only makes sense.”

Steve looks between you and the two teens and then back at you with a shrug of his shoulders, “Yeah, that makes sense.” You can’t hear what he mutters under his breath but it sounds like something about babysitting. 

Dustin and Lucas are at the front door in a flash, gesturing for Steve to get outside and help them load up their bikes into his car, and shouting their goodbyes to the Wheelers. 

“Shotgun!” You can hear Dustin call as they get farther down the driveway. 

“I don’t care, dude.” Lucas replies, hoisting his bike up into Steve’s arms. 

“Whoa, you good there buddy?” Dustin asks, and that’s the last part you’re in earshot for. 

“Thanks for having us over today Mrs. Wheeler.” You say, turning to thank her with a smile. “It’s good seeing you again.” 

“It’s good seeing you too, sweetheart. I’m sure Nancy’s glad to have you back here. Especially after last year, I’m not sure if she’s told you about…well, it’s been a long year, let’s just say that.” Karen smiles, but it doesn’t quite meet her eyes for the whole time she speaks. You know better than to ask about whatever it is she’s referring to, but your eyes to go to find Nancy’s briefly. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing you a lot more, Y/N.” 

“Night Y/N.” Nancy comes over, hugging you tightly as if you’re leaving town and not just heading back to your cousin’s house a few streets over. You’re not sure if she’s doing this to distract you from her mom’s comments either, but it won’t work. You’ll be asking her about that later. 

“Nance, I’m just going to my aunt’s, I’m not leaving town.” You cough out a reply, hugging her back and then pulling away. “I swear if I’m leaving I will give you at least one full day warning.”

You mean it as a joke, but Nancy’s eyes are wide as she looks at you and you’re not sure how to take it. She seems to want to scold you, but you instead cut her off by saying your goodbyes, already backing up toward the door. 

“Night Nance, Mikey. See you Monday.” You wave at the two of them, heading out the door to be greeted by the sight of Dustin, Lucas and Steve standing at the back of Steve’s car arguing about how to put the bikes in the trunk. You’d have hoped that you spent enough time in the house that this would have all been sorted by the time you got outside.

Instead of trying to help, you just head into the front seat and take a seat, trying to drown out the sounds of the commentary from the back. 

Eventually it stops, and you hear the sounds of movement again, and you’re startled by a knock on the window, “Y/N, I called shotgun. That’s so not fair. Get in the back. C’mon!” 

You turn to look out the window and stick out your tongue in response.

“You’re just gonna be in the backseat, Henderson. Live with it.” Steve comments, getting in the front seat and starting the car up. 

“Exactly. This is Hawkins,” Nancy says the town’s name in a tone totally opposite to yours. But before you can question it, she’s speaking again, “and high school. You’re overthinking everything. Believe me, there’s people who would care what you wear, or look like, or whatever, but you don’t want to impress them.”

Still looking at your closet, but from a different angle as you take a couple of steps back (as far as the chord will let you get comfortable) to sit on your bed and listen to Nancy. “Let me guess, that step-brother of Max’s from last night?”

“He came to town and just proclaimed himself the King of Hawkins High.” Nancy’s voice is filled with disgust. “His crowd has always been…listen, those people are horrible and don’t care who they step on, or call out, or who goes…”

Nancy cut herself off. You’re practically thinking the line is dead with the silence on her end for so long. 

“Nance?” 

“They’re bad people, Y/N. You don’t need to…dress to impress them, or whatever. You’ve got me and Jon.” Nancy’s voice is still filled with emotion from before, but you can tell she’s trying to push it all back. 

“And Steve.” You add. 

“Yeah, and Steve.” Nancy says with a slight laugh in her voice. “Are we going to include the kids too? ‘Cause they’re still in middle school. I don’t think they count.” Your mouth twists at her words and you almost want to argue with her, but you bite your tongue instead. “I’m just saying, Y/N, you don’t have to impress anyone at Hawkins High.”

“I know, Nance. I’m lucky to have you and Jonathan, and Steve.” Your eyes are still focused on your closet, putting together multiple outfits in your mind to see what might work with what you have there. It’s now that you wish you had packed more clothes, that you had access to your whole closet. “It’s just weird starting right before a break. I’ve got what…two weeks? Then we’re on break.”

“Yeah, but it might feel longer. Dustin and Mike and those kids might talk your ear off about the middle school Snowball if you let them. I’ve even promised to volunteer this year. But, between you and me, I’ve heard enough about it. I’ll be happy to tell Mike to ask all his big sister advice to you for the next two weeks.” Nancy jokes. She’s heard a lot about the Snowball, the chatter between her brother and his friends getting more and more given that it’s actually something good to look forward to. Which is something they all need. 

“I mean, obviously Mikey can talk to me about anything. But dance advice isn’t…wait, Snowball? That sounds familiar… did I go to that one year with you?” 

Nancy stutters, not knowing how to respond, and then lets out a laugh on the other end instead of answering your question. Then there’s another gasp, but still she hasn’t spoken out loud. And finally you hear what you think is the phone drop and some rustling of papers and moving of drawers. Nancy’s muttering on the other end of the phone, but you can barely hear her as she’s moved away from the receiver.  

“Nancy? Hello?” You’re practically shouting, pulling the phone away from your ear. “Did I lose you?” 

There’s an excited gasp when you hear her again, “You’re right. And I have photographic evidence to prove it. And you’re never going to believe these pictures, Y/N.”

“I swear if you tell me you let me out of the house in my patchwork overalls to some school dance of yours, Nancy Wheeler, I am going to find a new best friend starting tomorrow.” You’re doing your best to sound intimidating, but you know it comes off as anything but, when you can’t even keep a straight face and wind up laughing. 

“No, Y/N —”

There’s some static on the other end and then another voice cuts in, “Nancy, sweetheart, it’s time for dinner. Do you mind hanging up the phone and getting Holly down here for me?” 

“Sure mom. I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.” 

“See you tomorrow, Nance. Night Mrs. Wheeler,” with that, you hang up the phone. 

And, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on who you asked), whatever was going to be said is now left up to your imagination. 

When you wake up the next morning it’s to Dustin’s frantic opening of your door shouting at you to get up before he runs off to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. You can hear him laughing behind the door after you’ve chased him. 

“That was cruel, Dusty.” You slam a hand on the bathroom door, leaning against it and sighing. “I will have revenge for that. Hell, I can just wait til you’re done in there, y’know.” 

“Aren’t you worried about what you’re gonna wear to impress the people of Hawkins High?” Dustin’s tone is teasing, mimicking what you said to Nancy on the phone last night, behind the door of the bathroom. 

“You’re so dead Baby Henderson.” You scowl at where you can only imagine your cousin is standing on the opposite side of the bathroom door, shaking your head. 

“Have to get to me first, Old Lady Henderson.” 

You let out an exasperated sigh, smacking a closed fist against the locked bathroom door, deciding to instead move on from the conversation before draw it on forever—because you’re far too tired to continue the argument—before leaving the hallway and going back to your room in order to get ready for school. 

With your limited wardrobe, and the fact that you don’t have to wear a uniform to school, you’d been worried for a lot of the previous night. However, you’d finally settled on something both comfortable enough and warm enough for the growing cold weather. It also happened to be something that was of comfort to you, as it was your favorite colored top, a pair of comfortable jeans,  and a well worn, faded in places, denim jacket that you’d had for years. The jacket had definitely seen you through some of your hardest days. 

“I made you kids breakfast!” Claudia calls out from downstairs, pulling you from your worrying thoughts. 

You’d finally been able to get into the bathroom, just looking in the mirror at yourself for a final once over when you’d heard your aunt’s call. 

“I got this.” You find yourself muttering as you leave the bathroom and head downstairs. 

You had never been more nervous for a first day of school than you were for this one. Maybe it was because the first day at Hawkins felt like the first first day that actually mattered in the whole scheme of things that had happened before. Then you thought back to Nancy’s words last night, and knew she was right that you had nothing to worry about because you were going into this school with built in friends. 

And yet, you still could feel a bundle of nerves as you took a seat at the kitchen table with your aunt and cousin. 

“I put a plate together for you, Y/N.” Claudia says, placing a plate down in front of you with a smile on her face. 

You nod your head, glancing down at the plate of food in front of you. Pancakes. It reminds you of Saturday, and you feel ease start to spread through you calming your nerves. 

“Yours are better, Y/N.” Dustin’s voice is muffled, filled with a mouthful of pancakes as he looks up at you. 

“Dustin!” Claudia gapes at him, and you barely have time to cover your mouth before you let out a laugh. 

Dustin’s face blanches as he swallows his food and looks between the two of you, “Did I say that out loud?” 

“Maybe I’m not the one you have to worry about Baby Henderson.” You shake your head, teasing your cousin, as you take a bite of the food on your plate. 

“Sorry mom.” Dustin makes a face, turning his attention back to his plate. 

“At least Tews likes my cooking.” Claudia sighs, glancing down at the kitten at her feet while she pours herself a cup of coffee. 

“Yeah, well, she’s a cat and can’t tell you she hates it.” You point out with a laugh, leaning down to pet the top of Tews head when she comes closer to you. 

“She could knock the bowl over.” Dustin points out quietly, hoping that no one will pick up his commentary but knowing that it’s not possible.

“You’re not helping yourself by continuing to stick that foot of yours into your mouth, Dusty.” You tap his leg with your foot under the table, doing your best to be gentle but still see him wince at the contact. You mouth a silent sorry. “I happen to like your cooking, Aunt Claudia. If it helps, you definitely cook better than my dad, who swears he learned how to cook.”

“You’re just being nice,” Claudia comments, taking a seat at the table and looking at you, “and I love you for it, Y/N. But he’s a liar, your father could never cook bless him.”

There’s the sound of the door opening and then a greeting, “Morning Hendersons!”

“Steve, if I knew you were coming I would have made up a plate for you!” Claudia stands back up from the table to greet him with a smile. 

“It’s fine Mrs. H, Dustin called out on the walkie a while ago and asked for a ride to school, so I figured I’d swing by. You ready to go?” Steve asks, glancing over at Dustin who’s already gathering his backpack and putting his cap on his head as he looks over at you expectantly. 

“Come on, Y/N, let’s go. Don’t want to be late on your first day.” Dustin brushes past Steve, calling out a goodbye for his mom that you barely hear him shouting, “Shotgun!”, as he runs out the door. 

Steve’s head has spun towards where Dustin has left before he turns back to look at you, stunned, and then waiting for you to be ready. 

It takes you a half beat to get up from the table and gather your own things for the school day. You’re halfway to the door as you turn back to look at your aunt, “Thanks for breakfast Aunt Claudia. Have a good day. Bye Tews!” 

Then Steve closes the door after the two of you, and you turn to look at the car where Dustin has made himself comfortable in the front seat. He makes eye contact with you, sticking his tongue out at you. It’s just like how you did on the other night before. 

“Oh he’s just adding to the list today.” You shake your head as you walk to the car with Steve at your side. 

“Bad morning?” Steve asks, turning to look at you, though his eyes dart to glance at Dustin. Being an only child, he doesn’t know much about sibling dynamics, but he can tell that the two of you are probably more like that than cousins. “I can kick him to the backseat, if it makes you feel better.” Steve offers with a small smile in your direction. 

You shrug your shoulders at the comment, “I’ll let him keep it,” you make your voice louder so Dustin can hear you, “this time.”

“There’s still time to worry about your hair and look in the car, Y/N. Steve will even tilt the rearview so you can do another once over.” Dustin calls to you, opening his door so that you can hear him.

“Do I need to remind you just how dead you are this morning, Dustin?” Your walk toward the car hasn’t accelerated at all, in fact if anything you slow down just to prove a point while you speak raising an eyebrow at your younger cousin. It causes him to close the car door once more as he watches the two of you make your way down the driveway. “He is on thin fucking ice.”

“You see why I call him dipshit now?” 

The laugh bubbles in your chest as you reply, “I mean, I’ve always known he can be a pest.” You just hadn’t seen him in a few years. Phone calls could only do so much in so little time, letters could do even less. Still, he was still the same old Dustin. Just with a bit more of a punch in attitude and about the same amount of energy as always. 

“Are you really worried, though?” Steve asks, pausing in his steps and looking at you. He may not know you well, but after all the shit he’s gone through in the past year he’s pretty sure that he’s going to have Dustin Henderson—and probably the entire party, which (reluctantly) includes his ex Nancy Wheeler and her new boyfriend Jonathan Byers—in his life for the rest of his. Which means you’re in his life too. 

“No.” 

You don’t sound convincing though. Steve’s eyebrows shoot up into his swooping hair as he looks at you with a tilt of his head and what he hopes is a reassuring smile, “What’s there to worry about? It’s just school. Half of that battle is having friends and you’ve already got me and Nance and Jonathan.”

He says it like it’s easy. Like it’s no big deal. Just like Nancy had the night before. And still, you look at him, unsure of what to say. Your last school had been so…there wasn’t a right word to describe it. Fun wasn’t enough. Other words came to mind. Intoxicating, thrilling, lively. All until it was crumbling down in front of you and you couldn’t even catch the pieces to attempt to keep it all together. 

Steve puts his hand on your arm and gives it a gentle squeeze, comforting you. He doesn’t even really know you but it feels like you’ve known him longer than just this weekend, “Let’s go before Dustin’s head breaks the glass of the car. But it’s going to be fine, Y/N. Two weeks and then it’s winter break. That’s easy.”

He walks ahead of you and moves to open the door, leaving it open for you to get in before heading to the drivers side and getting in himself. 

Easy and school don’t seem to go hand in hand. But still, you don’t say anything back, and you get in the car quietly resolved to the first day of school looming over your head and listen to Steve and Dustin bicker over the radio. 

Maybe you would be wrong about the school. Maybe Steve and Nancy would be right. 

Oh, no…you were most definitely right about how the school day was going. You made several notes in your head throughout everything to bring that fact up to both Nancy and Steve the next time you saw them. 

Steve, being a year ahead of you, was in none of your classes. Though you saw him briefly in the hallway as you moved from class to class. At least it Hawkins High wasn’t as big as some of the other schools you had been to. You had had your first class of the day with Nancy but hadn’t seen her since then. Another blow, you hadn’t even spotted Jonathan since you’d first stepped foot into the school. 

Sure thing though, you had spotted Max’s step-brother and his posse of friends wandering the hallways and could tell why Nancy said what she had the night before on the phone. They were always in some sort of group poking fun at people or holding court in some way that made it seem like they were the it kids. You had at least been successful in avoiding them thus far. 

It felt, entirely, like you were the new kid in school with nobody by their side and you had to navigate some place on your own. 

To top it off, most of your classes had been filled with teachers making awkward introductions before moving along with the lesson. Then at the end, holding you back to hand you pamphlet after pamphlet of things you needed to catch up on for exams. 

You thought you would have time to work up to that, but there were exams coming up before break, and you were clearly expected to figure everything out by then. 

By lunch, your bag is weighing you down as you take a seat next to Nancy. “I hate it here.” You sigh, dropping your head down into your hands as you cast a glance up. 

“I think we have a record. This is the fastest I’ve heard Y/N say she hates a school.” Nancy teases you, glancing around like she’s looking for a clock. She rubs your arm softly, comforting, as she continues, “Don’t worry, I can help you study.” 

“Oh please, you’ll be too busy with your new boyfriend to help me study, and by that point I’ll have drowned in all these papers.” You retort, pulling yourself back up and stealing a chip from the bag in front of Nancy. 

“Hey, you’re one of my best friends.” Nancy replies, pulling the bag of chips closer to her as she speaks. “I won’t let you drown.”

“Oh, so you’ll ditch your boyfriend to help me plan a good study routine?” 

Nancy falters.

You point your finger at her with a giggle, “Ah ha, I told you.”

“Just not today, cause we have plans. But tomorrow, I am yours. Swear it. I’ll even drive you home after school if you stick around ’til after newspaper gets out. Plus, you owe me New York City stories.”

“I’ll trade you New York City stories for study help.” 

“Sounds like a deal. Mom would probably even let you sleep over if you wanted to, like old times.” Nancy nudges your shoulder with hers, a peace offering as she holds out the bag of chips in your direction. 

“Is this before or after you tell me about this snowball thing you found last night on the phone?” Your hand is in the chips bag when you spy Jonathan and Steve walking into the cafeteria from opposite directions, both looking for either you or Nancy, and heading your way when they see the two of you. 

“Oh my God, I was gonna bring those pictures today.” She sighs, having let go of the bag of chips to your hands fully but she turns and just smiles as she continues her thought. “It’s fine, we’ll have to do it in person! That’s even better.” Nancy’s laughter stops when she realizes that Jonathan and Steve have taken the seats on the opposite end of the table and she looks at you and then back to them. “When can you come over?” 

“I mean, considering I don’t have anything going on other than catching up on everything in all of these,” sarcasm drips from your tone as you dramatically lift and then drop papers onto the table between all of you, “I’m pretty much either really free or super busy.” 

“Okay,” Steve drawls out the word as he looks between you, Nancy, and the paperwork on the table. “Do we ask what the giant pile of papers is for?” 

“I think we’re just supposed to let them go about this.” Jonathan gestures between you and Nancy, who reaches over and takes the bag of chips on his lunch tray. “Hey?” 

“She took mine.” Nancy answers as she opens the bag with a shrug. 

“These,” you wave the bag in Nancy’s direction, before turning to look at the other two sitting at the table as it emphasizing it to them, “were a gift.” Then you let your shoulders slump, attempting to relax. “But, whatever, we’ll figure it out. Let’s just get through today right?” 

“Right.” Nancy nods her head at your comment. “Hey, the kids are going to the arcade tonight. Do you need a ride home after school?” 

“No, I think maybe I’ll head to the school’s library for a bit, and then make my way to the arcade from there to meet whoever’s picking Dustin up. I should probably start working on these, since my best friend can’t help me.” You tease Nancy, nudging her arm with yours. But really, you’re a bit undecided right then what your plans were going to be. In truth, you know that you shouldn’t put off at least glancing through all the papers from each teacher until you get together with Nancy. “I think I remember how to get around town enough to figure it out on my own. You guys can go about your days on your own. I’ll be fine.” 

The three of them look at you, all with different degrees of worry on their face. You study their faces briefly, shaking your head at them. 

“What? Guys, I’m not a child, and I’ve basically lived here for my whole life. At different times, on multiple occasions I have in fact wandered through Hawkins. I mean it when I said I’ll be fine.” You assure them, rolling your eyes. 

Sure, they’re your friends, but you couldn’t possibly understand what they would be worried about. You walked the streets of several cities bigger than Hawkins, Indiana alone before. What was their problem? 

You find the school library with ease at the end of the day, it’s relatively other than a few stragglers and some staff, and you find an open table all to yourself in the corner dropping into the chair and putting your bag onto the table with all your energy as you let out a sigh and look around. 

“If you’re looking for detention I think Higgins decided he wanted to do something new and now he’s holding it in the auditorium before school.” A voice comments from your left, causing you to turn your head. “So I think you’re a little late for that.” His hair is a mess of curls, but he’s not even really looking up at you. Instead, he’s entirely focused on a notebook in front of him writing something out—it’s a scratch of words, scrawled out that you can’t really make out from how far away you are, with something doodled in the margins too, but you try not to focus on it too much.  

“Are you saying that because school’s out for the day?” You ask him, turning to your own table and focusing on pulling the papers out of your bag to begin working on them and spreading them out in front of you to organize them into some sort of order. The problem is you don’t know where to begin, so you just start by just ordering the papers by the class period they were given to you in.  

He pauses, the pencil on the paper dropping as he glances up at you, “Shit,” a low whistle as if he’s realizing what time it is for the first time, “it’s the end of the day? Really?” He pauses, shaking his head, glancing around the library as he speaks again, “Well, Carver decided to not show up to meet me then.” He shrugs his shoulders, relaxing, and then tapping the lunch tin in front of him before shoving it into his bag. 

You’re a bit too focused on everything in front of you, reading the papers about the English Lit readings that you’ve missed, so you don’t see that the other person has gotten up from where he’d been sitting and taken the seat opposite you.

When you glance up and see him there, you tilt your head and look at him to ask, “shouldn’t you be finding this kid that blew you off?” 

“Nah,” He leans back in the chair, hands sprawled out in front of him and looking at you, “it’s cool.” 

You raise your eyebrows, looking up at him and rolling your eyes. “So then it wasn’t that important.” 

“I’m sure he’ll find me before whatever party he and the team are planning on throwing.”

You nod your head in understanding, turning your gaze back to the papers and circling somethings that you might need to focus on before the upcoming exams. “So what are you still doing here?” 

The curly haired boy looks around the library, making a show of it, before leaning forward and whispering, “Avoiding the principal. He’ll never find me in here, and I’m trying to avoid that whole morning detention thing. ’85’s gonna be my year, y’know.” 

“Held back, huh?” You question, not expecting a response as you continue flipping through the papers without looking up at him. “Well, maybe ’86 will be my year, but that depends on Hawkins here.” 

“Transfer, huh?” He mimics your tone, as if it weren’t already blatantly obvious. Most people who grew up in Hawkins wouldn’t go near Eddie Munson. The whole band thing didn’t add any kind of credit from the Hellfire Club’s reputation, and unfortunately neither did his stunt last year. Now, he was really just known for staying behind a year, Hellfire, and dealing. 

“What gives it away? Is it the mountain of paperwork these teachers are giving out or is it just something in my eyes?” You can’t help but laugh, holding out a free hand and gesturing between the papers on the table and your aforementioned eyes. 

“Funny,” Eddie taps his hands on the table as he looks at the paperwork you’ve been looking at. He got something like that last year, but he hadn’t really given it much of a second glance. Or a first one, in fact if he were being honest he’s pretty sure he wrote half of a song on one of the papers and it’s somewhere back at the trailer. “It’s actually the fact you’re talking to me.”

Your eyes widen as you stop toying with the papers in your hands to give him your full attention, “There’s definitely a story there.”

Eddie’s smile seems to falter briefly before he nods his head, but his hands draw your attention to his shirt while he speaks, “A lot of it comes down to this shirt right here. My pride and joy, Hellfire Club.” 

You look back at his face as you say, “Sounds like a metal band.” 

“My band’s name is Corroded Coffin.”

“So then what’s Hellfire Club?” 

“Have you ever heard of Dungeons and Dragons?” Eddie tilts his head, waiting for a response and readying himself to launch into the history and magic of everything that is his pride and joy. 

“Actually, yeah. My cousin talks about it. All the time,” You could feel yourself getting more animated, thinking of Dustin and his friends. The whole night you witnessed flashing through your eyes. “He and his friends have this group thing. He’s tried to get me into it, but I only saw them…play, if that’s the right word…just recently. He gave me a blank character sheet, but I still have no idea what any of it means if I’m being honest. But I would never admit that kind of defeat to Dustin.” 

Eddie’s whole face lights up during your response. He’s so used to being ostracized for the Hellfire Club, everyone thinking it’s some sort of Satanic bullshit, and putting him down for it that he half expected you to do the same right away. “Well if you’ve got time I can explain it. Save you embarrassment of asking your cousin all the questions.”

“Does it look like I have time?” You ask, your hands flattening out all the papers in front of you so they spread out even further, as you look at Eddie. But still, there’s a smile on your face as you say it. You glance around, looking at the clock on the wall. “I just need to kill some more time before I can head over to the arcade to meet up with my cousin and his friends.”

Eddie’s eyebrows raise, “Are you babysitting them or something?”

“Or something.” Admittedly, you actually liked spending time with Dustin and his friends. Besides, you hadn’t been around to do that in a while, so getting to do it now was something you were going to take full advantage of while you could. 

“Well, the arcade is close by the record shop. I can give you a ride over if you want, I was heading that way when school was done for the day.” 

You look up at him, and see that he’s waiting expectantly, instead of responding you tilt your head and see that he mimics your pose. He’s studying you while he waits for your response. You glance back down at the papers, “I really should try and study for the exams that are coming up.” 

“Why? You said ’86 is gonna be your year, right? That’s so far away. You’ve got time.” Eddie brushes the thought with a shrug of his shoulders, shaking his head. 

“Well then here’s another reason, I don’t know you.” 

“Eddie Munson.” Eddie holds out his hand, your eyes drop down to it and you look at the rings before looking back up at him as he speaks again, “and now you have no more excuses, right?”