#jennifer x steve

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?

story:Midnight Rain wc: with a sudden power outage, jennifer begins to suspect something bad is coming, suspecting the gate has been opened, things turn upside down when she go through a bought of depression -- hiding her feelings from steve.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner.]

{ June 28, 1985 }

Coming back from the restroom, Jennifer puts on her Scoops Ahoy sailor hat as she enters the shop. She walk past Robin, leaning against the counter and sees a group of kids walking up to the counter of the ice cream parlor as she watches from afar. Jennifer recognizes the group of kids from the events of last year, smiling at Max who smiles back. Robin leans against the counter as a raven-haired kid rings the obnoxious bell that sits by the register.

"Hey, dingus. Your children are here." Robin calls.

"Again? Seriously?" Steve asks from the staff room.

Annoyed, Steve lets the kids through anyway as they trudge through the white vague corridor. Jennifer steps behind the counter, helping two teens select their ice cream before handing them the cones. They pay before walking out of the shop, looking back she watches her boyfriend bring the group of kids with him. He sneaks the group of kids in through the back of the mall, coming back into view as he smiles at his girlfriend.

"Wow, such a good mom," Jennifer jokes.

Steve rolls his eyes, annoyed.

"Well, when you've been doing it for the last two years, you get experience."

Smiling, Jennifer walks in the room and sits down, fumbling with her keys as her eyes well up with tears. Steve approaches and kneels in front of the brunette as they make eye contact.

"Are... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm-I'm fine."

"No, you're-"

"Dingus. Get out here, there's a group of girls that are annoying me,"

"Okay, just a second. I'm a little busy here."

"Making out with Jennifer? No. Hurry up, dingus."

Steve rolls his eyes as he looks back at Jennifer. The peck their li[s before rising, standing behind the counter. He takes another order, beginning to scoop ice cream when suddenly the lights flicker Jennifer glances down at her arm, seeing the scar that she got from her boyfriend's backyard in 1983. The lights then shut off completely. Looking up, she watches as Steve walks over to the light switch, flipping the knob up and down.

"That isn't gonna work, Dingus."

"Oh, really?" He asks, flipping the switch at an even faster pace.

Suddenly, the light turn on in the mall. A nautical tune plays from the radio as Steve glances at the lights above then looking at Robin and Jennifer.

"Let there be light,"

Even though Jennifer couldn't see Robin's face, she knew she was making some kind of expression toward Steve. The three employees get back to work as Jennifer counts down the hours of work before being able to go home and crash.

——

{ June 29, 1985 }

Jennifer suddenly awakes, looking over at the clock. She sees it sitting ten after eight as the realization sets in, she forgot to reset the clock the previous night due to the power outage. Not only that, but she's very late for work. Throwing the covers off, Jennifer stumbles out of bed and over to her closet where she throws on her Scoops Ahoy uniform and does some light makeup since she'll sweat the makeup off later that day.

Grabbing her keys off her shelf, she leaves without eating before exiting the house. Sliding in the driver's seat, Jennifer puts the key in the ignition as her vehicle starts. Pulling out of the car port and drives down the road and towards the mall, parking in an empty spot as she removes the keys from the ignition and her seatbelt from the latch as she hops out of her car. Striding towards the entrance the sweat forms on her hairline as well as her chest. She walks in and towards the entrance of Scoops Ahoy. Robin notices the sweaty brunette as she smiles, Jennifer smiles back. Steve enters from the back door and greets his girlfriend with a kiss. Pulling away, Jennifer smiles at him as the short haired girl stares at them in disgust.

"Alright, love birds break it up."

"What? It's not like we're making out, or having sex." Jennifer says.

"I don't care, you're abusing company policy."

"Fine, we'll just greet each other like two friends."

"Okay.."

Jennifer rolls her eyes, stepping behind the counter as she holds her keys as she watches as Robin slings a single scoop of ice cream into a cone, handing it to the person. Later, the brunette sits in the back as Robin straightens up and Steve is slinging ice cream in the front. Jennifer overhears his conversation with two girls.

"Alrighty, one scoop of chocolate. That's a buck-twenty-five." He says. "Ooh, Purdue. Fancy."

"Yeah, I'm excited,"

The girl chuckles.

"Yeah, you know, I considered it, Perdue, but I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real life experience, you know, before I hit college, and see what it feels like." He rambles, continuing on. "Kina, like uh, I don't know, see what it's like to earn a working man's wage."

The register beeps as Jennifer giggles, continuing to listen. Steve apologizes to both girls.

"I think that's really important."

"Yeah, totally."

"Yeah, anyway, its so fun. We should kind of like, you know, I don't know maybe hang out this weekend or-- oh, sorry about that. Uh.." The change clatters as it hits the counter.

Jennifer's smile begins to fade as she hears her boyfriend ask a girl out. The awkward male continues talking as the girl turns him down. Robin grabs the white board filled with tally marks and sets it on the counter top.

"Another bites the dust," She says. "You are 0 for 6, Popeye."

"Yeah, I -- I can count."

"It means you suck," Robin comments.

"Yep, I can read, too." Steve says.

Jennifer rises, standing next to Robin as Steve approaches them.

"It's this stupid hat. I am telling you, it's blowing my best feature."

"Yeah, company policy is a real drag." Jennifer responds.

"You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered... telling the truth?" Robin asks.

"Oh, you mean, that I couldn't even get into Tech and my douchebag dad's trying to teach me a lesson, I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? That truth?" He asks.

Jennifer notifies them that a group of girls are approaching as Steve and Robin look towards the entrance. Steve turns to face the two brunettes again.

"You know what? Screw company policy." He says, taking his hat off and tossing it past Jennifer.

"Oh, my god, you're a whole new man."

He turns away and approaches the group of women. Jennifer begins to think about breaking up with Steve as she begins to feel sad, almost on the verge of tears as Jennifer turns away. A stray tear falls from her eye, wiping it immediately. However, Robin notices.

"You okay?"

"Oh, me? Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What's going on? Are you... jealous?"

"What? Jealous? Me? No. No, I'm not. I've been... I've been struggling, wondering if I should even keep going with the relationship. I'm beginning to think about breaking up with... him."

"Oh, my God."

"Oh, please. Don't act like you care."

"I do care, or I wouldn't be asking if you were okay. And, wouldn't be standing here listening to you talk about how you want to leave the relationship."

"I mean... should I though? It's just we've been through so much, and that's something we have in common. But, the other part of me wants to end it and see what else is out there."

"You do what feels best to you, okay?"

Jennifer nods, tears streaming down her pale cheeks before wiping them away. Steve notices and rushes toward her, wrapping Jennifer into a hug.

"Steve, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay, I just wanted to comfort you."

"I know, but this... this really isn't a good time. I.. just need sometime to think." Jennifer says, pulling away from Steve and rushing out of the shop and into a nearby Girls bathroom.

——

That night, Jennifer finishes up for the night as she makes her way out towards out of Scoops Ahoy, pulling the cap off her head. She walks toward the entrance of Starcourt Mall as Steve catches up to her, stopping Jennifer in her tracks.

"What is it Steve?"

"Earlier... you seemed upset, and I wanted to make sure everything's fine."

"Everything is.. is okay. I promise,"

"Okay,"

Jennifer walks out to her car and enters, closing the door beside her. She puts the key key in the ignition as the car starts, blowing out cold air. Jennifer turns the AC off as she sits and stares in the distance in front of her. Tears cloud her vision, the anxiety creeping up on her as she sobs into her hands as the radio begins playing the soft tune of 'I Wanna Know What Love Is' by Foreigner. With tear stained cheeks, Jennifer slides her seatbelt on and pulls out of the parking lot and drives to Roane Hill Cemetery.

Walking toward Wilhelmina's headstone, Jennifer sits in the dry grass and stares at the stone in front of her. Tears stream down her cheeks as a graduation cap sits atop the headstone, the tassel blows in the musty wind. Jennifer sniffles before clearing her throat. Though, she couldn't say another word, Jennifer lays down and cries to herself quietly before drifting off to sleep.

——

Jennifer stands in the bus with Wilhelmina and the kids as the doors on the bus opens and Steve steps off, wielding the bat. Metal creaks around him as he spins his bat before holding it close. He creeps through the junkyard, chittering continues. Steve swivels around and sees two creatures fanking him as they growl. Dustin opens the bus door, shouting for him to abort. Dart charges as Steve rolls across a car’s hood. One falls through the windshield as he hits another one with his bat. At the bus’s door, Jennifer, Max, Lucas and Dustin motion to steve as he scrambles inside, but Billies pushes past them and runs for her life but gets attacked by one of the demo-dogs.

Jennifer is still in shock and panic, not knowing what to do next until she sees Billie lying lifeless on the grass. She rushes toward her and sees the massive pool of blood forming under her body. Tears well up in Jennifer's eyes as they meet with Billie's.

"Je.. Jennifer?"

"I'm here, I'm here. I'm gonna get you to the hospital, just hold on."

"N-no, I... this is my time, Jennifer." She sniffles. "Don't wait for me, go. Save everyone I... I'll be... okay."

"Billie, don't say that. I'm getting you help." Jennifer cranes her neck. "Steve! Help me."

Steve rushes over, telling the kids to stay on the bus before dropping to his knees.

"Jennifer," He says.

"No, no. We... we have to save her. She's... she's gonna die. Steve, please?" Jennifer pleads, tears running down her cheeks as the air feels thicker with each breath she takes.

Jennifer picks Billie up and rests her body on hers, blood seeping into her shirt. She makes eye contact with the blonde.

"Jennifer... Jen... It's okay, let me fly with the angels. I... love you." Billie says, her head rolls to the side.

"Billie," Jennifer calls. "Billie. Wilhelmina, please, wake up. No!" Jennifer cries, holding a dead Wilhelmina close.

As Jennifer gently places Wilhelmina on the ground, she cries harder as Steve brings her into his embrace. The kids begin to approach as they feel saddened by the moment.

——

Suddenly Jennifer wakes up as she starles before looking around in the twilight. The moon is full and the heat is wet. Sweat forms on her forehead and her breathing is ragged. Craning her neck, Jennifer sees her boyfriend Steve down on one knee. She calms down a little as tears stained her cheeks.

"Steve?"

He brings Jennifer into his arms as she sobs silently in his chest. She wraps her arms around him.

"I'm here,"

"I-- I had -- I wasn't meaning to fall asleep. I was trying to say goodbye to B--Billie, but I slipped into a slumber."

"It's alright,"

"No, it's not. I-I wish she were still here."

"I know. but she's gone, and you couldn't help that."

"I know,"

Her and Steve stay there for a little bit longer before pulling away, helping Jennifer to her vehicle before she takes off down the road as she wipes away the tears that stream down her cheeks.

[natti-ice]

18+ mdni

that reality check hitting after reading smut

[strangerficsx]

CHAPTER FOUR | WILL THE WISE

story: Midnight Rain wc: 1k problems rise when mews is nowhere to be found as jennifer and dustin come to an empty glass case and a disturbing scene.

{ November 1, 1984 }

Jennifer, Max and the boys walk down the hallway before running into Joyce Byers. 

“Dustin!” She calls, 

“Mrs. Byers?” 

“What’s going on? Where’s Will?” 

The door opens as a panicked Lucas rushes in as everyone looks toward him. He pants. 

“The field!” He shouts. 

Everyone follows Lucas out to the field, seeing Will and Mike. 

“I just found him like this. I think he’s having another episode.” 

“Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It’s Mom!” Joyce shouts. 

Jennifer stands there worried. Will is in a trance like state, his eyes rolled to the back of his skull. She begins to sweat, worried about Will. Suddenly, hes gasps coming back to reality. After he comes out of it, they follow the boy and his mom out of the school standing on the stairs above, watching as they leave.  

“Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?” 

“It freaked me out. Poor thing.” Jennifer says. 

“Two episodes in two days.” 

“It’s getting worse.” 

“You think it’s True Sight?” 

Everyone looks at Lucas.

“What’s True Sight?” Max asks. 

“I–it’s nothing,” Lucas says. 

Mrs Byers starts her engine before driving off, leaving everyone there. 

——

The next day, Jennifer arrives at school and enters the gym watching Steve and Billy play against each other. She keeps quiet as the sounds of a whistle blows and shoes squeak on the floor. She can’t seem to understand what’s exactly happening as Steve guards Billy. Billy catches the pass, facing Steve. He laughs. 

“All right, all right. King Steve, everyone. I like it. Playing tough today.” 

“Jesus! Do you ever stop talking? Come on!” Steve shouts. 

Jennifer sees Billy as she rolls her eyes, annoyed and remembers what happened at Tina’s party, feeling like an imbecile. Billy laughs again. What is with him? Why is he always laughing? Stupid bastard. 

“You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I’m here? Huh?” 

Billy shoulders Steve, knowing him down before scoring. The ball lands in the hoop as Steve takes Billy’s offered hand. The newcomer leans in close, he says something to Steve that Jennifer can’t hear very well. He then shoves his hand before leaving him on the floor. She leaves too, waiting outside the gym as Steve finally enters the hallway, greeting her. 

“Jennifer?” 

“Steve, hey. I wanted to, um, see you.” 

“For what, exactly.” 

“No reason.” 

He nods as they walk down the hall together, stopping by his locker. They continue walking after and talk some more. Some time later, Jennifer enters her next class. 

——

???’s point of view

At a park, a kid jerks forward and backward on a rickety spring rocker painted like a duck as Nancy and Jonathan wait nervously on a bench. Nancy checks her watch. 

“It’s 15 past.” 

“Yeah, I know. Just give him time.” 

Nancy spots a bald guy in a covered area reading a newspaper, he talks to himself as Nancy notices. The male notices the teens looking at him. Jonathan shifts his gaze to a man feeding birds. Nearby, parents push kids on a mary go round. Looking over their shoulders, they see a group of kids playing Duck Duck Goose while two women supervise. By a large tree, two ladies in workout clothes cool off. When Jonathan looks again, he finds the male feeding the birds staring at him as Nancy notices one of the moms watching the group of kids looking at her. A guy walking a dog eyes them. Both of the women in workout attire give them a glance as they run by. A man with a briefcase peers their way, fear taking over. 

“I think we should go.” 

The teens rise and begin walking off. Nancy clutches her purse as they cross a bridge. The male in the trench coat trails them. They reach the parking lot as they approach Jonathan’s car, climbing in.He turns the key in the ignition, but the engine sputters. Suddenly the bald man from earlier knocks lightly on Nancy’s window, startling her. 

“Trouble with your car, miss? I can give you two a lift if you like.” He offers. 

The man in the trench coat stands on Jonathan’s side as the male with the dog positions himself in front of the car. They teens whirl around to find a woman standing behind the car, the guy knocks again. Jonathan remains still with his hand on the key as the guy flashes an unnerving grin. 

——

When Jennifer arrives home from school she sees her mom pouring cat food into a bowl. She greets her mom.

“Where are you? Mew-mew! Dinner.” Claudia calls. 

Suddenly Dustin enters, closing the door behind him. 

“Hey, Dusty!” 

“Hi, hey. Hey, Mom.” 

“Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Yeah.” 

He walks past her and enters his bedroom. Jennifer busts through the door, standing there as she shuts the door. She locks the door behind her, startling Dustin. 

“What are you hiding, dipshit?” 

He ignores his sister. 

“Dart, I’ve gotta talk to you, buddy. It’s about Will.” 

Dustin pulls the sheet of the terrarium and notes the glass broken as slimy substance drips off the remaining shards. Jennifer furrows her brows, stalking closer. His mouth agape, he reaches inside and picks up a translucent dead skin from a puddle of mucus. The sound of screeching catches their attention as he whirls his head around to face the corner of his bedroom. The sound of grunts come from behind the chair as Jennifer notices crimson splattered on the orange chair, stalking closer as Dustin follows. He notices splotches of blood on the carpet, following the trail to his orange chair. They peeks over as blood drips down the wood’s back, finding Dart the size of a small dog eating Mews. His head is buried in the cat’s stomach. Dart turns to them, his flaps open as they surround the opening with rows of sharp teeth. It screeches at them. 

“What the hell is that?” Jennifer asks. 

“That’s not good.” 

“No shit, Dustin.”

[rana030]

Pov: when i catch y/n wearing something i would NEVER wear

[tony-stark-ing]

Tony and Steve can't handle She-Hulk's parties.

She-Hulk (2004) #1

[ffverr]

The Avengers VS whatever the hell the X-Men are doing....

"we have to terminate magneto" okay but he's on grill duty???

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter Nine: The Gate

story: Midnight Rain wc: 5.4k after eleven reunites with everyone, she plans on closing the gate as her and hopper escape to hawkins lab. secondly joyce, jonathan and nancy take will and try to fight the mind flayer within as jennifer and steve babysit her brother and his friends until trouble shows up.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner.]

{ November 4-5, 1984 }

Mike's lips part as he stood there, inching a step closer to Eleven.

"Eleven," He spoke softly.

"Mike,"

She grabbed him as the two kids started crying.

“Is that?” Max asked. Lucas and Dustin nodded in response.

“I never gave up on you.” Mike said. “I called you every night. Every night for-“

“Three-hundred, fifty-three days”. Eleven smiled. “I heard.” Jennifer watches, her smile delicate as she held onto Steve’s hand.

“Why did you tell me that you were there? That you were okay?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her.” Hopper spoke, causing Mike to turn and look at him.

He stepped forward to pull El into a hug. “What the hell is this? Where have you been?”

“Where have you been?” She asked, agitated.

“You’ve been hiding her.” Mike spoke, putting the pieces together. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” He shoved at the chief.

“Hey!” Hopper turned and grabbed Mike’s jacket. “Let’s talk. Alone.” He and Mike went down the hall to Will’s room.

Jennifer heard the door close, staying in her spot before looking back at everyone greeting Eleven. She hugs Dustin and Lucas. Eleven studies Dustin, reaching out and touching his front teeth but he pulls back quickly, grinning wide as a quick purr slips out. The brunette was still holding onto Steve's hand, and rolled her eyes at her younger brother. Max steps forward, extending one hand as the other holds her skateboard under her arm. But Eleven ignores the friendly gesture, brushing past as she enters Jennifer’s embrace, hugging her tightly. She hugs Eleven back. 

“Hey, Kiddo.” Jennifer says before they pull apart, resting her hand on the child's head, ruffling her hair in a playful way as she giggles. "I missed you like crazy."

"Me too," She responded.

Eleven and Jennifer smile warmly at each other before the girl eyes Jennifer's pants closely, sadness forming on her face.

"Blood? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just got caught in something that's all."

Eleven nods, bringing Jennifer in for another hug before she begins walking towards Joyce. She wraps her arms around Eleven, greeting the child.

——

In the kitchen, everyone huddled around the kitchen like earlier. Out of habit, she stood beside her boyfriend and Jonathan as he leaned on the chair below them.

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown.” Hopper sighs. “A lot. That’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs. 

“Demo-dogs,” Dustin corrects. 

“I’m sorry, what?” 

“I said, Demo-dogs. Like demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass—”

“How is this important right now?” 

“It’s not. I’m sorry.” 

On the opposite end, Elven spoke. “I can do it.” 

“You're not hearing me.” 

“I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies. But if we’re right about this… I mean if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer’s army…” 

“Will’s a part of that army.” 

“Closing the gate will kill him.” 

As the other’s wore discouraged looks, a pensive expression washes over Joyce’s face. Now, she leads everyone to Will who is laid on Jonathan’s bed. The curtains flutter in front of the open window, She closes the window,

“We keep giving it what it wants.”

“If this is a virus, and Will’s the host, then…” Nancy trails off.

“Then we need to make the host inhabitable.” 

They look at Will’s unconscious body. 

“If he likes it cold,” Jennifer begins. 

“We need to burn it out of him.” Joyce finishes. 

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.” 

“Somewhere far away.”

In the backyard, Jennifer, Steve, and Nancy rummage through the pile with flashlights. She stayed silent, searching the pile of junk that was once in Joyce's shed, overhearing Steve clear his throat as he begins speaking to Nancy.

“You should go with him.” 

"What?"

“With Jonathan.” 

“No, I’m… I’m not just gonna leave Mike.” 

“No one’s leaving anyone,” Jennifer says, attempting to reassure Nancy.

Jennifer lifts a fan as Steve retrieves a space heater, shining his light on it as they make eye contact before looking at Nancy, offering the heater. She takes it with reluctance and gazes at Steve contritely. Steve and Jennifer leave as Nancy stares at him, leaving her in the foggy backyard. The moonlight shines over, reflecting on the vehicles in front of them. Jennifer and Steve stood beside the children, staring at Eleven, Hopper, and Jonathan.

Nervous, Jennifer unconsciously grabs Steve's hand, hoping the plan works. Max, Lucas and Dustin stand in front of the two older teens as Nancy says goodbye to her younger brother before he steps onto the shaded front porch. Eleven climbs into Hopper’s SUV as headlights blaze from Jonathan’s car as Nancy enters the passenger seat. Joyce sits in the backseat with Will, pulling out as Hopper follows behind. Standing on the porch Steve and Jennifer stand with the kids as they view the receding cars, helplessly staring at the vehicles. 

They go back inside. Jennifer kneels down and has a sheet in her hands as she grabs the dead demo-dog and wraps it up, pulling it towards the kitchen and grunts with each step. Steve walks toward his girlfriend and helps her hold it, waiting impatiently for Dustin to hurry. The younger male makes a clearing as he tosses the fridges' contents aside, making room for the creature as Steve scoops it in his arms, walking toward the kitchen. “Alright. It should fit now.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“Yes it is! Okay! This is a ground-breaking, scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog!”

“Alright. Alright. But you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers.”

He shoves the dog in but struggles. Jennifer steps in and grapples the body, pushing half the monster inside as the backend hangs in Steve's arms. The head of the demodog head falls to the side as Jennifer swears under her breath. They slam the door shut, earning a glance from him as he mouths a silent thank you. She smiles back at him before enter the living room.

In the living room, Mike paces as Lucas cleans up broken glass, arguing about the laboratory and the roaming demodogs.

“You weren’t in there- okay Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demodogs!” Dustin yelled.

"Oh, my god, Dustin. Give it up, OK?!" She shouted.

“The Chief will take care of her!” Lucas shouted.

“Like she needs protection.” Max shook her head.

Steve walked up to Mike. “Listen dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line: you execute it. Alright?” He says, wiping his hands off with a hand towel. 

"Why the hell are you using sports analogies, Steve? They are not going to understand."

Steve ignored Jennifer, staring toward Mike.

"Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game. And second, we’re not even in the game -- we’re on the bench.” Mike rolled his eyes.

Steve stammers. “So my point is… Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so there’s nothing we can do.” 

He sighed, handing Jennifer the hand towel as she wiped her hands.

“That's not entirely true.” Dustin says, the other’s looking back at him. “I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away. “

“If we get their attention…” 

“Maybe we can draw them from the lab.” Jennifer spoke.

“And clear them from the gate.”

“Then we all die!” Steve said, his tone was a little louder. "Jennifer, who's side are you on? Don't encourage them."

Jennifer rolled her eyes, taking a step back as she kept her eyes on Steve.

“No, that's not a point of view, man, that's a fact.” 

Mike rushes past them. "I got it!" He shouted, pointing to a spot on the map drawing. "This is where the chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnels. So here, right here, this is like a hub."

He walked to where all the drawings led to one big circle on the floor. “So you’ve got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire--"

"Oh yeah, that's a no!" Jennifer stared at them, attempting to gain their attention.

They ignored her.

“The Mind Flayer would call away his army.” Dustin said.

“They’d all come to stop us!” Lucas spoke.

“Hey!” Steve said.

“Then we circle back to the exit.” Mike rambled on.

“Guys!” He grew louder.

“By the time they realize we’re gone-“

“El would be at the gate.” Max finished.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Steve clapped at them. “This is not happening.”

“But--"

“No, no, no, no, no. No “buts”! I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe and that’s exactly what we plan on doing."

"Were staying here. On the bench. And we're waiting for the starting team to do their job? Does everybody understand?" Jennifer spoke, now folding her arms across her chest.

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!” Mike yelled back.

“I said, does everybody understand?” She waved the dish towel at them. “I need a yes!”

A sigh escapes her lips as she feels herself getting emotional before exiting the house. Her voice breaking. "I need some air, Steve. I'll be right back."

They make eye contact as Jennifer walks over to the front door, opening it then closes it behind her. Tears well up as she takes a seat on one of the chairs, sitting on Joyce's front porch. She leans down, cupping her face, sobbing. The cold breeze hitting her ever so lightly whilst chills ran up her spine. She tried keeping her sobs quiet, unaware that Steve had slipped out the door. Jennifer cranes her neck up, seeing her boyfriend as her face was turning the brightest shade of red. The tip of her nose was pink from her tears along with the cold, but she didn't care.

Steve knelt in front of her, holding her hands in his, staring into her eyes sadly but lovingly. Jennifer sniffles.

"Jen, I hate seeing you upset. What's wrong?" He questions with soft eyes.

"I just... I miss Wilhelmina. She should be here with us, not dead in the junkyard somewhere." She choked through her tears. "I just need to know why she did what she did."

"I know, I know." He lets her lay her head on his shoulder as she begins sobbing once more. Steve rests a soothing hand on her back, rubbing circles.

The silence between them was short-lived as the sound of a loud engine roared, inching closer with each passing second. They pull apart, staring at each other. Jennifer furrowed her brows, leaning to the side as headlights shined brightly in front of her and down the Byers' driveway. The vehicle stopped precipitously, turned off the lights as the door swings open. Stepping out was none other than Billy Hargrove. Jennifer sighed, not wanting to deal with the man who basically cheated on her at Tina's Halloween party a few days ago. He stood beside his vehicle as Steve turned to look, almost annoyed.

Billy took a drag of his cigarette then smiled. "Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?"

Steve stood, standing in his spot with his arms crossed as he stared Billy down. “Yeah it’s me don’t cream your pants.”

"And Jennifer, you still crying over me?"

"No," She denies. "I'm done crying over you. You are the least of my worries now."

"You serious? It sure does look like you've been crying." He spoke, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Yes, I am, Hargrove. I'm taken now. So whatever you think about me, you can take that opinion and shove it right up your ass!"

He chuckled, taking yet another puff as he stepped closer. "Jennifer Henderson -- dating King Steve? Wow, should've known you were a slut. Jumping from male to male."

"Actually, I'm not. You're the slut around here, Billy. Always going from one bitch to another."

Billy looked at her, annoyance prominent in his face. He chuckled.

Jennifer could tell Steve was agitated, but kept his cool as she rolled her eyes, standing her ground as she folded her arms across her chest. In front of her, Billy held this cigarette in between his lips, removing his jacket in a few seconds. Steve stepped off the porch to meet him halfway.

"What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Amigo.”

“Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. Jennifer is the only one here.” Steve turned to look at her.

Jennifer waved politely.

“Really? Are you sure? She’s small. Redhead. Bit of a bitch.”

Billy wasn’t buying it and Jennifer knew deep down something was gonna happen. However, she kept a straight face, staring toward the two males.

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry buddy.”

Billy removed the cigarette from his mouth. “You know, I don’t know, this-” he sighed. “This whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her, with you, at a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”

Steve shook his head. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t understand what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

“Then who is that?” Billy pointed to the window with his cigarette.

Steve and Jennifer turned to see Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Max rushing away from the window. "Jesus."

Before Steve could get any other words out Billy pushed him to the ground. "I told you to plant your feet." He then kicked him in his gut.

With fear and anger coursing through her veins, Jennifer didn't have much time to whip up a plan as she watched Billy heading her way. He stalked up the driveway to meet her on the porch.

He tried to walk past her, but she stood in front of the door. "Come on, Jen, don't be like your boy toy -- just move."

"No," She crossed her arms, brows knitted. "I'm not moving an inch. You're not touching her, if you do, I'll kill you myself."

"Well, look who stiffened up. What made you so tough?"

"Getting over you,"

"Eh, whatever. You're just another bitch anyway," He declared, pushing her to the side, a little too hard as it takes her by surprise, losing her footing.

The male barges through the door, trying to shut it but Jennifer stops it from closing as she stepped in abruptly as she slammed the door shut behind her. The kids stood in a line, in the space connecting the hallway, kitchen and living room. "Well, well, well. Lucas Sinclair, what a surprise."

“I thought I told you to stay away from him Max.” He stared at her.

“Billy - go away.”

“You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.”

“Billy--"

"I break things." He turned to grab Lucas by the shoulders, pushing him into the kitchen and against the wall.

"Billy, stop it!" Jennifer shouted. "Hey! Hey!"

A sudden sound of loud indistinct yelling at the male by Max, Dustin and Mike. Jennifer was rigid, not knowing what to do next.

"Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will - you stay away from her. Stay away from her! Do you hear me?”

“I said get off!” Lucas brought us knee up to kick Billy in the groin.

Billy groaned, stumbling backwards. Jennifer stepped in to stand in front of Lucas. "You are so dead Sinclaire. You're dead."

Suddenly Steve appeared out of nowhere, only to grab Billy's shoulder and spun him around.

"No, you are."

Steve swung back and threw his fist into Billy's face. Jennifer guided Lucas around the two fighting to stand back with the other kids. She stepped between them, glaring at the long haired male. "You need to get out, right now. Get out!"

He clenched his jaw and shoved her away, rough enough that as she wasn't able to catch herself, she fell to the floor, smacking her head on the table along the way. She groaned. Jennifer lifted her hand, bringing it to her head, feeling something warm as she pulled her hand to look at her fingers. They were covered in blood before looking at the kids. She didn't care about herself, all she cared about was the kid's safety.

Billy laughs as the kids bring Lucas into their arms. His nose bleeds, getting in the other man’s face. Steve uses two fingers to gently push him away. He ducks as Billy swings then lands his own punch. 

Steve hits Billy into the kitchen counter where he grabs a plate and smashes it into Steve’s head, earning a pained groan. Max shouts her brother's name, hoping he’ll stop. It doesn't. Dustin moves away as Billy swings toward Steve again, pushing him towards the living room. Billy headbutts Steve to the floor. He straddles the male, throwing a barrage of punches at him. The kids scream as Jennifer tries to calm them, making them leave the room but they wouldn’t budge while she continued shouting at the two males to knock it off. Billy doesn’t stop as Jennifer notices a syringe, grabbing it off the corner of a sewing table.

She takes the cap off before pushing past Lucas and Mike. As Billy continues to wail on Steve’s bloody face, Jennifer jams the needle into his neck. Billy staggers to his feet, confusedly, facing her, Max and the boys as fear washes over her face. Yanking the syringe out, he glances at it then at his ex. He falls backwards onto the floor, laughing as Max grabs the bat and stands above her step-brother. 

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?” She says. 

“Screw you.” 

Max slams the bat on the floor between his legs then raises it again. Jennifer rushes toward Steve, grabbing his battered face before looking up at Max. 

“Say you understand. Say it! Say it!”

“I understand.” 

Billy’s eyes close as Max drops the bat, she turns and walks away as the boys stare at her. She walks around Billy and fixes his keys from his pocket, holding it up to her friends. A proud smile forms on her face. Jennifer glances at the redhead, tilting her head to the side annoyed and in pain.

“No, no. No. You are not driving. I’ll drive. Give me the keys.” Jennifer sternly says as Max hands her the keys defeated. “Now, find some bandages and gauze, something to put over his wounds.” 

The kids scramble to look for something as Jennifer looks down at Steve’s unconscious body, frowning. Her head was pounding and blood dripped from her wound, painting her hairline in crimson. She uses her strength and grabs him under his arms, dragging him towards the sofa, leaning him against it. His head rolls to the side as she holds it in place with her dry, bloodied hand. Max brings out a box of bandaids as Jennifer grabs them, taping each one to his face. They were a bit girly, but she didn’t care. The faster she gets his wounds covered, the faster they can leave.

Once done, she and the kids load Steve’s insensible body into the back of the camaro. The kids pile in as she takes a seat in front of the wheel. On the way and in the back, Steve stirs, face battered and bruised as dried blood sits under his swollen nose. Panicking, he asks what’s going on and freaks out. 

“Everybody, shut up!” Jennifer shouts, looking at an erratic Steve in the mirror above.

“Make a left, here!” 

Jennifer yanks the wheel hard, crashing into a mailbox before speeding down the road. Parked in the field of rotted pumpkins, everyone piles out of the car as Steve falls out of the Camaro and onto the ground as the kids pull on goggles and put bandanas over their mouths.

Steve was conscious, staring at Jennifer as he started understanding what was happening. She glanced at him, knowing that this was the right thing to so, and she was also a bad influence. Steve leans against the car. Dustin and Steve started to bicker as he begrudgingly takes the backpack. Jennifer chimes in and manages to tell him that this was the right things to do, so they can try and help save Will.

The blood on Jennifer's forehead began to dry as Steve noticed, rushing toward her and trying to examine it while she pushed his hands away.

"I'm okay, Steve."

"No, you're not. You're bleeding."

"Steve..."

Steve made eye contact with her once again. "I remember him pushing you to the side as you fell and hit your head. You are not okay, you're injured."

"Steve, I said I'm okay. Now, are we gonna do this, or not?"

Steve sighed, annoyed beyond words still going against the idea of going in the tunnels.

"Come on, Steve." Dustin encourages.

Jennifer thought long and hard until an idea came to mind. "If we get through tonight, and make it to tomorrow, we can spend time with each other and..." She trailed off, not wanting to say the rest in front of the kids.

It took Steve a couple minutes, considering he got his brain battered prior. But he got the idea.

"Oh, oh! Yes, come on." He said almost immediately.

Now, Steve and Jennifer enter behind the kids, dropping in the hole. White particles float around them as Mike reads a hand drawn map. Jennifer curses under her breath, feeling like she had just stepped in mud but worse.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

“You’re pretty sure, or you’re certain?” Dustin asks. 

“I’m 100% sure. Follow me and you’ll know.”

“Hey, hey, I don’t think so. Alright? If any of you little shits die down here, we’re getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?” Jennifer spoke in annoyance, standing in front of Mike. 

“From here on out, me and Jennifer are leading the way. Come on, let’s go.” Steve shouts.

They enter deeper and deeper through the tunnel, Steve eyeing the drawn map. Max, Lucas, Dustin and Mike are in front of Jennifer as Steve guides them. In her hand, she holds a gas can. The group forges on as Dusin stops. Suddenly, there’s a scream behind the group. Jennifer, Steve, and the kids approach him. 

“What happened?” Steve asks, panicked. 

“It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!” Dustin yells, wipering. 

He pulls the bandana down as he heaves on all fours before looking at everyone else. They point their flashlights as Dustin tells them he’s alright. Everyone groans and continues on while Jennifer's little brother follows behind. Steve flashes his light on the map as he comes to a stop. 

“Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub.” 

Jennifer, Steve and the kids flash their lights at the seven tunnels around them. White orbs float around helplessly, the tunnel dim with a blue tint. Vines stretch from across the ground as the group spread out. Lucas stands, spraying with a weed sprayer on the walls as the other’s pour out gasoline along the vines below. Jennifer tips her can of gas over, walking backward as she wets the rest of the vines.

In the chamber, Jennifer and Steve hold back with the kids behind him as he chucks a lighter into the gas soaked tunnel as it’s set ablaze. The fire spreads as they cover their faces from the heat. They flee from the tunnel, Jennifer is behind the kids until Mike falls behind, a vine wraps around his leg and traps him to the floor. Jennifer stops and rushes back as Steve follows and raises the spiked bat, severing the vine as it retreats from Mike’s leg. They get him up as they quickly exit the cave but get stopped when a Demo-dog approaches. Jennifer freezes as Dustin stands in front of the group, the other’s gawking at him to not approach. He does anyway, crouching down to the creature.

Dart flares his face flaps as Dustin continues talking to it. He sets down a half piece of Three Musketeers before waving everyone forward as they, including Jennifer sneak past the creature. The small group stop in their path. Dustin takes the other half of the candy bar before trudging on, saddened. Dustin and the other’s move on. Running this time, the tunnel quakes as everyone loses their footing, toppling over on one another. Jennifer's arms wrap around Steve with the kids near by. A monster roars, turning and see shadows approaching before rushing toward the hole above, rope hanging. Steve hoists Max through the opening as she pulls herself out of the hole.

Jennifer and Steve then help Lucas out next, Steve lifts Mike as Lucas and Max help him up. He cups his hands together as Jennifer steps on his hands, grabbing the rope and pulls herself up and out. Max, Lucas, and Mike help her out as well, dirt rubbing against her Beatles band t-shirt she got from Wilhelmina's closet. They look down as Steve steps slightly in front of Dustin. A pack of demo-dogs turn their way. He covers his face before the dogs run past the two. Steve holds Dustin in one arm.

Soon, they stand above the hole. Jennifer wraps her arms around her brother. Suddenly the lights brighten as everyone covers their eyes from the beaming light before it dims. They open their eyes. She sighs in relief, glancing at her boyfriend , who stood beside her and the kids with a neutral look on his face. 

It was over once again.

——

One Month later.

A week before Barbara Holland's funeral, Jennifer decided to tell Joyce what happened a month ago on the fateful November 4. She approached the Byers' front door, hesitant but knocked lightly. A couple seconds go by before someone opens the door. It's Joyce.

"Hi, Jennifer."

"Hi," She greeted with a soft smile. "I, uh, came by to tell you something. Are you busy at the moment?"

"I'm not, what brings you here?" Joyce says, letting the brunette inside.

"Did Jonathan tell you anything about last month on November 4th?"

She shook her head and her wrinkled brows knitted together in confusion.

"Something happened that night, and since I was there first-hand, I thought it would best that it came from me."

"Okay," Joyce nodded.

"When me, Steve, Wilhelmina and the kids were at the junkyard, attracting the demo-dogs to us, so you all were safe. However, when we were about to head toward you all, Wilhelmina -- I don't know what was going on in her mind -- ran off."

"Ran off?"

"In fear, maybe? Like Will when he vanished last year. Same as in that."

"Okay?"

"Wilhelmina... she, uh, she was scared. And, she ran away from us and a, uh, demo-dog went after her ...killing her in the process."

Those words hit Joyce like a brick as shock became visible on her wrinkled appearance. She turned away as tears began to stream down Joyce's cheek. Jennifer had tears clouding her vision, so she could barely make out the rest of Joyce's feelings.

"Did-- Did you see her? Talk to her?"

Jennifer nodded. "Yeah, I did. I was there when she died. She told me that she loved you and her brothers as well as me, but there was too much damage, so nothing could be done."

Joyce stepped back, taking a mere few seconds to continue processing the situation. It was hard for Jennifer to comprehend what Joyce was feeling since she just lost her child. The older woman fell to her knees sobbing. Her hands buried in her hands, and her body started shaking. Jennifer knelt down, wrapping her arms around Joyce's shoulders, holding her and sobbing together on the floor in front of the front door.

The following day, she attente Barbara's funeral, emotional yet distance from the Wheeler child also known as Nancy Wheeler. It was tough, yes. But did Jennifer really want to attend a funeral of someone who she barely knew? No. Was she going to support fellow acquaintance? Yes.

Wilhelmina's funeral arrived faster than Jennifer could comprehend as she dreaded dearly. Not that she hated her best friend, it was just . She's wears a black lace dress with her hair pinned back and wore short black heels. Jennifer peers down at the closed coffin. Since Wilhelmina's body was nowhere to be found, her parents — Lonnie and Joyce — decided on a closed casket. They stood there, heads lowered as the older female sobbed.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she held the booklet in one hand and a red rose in the other (Wilhelmina's favorite flower). Jonathan and Will stood there too with tears streaming down their cheeks. Jennifer's boyfriend, Steve, stood beside her. He held her close with his arm wrapped securely around the shoulders, letting her head lean on his chest. Jennifer wept,

In front of them, the headstone read Wilhelmina Jordan Byers, Born October 24, 1966 — Died November 4, 1984.

That night, Jennifer sits in the passenger seat in Steve’s car, needing a distraction as she leans in. She runs her fingers through his hair as their lips touch. He rests his hand on her waist, trying to bring her closer until he pulls away. 

“What? Everything okay?” Jennifer questions.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine. We gotta pick up your brother for the dance.”

“Okay. Then after, can we go somewhere private and continue?” 

“Yes,” 

Settling in the seat beside him, they buckle up as he starts the car and pulls out of the high school parking lot. He drives toward the Henderson house. Jennifer moves to the back as Steve exits the car, walking towards the door and rings the bell. Soon, Dustin walks out dressed up. They enter the car as he greets Jennifer. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was with Steve, but we came to pick your ass up and take you to the snowball.” 

“I could’ve asked you, Jennifer, but you were gone earlier.” 

She gives him a look in the mirror as he sticks out his tongue. Later, Steve pulls up to the middle school entrance as a banner reads Snowball '84. Steve looks over at Dustin, who sits in the passenger seat as his hair is styled into a bouffant.  

“Alright buddy, here we are.” Steve says. “So, remember, once you get in there…” 

“Pretend like I don’t care,” 

“You don't care.”

“I don’t care,” 

Dustin looks in the mirror as Steve compliments him. 

“Good luck, bud.” Jennifer says. 

He clasps his hand with Steve’s before exiting, closing the door behind him. Jennifer slides to the passenger seat and buckles up, driving off. On the road, Steve parks in the carport of her house, entering as they greet her mom before entering her room. He sits on the bed as Jennifer closes the door, locking it before she removes her shirt. She walks toward him, crawling on the bed. He stared at her bare chest, almost amused by the sight.

Jennifer straddles his hips, pressing her lips against his. She pulls away and sees the passion in Steve’s eyes as he grabs her waist gently throwing her on the mattress below, bringing her close as he sits up long enough to pull off his shirt, cupping Jennifer's face.

After, they lay together as the sounds of the news play from the other room. She lays her head on his chest, relaxing once his ars was placed securely around her shoulder.

“Laying here with you and enjoying the night of no kids, or monsters trying to take over the world is the best.” 

“Honestly, let’s stay here. You can sleep here tonight. My mom won't notice. She'll be asleep in no time, but we do need to pick up my brother around ten.”

“Okay,”

She moves onto her stomach and gazes into Steve’s eyes, closing them as their lips press against each other. He plants another kiss or two before they pull apart, laying there and forgetting about everything else at the moment.

[natti-ice]

in another universe, your favorite characters are reading fanfic about you. Feel special.

[strangerficsx]

CHAPTER THREE | THE POLLYWOG

story: Midnight Rain wc: n/a jennifer spills the tea to wilhelmina on what happened between her and billy at the party. later, she teams up with dustin, his friends and newcomer, max mayfield as they all search for a slug her brother thought would impress someone he likes, causing problems between the students.

{ October 31, 1984 }

When she comes back to her senses, Jennifer changes out of her costume and into something more comfortable when she hears the front door open. Peeking her head out, she sees Dustin sneaking in. He closes the door behind him before walking into the hallway until our mom calls out his name. 

“Dusty!” She shouts, getting up and walking towards him. “Dusty, how was it?” 

H–how was what?” He stammered. 

“‘How was what?’ The greatest night of the year, of course.” 

“Oh. Oh, yeah,it was… it was, uh, tubular,” 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

“Nothing,” 

Jennifer knew and she stepped out, leaning against the house and folded her arms to her chest. 

“Did something happen?” 

“No. What? No.” 

“Are you constipated again?” Claudia asks as Jennifer snickers. “Jennifer, enough.” 

“No. Mom!” He shouts. 

“Okay, you’re acting weird.” 

“I am not acting weird.” 

Suddenly the trap in Dustin’s hand begins making noise, like something is inside. Jennifer and her mom, Claudia startle as her younger brother laughs nervously. Mews hisses, knowing something is wrong inside. 

“Awesome, right? Yeah… I rigged the trap with, uh, a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost. Just like the movie.” 

Jennifer shook her head before entering her room again, closing the door behind her as her mom and brother laughed nervously. Jennifer was curious as to what Dustin brought home, unsure if she should intervene. Ignoring it, the sleep takes over Jennifer as she falls into her bed and falls asleep, thinking about the kiss she had with steve. 

——

Jennifer gets to school as she steps out of her car and enters the school, passing by Billy as they keep walking, ignoring one another. She makes her way towards Billie, who is pulling books and a pack of cigarettes out of her locker, shoving them in her bag. Jennifer approaches her. 

“Hey, there’s, uh, something I want to tell you,”

“Okay, let’s go to the restroom.” 

Jennifer and Billie make their way into the bathroom, rushing into the large stall at the end and sitting in front of each other. Billie pulls out the pack of cigarettes and takes one out, putting it between her lips. Lighting it, she puts the lighter in her bag before blowing out the smoke towards Jennifer. 

“So, what did you want to tell me?” 

“Well, I went to Tina’s Halloween Bash and it was… a nightmare.”

“What happened?” 

“Well, I tried hitting second base with Billy but that didn’t happen, he left after we— well, when I was topless.” 

“Damn,” 

“But besides that shit. I am a keg queen.”

“Shit. I wished I were there to see it.” 

“Yeah, they counted to 44… more than Billy.” 

“How many did he have?”

“43,” 

“Wow, that’s my girl.”

Billie takes another hit before handing it off to Jennifer who takes in the cigarette before blowing out. 

“Anyway, I ran into Steve after catching Billy making out with some redhead.”

“Wait. You ran into Steve?”

“Yeah, and we had a moment. But we didn’t kiss. He did, however, took me to his house and I slept there.” 

“Ooh, naked?” 

“No,” Jennifer playfully smacks Billie’s arm. “I was in an oversized shirt, cause I puked and he slept on the floor while I slept in his bed.”

“Well, it sounds like things between you and Steve got a little better. But I still don’t like him.” 

“I know. But you might have to deal with it if we do start going out.”

——

Later after getting out of her third period class, Jennifer exits the building and overhears talking. The people are Steve and Nancy. Steve wears Hawkins basketball outfit and has a towel wrapped around his sweaty neck. Nancy wears a grey sweater with a grey jacket, dark blue jeans and black flats. She holds a book in one hand as a bag hangs on her shoulder. The conversation the teens were having a serious discussion. Jennifer didn’t want to eavesdrop but did anyway, listening to

“You remember going to Tina’s party last night, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“And then what?” 

“I remember dancing, and… spilling some punch. You got mad because I was drunk… and then you took me home.” 

Steve scoffs, throwing his towel off and fixes it before putting it around his neck again. 

“No, see, that’s where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy. That was your other boyfriend. That was… That was Jonathan.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“It’s pretty simple, Nancy.” 

“You were just telling it like it is.” 

“What?” 

“Uh… apparently, uh… we killed Barb and I don’t care ‘cause I’m bullshit… and our whole relationship is bullshit, and… I mean, pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Oh, yeah, also, you don’t love me.”

“I was drunk, Steve. I don’t remember any of that.” 

Jennifer rolls her eyes. 

“So that makes everything that you said it’s what? Just bullshit, too?” 

“Yes,” 

“Well, then tell me.” 

“Tell you what?”

“You love me,”

“Really?” 

Suddenly a door swings open, banging into the brick wall. A male runs out wearing the same outfit but with a sweatband sitting on his head. Jennifer looks toward him as well as Nancy and Steve. 

“Harrington!” He shouts. “Dude, we need you. That douchebag’s killing us. Let’s go!”

“All right!” 

Nancy and Steve both stay quiet as she makes eye contact with him, holding his gaze. Looking down, Nancy looks upset as Steve turns to enter the gymnasium as he says something but Jennifer couldn’t quite make it out. Suddenly Nancy begins walking toward Jennifer as she moves and hides out of the way, so she isn’t seen.

——

The day finished off like every other day as Jennifer entered the hallway and over to her locker, unlocking it and putting her books away before leaving. She closes her locker and exits Hawkins High School, ushering towards her car but ends up walking toward Hawkins Middle School, wondering if her brother left or not or if he needed to be picked up. Walking up to the entrance, she sees the kid’s bikes as she enters the school, wondering if they are okay. She runs into the boys and Max as they are in a pile. 

“What happened here?” 

They all stand as Mike and the other’s go after him. Jennifer follows along, as they split up. Jennifer and Dustin walk down the hallway. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Something told me to come check on you,” 

“Okay,” 

“What are you doing here anyway?” 

“Last night, I found something that came from the Upside Down and we lost him because Max opened the door and he escaped.” 

“Fun.” Jennifer sarcastically says. 

They enter another hallway before passing Mr. Clarke, Dustin and him salute to each other but it seems to be awkward. When they pass him, Dustin tells Will that the West is cleared. Getting separated, she continues walking and continues looking around for the creature from the upside down. Somehow she manages to get back to Dustin as they continue looking around for the creature. 

“Please tell me you didn’t name it?” 

“I did.” He smiles cheeky. “His name is Dart.” 

“Jesus Christ,” Jennifer whispers. 

Jennifer looks toward the walkie talkie, unplugging Dustin’s headphones from it.

“Guys… I found him.” Will speaks.

“Where?” 

“In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno’s.”

“Copy that.” 

Her and Dustin quickly walk to the classroom, but Jennifer was mostly following her younger brother since she hasn’t been in Hawkins middle School since she was in middle school herself. Arriving, Jennifer and Dustin exchange a glance before he moves in, door closing behind him as she stands outside the boy’s bathroom, not wanting to enter. The sounds of stall door bang as Jennifer can tell that he was looking for Dart. Waiting, the other’s show up as the flies open as she enters too. 

“Where’s Dart?” Mike asks.

“I don’t know. Not here.” 

“What?” 

“He said by Salerno’s, right?” 

“Yeah, maybe Will has him.” Dustin suggests, lying through his teeth.

Mike looks at Dustin as Lucas crosses his arms. JEnnifer starts to lean against the wall of the bathroom when she quickly moves, disgusted. 

“Where is Will?” 

They all exchange glances before leaving.

——

Later, Jennifer catches up to Steve who is walking down the empty hallway and getting ready to exit when they make eye contact. 

“Hey, Steve.” 

“I want to ask you something.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Did you see Nancy leave with Jonathan?” 

“Uh, no. No, I didn’t.” 

“Okay, well, since everyone is gone…” 

He pushes Jennifer against the wall of lockers as he stares into her eyes. She smiles before it gets cut short when his lips press against hers. Jennifer wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him close. After a few seconds they pull apart. 

“There is another thing I wanna ask.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” 

“Steve, are you serious right now?” 

He nods. Jennifer stops to think for a second. All these years of crushing on him, he finally asks her to be his girlfriend. 

“Yeah, yes. I’ll be your girlfriend.” 

“Great. I gotta get going though, but we can chat later.” 

“If I’m not busy.” 

“Yeah, of course. Love you.” 

“I love you too, Steve.” 

Before he steps out of the school, Jennifer grabs his collar and brings his lips to hers once more before she abruptly pulls back as they exit, saying goodbye before they get in their cars and leave.

[rana030]

When your favorite writer hasn't updated since 2020

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

wc: 4.8k jennifer, who's back in Hawkins, gets wrapped up in basketball championships and spending time with Steve. However, when she gets invited to eddie Munson's trailer, she wasn't expecting to be a witness to a crime being committed by an unknown entity.

{ March 21, 1986 }

When Jennifer awoke it was almost eight thirty, so she quickly got up and dressed since she was used to quickly getting up for work and school. Steve had to drop Robin off at the school for an assembly, so he'll be there to swing by Jennifer's house, and pick her up.

Jennifer looks at herself in the mirror on last time, seeing the purple spots under her eyes. The jet lag was still prominent in her system.

Throwing on some makeup and fixing her hair, Jennifer quickly rushes out of the bathroom and throws on an outfit. She grabs her purse and ushers out of the house, almost forgetting that she left her car back in California.

A car sits under the carport in Jennifer's driveway. Steve and Robin sit in his 1983 BMW waiting. Jennifer slides in the backseat, greeting the two. She shut the door beside her.

“Morning, Robin. Hi, Steve.” 

Steve smiles at her in the mirror above. Robin stays silent.

Robin has a snippy attitude, she overhears Steve talking about women and not even acknowledging that Jennifer’s in the vehicle. What a great start to the morning. It hasn’t even been five minutes and the air is awkward between the exes. On the way to the high school, Steve continues talking as Jennifer sits in the backseat, arms crossed and tries to ignore her ex talking about other women. Robin, who sits in the passenger seat, looks at herself in the mirror and delicately applies mascara to her bottom lashes, pretty much ignoring Steve too.

“Robin, are you listening?” 

“Uh, yes.” 

“What did I just say?” 

“Something about sex with Linda."

“I'm not talking about having sex with anyone, besides Jennifer since the last time we did was a year ago.”

"Wow, Steve," Jennifer exclaims before being sarcastic. "Why don't you share with Robin our sex life even more, I'm sure she wants to hear the details,"  

Steve rolled her eyes as she felt something in her gut, but ignored it and continued sitting in the back as she watched and listened to the two bicker even more.

“Cut me some slack, please.” 

“Well—” 

“Your love life is one of labyrinthine complexity. It is seven in the morning, we have a stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse.” 

“You’re really worried about a basketball pep rally? Do you expect me to believe that?” 

“Yeah? So?”

“So we all know what this is about, okay? I’m not buying that. This is about Vickie.”

“Absolutely not.” Robin denies. 

“Ooh, who's Vickie, Robin?” Jennifer questions, earning an annoyed look from Robin.

"She's girl I know in band." Robin vaguely explains to Jennifer.

“You know what else?” 

“I don’t care–”  

“I think you gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you’re around her. You just gotta be yourself. I did that with Steve before we started dating. And it worked out... for the most part. At least.” 

“Jen, you’re literally quoting me to me. You realize that, right? And, you were popular in high school, so it couldn’t have been that hard for you.”

“What she’s trying to say is that maybe you need to listen to yourself. Ever thought about that, smartypants? I listened, Look at me. Boom. Back in business.” 

Robin closes her compact mirror, looking toward Steve. 

“It's not the same thing, okay?” 

“You ask out a girl and she says no. Big deal. Nothing happened. Maybe your ego’s a little bruised. But I ask out the wrong girl, and bam, I’m a town pariah.” 

She closes the mirror above, looking forward. 

“I’d buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl from what I hear.” Jennifer says. 

“We just don’t know that, do we?”

“She returned Fast Times paused at fifty three minutes, five seconds” 

Jennifer lays against her seat, fumbling with her purse as she watches Robin spray something into her mouth. This time she looks annoyed because of Steve talking her ears off about some girl she (Robin) likes.

“You know who pauses Fast Times at fifty three minutes, five seconds? People who like boobies, Robin.” 

“Wow. Boobies? Are we in the fifth grade, little Stevie?” Jennifer presses jokingly, laughing.

“Don’t call me that.” 

“Ew! Gross. Don’t say boobies.”

“Boobies!” Steve pauses. “Not a big deal, okay? I like boobies. You like boobies. Jennifer doesn't like boobies. But Vickie, oh she definitely likes boobies."

Annoyed, Steve pulls into the busy parking lot of Hawkins High School before parking as Robin steps out of the vehicle, grabbing her trumpet in the process. Jennifer moves to the front seat as Steve sighs raucously. She looks over at him, closing the passenger door. She slides her seatbelt on and sits there, looking at him. 

“Did you really have to do that?” 

“Do what?”

“Sigh obnoxiously loud?” Jennifer asks.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did that bother you?” 

“Yes, it did. Jesus, we sound like an old married couple." Jennifer jokes, chuckling at herself.

Steve chuckles at Jennifer as he pulls out of the parking lot, speeding down the road.

The silence was very loud and awkward between them. Jennifer wanted to break it, but she was too tired to muster up a single sentence. Soon when they arrive, Steve parks in an empty spot as he holds the keys to the shop, getting out and approaches the door. He puts the metal in the keyhole before entering. She enterst Family Video behind Steve, taking a seat behind the counter before the lights turn on, sighing in relief as the anxiety died down. 

“Oh, before I forget, there's a two thirty showing of Chopping Mall tonight. The poster made it look dumb, but I thought why not give it a try. And after, we could go out for pizza or something and crash at your house.” 

“Yeah, let's do that. If you get scared, which you likely will, you can bury your face in my shoulder and hold my hand, OK?”

"Nothing really scares me anymore, Harrington. From the last three years of events, I'm not scared of anything." ”

He makes a face at the female. "Well, you're still scared of spiders."

"Yup, but other than that. Nothing scares me."

Jennifer smiled, staying in her spot before dropping her purse behind the counter. Ignoring Steve and the girls he tries to talks to them. Jennifer continues being bored, waiting as each second ticks by slowly. Just seven more hours and she'll be able to relax with Steve at a movie.

“Oh, Steve.” She calls.

“Just a sec,”

“Jesus christ,” Jennifer curses under her breath. “Steve!” 

“What? I’m busy here.” 

“With what? Trying to help the girls, or trying to flirt with them? Because you’re not getting anywhere.”

“What is it?” 

“Can I borrow your car when I leave. Mine’s at the airport in California.”

“Yeah, just don’t crash it.” 

“I won’t.” 

Steve turns to face the blonde who stands in front of him. Jennifer stands behind the counter, staring at the two as she rolls her eyes and grabs her purse, stepping out from behind the counter.

"Excuse me, ladies."

The three females stare toward Jennifer.

"Instead of trying to flirt with my boyfriend, go check the shelves they have various films relating to romance and heartache which I think would be best for you since apparently you like to break things." 

The females duck out of Family Video as Steve sighs in annoyance, stepping toward the counter. "We had customers, but you scared them off."

"No, I wasn't. I was being honest, and don't worry, you'll get more."

— — 

Jennifer gets done with helping Steve add tapes to the shelves as she stands by the counter right when the telephone rings. She puts the phone up to her ear. 

“Hello, this is Family Video. How may I help you?”

“Jennifer.”

“Dustin? Why are you calling? Shouldn’t you be at school?” 

“I am at school.” 

“Okay. Why are you calling though?”

“When did you get back to Hawkins?"

"Since yesterday. I guess you were distracted with things--"

"Do you wanna participate in Hellfire tonight?” 

“No. You know I’ve never played that game. I was thinking of going to the movies with Steve, and crash at his place for the night.”

"You're unbelievable sometimes, you know that?"

"Oh, I know. Look, I love you. OK? But, I don’t want to watch a bunch of nerds play D&D. Good luck though. Hey, I gotta go, Steve is too busy and so am I. See you sometime tonight.” 

Jennifer hangs up the phone on the receiver and checks the time on her wrist watch as it nears the time she’s supposed to leave. Walking toward Steve, Jennifer extends her hand. 

“Babe. Keys, please?” 

“Yeah, here.” 

Rummaging through his pockets, Steve pulls out the set of keys and drops them into Jennifer’s hand. They exchange a quick peck before she steps toward the main entrance.

She quickly runs out of the store and enters the vehicle, putting the key in the ignition. She slides her seatbelt on. Driving down the road, Jennifer fumbles with the radio, tuning it to the right station as she sings along to ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ by Tears For Fears.

Approaching the nearby woods that sit behind Hawkins High School, Jennifer stops long enough to decide whether she wants to check out the place her and Billie snuck off to get high and to have a break.

She turns off the ignition and pulls the keys out. Exiting the vehicle, she makes her way through woods as she approaches the lonely picnic bench. In place of seeing an empty bench, instead, Jennifer finds a male with long black hair sitting across from a blonde female who is most likely a cheerleader from Hawkins High School. Jennifer hides behind a tree, so she can listen in on the conversation between the two, wondering what's happening.  

“So, how does this work exactly?” The blonde asks. 

“Oh, just like any other old sale, except, uh, cash only and, uh, for obvious reasons, no receipts.” 

The blonde stays quiet. Jennifer had a view of the male but not the cheerleader. 

The long raven-haired male continues. 

“I’ll do you a half ounce for, uh… twenty. What do you say?” He asks, holding a bag of a certain substance. “Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.” 

Jennifer shuffles her weight as her foot lands on a branch, snapping it into two. Panicking, she hides behind the tree. She holds her breath, squinting her eyes tight. She overhears the blonde gasp then a loud clang from the metal box that sits atop the table. 

“Hey, uh.. We don’t need to do this. Just give me the word and I’ll walk away. Okay–”

“No, it’s not that I want you to go. It’s just… Do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?” The blonde asks, fumbling with the table. 

Jennifer turned around, peeking through the gap in the trees and continued listening.

“You know, just… on a daily basis. I mean, I feel like I’m losing my mind right now doing a drug deal with Chrissy Cunningham, the queen of Hawkins High.”

Chrissy Cunningham was the cheerleader's name as Jennifer started to question who the guy was. Soon after the two are done reminiscing about knowing each other growing up, things become serious once again as the silence rises between the two at the table. 

“Do you have, maybe anything stronger?”

From Jennifer’s view, she sees him make a concerned face as she decides to make an entrance and begin to walk out when a school bell rings in the distance. Chrissy scrambles to leave as the male sits there alone. He cleans up the bag from earlier. 

“Shit. I -- I wasn't expecting anyone to find me out here dealing. Please don't tell on me.” 

“Like I would do that,” Jennifer says, keeping her distance. "I am a former student here, and came to this very spot with a close friend."  

“Yeah? If you don't mind me asking, what did you do?” 

“Get high, gossiped about bitches like Nancy Wheeler and judged my little brother's nerd game D&D,” 

The raven haired male's face lit up as Jennifer mentioned both Nancy and Dustin, making eye contact with him and furrowing her brows at him. Jennifer approaches him as she leans against the table top.

“You know Nancy Wheeler and Dustin Henderson?” He asks. 

“Yeah. Why?” 

“I was just wondering.” 

“Okay. Well, Dustin is my little brother.”

“Really? He never mentioned having a sister.” 

“Weird. He talks shit about me and my relationship almost all the time.” 

“If he doesn't mind, including you, I'd like to get to know you.” 

Jennifer moves her arm so her watch is in view. Her eyes widen as a curse word slips from her mouth. 

“What? Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. Shit.”

Later, the night of the championship game approached faster than xhe knew it. She had no idea there was even a championship game.

Jennifer arrives with Steve as they enter the gymnasium, approaching the bleachers as she grabs his arm to keep herself balanced. They sit together side by side. Jennifer catches a glimpse of a short, curly haired female as she held a notepad in her hands. It was Nancy Wheeler. Beside her, a short, nerdy male who wears glasses as another male stands, holding a camera. Robin stands on the bleachers, playing her trumpet. A male comes by as everyone in the stands quiet down as the microphone squeals, sending slight feedback.

The students and visitors of Hawkins, Indiana rise, standing in their places including Jennifer, who stood beside her boyfriend. The male continues speaking.

"Singing for us tonight, we have a very special guest. All the way from Nashville, our very own Tammy Thompson!"

Everyone claps as someone shouts something positive towards the female. Jennifer watches as Steve exchanges a glance with Robin as he whispers something to her.

"Last year when Robin and I ran into the restroom to puke up the drugs the Russians gave us, Robin said that Tammy had a good singing voice. However, she is terrible at singing and can't hold a note for shit, and is apart of a Nashville thing, or something."

Jennifer nodded. "Okay,"

Tammy begins singing the national anthem as Steve and Robin glance at each other, him whispering that she sounded like a muppet which made Robin giggle.

Jennifer listened carefully as she basically cringes at her tone, barely holding a note. She snorts, trying to keep her composer. Looking over, she watches Steve in amusement as he tries to push through the pitchy singing. He looks over at Jennifer.

"Okay, I hear it now."

"See? Told you,"

Steve makes a face as it makes Jennifer smile. The female continues singing. Soon after the God awful singing, the game begins as Hawkins gets possession.

Jason dribbles the ball and passes to a teammate who send it back to him to make a basket. He jogs across the court before stopping and eyeing someone below as the other team scores. The crowd cheers.

By the entrance, Nancy stands writing in her notepad. Next to her, a tall, lanky male with square specks lean in and talks to her. But to Jennifer its inaudible to her. She manages to catch Nancy's attention, waving towards her as she waves back. A member of the opposing team knocks a Hawkins player down as Jason gets in his face, arguing. The player is held by two other players, aiding the limping student towards a nearby bench.

Soon Lucas rips off his jacket and sprints onto the court. Lucas avaids a defender, and passes the ball to Jason who brings them a score. The opposing team scored another point. Steve curses as Jennifer rolls her eyes. Soon enough, Hawkins gains another point as Robin cheers. Both Jennifer and steve watch with wide eyes, as a hawkins player earns a score. The game remains close. Jason catches the ball, calling a timeout. The team huddles up as the band plays a tune to keep the students and visitors entertained.

The two teams go back to the game, starting up again as the moment comes when the one teammate has the ball and tries to get a basket when the whole word seems as if it's moving in slow motion. The crowd cheers all around, waiting for the moment to end. Lucas grabs the ball as he swiftly moves, calculating his movements in order to get the ball into the basket above. He extends his hands, throwing the as it hits the circle above the basket, rolling around it. The timer counts down, getting closer to the end of the game.

With time ticking down to one second, and lucas' feet leave the court. As lucas takes the shot, the clocks run out as the ball flies through the air. Steve rises along with Jennifer, watching the ball closely. Their hands clasp together, staring intently.

The ball circles the rim as lucas's arms remained poised right as the ball falls through the hoop. The basketball fans cheer. Jennifer claps as she cheers on the Hawkins basketball team, looking toward Steve. Cheering happily, his teammates picked up Lucas, congratulating him on the victory he scored just a few minutes ago. The other students in the high school come and congratulate him as well.

Jennifer decides to leave as Steve follows after, clutching her hand before leading the way through a massive group of students, parents and visitors. They approach his BMW when Jennifer glances to the side, seeing Mike and Dustin, along with Erica exit the building as well. They are seen, cheering out of excitement as Jennifer continues watching.

"Jennifer," Steve calls.

She cocks her head over to look at him. "Yeah?"

"You ready?"

"Just a sec. I wanna do something real quick, but I'll see you tomorrow or late tonight."

"O...kay. Just call when you can, okay?"

She nodded, stepping away from Steve and approach the small group.

“Hey, Dustin. Uh, how did the D&D thing go?” 

“Jennifer? What are you doing here?"

"I came to visit for spring break.

"Okay, to answer your second question, we did good. Erica beat Eddie. We won!”

“Nice. Congrats! We did too, but with a basketball not a dice.” 

“Thanks. Yeah, congratulations.” 

“Hey, uh, where’s Eddie?” Jennifer questions.

“Inside, cleaning up. He's about to take off, so I'd try to get him now. Wait. How do you know him? You left pretty early."

"Oh, I met him behind the school, in the woods at a picnic table."

Dustin nods. He points toward the entrance.  

“Thank you, Dustin.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jennifer walks through the dimly lit and empty hallway, approaching the room where the Dungeons and Dragons game was held. She stands in the doorway, knocking lightly as Eddie looks up from his place.

“Hey,” 

“Hi,” 

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" She questions.

"No, not at all. I was about to head back to my place."

The female nodded, taking a further step inside the small room, folding her arms to her chest. He approaches the female, smiling tenderly. Something inside Jennifer clicked, she knew to keep her distance since she is dating Steve. However, she wanted to get to know the male.

"I don't want to indulge in you going home, but do you care if I hitch a ride?"

"Sure,"

Tilting her head to one side, they hold a gaze once more. But Jennifer, knowing better, quickly looks away. She wondered what Steve was doing. Was he still sitting in the parking lot? Or, is he now on his way home? The millions of thoughts leave her mind as she relaxes, knowing that he could be a nice person.

He locks up as they exit the school. The parking lot was practically deserted as a van sits not too far from her, looking very suspicious but goes through with hitching a ride. With the blonde from earlier approaching, Eddie motions for her to follow them towards his car. She opens the door, and steps up into the vehicle. Seated in the back, she looks down. Jennifer eyes the scattered papers, a metal lunchbox with a empty pack of cigarettes as well as a empty wrapper or two.

Once at his place, Jennifer hops down from the tall vehicle as Chrissy follows including Eddie. In the distance a dog barks as Jennifer whips her head back, uneasy. Inside, Eddie immediately cleans the wrappers and piled cups.

"Sorry for the mess," He apologies. "Uh, the maid took the week off."

"Hey, it's okay." Jenner reassures him, helping as well.

A smile forms on Eddie's face as they both place dishes in the sink and trash in the bin beside the counter.

"You, um..." Chrissy begins. "You live here alone?"

"With my uncle. But, uh, he works nights as the plant. you know, bringing home the big bucks." He explains, searching around his trailer for something.

With suspicion, Jennifer leans against the counter and raises a brow at Eddie. She wonders why he's acting suspicious until Chrissy begins to speak, knocking Jennifer out of her trance-like state.

"How long does it take?"

"Sorry?"

"The 'Special K.' How long does it kick in?" The blonde asks.

"Oh, uh, well, it depends if you snort it or not."

Jennifer shakes her head, almost ignoring Eddie as he exits the room only leaving her and Chrissy alone.

"So, Chrissy," Jennifer begins.

"Do I know you?"

"No, I-uh, graduated last year. But, uh, anyway... I was, uh, wrong about you and made an assumption about you and Eddie in the woods."

"Oh, it's alright. I get it. I, too, would be a little suspicious."

"It's because it is a little strange that a cheerleader and a freak would sneak around. But I'm guessing the two of you know each other? 'Cause I'm thinking, why in the world would a cheerleader, especially one from the Hawkins High School cheer team buy drugs, or whatever."

"Just some things are stressing me out. That's all."

Jennifer slowly nods, standing there with her arms crossed as her shoulder bag hangs. Suddenly Chrissy turns and looks out the window before closing the curtain and standing motionless as panic rises in the brunette.

"Found it. Peaceful bliss, just moments away." Eddie says, loudly as he enters the main area.

Eddie is surprised to find Chrissy standing motionless and unresponsive, in a trance-like state. He glances over at Jennifer who looks concerned. The tall male calls the blondes name, inching closer to the girl. He moves one of his feet to stomp, trying to get her attention. The lights soon begin to flicker as a panicked Eddie attempts to wake the girl up. Jennifer approaches the two, watching her eyes flutter erratically as she shouts the Chrissy’s name once again. Suddenly, the lights begin to flicker, causing Jennifer to furrow her brows in confusion right when she thinks back on the last few years.

In 1985, whilst working at Scoops Ahoy, the power went out after they were strobing for a few seconds before turning back on. In 1983 when Jennifer was in Steve’s backyard, the lights did the same thing when whatever took Barbara. But in this case, the flickering bulbs don't stop.

"Chrissy, wake up now!"

They both clap and shout her name, but again nothing happens. Eddie tries to wake her up again, clapping and shaking her shoulders as if she is a snow globe being shaken around by a little kid. He is horrified as Chrissy's body begins to levitate before slamming against the ceiling. Eddie loses his balance as his body goes limp, collapsing to the floor as he shouts a curse word. Jennifer stands there rigid, eyeing her as Chrissy's joints bend in horrifying angles, her jaw cracks sideways, and her eyes gouge out as she and Eddie watches, they scream, trying to process what had happened. Jennifer is still on her feet watching in horror as she helplessly stands there.

Without thinking, Jennifer exits as fast as she can but quietly too. But for Eddie, he leaves not too long after her before she gets in his car and speeds off, leaving the brunette alone as she sneaks out of the trailer park. Shaken by what happened, Jennifer walks back home. Tears cloud her vision as she stumbles before stopping by a payphone.

Raising her arm, her fingers shake as she begins to dial a number but begins crying in the process as she decides to hang up and rush home. She finally makes it back, ushering inside and closing herself off in her bedroom. She slowly slides down her door, the room darkened as the moonlight shines bright through her curtains. Jennifer sits there, horrified as she tries to process what just happened at the Munson trailer. But the question was: why did Eddie take off, leaving her there when she took off too?

Jennifer's seen a lot of shit through the last three years, but this was something different, something more sinister that she can't wrap her finger around.

She prays that whatever is happening doesn't happen to either her or the people she loves.

“Steve,” She whispers.

Jennifer crawls toward her nightstand and quickly sweeps the telephone in her hands, dialing Steve’s number. With a few rings, someone picks up on the other end.

“Hello,”

“Steve?”

“Yeah. Jennifer?”

“I- Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Something happened,” Jennifer begins, her voice cracking as she attempts to finish the sentence. “Someone died,”

“Who died?”

“Chrissy Cunningham. She was a cheerleader at Hawkins High, and me and her were at Eddie Munson’s trailer.”

“You were with Dustin’s D&D friend? Jennifer, I was worried about you and you call me telling me you were at his place with a cheerleader from Hawkins High?”

“Steve, I called for you. I was so freaked out from what happened, I needed hear your voice again and make sure you’re okay and not dead.”

“Well, I’m here talking to you. So I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry for going with him, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Before you left me, I was gonna ask if you wanted to crash at my place and watch a movie.”

“Do you have the time for me?”

“Jennifer, you know I do. I’ll come pick you up. I was dick earlier and I feel bad about it.”

“Thank you, Steve. But you need to make it up to me.”

“How so?”

“A lady never reveals her secrets, Harrington.”

“I’m gonna grab a change of clothes. Come get me.”

“Alright. Be there soon. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jennifer quickly hangs her phone up and grabs a change of clothes before checking herself out in the mirror. She sees dried mascara under her eyes, quickly wiping it away before sobbing once more.

Wiping the tears away, she quickly removes her makeup before tossing the wipe in the bin beside her. Jennifer grabs a pen and paper and writes a note for her mother.

‘Staying at Steve’s tonight. Be back sometime tomorrow morning. Love you.’

Jennifer sets a salt shaker on top of the torn piece of paper to hold it in place, glancing at the closed door that lead to her mother’s room. She quickly throws the door open and steps outside, quietly closing it behind her.

A BMW pulls under her carport, shutting off the lights as Steve exits the vehicle. She rushes toward him as he brings her into his embrace. Hsi hand rests on the small of Jennifer's back, rubbing soothing circles as tears roll down her cheeks.

"It was awful, Steve."

"What was?"

"Her death. Her bones snapped, her jaw broke to one side, and her eyes were sucked out of her skull." Jennifer sobbed.

"I'm sorry,"

They stayed there for a few extra seconds before pulling away and get into his vehicle, buckling up as he puts his car in drive. He drives back to his house, pulling into the driveway. Steve turns of his vehicle, stepping out as Jennifer does the same, holding her clothes close to her body. The two walk inside and head up to his room. A small lamp sits atop a wooden nightstand, illuminating the midsize room.

"The bathrooms--"

"I know, I've been here before that night in 1984 when I was drunk, and you let me sleep here after we kissed at the party"

"Yeah, I'm surprised we both remember considering we both were tipsy that night. You were drunk."

Jennifer chuckles before taking a seat on Steve's bed, whilst he rummages through his closet finding one of his shirts and handing it to her. She rises and steps into the nearby bathroom, quickly changing before slipping under Steve's covers, snuggling against his chest eventually falling into a deep slumber.

[natti-ice]

18+ mdni

me after reading the craziest smut ever written

[strangerficsx]

Chapter Two / Trick or Treat, Freak

story: Midnight Rain wc: n/a halloween arrives in hawkins and jennifer isn't pleased on going to a party thrown by tina. however she goes since she wants to lose her virginity and party while she has the time before the world begins to end...

{ October 31, 1984 }

Halloween morning arrived as the sun is warm and a cold breeze lightly flows through Hawkins, making the leaves dance. Jennifer wakes up and gets on with her day before rushing out the door and toward a nearby costume shop to look for something to wear at the party. Jennifer was going, not only to get out of her house, but to also party and hangout with her new boyfriend and maybe even lose her virginity. She looks at the costumes hanging on the rack, wondering which costume she should buy. Without thinking, she decided to just buy an outfit as close to a character. But the costume she picks was outside of her comfort zone -- a sexy aerobics instructor. She was thinking that it would look stupid, however it might look good to the people around her considering everyone will be hot and dressed inappropriately since they are all popular. She quickly purchases the outfit and brings it home.

Jennifer walks into her home, closing the door behind her as she enters her bedroom. She throws the bag of clothes down before pulling out her costume, hanging it up on the coat hangers in her closet. She grabs some flats that she bought last fall and sets them off to the side. Looking at the time, Jennifer curses out loud whilst grabbing her keys and getting in her car, driving to school. 

——

Later, Jennifer sits across from Steve and Nancy in the library at Hawkins High School as the three teens study. All Jennifer can think about is the party and what Billy might be dressed as while she looks towards the two, wondering what is going on in their minds besides studying. Nancy erases something before re-writing it only for the led to break as she sighs in annoyance. She gets up as Jennifer looks back at her paper, glancing at Steve who watches Nancy go. Jennifer knew they'd been together for a while and Jennifer was seeing Billy, but deep down that burning she felt prior came back as she watched Nancy approach the hand held pencil sharpener. Whilst sharpening her pencil, Jennifer notices a woman standing in front of a book shelf. The red haired female resembled Barbra a little too much from the outfit to the hair, but the teen wasn’t wearing those big square glasses like Barbra. Without hesitating, Steve gets up and walks toward Nancy as Jennifer stays seated trying not to intervene with the two. 

Steve and Nancy walk into a more private room while she continued to study but the idea of them dating made her stomach churn. However, Jennifer had to keep her head held high and study because she had a test in math she’s studying for and Jennifer cannot fail it. Trying to study, a sudden thought came to mind; her and steve dating and how the jealousy -- even though she didn't want to admit it -- was still there, burning inside her. But the thought escapes when Billy pops into her mind. She is with him, and that's who she wants to focus on.

“Shit, Jennifer. Get yourself together for god’s sake.” She whispers to herself. 

Whipping her head around and looking at the same space as earlier, Jennifer now sees the two hugging in the seperate room as tears well up in her eyes without realizing it. To her, she kept those jealous feelings to herself, focusing on other things as she has other stuff to do. There was a party tonight and Jennifer wanted to get what she needed done so she can be ready to party and hangout with her boyfriend to distract her.

——

That night, Jennifer gets dressed (in her costume) before heading down to the Byers residence to drop a VHS tape off for Jonathan and his family to Watch. It was cheesy, but Jennifer also wanted to see what his plans are considering everyone else will be at Tina’s Halloween bash. Stepping towards her mirror, Jennifer looks at her reflection, checking herself out. The stretchy material hugged her curves perfectly. Her hair was teased with a shit ton of Farrah Fawcett spray, something to hold it in place, and a sweatband sat around her head. Looking in the mirror one last time, she smooths her hair out as the curls fall freely on her shoulder. Jennifer slides into the driver’s seat of her vehicle and drives off. 

When she arrives at the Byers residence, she kills the engine and steps out of the vehicle and closes the door behind her. She steps onto the front porch and knocks. A male opens the door dressed as Dracula as he pulls out his fake vampire teeth. Jennifer shuffles her stance to where she’s not putting most of her body weight on one foot.

“I thought you were trick-or-treaters.” 

“Nope. I’m Jennifer, I’m a friend of Jonathan’s.” 

“Ah, I see.”

Joyce strides up to the door with her two sons as they step out, walking past Jennifer as Jonathan stops in his tracks. Jennifer greets Joyce with a hug as she eyes her outfit, ignoring it and begins to tell the teen that the person dressed as Dracula is Bob, her new boyfriend. Jennifer pokes her head inside and apologizes to Bob as he dismisses it as okay, stopping Jonathan after she turned her heel.

“Jonathan, I wanted to drop off Freaks, a VHS Phoebe rented but never returned. She gave me the tape as I never returned it either due to all the excitement.” 

“And you wanted me to have it?” He asks. 

“Yeah, I know how much your family likes to watch horror films on Halloween night. And, I'm here to see what your plans are as well.” 

“Thanks, Jen. I’m actually heading out to take Will Trick-or-Treating with his friends.” 

Jennifer looks over at Will dressed in a Ghostbusters costume as a smile forms on her face. She thought it was cute of the kids to do a group costume from the Ghostbusters films, but came back, eyeing the lanky male. Jennifer clears her throat to avoid the awkward silence that was brought upon the two teens as she perks up telling him that she'll see him around and hopefully at the party while he smiles. The brunette heads back to her car, sliding behind the wheel as she drives to the party. When she parks near Tina’s house, Jennifer gets out of her car and locks it,making her windows are close then approaches the entrance. 

The song Shout at the Devil by Motley Crue blasts throughout the house as it’s loud even standing outside. When she walks in through the gate, she watches as Tommy and another male hold Billy as he chugs the beer from the keg. She hears the teens around counting. He walks away only wearing black pants with a leather jacket, his abs visible as Jennifer realizes she's staring at him and possibly memorizing the shape of his torso. Everyone chants Billy as he walks through the crowd. 

“That’s how you do it, Hawkins!” He shouts.

Jennifer enters the house and follows after him as Nancy and Steve catch her attention. Nancy stalks off to the alcohol as Steve gets harrassed by Billy and Tommy. When he leaves, Tommy leaves Billy as well, so Jennifer decides to approach. He grabs her hips with his hands and brings her close to him, pulling his cigarette out of his mouth and plants his lips on Jennifer’s. The taste of beer lingers on her lips as they pull away from each other. 

“You look hot,” Jennifer compliments. 

“You as well…” He asks. 

They stood there as the loud music blared around them as Jennifer takes that as a sign to leave, so she does. She walks out to the keg, asking Tommy and the guy from earlier to hold her up. The guys looked at each other, unbothered and looked as if they were gonna laugh in her face. Fortunatley, Tommy nods, grabbing Jennifer. They hold her up as she puts the tube in her mouth. Other students surround Jennifer as she chugs and chugs. Billy stands watch as well, unsure if she will beat his score of forty-two chugs. 

“Holy shit, she’s going for it!” Tommy shouts.

Jennifer chugs, landing on 36 so far. She continues as the counter goes up. The kids around her chant the numbers of each second. 

“37…38…39…40…41…42…43…44!!” 

Jennifer moves her legs as the two boys put her down on the cement. She stands there and swallows the rest of the beer in her mouth, wiping the corners as Tommy looks at her surprised. Billy approaches, seeing the commotion. 

“Well, Hargrove, I think I just beat your score.” 

“You sure?” 

“Mmhmm,” 

“Billy, she beat you, man. forty four!! We have a new Keg… Queen!” 

Jennifer turns her heel, stepping away from Billy before he grabs her wrist, spinning her around so she can face him. 

“Come with me.” His voice deep

Billy leads Jennifer up to an empty bedroom, closing the door behind them as he kisses her. Jennifer feels herself heating up as she ignores it and slides his jacket off. Billy tugs on her on piece, pulling the straps down. Sliding her one piece top off, he kisses the sensitive skin on her neck as he pushes her lighty to where she falls on top of the bed. He gets on top of her and begins a trail of kisses down above her breasts as a breathy moan escapes from Jennifer’s mouth. They flip and Jennifer’s on top and begin to take things further when there’s commotion downstairs as they pull apart from each other. Getting off him and sliding her blouse on, Jennifer sits beside him before hearing more noise as she watches Billy rise from the mattress and steps out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Jennifer sits there before laying down on the bed, saddened and a bit tipsy. She knew that she was very close to hitting second base with the guy she likes. Or, who Jennifer thought she liked. 

Does Jennifer even like Billy the way she fell in love with Steve Harrington? The short answer was no. No, she didn’t.

Groaning Jennifer gets up and exits the bedroom before heading downstairs, annoyed and upset as she approaches Billy… kissing another girl? The girl was none other then Tina. Tears prick at her eyes as she turns and exits the house, stepping onto the front porch and keeping her head down ushering toward her car. Without paying any attention to where she’s going, Jennifer suddenly bumps into someone. She cranes her neck up and sees who it is.

Steve Harrington. Of course she had to run into him, out of everyone else here, it was him.

“Jennifer?” He questioned.  

“Oh, hey, Steve. I wasn't expecting to see you out here.”

“I left… Nancy got pissed off and then proceeded to call our relationship bullshit.” 

“Steve… I’m sorry.” 

“Well, Jennifer… some things aren’t meant to happen.” 

“About that..” Jennifer trails off, a tear streaming down her cheek.

Steve notices and wipes it away with his thumb, cupping her cheek in the process. He stares into Jennifer’s eyes, holding her gaze. Jennifer moves her body closer to his as he slowly leans in. The sound of Girls on Film by Duran Duran blasts in the background, people coming and going from the party as the world around Steve and Jennifer seem to have stood still. Without thinking, Steve breaks the gap between them, pressing his lips to hers. They stood there, kissing in the night sky. The moon was full and the air was chilly, but Jennifer didn’t care because she felt warm in front of Steve. They pull away after a few seconds, wishing the kiss could last longer. 

“Woah,” Jennifer says, feeling the alcohol kicking in. “That was…” 

“Amazing.” 

“Do you… wanna go somewhere?” 

“Let’s go.”

Before taking another step Jennifer loses her balance as Steve manages to catch her. The thought of her drink while intoxicated scared him as he lifted her in his arms. Jennifer mumbled a few indistinct words, but mostly had her eyes closed the entire time. Placing her in his car, Jennifer rests her head on the seat as Steve gets the seatbelt hooked before closing the passenger door. Arriving at his vacant home, Steve parks and steps out of the vehicle. He opens the passenger side as Jennifer almost falls out. He manages to catch her before assisting her to the house.

“Why aren't you taking me to my house?"

"Do you really want your mom to see you drunk?"

"No. I'll call her and, like, I'll tell her that I was at, like, Billie's place."

"Okay,"  

Once they enter his room, Jennifer stumbles as he holds her. Suddenly Jennifer covers her mouth as Steve glances at her. Jennifer wobbles as she take another step towards the bathroom, landing on her knees and leaning over the toilet. Purging, Jennifer sniffles before sighing and looking over at Steve. He stands in the doorway of the bathroom, looking towards her with a sympathetic exspression plastered on his face. She sets the bin down, looking down.

“I think you should take a break from chugging that much alcohol.” 

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” 

“I’ll get you some clothes,”

“Steve, it’s okay. I’ll just sleep in my—” 

“Costume? I don’t think so.” 

“Ok,” 

Jennifer stands, holding onto the walls around to and searches for Steve's bed, sitting there nauseated. Steve quickly throws something on before grabbing an oversized shirt and grey lounge shorts, and handing it to Jennifer as she finally takes it. She slides it over her frail body before climbing into Steve’s bed. 

“You take my bed, I’ll take the couch.” 

“No, can you… can you lay with me, please?” 

“Uh, sure.”

Steve climbs in and lays beside her, holding Jennifer’s gaze as he exhales. mascara stains Jennifer's cheeks, her hair messy and her eyes red and puffy from crying as her lids hang heavy. She begins to feel slightly better as she tries to think of something to say. 

“So, what happened back there?” 

“Well, besides trying to hit second base with Billy Hargrove, he walked away and went to do something else when there was a lot of commotion.” 

“Yeah, it was probably me and Nancy causing the commotion.” 

Jennifer chuckles, beginning to feel tired as Steve cups her face.

"No. He, uh, he was my boyfriend but since he cheated on me with that... that slut. I'm, like, single now."

"And, you kissed me."

"Yeah," She says, finally falling asleep.

Steve then turns back at Jennifer who is passed out. She snores lightly as the corners of his mouth twitch, forming a small smile. Turning off the lights, he stares at her gentle features before grabbing a blanket and covering her up before he falls asleep on the beside her. 

——

A little later, Jennifer wakes up and looks at the alarm clock on the dresser. It’s 10:59 PM, almost. She looks around the room and sees that the room doesn’t belong to her. Where am I? Jennifer wonders, uncovering and looking at her figure. She’s dressed, so didn’t have sex with anyone. That was until Jennifer remembers the night before and how she pretty much made a fool out of herself when trying to hit second base with Billy. She also remembers the keg, and how she beat Billy’s score. Smirking, the memory of her and Steve kissing on the front porch of Tina’s house makes her widen her eyes. Jennifer quickly gets up and throws her clothes on before looking down at Steve, who is asleep. She tells him that she’s leaving and begins walking out when she hears two people talking.

His parents.

Jennifer opens the door softly then closes it behind her, tiptoeing down the flight of stairs and out Harrington residence. Grabbing her keys from her pocket, Jennifer takes off towards the neighborhood where Tina threw her party and finds her car. She runs toward her car and gets in, grabbing her keys from her pocket. Jennifer fumbles with them before entering the driver's seat. She starts the engine, driving away from the disheveled house. Pulling into the carport, she kills the engine before stepping out of the vehicle and towards the back of the house.

Jennifer sees her cracked window as she slides her finger under and lifts glass up before she climbs in, almost falling in the process. Knocking her alarm clock off her bedside table, it clatters as it collides with the floor. Jennifer pauses and listens. Standing there, she sighs in relief before setting it on her table. She closes the window behind her as she leans her bodyweight against the wall, feeling dizzy and stays there.