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Always The Babysitter - Chapter Four: The Body

Author:@harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 4,346 Warnings: lil' bit of angst, Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! I’m sorry this is late! All is explained in A/N2. We don't get much of Steve in this chapter. BUT!, If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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After I had cried in Steve’s bed for what felt like hours, I decided the best thing I could do was go back to the Byers’ house and be there for Jonathan and Joyce, his mother.

As I biked up their driveway, she spotted me and looked confused. When I threw my bike down and walked up to her, she stuttered her question, “Wh–wh–what? Olivia, what are you–? How did you–?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I answered, hugging her. When I pulled away, I kept my hands on her shoulders. “What matters is that we find out what exactly happened.” I had my own theories. I looked up at Jonathan, seeing him almost retreat back, but I walked up to him and gave him a hug, squeezing him, to which he squeezed me back.

Callahan came up to us and explained what they had to do and for us to wait for a moment. He looked at me and sighed, knowing that I was big trouble.

Where’s Dustin, Lucas and El? I told them to bike home and to make sure that El made her way back to Mike’s. Now, whether they did or not is another story.

Joyce grabbed my hand and had me go inside with her while Hopper explained their theory.

“A trooper found something in the, uh… water that’s at the quarry,” he explained. “Uh, our working theory is that, uh… Will crashed his bike, he made his way over to the quarry and uh… accidentally fell in. The Earth must’ve given way.”

My eyes never left Joyce as I watched her shake her head lightly, Hopper calling her name.

“Joyce? Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“No,” she said, voice trembling. “Whoever you found… is not my boy. It’s not Will.”

Hopper said her name again as she looked back at me, squeezing my hand. “It’s not my boy,” she whispered.

I put my hand on her back, nodding my head, “I believe you, Mrs. Byers. I do, I really do.”

“You’re supposed to be home,” Hopper said.

I sighed, “I know. I heard the sirens and got curious. Can you blame a girl for being curious? Especially because Will’s missing? I babysit him from time to time.”

He sighed and looked back at Joyce, who said, “You don’t understand. I talked to him… a half hour ago.”

Well, consider my interest piqued!

She let go of my hand and walked to the wall to our right, opening the hidden cabinets as she explained, “He was– he was here. He was– he was talking with these.” She pulled out a bunch of clear Christmas lights.

“Talking?” Hopper asked.

Joyce confirmed as she continued, “One blink for us, two for no. And– and uh…” She set the lights down and moved over to her couch, pointing at the wall behind it that had the alphabet painted on it, big Christmas lights hung above them. “And then I made this so he could talk to me. ‘Cause he was hiding… from that… that thing.”

“The thing that came out of the wall? The thing that chased you?”

I was irritated with him at this point. He wasn’t acting interested at all. I mean, a little boy is missing and his mother is trying to explain what she saw and what she experienced. Hell, I believed her!

“Mom, come on, please,” Jonathan begged, going along with Hopper. “You’ve gotta stop this.”

“Jesus H.,” I muttered, turning to face the hidden cabinets.

“No, maybe he’s… it’s after him!” Joyce cried. “He’s in danger, we have to find him, we–”

“What exactly was this thing?” Hopper asked. “It was some kind of animal, you said?”

“No, it was, uh– It was almost human, but it wasn’t– it had these long arms and… it didn’t have a face.”

Interest is highly piqued! I turned around, looking almost surprised.

“It didn’t have a face?” Hopper questioned.

Jonathan walked away, his bedroom door slamming shut a moment later. I’m not exactly sure what happened after that for a few moments, but when I zoned back in, Joyce was sitting on the table with Hopper squatting in front of her.

“After Sarah,” Hop said. “I saw her, too. And I heard her. I didn’t know what was real. And then I figured out it was all in my mind. And I had to pack all that away. Otherwise, I was gonna fall down a hole… that I couldn’t get out of.”

“No, you’re… you’re talking about grief,” Joyce whispered. “This is different.”

I couldn’t take hearing anymore of this, so I stepped outside, waiting by the cop cars. When I saw Hopper come out of the house, I made my way towards him. “You don’t believe her, do you?”

“Go home, Olivia,” he deadpanned.

Walking with him towards his truck, I said, “Not until you answer my question, Hopper.” He turned and looked at me for a moment before I asked my question again.

Hopper’s eyes danced between mine before he sighed. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?” I asked, tears slowly springing into my eyes. “How can you not be sure?”

“Look, her son just died–”

“That’s bullshit,” I said. “We have a theory–”

“Who does?”

I swallowed, hard. “I-I meant, me. I have a theory. But I can’t tell you.”

He quietly groaned, squeezing his eyes with fingers. He sighed, deeply before saying, “Go home, Olivia, or else you’re coming back to the station.”

“I can’t do that to my mom again,” I whispered, looking down.

He got into his truck, starting it up. I watched as he looked back towards the house before looking back at me. He turned off his truck and pulled his hat forward to cover his eyes.

I walked back towards my bike, getting on it and biking back home. I couldn’t help but check in on Dustin after I snuck back in through my window, thanking God he was in bed asleep. When I made my way to the kitchen, I stopped in the living room on my journey, seeing my mom still awake, watching the 11 o’clock news. I looked at the TV, slowly sitting on the couch as the reporter did his thing.

“Byers’ body was found in the water of this quarry by state police earlier this evening. It was discovered by state police David O’Bannon, just after dark. The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Byers’ cause of death, but an initial inquiry–”

I shook my head and got up, Mom calling my name. Not wanting to hear it, I went straight for the kitchen, the intended room I wanted to go in. Getting myself a glass of water, I let a few tears stream, aching at the loss of one of my favorite pre-teens.

Once I made it back in my room, I grabbed my favorite shirt and put it on before settling into bed. Breathing in the scent of the shirt, a few more tears flowed, this time for a completely different reason.

~~~

The phone ringing at quarter to eight brought me out of my slumber. I answered with a very groggy, “Hello?”

“I need you to come to the coroner's office with me and my mom.”

“Good morning to you, too, Byers,” I said, tossing the covers from my form. “Why?”

“I think my mom wouldn’t want you there, too, since you were there at the quarry last night. Plus, she likes you, so…”

I sighed, running a hand down my face. “Yeah. Give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you there.” I hung up the phone, sighing before yawning. I wasn’t much of a morning person, but I’d do anything for my brother’s friends.

Once I was dressed, I grabbed a piece of buttered toast with jam on it, kissing my mom on the head. I ate the piece of toast on my way to the coroner’s office on my bike. It was a little difficult, but I made it in one piece.

When I walked inside, Hopper was there, who looked thrilled that I had showed up.

“Go to school,” he said.

“Well, good morning, Chief,” I boasted. “Lovely morning we’re having.”

Without missing a beat, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

I sighed. “Jonathan called this morning. Said his mom would want me here.”

They walked in just then, Joyce looking shocked that I was there. I gave Jonathan a look that he almost cowered back at, telling me with his eyes that I needed to play along for his mom’s sake.

Once I told her I wanted to be there for her, her eyes softened and she nodded. The doctor led us to the back, Hopper staying back. Standing at the window, looking at the lifeless body under the blanket, I felt sick, so I excused myself. As I was walking away, I heard Jonathan tell Joyce something probably didn’t agree with me at breakfast.

I sat across from Hopper after getting a small cup of water. It had taken me a couple minutes to drink it, and once I had, I noticed Hopper’s impatience starting to show.

“What’s taking so long?” he asked.

“Well, everything’s been a bit chaotic around here without Gary,” the clerk said.

“Without Gary? Where’s Gary?”

“Well, I thought you knew. Those men from State, they… they sent Gary home last night.”

Hopper and I looked at each other, before we both asked, “So, who did the autopsy?”

“Someone from State.”

Our eyes stayed locked on each other as I leaned back, crossing my arms and one leg over the other, giving Hopper a look of “Believe us now?”

Jonathan came out just then, looking sick as a dog. He sat next to Hopper, taking his jacket off.

“How’s your mom doing?” Hopper asked.

“Oh, goodness,” I muttered, quietly.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan answered.

The phone rang right before Hopper asked, “How long has this stuff been going on? With the lights and, uh… Will and the thing in the wall?”

“Since the first phone call, I guess.”

Brows pinched together, I asked, “Phone call?”

Jonathan nodded, looking down before saying, “Ya’know, she’s had anxiety problems… in the past.”

“Your dickhead of a father sure as hell didn’t help,” I muttered.

“Language,” Hopper muttered.

“Sorry.”

“But this,” Jonathan continued. “I don’t know.” He breathed in deep before audibly sighing. “I’m worried it could be… ugh, I don’t know.” He hung his head, sniffling before sighing once again. Looking back up at me, he added, “She’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

I could see the tears in his eyes from here, so I stood up and walked over to his chair, sitting on the armrest, pulling him in for a sideways hug.

In addition to Steve being my best friend, Jonathan was also a very good friend of mine. Yes, it was because of our brothers, but we became our own friends while Dustin and Will were getting to know each other through play dates.

Even though I didn’t have the slightest clue on what the Byers’ were going through, it still broke my heart to see the both of them in this state. Especially Joyce.

“My mom,” the older Byers boy said. “She’s tough.” He chuckled, which caused me to chuckle out a “Yeah,” Hopper agreeing.

He put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder, saying, “Hey. She is.”

Speaking of the tough Byers woman, the doors opened up to her coming out of the hallway, the coroner yelling, “Ma’am! Ma’am, I need you to sign!”

“I don’t-I don’t know what you think that thing is in there, that is not my son!” Joyce said.

The three of us stood up at that point, Hopper saying, “Joyce, wait a second.”

“No!” Joyce walked out of the building, so I decided to follow after her.

“Joyce!” I yelled, stepping outside. She turned and faced me, asking, “If you saw him, would you believe it’s him or something else.”

“Listen, I believe you. 100%,” I said, nodding with wide eyes. “I believe you. I have my own little theory on where your littlest is. I can’t tell you right now, but–” She tried to interrupt me, but I simply continued, “But I will tell you when I feel the time is right. I have to get more information to back my theory up, but I promise you, you will be the first person I tell.”

Jonathan came outside then, so I told them that I had to get to school and to keep me updated on anything else that happens. After I biked to school, I went to the office and told them I was Hopper and the Byers’ at the coroner’s office and to call Hop if they didn’t believe me. When I left the office, I went to my locker, seeing a note inside.

Hope everything is okay. Meet me in between the buildings by the gym. Need to talk. -Nance

I sighed, closing my locker. When I made it to Nancy's preferred meeting place, I stopped in my tracks. “Steve?”

“Olivia?” he asked back, just as surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked her to come,” Nancy said. She began to explain about her going back to Steve’s house the day before to look for Barb while I made my way over to the two.

“So, wait a sec, I don’t understand,” Steve said. “You went back to my house?”

“To look for Barb,” Nancy answered.

I leaned against the building behind me, sighing.

“Yeah, okay, but,” Steve said, quickly looking back at me for a moment. Almost to check to see if I was still there before continuing, “Why didn’t you just talk to me? That’s crazy.”

“Crazy,” I dragged out.

“I don’t know, I-I was scared,” Nancy said.

“You seriously think you saw a guy in a mask just hanging out in my yard?” Steve asked.

I walked over to them, creating a triangle with them as I asked, “You saw a guy in a mask? Why didn’t you ask me to come with you?!” “You were with Dustin,” Nancy said. “But I don’t think it was a mask.”

“But he had no face?” Steve asked.

I quickly looked at him. More info for my theory. I looked down, my eyes dancing around as I muttered, “Theory.”

“What?”

I shook my head and looked up. “Working theory. Nance, your retort?”

“I don’t know!” she said. “I don’t know, I just– I have a terrible feeling about this.”

“Oh, this is bad,” Steve said. “This is really bad.”

“You’re telling us!” I exclaimed.

Steve leaned against the building I was just leaning against as Nancy asked, “What?”

“The cops,” he said.

“What about them?” I asked.

“They're gonna wanna talk to all of us now. Tommy, Carol, everybody who was at the party.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” I said, holding my hand out. “It wasn’t that big of a party. Just a minuscule of a get together.”

“Liv, my parents are gonna murder me,” he exclaimed.

“Calm down,” I sighed.

“Are you serious right now?” Nancy asked.

Looking at Nancy, Steve said, “You don’t understand. My dad’s a Grade A asshole.” Looking at me, he said, “Olivia, you should know that.”

I sighed and looked at Nancy, waiting for her to give her retort, which she looked at me expectantly. “Oh, I need to respond?” She nodded, so I sighed and looked at Steve. “Barb is missing, Steve. And you’re worried about your dad? Who’s never home?”

“Are you talking to the cops?”

“Well, yeah. Because of Will,” I answered.

“Well, when you talk to them next, just don’t mention the beers. It’s just gonna get you in a lot of trouble again. Barbra’s got nothing to do with it.”

“Steve, the Chief doesn’t even know I was at your house Tuesday,” I said, raising my arm a bit before slapping my hand on my outer thigh. “I told him I was at home the whole night before I heard sirens, which I’ll try and explain later.”

“So, you won’t mention being at my house?”

I looked at Nancy, the both of us scoffing before she said, “I can’t believe you right now.” She walked away, saying, “I can’t believe you.”

Steve called her name a couple times as she continued her walk away from us. He looked back at me, his eyes asking what he did wrong.

“Are you serious?” I asked. “Steve, let me spell it out for you.” I stepped closer to him, thumb and forefinger pressed together, hand waving as I enunciated, “It’s not about you right now.” I walked away, ready to leave campus again, but knowing I had to stay.

I walked by the school’s payphone, hearing it ring. Looking around to see if anyone is going to answer, I decided to pick it up, hesitantly saying, “Hello?”

“Liv?”

“Mike?”

“I need you to come to my house.”

“Why?”

“Please. I need your help.”

“This must be serious. You never ask for my help.”

“Liv!”

“Okay! Damn. I’m coming. Give me a few minutes to bike there.” I hung up the phone and audibly sighed. “Why me?” I asked no one. Turning and going straight for my bike, I noticed Steve leaning against his car, head in his hands. When I got my bike and started to ride past him, I watched as he looked up, the annoyance clearing his face as he saw me.

“Liv! Hey, where you going?” he asked.

“Home!” I said. “But I’ll be back!”

~~~

Walking into the Wheeler’s basement, I noticed the place was a mess. Mrs. Wheeler didn’t pay me for tidying it or cleaning it when it needed it… because she didn’t know I did it for her. Deciding I’d do it for her later, I made my way up the basement stairs into the kitchen.

I hollered for Mike, who responded with, “Nancy’s room!” I chuckled to myself, climbing the regular house stairs to the bedrooms, stopping at Nancy’s.

Seeing the makeup brushes out, I giggled. “Mike, I don’t think Nancy’s colors are going to look good on you.”

He looked at me with a deadpan look. “Can you come put this shit on her face?”

I walked into Nancy’s room, saying, “Language,” while setting my backpack down. Sitting in front of El, I noticed a small smile on her lips. “Hey, sweetie. So, as I’m putting this makeup on your face, I’ll tell you what the products are and stuff, okay?”

She nervously nodded her head, which made me smile.

“You’ll get to use it,” I said. “Especially if you’re gonna live here with Nancy.”

That a small giggle from her as I reached in Nance’s makeup box for her powder and brush. Once I put that on El and explained what it was, I moved on to blush then to the rest of the products. She was hesitant about the mascara, but once I told her a trick that I use for when I put my own on, she wanted to try by herself.

The boys were in the basement, finding things for El to wear; a dress and a wig. They brought them up to us as soon as we were done with makeup. She had asked with her eyes if I could stay near the door like before, so I said that I would.

I heard the door open up behind me, turning to see El in a blonde wig and a light pink dress. I smiled, putting my palms together, bringing my fingertips to my lips. “Beautiful before. Beautiful now.”

“Wow,” Dustin said. “She looks–”

“Pretty,” Mike said. “Good. You look pretty good.”

El walked to the mirror, almost stunned at seeing herself all done up. She whispered, “Pretty,” as I walked behind her, putting my hands on her shoulders.

“Like I said, beautiful before. Beautiful now.” I smiled, which caused her to smile back.

~~~

When I got back to school, Callahan and Powell were there. I rolled my eyes to a close, sighing.

“Miss Henderson,” Powell said. “What a nice surprise.”

“Hello, Officer Powell,” I greeted. “Am I going back to the station?”

“No, but we do need to talk with you. Follow me, please.”

He led me to the cafeteria, where Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler were, to my surprise.

“Nancy?” I asked, setting my bag down, sitting next to her. “What are you–?”

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Powell said. He began his questioning, Nancy and I answering to the best that we could.

“This argument you three had?” Powell said. “What exactly was it about?”

“I wasn’t involved,” I said, hands up. “I was in Steve’s room, getting some dry clothes while Nancy and Barb talked. I’m not sure what it was about.”

Nancy sighed. “It wasn’t really an argument. Barb just wanted to leave. I didn’t, so, I– I told her to just go home.”

Powell looked from me back to Nancy. “Then what?”

“Then I went upstairs to put on some dry clothes.”

“And the next day, you went back and… saw a bear, you’re thinking?”

I looked at Nancy as she closed her eyes for a moment, opening while saying, “I don’t know what it was, but… I think–I think maybe it took Barb. You need to check behind Steve’s house–”

“We did,” Callahan said. “There’s nothing there. There’s no sign of a bear.”

“And no car,” Powell added.

“Oh, I drove that night,” I said. “So, there wouldn’t be any car.”

“Look,” Callahan said. “We figured that Barbra came back last night and then she took off, went somewhere else.”

“Has she ever talked to either of you about running off?” Powell asked. “Leave town, maybe?”

“I didn’t know her that well, so…” I said.

“No,” Nancy answered. “No, Barb wouldn’t do that, ever.” She pointed at me and said, “Liv would, but not Barb.”

“Thanks, Nance.”

“She wasn’t maybe upset about the fact that you were spending time with this boy?” Powell continued his line of questioning. “Uh, Steve Harrington?”

“What? No!” Nancy said.

“Maybe she was jealous because she saw you go up to Steve’s room?” Callahan asked. He looked at me, a confused look on his face. “You two are still close? Why were you up there?”

I sighed. “I still have a stash of clothes over there from, like, two years ago.” I looked at Nancy, saying her name.

“It wasn’t like that,” Nancy defended.

“Like what?” Callahan asked.

“Steve and me, we’re… we’re just friends. We… we just talked.”

“Now was this before or after you changed out of your clothes?”

Seeing the uncomfortable look on Nancy’s face, as well as the almost disturbed look on her mother’s, I looked at the officer’s saying, “Alright, boys. I think we’re done here. Your rounds of questioning are over.”

~~~

For some reason, Hopper had directed his call to my personal phone in my bedroom, so when I answered it, he said he needed me right away at the coroner’s office, and that he’d pick me up so I didn’t have to bike in the dark.

He and I made it, albeit a little awkward. I watched him pick up his hat and then set it back down. He looked at me and told me if I said a word, he’d throw me in a cell and to get out of the truck once I agreed.

He told the front desk clerk that he forgot his hat and that I was there to help him look before we both walked down a hallway, seeing a security guard that Hopper punched out.

“Damn, Hopper,” I said as he grabbed the guy's keys.

He didn’t say anything, he just unlocked the door, motioning for me to follow him in. When he closed the door behind me, I shuddered, not wanting to be in this morgue. When we went into the next room, I swore I was going to be sick.

“Stay strong,” Hopper said, pulling the drawer out that had Will’s body in it.

“Hopper!” I exclaimed. “What the hell–”

He pulled the blanket back, revealing Will’s body. Tears immediately came to my eyes as I looked at him, a kid that was like my own brother. Hopper walked away for a moment before walking back to the drawer, pulling the blanket back further.

He put his hand on the body, gasping. When he pulled his hand back, he looked at me. “Come feel this.”

I walked over, putting my hand on Will’s body, except… this wasn’t his body. It didn’t feel like regular skin. When I looked up at Hopper, we both had a look of shock on our faces. “We told you.”

He exhaled heavily, pulling a pocket knife from his pocket. He opened it, almost hesitantly. Nodding his head, he put the knife to the body, retreating after a moment. Looking back at me, he asked, “What if it really is him?”

Shaking my head, I said, “It’s not. I can feel that it’s not a real body. It doesn’t even feel like normal skin.”

Hopper looked back at the body, breathing heavily for a moment before plunging the knife into the belly button and cutting to the bottom of where the ribs should be. It looked like he was struggling, too. He reached his hand in, pulling out cotton. He looked back at me, saying, “I think it’s time you reveal that theory.”

“Not yet,” I said. “We have to tell Joyce first about this.”

“Not yet,” he repeated my words. “We have to make a trip first.”

“Hopper, I can’t. My mom worries enough when I’m in my bedroom and she can’t find me.”

He sighed. “Alright. I’ll take you home.”

“Thank you, Hop.”

He took me home and told me to stay in the rest of the night, no matter what. And that’s what I did.

Ya’know, it feels good to follow the rules every once in a while… and spending time with my mom watching game shows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2: hi, friends! so, reason for the late upload is because our laundry had gotten backed up so bad to the point where i unknowingly spent all of my monday washing, drying, folding and putting away the laundry. never uploaded tuesday because a baby migraine appeared out of fucking nowhere! i'm am so sorry!! but, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Note: i know that some of y’all are waiting to see your requests, and i promise i’ll get to them. the writer’s block hit really bad with them. atb is the only thing i have motivation to post for at the moment.

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on November 29, 2023

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