#this ramble bought to you by the several hours i spent today talking through fic with hangsamen

[groovebunker]

i know this gets said a lot so i'm just shouting into the same void as everyone else but whatever.

if you like someone's fic and you would like to read more of that person's fic, one of the best things you can do is appear in that person's inbox/dms/Ao3 comments etc and talk to them about it. what did you love about the fic? how did it make you feel? did you think the characters are being absolute idiots?

and if it's something that's being updated, the author will probably just ramble on at you for several hours about their fic! about where it's going and their understanding of the characters and their arcs and their headcanons for the plot. and they'll probably ask you what you think too!! and then you get to tell them those things!! basically what i'm saying is don't be shy.

if you do this enough, you become friends with the author and they'll terrorise you daily, so you know, be warned.

[thefanficmonster]

Infatuation

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: FLUFF, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: It’s not a secret that Corpse prefers taking care of his hair himself rather than going to a hair salon to get it trimmed and/or tampered. However, he only has so much knowledge of how to properly do it without having to obliterate his budget. Luckily, his girlfriend comes to his rescue.

Requested by Anon. Hi lovely! Thank you so much for the incredibly fluffy request! I’ve been very pumped to write it and now here it finally is - so sorry it’s taken me so long to complete and post it but I still hope you come across it and give it a read! Love, Vy ❤

“Um, what are you doing?“

I just walked into Corpse’s apartment to find him barricaded in the bathroom, giving himself a hair appointment. We were supposed to have a chill night in watching movies, but it seems to me like those plans will either have to be delayed or canceled, given the chaotic state both Corpse and his bathroom are in. I mean, how dumb was I to expect he was actually doing his hair justice when he told me he styled it himself? Why didn’t that immediately raise an army of red flags in my head and lead me to question his methods?

I’m honestly quite jealous of Corpse’s hair. It’s always so soft and silky and no matter how much or how little effort he’s put in it, it always looks good: either evidently carefully styled or boyishly messy, it leaves me with heart-eyes regardless. But to see him massacre it like this, it makes me wish I could report it as a crime.

“Ain’t obvious?“ He sounds rather frustrated and I feel at least slightly better due to this fact. He deserves to be as frustrated as I am by the sight of the crap he’s doing. “Sorry, you’re gonna have to wait for me for...a little while. I just need to get this under control and, um, clean the mess. Sorry for ruining your night like this, babe. I-I really wasn’t planning on it to take this long but I forgot to buy one of the products and I thought I could wing it without it but...I very clearly can’t so...“

“Please, stop talking. I don’t need to know what sins you’ve committed - if I do I’ll probably have to give you the silent treatment for like a week or so.“ I call out to him as I quickly skip over to the kitchen to leave the food I bought on my way over before returning to the bathroom and carefully taking a step inside, mindful of where there are hair strands on the tiles. Even severed, his hair is beautiful and I have a ton of respect for it - ok fine, I adore it. Corpse definitely doesn’t appreciate it properly. I walk over to the shower, reaching out to the two shelves inside which are lined with different types of hair products. “Oh fuck...“ I let out the whisper without even realizing it because I’m so stunned by the brands I see on those shelves. “Corpse, um, what the actual fuck?”

He turns to me, eyes wide and terrified because of my menacing tone. “What? What is it?” His gaze searches the spot where mine was just pointed at, looking for anything that could’ve provoked such a reaction from me. Seeing nothing but the hair products, he meets my deadly glare yet again, “What’s wrong?”

Alright, this man-child needs some serious help

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong.“ I say, stomping towards the exit of the bathroom, “You’re gonna stay here and wait for me to come back and don’t you DARE, even touch your hair, let alone bring a pair of scissors or any chemical near it. Copy?“

“Copied and pasted, ma’am.“ He salutes me, knowing better than to ask questions when I enter my commander role. There are quite a few things that set me off into this bossy-ass persona, and hair mistreatment is most definitely one of them. Thing is, Corpse doesn’t know that. Well, he didn’t know that, pretty sure he’s guessed it by now.

Feeling myself soften at his obedience and trust, I give him a smile and a wink over my shoulder as I go to grab my bag and leave the apartment to complete my mission, “Good boy.”

                                                              *  *  *

“Isn’t that a lot better?“ I ask, gently running my fingers through Corpse’s freshly cut, washed and dried hair. I’ve spent a good five minutes just smoothing through it with my fingers. I bet he’s expecting me to say ‘my precious‘ at any moment now, and trust me it’s tempting, but I still don’t, I won’t give him the pleasure of predicting my actions. Wow, we’ve really reached that level of being familiar with one another that I predict that he’s predicting what I’m gonna do next. While I’m a guessing game for him, I tend to think of myself as more of an open book. You just gotta be fluent in the language it’s written in to understand it.

I’ve gone off-topic, my bad.

“Yeah, you’re a lot less scary now.“ He tells me, his hand finding mine in his hair and taking it to his lips to place a kiss on my knuckles.

We’re positioned so that we’re in front of the bathroom mirror with Corpse seated in a chair in front of me and I’m for once in my life towering over him from behind. Our height difference was threatening to be a hinderance in my work on his hair, but we easily figured it out.

I can’t help but laugh, “You know what I meant.“ I curl one of his already curly strands around the pointer finger of the hand that’s still wandering around the soft dark curls while the other remains in his gentle hold, resting on his shoulder.

“And you know what I meant.“ He shifts in his seat to look at me directly, not via the mirror, “Since when do you have a hair infatuation?“

I roll my eyes and retract my hands, defensively folding my arms over my chest, “It’s not an infatuation with hair, dummy. It’s an infatuation with your hair.” I correct him, doing quick work of styling the stray strands that fall over his forehead and eyes. “I really like your hair, you already know that. I can’t handle the thought you’re doing such a shitty job taking care of it.”

He shrugs, furrowing his brows, “Hey, I was buying top-shelf products, cost me a fortune every month, my hair was being treated like royalty.”

I roll my eyes once again, “High price doesn’t always equal high quality, Corpse. Did you ever stop to read what was in those products?” I don’t let him answer, I don’t need him to confirm what I already know. “Even if you did - which you didn’t - you wouldn’t know what each of those ingredients do to your hair. You see, taking care of hair, especially hair like yours, takes patience and knowledge. It’s practically an art form. It’s not like you can just buy any product that has ‘suitable for curly hair’ on it. There’s a lot more to that.”

It’s only after I finish my monologue that I realize he’s looking at me with amazed amusement in his gaze, almost like a parent listening to their kid talk about their wish of becoming an astronaut. “Since when do you know so much about hair? You’ve been using the same shampoo and conditioner since I know you and now you wanna lecture me on hair care?”

I raise an eyebrow at him, exasperated by his stubbornness on the matter, “Who said being consistent with your hair products is a bad thing? You know, frequent changing of brands has the potential of being damaging as much as aiding.” I explain with the most amount of patience I can muster, now taking over the parent role myself, “And as for your previous question, I know so much because my mother is a hairdresser.”

His eyes widen in surprise. I can practically see the gears in his brain turning as he tries to recall if I’ve ever told him this before.

“How come I don’t know that?“ He asks finally after a long moment of silence. “Why haven’t you told me?”

“You ask that as though I just tell you things like that on the regular. Did you also want me to drop the info that my dad’s a mechanic in passing conversation about video games? Cause that’s a little hard to shoehorn in....“ He cuts off my sarcastic rambling with a brief peck to the lips. He’s the only person allowed to shut me up, and only like that. Anything else will earn him either an earful or a silent treatment. 

Just kidding....unless...

“So, does that mean you’re continuing the family business?“ he asks when he pulls away, “I mean, you’re technically my personal hairdresser now.“

I furrow my brows playfully, “Wait, what? Since when?”

“Since I hired you approximately an hour ago.“ He beams up at me, satisfied that I’ve fallen in his trap.

“And what about my payment?“ I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

He looks to be contemplating for a second before he stands up from the chair, taking my hand in his leading me out of the bathroom, “Well, each appointment you’ll give me a different price, Miss Y/L/N. But, considering today was your first day, I choose to pay you with dinner.“ He sends a wink my way, laughing when he’s met with an unamused expression on my part as I stop in my tracks, causing him to halt his movements as well.

“You really plan on paying me with the dinner I bought?“ I raise an eyebrow at him, freeing my hand from his so I can put both my hands on my hips for the complete 'I’m far from impressed’ look.

“Yeah...? Problem?“ He asks, faking nervousness and guilt as he closes the distance between us, once again returning to the default of towering over me instead of it being the other way around.

“Several actually. First of all...“ I raise my finger in the air accusingly, ready to go off but the arm that wraps around my waist and lifts me off the ground causes my words to die down, evaporating in a frightened squeal, “Corpse no!! Put me down!“

Of course, he ignores me, carrying me into the living room while I don’t know whether to thrash or stay as still as possible. 

Tsk, so much for gratitude

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[letmeletmetrashyourlove]

Zombie Boy

(gif credit: rosaque) (Literally one of my top five gif makers.) (I adore them) 

Author’s Note: Holy shit I’ve been working on this damn thing for so long that now I hate it. It started as a Billy x reader fic and slowly turned into an OC fic so weee!

Summary: Billy helps Byers!Reader through the challenges of protecting her little brother.

I laid on my back in bed, a book resting on my chest, one from the pile of novels in my corner that I told myself I would read over the summer. Well, the summer was creeping to a close, the days became shorter and colder and I hadn’t made a dent. Shuffling from my window made me glance up to identify a familiar mullet-haired boy climbing through, gingerly stepping around the things on my desk.    “You know you can just come in the front door, right?” I asked as my focus moved back to my book, turning the page.    “More fun this way.” He grinned as his booted feet beat the floor.

Billy grabbed me by the ankles and dragged me to the end of the bed, forcing me to lose my clutch on my book in surprise as a yelp escaped my lips. I let out a wild giggle as he planted his hands on either side of my head and leaned down to kiss me.

   “What’s that for?” I smiled up at him, resting my hands on his shoulders.    “Missed you after school today.” He hummed, pressing another chaste kiss to my lips.    “I had to go to the doctor with Will,” I explained. Every other Monday for the past year had been the scheduled day to go back to Hawkins Lab to meet Doctor Sam Owens. He maintained that he wasn’t one of the men that caused harm to Will and that all of those men were gone, but I remained incredulous. The tests they did were routine, often not revealing anything out of the ordinary or new. But it was evident that they were searching for something, though they wouldn’t tell us what. Billy had been in Hawkins for hardly three weeks. He spent the first week here turning out every girl he could, it was almost like he had a list in his head of girls he wanted to fuck and leave in the dust. But I wasn’t going to bend to that so easily, and he made it his task to get me alone. And it wasn’t so much that I was purposely avoiding him, but that I just had other things going on. He caught onto my schedule and ended up staying behind after school and waiting for me to get out of my study group in the library. At least, that’s what he said, but I’m not entirely convinced that he didn’t just happen to get out of detention at the same time I left. He somehow persuaded me to let him give me a ride home. And then a ride home the next day, and the next day, until he kidnapped me and took me to the diner before going home. We talked about his home life, where he was from. What California was like. The Byers’ family could never afford to travel out of state, let alone to go as far as the coasts of California. He showed me how he could tie a cherry stem into a knot with his tongue, sticking it out of his mouth and proudly displaying it. I tried it myself, ending up nearly choking on the damn thing in the process. I turned away from him, my face red from coughing and from the embarrassment that could be seen in the rising blush on my cheeks. He caught my chin, turning me around to face him and pressing his lips to mine. We both tasted of the artificial sugar from the cherries and the whipped cream from our milkshakes. He pulled away with a smirk, finally winning in this unspoken game he was playing. And, much to my surprise, he didn’t try to get into my pants when he dropped me off at home. He instead gave me one last peck on the lips and went home. The day I decided to tell him about Will was an arduous one. I told him we needed to talk, which I could tell struck fear into his heart. He drove us out to the quarry and parked along the edge. We rolled down the windows to let in some of the tranquil autumn air and to ease the nervous sweat that was beading on my forehead. He listened intently as I poured my heart out, resting a reassuring hand on my knee when I felt the tears burning in the back of my eyes and my throat closing up. I was more emotionally raw than I had in a long time, finally getting some semblance of the truth out to somebody that I knew would listen and I could trust not to say anything. Sure, it wasn’t the whole truth. Only what you could read about in the papers and watch on the nightly news, but getting it off my chest was the most significant thing. That spot on the edge of the quarry became our spot. It was far enough off the beaten path that other couples wouldn’t be able to find us. It wasn’t our intention to hide, but neither of us could deny the peace we found sitting beside each other, fingers intertwined, music playing softly on the radio.   As the days went on, both of us became more and more comfortable with each other, he dragged me into the back seat to sit on his lap, eyes full of lust. The night ended with a severe lack of clothes and a plethora of bruises on the inside of my thighs and along my neck. He met me with a smirk the next couple of days of school, noticing I had borrowed a turtleneck from Jonathan to hide the marks on my neck. Then came the task of telling my brother why exactly I had to swipe his shirt. Which ended as many of our discussions did, in a screaming fit. Both of us with red faces and clenched fists as we hurled insults back and forth. There was an unspoken Billy ban in our house, not that Jonathan actually had the balls to enforce it. Besides, his time was consumed by being the pretentious prick that he is and sitting in his room blasting boring music and reading some old ass book. Despite my brother’s contempt for Billy, every Friday night was date night and he’d be picking me up soon. I spent a few moments in front of the mirror trying to tame my overly staticky hair and smearing on a coat of lipstick before I heard a knock at the door. I popped the lid back on my lipstick, setting it down on my vanity tray before answering the door.     “You’re early.” I greeted, opening the front door for Billy. He beamed at me, a slight blush on his cheeks from the biting winter air. His arms were behind his back, obviously hiding something from my view.    “What you got there?” I asked, “A puppy?” He rolled his eyes, revealing the bouquet of violets he held behind his back. The plastic wrapping crinkled as I took them, admiring the note card that was attached. All it had was Billy’s initials and a heart drawn on it, about as romantic as this boy usually got.    “What’s this for? What did you do?”    “What, I can’t just bring my girlfriend flowers?” He opposed, settling his hands on my hips and pecking me on the lips as he moved me aside to step in from the cold.      “Hmm… Nope.” I hummed, heading into the kitchen to put the flowers in water. The last time he bought me flowers, he beat up some guy that I made an offhand comment about. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of me in chemistry class, and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. And Billy wasn’t going to have that, oh no. He waited until I had a sick day from school to confront the boy in the hall after class and knock out one of his teeth. When he was supposed to bring me more cold medicine after school, he instead spent the evening in detention, arriving three hours late with bloodied knuckles, a milkshake from Benny’s, cough syrup, and a bouquet of violets. It wasn’t until the next day when I returned to school that I knew he had nearly knocked a kid out in the hallway. It seemed to be a routine now before I could hear rumors of his misbehavior through the grapevine, he brought me a bouquet. I rose onto my tiptoes to reach a vase from the cabinet, before I could reach it, I bumped against something on the counter. I let out a sound of surprise as I accidentally knocked Will’s sketchbook off. It hit the ground with a thud, a piece of paper fluttering out. I bent over to pick it up, discovering it was a newspaper clipping with writing in marker that bled through to the other side of the paper. I flipped it over to see it was the story from the day Will was found. Green marker was scrawled across the picture “Zombie Boy”. I felt my face instantly heat up with anger as I crumpled the paper in my hand.    “Hey, you okay?” Billy asked, taking notice of my taught muscles and caressing my shoulders from behind.    “Who the fuck makes fun of a kid that ended up in an alternat-” I stopped myself, realizing that I was about to accidentally spill the beans to Billy.    “What?”    “Ugh!” I roared, uncrumpling the paper and showing it to him, “How can kids be so shameless as to make fun of a kid who was kidnapped and brainwashed and probably tortured by some fucking evil corporation with nothing better to do than to try to fuck people over for the sake of-” I rambled before I was cut off by a peck on my lips. I let out a huff, glaring at Billy,    “Don’t kiss me when I’m mad!” I objected, reaching up to erase the bit of my lipstick that rubbed off on his lips.    “Why are you mad?” A small voice broke from behind me. I spun to see Will standing in the entryway to the kitchen, an empty glass in hand.    “Nothin’ kiddo. Need more to eat?” I questioned, “I can fix you a sandwich or something before we go.” Although Will had grown taller over the past year, he hadn’t filled out any. All I could attribute it to was the stress from everything he had been through. It seemed like we could seldom get him to eat anything most of the time, and when he did eat, he just picked at it.    “No, I had pizza at Mike’s, thanks.” He smiled, going into the fridge and pouring himself a glass of orange juice. Billy still held the scrap of crumpled newspaper in his hand, peering at me with furrowed brows and lips parted as if he were about to say something. I shook my head at him, not wanting him to bring up something that Will was evidently trying to hide. He ignored me though,    “Hey, Will. Where’d this come from, bud?” Billy questioned, holding the scrap out to Will. Will's face fell as he looked at the paper,    “Nowhere.” He whispered, studying his beat-up sneakers and shuffling them stiffly.    “It obviously came from somewhere. Tell me who I need to punch.” Billy insisted,    “Billy.” I uttered, resting my hand on his shoulder to calm him down.    “What? This isn’t cool!” He bellowed “Will?”    “I-I- I don’t know… It was in my locker when I opened it this morning.” He stammered. Billy growled,    “Pussy couldn’t even say it to your face.” He grumbled. I delivered a thump to Billy’s shoulder, a warning to watch his language and to quiet himself down. His anger was tough to curtail. It was constant and impending, threatening to burst out and attack whoever the closest victim happened to be, whether or not they were the source of his anger. He told me that I helped make him better about his anger. And I told him he shouldn’t rely on me to do that for him. It wasn’t healthy to put his sanity on me. But I did notice when I was with him that he sat with fists clenched, jaw taught, and teeth grinding rather than unleashing that anger onto anybody else. I took the piece of newspaper from Billy and reached into the front pocket of his denim shirt, pulling out his lighter,    “C’mere.” I ordered Will, beckoning him over to the kitchen sink and handing him the lighter, “Light her up.”    “What?”    “Light it on fire. Burn the bullies… Symbolically, anyway.” I said, shooting a glare over my shoulder at Billy, who I could sense was plotting all the various ways he could make the people who hurt Will suffer. Will struggled to turn the ignitor on the lighter, but after a couple of tries, he lit the paper on fire and watched the edges of it curl up on itself as it burned away. I dropped it into the sink when the flames got too close to my fingers, putting it out with the faucet before we set off the smoke alarms, Will dawned a hint of a devious grin as he glanced up at me,    “Feels good, huh?”    “Yeah. Kinda.” He smirked as I threw my arm around his shoulder.    “You know you can talk to me about this stuff, right? You don’t have to hide it?” I whispered.    “Yeah, I know… it’s just… I don’t know… I feel like I’m…. kind of a burden.” He murmured, once again training his eyes on his sneakers. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach at those words. With everything that he had been through, the last thing he needed to be thinking was that he was a burden to me. I felt a sting at the back of my eyes as I grabbed him by the shoulders,    “Hey.” I asserted, “You are not a burden. Nothing you could ever do would make you a burden, you understand?” He nodded, taking his glass of orange juice and his sketchbook and retreating into his bedroom once again. When I heard his door click shut, I turned back toward Billy. The sting in my eyes had turned into tears that overflowed out onto my cheeks.    “Hey, hey, hey.” He consoled, meeting me halfway across the kitchen and tugging me against his chest. I let out a few silent sobs into his shirt,    “I just don’t know how to help him.” I squeaked. Billy let me cry on his shoulder for a little while, brushing his hands up and down my back while he rocked me back and forth.    “Sorry.” I sniffled as I backed away, wiping the snot from under my nose. Billy shook his head to tell me not to worry about it, snagging a tissue from the box that sat on the counter and handing it to me. I gladly took it, wiping my eyes.    “Don’t be sorry, okay? I can’t even imagine what you guys went through.”   I nodded as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear,    “Come on. Let’s just go to the movie and try to relax for the night, okay?” He suggested, wiping one last stray tear from my cheek.    “Lemme go say bye real quick,” I told him, heading back towards Will’s bedroom. I knocked on his door, peering in,    “Hey, kid. Billy and I are headed to the movies. Want me to bring home some popcorn for you?” I asked.    “Uh. How about some milk duds?” He asked, a grin playing on his lips.    “You got it. Love you, see ya later.”  I said, starting to close the door, “Oh, don’t forget to let Chester out to potty before you go to bed.” The dog lifted his head off the mattress at the sound of his name,    “Got it.” Will told me, patting Chester on the head. I closed the door behind me as I went into the hallway, knocking on Jonathan’s door.    “Hey, asshole!” I hollered over the music that was blasting from his room, “I’m leaving!”    “Good, get Hargrove out of my house!” Jonathan retorted. He and I had a strained relationship. Being so close in age, we always struggled to outdo each other when we were younger. What should’ve been playful sibling rivalry ended up driving a wedge between us when Lonnie left. We were down to one income in the house, and that meant that everybody got less and less. Less for birthdays, less for holidays, less for back to school. It made us end up fighting for rewards, getting taken out for ice cream with just mom when we did something well since we couldn’t afford to get all four of us ice cream at one time. You would think that Will’s disappearance would’ve brought us together, but we only ended up blaming each other. Him shouting at me that I should’ve heard something since I was home, me screaming at him for getting a job instead of taking care of Will and driving him back from Wheeler’s house that night since he had taken the car to his job.

We both kept a closer watch over Will. That was for sure, but I could tell that the rift was starting to bother him. He wanted to have family game night but it would usually end up with Jonathan or I screaming at each other over something stupid. And I would like to think that I was always the innocent bystander, just the victim of Jonathan’s irrationality. But I was irrational too, and I knew it. But nothing pushed us further from each other than Billy Hargrove. He was everything that Jonathan despised. A jock with a bad boy attitude, fancy car, loved metal and Playboy magazine. He was somehow below Jonathan, in his eyes anyway. But he did knock Steve down a peg, not that Steve paid any mind to it. Jonathan, on the other hand, saw it as a potential opportunity to go after his middle school crush, Nancy Wheeler. Even though she and Steve were still together, something about the way she talked about Steve told me something was off. It was only a matter of time before the Hawkins ‘it’ couple called it a quits. Billy took my hand, offering me a glance to say ‘you ready?’. When I nodded, he brought me out to his car, opening my door for me.    “You know I can open my own door, right?” I quipped.    “Can I not do something chivalrous?” He replied.    “Nope. Because I know all you really want is to get in my pants.”    “That’s not true! I want to talk about your feelings and get in your pants.” He defended, earning a smack on the chest when he got into the driver’s seat. As soon as he started the car, he reached for the radio, groaning in annoyance when the only thing on his favorite station was commercials.    “Oh hey! I like that song!” I blurted as Billy flipped through the stations, He raised an eyebrow at me as he switched the station back,    “Under pressure, that brings the building down, splits the family in two.” I hummed along with the song,    “You and Bowie…” He chuckled to himself.    “At least I don’t have a half naked poster of him in my room.” I sassed, propping my feet up on the dash,    “Hey, you leave Shauna out of this!” He gasped, shooting me a glare.    “Shauna gives me the creeps. Her eyes follow you.” I brought my index and middle finger to my eyes, making a ‘watching you’ motion at Billy.    “Gotta have something to look at when you aren’t around, sweetheart. Unless you’ll let me take a picture.” He smirked, licking his lips as he glanced over at me and rested his hand on my thigh.    “And having some creepy old perv develop the film for you? No thanks.” I quipped, arranging my hand on top of his and giving it a squeeze.    “Could always use a Polaroid.” He suggested, “The only creepy perv looking at it would be me.”    “Not gonna happen, Hargrove.” I purred.    “Then Shauna stays.” He huffed.    “Fine. Then I guess I’ll just get a shirtless Arnie poster to hang over my bed.”    “Oh, that’s just cruel.” He replied.    “Gotta have something to look at when you aren’t around, sweetheart.” I cooed. By the grace of god, we managed to get a parking spot right out front of the Hawk. Billy was talking to me about something as we waited in line for the tickets. I couldn’t pay attention though, my eyes were focused on a group of kids I had seen picking on Will before. They were all crowded around the concession stand, throwing popcorn at each other and laughing.    “Hey.” Billy alerted, snapping his fingers in front of my face as I spaced out.    “Hm? What?” I exclaimed, my gaze shifting back to him.    “You okay?” He asked, following the direction where my stare was directed a second ago, “Those kids do something?” Billy had been on edge around me ever since I had my first breakdown about Will in front of him. The hostility wasn’t targeted at me, no, not in the slightest. But the first time he saw me cry, he got so irate that he went and beat up the older sibling of one of the kids who was bullying Will. Now every group of kids we saw made him bristle, his muscles going taut and jaw clenching when he saw them.    “Baby.” He prompted, giving me a bump with his elbow. I shook my head at him,    “No… I mean… I don’t know… maybe.” I sighed, looking at my feet.    “Want me to go have a talk with them?”    “No! God, no.” I blurted. The last time he went to ‘have a talk’ with somebody, we got banned from Benny’s diner. Something to do with food flying across the restaurant… and then… a person flying across the restaurant.      “You sure?”    “Yes. I’m sure I don’t want to get barred from the only movie theater in town, Billy.”      “Not that kind of ‘talking to them’.” He defended.    “Oh, so you’re just gonna yell at them until they break down in tears?”    “They deserve it if they’re giving Will shit.” I shook my head again,    “Just leave it.” Billy bought the tickets while I got in line for the concessions. I ordered a popcorn and drink for him and I to split as well as the milk duds Will wanted. I tucked them into my purse before meeting Billy at the end of the line. He hooked his arm through mine as he led me into the theater, picking our usual spot in the back row. It was rare that we ever went to a movie and actually watched it, more often than not we ended up making out the whole time. The previews started, allowing me to sink into my seat and relax for a moment. That was until the kids from the lobby sat in the row ahead of us. Billy threw his arm around my shoulder, trying to pull me against him.. I remained stiff though, eyes trained on the kids as they chatted and giggled. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I couldn’t help but think they were saying something about Will.    “Hey.” Billy murmured, resting his hand under my chin and turning me to look at him, “It’s okay.” I nodded, leaning against his shoulder and trying to focus on the movie. I reached into the popcorn bucket we were sharing, shoving a few pieces into my mouth. The group of kids burst out into laughter yet again, every muscle in my body tensed up. I couldn’t seem to relax, despite Billy’s hand running up and down my back.    “Hey, shut up, will ya?” Billy shouted at the kids, making them turn to us with bewildered eyes. When they caught sight of me, their laughter dissolved into whispers, and I could hardly make out over the booming music of the movie,    “Isn’t that Zombie Boy’s sister?” I sank my teeth into my lip, rough enough to leave a bruise. Billy, however, didn’t hold the same restraint. He threw himself out of his seat, practically leaping over the row in front of us and grabbing the kid by the collar,    “What did you just say?” He snarled as he tore the boy to his feet.    “Nothing.” The kid burst, grasping onto Billy’s forearms.    “Billy.” I breathed,    “No. Nuh-uh. He’s not getting away with this.”    “By all means, kid. Repeat what you just said!” Billy hollered, making everybody in the nearly full theater turn around to stare.    “I-Isn’t t-that z-z-zombie boy’s s-sister?” The kid stammered.    “That’s what I thought.” Billy growled, “What the hell's the matter with you, huh? Calling him that? Saying that in front of her?”    “I-I-I-I d-don’t… I- don’t k-know.” The kid sputtered.    “Kids got a name. It’s Will.” Billy snapped, “Now, you apologize to my girl, got it?” The boy gulped, turning to look at me,    “I-I-I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered, eyes wide in shock.    “Say that shit again and you’ll be the next kid to disappear.” Billy threatened, releasing the boy with a shove.  He stepped back over the row of seats and took my hand.    “You okay?” He murmured, his opposite hand resting on my cheek. I nodded, eyes still trained on the stunned kids in the row ahead of us.    “Let’s get out of here.” He led me out of the theater and to his car in silence. Not even the radio played. The only sound was tires on asphalt. He knew I would be mad at him for how he acted in the theater. And I was, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything about it. I didn’t have the energy. And my silence was always what scared him the most. Sometimes he liked to annoy me, get under my skin and make me yell at him. He thought it was hot when I got pissed. But silence was another beast entirely.    We pulled into my driveway to see Will standing on the porch. He wore his brown and green plaid PJ pants with a white tee shirt. Despite the stinging cold of winter, he had no shoes on and no jacket. He stared off into space, eyes wide and mouth slightly ajar.    “Will?” I called as I stepped out of the car, walking towards him slowly. He didn’t reply. I broke into a sprint and bounded up the porch steps,    “Will!?” I gasped, As I got closer, I could determine his eyes were trained on the sky, darting back and forth wildly.    “Will!?” I repeated, grabbing him by the shoulders. They rose and fell harshly with each breath he took becoming faster and sharper than the last.    “Will! Bud! Snap out of it!” I shouted, waving my hand in front of his vision.    “Will!” Billy bellowed from behind me, loud enough to rip Will out of his trance. He let out a gasp, grabbing onto my arms where they rested on his shoulders. His eyes explored all of my features before he threw himself into my arms, head against my chest.    “It’s okay, I’m here.” I soothed, placing a hand on the back of his head and another on his back. He balled up my jacket in his fists, “Let's get inside, come on, it’s freezing.” He stayed glued to me as we went inside, only relaxing slightly when I sat down on the couch with him. Mom had gone out to dinner with Bob, leaving Jonathan in charge while I was out with Billy. But music still blasted from his room, blissfully unaware that Will had managed to wander out onto the porch alone.    “Stay here, kid,” I whispered to Will, getting up and swinging Jonathan’s bedroom door open. To my surprise, he wasn’t there. I glanced over to the bathroom to see the door open and the lights off.    “Jonathan!?” I shouted, peering into mom’s bedroom as well. I came back out into the living room, raising my arms in a shrug when I looked at Billy. I peered out of the curtains and into the driveway to see that his car was gone. I hadn’t even noticed when we pulled in because I was too worried about Will.    “You’ve GOT to be fucking kidding me,” I grumbled. He snuck out, leaving Will home alone while knowing damn well that he hadn’t been himself lately. I glanced down at my watch,  it was half past midnight.    “Go get in bed, bud.” I sighed.    “I- uh… I don’t… I don’t want to be by myself.” He murmured, staring up at me with teary eyes. I nodded knowingly,    “I’ll go get your blankets and we can sleep on the couch, okay?” He presented a half smile,    “Sit down, I got it,” Billy whispered, giving me a gentle push towards the couch. I followed his order, sitting beside Will who threw his legs over my lap and leaned on my shoulder, closing his eyes.   Billy returned with Will’s blanket and put it over the boy before sitting down beside me. I let out a sigh as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.    “Sorry about tonight. We can go out again later in the week.”    “Don’t worry about it.” He soothed, running a hand through my hair.    “You don’t have to stay.”      “I know, but I’m going to.” I let out a contented hum as I leaned against his shoulder. Dating Billy came with a couple of things that I had anticipated. One was possessiveness. Which could be seen as a bad thing from those on the outside of our relationship. We were working on it, though. The other was protectiveness. He never let me meet his family. And the second he felt that I was even the slightest bit uncomfortable, he sprang into action. Whether it was telling somebody off or decking them in the face. The number of times he wanted to beat up Jonathan couldn’t be counted on all of my fingers and toes. Luckily, I managed to talk him down. No need to prove to Jonathan that Billy was exactly who he thought he was. Though he was initially only protective over me, it stretched out to Will as well, after I told him the version of events that could be read about in the papers, anyway. The boy who was kidnapped and experimented on for MK Ultra. He didn’t mind the nights we were supposed to spend together being cut short by my having to go home to take care of him. Or the times Will would knock on my door and reluctantly ask if I could go sleep in bed with him when Billy was there. I struggled to stay awake as I leaned against Billy’s shoulder, my eyelids growing heavier as I watched him flip through the TV channels. His hand carding through my hair didn’t help the situation either. Will had passed out with his head on my shoulder, breath falling against my neck, leaving me stuck on the couch.

   “Just go to sleep.” Billy murmured as I lifted my head off of him.    “No… I gotta stay up fo-” I interrupted myself with a yawn, “Stay up for when Jonathan comes back.”    “Why?”    “So I can kick his ass.” I exhaled.    “You’re not gonna be kicking anybody’s ass unless you get some sleep.”    “Mmm gonna kick your ass if you let me fall asleep,” I warned, snuggling tighter against him.    “Okay, good luck with that.” He chuckled, his chest vibrating as he did so. I awoke later to the front door opening. The TV had long since turned to static, the weight of Billy’s head on top of mine told me he had finally passed out too.    “Sorry.” Mom mouthed as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her as silently as possible. “Is he okay?” She mouthed once again, pointing to Will. I nodded, not wanting to explain to her what had happened yet. Her eyes darted over to Billy and I could tell she wanted to scold me for letting him spend the night, but she didn’t dare wake Will while he was getting some rare and much-needed sleep. I closed my eyes once again, listening as mom got ready for bed before I drifted off once more. *** I awoke later in my own bed, Will tucked in beside me with his back towards me. I figured Billy must’ve carried me to bed before he left. I glanced over at the clock to see that it was seven in the morning. Beside the clock was a note from Billy, See you later, love B I let out a yawn as I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and headed into the kitchen, desperate for a glass of water. I got out a glass and filled it up from the tap, jumping up to sit on the counter as I sipped on it. I glanced down, there was an envelope with my name on it. I raised an eyebrow, clearing the rest of the letters off the stack to pick it up. The return address came into view. Purdue University. My heart started to beat faster. I had been so busy with worrying about Will recently that I forgot that I sent in an essay as an application for a scholarship. I drew my lip between my teeth, shoving my finger under the flap of the envelope and tearing it open. I took a deep breath as I pulled the letter out, keeping my eyes shut,    Dear Miss Byers, we are happy to inform you that- That was all I had to read before I threw myself off the counter and started jumping up and down excitedly, letting out a squeal. Will came into the room, flying around the corner,    “Are you okay? Is there a spider?” He asked,    “No! Will! I got accepted for a scholarship!” I announced. A grin grew across his face as he tugged me into a hug,    “Awesome!” I did a victory lap around the house, bouncing up on the couch and holding the letter up over my head, letting out another shriek. I continued to read down the page, I was one of five finalists for the scholarship. A full ride to Purdue. A college that I would never be able to afford without financial help. Not only was I a pick for financial help, no. I was in the running for a full, four-year scholarship. Their phone number was at the bottom of the page with directions to call to set up a time for an in-person interview. I ran over to the phone, yanking it off the receiver and dialing the number with shaking hands. I stuttered through making the appointment. The high from my scholarship was quickly forgotten as the next few days went on. Will got progressively worse. From having a plummeting body temperature to frantically drawing a massive map in crayon to being rushed to the hospital after collapsing into a seizure after Hopper was found in the tunnels. Hopper himself had been attacked by… well… god knows what they were. Vines with a mind of their own, I suppose.  He had been taken off to be hosed down and get all the radioactive material off of him while Will was rolled up to his hospital room. He screamed in pain as if his whole body was burning. They immediately prepped him with an oxygen mask before taking him out of sight. I stayed behind with Mike who threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side. I placed my hands over my mouth as tears sprang from my eyes,    “He’s gonna be okay,” Mike reassured. The boy had grown to be taller than me over the past couple of years, enough so that he could rest his chin on top of my head as I threw my arms around his waist and gripped him with all my strength.    “He’s strong.”    “I know.” I breathed out shakily. Will’s screams faded as he was taken further into the hallways of the hospital. Mom had been allowed to follow the doctors and Will while we stayed on in the lobby with Bob. Hopper had also been taken to be evaluated and to check radiation levels after he’d been in the upside down for a day or so. I had just about fallen asleep on Mike’s shoulder when Dr. Owens returned to the waiting room. Mike and I both sprang from our seats, scrambling to Will’s room. He was asleep in bed, oxygen mask still on. Mom sat beside the bed with a cup of coffee in her hands and a blanket draped over her shoulders.    “Hey.” She breathed, offering me a weak grin.    “He’s been sedated to ease the pain, he might be out for a couple more hours. Then we can assess what happened.” Dr. Owens explained, “I’ll give you some privacy, Hopper should be out of containment soon.”    “Thank you.” Mom breathed. Will’s face was pale to the extent that I could see the blue veins that peered through his skin. His eyes were sunken in, an eerie gray shadow trailed down his cheeks. His lips held a slight blue tint as well. If it weren’t for the machines beeping and monitoring his heart rate, anybody who saw him would think he was dead. I reached out and grabbed his hand. It was icy cold, stinging my hands that had been warmed by me anxiously wringing them together while waiting for any news about him. I glanced over at mom,    “They say he’s stable. That maybe it’s an effect of the radiation he was exposed to.” She murmured. She and I both knew damn well that there was something the lab wasn’t telling us. It couldn’t just be the radiation. Radiation didn’t cause these symptoms. With the threat of the nuclear arms race and the Cold War, the effects of radiation poisoning had been drilled into the brains of everybody with a television set. It didn’t cause seizures or plummeting body temperature or memory loss. This was something else. Something else was wrong with Will. I glanced at my watch to notice that it was nearly three am. I wasn’t sure how anybody else was still awake, I felt my eyelids grow heavier and heavier.      “Go to sleep.” Mom sounded from behind me.    “I wanna be up when he wakes up.” I sighed, stretching out and trying to get my muscles to wake up a little.    “Doc said it’ll be a couple hours, just go to sleep.” I nodded, resting my head on the pitiful excuse for a mattress that Will was laying on, my hand still clutching his. The beeping of the machines began to lull me to sleep only to be awakened what seemed like only minutes later by the screech of the alarm on my watch.    “Shit.” I hissed under my breath, making everybody in the room turn to look at me, “I have a scholarship interview. I’m gonna have to call and reschedule.” I reached for my purse, pulling out my wallet,    “There’s a payphone downstairs, right?” I asked, glancing over at Hopper and mom who had been here many more times than I had.    “Y-you can go.” Will stuttered, making my heart jump in my chest. I hadn’t expected him to be awake yet,    “No, bud. I’m staying here with you.”    “It’s a full ride, Y/N. This might be your only chance.” Will croaked, throat dry from the tubes they had shoved down it a few hours earlier.    “It doesn’t matter, I’ll find another way.”    “Just go, Y/N. I’ll be fine, I promise.” He offered me a weak smile. I stared at him with apprehension, not wanting to leave him here. But he was with Hopper, Mom, and Mike. A few of his favorite people in the world,    “Okay, I’ll see you when I get home in a few hours, yeah?” I held out my fist for a fist bump which he returned. I leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head, doing the same to mom before waving to Mike and Hopper and heading out the door. I stopped in the waiting room to grab a cup of pathetically weak coffee before getting into my car. I let out a sigh as I stared at myself in the rearview mirror. My hair stood up in all directions, it hadn’t been washed in the past couple of days. I ran my fingers through it in an attempt to smooth it down. ****

   “Miss Byers?” A woman called my name. I glanced up to see her in a pencil skirt and overly poofy blouse. She pushed her big, red-framed glasses up on her nose as she took in the sight of me. The knees of my jeans were torn and stained with mud from when we found Hopper in the tunnels under Hawkins. I still had dirt under my fingernails and days old makeup smeared across my face. I showed her an apologetic smile as she led me back into an office. Several well-dressed men sat at a conference table, at the head of it was an empty chair which the woman directed me to. One of the men had the most hideous tie I had ever seen. It looked as though a toddler on psychedelic drugs took a box of crayons to it. The other had strikingly white teeth despite the black coffee he was drinking. The last of them had a mustache that looked like a squirrel was perched on his lip. The woman took a seat adjacent from me, crossing her legs and looking at me expectantly. My heart raced, pounding so hard I was sure every man in the room could hear it over the ticks of their watches.    “H-hello. I’m uh… Y/N Byers… Sorry, I uh… look…. Like this. I had a family emergency right before I left and didn’t have time to uh… clean up any.” I stammered, feeling tears stinging in the back of my eyes. I sniffled slightly and cleared my throat in an attempt to clear them away before the questions could start.    “I’m sorry to hear that.” White Teeth broke the stiff silence, making me let out a sigh of relief.    “Would it happen to have anything to do with what you wrote about in your essay?” The woman chimed.    “Uh… yeah… My little brother.” My application essay was supposed to be about the most impactful moment of your life. And, of course, mine was about the most horrifying week of my life. The week we thought my little brother was gone.      “Well. I must say. That story certainly made you stand out from the other applicants. If it hadn’t been for the constant news coverage, I don’t think we would’ve believed it.” Hideous Tie spoke up.    “So, you said that you want to study both journalism and criminology? Tell us about that.” Squirrel-stache said.        “Yeah… Uh… Well… To be honest, before what happened to Will, I had no clue what I wanted to do. But… the reporters we talked to were terrible and invasive. I just… want to be somebody that can be supportive in a situation like that.”

   “When you say terrible and invasive?”    “They each had some different, disgusting theory as to how it happened. Some were trying to paint it like it was somehow the fault of my mother. That because she’s a single mom that she’s negligent and that’s why Will went missing. Other’s tried to blame poor police work. Or the fact that my father was an abusive drunk. I guess it was everybody’s fault other than the people responsible.” Squirrel- stache shuffled his papers, looking over some of his notes for a moment before looking to the other men in the room.    “I’m going to be quite honest with you, Miss Byers.” He began, making my chest tighten, “I had my mind made up that you were the best candidate for this scholarship before we even met you.” The knot in my chest loosened as a smile tugged at the corner of my lips,    “Your story is so compelling. The way you wrote it was beautiful. And, seeing you here today, looking the way you do. And this is not meant to be taken into offense, but to see that you care so much about your family that you showed up to a scholarship interview with dirt all over you. That shows commitment.”    “Oh. Uh. Wow… I… I don’t even… I don’t even know what to say. Uh… Thank you. ” I huffed, a breathy laugh bubbling up in my throat.          “I’m going to have to discuss it with our higher-ups, conduct the other interviews. But I can tell you now that your chances are very good.” As quickly as I was ushered in, the woman led me back outside,    “Expect a call in a few days.” She smiled as I left. Once I was in my car, I burst out an excited screech, bouncing up and down in my seat as I beat on the steering wheel. I drove down the road for a few hours until the rumble in my stomach grew too loud to ignore. The McDonald's drive-through called my name, so I ordered a coffee and a biscuit before getting back on the highway for the drive home **** I let out a sigh as I turned into the driveway, but my relief quickly faded when I noticed that mom’s car wasn’t in the driveway. And the front door had been left ajar. I threw the car into park and scrambled out, flying up the steps. Before I reached the top stair, I noticed somebody laying on the floor in the entryway. As I got closer, I recognized it as Billy. He was sprawled out on his back on the floor,    “Billy!?” I shouted, scrambling to crouch down on the floor beside my boyfriend. He groaned and tried to roll over onto his side but he gave up and flopped onto his back once again.    “What the hell happened!?” I screamed, resting my hand on his cheek and taking in the sight of his bloodied nose.    “Mmmmm stab me.” He murmured.    “What? Stab you? Why would I stab you?”    “No…. stabbed me.”    “Somebody already stabbed you?”    “Mhmm.”    “Who? Where’d you get stabbed?” I gasped, unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way to see if the red fabric was camouflaging any blood.      “Max. Neck.”    “Max stabbed you in the neck?”    “Mhmm.”    “With what?” I glanced up to notice a syringe with a needle sticking out of it sitting on the floor. I reached for it, looking at the printed label that had been stuck on the side. I recognized the name as something that had been given to Will to help his anxiety before but in an exponentially higher dose.    “What the hell?” I murmured under my breath, staring down at Billy who awkwardly lolled back and forth in an attempt to get up, “Hey, hey. This is some strong stuff, okay? You’re gonna be down for a little while.” I told him as I rested my hand on his chest to stop him from moving. I got up from my place beside him and grabbed a throw pillow off the couch, placing it under his head.    “Mmm hurts.” He hummed, placing his hand on his head and rubbing it.    “Yeah, I’m sure it does. I’ll get you some ice.” I offered. I made my way into the kitchen, stepping over the broken plates and glasses that were scattered on the floor. I figured it better to not ask Billy what the hell happened, he wasn’t exactly in the state of mind to be talking. I yanked open the freezer, letting out a scream. The head of some creature spilled out. Billy scrambled into the kitchen,    “What happened!?” He slurred, stumbling into me and nearly knocking me over. He rested all of his weight on the counter behind me, barely able to stay on his feet. I pointed to the freezer,    “What the hell is that thing?” I grabbed a spatula from the drawer, poking the creature in the face and waiting for a response. Drool dripped from its mouth and dropped onto the floor with a splat.    “It’s…. Uh…. I don’t…. I don’t know…. I think it’s dead, though…” I murmured. It looked like a small Demogorgon, it had the same face that looked like a blooming flower. But why the hell was it in my freezer?    “Alright, come on, let’s get you on the couch,” I told Billy, hooking my arm under his and all but dragging him back into the living room as his weight grew heavier. I slumped him on to the couch, making him lay down before throwing the blanket over him. My first thought was to call Hawkin’s Lab to see if Will was still there. But the phone rang and rang, nobody answered. The next thought was to call the police station and see if Hopper had checked back in since I last saw him at the hospital.    “Hawkins Police Department. If you’re calling with an emergency, please hang up and dial 911.” Flo’s monotone voice came through the phone.    “Flo, Flo? Is Hop there?”    “Is he ever here?” She retorted.    “I’ll take that as a no. Do you know where he went?”    “Last radioed in two days ago, sweetheart, haven’t seen him since.” She responded.    “Thanks.” I sighed, hanging the phone back up just as headlights flashed in the driveway. I ran into the living room and out onto the porch, staggering down the steps and towards the car which I could now identify as Billy’s Camaro. Both doors slowly opened, revealing the faces of Will’s friends.    “Will!? Where’s Will!?” I shouted as the kids approached the house.    “He’s on the way home. With Nancy and Jonathan and your mom.” Mike replied I ushered them all inside before I glanced over my shoulder to see Steve’s face. It was beaten bloody and bruised. One eye was nearly swollen shut,    “Steve, oh my god!” I gasped, running over to the lanky boy, “Oh my god, your face, what the hell happened!?”    “Ask him.” He nodded towards the Billy where he slept on the couch.    “Billy did this?” I gasped, “Are you fucking kidding me? I can’t believe he would-”     “If you weren’t so far up his ass, you would’ve known he was a piece of shit!” Jonathan blurted from behind Steve, announcing his arrival.    “Pot calling the kettle…” I grumbled under my breath.    “What?”    “Did you just… forget about beating Steve up last year or?” I quipped.    “That’s different! Jesus Christ, I can’t believe you’re comparing the two!” He shouted at me, “Your boyfriend is a fucking maniac!”    “Don’t you dare fucking start with me, Jonathan!” I screamed back, “You were gone for days! We didn’t know where the hell you were. Turns out you were with Steve’s girlfriend! And Will was having flashbacks again! At least Billy was here for that!”    “Then he tried to beat up a child!” Jonathan fired back.    “What!?” I shouted, turning to look at Steve. He nodded his head,    “Grabbed Lucas by the collar, pinned him up against the bookcase.” Billy let out a groan, sitting up,    “What the hell is all the yelling about?” He grumbled. Jonathan barreled over to him, throwing his fist into Billy’s cheek. Lucky for Jonathan, Billy was still sedated.    “Hey!” I screamed, grabbing Jonathan by the shoulder to yank him back. He turned around, giving me a shove backward,    “What the hell is your problem!?” I snapped. Billy had managed to rise to his feet,    “Don’t fucking touch her.” He growled, raising his fist and throwing a weak punch at Jonathan, missing his face and bumping him on the shoulder.    “Billy, sit down.” I hissed. Jonathan started to raise his fist once again, but Steve intervened,    “Alright, alright, knock it off!” Steve shouted, putting himself between Jonathan and Billy, despite being on the losing end of fights with both of the boys.    “Steve, this isn’t your problem.” Jonathan snarled.    “It became my problem the second that damn thing in the freezer tried to eat me.” He retorted.    “You know, Steve did more to help than you did.” Jonathan spat, “You were fucking useless this whole time!”    “Useless!? I came home the night you snuck out to see Will on the porch by himself having another one of his visions! He could’ve frozen to death out there, wandered off into the woods all because you wanted to go behind Steve’s back and fuck Nancy!”    “Y/N?” A hushed voice came from behind me. I spun around to see Will, his hair slicked to his forehead with sweat and deep bags under his eyes. I brushed the locks from his face, gripping his cheeks,    “Are you okay?” I breathed, examining his face. His eyes were sunken in, dark bags accentuated by the fact that his skin was so pale. He nodded. I rested my forehead against his, letting out a shaking breath as I hugged him,    “I... I think he’s gone.” He whispered.    “He?”    “The shadow monster. I think he’s gone.”    “Good… Good.” I exhaled.    “How was your interview?” He asked, his throat scratchy and dry. I let out a breathy laugh, happy tears springing up in my eyes. Will’s first concern was never himself, he always worried more about those around him. Despite everything he had been through, he was asking about my college interview.    “It went great, bud. They really liked me.”    “Good.” Will beamed, wrapping his arms around me. I pressed a kiss to the top of his head, not minding the fact that he was covered in sweat. The only thing that mattered was that he was safe.    “I’m gonna take a shower.” He announced, looking up at me with his doey green eyes. I ruffled his hair, sending him off towards the bathroom as I turned my attention back to Steve.    “Steve, let me get you cleaned up.” He nodded, sitting at the kitchen table while I grabbed a wet washcloth and the first aid kit. When I returned, I gently wiped away the dried, caked blood. I was hoping that it would reveal clean skin, but instead, it uncovered more bruising. I carefully peeled off the rainbow bandages that the kids had haphazardly slapped on. I furrowed my brow, biting my lip, “What happened?” I whispered, “With Billy.” “He… uh… came over looking for Max.” Steve began, wincing occasionally as I continued to run the cloth over his skin. I hissed out the occasional sorry under my breath in response.    “He looked pissed. And I was worried about her… so I lied and said I didn’t know where she was.”    “Uh oh.”    “Yeah. Uh oh.” He agreed, shaking his head slightly,    “He got in the house, saw that Max and Lucas were here. And he grabbed Lucas and slammed him up against the wall.”    “Jesus,” I muttered, looking behind Steve to see Billy once again passed out on the couch with a now melted bag of ice on his face.    “Lucas kicked him in the balls.”    “Go, Lucas.” I smiled to myself.    “Billy threatened him again so I punched him… and then.” He pointed to his face, “And Max… she saved my ass, that’s for sure.”    “Stabbed him in the neck with a tranq!” Dustin chimed in from the living room, “It was badass!”    “Yeah, then she almost hit him in the dick with Steve’s bat!” Lucas added, clearly proud of his new crush. Steve and I both laughed. Though, he winced when his grin tugged at the gash on his lip. Mike had sat down outside the bathroom door while Will was taking a shower and getting rid of all the sweat. El took the spot beside him, head resting on his shoulder as she drifted off to sleep. The strength all of these kids held never failed to astound me. Once his skin was clean, I replaced the bandaids with butterfly closures. I opened the freezer, once again jumping when I remembered the Demogorgon was in there.    “Why the hell is there a Demogorgon in the freezer anyway!?”    “Demodog!” Dustin hollered, “And it’s an incredible scientific discovery that has to be preserved!”    “It’s cold enough outside, can’t you just… I don’t know… bury it in the snow or something?”    “And have the coyotes come and eat it? I don’t think so!” I let out a defeated groan, pulling the last of the ice cubes from the tray and dumping them into a plastic baggie before handing them to Steve.    “Maybe we just need to bury your face in the snow,” I commented as I watched him struggle to figure out where to put the ice. I got up from the chair and wandered into the living room. The kids were all sat on the floor, mindlessly flipping through the TV channels.    “What’re we gonna do about him?” Dustin asked, giving Billy a gentle kick to the thigh. He groaned in response, rolling over so he was facing the back of the couch.    “Billy.” I pestered, jostling his shoulder, “Hey.”   He groaned again, swatting at my hand,    “If you get up we can make out.” I offered, earning a chorus of 'ewws’ from the kids. But he responded to my offer, getting up off the couch.    “You can’t drive home tonight. Come on.” I told Billy, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into my bedroom. It didn’t take much for me to shove him down onto the bed.    “I don’t want you here in the morning. Got it?” I snapped, “Baby-” “No. If you’re here in the morning, I’ll do much worse damage than the kids did. Understand?” “Yes.”   I turned on my heels, slamming the bedroom door shut behind me. When I returned to the living room, mom had brought out all the extra pillows and blankets in the house and set them on the living room floor. The kids got arranged in their respective spots, saving the space on the couch for Will when he was done in the shower. Steve settled himself on the floor to the side of the kids, burying his face in a pillow. I couldn’t even imagine the headache he was going to wake up to in the morning. Despite the excitement of the evening, the kids all fell asleep rather quickly, all of them slumping over into a heap in the middle of the living room. A tangle of limbs and hair as soft snores escaped their lips. The bathroom door opening made everybody perk up, though. Will emerged in clean PJs with damp hair that clung to his forehead. He smiled at the sight of his friends passed out on the living room floor, stepping around them to get onto the couch. The second his head hit the pillow, the boy was asleep. With everybody home and safe, I too drifted off, feeling relief wash over me for the first time in a year.