Chapter Text
08:17
Will glances over to his clock as he awakens. With a yawn, he sits up and stretches, before clumbing out of his bed. He leaves his bedroom and heads for the bathroom, to begin his morning routine.
Joyce is in the kitchen making breakfast, as Jonathan washes the remaining dishes. Will slowly walks through the passageway towards them, and announces himself upon seeing them.
"Hey guys." he says quietly.
Joyce flinches at the sound of his voice.
"Jesus, Will! You're going to kill me one of these days!" he rolls his eyes. He could come running in screaming or creep in as quiet as a mouse, either way she's going to jump at his presence. He takes a seat, staring at his hands and twiddling his thumbs without saying a word, before Joyce interrupts him.
"Hey, Will, what's the matter?" she asks, as if knowing what he'd experienced through his sleep.
"Oh, nothing." he responds, biting his lip, not wanting to talk about it just yet. Joyce is unconvinced.
"Will, come on. I'm your mother. I know when something's wrong." she states matter-of-factly.
"You know you can talk to me."
Will lets out a sigh, knowing he's not going to get away from this easy. He reflects on the thoughts he'd had before going to sleep, about his symptoms, his random episodes of light-headedness and spontanious nose-bleeds. He considers talking about those, before he remembers the nightmare he'd had. Stuck in the Upside Down before being awakened by a hand on his shoulder, upon awakening, seeing Jane standing beside him; gone following a blink. He ponders for a moment before telling his mother.
"I- I had another nightmare."
Joyce frowns, well aware of what his nightmares usually consist of. Will continues.
"I was in my bed but in the Upside Down. Nothing else was there, but there was a loud wind coming from outside. I'm sure it was him." he announces.
Joyce's expression only saddens. "It's not real any more, Will. It's gone. We got it out of you, and Jane closed the gate."
He considers the possibility, but the mentioning of Jane causes him to wonder why he'd saw her after waking up. He decides he may as well mention it.
"Yes, but that's not even the weirdest part. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and that woke me up. But it wasn't in the dream. I-" he pauses, thinking of how stupid this is going to sound.
"You..?" Joyce urges him to continue.
"I... saw Jane." he finally announces. This grabs Jonathan's attention; he stops what he's doing to listen in. "She was standing beside me one second, but the next she was gone." Will finishes.
Joyce and Jonathan share a glance at each-other, confusion in both of their faces. Will's never mentioned Jane being in his dreams before.
"See?" Jonathan begins. "Nothing to worry about, she's even protecting you in your dreams!"
Will glances at Jonathan and furrows his eyebrows slightly. "She wasn't in my dream!" he reminds him. "I saw her after waking up!"
Jonathan's face shows more confusion yet again. He wants to think that Will's mind was simply playing tricks on him, but his gut feeling whispers otherwise. Unsure of what to think, he ducks his head slightly before turning back to the dishes he was previously washing.
Will ducks his head as well, remembering the decision he had come to before falling asleep.He turns to his mother and states his wish.
"I want to see Jane."
Joyce tilts her head slightly, before responding. "You think she might've actually been there?"
Will conisders the posibility; how odd it sounds but also how possible it could be, knowing Jane.
"I... don't know. But I want to talk to her about it anyway, you know?"
Joyce nods her head before Will continues.
"But not only that, I wanted to ask her if she might know what my symptoms mean. The light-headedness and the nose-bleeds."
Joyce considers this before nodding her head again. "I think that's a good idea Will. I'm not sure she'll know, but that girl... she's quite amazing. She could have an idea."
Will's confidence grows as he hears his own thoughts emerge from his mother's mouth.
"When do you think I can see her?" he asks.
Joyce looks to the phone, before reminding herself that any conversation concerning any of this, especially Jane, no matter how discrete, is a risk not worth taking, ever.
"I'll pop in to the station in a bit, see if I can ask Hop." she smiles reassuringly.
Her smile is mirrored onto Will's face. He's thankful that his mother understands his reasoning, and is willing to help. "Thanks, mom." he responds, before leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Of course!" she responds. "Let me finish nyour breakfast so I can start getting ready. I'll head out then." she gets up to continue making her breakfast.
08:19
Eleven sits up, and immediately begins thinking about what she'd seen. The Upside Down comes to mind first, how real it felt, and how she felt the wind around her as the Mind Flayer circled her. Then she remembers Will, laying in his bed, turning his head every few seconds. She remembers her own shock as she touched him, and the way he stared directly at her as he woke up.
What could this possibly mean? Does it mean anything? Was it real, or all part of her nightmare? Her thoughts are interrupted by Hopper.
"Good morning, kiddo." he says from behind her bedroom door. "I've made your favourite."
She slowly stands from her bed and walks out to the table where two Triple-Decker Eggo Extravaganzas sit. She takes a seat, and uses her knife and fork to shovel a piece of her breakfast into her mouth. She smiles as the taste lands on her tongue.
"Sleep well?" Hopper asks simply, before taking a bite of his own.
She glances up at him. "Yes." she answers.
'Friends don't lie.' she hear's Mike's voice in her head, before deciding to tell Hopper the truth.
"...Kinda." she considers this not a lie, as after her vision, she'd slept peacefully.
"Nightmare?" he asks, placing his utensils down onto the table, focus drawn to her.
Her trademark edge-smirk plays at her mouth. "Kinda." she repeats.
"Wanna talk about it?" Hopper aks. She waits a moment before nodding her head.
"I was in the void. Not my choice, sometimes I just end up there while sleeping." she begins. "It was empty at first but then I found Will behind me, sleeping."
"Oh?" Hopper's curiosity rises. She's not visited Will apart from finding him in the Upside Down.
"I think he was having a nightmare." she adds. Hopper frowns slightly, feeling sorry for the kid. All that trauma, and he still can't be totally free of it.
"I went up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. I was expecting him to disappear like they always do, but I felt him." she announces. His eyebrows furrow in confusion as she continues.
"He woke up and looked right at me, as if he saw me."
"Do you think he did, maybe?" Hopper asks. Nothing seems impossible these days, and when it comes to this girl, anything could happen.
"I don't know." she responds. "But then he vanished, and I was in the Upside Down."
Hopper's expression drops immediately. The thought alone of that place turns his stomach as he remembers the things he'd seen. An image of Will, dead with a vine nested into him flashes into his mind. He quickly shakes the thought away as he continues listening to El's story.
"I was in his bedroom, still by his bed. But Will was gone. Then I saw it." she tells him. Confusion returns to his face.
"Saw what?" he asks.
"The shadow monster." she answers. His eyebrows furrow again, and he seems angry at the thought. "It flew in through the window, I think it tried to get me." she seems worried now. He reaches over to place his hand on hers.
"Hey. He can't possibly get you now, surely. You slammed the door on his face!" he tries to reassure her, although he wonders if he's the one that needs reassuring.
She glances at him and her edge-smile returns for a moment. "It flew around me, it got so close but then I woke up."
He smiles slightly, glad that all it had done was surround her. "So it didn't touch you?"
She shrugs. "I don't think so."
He removes his hand from hers and sits back in his chair. "Good." he responds simply. She waits for a moment, before announcing the decision she'd made last night.
"I want to see Will."
He nods his head slightly. "You want to talk to him about it? See if he did see you?" he can read El like a book most of the time. She nods her head.
"I want to check on him. I think... Maybe he was dreaming about the Upside Down, and when I touched him, I saw his nightmare." she states, unsure of her own thoughts.
He nods his head again. "God, things don't stop getting stranger with you, do they?" he jokes, earning a smirk from El. "I'll talk to Joyce whenever I can. I've got to go straight to the station first to start on a few things but as soon as I can, I'll pop down to the Byers and have a word." he confirms.
She smiles and nods her head. "Thank you."
"No problem, kiddo." he responds, before they both continue their breakfast.