Chapter Text
(...)
The TV screen lit up the dimly lit room, painting the cream coloured walls in red, blue and purple as Eleven's scream filled the silence. Alex was at the edge of her seat, heart pumping with emotions as she experienced the scene as if it were her first time seeing it.
She let out a little scream as she clenched the blanket draped on her lap, earning herself a smack in the back of her head from her mom.
"Be quiet!" Her mom admonished her lightly as she pouted, pointing to the screen with tearful eyes, "Can you see I'm mourning the death of my love?" She said, referring to Hopper's emotional death scene.
Alex took a sip from her empty mug to hide her smile, 'If you only knew the truth...' she thought, setting down the mug in the low table by her feet, 'You wouldn't be crying this much.' She returned her attention back to the TV, choosing not to spoil her mom so she could experience season four the same way she had.
She stayed quiet for the rest of the episode, only letting out a few yelps of excitement that she couldn't contain and before they knew it, the screen turned black and the credits started to roll.
Her mom turned to her so fast Alex was sure she heard something in her spine crack, "Please tell me there's more! I can't go to sleep like this. I need answers!"
She smirked, "Season four is already out. We could watch it tomorrow-"
"Tomorrow?! Are you insane?" Her mom said, jumping from her seat and heading to the kitchen, "I need answers now! I'm going to make more popcorn, no one's going to bed until I find out what happens."
She raised her hands in surrender, still smiling as she got up, reaching for her phone, "Now let's see what all the fuss was about," Alex muttered, unlocking the screen to check the many messages she had received in the middle of their watch party.
10 unread messages and four missed calls.
She frowned at the screen as she read her best friend's text asking to borrow her mom's old sewing machine. "Mom, where's your sewing machine?"
Her mom poked her head out from the kitchen as the kernels started to pop, "My what?"
Alex sighed, "Sewing machine. Where is it?"
"Where it always is, on top of my wardrobe. Why?"
"Anna wants to borrow it. It's urgent apparently." She said, typing a response.
"I need it now. Can I come pick it up after work?" Her friend replied as soon as she hit send.
"Yeah .I."
"Love ya"
Alex rolled her eyes, smiling fondly before she headed upstairs to retrieve the old machine from her mom's room.
"Mom, I can't find it!" She yelled, balancing her weight in a very unstable chair.
"I swear to goodness... If I find it I'm going to-'' came her mom's exasperated reply.
"Nevermind, I found it!" Alex cut her off before she could finish her empty threat. She stood on her tippy toes, trying to reach the big box hidden in the back. She stretched her fingers, brushing them against the dusty surface as the details in the wardrobe dug into her stomach painfully. "That's definitely going to bruise," she puffed out as a sheen layer of sweat covered her brows as she pushed herself closer, finally touching the edge of the box and pulling it towards her as the little chair under her gave up by the sudden movement.
She didn't even have time to process what had happened before she found herself on the floor, having landed awkwardly on her bum before the heavy box crashed on her head and pain exploded from within. This time she did react, cursing loudly at her stupidity as she struggled to get up.
Dark spots danced in her vision, clouding her sight as she held the side of her head, glad to notice she wasn't bleeding. Alex blinked rapidly as the world spun around her and she started to feel nauseous.
So she stopped moving, focusing on evening out her breaths and massaging the growing bruise on her forehead. She sat there for a few minutes until her mom called out for her and she finally was able to get up and leave, not before kicking the stupid box.
"What took you so long?" Her mom asked her as she took her previous seat, holding a bowl of popcorn.
"Nothing I just hit my head with the box-"
"What- how?" Her mom jumped from her seat, rushing to her side and holding Alex's face to inspect it, wincing when she caught sight of the bump in her forehead, "This doesn't look good. We need to go to the hospital." She concluded, jumping into motion to grab her coat and keys.
"M' fine." She insisted, fighting to keep her eyes open and glued on the TV. The bright colours only made it worse, awakening a headache that pounded her head with a pain she hadn't felt before. Maybe the hospital wasn't such a bad idea.
Gaze still on the screen, she grabbed the remote with the intention of starting the newest season but in her haze she had selected season two, episode one without realising. Alex blinked one last time, closing her eyes and letting herself be carried away by the sounds of the TV.
(...)
Her eyes were still closed but she was awake, just refusing to get up cause that meant she had to move. She felt stiff, like all of her energy had been drained and she had been left in that position to to root away- okay, she was being dramatic but she did felt awful, the word tired wasn't enough to describe what she felt right now.
The headache was still there, just as intense. The bump on her forehead was throbbing too, making her more miserable than she already was, also she was positive her bum was bruised from her fall so yes, she wasn't having a good morning- well, she assumed it was already morning as she could see a bright light behind her eyelids.
Mustering whatever strength she had left, Alex opened her eyes only to close them again and open them for a second time to make sure she wasn't seeing things. 'Whose house is this?' she wondered as she got into a sitting position, wiping the drool from her mouth as she looked around the area. She was in a living room, currently sitting in a very uncomfortable brown leather sofa. The more she looked around the more confused she became. She spotted a few framed photos hanging in the wall but she couldn't made out the faces from this distance, what she could clearly see was the very ugly flower wallpapers covering every inch of the walls.
This wasn't okay.
'Did I sleep walk into someone's house or...' she trailed off, unsure of her reasoning, she had never sleep walked before and had no reason to start now or so she believed, there had to be another logical explanation. Were they visiting a friend of her mom?... No, that was highly unlikely, she personally knew all of her mom's friend and none of them live in a house like this. Kidnapping what immediately ruled out, she lived in a very safe area and she doubted any kidnapper would be stupid enough to let their victim untied and laying and in the living room near the exit.
Yup, she definitely broke into someone's house. Someone who seemed to be living in the past because this place looked straight out of an 80's interior design magazine. It was all so brown and yellow and-
'How about I stop insulting this poor person's house and get the fuck out of here?' this place probably belonged to a poor old granny who loved to remember her golden age and here she was, criticising her style.
Alex got up, almost falling back down by the motion but she managed to stay upright and head towards the entrance, trying to be as quiet as possible when she twisted the handle-
"Alex, sweetie. Where are you going?" Her mom's voice called from behind. "You haven't had breakfast yet."
Immediately relieved she turned on her heel to face her mom, smiling brightly only for her expression to fall when she saw her, "What happened to your hair?" She asked, horrified, waving her arms around her head.
Her mom gasped, eyes wide before she frowned, "What do you mean what happened to it?" She asked, offended as she patted her huge curls. Such a huge change from her usual short pixie cut.
"Did you get a perm? And why are you dressed like that?" She frowned at the choice of clothing; it was so out of character for her to be dressed like that, the puffy sleeves weren't doing her any favours.
"Alex, you're scaring me." Her mom said shakily, before turning to the stairs, "Dear," the woman called desperately, using the railing for support, "Dear, come quick. Something happened to Alex!" Her mom looked back to her, clearly concerned she urged her to the living room, "Why don't you sit down, sweetie. Let's wait for Patrick."
'Dear? Who is she talking to?'
Even more confused, she asked, "Who's Patrick?" Alex said, terrified of her mother's expression and then she laughed, "Oh, I get it now! This is a joke, right?" She concluded, though her mom wasn't a huge fan of pranks especially if they involved this many steps, "Kudos to you for being so determined but it's not funny, mom." She said, smiling as she looked around the place again, "But the place looks great. It looks like it could be a set from Stranger Things," she turned to look at her mom and her smile fell once again when she saw the woman's expression.
"What happened? Are you two okay?" A man came rushing downstairs, heading straight to her.
"Alex is not acting normal. I don't know what got to her but she's talking nonsense and saying she doesn't remember anything and, and," her mom paused to take a deep breath, resting a hand in her chest, "I'm going to pass out."
"Wow," the man rushed to her mom's side to hold her, "Why don't you sit down while I talk to Alex."
At the mention of her name she took a step back fearfully, something that the man took notice of.
"She doesn't remember anything?" He repeated in disbelief while he looked at her, "Alex, do you remember who I am?"
She shook her head and her mother sobbed, muttering something that sounded like "I Told you so."
She was on the verge of a panic attack when he spoke again.
Using his index finger to point at himself, he spoke slowly, "My name's Patrick. I'm your Step dad," He added the last part a moment of consideration.
She shook her head again, that wasn't possible her mom wasn't married or had a boyfriend for that matter. It had always been them, just the two of them since the divorce. Her mom wouldn't hide something like this from her. This didn't make any sense, none of it. If this wasn't a prank then why were they dressed like that?
Unless...
"What's the year?" She asked, surprising them, "What year?!"
"1984," Patrick answered carefully.
"No, that can't be..." She whispered, tearfully, shaking her head in denial, "It can't be,"
The 80's? She was in the fucking eighties? The sole notion of it was ridiculous, impossible even, something that only happened in movies, fiction not in real life.
She ran a hand through her hair, moving around her bangs, displaying her newly acquired goose egg in all of its glory making her mother gasp. Her head felt like it was going to split in half.
"What happened to your forehead?"
'My forehead?' she questioned, blinking, trying to remember, "Your sewing machine... It fell on me,"
"When?" Her mom inquired with urgency, exchanging a meaningful look with the guy.
"Last night."
They sighed at the same time as if they couldn't believe her words, silently scolding her with their eyes.
"And you didn't tell us?"
"I did!" She exclaimed at the same time her headache became unbearable and she became dizzy.
"Alex!" Someone called, grabbing her arm before she could fall.
"Call Dr. Hanz and let him know we're coming... Alex, don't close your eyes... don't... close..."