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Chapter Text

Noel's POV:

I watched Jane slowly head towards the light, hopelessness filling my heart as I recognized that I'd never see her or this light again. I'd actually made good friends with her and was sad to see her leave (although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also sad about not being able to live again). However, out of the blue, she turned around and paused.

"I don't want to leave," she spoke softly.

"What??" Ricky tilted his head.

"Not without you guys."

She held out a hand, gesturing for everyone to join her.

"What if it doesn't work? It shouldn't." Ocean stressed.

"We will try," Jane said, blinking in her doll-like way.

I stood next to Jane, as did the rest of the choir. We all held hands, Mischa caressed mine with his thumb and I turned to look at him, our eyes shining as we all stepped towards the light.

Life.

I was excited, but I feared that I would lose my friends, that I'd lose Mischa. I knew he didn't love me, he never would, but I couldn't help but hope for just the tiniest chance that he'd love me back. He was amazing and kind and I wanted nothing more than to be with him.

Suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, Ocean whistled and got everyone's attention.

"Ready?" Ocean gulped nervously and held Constance tighter. Despite not being actually ready, I nodded and the others did too.

When I touched the light, a feeling of weightlessness consumed me, it reminded me of the cyclone, but without the fear. Well, mostly without fear. I felt the bodies of my friends slowly fade and I desperately squeezed Mischa's hand, not wanting him to disappear.

"Mischa I lo-" I tried to say it, but before I knew it, I faded too. I felt like nothing, like I was drifting off to sleep, possibly forever.

Steve's POV:

I grumbled angrily, "always the babysitter. Always the goddamn babysitter-"

"Steve, we're trying to focus." Dustin interrupted and turned his face from the woods to me, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head.

I rolled my eyes in frustration, there was obviously nothing out there except for monsters that would kill us, I didn't get why Dustin, Mike, Will and Lucas were so worried about the noise they heard. They had decided that some random sound in the woods that I didn't even hear was more important than my sleep, so at 6:19 a.m, I was rudely awoken by four annoying teenagers screaming about some explosion noise.

"I've already told you guys there is nothing out here, probably just some demo-dog you're leading us to," I complained miserably, but the four just ignored me, continuing to walk further into the forest.

I looked around aimlessly as I followed them, wondering what they were talking about, everything looked normal- well... for apocalypse standards I suppose. The trees had no leaves and now looked twisted and... quite scary, to be honest. There were traces of the strange ash on the gloomy, burnt bark, covered with scars from the many fires that the gates opening caused. I had to constantly watch the cracked ground in order to avoid the slimy vines which creeped through the woods, looking for new victims to claim.

Suddenly, I heard the group gasp and I looked ahead to see six people, holding hands while passed out on the ground. They looked like older teenagers. I quickly jumped ahead of the kids to make sure it was safe, but I wasn't sure what to do.

"I'm going to get Murray," I heard Will say "we should take them inside, we can't leave them like this."

I nodded hesitantly and Will ran off, I noticed Mike watching him leave with an expression I couldn't read... longingly maybe..? I turned to the strangers again and decided to pick up one as they were deeply asleep and I couldn't just leave them there.

The girl I picked up had brown hair which was slightly above her shoulders, black glasses and a uniform which all the others seemed to wear too. Mike managed to carry a girl with orange hair and a red bow on her uniform, although he was very much struggling. Lucas held a boy with dark brown hair, a backwards cap, and crutches which he placed under his arm and Dustin held a girl with blonde hair. This girl also had a strange mark on her neck that Dustin pointed out, you could see a thin line wrapped around, almost as if her head had been... reattached..?

"We'll ask about it when she wakes up," Dustin stated, clearly interested for some reason.

I just nodded, still confused, and waited for Murray and Will to carry the two boys left on the ground.

Murray's POV:

I yawned, sipping my coffee and standing in the kitchen waiting for the others to wake up. It had been such a relaxing morning...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I jumped slightly as someone knocked loudly on the door, my coffee spilled on me a little, I groaned angrily and stared outside through the space where the wood planks didn't cover and I saw Will, clearly worried about something.

I sighed and opened the door, "what's up with you?" I asked, confused and slightly annoyed.

"Lucas, Mike, Dustin and I heard this weird explosion like sound at 6:17 and so we got Steve and went to look. We found some passed out teens in the woods and we can't leave them there, there are six, can you help us carry them back?" Will rambled anxiously and I stood in shock for a moment.

"What..?"

Will sighed, "It sounds crazy, I know."

"It is, but I'll help. Hopper and I will watch them closely though to make sure they aren't dangerous." I worried about the safety of the others, but I didn't want to leave helpless teenagers to die, so I agreed and followed Will into the woods.

Once we made it there, I saw the two lying on the floor and the others being carried.

"We're back." Will waved and quickly went over to pick up the smaller of the two boys, who was wearing a red sweater vest over a polo shirt, his uniform looked neat except for the fact that it was covered in leaves and dirt and his hair was dark brown, almost black.

I looked over at Mike and saw him gazing at Will, basically gawking at him in silence and awe.

My god those two need to get their shit together, the amount of tension and mutual pining there is so frustrating to watch.

The two had been dancing around their feelings for a while it seemed, but I mainly noticed it after the massive gate opened. They were sweet, but very stupid.

"Ok, can you get the other?" Will asked, carrying the boy with ease it seemed.

I nodded and picked up the slightly taller boy who also had dark brown hair, however his uniform was not very neat at all, even without all the leaves. I managed to lift him and we all walked back to the cabin, hoping that we wouldn't wake the strangers.

Chapter Text

Hopper's POV:

I stood in the living room with Murray, watching over the strangers sat upright on the couch. The kids were all sent back to their room, despite their protests, and Steve practically collapsed into his sleeping bag. I was still extremely pissed and confused at that point, as being woken up extremely early in the morning to find out that six random, passed out teenagers were in my cabin was... a little stressful to say the least. None of them had woken up yet and they didn't really move except for the neat uniform boy, who had leaned his head on the messy one's shoulder and cuddled up to him, their arms wrapped around each other protectively.

The one with the messy uniform woke up first, his eyes fluttered slightly and he looked at his friend, then he shut them again and smiled slightly, leaning into the other boy even more. Suddenly, his eyes shot open in surprise and he looked around the room and at us. His gaze flicked from Murray to me and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Who are you? Where am I?" He questioned worriedly, his voice low and his accent thick.

"I'm Murray Bauman and this is-"

"Jim Hopper, you and your friends, I assume, are in my cabin, we found you in the woods," I cut him off interrogatively "what is your name?"

"Mischa Bachinski."

"And your friend?"

Mischa looked at the boy with a hint of red on his cheeks, tearing up slightly.

"Oh поет..." he sighed, running his fingers through the other boy's hair with a look of relief on his face.

"Poet..?" I was pretty sure that was what he said, but he ignored me and simply smiled, not taking his eyes off the boy.

"So what's your boyfriend's name?" Murray asked with his eyebrows raised and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

I turned to him and sighed, annoyed.

"Don't say that," I whispered impatiently, but of course Murray just shrugged and ignored me, turning back to the couch.

Mischa's face turned bright red and he stuttered anxiously, pulling his hands off of the boy and awkwardly fidgeting, looking at the floor and avoiding eye contact.

"I-Is not boyfriend. Is Noel Gruber."

"Sure. I believe you. Don't worry," Murray smiled, not actually believing the blushing stranger. "Well let's see if we can wake them all up,"

Murray walked closer to the couch and Mischa wrapped his arms defensively around Noel, scowling.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt him," Murray promised, looking slightly irritated.

Mischa nodded hesitantly and gently tapped Noel's shoulder.

"Wake up коханий..." he said gently, but it seemed to me like he was shocked about what he'd said, as he blushed and his eyes widened.

Noel stirred and his eyes opened slightly.

"Hmm..?" he mumbled, tired and confused.

Mischa stroked his hair and smiled "I am so glad you are ok..." he said breathlessly.

I noticed that Noel looked slightly red and I couldn't help but wonder if Murray was right about them liking each other. It didn't really make sense to me, but I had way more important things to worry about, like the fact that six random teenagers had just shown up in the woods passed out during an apocalypse. Murray and I then woke up the rest of the teens and they introduced themselves to us.

The first was named Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg. She was an extremely energetic and upbeat girl with long, ginger hair. She was apparently the head of the choir they were all in, but Noel did not seem to agree whatsoever.

Noel Gruber was a sarcastic and dramatic boy with neat, dark brown hair and a pessimistic attitude. He and Ocean clearly argued a lot as their friends were not surprised in the slightest when they started yelling at each other over who the lead choir member was.

"You always sing flat!" He complained.

"No I don't Noel!" She snapped back.

"That's true I guess..."

"Thank you."

Noel paused for a moment, thinking about his next words and whether he should say them or not.
He did.

"Sometimes you sing sharp."

Ocean started yelling at him and her friend had to calm her down by patting her on the shoulder and hugging her. Noel laughed at this and Ocean shot him a glare.

Ocean's friend was called Constance Blackwood. She was a kind and caring girl with dark brown, curly hair and glasses. She was trying her best to comfort Ocean and it was definitely working, but they were all very much still on-edge. This was understandable though, waking up in a random cabin with two strangers interrogating you is definitely something to put you on-edge. One girl seemed calm but... strange...

"What is your name?" Murray asked, pointing to the girl.

She had blonde, curly hair and a strange mark on her neck, it almost looked like her head and body didn't match. Strange, I thought, although that wasn't the only strange thing about her. She was almost doll-like and very quiet. Her face was quite emotionless most of the time, but she had smiled slightly when she woke up to her friend leaning against her.

She tilted and pondered for a moment, I had no idea why she was so unsure what her name was. Ocean tapped her on the shoulder and spoke quietly.

"Karnak said your name was Penny Lamb right? We can call you that."

The girl frowned at Ocean's suggestion. She shook her head slightly and turned to Murray and I.

"My name is Savannah Lamb."

She spoke gently as her gaze fell on the boy next to her, who blushed and smiled. The boy signed something that I couldn't understand and Savannah grinned softly.

"What does that mean?” I asked.

Savannah turned to me.

"Savannah with the greenest eyes," she repeated, her eyes shining, they truly were the greenest I'd ever seen.

The boy next to her was named Ricky Potts, he had curly dark brown hair and glasses, he also carried crutches with him and wore a backwards hat. I learned he was mute due to a degenerative disorder, but thankfully, Savannah and Mischa were both able to understand sign language, so they could translate what Ricky was signing. He was a good kid and surprisingly hilarious.

Then there was Mischa Bachinski, a boy with dark brown wavy hair and a thick... Russian accent? I wasn't sure, it sounded odd to me, something about it was... different. He and Noel were clearly very affectionate, so much so that Murray had assumed they were dating. The whole time we had talked to them, they were leaning against each other.

We decided to let them rest more and Murray made breakfast while I watched and waited for the others to wake up.

Chapter Text

Mike's POV:

I stared at the ceiling drowsily as I laid on my sleeping bag, trying my best to relax and to not think about Will. I turned my head to the side to see him, his face was close to mine. He's so pretty... I looked away and shook my head, trying my best to get rid of those thoughts.

I can't love him. I just can't.

"Mike...?"

I heard a voice behind me and turned to see Will, who had been woken up by my head shaking. I felt my face grow warm as he looked into my eyes.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" I mumbled, embarrassed. Will nodded slightly, a look of concern on his face. "Are you alright Will?"

He looked away from me and my heart hurt. Everything was so messed up: Vecna was still out there, a massive gate opened, demo-dogs and other monsters started showing up in town, and now there were random strangers in the cabin that we'd found in the woods. Will clearly blamed himself even though it wasn't his fault.

"I'm fine..." He replied, but I didn't believe it, it was clearly a lie.

"It's not your fault Will, none of this is," I gave him a sympathetic look and tried my best to comfort him. He smiled slightly, his exhausted eyes blinking heavily.

"Yeah... I know, I'm just... worried," he said, turning his head to the ceiling.

I thought about what to do for a moment. I wanted to comfort him by holding his hand, but he definitely didn't feel the same way I did, so it may have just made him uncomfortable.

“Can I hug you..?" I asked nervously, hoping that it wouldn't seem like a weird thing to ask.

Will turned to me again and nodded slightly, I don't know if I was just imagining it, but his face looked a little red. I then moved closer and wrapped my arms around him, burying my head into his shoulder and humming slightly. His arms did the same and he sighed softly. I closed my eyes, smiled, and whispered gently.

"It's gonna be ok Will... I promise."

Will's POV:

My eyelids fluttered open finally and I found myself cuddling with Mike. My head was buried in his neck, and his arms were wrapped around my waist. My face went so red that I felt dizzy, and it took me a moment to remember what had happened around an hour before. That was the first time we've hugged since I moved.
It felt so good, but I had to pull away,
He loves El, not me, he doesn't want this.

El is my sister, she and Mike clearly love each other. I can't ruin that for her, or him.

I got up, slowly, making sure to not wake him. I then moved over to a desk in the room and began to draw silently. My mom had found a journal for me to draw in, although there were definitely more doodles of Mike than I'd like to admit. Dustin, Lucas, and Eleven were all sleeping, but I heard movement and talking in the kitchen and Erica wasn't in the room anymore, so some were awake, but I decided to wait patiently for the rest to.

Ocean's POV:

I sat by the table with Constance, the only other choir member who was awake, as we waited for breakfast. Mr. Hopper sat near us and I got the feeling that he still didn't trust us, although that was understandable considering the fact that we had just shown up passed out in the woods and still hadn't explained why. I looked over at Constance nervously and she smiled at me, squeezing my hand slightly. This made my face redden a little, but it also made a wave of guilt wash over me. I had been so horrible in the afterlife, and before then too. But Constance was always nice to me, even though I clearly didn't deserve it. I had apologized in the afterlife, but it hadn't felt like it was enough.

"Constance?" I asked, and she turned to me and tilted her head slightly. "I'm sorry for everything I've said, you've always been such a good friend to me even though I haven't deserved it. I barely tried to get to know any of you, but I want to fix that now. I promise. I'm so sorry Constance."

After I finished rambling, Constance smiled and nodded.

"Thanks Ocean, I know you can," she gave me a hug and I felt tears start to flow, but thankfully I managed to stop myself from crying, because Jim was looking at me with a really confused and concerned look on his face, and so was the young girl on the couch.

Joyce's POV:

Around 8:30, I was woken up by Hopper, who was acting... strange.

"What's wrong Hop?" I asked, concerned, and he looked at me nervously.

"I have something to tell you but don't freak out, ok?" he said and I began to worry, but I also felt slightly offended.

"I'm not gonna freak out Hop, whatever it is, tell me," I said, a little irritated.

"Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Steve found six random teenagers passed out in the woods, apparently they heard some 'explosion noise' and made Steve check it out with them."

Hopper spoke and I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I wanted to help them of course, but why didn't they wake me up when they found them?

"Uh... ok well do you have any idea why they were in the woods while passed out?" I asked, very confused about the whole situation, but Hopper didn't have an answer for me.

"I'm not sure, we had them introduce themselves but then let them go back to sleep, they said it was a long and confusing story, so we figured it'd be better to wait for everyone to wake up so they could tell it to us all," he said, and I nodded, stood up, and followed him to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Mischa's POV:

I sat next to Noel by the table. He seemed to be full of anxiety and stress, but I would be lying if I said I was not as well. As I looked around the dimly lit cabin, I noticed that the windows were boarded up and the door heavily locked. It all was so strange and worrying.

People must have been starting to wake up, as I heard footsteps approaching. I had no idea what we would say to them as Murray was in the kitchen and Jim was not in the room.

“Who are they?” a girl with curly hair asked once she saw us. Following her were two boys, one tired looking one with a shaggy haircut and the other one was a boy with long black hair (those two smelled of weed).

“I’m glad you asked! I’m Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg and-“

“Sweet Jesus Christ on a bike…” Noel rested his head in his hands in annoyance, making me laugh slightly.

However Ocean completely ignored this and kept talking, as she did often.

“So that’s Noel Gruber, this is my best friend Constance Blackwood, This is Ricky Potts…” Ocean flicked her eyes to Ricky for a moment then whispered “he can’t talk by the way.”

“(But I can hear)” Ricky signed, also irritated by Ocean’s extreme extrovertedness.

“Oh and this is… Savannah?” Ocean pronounced it like a question, turning to Savannah, who nodded.

“Savannah Lamb.” She said blankly in her song-like voice.

The girl nodded and thought for a moment, “well I’m Nancy Wheeler, that’s Jonathan Byers and that’s Argyle,” she said, pointing to the guys behind her.

The three sat down at the table in silence, looking around uncomfortably as they still had no explanation for why we were there. Thankfully I heard Jim walking in, hopefully to explain. But there was also someone behind him.

“Um… hello!” The person behind Jim was a kind looking woman with dark brown hair and a worried looking expression.

Ocean barely took a breath before she began talking. “Hello ma’am! My name is-“

“GODDAMNIT CAN YOU PLEASE KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS FOR TWO SECONDS!?” Noel yelled desperately.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Noel’s outburst and Ocean’s shocked face, but I felt kinda bad for the poor lady as she looked even more confused.

“Jeez, fine! I’ll do the introductions once everyone is here,” Ocean sighed in defeat.

Noel’s yelling had awoken the girl on the couch, Erica, she grunted and stood up groggily.

“You shouldn’t have let them in, I wouldn’t have if I were you.” She crossed her arms and glared at Jim.

“Sorry,” Noel apologized, fidgeting with his hair like he always did when he was nervous. I could not help but find it adorable.

“It’s fine, the ginger seems pretty annoying,” she sat down and Ocean gasped, offended.

“Everyone just calm down,” Jim said impatiently, “Joyce, these are the ones I told you about.”

Joyce nodded and sat across the table from me, Jim next to her.

“Are you all alright?” She asked worriedly.

“(Definitely better now that we’re not dead.)” Ricky signed and I laughed slightly.

Joyce tilted her head, confused, so I quickly explained “Oh, he uses sign language and he said something funny.”

Jim was quick to question me “What was it?” he asked.

“Oh um, it is hard to explain right now…” I scratched the back of my neck nervously.

“Looong story,” Constance added.

“Mhm” Noel agreed.

“We’re ok though I think… right guys?” Ocean asked.

“Yeah, I’m a little sore, pretty sure I’m covered in bruises.” Noel felt his arms and winced slightly.

It was then that I realized I had a good amount of them too. Dark and deep bruises littered my arms and probably the rest of my body too.

“Yeah, same” Constance clenched her teeth a little in pain.

“Me too,” I replied.

“(I also do,”) Ricky signed and I translated for the others to hear.

Everyone then looked at Savannah for her answer. Her blank expression seemed constant, even as she answered “I have some, but my head really hurts.”

“(That’s ironic)” Ricky signed. I thought it was funny, but a little dark and maybe too soon, but to my surprise, Savannah started laughing.

“Woah, you can smile?” Ocean asked.

“I guess, just not used to it.” She smiled softly at Ricky, who looked a little red.

Joyce smiled slightly and stood up “do you want an ice pack?”

Savannah shook her head “I doubt it will help, I will be fine.”

Joyce gave her a concerned look, but nodded and sat back down.

We then sat in silence, waiting for the other strangers to arrive so that we could tell them about the cyclone.

There were a lot of people, it turned out, I still was not sure why they were all there together. Maybe we are interrupting some sort of vacation? One in a creepy cabin with boarded windows..? I had no clue, but I guess I was about to.

Noel’s POV:

A tired looking guy with brown hair was practically dragged into the room by four younger teenagers, bubbling with excitement, worry and curiosity. They eyed the other choir members and I, the one with curly light brown hair barely waiting a second before asking questions.

“Woah! Ok so hello! I’m glad you’re all awake, but I have several questions for you-“

“Can they uh, wait until everyone comes in? It seems like there are a lot of you,” I smiled awkwardly. “We have a really long story.”

“The story of why you are here?” asked the one with curly black hair.

“Yeah, what are your names though?” Mischa asked.

“I’m Lucas Sinclair,” the boy said.

“And I’m Dustin!” the overly curious one smiled.

“Will Byers,” said the nervous looking one.

“I am Mike Wheeler,” said the one with longer dark hair.

All the boys looked at the older one, who was practically falling asleep where he stood.

“Steve,” Dustin elbowed him and he flinched awake.

“Mhm,” Steve mumbled.

Dustin sighed and turned to us again, “Sorry, this is how he gets without his beauty sleep.”

“Very funny Dustin,” he said through gritted teeth, rolling his eyes.

“I agree!” teased a girl as she walked into the room. She had dirty blonde hair and she was followed by a girl with short ginger hair.

Steve glared at her momentarily then sighed, gesturing to the rest of the choir and I with his hand. “Yeah they just showed up here passed out or something… I was woken up way too early for this,” he explained sleepily.

“Oh, well that’s normal,” she smiled “I’m Robin Buckley.”

“Oh I’m Vickie,” the other girl said, grinning nervously.

“Well that’s everyone,” Jim stated quickly, “tell us your story.”

Chapter Text

Savannah’s POV:

“Okay then! I’ll tell the story because I’m the leader of the choir!” Ocean chirped excitedly, I sighed knowing of the argument that would soon come. The other members started to point out that they should each get a turn, ignoring me, all except for Ricky.

“(I should tell it)” Ricky smiled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. Laughing wasn’t something I knew I could do, but it felt… good.

“(You’d definitely be quieter than Ocean,)” I smiled and Ricky returned the gesture, tucking a strand of his curly hair behind his ear as his shoulders shook from giggling.

I turned my attention back to Jim, who was rubbing the bridge of his nose frustratingly as everyone (mostly Ocean and Noel) argued.

“Guys can you please just tell us, we don’t care who does it,” he groans.

To my surprise, Ricky slams on the table and points to me, causing everyone’s eyes to stare in my direction.

“(Do it, I think, in a way, you know more than all of us.)” He signed, his expression soft and sweet.

I sighed nervously, “I will tell it,” I spoke.

“We were a chamber choir in a town called Uranium, it’s in Canada.” I struggled with the first part of the story as I couldn’t remember that part. “I don’t know if I’m the person to tell this story because I don’t remember any of it, except for one bit,” I placed a hand on my neck, running a finger over the line of stitches, “losing your head is a feeling that’s pretty hard to forget.”

The people all looked at me in shock, although it was surprising how calm they were about it, I thought they’d be freaking out.

“Oh that explains it!” exclaims Dustin. “But how’d you lose your head? …And also how are you alive..??”

“You guys seem really weirdly fine with this…” Ocean stated, confused.

“Oh we’ve seen a lot of weird things,” Eleven smiled, “wonder why the windows are boarded up?”

Ocean’s eyes widened and she, surprisingly, didn’t say anything else, letting me continue.

“Ok, we went on a rollercoaster at the fall fair for a field trip.” I began, looking at Dustin, “It was called The Cyclone.” Even breathing the words made me shudder, “We got on but… on a loop-de-loop it… broke…”

“You died?” Mike asked, clearly more freaked out than some of his friends.

“We crashed, my head was cut off. We all died. Nobody showed up for my body, no parents, nothing.” I said bitterly. “If they’d have shown up, I’d probably remember my past, but now I’m not Jane Doe, I’m Savannah,” I smiled slightly at Ricky, who placed a hand on my shoulder sympathetically.

Jim began to speak, “Well, that’s definitely weird, is that it-“

“No.” I said. “We all woke up in this strange warehouse, with a robotic fortune teller named Karnak. He had summoned us there to compete for a chance to live again.”

“Oh well that’s something you don’t see everyday,” Jim stated.

“We each had to sing a song that should prove why we should be able to go back. I won because in the end it came down to a vote from all of us, but I didn’t want to leave them.” I smiled at my friends sitting next to me, I knew (however annoying Ocean can be at times) that I’d made the right choice. “We all touched the light of life at the same time and we woke up here.”

The new people sat in shocked silence, unsure what to make of our… strange story.

“So you guys need a place to stay then?” Joyce asked gently, Jim looked over at her, making an attempt to shake his head, but she quickly shut him down with a slight glare.

“Oh! Well he’s ma’am but… what is your story?” Ocean asked and Joyce sighed, turning to the others and then back to us.

“Well, it’s a little longer than yours,” she said, laughing slightly, “so I’ll just give you a shortened version, we’re all pretty tired and we’ve got a busy day today.”

Some of the younger teens groaned at that, making Joyce roll her eyes affectionately.

“Well there’s an alternate dimension parallel to ours called “The Upside Down” and it’s filled with monsters, we just found out though that the leader is Vecna and that he was once just a human with powers, like El.” She pointed to Eleven, who waved and smiled awkwardly as many eyes landed on her.

“Vecna controls people, he gets in your head and the only way to stop him is with music, like your favorite song.” El said.

“We tried to defeat him last time, but he opened a massive gate that runs all along Hawkins, Indiana, where we are. This caused a bunch of monsters to get out and we are basically in an apocalypse right now.” Joyce nodded nervously as Ocean’s mouth fell wide.

“Oh also Will got kidnapped,” Dustin mentioned.

“Yup,” Will nodded.

“And possessed by the Mind Flayer,” Dustin added.

“Yeah, now I can feel when he or any other monster is near, not so bad actually,” Will laughed slightly and I couldn’t help but notice the way that Mike looked at him, like he was everything in and out of the world.

‘I wonder if Ricky looks at me like that when I’m not looking.’

I can’t help myself from wondering, a bit, what my friend really thinks of me, if he feels the same.

“Well, I guess that adds something to our to-do list,” Joyce thinks out loud, “Robin, Vickie?”

“Yeah?” Robin and Vickie both speak curiously.

“Can you guys try and get some sleeping bags from the stores for them?” Joyce asked politely.

“Sure!” Robin smiles and Vickie nods in agreement.

Ocean quickly spoke “Oh wait, um ma’am, do you think I can help get the bags? I don’t wanna be a burden-“

“You aren’t, I promise sweetie,” Joyce placed a hand on top of Ocean’s sympathetically, “but you can help if you’d like.”

“Thanks!” Ocean smiled slightly, happy to do everything she can to help.

“Well let’s go then!” Robin smiled and the three walked off, saying their goodbyes and exiting the cabin.

“Ok, so you said it was a busy day today, what can the rest of us do to help?” Noel asked.

“Well, Steve and I are fishing,” Jim said, looking around to see if that interested any of us.

The only one seemingly interested was Mischa, who raised his hand and almost shouted “Can I go with?”

I immediately heard Noel stifle a sigh and I saw him raise his hand as well “Same, I’d want to too.”

‘I’m pretty sure you’re just interested in Mischa, Noel, not fishing, but go ahead,’ I thought, stifling my laughter.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Jim said, practically dragging Steve out of his chair and to the door.

“Are any of you any good at cooking?” Murray asked.

Constance nodded extremely fast, and Murray laughed.

“Alright then, do you think you could help with some cooking, baking and maybe some gardening?” he asked.

“Of course!” she smiled, then followed him to the kitchen.

“Okay, well Nancy, Jonathan, Argyle and I are running a little first aid tent for anyone around the area and for ourselves, can either of you help?”

“Sure!” I smiled slightly but turned to Ricky before following them.

“(I can babysit, kids love me, I give them extra Oreos and shit.)”

I translated that to Joyce (leaving out the Oreos part) and she liked the idea of having someone to watch them.

“Alright! No fighting monsters on your own alright?” she pointed to the teens, who nodded (unconvincingly).

“(Bye Ricky!)” I smiled and then followed Joyce and the others outside and into the tent.

Chapter Text

Ricky’s POV:

Shit.

When I told Savannah that I was “good with kids” I had meant normal kids, but I’m pretty sure these guys crave trouble like it’s candy. Apparently the usually easily achievable goal of keeping children alive for a bit is not going to be very easy this time.

Joyce had barely even shut the door before they all began looking for weapons and making a plan to escape the house to find and close this gate. All by themselves. With zero help.

I think I’ve babysitted smarter four year olds…

I sighed as I remembered that I couldn’t really talk to them, which would be especially useful now, but I’d make it work.

“Hey um, sorry about this but… we need to go!” Dustin’s voice cracked and squeaked in a way that made me laugh, it definitely did not convince me.

I shook my head disapprovingly and Mike rolled his eyes.

“(Don’t roll your eyes at me! I’ll get Savannah to snitch about your (extremely obvious) crush!!)” I signed (that usually always works, but I didn’t have a translation device so he just stared at me with a confused look on his face.

I was then the one rolling my eyes as I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote out my threat, to which Mike laughed (a little too nervously… suspicious).

“El is my girlfriend,” he said in an attempt to convince me (although he seemed as if he was trying to convince himself).

I saw Will look down at the floor, and I couldn’t help but write one more thing down.

(You sure?)

El looked at it and quickly looked away from Mike and I, Mike looked the other way.

“…Yeah I’m sure..” Mike spoke like the words hurt him to say, like he was choking them out.

“Come on guys, let’s just go,” Lucas shooed them towards the outdoors, but I got in their way.

(Not a chance.)

I shoved the paper in Mike’s face, hoping to stop them and trying my best to do so.

“Please just let us go!” Dustin was practically jumping up and down with energy, the others… not so much, but they still wanted to.

(How about we like, play monopoly or something?)

I smiled awkwardly, hoping they would finally listen. To my surprise, they did.

“Well maybe not monopoly but what about DnD?” Will asked.

“Will!” Dustin complained, “we need to do this.”

El and Lucas nodded but Mike, unsurprisingly, sided with Will.

“We could play DnD,” Mike commented.

I smiled at the group hopefully and eventually they all agreed (rather begrudgingly though).

One thing that I did not realize however was how obsessed I would become with this game.

Ocean’s POV:

I sat in the rumbling house van behind Robin and Vickie, feeling as if I was being tossed around constantly (mainly because I, in fact, was being tossed around constantly).

“How much longer till we get there?” I asked impatiently.

Robin sighed and shrugged while looking back at me, “we’re not far, but it’s still gonna be a bit.”

Vickie then quickly reminded Robin to watch the road which was a pretty smart decision considering how damaged the surrounding area was. Trash, weird vines, ashes and all sorts of obstacles lined the road and spilled onto it in several places. So much so that I couldn’t really blame Robin for the rough ride.

So I just tried to look out the window and think of something to make myself feel better, well not something, someone.

Constance, my best friend in the whole wide world is possibly- no, actually the best person on this earth. It constantly confuses me how someone can be so nice, especially all the time, but she is, she’s always been that way.

Thinking of her makes me smile, all the nights we baked and had sleepovers, all the times she was there for me when I scored low on tests (one time I only got an A-!!) and all the times she helped me out. I was lucky that she even stayed around me, even more so that she’s my best friend.

I was gonna be better, I didn’t really know how, but the effort is worth it. It’s worth making her and the rest of my friends happy and maybe I’ll even make myself happier too.

Before I knew it, we’d arrived, so I guess thinking of her worked. I slowly climbed out of the creaky old vehicle with Robin and Vickie next to me, my feet landing on the loose pebble road.

“Oh,” was the only sound I could make as I looked at the destroyed building in front of me, I honestly didn’t think it could look any worse.

All the windows were bashed in, parts of the walls and roof had fallen and made several piles of rubble and debris both in and outside of the store and those creepy vines crawled their way up the remaining walls.

“Yup,” Robin said, “this is it.”

Great… I thought as we began to walk in.

I did my best to avoid those vines because they looked so slimy and icky I almost got sick just looking at them. Once we finally got in there, we started looking around.

I searched around the store but I couldn’t find much, only a baseball bat, a surprisingly clean light blue T-shirt and a pair of dusty converse.

“What’d you find?” I heard Vickie ask Robin.

“Some slightly filled alcohol bottles, lighters and rags, we can make more Molotov cocktails,” Robin said cheerily.

“You love those things, don’t you?” Vickie asked, laughing.

“Yeah…” Robin said, her voice trailing off.

I turned to look over at them and they were standing surprisingly close, I almost thought they were going to kiss.

“Oh Ocean?” Vickie turned her head over to me and her eyes widened when she noticed I was already staring, “…what did you find?” she smiled.

I showed her my very small stash and she nodded in approval.

“There’s not much left here, we’ll have to find a different store next time,” Robin added and Vickie and I both nodded.

As we walked out of the store and back into the house van, I couldn’t help but think of Constance.

Constance’s POV:

As I stirred the now light and fluffy muffin dough, I smiled at the thought of a new opportunity. A new life to live! A life with new friends in a new place in a new situation. All of it excited me.

I wasn’t happy in my last life, I only really found meaning in it after it had slipped out of my hands and fell off that roller coaster. This was gonna be different, I could feel it.

Ocean had apologized, this Murray guy is really nice and all my friends are here.

I only worried for my little brother, I knew he’d miss me and I missed him too, but I was sure he’d be okay. Same with my parents.

I just hope they know how much I love them, I thought.

Noel’s POV:

Sweet Jesus Christ on a bike.

I had no idea how to fish, so Mischa was helping me and I was pretty sure I was gayly panicking.

He was standing behind me and holding the fishing pole with me, helping me when we would get bites. I’m pretty sure my face was redder than my sweater.

“Ok, you think you got it?” Mischa asked, his head leaning over my shoulder.

“Mhm,” I murmed, flustered.

“Good!” Mischa said, smiling and taking his arms off of me, his hands brushing against my sides presumably unintentionally.

I readjusted my hair nervously, trying to calm down my blushing face.

We were on a pretty small boat in the middle of the lake, Hopper and Murray on one side and Mischa and I on the other.

I tried my best to fish, but it wasn’t easy at all. Especially because all I could think about was how close Mischa had just been to me.

I'd had a crush on him since I met him in choir, but he was always so distant and it felt hopeless. But now he was my friend and I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of him being even more than that.

After a while of getting absolutely nothing, I finally managed to get a bite. I tried my best to pull it in and catch the fish and I did, however I tripped and fell.

When I opened my eyes, I realized that my head was buried in Mischa’s shoulder and that I was practically on his lap.

“Shit! Sorry I- fuck…” I quickly apologized, climbing off of him as fast as I could and putting the fish in the cooler.

Why did I decide to do this..?? I panicked.

Murray and Jim looked over at us with their eyebrows raised, which didn’t help at all.

“Is fine, accidents happen…” Mischa murmured.

I didn’t know if I was crazy, but I swore I could see a trace of blush on Mischa’s face.

Chapter Text

Robin’s POV:

Eventually, with a bit of driving, we had finally made it back to the cabin. We all got out of the house van and headed up the old rocky path that led to it, the sound of leaves and stones very audible under our feet.

“What’d you think of your first day on the job?” I asked Ocean jokingly.

She just shrugged a bit and smiled, “It was alright.”

“Well that’s good!” Vickie grinned brightly and it made my face (and heart) warm up, she had an adorable smile.

We finally made it to the door and opened it, only to see Ricky and the kids all playing DnD, very dramatically.

Ricky was laughing as Mike acted out his character’s death, mainly due to the fact that it was so dragged out.

“Nooooooo!!” Mike practically wailed and then collapsed funnily.

“Well looks like we got back at the perfect time,” I teased, making the group finally notice us over all the excitement (Mike dying).

“Yeah his character just died,” Dustin clarified.

“Mhm,” I nodded, “I could tell.”

“Well what’d you guys get from the store?” Lucas asked curiously.

“Just some clothes,” Vickie said, “and some stuff to make Molotovs.”

I laughed a little, knowing that my face was reddening, but not caring about it.

I wasn’t sure if Vickie noticed, but she beamed sweetly.

“Can we watch you guys play?” I asked, inquisitive about it. DnD looked fun, so learning how to play it might not have been a bad thing.

“Sure,” Will nodded, and I noticed Mike staring at him with an almost loving expression on his face. I couldn’t tell for sure, but that’s what it looked like to me.

Does he love Will?

Jane’s POV:

I waited in the medical tent, the events of that rather strange day running through my mind like a train on tracks, spinning around in my mind over and over.

I still didn’t quite understand how that had happened, how we’d ended up in the wrong place. It was truly odd and unexplainable.

Not many had come into the tent as of that moment, but that would soon change.

Noel’s POV:

As we walked out of the boat and onto dry land, I finally felt safe again. The ground beneath my feet was stable, no longer rocking sickeningly. I didn’t feel like I was going to fall over any second, like on the boat, so the creepy woods were definitely an improvement.

Well, that was until we heard creepy rustling noises coming from the surrounding foliage.

We are not alone.

I gulped fearfully, remembering the weapons in the cabin and the boarded up windows. What are they hiding from? I didn’t know, but I knew that it was definitely dangerous.

I noticed Mischa stepping in front of me a little, almost, protectively.

He looked back at me nervously, then he looked at Jim and Murray, both of which were taking out the weapons that they had on their backs.

“Um-“ I started to speak but was cut off.

“Stay behind us,” Jim commanded, clutching his sword in his hands.

Jim was in front of both Mischa and I, and Murray was behind, both of them facing outwards in order to protect us and themselves from either direction.

Eventually, a creature stepped out of the bushes, and I instantly understood why everyone was in hiding.

It was large, taller than Jim by quite a lot despite him already being tall. Its face was empty, eyeless, mouthless and noseless. I wondered if it could even see, but if it couldn’t, it didn’t give any hints to it.

Jim and Murray prepared to attack it, I had thought that it couldn’t get any scarier, but of course I had thought wrong. It’s face… opened. It’s mouth was like a starfish, spreading out and revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth. I noticed Mischa got closer to me after that, which I definitely appreciated.

But to my surprise and horror, the creature launched itself at not Jim and Murray, but at me.

The creature ran faster than my brain was able to process, I would’ve died, that I have no doubt, if Mischa had not been quicker.

Mischa practically tackled me to get me away from it. I could feel one of its petal-like mouth sections graze my cheek, leaving a nasty scar along it. Mischa and I had fallen to the ground, and when I finally opened my eyes again, he was literally on top of me.

He stood on his knees and hands, which were all on either side of me, as he worriedly looked at my cheek.

I was trying to focus on Jim and Murray battling this thing, but they were clearly winning from what I’d seen and there was also not a chance that I could’ve paid attention with Mischa over me.

“Are you ok?” Mischa asked fearfully, his hand on my cut, running his finger down it which made my heart flutter.

“Mhm..! Never been better!” I tried to be sarcastic to add a little humor to the otherwise horrible situation, but Mischa’s voice sounded so good in a whisper that it made my head spin.

I think after that he finally realized, his eyes widened and his face reddened in embarrassment.

“Oh shit, I- sorry…” Mischa mumbled apologetically, getting off of me and helping me up, just in time to see Jim and Murray cutting the head off of the creature, its mouth flaps moving pathetically as it crashed onto the ground.

“It’s ok…” I smiled awkwardly, rubbing the blood off of my cheek and trying to not throw up after witnessing the beheading of that disgusting thing.

Mischa smiled a little, the worry slowly and ever so slightly draining from his deep brown eyes. I caught myself staring into them too often, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Are you alr- oh shit,” Murray noticed my scratch, which was then bleeding even more and it stung like hell.

“Well we definitely need to go to the tent, that’s pretty damn bad,” Jim said with a sigh.

So we began to walk towards the tent, and I noticed that Mischa was walking closer to me in a protective way, it made me feel that warm and tingly feeling that I had before.

Mischa’s POV:

I couldn’t help but constantly look at Noel, I told myself that it was just out of worry, which it was, but I worried that there was something else deep in my heart that was flowering, something that made my eyes linger on him for a little too long.

The scratch on his cheek looked painful, I didn’t think I’d ever been that scared in my life. I’d always pretended to be a super tough guy but I did have feelings underneath, ones that I could usually hide better than now. Everything was off. I realized that I’d hadn’t thought about Talia at all, only now I did.

I felt horrible, I’d forgotten about my own fiancé in all the mess. It was weird, I never thought that I’d do that, I loved her… right?

I reached in my pocket for my phone, but realized it was absent.

Shit, I thought, annoyed.

I’d text her later, it was probably with the people at the cabin.

But what didn’t sit right with me was how my heart beat faster than it ever had when I looked at Noel, in a way Talia never caused.

It must’ve been because he was my best friend, they make you feel excited and happy and shit like that, nothing more.

Right?

Right.

When we finally got to the tent and sat down, I watched as Jane helped fix Noel’s wounds, and I could practically feel his pain, only in my heart instead. It hurt just to watch him wincing like that.

“Noel…” I said, involuntarily.

Noel looked over at me quickly, his face in a confused expression.

“Oh uh… are you alright?” I quickly asked, attempting to cover my stupidity.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Noel laughed a little, softly, in a way that made every other sound feel like background noise.

“Good,” I spoke breathlessly as I took in everything about him, his hazel eyes, his dark brown hair that was almost black, his handsome face…

Stop, I begged my thoughts to quit racing, pleading with them feebly.

But the thoughts didn’t stop, in fact, they never did.

Chapter Text

By the time the sun had finally dipped below the horizon, I was absolutely exhausted, but too hungry to just collapse into bed. I’d walked with Joyce, Hopper, Murray and those three new strange kids: Jane, Noel and Mischa.

Mischa as a name had us all admittedly on edge, especially combined with the Slavic accent, though we tried to not mention it as the poor kids had clearly been through a lot. Our last experience with Russians wasn’t so great, so we weren’t the biggest fans of meeting one, but again, he was just a teen.

As we entered the cabin, I felt the warmth from the fireplace seep into my skin, soothing my anxieties and contrasting greatly with the bitter cold outside. But what really warmed me was the sight of Robin smiling at me as I entered, it made me feel strange, a way that I know I shouldn’t.

Robin had that effect on me, she had since the day I’d met her for the first time. It was weird, I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help but just… think.

‘There’s nothing wrong with thinking, right?’

I’d been mean to Robin, especially when we had met, but to be completely honest it was just because she reminded me so much of Barbra… She made me feel that same way, she acted the same way. It filled me to the brim with grief and guilt.

I simply smiled back, trying my best to calm my flaming cheeks down.

‘Shit.’

Robin’s face was just something I could never get over, images of it plagued my mind and the sound of her voice played in my head on repeat, the way that it would get occasionally raspy made my head spin.

Jonathan came up to me next though, kissing me on the forehead sweetly and filling me with guilt. I was coming to doubt every feeling I’d ever had for him, every feeling I’d ever had for Steve.

‘What if I can’t like them? What if that’s the reason I can’t decide between the two?’

I didn’t know, I just tried to smile through it, fake happiness and love coursing through my body.

“Is everyone here?” I heard Joyce ask as she began placing plates on the table.

A conglomerate of “yups”, “yeahs” and “mhms” filled the air, swirling around in a dance of sorts. Joyce acknowledged this with a nod and called everyone to the dinner table, both to eat and to likely discuss the situation further.

“Ok,” she started once everyone was in their seats, “so we need to figure out where you guys are gonna sleep.”

I noticed Ricky sign something to Mischa, I couldn’t tell what he said, but whatever it was, it made Mischa’s face bright red.

“I think we have some more sleeping bags in the closet,” I mentioned and Joyce nodded.

“Are you all fine with staying in the living room on the sleeping bags?” Joyce questioned and the group nodded.

“Yeah that is fine, I sleep on air mattress at home anyway,” Mischa replied.

Erica quickly piped up in a mix of curiosity and worry, “um, so I should’ve asked before but you’re from Russia, right?”

Mischa looked incredibly offended, “No!” he spat, “I am from Ukraine.”

“Uk-what?” she replied in confusion.

Everyone seemed to share the same expression, including myself. Ukraine wasn’t a place, at least not to my knowledge and I passed geography with flying colors.

“Ukraine?” Mischa said again, now also confused, “it is a country next to Russia.”

“That doesn’t exist, we’ve been to Russia kid,” Hopper stated, “just tell the truth, it’s fine.”

“It does exist!” Mischa cried out, his voice growing more emotional, loud and desperate, “it’s my home…” he murmured, his voice quieting and shaking.

Ocean suddenly looked like she’d been hit by a bus, “wait…”

“What??” Mischa asked, practically hysterical over the fact that his made up home didn’t exist.

“What.. year is it..?” Ocean asked, her face whitening.

Everyone looked even more worried and confused as Hopper answered, “1987.”

“Holy shit…” Noel’s voice quivered in fear and Ocean’s face was paler than a ghost’s.

“Mischa…” Ocean shivered and Mischa met her gaze fearfully, “your country doesn’t exist now, and it won’t for four more years…”

“No…” Mischa shook his head, “we did not time travel!!”

“I think we did…” Constance murmured worriedly.

Everyone at the table was understandably shocked, the group was hugging each other and crying, all voicing their concerns about life now.

“Oh guys…” Joyce spoke softly in a way that led the whole crying friend group to look at her tearfully, “it’s gonna be ok, I promise, we can take care of you all.”

They nodded hesitantly, comforted by the soothing tone of Joyce’s voice, a voice that had always seemed to work. Jonathan and Will had a shitty dad yeah, but their mom was seemingly the best in the world.

Dustin suddenly gasped, interrupting the peace significantly. I groaned a little and Jonathan laughed next to me.

“What if we give you an introduction to the 80’s tonight?” Dustin asked, looking around at us for approval.

It wasn’t a half bad idea, I quite liked it actually. It’d be a good way to get to know these strangers and to teach them about where- when they lived now. Plus, maybe we could ask them about when they lived. The future.

Will’s POV:

The night was filled with laughter, chatter and fun, contrasting greatly with the other previous days that led up to that one. I couldn’t help but relate to Noel, he was funny and I felt like a friendship between us could definitely exist. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but we were very similar, although he was a slightly more extroverted version of myself.

We’d learned that in the future, there were phones that had screens and that you could play video games on, almost like a tiny arcade. It was honestly really cool, just the idea of it, but unfortunately none of them could find their phones. But we also were told about future musicals, shows and movies that they liked, which was really fun to hear about.

I’d always liked creative stuff like that, it had always been my thing. I drew every day for my whole life, so much so that I couldn’t go more than a few hours without it. Musicals were awesome too, acting was fun, I was always too embarrassed and riddled with stage fright to ever really shine in drama class, but my mom had always said I was really good.

I caught myself stealing glances at Mike throughout the night, even when he wasn’t speaking and there was no reason to look. I just couldn’t help myself. I kept thinking about what he had said to me that morning, how tightly he’d hugged me, how warm he felt wrapped around me. The feeling of his warm breath on my neck lingered, as did the sensation of his fingers clutching my waist, holding onto me as if I was the most important thing in the world.

I shook my head slightly, I wasn’t the most important thing to him, El was. A girl that I had now considered my sister, was his, not me. It made me feel horrible, I felt like a huge jerk that had been endlessly trying to steal my sister’s boyfriend.

‘But he was mine first…’

He was my best friend, the one that I loved more than anything, but that wasn’t the case anymore. It was El that he loved. Not me.

But no matter how hard I tried to remind myself, I couldn’t dull the feelings that had blossomed in my heart, they just didn’t go away, part of me doubted that they ever would.

I couldn’t help but notice that not once, but several times did Mike and I lock eyes.

‘Probably just a coincidence…’ I told myself, secretly praying that it wasn’t.

When it was finally time to go to sleep, I laid in my sleeping bag next to Mike awkwardly, the whole of me wishing for him to hug me again.

I didn’t think I’d ever slept that well before, not since I got trapped in the Upside Down at least, nightmares plagued my dreams. But when Mike hugged me to sleep, that didn’t happen. I slept perfectly, my heart pressed against his, beating fast but for once not due to fear. It was due to something else that somehow felt stronger.

“Good night Will,” Mike mumbled sleepily in a voice so tired and soft that it was impossible for it to not be adorable.

“Night Mike,” I smiled a little, turning my head to look at him.

Surprisingly, his eyes met mine once again, he’d already been looking. He smiled awkwardly and turned his head away, which a tiny part of me was thankful for as my face was so red to the point that it was embarrassing.

After a while of sleepless thinking, I finally closed my eyes, praying for the nightmares to not happen, but I knew they would, no matter what I’d wanted.

Steve’s POV:

Robin and I sat outside on the porch for a little bit, despite my concerns about our safety and my want to sleep. My protests were completely useless as Robin didn’t care, she just sat on the steps of the porch next to me, sighing into the cold air.

“So what’s up?” I asked, confused.

“I dunno Steve,” she answered sarcastically, “maybe it’s the fact that those poor teens in there have been through so much shit in only a few days.”

She held her head in her hands, clearly overwhelmed by empathetic thoughts and feelings. She rocked back and forth a little, she did that sometimes, I had noticed, so I just sat quietly, waiting for her to calm and finally speak again.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, “I’m just freaking the hell out.”

I pulled out a pack of cigarettes, just to smoke one myself, but to my surprise Robin snatched one.

“Don’t you hate those?” I asked, laughter lacing my voice.

“Yup,” she groaned, holding out her hand and beckoning me to give her my lighter, which I did.

We sat out there for a while, Robin slowly calming down from the nicotine in the air, but only a little. She was still visibly stressed.

“I’m sure we can help them,” I said, elbowing her in the side a little, “babysitter Steve can help if he has to.”

“I don’t think babysitter Steve is that bright though…” she said, laughing and covering her mouth with her hand that was lacking a cigarette.

“Whatever Robin,” I rolled my eyes jokingly, “come on, let’s go inside and sleep.”

She finally nodded and blew out her cigarette. I did the same and we walked into the home and swiftly threw them away, waving goodnight to each other and heading to bed.

Noel’s POV:

I laid awake for hours that night, I couldn’t quite bring myself to sleep, everything I’d seen that day was too much and whenever I closed my eyes all I could picture was it, the Demogorgon.

The others next to me slept seemingly peacefully, confident that their dreams would not be filled to the brim with fear and horror.

I couldn’t help but watch Mischa, he looked so beautiful… The way his chest rose and fell gently, his gorgeous face…

I knew he’d never love me, that’d be crazy, and I knew Talia was gone, but he still loved her, not me.

Suddenly, his eyes fluttered open and I quickly pretended I was only staring at the ceiling.

“Noel?” Mischa asked, his voice husky and quiet due to being asleep for so long, “How long have you been awake?”

“Can’t sleep…” I mumbled exhaustedly, barely able to function enough to speak due to tiredness.

“Is because of that thing… right?” Mischa asked and I nodded worriedly.

“Yeah…” I sighed in misery, my whole body hurting from the need for sleep.

To my surprise, Mischa pulled me in for a hug, wrapping his arms around my body and gently pressing his face to my shoulder. I blushed so deeply that I felt like my face was burning red.

“Is this ok?” Mischa asked, clearly worried that he’d crossed a line.

“Mhm..” I mumbled, embarrassed and flustered.

I felt warm all over now, opposed to me usually being extremely cold. The warmth emitted from his body helped heat me up a little, making my eyes grow heavy. I’d never have expected it, but Mischa soothed me to sleep, his slow breaths drawing me into slumber as I matched them subconsciously.

“Night Noel,” he whispered, almost in my ear, which made my face warm up even more.

“Good night,” I whispered back, blushing like crazy but almost asleep.

Chapter Text

Eleven’s POV:

When my eyes finally once again opened, Max crossed my mind as she usually did, her smile flashing in my head for only a fleeting moment, leaving me desperate to see it once again. The image of her in the hospital, covered in casts and plugged into a machine that was the only thing keeping her alive.

Max was still in the hospital which had gone on lockdown, doctors thankfully still worked to keep people safe, but it was too far to visit and even if it was close enough, most visitors weren’t trusted enough to enter. I missed her every day, way more than I’d ever thought was possible.

‘I could’ve saved her…” I thought, guilt gushing through my body.

I hadn’t seen anyone up, so I snuck quietly out of my sleeping bag, intending to go outside for a bit to clear my head.

Surprisingly, I was not the only one out there.

‘Lucas,’ I thought. Max’s boyfriend, my friend.

It took a second for him to notice me, but when I did he did, he swiftly looked over at me.

“Are you missing her too?” he asked, his eyes brimming with sadness.

“Yes,” I nodded, “more than anything.”

He wiped tears from his eyes as they started to fall and I, soon after, was doing the same. Grief had overtaken every other emotion I’d had, crashing into me like waves in a storm.

“I wish I could see her again,” Lucas whispered, his voice quieted by tears threatening to spill, “even just for a second…”

I could only hug him, both of us filled with grief so powerful that most couldn’t cope with it for just a minute, but that we were forced to endure for who knew how long. We stayed and talked until the sun peaked above the skyline, a sight we both acknowledged that Max would’ve loved, but that we doubted she’d ever be able to see again.

Eventually I heard Murray cooking in the kitchen, so Lucas and I walked back into the house, only to be hit by the strong scents of bacon and pancakes, scents that we were extremely thankful for.

“Good morning you two,” Murray greeted, facing a frying pan but having heard our footsteps.

“Morning,” Lucas smiled a little, wiping any remains of tears off his face.

“What’s wrong with you Lucas?” Erica mumbled as she got up from the couch.

“Just worried about Max,” he replied, his voice saddening.

Erica gave him a sympathetic look before hugging him, “she’ll be ok, I know that. If she can survive dating you I’m sure she can handle anything.”

Lucas laughed a little, a single tear rolling down his cheek, one that he hastily wiped away.

Ricky’s POV:

I woke up that morning to be greeted by Savannah, who smiled when she saw me finally open my eyes.

“Good morning,” she smiled softly, her rosy lips turning upwards at the corners.

(“Morning,”) I replied, almost laughing with happiness as I realized that the whole experience of the day before was, in fact, not some hopeful dream, but real life.

I couldn’t believe that someone like Savannah could exist, someone so effortlessly beautiful in every way. The fact that she had gone through so much was something that made my heart twist in ways that it never had before, she deserved so much better. If I could give her not only the world, but the universe, I would do so in a heartbeat.

She got up out of her sleeping bag and began to head to the kitchen, slowing down to keep up with my pace in a subtle but considerate gesture. She was definitely the person in the choir that I got along with the best, even though Mischa and I were definitely best friends.

We sat down at the table, where the people we were slowly getting to know were gradually appearing.

I’d always been incredibly observant, when you can’t communicate with most people, you get used to just observing them. I noticed that when Robin sat next to Steve, Nancy made a move to sit next to her, but Vickie had gotten there first, which left a look of both disappointment and a hint of anger.

I wondered how she coped with those feelings during the time period that we were in. I worried about her, a stranger, more than I probably should’ve, but I did. I wondered if Robin liked her back, but the look that Vickie and Robin gave each other made my heart sink as it was clear that unfortunately wasn’t the case.

Nancy’s boyfriend Jonathan sat next to her, smiling, but the smile that she gave back looked forced, to me at least. He looked happy to be next to her, but she seemed to wish only for Robin.

I noticed Jim pouring both his own coffee and Joyce’s, heading over to her to hand it to her while also giving her a kiss on the forehead. The smile that spread across Joyce’s face was the opposite of forced. She drank her coffee and held his hand as he sat down next to her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if someday that could be Savannah and I.

Lucas and El looked sad, but it was that deep grieving kind of sadness that was visible in their expressions, leaving me wondering if they had lost someone important to them.

El’s boyfriend Mike, who was sitting next to her, seemed only focused on the boy next to him, Will, who was staring at his plate awkwardly.

Sometimes it frustrated me that people couldn’t see as clearly as I could. People were so oblivious all the time, it was annoying. Maybe that was why I loved Savannah so much, she saw as I did.

(“Those two love each other, don’t they,”) she signed, almost just as I thought of it.

(“Yup, but I doubt they are aware that it’s reciprocated,”) I signed back, sighing in slight annoyance at the obliviousness of them. Those two seemed especially bad at emotions, not that I could really blame them due to the time period.

(“And he is totally on weed,”) Savannah signed, subtly pointing to Argyle.

I laughed a little, trying to stifle it so that I wouldn’t confuse the others, but that attempt was in vain. Some of them gave me strange looks, but said nothing.

(“And probably him too,”) I signed, pointing at Jonathan, who looked a tiny bit high.

She nodded in agreement, covering her mouth as she laughed, something that I wished she didn’t do. Her smile was burned into my head like a song on a CD, always there, repeating over and over seemingly endlessly. I loved it more than anything.

Our people watching session was interrupted by Murray walking in with breakfast. I thanked him and smiled as I ate the pancakes and bacon he passed around, which were, once again, incredibly delicious.

I was curious as to what we were going to do that day, hoping that I would not be left with babysitting, but thankfully Jim began telling us.

“Well everyone, we’ve found an area with a gate and we are going to go in,” Jim explained, “and by “we” I mean Joyce, Murray, Steve, Nancy, Robin and Jonathan.”

The kids around the table groaned angrily, but Jim just rolled his eyes in response and continued.

“Is it ok if you guys watch them? Make sure they don’t do anything stupid? Same with you Argyle and Vickie,” he asked.

“Can I come?” Vickie asked, and I noticed Nancy shoot her a glare, one that Vickie didn’t notice, but if looks could kill she would have certainly dropped dead right then and there.

Jim shook his head, “sorry, I think it’s best if we only have people who’ve known about this for a while. We all know how to handle it better.”

A look of relief spread across Nancy’s face, one that made me almost laugh. Nancy was, like her brother, incredibly readable.

“I used to babysit kids all the time,” Ocean boasted, “I’ll be fine.”

“I also did with her,” Constance smiled, pointing at her friend.

“Uh,” Noel started, looking at them, “I’ll try.”

I knew Noel wasn’t great with kids, but I’d try my best to help him out. The rest of us all nodded, agreeing to watch the demon teenagers. One of which had powers and the rest just being crazy.

After we all finished breakfast, the group who was going to head into the portal left, leaving me, my friends, one of the two girls that was in love with Robin, and the dude that was stoned out of his mind. Fun.