Should I Stay or Should I Go?-Jonathan Byers x Black!OC

5. The Byers Boy

The next morning, you and Aunt Betty talked about what happened. You left out some details, like getting wasted and Nancy going upstairs with Steve. But she believed you. You promised to never do it again and told her you'd stay clear of Steve, Carol, and Tommy, and in return, she promised to not tell your mom and she helped you straighten your hair.

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Choosing a seat in the lunch room was more difficult than you had thought it would be. The past few days you had sat with Nancy and the others, but since you promised Aunt Betty you'd get your act together, you looked around for another seat.

"This one's open!" You heard from behind you. You turned around to see a girl with black glasses waving at you. "Thanks." You said, walking over to her and sitting down. "No problem. Dana right?" "Yeah." "I'm Mai. We're in the same English class." "Right, you sit behind Carol and her giant hair." You joked. "Yep, that's me. You just moved here right?" "Yeah, from New York." "What brings to you Hawkins?" "My mom says I have 'behavioral issues'." "Well you seem nice to me." "Thanks." You spent the next few minutes getting to know Mai. She was one of the coolest people you'd met in this town. Making friends wasn't something that came naturally to you, so when Mai asked to hang out sometime, you couldn't turn her down.

You were pulled out of your conversation when someone called your name. "Dana, can I talk to you?" Nancy asked. "Yeah. I'll be right back Mai." You said walking into the hallway with Nancy. "What's up?" You asked. "Have you heard from Barb?" "No. When she didn't come to pick me up this morning I figured she was pissed at us and just needed space." "Well she didn't show up at all today, she wasn't in any of her classes." "You think she's okay?" "I hope so. I'm gonna call her mom later and check on her." "Let me know if she's okay." "Yeah. By the way, why aren't you sitting with us?" "I got caught sneaking in last night, so I promised my Aunt I'd stay away from Steve and his minions for a while." "You didn't tell her about Steve and I did you?" "No, of course not." "Okay. Thanks. I'll see you later?" "Yeah." You said as you both went back to your tables.

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"Dana!" Jonathan called out to you as you left the school. "Hey!" You said walking over to him. "How are you?" You asked. "I've been better." "If you ever want to talk I'm willing to listen." "Thanks, but I don't want to burden you with my problems." "You wouldn't be. Im offering." "Thanks."

You and Jonathan kept walking through the parking lot when Steve, Tommy, Carol, and some redhead you didn't know, walked up to you. "Hey man." Steve said. "What's going on?" You asked. "Nicole here was just telling us about your buddy Jonathan's work." "We've heard great things." "Yeah, sounds cool." Carol and Tommy said. "And we'd just love to take a look as connoisseurs of art." Steve said. "What are they talking about?" You asked. "I don't know. We should go." Jonathan stuttered. As you tried to leave,  Tommy grabbed Jonathan's bag and passed it to Steve. "Steve, cut it out!" You said as you tried to get it back. "You see how he's trembling? He must really have something to hide." Steve said while moving the bag out of your reach. He opened the bag and took out a stack of photos. They all looked shocked at whatever they were seeing, so you went over to look.

You saw pictures of you all at Steve's house. You getting drunk, you all in the pool smiling and having fun. He captured every moment. You quickly grabbed a photo of you in a wet tank top. You didn't realize it at the time due to the alcohol, but you were pretty exposed. "Yeah, that's not creepy at all." Carol said sarcastically. "Are you kidding me?" You asked. "I was looking for my brother." He said in defense. "No, this is called stalking." Steve corrected him. "What's going on?" Nancy asked as she walked up to the group. "There's the staring lady." Tommy joked. "This creep was spying on us last night." Carol informed her. "He was probably gonna save this one for later." Carol added, handing Nancy a photo. You went over to Nancy and look at the photo of her in disgust. She was in Steve's room, taking off her shirt. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but that's the thing about perverts. It's hardwired into them. They just can't help themselves." Steve said, ripping up the photos. "Maybe we should just take away his toy." He added. "Steve, don't." Nancy said. Jonathan pleaded for Steve not to break it. "You know what? It's okay. Here you go man." Steve said, holding the camera out to him. Jonathan look relieved for a split second while he reached out for it, only for Steve to let it fall to the ground. "Come on, let's go." Steve said as he walked away, Tommy, Carol and Nicole following him. What he did was completely unacceptable, but you did still feel bad. Nancy picked up a few torn pieces of a picture and followed the group.

You stood there and looked at Jonathan as he mourned over his camera. "I thought you were a nice guy." He didn't say anything, he wouldn't dare look you in the eye. "Don't you have anything to say?" "I'm sorry." He whispered. "Yeah you should be. That was a really disgusting thing you did." "I...I'm sorry." "So you've said." You started to walk away until you heard him call out for you. "Dana wait!" He ran up to you and started walking with you. "You have every right to be upset with me and you probably never want to talk to me again, but you're the only friend I have. You are the only person in this town who I fell like I can talk to, and I really don't want to lose you." "It's gonna take a lot more than that to gain my trust back." "Of course, I'll do anything." You pretended to think for a moment before answering. "You can start with buying me a milkshake." He smiled at you. "Done. My car is this way." He said, walking in the direction of the vehicle.

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You took a long sip of your strawberry milkshake while making direct eye contact with Jonathan from across the booth. Sitting back against the seat, you started to speak. "Alright, you're halfway forgiven." "I'm glad to hear that." "Can I ask why you did it?" "Honestly, I'm not really sure. Maybe I was jealous because you all looked so happy." "And the close ups of me and Nancy?" He hesitated for a moment before answering. "I, um, I don't know. I'm sorry." "You really should be apologizing to Nancy." "I know. I will." "Good." You then took an extra straw and put it in the glass, sliding it towards Jonathan. "Try it." He chuckled softly before wrapping his lips around the straw. "Good?" You asked. "Very. I can see why you were so quick to forgive me." "Halfway forgive you." "Right. Halfway."

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When Jonathan dropped you off at home, everyone was sitting in the living room in silence. "Jesus, did somebody die?" You asked, unaware of the situation. "They found Will's body in the quarry an hour ago." Aunt Betty spoke softly. "Oh, sh*t, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Feeling guilty, you sat next to Lucas and have him a hug, hoping to make him feel better.

Deciding to leave Jonathan alone for now, you decided to call Nancy. "Hello?" "It's me." "You heard about Will?" "Yeah. It's terrible." "Hey, will you meet me in the alley by the field before school tomorrow?" "Sure. What's up?" "I'll explain tomorrow." She said before hanging up. You loved her, but she was a strange girl.