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

7. Three Musketeers

The day everyone had been dreading was finally here. Will's funereal. Never did you think you'd be attending a 13 year olds funeral. You weren't even sure if he was dead. Standing in a cemetery amongst a crowd of people all dressed in black really freaked you out. You started to get flashbacks of your dad's funeral. You and your mom were standing closest to the casket. She was holding you while she cried. You, on the other hand, didn't cry the whole day. Your theory is that you cried so much they day he died, that you didn't have any tears left. Which is probably why you've barley cried since that day. But today wasn't about you, or your dad. It was about Will and the Byers.

You looked down at Lucas to see if he was crying. To your surprise, he wasn't. He didn't look sad at all. Maybe he was just trying to put on a brave face for his friends. But when you looked at them, they didn't seem too distraught either. After the casket was lowered and everyone gave their condolences to the family, you and Jonathan pulled Nancy aside to fill her in on what's going on.

"Wait, you've been working with him?" Nancy asked, clearly offended by you and Jonathan's partnership. "Yes, I looked at the photo you gave me and I went to ask him about it." "Why didn't you just call me?" "I did. You're the one who didn't answer." "I was in a argument with my mom when you called." "Well now that we're all here, we can work together, alright?" "I'm not working with him, Dana." She said, looking over to Jonathan who was only a few feet away. "He already apologized to you. I know you're upset but there are bigger issues than him being a perv right now." "I heard that!" He said. "Sorry!" You said, turning back to Nancy. "Look, Nancy, you don't have to be friends with him. You don't even have to talk to him after this. Just cooperate right now. For Barb." She took a moment to take in your words. "Okay."

The three of you sat on the ground, away from the crowd. Jonathan held out a map, explaining what you all knew so far. "This is where we know for sure it's been, right?" He said. "So that's Steve's house." Nancy pointed out. "That's the woods where they found Will's bike." You added. "And that's my house." Jonathan concluded. "It's all so close." Nancy said. "Yeah, it's all within a mile radius or something." He deducted. "Whatever this thing is, it's not traveling far." "You want to go out there." You stated to him. "We might not find anything." He replied. "I found something." Nancy announced. "And if we do see it, then what?" You asked. Hesitating for a moment, Jonathan turned to look at both of you. "We kill it."

Jonathan led you both to a car, you assumed it was his mom or dad's, where he started pulling something out of the glove box. "Are you serious?" You asked when you saw he had pulled out a gun. "What? When we find this thing did you want me to take a photo, did you want to sketch it or something?" He asked sarcastically. "No I just, I'm sure there are better ways to kill this thing." "This is a terrible idea." Nancy panicked. "Yeah, well, it's the best we've got." He noticed her panicked state. "What? You can tell someone, but they're not gonna believe you. You know that." "Your mom would." "She's been through enough." "She deserves to know." "Yeah, and I'll tell her, when this thing is dead."
✯

You all had decided to meet up after the funeral, and you agreed to each bring a weapon. You were very against guns, so when Jonathan said he was gonna use one, of bothered you a little. But this was a big monster who lived in the woods, so it's not like you could kill it with a rock or something. After rummaging through the basement for who knows how long, you had found an axe that uncle Mike used to cut logs in the winter. Carrying it out of the house unnoticed was easier than you thought. Aunt Betty and uncle Mike were doing work around the house, too busy to notice their niece holding a giant axe. Lucas was with his friends, and Erica was also at a friends house. So you were in the clear.

Trying to find Jonathan in the woods was getting annoying when 10 minutes had past and you couldn't even hear him. Until you heard gunshots and someone cursing themself. "Jonathan!" You shouted in hopes of finding him. "Over here!" You didn't really know where 'over here' was, so you just followed his voice. "There you are, I thought I'd never find you." You said with a smile. "Quick question. Are you aiming for the cans or the spaces in between them?" You joked. "Because if it's the latter, you are doing very well." He laughed at your words. "Have you ever shot a gun before?" "Yeah, my dad used to take me to shooting ranges all the time. My mom hated it though." "When was the last time you went?" "Right before he died 2 years ago." He paused for a minute, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry." "It's okay. I'm kind of over it now." "How'd he die? If you don't mind me asking?" "He uh, he shot himself." "That's why you don't like guns?" "Yep. But don't worry, if the time comes when I need to shoot that thing, I'll set my moral code to the side." "Good to know." "What about you? I'm gonna take a guess and say this is your first time." You laughed. "I haven't shot one since I was 10." "Clearly." "My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit." "A rabbit?" "Yeah, I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week." "Jesus." "What? I'm a fan of Thumper." "I was talking about your dad." "Yeah, I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but I wasn't around for that part." You gave him a sympathetic as he started to aim again. "No wonder you keep missing." You said as you adjusted his aim. "Relax your shoulders." "Okay." He did as you said. "Shoot." Right after he pulled the trigger, you saw one of the cans go flying backwards. "See! This is why you should always listen to me." "You are a good teacher." He said with a laugh. "Am I interrupting something?" Nancy said teasingly as she walked up to you. "Nope, now that you're here, the real party starts." You joked. "Can I try?" She asked Jonathan while holding her hand out. "Yeah, go for it." He said, handing her the weapon. "Just point and shoot." "I wouldn't be taking advice from him if I were you." You joked. He laughed and playfully nudged your shoulder. Nancy lifted her arms to aim, but didn't pull the trigger. She was thinking hard about something. When she finally pulled the trigger, another can fell onto the ground.

✯

The three of you walked through the woods in no particular direction. You and Jonathan were basically attached at the hip, while Nancy was straggling a few feet behind you. "You never said what I saying." You spoke. "What?" He asked. "Yesterday, you said I was saying something and that's why you took my picture." "Truthfully, I took it because you looked happy. The few times I had seen you before, you didn't, but in that moment, you looked truly happy." "So it wasn't the wet tank top?" You joked. "Who said that wasn't another reason?" You both laughed. "And Nancy's?" "I took Nancy's because I saw this girl, trying to be someone she wasn't. But in that moment, she could be herself." "Bullsh*t." You heard from behind you. "What?" He asked. "I am not trying to be someone else." She said as she walked in front of you two. "Just because I'm dating Steve and neither of you like him-" "Forget it. I just thought it was a good picture." He said, walking ahead of her. "He's actually a good guy." "Drop it, Nance." You told her. "No, but, the other day, with the camera, he was just being protective." "That's one word for it." He said. "Oh, and I guess what you did was okay?" She asked. "I never said that." "He had every right to be pissed-" "Don't take it personally. I don't like most people, he's in the vast majority." "Are you two done now?" You asked, clearly irritated. "You know, I was actually starting to think that you were okay." Nancy said. "I think I'm just gonna hold onto this." You said, gently taking the gun from her hand. "Yeah?" He asked her. "Yeah. I was thinking, 'Jonathan Byers, maybe he's not the pretentious creep everyone says he is'." "Nancy-" You started to say, but were soon cut off by Jonathan. "I was just starting to think you were okay too. I thought maybe you weren't just another suburban girl who thinks she's rebelling, by doing exactly what every other suburban girl does. Until that phase passes and you marry some boring one time jock and live out a depressing life at the end of a cul-de-sac just like your parents." They bickered back and forth for a few more minutes until you had enough. "SHUT UP!" You yelled. "JESUS CHRIST JUST SHUT UP!" "I am so sick of you two! Nancy, I get that you're upset, but he apologized! What else do you want him to do, get on his knees and beg?! And he's not wrong about you. You have changed since you started dating Steve!" You turned to Jonathan. "And you! Yes, Nancy can be a priss sometimes, but that's no excuse to say those things about her!" They both sat in silence, too afraid to speak. "Look. Both of you are my friends. So when you fight like this, especially over some so trivial, it pisses me off. So stop acting like children, and let's go kill this thing." You said, walking ahead of them. They turned to each other and shared a frightened look, not moving from their places. "Let's go!" They quickly hurried behind you.

✯

It had gotten dark out, so you all had taken out your flashlights. You had barley said a word do each other since the argument. Maybe that was a good thing, after hearing them argue like kids, you didn't really want to talk to either of them right now. Suddenly, Nancy stopped and looked around. "What, are you tired?" Jonathan asked. "Shut up." She told him. "I thought we were done with this?" You asked. "Shh." Nancy told you. "I heard something." You both tried to listen out for whatever she was talking about. Then you heard it. Someone or something was whimpering in pain.

You began to follow the sound, which led you to a deer. It was laying on the ground, wounded and half dead. "Oh my god." You said. "It's been hit by a car." Nancy said while reaching out to pet its leg. "We can't just leave it." She said, looking at the gun in your hand. "Yeah." You said, aiming for the animal's head. No matter how many times you told yourself that you'd be doing it a favor, you still could end it's life. "I'll do it." Jonathan said, holding his hand out. "But you said-" "I'm not 10 anymore." He said as he took the weapon from you. You all stood up and took a few steps back as Jonathan aimed for the deer. Just as Jonathan was about to pull the trigger, something dragged the dear in the trees. You all backed up and tried to keep your heads on straight. "What was that?" Nancy asked. Instead of responding to the question, that you didn't even have an answer to, you all began look for the creature.

"Where'd it go?" Nancy asked. Again, another question no one knew the answer to. "I don't know." You replied. "Do you see anymore blood?" Jonathan asked. "No." You both replied. You all walked a few feet away from each other, so preoccupied with finding that creature, that you didn't even notice when Nancy had disappeared. You saw Jonathan again and made your way over to him, not seeing Nancy with him. "Hey, where's Nancy?" You asked. "I thought she was with you." "Dana! Jonathan!" You heard from a distance. "Nancy!" You both yelled, running towards her voice. When you got to where you thought she was, all you saw was her baseball bat and her bag. "Nancy!" "Where are you?!" The both of you called out. Unbeknownst to you, she was closer than you thought.