The Overcomer, Stranger Things

The forgotten Byers

The next morning, Gwen Byers was wide awake when the sun poured through her window, signaling the beginning of the day. She hadn't slept a wink that night and it showed. The girl's face was pale, her eyes swollen from crying, and her hair was knotted. Gwen looked to her left, seeing that her mother was still right beside her as she had been for the last ten hours. The blond sighed, pulling the cover higher over her mother's shoulders before kissing her forehead and getting out of bed.

Gwen fixed herself the best she could. She got the knots out of her hair, washed her face, and put some concealer over her bruises. She certainly didn't look like Marylin Monroe but it would have to do. The girl furrowed her eyebrows when she heard her super com start crackling. She went over and picked it up before going into the bathroom, so she wouldn't disturb her mom and Hopper, and then pushed the antenna up.

"Hello? Gwen, this is Will. Do you copy? Over."

"Hey Will," she yawned before adding, "I copy. Over."

"Can you come to Mike's house? I want to play D&D."

"Sure, I'll tell mom, over and out." she chuckled before grabbing the antenna and pushing it down. Instead of waking her mom up, Gwen opted to simply write a note on the fridge before going over to Mike's house, having no idea what would come from the visit.

~:~

"What did I do wrong?" Eleven could hear Mike's voice. At first, it was distant until the static stopped. She opened her eyes, and she was there in The Void. She stepped closer to where she saw a familiar yellow couch from Mike's basement. After dumping Mike, the Wheeler boy was now wallowing in a hole of self-pity as Lucas and Will attempted to comfort him. So now Max and El were spying on them. Mike was sprawled out on the couch munching on a bag of nachos as he continued to whine. "What could I have done wrong?"

"I see them," Eleven said.

"What are they doing?" she heard Max ask in the distance.

"Eating."

"Oh dear lord," Gwen walked the stairs, making Will sigh in relief as she looked at the miserable teenager. "Mike, what did you do?"

"Gwen is with them," El informed, causing Max's eyes to widen in panic.

"Oh no," she ran a hand through her hair, "We have to save her!"

"Eleven broke up with me," he shoved another nacho in his mouth, getting cheese all over his fingers. "What could I have done wrong?"

"That's a very long list," Gwen mumbled under her breath, her eyes widening when she realized everyone heard her. "What? We all know I'm right."

"Nothing!" Lucas exclaimed, ignoring the girl's previous comment as Gwen went over to Will and wrapped her arms around his waist, in desperate need of some brotherly comfort. "You did nothing wrong. You're the victim here."

"I know. It's just-- why is she treating me this way?"

"Mike--"

"What did I do wrong?!" Mike yelled again, causing Gwen to lose her cool.

"Oh my goodness, Michal!" she hopped up from the couch and grabbed his bag of nachos before throwing it across the room. "Get yourself together man!" she clapped her hands in front of his face before she threw her hands up and turned around. Her eyes widened comically when she saw Eleven standing there, soon realizing the girl was spying on them from the void. Instead of telling the others, she simply winked at the brunette before plopping down next to Will again.

"Gwen can see me, and she just yelled at Mike," El said to Max.

"Good for her," the redhead grinned proudly.