Always Be There For You ~ Dustin Henderson x Reader

Chapter 5: The Flea and the Acrobat

I was lying on Mike's couch, trying to process everything that had just happened. Will was alive. Will wasn't dead! There were so many emotions that were swirling around in my head, I was trying so hard to figure everything out. What I couldn't figure out was where Will could be and why he couldn't hear us through the radio. That is until I was pulled out of my thoughts by El's voice

    "Upside down," She said. That's when it clicked.

    "What did she say?" Dustin asked.

    "Upside down!" I shouted. I hopped up from the couch and went over to the D&D table.

    "What?" Lucas questioned.

    "Upside down. When we asked El where Will was she flipped the board over, upside down." The boys shot me confused looks as I tried to explain, "When El took us to find Will she took us to his house, and he wasn't there. But, what if he was there, just not where we could see him. On the other side." I could tell by Lucas and Dustin's faces that they weren't quite getting it, but Mike caught on.

    "Okay guys, what if this is Hawkins," Mike told them, flipping over the board to the regular side, "And this is where Will is." Mike flipped the board back upside down.

    "Upside down!" Lucas shouted, finally understanding.

    "Like the Vale of Shadows!" Dustin connected.

    "Exactly!" I agreed. Dustin picked up the D&D manual and flipped to the page describing the Vale of Shadows.

    "The Vale of Shadows is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A plane of monsters. It's right next to you and you don't even see it." Dustin read.

    "An alternate dimension!" I shouted, hurling my arms in the air in triumph.

    "But how do we get there?" Mike inquired.

    "You cast Shadow Walk," Dustin answered plainly.

    "In real life, dummy," Lucas sassed.

"We can't Shadow Walk, but..." I began.

"Maybe she can," Dustin said, finishing my thought and gesturing towards El.

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike politely asked

El. She shook her head, no. Lucas let out an annoyed sigh, so I smacked him lightly on the shoulder.

The next day, it was Will's funeral. It felt so weird to be at a funeral for somebody I knew wasn't dead. I was uncomfortable the whole time, my dress was tight and itchy, I had to pretend like I didn't know he was alive, and it was cold out but I was wearing a short-sleeved dress because I didn't have anything else I could wear. While the priest was talking over Will's coffin, I felt Dustin tap me on the shoulder. I looked over at him to see him pointing at a popular girl from school, Jennifer Hayes.

"Just wait 'till we tell Will that Jennifer Hayes was crying at his funeral." Dustin snickered. I started to chuckle alongside him before being shushed by Mrs. Wheeler. I went back to paying attention to the priest's words, right as a slight breeze started to pass through. I gripped the sides of my arms and shivered a little, I was really cold. A few moments later, the service ended and everyone started to head over to the reception.

"Y/n?" Dustin said questioningly.

"Yeah?" I responded. He took his jacket off and offered it to me.

"You seem cold."

"If I take your jacket, won't you be cold?"

"I'm wearing long sleeves, I'll be fine." He held the jacket closer to me, I took it gratefully.