Ao3 story (Why would you ever kiss me)

Part 12

El had to admit at one point that she well and truly did not know where the fuck she was going. Street signs were easy enough to follow, but it wasn't exactly like she had a map. Things would be so much easier if she could just find him with her powers. But she knew without even trying that it would be dangerous. 001 was waiting for her.

So, she kept meandering down the road, hoping that she was heading towards the Byers' old house. That's probably where Will would've gone right?

That's where she would've gone if she were him. But she wasn't him. No matter how hard she tried to act like Will, she would never be able to quite get him right. Will had a good heart in his chest. He was kind and nurturing. Braver than he gave himself credit for. Polite. Just good.

He never would've said anything like what I said to him.

El gnawed on her lip to stave off the desire to break down in sobs.

The town was noticeably different . Everything—the trees, the flowers in the ditches, even the dirt—seemed like it was sick. Maybe that's why the rain had come down so hard earlier that day. Maybe the sky was trying desperately to breathe life back into the dead earth beneath it. A futile attempt. Looking around her, El became more and more convinced that nothing here could ever come back to life. Not in ten years. Not in a million.

She could see in the distance that she was approaching one of the four smoking scars that now ran through the town like a wound. Officials seemed to have done their best to block it off to the public, but that clearly hadn't stopped stupid kids from hanging around them. If only they knew those scars could release all manner of hellish creatures upon Hawkins. El had tried her best to avoid them on her way to Will's house, but it was inevitable that she'd have to cross at least one of them.

Walking ever closer to the thing she currently feared most, she tried to avoid eye contact with a group of teenage boys who were throwing everything from rocks to beer cans into the waiting gate below. The sight of its reddish glow alone was enough to make her dizzy. She was tired. And these idiots were poking the merciless bear that she, in all of her exhausted glory, would have to protect them from if they managed to wake it.

"Mouth-breathers." She grumbled. If they knew any better they wouldn't try to disturb it. Idiots, absolute idiots.

"Is that Byers?" One of the boys said then. El stilled, all of the hairs raising up on her arms. Their greeting almost sounded friendly, but something about it made her feel uneasy. She'd dealt with Angela long enough to know what true sincerity sounded like. And what it didn't.

"It is!" The boys tossed the remnants of their junk into the ravine and approached her. "I thought you actually disappeared for good. Looks like I was mistaken."

Something about one of the boys was familiar, but El couldn't quite put her finger on it. She didn't really have time to think about it though, because one of them was grabbing the front of her shirt and aggressively yanking her closer.

"Yeah, it's him alright." He looked at his friends with a mirthful sneer. "I thought this fag died."

"No, this one's invincible. Nothing can kill him." It was like he was talking about a roach. Not a person.

The one holding her by the shirt leaned closer, his bad breath wafting in her face. "Oh yeah, I think I remember now. Isn't that right, zombie boy? "

El could only look between the boys with a rising sense of panic. "Let me go please." She nearly stammered. Why was she afraid?

The boys all seemed to share conniving smiles with each other, like they were all thinking the same thing.

The leader of the group stepped forward. "You know, everything in this town really did go to shit ever since you came back to life. And now, seeing that you're back and the town has gone to shit once again... I think I'm sensing a pattern here." The boy who was nearly lifting her off the ground by the collar of her shirt, released her. Only to roughly grab her by the arms and start pushing her towards the edge of the ravine.