KING FREAK : STONATHAN

TWENTY-SEVEN

3 : hawkins indiana; lenora hills california

"nothing ever lasts forever,"
— tears for fears

october 2nd, 11:47 am

jonathan couldn't believe it was the day he'd leave hawkins behind already. everyone had been dreading today, even joyce who decided to move in the first place.

everyone saw where joyce was coming from; moving from hawkins probably was going to a good idea. a much needed change of scenery. jonathan just wished he could still see steve everyday.

the two boys had decided there was no way they were going to breakup so they decided to try long distance. they thought of it being like unknown and wrong number once more; only texting, never seeing each other. well at least this time they were dating and could call each other now.

except for them; everyone knew they would be fine with full confidence. this was steve and jonathan they were talking about, you can't just say steve without jonathan and that went vice versa.

steve and jonathan sat in jonathan's empty room for the very last time. they sat on the old dusty floor, backs leaned against the wall as they side hugged.

jonathan laid his head on the olders shoulder. "i'm going to miss this place so damn much," jonathan croaked out, he couldn't help but have voice crack as a stray tear rolled down his cheek. steve hugged the younger tighter and said; "hawkins won't be the same without the byers."

jonathan huffed. "better not be! a byerless town is a boring town," he dryly laughed. steve couldn't help but chuckle saying; "you're not wrong, lenora hills will be lucky to have you byers."

their sad halfhearted laugh didn't last long as jonathan frowned once more. steve noticed and couldn't help but put on the same frown. "once i scrape enough money together i'll come visit you guys, i promise jon," steve promised to the younger who couldn't help but let out a dry laugh once more.

"has your dad cut off your allowance or something so now you have to work to make a living?" jonathan sarcastically asked but steve replied seriously with; "don't be silly jonathan! my allowance got cut off when i turned eighteen." jonathan couldn't help but snort.

"boys i don't mean to ruin this moment but we're leaving soon," joyce spoke softly, peaking her head through the door that was slightly opened. jonathan simply nodded. he was afraid tears would slip if he said anything.

steve and jonathan looked at each other, both their eyes were glossed with tears. "guess this is the last time in this room forever," jonathan mumbled sadly. steve started to laugh. jonathan raised a eyebrow as he wondered if steve had gone mad.

"i'm so sorry i just thought about someone wanting to buy this house and walking into this room and they got previews of what this room was like before and all i can imagine is them getting a preview of us having sex in this room and they start running for the hills," steve managed to choke out as he laughed.

jonathan couldn't help but laugh for real this time. "what the actual fuck, why would they imagine us having sex what?" jonathan was actually baffled by his boyfriends thinking. steve shrugged. "i mean we did it quite a bit in this room so." they both laughed as they got up and walked out of the room. even steve was a bit baffled of what he just thought of.

"what are you two laughing about?" dustin asked; very confused. if anything he thought the two would be a mess crying. "well i thought of something and it was funny," steve answered honestly. "well what was the thought?" dustin inquired. jonathan snorted. "sorry kid, you not hearing about this."

even in the saddest moments, steve and jonathan could find humour in anything and it was something everyone admired about them.

"we're all ready to go!" joyce called out from outside. jonathan flipped his smile upside down to a frown. this was real. he was actually moving to california.

jonathan gripped at steve's hand as he took one more look around. this had been his home for almost eighteen years, it was somewhere so familiar but now it was so barren without any furniture.

the couple glanced at each other before walking outside where everyone was. even nancy and robin had came.

everyone started to bid their goodbyes, hugging each other and letting tears slip freely now. it was weird; these were people he had fought real monsters and now he'd leave them behind. it was all so strange.

"i'm gonna miss bullying steve with you on double dates," robin said sadly. jonathan couldn't help but laugh. "me too robin, being mean to steve has got to be the best activity," he agreed. steve huffed; "what the heck guys?" no one payed attention though as jonathan and robin hugged.

"i have no doubt we'll see each other once more, whenever the weird side of hawkins comes out, we get partnered up," nancy said smiling, though her sad eyes were obvious. "yeah, every damn time," jonathan chuckled and hugged her too. he recalled the first time will went missing, the time when they went to murray to help surface barbs death, and then finally investigating the infected rats.

nancy had been one of the first people (non family member) to show jonathan kindness and he'd be forever grateful. he was also pretty glad there were no hard feelings about him dating her ex and actually encouraged steve to apologize to him.

finally; there was one person left to say goodbye too. steve "the hair" harrington. jonathan had done so much reflecting on how their relationship had changed so much. he would of honestly liked to hit the obvious teen with a shovel over the head a few years ago.

but now? he could barely stand to think about not being in a relationship with steve. especially hating the older. jonathan couldn't say words so he instead hugged steve tightly, finally letting a tear slip while doing so.

when they pulled away steve cupped jonathan's cheek with his hand and whispered; "i'm always one call away jon, remember that." jonathan nodded. "i am to steve," he whispered back and then wrapped his arms around the olders neck and kissed steve passionately on the lips.

"i love you," and that was that. steve and jonathan exchanged final 'love yous' and went their separate ways. it wasn't like they would never see each other again, they just would find it hard adjusting to not being able to see each other.

it wasn't until jonathan drove past the 'leaving hawkins' did it really sink in he'd be a californian resident too soon. he couldn't get this summer out of his head; he had loved it so much. though it was sad, jonathan knew one thing; nothing lasts forever.

NOTE:

just wanna clarify this is not the end of the book! though the end is creeping closer it won't be for a while yet until this book can be completed C:
—micah