"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter Nine: The King Of Hawkins High
(Holly Jolly, Pt. 2)
***
Her aunt did wake up, and found her sitting there on the floor, back against the door. One look at Rowan's face had her aunt wrap a comforting arm around Rowan, gently helping her up and leading her to the table, leaving to grab a blanket to put around her niece's shoulders before busying herself with making chocolate chip pancakes and hot cocoa, putting in a Fleetwood Mac record as she did. Rowan just waited in silence, letting the sweet smell of pancakes and cocoa and the croon of Stevie Nicks lull her into a comforting peace.
When the pancakes and hot cocoa were ready, she and Aunt Aco ate in silence. Her aunt didn't ask her how bad of a nightmare she had—Rowan guessed the fact she'd called Eddie to drive her back home afterwards and her facial expression must have been telling enough.
When they had finished eating, her aunt did the dishes while quietly telling her to head to bed and try to get a few more hours of sleep before school. Rowan only nodded before she drifted into her room, collapsing into bed.
When she woke up, birds were chirping and sunlight was falling in hazy beams through her window, and she heard the squeal of tyres and an engine cutting off before doors opened.
Must have gone and picked up Al, Rowan thought as she crawled out of her bed and stood in the living room as her aunt and brother entered. Her aunt looked at her, worry in her eyes, but it seemed to lift slightly at seeing that Rowan looked like she had indeed gotten a few more hours of peaceful sleep.
Rowan looked away from her aunt, turning her gaze to Alistair. "Hey, squirt. How was your sleepover?"
Alistair's face went through a myriad of emotions, before it settled on neutrality. Shrugging his bag off his shoulder, he mumbled, "Fine. It went fine."
But when he gave her a split-second look, it told Rowan that he wanted to talk to her about something that had happened.
Something that involved the real reason he went to Mike's.
Rowan pasted on a smile and walked over to ruffle Alistair's hair. "Glad it went well."
Alistair looked at her, frowning. "Why're you home, Rowan?"
Rowan winced. "I... had a nightmare, while I was at Robin's. A bad one. I called Eddie to drive me back home, and he did."
Alistair's frown turned from confusion to concern, and Rowan smiled again.
"Before you ask, I'm fine," she assured. "It just... left me rattled. More than the previous ones did."
Alistair did not look convinced, but he did not press either, instead heading to his room. However, he paused and asked, "What was your nightmare about, Ro?"
