"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 Thirty-Three: Reunions Made And Secrets Shared
(The Bathtub, Pt. 4)
***
Rowan's knee bounced up and down as she fiddled with her shirt hem, eyes periodically looking at the window and then looking away, as if she would see Hopper's car drive up every time she looked back, only to be proven wrong every time. In an armchair, her aunt was similarly looking at the windows, fingers drumming on the armrest. Beside her, Rowan could feel Nancy's worry about her brother, heightening her own worry and what-ifs, while on the other side sat Jonathan and Joyce, with Rowan squashed in the middle.
It had been hours since Hopper had left, afternoon slipping into night, and that had Rowan's joy of Alistair being safe shift into panic and worry again, that somehow Hopper hadn't gotten to them in time and now her little brother was gone, captured, used as an experiment, being tortured right now and she was unable to keep him safe. The light bulbs and coffee table were the only things deterring her from standing up and pacing around like a maniac, so instead her knee bounced and she looked at the window every five seconds as her mind spiralled into more and more horrifying scenarios of what Alistair was suffering under right now in the Place, thoughts screaming, What if, what if, what if—
But then, as Rowan looked away and lowered her head, hands now clasped together, she heard the crunch of tyres on gravel.
Her head jerked up, and she saw the beam of lights. Saw the familiar car with HAWKINS PD along the side.
Saw the small silhouettes in the back, behind the chief.
Heart in her throat, she leaped up and bolted for the door, second only to Nancy who had similarly leaped up and sprinted for the door, opening it and hesitating on the porch as the car stopped and doors opened, Rowan looking behind, almost collapsing to her knees at seeing Alistair walk out, almost teleporting right to him.
"Mike," Nancy breathed when she caught sight of her little brother. "Oh my God, Mike!"
And then she was running, and now Rowan was running, sprinting to Alistair, engulfing him into a tight hug. Alistair gave a squeak and gasped out, "Rowan, y-you're choking me!"
"Don't care. Told you I was gonna give you a hug," Rowan said, her voice thick with tears as she held her little brother tighter. Her little brother, who was in her arms right now, warm and solid and safe.
She felt his arms wrap around her, reciprocating the hug.
She pulled away, looking at him. "Are you okay?"
Alistair nodded. "I'm fine. You?"
Rowan smiled. "Absolutely."
Alistair frowned, before leaning in and whispering, "He saw me."
