ghosting

INTERMISSION ONE: PART TWO

the little brother

As far as Dustin knew, he always had an older brother. Xavier was Dustin's biological brother, his earliest memories always had his brother in them. He didn't care what the town whispered when they'd see both Henderson's walking down the street holding hands. He didn't care that Xavier would freeze whenever he saw an older male that almost looked like him. He didn't care that Xavier would discipline him as if he was his father because as far as Dustin was concerned, Xavier was his only older male figure. Xavier was everything to him.

Dustin was only ten when Xavier sat him down to explain why people would look at them differently. Why some people, bullies, would try to tell him that Xavier wasn't his older brother.

"I'm adopted," he said. "Ma, she took me in when I was eight."

"What happened to your real family?"

"As far as I'm concerned you guys are my real family," he replied easily. "But my biological parents got deported-"

Dustin must have had a confused look on his face cause Xavier trailed off to explain, to the best of his abilities what happened.

"It means that my biological parents had come here, to the United States illegally. They didn't get a visa to come here.'' Xavier explained calmly. "The refuge act wasn't passed yet and there was- still is mass deportation against Mexicans."

Dustin still confused nodded his head.

"I was seven when it happened, my biological brother, was older than me. 21. I think my mom, my biological mom was pregnant. That didn't matter to them though," he continued. "I was taken into foster care and a year later I ran away."

"Is that how mom found you?" he whispered.

"Sorta," replied his brother. "I was found by the chief at the time and Ma went to get her husband out of jail, she took me instead of him. Guess that's why he always hated me."

-

Dustin, never really got jealous over how Xavier treated the party like they were brothers to him. Okay no, that was a lie. When he was younger he was extremely possessive. He would cry when Xavier would hang out with Jonathan (their mom would console him and after Jonathan left Xavier would talk to him and ask him what happened). Lately, however, he grew out of it. Xavier told him that it was okay for him to still be jealous, after all, he was still a kid.

He always noticed how Xavier would protect Lucas and make sure none of them heard anything remotely racist. There was one day when he had taken the party to the movie theater and an older man sneering at the two of them how his older brother gave them money to get whatever snacks they wanted and how Xavier went to talk to that older man. He came back a little angry and maybe a little hurt but he pretended he was okay.

Dustin watched as Xavier made his rounds with the party. He ruffled each of their hairs and once he was done he sat down on the couch in Mike's basement. He pulled out his homework and started knawing at his pencil. Dustin hummed softly as he watched Lucas walk towards his brother. Their mother was working another double shift as a nurse and Jonathan was working tonight hence, Xavier staying at the Wheeler's basement with him.

Lucas sat down next to Xavier and the two of them leaned toward each other. Lucas was whispering as the other boys started pulling out their character sheets and dice. Dustin could notice the concerned frown his brother had on his face as he whispered back to Lucas and gave him a hug, shooing him away so they could start their campaign.

-

november 1983

It was only a week since they got Will back and Xavier was injured. Mrs. Byers hadn't let them spend the night yet, telling them that she wants Will to settle in after the events he went through (and she didn't want him out of his sights, Xavier told him). The party understood, they always did. She would let them hang out with him after school, she let them help him with homework and sometimes Xavier would sit in the room with them with Jonathan in tow behind him.

There was always a part of Dustin that wondered if Xavier was secretly dating Jonathan if that was the secret boyfriend he was supposed to meet. He instead, overheard Jonathan and Xavier speaking in hushed tones one night about some dude named Eddie and how he broke his brother's heart. At the ripe age of 12, Dustin felt himself get angry with his brother. He could hear the quiet sobs from his brother's room. He would walk into Xavier's room and got into bed with him.

His brother sniffed and turned to face him. "I'm okay," he whispered. "The pain is a lot right now, that's all."

Dustin knew the truth, however. He just nodded and felt his brother kiss him on the forehead. Dustin watched as his brother slept and he swore to himself to hate this Eddie.

-

Dustin watched as Xavier frowned at his car again, grumbling about a dumb white boy taking his anger out on him. Dustin huffed out a breath and watched it go up before it disappeared and nudged Xavier.

"Can we call Hopper now?" he asked.

Xavier nodded. "Yeah, might as well."

The two boys walked back into the house and Dustin watched as Xavier dialed up the precinct and asked to speak to Hopper. It wasn't long until the chief pulled into their driveway and Xavier told him about who it could be and how long it has been since it first started. Through the window, he could see Xavier pick at his nails and watch the position he was in (his brother was hunched over like he was being scolded). He could also see how Hopper was lowering himself, putting himself in a non-threatening position. Once Hopper left, Xavier walked back in shivering, trying to warm himself up.

"God I hate the cold," he mumbled and turned to look at Dustin. "Hot chocolate and a Christmas movie?"

Dustin nodded and ran to the kitchen to gather the materials.

december 1983

Dustin remembers the first night after they brought back Will. He remembers the way Xavier limped into the house and hissed anytime he would sit. He remembers the soft tone he took on Dustin when he had knocked on his door, scared to sleep on his own. He could recall how Xavier held him in his arms even though he was injured.

It shouldn't have surprised him that when he screamed in fear from a nightmare Xavier came busting in with a kitchen knife looking around frantically before visibly relaxing and setting the knife down on his dresser.

"Dust, what happened? Are you ok?" he asked frantically.

Dustin nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Dustin was 12 years old and yet it felt like he lived through a war.

"Scooch over," his brother said softly.

Dustin did what was asked of him. He felt his brother get into bed with him and Dustin moved closer to him, setting himself onto his older brother's chest.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this Dust," whispered Xavier.

His older brother ran his hands through his hair.

"It's ok," he replied.

Xavier hummed in disagreement and Dustin closed his eyes. He relaxed against Xavier, feeling safe, and dozed off to sleep.

AUTHORS NOTE:  word count excluding note - 1.2k

DUSTIN!!! i feel like i didn't capture him right. this chapter was a bit of a struggle for me but i hope this was a good chapter (and that i captured dustin). naturally i know that once an author writes a fanfic that the characters in the story become their own but i still hope to have them close to their canon material.

THINGS RESEARCHED FOR THIS CHAPTER:
when were visas invented: 1924
when was the refuge act passed: 1980
when was ICE invented: march 2003
immigration laws in the 70s: time.com/5858164/voluntary-deportation-history/

next chapter should be out sometime next week (or in two weeks!) next pov is steve's :)