(Title from "Soldier, Poet, King" by The Oh Hellos)
~
"Well," Hopper starts, "I don't know how much I can tell you without the government pointing their guns at me, but I can try my best. In 1983, Will was riding home on his bike, but he got stuck in the Upside Down. Dustin, Lucas, and Mike then met a girl who couldn't talk and had a tattoo that had a 011 on it, or Eleven, hence her name. Well, Joyce was worried about him, rightfully so, so I took the case and tried to find him.
"We ended up finding a body planted by the scientists that looked like Will, and I kept asking people around town about a boy with a buzz-cut, turns out, I was looking for a young girl the whole time. When we found her, it was in Hawkins Middle school and the kids were going to use her to find Will. That's when the scientists of Hawkins Lab put a stop to it. They agreed that if we didn't tell anyone about her, they would go get Will. Well, we lived up to our half of the agreement, and they did as well.
"Then after a few months, I kept leaving Eggos out in a box for Eleven, as I had a feeling that she was around. Turns out my intuition was right and she lived with me in the cabin. She ran away for a little bit, but came back badass-" "Bitchin'," El states, smirking.
"Bitchin' and she's been loving being with Will, Jonathan, Joyce and I ever since," Hopper smiles softly, wrapping his arm around her.
Gareth smiles softly as well. He feels a part of this family, even though he's not related to them by blood, a feeling he doesn't even feel with his own family. Thinking this, he says, "Could I live here?"
"Why do you say that kiddo?" Hop replies.
"It's just that, my parents, they don't treat me like I'm their son," He says, "They act like they don't care about me and that all I'm even good for is drug money. I don't like being in that house."
"Look, Gareth," Joyce says, "You can stay here as long as you'd like. My only condition is that you have to help out around here like the rest of the kids. Other than that, you're free to stay."
"And I'm not intruding on anyone?" He asks.
"Of course not kiddo! We have more than enough room for you," She replies, "We'll take care of you."
He smiles, "Thank you, you all are too kind."
"Oh it's no big deal," Hopper says, "I'm just glad you have a place where you can feel accepted."
"Thank you, Chief," Gareth replies, holding out his hand for a handshake. Instead, Hopper hugs him.
"You're welcome kiddo," He says.
After they pull away, Gareth goes with Will to Will's room and they sit on the bed. Will has been quiet all evening, and Gareth picked up on it, but didn't want to say anything until they were alone.
"Hey, you've been quiet the entire time I was talking to your mom and Hopper, is everything okay?"
Will nods, "Yeah. It's just hard hearing about the stories sometimes. I know it affected my mom pretty heavily, so it kinda hurts to hear about it sometimes."
Gareth nods, and the two lay down on the bed. Gareth picks up a random book and starts reading and Will sketches. They sit together in silence until Joyce says, "Boys, dinner's ready!"
They get up and sit down at the table and start eating. "Mmm, this is delicious, thank you," Gareth smiles.
"Oh you're welcome sweetie," Joyce replies.
"Dad, can I spend some time with Mike tomorrow?" El asks.
Gareth gives Will a look and watches the interaction.
"Okay, you want to hang out with Mike. How are your grades?" Hopper asks.
"They're good," She says.
"Good? What was the grade on your math quiz today?" Hopper asks.
"Good."
"Number El, I need a number," He replies.
She gets up from the table and hands him the paper with a huff. He looks at it and smiles. "No, absolutely not," He says.
"What? Why not?" El asks.
"Because sweetheart, you got a 75 on your math quiz! I thought you were getting help from Will?" Hopper says.
"She's been spending her time with Mike," Will says, "I've offered, she refused. Says that Mike is helping her."
"Friends don't lie, Will," She says.
"I'm not lying, Eleven. I did ask you, you said, 'Mike said he would help,' so your grade is not on me, it's on you and Mike," He replies.
"Mike is helping," She states.
"Really? Mike helped you get a 75 El!" Hopper says.
"UGH!" She screams and goes to her room, slamming the door shut with her mind.
"Welcome to the Hopper-Byers household, Gareth," Jonathan says with a smirk.
"ELEVEN GET BACK IN HERE!" Hopper yells.
"Hopper!" Joyce replies, giving him a look, "We have guests."
"Sorry, kiddo," Hopper apologizes to Gareth.
"It's fine, sir, I'm used to this with my parents," Gareth says with a shrug, "So it's nice to know I'm not the only one."
"Please tell me you're not the argumentative type," Joyce says.
"Oh, no ma'am, I'm the one ring leading my parents to stop acting like kids," He replies.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Joyce frowns.
"Again, it's no big deal," Gareth says, "I hear it from mine all the time."
"DAD IT'S NOT FAIR! WILL GETS TO HANG OUT WITH GARETH!" El screams.
"Jane, enough, you're not seeing Mike, and that is final," Hopper says calmly.
"THEN TELL GARETH TO GO HOME!"
"Why? What did Will do?" Hopper says, still calm.
"He's always ratting me out," She says.
"Telling the truth," Will mutters, eating.
"He's bullying Mike," She continues.
"Giving Mike the shit he's been giving Will," Gareth also mumbles, eating.
"And most of all he's not doing homework because he's spending too much time with Gareth," She lies.
"Friends don't lie, El," Will says.
"You don't have your homework done," She says, "Mr. Clark even told me so."
"He said I could have an extension," He defends.
"Will you really need to get that done, but Gareth can stay," Hopper says.
"UGH YOU'RE NOT FAIR!" Eleven screams.
"I have been more than fair," Hopper replies.
"You don't care about my other grades, only math!"
"Because you've been struggling and I thought Will was helping you, but you lied to me," Hopper explains, "So as a result, no seeing Mike until you get a good grade on your next test."
She rolls her eyes and goes to her room. "I'm really sorry about her," Hopper says, "You boys done?" They nod and take their plates to the sink, going back to Will's room. Will changes into pajamas and gets under the covers, Gareth doing the same.
The two fall asleep, holding onto each other.
~
Sorry for being away for so long, I have had a busy second semester and am now a high school graduate! XD Anyways, This one is not as long as the previous chapter, but I can assure you there is more to come. Thanks for sticking around and I will try my absolute hardest to continue updating until I feel this story has reached its conclusion. Love ya!!
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Where Do Broken Hearts Go? (A GreatWise Fanfic)
FanfictionWill the Wise finds that being in love with Mike isn't worth it anymore when he comes back to Hawkins and needs to move on. Then along comes Gareth the Great.
