³𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 ✔

024-is it over now?

CARLA WHEELER STARED UP THE BYERS HOUSE WITH A FROWN. 

It had been three months since everything went down—since Billy Hargrove was killed, since Starcourt Mall was demolished due to the damage done, since the Mind Flayer was taken down, since Carla was flayed and revived, since Hopper died, since the government covered the truth about what happened, deeming it as a 'terrible mall fire' to the rest of Hawkins. 

Since Joyce Byers made the ultimate decision to put her rundown house up for sale and move.

Hearing the news that they were moving had been hard—despite Joyce's reminder that it had been a 'long time coming', the Byers residence held so much baggage, from Christmas' and hangouts to where Steve was beat senseless and Carla was marked by the Demogorgan—but what was even harder to hear was the fact that they were moving to California with Eleven. 

After Hopper's death—being the next parental figure in El's life—Joyce had been quick to adopt the girl as her own, which meant that she, too, would be moving across the country, leaving all of her friends, her family, for a city of people who would never understand her the way they had; never accept her the way the Party did.  

Carla had tried to convince Joyce that she didn't have to move—California was miles and miles away, which meant plane tickets and phone calls would be expensive. Eleven and Will would lose their friends, Jonathan would lose his girlfriend and his best friend. 

Despite being the right choice—Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and El deserved nothing than a fresh start after all the hell and loss the past three years had given them— it wouldn't be fair. To the Party, the children or to the Wheeler herself. 

Yet, here Carla stood in front of the house, staring at the stacks of boxes sitting on the front porch, waiting to be hauled into the moving truck.

Her arms were wrapped around her figure—it was now October, Summer drawing to a close with a chill breeze—as she simply stared at the house; taking it in for a final time as the Byers house.

 She knows she should be helping out, and she had been, but it's all starting to become too real for her. Putting Will's old toys into donation boxes and Jonathan's different CD's into his bedrooms labeled bin had started to hit her—this was the last time she'd step into these rooms, into the house itself. 

While the Byers family had been packing for the past month, today had been the final clean out. Max, Lucas, Dustin, Mike, Nancy and Carla had all shown up that morning and had been helping sorting through bins and hauling bigger and bulkier items out the door and into the truck.

 Not only did it make the process much easier and less stressful on Joyce, but it allowed everyone to get a final moment together, even if it was spent packing away years of memories. 

Reminding Carla of this was Jonathan and Nancy appearing out the door, mattress in their grasp. The Wheeler moves out of the way, allowing her sister and her best friend to maneuver the item into the truck without stumbling.

"You guys need any more help?" Carla offers as her friends pull away from the truck. She feels bad for simply sulking in front of the house when their were boxes to load and toys to go through—even if she had done her part earlier that day.

"Max, Lucas, and Dustin are sorting through stuff in the living room." Jonathan states, nodding towards the house. "You can see if they need some help."

Carla gives a small nod and heads back into the house where she was met with the sound of Lucas Sinclair and Max Mayfield singing, rather than packing.

"Turn around. Look at what you see." As Carla enters the house, her brows furrow at the sound of the two teens singing. Lucas and Max were knelt down in front of a box, currently packaging away some sort of console. Their eyes were locked on Dustin—who was across from them with a blank and rather annoyed expression—smirks on their lips as they proceeded, "In her face, the mirror of your dreams. Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds."