it's the end of the world as we know it.

12. things to back to normal. sort of.

december 1984

It was the day of the Snow Ball, and Frankie may or may not have fibbed on the start and end time so he could hang out with Jonathan before or after. The Byers house was decked out for Christmas and Christmas tunes were playing on the radio. Joyce was teaching Will some last minute dances in the living room before he and Jonathan were to take Will to the dance, and Frankie could hear them laughing in the living room.

Meanwhile, he and Jonathan were in Jonathan's room, as Jonathan was digging through his closet in an attempt to find Frankie something nice to wear to complete his promise. Frankie at least had nice pants to wear from when his mom tried to enforce him and Stella to go to church, and now he could put some use to it. Jonathan pulled a wooly red sweater from his closet and held it up as he turned to face Frankie, tilting his head as he compared it to him.

"You don't have anything that's not red? Like green or blue?" Frankie asked, frowning slightly at the brightness of the color. "They're still Christmas colored."

"I don't think so. This is all I have." He said, pulling the sweater off its hook before tossing it to Frankie. Frankie sighed and tugged it over his head. It was warm and slightly bigger than himself, and it smelled like Jonathan still, which had his face flush warm.

"This works." Frankie nodded. "Thanks again."

"Of course. Come on, let's go see if Will's ready." Jonathan said, and they returned to the living room. Jingle Bell Rock was playing, and Joyce and Will swayed across the room.

"Are you sure people still dance like this?" Will questioned, trying to keep up with his mothers' moves.

"Yeah, it's just what's happening." Joyce reassured, grinning as they danced.

"Is that what's happening?" Will asked, glancing at Frankie and Jonathan, being more in the know.

"Oh yeah, it's what's happening." Jonathan reassured too, laughing slightly. Joyce showed Will the spin, and Frankie laughed.

"The spin's a classic move. Don't worry about that one." He teased lightly, and Will grinned, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, it's time to go, yeah?" Jonathan nods, and Will nodded anxiously. The trio headed out to Jonathan's car, after Joyce peppered Will with kisses and telling him to have a good time and to be safe; they eventually arrived at Hawkins Middle School, the gym where the dance was set up.

It was definitely a show, blue and white balloons and streamers were everywhere, and Christmas lights were strung up. A giant sign was hoisted up to read "Snow Ball" and Frankie was impressed with the set up. He's been to a handful of school dances and they did not look as good.

Jonathan was set to run the photobooth station, and Frankie found Nancy, working the punch station. The party sat at a table nearby as they awaited for their members to slowly arrive, Mike and Will the first there. Frankie was instructed to help Nancy at the food station, and he handed out the snacks as Nancy handed out drinks.

Frankie glanced around, knowing that Stella and her friends were going to be at the Snow Ball too, but he couldn't spot his sister in the crowd on the dance floor. Time After Time began, and Frankie watched as Max and Lucas went off to the dance floor, and those without someone to dance with dispersed from the floor. Frankie was even surprised to see that Will was asked to dance, and when Will glanced around nervously, Frankie grinned and gave him a thumbs up in approval. Will smiled at him.