The other Mayfield (Will Byers X Reader)

004. dart

~Later that night~

Dustin crept quietly into the house, careful not to make a sound. He moved slowly, trying to avoid any chance of running into his mom. The floorboards creaked under his sneakers as he reached the hallway.

Just as he was about to make it to his room, a voice called out behind him.

"Dusty, Dusty, how was it?" Claudia, Dustin's mother, asked.

"How was what?" Dustin asked, genuinely confused.

"How was what!? Well, the greatest night of the year, of course!"

"Oh, oh yeah, it was... totally tubular," he said.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he responded quickly.

"Did something happen?"

"No. What? No," he stuttered.

"Are you constipated again?" she asked.

"No, Mom!" he exclaimed.

"Okay, you're acting weird," she said.

"I am not acting weird," he replied.

Then, from inside his Ghostbusters costume, the creature he was hiding began thudding around, making a series of loud noises.

"Woah!" and "Ah!" escaped almost simultaneously from Claudia and Dustin. Dustin's nervous laughter bubbled out as he glanced at the commotion, while Mews, the family cat, let out a sharp, defensive hiss, arching its back and hissing at the unexpected chaos.

"Awesome, right? Yeah... I rigged the trap with, uh... a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost—just like in the movie," Dustin said, fumbling for a believable explanation. His words were rushed, his eyes darting between Claudia and the trap, as if his nervous energy might give him away.

Claudia started laughing, a little awkwardly at first, before the sound warmed into genuine amusement. Dustin's laughter soon matched hers, filling the room with an infectious, lighthearted energy.

"Oh, Dusty," she exclaimed, her laugh tinged with nervous disbelief.

"Yeah," he replied, still grinning.

"Funny... look at that! Look at that!" Dustin added, pointing at the makeshift trap, his laughter shaking his voice. They both laughed freely, the tension melting away for a moment as their shared amusement took over.

Eventually, their laughter subsided, leaving only the faint echo of giggles and the distant thump of Mews settling back on the floor. Dustin gave a quick glance around, then quietly slipped away, retreating to his room with his little secret carefully concealed. Once inside, he slowly closed the door, leaning against it for a moment before turning back toward the trap.

"I told you to stay quiet! All you had to do was stay still for one minute! One minute!" he shouted, frustration lacing his tone. His hands shot out toward his turtle cage as he opened the lid with a practiced motion.

"Sorry, Yertle... temporary eviction, buddy," he said softly, lifting the turtle from its cage and placing it gently on the floor. Then he returned to the trap, opening it with deliberate care and transferring the captured creature inside. He stepped back slightly and looked down at it in awe, unable to hide the mix of excitement and disbelief reflected in his wide eyes.

"What are you, little guy?" he asked, looking down at the creature. "What were you doing in my trash? You hungry?"

Dustin moved over to his sack of candy, grabbing a piece of nougat and breaking it into tiny bits to offer the creature. "Nougat... go on, eat it." But when the creature stepped out, it scrambled as fast as it could back into the little cave.