Stay or Go

Chapter 72

two days later 

A lot of people have lost their homes because of what happened several days ago. Not only was there a rip in the ground in the Upside Down but also in the real world. So everyone is helping out those who have lost their homes, in the school gym. "Hey, Nance!" Mrs Wheeler calls coming out of the house and over to the car "I found some more of your old stuff in the attic." We are taking a careful of things down to the gym for the people currently living there. Nancy takes the box from her mum and places it in the trunk.

"Did someone order a pizza?" Mrs Wheeler asks and we all turn to see what she is looking at. A horn is blasting from a yellow van with a surf board on the roof that reads 'Sufer boy pizza' it stops in front of the drive way and we all frown at it. We watch as the doors to the van open and out steps our friends, Jonathan, Mike, Will and El. Along with some random dude I have never seen before, probably the owner of the van. 

Nancy races over to her boyfriend and I smile at the happy reunion. Once they are done, Jonathan comes over and wraps his arms around me, picking me up and spinning me around "I've missed you Lori." He says, holding me close. I smile and close my eyes, so happy that my best friend is here "I missed you too Johnny." We step away from each other, and probably the weirdest thing happens. Steve and Jonathan also hug. Nancy and I share a surprised look but stay silent. 

-

Nancy takes the new arrivals to visit Max in the hospital. She hasn't woken up since she distracted Vecna for us, Lucas and Erica are with her now but we all visit once a day. Me, Steve, Robin and Dustin head to the gym to donate the boxes and help out where we are needed. 

Inside, we head over to the donations section. "Hi." Robin says letting out a breath "Uh, so these are blankets and sheets. And some clothes and some kids toys." The woman admires our boxes for a second. "Wow." She muses "It's already so organised. We appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?" Robin looks at me and Steve confused about what the lady is asked so I reply confidently "No, I don't think we need one thank you. But is there anything else that we can do to help?" 

The lady puts us to work almost immediately and I am thankful for the distraction because otherwise I would have spent the entire time over at the missing persons board. Agonising over the amount of people who were dead or missing because I was too slow at killing Vecna. 

I am actually sitting with a bunch of kids, attempting to distract them from the horrors going outside. I am reading them a storybook that the lady handed to me a minute ago. They are sitting surprisingly still, eager to hear the next part of the story. As I am reading, I look up and catch Steve's eye from where he is sorting out clothes. His eyes are soft and I blush, smiling back at him when he mouths 'so cute.' I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the kids. 

-

Later that night, Steve drives me home. Robin took Dustin home earlier. "Want to come in?" I ask and Steve sighs, one hand still on the wheel. "Nah, you should spend some time with your brother." He tells me, I nod. Dustin has been silently heartbroken these last couple of days although I do have to admit, he has been handling seeing his best friend die in front of him better than I expected. 

I unlock the front door and step inside, the living room light is on and I move over to the doorway. I freeze when I see the person sitting on our sofa. Someone I thought was dead. "Hey sweetheart," Hopper says standing up, his head is completely shaved and he is a lot thinner than he was when he disappeared. "Death looks good on you." I muse, my voice breaking as I speak and tears threatening to spill from my eyes. He smiles, tears in his own and he opens his arms wide before I run in his arms. Happy to be reunited with him at last.