𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐀 ✶ Steve Harrington

13 | 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐬

CHAPTER THIRTEEN,
misery and truth serums.

⋆.ೃ࿔*

        AS EMMY SAT THERE in the oppressive silence, memories of the past year began to swirl, each more painful than the last. She had thought moving back to Hawkins would be a fresh start—a chance to reset. After all, she had lived here once, back when she was a child. It was her home, once filled with innocent laughter and carefree days. But that was a long time ago, and things were different now. The move hadn't been her decision, of course. At seventeen, she was still tethered to the whims of others, powerless to carve her own path. So, when her 'mother' announced she was returning to Hawkins, Emmy had no say in the matter. She had been furious at first, resenting the idea of revisiting a place that seemed frozen in time while she had grown and changed in ways no one seemed to notice.

       Hawkins wasn't entirely foreign to her. She had lived here as a child, and some parts of it felt familiar, like echoes from a distant, forgotten dream. But returning as a teenager was different. At first, she hated it—the quiet, the smallness of it all, the memories that lurked around every corner. Still, as time passed, she had begun to warm to the place, convincing herself that maybe this was where she could finally settle.

        Yet now, as she sat there in her own thoughts, it was all falling apart again. Life had lured her into a false sense of security, only to pull the rug out from under her. It felt like she was trapped in an endless loop, a rollercoaster that never stopped. Just when she thought she'd stepped off for good, she found herself plummeting once more, wondering if she would ever escape the cycles of upheaval that seemed to haunt her.

       Her fingers traced absentminded patterns on her jeans as she stared off into the distance, the silence around her only amplifying the emptiness she felt inside. Would she ever truly belong anywhere? Or was she destined to keep searching for a home that no longer existed?

        It felt like Emmy was caught between two worlds, uncertain of where she truly belonged. New York, once the bustling city she called home, no longer felt like hers after her father's death. The memories there were too heavy, too painful to revisit, and the life she had known crumbled with his passing. Hawkins wasn't much clearer either. It was familiar in some ways, yet foreign in others, a place she thought she could find herself again, but now it only added to the confusion swirling inside her.

       In moments like this, she longed for her father's comforting presence. He always had a way of grounding her, knowing exactly what to say to calm her restless thoughts. She missed him deeply, more than she could ever put into words. His absence made everything harder—life was lonelier, heavier, and more chaotic without his guidance.

        Her thoughts drifted to the days when they would sit together, just the two of them, and singing their favorite song—I'll Be There by the legendary Jackson 5. Those moments were like time capsules of peace, filled with laughter and love, where nothing else mattered but the music and the bond they shared. She could still hear his voice, strong and steady, blending with hers as they sang the lyrics, a reminder that no matter what, they had each other. Now, with him gone, she felt like a part of her had disappeared with him, leaving behind a hollow ache she couldn't escape.