Theodore Hammond; a weird, bullied twelve year old with even weirder friends. He's everything but normal, unless normal is having a god for a mother, in that case, he's super normal.
On top of him having to hide his earthy powers from his friends, h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
[somethin' in the orange tells me you're never comin' home]
Theo's glass dropped from his hand, shattering on the floor while Sev explained what happened hours before the party found him and El.
"Stop." He whispered, tears brimming his eyes. He couldn't breathe anymore. He was supposedly orphaned at 12 with one absent parent and one dead parent.
"Everything okay in here?" Mike asked, sticking his head into the kitchen while El watch from behind him.
"Theo?" Mike asked when neither replied, poking his friend in the shoulder. Theo didn't look up from the table and there were noticeable tears running down his face.
"What happened? What did you do?!" Mike asked accusingly, pointing a finger at Sev with a glare. "I told him the truth!" Sev defended, crossing his arms.
"The truth about— ugh, never mind." Mike huffed, gently pulling his friend up. "Stay here." He said in a stern town, glancing over his shoulder at the siblings while he led Theo to his room.
El timidly walked back over to the La-Z-Boy and sat down, Sev followed and sat on the floor after putting their glasses of orange juice in the sink and attempting to clean the mess of the spilled one and the glass on the floor.
"My dad's dead." Theo said quietly, sitting down on Mike's bed. "What?!" The black hair boy spun around from where he was about to leave out of the door of his bedroom.
"Thats what Seven told me. He... he's dead." Theo said, voice wavering while tears filled his vision.
"Wha—no. No! He's lying, okay? I don't know why he'd do that, but he did. Benny's not dead." Mike assured, placing a hand on Theo's shoulder while kneeling down. "Just... stay here, okay? I'm gonna go get them."
Mike stood up, patting Theo's shoulder while he made his way downstairs. He could hear them talking. Sev explaining and the disbelief in Mike's voice. Theo tuned them out, lying down.
His eyes caught on a picture frame. It was the party, fifth grade science fair. It was a few months after Theo had moved to town, and he fit in perfectly with their little group of nerds. Sure, he couldn't always read what was happening in class, but Dustin always read it out loud to him when he was having troubles. And he always had a hard time paying attention, but Will would nudge his shoulder or knee as a silent message to snap out of it and to the present.
Man, did Theo love his friends. That's why he needed Will back, the party wasn't the same without him. Grieving could wait. His dad isn't the first person he's lost. And he sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Theo had all the time in the world to grieve. But there was this nagging feeling in his gut that Will didn't have much time left to be found. And he vowed to find Will.
Mike ended up bringing the wonder kids up to his room, mainly to show El his action figures.
He was explaining who Yoda was (after doing a gods awful impression of him) to El and Sev. Both of them looked very disinterested. "He doesn't sound like that." Theo pointed out, hearing the phone ring distantly from downstairs. "Like you can do it any better."
"Dude, it's your house!" Theo pointed out when Mike gave him a look that said 'are you gonna get that?' "You're here so much, it's basically yours too!" Mike pointed out, getting up and following El like a lost puppy when she walked over to Mike's desk.
Theo shot Sev a look that said 'are you kidding me' before he begrudgingly turned and walked out of the room and down the stairs.
"Wheeler residence... uh, Theodore speaking."
"Theo! Hey, champ! Just the kid I was lookin' for." Hopper's voice came in through the other line. Theo raised his brows, he didn't know why Hopper wanted him. Sure, he had a not very good history with law enforcement, but he hadn't done anything in like, 3 months! That was a record.
"What's up?"
Hopper sighed heavily, as if he was carrying the entire sky on his back.
"Listen kid... it's, uh... oh, geez. How can I put this lightly? It's your dad."
Theo's heart dropped. Yeah, he already knew that. But hearing Hopper say it made it real.
"What about him?" Theo hated the way his voice shook, hated the way tears blurred his vision. "He's gone, Tee."
"...oh." He took a deep breath. He had to know. "How?" He needed to know if Sev was lying. He had to know if some monsters really got to his dad before he could stop them.
"Suicide."
Theo's blood boiled. Benny wouldn't do that. He had so much to live for. He wouldn't leave his friends. His dad wouldn't leave him. Theo refused to believe that. His hands shook and the sadness in his chest turned into pure unbridled rage.
"Kid? You still there?"
Hopper shook him out of his rage and Theo forced his breath to steady and willed the tears away. "Yeah. I'm here." He couldn't conceal the bitterness in his voice.
"Listen, kid. I'm sorry—" Theo's eye twitched. He didn't need anyone half-assed apologies and sympathies. He had lost people before. He knew the drill.
"We're gonna figure out a place for you.." Hopper sounded so sad and so sorry and Theo could take it anymore.
"Gotta go." He mumbled. He really didn't want to snap at the man. It wasn't his fault. He hung up before Hopper could get another word in.
Unedited
A/N: ngl i had no idea what to title this, sorry it's so short 😭 ALSO IK HOPER FOUND OUT AROUND THIS TIME IN THE SHOW DO IT DOESNT MATCH UP BUT IM TOO LAZY TO FHANE IT
![[somethin' in the orange tells me you're never comin' home]](https://img.wattpad.com/f62c6fcb37114c3effdec903ac474ef5d6817dfb/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6a2d6430696e69726867314d6a673d3d2d313437343735383237352e313830333536323338636265323934643632333531313138393932382e6a7067?s=fit&w=720&h=720)
