The Haunting - Stranger Things [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

24 - Christmas Note

"Is it really necessary for you to hold that while staring at me?" Steve sighs in defeat. He sits on the couch in our living room, the one right beside the Christmas tree.

For the past five minutes, Steve has been trying to ignore my heated glare at him from the chair. The baseball bat in my hands across my lap is the thing that is making him the most uncomfortable.

"Yes," I answer with a straight face.

A month has passed since everything has happened. A month since Will was back to his family. A month since Jonathan and I have been dating. A month since Nancy gave Steve a second chance that I didn't think he deserved.

I thanked him for helping us with the monster. That's all he was getting from me.

Now, we sit in my living room. My eyes locked onto his giant head and his nervously dart from my face to the bat. Mom doesn't like it when I threaten Nancy's boyfriend, but after everything we have been through, I still don't trust him. Luckily for Steve, our mom never found out that he was the one to give me the black eye a month ago.

"Does it bother you?" I ask him.

Steve gives me a knowing look. "Immensely." He admits, shifting on the couch.

"Good." I smirk.

The sound of pounding footsteps echo from the stairs of the basement. A smile slides on my face and I stand up from the chair. I step over to where Steve is sitting on the couch.

My left hand holds onto the bat as I bend over to be able to whisper in his ear. "You know that I don't like you and I don't try to hide that either."

Steve tenses at my words.

"You have hurt my sister numerous times and even hurt me. I don't care about what you did to me, but I do care about my sister." I move the bat in his line of sight. "If you ever hurt my sister again, you'll be the one in a hospital bed next." I draw back from him, straightening up and moving the bat in front of my body, both hands resting on top of it. "Do we have an understanding?"

Steve visibly swallows and curtly nods his head.

"Good."

"Reagan, you ready?" Jonathan speaks up from the entrance way of the living room by the foyer.

My face slackens as I break into a smile at the sound of his voice. I turn around and flash him a smile. "Yeah, let's go." I stroll over to Will and Jonathan. "Bye, Mom! I'll be back later."

"Don't forget your curfew!" She yells from the kitchen.

"Did you win?" I ruffle Will's dark hair.

He breaks into a smile. "Yeah!"

"Reagan, Jonathan, wait up!" Nancy calls out, rushing down the stairs. A small box wrapped in Christmas paper in her hands.

I glance at Jonathan with a small smile. I knew what was in the box. Nancy told me that she was going to buy it for him, sort of an apology for everything.

"Uh, Merry Christmas." Nancy hands the present over.

Jonathan peeks at me while grabbing the gift. "Thanks, um--" He shakes his head slightly. "I didn't get you anything. I feel bad."

I press a hand to his arm. "It's not really a present."

He quirks his eyebrow.

"It's, um--" Nancy's face scrunches together during her attempt to find the right words to say. She shakes her head. "It's not really a present. It's, um- Well, you'll see." Nancy smiles before saying, "Merry Christmas."