Strange Things Are Happening. (Jonathan Byers x OC) Wattys 2017

14.

Jonathan stared at the black suit that Lonnie had laid on his bed for him. Even though he knew that Will was alive, this was still going to be one of the hardest days of his life. Pretending to bury your little brother? Who does that? 

Through the thin wall, he could hear Lonnie telling his mom that it was almost time to go so he quickly shrugged the uncomfortable outfit on. 

When it came to the tie, he was stumped. He didn't know how to tie the damn thing. He could go and ask his mom, but knowing his luck, he'd run into Lonnie and he was the last person Jonathan wanted to see.

Speaking of his father, there was a knock on the door before he barged his way in. 

"Please, come in." Jonathan muttered, putting the tie around his neck again. He could feel the older man's eyes on him but he didn't look. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction. 

"Here," Lonnie said, "Let me help." 

"Forget it," the teen hissed, throwing the flimsy fabric onto his bed, "It doesn't matter."

His dad looked around his room, running his fingers over the photo that Jonathan had on his bedside table. It was one of him, his mother and Will, "So, Samantha seems nice." 

Jonathan scoffed, "You're really going to do this now?" 

"Yes. Because I know that I won't get the chance to talk to you any other time," Lonnie argued, "How long have you been dating?" 

"We're just friends," Jonathan said, shaking his head. 

"But you want something more?" 

He shook his head again, "I'm not doing this. I'm not going to talk to you and pretend that everything is normal. You don't have to pretend to take an interest in my life, okay? You haven't before." 

Lonnie sighed and held his hands up in defence, "Okay, fine. But today? Behave. If not for me, for your mom." 

"I will if you will." 

++

Samantha and her parents blended in well to the crowd of mourners surrounding the large hole in the ground. 

She couldn't bring herself to say Will's grave because as far as she knew, the little boy was alive. Possibly being held by that...thing that might have Barb too. 

As soon as the service was over, she saw Jonathan making his way over to a more secluded spot and she grabbed hold of Nancy's hand.

Her parent's didn't stop her. Instead, they were going to head on over to the wake with the rest of the people who had attended. 

The two girls found Jonathan sat behind some gravestones, back against the wrought iron fence as he anxiously  waited for them. 

They wordlessly took a seat on either side of him and Samantha rest her chin on his shoulder, looking down at the small piece of paper that he was holding while he tried his best to keep his breathing even. 

"This is where we know for sure it's been, right?" he asked, looking at the two of them as they observed the x marks he had made. 

"So that's Steve's house?" 

"Right," he nodded, "And that's the woods where they found Will's bike and my house." 

"It's all so close." Nancy murmured. 

"Yeah, exactly." Jonathan said, "I mean, it's all within a mile or something. Whatever this thing is, it's not travelling far." 

Samantha sat up and stared at him, seeing a set look of determination on his face, "You want to go out there, don't you?" 

He nodded, "We might not find anything." 

"Nancy found something." she said in reply, looking at her cousin, "And if we do see something?" 

"Then what?" Nancy asked.

Jonathan looked away, staring at something in the short distance before letting out a deep breath, looking back at them, "We kill it." 

The two girls shared worried glances as he got up from the grass, Samantha quickly following his lead, catching hold of his hand, "Jonathan, wait. Just how do you propose we do that?" 

He took a look at his father's car, taking hold of her hand and pulled her towards it and she stumbled over her feet. 

Nancy followed, smiling at the fact that the two of them were holding hands. She wondered how Samantha was feeling right now. 

The two teens hadn't exactly spoke about their kiss in Jonathan's car but it was clear to them both that something in their relationship, if you could call them that, had changed. 

The blonde looked over her shoulder at the crowd as Jonathan pulled the door to his father's car open and began picking the lock to the glove compartment. 

"What are you doing?" Nancy hissed. 

"Just give me a minute," Jonathan said quietly, finally opening the compartment and both girl's eyes widened when they watched him pull out a gun. 

"Oh my god," Nancy breathed again, "This, this is a terrible idea." 

"Yeah? You wanna find this thing and take another photo of it? Yell at it?" Shoving the gun into the inside pocket of his suit, he got out of the car, "Look, you can tell someone but they're not going to believe you." 

"Your mom would." Nancy retorted and Samantha nodded in agreement. 

"She has a point." 

Jonathan shook his head and closed the door to the car, "No. I've told you. She's been through enough. We'll go home, get changed and meet back up in an hour." 

"Okay," Samantha nodded again, "Where?" 

++

After changing from her dress into more comfortable pants and shirt, Samantha pulled her hair into a ponytail and went in search of her old hockey stick. It was the only thing she could think of using as a weapon. 

Her parents were still out so she managed to get out of the house, across to Nancy's unseen.

Steve was there, singing something into a baseball bat and she rolled her eyes. 

Of course he'd be there. 

"Hey," she said quietly, interrupting them and Steve stood up straighter. 

"Hey Samantha," he mumbled, "Listen, about the other day-"

"Save it, Steve." she snapped, "It doesn't matter."

"So..." he mumbled, taking notice of the hockey stick that was in her hands, "Let me guess. You're trying out for hockey?"

Taking a glance at Nancy, who was furiously nodding behind his back, she gave him a smile, "Yes. Sure am. Nancy and I were talking about getting into sports and since I played back in my old school. I thought I'd try and get back into it." 

He nodded and turned his attention to her cousin again so she just stood there like an awkward third wheel. 

"So? The movie? You in?" 

Nancy took another look at Samantha, "I...I don't think I can. I've been really busy with the whole funeral thing and with my brother, it's been really hard on him." 

"Yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah." 

Samantha rolled her eyes, "Dear Lord." 

"So..."

"I should go." 

Really, she could cringe at the whole situation here. 

"I'll call you later," Nancy promised, "Is that okay?" 

Steve agreed and after giving her a small kiss, he left, humming whatever song that he was singing under his breath as he did. 

"Come on," Nancy muttered, grabbing the bat, "Let's go."