Invisible- Stranger Things Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty Three: The Reunion

*Nikki's POV*
   I woke up the next morning to Dustin snoring next to me. Steve and Sarah were also sleeping soundly, so I was pretty much alone. But how the hell was I gonna get out of bed? Dustin was on the outside, and had his arm draped over me. Yeah, he was an asshole, but I didn't want to wake him.
   After a few minutes of trying (and failing) to figure out what to do, I finally just decided to just jump over the bed.
   Of course, this was easier said than done.
   As I launched myself over the side of the bed (and over Dustin's still-asleep body), instead of sticking the landing as I planned in my head, my arm smacked the nightstand, sending me tumbling to the floor with a thud.
   "Shit," I hissed, trying not to wake anyone else up with the pain shooting through my ass and arm.
   At the sound of my profanity, Dustin jolted awake. "Mon!" As soon as he saw me, he rolled right out of the bed and crouched next to me. "What happened?"
   "Well, I was trying to get up without waking you, but that obviously went to shit," I huffed, rubbing my elbow and frowning at it.
   Dustin looked at my arm, then realized what had happened. "You jumped, didn't you, ya little dumbass?"
   I looked at him indignantly. "Why do you just assume that I use the most obviously stupid solution to every problem?"
   "You jumped, though, didn't you?"
   "Of course I did."
   Dustin let out a laugh, the first laugh I'd heard from him for so long. Breaking my serious face, I started to laugh too. The two of us were just a mess on the floor, laughing our asses off for basically no reason. Mostly, it broke the tension between us, but I was just glad he wasn't shooting daggers at me with his eyes.
Steve threw a pillow at us. I was smart enough to move, but Dustin got whacked in the face. "Shut up, little dipshits," he groaned sleepily.
   Looking to make sure Sarah was alright, I noticed she was still fast asleep. Damn, she could sleep through the apocalypse. Gently, I took my extra blanket and draped it over her.
   "Should we wake her?" Dustin asked, much quieter now that Steve had reprimanded us.
   I shook my head. "Let her sleep while we get ready for the day."
   "You're really coming home, huh?"
Home. That was a bit of an overstatement. Yeah, I'd grown up in Hawkins, but it sure as hell wasn't my home. Still, I made a commitment to Sarah, and I had to get her back to Hopper.
   "I guess so," I muttered with a fake smile, trying to avoid starting another argument between Dustin and myself.
   The curly-headed kid hugged me from the side, more tightly than ever before. He didn't say anything, but I knew we had come to an unspoken truce.
   Steve groaned again, sitting up and walking toward us. "If you little shits insist on being nauseatingly adorable, fine. I'm going to do my hair."
   "Don't forget your Farrah Fawcett spray," Dustin murmured, sending the two of us into a fit of laughter.
   Steve picked up my pillow and whacked Dustin again, making him fly backwards onto his back, then retreated into the bathroom, leaving me and Dustin alone with the sleeping Hopper.

*Dustin's POV*
Sarah was still sleeping, so Mon and I tried to stay quiet enough for her. Steve ended up taking a shower, not just doing his hair, letting me and his sister have some extra time to talk. Great.
"Dustin?"
Oh no.
"Yeah?" I answered cautiously.
Mon sighed before looking at me. "Is this... I mean, am I making the right choice? Coming back, I mean."
What did she want me to say? The entire party wanted her back, including me. She wasn't happy in Hawkins, but we were happy with her. But still, for some reason, her eyes begged me to tell her that coming back was the right decision.
   "Will it make you happy?" I asked, finally deciding on a response.
   "Well, Sarah has to get-"
   "No." Sitting on the bed, I took her hand and pulled her next to me. "Will it make you happy?"
   Mon looked at our intertwined hands, leaving this world for a few seconds. When she finally came back to Earth, all she managed was a weak nod before bursting into tears. Her small hands latched on to me, clutching my shirt as she sobbed into my shoulder.
   "I thought it would- would be e-easy," Mon whispered through her tears. "I thought that- that I could be witho-out you guy-guys and... I-I just couldn't, Dustin."
   I held her close as she cried, allowing her to let her emotions out. "Mon, you hate Hawkins. If you don't want to come back, we'll understand."
   Sniffling, Mon moved back to Look me in the eye. "No, you won't. And I don't want you to."
What the hell?
   "Dustin," she continued, "Hawkins was Hell for me. But it was because I didn't have anyone besides Steve to talk to for the past few years. And now that I have Will and Lucas and all of you back, it's like I have backup. Yeah, it'll still suck, but now that I have you guys, it'll suck so much less."
   "Is that a compliment or...?"
   As Mon laughed, Sarah groggily sat up. She momentarily cowered against the headboard, surveying her surroundings, before settling back down and beginning to get up.
"Everything alright, Sarah?" Mon snapped back on her nurturing mask, forgetting all about her previous worries.
Sarah's blonde hair was all tangled and static-filled, her eyes sleepy but well-rested. "I... what's going to happen to me now?"
"We're going to take you home, Sarah," I answered softly. This seemed to put some sort of fear in her, causing her to clutch the bedsheet until her knuckles turned white.
Mon sensed the need to rephrase. "We're going to bring you to your dad. You remember him, Jim Hopper?" Sarah nodded. "Great! Don't worry, Sarah, we'll be going soon. Here, I'll open the closet so you can change with some privacy."
With a set of Mon's clothes, Sarah walked behind the open closet door, changing in the small space between the closet and the front door. Mon and I sat quietly, silently praying for this to go well.

*Will's POV*
After Dustin left yesterday, none of us had seen him. Mike told Mrs. Henderson her son was staying with them, but we were all as worried sick about him as she was.
"If we hadn't kicked him out, he'd still be here," Lucas sighed, throwing a rock into the pond. We had all gathered at the park, trying to figure out where Dustin might be.
"Do you think there's any possibility that he found them?" El asked hopefully.
I shook my head. "If he had, they all would have been back by now. He's probably been kidnapped or- worse- become a hippie."
   Max laughed, presumably at the thought of Dustin as a hippie. "Will, everything's gonna be fine. I'm sure Dustin's just-"
   "Wait a second."
   Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of brown hair, bunched up at the end by a lemon yellow hoodie. She was facing the other way and talking to someone behind a shrub, but I knew exactly who it was before she even got the chance to turn around.
   "Nikki! You're back!"