Hawkins was the perfect place for her; she had the idyllic life - not quite routine, but she was fine with that. Just enough happened in the small town for her to write her weekly journalism columns and normality was certain.
Until a certain chain o...
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The drive to the Byers' house was faster than Shay had expected. By the time they'd arrived, however, everyone had situated themselves in the mess of a home for an even longer wait than before.
Jonathan knelt in front of the couch, gently stroking his little brother's head as he rested. His body was still and his eyes were closed, but something in Shay doubted that he was actually sleeping. Hopper had given them a condensed version of what happened inside of the lab: the dogs had overrun the facility and killed a lot of people, including Joyce's boyfriend Bob. Will's mind was being overtaken by some being from the Upside Down and it had formed a connection with him that let it see the real world. It was hard not to watch the boy with suspicion when some otherworldly being was using him.
Nancy stood behind Jonathan with a hand on his shoulder, giving silent apologies as Steve stood on the wall in the living room watching the two. The kids were all situated at the kitchen table, closest to Shay, who sat on the counter in the kitchen. She felt somewhat rude, but Joyce was nowhere to be seen, and sitting on the counter was something she'd always done as a kid that gave her comfort and that was exactly what she needed right now.
She watched as Steve finally pushed himself off of the wall, placing his hands over his head and turning in her direction. She feigned interest in her fingernails to keep from looking creepy, barely giving him a reaction as he settled beside her, looking out of the small kitchen window above the sink. Hopper finally got off of the phone and had a heated interaction with Mike, before disappearing to the back of the house, where Joyce had last gone.
The kids talked amongst themselves in hushed voices, but Shay made a point not to ear-hustle. It was clear that they didn't want to be heard and she didn't want to invade their privacy.
"How are you holding up?" she suddenly asked Steve, looking from the kids to him. He seemed surprised at her sudden question, looking away from the plaid curtains over to her.
"I'm fine, really. More worried that I pulled you from your plans," he gave her a smirk, of sorts, but she knew almost instantly that it was fake. His eyes were flat, even with the moonlight shining on them, and his smile reminded her of the cocky one that he used to give all the girls he'd flirt with. He was trying to keep up an image and she wasn't having it.
"Steve. Be honest with me," she lowered her voice. "I know you've seen it too. Not even three hours ago you were saying that you loved her and wanted things to work."
His face fell blank once she pointed Nancy and Jonathan's interactions out. No, not blank - barely contained sadness. He blinked twice before looking back up to Shay, "I'm okay. If she's happy, then I'll be happy for her. She deserves it."
