sƃuıɥʇ ɹǝƃuɐɹʇs (Steve Harrington X Wheeler! Reader) Stranger Things 1

Chapter Four: The Body

"The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Byers' cause of death, but an initial inquiry..." The TV plays.

"Should I go down and talk to Michael?" Your dad asked. "Give him time." Your mom responds. Ignoring your parents, you walked down the stairs. Both of your siblings had lost their best friends... the least you could do was be there.

"Can you please stop that?" Mike asked, complaining about the sound of static. You sat by him on the couch. Eleven was sitting on the ground playing around with Mike's walkie. "Are you deaf?" Mike asked, annoyed. "Hey, Mike—" You tried to console, but he ignored you. "I thought we were friends, you know? But friends tell each other the truth." Mike was looking through all of the drawings Will had given to him.

"And they definitely don't lie to each other. You made me think Will was okay, that he was still out there, but he wasn't." Mike continued. "He wasn't! Maybe you thought you were helping, but you weren't. You hurt me. Do you understand? What you did sucks. Lucas was right about you." You let Mike rant, but you felt bad for Eleven even though you didn't know what happened while you were with Nancy. "All along."

It was silent, besides the static, when suddenly you heard a voice come through. "So come on and let me know, Should I stay or should I go?" The voice was trembling, and hoarse, but you were pretty sure it was Will's. Mike sprang off of the couch, running over to his walkie. "Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble, if I stay it will be double..."

"Will, is that you? It's Mike! Do you copy? Over." Mike tries to talk to Will, but the singing stopped and there was no answer. "Will, are you there? Will!" He yelled into the walkie talkie, but still, no response. You moved closer and noticed Eleven had blood coming out of her left nostril, like when she uses her powers. Looking at Eleven, he said, "Was that, was it Will?"

She stares back at him and confirmed, "Will."

After making sure Eleven and Mike went to sleep, you finally got ready for bed.

✾

You had just gotten home from school the next day, and went up to your room to work on some homework. That's when you heard yelling coming from your mom and Nancy downstairs.

"You lied to the police!" Your mom screamed at her.

"I didn't lie!" Nancy retorted.

"How naive do you think I am? You and Steve were just talking?"

"We slept together! Is that what you want to know? It doesn't matter!"

"- It does matter!"

"- No! It is all bullshit! It has nothing to do with Barb and she's missing. And something terrible happened to her. I know it. I know it! And no one is listening to me!

"Sweetie, sweetie, I'm listening. I'm listening to you--"

"No! You're not! Just leave me alone!"

There was a knock at your door a few minutes after the loud fight downstairs. "Come in." You called.

"Can you drive me somewhere?" Nancy asked. You turned from your desk to see Nancy standing in your doorway.

You sighed and said, "Where to?"

✾

In the car, Nancy explained to you that she taped the picture of Barb sitting by the pool back together. Apparently in the picture, faintly, you could see some sort of creature. She also let you know that she was pulled out of class to be questioned by cops, concerning Barb, and that's what started the whole fight earlier.

✾

Jonathan Byers was shopping for a casket, for his brother.

"It's made of soft wood with a crepe interior. Uh, now, I I don't know what your budget is, but over here, we we have copper and bronze." The salesman said. Jonathan then noticed you and Nancy looking over at him as you had just arrived.

"Can you just give me a second?" Jonathan said to the man. "Of course." He replied.

"Hey." Nancy greeted while you waved. "Hey." He responded.

"Your mom, um she said you'd be here." Nancy said, awkwardly. "I just-Can we talk for a second?"

Nancy and Jonathan were sitting on bench in the hall while you stood next to them. Nancy gave the picture to Jonathan, and he was examining it. "It looks like it could be some kind of perspective distortion, but I wasn't using the wide angle." He sighed.

"I don't know. It's weird." He said, handing the picture back to Nancy. "And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" You asked him. "No." Jonathan responded. "And she was there one second and then, um gone. I figured she bolted."

"The cops think that she ran away. But they don't know Barb. And (y/n) and I went back to Steve's... and we thought we saw something. Some weird man... or I don't know what it was." Nancy said.

Jonathan gave Nancy a questioning look, which made you and Nancy feel dumb. "I'm sorry. I, we shouldn't have come here today." Nancy said, breaking the silence. She grabbed her bag and your arm, pulling you with her. "I'm so sorry." You added.

"What'd he look like?" Jonathan asked, which stopped you and Nancy in your tracks. "What?" Nancy asked. "This man you two saw in the woods. What'd he look like?" Jonathan repeated. Nancy glanced over at you.

"I don't know... It was almost like he..." You trailed off. "He didn't have a face?" Jonathan questioned. "How did you know that?" You asked him, surprised.

✾

The three of you were now at the darkroom at Hawkins High School. You and Nancy were watching as Jonathan was working with the picture.

"And you're...?" Nancy inquired. "Brightening. Enlarging." Jonathan replied, talking about the picture. "Hmm." Nancy hummed.

"Did your mom say anything else?" You asked him. "Like, um, where it might have gone to, or?" Nancy added. "No, just that it came out of the wall." Jonathan answered. He had the picture in a tub with some sort of liquid in it. "How long does this take?" Nancy asked as, you all stared at the blank picture. "Not long." Jonathan responded.

"Have you been doing this a while?" You asked him. "What?" He asked. "Photography." You said. "Yeah. I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know..." He trailed off. "Talk to them." Nancy finished. "I know. It's weird."

"No!" You and Nancy exclaimed. "No, it is." Jonathan pushed. "It's just, sometimes people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment... it says more."

"What was I saying?" Nancy asked him. "What?"

"When you took my picture." She explained. "I shouldn't have taken that. I'm, uh I'm sorry. It's just--"

"That's it." Nancy interrupted him and pointed at the picture as it came into view. You looked and your jaw dropped. "That's what we saw." You said. Jonathan gasps and said, "My mom, I thought she was crazy 'cause she said that's not Will's body. That he's alive."

"And if he's alive--" You said. "Then Barbara." Jonathan pointed out. The three of you look at the picture and each other in newfound hope.