Rosalyn Henderson loved her brother and mother and that why she hated how she felt trapped by responsibilities that someone her age shouldn't have. Because of those responsibilities, she was going to be trapped in this feeling of misery forever. It...
Lyn was sitting in the Wheeler's basement, but instead of being with her ducklings, she was with Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan. They were glancing at each other, not knowing what to say.
Nancy cleared her throat figuring she should get the ball rolling since this was her idea. "Um well, I invited you guys here because I thought since we can't talk to anyone else about this; we should talk to each other. We could be each other support systems. Because I don't know if your parents are like mine, but they are making like nothing happened."
"My mom doesn't know. I would like to keep it that way. The woman doesn't take change very well." Lyn thought of how her mother cried for a few months when they moved here. It took her mom along time to mourn her old life. It took even longer for her to adjust to her new life.
"My parents are clueless too, by the time they came back from their business trip my face was healed up, so." Steve shrugs.
"My mom and I are focused on getting Will healthy. I don't even have time to think about anything else." Jon looks down at his hands. He was uncomfortable with sharing anything with so many people. When Nancy invited him over, he didn't expect the other two. Not that he minds Lyn, but it was hard to be around Steve. For many different reasons, some he wasn't willing to admit out loud, not even to himself.
"Sometimes I talk to Dustin, not about the deep depressing stuff, but about the fun side of it," Lyn told them.
"The fun side?" Nancy pushes her eyebrows together. She wouldn't see anything fun about the Upside Down.
"We talk about the possibility of other universes and different creatures that might be in them. But, we mostly about El and the fun time we had with her. Like when we brought her all different types of candy, because she never had any before. The disgusted face she made when she tried nougat for the first time." She laughs as she thought about how disappointed Dustin was. "But, I get what you mean Nancy. I can't talk to him about the nightmares, panic attacks, or the nagging feeling that it not over. I'm his rock. I'm not allowed to crumble, not in front of him." Lyn frown as she admits her worries.
"I get nightmares too, sometimes the monster chasing me or I'm forced to watch helplessly as it goes after someone I love." Nancy shares with the group.
"I find myself staring out my window, just looking into the woods. I should be relieved at seeing nothing, but it makes me anxious." Steve looks down at his hands. Lyn notices the dark bags under his eyes. The difference between the two was that Lyn covers hers with makeup.
Jon sigh, feeling the pressure to share with the group since everyone else did. "I'm happy to have Will home, but it drives me crazy to know that the people who are responsible won't face any consequences. They're not going to be shut down or face any jail time." He spat out.
"Yeah, it's frustrating. Now, with every missing poster, I can't help but wonder." Lyn sighs. Nancy was right this was nice, to know that someone is having the same worries. It made Lyn feel like she wasn't going crazy, it made her feel normal. After what happened, she wasn't sure if she was ever going to get that feeling again.
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"A little higher... oh, that's too high." Lyn instructed her brother who was putting up the welcome home banner at the Byers.
"Are you kidding me? You're being impossible right now." Dustin screams over his shoulder at her.
"I am not. Look, Lucas has his side perfect." She points to the other boy who was still standing on a chair, even though he already had his side of the banner pin to the wall.
"Yeah Dustin, be more like me." He stuck his tongue out at his friend.
"That's it I'm done." Dustin let go of the banner and jump off the chair he was on.
Lyn let out a scream as she watches the banner rip in half with one side falling while the other side was pinned up. "Dustin! You ruined the party!" She screeches.
"I did not. Will isn't going to care about a banner or any of the decorations. All he's going to care about is that we are all here." He put his hands on his hips.
"I'll take this side down and throw it all out. Will won't even know he was missing anything." Lucas unpins his side. He jumps off the chair to picks up the pieces of the banner and throw it in the trash.
"You're right. You guys are right. I need to calm down." She took deep breaths. She had been stressing about all the little details since she volunteered to plan Will a coming home party.
"These are amazing." Steve shoves a 20 side dice cookie into his mouth as he walks out of the kitchen.
"How much of those did you eat?" Lyn rushes into the kitchen, smacking Steve in the shoulder as she passes him.
"Oh man, I thought you were going to die." Dustin let out the breath that he was holding.
"I was looking forward to it." Mike pouts.
"Mike!" Nancy glared at him. He had been gaining a bad attitude lately.
"Wait, guys... do you hear that?" Dustin held his hand up to quiet everyone in the room to listen to the car engine. He and Lucas ran to peaks out the window.
"Everyone hide. They're here." Lucas yells.
Lyn ran back into the room and hide behind the couch with Mike and Lucas. Dustin hides behind an armchair. Steve and Nancy went down in the hallway. They waited until they heard the door open to jump out and yell, "Surprise!" The boys ran over and gave Will a hug.
"Nice to see you out of that hospital bed," Lyn pulls him into a hug after the boys let go.
"I made a dungeons and dragons game for your return." Mike pulls Will over to the dining table that had the board set up.
"Oh look at him." Joyce's smile was as big as Will, watching him play his favorite game with joy in his eyes.
