Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 18 Change

October 30th, 1984
Hawkins, Indiana
Byers House

   "Eleanor let's go! We're gonna be late!" 

   Jonathan's voice called out from the living room for the third time, his annoyance steadily growing in his tone each time.

    Continuing to ignore him, I tightened my grasp on Will's hand in the hopes of getting him to look me in the eye. My little brother sat awkwardly in the center of his bed, legs crossed while his fingers fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket. This moment and the conversation that came with it was a reoccurring issue, an issue that came up twice a month, every month, for the past year.

   "If you don't wanna go, I can try and talk to Mom about it..." I offered softly with a quirked brow, watching as his eyes flickered away from his jacket for a moment and onto my hand. He hated these days, we both did. It was a constant reminder of what had happened, forever a plague that would follow our family. A plague that no one could know about. I'd never been with him to Hawkins Laboratory, but Mom says I wouldn't want to be there. 

   But I could imagine what they did inside the place that caused this mess. I could imagine that they would hook him up to their machines, poke and prod him with their many questions about the Upside Down, and if he still suffered from the memories of that place. The answer to that last one was plainly and painfully obvious.

   "It's okay... I mean, I have to go... Right?" He questioned me with wide eyes. Quickly shaking my head in response, I wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer to me. "You never have to do anything you don't want." I reminded him with a frown. "But Mom says that it will help me... It's what's best for me, right?" 

   Offering him a hesitant nod and a false grin, I slowly stood from my place in front of him. "Yeah... Yeah, she only wants what's best for you. We all do." I reminded him softly. Watching as he looked between the door that rested behind me and onto the bag that I held out to him, he took a moment before nodding to himself and standing from the bed.

   Lightly pulling his bookbag from my hand, he quickly looked up at me with a hopeful glint in his eye, "What if you came, too?" He asked with a small smile as he adjusted the straps of his bag on his shoulders.

   Feeling as the smile on my face slowly began to fade away, I  quickly looked down at the top of my shoes to hide the grimace that grew over my features. "You know I would, but I can't... Only Mom's allowed to sit in." It wasn't a lie, in reality only Hopper was allowed to escort Will to the lab, but Mom had fought tooth and nail to be by his side. Maybe if I had done the same I would be able to, but I couldn't find it in myself to fight.

   Watching as he lost that hopeful glimmer in his eye, Will's shoulders began to slump slightly. "Right, I forgot..." He mumbled, beginning to move past me and towards the door.

   "Nell! Let's go!" Jonathan yelled again from the living room, his voice was noticeably more agitated than the last time.

   "Hey, hey... Love you, buddy... And how about I buy you some candy for movie night? Skittles?" I questioned him quickly even though I already knew the answer. A small smile quickly formed back on his face, before offering me a quick nod. "You got it, see ya!" I grinned, quickly ruffling his hair before running out of the room and down the hall to find Jonathan standing next to the front door, with my bookbag in hand. "Took you long enough, let's go." He scoffed before throwing the bag towards me and moving to open the door.