𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ― stranger things ¹ ✓

( BONUS - THE RETURN OF WILL BYERS ) I missed you.

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𝗠𝗜𝗗𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

𝓑𝓞𝓝𝓤𝓢 - 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓡𝓔𝓣𝓤𝓡𝓝
𝓞𝓕 𝓦𝓘𝓛𝓛 𝓑𝓨𝓔𝓡𝓢:
"𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞."

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hawkins, indiana. circa 1983.

MACKENZIE TATE WAS having a long night. After Eleven had found Will in the Upside Down, Joyce and Hopper rushed to go rescue him while Nancy, Jonathan, and surprisingly Steve Harrington tried to kill the Demogorgon back at the Byers'. But Mackenzie, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Eleven had fought off the bad men from Hawkins Lab and Eleven had destroyed the Demogorgon, but she had disappeared along with it.

Mike was refusing to believe she was gone. He swore that she was still out there. Mackenzie wanted to believe Eleven would come back, but there was doubt in the back of her heart. She had dissolved the Demogorgon right of front of them and was nowhere to be found after that.

Now, Mackenzie was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the hospital waiting room. Joyce and Hopper had successfully rescued Will from the Upside Down. She was itching to see her best friend again, but she had to wait until he was awake.

So there she sat, curled up next to Mike. Her mother was sitting across the way from her with a sleeping Megan in her lap. Lucas and Dustin were laying on top of each other next to Mike and Mackenzie, soundly sleeping in their chairs. Joyce and Jonathan were in Will's hospital room to wait until he woke up. Steve was staring blankly at the floor from his place to a sleeping Ted Wheeler. Hopper was also there, his eyes looking lost in thought. Karen was next to Nancy. The whole room was silent, nobody speaking a word over the snores from the sleeping ones.

Mike was gripping Mackenzie's hand rather tightly. She didn't mind. Not one bit. The same pain that he felt of losing Eleven was the same pain Mackenzie felt when she saw Will's fake body (at the time she thought it was real) get pulled out of the quarry. In a way, Mackenzie knew how much he was hurting. She wished neither of them had to feel it in the first place.

The sound of a door opening shocked the room out of its silence. Mackenzie looked up to see the waiting face of Jonathan. She stared at him hopefully, and he gave her a small nod. Letting out a breath of relief, she squeezed Mike's hand before letting go.

Mike shook Dustin and Lucas awake. "Guys. Guys, he's up. Will is up. Guys, Will's up!"

He eagerly ran out of the room, Dustin and Lucas following behind him. Mackenzie locked eyes with her mother for a moment (who seemed to have a knowing glint in her them) before she ran after her friends. The door was already open and Mackenzie saw all of them hug a small, frail body on a hospital bed.

Mackenzie faltered. She shared a look with Jonathan who merely squeezed her shoulder in response. Mackenzie took a deep breath and entered the room.

Meanwhile, Will's eyes scanned the room, looking for someone in particular. His eyes finally landed on her and his breath caught in his throat. She looked like an angel, despite the harsh lighting of the hospital and the fact she seemed extremely tired. Mackenzie Tate was the only thing that kept Will running in the Upside Down. She was his saving grace.

"Mack," he breathed out, trying his best efforts to sit up.

She smiled at him, so wide and bright that he temporarily forgot about the darkness that had consumed him previously. Mackenzie rushed up to him and threw herself on top of him (gently, of course). Will buried his head into her shoulder and hugged her back. Both of them were oblivious to the knowing glances between everyone behind them.

"God, Will, you scared me," she whispered, pulling away from him. "I missed you."

It was true. She missed everything while he was gone. She missed their movie nights at his house where they would watch endless films while eating bowls of ice cream. She missed their dance parties in her room where they would scream the lyrics of Why Did it Have to Be Me? by ABBA at the top of their lungs, much to the annoyance of Megan. She missed his ramblings on things that he was interested in and how his eyes would light up when he realized she was actually listening. She missed his brown eyes and his contagious smile. She just missed him in general.

He gave her a small smile. "I missed you, too, Mack."

"You won't believe what happened when you were gone, man," Lucas told him.

"It was mental!" Dustin exclaimed.

"You had a funeral!"

"Jennifer Hayes was crying!"

"And Troy peed himself!"

"In front of the whole school!"

Will suddenly began coughing, making the smile slowly slip off of Mackenzie's face. She watched him in concern with a small frown.

"Hey, you all right?" she asked once he was finished.

Will looked up at Mike. "It got me. The Demogorgon."

Those words sent a shiver down Mackenzie's spine. He had said the exact same ones that night they were playing D&D. But instead of a fantasy game, this was real. Monsters were real. It was too much for Mackenzie to wrap her head around.

"We know," Mike responded quietly. "It's okay, it's dead. We made a new friend. She stopped it. She saved us. But she's gone now."

Mackenzie placed a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder. Never would she truly know how deeply Mike's heart urged for her, but she also missed the girl with the buzzed head and the kind smile.

"Her name's Eleven," Dustin explained.

"Like the number?" Will questioned.

"Well, we call her El for short," Lucas added.

Dustin nodded. "She's basically a wizard."

"She has superpowers," Lucas whispered.

"More like a Yoda," Mike argued.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin continued to tell Will all of the amazing stories of El and her amazing powers they were lucky enough to see. Mackenzie drowned them out and stared down at her best friend.

It had been the longest week of her entire life, but for once in the last couple of days, she was happy again.

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what's up my dudes