FOUR: WHERE IS HE?

"Apparently Nancy and Steve are a thing now. Or at least, on the way to being a thing," was what Heather was greeted with that morning. "Barb just told me that they snuck into the bathroom to make out a few minutes ago."

Heather, already bored, groaned, "Am I really supposed to give a shit?"

"He's clearly trying to get you jealous!"

She reacted only in a monotone, "I don't think I'm the one who's actually getting jealous. Why won't you just admit you like Nancy? It's so fucking obvious. Like, it's getting out of hand just how fucking gay you are around her and that's not cool."

"What?" Veronica asked, her voice going quiet as the careful topic of her sexuality came up, "It's not cool that I like girls?"

"Not everyone is gonna be as chill with it as I am. Every time you talk to her you're practically radiating the word "queer" on your forehead. Steve isn't making me jealous at all, but he's definitely making you jealous. Just stop thinking about her."

"H, you know it's not that easy," she whined, her voice still barely above a whisper. The first bell rang and the girls watched as Nancy left the bathroom, her hair just slightly ruffled and her lips puffed. So she had been in there with Steve. For some odd reason, Heather did feel a small pang in her chest. She ignored it.

"We're going to the party," she said in a split-second decision.

Veronica, who had previously been upset, instantly perked up. "Seriously? You actually want to associate with Steve Harrington? Holy shit."

"Well, if he's with Nancy," Heather shrugged, looking unbothered but feeling anything but, "then I don't have to worry about him anymore. Simple."

"Mhm. I'm sure that's it," Veronica scoffed, sounding unconvinced. "Whatever. You're in denial."

Heather laughed, "Yeah, I'll let you believe that I would ever fall for an idiot like Steve Harrington!"

"REMEMBER!" Mister Clarke's voice got louder as he tried to shout over the ringing bell and the students rushing to pack up and get out, "To read chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation! This will be on the test, which will cover chapters ten through twelve! It will be multiple choice with an essay section."

"Ugh," Daniel groaned, "I wish I knew shit about Science. Mike, you'll help me?"

"Of course," Mike nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "but forget about that!" The four boys eagerly rushed up to Mister Clarke's desk despite all of the other students rushing out of there like the room was on fire. Daniel never understood why so many kids seemed to not care about their schooling at all. He found most of his studies fascinating, however, he never seemed to quite have a knack for science the way his other four friends did. He didn't mind, though, because Mike and the others were always happy to help him out.

"So, did it come?" Mike asked excitedly, the four boys practically shaking.

Mister Clarke looked solemn, which worried all of them. "Sorry, boys. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but. . . it came!"

The group rushed to the AV Club room, more excited than ever. No one commented on how Will wasn't there to see it. Daniel did find it odd that the Byers boy had failed to show up at all today. After all, he had seemed fine to Daniel the night before and he would never try and play hooky. Will loved school as much as the other four did.

When the five entered the room, Mike was the first to sit down in front of the new device, everyone way too excited to see it sitting on the desk so brand new and sparkling. They had been looking forward to this for what seemed like forever.

"The Heathkit ham shack," Mister Clarke commented, smiling at the boys.

"Whoa!" was all Mike said.

"Ain't she a beaut?"

Daniel was excited, clearly, but a part of him was sad Will wasn't here to see this. The other boy had been looking forward to this for just as long as the others and he couldn't even be here to see it for whatever reason. Will had been on his mind all day. He was worried about his friend.

"I bet you can talk to New York on this thing!" Dustin spoke excitedly, all of the boys fiddling with the new machine.

"Or Maine!" Daniel cut in, him and Dustin sharing a look of equal enthusiasm.

Mister Clarke smiled, "Think bigger."

"California?" Lucas suggested.

"Bigger!"

"Australia?" Mike asked with wide eyes, the headphones already on his head. The older man nodded and all the boys cheered.

"Oh, man!" Lucas exclaimed. "When Will sees this he's totally gonna blow his shit!"

"Lucas!" Mister Clarke scolded, crossing his arms and looking at the boy disappointingly.

"Sorry."

It was almost easy to forget about Will, which Daniel felt guilty about. Part of him was still incredibly worried as this was very much unlike Will, but the majority of him was enthralled by the machine in front of him and of course, it was impossible not to join in on the passion of all of his friends. After all, it was hard to be in a bad mood when everyone around you is in an amazing one. Still, in the back of his mind, he was thinking about Will. But he was also thinking about the adorably wide smile on Mike's face.

In a terrible Australian accent, Mike spoke into the microphone, "Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins middle AV Club."

With a smile, Dustin pulled off the headphones. Lucas laughed, "What are you doing?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, but a smile was bright on his face, "Dorks."

Dustin ignored both boys and spoke into the microphone in yet another terrible accent, "Hello, this is Dustin, and this is the secretary and treasurer of Hawkins middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?"

"Oh, that's just mean," Daniel laughed.

"Oh, shush!" Mike exclaimed, pulling the headphones off of Dustin and handing them to Daniel, "Say something!"

The boy rolled his eyes but put the headphones on and grabbed the microphone, "Uh, if anyone is listening, this is Daniel and I'm here to apologize on behalf of my friends and their horrible accents."

"Hey!" the Wheeler boy yelled, grabbing the headphones and handing them over to Lucas, "You've lost your microphone privileges!"

Right as Lucas was about to put on the headphones, a big smile on his face, there was a knock at the door. Standing there was the principal and the Chief of Police, Jim Hopper. The principal spoke first, "Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Lucas, Dustin, and Daniel?"

The boys all furrowed their brow and shared confused looks. Was this about Will? Was there something more to him not showing up? Daniel had assumed so since it was incredibly out of character for the Byers boy to not be here along with his best friends. But could there really be something that required the police to be involved?

In the principal's office, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin were chattering on about God knows what, but Daniel just sat there silently. He was too confused about whatever was actually happening to try and comprehend what his friends were saying.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Chief Hopper raised his voice, trying to quiet down the boys. "One at a time, alright? You." He pointed at Daniel. Of course.

"It was just a regular D&D night. That's uh, Dungeons and Dragons. All five of us were there. Dustin and Lucas ride home with Will but split off at one point, I usually stay with Mike. I only saw him last when he left the house at like, I think uh, 7:15? Around that time."

"Alright," Chief Hopper nodded, "And you," he points to Mike, "you said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood," Mike named the street with ease.

"Mirkwood?" Hopper repeated, sounding slightly confused.

"Yeah."

"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" the chief spoke to his partner.

The other man shook his head, "I have not, sounds made up to me."

"No," Lucas cut in, "It's from Lord of the Rings."

"Well, The Hobbit," Dustin corrected, sounding nervous. All the boys were. They never expected Will's absence to actually be something serious.

Lucas looked at Dustin with squinted eyes, "It doesn't matter!"

"Guys," Daniel warned, placing a careful hand on Dustin's shoulder.

Dustin just pushed him off and exclaimed, "He asked!"

And just like that, the boys started arguing again. Now was really not the time for this. Their best friend was potentially missing and they were arguing about which book a fake street name was from. Daniel loved his friends, but sometimes they needed to get a grip on things.

Hopped calmed them down again, "One at a damn time. You." Once again, he motioned towards Mike.

"Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Yeah, all right, I think I know that—"

"We can show you if you want," Mike suggested, sounding hopeful.

"I said that I know that!"

"We just wanna help," Daniel muttered softly.

"What was that?" the chief asked, sounding slightly irritated.

The boy shrugged, "We just wanna help as much as we can. He's our best friend."

Hopper sighed, "I get that, kid, but why don't you let the adults handle this one? After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. We don't want any more of you getting put in danger, got it?" All boys nodded. "That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

Dustin cut in again with, "The Hobbit."

"Shut up!"

( note! )

daniel is just a concerned babu boi we need to love him