When Sam had called Julian late last night he couldn't quite believe everything that she had told him. But he quickly realized that of course Samantha Sinclair would be out in a middle of a storm to look for her younger brother.

She was fearless.

She was perfect.

She was his soul mate.

Unfortunately it wasn't like it was in the greatest romantic novels in history. He loved Sam. But he wasn't in love with Sam.

No matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't see her in any romantic light. She was beautiful, smart, funny and selfless yet he couldn't force himself to fall in love with her. And he had tried. There had to be something seriously wrong with him.

Because he was in love with the wrong person. He was in love with Vivianne Bennet.

As Sam walked across the parking lot towards his car, he scolded himself for not being able to feel what he was supposed to feel.

But all his torment vanished when he realized that Samantha was in fact sick. Her eyes were puffy and when she sat beside him on the hood of his car she sneezed into the sleeve of her jacket.

Reaching into the plastic bag he had beside him he handed his friend a box of tissues he picked up from the story early in the morning. Sam muttered a thank you as she wiped her nose, and he knew her well enough to know that she did not wake up in a good mood. "I'm going to kill Lucas."

"Well, if you feel like murdering someone maybe it wasn't the best idea to come to school." He joked as he reached into the plastic bag again handing her a bag of licorice. Maybe it was a little to early for candy, but he knew that it would definitely make her happy.

Anyways with Samantha's sweet tooth she would never be able to resist her favorite candy.

She smiled as she opened the bag immediately eating the strawberry flavored candy. "I just.... I wish there was something I could do. I hate knowing that it's been two days since Will has gone missing."

"Is this a good time to mention that this morning I signed up for the search party tonight?" Julian asked not sure how she would react.

Last night after ending his call with Sam he made the decision that he wanted to help. He didn't know Will all the well, but he knew Lucas. And although Julian never had any brothers, he did see Lucas as one.

And he hated the thought of the kid putting himself in danger trying to find his missing friend. Because he knew that if Sam or Viv went missing he would be going out of his mind too.

"Jules, you don't think it might be dangerous?" Sam replied the candy long forgotten as her full attention was now on him.

"Dangerous how?"

"Dangerous as in maybe you could go missing too."

Jules chuckled as he looked down at his hands. Laughing in an attempt to calm her worries even though he was very aware that her worries were valid. Hawkins was no longer as safe as it was used to be. And although no one said it, there was this odd tension now. Like everyone knew that whether or not they found Will Byers that Hawkins would never be the same. "I think you're being a little dramatic."

"I don't know this whole thing... it's kind of scary."           

"I know. Come on." He said as he took her hand helping her off the hood of the hood of the car. For a moment they both look down at their linked hands, a gesture that usually meant nothing but for some reason this time they both pulled their hands back awkwardly. "Are you sure you don't want to go home."

"Can't. I have a chem test first period." She reminded him as they pushed through the doors of the high school. Sam came to a sudden stop at the sight of Jonathan Byers stapling a missing persons poster on the bulletin board. He could see the instant sadness in her eyes as she approached him, his shaking hand gripping the stack of papers a little harder. "Johnny."

Jonathan clearly attempted to smile, but ultimately failed as he looked up at her. But he tried because it was Samantha Sinclair and if you knew her, it was almost impossible not to give her at least that.  "Sam."

"I'm really sorry about Will." Julian said although he knew that his words really meant nothing. They wouldn't bring Will back, and they certainly wouldn't help Jonathan feel better about the fact that his brother was now officially missing for two days. "If you need anything..."

"Yeah, I know." Jonathan replied with another attempt at a smile as he looked down at the stack of flyers in his hands. Will's face were printed across them along with a description of when and where he went missing. It was like a punch in the gut seeing Jonathan, because it made everything more real. Hearing about a tragedy was nothing like witnessing those effected by it.

"Here." Sam muttered as she reached out taking a small stack of flyers. He knew that she was also struggling with the fact that there wasn't nothing that she could do to help Will. But she could help ease some of Jonathan's stress. If Samantha Sinclair had one flaw it was that maybe she cared a little too much. Always putting others before herself.  "Jules and I will finish putting these up around school and I'll put some up at the dinner later."

"Thank you."

"I just wish there was more I could do." She replied with a small smile.

Jonathan nodded looking truly grateful for Sam's help. Maybe the two of them weren't very close, but they still considered one another friends. The only thing they had in common was their artistic abilities and their brothers friendship. "Me too."

"Hey." A new voice greeted, and the three teenagers all turned to meet the eyes of Nancy Wheeler who was nervously clutching onto her school binder.

"Oh, hey" Jonathan replied after one awkward moment, everyone just a little shocked that perfect Nancy Wheeler had approached three of the arguably most bullied students of Hawkins High. Nancy worked hard to craft this perfect imagine of the girl next door, and even she seemed just a little bit uncertain. Though maybe that was due to the difficult situation that Jonathan was currently in.

"I just.. I wanted to say, you know, um... I'm sorry about everything."  Nancy began, clearly struggling for the right words to say. The truth was there were no right words, when placed in an impossible situation like Jonathan's there were no words of consolation that would ease his pain. She looked over her should where Barbara Holland was standing uncomfortably beside Steve Harrington and his friends. "Everyone's thinking about you. It sucks."

Julian met Sam's eyes as she looked away from the group. She was visibly  irritated and it was difficult not to be. Tommy H and Carol had amused expression on their faces as they watched the interaction silently.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid." She continued as the first bell of the day rang, Nancy almost seemed relieved as she took a step back ready to go back to her friends. It was sad really, to see a girl like Nancy Wheeler get pulled into  a group of assholes like Steve Harrington and his friends. But she was the kind of girl that wasn't going to go anywhere. Her future was marrying a guy like Steve Harrington and being miserable the rest of her life. She wanted a normal and boring life and no matter how nice she was destined to be unhappy. "I have to go chemistry test. Good luck."

The three of them watched as Nancy Wheeler returned to her newfound group of friends.

As Steve Harrington put his arm around Nancy he turned back at them. At first Julian thought it was to scold at Jonathan for stealing Nancy's attention, but then he realized that Steve was actually looking at Sam. The expression on his face unreadable.

Sam who sent him an annoyed glance before turning her attention back at Jonathan. Julian couldn't help but feel curious what that interaction was about, though maybe it was due to what had happened in the hallway with the basketball. Because if it was something else he was sure that Sam would have told him about it. She told him everything. 

"I should go." Jonathan declared as he headed out without another word.

Attention faculty and students at 8:00 p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend.

The announcement over the intercom, another reminder that everything that was happening the last two days was in fact real. Will Byers was missing and they were using every resource their small town had of finding him. But hopefully after tonight Will would be safe at home.

The sight of Viviane Bennet walking towards them as she earned odd glances from the student around her caused Julian to snap out of his depressing thoughts. Her blonde hair was freshly dyed with a new color. Last week the tops of her hair were dyed purple, now it was pink. And Julian couldn't help but think how well the color suited her. "Viv."

"Have you heard the really nasty rumors all these assholes are saying about Jonathan?" Viviane questioned not bothering to return his greeting. She was the kind of girl that always went straight to the point and never wasted anytime in formalities.

Her and Sam were light night and day. And although Sam made him feel warmth there was something about Viviane that excited him. She last like the mysterious heroine of a novel and Julian just wanted to read more and left himself be swept away by her mystery.

"What are they saying?" Sam questioned.

It was unusual for Viv to show much emotion, but this time her anger was bright in her eyes. "That it was Jonathan that killed Will."

"They're all pathetic." Sam replied with an unusual bitterness in her voice. Sure it was no surprise that she did like Steve and his group of friends, how could she when they all dedicated themselves to bullying anyone that they decided was inferior. "They don't have anything better to do than hurt other people."

There was nothing else for them to say because Sam was right. Rumors about them were normal, they were used to false words being uttered about them. But this time their cruel words were unforgivable.

Because there was a possibility that they would never find Will. And  a rumor like this would haunt Jonathan forever.

The afternoon was slow at the Wallflower. Even during their rush hour it just seemed that no one wanted to go out. Not that Sam minded if anything she was grateful for a slow day. She wasn't sure she would be able to focus on working with Will still missing.

As she polished that silverware the small bell tied to the door rang and to her surprise the sherd walked in. She had never seen him step foot in the diner before, in fact she had hardly ever even seen the man. But she did know a lot about him. He was once a big city cop, that moved to Hawkins after his daughter died.

It was sad really. But what he was known for the most was being an alcoholic how slept with most of the women in town.

The sheriff walked straight to her, and sure enough when there was only a counter separating the two of them she knew all the rumors were true. The man reeked of cigarettes and whiskey. "Samantha Sinclair?"

"Yes?" Sam replied pretending to act a little surprised even though she knew that this had to be about Will. This morning Lucas had told her how Sheriff Hopper had questioned him and the other boys about what had happened the night that Will had disappeared. So it was really no surprise that he would want to question her too even if she didn't see Will that day.

"I'm sheriff Jim Hopper and I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you?"

"Sure. Follow me."  Sam told the man as she skated around the counter and towards one of the many empty red booths. She felt awfully childish in her roller skates, but the sheriff didn't seem to care as he took a seat across from her. "What is this about sheriff?"

"We have a couple of witnesses saying that you stopped by Benny's Burgers."

Sam looked at the sheriff with uncertainty not having expected to be questioned about Benny. She was full expecting to be questioned about Will Byers or her brother. "I'm sorry but what does Benny have to do with Will?"

Sheriff Hopper's jaw tightened as he seemed to consider what his best course of action should be. She knew that Hopper and Benny were friends and whatever this was about wasn't easy for him. "Benny was found dead this morning. Initial autopsies are suggesting suicide."

Hearing with caused all the flood to leave Sam's face as she felt frozen in her seat. Rarely was Sam left speechless but never did she expect this kind of news. It just seemed so unlike Benny to take his own life, sure he was a little off the other day but everyone felt a little on edge because of Will Byers.Missing children and suicides did not happen in Hawkins.

"I stopped by after school. We often trade inventory." Sam began to say once she finally began to fully process what the sheriff was telling her. "He... he seemed fine. Maybe a little quieter than usual but I assumed that maybe it was because of the boy."

Hopper's eyes widened as he now seemed entirely focused on what she was saying. "Boy? What did the boy look like?"

"He wasn't Will if that's what you're thinking." Sam said immediately not wanting this to be a reason why the search for Will could possibly slow. Clearly Sheriff Hopper was hopeful that the boy could be Will, and Sam wished that it were true. But she knew Will just as well as she knew her own brother. She would be able to recognize any of the four boys in a heartbeat.

"Are you sure?"

"I've known Will Byer's for years. Of course I'm sure." She replied as she nervously began to play with the sleeve of her uniform. "The boy was in a hospital gown. His hair was buzzed. I really didn't get a good look at him but he did seem about the same age as the boys."

Nodding the sheriff stood not attempting to hide his disappointment that he had hit what she assumed was another dead end. And seeing this man lose hope right in front of her caused her heart to sink. If he was beginning to lose hope did that mean that there was little chance of finding Will?

How she hoped that wasn't true.

A/N: Really excited about writing all these characters, because I really do love them all. I have a lot of exciting plans for this series and I hope that you will all stick around for the ride.