late nights with lucas

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

    Night settled over Hawkins like a blanket, and, away from the light pollution from the buildings, the six party members atop the hill could see the stars sparkling in the sky. A cool wind rushed over them as the heat from the day bled away, and Alina even found herself shivering as she lay in the grass, looking up at the sky. It had been hours since Dustin had begun his attempts at contacting his girlfriend, and he still hadn't received a response. It was a wonder his voice wasn't going hoarse by now.

The moon was full tonight, framed by silvery clouds, and Alina didn't find anything to be more beautiful. Well, except for the boy beside her. Their hands were intertwined, and they would occasionally point out a constellation they could spot, or sit up and wonder why Dustin was still trying. He was the only one who was standing—Max, Gabe and Will were all lying down as well. Max was beside Alina and Lucas, and Gabe and Will were together, their hands occasionally brushing against one another's before they jerked them away.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Alina asked Lucas now, rolling over so as to face her boyfriend. Lucas, who seemed to have almost fallen into a doze, opened his eyes and shrugged. "I mean," Alina went on, "Will wants to play D&D, and I feel like Dustin would be okay with that—and besides, the whole party hasn't played in a while. Or we could see another movie; I'm pretty sure we can find one we haven't seen. We'd have to bring Gabe, though, to convince Steve to let us through. Or maybe we could go swimming."

"That's the best part about summer," said Lucas with a smile. "We can do anything we want."

Alina squeezed his hand tighter.

A few minutes later, Alina found herself getting restless. Even with the comfort of her boyfriend's hand in hers, Dustin's voice had become a drone in her ear, her legs kept getting munched on by hungry mosquitoes, and the grass was tickling the back of her neck uncomfortably. She didn't seem to be the only one who was getting sick of this, either. She could see Gabe shifting around his spot, and Max was looking like she was about to snap. Which she did, only a couple of seconds later, attempting to put a stop to this madness.

"Dustin, come on! She's not there!"

"She's there, alright?" said Dustin stubbornly. "She'll pick up."

"Yeah, maybe next summer," Alina murmured.

Will sat up. "Maybe Cerebro doesn't work," he suggested.

"Or maybe Suzie doesn't exist!" Lucas snapped. Alina didn't want to admit it, but she sort of agreed with Lucas. Maybe Dustin had made her up as an excuse to drag them all out here to see his Cerebro. She just didn't know why he would spend hours trying to contact a girl he knew wouldn't answer.

"She exists!" Dustin glared at Lucas incredulously, like he couldn't believe he had the gall to say something like that.

"She's a genius and she's hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect!"

Alina sat up, looking down at him. "Is that so?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Lucas's eyes bulged, and he sat up quickly to face her. "I mean... you're perfect. I mean like, per—perfect in your own way. In your special—in your own special way."

Even though Lucas tried so hard to be cool, sometimes he reverted back to his rambling self. Every single time it happened, it made Alina smile. He wasn't cool, and that was why she liked him so much. That was why she'd been drawn to him.

"I'm just kidding," she said now, punching his shoulder teasingly. "If anyone's perfect here, it would definitely be Max."

Max laughed. "Yes, I'm obviously perfect, and..." her eyes rose past Alina to meet Dustin, "...Dustin's obviously lying." She stood up, extending a hand to Lucas. "Come on, Don Juan."

Lucas took it, standing up before turning to Alina. "You coming?"

Alina chewed on her lip. "Give me a second," she said. "I'll be right there."

"Got it." Lucas saluted and began to move down the hill with Max. Dustin's eyes followed them.

"Where are you going?"

"Home," said Max matter-of-factly. "Come on, Al. Do you really want to stay here all night?"

Alina stood up, brushing grass off of her legs. "Will?" she asked tentatively. "Are you coming?"

Dustin was looking dejected. "You're not leaving too, are you?"

Will looked around guiltily. "Um... it's late. Sorry." His face brightened. "Maybe tomorrow we can play D&D. Or something fun. Like we used to?"

"Yeah," said Dustin. "Sure."

Alina really didn't want to leave Dustin, especially not when he was looking so downcast, but she had no choice. Lucas and Max were waiting for her, Will was leaving too, and Joyce preferred it when the two of them came home together. It had been a long time since anything bad had happened to the two of them, but she still got paranoid sometimes.

"Hey," she said softly. "I've got to go. But we'll see each other tomorrow, okay? Don't worry about it." Then she enveloped her friend into a hug. After a couple minutes, Dustin hugged her back, sniffing a little. "We all missed you, you big nerd. We're really glad you're back."

At that, a smile finally came to Dustin's face. "Thanks, Alina."

"Welcome home," said Will, who was still waiting for her. He turned to Gabe, who seemed to understand that since everyone was leaving, he should probably get along, too.

"Bye, Dustin," he said. "It was really nice seeing you. I'm glad you had a good time at science camp. Sorry we didn't get to meet Suzie, but there's always a next time, right?"

"Yep," said Dustin. He didn't say anything else, just watched, still looking slightly put-out, as the three of them made their way down the hill, trying to catch up with Max and Lucas.

"There you are," Max said. She was a quarter way down the hill by now, her foot tapping on the grass, her hair bouncing behind her as she spoke. "C'mon, guys, it's late, and we've still got a lot of walking to do."

"Aye-aye, captain," said Lucas, grabbing onto Alina's hand again. Gabe looked back to the top of the hill.

"Do you think he's okay?" he asked worriedly, flicking dirt off of his button-down. "I mean, he was looking kind of down when we left. I hope he doesn't think we're ditching him or anything."

"That's probably exactly what he thinks," said Max, slapping at a mosquito that had landed on her freckled arm. "But what were we supposed to do, sit on the top of the hilltop until morning? It's ridiculous."

"Do you guys actually think Suzie doesn't exist?" Will asked.

"I don't know," Alina said with a shrug. "I mean, why would he go to all of this effort for someone he made up? And why would he make up a girlfriend, anyway? Like, what's the point in doing that?"

"Exactly," said Gabe. "I think Suzie was just busy or something. I mean, she can't be watching her radio twenty-four seven. Maybe she was unpacking or something. Or eating dinner. Or hanging out with her friends. I mean, you guys aren't constantly watching your walkie-talkies, are you?"

"I guess not," said Lucas with a frown. Now he turned to look at the top of the hill. "I just hope he doesn't stay up there all night."

Eventually, Max and Gabe split from the group, heading to their own homes, leaving Will, Lucas and Alina walking by themselves. Will cleared his throat, looking awkward, like he expected Alina and Lucas to just start making out in front of him (which would be stupid to think. Alina and Lucas had kissed a few times, but they hadn't made out before, and they definitely wouldn't do it in front of Will). Alina kicked a clump of grass. Lucas looked at the darkening Hawkins ahead of them.

Then he said, "I'll see you tomorrow," making Alina realize, with a shock, that they'd already reached the fork in the road where they usually separated. Her mind had been whirling, apparently, with the events from today, and she'd failed to truly take in her surroundings.

"See you, Lucas," she said, and then did something she'd never done before (she'd thought it was stupid before she'd gotten a boyfriend of her own) and kissed him on the cheek. Lucas coughed, looking slightly flustered, and looked around like he'd forgotten where he was. When he finally found the correct road, he turned down it, leaving only Alina and Will.

The two of them walked home, quicker than they usually would, because neither of them could help the shivers that ran down their spines in the dark of night. Couldn't help but imagine a dark figure appearing in the trees, ready to snatch them up and bring them to the hellish dimension where it made its home. This meant that it only took ten minutes to reach the quiet house instead of the usual fifteen.

"Jonathan's not here," Alina noted, looking at the driveway, which only contained one car. "Is he at Nancy's, or working late again?"

"Dunno," said Will, wrinkling his nose. If there was any relationship worse than Mike and El's in his eyes, it was definitely Jonathan and Nancy's. "Let's go inside."

"Good idea," Alina breathed. She felt uneasy, like something bad had just happened, even though everything was literally fine. She was with her brother, and she was home.

"You know," said Will in a soft voice, as they entered the quiet living room, "it's Gabe's birthday next week. What are we getting him?"

"I got him a framed copy of the newspaper article about you coming back to life," said Alina, and, at Will's embarrassed look, let out a laugh. "I'm joking. I got him a new walkie-talkie, he said his was acting weird lately. This one's newer, too."

"I still can't think of what to get him," whispered Will, as they passed the couch where Joyce was sleeping, having evidently been knocked out while watching TV. "I don't know why it's so hard. I get everyone else their presents easily."

"You'll think of something," said Alina, petting Skywalker, who had come into the living room at the sound of footsteps. "You're good at gifts. Remember the shoes you got me for Christmas? I've worn them so much they look just like my old ones."

"I guess." Will shrugged. But for some reason, getting Gabe a gift seemed to be different than getting Alina one. Or any of the party, really. But he couldn't put his finger on why.

Gabriel Burton would've been grounded if he'd come home so late three months ago, but now, during the summer, Dolores Burton hardly cared. As Gabe pushed open the door, he found his grandparents curled up on the couch together, watching TV. His grandma was wearing a shower cap and his grandpa was painting her nails for her, a bright red that he knew was her favourite colour. The two of them often were like this—just so in love that it made Gabe pause. They'd been together for so long—double the time Gabe had been alive!—and Gabe just didn't know how they put up with each other for that long. How they were still so close.

He'd never really been like that with anyone. Granted, as his grandma always said, he was still young, and had plenty of time to get into a potential relationship, but the thought seemed foreign in Gabe's mind. He couldn't see himself with a girl, not even Max, who Mike had suggested to him after the Snow Ball, when he had complained to him about his constant PDA with El. He just... couldn't like Max that way. And, of course, he knew why.

Will. Always Will. Always his heart fluttered. Always his eyes would trace the curve of his neck, the arch of his nose, and always he would fall more and more in love. Always he would wonder what Will's lips felt like on his, how it would feel to tangle his fingers into his hair. Always, always, William Byers.

It didn't even feel wrong anymore.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: for some reason, when i was writing that short scene of everyone walking home it felt like super canon even though it doesn't happen in the show lol. like i could just hear everyone saying that even though i feel like i could've written it better, haha.

anyway, we're getting into the more split chapters soon! it's kind of a lot of jumping around between alina and gabe, because that's what the show does, but i feel like it turned out okay. also, there's a sort of diverging from canon coming up, which is obvious, because alina and lucas's relationship isn't like lucas and max's. so i had to change up the advice max and lucas give their friends. hopefully it's still realistic.

'till next time!