we'll meet again

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Hawkins, Indiana, was a small town, yet it was a town full of vast conspiracy that most of its residents could only scratch the surface of. Strange, unexplainable deaths, government cover-ups, and, more recently (as in: three months ago), a perilous fire that scorched Starcourt Mall down to the ground, killing—because those missing were confirmed dead now—around thirty people who were inside it. Nobody knew how the fire started, but theories danced across the residents' ears: a rogue arsonist who was now imprisoned, one of the protesters who were upset about the mall stealing their jobs, a firework that had hit too close. These theories were ways to mourn, because so many were dead now. Friends, family, neighbors... all of them gone.

Maybe if they looked a little closer, these good mourning people, they would've begun to connect the dots. Maybe they would've realized that their dead loved ones had been acting strangely on the eve of their disappearance and subsequent deaths, wandering away from the fair, or dinner, or movie night with nary an explanation. Or maybe they wouldn't have, because, even though they now knew there was some sort of conspiracy that stretched around this small town, they liked being in the dark. Or, as Murray Bauman would put it, they liked the curtain. The curtain shielding them off from what they didn't want to know.

Still, if you asked a good Hawkins resident who they thought knew, completely and one hundred percent knew what was going on in this small town, they would've said disgraced Mayor Kline, perhaps, or government officials who used to reside within the walls of Hawkins National Laboratory. They definitely would not have said (or even thought of) the truth: a group of eight teenagers; Joyce Byers, the woman who worked at Melvald's General Store; conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman; two former ice-cream slingers; a ten-year-old girl; and two ex-interns at Hawkins Post. Why? Because it was ridiculous.

But Hawkins had always been ridiculous.

Oh, yes, Hawkins was ridiculous, and that was just the way Alina Fairgrieves-Byers liked it, which was why, even three months after getting the horrid news, it still hurt to know that she was leaving it. Leaving the place where she'd had so many ups and downs, so many experiences that could fill three books worth of cheesy sci-fi novels. But she was. And no amount of begging that turned to threatening, threatening that turned to burning a hole into her wall, none of that could change Joyce Byers' mind.

Lucas knew she was taking it hard, because he was taking it like a brick to the chest. Alina had always been a constant in a life that was constantly rocking, like a boat on stormy waters. She was his life vest with her tinkling laugh and her hand constantly threaded in his, and now she was leaving.

They'd gone on many more dates during the past three months, and there was hardly a day that they hadn't seen each other for less than six hours. They tried to spend every moment with each other, because they now knew these days were limited, and, eventually, that fateful October day where Alina left Hawkins would arrive, and, like a train, plow right into them.

The party had also hung out, because of course they had. Lucas didn't know what it was going to be like with three members gone. They'd watched movies, gone swimming, met Nicole, Alina and Gabe's half-sister, and even talked to Suzie, even though Lucas found her annoying (like, seriously, Suzie-poo and Dusty-bun? How extremely mushy and vomit-inducing was that?). It was just like old times, and Lucas thought it a little sad that it took a near-apocalypse and an impending move to screw their heads on straight.

Right now, he was sitting beside Max, packing boxes. Alina had locked herself in the bathroom with Skywalker, and he'd immediately gone to check on her before she'd told him she'd much rather be alone right now. So he'd found Max, and gotten to work, his hands trembling slightly. Well, it was a good distraction, especially with Dustin sitting across from them. They'd been mocking him for the past ten minutes about his duet with Suzie and now had actually started to sing their own version of it.

"Turn around... Look at what you see... In her face... The mirror of your dreams... Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds."

Dustin did not look amused. The two of them chuckled and stopped singing for a moment. "Wait, did we get that verse right?" Max asked Dustin. "It's 'unfold behind the clouds?'"

"Yeah," said Dustin sourly, "but you're butchering it, so could you please stop?"

"So then join in, Dusty-bun," said Lucas, blowing his friend a kiss.

"Yeah, come on, Dusty-bun," said Max, "why don't you join us?"

"You guys are so funny, you should be on Carson," said Dustin flatly. Lucas didn't know why he was so upset. He'd had to have known that by broadcasting his singing to everyone he'd definitely get mocked. Especially by Lucas and Max.

"Can't we just hear your rendition?" Max pleaded.

"No."

"Please? Just one verse?"

"No. No way. It's reserved for Suzie's ears and Suzie's ears alone."

Maybe you shouldn't have broadcasted it then, Dusty-bun, Lucas thought, and then he and Max exchanged a look and started singing again, Lucas snapping his fingers and wiggling his shoulders. "Turn around... Look at what you see..."

Dustin held up his middle finger and waved it around. Neither Max nor Lucas stopped, because their friends were leaving today and they needed some fun in their lives. "In their face... The mirror of your dreams..."

"Shut up, you guys," Dustin snapped.

"Rhymes that keep their secrets—"

"Stop! You guys, please, shut up."

"Will unfold behind the clouds... And there upon a rainbow is... the answer to a never-ending story... ahh..."

Lucas whirled around, because that hadn't been him or Max this time. It was a clear, high voice that had continued the song, and as he turned, he caught sight of who it was. It was Alina, standing in the door, her eyes red and puffy but the attempt of a smile on her face. Her voice was amazing, like honey, and Lucas's jaw dropped. He hadn't known she could sing like that.

At Dustin's glare, she shrugged sheepishly. "Should I continue? I can sing the whole song, if you want."

Dustin was looking mutinous now. "So you come out of the bathroom after an hour, and the first thing you decide to do is sing me and Suzie's song?"

"Oh, don't be mad, Dusty-bun," said Alina, her voice a little choked but with the attempt at humor laced in it. "And, by the way, you don't own the song, so I think I can sing it all I like. And if you didn't want to be teased, maybe you shouldn't have sung it when the world was literally about to end."

"You know that was the only way for Suzie to give me Planck's Constant!"

Lucas laughed as Alina came to meet them. "Holy shit, Al, I didn't know you could sing like that."

Alina rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, I guess that was the one good thing Linda forced me into."

She sat beside them, and Lucas immediately took her hand, his grin fading. There were a million things he wanted to say to her, to the girl who had always been there for him. Maybe he wanted to thank her, just for being her. The girl he'd fallen for. But he couldn't find the words to say without them getting jumbled in his mouth.

So, instead, he held out his other hand, and Alina took it, red light burning there like fire. And when they kissed, the fire consumed them.

Gabe and Mike were okay now. Their spats had sizzled down to nothingness, and, for once, they had something in common. Of course, Mike didn't know that Gabe and Will were in a sort-of relationship (only Alina knew that), but they were losing the ones they loved anyway. Mike had even apologized for the way he'd treated them on what was supposed to be a day without girls, and Gabe and Will had both accepted it, because it seemed trivial compared to everything that happened since.

So Gabe and Mike were sorting through boxes now, seeing what could be donated, when something Gabe didn't expect happened. Will Byers walked in, his arms laden with D&D manuals and the sort, and dumped them all into the donation box.

"Whoa, dude," said Mike, as Will started to walk away. "That's the donation box."

Will stopped, his eyes going from Mike to Gabe. "I know," he said. "Alina and I decided it. We'll just use yours when we come back. I mean, if we still wanna play."

"Yeah," said Mike, "but what if you want to join another party?"

"Not possible." His eyes locked onto Gabe's. "There could never be another party I'd want to join."

And then he walked off. Gabe exchanged a look with Mike, and hurried off to meet the boy.

Will was heading back to his room, where he would pick out the last of the stuff, tear down the remaining drawings and such. At least, that was what Gabe assumed he went in there to do, but when he reached the doorway, he only found Will sitting in the corner of the now empty room, staring at the walls. Gabe's heart twanged. He didn't like seeing it so devoid of the life it had once been full of. The bunk beds, the drawings, the photos Alina had taken of the party, the dresser stuffed with comic books... all of it gone. Packed in the moving van.

He knocked on the doorframe. "Will?"

Will looked up. "Oh. Hey, Gabe."

"Are you okay? I mean, no, wait, that was stupid. I'm really bad at talking to people so that's what I always ask. I feel like someone could have their leg chopped off and I'd still ask them that. Wait, shit, that's basically what I did to El. Um, anyway," he cleared his throat, seeing Will's face. He stepped into the room. "It's finally here, huh?"

Will wiped away a stray tear. "Yep. Finally here."

Gabe sat down beside him, taking his hand. "I always thought our story wouldn't get a happy ending," he admitted. "I mean, we always had the odds against us. But I didn't think this was the way it was going to end up."

"It's not like we're dead," sniffed Will, immediately leaning his head against Gabe's shoulder. "I know we're coming back. I know you're coming over on Thanksgiving and stuff, but... God, I'm going to miss seeing your face every day. Alina's lucky. At least she can visit Lucas in the void. Whereas the rest of us have to just settle with photos and calling each other."

"I'll write you letters, too," said Gabe. "And every night will be one day closer to seeing you again. I'll just have to think of that."

"I already miss you and I'm not even gone yet," sighed Will. "What's it gonna be like when I'm really gone?"

"Dunno," said Gabe. "I don't know. I don't think it'll be fun, though."

Will reached up, stroking Gabe's cheek. It was a gesture foreign to both of them, but Gabe found he didn't mind it. "I wish we could just stop time, just for a little bit," he said. "And everyone else will be frozen, but we can just do whatever we want. We can have a campfire and roast marshmallows. We can babysit Nicole together and end up with mushed peas splattered on our clothes. We can go swimming together again and again, doing backstrokes and front crawls at midnight. We can do whatever we want, because time will never move."

"Me too," said Gabe, because he really wished that this was the life he could live in. All of the memories he had with Will were spiralling back to him, and he thought he really might cry again.

"I'm Will. Will Byers."

"You're really brave, do you know that?"

"I just... you're really nice, Gabe."

"So, this is pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Will the Wise and Gabe the... Great need you!"

"I won't let that happen. Not to you. Not again."

"You underestimate yourself, you know. Like, you think you're not valuable. But you are. You always have been."

"I... I... I wanted to tell you that I—"

"Gabriel Jacob Burton, I... I think I might love you."

"You're just... you're perfect, William Byers. And I think I love you, too."

I do, Will, he thought now. I do.

My name is Alina Fairgrieves-Byers, I'm fourteen years old, and I'm here to create a written manifesto on everything strange and peculiar to happen in Hawkins, Indiana, since October 1983. I'm not sure who's going to read this, given that this is all classified information, but maybe it's just to keep a record for myself. So, when I'm old and my mind is going, I can pick this book back up and leaf through the pages to read what I was when I was a teenager. Yes. I think that's it. So, to my future self, sit back. I guess I'm about to tell you a story about Hawkins. It's a tale of love, of bravery, of kindness and evil all intermingled into one, and I have no idea when it's really going to end.

It was time. The moving vans had been packed, the house had been emptied, a hissing Skywalker was clutched in Joyce Byers' arms for the ride. Alina stood outside in the cool October air, which bit at her skin, playing with her hair. Perhaps it had passed everywhere she'd grown up on its journey here: singing softly as it whirled past the sandbox she used to play, the playground she often found herself sitting at to collect her thoughts, the tree near the lab where the treehouse had been, Hawkins Middle, where she'd been for three years, Hawkins High, where she'd been for only two months. The quarry, the remains of Starcourt Mall, the deli, the laundromat. Just to reach her. Just to caress her skin in one final memory-filled goodbye.

Yes, I'm leaving Hawkins. I don't know if I'll come back, or even if the story is over. Perhaps this is a new beginning for me. Perhaps I'll find new parallel worlds where I'm going, friends I won't forget, but I doubt it. Hawkins is one of a kind, and even though it's bruised me, battered me to the ground, it gave me so much. I'm going to miss it.

Alina clutched Max close, the girl sobbing into her hair. The two of them held onto each other, fondly remembering the days spent at the arcade, the shopping trip, the sleepovers. They'd taught each other so much: Max had learned that it was okay to love the ones that hurt you, but eventually you needed to let go, and Alina had learned that to be more girly did not mean she was connected to her mother.

The tale begins long before my brother, Will, went missing, snatched away in a case that baffled local police. It started when I was nine years old, the night Linda, my birth mother, ran away. It was raining. My parents were fighting, throwing dishes and plates, and I was sitting on the porch, crying my eyes out.

Dustin Henderson. The boy who had never failed to make her laugh, could be goofy in situations that didn't even call for it, who was so, so smart. He'd been one of her first friends, had come up with the nickname that defined her now, had helped her through her rougher days with his wise advice. Alina held him tightly. She didn't want to let go.

You have to know that this was normal for my family. My parents weren't the best couple. They often fought: throwing dishes, screaming, breaking possessions.

Mike Wheeler. He'd been so reluctant to let her into the party at first, even when she'd known so much about El. But then he'd grown and changed and yes, he could be a little annoying, but he was the loyalist person Alina knew. He had an abundance of bravery, and had jumped off the cliff merely to save someone from getting their teeth cut out. Alina embraced him, holding him close as his body shuddered with the sobs he attempted to keep in.

Most of the fights would be about me, because to Linda, I was never the child she wanted. My dad, Brandon, would always be on my side, arguing when she wanted me to work at the laundromat or was seething about how I didn't practice piano.

Gabriel Burton. The new kid on the block, who had been so, so kind. He wasn't a coward, not really, he was just tormented. He'd been through so much, and he shared a connection with Alina the others didn't have. They shared a sister and scars. They shared memories and pain. And Gabe had come out to her, told her how he felt when he thought she'd hate him for it. Alina never wanted to let go of him.

So I was sitting out here, on this porch, sobbing my eyes out. Linda was talking about some sort of tests, and the rain was pouring down thick and fast and I was screaming, I think. Screaming and sobbing and praying for the yelling to the end. And that was when it happened.

Alina had saved Lucas for last. She didn't say anything to him, because what would she say? There were a hundred variations of the word goodbye, a thousand synonyms and different languages, but none of them seemed right. But her emotions were exploding inside of her like a supernova, so she leaned forward and kissed him. A kiss of a million words unsaid. A kiss that told him how much she'd miss him. A kiss that lingered on, with clasped hands and hands threading through hair. There was no doubt now of the fact that Alina Fairgrieves-Byers loved Lucas Sinclair, and that he loved her back. There was no doubt of how deep that love ran, threading right into their veins like blood. No doubt that, if given the opportunity, they'd never let go.

That was when this story began. Because that was when my palms started to itch.

FIN.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: paroxysm is a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity. if you want to use it in a sentence, you could potentially say "she burst into a paroxysm of sobs" which is exactly what i am doing right now.

358,737 words. three books. an actual case of plagiarism. an overwhelming amount of support from all of you. i mean, i still can't believe it. the author's note in acatalepsy's epilogue talks about how grateful i am for 3k reads, while mad'ouk's increases to 16k. and now... i'm still so surprised whenever i see that "55.2k" under a title of a book i've written. it still blows my mind, and i have each and every one of you to thank for that.

almost two years ago, alina was just a fragment of a thought in my head. a year ago, gabe was an oc i was going to use for an it fic. and now, they've both grown to mean so much to me, and, i hope, a lot to you guys, too. i'm so glad i've had all of you to come along on their journey, and i still can't believe you guys trekked through 358,737 words to get here. 

the last two books, i put out dedications, naming all of the people who supported me up until i posted the epilogue. this time, however, i'm not dedicating it individually, because i know some people haven't found this book yet/made it up to this point (is that arrogant to say?? i don't know). so, if you're reading this right now, this book is dedicated to you. yes, you, specifically. i know this is cheesy and probably over the top, but i honestly can't thank you enough.

before this book is marked as completed, i was wondering if any of you would be interested in a q&a? i remember i asked that pretty early on in the book, and i was planning on posting those ones, but if any of you have anything else you want to ask me, you can put it here :)

again, thank you all so so much. i seriously still can't fathom the amount of support i've gotten. i really hope alina and gabe's story doesn't finish here.

i love you all.

'till next time. :')