✄ - - - -

A CAR HORN OUTSIDE OF THE SINCLAIR'S HOUSE SOUNDED, Scarlett immediately rushing outside to Steve's car, taking a seat in the passengers side. "You came at just the right time." She breathed a sigh of relief, slinging her seatbelt over her body.

Steve let out a laugh, waiting until he heard the click of the seatbelt before driving off. "And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean," She said boldly. "Lucas tried to get me to dig through the snow for rocks, so he could have a so-called 'ammo box' to take with him and his wrist rocket. There's no way in hell I'm digging through the snow for rocks." She emphasized 'hell', crossing her arms over her chest.

As they drove along the snowy road, the two best friends talked and laughed. They laughing from both died down and Steve cleared his throat nervously, "You know, it might sound weird.. But, I kinda miss that monster."

She stared at the boy with confusion written all over her face, "What? I'm glad that thing is dead. We can go back to our normal lives." She shrugged.

"Well, I don't want to go back to my normal life. I'm glad it's dead, but fighting it meant I got to spend more time with you." He took his eyes off the road and looked at her. "I feel like we never really talk anymore-"

Scarlett puts her finger up to quiet him down, "Well there are reasons for that. Like, Nancy.. Tommy H and Carol? No offense to you or anything, but you kind of became a douche."

Steve shrugged, "None taken. But I miss you. A lot." Steve admitted, drawing the girls eyes to him. "And fighting those monster things.. I mean, they gave me a chance to spend more time with you. Even though I wasn't welcomed or anything I do like a good monster smack down." He laughed.

Scarlett stifled her laughter, "Well our monster fighting days are over, but we don't have to stop hanging out, y'know?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah, of course. We can go out anytime. Just let me know when you want a milkshake or something." The boy knew how much she liked milkshakes. She especially liked vanilla milkshakes. He used to make fun of her because 'vanilla was plain,' but chocolate and strawberry disgusted her. And nothing beats a good old vanilla milkshake topped with whipped cream and a red cherry.

"That sounds really nice. I would love that." She grins, giving Steve a squeeze on his forearm, before turning and looking back out the window. Steve stole a glance at her, smiling softly as she observed the passing environment.

He pulled up to the Byers house, where he would drop Scarlett off and part ways with her and head off to the Wheeler's home to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, Nancy.

Scarlett leaned over the seat and gave him a quick hug, sending him a wave as she rushed out of the car and towards the front door. She eagerly knocked, waiting for a response with presents in her hands. Steve waited until she was in the house before driving off, onto his next location.

"Jonathan! Can you get the door please?" Joyce yelled to her son upon hearing the knock at the door. Jonathan walked out of his room to the front door, swinging it open and seeing his best friend standing in the frame, her arms full of presents for the Byers family.

"Scarlett!" Jonathan grinned excitedly. He was happy the girl was back at his house under better circumstances. "Let me help you with those." He nodded to her, taking a few of the presents out of her hands as she stepped into the house.

The two walked into the living room, sliding the presents under the tree and sharing a high five. Scarlett pet Chester and gave him the bone that she got him as she looked around, "Where's Will?"

"Right here!" Will scampered out of the hallway, leaping by the chair and wrapping Scarlett in a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, Scar!"

"Merry Christmas, Will!" Scarlett grinned, grabbing a present from under the tree, "Hey, I got you something." She handed him the present, it consisted of two boxes.

"Really? Thank you!" He exclaimed, taking the present from her hands and tearing the first box open excitedly. Inside the box were brand new crayons, a sketchbook, a few comics Lucas said he would like and Reese's Pieces. He gasped, happily holding the crayons out in front of him, "Seventy two crayons!"

The giddy boy moved onto the second box, ripping it open to reveal a small rectangular item that sat atop a folded purple cloak and hat. A small piece of paper was laid on top of the cloak, just above the tape. "Will the Wise! Love, Jonathan and Scarlett. AKA your favorite people ever." The two different handwritings made it obvious who wrote what, as Jonathan handwriting seemed to be bolder, while Scarlett's was delicate and smooth. Will laughed as he read the writing on the mixtape, holding it on his lap while he held up the cloak.

Jonathan used his new camera to take pictures as Will slipped on the cloak and Scarlett put the hat on his head. "Will the Wise!" Scarlett mocked a regal voice, holding her hands out to present Will, who stood tall with his chin up, grinning like he never had before.

"And what are we doing in here?" A voice rang out from the front door, causing everyone to turn around. Ben stood in the doorway, wiping off his shoes before stepping in and shutting the door.

A smile grew on Scarlett's face as she jumped up and gave the boy a hug. "Clemson, you came!" She smiled warmly, pulling away from the hug.

"Of course I did, Sinclair." He pat her shoulder, "I have to go give something to Joyce real quick, I'll be back!" He nodded to her, walking towards the kitchen. "Ms. Byers! My mom made you some mashed potatoes."

"Oh, Benjamin! I told you, you can call me Joyce." She called to Ben as she greeted him, waving her oven mitts around. "And I really needed these mashed potatoes, tell your mom I said thank you! Mine are a bit... watery." She put emphasis on the 'really' as she revealed her mashed potatoes to the boy.

Jonathan and Scarlett had walked into the kitchen with the camera, Jonathan taking a picture of his mother with the watery mashed potatoes. "What.. What are you doing?" Joyce threw her hands up.

"Documenting." Jonathan answered simply, angling the camera towards Scarlett as she began helping Joyce with the food, placing it on the table in a very organized manner.

"Oh, why?" The mother grinned, placing her hand on her hips.

"It looks great." The older Byers boy replied, snapping another picture of the food that was laid out across the table in front of them.

"Oh, this is just so overcooked." She motions to the dish on the table, then picking up a spoon and letting the mashed potatoes fall off of it, "And look, the potatoes are runny. They're so runny. Thank god Benjamin brought his, or we would all be eating watery potatoes."

"Mom, it's gonna be great. Don't worry." Jonathan places a hand on his mothers shoulder, chuckling.

"Yeah, thank you so much for making all this." Scarlett said to the older woman, Ben nodding in agreement.

A bubbly Will rushing into the kitchen, grabbing a hold of the chair in front of him as his eyes dashed around the room, looking at each person. "It's definitely an Atari."

"An- a- what-i?" Joyce asked as they all took their respective seats at the table.

"The green present, it's an Atari." Will said confidently, Joyce fighting back a grin as her boy explained the toy to them. "I felt Dustin's today. It's the same exact weight."

Scarlett shot the older Byers family members a knowing look as she mouthed, "Busted." Causing Joyce to place a hand over her mouth and Jonathan to shake his head with a wide smile on his face.

"Really?" Joyce dragged out, letting the grin escape. "Well... We'll have to see, won't we?" She said mischievously, getting ready to dig into the food.

As they were all putting food on their plates, Will suddenly stood up, walking away from the table. Joyce reached out a hand, "Hey! No more snooping."

"No, I forgot to wash my hands. I'll be right back!" He called out, walking towards the bathroom hurriedly. The four remaining at the table shared looks of confusion and a few shrugs.

"Okay." Joyce nodded, turning towards the three others after glancing in Will's direction, "He's washing his hands!" She whispered.

"At least he's clean." Ben shrugged, wiping his mouth with his hand.

"Yeah, at least he's not like you," Scarlett joked, shoving him. "That was disgusting." She motioned to his hand, tossing him a napkin and causing the table to erupt into laughter.

"I'm not even going to start on how you eat your burgers." Ben said, continuing to joke with the girl. "Very unladylike, zero manners. No wonder you never get asked out on dates."

"Hey!" Scarlett held her finger up, "For your information, I get asked out on plenty of dates. I just.. don't go!" She shrugged. "Where are your ladies, Ben?" She argued with him.

"Ooh, shots fired." Jonathan commented, causing Ben to wave him off. But of course, Ben had nothing to continue the argument with. He always pushes arguments, but with Scarlett he always let her win.

Will joined them back at the table, sitting down. Everyone turned to the oddly quiet boy, who sat with a blank expression on his face.

Scarlett tilted her head, "You okay, Will?" She asked with concern laced in her tone, furrowing her brows.

Will took a minute before nodding, "Yeah. I'm okay." He forced a smile before looking down at the table and frowning again. Joyce didn't fail to notice Will's actions, and they brought concern and fear to her.

"Mm. Really good, Mom." Jonathan nodded approvingly, shoving more food in his mouth. Ben was already going in for seconds. "Hey Mom, guys. Did Will tell you about, uh, the game?" Jonathan asked the others.

"No, I don't think so." Ben said, continuing to shovel more and more food into his mouth.

Scarlett shot him a disgusted glance before she shook her and turned her attention to Will, "No, but I would love to hear all about it. Please, spill." She grinned.

"Oh, yeah! I threw a fireball at him and.." He imitates an explosion, "Dead."

"Oh! Dude, sick." Ben exclaimed, offering his hand out for a high five, to which Will took immediately, slapping his palm against the older boy's.

"Wait, what is.." Joyce looked around for answers, "You mean this is the.."

"No it's just Dungeons & Dragons." Will shook his head at his mother, taking another bite of his food.

"Dungeons & Dragons, right." She says in understanding, looking at everyone else with an 'I still don't really know what that is' expression.

"It's fun." Will said simply. "Oh! And Scarlett got me this super cool costume, so I can really become Will the Wise!"

"Well, you already are Will the Wise! The cloak is just an upgrade, you know?" Scarlett reached over and ruffled his hair.

And the five happily continued eating their Christmas dinner, completely unaware of the horrors that were about to befall Hawkins. But for now, they're enjoying their peace. Happy to be safe and out of harms way.

But someone is always watching.

✄ - - - -

season 1: COMPLETED!!!

only going up from here😁