Cate sat in her room late that night unable to sleep. She'd just witnessed Will Byers body being pulled from the Quarry. Traumatizing could hardly cover the things she was feeling. She wanted, no, needed someone to talk to about what happened.

The phone rang and rang. She sighed about to give up and hang up when a voice appeared on the other end.

    "Hello?"

    "Steve." Cate whimpered.

    "Cate? Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly hearing her begin to cry.   
    "I-I can't do this. I need you. Will's gone, Steve. Gone gone." She began to cry harder.

    "Hold on. I'm coming over. Get ready to let me in your window." Steve said quickly and the line went dead.

Within 10 minutes Steve was knocking on her window. She crawled out of bed and opened it, letting him inside. Steve closed it for her as she scurried back to her bed, digging her face into her knees she pulled to her chest and began to cry again.

    "Shhh, hey. It's okay." Steve whispered quietly, climbing in next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "It's okay."

    "It's n-not okay... I saw them, Steve. I saw them pull him from the Quarry. His little body, cold, lifeless..." Cate sniffled and leaned her body into his.

Steve's eye's widened hearing this. He knew she was close to all her brother's friends, but it didn't make sense to him why she was weeping over the boy so harshly. But what she said, made it all make more sense. After everything that happened to her today. He didn't blame her for being so upset. Steve held her tightly, listening to her cry broke his heart in two. He just shushed her gently, holding her close until she cried herself to sleep in his arms. Something about the whole thing felt right to him. Even though it should have felt so wrong.

He was dating Nancy. Her best friend for heaven's sake. The girl he thought he could love and had just literally just met her parents tonight. He had just barely walked through the door after that meeting, nearing the last ring of the phone call before he answered and turned on his heels without a second thought. Cate needed him. He was enjoying her being there in his arms. He enjoyed comforting her. He was the one she called and there was nothing that could make him feel any happier. Steve leaned his head on top of hers and closed his eyes enjoying the moment.

Before they knew it, it was morning. Cate was confused as she stirred in her bed unable to move. But she was comfortably warm. She tried to move her leg only to feel someone else's entangled with hers. Her arm wrapped around a body and someone's body wrapped around her. Cate's eye's fluttered open as she laid there frozen. Eye's moving upward to see the one and only Steve Harrington, still in her bed. Sure, they'd had sleep over's before at his house. But she always slept in the guest room. He snuck in to her house and slept on a mattress on the floor that was tucked under her bed. Pulling it out whenever there was a sleep over. But here he was, in her bed and Cate didn't hate it.

That was until she really realized, Steve Harrington was in her bed. They were completely cuddle together and he was dating her best friend. That made her hate it. Sure, it was completely innocent. Just two best friends helping one through a difficult time. Yet, she suddenly felt like it was so much more than that. She quickly shook the feelings away and denied they even existed. It was just a momentary lapse in judgement, she told herself. Cate looked up at his peaceful face and he truly looked so content. His face was calm, eye's lightly shut, mouth slightly open and soft breaths coming from him. Cate's hand moved out from it's jailed space under his arm and she lightly traced his cheek, making him groan slightly. Which didn't help her heart in any manner.

    "Steve." Cate whispered. "Steve, you fell asleep here. You have to get up. We're going to be late for school."

    "Mm-hmm." Steve mumbled, a sleepy smile crawled across his face. She let out a small giggle and Steve's hazel, brown eye's flickered open. "Hi."

    "Hi." She whispered back as he looked into her blue eyes. "Steve, I can't exactly move."

    "But I'm so comfortable... Oh, my god." Steve nearly scrambled out of the bed, falling to the floor making a loud thud. They both immediately froze.

    "Cate?" Dustin called out to her with a croaky voice. The knob on her bedroom door wiggled and she prayed to god that it was locked. "Are you okay?" Dustin asked, clearly unable to get into the room.

    "Uh, yeah! I just fell... out of bed..." She called back out to him. "I'll be up in a minute to get ready to bring you to go to school."

    "Actually, Mom said I didn't have to go today." Dustin called out through the door.

    "Ok!" Cate called back trying to untangle from the blankets. Dustin's footstep's faded away towards the living room. "Oh, my god." Cate snickered, leaning her head on her bed, while Steve lightly laughed on the floor.

    "That was really close." Steve snickered.

    "Yeah. He'd probably hate you forever if he found you in here. And Dustin hardly has a hateful bone in his body." She pointed out. "Okay, uh, you have to go home and get ready. So go..." Cate opened the window and pointed out it with a big grin.

    "So, I'll see you at school?" Steve asked moving closer to the window.

    "Mhm." Cate hummed with a nod.

    "Okay. I'll see you there, then." Steve climbed out the window and dashed away.

Cate got ready for school, as much as she didn't want to go, she needed to. Or she felt like she did. She was a few months shy of junior year ending and she needed to keep her grades up. Even though she could probably do it with her eyes closed. She walked out the door to find Dustin in the living room packing his backpack.

    "I thought you weren't going to school?" Cate questioned him curiously.

    "Oh, uh, I'm not... Mike and Lucas said it's an emergency so I'm headed over there... If that's okay?" Dustin questioned and Cate shrugged.

    "As long as you're careful and safe. I'll see you later. It's probably best your with friends right now anyways." Cate pointed out and Dustin nodded in agreement.

Dustin hugged her tightly and they both left the house. Cate pulled into her usual spot at the High School and immediately went searching for Nancy.

    "Oh, my gosh, Cate! There you are!" Nancy exclaimed. "I have so much to tell you."

    "Oh, my gosh. Nancy." Cate mocked playfully. "What is it?"

    "This is going to sound super crazy... But I-I went back to Steve's yesterday instead of staying for the game..."

    "What? Why?" Cate questioned her friend curiously.    
    "To look for Barb. I couldn't get ahold of you so I went alone. Her car was still where we parked it. Empty. And I was looking in the woods... And I saw something." She whispered lowly as they both looked around.

    "You saw something? Like what?" Cate asked.

    "I don't really know how to explain it... I thought it was a man maybe, but it had really long arms and... no face..." Nancy explained and Cate's eye's widened.

    "Are you sure maybe you just didn't get a good enough look at him? Did you tell the police?" Cate asked.

    "Yeah... My mom and I did last night. Steve's being a super huge asshole about it. He's more worried about his Dad finding out about the party rather than the fact that Barb literally went missing." She scoffed.

    "Well, I mean technically we weren't supposed to be there. We told all of our parents we were at the vigil. And Steve's dad is like a grade A asshole." Cate explained.

    "See that's exactly what he said!" Nancy huffed.

    "Right. Well, he should be a little more understanding. We will figure this out, okay?" Cate said softly, placing her hand on Nancy's shoulder. "I'll be by your side right through this."

    "Thanks, Cate." Nancy sighed and leaned on her friends shoulder.

Classes started and Cate stayed fairly silent through out the day. Lunch came around and Nancy refused to be near Steve. In their last class Steve sat behind her like he always did.

    "So Nancy's pissed off at me." Steve scoffed, leaning forward to talk to her.

    "I know." Cate said simply.    

    "I don't understand why. Like she went snooping through my back yard, Cate. I mean, that's just insane." Steve pointed out.

    "Steve, sometimes you can be really thick. And Insensitive." Cate pointed out and sighed. "Look, she's worried about Barb and you should be too. She disappeared after the party that took place at your house. But the only thing you're worried about is yourself. I get your Dad's an ass, I do. Probably more than anyone. But this is the second disappearance in Hawkins within a few days of each other. One is... Gone. So that doesn't exactly make Barb's odds look very good. Nancy's really worried about her friend and you're showing her you don't care. Barb is her best friend. You want to be a good boyfriend? Then show her you care. Apologize, do something to make it up to her." Cate huffed and turned back around.

Steve slunk back in his seat knowing she was right.

Cate was taking notes when someone knocked on the door to the class and opened it.

    "Catherine Henderson." The assistant said and she looked up wide eyed. "If you'll come with me, please."

    "Uh, okay..." Cate said unsurely, gathering her things and heading out the door.

Cate was walked to the empty cafeteria alongside Nancy, only to find her mother standing there next to Mrs. Wheeler.

    "Oh, Caty-bug, what is all this about?" Her mother asked her worried bringing her daughter in for a hug.

    "Uh, oh. This is about Barb isn't it?" She whispered curiously looking between Mrs. Wheeler and Nancy.

Two of the Hawkins Police Department were there in the room waiting at a table for them all to sit down. They began to question the girl's on Barbara's disappearance. Asking for any information that they could give. Nancy and Cate explained to the two officers everything they knew up until Barb disappeared. Cate felt so guilty as her Mother's eye's widened hearing that her daughter had lied and not gone to the vigil with Steve like she had previously said.

    "This argument you and Barbara had?" Officer Powell directed at Nancy after her recap of the events. "What was it about?"

    "It wasn't really an argument." Nancy replied cautiously. "Barb just wanted to leave. I didn't, so, I... I told her to just go home."

    "And then you came down the stairs." He turned and directed at Cate to confirm what they'd already said.

    "Yes. She looked upset and I asked her if she was all right. She said she was fine. I assumed she didn't want to walk to her car alone given everything going on. So I offered to go with her. But she said she wanted to stay and wait for Nancy. I didn't argue with her, I just left." Cate stated.

    "And how did you get home?" He asked again.

    "I, uh, walked home..." Cate replied nervously. Her mother looked down at her hands disappointed. That look alone could have made Cate cry.

    "And you did what after you're argument with Barbara?" He turned to look at Nancy.

    "Then I... went upstairs to put on some dry clothes." Nancy stated nervously.    
    "And the next day, you went back and saw a bear, you're thinking?" Officer Powell asked curiously.

    "I don't know what it was, but... I think... I think maybe it took Barb." Nancy explained and they looked at her whether it was out of curiosity or disbelief. "You need to check behind Steve's house."

    "We did." Officer Callahan stated. "There's nothing there. There's no sign of a bear. And no car."

    "What do you mean there was no car?" Cate frowned and looked at Nancy who also looked shocked.

    "Look, we figure that Barbara came back last night and then she took off, went somewhere else." Callahan explained.

    "Has she ever spoken to either of you about running off?" Powell asked. "Leaving town, maybe?"

    "Barb and I weren't as close as her and Nancy but no. That doesn't sound like something she'd do." Cate insisted.

    "She's right. Barb wouldn't do that, ever." Nancy agreed.

    "She wasn't maybe upset about the fact that you were spending time with this boy?" Officer Powell asked. "Uh, Steve Harrington?"

    "What? No!" Nancy scoffed.

    "Maybe she was jealous because she saw you go up to Steve's room?" Officer Callahan insinuated.

    "It wasn't like that." Nancy snapped, but not in a harsh tone.

    "Like what?"

    "Steve and me, we're... we're just friends." Nancy said. Cate looked down at her hands and Nancy tried her hardest not to look at her. "We... We just talked."   

    "Now was this before or after you changed out of your clothes?" Callahan asked.

Both Cate and Nancy stayed quiet and were soon let go from questioning. Claudia told Cate to drive home and meet her there, so she did just that. Cate stepped foot in the house and found her mother standing in the living room with her arms crossed.

    "Mom, I..." Cate tried to piece together what she wanted to say on the way over. But she knew no matter what she was in trouble.

    "Catherine, why did you lie to them? Why did you lie to me?" Claudia asked firmly.

    "Mom, I-I just didn't want to ask. I knew you'd say no given everything going on!" Cate replied harshly.

    "You're darn right I would have. And yet you walked home? Knowing about everything. Now another girl's gone missing. That could have just as easily been you!" Claudia's voice rose only slightly, filled with worry. "Why didn't you call me? I would have come to get you. We don't do this. I thought we had a better relationship than this, than lying. I thought you knew that whenever you're in trouble you can call me. No matter the time. You and your brother. Did you think about him when you walked home? Do you know how much it would destroy him to have you be taken away from him too?" Claudia asked her softly.

    "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry." Cate broke down in tears knowing she was right. She needed to give her mother more credit. "I didn't think and I should have."

    "I'm not going to ground you this time. But, you promise me right now, no more secrets like this. You ever need anything and you come straight to me. You got that?" Claudia pulled up her daughter's chin to look her in the eyes and Cate nodded.

The both of them embraced tightly and Cate sighed in relief. When they let go, she went to her room and took out the small pieces of paper that had been ripped up. She hated knowing she probably had the last picture of Barb. The last shred of evidence of her before she disappeared. Cate stared at the picture and the ripped up pieces surrounding them. She was examining the picture when something caught her eye, seeing a figure in the corner of one of them. She held it close and squinted at it, making out a large figure in the shadows with long arms and no face...

Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. She was only seeing it because of Nancy's story, right? Cate bit her lip and placed the photo piece against the one of Barb. It matched. She quickly gathered all the shredded pieces and a roll of tape, beginning to piece them together. She looked at the whole picture and wished she had a way to enhance the figure so she could get a better look at it. But, her mind clicked an idea in her head. She did have a way. That just meant she had to get some courage to talk to the person who took the pictures in the first place. Jonathan Byers, and she knew right where to find him.

    "Mom, can I go into town? I'll be careful I promise. I just need to go find Jonathan. He's my friend you know and I'm sure he's struggling with the whole Will being found last night..."

    "Yes, that's fine sweetheart. Thanks for telling me. Just be sure to be back by curfew!" Claudia called out as Cate hugged her and ran for the door.

She quickly got in her car and drove into town, seeing Jonathan's car outside the funeral home. Cate took a deep breath collecting herself, before stepping out of the car and into the funeral home.

    "It's made of soft wood with a crepe interior." The director explained the caskets to Jonathan. "Uh, now, I-I don't know what your budget is, but over here, we have copper and bronze."

They walked across the room as Cate stood in the doorway nervously. Jonathan's eye's lingered on her for a moment and he turned back to the director.

    "C-Can you just give me a second?" He asked.

    "Of course."

Jonathan put his hands in his pants pockets and walked over towards her slowly, a confused look on his face.

    "Hey." He said softly and almost questioningly.

    "Hey, um. I need to talk to you. I sort of figured you'd be here. Can we, just, um, talk for a second. I know you're busy..." Cate said awkwardly.

Jonathan nodded immediately and the pair went into the hallway, taking a seat on some waiting chairs. She pulled out the picture of Barb and showed it to him. Pointing out the figure in the corner.

    "It looks like it could be some kind of perceptive distortion, but I wasn't using the wide angle. I don't know." He shook his head handing the picture back to her. "It's weird."

    "And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" She asked curiously.

    "No. She was there one second and then, um, then gone. I figured she bolted." Jonathan shrugged slightly, examining the girl's frowned face next to him.

    "You know, we got questioned today by the cops today. They have this running theory that she just ran away. But Nancy's convinced something else happened to her. No one else is listening to her and Nancy is my basically my best friend. I figured I owed it to her to be on her-side and look into this first before getting her hopes up." Cate sighed.

Cate stood up to leave, but quickly turned and looked down at Jonathan who was watching her curiously.

    "She said she saw something at Steve's when she went back. A weird man or something... I saw this and thought maybe... But..." Cate rambled for a moment before she met Jonathan's eyes. She widened her own realizing this was completely inappropriate. "Oh, my god. I'm sorry. Here I am rambling about our problems and interrupting today, here, like this."

Cate tried to leave quickly and Jonathan popped up, grabbing her wrist to stop her.

    "No, uh, don't go. My mom's having a hard time accepting all this. She convinced herself it's not really Will. So I'm kinda alone... What did Nancy say this thing looked like?" He asked curiously. She studied his face for a moment.

    "Um, I don't really know. She said he didn't..."

    "Didn't have a face?" Jonathan finished for her and they both looked at each other.

    "H-How did you know that?" Cate stammered.

    "My Mom. She was convinced something attacked her. Saying that it had no face." Jonathan explained. "Uh, do you mind waiting with me and then we can go try and enhance the picture."

    "Uh, yeah. Of course." Cate nodded quickly.

Jonathan went back to the funeral director and quickly picked the casket he had his eyes on for Will, without needing to see all the really fancy expensive ones. They hopped into their vehicles and drove to the high school to use the darkroom so Jonathan could work his magic on the photo. The room was dark with a faint red light that illuminated the room.

    "So, this one's doing what exactly?" Cate asked leaning against the table while Jonathan worked on the picture.

    "Brightening. Enlarging." He explained softly.

    "Did your Mom say anything else? Like, where it could have gone too or anything else?" She asked curiously.

    "Mmm. No, just that it came out of the wall." Jonathan said simply, lightly shaking his head.

The machine dinged and Jonathan turned it off, opening it up and grabbing the new picture before placing it in the small tub of water. He slowly moved it back and forth.

    "How long does it usually take?" Cate asked anxiously.    
    "Not long." Jonathan assured her.

    "I, uh, wanted to say I'm sorry. About what Steve did to your camera." Cate said after a moment.

    "You're apologizing to me?" Jonathan let out a soft amused snort and he turned to look at the dirty blonde haired girl next to him. "If anyone should be apologizing it's me."

    "Well, I think he took it to far, you know? Steve doesn't always think before he acts, especially when he's around Tommy and Carol..." She said awkwardly, making them both go silent. "So, um, I know photography is your thing... But why did you take those pictures anyways?" Cate asked softly.

    "Oh. I guess, I'd rather observe people than, you know..."

    "Talk to them." Cate nodded in acknowledgment. Giving him a soft smile.

    "I know. It's weird." Jonathan looked back at the picture.

    "No." Cate stated quickly. "I don't think so."

    "No, it is." Jonathan looked over at her again. "It's just, sometimes, people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment... it says more."

    "That's really sweet actually..." Cate smiled as she looked down at her hands. "What, uh, was I saying?"

    "W-What?" Jonathan asked caught off guard.

    "When you took my pictures? What was I saying?" She clarified gently.

    "I-I, uh, shouldn't have taken those... I'm sorry, Cate. Really... It's just..."

    "Jonathan, look." Cate pointed out the picture before he could explain himself.

They both looked down at the picture that had been revealed in the water. It was a tall, creepy figure, with long arms, and no face. Just like Nancy had said.

    "Oh, my god." Cate breathed. "That's what Nancy said she saw."

    "My Mom..." Jonathan gasped lightly. "I thought she was crazy 'cause she said that's not Will's body. That he's alive."

    "If Will's still alive then that means..." Cate gasped.

    "Barbara." She and Jonathan breathed out together.

    "We need to tell Nancy. Maybe we should tell your Mom too?" Cate suggested.

    "No, no. Uh, Nancy, fine. But my Mom's going through enough. Just Nancy." Jonathan stated and Cate nodded her head in agreement.
Cate ran to the pay phone and dialed Nancy's house number.

    "Hello?"

    "Hi, Mrs. Wheeler. Is Nancy home?" Cate asked quickly.

    "Oh, hi, Cate. Yep, hold on. Nancy!" She heard her shouted.

    "Hi, Cate... What's up?" Nancy sniffled as she answered the phone.

    "Nancy, Jonathan and I have something super important to talk to you about and show you. Not over the phone, though okay. We will meet you at home?"

    "Uh, yeah... I guess so... Jonathan Byers?" Nancy questioned her friend's sanity.

    "Yes. We'll be there soon."

Cate hung up the phone. Jonathan and Cate ran to their cars and blasted down the road towards Nancy's. As soon as they pulled in, Nancy walked out of her house with a jacket wrapped tightly around her body.

    "What's this about, Cate, Jonathan?" She questioned them both.

    "Nancy, is this what you saw in the woods?" Jonathan asked her gently and brought out the picture, handing it to her.

She looked at him and Cate curiously, before taking the picture and looking it over. Her eye's widened and she looked back up at the two, speechless, only letting out a small nod.

    "I-I, how, where did you get this?" Nancy stammered.

    "Those pictures Jonathan took at Steve's party? Well, I found this one of Barb. I pieced it back together and brought it to him after noticing this figure." Cate pulled out the original photo and showed it to her. "I hoped he could enhance it. It looks just like what you explained. So, he did and that's how we got this one." Cate pointed to the picture in Nancy's hands.

    "My Mom said something broke through the wall at our house. That this creature with no face attacked her. I thought she was crazy. I didn't believe her until Cate and I stumbled across this." Jonathan explained.

    "She also doesn't believe that Will's body that was found is actually him. She just kept saying he's alive. So." Cate said knowingly and Nancy's face lit up.

    "So Barb could be too?" Nancy asked with hopefulness filling her tone.

Cate and Jonathan nodded at the girl, earning a hug from Nancy. She pulled them in tightly and they hugged her back.

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