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˚⋆ ┊ ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING ┊ ⋆˚
☆⋅⋆ ─ act i. don't you want me, baby?

CHAPTER SEVEN - after school special
( episode three ; the pollywog )

- warnings: emotional abuse !!
billy hargrove i hate u

❀

⠀ ⠀ GUILT SWIRLED IN THE PIT OF HER STOMACH AS THE IMAGE of Steve waiting solemnly played over and over in her mind. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, which was rather unusual considering most of the time she very much so was. Still, Peyton's patience with Billy's careless driving and loud music was clearly wearing thin.

"Weren't you supposed to wait for Max?" she asked, more to make conversation than start an argument. But, of course, Billy couldn't even do that.

"Screw it," he shrugged, smirking even at the idea of the young teen having to find her way home by herself, "That little shit can skate home," glancing around briefly to see whether Peyton was as amused as himself, he soon found that she was less than amused at that idea

Yet still, she held back her urges to lecture and instead opted for a simple scold of, "You can't say that about your sister," Billy's expression fell once again. Something that Peyton had become rather familiar with. Smirking one second, cursing her out the next.

"Don't call her that," he snapped back, all trace of cockiness now gone as his glower matched the blonde's

"What?" questioned Peyton, more confused than upset.

"Sister," spat Billy, glancing over in disgust as he continued with his careless lack of attention to the road, "She's not my sister,"

Peyton didn't know how she was still shocked at the stupidity of the words that left Billy Hargrove's mouth. Max wasn't in any way a bad kid, and yet still Billy was persistent in his hatred toward her. As if it were her fault his dad was an asshole. That his mom left and now he was forced to live in some shitty town in Indiana instead of seaside California. In fact, she was probably just as sad, just as hateful, but much much smaller.

Brows knitting together in more disgust than confusion, Peyton didn't know why she left it so long before speaking up. Maybe she was trying to give Billy a chance to take his words back, to prove he didn't mean to be so cruel to his kid sister. Fingertips snaking through the rips in her jeans, Peyton dug her nails into her skin, breathing deeply as she resisted the urge to grab the wheel and veer them into some old tree just so she didn't have to stare at her should-be ex's smug smirk any longer. But rather than causing an event that would surely put them on the cover of the Hawkins Post, Peyton's glower turned to a wry, twisted smile, unable to contain her amused chuckles.

"You know what? This was a mistake," shaking her head, Peyton let out another wry chuckle, "Just... pull over," not quite catching on to the seriousness of her tone, Billy raised a brow at her seemingly out-of-the-blue demand.

"Huh?" he questioned, though the smirk on his face was confirmation enough that he'd understood the blonde perfectly clearly.

"Pull over!"

"What?"

"Billy, I'm so serious, stop the car," grip on her knees tightening, Peyton's eyes flickered to the wavering red hand of the speedometer, watching as with every demand Billy seemed to do just the opposite.

"I can't hear you!" teased the Hargrove boy, raising his voice as the engine truly began to roar. Tongue running over his shiny white teeth exposed by his shit-eating grin, Billy's knuckles had started to turn white from his iron grip on the steering wheel, yet still, he showed no sign of slowing. This wasn't the first time Bily had surpassed the speed limit. And Peyton doubted it would be the last. But, in all the times she'd been sitting in the very same shotgun seat she found herself glued to now, she'd never once been afraid.

But now... something had changed.

In all their taunting and glaring and ignoring, they'd not actually had the chance to 'kiss and make up'. Save for Billy's piss-poor parking lot apology (which Peyton was still on the fence about believing had any meaning behind). The animosity, jealousy, rage from the night before was still ever present. Lessened maybe. Hidden behind faltering poker faces and snide comments, but still there. Anxiety festering, Peyton forced her hands to grip anything but her legs, opting for the handle of the car as she tried her best to keep her cool.

"Alright, slow down!" predictably, Billy's game continued like it was fucking opposite day. He slammed his boot on the accelerator. The painful shockwave hit every nerve in the Evans girl's neck like whiplash as her head collided with the leather headrest, "Billy, slow down!" at first, her words came out as more of a warning than a plea, "Billy, please!" tires screeching as they scraped across the rigid pavement, Peyton barely registered that the car had stopped moving by the time Billy's foot hit the brake.

In the middle of the road, the car had come to an abrupt halt that very nearly did send them swerving to their deaths. Nerves collected together in her throat, suffocating and scratching, and yet still she could barely move. Not from fear of Billy, but fear that, even a single tear, would give him the satisfaction of seeing that his sick power play had worked.

Because she knew that's all it was.

Because if he was going to kill her, why put himself in danger too?

No, this was his twisted way of showing that he knew Peyton was completely powerless from the passenger seat. Just like he knew she was powerless when he'd dragged her through Tina's front door. It was clear to her now, more than ever, that Billy didn't love her. He didn't even like her. He was obsessed with her. Obsessed with knowing that, even in her strongest moments, he was still stronger.

Ringing in her ears like police sirens sent from the sensible part of her brain, Peyton scrambled for the door handle as even the parts of her brain arguing to stay with Billy screamed at her to get the hell out of there.

But it was locked.

Another failed escape attempt... Another display of power over her. Fear turning to anger, Peyton begged the internal switch inside her to flip so that her nerves no longer prevented her from giving Billy the beating he truly deserved. But it never did. All she could do was glower, hope that expression was enough to convince Billy to let her go in more ways than metaphorically

"Let me out," anger turning to panic, Peyton pulled on the cold metal handle so aggressively and vigorously that the entire car began to shake but it was to no avail. Turning to him once more, her cheeks started to redden as her hands clenched tightly into punch-hungry fists, "Billy, let me out of this fucking car. Now," staring deeply into his cold eyes, Peyton tried to decide for herself what was truly going on inside Billy Hargrove's head.

Was he considering kidnaping her?

Was this his genuine idea of a romantic gesture?

How the fuck did she end up in this situation?

But their few seconds of pondering in silence were soon cut short by the, surprisingly relieving, click of a newly unlocked door. Door flying open, Peyton very nearly fell to the ground, not having realized just how dizzy her head collision had made her. Yet still, Peyton managed to regain her composure, at least long enough to speedily scramble for her backpack and step out of the deathtrap Billy was passing for a vehicle.

Confidence regained, Peyton knew that if she wasn't stronger than Hargrove, she sure as hell was faster. And, if she pissed him off enough for him to want to hurt her in any way, she was no longer helplessly clinging to a passenger seat. Pent-up aggression finally safe to release, at least enough to relieve the pressure, Peyton used all the strength she was physically capable of channeling into one arm to slam the absolute shit out of the Camaro door.

"Asshole!" engine revving, Billy's audacity knew no bounds as he leaned forward to peer at Peyton through the open window

"I'll pick you up at seven!" he retorted snarkily. Earning himself a well-deserved double middle finger salute as Peyton began striding confidently backward in the direction they'd just come speeding from

"Fuck you!" sending a surprising amount of concrete dust her way, Billy had seemingly finally gotten bored of tormenting her (or had at least given up for the day).

He left her.

Alone.

At least a couple miles from the middle school.

A thought in her mind she'd never had before in her life.

Why didn't I go with Steve Harrington?

❀

⠀ ⠀ IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG, ESPECIALLY AT PEYTON'S ACCELERATED walking speed, to get to Hawkins Middle from where Billy had abandoned her on the long stretch woods-surrounded of road. Gravels stones of the empty parking lot scraped loudly beneath her heaving combat boots as she sauntered toward one of the many side entrances to the school. Too lazy to pull her hands from her pockets, Peyton pressed her back into the dark blue door, peering around her shoulder through the glass before pressing her boot against it to push herself upright again.

It was oddly nostalgic, being back in the school she'd attended years ago. Walking down the very same halls that, even at the age of thirteen, were often the chosen location for the relentless teasing of her peers. Even her locker seemed the same. Smaller, maybe, but her growth spurt in eighth grade was probably to thank for that. Crouching beside it, Peyton ran her polished fingertips against the cool metal, smirking as she felt the grooves in the paint from where they'd covered her poorly etched P.E., initial left to remind anyone who should find themselves lucky enough to own that locker just who it belonged to.

Peyton's trip down memory lane was soon cut short by the sound of someone's fist pounding against an audibly locked door, metal clanking together with every harsh slam. Rounding the corner to investigate, Peyton was less than surprised to find none other than the very girl she'd so swiftly left Billy's car for.

MadMax.

"Mayfield!" Whirling around at the sound of her name, Max looked more relieved than anything at the sight of her step-brother's would-be ex-girlfriend

"Shouldn't you be with Billy?" the hint of snideness felt so well deserved that Peyton felt more amused than offended, a wry chuckle escaping her lips, that soon had the tip of her tongue running thoughtfully over them.

"Shouldn't you?" retorted the blonde, hands sliding into her empty pockets as Max barely shrugged in response, eyes flickering anxiously between the older teen and the locked door. Finally clocking that there may be a better reason for her lateness and therefore lack of transport home, Peyton allowed her gaze to land on the metal plaque engraved 'AV ROOM'.

Sudden worry chilling her bones, Peyton listened to the familiar whispers of the five boys she so hoped weren't putting themselves through more stress and trouble after the events of the year before. It didn't take more than a moment for her to put two and two together. Parker had hardly stopped talking about this girl, and now they lock her out of a secret meeting? No, there's no chance he would do that unless he legally had to...

Oh, shit...

Concerned gaze slowly trailing back to Max, Peyton's brows may as well have been glued together from their seemingly permanent concerned (yet also annoyed) state, "What's going on?" seemingly just as worried and frustrated, Max only shrugged, back against the door as she slid down to sit on the floor

"They won't tell me," she confessed, sighing upon noticing a look that clearly was meant to encourage her to continue, "Dustin found this..." face scrunched up in thought, all Max could do was flail her arms in a failed attempt at explaining Dustin's discovery, "Slug... thing? And Will said the words 'upside down' and now everybody's freaking out,"

Ohhh, shit!

Peyton hadn't realized just how much two simple words could freeze up her entire body. She'd been told, kept telling herself, that it was all over. That was just... the anniversary effect. But if anyone is going to have a supernatural connection to that place it's the boy who was trapped there for an entire week.

It was over.

It was supposed to be over. No more monsters, no more flickering lights, no more alternate dimensions.

No more upside down.

She had both been there and done that and was very much so looking forward to a supernatural-free life.

A million different thoughts began rampaging through her mind at once, with no room left for such mundane worries as satisfying the ego of Billy Hargrove. If being honest with herself, Peyton was just about ready to have a full-blow breakdown then and there but god knows she's gonna keep it together in front of a group of boys that are, most likely, scared out of their god damn minds. And the girl that had absolutely no clue what was going on.

"Is it bad?" Max's question finally pulled Peyton from spiraling any further. Left in yet another sticky situation, Peyton couldn't explain why the boys had done what they had to Max even if she wanted to.

"It's bad..." Peyton forced out a whisper, bag sliding carelessly off her shoulder as she extended a hand toward Max, who accepted surprisingly quickly. Peyton pulled the rather light redhead from her spot against the door so that she herself could begin pounding for entry, "Hey!" - nothing - "Hey, assholes, you let me in right now, I'm not screwing around!" banging ever persistent, Peyton was beginning to wonder if there were any decent faculty members monitoring the middle school at all, "Wheeler! Henderson!"

Back now pressed against the wall, Max didn't seem to mind the way the jolts would pass through the wall every time with every violent knock, "What does upside down mean?" the clueless girl questioned, no idea just quite what she was asking Peyton to reveal. Fist stopping just short of the door, Peyton could feel the anger and panic rising, almost certain that if she used any more force her fist would end up flying straight through the damn thing. And if she needed to fight in any way? A broken hand was the last thing any of them needed.

"Something..." voice quivering, Peyton took a deep breath, trying to swallow the lump in her throat as she struggled to find the safest way possible of telling Max without actually telling Max, "Something very... not good..." but this only seemed to confused the girl further, jumping in slight shock when Peyton's pounding suddenly continued

"What?"

"I really wish I could tell you, but legally I'm not allowed,"

"What?" the redhead repeated, seemingly the only word left in her vocabulary, mind muddled with confusion. By now, Peyton had just about reached her limit. First detention, then Steve deciding to play therapist, Billy almost lumping them into the teenage car accident statistic and now the god damn demogorgon could be back?

It was too much.

Too fucking much.

Pushing herself rather aggressively away from the door, Peyton muttered an infuriated, "Oh, screw this," the Mayfield girl watching quizzically before noticing that the blonde was, in fact, preparing to kick the thing open. Backing away before she got hurt, Max didn't even get a chance to ask if that was such a good idea before Peyton's boot slammed into the door just beside the handle.

If mommy dearest stuck around long enough to teach her anything it was how to properly kick a fucking door in (take that Carol Perkins!).

Metal lock tearing through the wooden frame, the door swung open with ease, each stunned boy whirling around in shock.

And what a sight there was behind that door. Sitting in the middle of the table was Dustin's homemade ghostbuster trap, which had clearly been used to trap... something.

Although, that something was no secret to Peyton for long. Following the boys' guilty gaze to the ground, Peyton's eyes landed on something that most definitely was not a slug. Spooked and able to see a clear escape route, the slimy thing went bounding straight through Peyton's legs. Leaping out the way just in time, "Holy shit!"

Each of the boys were quickly in pursuit, giving the blonde a split second to leap out of the way. Unlucky for Max, she didn't have such keen reflexes. And she, Parker, Lucas and Dustin all toppled like dominos as Peyton, Will and Mike scanned the hallways for the mystery creature

"Where'd he go?" yelled Lucas from the ground, Max groaning in pain as she frowned in confusion

"What was that?"

"Dart!" Parker quickly answered in a panic, though that meant absolutely nothing to Peyton, who was somehow the least of the kids' worries.

"Hey!" she called, somehow ignored beneath the much louder argument sparking between Dustin and Mike

"You let him escape!"

"Why did you attack him?"

"Because he's probably evil!"

"Hey!" Peyton repeated much louder this time.

"Peyton?" questioned Parker, hand gripping the one she had just extended toward him in utter confusion. Pulling her brother from the ground, the five boys looked just about ready to receive the scolding of a lifetime as Peyton stood, arms tightly folded across her chest

"Someone better start explaining RIGHT NOW or I'm calling Hopper," intimidating demand apparently translated a little too well as every single frightened kid began babbling their version of the story. Stings of incoherent panicking mashed together into an unintelligible mess, which was just about the opposite of productive, "Hey, hey, HEY!" hands clapping together, silence fell as Peyton scanned for the, at least in her opinion, least annoying friend of her brother's, "Sinclair," gaze wide upon hearing his name, all eyes fell on him, "Talk,"

"Dustin thought he found a new species but Will thinks it's from the upside down and he also might have true sight and the slug grew legs and now it's escaped and could eat somebody or worse," shocked that he'd managed to get all that out in one breath, Peyton's frown turned from annoyed to confused to worried in a matter of seconds. Although, she had little time to think of any kind of strategy before Henderson decided to interject

"He's not gonna eat somebody!" although his protest was quickly met with infuriated disapproval from 2 out of 3 of the other boys. Will, still the smallest and quietest, had yet to say a word, but Peyton could tell just from his face he had a bad feeling.

"How do you know?" snapped Mike, taking a step closer, more to get his point across than intimidate his friend, "What if he's not done growing?"

Words became nonsense, scrambled as though her head was being held underwater. She'd gotten good at masking her gasps for breath, even when it felt as if there truly was water filling her lungs. Fingers running anxiously through her hair, Peyton frowned, hands still resting atop her head, when finally the shrill shouting of the pre-teens proved too much to handle

"Alright, shut up!" on any other occasion, Peyton would have cracked a smile at how easy it was to scare the boys into silence. But instead, she was left with the very real possibility of being thrown into yet another life or death situation, "If this thing is..." glancing briefly at Max, Peyton decided it was time to be much more careful with their words, not only for her life but their own too, "What we think it is then we find it, and squash it or take it and then we take it to Hopper,"

Dustin still tried to protest, "But-"

"Zzzp!" hand swatting him into silence, fingertips pressed into her thumb as if having stolen his voice Ursula style, "Find it. Hopper," tilting from one side to the other as she stated their choices, Peyton was looking mainly at Dustin by now, as he was the only one of the bunch left to convince when it came to the capture (or killing) of his so-called pet, "Walkies on," fingertips raised, Peyton made a familiar circular motion so everybody knew it was time to get a move on, "Will you're with me, everybody else spread out around the school. Let's go,"

Nobody wanting to take the risk of arguing, Will followed closely behind his step-sister as the others spread themselves out across the school.

At first, they walked in silence. She felt bad, making him tag along with her. But after last year, she wasn't taking any chances if anything to do with the upside down was involved. Especially not with just how close she'd gotten to the Byers since then.

"East is clear. No sign of D'art,"

Brows knitted, it suddenly dawned on her that was the first time she'd actually heard this thing's name,

"D'art?" repeated the blonde, cracking her first smirk of the day as Will gave a wistful shrug

"D'Artagnan," he explained, "Like the musketeer?" but that meant absolutely nothing to Peyton

"Right..." she trailed off, saved by the static of a walkie as Dustin's voice confirmed

"South is clear. Will?"

The Byers book scanned the area a moment longer, but when Peyton shook her head he knew he could confidently tell the others, "West is clear. Lucas? Anything?"

"Nothing here, man,"

Finding D'art truly was proving difficult.

And yet, Peyton couldn't help but find more ways to fill the (probably needed) silence. Now rather grateful Will hadn't protested her instruction to stick with her, Peyton let out a short sigh, coming to a stop just outside the girls' bathroom door

"You know I meant everything I said the other night, right?" recalling their movie night heart to hear, Will very nearly cracked a smile, "You can talk to me,"

"I know..." the youngest Byers looked more guilty than upset, clearly able to read where Peyton was trying to lead their conversation. The burning question on everybody's mind

Why didn't he say something earlier?

"That includes... this," Peyton reassured, not yet reaching a hand out no matter how much her protective nature urged her to

"I didn't..." voice trembling, Will stared into the ground, unable to look the sympathetic blonde in the eye as he confessed, "I wasn't sure. I wanted to be sure before I made anyone worry,"

Now that was a familiar emotion. Peyton had become victim to the but what if I bother them and it's not true? mentality a vast number of times. All because of her deep fear of becoming the girl who cried wolf.

Better to ask for help when you know you need it than ask too early and waste everybody's time, right?

Maybe her, but sure as hell not Will. No, if he even shivered wrong she wanted to know about it. And so would Jonathan. And Joyce, even Hop. Because even if those assholes at the lab were, well, assholes. If they went there for help, they knew where Will had been. Where he truly ended up that week he went missing. They could help.

But Will had to ask for it first.

Afraid of becoming tearful, Peyton buried a hand in her pocket to wrap a loose thread around her fingertip, pulling tight to take redirect any attention her brain was forcing on her tear ducts, "Will, I'm always gonna worry," she admitted, "I'd rather worry and find out it was nothing than not know when you could be in danger," around halfway through her sentence, Will had gone from listening intently to her to listening intently to something else, "What, what's wrong?" when Will continued to just anxiously stare, Peyton surprised herself with how much patience she had for the youngest Byers boy. The silence, however, was soon filled by the familiar scuttling and squealing of the other-worldly creature. Spinning around, Peyton's nose was barely an inch away from the bathroom door, too afraid that if she pushed it open with any kind of aggression she'd spook the thing.

Fingertip slowly raised toward her lips, Peyton peered at Will over her shoulder, using her free hand to try her best at silencing the hinges that probably hadn't been greased since her grandparents attended Hawkins Middle.

It was then that Peyton wished she'd swapped out her combat boots for converse; or anything that could silence the sound of rubber colliding with the bathroom tiles. Creaking each time she creased her foot, Will almost sent her soul flying from her body when he gripped her arm, staring in shock at the way she jolted from the sudden contact.

Fearful that her facade of bravery was faltering, Peyton opted for a confused frown as opposed to her usual glare. But all Will did was motion with his head to the stall at the very end, able to see an abnormal shadow perturbing from the large gap beneath the door. Nodding in understanding, Peyton stood still where she was, watching as Will used his fingertips to slowly push the stall door.

Relief wasn't exactly the word Peyton would have chosen for the moment her eyes landed on D'art once again. He wasn't all that cute, despite Dustin's clear insistence on keeping him as his pet. One thing he was, was frightened. Which, for a probably man-eating creature from the dimension of all things evil and murderous, actually was a relief.

Frozen in place, Peyton waited as Will brought his walkie as close to his face as possible, speaking quietly before he spooked D'art any further, "I found him..."

"Where?"

Dustin's voice was first to crackle through the speaker, clearly the most desperate to find his pet. Swallowing deeply, Peyton's stomach swirled as a dark and unsettled feeling took over. Will's voice sounded different than normal. The anxious tremble usually present in his voice was tainted with genuine terror, plastic walkie jittering noisily in his shaky hand, "In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's,"

"Copy that,"

Mike's voice came next. Which was a relief considering she was certain that, in contrast to Dustin, Mike had more concern for will than D'art.

Coming up behind Will, the Evans girl peeked her head around the side of the stall, watching as her would-be brother crouched toward the trembling, green creature

"It's okay," he comforted, all the while trembling in fear, "I'm not gonna hurt you,"

Peyton frowned, trying her best to remember any kind of biological fact about the stance this thing had taken, staring at Will like a threatened python about to strike. Before she had a chance to pull him to safety, D'art suddenly screeched in warning, backing into a corner as both Peyton and Will jumped in shock.

Shallow breaths overtook any sound that could have been heard from the bathroom. Peyton almost suspected they were her own; it wouldn't have been the first time an unprompted panic attack. But, upon realizing the breaths weren't a match to her rising and falling chest, the Evans girl's stomach dropped with the realization that it wasn't her in a state of panic.

It was Will.

Whirling around with every intention of comforting the Byers boy, Peyton didn't even have a chance to ask if he was okay before she was met with the sight of the bathroom door swinging closed.

And no Will Byers to be found.

"Will!" scrambling through the door, Peyton almost knocked Dustin out in her chaotic efforts to catch her step-brother, "Watch out, Henderson!" more concern than animosity in her tone, Peyton shoved her way past his concerned brown eyes, hurrying down the hallway with twice the urgency she'd had for D'art, "Will!" turning a corner, Mike had clearly lost all care in looking where he was going as he charged head first into Peyton, very nearly sending them both falling to the ground

"Sorry!" he gripped her arm, more to keep himself stood straight than the increasingly anxious blonde. Unintentionally aggressive, Peyton forced the Wheeler boy to his feet, gripping him by the shoulders tightly as she looked him in the eye

"Will," panting with concern, she watched as Mike's face fell into a very nearly tearful state, "Where's Will?" group of light footsteps running toward them from behind, Peyton and Mike spun to face them hopefully. Their eyes scanned over the teens.

Parker, Dustin, Lucas, Max...

But no Will.

"Shit!" barging past, Peyton overheard a brief we can't find Will!, soon followed by the sound of the group dispersing once again across the echoing school halls. Coming around another corner, Peyton had barely noticed there was yet another person in her path when a much tighter grip than one of a middle-schooler gripped her from her trance

"Peyton!" glaring at first, all anger faded into relief upon the sight before her. Joyce Byers.

"Mrs. Byers?" Brows firmly creased together at the sound of each and every one of her son's friends calling out his name so urgently

"What's going on? Where's Will?" before she even had a chance to open her both, Lucas pulled the door open so hard the Evans girl was shocked it didn't shatter the glass

"The field!" he panted, having yet to stop running toward his friends. Turning back almost as fast as he approached, adult, teen and child alike sprinted behind the Sinclair boy in hopes that he'd found Will safe and sound.

But when their eyes landed on the poor Byers boy, all hopes of that were shattered.

Out in the middle of the bright green grass stood will, hands at his sides and eyes rolled back into his head. It was as though he was in some kind of trance, body trembling not in fear but involuntarily. Twitching as though he weren't the one in control.

"Will!" called Mike, already stood at his friend's side as Peyton and Joyce got to them first, "I just found him like this!" he explained, "I think he's having another episode!" holding onto her son's shoulders, Joyce shook vigorously, calling out to him in hopes of snapping him from his daze.

Tears broking her eyes, Peyton's body turned numb with fear and guilt.

What if he was dying? And it was all her fault? She was supposed to protect him. And yet she looked away, and when she looked back he'd disappeared.

How could she let that happen?

How the hell had she lost him so easily?

Stammering out any excuse she could to try and make sure Joyce didn't hate her forever, Peyton widened her eyes before the tears threatening to spill had a chance to trail down her reddened cheeks "I- I took my eye off him for a- a second, just a second!"

But there was no time for forgiveness now.

Every piece of Joyce's energy had to be focused on waking her son, "Sweetie, wake up! It's Mom!"

Feeling a sudden grip at her side, Peyton very nearly shoved whoever it was away. Before suddenly realizing it was her little brother, panicked and almost crying as Will continued to writhe and shake uncontrollably, "Will, wake up!" arms wrapped anxiously around Parker's shoulder, somehow allowing it for not only his comfort but her own as well, "Can you hear me? Will, please, just wake up!" growing dizzy, Peyton had never felt so useless in her life. But she didn't dare interrupt. There was no way in hell she'd be able to do a better job at waking him than the boy's mother, "Please, wake up!" begging continued to no avail, "It's Mom!" urgency only grew, "It's me!"

Nobody had taken a useful breath of air in minutes, anxiety closing their throats like allergic reactions. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours, every moment a lifetime as the agonizing wait for Will to return to their world.

The Byers boy waking was just as frightening as when they'd found him. His eyes were wide and horrified, gasping for air as though he'd been drowning. And yet still, an overwhelming sense of relief settled over the group, with the Byers' mother gripping onto her son for dear life as he panted breathlessly into her embrace.

All of Peyton's hopes for logical explanation had been catapulted out the window in a matter of seconds.

No, this was not time to be hopeful.

No time for hope at all.

Hawkins was never free of the upside-down's curse.

And neither was Will.

see i'm getting better at updating !!

this was fun to write i hope it wasn't too repetitive toward the end it was almost 2am for me when i finished this chapter but i have spell checked it a little more as it's the afternoon in my time zone rn

but still gonna apologise in advance for spelling mistakes

also a steveless chapter today :(

it's ok they can fight in the next one

BUT ALSO to make up for it i think i'm gonna write my first interlude type chapter ?? do we want a flashback to s1 ?? probably the demogorgon fight cause who said anything ab the flashbacks being in the right order ;)

anyway yea hopefully i can post that on the weekend cause it might not be as much as an ordinary chapter ??

ty for reading and voting
and commenting it really does make my day!

<3