WORD COUNT: 3k

"Steve is probably waiting for me," Nancy finally spoke up, breaking the silence. Neither of them knew where to go from here, that was obvious. It felt like they were at a literal and emotional stand-still over Barb's whereabouts. But clearly, they needed to move quickly if finding Barb was the priority. The longer they waited, the more danger Barb was in.

"Steve? That's who you're worried about right now," Owen scoffed, face scrunched up in confusion. "Barb may be missing, Nancy. We need to tell someone – her parents, the police, anyone," she pointed out, urgency in her tone. Nancy crossed her arms over her chest tightly, a firm line settled on her lips.

"She also may actually just be at the library. Or maybe she stayed home and her mom didn't know she was there," Nancy argued, clearly in denial about the whole situation. Without another word, she stepped past Owen and began walking towards the student parking lot. Her behavior caused Owen's eyebrows to shoot up to her hairline in shock before she hurried to catch up with the other girl.

"Do you hear yourself right now? Neither of those theories make any sense at all," Owen snapped, her eyes fixed on Nancy's obstinate profile while they walked. "I mean, I'm willing to go check out both of those places ourselves to rule them out before we go to the police, but I have a bad feeling that that's not what you meant," Owen tried to compromise.

However, before the conversation could continue much further, they were approaching Steve, Tommy, Carol, and some other redheaded girl all circled around that kid, Jonathan Byers. Owen immediately bristled at the scene in front of her, not liking the way any of them had treated Jonathan previously. Something bad must've really happened in order for all of them to approach the Byers boy like this.

"What's going on..." Nancy inquired when they stopped in front of the group. She must've been apprehensive about the whole interaction as well, as she nervously clutched the strap of her backpack.

"Here's the starring lady," Tommy acknowledged with that typical shit-eating grin.

"What?" Nancy's eyebrows dipped just slightly, a timid smile on her lips as she tried to understand what the hell was going on.

"This creep was spying on us last night," Carol explained, her bubblegum smacking in her mouth while she was pointing to the pictures in her hands. "He was probably going to save this one for later," she continued, a smug grin on her lips. She handed over a single picture to Nancy, holding intimidating eye contact with Jonathan as she did.

Owen peeked over Nancy's shoulder at the photograph that was now in her grasp, completely unsure of where Steve and his goons were coming from with this sudden exposé. Nancy's bare back through a singular lit window was not at all what Owen was expecting to see. Her stomach turned at the fact that this picture was taken without her knowledge, with the potential to be used for all sorts of nefarious things. Owen shot a glare at Jonathan, who was not making eye contact with anyone around him – especially Nancy.

"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but... Man, that's the thing about perverts... It's hardwired into them," Steve pointed out, speaking for the first time since the two girls had walked up. He stepped closer to Jonathan, looking down on him both literally and figuratively. "You know, they just can't help themselves," he sighed, shrugging before tearing up one of the photos he was holding and letting the shreds float to the ground. Naturally, Tommy giggled openly behind him, just spurring Steve on.

"So, we'll just have to take away his toy," Steve announced, turning around and returning to what looked to be Jonathan's bag.

"Steve..." Nancy choked out, speaking just above a whisper.

"No, please, not the camera," Jonathan pleaded, stepping forward in protest just before Tommy grabbed him and held him back. The comment caused a pang of hurt to shoot through Owen's chest. Jonathan obviously did not come from a lot of money, much like Owen and her family. She knew that something like a camera was a rare luxury for people like them to even have in the first place – if she had to guess, it was almost certainly a birthday or Christmas present. It certainly wasn't replaceable like most things were to people like Steve, Tommy, Carol, or even Nancy. This certainly didn't excuse his actions in her mind, but she still stepped up to Steve nonetheless.

"Are you serious? This is your brilliant idea to what? Punish him? Just tear up the pictures if you're that worried," Owen huffed, arms folded in front of her. Steve redirected his attention downwards, locking eyes with her. Owen's gaze was burning into his, a stubborn glare as she stood in between him and the boy who she sadly related to in a way. In turn, Steve had the audacity to roll his eyes, pulling the camera out of the bag anyway. This caused Jonathan to lunge forward yet again, Tommy grabbing him by the jacket this time.

"No, no, wait, wait... Tommy, Tommy," Steve interjected, making an effort to sound falsely reassuring as he reached out to hold Tommy back by his shoulder. "It's okay," he nodded, stepping forward slowly towards Jonathan. "Here you go, man," he offered, holding the camera out for him. Owen watched on cautiously, not convinced that Steve was actually listening to her for once.

Unfortunately, Jonathan Byers was not as cautious, quickly reaching out to grab his camera back so that he could escape from the tormenting crowd of people surrounding him. Although, the moment he extended his hand to grasp the camera, Steve intentionally loosened his grip and let the equipment shatter on the pavement beneath them. Owen bit down hard on the inside of her cheek in an attempt to keep her lower lip from quivering at the devastated look on Jonathan's face. She tore her gaze away, her eyes fixated on her feet instead.

"Come on, let's go. The game's about to start," Steve reminded everyone, tone clipped. He only allowed himself one quick glance at Owen, momentarily shocked at her silence. He fully expected her to blow up on him, handing him his ass on a platter with that glare that he had become so familiar with as of late. But her silence was almost worse. He couldn't get out of there fast enough, even slipping right past Nancy to head back towards the school. The rest of his group followed him, leaving Owen and Nancy to stand quietly with Jonathan and the torn up pictures from the night before at their feet.

Jonathan immediately scrambled to grab everything that was left behind, humiliation and despair leading his actions. Nancy stole aching glances at him while he picked everything up, her lips curled into a frown. As she looked at him and his mess once more, one torn up picture in particular stood out against the pavement. Nancy squatted to get a better look at the photo, lifting one piece into view. Silently, she turned the picture around to show Owen who stood beside them. With an owlish gaze, Owen also lowered to her knees in order to make sure she wasn't seeing things. There, captured in black and white film from the night before, sat Barbara Holland on the diving board of Steve Harrington's pool.

"Hey, Nance," Steve shouted to her, having waited up for her after all. "Come on," he directed, causing Nancy to quickly pick up a small collection of the torn up fragments of Jonathan's photos. Her blue-eyed gaze snapped between Jonathan and Owen before she shoved the pictures into her bag. Then, she took off to meet up with her boyfriend. Both Owen and Jonathan watched on as Steve wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his frame while they strolled towards the school.

"Steve is such an asshole," Owen murmured, fingers picking at shattered glass from the camera that were sprawled across the ground. The boy nodded, at least acknowledging that he heard her. A cold breeze tossed the torn pictures around between them and out of reach. From what she could see, most of the pictures were nothing terrible; just a couple of the group playing around in the pool or shotgunning beers. Other than that one picture of Nancy, they were all pretty innocent. Weird, absolutely, but probably nothing with ill-intent.

"Why were you out there taking pictures of them, anyway," she continued, looking up at him curiously. Jonathan was quiet for a couple moments, but her stare did not let up.

"I was looking for my brother," he croaked, eyes cast downwards as he busied his hands with picking up what was left of his camera. "I heard someone screaming and I just ran towards the sound, I guess. I thought someone else was getting hurt or... stolen, or something? Turns out, it was just that party," he explained further, lips pursing.

"Yeah, I was there. Tommy kept trying to throw Carol into the pool," Owen shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"I just thought it looked like such a normal scene. With everything going on, nothing has felt normal for a while now. But, even when everything is going to shit, teenagers are still going to throw parties," Jonathan chuckled humorlessly. His point made Owen feel absolutely horrible. Although he was right, she was sure that it was a punch in the gut to see other kids your age partying and having fun when it felt like your world was spiraling.

"I'm really sorry about your brother, by the way. I'm sorry you're having to go through this," she said in her best soothing tone. He gave her a tight-lipped smile, probably so tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

"Thanks," he uttered, his voice raspy.

They worked together in silence, picking up everything that they could and making sure it was all inside of his bag safely. All Owen could think about was how much better Jonathan was at taking all of this than she would have been. She would be absolutely losing it right about now if all of this stuff was happening to her, probably going ballistic on practically everyone around her. But perhaps all of his grieving and anger were being held on the inside. She couldn't decide which seemed worse.

✯

Gordon and Law were leaned up against the car waiting for her when Owen approached them. She watched her younger brother's face light up at the sight of her, waving excitedly when she got closer. He was acting like they hadn't just seen each other at lunch earlier that day, but she wasn't going to turn down the excitement.

"Sorry I'm late... Some idiots were giving that Jonathan Byers kid some shit earlier and I had to say something," she explained once she got to the car. This information caused Law's toothy smile to falter, his more serious expression making him look more like Gordon beside him.

"People were picking on him? Even after all that's happened," he questioned, not sure why anyone would act so awful.

"Like I said... idiots." She shrugged at him, palms splayed in front of her.

"Well, it's actually okay that you're running late. You remember Law's friend, Frank?" Gordon piped up. Law's face lit up again at the mention of his friend, seeming excited to tell his sister the news. Owen nodded, remembering the scrawny kid they had met just recently and then sandwiched into the back of Barb's car. "Well, he's on the basketball team. Law wants to go to his game tonight and it starts in about..." he trailed off, glancing down at his wristwatch, "Five minutes. So, I hope you're a big basketball fan."

"Oh, I love basketball. Biggest basketball fan in Hawkins, probably," Owen replied sarcastically, feigning a smile. Both of her brothers knew she wasn't a sports fan, but she wasn't about to rain on Law's parade. Gordon pushed himself off of the car, tightly wrapping his arm around his sister's shoulders playfully. He dragged her along towards the school, Law trailing closely behind.

"Number one basketball fan in Hawkins, you say," Gordon asked her teasingly, grinning down at her. Owen rolled her eyes at his comment, chuckling lightly.

"Without a doubt," she retorted, not letting up on her sarcastic tone.

"Oh yeah? What's a point guard do?" He was eyeing her expectantly, setting her up to fail with this pop quiz. Owen was quiet, racking her brain for an answer that would impress the two boys.

"Um... guard the points?" Her answer caused the two boys to howl with laughter when they stepped inside of the building. The sound of their laughter bounced around the busy hallway while students and citizens alike filed into the gym for the game.

"Hawkins, I've got your number one basketball fan right here," Gordon announced, pointing at Owen dramatically. Only a couple of people actually paid any attention to the trio. However, she still shoved him off, chuckling along with her brothers while she untangled his arm from her shoulders.

✯

As expected, the back and forth nature of the basketball game was nearly boring Owen to tears. Even worse, Hawkins High's team was getting obliterated by their opponents. They were lucky to have made one basket the entire time, it seemed. Not to mention, Law had failed to clarify that Frank had broken his arm last week and was on bench warming duty the whole game. It didn't seem like either of them cared too much, seeing as Frank had used his good arm to excitedly return Law's wave. Despite how sweet their interaction was, the game felt like it was dragging on forever. The pink-haired girl needed to do something other than continue to sit thoughtlessly between her brothers.

"Do you have a dollar? I'll go get us some popcorn," she offered, hand outstretched to Gordon expectantly. He gave her a knowing look, digging his wallet out of his pocket and handing over the money. She swiftly took it from him before standing up and shuffling out of their row.

"Hurry back," Gordon added in a singsong voice, fully aware that she was going to take the scenic route when returning to her seat. Owen sped down the steps of the bleachers, watching her steps to make sure she didn't eat it on the way down. As she practically ran from the gym, Gordon watched Steve Harrington stand up soon after. The boy's pacing nearly matched Owen's as he followed her out of the gym's doors and into the hallway. Gordon merely quirked an eyebrow before refocusing on the game in front of him.

The moment Owen was in the hallway and headed towards the line for concessions, someone grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her to a stop. She whirled around, a scowl on her face as she prepared to berate whoever felt the need to grab her. She wasn't expecting to see Steve standing behind her, a hand still wrapped around her wrist.

"Oh for fuck's sake. Of course it's you," Owen groaned, jerking her arm away and out of his grip. She turned back around, prepared to continue on her mission for popcorn.

"Owen, wait," Steve blurted, stepping forward but knowing better than to grab her again.

"God, what? Aren't you supposed to be bothering Nancy right now? Or maybe Jonathan is still out in the parking lot if you wanna terrorize him again?" She turned back around to face him, her nostrils flared and arms crossed tightly in front of her. He had said exactly two words to her and she was already tired of the conversation.

"Nancy's not here with me," he confessed, his tone giving away how annoyed he was.

"Lucky her," she muttered, a deadpan expression on her face. But that hardly stopped Steve from continuing his story.

"She dipped on us before the game, made up some bullshit about doing something with her mom," he explained, rubbing his hands across his face tiredly. "Look, I know she's worried about Barbara or whatever. But nothing crazy has happened in Hawkins in years." The look on Owen's face likely gave away her confusion, still not quite sure what this whole story had to do with her. "I mean, you know...Barbara is probably fine. So... I guess I'm just asking if you'll talk to Nancy, maybe get her to calm down a bit. She's just really overthinking this, y'know?"

Owen's eyebrows shot up, jaw dropping minutely at the request. She stared at him in silence for a moment, processing what Steve was asking of her. Then, in an unexpected turn of events, laughter began to shake her frame. But even Steve could hear that fakeness in her hysterics. It caused his own expression to sour, not quite sure what the joke was here. But Owen made sure to clear that up for him really quick, as was clear by her abrupt halt in laughter.

"So, let me get this straight...You want me to tell your girlfriend to stop worrying about her best friend that might be missing?" She repeated, just so that he could hear it in his own ears. "Why? Because you can't handle her attention being on anything other than you? Are you that insecure?" Owen was aware that she was rapidly firing questions at him and probably causing a scene in the hallway, but she was struggling to care. Once again, Steve rolled his eyes at the accusations, letting out an over-dramatic sigh.

"No, that's not what I'm-"

"No, that's exactly what you said. But let me be clear..." She asserted, stepping closer into his bubble. "I don't have to do shit for you and your dumbass friend group. Don't ask me for help on 'taming' your completely sane girlfriend ever again." Popcorn long forgotten, Owen pushed past the speechless Steve Harrington and towards the gym. Although, just before she opened the doors to the gym, she turned back towards him.

"Oh, and by the way, Steve... whenever we go to the police to report that Barb is missing, I will be sure to mention that your house was the last place we saw her," Owen seethed before throwing open the doors and marching back to her brothers.