THEY'RE MORE FESTIVE !

☀︎

SPENDING THE NIGHT AT THE BYERS HOUSE WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR ALEX. It was something that all of them had gotten fairly used to when Jonathan and her would go out and take pictures with one another until it grew very late. Having to get up for school after what felt like a long evening, neither was excited to start the day.

Alex groaned, rolling over when she felt Jonathan get up next to her. She held out his shirt for him with her face buried into the pillow. Rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, he groaned loudly to express his hatred for the day ahead of them before he ripped the shirt out of her hand. Just as he yanked it over his head, the sound of his mother's voice could be heard coming from the other room. Her pleads for Will were enough to have Jonathan jumping up from his spot to hurry out of the room.

Sitting up with a groggy look on her face, Alex glanced around the room as she debated getting up. There was always the option of waiting for Jonathan to come back and force her to school but with all his other stress, she chose against it.

Alex attempted to flatten down her now messed up hair, running her fingers through in hopes of getting out some knots. On the end of the bed had been a neat pile of Joyce's clothes set out for Alex to wear for the day. Once the voices of the Byers grew louder the more frustrated they became with one another, Alex got up to get dressed and chose to possibly walk to school.

Once dressed, she peeked her head out the door just in time for Jonathan to force it all the way open. Both had startled one another as they nearly collided together. "Oh, good, you're dressed," Jonathan whispered. "Let me get dressed and I can drive us to school."

Not giving her much an option, he ushered her out of his room, letting himself slip in before shutting it behind him. Standing in the hall, Alex wasn't sure what to do. Joyce's hushed whispers had barely been heard as they came from Will's room. Since Alex knew if she ever had any problems, she was able to go to Joyce, she felt the need to check in on her.

Coming up to the open door, she knocked gently against the wall, seeing that Joyce had been desperately whispering to the lamps that seemed to litter the entire room. Perking her head up, Joyce briefly looked at Alex before focusing back in on the lamps. "I'm okay, Alex, really."

"We'll find him," she responded softly. Making her way over, she sat beside Joyce on the end of the bed. Giving in, Joyce nodded her head in response. She looked over to Alex with a small smile, taking notice that she had found the clothes she had put out for her. "I think you pull off my clothes better than I do."

Alex looked down at the clothes, managing a laugh. "Thanks for letting me even borrow them... I'm sorry if it was annoying I stayed the night since you got so much on your mind..."

"It was nice to have company. Jonathan seems more relaxed to have a friend around... and he's told me how much you've done to look for Will."

Jonathan let out a small cough from the doorway, getting both of their attention, "We should be going now."

Alex nodded her head once, turning to Joyce before leaving, "If you run out of lamps... Christmas lights are festive," Alex patted Joyce's shoulder, leaving her all alone, really thinking about what Alex had said.

『••☀︎••』

AT SCHOOL, LUNCHTIME HAD COME AND BARB HAD STILL NOT SHOWN UP. Scanning the room, Alex had looked anywhere for Jonathan but he had seemed to be skipping out on lunch today. Searching for the next best option, she had spotted Nancy taking the seat beside Steve. She had considered sitting alone but both Steve and Carol had caught her attention and waved her over. Except, it had not been long enough until Tommy pushed each of their hands down.

Despite Tommy not wanting her around, she had made her way over, taking the spot at the end of the table hesitantly. Leaning over to her, Nancy had seemed frazzled and worried. "Have you seen Barb today? Didn't you two have a sleepover?"

"She left when I went to the bathroom at Steve's," she shrugged. "Think she stayed home because of her hand? It was pretty nasty."

"You walked all the way home?"

Shaking her head, Alex reached over and snatched back her pudding cup from Steve the moment he took it off her tray. "No, Jonathan found me while I was heading home and offered to drive. I went to his place for the night."

"Wait a damn minute," Tommy interrupted, "You stayed at the Byers' house? Are you serious?" Unable to hold back his laugh, he pointed his spoon in Steve's direction. "Told you they'd get together."

Ignoring Tommy's comment, Steve had been more focused on Alex's face turning red as she denied the possibility of her and Jonathan being a thing. This had only prompted Tommy to tease her for blushing which earned him a hard kick from Steve under the table.

This topic of conversation felt the least bit important to Nancy as her mind had still been on Barb. "Hey, Tommy, when you left, did you see Barb?"

"What?"

"Barbara. She's not here today," Nancy said quietly, growing nervous from the look on Tommy's face.

"I seriously have no idea who you're talking about," Tommy said plainly until he and Carol started giggling with each other.

"Come on, don't be an ass, man. Did you see her leave last night or not?" Steve asked in annoyance.

"No, she was gone when we left."

"Probably couldn't stand listening to all that moaning," Carol laughed. Then she and Tommy both began to moan Steve's name tauntingly, making the whole situation more uncomfortable than it already was. Ignoring all the moaning around her and the constant thump and shake of the table, Alex saw Jonathan standing out in the hallway watching through the lunchroom doors. Both she and Nancy stopped what they were doing to see him but Alex shot up quickly, tossing her lunch into the nearest trash and rushing over to him.

"Freak love," Carol whispered as everyone turned their heads to see where Alex was, watching as she laughed outside the doorway with Jonathan.

"They totally screwed last night," Tommy laughed but only Carol seemed to be the only one to think it was funny. Both Steve and Nancy watched as the two walked away together, trying to ignore the jealousy that was bubbling up inside them.

『••☀︎••』

WHEN SCHOOL HAD ENDED, ALEX AND JONATHAN HAD MADE PLANS FOR HIM TO DROP HER OFF AT HOME. As soon as the bell had rung, the two had immediately met up with one another and headed right out to Jonathan's car. Through their way to the parking lot, she had flicked through all his pictures, minus the few he had hidden away in his bag.

"These are great! Can I keep any?"

"Sure, you can have all the ones you took of me," Jonathan laughed.

Flipping to another, a loon of disgust had spread across her face. "This one is horrible." Flashing it towards Jonathan, he had seen the picture of her eating dinner at the Byers' house last night, her face completely stuffed.

"Really? Because that one's my favorite." Jonathan snatched the rest of the pictures from her and stuffed them back into his bag with the others. It hadn't been long before he realized that Alex's playful mood had been turned around by the people huddled around his car. Steve, Tommy, Carol, and Nicole had all been resting against his car which had only been a sign of trouble coming ahead.

Feeling uneasy, Jonathan had readjusted his bag on his shoulder. "Are you sure he knows I'm taking you home?"

"They're going to the game," she whispered. "I'd rather get a ride from you if that's okay."

As the two had approached the car, Steve had smacked Tommy on the back causing the entire group to stand and eye Jonathan. The tension hadn't been unnatural but it was suspiciously overwhelming. Glancing up to Jonathan, she wondered how he'd take charge of the situation or if he had even felt it.

"What's going on?" Jonathan questioned.

"Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work. And we'd just love to take a look. You know, as... connoisseurs of art." Steve's eyes flickered towards Alex and her confusion, letting him know she was unaware or simply didn't care what kind of person Jonathan was.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Come on, Alex," Jonathan said quickly, trying to shove his way passed the group. However, before he could break through, Tommy had grabbed a hold of him and yanked his bag clean off his shoulder. Not taking lightly to how physical Tommy was being. Alex made a grab for it but Tommy was a lot stronger than her and jerked it out of her hands.

"Come on, Alex. Don't be a part of his games," Steve warned. Taking the bag from Tommy, he ignored Jonathan's pleas as he dug around his bag for what he knew had been inside. "Man, he is totally trembling. He must really have something to hide." Pulling out the pictures, he leaned up against the car, flipping through them with a faked amused expression. The pictures all had been from the night previously, none that Alex had been made aware of.

"Oh, man," Tommy chuckled, taking half the stack from Steve and flipping through some with Carol.

"This is what you get up to? You get off on this?" Steve laughed, flipping through more of the pictures. His smile dropped for a second when he came across one of Alex upset in his backyard. Given she had been all alone when the picture was taken, he was aware of where he had been when it had happened.

He listened as Tommy and Carol got in a few more jabs at Jonathan, pretending to laugh when he could. Glancing up to Jonathan, he noticed Alex trying to figure out what was happening through confused questions and he folded the picture up since none had been looking. Standing up, he slid it into his back pocket.

"I was looking for Will," Jonathan whispered to Alex. However, his excuse had not sat right with the others.

"No, this is called stalking," Steve clarified.

Making her way up to the car, Nancy had been just as lost as Alex. "What's going on?"

"Here's the starring lady," Carol grinned, "This creep was spying on us last night. He was probably going to save this one for later." She handed over the picture of Nancy only in a bra with a light laugh. "Now we know who comes second yet again," she whispered, locking eyes right on Alex.

"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but... Man, that's the thing about perverts, it's hardwired into them. You know, they just can't help themselves." Steve kept his eyes on Jonathan, tearing up the pictures right in front of him, not bothering to look at the rest. He didn't need to, he knew how he felt about Jonathan from here on out, even if he had broken a promise to go easy on him.

Alex had yelled out his name in surprise as she watched what he had done. Even if some of the pictures in the pile had been taken without permission, mixed in with them had been some that Alex had taken. Her work was ripped apart because of what Jonathan had done.

As she had scrambled to gather up as many pieces as she could before the wind blew them away, Steve continued. "So, we just have to take away his toy," Steve laughed, dropping the camera down onto the pavement.

"Come on, let's go. The games about to start." Steve ushered his group back towards the school. Making his way around Jonathan, he stopped before Alex kneeled down, "You coming?"

She shook her head, not bothering to look up at him as she attempted to grab more. Knowing not to push further, Steve had called for his group once again over his shoulder to follow along. Except, Carol and Nancy had stayed in their place.

Kneeling down, Nancy had gone to help Alex, only to come across something much more interesting. On the other hand, Carol held onto the few sets of pictures that had not been destroyed and weren't from the party. Coming up to Alex, she held them out with a deep frown set in place. "Pretty sure these are yours," she whispered. The moment Alex had taken them from her hand, she kneeled down to be level with her. "You don't have to hang out with us, but you should figure out what kind of friend you did make." Standing tall, she dismissed herself, rushing off with Nancy alongside her to catch up with their boyfriends.

Letting the scraps fall from her hands, Alex watched as Jonathan had picked up the shattered pieces of his camera. "What did you do, Jonathan?"

"It was a mistake," he whispered. "Please don't hate me too."

"I don't," she confirmed. Making her way over, she began to help gather up the pieces of his camera, still unable to wrap her head around what had happened. But Jonathan had been a better friend to her than anyone else had in Hawkins and she'd decide to forgive him whenever Nancy did as they had made it clear she was the one most affected by what had happened.