CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BROKEN COMPASSES

The next morning Aaron was awake and ready much earlier than he would have been had he not have been so stressed.

He'd made his bed neatly, showered, dressed, packed his bag full of 'necessities' needed for the day ahead of him and cleaned his room thoroughly despite the fact it wasn't really needed. Aaron was now in the kitchen, a room which he had also thoroughly cleaned that morning. Except now he was attempting to make pancakes, bacon and eggs all at the same time.

Somehow, he had managed to cover himself in white flour as-well as pancake mix, the two somehow painted over his cheekbones and his clothes - much to his horror. Despite this, the blond boy did his best to ignore it for now.

Sighing contently, he placed one stack of pancakes as-well as bacon and eggs on one plate, repeating his actions onto the plate next to it. Swiftly, he took the first plate and placed it gently on the spot at the kitchen table in front of his usual seat. He then sniffed thoughtfully and began making his way upstairs with the second plate.

Aaron did his best to keep his balance as he climbed the stairs, the plate of food in one hand and a glass of water in his other.

Eventually, he reached his older brothers bedroom door, carefully placing the cup of water on the ground and knocking gently.

Moments later, and Steve had swung his door open, the look of sleep on his face transparent. Aaron ignored the look of annoyance his brother was sending his way and smiled at him.

It may have been stupid of him to think, but seeing his friends with their families the day prior had shifted something inside him. Suddenly, he was more resentful of his family situation than he had been anytime in the past. The boy was now set on mending his relationship with his brother, he wanted to have a close friendship with his brother, the type where the two could talk about anything together.

"I made you breakfast." Aaron said with a smile still tugging on his lips. "I brought it up to your room because I wasn't sure if you'd want to eat up here or not, but I've kept mine downstairs in case you wanted to eat with me. Uh- I mean you don't have to sit with me for breakfast, but I set your place at the table and I think it'd be nice if-"

"I'll just eat it here." Steve cut him off by saying, the older one of the two reaching down and picking up the glass of water before walking back into his room and placing it on his drawer.

"Oh," Aaron mumbled in a small voice, cursing himself as he felt his smile of content crumble. Aaron did his best to push down any feelings of sadness rising in his chest. "Okay. That's fine."

Aaron went to follow his brother into his room and place the plate of food he had made on the dresser along side his drink, but was quickly stopped.

"It's fine, I've got it." Steve dismissed quietly, grabbing the plate off him and setting it down himself before turning and making his way towards the door, forcing Aaron to take those same steps backwards until they were both back in the same positions as earlier with Aaron just outside the room.

Aaron bit the inside of his cheek as the door was closed in his face, taking a breath before he retraced his previous footsteps downstairs and into the kitchen where he took a seat alone at the table. However, just as he raised his cutlery and went to take a bite of his food, he paused, standing abruptly and making his way to the desktop and sink where he'd left his mess.

He began to clean and scrub the dishes and desktop frantically, unable to relax until he knew he had cleared up the slightest of messes.

It didn't really surprise Aaron that Steve hadn't immediately wanted to rush downstairs to have breakfast with him, but that didn't mean he hadn't been hurt by it.

One of the things Aaron hated most about himself was his 'inability' to control his emotions. He shouldn't have been so hurt or effected by his brothers response, he'd have bet no one else would have been. Aaron also hated his need for everything to be clean to the point it was out of control, a result of his unhealthy obsession with germs.

He was unable to hide his small smile of satisfaction that crossed his lips upon looking across the now cleaned counter, not one speck of dust or dirt to be found.

Scratching his neck, he took his seat at the large kitchen table which could easily sit the family of four as well as extras if it wanted, yet it seemed as if there was only ever one which had the time for it.

Aaron ate his breakfast slowly, checking the black watch on his wrist constantly, although the longest time which had passed between glances was three minutes. It felt as if time moved slower while he was himself, as if the clocks were out to mock him.

After he'd finished his food, cleaned his plate, and his place at the table, as-well as scrubbing the counter one more time for good measure.

He'd climbed the stairs to his bathroom, brushed his teeth for the third time that day, changed his clothes and washed the flour off his face before walking out to the hallway to use the phone.

Aaron checked his watch for the tenth time in five minutes to make sure he had definitely gotten the time right as he picked the phone from the dialler and dialled the number which he had spent the night memorising the day he had received it.

It took a few rings, but soon enough the phone could be heard picking up from the other line and the panic in Aaron's chest began to increase with every second which passed.

"Hello?" Kimmy murmured from the other end of the call, her voice just above a whisper as if she was trying to go past unnoticed or to hide from someone.

"Hi," Aaron replied in a rushed tone, his reply coming far too fast. So fast that the girl must have known he was stressed talking to her, although he was grateful that she didn't mention it. "It's Aaron."

He heard her laugh briefly in response, and for a moment he was filled with dread as his mind prepared him for the worst, preparing him for cruel comments disguised as jokes to be hurdled his way. Though, this was only momentarily, as he soon remembered who it was he was speaking to.

"I know it's you, Aaron," she replied after a short moment between the two filled only with her laughter. "Who else would I expect to call me?"

"Oh, right," Aaron let out an amused breath of laughter as he spoke, although the feeling of stress and panic refused to settle or bubble away. "Sorry to bother you, but the party is going out. Eleven's coming too. Uh- we're just- well- it's a lot to explain on the phone but I'll tell you about it when I see you. I mean, if you're coming with us."

"Yeah, yeah, definitely. I'll be there." Kimmy replied almost instantly, as if she could hear the unease in his voice. "What time?"

Aaron put the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he checked his watch. Scrunching his face up in thought as he thought over his options and internally debated on whether or not Steve would give him a ride to the girls house or not. He soon came to his senses, taking the time of the morning into account before answering the girl.

"Uh, I'm about to leave now." Aaron eventually replied after the momentary silence. "I can come to yours to get you if you want?"

"Okay, that's fine." Kimmy replied surely, still talking in a gentle whisper. "Thanks."

Aaron smiled in response despite the fact she couldn't see him. "No problem."

...

"Okay," Aaron sighed as he and Kimmy walked side by side along the old railway track, the pair trailing behind Mike and Eleven. "So do you get it? About the flea and the tightrope?"

Kimmy nodded hesitantly, still feeling as confused as ever, but at least now she was sort of grasping understanding. He'd told her all about what Mr Clarke had told them at the funeral, as well as what the group were doing out following broken compasses.

Aaron pushed his bike on the left hand side of him so he could talk to Kimmy who was walking along side his right without either of them bumping into it.

"Kind of," Kimmy shrugged in response. "I just- so what are we doing now then? I don't get what this has to do with the flea?"

"Because of Dustin's broken compass, remember?" Aaron began to explain once more, doing his best to work through his curly haired friends previous words. "There's something stronger affecting the compasses and throwing off its direction. Something that has, like- an insane amount of energy. Dustin thinks it must be the gate, says there's nothing else it could be."

Kimmy simply hummed in response, her brows furrowing as she listened to him talk. She supposed she was taking in what he was saying, she was. But it was a lot to take in at once.

The group had taken quite a while to get to where they were, they'd been walking for what felt like was hours, Kimmy assumed they must have been close enough to whatever gate Dustin was so sure was near.

"How are you feeling, any better?" Kimmy blurted without meaning to, her cheeks going pink without her convent due to embarrassment. "After the other day-"

"I'm fine." Aaron injected abruptly, not bothering to look at her and Kimmy could see the way his entire mood shifted for the worst. "I shouldn't have let myself get so riled up over nothing anyway, it was stupid."

Kimmy wanted to reassure him that his feelings weren't invalid and he was allowed to be upset over whatever he felt necessary, but she didn't in fear of upsetting him and talking out of turn on a matter which he obviously wasn't comfortable discussing.

Aaron didn't say anything else, nor did Kimmy. A deafening silence following as Kimmy desperately searched through her brain for something to say.

"Looks like Eleven's getting tired." Kimmy mused quietly to Aaron, the boy snapping his head to her at her sudden input. "Feels like we've been walking forever."

Aaron glanced to the girl who still wore the blonde wig ahead of the two, and sure enough, she was swaying side to side and wiping her nose. Aaron furrowed his brows.

"So am I." He replied truthfully, a scoff hidden in his voice as he spoke up once again in a teasing tone. "If we don't see this huge magic gate soon I'm going home. I'm not cut out to walk about all day like this."

Kimmy laughed in response, shaking her head. "Neither am I. Let's make a deal, if we haven't found it in the next hour and a half, we're leaving."

Aaron furrowed and scrunched his face up in faux thought, as if he was thinking it over despite already having his answer. "Hmm, alright. Deal."

Kimmy sent him a teasing smile before dragging her gaze to her feet, a comfortable silence washing over the two.

...

Only two hours later did the party come to a stop. The only issue being that they had stopped in a rundown junkyard with no magical gate in sight. The same rundown junkyard which they had started their journey in. They'd spent all day walking in a circle.

"Oh, no." Dustin mumbled under his breath, unfortunately for him, each twelve year old with him heard.

"What's 'oh no'?" Lucas questioned in an irritated voice, wearing a matching pissed off look which Aaron wore.

"We're headed back home." Dustin sighed.

Kimmy wished she could have been as surprised as the boys stood with her, but she wasn't. It was clear as day the compasses were unreliable, they'd been headed home for the past fifteen minutes. Kimmy had just been too unsure of what response she'd get to say anything.

"What?" Lucas gasped at the curly haired boy in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Dustin shrugged in a disappointed tone. "We looped right back around."

Lucas looked to him with wide eyes for a moment before commenting. "And you're just realising this now?"

Dustin went to reply but stopped himself, hesitating as he thought for a short moment and shrugged his shoulders once more. "Why is this all on me?"

"Because you're the one with the compass, genius!" Lucas snapped his frustrations getting the better of him.

"Guys this is ridiculous." Aaron huffed from Kimmy's side, backing Lucas up as he too grew more frustrated by the second. "We have wasted an entire day looking for Will! We wasted an entire day all on something we didn't even know was facts or not! We should have asked Mr Clarke before we-"

"This all makes no sense." Dustin mumbled as he inspected his compass, unbothered by the twos frustrations due to afar Kimmy presumed was the fact he understood where they were coming from.

"Maybe the gate moved?" Mike tried, although you'd have had to have been an idiot to be blind to the look Pfizer uncertainty on his face.

"Yeah," Aaron replied in fake interest, his brows furrowed as he spoke in a sarcastic tone. "The gate grew legs and ran away from us."

"No, I don't think that's it." Dustin replied to Mike, ignoring Aaron's comment. "I don't think it's the gate. I think it's something else messing with the compasses."

"Maybe it's something here?" Mike mumbled unsurely to Dustin, watching in confusion as the boy in question shook his head.

"No," Dustin disagreed. "It's have to be like... a super magnet-"

"It's not a magnet." Lucas injected, pointing accusingly at Eleven who stood far off behind the group watching. "She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass."

Kimmy watched carefully as the girl in the blonde wig began to crack. Her blank face beginning to crumble as guilt took over. Kimmy sighed, knowing the girl may have had her reasons, though for the time being, she'd have to agree with Lucas.

"Why would she do that?" Mike quickly defended.

"Why wouldn't she do that?" Aaron snapped, although it didn't appear to be half as angry as Lucas. "We don't know her Mike. You don't know her. She doesn't even talk, who knows why she did it!"

While Kimmy agreed the girl had been the one to mess them up, she didn't believe the girl was capable of malicious intent. Kimmy believed she'd had her reasons. The look on the small girls face only proving this to her.

"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission!" Lucas snapped, his temper soon getting the better of him as he continued to rant on. "Because she's a traitor!"

Lucas then dropped his bike abruptly to the floor, matching forward to the girl with a guilty look tugging on her features.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike called, sounding anxious of some sort.

Lucas ignored him.

"You did it, didn't you?" He asked the girl now near tears in front of him in s strangely calm voice. "You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will."

"Lucas, come on, seriously." Mike called, sounding both unamused and tired at the entire situation. "Leave her."

Once again, Lucas ignored him.

"Admit it." Lucas said to the girl calmly, though his face told an entirely different story.

"No."

"Admit it!" Lucas snapped at the girl, furious at the situation at hand.

His voice causing both Kimmy and Aaron to flinch, both pretending the didn't see the other do so.

Lucas reached out abruptly, grabbing her wrist so he could get a look at her jacket, scoffing at the sight.

"Fresh blood." He murmured in an almost disappointed voice, dropping her hand. "I knew it."

"Lucas, come on-"

"Mike, shut up! Jesus." Aaron snapped, causing the dark haired boy to glare at him.

"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks!" Lucas yelled, shifting to look at Mike rather than the girl. "She was using her powers!"

"Bull!" Mike snapped at his friend, his voice raising in a way Kimmy had never heard. "That's old blood. Right, El?"

His question was met with silence.

"It's not safe." El replied after a moment. Tears rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head.

Lucas raised his eyebrows at Mike as if to say 'I told you so'.

Kimmy felt bad for Eleven, she couldn't help it. Maybe it was the way she was crying, or the way she had spoken so softly or maybe it was simply because Kimmy wasn't good with confrontation, whether she was involved or not. She didn't like it and didn't do well in it.

"What did I tell you?" Lucas' angry yells at Mike tearing Kimmy from her thoughts. "She's been playing us from the beginning!"

"That's not true, she helped us find Will!" Mike snapped, taking a step so he was in Lucas' face.

"Yeah," Aaron scoffed, involving himself in the argument at hand. "And how did that end, Mike? Oh yeah, in a dead body that wasn't even Will!"

"Exactly!" Lucas agreed, his arms thrown up in the air as the looked around him with an exaggerated expression. "She helped us find Will. Well where is he then? Huh? I don't see him!"

"You guys know what I mean!" Mike scoffed, rolling his eyes at the pair.

"No, actually," Aaron replied in a frustrated tone, and Kimmy could tell it was only a few moments before he completely snapped on the Wheeler boy. "We don't."

"Just think about it, Mike." Lucas stressed, pointing to the girl. "She could have told us where the upside down was right away, but she didn't. She just made us run around like headless chickens!"

"Calm down!" Dustin snapped at the three, moving from his spot next to Kimmy and put his arms between the boys arguing.

"No!" All three snapped.

"She used us!" Lucas sighed, turning to Mike for emphasis on his next words. "All of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wanted; food and a bed. She's like a stray dog-"

"Screw you, Lucas!" Mike cut the boy off in a yell, only fuelling his anger.

"No!" Lucas yelled back louder. "Screw you, Mike. You're blind because a girls not grossed out by you!"

Kimmy turned to Dustin with an exaggerated look of offence, whispering words which would cause the boy to crack a smile. "What the hell am I then?"

"Wake up, man!" Lucas continued to yell, stepping closer and closer to Mike. "Wake the hell up! She knows where Will is, and now she's just letting him die in the upside down-"

"Shut up!" Mike interrupted, although Lucas payed no attention.

"For all we know," he continued, his arms waving as if he didn't know what to do with them in the moment. "It's her fault."

"Shut up!"

"We're looking for some stupid monster," Lucas carried on, reaching out to nudge Mike's shoulder. "But did you ever stop to think that maybe she's the monster?"

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek, looking to the look of hurt which flashed upon her new friends face upon hearing the words directed at her.

"I said shut up!" Mike then fully snapped, charging at Lucas and taking him to the floor."

"Stop!" Kimmy yelled, not wishing for one friend to hurt another over something she knew they'd regret later.

"Knock it off, you idiots." Dustin called.

"Stop!" Eleven yelled just as Kimmy had done moments before.

Neither the two payed any attention.

"Stop it!" Eleven screeched, tilting her head down as she sent Lucas flying off of Mike. Throwing him into the door of a rusted car and hitting his head.

Kimmy felt her stomach drop.

"What the fuck?" Aaron yelled, dropping his bike and rushing over to see if Lucas was alright along side Kimmy, Mike and Dustin.

"Why did you do that?" Mike snapped, turning away from Lucas and facing Eleven as Aaron, Kimmy and Dustin helped the boy sit up. "What's wrong with you."

Kimmy winced as she caught sight of the blood dripping from Lucas' head, he also looked slightly disoriented, as if he wasn't fully sure of what was going on.

"Let me see your head-" Mike was cut short as Lucas slapped his hand away, moving to stand.

"Get off of me!" Lucas snapped as he walked away, his voice cracking no doubt due to the pain he'd just been hit with. 

Aaron stood to follow him, coping his actions as the two picked up their bikes.

"Just leave him," Aaron said to Mike as he walked away, not in a harsh voice. One simply void of any sort of emotion, though one look at his face and the worry shined straight through.

Lucas left first, kicking off and riding away as fast as he could, Aaron hesitated before doing the same.

"Are you coming?" He asked Kimmy, he didn't have to say her name for the group to know who he was talking to. It was obvious. One, she had arrived on the back of his bike. And, two. He was only looking at her, not even bothering to glance at anyone else.

"Yeah," she whispered, still in a slight shock at what had happened amongst the group. Despite doing her best, she couldn't quite shake the feeling of worry for both Lucas and Eleven.

...

I always post updates at such awkward times I'm so tired❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

Bit of an interesting chapter I guess lol

I have not reread this so there is probably mistakes😝😝😝 let's ignore that