CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHOCOLATE PUDDING

About an hour later, everyone was sat around the big kiddie pool, now filled with water and salt. Eleven was lying on her back in the middle of the water, wearing science goggles with tape all over to block out any sort of light, Mike's radio stood on a tray as static was heard on an endless loop.

Everyone was silent, as if everyone was scared if they so much as breathed too heavily it would throw the girl off.

Kimmy was extremely worried about the girl, unsure if perhaps by doing this she may be harming herself? Kimmy wasn't sure, but it certainly couldn't have been good for her.

After about five or ten minutes, the lights in the gym began flickering on and off much more rapidly than they had done so in the Byers' home. Until suddenly, the lights remained off and the group were left in darkness, only just able to make out each other as well as Eleven.

"Barbara?" Eleven muttered after her deafening silence, just above a whisper.

Kimmy watched as Nancy instantly perked up, sitting up straighter as she shuffled closer to the small pool of water the small girl lay in.

Despite expecting the girl to elaborate on her point, she remained quiet for several more minutes, much to Nancy's impatience.

Eleven began to panic, that much was obvious. The girl was thrashing in the water and she was suddenly breathing very heavily, the lights back flickering once again.

"What's going on?" Nancy whispered, sounding just as scared as she looked.

"I don't know." Mike replied quickly, never looking to his sister as he spoke.

It was very evident to everyone in the room that Nancy grew increasingly worried, looking as if she could cry.

"Is Barb okay?" She asked desperately, turning her gaze back to Eleven. "Is she okay?"

Nancy's questioning came to an abrupt halt as Eleven began mumbling incoherently, the group all straining to hear.

It was only when the small girl got more and more upset that her voice grew, Kimmy stilling at what she heard.

"Gone." The small girl mumbled, sounding as if she was crying. "Gone."

Kimmy felt her eyes grow wide as a shiver ran down her spine, the brunette subconsciously moving her eyes over to the eldest Wheeler sibling.

Nancy now had an endless  amount of tears streaming down her cheeks, placing a hand to her mouth to muffle her cry's as to not draw attention to herself.

"It's okay, it's okay." Joyce Byers attempted to calm the now panicked girl laying in the kiddie pool, reaching out to grab her hand. "Hey, it's okay, we're right here, honey."

Eleven reached out to grab onto Joyce's arm, her rambles coming to an end as she seemingly took a shaky breath.

There was another lengthy silence, the girl began mumbling again.

"Castle Byers." The girl mumbled, much to Kimmy's confusion.

Although it was very clear his four friends knew exactly what she was talking about with the way they all looked to each other.

"Will?" Eleven whispered faintly, causing Mrs Byers to gasp as she sat up straighter, a look of hope flooding her features.

"You tell him... tell him I'm coming." Joyce Byers began to stutter desperately, her voice shaking with a mix of nerves and adrenaline.

Kimmy just about jumped out of her skin, physically jolting as she felt herself grow cold at the sudden voice coming from Mike's radio.

"Hurry," Will muttered, voice cracking and sounding defeated.

"Okay, you tell him to- to stay where he is." Joyce continued, and Kimmy was sure the older woman was close to tears. "We're coming, okay? We're coming, honey."

There was a brief pause, nothing from the radio, nothing from Eleven, nothing from the group watching.

That was until the girl suddenly shot out of the water, ripping the goggles off her face as she began to breathe heavily as if she were to start hyperventilating.

Joyce quickly grabbed the girl to do what Kimmy presumed would be comfort her. Eleven clutched onto Joyce's arm and began to sob softly while the older woman spoke to her, though not loud enough for Kimmy to hear.

Kimmy watched the girl with a saddened expression, unsure of what to do as she watched her friend cry with pent up fear and frustration.

...

Dustin, Aaron, Kimmy and Mike sat side by side on the bleachers, Eleven the opposite side of Mike from Kimmy as the tired girl leaned her head on his shoulder, Lucas sitting a level above as he wrapped a towel around her.

Aaron sat feeling incredibly awkward, messing around with the watch on his wrist as the group impatiently waited for the adults to return.

Hopper and Joyce had left to get Will - or try to. Aaron was growing increasingly worried with each second that passed, the pair should have been back by now, Aaron was beginning to grow doubtful.

Mike stood abruptly from his seat, knocking Eleven's head down while knocking Kimmy into Aaron with his suddenness.

"Where the hell are you going, Mike?" Aaron called but was ignored.

The group watched as Mike left the gym at a rapid pace, causing Aaron to scoff and turn to the remaining twelve year olds he sat with.

"He's nuts." He muttered with an eye roll, however this only caused Kimmy to roll her own eyes, not in agreement with Aaron but at him.

"I'm sure he has his reasons." She mumbled, sending Aaron a tired look. "He'll be looking for Nancy, I think he's worried about her."

Aaron met her gaze for probably a few extra seconds longer than needed before turning away and returning to messing around with his watch.

She was probably right, however her words had reminded him of his own brother who he had managed to momentarily forget about.

Aaron didn't want to worry over Steve's whereabouts, but he couldn't help it. It seemed that was all Aaron did; worry.

He didn't even know why he cared, Steve made it fairly obvious he didn't care about him. Aaron shook his head, silently scolding himself at the thought.

Steve must have cared for him deep down, but he didn't care about his feelings.

"They're gone." Mike's voice caused Aaron to flinch, snapping his head up only to find Mike storming across the gym towards the group.

"What?" Aaron asked confused.

"Nancy and Johnathan." Mike elaborated with an annoyed sigh. "They're gone. His car's gone."

Dustin snickered. "They're probably just sucking face somewhere."

Aaron smacked the boy harshly, causing Dustin to clutch his arm as he drowned at the boy. Aaron sent him a glare.

Each and every person in that room knew Nancy was going out with Steve. And while Mike had not been pleased about it, Aaron couldn't find it in him to care, it wasn't any of his business who Steve was dating.

And although he'd never said so, Aaron could not see the two lasting. Aaron would be surprised if the couple made it to the new year. Steve had a new girlfriend every few weeks, he'd had his first girlfriend when he was a year older than Aaron was and he'd always had one since.

That was something that baffled Aaron. The younger Harrington did not know for the life of him how the hell Steve could just get a girlfriend after knowing her for a couple days.

Aaron could never. Steve just dated whoever he wanted for however long he wanted - until he was sick of whoever it was.

Aaron didn't even talk to girls, well, not besides Kimmy or Eleven. Besides those two, he literally spoke to the party and that was about it.

Aaron didn't care about dating, he wouldn't want to date some girl just because she liked the look of him anyway, if she didn't know him what was the point? The two brothers had completely different trains of thought.

It wasn't as if Aaron had any offers anyway. He just was not someone girls seemed interested in, he wasn't cool, he wasn't exactly interested in the same things the popular crowd were, he had a billion phobias that even his friends thought were weird, he just did not have any qualities that could possibly convince the boy that any girl would be interested in him that way.

The only thing that Aaron probably had going for him in the eyes of his peers was his looks. He was definitely the best looking out of his friends, probably out of his year group - he was a Harrington. However, he didn't care about looking presentable, his hair was never done, his clothes were always a mess, his shoes were never tied, he always looked as if he had just rolled out of bed.

His looks didn't matter anyway, his other... qualities overruled it.

Aaron didn't care about getting himself a girlfriend, even if he did, he wouldn't want to be wanted just because someone liked how he looked. Maybe that's where he and Steve were different.

Steve didn't care, as long as she looked good enough he couldn't have cared less.

Aaron was much more interested in hanging out with his friends.

"No, no way." Mike scoffed at Dustin's words, clearly growing more and more furious.

"Did they go with the chief and Mrs Byers?" Kimmy asked the boy thoughtfully, only to be shut down almost instantly.

"How should I know?" Mike snapped, with an eye roll.

Aaron glanced to Kimmy when Mike turned all attention to Eleven, looking at how she had cast her gaze down towards her sleeves of her sweater poking out from her jacket. Her feelings were hurt, that much was obvious to Aaron, however it was also obvious she was adamant not to show it.

Aaron frowned at her.

"No." Eleven mumbled, looking Mike dead in the eye.

"What?" Mike questioned a lot harsher than he probably meant. "Did you see them? So you know where they went?"

Eleven hesitated for a long moment, almost back tracking for a moment. "Yes."

"Where?" Mike asked before the girl had finished her one word sentence. "Where did they go?"

Eleven bit the inside of her cheek, blinking slowly before answering quietly once more. "Demogorgon."

Mike genuinely looked as if he could shit himself with fear, for once Aaron didn't blame him.

"Jesus," he stressed, putting his hands to his face. "We have to do something-"

"Yeah, like what?" Lucas muttered sarcastically.

"Well we can't just wait around." Mike retorted, his fear now replaced with frustration once more.

"Mike, in case you forgot," Lucas shrugged sounding stressed. "We're still fugitives. The bad men are still looking for us."

"Yeah," Dustin injected himself into the conversation. "And we don't even know where your sister is-"

"El can find them." Mike pointed to the small girl still wrapped in her towel.

"Mike, that's not fair." Kimmy reminded, finally lifting her head from where she messed around with her sleeves. "She's exhausted, we can't push her."

"Yeah," Aaron nodded in agreement at the girls words. "We should listen to the chief-"

"Exactly!" Lucas exclaimed as he motioned to Aaron. "We stay here, keep El out of sight and keep her safe. That's the most important thing, remember? Besides, Nancy's okay, she's with Johnathan."

"Yeah, and she's kind of a badass now, so..." Dustin muttered, turning to face Mike with a slightly amused expression.

Dustin then got up and began walking away from the group, causing Aaron to grow confused and to stand from where he sat, Aaron standing then causing Kimmy to do the same.

"Where are you going?" Mike asked desperately as Dustin continued to walk away. "You just said stick to the plan!"

"I am sticking to the plan!" Dustin replied in an almost yell, still not turning to face the group. "I'm just going to get some chocolate pudding. I'm telling you, Lunch Lady Phyllis hoards that shit!"

"Are you serious?" Mike scoffed, looking entirely shocked at Dustin's words.

"El needs recharged!" Dustin retorted with a slight laugh.

Lucas then moved and jogged to catch up with the curly haired boy, much to Mike's frustration.

Aaron began walking next, nudging Kimmy as he passed her. "Come on." He muttered, motioning for her to follow him.

Kimmy did so, shoving her hands in her pockets. Mike didn't follow the pair, neither did Eleven.

"Hey," Aaron whispered once the two had left the gym and were near the cafeteria. "What happened?"

Kimmy furrowed her brows when she looked to him, tilting her head as she spoke. "What do you mean?"

"Your sweater." Aaron elaborated in a quiet voice, unsure if his voice could be heard through the empty corridor, also unsure if she'd want the conversation to be heard. "There's a hole in it?"

Instantly, the girl snapped her gaze downwards, stopping in her tracks as she zipped her coat back up, she'd completely forgotten about the hole when she'd unzipped her coat zipper.

"Oh," she muttered in response, sounding unsure on what to say.

"Oh," Aaron teased, looking to her with a look of amusement, clearly not seeing the issue in her sweater being ripped. "What happened?"

"Um- I'm not sure." Kimmy lied, shoving her hands in her pockets as she began walking again, Aaron jogging to catch up with her. "Probably got it caught on the tree when we were watching the lab."

Aaron didn't reply for a moment, thinking over her answer before shrugging, accepting her answer and moving on as the pair entered the cafeteria and made their way towards Lucas and Dustin.

Although Aaron wasn't sure himself if he'd dropped the subject because he actually believed her or if he just didn't want to question her in front of Lucas and Dustin.

"Found it!" Dustin yelled to the three, a large smile on his face before turning back to the refrigerator and instantly stacking the pudding in his arms. "I knew she was hoarding it."

Lucas laughed, moving to his side and copying him, turning to Aaron and Kimmy before the pair took them all for themselves. "You two want any?"

"No." Aaron replied instantly, scrunching his face up with disgust. "I don't know who's touched that, what's in it or god knows what diseases I'll contract from it!"

Lucas rolled his eyes turning to Kimmy with an expectant expression.

Aaron watched as Kimmy hesitated, a look of uncertainty playing on her features before answering in a small voice.

"Alright." She shrugged, walking up to the refrigerator and taking one for herself, returning back to her previous spot next to Aaron where he shook his head at her.

"That is disgusting, Kimmy." He scolded and folded his arms over his chest. "Never ever eat the school food. You'd be much better making your own food for lunch, I do-"

"Aaron, shut up." Lucas called from where he continued to grab pudding and pile it into his arms. "She can eat it if she wants."

"Mike!" Dustin called out ridiculously loud. "We found the chocolate pudding!"

Aaron watched as Kimmy tuned on her heel and made her way out of the back room of the cafeteria where the food was stored, presumably walking back out to make her way to the gym.

Aaron ran after her, not finding any amusement with watching Dustin and Lucas eat all the school pudding they could get their hands on in the back room.

"Where you going?" He asked, moving to walk beside her.

Aaron fought back a teasing smile as he watched her flinch and turn with wide eyes to face him as if she hadn't realised he was there.

"I'm going to eat my pudding." She replied hesitantly with a confused expression.

"Yeah, where?" Aaron retorted half heartedly, shrugging his shoulders. "You have left the cafeteria."

"I know, I'm going to the gym." She nodded, never stopping her steps as she spoke. Aaron thought she had finished speaking but she turned to face him with a teasing look. "I don't like the canteen," she joked, "remember?"

Aaron sent her an amused smile but said nothing, following her into the gym and then again as she walked up the the bleachers. Climbing all the way to the top row before sitting down.

"I hope this isn't the start of you dining at the cafeteria." Aaron mumbled as he watched her stick her spoon in her chocolate pudding, only half joking.

"Well I need to have lunch somehow, Aaron." Kimmy rolled her eyes, sticking her spoon in her mouth causing Aaron to physically cringe.

"Just make your own." He shrugged, deciding to look straight at her eyes so he didn't have to look at the food she was eating. "That's what I do."

He watched as she hesitated, however she covered it up quickly. "I wouldn't have enough time and my mom and dad couldn't-"

"My mom and dad don't make mine either, I make it myself." Aaron's words should have been taken as a joke, but something told him that the blue eyed brunette didn't find it funny, she looked almost sad to hear it. "Steve never makes it for me either, says it's weird."

Aaron didn't want to say, but he suspected that she wasn't a fan of eating the school food either, even if it was for different reasons. Whenever he had been sat with her at lunch, not once had she never even got halfway done with her food before she was throwing it out. Truth be told, he was trying to find some way to get her to eat her lunch without directly telling her to, he didn't need the added stress of worrying over her eating habits. All he knew was that she mustn't eat enough - or as much as she should if all she'd have was a few bites of her lunch.

"I can make it for you if you want." He surprised himself by saying when the two went a while without speaking. Judging by the looks of her face, he'd surprised her as well, causing him to panic. "I mean I already get up early to make my own anyway, it's not a big deal. I can just give you it at lunch."

The girl looked stunned for a moment, clearly having no clue what to say to him. However, because Aaron had already managed to overthink his previous offer, he'd taken her silence as a negative.

"You can tell me what you like, I don't know if you're a picky eater or what, uh, it's no bother I swear." He was rambling, he knew he was but he couldn't stop himself from spilling every thought which popped up in his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that, I don't have to if you don't want-"

"No, I appreciate the offer, Aaron."She cut him off in a convincing voice, although her face said otherwise. "But I don't want to waste your time or have your mom and dad have to get extra food, I'd have a million dollars to pay them back in groceries-"

"It's fine, my mom and dad are never home anyway, me and Steve have to get our own food." The second the words left his lips he regretted it. He panicked, he didn't know what to say to reassure the evidently stressed girl.

Clearly Kimmy didn't know what to say to that either. Aaron shifted his gaze off her feeling more awkward than ever as he messed around with his fingers and fought through his brain for something else to say.

The two didn't speak for a few moments, but when Aaron finally saw Kimmy open her mouth to say something from the corner of his eye, Mike's voice completely drowned hers out.

"They're here!" He yelled, voice cracking. Aaron and Kimmy glanced at each other, both looking horrified at the boys words, knowing exactly what he meant. "The bad men are here!"

The instant the boy had finished his sentence, the two twelve year olds were running down the bleachers and out the gym in search for the others, leaving the half empty chocolate pudding long forgotten.

...

Not too much of season 1 to go!!!

I already have so much of chapters from the other seasons written and I already know season 3 is the best season for Aaron and Kimmy 😝😝😝😝😝 im so excited for season 3 even though I'm only on season 1 😭😭

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a good day/ night (also this isn't proof read so let's just ignore that lol)

- AJ :)