Summary: You're trapped in the Upside Down when you find Castle Byers.

QOTP: Johnathan or Steve?

Word Count: 5670

Your eyes are unfocused, staring at nothing. Blurred shapes you've studied for who knows how long, having nothing else to look at.

You won't go outside.

You can't.

There's nothing of use out there, anyway.

An unearthly snarl meets your ears, one you're familiar with. Before, it terrified you, made you stop in your tracks, eyes wide as you looked for the source in the dark. You don't even react now.

You're a caged animal, and you have been for quiet some time.

At first, you ran.

This place looks like your home, only dark, dilapidated, and overgrown. You thought there was something here. A way out. You searched for food and water, but mostly, you searched for people. You found none.

It's been months, though it feels like longer, and you've forgotten what people look like - the ones you want the most. Your parents, your friends. You'll settle for anyone, though. Loneliness is crippling.

After you searched the whole town of Hawkins, you began to lose hope and headed for the woods.

That's where you found it.

It was made of sticks, lined up and tied together like a child's fort, but impressively bigger - a tree house on the ground. There was an American flag staked on top. Back home, it'd be blowing in the wind proudly. Here, it hung down, as sad as the rest of this place.

The door was a bed sheet hanging in an opening in the sticks. Over the door, three signs were hung, written in neat, yet child-like handwriting:

CASTLE BYERS

HOME OF WILL THE WISE

ALL FRIENDS WELCOME

Will Byers.

The name sounded familiar, but you couldn't remember what he looked like. He went to your school, but you didn't have any classes together. You thought he was in AV club with those boys he always hung around with. Their names were lost on you.

You'd never really spoken to Will, just seen him around. Hawkins wasn't a particularly big town.

You looked up at the sign again.

ALL FRIENDS WELCOME

You weren't friends, but maybe you could've been. You stepped inside, pushing the sheet back.

You could see the surrounding woods through the gaps in the sticks. Drawings were posted up on the makeshift walls, scattered all over. There were three small tables next to a low bed made of a tattered mattress, a gray comforter, and a single pillow.

One table sat to the upper right, holding art supplies. Another was near the door, empty. The last was on the left of the bed, and a lamp sat atop it. You tried to turn it on, but it didn't have a bulb.

You decided to rest for a while, considering you hadn't slept in a few days, if time even passed here at all. When you laid down, you laid on something and moved, finding a stuffed tiger. Gingerly, you held it and pulled the covers up over your head, as if it would keep the monster at bay.

It did, though - or the monster had just lost interest in you for a few hours.

You got up and went for the door, but stopped. There was nothing out there as far as you knew, and a few more hours of restless sleep wouldn't hurt.

You've been here ever since.

Sure, you get out of the bed, but only when necessary.

What's the point? You're going to die here, and Castle Byers doesn't seem like such a horrible place to die.

Weeks pass. You become weaker, paler. You get hungry and find food in what you assume is the Byer's house, then come right back.

You look at the drawings a thousand times, then make a few of your own with the art supplies. Things you remember from home.

You mostly sleep, clutching the stuffed animal like a lifeline. That's what you're doing when you hear the monster.

You drift off again not long after, then jolt awake thirty minutes later.

The nightmare.

You were coming home late from your friend's house. It was past your curfew, and you knew you were in trouble, worrying yourself to death over how long you'd be grounded, picking your nails nervously. You picked them down to the quick; you were bleeding.

That's how it found you.

You wish you were grounded - you wish you'd made it home, no matter how much your mother would've yelled.

It was sudden. There was a scream - yours, though it didn't sound like it. It was blood-curdling, fueled by pure terror and the desperate wish to make it out alive.

That's when you wake up.

The tiger had been tossed off the bed, so you reach to pick it up when you hear a twig snap.

You freeze.

The monster is too loud. This is something different.

The curtain is flung back a few seconds later, barely giving you time to hide. A face stares back at you, pale and surprised.

Will Byers.

You back away, towards the far corner. "Wh-" Your question dies in your throat as you cough profusely, your hands flying to your chest. You haven't spoken since the night you were taken. You haven't been drinking much water, either.

Will starts toward you a little, wanting to help, but not sure if he should get any closer. Your coughing ceases and he ventures to ask a question. "Are you Y/N Y/L/N?"

You back away even farther, knocking the lamp off the table and startling you both. "How do you know my name?" Your voice is still hoarse, and you're surprised he understands a word you're saying.

"You were on the news everyday for a few weeks. You disappeared."

You relax a little, but you still keep your guard up. "Are you Will Byers?"

He nods. "Yes."

"Are you human?"

Again, he nods. "Yes."

You cough. "When did you get here?"

"Two days ago, I think? I-I'm not sure..."

You start to trust him a little more with each answer, gradually moving toward the other end of the bed, closer to him. "Were you taken, too?" He only nods a third time, then walks in, letting the curtain fall behind him. You slowly swing your legs over the side of the bed and let your bare feet touch the ground. You pick up your worn shoes. "I guess you want to me to leave now."

"No," he says quickly. "No, I... I think we should stick together. There's no one else here. It's just the two of us."

You set your shoes back down. "Okay." You're both calmer now. Will walks over to the bed and sits down. You look over at him. "Sorry I trespassed in your castle."

He almost smiles, but he can't due to the situation. "It's okay. The sign said 'all friends welcome'."

"We don't even know each other."

"We do now."

////

"How long have I been here?" you ask. You and Will are sitting in the bed, the comforter pulled up to your shoulders. It's cold here.

Will thinks for a moment, trying to remember when he saw that report on the news about you going missing. "Two months, I think."

"Are my parents still in Hawkins?"

"Yeah. They don't like to talk about you anymore..."

You sigh shakily, rubbing your eyes. "So what do we do? How do we get out of here?"

Will shrugs. "I don't know. I think our best bet is trying to contact somebody."

"I don't know how. I searched the whole town for anything useful and all I found was food and a whole lot of nothing."

"Same here. I tried the phones, though. Just static, snippets of noises, but... I think maybe my mom picked up. I'm not sure."

"Then let's go try something else," you say after a pause, pushing the comforter off you and standing. "I'm sick of this place."

Will stands, too, and you head to his house, going to look for a way to reach someone from the outside world.

////

"I can't think of anything," you say, meeting Will back in his living room. "There's nothing here."

He looks around, then sighs. "Maybe we could try the phone again?"

"Couldn't hurt."

He picks up the phone, dials a number - you assume his own - then holds the phone in between you so you can both hear. It sounds like someone picks up immediately, but everything's garbled.

There's some static, someone shouting what you think is, "Will?!"

"Mom?!" Will shouts back. You hear the monster growl. It sounds close. Will calls him the demagorgon.

"Hello?!" you try. More static, words you can't make out.

"Mom?!" Will repeats.

There's something like crying after that, then, clear as day, "Will! Yes, it's me!" She's crying and frantic. There's more static. "Where are you?!" More static. The demogorgon growling, even closer.

Suddenly, the phone lights up with electricity and Will throws it to the ground, shocked. You pick it back up. "Hello?! Mrs. Byers?!"

Dead silence.

"Is she still there?" Will asks.

You shake your head. "No, it's silent. I..." You trail off, looking at the floor near where the phone was dropped.

You see her.

Joyce Byers.

She's blurry at the edges, but you see her.

"Is that..." Will starts, walking closer to her. "Is that my mom?"

"Yeah," you say breathlessly. "I think it is."

She's crying - you can see that much. Probably because of the phone call.

The phone call.

Getting an idea, you turn and find a light switch, then start making the light in the hallway flicker. Will's brows furrow. "What are you doing?"

"Testing a theory," you reply. "I don't think she can see us like we can see her, but maybe she can see what we do here over there."

Suddenly, Joyce looks up at the light. You smile as she gets up, going to it. Her mouth moves, but her voice sounds like it's coming from under water.

Johnathan? She might've said Johnathan.

Will goes further down the hall and flickers another light. She follows. You pass Will and go to a lamp sitting on the table in the corner.

She keeps walking.

Will hurries into the door on your left. From what you can see, it looks like it could be his room. You follow him inside.

He goes to his desk that has - among a lamp and art supplies - a radio sitting on top. He reaches for it. You run over, laying a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Wait."

"What?" he asks, hand still resting in the on switch.

"The demagorgon could find us."

"But so could my mom."

You look at him for a second, thinking. "Do it."

He turns the radio on and Should I Stay or Should I Go blasts through the room. You hear Joyce yelp distantly from her place in the hall, but she doesn't enter the room.

"Why can't she hear it?" Will asks.

"She can; didn't you hear her just now?"

Will looks at you, confused. "No? You can hear her?"

"You can't?" you shoot back, equally confused.

"No. I can just see her, but not very well. She's just flickering. I don't know..."

"I can see her pretty well..."

"Why can't I?"

Before you can answer, Joyce finally walks in. Will goes to another lamp in the corner and starts flickering it, causing her to walk over. She rests her hands on the lampshade. "Will..."

Suddenly, there's a growl, and it's close. The demagorgon is coming.

"Will, we gotta go," you say, eyeing the door.

"I know, but-" Suddenly, there's a burst of light as all the lamps and the radio crackle and turn off. You look to Will. Joyce is still there, looking around. For Will.

Then, the demagorgon.

It's in the house, so the only option you have is the window. You open it and climb up, Will on your heels.

You crouch outside, listening in. You hear a muffled scream - Joyce. You peek into the window, but only see the monster pushing through the wall.

Into a hole of some sort.

It's like a ripple almost, just there in the wall.

Joyce is gone, and after the monster pushes for a while, it gives up and leaves, so you crawl back inside.

You run to the radio and flip it on, then start flickering the lights again, trying to get Joyce to come back. Will does, too.

She does, running into the room. "Will?!"

Her voice is distant again. Garbled.

"What did she say?" Will asks.

"Your name. I can barely hear her. I don't-"

You're interrupted by a snarl - the demagorgon again. It's close - outside. It sounds like it's coming from the front door.

It heard the radio, saw the lights.

You hear a bang, then another growl. "Come on," you say, grabbing Will's hand and pulling him out the back door to hide.

////

"Why could you see her better than me?" Will asks. You've been hiding a while, and you're pretty confident at this point that you'd evaded the monster.

"I've been here longer?" you suggest; you had time to think while you were hiding. "That's the only thing that makes sense. There's something in this place that I've... been exposed to longer. Maybe. I don't know."

"Why could either of us see her at all?"

You shrug. "The phone call?"

"But I couldn't see her the first time I called. And the same electric thing happened that time, too."

"Did you hear her, though? Could she hear you?"

He shakes his head. "No. And no. At least I don't think so."

"What was different about last time?" you ask, half to him and half to yourself.

Will thinks for a few seconds. "You were there."

////

You head back to Will's not long after that to see if you can see Joyce again and eat some food from your stash you compiled.

After searching the house and flickering all the lights, you find nothing and nothing happens. You decide to leave the radio off for fear of attracting the monster.

Will tries the phone, but it doesn't work; no one even picks up, so you figure something's wrong with the phone in the real world.

You sit down on the couch and sigh. "I guess we'll just have to wait, then."

"For what?" Will asks, sitting down next to you.

"I don't know. I guess we'll see." You both are quiet for a while, just sitting and looking around, waiting for something to change. Suddenly, you sigh. "This is boring."

Despite your situation, he laughs a little. "I know."

You think for a moment. "Wanna play Twenty Questions?"

"That's the best you could come up with?" he teases and you find yourself smiling for the first time in two months.

"Yes," you reply, "it is. So, Byers, ask me a question. We don't have all day."

You play Twenty Questions a few times when you decide to go try the lights again. When you make it to Will's room, you open the door and gasp.

Will jogs over from the kitchen. "Wha- oh."

The entire room is filled with lamps.

And Joyce is sitting on the bed, out of focus, talking to someone sitting next to her. They're fainter than her, flickering in and out.

"What's she saying?" Will asks. "Who's she talking to?"

"I don't know," you say. "I... I think it might be your brother. She's saying... 'It's Will... He's trying to talk to me.' Your brother just said something, but I can't hear him... 'Through the lights... I know, I know. Just watch...'" You go quiet for a few seconds. "She wants you to flicker the lights."

Will reaches over to the shadeless lamp in front of where Johnathan should be sitting and turns it on, then off.

"She saw it," you say. "But... Johnathan's arguing with her. He... I don't think he believes her."

"What's she saying?"

You summarize for him. "'It's not the electricity. Something is going on here. The wall-' the ripple, she's talking about the ripple. She says she knows you're here." She stands, along with Johnathan, who seems worried for her. "She wants to get more lamps... Jonathan's arguing. I still can't hear him." He seems to calm her because they sit back down. "She's apologizing... promising him to do something... Johnathan's leaving."

"Where's he going?" Will asks.

"I don't know. She didn't say." She watches him leave, sits for a minute, then leaves Will's room. You both go to follow her, but with every step, she fades.

She's gone by the time you make it to the kitchen.

////

You sit in the living room again, eating a little. You're silent this time, thinking about Joyce and this strange connection you have to her and the world you disappeared from.

You only hear the demagorgon once that day, and it's far away enough that you aren't very concerned.

Nothing is happening. Nothing has changed. You're going to try the phone again, but before you can, something does happen.

Christmas lights.

They flicker into existence, hung around the entire room, the most colorful thing you've seen in two months. There's hundreds of them, crisscrossing the room and traveling into the hall, hanging haphazardly. It's almost magical.

You glance at Will, wide-eyed. "I love your mom."

You get up and go to Will's room, looking for her, but find it empty. Refusing to be discouraged, you both get a chair and place them in the hallway, then reach up to turn the bulbs, flickering them.

A girl appears. She flickers, though not as much as Johnathan had before. Will can see her, too. "I-I think that's Mike little sister. Holly."

"Mike?" you ask, turning bulbs and watching the girl follow them to Will's room. Thinking you could somehow get her to tell someone. Maybe.

"Wheeler," Will answers, hopping off the chair and going into his room. You follow suit, and so does the girl.

The lamps are still there, and you flicker those, too.

Suddenly, you hear the demagorgon.

It saw the lights again.

You both take off, searching for a hiding place. There's a growl behind you.

You run faster, grabbing Will's hand and pulling him along, heading for your house.

You sprint the whole way there, weaving in and out of trees to throw off the monster. Will has a little trouble keeping up, but he manages.

Finally, you make it, crashing through the door and bolting it shut behind you. You go deeper into the house, to your room, and fit yourself into your closet, closing the door behind you.

You wait for a while, then deem it safe, deciding to trek back to Will's house and resisting the urge to try the phone as you leave

////

When you make it back, the lights are still there, so you stand on the couch in the living room and flicker them until Joyce finally appears, running into the room.

"Wait," Will says. He moves to a different string of lights that start at the kitchen, then lead to a cupboard against the far wall of the living room. He flickers the lights in a line, and once you realize what he's doing, you start helping him.

It takes Joyce a while to figure it out, but when she does, she grabs a set of lights that are plugged in but not hung up, then gets in the cupboard. "Will," she asks, "are you here?"

You relay the question to Will, who walks over and turns the lights on. He sounds happy. "She's not flickering as much anymore. I... I can see her better."

"Can you hear her?"

"Just muffled noises. Nothing I can make out."

You walk over and crouch next to Will outside the cupboard. Joyce says something, and you tell him. "'Blink once for yes, twice for no.' She asked, 'Can you do that for me?'"

Will makes the lights turn on, then off.

"'Are you alive?'"

On, off.

"'Are you safe?'"

He looks at you, then back at Joyce. On, off. On, off.

She looks devastated, but she continues. "'Where are you? Can you tell me where you are?'"

Will looks at you again. "I don't know. That's... I..."

Joyce suddenly gets up and walks off. You both follow, watching as she opens a can of black paint and grabs a paint brush. She goes back into the living room and starts painting under a string of lights, which are over the couch.

The alphabet.

There's a light for each letter, and as soon as you figure out what she's doing, you get excited. "Did I mention I love your mom?" She finishes the alphabet, then steps back. Will stands on the couch and looks at you when she starts talking. "'Talk to me... Where are you?'"

"I'm not sure..." Will starts, then stops. He lights up the words RIGHT HERE.

"She says, 'I don't know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. How do I get to you? How do I-?" You stop, hearing a loud growl.

The demagorgon. It's right outside, it has to be.

"Will-" You stop, seeing a ripple in the wall. The Christmas lights flicker rapidly. "Will!"

"Hold on," he says. He lights up RUN, then does exactly what he told his mother to do.

////

Will says that holing up in someone else's house would be safest, and decides on Mike Wheeler's because it's closer.

You're sitting in the basement, kind of feeling like a trespasser, then flickering lights just to see if something would happen. Nothing does.

So, you sit back down on the couch, waiting for some time to pass until you feel it's safe to go back. In your boredom, you start humming Should I Stay or Should I Go.

Will, of course, recognizes the song and starts humming, too, which eventually evolves into soft singing. Anything to fill the silence.

As you sing, you think you hear something - not the monster, something quieter. Crackling, a faint voice. Will doesn't seem to register it, and you figure you're going crazy from being here so long.

You say nothing and keep singing until you head back to Will's house.

////

The Christmas lights are gone, the lamps are gone, and the lights you can flicker don't do anything. You have no choice but eat, sit, and wait.

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" you ask Will quietly, sitting on the couch next to him.

"We'll find a way," he says. He looks paler and weaker than before. "We have to."

"But what if we don't?"

He turns to you. "We will."

You sigh shakily and lay your head on his shoulder, your eyes growing heavy. You haven't slept in a while. "I hope so," you say, drifting off.

He drifts off, too, his head resting on yours.

You're woken by music - Should I Stay or Should I Go, to be exact.

You jump up, hearing the noise but being unable to find the source. You can hear Joyce shouting something, but you can't make it out.

There's a ripple in the wall.

You run over and start pounding on the wall, hoping she can hear you. The music cuts out, and Will starts hitting the wall, too. "Mom! Mom!"

You hear a faint, "Will?" She's shouting, but you can't hear her very well.

"Ms. Byers!" you yell, unsure of what else to call her.

She says nothing for a few seconds, then, "Will."

"Mom!"

"Ms. Byers!"

You hear her hitting he wall, too. "I'm here."

The ripple starts opening wider. There's this sort of translucent web behind it, red yet opaque. You can't see behind it, though. "Ms. Byers!"

"You-You're not my son. Who are you? Are you trapped, too?" She starts ripping the wallpaper off the wall and you see her through the webbing. Not like before - you really see her.

You hear another voice - a boy's - but you can't make out what he's saying.

"Mom!" Will shouts.

"Will!" Her voice is clearer now.

"Mom!"

There's a growl.

The demagorgon.

"Mom, it's coming!"

"Tell me where you are!"

"Will, we gotta go!"

Will answers her as the demagorgon gets closer. "It's like home, but it's dark! It's so dark and empty and it's cold! Mom!"

"Will!" you shout. "Come on!"

"Who are you?!" Joyce shouts, and you figure she's talking to you.

"Y/N Y/L/N!"

The demagorgon growls again.

"I'm gonna get to you!" Joyce shouts. "I swear, I'll find you both! I swear! But right now I need you to hide!"

"Will, come on!" you yell, pulling him away.

"We're so close!" he argues. He's crying, and it's then you realize you are, too.

Joyce shouts again. "I will find you, but you have to run now!"

"Will!" you yell again. He finally relents and you run for your lives out the back door as the hole in the wall closes behind you.

////

You come back eventually and find the Christmas lights gone again. You flicker the lights, pound on the walls, turn on the radio.

You only succeed in attracting the demagorgon.

You leave, find another place to hole up, try the lights and the phones there. Nothing. So, you go back to Will's and try again. The demagorgon comes back. It's a vicious cycle for days. Nothing ever happens, besides when you run out of food early on.

You flicker the lights, the demagorgon comes back, you run.

You sprint into the woods, weaving through the trees. The growling is distant. Your resolve is shattered. Then, you see Castle Byers.

You stop running and walk to it, not even caring if Will is following you or not. It's hopeless at this point. Whatever connection you have with Joyce is gone now.

You push the curtain aside and crawl into the bed, grabbing the stuffed animal you'd forgotten about until then. You haven't slept since that short doze on the couch.

Back to where you started.

Staring, hopeless, at the stick walls.

Then, the curtain is pulled back. "Y/N?"

"What?" you ask tiredly.

He walks over to you and sits at the end of the bed. "... You okay?"

"What do you think?" You say it monotonously, not looking at him.

"No?"

"Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner."

He swallows, trying to think of something to say. "We're not far enough away from the demagorgon-"

"So?" you say, sitting up and finally looking at him. "Will, we're never getting out of here. I don't care if that stupid thing catches me. I'm sick of this stupid world and I'm sick of running. There's no hope, no way out. We're stuck here for the rest of our lives, so let's just hope they're short."

You lay back down, looking away from him again. As Will carefully chooses his words, he notices you're about to cry and cautiously lays a hand on your shoulder. "We will get out. Didn't you see how close we were? I could see my mom - for real. She could hear us."

"And how long ago was that?" you ask, looking at him again and keeping the tears at bay.

"I don't know. But she promised."

With that, you can't stop yourself and burst into tears. Will just sits there at first, unsure as to what to do, then recalls what his mom would do when he cried. He gently pulls you up and into a hug, your face buried in his chest. "I-I wanna g-go home."

"Me, too," he says quietly, barely holding his own tears back. "Me, too."

////

You eventually fall asleep - still holding each other - for about an hour or so, dreaming of a girl in a dirty, pink dress with a buzz cut. She crouches next to the bed. "Y/N?"

"Who are you?" you weakly ask back.

She doesn't answer, just looks at Will, who's sleeping. "Is he... dead?"

You hold your palm in front of his face and feel that he's breathing. Just barely. "Not yet. But... we're dying."

"J-Joyce says she's coming for you."

You're half-asleep and your head is spinning. "Hurry."

Your eyes start to close again, heavy. You aren't sure if you'll open them again. "J-Just hold on a little longer," the girl says.

It's the last thing you hear before darkness overtakes you.

////

You wake up to growling. Will wakes up, too.

It takes you a second or so to get your bearings, but you do and look around, trying to figure out where the sound is coming from.

You see it through the sticks.

You both press yourselves into the far wall, waiting with hammering hearts and shallow breaths.

Finally, the monster roars and tears into Castle Byers, destroying it and finding you inside.

You and Will roll off the bed onto the fallen wall of sticks and scramble to your feet, running. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping you going at this point, and you can't help but hope that the girl you saw was real.

You duck into a nearby house and run through it, finally finding a closet in someone's bedroom to hide in. The monster follows you inside, and you're sure you're dead.

You look through the dark of the closet at Will. "Will, I think this is it-"

He cuts you off. "W-We'll make it."

You shake your head. "I don't think so. And if I'm right, I want you to know that there's no one else I'd rather have been with in this scary place because y-you made it less scary, and-and thank you for everything, and I-"

The demagorgon growls, practically right outside the door. You both hold your breath, waiting.

You aren't gonna make it out of this.

But that doesn't mean he won't.

You look at him. He's pressed deeper into the closet; this could work. You whisper, "As soon as you get the chance, run."

"Wha-"

You open the door just enough to get out, then close it behind you and run. The demagorgon is right there, a few feet away.

You feel something grab your leg and the next thing you see is black.

////

"Mom, you gotta save her. M-Mom." It's faint, but you can tell the person is crying. You can't place the voice - you can't place anything. It's dark. That's all you know.

"Wake up. Wake up, sweetie. Please. Your parents miss you. I talked to them. Please wake up." A new voice. Pleading.

"Come on, kid!" Another voice. Strained.

"Y/N." The first voice, still crying.

"Breathe! Sweetie, breathe! I need you to breathe!"

You gasp, sitting up. Everything hurts. It's dark and cold, and you can't tell where you are. It's covered in grotesque vines and webbing. You feel some sort of goo all over you. You vision swims, but slowly comes into focus.

There's Joyce. A man that looks familiar, but you can't remember who he is. He picks up something - a gas mask - and puts it on you. You look to your right.

Will.

He hugs you as tight as possible in his weak state. "Why did you do that?! You almost died! You're so stupid, Y/N. You're so stupid." You hug him back, squeezing your eyes shut, unable to speak. He pulls back. "I've been looking for you everywhere. An-And then Mom and Hopper showed up-"

Hopper. The sheriff. He picks you up. You hear Joyce talking to Will - "Can you walk, sweetie?" - then close your eyes again. Breathing.

////

When you next wake, you're clean and in a hospital bed.

Your parents are there, and when they see you open your eyes, they practically tackle you in a hug. You hug back, a few tears falling. You thought you'd never see them again.

A doctor comes in, asks you a bunch of questions.

Finally, when he's done, you ask him one. "Where's Will?"

He smiles a little. "Will Byers? He woke up about ten minutes ago."

"Can I see him?"

He nods once. "Sure. We'll have to wheel you over, though. Can't have you up and about yet."

He has a few nurses wheel you a few rooms over, the people inside room moving so you can get by. Will's eyes light up. "Y/N! They told me you weren't awake yet."

"I woke up a few minutes ago," you reply. You look at all the people in the room. Joyce, Johnathan, a girl you think is Mike Wheeler's older sister, your parents, and Will's three friends. You pick out Mike, but you can't remember the other two. One of them is named Dustin. You aren't sure who, though.

Your parents are called out of the room. Joyce disappears with them. Mike's older sister, Johnathan, and the boys stay.

"Hi," one of the boys awkwardly says. "I'm Dustin."

The other boy says, "I'm Lucas."

"I'm Mike."

You smile. "I'm Y/N." Then, you remember something and the smile disappears from your face. "Do you... There was this girl. In a pink dress. Was she...?"

"She saved us - you and Will, too," Mike says.

"She killed the demagorgon," Lucas adds.

"Her name's Eleven," Dustin butts in. "El for short."

They start ranting about everything that happened, trying to find Will, then finding out about you. You listen as they speak. When they're finished, you just talk as if you're old friends.

Eventually, they have to leave. Your parents ask if you want to go back to your room, but both you and Will insist on staying together.

You're left alone to sleep, the door cracked. Will looks over at you. "Hey, Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"You made it less scary for me, too."

You smile in the dark, and in that moment, you're sure everything is going to be okay.