As soon as they reached the Wheeler's house, they immediately ran down the basement.

Eleven was still feeling lethargic from channeling Will so she lay down on the couch. The blonde wig was still firmly on her head, Grace had adjusted it so well and was actually quite proud of its durability. The soft wavy blonde curls had flattened slightly but the overall look was still there, probably due to the amount of hairspray that had been doused over it before it had even been placed over El's head.  Grace had pulled out her intricate braided hairdo, her hair now it's usual wavy look.

The boys were debating what Will had said over the radio, with Lucas complaining about how they couldn't hear him properly. Grace was more concerned about Eleven, she had seemed even more quiet than she usually was. She sat beside her, holding her hand out of comfort and observing the boys, not actually paying attention to them. She was too lost in the thought of trying to figure out where Will was.

"Hey, you alright?" She timidly asked Eleven who had also been staring at their friends. The girl nodded and went back to staring at the boys
Grace decided to start listening in to the conversation at this point.

"Or maybe like Hawkins?" Lucas was adding in his idea to the discussion. Grace speculated they were now discussing where Will was currently residing but she personally had a theory of her own.

"Upside down." Eleven uttered, also casually overlooking the conversation. This caused Grace to look at her with a puzzled expression, but she think she knew what it meant.

"What'd she say?" Lucas questioned, his tone was pointed by Grace knew he meant well at the end of the day. He was just conflicted about El. Because he lived beside her his entire life, they became friends before she even knew Mike or Dustin. In fact, Dustin didn't actually even move to Hawkins until the 6th grade, but he was still an important member of the group. She didn't know what she'd really do without him.

"Upside down..." Mike was starting to comprehend what El was saying. He was catching onto what Grace believed. "What?" Once again, Lucas tried to get Mike to elaborate. "Upside down." Grace repeated. She got off the couch and followed Mike, who was now sitting at the table they usually played D&D on.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty." He flipped the board over to explain to the others what he meant. Grace knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Do you guys understand what he's talking about?" Lucas wasn't comprehending what Mike was attempting to explain.

"No." Dustin simply said as Grace interrupted.

"Guys, don't you realise? When El led us to Will, she took us to his house. Yes, he wasn't there but what if he was?"
Dustin and Lucas look as confused as ever as Grace tried to explain her own (and presumably Mike's) theory.

"What if he was on another side of the board? Like an alternate dimension." Grace tried to further explain. Mike politely butted in by turning the board to the actual playing side. "Like, what if this was Hawkins," He turned it over to the completely black side. "And what if this was-"

"The upside down."

Grace smiled at Mike who returned it. Dustin was starting to realise what Mike and Grace were referring to. "Like the Vale of Shadows?" The four of them shared concerned looks with each other. If Will was truly in this place, then it would be extremely dangerous. God knows what was happening to him right now. What if he was hurt? It definitely seemed like there was something chasing him.

The Demogorgon.

Honestly, Grace was terrified. A week ago she was simply at school with her 4 friends and now her best friend was missing and they were harboring a fugitive telekinetic girl on the run from 'bad men'.

Without hesitation, Dustin grabbed Mike's D&D book and started flicking through it to get to the passage that explained the Vale of Shadows. He started to recite was was written in black ink on the thin white paper.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world."
"It is a place of decay and death."
"A plane out of phase."
"A place of monsters."
"It is right next to you, and you don't even see it."

On the right page of the book was an odd illustration of a dark, deserted forest with barren trees and a creepy mist in the air. Thinking of Will in that place made her heart hurt.

"Like I said, it's an alternate dimension." Grace said, biting her nails. She was staring at the paper so hard she could practically burn a hole into it.

"But h-how do we get there?" She could tell Lucas was now starting to get more involved. "We cast shadow walk." Dustin answered. "In real life dummy." Grace was still staring at the illustration. "We can't shadow walk obviously, but...but maybe El can." She thought out loud.
"Do you know how to shadow walk?" Mike softly said to her, she was still lying on the couch but was listening in on the conversation. Well, what she could understand of it anyway. She shook her head to indicate no and the group let out exasperated sighs.

It was the drawing though. It made Grace so scared. Where was Will truly? The place looked so scary and dangerous and he was in there all alone. Well, partially alone.

The group was interrupted by Karen shouting down to the basement.

"GRACE! Your mother is on the phone, she's asking for you!" With another sigh, the girl got up and rushed up stairs so she didn't keep her mother waiting. She was met with Karen talking somberly into the phone, probably discussing Will's apparent death with her mom. She slowly started to approach the woman who noticed her presence and went quiet. Karen handed her the handset with a sympathetic smile and went into the kitchen where Holly was sitting on her high chair eating a snack.

"Hey Gracey, I'm gonna keep this short because I have to finish making Tabby's lunch but can you come home? Everything that's gone on recently has made me realise how much time I'm missing out with you and Lance and Tabby and... y'know what? Never mind, just come home ok?"

"Oh uh, okay mom. Love you." She understood her mother's concern.

"Love you too, you've got you're bike with you haven't you?"

"Yup, I'll be there soon, bye."

After her mom uttered a goodbye back she politely hung up the phone and explained to Karen about her departure.

"Oh alright hon, of course. I'll see you tomorrow sweetie." She gave Grace a hug. 'Tomorrow?'

Oh.

Will's funeral.

With a heavy heart she hugged back and rested her face into Karen's shoulder. The woman kissed her head like a mother would to a grieving child and let her go to the basement and collect her things.

Mike looked annoyed at the fact she had to go. "I can't let you go home by yourself, I can walk you if you want." Immediately, Lucas face changed into a knowing look. Dustin happened to share it with him as they exchanged suggestive expressions. "Uhm, sure okay." She hesitantly nodded, grabbed her coat and put her shoes on.

After waving goodbye to El, she started to slowly walk up the basement but sped up once she heard Mike following her.
"Mom, I'm gonna walk Grace home. I'll be right back." Before she could answer, Mike grabbed Grace's hand and left the house. She unchained her bike and turned to him. "We can still walk if you want. I won't ride my bike." He couldn't be bothered taking his bike so he nodded and followed her as she dragged her bike out of the front porch of the Wheeler's household.

"Are you ready for the funeral tomorrow?" Mike timidly asked, it was always somewhat awkward when they were alone. But it was a comfortable awkwardness, an awkwardness that always rested upon two kids who clearly liked each other. "Nope. I dunno what I'm gonna do when I see the coffin. I know he's not dead but-"

"I get what you mean." She smiled at him the way she always did and Mike wished he could just stay in this moment forever.

"I can't believe you said El was my cousin!" He chuckled, they'd been randomly talking for a short while to change the bleak subject and were approaching her house. "It was the heat of the moment! It was Dustin who almost screwed it up!" They continued laughing which stopped when they reached her porch and chained up her bike. "Well.." He stood there awkwardly as usual. "Well.. bye." She started to walk towards the front door.

"Wait, Grace?"

She turned around, confused. "Yeah?" He seemed to be contemplating something but took a deep breath in. "When you said you remembered what happened during the summer, did you mean it? All of it?" She slowly nodded and he seemed relieved. "I remember you trying to kiss me Wheeler." She joked, his cheeks turned bright red and he started to stutter like crazy. Grace started to laugh and honestly, Mike felt a little bit humiliated. "It's fine, I don't mind it. I mean for gods sake I kissed your cheek. At least I have the balls to do something." The duo broke out into complete laughter.

"Mike can I ask you something before you go?" Oh god. She was gonna ask him if he liked her. He was being so obvious and always blushing and practically drooling and fawning over her-

"Sure." He interrupted his rambling. At this point he had no control over what he said.

"When you said you liked someone, did you mean Eleven?" Almost immediately his face changed into a rejecting look. "No way! I mean she's cool and all, I like her as a friend but.. there's someone else." Her heart fluttered.

She didn't realise how close to him she was standing. Before either of them attempted to lean in, Grace spoke. "Would it be a bad time to say sweet dreams Wheeler?" They were staring each other right in the eye, neither of them breaking contact. Simply blinking as if it were morse code.

"Not at all." She smiled at his monotone response, it was as if he was in a trance. "Well then," She pecked his cheek. "Sweet dreams Wheeler." His face immediately felt like it was on fire. But it wasn't bad at all. It was euphoric, practically.

Grace started to back off and open her door. "Stay cute, Knightwood. He shakily said, holding his cheek. She turned and winked at him before turning and entering her house.

A/N:

AHHH SHE KISSED HIS CHEEK AGAIN!

Sorry this chapter was so short, I wasn't well all of last week and last weekend I was at comic con with my best friends. I was so exhausted I had basically no time to write.

ALSO I started a new IT fanfic. It's about Richie Tozier and it's called Darling. Please check it out, I really enjoy writing it!

Tysm for reading this, please vote if you liked, add to library for updates and comment feedback/suggestions - it really helps me out!

Follow me on insta -@richiestozier
Follow me on Twitter- @violeteleven
Follow me on Tumblr- @orlagirlyy

Bye❤️