As soon as the gym hall doors opened, the group and Mr Clarke were greeted by silence and what seemed like hundreds of eyes.

"Abort." Dustin tried to leave but was blocked by Lucas who pushed him back.

Principal Coleman had been talking and they'd just interrupted him with their arrival. Beside the principal sat Lizzy Knightwood. Grace looked her mother in the eyes and her heart broke. Lizzy was like a second mom to Will, much like Joyce was to her. Without trying to cause too much a commotion, the gang were directed to a bench. What irritated Grace the most was the annoyed sighs of their fellow students as they were ushered to make room for the quintet.

Grace felt as if even though Coleman had gone back to droning on about grief, everyone's eyes still lingered on her. She could sense their pity and judgement from a mile away, it irritated her.

She was snapped from her internal annoyance by her mother's concerned face. She was mouthing, 'are you ok?', she hadn't seen her daughter since the previous morning. Grace did what Grace always did and just nodded with a blank expression. Her mother's eyes never left her own as she tried to stare at the ground. All she wanted to do was scream.

Yes, she knew Will wasn't dead but still. Everything that had been going on was so frustrating. She didn't need pity, she didn't need judgement. Hell, she didn't even need sleep. All she wanted was Will. Then, after they got him back she could sort things out.

"I'd like to introduce you to Mrs Elizabeth Knightwood, she's the local guidance councilor at Hawkins High School but occasionally deals with several cases across the state. But before she comes up I'd just like those of you who are having trouble dealing with this tragic loss...-" Principal Coleman introduced Grace's mom but continued to ramble. Grace was seated beside Mike and El, who had Lucas and Dustin beside them. Eleven examined the room, the foreign faces unsettled her, she'd never been in a room with this many people in it. Dustin smiled at her and Grace tapped her on the shoulder.

"That's my mom." Grace discreetly pointed at Lizzy. Eleven could immediately see the resemblance. Grace's face was slightly rounder like her father's (and she had his nose) but with the dark hair, she was usually compared to her mother more.

"Look at these fakers," Mike whispered to Lucas and Grace. "They probably didn't even know his name until today." Lucas agreed.

"They didn't even know him. Only rumors and stupid shit like that." Mike gave a breathy laugh at Grace's foul language and Eleven looked confused. Just under a quarter of the people in the room probably thought she was Will's girlfriend (or at least they'd hear that she was Mike's girl, which although she had a crush on him, it made her feel like an object. Grace Knightwood belonged to no man). Another small percentage of the room probably thought Will was gay, I mean, no wonder! His best friend is a girl so obviously that MUST mean he was queer! (A/n: Sorry if this language is offensive, I'm trying to illustrate judgemental 12-13 year olds and it's mentioned on the show that they would call him that)

It made Grace sick to her stomach.

Why were people such dicks?

She could hear Troy and James snickering and clenched her knuckles as she could feel her blood boil. There was no one more that Grace hated than those two idiots. She could sense them mock principal Coleman but was so far away that she couldn't make out exactly what they were saying. One thing she could definitely tell though was that they were making fun of Will too.

"Mouthbreather." El uttered.

Lucas was practically fuming at the bullies.

Mike raised his eyebrows at her comment as Grace gave her a quick side smirk. Lizzy got up and started to talk about how to deal with grief and death but still never stopped looking at Grace. It was as if the talk was aimed at her.

Eventually, the bell rang and the gym hall was flooded with kids going to different destinations.

"Hey, Hey! Troy!" Mike was going after them. Grace shared a look with Dustin, they could tell something bad was going to happen.

"Hey Troy!" Finally he got their attention and they turned around. "Y-you think this is funny?"

"What'd you say Wheeler?" Troy questioned. "I-I saw you guys laughing over there. And I think that's a real messed up thing to do." Grace was proud of Mike, he was finally standing up for himself.

"Didn't you listen to Grace's mom, Wheeler? Grief shows itself in funny ways." Grace rolled her eyes at the mention of her mother as Lucas tried to internally calm himself down, he was starting to get riled up. Troy continued, "Besides, what's there to be sad about anyway? Will's in fairyland now right? Flying around with all the other fairies, all happy and gay." For Grace, this was the final straw. Even if Will was gay, so what? He was still a human being and he wasn't even here to defend himself. Troy and James started mocking him by singing, 'lalala'. A crowd was starting to form around them now to see what was causing such a commotion.

"So just shut it Wheeler, go back to making googly eyes at your stupid girlfriend." Grace couldn't take it anymore. "What did you just say?" Troy mockingly scoffed and replied, "You heard me." Both boys started to walk away but Grace clenched her fists and started charging towards them. Mike stopped his crush and went towards them for her, and pushed Troy to the ground. The entire surrounding crowd let out a 'OOOOOH' noise, in shock of what had just transpired.

"That's what you get for insulting Grace, asshole." The dark haired girl still charged towards James who was in shock, staring at his friend on the floor. She hit him in the gut. "And that's what YOU get for talking shit about Will."

James was in a state where he had no idea what to do after being punched by his ex-crush, the crowd around them was still making 'ooh' and 'aah' noises. It was Troy that got up first. "You're DEAD Wheeler, both of you are dead!" Just as he was about to slam into Mike his entire body froze.

He was completely paralysed.

Grace's first reaction was to turn to look at Eleven who was starting to bleed from the nose slightly. El nodded in Troy's direction and she turned around again, only to be met with the image of Troy peeing himself.

"Dude! Troy peed himself!" A boy in her year, Travis Barker said. The crowd burst into laughter. Dustin and Lucas couldn't help but join in - it was hysterical!

Mike didn't laugh but shared an amused look on his face with Grace who copied her actions by turning to look at El. Eleven simply wiped her nose and and walked away, leaving Grace and Mike in awe.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Principal Coleman questioned as he started approaching with Lizzy Knightwood in tow. "Mike, Grace - let's go!" Lucas grabbed Mike and Grace by the arms and followed Dustin and El before they got into major trouble.

James eventually managed to snap out of his shocked state, only to leave Troy alone in the gym hall.

The kids ran to AV room and just as they were about to turn the corner, Lizzy appeared and grabbed Grace by the shoulder. She hugged the girl tightly, not bothering if she messed up her hair. "I was worried sick about you. God, Grace, I'm so sorry baby." Her mother held Grace's face in the hands for a moment to inspect it but continued to tightly hug her shortly after.

Grace nodded at her friends, signifying them to go on with out her. Mike hesitated for a moment before mouthing, 'we'll leave the door unlocked,' and followed the others who were guiding El.

"Hey momma," Grace simply said, hugging her mother back. "I dropped off my stuff back at the house before I came here." She added nonchalantly. Lizzy looked at her child as if she was insane. "Honey, are you alright?" For once Grace considered telling the truth and saying no.

No. She didn't feel alright, her best friend was trapped in an alternate dimension, hiding from God knows what. No, she didn't feel alright - her best friend's supposed dead body was found in a lake last night. NO, she didn't feel alright - all she wanted to do was scream BECAUSE HER BEST FRIEND WAS GONE AND RIGHT NOW SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GET HIM BACK.

"No." Lizzy looked at her child with so much sympathy and pity that it made Grace sick to her stomach. She was sure her mother was going to say something about how they'd 'get through it as a family' but all she did was grab her face, kiss her cheek again and say, "Grief shows itself in funny ways." Grace held onto her mother, she really had missed her despite it only being a day.

"Go see your friends, I'll see you later."
Immediately Grace leapt up and went to go after the others. "Oh, by the way, you look beautiful Gracie." Grace gave her mother one final smile, which she returned.

She sped off to the AV room where Mike, Lucas and Dustin were already surrounding El. When she saw her enter, Eleven smiled and seemed to ease a little bit. Mike smiled at his crush as she locked the door behind her and stood beside him. As Eleven started channeling the radio, she lightly held his hand. He jumped slightly at her unexpected touch but returned the gesture and laced their fingers together. When the boys were staring at El deep in concentration, she quietly whispered in his ear. "I remembered our summer date."

Mike's head turned to face her as she smiled at him with a hint of blush on her cheeks. She could swear he was as red as a tomato, he awkwardly nodded, smiled chuffed and went back to focusing on Eleven with their fingers still tightly laced.

El seemed to be in a deep trance, as if she was having some sort of flashback.

"She's doing it, she's finding him." Mike stated enthusiastically. Dustin added on, "This is crazy." Lucas, being the pessimist he was tried to shoot it down. "Calm down, she just closed her eyes."

The lights suddenly turned off due to the light bulb seemingly blowing a fuse. They all simultaneously gasped.

The radio started to emit noise. "What is that?" Dustin questioned as they leaned in. It was a static banging which started to get more and more intense followed by a voice saying, "Mom?"

It was Will.

Grace wanted to cry tears of utter joy. "No way!" Lucas was blown away, holy shit- Will was alive! Dustin and Mike shared a look as Grace's eyes were stuck staring at Eleven. Mike started to try and talk into the mic. "Will?" Lucas also started to try, "Will? It's us! Are you there?!"

No answer.

Just the constant banging with Will repeating, "Mom?" over and over again.

"Can you hear us? We're here!" Will continued to call out for Joyce. Lucas was getting more frantic. "Why can't he hear us?" Mike was frustrated. "I don't know!"

But it wasn't just Will. There was something else. Grace could hear it's low guttural growl in the background. Will was being chased by the Demogorgon.

"Mom..." He whined.

"Mom, it's coming!"

"It's like home, but it's so dark"

Grace's heart was breaking. Her platonic soulmate was in danger and their was NOTHING she could do about it

"It's so dark and empty. And it's cold!"

"Mom? Mom!"

"Mom, please!"

The growling was getting worse. The Demogorgon was catching up on him. Eleven opened her eyes.

Sparks flew from the Heathkit and it lit up in flames, causing the kids to get startled and jump back. The fire alarm started ringing, sensing the smoke. Dustin grabbed the fire extinguisher and promptly put out the small fire before it could get any worse. All of the lights that were still working turned back on. Eleven seemed in a dazed state, as if channeling Will took lots of energy out of her. Sensing Grace's concern, Mike immediately went to check up on the girl.

"El, are you ok?" He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him and Grace. She was bleeding profusely from the nose and had somewhat noticeable veins around her eyes, she was in a catatonic state. Grace barged in to see if her new close friend was fine. "Can you move?" The girl still couldn't answer as it seemed all her energy had truly been taken from her.

"What are you waiting for? Help her up!" Grace ushered Mike and Lucas who helped her up by the arms. With help from Dustin, she held El up by the legs to give her more support.

They placed her limp body onto an electrical wheeler and rolled her out the AV room. Once the reached the bikes, the supported her as she clambered onto Mike's bike. After that, they sped away from Hawkins Middle, none of the kids looking back.

A/N:

I was really busy last weekend and I will probably be busy this weekend too, so for the next week or so updates will be irregular.

There wasn't a massive Mike X Grace scene in this chapter like there was in the last one but still they had a few lil moments ;)))

James and Troy got what was coming to them

Shout-out to Jodie, one of my bestest friends ever, who I constantly bore with details of my love for Stranger Things and Finn Wolfhard day in and day out. Thanks for sticking by me, I'm so lucky to have you as a friend :))

Thanks for reading guys! Leave a vote if you liked it, add to your library for updates and be sure to comment feedback/suggestions - it really helps me out! :)

Later alligators