DON'T LOOK NOW

GRAYSON WAS SHAKING WITH NERVES as they pulled up the Byers house. They had tried the Wheeler house first, but Nancy's parents just said that the girl was at a friend's. Since Nancy had been with Jonathan earlier in the day, they assumed this was the next best place to go looking for her. The boy was so ready for the night to be over. He was so ready to just be happy with Steve and at peace with his past, the thought sounded like complete and utter bliss.

"Okay," Steve began as they parked in the empty driveway. "You wait here, I'll be like... five minutes max, okay?"

Grayson nodded, "Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, and one last thing," the boy said before he got out of the car. He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to Grayson's cheek before he actually exited the car. "Okay, five minutes."

After he left, a bright blush filled Grayson's cheeks and he was glad Steve wasn't there to see it. All the drama and heartbreak and Steve still managed to have that effect on him. Grayson was determined not to let Steve know how much he truly meant to him, not yet. Grayson smiled to himself, biting his lip to keep from grinning too wide. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. He thought he was doomed to be in love with Steve while the boy was happy with Nancy forever. Yet look where he was now.

Five minutes passed, Grayson may or may not have literally timed him, and Steve still hadn't exited the house. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Grayson left the car. He walked up to the house, about to knock when he just shrugged and opened it, finding it unlocked.

Much to his surprise, when he walked in, Nancy had a gun pointed at Steve and there was a lot of yelling going on.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He yelled, getting everyone's attention, "What the hell is going on?"

"Get out, you can't be here!" Nancy commanded, moving the gun so it was pointing at Grayson. As soon as she did this, Steve moved to shield Grayson, half hiding him with his body as well as holding him back with his arm.

"What is going on?" Steve screamed, looking wildly confused. Grayson had a feeling his face matched the same bewildered expression. He had expected maybe a little yelling from Nancy or Jonathan, but a gun? That was a little much.

Nancy wasn't budging, but the hand holding the gun was shaking. "You have five seconds to get out of here."

"Okay, is this a joke? Put the gun down," Steve attempted to reason. Grayson was holding onto his shoulders and hiding behind him, happy to let Steve defend them. Not that he would be happy if Nancy actually fired that gun because with how close she was, it would most definitely go right through Steve and hit both of them. It was the thought that counts.

Weirdly enough, all the girl said was, "I'm doing this for you."

"Sure doesn't seem like it," Grayson explained, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Now probably wasn't the best time to be sarcastic, but it was pretty much a reflex.

Grayson had expected a peaceful night. Steve would apologize to Nancy, properly break up with her, and the two of them could be on their merry way. The last thing he was expecting was a gun pointed at him. No one really expected that. Especially if you're seventeen years old and definitely should not have access to a gun.

"Nancy..." Jonathan interrupted, staring at something.

It was then Grayson noticed the strange decorations in the Byers house: hundreds of Christmas lights strung around the house. That was odd, considering it was November and as much as the boy loved Christmas, even he thought that was a little too early to start decorating. Currently, those lights were starting to flicker.

No one paid any attention to Jonathan, Steve still trying to get Nancy to drop the gun, "Wait, Is this a... what is this?"

"Nancy," Jonathan repeated, the lights still flickering.

"Three, two..." Nancy began to count down. Steve was screaming and Grayson had his eyes snapped shut, not wanting to know what was about to happen. He never expected his life to end so soon, but honestly, he kind of deserved. He had managed to be an absolutely terrible person in his seventeen years of living, so this really wasn't that unexpected. He figured someone would kill him eventually, it just happened to be sooner rather than later. Oh well.

"Nancy, the lights!" Jonathan screamed, finally getting the girl's attention. She brought the hand holding the gun down, thankfully, and instead awed at the lights. "It's here."

"Wait, what's here?" Steve asked and Grayson had the same question.

With franticness in his voice, Grayson yelled, "Can someone just tell us what the fuck is going on? God, I should have waited in the car."

No one answered them, but Jonathan grabbed a bat with nails embedded into it, which was pretty good nightmare fuel for Grayson. Grayson felt the need to grab a weapon, so naturally, he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the knife block, feeling a million times safer as soon as he did. He returned to the living room amidst the screaming, his knife at the ready.

"Where is it?" Nancy asked, looking around at the lights, clearly searching for something.

"Where is what?" Steve screamed, "Gray, why the fuck do you have a knife?"

The boy shrugged, "It's good to be prepared! Even if I don't know what the fuck is going on."

Steve was still yelling, asking for someone to explain something, anything when everyone stopped dead. The ceiling was beginning to break apart, crumbling to pieces. A creature began to protrude and with little hesitation, Nancy pointed her gun and pulled the trigger. He had to admire her animosity, but it only seemed to make whatever that thing was angrier. Jonathan grabbed Nancy and they all ran, retreating back to one of the bedrooms. As they were running, they were told to jump over what looked like a bear trap, which bewildered Grayson, yet at the same time, with the situation, he wasn't really all that surprised by that. Things just seemed to be getting weirder and he was slowly becoming okay with that.

"Jesus, Jesus, what the hell was that?" Steve asked as soon as the door to what looked like Jonathan's room was closed and locked. Grayson grabbed onto Steve's arm, feeling so much safer once he did so. "What the hell was that?"

"Shut up!" Nancy and Jonathan yelled at the same time, causing Grayson to raise his eyebrows. They all followed instructions as the monster outside screeched. Jonathan had his bat and a lighter at the ready while Nancy had her gun and Grayson his knife.

"What's it doing?" Nancy asked after a beat of silence from outside.

Jonathan's only answer was, "I don't know."

In wild anticipation, they waited.

hope y'all like that little cliffhanger a.k.a me trying to get six more chapters out of this episode xoxo