(y/n) - your name

(y/f/n) - your full name

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sweltering heat was painful and agonising, vision blurred from the heat that rose from the concrete road and legs burned as the girl didn't stop walking. She couldn't stop, wouldn't in fear that those creatures would catch up to her and take her back to wherever she woke up from. She held the backpack tightly in her arms, her single fist still holding the necklace securely as she wracked her brain about who she was. 

Everything was fuzzy and unclear, not even being able to remember her name. There were flashes of uncertain memories but nothing that could tell the girl who she was.

The files!

The girl kept walking as she opened her bag, taking out the files to see if they had anything on her. She sifted through, seeing an image of a girl and her name but she didn't know if this was her. She read through the information, seeing a note that this person had a large birthmark on the side of her right outer thigh. The girl quickly pulled up her dress to check and low and behold, there was the same birthmark that matched the photograph in the file.

I'm (y/f/n)...

(y/n) read through the entirety of the files and the paper, trying to understand where she woke up in, why she was unconscious and what happened to her before all this. There was all this mumbo jumbo about demons and evil creatures from a place called the Upside Down, photos of people she used to know. She recognised them, a feeling that she was close to each person until she stopped at a picture of a certain someone. Her heart lurched seeing his deadly calm expression, a cigarette held between his lips. He had beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous curly dirty blonde hair styled in a mullet, dressed in an all-denim outfit. There was something about this man, her heart racing in her chest as she stared into his eyes.

Billy Hargrove...

(y/n) read everything there was on him, taking note that he had moved back to California which was his old hometown before he moved to Hawkins. She decided that that was where she would go, hoping that Billy could help her understand everything that had happened.

~~~~~~~~

Billy was unpacking the boxes, putting away (y/n)'s stuff in a separate bedroom from his to keep all her stuff safe behind locked doors. He sat on the bed, looking through the box that had all the photos from this year during the summer holiday before they started working. It was mostly photos of him in the moment of a random activity or him smiling for her in the photo. Of him coming out from under his car to wipe the oil from his face, when he was on a shift at the local pool, when he was waking up in bed and grumbling at her, when he was driving or when he was just smiling in general. (y/n) loved his smile.

Billy smiled as he took out a specific photo, seeing (y/n) with a surprised look in it when he grabbed her by her waist and kissed her cheek to take the photo. They were at the field of lily's Billy took her the Snow Ball night. He remembers he begging him to rip up that photo, saying she didn't look good photogenic but he thought she looked lovely. Plus it was payback for all the times she surprised him by taking his picture.

There was more he had taken of her, when she had her bedhair when she had just woken up, her brushing her teeth through the mirror as he hugged her from behind, when she wore a dress to try it on in the shops, when she hung out with the kids or when they made love late at night.

Billy sighs as he put the photos back in the box, taking the lid but stopping when a single envelope fell from a gap in the lid. He picked it up, seeing (y/n)'s messy handwriting on it the spelled out 'My Love'. He opened it, taking out a single photo. It was one that none of them had taken, Jonathan being the one to take the photo of both Billy and (y/n) together. They were standing beneath some fairy lights at a park for a night walk with the whole gang, Billy and (y/n) looking at each other with wide smiles as he held her by her waist. That was the night Billy knew he was in love with her, professing those words to her before leaning down to kiss her sweetly. 

Billy smiled bittersweetly at the memory, remembering (y/n)'s flushed cheeks as she looked at him with wide eyes. He knew she couldn't say it back but it was ok. He knew that she loved him, even till her last breath. She proved that to him and he wished she didn't have to. Billy packed the box away, taking that photo and framing it before displaying it in his room. There was a knock on the front door before the doorbell was rung and Billy went to answer it, seeing the mailman.

"Thanks..." he mumbles out as he takes the letters from him, closing the door and locking it before sifting through the envelopes to find a specific one. He finds it, addressed to him by his little sister.

The two had gotten close through the whole ordeal in Hawkins, the two of them apologising to each other for being a shit sibling. Mainly it was Billy apologising for everything he had put Max through, hugging her tight at the funeral as she cried in his chest when (y/n) and her brother's coffins were lowered to be buried. The sibling redemption was short-lived when Billy decided to leave Hawkins. Max understood why but that didn't mean she wouldn't miss her brother, making him promise to write to her everyday from California and to make sure he visits her.

Billy opens the letter, smiling as he read the note from Max describing what she had been doing. She was mainly preparing herself to move to high school from middle school, describing how anxious she was about it. The letter was sweet, Max saying how she missed her brother and hoped she would visit her on her first day in high school. She explained how her and her mum moved into (y/n)'s house since it felt more like home than their old place, renting out their old house for a steady income. Plus (y/n)'s place was cheaper to afford.

Billy sits down at the table, ready to write a response for his sister.

~~~~~~~~

(y/n) shivered violently against the cold winds, her body just numb as she struggled to walk. She didn't know how long she was on the road like this, everything blurring together as she pushed herself to keep walking. She huddled for warmth in the coat she stole, her backpack on her back and the only source of comfort being the necklace she held in her fist. Everything hurt as she cried, begging for someone to pass her. It was like her prayers were heard and she saw the lights of a car flash from behind her and she quickly turns around.

(y/n) hopes it wasn't the creatures from the facility, stumbling back as her teeth shuddered when the car stopped in front of her. "Oh my god!" a woman got out of her car and (y/n) cried in relief, falling to her knees and the woman rushes over to her. "Are you ok dear!?" (y/n) shook her head no and the woman hugged her, noticing her body shivering. "What are you doing out here!?" she picked up (y/n) and helped her in her car, seating her in the front passenger seat before getting in the drivers seat. The woman didn't drive anywhere, blasting the heat on for the poor girl. "Honey, you're in the middle of nowhere! Did you get lost?" (y/n) nods and the woman purses her lips as she showed her a single word on a file she was holding. "California? You're trying to go to California?" (y/n) nods once more and the woman sighs. "Ok dear, I'll take you to the nearest bus station that will take you there. Just-" the woman blinks as she looks at the girl to see that she had fallen asleep and she looked over her in worry.

Was she walking this entire time?

The woman checks her baby in the back, see him sleeping soundly before she drives off down the road. She glances at the girl every now and then, frowning at how frail and sickly the girl looked. She was too small and delicate to be out in the wilderness like this. She let the girl sleep as she drove, deciding to wake her up when they got to the bus station.

(y/n) grumbled as someone shook her awake after some time, sitting up straight in fear that she was stuck in that glass cage she woke up in until she heard a woman trying to calm her down. "Honey, we're here. You're ok." She pats the girl's leg gently, picking up the files and photos that had fallen and packing them back in her bag. (y/n) looks at her with wide eyes, looking out the window to see that they were at a coach stop, people boarding coaches for long drives to different places. "Here, take this dear. This should be more than plenty to get you to California. I don't know what happened but if this is where you are safe in, get there quickly." The woman hands (y/n) some money and the girl looks at her, tearing up. "Oh honey-" (y/n) hugs the woman in thanks, catching her off guard and she carefully pats her back. "Now go on before the coach leaves." The woman urges the girl out of her car and (y/n) waves goodbye to the woman, rushing to get a ticket.

"Where would you like to go?" the man at the till says with an enthusiastic tone, staring down at this random girl that was sifting through her bag. "Hurry up, I don't have all day kid!" (y/n) takes out her file and opens it to point it to the word California, showing it to the man. He blinks at her in confusion. "You want to go to California?" (y/n) nods and the man sighs as he rings her up, telling her the cost which she pays for. "Here's your ticket, the last overnight coach is about to leave." (y/n) quickly takes the ticket and stuffs the rest of her money and the file back in her bag before rushing to the vehicle.

A driver stood there, being approached by a girl as she huffs, showing him her ticket. "Yeah this is going to California. Get in." (y/n) beams and climbs up the stairs, staring down the seats to find an empty one. She finds one in the far back, going to sit against the window when a father and his son sit down next to her. The son was playing with his toys as he sat next to (y/n), the coach driving off. The movement made (y/n) sleepy and she struggled to stay awake. She hesitantly pats the father's shoulder and he turns around to see a girl sitting next to his son.

"What kid?" the girl takes out a file and points to California, noticing how tired she was. "Want me to wake you up when we get to California?" She nods and the father shrugs. "Sure." the girl nods and puts her stuff away in her bag before curling into a ball to sleep while the father grumbles about teens running away these days.