There were no words to describe the complex emotions that Monica went through all at once in seeing Will Byers' unconscious body being carried out on the stretcher. She watched his limbs sit uncomfortably as his face stayed stiff like a rock, gray-toned. Confused about whether to let the tears fall, scream, vomit, or all of the above. Yet she stared at the police car including the ambulance driving it away. He was gone, she managed to construct it at that moment. I'm sorry.

At that point of that cursed night, Monica grew severely tired and wobbly to stand. She stood as if she was a regular drunk about to throw up. Her vision, although not the best, noticed blurry shadows of what seemed to be kids with bikes. She felt disturbed at the sight, but in the end, she slowly staggers through the dirt, hugging herself once again. She began to also sense how the world tends to spin around in circles and slow down with each step. Her body started to become weak as her back hunched over in an attempt to be more comfortable. Instead, it just made the pain ache worse.

One of the kids in the near distance, however, called out with the name, "Mike!" and "Mike, come on, please!" out of the blue and noticed the exhausted Monica stumbling away. Monica hadn't gotten so far to miss what the child shouted but she continued to walk nonetheless. It was only a matter of time until that strength wore out. The voice felt familiar to her but she didn't bother to stop. She had to keep going to stay alive.

"Hey, you! Lady!"

Please keep going, Monica. You've dealt with too much tonight.

"Wait, I think that's Monica. Monica?!" Police officers started to glance over the teenage girl's terrible state. Struggling to stay awake.

Don't turn around. It's a setup...

"Monica, wait! It's me Dusti–" Dustin Henderson was the first to notice Monica for who she was and rushed over to grab her attention. He nudged her over to snap her out of it. Out of her trance. Instead, however, she wobbles over to fall on the ground unconscious.

You're going to die.

"Holy shit! Shit, shit, shit! Monica... I'm so sorry!" Dustin cries while the police officers finally come to help, rushing to her side in aid and assistance. She slowly moves around, groaning while still struggling to breathe without feeling any pain. The closer she lay there, the further she was into death. The ambulance took several minutes before arriving back at the quarry. Monica just stared at the plain dark sky, hoping her death was as peaceful as she finally left, laying down. Slowly closing her eyes with a sad smile on her tear-stained face. As soon as the ambulance van stopped, the officers carried her out of the stretcher as quickly and sloppily as possible, taking her back out of the van.

As they pestered her with questions, the last words Monica could utter before knocking herself out was "Where's Nancy?"

Monica was stuck in the hospital bed for the rest of the night, knocked out due to exhaustion and weariness. The doctors and nurses were quick, too quick to test her vitals if she was still alive and if she had any warning symptoms. They only detected the lack of warmth in her body, irritated ears, and dark circles around her eyes. The only way that they could notice the pain that Monica felt was when she woke up the next morning.

Luckily, Dustin told Hopper, the chief who was there at the quarry, who Monica was so it didn't become so hard to contact the mother. Speaking of, her mother Linda was picking another late night shift at the market called Bradley's Big Buy, mobbing up all of the spills that customers made earlier in the day before restocking. It was close to 1:30 am at the moment and Linda wasn't anywhere close to being happy as she thought she would be when first arriving at Hawkins. However, she was grateful for what she had; a daughter, a house of her own, and a job that pays the bare minimum. Even if she couldn't spend any time enjoying it.

—

The store was silent besides the splashes of the mops crossing side to side in keeping the floor clean with a bar of detergent soap. Silent before a car made its stop over the store, revealing it to be Hopper, Powell, and Callahan, once they were knocking on the automatic sliding door that was shut off for the night. Linda snapped out of her routine mop and felt her heartbeat quicken. She jogs over to open the doors for them and faces them even though she was only 5'2. "Hi officers. What can I do for you?"

"Are you Monica's mother, ma'am?" Hopper addresses this right off the bat, feeling empty after telling two mothers about their children. First Joyce, now another. The only difference was that he had to inform Joyce that Will wasn't coming back at all while this mother's daughter will soon wake up but as a different person than before. In that way, it wasn't that much of a difference. All of it causes trauma in one way or another.

Linda nodded with a yes, officer. "Is she okay? I thought she was at home, doing chores... Is she in trouble?"

"Come with me."

By the time Linda got to the room that Monica was in, still laying there unconscious in a hospital gown, Linda was in a fit of tears already, whispering to herself that this couldn't be. The sight of her daughter in that state made her scream internally with pain and remorse. She rushed to her side, grabbing her hand tightly in hopes of waking her up. Begging the doctors to help her while being understandably hysterical. She pleaded for her daughter to wake up and how sorry she was. Monica didn't wake up that night. Not yet.

—

Compared to yesterday, Monica laid there still knocked out, but this time on her own firm, cold twin mattress, about to feel the hard cracks of her normal life going away. Watching Barb being eaten alive, the monster, Will's voice, and... his gray, lifeless adolescent corpse. All in the same night. Whether or not she would admit it... it was true, raw, red with fear and she had to accept that she witnessed it in her lifetime as canon.

The hospital had sent her daughter home from Linda not affording a day with the additional fees on the bill for the health care that her daughter clearly needed to live. Despite how much she was against it. However, on the bright side (if you could call it so), Linda could actually spend all of her precious time being by her daughter's side rather than traveling to the hospital back and forth, going mad about whether or not her daughter will live on or die. She was called off by her boss hearing the situation at hand for a few days. So on that day, Linda got up bright and early as if she was getting ready for her normal job and went to Monica's bedroom to check up on her.

The house was chilly with little to no lighting since it was the morning and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It was mainly cloudy which had added a blue hue to the room that Linda walked into. 

The blue-hue atmosphere had made Monica's face more corpse-like to add to the fact she was still in a sleeping state. The last time she was awake was the day they left the hospital a day ago, seeing her mother and doctors towering over her body. Other than that, Monica would lie on the bed like she was sleeping. In some context, she actually was. Either way, The sight of it drove Linda sick and miserable, drowning her with gallons of guilt.

"Good morning, baby." Linda sat down by her side and placed her hand over Monica's cold face.

"I made you breakfast. Your favorite." No response from Monica other than her nose scrunched by the distant smell of soup from the kitchen. Soon her eyes open as well. Linda tearfully smiles. "Hi."

Monica took a breath as she proceeded to speak. "Morning."

"Yes. Morning. Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" As she asked her these questions, Monica slowly sat up rubbing her forehead. She was left with a prolonged pain that she was asleep on the whole time. Now the pain was activated.

"What.... What are you doing here, mom? You should be at work."

"No, no, honey. Don't worry about me. How are you feeling?"

As Linda went to caress Monica's cheek, Monica actively pulled herself back with a puzzled look on her face. She didn't recall her mother being so... physically close as much as she was at that moment. At rare moments which means it happened once, they would tell each other "I love you" and move on with their lives. Linda, at times, wouldn't even acknowledge her daughter's existence other than doing chores. After a while, Monica treated it as normal, especially having a friend like Nancy by her side. Her best friend.

"I'm fine. A little dizzy but fine." She noticed her mother's eye bags and frazzled hair. "Are you... okay?"

"Come on, let's eat."

At the dining table, Monica sat there with a mini bowl of miso soup with a side of steamed rice and a cup of green tea, still as a rock. Soup was once her favorite when she was younger but it's been too long since her mother even went out of her way to cook for her genuinely.  Despite wanting to pretend to be normal and appreciative, she was still in a dream state from everything she had seen that night. Or that was something she wanted to believe. Linda, however, sat across from her with a serving of food for herself, readying to eat with chopsticks in hand. She was studying her daughter's deadpan expression in questioning herself why she wasn't eating. "Monica."

After the third time Linda called her name, Monica snapped out of it from staring at her soup intensely. "Sorry. I'm sorry mom. I got... distracted."

Linda gave her a bittersweet look, holding her emotions inside to keep a strong face. "It's okay. Just don't let it get too cold, okay?"

"Okay." Monica picks up the chopsticks in the best way she could remember in the correct way. Her hands were relentlessly shaking throughout which sank a new low. The thoughts and visions also didn't help whatsoever in trying to return to a new normal. She then drops them down, wanting answers. "Mom... how long was I out?"

"For... a day or two." Linda told truthfully, tears welling more and more by the second. "I watched your heart stop... I thought I lost you."

There was a pause for her mother to recollect herself and wipe down the tears that escaped her face. "But... But you're here now... and I thank God everyday that you're okay."

Monica had a tear easily roll down her face from watching her mother break down in front of her. There was only one other time when Linda ever cried to Monica's knowledge which was when she begged the landowner for extra time for rent money when Monica was recently six years old. It was many times that she felt saddened at her mother's constant overworking and wanted to help her as much as she could. To avoid any more emotion, she just moved on to finish her meal as fast as she possibly could without throwing it up afterward. Inside, she hated every bite, not for its taste, but how hard it was to swallow and enjoy it as normal. 

Everything was somehow out of whack more than ever before. After the Upside down and escaping it... the real world just felt like a continuation of that ongoing nightmare. Clawing at her insides and brain to endlessly taunt her and her thoughts.

She thanked her mother for the meal. "Mom, are they still looking for... Will?"

"Yes. They found him... in the river." Linda spoke with such softness and delicacy. "It was in the news."

The police sirens, the boy in the river, and the coldness of the world... were all real... But it didn't make sense at all. Back in the Upside Down, she knew she heard his voice, frightened and full of fight left. It felt real, it was real. It just had to be.

"What?... They're wrong... Has to be!" Monica scoffed while slightly raising her voice.

"The police told me you were there..."

"They're lying. They found the wrong boy, I know it. I heard him myself."

Without a verbal response, Linda walks over to caress her daughter through her cries of sorrow but Monica pushes her away. "I know what I saw. I know he's alive."

"Maybe you need to lay down. You've done a lot in one day."

"No... I'm not crazy... I'm telling you the truth. I heard him... I swear."

Monica was sobbing now, sniffling through her words. Not because she was lying to herself, she knew she was right. She was crying because no one would believe her, especially now.

She loosened up after Linda told her to go back to her room and lay down. "I'll check on you later, okay? Can you do that for me?"

Monica nodded and lumbered through the halls to get back to her room.

—

The rest of the day flew by without ease. Monica stayed in her room for the whole duration of the day, wanting every second of her life to be her last. 

With fingers in her hair tightly, she sat on the edge of the bed with nothing but a tank top and plaid pajama pants. Crying softly so her mother couldn't walk in to see her at her weakest when she had to deal with more than enough in the past few days. She wanted this to be over and be normal. If that's even a possibility at this point. She didn't shower for the past few days nor even look at herself in the mirror. If she did, she feared she'd feel like she was really crazy... Maybe she was.

Hopper, the chief police alongside his crew, checked on her the next day and asked a few questions about what happened. 

Her mother was by her side, holding her hands as Monica talked through the awful experience of almost facing death. She told him mostly everything. The monster, Will's voice, the upside down or "hell" from what she called it... she told him how scared she felt in those moments of despair. "I thought I was going to die..."

"You need to believe me...Will Byers is alive... I know he is... Please..."

After listening to Monica's testimony, Hopper gave a sentimental look to the young girl and looked over to her mom who was also tearing up as well. "Ms. Suzuki, could I talk to your daughter alone? I want to ask her some questions."

Linda forcedly smiles through her tears. "Oh... Really? Are you going to be okay?"

She answers with a nod. "I'll be fine, Mom."

Once her mom was escorted out of Monica's room with Officer Callahan and Powell, Hopper kneeled down to her level, face to face. It seemed like he was getting into his pep talk mode before he spoke. Although, he kept a slight frown on his face but silent. He felt uncomfortable with breaking her psyche even further.

"You don't believe me... do you?" She broke the ice.

"I'd like to believe you... but you were in a coma... for several days... after having been at a party..."

Monica interrupts him without remorse. "I wasn't drunk."

"I know. But you're exhausted. And I don't blame you." Hopper took a breath out from his nose. "When someone close to you... someone that you love... whe they die, your mind can react in many different ways and you might hear and see some things that aren't really there. I know from experience."

She looks away from him and his dirty words that clawed her soul into what reality was. The fact of the matter was simple. The "truth" that Will was dead would've destroyed Monica severely. Will was like her surrogate little brother. One of the only people she's grown attached to alongside the Byers family. She wondered how they must've been feeling. The thought of them now looking for a new small coffin for their dead boy... it filled her up with nothing but overwhelming emotions. She hated to even pander to the thought.

Hopper took that as a cue to leave her be with her tears endlessly falling down her face. "Do us all a favor, kid and don't be a hero. The last thing I want is to have another dead kid in my hands. Do it for your mother at least."

In Monica's mind, watching her mother being affected already by her daughter's terrible circumstances, further made her come up with the conclusion: her mom was better without her. She hated being cared for and having someone worrying over her... She would rather help others than herself. And as days will pass by, she will continue to prove to do so.

After she was checked on by the police chief, Linda told her that she needed to get groceries and promised her that she would be back.

Monica lay there in her bed for a short while, tears still over her face from the conversation. She hated to think about it so she tried to scramble with other things to think about. Nancy. She forgot that she could see her finally this time. Maybe she could now.

There was a clock up across the wall in her room with the time being 9:45 am. Nancy must be in school, she thought. Her head was still spinning at that moment returned to school so Monica just had to wait for Nancy to come back. She still worries for her safety.

—

The only thing on Nancy's mind was hearing Monica through the phone for the first time, in full terror. Her cries for help still was all she could think about. She wanted her to be desperately okay.

The breaking news of Will Byers being dead surely didn't help ease her conscience. She couldn't help but feel a great sense of guilt for Jonathan and his whole family. He didn't show up to class even before the news broke out. Not to mention her own brother who she usually finds him being an annoying brat. She never saw Mike that sad before.

So many people were crumbling around her alongside her sanity. She almost bombed one of her exams for the first time in her life. For all of her life, she never missed scoring high on exams. But now... a D+? What else could be worse?

Nancy paced back and forth by the alley, staring down at the huge "D+" written and circled in red marker on her recent exam. Her teacher also managed to write "I'm very disappointed in you" with a sad face on the bottom of the paper. As if that could make her feel any better about her situation.

Steve was with her, standing on the brick wall. His face scrunched up as if he was witnessing a public humiliation. He never understood her constant worrying over her grades since it was clear that she has the highest chance of getting out of Hawkins. Not to mention they were supposed to be using this time for makeout sessions. At least in his mind.

"Nancy." She couldn't bother to respond. "Nancy!"

Nancy looked at him, aloof. "What? Oh sorry. I'm so sorry. I just..."

"You're going to be fine, Nance. You're the smartest girl I know." To Nancy, that wasn't really saying much.

She shook her head in agreement. "Yeah, I know. I just... feel like my life is falling apart. The whole thing of Will Byers... Monica is– and Barb are still missing... I feel like nobody is list—"

"Wait? They're still missing from the party?"

Nancy's eyes furrowed at the sudden care in his heart. He hardly ever expressed concern for either one of her friends. It was pretty clear that he didn't give a damn about anything related to them. "Yeah... Yeah, the police already questioned me... in my own house..."

"Holy shit. Please tell me you didn't tell them about the beers." There it is.

"What? That's what you care about?"

"If my parents find out, they'll kill me. You have to understand that my dad is a Grade-A asshole."

At that moment, she remembered Monica's words about him... how much of a douche he was... his hairsprayed hair... more and more, especially at this moment... she believed her. "You're worried about your dad? There are people missing, DEAD! And all you care about is your stupid dad?!"

"Just tell me if you said anything about the beers." This is what he cares about. Hardly he ever comforts her in her time of need about Monica, Barb, or any of this. Does he even care about her?

In a condescending voice, she looked into his dark brown eyes with a glare. "No, I didn't say anything about your beers or anything that we did at that party."

Nancy then stormed off without any doubts about turning back. Even when he called out her name, she didn't bother. Like everyone else, they didn't care. Why give the same energy? She was done.

—

With the time that Monica had left, she may have contacted a fanatic Joyce just to see how she was through the phone. She wasn't expecting a response since her youngest had been dead in some river. As it seemed to be. No one could blame Joyce's behavior as a grieving mother.

The phone picks up as she nervously swallows. 

Joyce immediately answers with a "Will?!" She thinks Will is alive. At least they share the same delusion.

Monica spoke, further disappointing her. She almost wanted to say sorry. "Joyce?"

"Monica... sweetie this is not a good time right now. If you're looking for Jonathan, he's out buying a casket at the funeral home,."

A casket? Already? How long did I sleep? "A casket... for Will? Right?"

"It's not Will." She immediately shut that down. Monica wonders if Joyce also believes that Will is alive. Maybe she saw... or heard something like she herself did back in the Upside Down. She had to find out so she listened. "That... that thing... that is not my boy... I know because... I talk to him... through the lights... I know I sound crazy..."

"You don't. I... I think I heard him too... don't worry, we'll fix this. I'll find a way to figure out what's going on."

Before Joyce could answer back, Monica hung up the phone, not wanting to go into details. She had to find Jonathan and tell him the truth.

She then grabbed a random pair of converse and a black bomber jacket to hide the fact that she was wearing pjs. She headed out to the town square on foot, considering it'll be 30 minutes to get there. A white van sat there in the near distance when she walked out of the house. "Hawkins Power and Light" was written in blue on the van which made her simply raise a brow. She had hardly ever seen that van before. But she was too focused to make it a big deal.

The town square was where her mother worked. It had its small businesses like bakeries, auto shops, tailor shops, and many more. It even has its funeral home where loved ones go to buy something for the deceased to be for eternity when they're six feet under. She never thought about what would happen to her corpse after she died since it didn't seem to matter. She'd be dead and gone. She would hope that the people around her would eventually survive without her.

By the time Monica arrived at the funeral home, she saw through the glass door where Jonathan sat in the waiting room area, looking sick and pale. Straight away, Monica struts herself inside to finally talk to him. Even though she didn't miss him as much as Nancy, she missed him dearly. Like a surrogate brother in the same way as Will.

She approached him swiftly. "Hey..."

Jonathan looks up to see her standing in her jacket and messy hair. His eyes, heavy with eyebags, were bloodshot but it began to brighten upon seeing his best friend. He stood up and hugged her tightly. "Monica. Hey."

"You look like hell."

He chuckles. "You look worse."

"Thanks. You too." Monica smiles, silently agreeing with the statement. She was sure enough based on the looks that many people gave her on the way over here. She really did look like a monster.

They share a few moments of pure silence while hugging each other. Monica was the first to pull away. "I'm sorry about Will."

He nodded without a verbal response. "At least I got an answer. It's better than constantly deluding myself that somehow he is still alive... like my mom..."

"She told me you were here." Although Joyce wasn't deluding herself into insanity, she was simply telling the truth. It had to be true. Will Byers had to be alive.

"Yeah I know." Jonathan sighed. "Why are you here, Mon? You do know that Nancy is looking for you?"

She was looking for me? Nancy Wheeler? From the mention of her name, Monica already felt tears falling. I hate this... crying... it's embarrassing...

"Jonathan, I need to tell you something. Something happened... something bad..."

"What? Tell me."

Monica looked directly into his eyes as she told him her experience with the Upside Down. "I think I... I think I went somewhere... someplace I can't explain... but it was cold... and dark... Jonathan... I know this sounds crazy but your mother is right. I heard him... I don't know whose corpse you saw... what the police found... it's not real."

"Don't. Please, not now." Jonathan walked away from her. "My mom already shut down and I cannot have you shutting down."

"No, please listen to me. Please! I think Will Byers is alive and needs our help. I even know where he is. Just don't know how to get there. He's in danger."

He scoffed, pacing back and forth. "Bullshit. What else did my mom tell you? Huh? Did you also talk to him through the lights? Did you see a monster with no face jump out of the walls?!"

Monica stood there, stunned by the oddly familiar description of... the monster. The Demogorgon. No face, slimy with a million rows of teeth ready to suck the guts of its new victim. The same monster that was... eating Barb alive. Her cries and screams.

She zones out for a good 30 seconds as Jonathan just walks out of the funeral home. She snaps out of it when hearing the door close. She then follows after him, calling out his name.

"Jonathan! Jonathan, stop!" Once she reached close enough, she grabbed ahold of his arm.

Jonathan bites his lip and turns to Monica, face to face. People were starting to notice and stare at the two. "What?"

"Look, I swear to God I'm not crazy. For the past few days, I've been in comas, in some of a blizzaro world or whatever that place is. I don't even know anymore. Nothing makes sense. But one thing I know is that I heard Will and I have seen... that monster... that demon... I'm not lying." But one thing certain is that she wishes she was lying. She just wanted everything to be normal again.

From being a son of an abusive drunk, he gained the life skill of telling whether someone was lying or not. His judgment wasn't always correct but something in Monica's language gave off the indication that she wasn't lying. She looked terrible... terribly traumatized. Even if he wasn't going to believe her, it was obvious that she went through something.

They went silent for a few seconds. Monica spoke again. "I'm not crazy."

"I'll give you a ride home."

—

Sitting in the passenger seat in Jonathan's Ford, Monica stares at the front window soulless and tired from traveling to the town square on foot. It was nice yet haunting to finally sit with her thoughts. Although, she didn't have the energy to fight those thoughts and flashbacks of that night.

Jonathan tried to play "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash on the car stereo. The sound of the intro flooded in core memories for the both of them. Monica remembered the first time she heard it when babysitting Will one time. He'd play it while they were drawing to pass the time. She remembered how creative and detailed his drawings were for his young age whenever he would show her. It was back when she was starting out in middle school. One of the things that they shared in common is that they were visual learners. She promised him one day he'd be a famous artist and she'll film his documentary. And she hoped to keep that promise.

"Grab my bag for me. There's something you should see." Jonathan asked politely. She took a second to process that statement, reaching the backseat to grab his brown satchel. She looked over at him to make sure he was okay with it. He nodded with the go-ahead. She took a quick yet large breath and dug inside to find a yellow folder with a paperclip, closing it altogether.

When opening this folder, she found a series of photographs from that night. Photos of Barb in the pool, herself and Nancy in the pool, the pool being empty after the fact, Monica leaving the party... it was all there. I knew someone was watching me... but Jonathan?

"You were spying on us?" She was baffled, to say the least. "What the fuck dude?"

"What? No I wasn't. I was there to find Will... I didn't mean to be a stalker... I just saw the opportunity to take a photo and I did..." She cringed from the inside out as she stared in detail at the photo of her and Nancy. "But... it doesn't matter. What I did was wrong... I'm sorry. Really."

Monica caressed the photo in hand before quickly turning over to Jonathan with furrowed brows. "Just remind me to punch you later, will ya?"

"Got it."

She then glances over the others intently. There was one that seemed to be smudged at the first look of it. It was the photo with Barb in the pool and there seems to be a figure on the right edge of the photo. A figure that had the same build as the Demogorgon. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"It's real... the monster... it's real..."

By this time, Jonathan already stopped his car by her house in broad daylight. He immediately looked at her and watched the color drain out of her face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... I'm right. What I saw... Barb... Will's in danger." Monica managed to utter.

Jonathan's heart dropped. He could tell that she wasn't joking at that moment. What sick person would?

She quickly grabbed the photo of Barb and folded it up in her pocket. The picture of her and Nancy was the next one from the pile in the yellow folder. She took the photo and ripped up to throw away later.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't respond and rather instead walked out of the door. Jonathan called out her name from the car. "We'll talk later, I promise. I'm gonna fix this. I just need some time. We're getting Will alive. I promise."

"Okay. Okay. Just call me."  Monica simply stared at him driving off in his Ford after the fact.

She notices the white van piercing at her soul in the near distance. "Power and Light" was a weird name since she was new to seeing that van... ever in her life. Maybe that van had something to do with it but she could be paranoid.

—

"3:35 pm" read off Monica's watch on her left wrist. She had stolen it from her mom's jewelry box to keep track of time. At this time, school must be ending or had just ended. If Nancy still was with Steve, she should be here in a few minutes if they drove. I have to see her again.

She sat by the front steps, wearing the same, plain outfit with slippers. It was getting colder and colder as the season processed but she loved it regardless. If it was warmer, she would've slept which was something she despised at this point. She wondered if Princess Sleeping Beauty felt the same way being in eternal sleep. A full nightmare.

She thought about how Nancy cared enough to notice that Monica was gone after she was mean on the night of the party... She must've been, considering when she heard Nancy's desperate, sweet voice pleading for her best friend to come back... Before talking to Jonathan, she feared that it was all made up, but now it was clear that it wasn't. Even though it gives her constant nightmares every time she closes her eyes... Nancy has to be here...

"3:58 pm". A girl in Monica's view appeared, strutting quickly with an angered passion. She wore a purple cardigan and pencil skirt just like Nancy Wheeler would. She hid her face by keeping her head down but Monica knew that walk from a mile away.

Monica followed her up to her door with a healthy distance between them, given how much energy her legs gave out the past few days. She did try to go as fast as she possibly could.

Nancy pulled out her keys to unlock the door until she heard a familiar voice. So familiar of a voice that brought her tears. You're not real.

"Nancy?"

Monica's nose started to run as her eyes were bloodshot from crying nonstop. She saw Nancy for the first time and she looked at her shocked like she had seen a ghost. Regardless, a weight had been lifted off both of their shoulders. They couldn't wait longer to... meet their embrace. They wanted to do so much more but for now, this will do.

Both sobbing, they kept reiterating the words, "I'm sorry" to each other for that night. For everything. Monica was so glad to feel Nancy's presence and her warmth in their hug. Her purple cardigan felt so soft and her lavender-scented perfume smelt divine. Everything about Nancy, to Monica, was perfect. She wished she would even kiss her.

When seeing Monica again, it was as if Nancy saw a ghost of a close loved one. For an eternity (it felt like), she missed her partner in crime. She assumed the worst had happened to Monica when they had that call and never forgave her. Not to mention the hellish day she had today. Monica showing up is all she could ask for.

"I miss you." Nancy sniffled when pulling out of the hug.

"Me too." Monica smiles through her tears. God, why are you so goddamn beautiful?

They shared a moment, holding hands in silence for 15 seconds. Nancy swallows to keep the little of composure she had left and breaks the tension. "Where were you? Barb is still missing and Will's dead? What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know. But I have so much to tell you." Monica desperately wanted to tell her the truth about Barb. But then she had to tell her how she ran away like the coward she was. "One thing for certain... Will is alive and we're going to save him."