A/n: okay, so real quick I love mileven, its a cute ship and I think they're real sweet. But this chapter ain't kind lmao

Also,, THANK YOU GUYS SO SO MUCH FOR 6K, HOLY CRAP 😭💝 I can't believe this book got to 6k before I even posted the second chapter, holy shit yall are powerful and something else, I love you guys and thank you so muchh 🥰

F/C = favorite candy
F/S = favorite snack
Y/C/N = Your [D&D] Character Name

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Y/n glances over Will's shoulders, the pair of them clumped in with Max and Lucas behind their lookout. The boy's sharp nose peeks out from the exit door that blended so well with the scarlet walls, his eyes darting carefully down the corridor assuring they wouldn't be seen. Finally, Mike nods, pushing the door open and striding through at a brisk pace his friends quickly match.

"All clear,"

As they had oh so many times before, they fell into line as they slipped down the hallway with a confidence they adapted in their summer ritual. As the first of them rounded the corner and into the theater, a bright display of colors from one of several light boxes caught Y/n's eye. She grinned knowingly when she saw the movie poster, recalling the trailer that had piqued her interest a few visits back.

At the subliminal reminder, she turned to her boyfriend. She captured his attention quickly as she hooked his arm in hers and gestured to the Back to the Future poster they were now passing.

"We still need to see that, you know," she remarked.

He smiled despite the slight quirk in his brow that betrayed his surprise.

"Really?" He asked, voice quieting as they entered the theater.

She quickly matched his look of surprise, and his hushed tone.

"Yeah! You don't want to?" Y/n whispered.

Quickly, he shook his head defensively as he bunched in with the others who now found themselves crowding the stairs. Mike was quickly scanning for an open seat, which left the four of them waiting behind him anxiously as he crept down the stairs. It was then Max and Lucas spotted two seats several rows down, and swiftly made their way to claim them before anyone else.

"No, no, I will. I mean, it looks pretty cool," Will quickly explained in a whisper, easily pulling his attention back from the other couple and towards Y/n with a shrug. "I just... Well, I heard that it was gonna bomb, is all."

Y/n's face scrunched up immediately in a confused frown Will always found adorable, creating a smile on his face as she looked taken aback.

"Really?" She asked, a little too loudly.

"Shh!" Came the venomous hisses of an older couple beside them, who looked to be in their forties.

Y/n looked at them, eyes flickering to the screen as it displayed nothing but another advertisement, before returning her attention back to them. She slipped them the weakest of fake smiles and shrugged her shoulders. Quickly, Y/n retreated down the stairs when she realized Mike and Will had started moving again.

Will was just ahead of her, throwing an amused glance over his shoulder as she quickly jogged the stairs to catch up with him.

"Shut up," she mumbled through a grin she fought to suppress.

Within moments she found herself packed in between Will and a young woman several years older than herself. Just in time, Y/n realized, as she looked to the gigantic screen that now displayed the words, OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION. Y/n found herself rolling her eyes when Mike strained to throw his whisper down to herself and Lucas - who luckily enough, was sitting just one row before them.

"See guys? We still made it,"

Max was directly in front of Y/n, leaving Lucas easy access over his shoulder to retaliate. "We missed the previews," A comment only one of his friends in the back row seemed to have caught. He briefly met her equally perturbed gaze and shared a quick eyeroll.

Max grinned back at Lucas, mischief written on her lightly freckled face.

"Still made it," she whispered, her smirk growing sly. "And before you died, too, good thing."

Lucas rolls his eyes once more, the words of his girlfriend painting a defeated smile on his lips as he shakes his head.

Y/n pulled her attention away from the screen briefly when she noticed Will had begun distributing the snacks he had smuggled in for everyone. Y/n helped slip Lucas his soda and Max her pack of Skittles, Mike all the while grabbing his KitKat bar. Y/n's eyes, for the most part, remained trained on the screen in fear of missing anything but they broke away briefly when Will retrieved her f/c.

Her eyes widened, glinting happily as she made grabby hands at the snack. "Ooh, gimme, gimme," she whispered, pulling a light chuckle from Will.

Y/n sent him a thankful look, and returned to the screen just as Will had retrieved the last of the snacks and zipped up his backpack. Y/n waited rather impatiently for a loud enough moment when she could open her candy without being heard and ultimately stared at.

The entire theater was suddenly bathed in white light, and the scene of a woman - Lori Cardille's character - was sat up against a white brick wall, head drooping between her knees. An eerie tune blasted through the speakers that brought a small chill down Y/n's spine.

Something about how the woman - trapped in this room - steadily rose to her feet and crept across the tiled floor. Already she was hooked, her unopened candy was no longer the only thing she was focused on. Slowly, the woman made her way to the opposite wall, captivating Y/n's attention as to how or why this woman was here in this room.

She didn't want to admit it to herself, but since her coming into possession of the Missing Experiment files, she had a learned a great deal. And given the information about her birth mother, and how she had been tested and studied it wasn't hard to put together how cruel life as a subject was in that lab. Or what her life would of looked like had it not been for her birth mother's efforts. It wasn't common, nor was it rare, but every so often Y/n found herself in a nightmare she felt she would never wake from. All of which included her in her life that almost was, as Number 009.

Locked away in a cold, blank room with no doors. Nothing to keep her company but the cold metal bed she was supplied, the searing pain of the 009 tattoo on her left inner wrist that never went away, and the reminder she would be here all her life. Being poked and prodded and twisted into something she could never come undone from.

And it chilled Y/n to the very bone how much this room on the screen reminded her of the prison from her nightmares. And yet, she finds herself groaning with the rest of the audience as the screen freezes on the woman's entranced gaze before sliding out to black along with the rest of Starcourt.

"Come on!" Came several voices, many of whom belonged to her friends.

All across the mall, section by section, the neon disappeared, leaving Hawkins residents in disgruntled confusion and darkness.

Erica, who still sat amongst her friends in the main lounge, wore a perplexed expression, her voice laced with annoyance. "The hell?"

Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream parlor was among the last cluster to fall victim to the power outage, the confusion spreading to the two young employees behind the counter.

"That's weird," Steve remarked, stepping away from the counter.

Robin broke from her small daze brought on by the sudden blackout that had clearly overtaken the mall to see her coworker heading for the light switch. Steve put on an expression of befuddlement while Robin wore one that screamed, 'please don't do what I think you're about to do'. And yet, she watched in depressed defeat as he began flipping the light switch on and off despite her silent pleas. Her gaze was flat and unimpressed, his childish attempt was yet another blow to her already lacking morale.

"That isn't gonna work, dingus," she says flatly.

He paused, glancing up at the ceiling and back to her with a challenging look in his eye.

"Oh, really?"

Steve mercilessly attacks the light switch, flipping it on and off as fast as he can while staring Robin dead in the eye. And yet, nothing came of it but the rhythmic click of the switch flipping on and off.

Unbeknownst to the bewildered mall-goers, they were but the first of Hawkins to be shrouded in darkness. A willful, and unrelenting force swept over Hawkins. A force all too familiar with the small town, and unknowingly, a very force engraved in the town itself. Pumping through its veins and slowly but surely staining the town like a virus unseen. A force that was the town, and in a way, always had been.

And on this night, the 28th of June 1985, the force finally broke free from the shadows and begun to take a familiar shape.

As if bending to It's own wishes of discretion; Starcourt - the first of many - could feel Hawkins breathing it back to life as it also did for the dark force at work deep in the bowels of Brimborn Steelworks.

Light by light, room by room, Starcourt came back alive as if nothing had happened. The children's merry-go-round continued, the Indiana Flyer finished its jolly tune as did the joyous child riding its back and a certain employee in a tacky sailor's costume found his chest had filled with pride.

A triumphant look overtook Steve and he gestured grandly. "Let there be light."

Robin watched as he returned to the counter, trying her best to suppress an eye roll. And a smile.

The blackened screen flickered to life, resuming the woman's troubled gaze on the calendar that taunted her. The audience erupted in cheers, thankful their money hadn't been wasted and that their experience could continue. Y/n released a relieved chuckle, the picture before her quickly overturning the lurking thoughts of her nightmares and any coincidence of the blackout had with them. Eagerly, she dug her fingers into the pack of candy she had just opened, her eyes flickering to Will.

Her relief was short-lived when she she saw the expression on his face. He was there, but he wasn't at all happy, nor content, and he was but the farthest thing from relieved. What she couldn't see-what she didn't realize-was in these few crucial moments he sat with a glazed over stare, and a hand reaching for the back of his neck was the deep and profound feeling of foreboding that rooted deep inside him.

And not unlike only months short of a year prior, when he felt himself ensnared in the terror and icy grip of the monster that lurked in shadows only he could see, Will Byers could feel his skin tightening painfully as goosebumps gripped his neck. It was a chill he hoped he'd never feel again, a chill that had nearly destroyed him and his family and friends. And Y/n. The passionate, fiery, hatred for the girl was the only thing about this icy monster that burned brighter than the horrifying memories it left with him.

《•••》

Will was panting heavily, but he slowly turned around coming face to face with the monster. It towered over the school, looking directly at Will.

It got closer. It was swooping in like vulture but Will didn't give in.

The monster bellowed, and one large tentacle began twirling down onto the ground, the size of a small tornado. The swirling gust of black fog engulfed Will.

He stood frozen, now trapped in the swirling fog. Several black tendrils spawned from the mass and invaded Will and he could feel the evil presence as it possessed his body and settled in his very soul.

He felt every essence of warmth cease to be, and all that existed was icy darkness.

•••

"You're... gonna lose... him!" The words are spit from Will's mouth, a struggle through the growing pain.

Another painful scream erupted as the fire beneath Hawkins spread, but he fights it as much as he can. He was almost free. But most importantly, he couldn't let them win. Not with her on their side.

His screams vibrate with his body before his small frame shrinks in on itself like a dead spider. He straightens in seconds, his head, hands, and feet now glued to the bed as he bends in one final arc, his chest rising to the heavens. Will's mouth opens in another scream and a billowing cloud of inky black smoke escapes. It twists and unravels out from between his lips like a pitch-black tornado.

《•••》

"Will?"

Much like that night, a soothing and infectious warmth replaces the cold and unforgiving ice in his veins as Y/n lays a gentle hand Will. Startled, his head is ripped to her direction, arm already slipping away from his neck as she stares at him in worry. She recognized the look in his eyes all too well, and immediately she knew something was amiss.

"Will, what is it?"

Will's hand finally fell to the arm rest he shared with Y/n, and he gently took her hand as if to reassure her. Though deep down, they both knew he needed the comfort far more in this moment. He put everything into her touch, allowing her natural warmth to subdue the chill in his bones as he mentally packed away the crazy thought that he didn't want to be true into the farthest corners of his mind.

And as he met her gaze, her worried eyes now boring into his as she held his hand with a firm grip that said she was never letting go, he found a smile on his face. All too easily the words came to him, the words spoken to her in hushed whispers that he clung to tighter than her. Words he desperately needed to believe were true, words that were already lying to the demanding feeling in his gut that screamed for his attention.

"Nothing," he says, already succumbing to the temptation of a sugar-coated lie that was far more palatable than the bitter truth. "Everything's fine,"

Soft sunlight spilled through the open blinds in the Henderson house, illuminating the golden wallpaper and shag carpet that lined its insides. Muted footsteps rushed through the house and towards the front door, a second pair following closely on its heels.

"Mom, remember, he HAS to think-"

"-HAS to think everyone forgot, I know, Pumpkin, I know."

Claudia Henderson turns to face her daughter when she reaches the door, a worn smile playing her lips as she begins plucking away stray cat hairs off her daughter's shoulder as she talks.

"I think it's very sweet you want to surprise your brother," she beams, breaking away to fish in her purse for her keys. "But please don't forget, your brother is easily scared these days, heaven knows why, so just he careful alright? Nothing too big?"

Y/n bit her tongue, knowing exactly why Dustin had grown more jumpy-as had she, and her friends-but she neglected to share that information with her mother. When she finally retrieves her keys, she pauses, sending another sweet and prideful smile at her only daughter. With her free hand she gives Y/n a small stroke of the cheek, and an almost pinch making Y/n frown and pull away.

"Mom!"

"Sorry, sorry!" She answers, pulling away and opening the door. "I'm just so proud of my honey bear!"

Y/n rolled her eyes.

"Mom." She pleads.

"I'll be back soon, I love you, and don't forget to feed Tews, okay?"

"I won't, don't worry," Y/n sighed again, ready to close the door. "I love you too,"

Claudia was more than halfway out of the door, her head poking in as she backed out. A habit she often had when departing from her children. She had nearly closed the door, when her head popped back in as if she had forgotten the most important thing.

"Oh, and say hi to Will for me, honey!"

Y/n's head was thrown back in an embarrassed groan as Claudia shut the door.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Shockingly enough, Mike was one of the first of her friends to arrive. Clinging tightly to his side, one of Y/n's favorite people; El Hopper.

"Hey guys, you made it!"

But the two seemed partially oblivious to her welcome, the pair were lost in each other and laughing at something Y/n was completely lost on. Her face fell a bit, though she didn't know why, this wasn't exactly new behavior for them.

"Guys?"

El was the first to break away from their shared gaze, a light giggle still leaving her throat when she locked eyes with Y/n. Her smile brightened and she stepped forward letting go of Mike and enveloped her friend in a hug.

Y/n graciously accepted after recovering from the initial shock. Y/n warmed at the gesture, holding her best friend tight against her chest and she could feel El's hair tickling her nose. El broke apart, her expression similar to Y/n's as she met her eyes. El's cheeks where dusted pink, her now shoulder length hair frizzy from the summer heat as she wore a toothy grin for Y/n.

"I'm glad you could make it, El." She said, opening the door for her friends.

El nodded, casting a brief glance over her shoulder to grab Mike's hand. "Me too," she grinned, stepping inside.

"I was worried Hopper might not want you over," Y/n finished.

El shook her head again as her and Mike now stood in the entrance, Y/n closing the door after them. Immediately, the pair began discarding their shoes and Y/n seemed to miss the perturbed look flicker across Mike's face at what El said next.

"No, he likes it when I see you,"

Y/n nodded with relief and led her friends into the kitchen.

She opened the fridge, giving the shelf a quick glance before grabbing a blue pitcher of filtered water.

"Do you guys want anything to eat or drink?"

Mike looked down at El who shook her head and then back to Y/n. "Nah, we're good. We ate before we came."

'Oh' Y/n mouthed, closing the fridge and grabbing a glass from the cupboard. She tried to busy herself with the uneven stream of water diving into her glass from the pitcher and off of the giggly bubble Mike and El were being reabsorbed into as they whispered between one another. Y/n wished more than anything someone else would ring the doorbell and show up already, anybody. Just to get her out of the awkward tension Mike and El left her in as their third wheel.

No such luck was granted to her, no matter how many times she glanced at the door and willing a knock as she drank from her glass.

A soft meow answered her silent plea and while it wasn't Max, Lucas or even Will that had came to her rescue, she supposed the feline was just as good. Eagerly, Y/n set aside her water and slipped into the living room to see her mother's Siamese cat trotting along the carpet.

"Hey Toonces," Y/n greeted, using her own special nickname for the cat.

Y/n stopped in her tracks, nearly forgetting the bag of cat food on the counter. She quickly side steps the oblivious couple as she grabs the small cup and scoops a small portion of cat food, intentionally grabbing Mike and El's attention over her shoulder.

"So, I got a banner we could all decorate. We can get started on that?"

As expected, the two did not break from their spell as quickly as Y/n would have hoped. It took the obnoxious avalanche of cat foot pouring into the metal food dish to break their attention and look to their friend. She stood across the room with a now empty cup in her hand, a cat running to her feet as she looked at them through slightly squinted eyes and a tight lipped smile. They smiled sheepishly at her, and she asked again trying to stifle her growing irritation.

"Can you guys help me with the Welcome Home banner? It'll be lame if it comes from just me. It's supposed to be a surprise from all of us, anyway,"

Mike shrugs to showcase his complete indifference, looking down at El again who nods. She smiles back at Y/n, happy with the idea and resting her head back on Mike's arm as Y/n nods.

"Great, thanks." She breathes, laxing her shoulders.

Y/n returns the cup to the counter and disappears briefly down the hallway before reappearing with a large seemingly empty banner.

"I already outlined everything, so all we need to do is color it in, brighten it up a bit," she explains quickly, maneuvering through the living room as she retrieves a cup of markers from a shelf nearby. "I left a lot of space for each of us to add something, if you-"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK-

"Lucas-" came a muffled hiss on the other side of the front door.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Lucas," the voice was now trying to smother a laugh.

'Oh, thank god' Y/n thinks.

||𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

I don't remember the ride to Y/n's taking this long. Maybe it feels this way cause I'm anxious to see her.

It's probably nothing, but whatever I felt last night before the black out...

I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it, and it feels like something is holding on to my lungs and not letting me breathe.

Y/n, I remind myself. You're gonna be with Y/n and all your friends. Today's going to be fun.

The thought alone made me feel loads better, and it reminded me that I had a new idea for Y/C/N last night when I got home. Defeating the Juju Zombies would level up her character and I can give her a spell I think she'd love...

Storm of Vengeance. It's a higher level druid spell that would allow her to create small storm clouds around her. I think she'll like it considering how much she enjoys her earth spells. And, well, in a way it reminded me of her and what she did last year. I mean, she caused an earthquake all over Hawkins and the news even reported an unusual spike in temperature that they worried might cause a storm. It never did, but it was still the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.

She doesn't love to go into detail about that night. The night she saved me. And I don't blame her at all, I don't either. My chest actually hurts every time I think about how I attacked Y/n. I know it wasn't me, but I still haven't forgiven myself for not being able to stop him.

Regardless, what she did was beyond incredible and what she's been working at all summer has been paying off. I'm really proud of her. I'm grinning like an idiot, I realize cause my cheeks are hurting but I can't seem to care.

I can see Y/n and Dustin's house creep into view at the end of the long stretch of street and I grow more excited by the minute. Mom's words from earlier pop into my head and I can feel my ears burning all over again.

"They're in love, Will," she said, referring to Jonathan and Nancy who had been sneaking around, to which I scoffed. She took a seat beside me as she continued. "I'm surprised at you."

I look up from my stack of pancakes that was nearly gone, and I sent her a funny look. She smiled from ear to ear and looked briefly to her breakfast before looking back at me.

"Speaking of,"

Oh no.

"Mom-"

She took a sip of her coffee, raising her eyebrows in a way that suggested she knew exactly what she was doing.

"Aren't you going to Y/n's?"

"MoM!" I groaned, standing up from the table.

I marched over to the sink, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing me flustered.

"What?"

She did know exactly what she was doing, and she was relentless. I soaked my plate and headed for the door, hardly giving her a glance.

"Bye, Mom," I grumbled.

I can hear her evil smirk in her voice just before I shut the door.

"Bye, sweetie~!"

I scoff when I realize how she is still able to get to me, and I quickly shake it off. My bike glides into their driveway and I quickly dismount and make sure to park it somewhere out of the way of Mrs. Henderson's car before it got back. I quickly rethink it, and bring it around back where Dustin won't be able to spot it. The others had the same idea, it would seem as I quickly found where they had stashed their bikes.

I rushed to the front door, and I could already hear several muffled voices and footsteps inside. Right as I raise my right hand to knock, the door swings open.

There standing in the doorway, completely breathless and grinning widely is Y/n. I'm grinning again, and just before I can even manage a "hello" she grabs my wrist and pulls me inside, and into a quick kiss. I feel her smiling and when I broke apart she said quietly enough for me to hear.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Clearly," Lucas said, popping a piece of gum into his mouth as he passed behind her without a single glance and into the living room.

Y/n whirled around to send a playful glare over her shoulder. I watched, laughing as she stuck her tongue out at him, and he did the same. She turned back to me, visibly relaxing a great deal and I stepped further inside. I felt her let go of my wrist and she closed the door behind me before gesturing to the coffee table everyone was gathered around. The large banner was at the center of the coffee table taking up most of its surface; the one Y/n mentioned to me the other night in Castle Byers. By the looks of it, it was nearly finished and I felt a pang of guilt I couldn't get here earlier to help.

El was the first to look up at us, and sent a polite smile to me and Y/n before returning to her coloring beside Mike. Mike and Max where quietly bickering over a marker by the looks of it and Lucas was retuning to his seat on the edge of the couch just beside Max.

"Want something to drink, or maybe snack on?" Y/n asked me.

I look to her, ready to decline her usual offer when I noticed the look in her eye that was pulling me towards the kitchen. I nodded, suddenly deciding a refreshment didn't sound so terrible.

I followed her into the kitchen and out of earshot of the others. She quickly got her hands on some f/c and I helped myself to some Slice Soda from the fridge. The can opened with a hiss just as she hoisted herself up on the counter and took a bite of her food.

Through a mouthful of the snack, her left cheek all puffed up in a way that made me smile and she spoke in a voice low enough she wouldn't be overheard.

"I'm so glad you made it here when you did." Y/n said to me, examining her snack, legs dangling of the counter and swinging lightly back and forth. "They were starting to drive me crazy."

I took a sip of the soda, swallowing the cloud of fizz that buzzed on my tongue. "They couldn't have been that bad,"

I looked back up from my drink to be met with the trademark Y/n Henderson deadpan glare and I laughed again.

Y/n's always making me laugh, and I realize I don't ever want that to stop.

Soon, she's smiling with me as she takes another bite, her eyes wandering to our group of friends gathered in her living room. Y/n looked back at me and sighed.

"I love them all, I really do," she shook her head and let out a small laugh that stopped my heart a little. "But, Jesus, they're so much sometimes."

I let out a small laugh through my nose, nodding as I take another swig of my drink and she continues.

"Max and Mike won't stop arguing about anything that's two feet in front of them," she frowned with a small smile. "Lucas and El are actually spending some more time together, its pretty nice. But other than that, I'm lucky to get a word in edgewise
with anyone. You know the group, everyone's got their own ideas, and no one really knows how to listen,"

It's quiet for a moment as we reflect-aside from Lucas whose voice stood out among the others as he cursed at something he messed up on on the banner.

"You excited to see Dustin, again?" I ask finally.

Y/n nodded, popping another piece of food into her mouth before swallowing it. "Yeah, definitely. Mom's been missing him a lot. I can tell. She's been mothering me a whole lot more lately."

A small picture of Mrs. Henderson smothering her kids was not hard to conjure, and it made me chuckle.

"Mm! Just the other day," She hummed, yet again with small mouthful and a spot of food she was oblivious to on the corner of her mouth. "When I went to Max's-"

I nodded showing I was listening, though I tried very heard to stifle the grin creeping up at how cute she looked and I stepped forward to wipe the bit of food off of her mouth.

"a place she knows I go all the time-" she stops her rant abruptly as I wipe her chin and mouth with the corner of my wrist and palm, blinking back in surprise before breathing a small laugh. "oh, thanks. Anyways, she knows I go there all the time, hell, how much time do we even spend here anyway? And suddenly it's twenty questions; where I'm going, when I'll be back, do Max's parents know I'm coming?"

"And now, on top of it all, she won't stop asking me stuff I don't even know how to answer. Like 'how did you and El meet, you two seem really really connected? It's so sweet!'"

She asked, imitating her mother.

"and, 'Y/n, how your sheets keep getting burned in the dryer, I have no idea!' Like, I don't know how I'm supposed to tell her about the friends I made during the almost apocalypse or the fact that I keep burning my sheets every time I have a bad dream. I mean, I can't keep lying to her, but I can't tell her the truth either."

I leaned back against the counter again, growing thoughtful. My heart goes out to her, and I feel horrible I can't really do anything. But I know how much having Max and El around has helped her, she's never really said it out loud but I can tell she's been feeling more and more alienated the older we all get. Not completely, but things are changing. Regardless, I'm glad she has them.

"I'm sorry," I say, and she shrugs, discarding the remnants of her snack on the counter before leaning back on her propped up arms. "Well, hopefully Dustin being back will restore the natural balance of things."

Y/n nodded, a confident smile on her face. "I'm thinking it will, it's what usually happens. She always gets pretty antsy when one us is away for a long time and this isn't Dustin's first time at camp either, don't forget."

Suddenly, her face lights up and she looks to me growing excited. "Oh! I almost forgot. Max had a great idea for when he gets here."

"Oh yeah?" I ask, her infectious smile spreading to my face.

Y/n nods, and I can see the excitement growing in her eyes.

"Yeah, so, we'll all hide, like we originally planned. But," she jumps of the counter, quickly opening the fridge and grabbing a small piece of lettuce before leading me through the living room. "El will draw him out, probably out into the back living room cause we'll have plenty of space to hide in here."

We pass through the living room, and down into the hall all the way into Dustin's room.

Y/n walks over to Yurtle's tank, and slides the top hatch open. She stops talking briefly, like a reflex a small grin lighting up her face and scrunching up her nose as she feeds the turtle the bit of lettuce. Again, I find myself smiling widely out of habit, my chest growing warm just from being around her.

Y/n quickly pulls herself back to reality and closes the top back up, and crosses the room where a variety of Dustin's old toys stand in a clutter in his closet.

With a proud and elated grin, she gestures to them waiting for my reaction.

"What?" I laugh.

"The plan! These are all the toys of Dustin's that can move, I had to dig through some closets but I found enough. El's gonna make them come to life-assuming we're lucky enough to get him to sulk in his room, but I'm not too worried about that. If I know him at all, he will. He'll follow them out to the lounge, and that's when we'll surprise him. I was also thinking I could mess with him if I can, make the room shake a little or something, I'm not sure yet,"

I can't help but picture the look on Dustin's face when stuff around the room begins to shake. I suddenly couldn't wait for him to get back, which is a bit surprising considering how much grief he gives me and Y/n.

She quirks her brow, a mischievous look spreading across her face. "Well, what do you think?"

"It's perfect, I-"

"Code red! Code Red!" Came a strained shout from across the hall.

Thunderous and forceful footsteps pound into the carpet as they make their way down the hall, stopping the words in my throat. We both rip our heads to the open door to see Lucas leaning into the doorway panting and wide eyed as he looks between the both of us.

"He's here!"

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) is a branch of the Nigeria Police Force. SARS officers carry guns but do not wear Nigerian police uniforms or badges
Since the creation of SARS, they have been known for engaging in illegal acts and torturing the citizens of Nigeria. They ask for bribes, harass citizens and even kill them. Nigerians are currently protesting on the streets against the blatant disregard for their rights."

Please help and do what you can, educate yourselves, spread information and bring awareness to this issue.

BELOW IS A LINK IN THE COMMENTS TO A MASTERLIST OF LINKS TO HELP
#endSARS

[link]

Therapy Resources and Tips for People of Color

[link]

A Thread of Small Black Businesses That Were Destroyed That You Can Donate To To Help Rebuild

[link]