"Y/n?"

Y/n looks to her right and shares a smirk with Max, a grinning Lucas to the right of her.

"Mom? Anyone?" She could hear the frustration in her brother's voice from across the hall, and she snickered noiselessy.

Dustin had returned home from camp and Y/n suggested to the party that they surprise him. It was Max who came up with ingenious plan of having El lure him out with his toys but that was about to happen in a minute or two.

She stifled her giggles as she heard a deep sigh resonate from his room. She heard the scuffle of his duffle bag being thrown on his bed.

"At least someone's happy I'm home" he said somberly, and the six friends all shared mischievous smiles as they hid around the corner. "My own sister isn't even here. She's probably sucking face with Byers somewhere," he sighed.

Y/n's cheeks burned and her jaw dropped. It was the others' turn to stifle giggles and she looked around shocked and a little annoyed. Will, of course was the only exception, to which the poor boy's face could rival a beet.

Her embarrassment quickly turned to anger and before she could realize what was happening Max had a hold of her arm and pulled her back against the wall, her other hand over her mouth.

Y/n gave her a look that said she was calm and Max reluctantly let go. The young Henderson girl took a deep breath and made eye contact with El.

She gave her a firm nod.

El smirked and closed her eyes, and suddenly the sounds of all the toys that had been in position came to life and waltzed out of Dustin's room.

Everything was going according to plan.

"It's just a dream. You're dreaming," They heard him chant.

Moments later, when they heard him enter the living room, Mike turned to El, her eyes still closed and blood dripped from her nose.

"Now," He whispered.

The beeps and whirs of Dustin's old toys died immediately and the six friends tiptoed into the living room. Each of them had collaborated on the Welcome Home Dustin poster. Lucas and Y/n each held a side, and all of them had gotten their hands on party blowers.

Dustin rose to his feet, his back to his friends, unaware of their presence.

Y/n looked to the rest of her friends, silently counting down from three.

On her signal, the quiet atmosphere was disrupted by the loud honks of party blowers and Dustin whirled around on his feet.

And sprayed Lucas in the eyes, screaming.

×××

The infamous party trudges up the lush green hilltop. Max, Dustin, and Lucas were each carrying a bag of some sort. Will and Y/n behind them, arms linked together.

🎶 "Out here in the fields," 🎶

Max, Lucas, Dustin, Y/n, and Will help push up a large homemade radio antenna. The group gazes up at their work, out of breath and sweating from the heat.

🎶 "I fight for my meals,"🎶

Down at the Hawkins post, Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers are sat side by side, anxiously waiting.

×××

The Hakwins pool is swarming with people.

Billy Hargrove scans the pool front, twirling his whistle in his fingers as he marches to his post, relieving his coworker of her shift. They meet each other's eye as they pass.

🎶 "I get my back into my living"🎶

Hopper is seated at a table for two. Candles lit and the opposing seat empty. He crosses his legs as he grows nervous, staring worriedly at the empty seat.

×××

Joyce is seated on her couch, a microwave dinner in front of her. She is lost in thought, saddened by a memory. She twirls her fork ever so slightly as she contemplates.

The frustrated voice of Mike rings out,

"We're not kids anymore,"

Y/n lingers outside the Byers house, her bike standing between her legs. Her back is turned and she faces the house, one single tear escaping her watering eyes. Behind her, her friends ride off into the distance, apart from Mike. Who is just ahead, waiting for her. They both share a somber and understanding look, before taking off after their friends.

×××

A pair of sock covered feet bounce happily on the carpeted floor. They belong to Max, who is jumping around, singing into a hairbrush. She is dawning a striped t-shirt and shorts for the summer. Beside her, sitting on the bed is El Hopper, sporting a new colorful look, and she is engrossed in a selection of teen magazines that are splayed out before her.

Kneeling behind her is Y/n, dressed in a pair of denim overall shorts, a colorful tee shirt underneath. She is carefully braiding El's hair, while singing along with Max, her head bobbing up and down as she wears a large smile.

"I mean, what did you think?" Mike continues.

Night has fallen on the hilltop, and Max and Lucas run down the grass, holding hands and sharing a blissful laugh.

Just behind them, walking hand in hand, is Will and Y/n. She casts one apologetic look over her shoulder at her brother Dustin. He now stands alone on the hill next to the radio tower, watching sadly as his friends leave.

"That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day,"

Three picture sit propped up against the battery powered lamp, surround by various toys and trinkets sprinkled in dew. Two of the photos are framed by popsicle sticks. One of them, the original party. They all had a hand on their shared science fair trophy, Y/n in the middle, had two fingers poking up behind Will's head creating bunny ears.

The other framed photo was of him and Y/n at the Snowball. The new couple of the time, stood under the arch together. Will, who nervously had a polite and tentative arm wrapped around Y/n's shoulder as they posed for the photo, and both of them wore strikingly bright grins to match.

🎶 "It's only"🎶

The third and final photo was of the party on Halloween as Ghostbusters. The boys were all smiling, each of them aiming their proton blaster at the camera. Y/n, who was very much in character, was blowing a small bubble, her eyes rolled as she was dressed in the more normal clothing of the iconic secretary.

"and play games for the rest of our lives?"

Will picks up the unframed photo, he is drenched with water. His bangs are clinging to his forehead and he shakily brings the photo to his face.

🎶 "Teenage wasteland" 🎶

Tears form in his eyes as he looks at the photograph of him and his friends on Halloween.

×××

At an ice cream parlor, a high school girl stands behind the register in full uniform, a name tag labeled Robin. She watches as her coworker Steve Harrington mocks a lightsaber fight with Dustin.

🎶 " It's only teenage wasteland" 🎶

A bike ridden by Mike Wheeler peddles through the parking lot of Starcourt Mall. The entire lot is lit up by the strips of neon light, illuminating all the cars and turning the black tarmac of the concrete a deep blue.

×××

Inside Starcourt, hundreds of people mill about, laughing and having a good time.

×××

Daylight streams through the sunroof, and El is dragged into the center of the mall by a smiling Max and Y/n, who have a hold on either of her hands. El looks around in wonder and amazement.

×××

A determined and passionate Hopper begins to speak,

"It is important to me that you feel safe,"

Outside city hall, an angry mob stands waving signs, protesting the Mayor.

×××

The Fourth of July Fun Fair is in full swing. The grounds are lit up from various rides, residents of Hawkins happily mill about.

A scuffed up Hopper stands outside the Gravitron, looking at something in the distance. His face is etched with concern, an equally worried Joyce behind him.

"I want you to feel..."

A seemingly infinite hallway stretches on. The illusion of the violet funhouse of mirrors is broken when the figure of an menacing man, holding a silenced gun stalks through the maze of mirrors. His reflection is disturbed when his real figure comes around the corner.

"like this can still be your home."

Hopper finishes. He is addressing a somber Joyce, who is listening sadly.

El stands on a darkened beach, she is turning in circles, looking around curiously and worriedly at her surroundings. Beside her, the tide creeps up near her feet.

The sky above her is covered in dark clouds, the only source of light is the flashes of red lightening in the distance.

×××

In the void, she is leaning over a bathtub. Suddenly it disappears beneath her. Her head is now submerged in water and she extends her arm further, reaching frantically beneath the water.

Billy stands in the shower, hands planted firmly on the wall and he looks down at his left arm in fear.

He reaches for his forearm slowly, taking caution as he lightly touches the seared spot of skin as it festers, several dark veins branching out from one spot.

×××

The party is backed up in one circle. Each of them is facing away from one another and looking around worriedly as the rows of florescent lights flicker violently above them. They are closing in on Y/n, in a protective stance.

×××

Three figures emerge one bye one as they glide between the escalators at Starcourt Mall. Brilliant violent light from the neon bulbs and the pale moonlight spilling in throughout the glass ceiling bathe these figures as they flee from an unknown source.

×××

The party, led by Y/n and El, rip open the double doors, fury in their eyes as they sprint for their target. Veins spread from Y/n's eyes and blood is dripping from El's nose but they show no other signs of strain. Mike and Will are the first on their heels.

×××

An explosion of electricity from the mysterious underground machine sends several masked men flying, as they are burned to a crisp before their bodies hit the floor.

×××

Erica Sinclair crawls tactically through a system of air vents, she is properly geared up for a long journey ahead of her.

×××

The newly formed team, composed of the party, the original trio and their newest member, Robin Buckley, look ahead across the room, eyes transfixed.

×××

"Happy Fourth of July!"

The mayor of Hawkins declares to a cheering crowd at the center of the Hawkins fair. On his word, and quick wave of his hand, a string of vibrant fireworks erupt in the night sky.

Everything blends together in a hasty blur, several moments of the summer of 1985 merge in a series of flashes;

A colony of rats scurry a wearhouse floor.

A deranged and disheveled man with a wicked grin stalks a flickering hospital hallway.

Steve, Robin, Erica, and Dustin watch from the shadows, hidden behind closed doors, peering through the window and witnessing Hawkins newest and darkest secret.

El sits crisscross on the floor of a convenient store, a shelf of Eggos behind her and a makeshift blindfold around her eyes as she enters the void.

With shaky hands, a beaten and battered Hopper readies his gun, a colorful array of cartoons are painted on the wall behind him.

The same burst of blue lightning hits a familiar cement wall, cracking it ever so.

The fun fair continues, one of many rides, the Scrambler, entertaining severel unaware town residents.

Jonathan stands at the end of a seemingly abandoned hospital hallway, he is drenched with sweat. He watches with great dread as just up ahead, a bloody mutatanous blob begins to form with a growl.

Inside a locker room, a frightened but determined Lucas draws his wrist rocket. A hint of heartbreak in his eyes as he prays he doesn't miss.

Nancy stands at the opposite end of the hall, hair clinging to her sweaty forehead and she gasps in horror at the sight before her.

Y/n stands in the rain, her worried gaze lingers on something behind her before she turns, hidden under a dark blue raincoat and retreats into the night with El and Max.

The close up of an eye, its brow furrowed in hatred and disgust as the eye begins to darken. The whites of the eye surrounding the green iris are quickly stained black by the evil force at work.

Inside the mall, an everyday jazzersize class continues.

Back in the hall, Jonathan's eyes widen as the unknown, bloody pile begins to take shape.

The same, unknown man from the funhouse, stands in an underground facility, firing a machinegun into the ceiling with a forceful cry, spit flying as he roars. He is completely unhinged.

The blissful and exuberant trio of Y/n, El, and Max stand before a painted background in the mall. They each dawn their own, unique pair of costume jewelry and satin wardrobe as bright and colorful as their smiles as they pose for several pictures in the warmth of each others company.

A mother and daughter, abandon their families and friends, weaving their way through the fourth of july celebrations, their eyes dead and cold.

Steve toots an imaginary trumpet in his fit of excitement inside an ice cream shop.

The pile of blood and bones in the hospital hallway is now at half it's size, a sickening crunch echoes with its every sudden move.

Steve cries out in tremendous pain as a gloved hand injects a giant needle into his neck, his eyes are squeezed shut and his face is literred with blood and bruises.

At the Hawkins pool, Karen Wheeler stands in close proximity to a shirtless Billy. She wears a coy and flustered smile.

Hopper and Joyce sprint across the fairgrounds, hand in hand.

Inside the void, El topples over, sent flying backwards arms outstretched and she wears a face filled with fear.

Inside Castle Byers, Will and Y/n meet in a tender kiss, unable to wipe the smiles from their faces.

In the very same woods, Will stands, drenched in the summer rain, a grave expression has befallen him.

At the fair, Murray Bauman's eyes fill with fear and he waves his arms frantically, hoping to grab someone's attention.

The lifegaurd from the pool, Heather, is sucked down below into a seemingly bottomless, inky darkness of the void as El watches horrified.

At the cabin, El stands back to back with an equally furious Y/n. Dawning her new wardrobe, blood dripping from her nose, she outstretches her arms, panting heavily for breath, about to unleash a hellish scream.

Inside the locker room, Y/n unleashes this very battle cry as she stands over an unidentified figure, her hands aimed at the floor and several blasts of heat pin the figure into the floor, the tile cracking.

Everything goes dark, but her powerful scream echoes across the darkness.

The hallway lights begin to flicker in a dizzying strobe, revealing the now fully formed monster made of discarded human flesh. It's joules unhinged, revealing several rows of slimy, bloody teeth made out of what once was human hones. It's earpiercing shriek mixes with Y/n's before everything fades away completely.

In Scoops Ahoy, Steve and Dustin engage in a false battle, imaginary light sabers drawn and clashing. Each of them creating their own sound effects. Dustin thrusts the invisible blade of light into Steve's abdomen, who in turn illustrates his fake wounds. The pair of unlikely friends fall into a fit of giggles, while a less than impressed Robin watches in boredom behind the counter.

Looking to her coworker Steve, she tilts her head and cocks a brow. "How many children are you friends with?"

The young man sighs, exasperatedly swiping a hand over his mouth as he gestures to her, giving Dustin a tired look.

Cosmic || SEASON 3: Will Byers x Reader

~ OUT NOW ~