||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!"

Dustin Henderson riffles through the plump cushions of his sitting-room couch, throwing them around as he searches frantically for loose change. He abandoned the now disheveled couch and runs into the living room, where his mother sits, watching television and petting the cat.

Dustin begins riffing through the living room couch, angered at his lack of luck.

"Another stupid penny!" He huffs, chucking the penny across the room, startling the cat.

"Dusty, watch it!" His mother scolds. "You almost hit Mews."

"Can I please check under your cushions?" He pleads.

"Dusty."

"Mom, please? It's an emergency!" He whines.

In a mocking tone, his mother lets out a fake whine as she stands up from the chair which the boy returns.

"Who's your buddy? Who's your buddy?" She coos softly into the feline's ears.

Dustin, all the while wasted no time in checking the cushions of the rocking chair.

"Honey, where's your sister? She's going with you, right?"

"Yeah, she's coming. Don't know where she is though." He throws over his shoulder as he continues to search.

Dustin stops when he feels the tips of his fingers graze the cold metal of the coins. Grabbing a hold of them, he smirks knowing he has some arcade money.

He hastily runs out of the room, bidding his mother farewell.

"Love you, mom."

Running down the halls, he comes to a stop at his bedroom door. Grabbing his headset off the nightstand he switches it on.

"Lucas, you copy? I've got four quarters. What's your haul?"

There is hardly a beat of silence before a response from Lucas Sinclair comes through.

"Take your puny haul and multiply it by five."

"How?" He asks bewildered.

"While you were scrounging around like a homeless bum, I mowed Old Man Humphrey's lawn."

"Old Man Humphrey's got that kinda cash?"

"Dustin!" A voice echoed throughout the house.

Sighing, Dustin brushed off the calls knowing he would only be a second.

"Just call Mike already."

"You call Mike." His face was contorted in frustration and little jealousy as he spoke.

"Dustin!"

"I have to go take a shower from doing real work, like a man. Over and out."

The walkie crackled signaling the cut off and Dustin sighed dropping his headset on the ground next to him.

Suddenly, a blur of [H/C] hair popped into view.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you! You almost ready?"

There in the doorway stood Y/n Henderson. She was in the hallway, grip on the door frame as she leaned in, she seemed a little out of breath but she radiated energy.

Despite her playful energy and kid-like qualities, she had definitely aged in the past year. The young gang that had faced such turmoil had all grown in the past year, but Y/n more so than them. She stood a few inches taller and more of her clothes had filled in.

Dustin sighs, grabbing his quarters and standing up. "So, how much did you..."

The boy trailed off when he saw his sister hold up a small bag of change, a smirk plastered on her face.

"How did you...?"

"What? I save," she smirked and shook the bag slightly letting the contents rattle around.

"So, have you called Mike yet? I talked to Will, he's gonna meet us in 20 minutes."

"No,"

"Well, what have you been doing this whole time? Gimme that," the girl playfully grabbed the headset on switched it on.

"Mike, it's Y/n. Do you copy? Mike, do you copy?"

There was a small beat of silence as prepared herself to switch to the regular channel, then, to her surprise a voice crackled over the headset.

"Yeah. Yeah, I copy." Came the voice of Mike Wheeler.

The girl's face scrunched up in confusion for a brief moment.

"Wait, that worked? Mike, what are you doing on this channel?"

"Nothing,"

"So listen, Lucas, Dustin and I have, about uh," The girl paused, gesturing to her brother how much he and Lucas had gathered. "About ten bucks total, thirteen counting Will's, what's your haul?"

Dustin's eyes bulged at the number. Mike was just as shocked.

"Seriously? Oh, shit, I don't know yet."

"What do you mean? You haven't checked yet? We're meeting in 15!" The girl said, her voice rising as she began to pace.

"Just hold on, I'll be there."

The radio crackled and signaled that he had shut off his comm.

Sighing, the girl ripped off the headset and tossed it on her brother's bed.

"He doesn't even know his haul yet. I swear, sometimes I get the feeling he's hiding something."

Dustin chuckled and cracked a smile. "That's rich, coming from the girl who practices magic in her room when no one's there,"

"Would you-!" She lightly smacked her brother on the arm, shushing him.

"You want mom to hear?" She hissed in a warning tone, getting closer to her brother so she could whisper. "And for the last time, it's not magic. I may not know much about it, and I figure the more I practice the more control I'll have."

"I just don't understand why you can't tell mom,"

"Dustin, we've talked about this. You know how sketchy that lab was and how they searched Mike's house and it got his parents involved. I don't want mom knowing about this, maybe someday but definitely not anytime soon. I don't want to put her in danger. Plus, you know how she is. Now, please, please promise me you won't tell her."

"To be fair, I never said I would,"

The girl fought the urge to roll her eyes at her brother's technicality, given that he was keeping her secret.

While she and her friends had been looking for their friend Will who had gone missing, Y/n had discovered things about herself that she never imagined to be possible. In the week spent looking for Will, the girl and her friends had been chased by federal agents when they befriended an escapee from their laboratory, a young girl the same age as her who had telekinetic abilities. When cornered by these agents, Y/n had managed to fight them off without even trying, thanks to her newfound abilities of her own.

Thankfully, Will had been brought back and everything had returned to normal. Unfortunately, Eleven, the girl they had befriended, didn't make it, for she had saved the group by destroying the monster and disappeared with it. A few weeks passed and Y/n began to explore her new abilities.

Having been adopted as an infant, Y/n had no idea who her birth parents were or how she could have these powers. All the strange things about herself all made sense; she had always been able to heal abnormally quicker than anyone else. She could also revive any plants and seemed to have a way with them.

So from time to time, Y/n would test these abilities. Attempt to control them. When she accidentally scraped her knee on her skates over the summer, so she sat herself down and managed to heal herself. She had been getting quite good. She used what talents she could to help her friends. Given that they were apart of the mess and most of them had witnessed her use her powers in person, she had no choice but to explain herself after everything and cooled off.

After the initial shock of it all, they all thought it was amazing. Will Byers most of all. The boy had harbored feelings for the Henderson girl for years. It wasn't until his disappearance had the girl realized her feelings towards him. The two were often teased by their friends despite nothing happening. The pair knew of each other's feelings and that was enough for them.

They were happy.

Being the protective brother Dustin was, he didn't mind so much. He knew Will made her happy and that's all that really mattered to him. It didn't mean it wasn't still a little weird for him. Although, being the brother and the friend he had double the opportunity to tease and tease he did.

"So," He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "we better get a move on,"

Y/n began nodding her head in agreement when Dustin slipped in a comment that caused the girl to scoff, hiding a small blush.

"wouldn't want to keep that boyfriend of yours waiting."

Y/n scoffed, rolling her eyes. She extended out an arm and yanked Dustin's hat over his eyes, causing him to laugh and readjust it. By the time he had fixed it, his sister was already out of the door.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Dustin and I had met up with Mike and Lucas and as we pulled into the parking lot, I spared a glance at my watch to see that we just barely made it. We all dismounted our bikes and hauled them on to the curb and parked them. The sound of a car honking grabbed our attention.

I looked over to see the familiar green Ford Pinto and a smiling Will. Joyce had just pulled up and she gave me a warm smile which I gladly returned.

"Hey!" My brother shouted.

Will waved at all of us, and I waved back and his smile widened. He turned to talk to his mom, and the guys headed inside. I stuck my hands in my jacket pockets and lingered near the bikes, wanting to wait up for him.

Soon enough, he shut the car door and he quickly made his way over. We walked side by side to the front doors.

"Hey there," I chirped.

As we walked side by side, I playfully nudged him with my shoulder and he laughed and blushed a little.

"Hey," he kept his eyes on his feet, but he never stopped smiling.

Suddenly, he walked forward a few steps and pulled the door open for me.

"Thank you," I giggled.

"Of course," he mumbled, sounding dazed.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Joyce Byers watched, waiting to make sure her youngest son got inside safely.

She smiled to herself seeing how happy he was around Y/n. Joyce was so lucky to have such a great girl to look out for him. Joyce always loved Y/n, and she proved to be more than worthy of her son.

Her chest filled with pride when she saw her son hold the door for his "girlfriend".

Every time she brought up the subject, or even the word, Will would insist they were just friends. But she knew they were just too shy to admit it.

The last thing Joyce saw before she pulled away was the lovesick gaze on her son's face whenever he looked at Y/n Henderson when she wasn't looking.