Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

chapter four , Hedwig

a/n : *content warning* mentions of eating disorder and self harm

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"Wow, Gus..."

The brunette turns to Jonathan, who was sitting at the table with his mom. Jonathan was barely able to get the food down. But he forces a smile.

"...this is like nothing I have ever tasted before."

Gus scrunched her face, "I'm gonna take that as a 'never cook again, Gus'."

"What? No! I didn't--I didn't mean it like..." Jonathan exhales a breath. "...maybe you should pick up some lessons."

Gus' mouth hangs open, "Oh wow!" she then laughs. "Is that how it is?"

Jonathan laughs quietly.

"Thank you for letting me stay here last night," Gus says. "It was later when I got here and I know Hop is gonna kill me..."

"You're welcome to stay here, Gus." Jonathan shrugs. "You don't have to thank us."

Gus gives Jonathan a small smile. Jonathan looks at his mom; who was staring off into space. Gus and Jonathan look at each other, sharing a look of worry.

"Hey, mom did you want to eat? Gus...she tried to make some food."

Gus' mouth hangs open and Jonathan smiles.

Jonathan grabs a plate of food and sets it in front of Joyce.

"Be careful of the poster," Joyce says, pushing the flyer to the side.

"Yeah, of course." Jonathan sets the food in front of her.

Joyce lets out a breath, "I-I can't eat..." she huffs.

"I need you to eat, mom," Jonathan says, he then looks over at the brunette. "Hey, did you eat something?"

Gus looks at Jonathan and slightly opens her mouth, "Yeah, I had some of this...very bad eggs earlier." she lies.

Jonathan chuckles softly, "They weren't...that bad, all right?"

Gus rolls her lips into her mouth, "Yeah, suuure."

"Jonathan..."

He looks over at his mom.

"The Xerox place opens in, like, 30 minutes," Joyce says, looking at her watch. "I don't want you to go alone, though."

Gus raises her brows, "Uh, I can...go with him."

Joyce and Jonathan look at the girl.

"No, Gus. I can't ask you to do that." Joyce wipes her nose. "You should be going to school."

"Ms. Byers, I want to help." Gus shrugs a shoulder. "It's fine."

Joyce manages a small smile and nods her head. "And I have told you to call me Joyce."

"I'm gonna have Karen take you two, cause I should be here." Joyce continues. "And we need to make, what, 200, 300 copies? How much is a copy?"

"Mom--"

"Ten cents?" Joyce grabs at her cash. "If we...ten cents--"

"Mom. Mom. Mom!" Jonathan touches his mother's wrist, to catch her attention. "You can't get like this, okay?"

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Joyce whispers.

A knock is heard at the door and Joyce becomes alert. She puts out her cigarette and quickly walks over to the front door. Gus inhales a breath, "Aw, shit..."

"You didn't tell Hopper you were staying over, did you?" Jonathan looks at her.

Gus shakes her head and she chews on the inside of her lower lip. "Nope. Not at all..."

"We've been waiting six hours," Hopper says.

"I know. I came as soon as I could." Hopper enters the house, closing the door behind him.

"Six hours."

Jonathan and Gus make their way into the front room.

"A little bit of trust here, all right...?" Hopper trails off, seeing Gus standing next to Jonathan. "Shouldn't you be at home? Getting ready for school?"

Gus opens her mouth to answer.

"Whose shirt is that?" Hopper places a hand on his hip.

Gus looks at the blue flannel over her black tank top.

"Hop--"

"You stayed here last night?" Hopper growls.

"M-Maybe--"

"What the fuck..." Hopper looks away from the brunette.

"Can we...talk about this later?" Gus asks.

"Yes! Thank you, Gus!" Joyce voices. She snaps her eyes back over to Hopper.

The Chief of Police shifts his gaze from Joyce to Gus then to Jonathan. He then inhales a breath, trying to control his emotions.

"We've been searching all night." Hopper exhales. "Went all the way to Cartersville."

"And?"

"Nothing."

Hopper looks at the ground for a second, "Flo says you got a phone call?"

"Oh, yeah." Joyce scoffs, she points at the phone.

Hopper walks over to the phone and grabs it. He inspects the phone and raises his brows. "Storm barbecued this pretty good."

"The storm?"

Hopper turns to Joyce and blinks, "What else?"

"You're saying that that's not weird?" Joyce asks.

"No, it's weird." Hopper hooks the phone back up.

"Can we, like trace who made the call? Contact the--"

"No, it doesn't work like that," Hopper says. "Now, uh, you're sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing."

"No. It was him." Joyce's voice starts to shake again. "It was Will."

"And he was scared. And then something--"

"It was probably just a prank call," Hopper says. "It was somebody trying to scare you."

Gus lets out a breath of disbelief, "Why would anyone do something like that?"

"Well, this thing's been on TV," Hopper explains. "It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh..."

"No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him." Joyce's voice was now firm.

"Joyce--"

"Come on, how about a little trust here?!" Joyce shouts. "What, you think I'm...I'm making this up?"

"I'm not saying that you're making it up." Hopper says. "All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you."

"And you think I don't know my own son's breathing?" Joyce scoffs. "Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?"

Gus tenses and her mouth slightly hangs open. She quickly moves her eyes over to Hopper, seeing the pain across his face. The brunette knew about what happened to Hopper's daughter, but she never brought it up. Just like how Hopper never brought up Gus' parents. A part of Gus knew that's why Hopper never talked to her. He didn't want to get close to anyone else. Gus and Hopper were similar in that way.

Hopper steps away from the group for a second and looks at the ground, trying to compose his emotions. "You, uh, hear from Lonnie yet?"

"No."

"It's been long enough. I'm having him checked out." Hopper puts his hat on and walks toward the door.

"Oh, come on! You're wasting your time." Joyce calls out.

"Gus, let's go."

The brunette looks at Hopper holding the door open. "Uh, Hop...I was actually going to help them put flyers up--"

"You need to be going to school," Hopper says. "You need to get your grades up."

Gus looks at Jonathan and Joyce. She sends them a look that says 'I'm sorry'.

"Yes, sir." Gus starts toward the door and walks out of the house.

Hopper closes the door behind him and walks toward the truck. Gus glances at Hopper and sees him open a prescription bottle.

"Hey, Hopper!"

Gus turns and sees Jonathan approaching them.

"Let me go," Jonathan says.

Hopper inhales and turns toward the boy, "I'm sorry?"

"To Lonnie's." Jonathan clarifies. "You know, if Will's there, it means he ran away. And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble. He'll...he'll hide."

"He's good at hiding," Gus speaks softly.

Jonathan looks at the girl and nods his head, "Yeah."

Hopper sticks a cigarette between his lips. "Cops are good at finding." he grips both of Jonathan's arms. "Stay here with your mom." he lightly punches Jonathan in the chest. "She needs you."

Gus gives Jonathan a small smile before getting into the car. Hopper gets into the car, starts it, and speeds out of the driveway.

"Hopper--"

"I'm going to drop you off at school and then I'm going to continue searching for Will," Hopper says.

The brunette closes her mouth. She sinks into her seat, "Do you hate me or something?"

Hopper scoffs, "What?"

Gus looks at her fingers, noticing them starting to twitch again. "I get that...I'm not the ideal person to live with, but you're not that great either."

Hoper doesn't say anything, he just stays silent.

Gus gnaws on her lower lip. "Your...your daughter--"

"No." Hopper's voice was firm and distant. "We're not doing this."

"You don't want to open up to anyone else, because of what happened." Gus nods her head.

"Gus, I am so fucking serious--"

"Yeah, well so am I!" Gus raises her voice. "We have lived with each other for years, Hop and we've never even had dinner together."

"And you think that has something to do with my dead daughter?" Hopper lets out a bitter laugh and Gus' jaw clenches.

"Nevermind--"

"No, no. Speak your mind, Gus!" Hopper raises his voice.

Gus notices the truck's speed starts to accelerate and she sits up. "Hopper--"

"What do you want me to say, Gus?!" Hopper shouts. "That every time I look at you I see my daughter Sara?!"

Gus' breathing quickens and she shifts her eyes toward the window and notices how fast the trees are passing them. "You're going too fas--"

"Maybe I don't want to get close to you, because you don't care about your life!" Hopper's voice booms. Gus pulls her brows together and snaps her eyes over to the Chief of Police.

"Wh-what?--"

"You think that I want to form some kind of bond with you--only for you to have tried to throw yourself off a building or--or better yet--your heart gives out because of how much you cut yourself and since you don't eat!"

Gus' eyes fill with tears and she shakes her head. "Stop the car..." she whimpers.

Hopper brushes the brunette off and her eyes widen. A low ringing starts in her ears and her hand starts to twitch once again.

"STOP THE CAR!"

The road in front of them suddenly cracks and Hopper's eyes widen, "SHIT!"

He swerves to the side to avoid the now-formed manhole in the road. He slams his foot on the brake and Gus' head jerks forward. Hopper holds his arm in front of Gus. He looks at the brunette, "Gus, you all--"

"My heart gives out because of how much I cut myself?"Gus slaps Hopper's hand away from her. "Because of how much I don't eat?"

Hopper pulls his brows together, confused about what she was talking about. His eyes then widen, remembering what he said.

"No, Gus--"

"You knew about it and you...you never said anything?" Gus shakes her head. The brunette wipes her tears. "I...I can walk from here."

"Gus, I'm sorry--"

"I shouldn't have said anything." Gus lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "We can just...continue being strangers in the same house."

The brunette opens the door. "I'm fine to walk, seriously." she hops out of the truck and stops to think. "You're not..." she wipes her nose. "...you're not the only one who's hurting, Hop." she shrugs a shoulder. "I just wanted you to know that."

Gus closes the car door and starts down the road. Hoppe closes his eyes and presses his head against the steering wheel with a groan.

"I am such a piece of shit."

☆

"I'm just saying 99% of the time in cases like these...you're wrong," Gus looks at her friend.

The curly-haired girl gasps, "How dare you?!"

Gus quietly chuckles.

"I saw the way his eyes lingered on the school doors after you walked through them." Fallon stops walking and grabs Gus's arm. "Gus...I think Steve might have a thing for you..."

Gus wrinkles her nose, "No, thank you. Keep that dick away from me."

"What? Now, you don't want to be with him?" Fallon scoffs.

"It's just a crush, it'll pass." Gus waves a hand.

Fallon inhales, "I know when someone has a crush, and you my beautiful greasy-haired friend...do not have a crush."

Gus purses her lips and pulls her brows together. She looks down at her hair, "Greasy?"

Fallon presses her lips together, "Did you want me to lie?"

She lightly touches Gus' hair, "When was the last time you took a shower?"

"I take a shower every night!" Gus turns to her.

"No need to lie to me, my sweet--"

"--greasy-haired friend? Yeah, I got it." Gus exhales a scoff.

Fallon slightly opens her mouth, "I was actually going to say, my beautiful beautiful friend."

Fallon tilts her head, "When did you get this shirt?"

Gus looks down at the blue flannel, "Oh, this isn't mine--it's Jonathan's. He--"

"Time out!" Fallon stops in her tracks, grabbing Gus' arm.

Gus looks at her friend, "Yeees?"

"You and Jonathan are talking again?" Fallon cranes her neck forward.

Gus nods, "Yeah, I went over to his place last night to see if I can help with anything for Will...it got super late and I stayed over."

Fallon smiles softly, "You're opening up to people."

"Okay, okay..." Gus rolls her eyes. "Can we get back to a different conversation, please?"

They continue walking down the hall.

"Maybe--just maybe you were right about him having a 'thing' for me...why would he be with Nancy, then?" Gus inquires.

Fallon shrugs her shoulders, "Maybe...he's in denial--"

"Riiight..." Gus nods her head and Fallon groans.

"Maybe he doesn't like me...maybe he feels a little bad about what he said. Maybe he wants to be friends again--"

"But there's no way you would ever forgive him--"

"Exactly!" Gus snaps her fingers and points at Fallon. "And if I do forgive him...I got to make him grovel a little, y'know?"

Fallon bites her lower lip and smiles. She wraps her arms around Gus' neck and squeals. "That's my girl."

Gus wraps an arm around Fallon's waist and both the girls start to laugh. Gus stops walking, causing Fallon to stop too. Gus' eyes land on Jonathan putting a poster up on the bulletin. She licks her lower lip, thinking. Gus shifts her eyes over to Steve and his friends, staring at Jonathan.

"They're talking about him."

Fallon looks over at Gus and sees the anger on her face.

"How do you know that?" Fallon asks.

"It's Steve and his bitches, of course, they're--"

"Nancy and Barbara are over there," Fallon states.

Gus deadpans, "I wasn't talking about them." she says. "I'm not that mean."

Fallon searches Gus' eyes, "You're wanting to start a fight, why?"

Gus looks away from Fallon, "Hopper and I got into it, and...I walked here."

"That bad?"

A lump forms in her throat, "That bad."

Gus clears her throat, "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"What? Gus, no. It's not worth it--"

"Him as in, Jonathan," Gus says.

Fallon slightly opens her mouth, "Oh...okay--I thought you were gonna beat the shit out of Steve or something."

Gus squints her eyes, "Now, why would I do that?" she then walks away from her friend.

Fallon watches as Gus pushes through the group Steve was standing with. The coil-haired girl rolls her eyes, "Of course."

"Hey, watch it, freak!" Carol calls out.

Gus stops and turns to Carol. The redhead's back straightens. Gus squints her eyes, "Oh, God, Carol is that...are you growing a mustache?"

Carol's eyes widen and she covers her upper lip. Gus purses her lips, "Yeah--that's a mustache. Great job!" She points at the girl. "You're showing Steve and Tommy up, they can't grow anything for shit."

Her eyes shift to Steve. Even though it was a millisecond, Steve could see the fiery rage in them. And it made him want to hide under a rock.

Gus turns away from the group and heads over to Jonathan. "Hey."

Jonathan turns toward Gus and a smile forms on his lips. "H-Hey."

Gus holds her hand out and Jonathan raises his brows. She opens and closes her hand, telling him to hand her some of the flyers. The boy hands her a handful of the flyers.

"You don't mind if I join you, do you?" Gus arches a brow.

Jonathan blinks, "I thought Hopper wanted you to stay."

Gus nods her head, "Well, after that--amazing car ride, I don't think he's gonna be reprimanding me anytime soon." a soft chuckle leaves her lips, but the pain was evident.

Jonathan searches her eyes, "Are...is everything okay?"

Gus inhales and clears her throat. "We can talk about that later when we ditch this hellhole."

Jonathan lets out a laugh, "For someone who is great at every subject, you sure do hate school."

"I know, I'm pretty odd." Gus grabs Jonathan's hand and lightly tugs him toward the school doors.

Both of the teenagers run out of school. "Did you drive here?" she looks at Jonathan.

"Yeah."

Gus smiles, "Good."

Jonathan and Gus get into the car and he drives away from the school.

"So, where to?" Gus asks, placing her feet on the dashboard.

"Lonnie's."

The brunette raises her brows and exhales a breath. "Oh, wow--the city." she shakes her head. "What's that like 30 minutes, an hour away?"

Jonathan moves his head from side to side. "Just about, why?"

Gus looks through her messenger bag and pulls out a bag of Twizzlers. "I brought snacks."

Jonathan looks at the dancy and laughs. "You still eat those?"

"Of course! Twizzlers are one of the essentials in the 'Guster Care Package'." Gus states.

"Yeah? And what else is a part of that Care Package?" Jonathan glances at her.

Gus inhales and purses her lips, thinking. "Bunnies." she nods.

"Bunnies?" Jonathan chuckles.

Gus laughs softly, "Bunnies." she confirms. "I'm gonna get a bunny and name it Hedwig."

Jonathan looks at the girl and she looks at him. The teenagers burst out in laughter. Gus holds out one of the Twizzlers toward the boy.

Jonathan looks at the brunette and she raises a brow. "Candy isn't going to hurt you." she then pulls her brows together. "Unless...you are allergic--but I've seen you eat these before."

Jonathan blinks, "Gus, I never said I was allergic." he grabs one of the Twizzlers.

The brunette smiles softly and chews on one of the Twizzlers.

A song starts to play on the radio, that causes Jonathan to stop eating his candy. Gus looks at the boy and her back straightens. "You okay, J?"

Jonathan looks at the brunette and chuckles, trying to change the subject. "You haven't called me that in a while."

"Yeah, well...I'm never doing it again." Gus chuckles before looking out the window.

☆

Jonathan quickly stops the car and Gus grunts. "Damn, Jonath..."

Jonathan immediately gets out of the car and walks over to one of the houses. Gus raises her brows, "Shiiiit..." she quickly gets out of the car and follows after Jonathan.

"Jon--Jonny, my main man, my main man man--"

Jonathan bangs on the door and Gus stops in her tracks. "Hello?"

"So...do you have a plan?" Gus asks.

"Find Will."

"I mean...when you see Tony--"

"Lonnie." Jonathan corrects her.

A sputter leaves Gus' lips, "Does it matter?"

The door opens, revealing a woman.

"Wait..." Gus pulls her face back with squinted eyes. "...are you Tommy?"

"What?"

"Is Lonnie around?" Jonathan asks.

"Yeah, he's out back. What do you want?" The woman questions.

"To look around." Jonathan walks into the house.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing? Hey!" The woman shouts.

"I'll be fast."

The woman looks back at Gus, who was still standing on the porch. The brunette presses her lips into a small smile. "We'll be fast." she then awkwardly walks into the house.

"Will? Will?!" Jonathan shouts, while searching the house.

Jonathan checks the rooms and lets out a breath, not seeing his little brother around. He looks at Gus and throws his hands in the air.

Gus slumps her shoulders, "Where are you Will?" she tangles a hand in her hair.

Jonathan walks toward Gus, but he's shoved against the wall, by a man.

"What the hell?!" Gus raises her voice.

The brunette takes a step forward, but Jonathan holds a hand out. "No, it's fine," he says.

Gus quickly stops.

Jonathan shoves Lonnie back, "Get off!"

"Damn, you've gotten stronger." The man lightly shoves Jonathan.

"Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?" The woman beside Gus asks.

"Jonathan, Cynthia. Cynthia, this is Jonathan." Lonnie introduces. "My oldest."

Lonnie turns to the brunette, "And who is this?" he then looks at Jonathan. "Your little girlfriend."

"We're not together." Jonathan and Gus chorus.

"Come here." Lonnie pulls Jonathan toward him.

Jonathan then shoves Lonnie back, "Get off me, man."

"Where's my brother?" Jonathan questions.

"He's not here." Lonnie sighs.

Jonathan lets out a scoff and walks away from the three, he then goes to the backyard. Gus follows after Jonathan with Lonnie behind her.

"If you're not dating, then who are you?" Lonnie catches up to the brunette.

"Your mom."

Lonnie lets out a laugh and Gus rolls her eyes. Jonathan looks at the car.

"Take a look at this beaut," Lonnie says.

"We are looking at it." Gus huffs. "I don't think it's a beaut, but we're looking at it."

"You should've seen it when I got it." Lonnie huffs. "It took me a year, but I got it."

Jonathan opens up the trunk.

"Really? You want to check up my ass, too?" Lonnie questions.

"How 'bout..." Gus leans down and grabs the crowbar. "...I stick this crowbar up your ass instead?" she arches a brow. "Where the fuck is Will?"

Lonnie chuckles, "She's a firecracker, isn't she?"

Jonathan grabs Gus' arm and she turns to him. The brunette lets out a scoff and she drops the crowbar. "Relax, I wasn't going to hit him."

Jonathan deadpans. Gus nods her head and looks away from him for a second. "I was only going to hit him if he didn't talk."

"I told you the same thing as I told those cops, he's not here and he never has been." Lonnie speaks.

Simultaneously, Jonathan and Gus turn to the man. Jonathan lets go of Gus and walks toward Lonnie. "Then why didn't you call mom back?"

"I don't know, I just...I assumed she just forgot where he was." Lonnie shrugs. "You know, he was lost or something. That boy never was very good at taking care of himself."

Gus lets out a scoff.

"This isn't some joke, all right? There are search parties, reporters--"

"Hopper's not still chief, is he?" Lonnie asks.

"Why does that matter?" Gus questions. "You're son's missing and you're worried about who's Chief."

"If Hopper is still Chief, Will is never going to be found," Lonnie says.

Gus' eyes widen, she grabs the crowbar, and raises it above her head. Jonathan grabs Gus' arm, "No!" he yanks it out of her hand and tosses it to the side.

Gus lets out a huff. Even though she and Hopper were shouting at each other about 2 hours ago, she didn't want anyone talking bad about him.

"Tell your mother she's gotta get you out of that Hellhole," Lonnie speaks. "Come out here to the city. People are more real here, you know? And then I could see you more."

Jonathan lets out a chuckle of disbelief and shakes his head.

"What, you think I don't want to see you?" Lonnie asks.

"I know you don't."

"See, that's your mother talkin' right there." Lonnie states. "She even know you're here?"

Jonathan doesn't give an answer and Lonnie scoffs. "Oh, great. So, one kid goes missing, the other one runs wild with a girl?"

Gus rolls her eyes.

"Some real fine parenting right there." Lonnie continues. "Look, all I'm saying is, maybe I'm not the asshole, all right?"

Jonathan lets out a scoff and walks away from Lonnie. Gus inhales a breath, she rummages through her bag and grabs one of the flyers. The brunette walks over to Lonnie and holds it out toward him. "In case you forgot what he looks like."

Lonnie grabs the flyer and Gus jogs after Jonathan.

☆

After leaving Lonnie's place, Jonathan and Gus got back to Hawkins. Jonathan felt completely drained after seeing his estranged father and Gus felt drained from her argument with Hopper.

Both of the teenagers were laying on top of the car, staring at the stars.

Gus keeps her hands folded and against her stomach. "You know, I used to do this with Harrington all the time when we were friends?"

Jonathan pulls his brows together, "Why do I want to hear about you and Steve?"

The brunette shrugs, "Better than thinking about...other subjects."

Silence settles between them. "The song that came on the radio earlier..." Gus starts. "Should I Stay or Should I Go. Will listens to that song all the time." She turns her head towards Jonathan.

"Is that what the song reminded you of?" Gus inquires.

Jonathan's chest tightens. "Yeah..."

Silence settles between the two once again. Gus and Jonathan weren't the most interactive people. The girl was quiet, but she wasn't afraid of talking to people. Jonathan, has always been quiet. And adding into the fact that these two haven't talked in a while...

How were they supposed to have a conversation?

Jonathan inhales a breath, trying to gain some confidence.

"I showed him the song one day when my mom was trying to get ahold of Lonnie." Jonathan continues.

Gus looks back at him, "When he missed the baseball game with Will?"

Jonathan cracks a small smile, "They really do tell you everything, huh?" He looks at her.

Gus shrugs a shoulder, "What can I say? I'm their Guardian."

Jonathan and Gus both chuckle.

"So, what happened with you and Hopper?"

Gus' laughter falls silent and her smile becomes small. She looks back at the night sky. "I...tried to talk to him about Sara...his daughter."

Jonathan tenses and he sits up. Gus inhales and does the same.

"Shit, Gus."

The brunette nods her head, "Yeah and I really wish I hadn't." She wipes under her eye. "I just...wanted to know why he couldn't look me in the eye and I wanted to know why he hated me." Her pointer and thumb finger start to twitch and she curses. "He wanted me to stop talking about it, but I kept pushing him."

Gus exhales sharply, "It got ugly and I...walked to school."

"From the highway?" Jonathan asks.

Gus looks at him with a sheepish smile and the joy receives his answer. Jonathan exhales a sharp breath, "I'm sorry about things going down that way."

Gus nods her head, "Yeah, me too..." she's shrugs. "I just thought that maybe things could be different."

"What do you mean?"

The girl opens and closes her mouth. "We don't have to be like 'father and daughter' but I just thought maybe we could at least talk to eachother or even eat a meal together."

Jonathan chews the inside of his cheek. He had no idea that Gus had felt this lonely since her parents died.

"Hey." Jonathan nudges her arm.

Gus looks at him.

"You can always come over for a meal if you want."

Gus hangs her head low and laughs softly. Jonathan smiles at the brunette.

"Eyebags."

Jonathan pulls his brows together, "What?"

Gus lifts her head and makes eye contact with Jonathan. "That's another thing about of my Care Package."

"I don't get it—why eyebags?"

Gus shrugs a shoulder. "I've always had them. They're like... a part of me."

"Also I'm way more attractive when I look tired," Gus adds.

"Is that what you really think?" Jonathan inquires.

Gus pretends to think, "Yep."

Jonathan scoots closer to the brunette. "I...I think you're beautiful with or without the eye bags"

Gus smiles softly and lays her head against Jonathan's shoulder.

"I've missed hanging out with you, J." Gus sighs. "And I'm sorry it took Will to go missing for us to hang out again."

Jonathan lays his head against hers. "Do you know how Happy Will is going to be when we all start hanging out together?"

Gus laughs, "Do you think we could convince your mom to let Will watch horror movies with us?"

Jonathan and Gus look at each other.

"I think we might be able to arrange something."

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author's note.

Gus and Jonathan bonding is just what I needed. But Hopper and Gus arguing hurts...

Words: 4758