Chapter Four : Will The Wise

chapter thirty-three , Non-sprinkled donuts

a/n : SHE'S BAAAAACK

━━━━━━━━━━

How long had he been staring at her? Steve knew that he should've looked away from her so it wouldn't start getting weird, but Gus was absolutely iridescent. It felt like a crime having to look away. Steve couldn't believe that just a few months ago, he didn't realize his feelings for the girl. But now it's like he couldn't even remember not liking her. Steve felt like such an idiot not realizing how much he liked this girl.

Gus picks the sprinkles off her donuts and scoffs. "Who runs out of non sprinkled donuts?" She raises shrugs her shoulders. "I would expect the sprinkle ones to be gone. They're always gone."

Gus shakes her head, "I bet you someone did this to get back at me?"

Steve purses his lips, "Someone deliberately bought all the donuts without sprinkles just to piss you off?"

The short-haired girl meets Steve's eyes, his already being on her. "A lot of people hate me in this town, Harrington." she presses her lips together.

"Who do you think it was then?" Steve asks, leaning back in his seat.

"Certainly not Carol." Gus snorts.

Steve chuckles, "You know she and Tommy are back together?"

"Oh, yeah, I saw." Gus nods. "They were practically eating each other's faces in the hallway."

"They always loved PDA." Steve sips his hot chocolate. His eyes shift to Gus meticulously picking the sprinkles off the donuts. "I'm sorry, by the way."

Gus knits her brows together. "About what?"

Everything. Steve thinks. "Uh, Carol and Tommy getting back together. I know you liked her."

Gus stops picking the sprinkles and she tilts her head at the boy. Steve looks at her with his brows raised.

"Like her?" Gus wrinkles her nose. "Why would I...?" She slightly opens her mouth. "Oh...because I almost had sex with her."

Steve blinks, "Yeah, I mean—"

"I don't like her, Steve." Gus says. "At least not like that. I mean, she's tolerable now. Even though I'm sure she's gonna start being bitchy again since she's back with Tommy. But..." she shrugs a shoulder. "I don't like her."

"Oh, I just thought that since you guys almost—"

"Have you ever had sex with someone without any feelings for them?" Gus takes a bite out of her donut.

Steve presses his lips together and Gus smiles softly. "I see your point."

"I know you do." Gus says with her mouth full. She pats her hands together and drinks her hot chocolate. "Also she and I were both wasted. And I'm sure she doesn't want anyone else to know what happened between us." Gus winces. "That wouldn't be great for her 'popularity'."

Gus squints her eyes watching Steve shift. "Okay! Truth time." She presses her hands on the table.

Steve raises his brows, from the sudden words. "O-okay...?"

"Do you have an issue with me talking about Carol and I almost sleeping together?" Gus runs her tongue over her teeth.

Steve swallows. "N-No—"

"Mmm why are you stuttering?" A crease forms between Gus' brows.

"You asked me so quickly—I-I—"

"Mmhmm..." Gus slowly shakes her head, knowing how uncomfortable she was making Steve.

"I've never heard anyone talk about their sexuality this proudly before and...it's new, I guess." Steve sinks in his seat and takes a big bite out of his donut.

Gus places her chin against the palm of her hand and she chuckles. "I'm just pulling your chain, Harrington."

Steve exhales through his nose and his shoulders sag.

"I think you still got some soul searching to do." Gus sips her hot chocolate.

Steve slowly nods his head. "I really do..."

The walkie in Gus' satchel starts to go haywire, which causes the two teens to jump.

"Gus? Are you there? It's Sofía. Over."

The short-haired girl grabs the walkie from her bag and quickly answers. "Hey, Sof, I'm here, over—what's up?" She takes a bite out of her donut.

"I...I don't have a ride home..."

Gus pulls her brows together, hearing the shakiness in Sofía's voice. She knows she hasn't been keeping in touch with The Party lately. Especially ever since school started. But she could sense when something was wrong with them even from the tiny bit of voice change.

"Okay, I can come and get you...where are you?"

"School..."

Gus gnaws on her lower lip, "I'll be there soon, all right? Over."

"Thank you. Over..."

Gus looks down at the walkie with a bad feeling in her stomach.

"Is everything okay?" Steve asks. The boy obviously heard the conversation, he just didn't want Gus to know he was listening.

Gus looks at Steve. "I don't know...Sofía needs a ride home. But she just sounded...scared."

Steve pulls his brows together. He stands up and Gus raises her brows, "Uh, what are you doing?"

"We're going to pick Sofía up." Steve states.

Gus laughs softly, "I am perfectly capable of picking Sofía up myself."

"Yeah? With what car? Mine? Because I'm the one who drove you here." Steve places a hand on his hip.

Gus makes an 'oh' sound. "You're right." She stands up with her hands pressed against the table. "Let's go get The Enchantress."

Steve frowns, "Don't know why you're calling her Enchantress, but okay. Sure let's get her."

Gus rolls her eyes, "It's a DND thing."

"That explains it..." Steve sets money on the table. Gus pulls her brows together. "You don't have to say it like an insult."

"I didn't." Steve and Gus walk toward the door. He opens the door allowing Gus to walk out first. "I love that you have interests outside of school."

Gus scoffs, "Is that sarcasm?"

"No!"

☆

As soon as they got to the school, the two teenagers saw Sofía sitting on the steps of the middle school with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and a redhead. Gus pulls her brows together as the car stops. She gets out of the car and walks over to the kids. "Yo!"

The kids all look at the brunette approaching them and she holds her arms out. "Is everything o—"

"Oh thank God!" Dustin was the first to stand up and run over to her. Soon the other kids follow after Dustin. Max pulls her brows together as all the kids wrap their arms around the girl. She must be really important to them.

Gus stumbles back as the kids collide into her. "Uh, okay. It's nice to see you guys too..." she pats each of their heads. "What's going on? Where's Will?"

Everybody falls silent and no one answers her. Worry gradually rises in the girl. "Guys, where's Will? Is he okay?"

"He had another episode." Lucas states.

Gus' eyes slightly widen.

"But, this one was different." Sofía says. "He wasn't moving. He was just...frozen."

"Ms. Byers soon came and took Will home." Dustin adds.

"Two episodes in two days." Mike states with urgency. "It's getting worse, right?"

"It is." Sofía shakily nods her head.

Gus presses her lips into a firm line and her eyes soften. "You guys waited here with Sofía?"

"Of course we did." Lucas says.

Mike looks at the quiet brunette. "We didn't want her to be alone."

Dustin looks at Sofía and his guilt wasn't going away anytime soon.

Gus slightly lifts her head up and looks at the redhead, who was still sitting on the steps. The short-haired brunette purses her lips and waves at the girl. The redhead waves back at her.

"You guys have a new friend."

"Mad Max." Dustin quickly speaks.

Everyone looks at him with a deadpanned expression while Gus was just confused. Gus knits her brows together. "What's a Mad Max?"

"Her name is Max. But her video game nickname is Mad Max." Dustin explains.

Gus slowly nods her head, "Oh..." she looks at the girl. "Hi, Mad Max!"

Max presses her lips together. Lucas looks behind Gus and he raises his brows. "Is that Harrington?"

Gus turns to the boy. Steve was out of the car and leaning against his car door. He holds a hand up. "Uh, hi."

"He drove you here?" Dustin asks.

"Yeah, we were hanging out before Sofía called me." Gus waves a dismissive hand.

"You and Steve were hanging out?!" Mike raises his voice. "What? Like a date?! Does Nancy know about this—"

"Can you keep it down, butt-brain?" Gus mushes Mike's face. "Christ, it wasn't a date."

"Then what was it?" Mike asks.

"He bought me food. Who turns down free food?" Gus scoffs.

The kids all nod in agreement. Gus points at Sofía, "Okay, let's get you home." She then points at the redhead that was looking at the ground. "Hey, Mad Max, you need a ride home?"

"Shouldn't you ask me that question?" Steve asks. "I mean, this is my car?" He chuckles.

Gus looks at Steve, "Oh. Right." She hums softly. "You need a ride in Steve's car?"

Steve hangs his head low and chuckles. Max slightly opens his mouth. "Uh, sure..." she walks over to the group.

Mike scoffs and rolls his eyes. Gus flicks his ear and the kid groans.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Mike shouts.

"Be nice." Gus points at him. She looks at the other kids. "Okay, I'll see you guys later, okay? Update me on anything about Will. Seriously."

Gus gets into the passenger seat while Max and Sofía get in the back. Steve starts the car and drives out of the parking lot. Gus pats her hands against her thighs to fill the silence in the car. She shifts her eyes to the rear view mirror and looks at the two girls. Sofía and Max were sitting far apart from each other, both of them looking out the windows.

"So..." Steve and Gus speak simultaneously.

They both glance at each other. Steve's heart rate quickens and slightly opens his mouth. "Oh, you can go—"

"No, no, it wasn't that important..." Gus purses her lips. "...you can say what you were going to—"

"Hey, guys?" Max leans forward and looks at the two teens.

"What's up?" They both look at the redhead.

Steve quickly looks back at the road, not waning this awkward situation to continue.

"You're making this kinda awkward." Max states.

"Oh..." Gus pulls her brows together. Me, awkward?

Max leans back in her seat and looks at Sofía. "Do you think Will's going to be okay?"

Sofía looks at the redhead and raises her brows. "I hope so." She scratches her neck. Sofía never thought that she would be in this position. Having to make conversation with Max. It was so much easier avoiding her when she was sitting in the back of the class.

"So, how do you like Indiana?" Sofía asks.

Max presses her lips together. "I mean, it's nice. You get to see every season. California is hot all the time."

"You're from California?" Gus asks. "There's a student in our class who's from California. Billy Boy."

Steve rolls his eyes at the mention of the boy. "What a jerk—"

"Such a jerk!" Gus exclaims. "Fallon did us all a favor punching him."

"I still can't believe she punched him." Steve chuckles. "I'm glad she did, but at the same time...I never thought Fallon had it in her."

"She did what had to be done. Besides, he deserved it." Gus shrugs.

"I'm sure he did." Max says. "He always ends up getting hit at least once each school year."

Steve and Gus pull their brows together. "Uh, how do you know that, exactly?" Gus questions, hoping what she was thinking wasn't true.

"He's my step-brother."

Gus closes her eyes. "Of course he is. How else could this situation get even more awkward?" She huffs.

Silence settles into the car and Gus blows air out of her mouth. "So...where exactly do we need to drop you off?"

Max softly hums and looks out the window. "We're almost there."

Gus pulls her brows together, "So, is Billy a good brother?"

"Oh, well to him it's step-brother." Max corrects. She presses her lips into a small line and she rolls her eyes. "Actually, he doesn't consider me his siblings at all. So to him I'm nothing but a nuisance..."

Gus raises her brows, "Oh, wow...so, that answers my question."

Sofía looks at Max with sympathy. "No offense, but Billy doesn't know what he's talking about."

Max looks at Sofía with her brows raised. "What?"

"You're cool, Max." Sofía says. "And I'm sure if Billy actually got to know you, he would know that you're a good sister."

Max softly chuckles. Ever since she's moved to Indiana, no one has taken notice in her except for some of the boys. Some were still hesitant about her. But Sofía barely knew her and yet she went out of her way to try and make her feel better.

"Uh, thanks, Sofía." Max says, a smile on her lips. Sofía gives her a timid smile and bunches her shoulders.

Once they dropped Max and Sofía off at their designated home areas, Steve slowed to a stop at his house and he puts the car in park. He looks at Gus, and her brows were knitted together. Steve presses his lips together, he knew something was in her mind. But he had no idea if he even had the right to ask what's bugging her.

Gus taps her fingers against her thigh and sighs. "Hey, do you think it's too cold to swim in your pool?"

Steve deadpans and Gus let's out a sharp breath. "I don't even want an answer." She leans her head against the window. "I think I'm gonna walk home." She looks at Steve with a small smile.

"Thank you for driving Max and Sofía home." Gus says.

Steve raises his brows, "Of course, those kids are your lifeline so..." he shrugs a shoulder. "...there's nothing I wouldn't do for them."

Gus let's out a soft laugh and Steve's heart skips a beat. "Careful, Harrington. Keep talking like that and people might actually think you've got a heart."

Steve tilts his head and a smile ghosts his lips. "Well, we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

A comforting silence settles between them. Steve keeps his eyes on Gus'. He had every urge in his body to tell the girl how beautiful she was. Steve slightly opens his mouth, "And if you ever want to get Non-sprinkled donuts again—"

"—I will call you." Gus finishes, a timid smile was on her lips.

Steve nervously chuckles and looks away from her as his face gets hot. Gus raises her brows, "You okay?"

Steve clears his throat and lightly hits his chest. "Uh, y-yeah—yeah." He waves a hand and looks at Gus. "I'm good."

Gus slowly nods her head. She gets out of the car and gives Steve one last glance before walking down the driveway. Steve watches Gus walk away from his house and a soft breath leaves his lips.

☆

As soon as Gus got home, Hopper was already there. He normally works a lot later than usual, so it was weird. Hopper told her that Eleven was spotted somewhere in the town. Hopper was now filled with paranoid and that was starting to stress Gus out. Gus' eyes follow Hopper as he paces back and forth. The short-haired brunette's hands were against each other and now pressed against her mouth.

"Hop, I'm sure that she'll be back." Gus assures.

Hopper shakes his head, "No, we got into the argument the other day, remember?"

"How can I? She wasted a perfectly good Triple-Decker Eggo Extravaganza." Gus speaks, almost like she was heartbroken. "I don't think I'll ever get over that."

"Focus, Gus."

Gus slowly nods her head, "Right, sorry."

Hopper snaps his fingers and points at his daughter. Gus raises her brows, "Ooh, you just had a brain blast." She stands up. "Tell me."

"Can you look for El with your powers? Like, go into the Upside Down and find her?" Hopper asks.

Gus tilts her head to the ceiling and thinks. "Nah...I'm more of a battery for anyone who has that kind of ability." She looks back at her father. Hopper looks away, his stress starting to rise and Gus sputters her lips.

"Look, Ellie probably just needed some air. That's all." Gus explains. "She's getting to that age where she wants to be out and about. It's no biggie."

Hopper looks at Gus with wide eyes, like he didn't appreciate the words coming out of her mouth. The last thing Hopper wanted to think about was Eleven being out an about. And it definitely wasn't 'no biggie'.

Gus notices Hopper's eyes and she slightly opens her mouth. "I-I mean, I'm a kid. So, I don't really know what I'm talking about..." she scratches the side of her neck. "...I'm gonna sit right here and stay quiet..." she sits on the couch and bites her thumbnail.

Hopper let's out a harsh breath and stalks out of the cabin door. Gus waits for what feels like only a few minutes before the door opens again. The teenager stands up and sees Eleven walking in. Gus let's out a sigh of relief. "Ellie, thank God you're—"

"'Friends don't lie'." Hopper slams the door shut. Gus knits her brows together and snaps her eyes over to the fuming man.

"Isn't that your bullshit saying?"

Eleven scoffs softly, she wanted to stay in front of Gus and explained why she left, but she couldn't handle hearing Hopper's criticism right now. She turns on her heel and stalks over to the room.

"Hey, hey! Hey! Don't walk away from me!"

Eleven goes to slam the door shut, but Hopper slaps his hand against the door, shoving it open. Gus blows air out of her mouth and flips back onto the couch. She starts to massage her temples and shakes her head.

"Where'd you go on your little field trip, huh?" Hopper asks. "Where?"

Eleven doesn't answer and Hopper grows more frustrated. "Did you go see Mike?"

"He didn't see me." Eleven answers.

"Yeah, well, that mother and her daughter did and they called the cops." Hopper walks into the room. "Now, did anyone else see you? Anyone at all?"

"Come on, I need you to think!—"

"Nobody saw me!" Eleven seethes.

Gus pulls her hands off her face and walks over to the room. She leans against the doorframe. "El...what Hopper is trying to say is, you should've talked to us about leaving. Those bad men, they could still be looking for you—"

"You put us in danger." Hopper says in a low voice. "You out August in danger. Is that what you wanted, huh?!—"

"Hey, chill out!" Gus raises her voice.

"You promised...I go!" Eleven starts to tear up and her voice starts to shake. "And I never leave! Nothing ever happens!"

"Yeah! Nothing happens and you stay safe!" Hopper slams his hand against the dresser.

"Maybe we should put a pin in this for later?" Gus speaks up, her hands in the air. "We're all tired—it's been a long—"

"You lie!"

Gus rolls her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I don't lie! I protect and I feed and I teach!" Hopper barks. "And all I ask of you is that you follow three simple rules. Three rules. And you know what?"

"You can't even do that!"

Hopper brushes past Gus and heads out of the room. Gus let's out a soft breath and looks at Eleven. The young girl hits the drawer in frustration.

"You're ground." Hopper calls out. "You know what that means?"

Gus looks out of the room and sees Hopper pulling the fridge open.

"It means no Eggos!"

Hopper rips the Eggos from the fridge and throws them into the trash can. Gus quietly groans, "Hop, she's not the only one who eats Eggos—we all eat them!"

"And no TV for a week."

Gus watches Hopper stalk over to the TV. He grips no ends of the TV, he goes to pull it up, but a force keeps it planted in place. Gus raises her brows and looks at Eleven, who had blood leaving her nose.

"All right, knock it off. Let go."

Eleven shakes her head.

Hopper goes to pick the TV up again, but Eleven doesn't budge. Gus softly sighs, already tired of this.

"El, come on." Gus softly speaks.

"Two weeks—"

"Don't antagonize her." Gus looks at Hopper.

He lets out a sharp breath and goes to pick the TV up again, but fails. "Let go!"

Eleven shakes her head once again.

"A month!"

"No!"

"Give me a fucking break, you two..." Gus places her palms against her brow bones.

"Well, congratulations. You just caused the whole house to go from no TV for a month to no TV at all!" Hopper yanks the wire from the TV, breaking it.

"No!" Gus and Eleven exclaim.

Eleven runs over to the TV while Gus places her hands in her hair. Gus shakes her head, "This is insane—you are insane!" She points at Hopper. "Why would you do this to me?!"

Hopper looks at Gus, "I'm sorry, Gus, but she has got to understand that there are consequences to her actions."

Gus folds her arms and looks to the side with a huff. "You didn't have to hurt the TV in the process..."

"You are like Papa!"

Gus' eyes widen and she quickly looks at Eleven. Silence settles into the room. Hopper runs a hand over his head. "Really? I'm like that psychotic son of a bitch?"

"She didn't mean it, Hop." Gus says, her voice assuring. "She's just upset."

"Oh, I don't know, Gus. She sounded like she meant it. How about I just send her back to that lab—"

"Hopper!" Gus snaps.

"No, I mean, with one phone call I could make that happen." Hopper continues.

"I hate you!" Eleven cries.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not too crazy about you either." Hopper scoffs. "You know why? Cause you're a brat. You know what that word means? How about that be your word for the day, huh? Brat."

Hopper picks up the dictionary. "Why don't we look it up? B-R-A-T. Brat." He tosses the book over to her. Eleven raises her hand, stopping the Dictionary from hitting her. Gus' back straightens and she uncrosses her arms.

"Eleven..." Gus softly speaks.

Eleven pushes her hand forward, the book goes flying toward Hopper. He hits the book to the ground to keep it from hitting her. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Hopper stalks toward her.

The young girl swipes her hand to the side, forcing the couch into his leg. "Eleven, knock it off!" Gus snaps.

Eleven them snaps her eyes over to Gus and she slightly raises her brows. Her chest tightens with rage knowing that Gus wasn't on her side on this. Eleven's eyes fill with tears of rage and she walks toward the room.

"Hey! Hey!" Hopper shouts.

Eleven forces the bookshelf onto the ground and she slams the door shut. Hopper bangs his hands against the door. "Open this door! Open the damn door!"

"Stop yelling at her, it's not gonna help!" Gus snaps.

"You wanna go out in the world? You better grow up!—Grow the hell up!"

A loud wail of a shriek escapes Eleven's lips which causes the entire house to shake. Gus' eyes widen and her instincts tell her to protect Hopper.

So that's what she did.

All windows in the cabin cave in and the shards of glass fly into the house. Gus holds her hands out which causes all the shards to stop in place. The shaking from Gus' abilities cause Hopper to lose his footing and he falls to the ground. Gus inhales a deep breath, forcing more strength into her. She pushes her hands forward, causing the glass shards to fly away from her and Hopper. Gus let's out a sharp breath and wipes the blood from her nose.

Gus sits on the ground with exhaustion and she looks over to Hopper, who was still on the ground. The short-haired brunette wipes her nose again and she chuckles. "I told you not to antagonize her."

Hopper rolls his eyes, "So, this is my fault?"

"It's both of your faults." Gus replies. "You both pushed each other to the brink—you guys even pushed me to the brink." She shakes her head and sighs. "I'm getting Hedwig out of that room. Then he and I are sleeping on the couch. Because...I cannot deal with the two of you right now."

Gus stands up and walks away from the living room, leaving Hopper alone to think. The short-haired girl sighs, "Is this how stressed everyone gets when I get into fights?"

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Gus finally understanding how stressful it is to be in the middle of an argument.

words : 4192