𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

8

❝𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐎?!❞ dani hollered quietly, running her fingers through her semi-soaked curls. she let out an exasperated sigh. in front of the four of them sat the girl, on the couch in mike's basement. mike had given her his jacket, but it failed to stop the rain from seeping into the plaid fabric.

"is there a number we can call? for your parents?" mike asked of the girl, completely ignoring sheridan, who was now pacing around the room.

"could you, maybe, not do that? you're kinda freakin' me out," lucas told dani as her breathing hastened.

"not now, lucas," the girl warned through gritted teeth. the boy held his arms up in defense, turning his attention back to buzzcut, as he so affectionately nicknamed her.

"where's your hair? do you have cancer?!" dustin asked in disbelief. dani's jaw dropped. she slapped the boy on the shoulder, dustin jumping away. he gave her a confused look, which dani instantaneously returned.

"are you dumb, or are you dumb?!" she asked dustin as mike and lucas pressed the young girl further.

"did you run away?"

"are you in some kind of trouble?"

"okay," dani began, pushing her way to the front of the group. "if she were in danger, or if she was hurt, or literally anything at all, she would probably tell us." the boys shared looks of mutual agreement. "my guess is she fell and hit her head and might not know where she's at, what happened, who she is, anything..." sheridan turned around and stooped to the girl's eye level. she looked like a deer in headlights. "grab some clothes from the dryer, and wait upstairs. i'm gonna talk to her," dani directed mike, not taking her eyes off the girl. her hand rested gently on her knee and his lips curved into a quaint smile; to her surprise, the girl reciprocated. after mike nabbed a navy blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants that were two sizes too big for the girl, he dragged dustin and lucas upstairs with him. dani laid them out to show the girl. "you gotta be cold, how about we get changed, yeah?" the girl nodded quickly, going to trudge mike's jacket and her t-shirt off. "woah!" sheridan exclaimed, clapping a hand over her eyes. she instantly pointed in the direction of the bathroom door. the brunette girl got the hint, taking the stack of clothes with her to the bathroom before dani would turn around.

sheridan figured she would probably be staying here until they could figure out what to do with her, so she might as well do her best in making it somewhat cozy for her. the ginger-haired girl found some blankets in their usual spot, and moved some folding chairs over to the corner. she draped blankets over the tops of the chairs to make a fort, and placed even more blankets and pillows inside.

this process felt familiar to her, in the worst way possible. her and nancy used to make forts every friday night, where they alternated having sleepovers at each other's houses. it became tradition; it was what dani looked forward to most throughout the week. until they'd stopped her freshman year, when sheridan's dad died, and when steve harrington had wiggled his way in and swept nancy off her feet.

dani shook herself back into the present and turned around to be faced with the girl. she was adorned in the new clothes mike had provided, surely much more comfortable and warm. probably the opposite of how will felt, dani assumed.