Joe Keery Imagines

True Love Returns

Joyce Byers had decided she'd had enough. Her beloved town of Hawkins had turned into a place that now scared her. Too many weird things had happened in the last few years – to her, to her family, to her friends and her loved ones and she couldn't cope anymore. She decided to move her family (her two sons, Jonathan and Will, her daughter Y/N and the adopted daughter of the late police chief Jim Hopper – Eleven 'Jane' Hopper) to California, where the memories of Hawkins would hopefully be less raw.

It was because of this move, that currently saw her leaning up against the U-Haul truck that held all their lives in it, watching as her children were saying their tearful farewells to their friends. Will and El were hugging their group of friends – Dustin, Lucas, Max and Will's best friend/El's boyfriend Mike, Jonathan was sitting on the bonnet of his car, in what looked like a solemn conversation with his girlfriend Nancy, while both were looking at their hands that were locked together, neither wanting to let go just yet and then there was Y/N, her head buried in the neck of her boyfriend Steve, sobs wracking her body as they held each other tight. Y/N's best friend Robin was standing nearby, tears also running down her face, as she chewed on her fingernails, hesitating slightly, before throwing her arms around Y/N and Steve in a hug to encompass the both of them.

Joyce didn't want to have to leave but she couldn't put off the inevitable anymore, they had a long journey ahead of them and had to make a move. There was a final round of goodbyes, hugs, kisses, and tears before the Byers/Hopper clan made their move to the west coast. El was in the truck with Joyce, wiping off the odd stray tear that still fell from her eyes. Jonathan, Will and Y/N were in Jonathan's car, with Jonathan behind the wheel, Will in the passenger seat next to him, his face looking out the open window as the wind dried his eyes that were still glistening from his tears and Y/N in the back seat, her tears still freely falling as she rested her head on the window of the car door, watching the only place she had known disappear, leaving behind the two people she loved and relied on more than anyone or anything, her heart breaking at having to leave them.

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It took some time for the Byers/Hopper clan to get used to living in Lenora Hills, the place Joyce chose to relocate her family to (with the help of Dr. Owens). Joyce had managed to get herself a telemarketing job, selling encyclopaedias from home - which brought her mixed success, some weeks she had good sales and some weeks were a struggle. The four kids had been enrolled into the local high school, all taking a while to find their place there. Will and El were in the same year so were able to stick together, which was a blessing as El endured bullying from the resident popular girl/bitch aka Angela. For reasons still not clear to them, Jonathan and Y/N were also put in the same year, they shouldn't have been as they weren't the same age but they went along with it anyway - didn't want to cause trouble being the newbies. Jonathan had managed to befriend a strange stoner guy named Argyle, who had the longest, most shiniest hair ever seen - made Y/N a tad jealous, but she refused to accept that the secret to its length was smoking weed. Jonathan quickly joined Argyle in his love of the weed, whereas Y/N did not. She'd had trouble making friends so found herself stuck with the two of them, which was okay for the most part - until they got stoned.

A routine had somehow managed to find itself for everyone - Will, Jonathan and Y/N had worked out some sort of roster system so they could all have an equal share of the phone when they wanted to call Hawkins, it also included the Hawkins gang being part of the roster, when it was their turn to call Lenora Hills. El was content with writing letters to Mike, as she needed the practice, although she'd sometimes talk to Mike after Jonathan was done talking with Nancy, if the Wheeler siblings managed to be in the same house, at the same time.

Each season flowed into the next and soon it was Spring which meant the kids were on Spring Break. This had Will and El excited as Mike was coming over for a visit, however it left Jonathan and Y/N feeling a bit flat as neither Nancy or Steve were coming over nor were they going to Hawkins - Nancy and Jonathan had given each other some bullshit college related excuse why they couldn't travel whereas Steve wasn't able to get time off from Family Video to go - according to Keith, heaps of teens would be coming in to hire videos (not going on holiday or enjoying the sun which is what normally happened) and Joyce wouldn't let Y/N travel there on her own.