Brave Like You (Steve Harrington)

Twenty-Nine.

-Candace-

I jumped off Steve's back onto my feet announcing, "I have to make a phone call real quick."

I didn't want to say it in front of Nancy, but I promised Will I would call him tonight the last time we talked. I headed to the payphone digging the quarters out of my bag. If Nancy knew I was about to call the Byers, she'd want to talk to Jonathan, and I wasn't wasting my quarters on her. Steve invited her to dinner out of pity, and I understand that, but if she wants to talk to Jonathan she can call him when she is on her own time.

I dialed the number, and I waited for someone to answer, listening to the dial tones. After a few rings, a voice on the other end said, "Byers residence."

It was Jonathan, I could tell from the voice. "Jonathan, hi, it's Candy. Is Will there? I told him I would call tonight after the game."

He sighed, sounding annoyed. "Will!" he yelled, "It's for you!"

I heard the sound of footsteps, and then I heard Jonathan say, "Keep it short, mom is almost done cooking dinner."

Will didn't respond to his older brother, "Candy?" He asked, his voice on the other end of the receiver.

I smiled to myself as I spoke to him, "Hi Will, how are you?"

"I'm okay," He said, "I miss you."

My heart felt kind of heavy at his words. I miss him too, we all miss having the Byers here in Hawkins. "Oh, I miss you, too, Kid. It's so good to hear your voice again."

"Yours too," He replied, a chuckle in his voice. "What have you been up to since the last time we talked?"

"Not much, honestly," I admit, "We just finished another football game, and we won, so that's exciting."

"That's great," He said, but I could tell from the sound of his voice that there was something on his mind.

I took a breath in, "So, how have you been, really?"

"I've been okay," He says, but I don't buy it.

I decided to pry a bit, since he won't just say it. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"I don't know," He says, and I hear a shuffle, assuming he had sat down somewhere. "I'm having a hard time fitting in, I guess. I just thought Lenora was going to be different from Hawkins."

My heart felt like it just broke in half. "Kid, don't beat yourself up. You're still the new kid. And you're not totally alone, you know? You have Jonathan and El, too."

He scoffs, "Yeah, they're fitting in just as well as I am. We're a family of freaks."

It surprised me to hear him say that, because he knows how I feel about that word. "Well then, be a family of freaks."

He chuckled, "Ugh, I miss living so close to you."

"I know," I sigh, "I miss you being so close, too. I'll make it out to California one day, I promise."

There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he said, "That would be great."

The phone then asked me to put in another quarter, but Will had to go anyway for dinner so we ended our conversation then. I headed back to the others who were waiting for me. "Will says hello, and he misses us."

"He misses you, you mean," Nancy said, and she smirked at me, "Mike says Will is in love with you."

Robin, Steve, and I all laughed. After I finished laughing, I said, "Not a chance in hell. I'm like his older sister."