ain't it weird || stranger things x female reader (season 3)

twenty three - leaving Hawkins

Saturday, October 5, 1985

"That's kinda cute," you hold up a small t-shirt that must have belonged to a toddler, on which a cartoonish T-rex was greeting you.

"Oh," Joyce smiles at you from where she was sitting cross-legged in front of a cardboard box. "That used to be Will's favorite. He, uh, wanted to wear it to school everyday."

You walk over to her and hand her the piece of clothing, which she looks down at with a nostalgic gaze. She smells it, then scoffs.

"Oh, it's dusty," she chuckles and gives it back to you. "Could you put this in the donation box?"

"You're not keeping it?"

"He can't really wear it anymore, can he," she shrugs.

"It might still be his favorite."

"What mi- oh, this shirt," Will approaches, taking the t-shirt from your hands. "I thought we threw it away."

"It's really cute," you repeat.

"But it's not of much use anymore," he shakes his head. "Donations."

"Alright," you raise your hands, admitting your defeat. "I'll put it there. Is that all?"

"Yup," Joyce stands up and shakes some dust off her hands. "We're all good."

You walk over to the now empty living room of the Byers home to drop the tiny shirt in one of the donation boxes, then stare at it for a few seconds, or maybe minutes. At the top of the piled objects were a teddy bear, some figurine toys and the shirt. Will was getting rid of everything he didn't need anymore, which mostly consisted of his childhood stuff. And he was leaving the house and town he grew up in, too.

That was Joyce's goal, to leave it all behind and start a new life in California. New beginning. You wonder if she'd prefer to leave everyone at Hawkins in the past and move on, if you should send painful reminders as letters or let her be. You and the woman had built a special bond together, centered around grief and shared experience. It was miserable, but it was there. She invited you over when you wouldn't have shown up in a while, and you'd keep each other company.

You'd check up on El as well. Her and Will, you weren't ready to let go of. She was going to start attending school in California, under her official name. You had kept teaching Jane Hopper the basics of reading and writing, as well as a bit of math. You weren't good at it, though, while numbers seemed to be her thing. You wish you could be there when she'd introduce herself to the class, get her first homework and friend. It wouldn't be easy for her, who never had a normal childhood in the first place. She never had a favorite dino shirt nor talked to someone her age until two years ago. Going to school for the first time was a big step.

"Those are the last ones, yeah?" Jonathan pulls you out of your daze with his question, and you snap  your head in his direction like a deer in the spotlight before nodding. "Great."

You both take one of the boxes and exit the house to put them in the removal truck. You then go to sit on the poarch with Dustin, Max and Lucas and listen in to their conversation without adding much. You had a hard time having full discussions lately. They didn't seem to mind.

A light breeze makes you shiver. You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, you had made yourself pretty to say goodbye, then smile. It still made you think of him; in fact, when you didn't occupy your thoughts with something else, all you could think of was him. You wouldn't have minded El and Will and Joyce leaving that much if he had been there. Even though four months passed, it seemed it was yesterday you cried in Steve's arms in the ruins of Starcourt Mall. It seemed to you everyone was leaving at once.