𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

YOU'RE GONNA
OWE ME BREAKFAST !

☀︎

NOVEMBER 1983, FOUR BOYS HAD PLAYED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS IN THE BASEMENT OF THE WHEELER HOUSE. It had been an ordinary night for all in Hawkins, Indiana. Everyone had stuck to their usual business and time had seemed to tick by as they all went on with their usual days.

The night that Will Byers had rolled a seven had changed it all.

Alex Henderson was only in high school when Hawkins had changed. The morning after Will had mysteriously disappeared, she had been riding her bike towards the Byers' house for a quick visit before school.

The wind was blowing her hair into her face as leaves danced around her feet the moment she had stood at the Byers' front door. Knocking on the door, she had hoped that Jonathan had been expecting her visit well enough to make her breakfast in the morning.

Inside, Jonathan had quickly brushed off his hands, dodging his mom as she rushed her way passed him once more. Already putting his usual nervous smile on, he flung the door open, allowing the smell of pancakes to linger outside. Moving out of her way, he gave her a soft hello and gestured to follow him in.

"Making breakfast for me?" she laughed, noticing Jonathan's camera set down at the edge of the counter. She eyed Jonathan before snatching the camera up and taking shots of Jonathan as he finished breakfast for her and his family.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl joyfully capturing this moment but pretended as if the food in front of him was more interesting. But that didn't stop him from flashing the small smile that was forming on his face.

"Trade ya." He stuck out one free hand for the camera, handing over the full plate of breakfast with his other hand. Alex sighed, lazily passing the camera over to him. "Jonathan, you sure do know how to treat a lady."

Before Alex could dig into her breakfast, Joyce Byers, Jonathan's mom, had come rushing through the kitchen. She was panicked, her eyes darting around in search of the one thing she lost every day-- her keys. "Hey, Mrs. Byers!" Alex called to her as Jonathan took a seat beside her.

"Alex, call me Joyce," she responded plainly before walking up behind her and placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. As much as Alex had spent time over at the Byer's house, she had become part of the family. As Steve Harrington had begun to grow closer to Tommy and Carol, it had seemed as if Alex had found herself spending more time with Jonathan. That, Joyce, had been thankful for.

Seeing only two sitting at the table, she looked at Jonathan curiously. "Where's Will?"

"Oh, I didn't get him up yet. Alex just got here so..."

"You got distracted. Jonathan, you have to make sure he's up," she stated in frustration. Already her morning had been hectic enough as she had searched for her keys, waking up Will had only added to her rushed morning. Turning on her heels, she put Will first on her list as she made her way toward his room.

"Mom, I'm making breakfast and I told you Alex was coming over so we could go to school," he groaned, hopping back up from his chair to finish his kitchen duties. Not interested in listening to excuses, Joyce had hurried out of the kitchen to wake her youngest son.

It had only been a matter of time before she had spotted an empty bed and came heading right back to the kitchen. "He came home last night, right?"

"He's not in his room?"

"Did he come home or not?" She questioned back in annoyance.

Shrugging slightly, Jonathan turned away from his mom as he prepared to get in trouble. "I don't know. I got home late... I was working. Eric asked if I could cover, and I said yeah. I just figured we could use the extra cash."

Throwing her arms down, her frustration with this morning had only seemed to grow more and more. "Jonathan, we talked about this. You can't take shifts when I'm working." Unable to handle listening to more of Jonathan's excuses yet again, she had headed towards the phone to call the Wheelers for any sign of Will.

Sitting up straighter in her chair, Alex turned to Jonathan. "You could've called me, you know. If you're ever needing to work, I can just watch Will. I don't mind."

"My mom does," he whispered. "She doesn't want me to think I have to help with money. Plus, she'd want to pay you... Can't exactly afford that."

"I'll do it for free, I don't care. It's not like I'd be babysitting Lucas or his annoying baby sister. Wills always nice to me."

"Well, I'm sorry for all this fighting," he whispered while sliding back down in the seat beside her. "She couldn't find her keys again..."

Joyce hanging up the phone had each caught their attention and the worried look plastered to her face had told them there was no sign of Will yet. "Alex," she began hesitantly. "He didn't happen to spend the night with Dustin? Maybe you didn't see them head in together?"

"Sorry, I ran into Dustin on his way home last night. Just us two rode back home together." Setting down her fork, Alex gave a weak smile. "I can totally skip today if you want any help looking for him."

"Oh, honey, no," Joyce said quickly. "No, no. I couldn't ask that from you."

"Well, I can check the middle school too. I can talk to the boys about keeping an eye out for him in case he shows up? If you want Jonathan here... I rode my bike here..."

Eyes lighting up, Joyce came up to her desperately. "You'd do that?"

"Of course. Wills like my little brother." Standing up quickly, she started to head towards the door. "I gotta head out now then so I'm not late. I can come over right after school too."

Following her, Jonathan had felt guilty she had to leave so suddenly after the plans they had made. "Hey, I'm really sorry. I can still drive you."

Brushing it off, she pulled the front door open. "It's fine, honestly. Just, uh, you're gonna owe me another breakfast, okay?"

Ready to close the door behind her as she stepped outside, Jonathan had caught it with his hand. "This means a lot, Alex. My moms probably going to ask you over for dinner for a month straight..."

"And I'll be here every night," she laughed. "I'll grab whatever homework for you too. Stop worrying about me, and start helping your mom out. Oh, and next time, just let me babysit your damn brother."

"Next time I'll call you, I swear," he promised. Before he could manage to get another thank you out, his mom had beaten him to it, yelling from the phone as Alex had soon shut the door behind her. Rushing out, she grabbed onto her bike, hoping she'd be able to make it to the middle school and then to the high school with enough time to ask if Nancy Wheeler had seen Will since last night.