Stranger Things - Steve Harrington X Reader

Episode 4: The Body

They brought us back home and started telling us what they think happened. I'm still in too much shock to even know what the cop is saying. I tune him out and try to process the fact that my little brother is dead.

Hopper and a few of his men are inspecting the house for something, but I don't even have the mental strength right now to ask or even care.

"Whoever you found... is not my boy. It's not Will." I hear Mom say to Hopper after he explained what they thought happened causing me to look up at her with empty eyes.

"Joyce." Hopper says softly.

"No, y-y-you don't understand. I talked to him... a half hour ago." Mom says before walking over to a little hidden storage cabinet in the wall and opening it up and picking up a bundle of Christmas lights. "He was- He was here. He was talking with these." She holds up the lights. I shake my head with a sad sigh.

"Talking?" Hopper asks doubtfully.

"Uh-huh. One blink for yes, two for no." She counts shakily on her fingers. "And... and, uh... And then I made this so he could talk to me." She walks over to the wall above the couch that is lined head to toe in Christmas lights with the alphabet painted on it. "'Cause he was hiding... from that... that thing." Mom points to the opposite wall with a shaky finger and her expression twisted in fear and agony.

"The thing that came out of the wall? The thing that chased you?" Hopper mutters with clear doubt in his eyes.

"Yeah." Mom nods, voice hoarse.

"Mom, come on, please." Jonathan steps up to her and she grabs his shoulders.

"No, maybe he's... Its after him!" She shifts her gaze between Hopper and her son. "He's in danger. We have to find him! We-"

Hopper cuts her off. "What exactly was this thing? It was some kind of animal, you said?" He mutters.

"Uh, no, it was... It was almost... human, but it wasn't. It- It had these long arms and... it didn't have a face." She gestured wildly to her arms and face as Jonathan walks away and I get up to follow him.

He turns to his room and I turn to mine, just wanting this nightmare to end. I close the door and cry for the first time tonight as everything sinks in. I curl up on my bed and rock myself to sleep with only the image of my little brother's sweet smile in my mind.

...

I wake up the next morning to Jonathan knocking on my door. "Y/n. Y/n wake up."

I get up and open the door. "Hmm?"

"It's almost 8:00. We have to go see Will. Get ready and I'll wake up Mom." Jonathan answers before turning down the hallway to Mom's room to see that she's not there so he checks the living room.

I lean against the door frame as the memories from last night flood back into my sleep clouded mind. I close the door and put on my usual clothes, only a bit more gloomy today than usual. I leave my room to see Mom leaning an axe against the wall as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. I don't really have the mental strength to question it or even think.

After a quick breakfast, in which any of us hardly ate, we go to the coroner's office to visit Will one last time. Hopper was already there to help us through it.

We sit there and look at the covered body on the table and wait for us to give the medical examiner the go so we can see him. When Jonathan looks at us before nodding, the medical examiner lifts the sheets so that we can see his head.

He was a deathly pale with blue around his lips. Jonathan starts coughing and races to the bathroom, probably to vomit, while Mom and I stare numbly at Will's lifeless body. I turn and leave, not wanting to look anymore and go back to sitting in the waiting room where I already find Jonathan.