fast car | STEVE HARRINGTON [2]

17. yummy mummy

A/N: Please read the author's note at the end!

THEY DIDN'T HAVE A BODY TO BURY AT THE FUNERAL. Jim Hopper, by Joyce's account, had seemingly obliterated into a million little tiny pieces - each piece representing a life he had saved by paying the ultimate sacrifice. Of course, the world would never know the extent to which he had saved them all. All he had gotten was a short piece in the newspaper, which detailed that he had died in a fire. But the circumstances that occurred in Hawkins, Indiana, on July 4th 1985 weren't as easily covered as the previous events. Starcourt Mall was a public and well-loved place, not a CIA laboratory that was kept off limits. Rumours were rife in the town and before long, they had spread like wildfire across America - a documentary about the outlandish conspiracy theories currently in filming for it.

Not that even their most insane theory was at all comparable to what actually went down.

The already-close knit group was brought closer together than ever, with the addition of Sunny and Ben into the mix. They were bonded by the horrors they had experienced - unable to diverge from each other because no one else would understand. On the surface, everyone seemed to be doing better than ever - Ringo and Steve, as well as Jonathan and Nancy, were going strong. Jessica and Robin couldn't keep their hands off each other. Sunny had even finally opened up to the Wheeler family and started to believe that they actually weren't going to hand her back to Child Protective Services at the drop of a hat. And Ben? Ben said a cuss word for the first time - a definitive sign of character growth if ever Ringo did see one.

But beneath the surface, scars were left. Ringo was plagued with nightmares of Billy Hargrove's hands around her throat, unable to see him in the heroic light that others did as she herself wasn't there to witness his own death. While Max too was plagued with nightmares, they instead ebbed with the pain of losing the only sibling she had - as tumultuous as their relationship was.

But no one suffered more than Eleven.

Where the others had been brought together by their shared experience, Eleven drifted from them all. The girl had lost so much in her life and now she had lost the one thing that was giving her stability, her father.

Doubtless, the others rallied around the teenager, offering comfort and support. Joyce was more than welcoming in taking her in as one of her own, but it didn't phase the brunette even a little bit. Not even Mike could break the stone walls she had built around herself, retreating back to a former version of herself that the group hadn't seen since her early days.

Eleven's increasing distance had brought her closest friends to the most desperate of measures - involving Ringo.

"This is a bad idea," the blonde muttered under her breath as she stepped into the living room of the Byer house, eyes briefly glancing at the wall still painted with black letters.

"I agree, this is a fucking terrible idea," Mike concurred, crossing his arms over his chest furiously. The strain of his relationship made him look much older than the child he truly was, as the more Eleven pushed him away the more protective he became.