Jailbird || Stranger Things

nine ➵ the after party

"Since when are you friends with Keith?"

The door to the Byers house had barely closed, Jonathan's words making Teresa look up from the television, as well as Will's body beside her.

"Arcade Keith?" she asked quietly, watching Jonathan shake off the few raindrops from the hood. When his shoes were tucked aside, he approached the couch, sitting on the arm where Will's feet lay.

"You know how he keeps asking Nancy out, right?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed, pulling up her sweater's long sleeves to her elbows as she leaned back against the couch and turned her head to watch him. "Where's this coming from, Byers?"

He hesitated, watching as her arms crossed over her chest, but didn't move her lower body, for fear of waking the traumatized kid between them. He looked down at Will, noticing how he held onto the edge of her sweater, having fallen asleep directly beside them. Maybe this wasn't the right time.

"Nance and I. We— We talk."

"Bet you wish you did more than talk," Reese's face split into a grin, making Jonathan shake his head at her tone. He refused to look at her, which Reese only found more amusing. "You know, it's not a crime to be into someone you can't have. It's just bad when you act on it and make the other person uncomfortable. Or knowingly hurt someone else because of it."

She saw him swallow his words, Adam's apple bobbing in place. Jonathan was wringing his hands, skin turning lighter from the pressure.

Teresa uncrossed her arms and helped Will's head onto a cushion, correcting the blanket that was covering his body. Gently, she peeled off his fingers and the tight hold he had on her shirt, before she moved a little further, and leaned her back against the other armrest of the couch. The new angle let her take in just how uncomfortable Jonathan suddenly appeared.

"How long?"

Teresa Hopper had a certain— instinct. She didn't need to be told things; it was as if she could tap into people's feelings and what exactly to say to get a certain reaction. With Tommy and Carol, she knew exactly how to comment on their obviously active sexual life to rattle them. With Kyle she knew what to say to get out of the ridiculous hazing the sports team attempted at that first party, to work it in a way that worked for everyone.

Perhaps Tommy Hagan would call it manipulative. She called it negotiative.

Jonathan, Nancy, Steve, and Joyce, and Jim called it interesting.

Jim knew about it, of course. As mentioned, he was aware of her talent to know things before other people even had an inkling. It was enough for him to keep an eye on her, what with everything he now knew about the real background of the Hawkins National Lab.

Most notably, he had a whole folder on the institution, linking his ex-girlfriend and his daughter to the place. He just didn't know how to breach that conversation with anyone. Because that would lead to his new home in the middle of the woods with an actual fugitive...

But Jonathan wasn't worried about how Teresa knew about his feelings for the elder Wheeler girl. He was worried about what she'd do with the information.

"Since Will disappeared, I guess."

A small smile teased at Teresa's lips, mostly at the pleasure of being proven right. "She said they broke up. Steve said they only got back together around Christmas."

Jonathan lifted his head, eyes leaving his hands and instead fixing on the girl watching him with curious eyes.

"You didn't know?" she asked.