Worlds Apart

Sunday, November 6th, 1983

Fifteen minutes till nine, and Dustin still wasn’t home. To say I was worried was an understatement. He’d called me around six to say he was gonna miss dinner (which, y’know, he already had by an hour) and since then, radio silence.

Again, I tried calling over to the Wheelers, but I just got their busy signal. I knew Barb had told me she was calling Nancy later to find out more about the Steve situation, but seriously, two hours?! I groaned and hung the phone up, beginning to pace the kitchen again.

The only solace I had was that Don had left on another one of his business trips early this morning. If I’d had to worry about him on top of my little brother, I’d lose my mind. Mom was already in bed, and I was seriously beginning to consider just footing it to the Wheelers when I heard,

“I’ll take your X-Men 134!”

Will!

I all but sprinted for the front door and wrenched it open, hopping out onto the porch in time to see him riding past the house. He saw me and gave a hearty wave as I heard my little brother huff,

“Son of a bitch!”

“Dustin!” I scolded; his head snapped around and even from here, I could see the guilty look on his face. “Get inside!”

At least he didn’t fight me on that. He hurriedly wheeled his bike into the garage and then scampered past me into the house. He made a beeline for his room and I snagged the loop on his backpack.

“You told me you’d be home no later than 8!” I started in, getting a guilty look from my little brother.

“It went longer than we thought,” he said meekly, shrugging as I finally let him go. “We got stuck in this forest, and Lucas almost died!”

Despite the irritation - and lingering anxiety - I knew how much he’d been looking forward to this campaign. Yelling at him for being late wouldn’t do either of us any good. So I stowed the ‘Momma Ally’ act and gave him a surprised look.

“Really? What happened?”

Dustin’s entire face lit up and threw his hands in the air.

“Will and I had to fight our ass - I mean, fight our butts off to save him! But then I cast this Continual Light spell and I drove it away!”

“Dang, not bad!” I laughed, following him to his room. I settled myself on his bed as he went on and on, adding in sound effects and even a few action moves to his retelling. He didn’t even stop when he went to the bathroom to put on his pajamas and brush his teeth.

“... and then Lucas was like told ya!” Dustin continued around a mouthful of toothpaste. “But I had a feeling. And you know what it was?”

“What?” I asked eagerly. He lowered the toothbrush and said menacingly,

“The Demogorgon!”

My mouth dropped in ‘shock’ and Dustin nodded eagerly before he raced back to the bathroom to deposit his toothbrush. When he came back his hands were in the air as he shook his head.

“It was chaos, Ally! Lucas wanted a fireball, but that’s crazy!”

“Because Will would have to roll a 13 or higher, right?”

He nodded, giving me an appreciative smile. As much as Nancy teased me about it, I did know a few things about D&D.

“So I said protection spell. Play it safe, you know?” I nodded. “But Will went for the fireball.”

He sighed and fell onto the bed next to me. I got up and helped him pull the covers up around him.

“Well, he rolled a seven. But the dice fell off the table and Mike went upstairs. So it doesn’t really count. We’re gonna do another campaign in a few weeks since this one went to shit.”

“Seriously,” I chided, frowning at him as I tucked his covers in. “Next curse word I hear out of your mouth is a ticket to a whole weekend indoors cleaning. Got it?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, giving me a frown. I rolled my eyes but leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Your campaign sounds like it was awesome,” I backtracked, getting a smile out of him. “I know you guys will get the Demogorgon next time.”

“We will,” he agreed with a fierce nod. “Night Ally. Love you.”

“Love you too, kiddo. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I snapped off his light and finally started getting ready for bed. His recap had taken nearly an hour, but I knew how much he loved talking about the campaigns. And it was fun for me too, seeing how animated he got an how serious he was about it.

Even if it was just me giving up a little extra sleep, it meant the world to my little brother, and that’s all that mattered.

-x-

Monday, November 7th

“Dustin! Let’s go!” I called down the hallway as I tugged my sweater on. Okay, other downside to staying up and talking D&D - we both slept through our alarms.

When I didn’t get a response, I sighed and hopped across to his room as I tugged a sock on. He was face-down in his pillow snoring.

“Up! Let’s go!” I barked, smacking my hand against his door. He jolted upright at the noise and glared at me as he wiped the remnants of drool off his chin.

“Some wake-up call,” he started irritably.

“The first two gentle attempts apparently didn’t do the trick. If I have to come back here one more time, you’re getting water thrown on you.”

“I’m getting up!”

“I’m serious!”

“I’m getting up!”

He flipped me off as he all but fell out of bed. I rolled my eyes and hurried to the kitchen to try and find something relatively edible for him to take to school.

Just as I started to rifle through the pantry, our phone rang. I snatched a couple of snack bars and grabbed the phone off the hook as I stuffed them in his bag.

“Hel-“

“Allison, it’s me,” Jonathan rushed, sounding on edge enough to make me pause my frantic packing. “Have you seen Will?”

I turned and peeked through the kitchen window. No rugrat on a bike.

“No, he’s not here yet. Is everything -“

“Did he stay at your house last night?”

“Uh, no. I saw him ride past the house when Dustin got home, though.”

“What time was that?”

“About five till nine, I think,” I said slowly, frowning to myself. Dustin scampered into the kitchen and I motioned for him to wait a second. “Hang on, Jonathan.”

I put a hand over the receiver and opened my mouth to ask Dustin, but he spoke up first.

“Oh, are you and Jonathan planning your wedding?”

I gave him an unamused frown.

“You’re hilarious. Do you know if Will went straight home last night?”

“I don’t know, I would assume so,” he said with a shrug. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Jonathan’s asking about him. You’re sure he didn’t mention anything?”

“Not to me,” he shrugged. I sighed and pulled my hand away.

“Dustin said he thinks he went straight home -“

“Wait, is Will not coming to school?”

“I don’t know,” I dismissed, trying to listen to Jonathan.

“Thanks. He may have just gone to school early again. But you know, if you see him or hear anything…”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll keep my eye out -“

“Does that mean I get to stay home?”

“What? No, Dustin.” I handed him his backpack. “Food’s in there. Get to school before you’re late.”

“I really appreciate it Allison,” Jonathan sighed. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

“See ya,” I said, hanging up as Dustin went on.

“I can’t ride to Mike’s alone! What about stranger danger?”

“Strangers will be the least of your concern if you don’t get your butt to school.”

“But what about Will?” He fretted as I herded him through the living room. “What if he comes by and I’m not here?”

“If he comes by before I leave, I’ll tell him,” I promised, shoving him out the door. “I mean it, I don’t want you late!”

He muttered something smart under his breath, but at least he actually got his bike and made for school. By the time I had gotten him going, Barb was already waiting. As I climbed into her car, I did another scan of the street. No Will.

“Everything okay?” she checked as we headed for school.

“Yeah, Jonathan called asking about Will. You didn’t see him on your way down, did you?”

She shook her head.

“No, sorry.”

“Did you talk to Nancy?” I asked, like I hadn’t been trying to get through to the Wheelers all night last night. I saw a smirk come over her face as she nodded eagerly.

“I had to get off the line last night because she said he might be calling to say goodnight.”

The two of us ooh’d and then snickered to ourselves as we pulled up to school. I did my best to put the worry over Jonathan’s phone call out of my mind. Will was just fine. He had to be. He’d gone to school early, he’d be over at my house messing around with the boys when I got home. Just like always.

Barb and I practically ran into school, searching for Nancy. We spotted her rounding the corner, and both of us took off to catch up with her. Nancy caught sight of us just as Barb peeked down to her height.

“So? Did he call?” she asked, and Nancy immediately flushed a dark red.

“Keep your voice down!”

I peeked around Barb’s arm and wiggled my eyebrows at her.

“Well, did he?”

“I told you guys, it’s not like that!”

Barb and I exchanged a disbelieving look as we paused at Nancy’s locker; while she tried to brush us off, I glanced around for Jonathan. Usually he got here when we did, and his locker was just on the other end of the hall…

“We just made out a couple times,” Nancy deflected, snapping me back into the conversation. Barb mocked her dismissive tone and shook her head at our friend.

“Nance, seriously, you’re gonna be so cool now, it’s ridiculous,” she sighed, sharing a knowing look with me as Nancy tried to play it off.

“You better still hang out with us,” I added, and then made a face. “Please don’t do something stupid, like become friends with Carol!”

“Or Tommy H.,” Barb added, shuddering. We both made noises of disgust as Nancy scoffed.

“I’m telling you guys. It was a one time…” we both gave her pointed looks, and she flushed again as she opened her locker. “Okay, two-time thing.”

As she pulled the door open, she traiiled off and grabbed a piece of paper wedged inside. Meet me. Bathrom. - Steve was scrawled on it. Barb and I playfully nudged each other and gave Nancy knowing looks.

“We’ll see you in history,” Barb assured, grinning at our friend as she backed down the hall. Barb and I giggled with one another the whole way to class. Just friends my ass. Just before we turned the corner, I checked down the hall.

No Jonathan in sight.

-x-

My disappointment grew even deeper when I saw his desk empty. Barb and I had been running late, and nearly the whole class was there. I tried to hold out hope he’d show up, but when the bell rang, I actually felt myself deflate a little.

I’d really been looking forward to seeing him. History was a nice little niche in my day, because I got to spend forty minutes pretending to study while we just joked and teased each other.

Trying to keep me out of my sulk, Barb managed to wrangle me into working with the others. Steve was back, which meant I had to suffer through his and Adam’s incessant talking. My best friend gave me a supportive smile as I pulled my binder out - which only grew when she caught sight of the picture I’d taped on front.

“You kept that with you?” she laughed, smiling down at it. The two of us - laying on my bed as I talked to Jonathan - smiled back. I nodded and grinned up at her.

“If I could make it through that call, I can make it through the day,” I told her, making her burst out laughing. The two of us tried to contain our giggles, which worked as well as holding water in a noodle strainer.

“What’s with you two?” Nancy whispered, watching the two of us try to swallow our laughter. Adam leaned in and grinned at the group, shrugging.

“Probably heard the newest rumor going around.”

“And what would that be?” I managed to ask, though I still had a goofy smile on my face. Adam leaned in a little further.

“Word in the locker room is that Byers is totally crushing on Nancy.”

The other four of us actually blanked at that information. Nancy turned red, Steve turned pissed, and Barb and I stared at Adam in surprise. He took our silence as a plea for him to continue.

“Yeah, I guess after you guys flirted all class last week the word started getting around. Something you’re not telling us, princess?”

Nancy immediately started to defend herself - as Steve got even more pissed - while Barb and I sat back. My mind was racing. I mean, Adam was an idiot. Most the people in this class were. So what did it matter that they were jumping to conclusions?

Except I’d thought the same thing. So was I an idiot? Were the others onto something like I thought I’d been? It didn’t help I’d always been jealous of Nancy, and now the one time I legitimately liked someone -

“Hey, space case,” Barb murmured, nudging me gently. I snapped my worried gaze onto her and she gave me a soft smile. “You know Adam’s full of it. I was right here with you last week and I didn’t see any flirting. I promise you.”

“I know, but I mean… It’s Nancy,” I stressed; as my best friend, of course she knew all my insecurities. “And if other people noticed -”

“No one else did. Adam’s just talking to get attention, Al. If I’d seen anything going on, you know I’d tell you. But it was just innocent talking last week. Okay?”

I let out a heavy sigh but nodded, despite my lingering unease. Barb nudged me again and gave me a goofy smile, getting me to laugh.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, leaning on my best friend briefly before we got back to work. The rest of the school day seemed to drag on, because every chance I got I was checking for Jonathan. I wasn’t obsessed, okay? I was worried. After his worrying call this morning, and no word about Will, I was on edge.

So when the final bell of the day rang, I practically bolted for the parking lot in search of Barb. I wanted to get home, and get home now. I’d only gotten to the front lawn before I was stopped, though. Nancy caught up to me and gently tugged me to a stop; when I turned to look at her in question, I saw a guilty look on her face.

“Look, Ally. What Adam said in history was bullshit, okay?” I blinked in surprise, and she pressed on. “I don’t like Jonathan like that, like at all. And I swear nothing was going on with us in class -”

“No, I know,” I said quickly, forcing a smile as I tried to edge towards the parking lot. “I know Adam’s just an idiot.”

“He is,” she laughed. “I mean, I just wanted to make sure we’re okay. I know you like Jonathan -”

What?! Did she seriously know?! Was she just speculating? How did that get out? Was I being obvious? Oh god, abort! Abort!

“Oh, that’s Barb,” I lied with a nervous laugh, waving my hand in the general direction of the cars. “I gotta go, Nance. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Ally -”

I was already across the front lawn of the school. I booked it to Barb’s car and leaned myself against it, waiting nervously for my best friend to appear. She finally emerged, almost five minutes later, looking at me curiously.

“Is everything -”

“Did you tell Nancy I like Jonathan?” I asked in a hushed voice as we got in. She looked surprised.

“What? Of course not, Ally. I know that was between you and me -”

“I mean I know you two were just teasing me about him before, but then just now she apologized to me about History class because she said she knows I like him -”

“And I’m sure you kept a calm and careless composure, instead of blushing and running away, right?” I opened my mouth to argue, except that was exactly what I’d done. I snapped it shut and looked down at my lap sheepishly. Barb laughed and leaned down to meet my eyes. “I told you that you two flirt. And I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed, you know.”

“I know,” I mumbled. I hated when she was right. Barb just shook her head and gave me an amused smile as she drove us back home. She pulled into my driveway and we sat in the car for almost half an hour, gossiping about Nancy and Steve - were they actually a thing, or… - and discussing the finer points of the awful cafeteria food.

We probably would have stayed there a lot longer, had we not seen Dustin riding up to us. I had to interrogate him about Will, so I gathered my things and gave my best friend a hug goodbye.

“I think Friday we should go down to the burger shack for lunch,” she decided as I leaned back down into the car. We grinned at one another; going out to eat wasn’t something we did often, but when we needed a pick-me-up…

“It’s a date,” I promised her, and she smirked at me.

“I won’t make Jonathan jealous, will I?”

My entire face burst into a blush as I flipped her off.

“Get out of my driveway,” I half-threatened, trying to hide my smile. She gave me a wink and I watched her drive away as Dustin came up beside me.

Except he didn’t stop beside me, he kept going. I turned and stared at my brother in surprise; he never came home without saying hi to me. I followed him into the garage, and saw him starting to dig through our boxes of dad’s camping gear.

“Dustin?” he didn’t pause, so I came up beside him and tried again. “Hey, Dustin.”

He gave me a fleeting glance, and my heart dropped. He looked upset, more than I’d seen him in a while. I would bet anything that Will wasn’t at school today. I gave him a gentle smile and motioned for the house.

“How about we go inside and I’ll make us chocolate chip pancakes for dinner?”

He shook his head as he pulled out a pair of old binoculars and a heavy duty flashlight.

“We’re gonna go look for Will. He never came home last night, so he’s probably just lost in the woods. So we’re -”

“You’re not going anywhere,” a voice said from behind us. Dustin and I whirled and stared up at Chief Hopper in alarm. I put a hand over my chest and tried to catch my breath as Dustin literally dropped everything and sprinted inside. I looked between Hopper and my brother in confusion.

“Am I missing something?”

“Yeah. The part where I already told all the kids not to go out and get in the way,” he growled, watching me as I picked my way out of the garage and pulled the door down. “Good thing I showed up.”

“I’ll make sure he stays in,” I promised, casting a glance towards our living room window. The curtains fluttered as Dustin dropped back out of sight. “Thanks for coming to check on him.”

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, and then the two of us fell into silence. Hopper had been one of my dad’s closest friends in Hawkins, and in turn he’d been close to Dustin and I. And since the accident… “How, uh, how’s your mom?”

“Oh, she’s good,” I lied; this wasn’t the time to start going into the long backstory he hadn’t been around for. “Y’know, busy hanging out with the cat.”

Hopper cracked half a smile, but I could tell there was something else on his mind. I waited for him to gather his thoughts. He and my dad had been a lot alike in that sense; when something was wrong, it took them a few moments to figure out how to approach it.

He took a breath, and then settled a questioning gaze on me.

“Your brother brought something up to me earlier, when I was at the school.”

My whole body froze.

He hadn’t, had he? I told him not to worry about it. I told him I’d handle it. Please tell me…. I realized I hadn’t replied so I did my best to look curious instead of terrified as I squeaked out,

“Oh?”

He studied me for another several long moments, like he could see into my soul. I tried not to shift nervously and hold his gaze. When I was close to breaking my poker face, he added slowly,

“Said something about issues at home. With Don.”

“Did he?” I forced out, words like sandpaper sticking in my throat. Hopper took a step towards me and I felt like melting into a puddle of terror and sliding down the driveway. I couldn’t tell him. He was friends with Don. And if he came up to Don like he’d just come up to me…

“You’re Robert’s kid,” he said quietly, giving me what actually seemed like a fatherly looked. The most we’d gotten out of him since dad’s accident and losing his daughter had been gruff, aggressive exchanges. “So if somethin’s goin’ on, Ally -”

“I-I mean, we had an argument last week,” I filled in quickly, trying to keep my composure. “He’d lost his new calculator and thought Dustin took it.”

“Nothing else?” he pressed, and I opened my mouth to tell him no. Nothing came out. I slowly closed it and forced myself to shake my head. Hopper looked extremely unconvinced, and extremely frustrated. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, kid.”

I pointedly didn’t say anything. Raw fear was pulsing through me. If he confronted Don, he’d easily talk his way out of anything I said, and the second he got back home… no. Because it wouldn’t be me suffering. It’d be Dustin. And I wasn’t going to take that risk with my baby brother on the line.

Hopper let out a heavy sigh but nodded, knowing he wouldn’t get any farther with me. He scrubbed a hand down his face and gave me a final parting look.

“You kids need anything, you come find me, okay?”

“Yes sir,” I said, offering a small smile. He hesitated for a second, like he wanted to reach out and pull me into a hug, like he’d done all those years ago. But instead he just gave me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and headed back down the driveway.

I took several moments in the driveway, trying to compose myself. I wanted to be mad at Dustin; I really did. He’d come close to not only getting me in trouble, but getting himself in trouble with Don. Thank god he hadn’t been home for that. If Hopper had talked to him…

But he’d done it out of love. I knew that. He was worried, and I hadn’t been hiding my fear of Don well enough. I’d have to work on that, and I couldn’t lash out at him for trying to help. So instead I’d focus on the fact he’d just tried to sneak out and look for Will.

I heard his footsteps retreating down the hall as I opened the door. I trekked to his room and found the door shut, so I leaned on the wall and gave a few knocks.

“Can I come in?”

There was a moment of silence, and then I heard the lock click open. Dustin dropped onto his bed and kept his head down as I slid the door open and came in.

“I’m not mad about Hopper,” I said gently, coming to sit next to him. Dustin didn’t move, like he didn’t believe me. “Really. I know why you told him. And I’m sorry I haven’t done a better job at handling him -“

“You shouldn’t need to.” He lifted his head up to frown at me, fire burning in his eyes. “He shouldn’t be hurting you. Or yelling at us. Or using mom like he is -“

“I know, kiddo. And I told you, I’ll handle it. I promise. But right now I don’t want to risk doing anything that could get any of us hurt. Okay?”

Dustin pressed his lips together, not pleased, but gave a terse nod. I hoped that meant I wouldn’t have any more awkward talks with the Chief.

“So I’m not in trouble?” he asked hopefully. I settled an unamused scowl on him.

“Oh, you’re in trouble.” His eyes widened, confused. “Hopper tells you and the boys not to look for Will, and that’s the first thing you go and try to do?”

“If he’s lost -“

“Which is one of many scenarios,” I cut in, shaking my head. “Then Hop will find him. What if something bad happened to him? You’d be going to the same spot, unprotected.”

Dustin didn’t answer; I’d made my point. He was a worrier, and I knew to play off that when I had to.

“For now I want you home right after school, okay? Just till we know a little more.” When he went to argue I shook my head. “Non-negotiable. I can’t lose you, kiddo. You’re a pain in my ass,” he looked surprised, I never cussed. “But you’re all I’ve got. So don’t go doing anything stupid, okay?”

Dustin deliberated for a heartbeat, and then pulled me into a tight hug. He buried his face in my shoulder as I hugged him back, and we sat like that for a few moments.

“I love you, Dust-pan,” I mumbled into his curls as I pressed a kiss into the top of his head; I felt him smile.

“I love you too, Ally-gator.”

I snorted and pushed him off of me, making him laugh.

“You know I hate that!”

“What, and I like being called a common house cleaning accessory? At least you’re a vicious predator!”

I shoved him off the bed as I hopped up. He shouted after me as I skirted down the hall, calling after me,

“Do your homework you cleaning accessory!”

I spent the night finishing up my homework and getting dinner ready. My mind kept going back to Jonathan and Will. If Hopper was involved… man, it had to be serious. Was he home yet? Was he okay? What about Jonathan, and Joyce?

As I got the noodles boiling, I grabbed the phone and dialed their number, hoping to reach one of them. But instead the answering machine picked up.

Must be out looking, I realized, hanging up before I could leave a message. I’d try later tonight, just to see.

Dinner was quiet, Dustin and I opted to eat in the living room with mom and Mews. Which meant half the time I was yelling at the cat to leave the plates alone, and the other half was yelling at Dustin to put his juice on the coffee table, not the carpet.

By the time we finished and cleaned up, I was more than ready for sleep. As Dustin showered, I tried the Byers one last time. Instead of ringing, I got a busy signal. With a sigh, I hung up and decided to leave them be for the night.

After my shower, I peeked into Dustin’s room. He was lying on his stomach, resting his chin on his pillow, staring at his walkie-talkie. My heart ached for him. Will was one of his best, closest friends. He had to be worried sick about him. I knew how bad he wanted to go look for him, but I was glad he was at least listening to me.

“Hey, kiddo. You goin’ to bed?” He glanced up at me and nodded solemnly. I came over and sat next to him, gently rubbing his back. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, and turned his head to look up at me. “Just thinking about Will.”

“I know you are, but don’t worry. Will’s a tough cookie. You know that. I know Hopper will find him safe, and then you and the others can kick his butt for scaring you.” Dustin cracked half a smile and I leaned down to kiss his temple.

“Night Ally,” he said sleepily. I smiled at him as I paused in his doorway.

“Night kiddo.”

I snapped off his light and slid his door shut, finally retiring to my room. Just as I laid down, I shot right back up.

Jonathan and I had to turn in our project tomorrow, and we still needed to add the final touches. We should have finished it all today, but I’d been sidetracked without him there… I jumped out of bed and grabbed the poster from my closet, laying it out.

I’d finish this for the both of us, and make sure we passed. One less thing for him to worry about right now. It was only half past nine, anyways. I had plenty of time. I started fixing up our poster, and by the time I glued the last paragraph it was just coming upon 11 o’clock.

I breathed out a sigh of relief; our project was done. There was a bittersweet feeling in my chest as I rolled it up and put it on my desk. As fun as it’d been, now I didn’t have an excuse to hang out with Jonathan every day.

Hopefully I won’t need an excuse, I thought to myself, getting up to get some water. I took a few long drinks in the kitchen and then headed for bed. As I paused at my door, I reached over and slid Dustin’s open instead, just to check.

I saw his blankets piled in the bed, and I almost turned away to go to sleep. Until I saw his window open. Dustin was weird, I mean we all knew that. But he had a thing about sleeping with open windows. Bugs crawling in, robbers, bears… So why was it wide open?

Heart racing, I snapped on his light and only got a few steps in when I had my answer.

Dustin was gone.