First disclaimer! I do not in any way own stranger things or the characters!
Our main character is going to be an OC related to Dustin Henderson (his older sister Violet). The backstory I've decided on for her is that when Dustin's dad up and left he fought for custody of the kids and they came up with a semi-amicable solution. Dustin who preferred his mother and had an active social life got to stay with his mother, while the older sibling Violet Henderson who struggles with interacting with others is sent with her dad, visiting only on holidays and writing to her mother and Dustin.
Tragedy strikes and their father is killed in a car accident, sending Violet home for the first time in years. She moves back in shortly before the events of season three. This will end up being an OC/Steve Harrington fic with Dustin butting in and attempting to play the man of the house (Adorable)
Sorry if it isn't perfectly aligned with the show, this is just for me to have fun with. I hope you enjoy it!
Violet
The scenery passed swiftly through the car window, tall buildings and cramped conditions of the city soon gave way to the trees and sparse houses of the countryside. Violet hadn't seen her mother since the Christmas before last when she and Dustin had finally been able to visit her. Now, sitting next to her mother who sat somberly in the driver's seat, silent but obviously bursting to say something. She kept glancing toward her daughter, she'd changed from the little girl that had moved away. Now she was nearing 17, her long curly brown hair falling messily from a bun. Packing the car had been hard, she'd not been able to take everything with her, the rest was sold to make the move easier.
"Are you excited to start at Hawkins high?" Claudia Henderson asked, her hesitance evident in her voice.
"As excited as I can be mom...only 4 weeks left before the summer starts..." She mumbles, her green eyes still on the passing trees.
"Dustin...Dustin is really excited to have you home, I know he wants to introduce his friends. I'm sure you'll find someone too." A smile comes to Violet's lips at the mention of her baby brother. "I'm excited to see him too mom. I'm sure he'll be ready to be rid of me by the time he's off to camp though. He's not used to having a big sister to spoil his fun anymore"
Claudia chuckles wryly, the car ride wasn't much longer, they arrived at house just before sunset. Violet begins unloading her bags from the car, piling them up on her shoulders as her mother unlocks the door. "Your bedroom is upstairs at the end of the hall dear" She calls as she begins to help with boxes. Violet enters the room, it was still painted a soft lilac color from when she'd been little. It was simple, a small twin bed against one wall, white curtains, a desk, a dresser, and a bedside table.
Violet finished unpacking the car, all of her bags in disarray around the room. The house was nearly silent, Dustin obviously not home. Mom had probably had him go to a friends house for the day.
Mike's House
Dustin sat nervously in the basement of the Wheeler house, not really watching the movie that they'd rented Evil Dead he thought. The practical effects no longer really got to any of them, they'd all seen worse by now. He didn't notice his fingers tapping until Lucas nudged him.
"They're probably home by now" Lucas muttered, although his voice was low it still caught the attention of Will and Mike.
"I know...I'll go home soon. I just...what if she thinks we're freaks? What if she hates me?" Dustin mutters.
"Why would she hate you?" Will scoffs, thinking of Jonathan hating him. Ridiculous.
"She doesn't know me anymore. We would write letters...but not like often. Like a monthly thing. She might be popular back in the city and she'll expect me to be popular" Dustin's words spilled out of his mouth, a worry he'd had for days. His dad had died almost two weeks ago and his mom had been so busy getting Violet ready to move there. He hadn't really talked to Violet since before he died. He remembered saying hi on the phone or something.
"Dustin, I doubt she'll hate you." Lucas says as Mike finally pauses the movie with a roll of his eyes. Mike turns "Yeah. Let's just hope she's not eaten by demodogs."
"DUDE" Will says, elbowing Mike in the ribs harshly. Dustin lays his head back on the couch, his hat slipping off slightly. "And there's that. She's bound to see something scary and then what will happen?"
"It'll be fine, nothing's happened in a while. And if it does, we'll figure it out. Just like we did with Dart. Just like we did with Eleven. Quit worrying man, she's only your sister" Lucas says nudging him, hoping to coax a smile from him. Dustin sighs but gives a half hearted smile in return. "You're probably right. I'd better go, or else mom will have a fit." Dustin gets up, straightening his shirt and stretching. "You guys want to come along?" he asks.
"Might as well, haven't seen her since she moved." Mike says, standing.
The boys file upstairs, Dustin's nerves still evident. They begin biking down the street toward Dustin's house. They turn the corner seeing his house, their mother's car in the drive and empty. Just as they get to the porch the door opens to reveal Violet walking out with a walkman in hand. As she closes the door quietly behind her she finally takes notice of them. She stood straight and her mouth went dry. "Hey Dusty..." She smiles weakly
Dustin smiled back uneasily "Hey Vi..." He got off of his bike but made no other moves. The other three stayed on their bikes looking strangely at Violet. Finally, the pregnant pause had been burst, Violet tore down the stairs and enveloped her little brother in a hug. He returns it tightly, not realizing just how much he'd missed her. "I missed you Dustybun." She whispers but it is just loud enough to force a laugh from Lucas and Mike.
"Shut it!" Dustin grumbles. He pushes Violet off of him slightly "I'm too old for that" He gives her a slightly sour look
"Sorry Dustin...You've gotten so tall though" She giggles. He was only a few inches shorter than her now, having had his growth spurt long before her return home. The door behind them suddenly opened to reveal their mom grinning at them. "Dustin! I was just about to call the wheelers about you! I see you've said hello, but the rest of you boys should really head home. It's a school day tomorrow!" She shoos off the other boys as the Henderson siblings entered the home together.
The Next Morning
Violet woke to a banging on her door. She sleepily got up and opened it, her hair ruffled in every direction. Before she could do anything Dustin pushed his way into her room, carrying a basket of laundry. "Mom's got breakast made and she's dropping us at school soon. So get dressed!" He grins at her before disappearing just as fast. She groans sleepily but complies, dressing in a long black skirt, a green top with white cuffed sleeves and collar, and black boots. She puts her hair up in a high ponytail with a green scrunchy before she grabs a backpack. Not much inside apart from a couple notebooks, two or three pencils, and a copy of The Hobbit. When she gets downstairs her mother has two brown paper sacks waiting on the counter along with a plate of waffles. Violet shoves the brown bag with her name on it into her backpack as well as grabbing a waffle for the road.
"Honestly mom you don't have to drop me at school. I know the way, I could walk" She says through a mouthful.
"Hush, it's your first day back, humor me will you?" She smiles, her dose of guilt weighing on her shoulders. "Alright mom" She sighs, wondering idly if anyone at all would remember her from middle school. She finishes her waffle and grabs a second as Dustin races down the stairs. "Let's go! I had the best idea for a campaign and I NEED to talk to Lucas about it.
Claudia purses her lips but says nothing. Soon they're ushered into the car. Dustin runs into the middle school with a quickly uttered goodbye to them. Violet smiles ever so slightly, glad to see that his friendships were doing so well. She'd not had a close friend in years. Hard to be close to people when you're barely allowed to leave your apartment. Claudia soon pulls up to the high school doors "Do you want me to walk you in honey?" She asks
"Nah, I'll be fine mom. Honestly." She gives her mom a quick peck on the cheek before exiting the vehicle and heading towards the doors. The day goes as well as it can for the first half. Being new so close to the end of the school year was bound to garner some attention she thinks. Not many seem to recognize her. Not many at all. That is, until lunch. She decided to sit at an empty table near the door, taking out her newly assigned homework for english when someone finally recognizes her. Jason Carver. Green letterman jacket on and blonde hair shining in the ugly florescent lights of the cafeteria.
"Can I help you?" Violet asks, hoping her voice sounded even and not rude. The last thing she wanted was to start shit.
"Henderson right?" Carver smirks as he sits across from her
"Yes. Although I go by Violet" She says quietly trying to return to her essay.
"Sorry, it's been a while" He puts on his most charming smile "When did you move back?"
"Last night...Am i missing something?" She finally asks. She is shocked at her own courage but she doesn't backtrack
"I'm sorry?"
"We weren't like...friends or anything when I moved away...I'm just not sure why you cared or noticed that I was back." She says, feeling herself go slightly red.
"Well, it's kind of hard not to notice you now Henderson." He smirks slightly as he allows his eyes to wander down to her chest. Violet feels herself turning bright red.
"What is it you want?" She squeaks, looking much more like a strawberry than she intended.
Jason smirks slightly "Well, the upperclassmen are throwing a party in a couple weeks and I thought you'd like to go. My girlfriend Chrissy would love to get to know you. Who knows, maybe you could be on the squad next year right?" He grins
"I'm...I don't know...I might have to be with my brother that night." She blushes, she hated parties. She hated crowds...Jason, still with that shit eating grin on his face, says "Well think about it alright? I'm sure I could find you a date too" He gets up and winks at her, sending her further into a deep shade of red. As he walked away she heard giggling from his table. The cheerleaders had their heads together, talking. Every so often a glance would be thrown her way. No longer hungry Violet dumps her lunch in the trash and speed walks to the door, her books against her chest. She must have not noticed where she was going because just as she was exiting the door she ran face first into someone's chest. She would have gone sailing to the floor, flat on her ass if it hadn't been for a pair of arms.
"Hey, you ok there?" She didn't respond right away, she took in the clean smell of sandalwood and musk of his shirt before meeting a pair of chocolate eyes. He had wavy hair that seemed to defy gravity and a small smile on his face. "I'm ok" She mumbles. She then realizes he's essentially hugging her in the doorway of the cafeteria. "I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." She quickly averts her eyes and steps out of his grip.
"It's alright. I'm Steve...I don't think I know you. What's your name?"
"Violet. Just Violet." She says as she begins to make her way out of the doors. He turns to catch her but she's long gone.
Last Class of the Day
Violet is still reeling from lunch, word seemed to had spread among the cheerleaders that she was back and had been invited to a party. She'd had several cheerleaders invite her to the mall or some other such places when they wouldn't have spared her a glance in middle school. She sinks deeper into her seat as the bell for class to begin rang. A few minutes into the lesson, the door to the room opens to reveal Steve looking tired. "Sorry I'm late." He moves to the only open seat in the room, right next to her. She bites her lip as he sits down. She couldn't deny that he was attractive, but he'd never go for her she was sure. He probably already had a girlfriend.
"Well if it isn't Just Violet" He smiles. "First day jitters, I get it." He whispers before turning back to the lesson that had just continued. Every so often Violet would catch herself looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Finally the class ended and with it, so did the day. She gathered her things hurriedly as she practically ran for the door. "You cannot have a crush on some random guy you ran into" She whispers to herself as she heads straight for home. As she approached the house she noticed bikes in the front yard, the boys had all gotten home fine it seemed. She walked inside, headed up the stairs but as she passed Dustin's room she heard her name.
The door to the room was just barely open and she could see that Dustin wasn't in there, Mike, Lucas and Will all were though. Will was blushing hard, almost as much as she had when she'd run from lunch. "I'm not wrong though!" Mike laughed as Lucas smirked.
"You're not, I wouldn't have thought Dustin's sister would be hot. I kind of expected...a girl Dustin" Violet felt herself flush again but brushed it off. They were young...just discovering the feelings she supposed. She moved past the door to her own room to find Dustin putting something in her side table drawer.
"Dustin what are you doing?" He whirled around and put a hand over his heart. "Vi! You scared the hell out of me. I thought you'd take longer to get home"
"Well I didn't. What's that?" She asked, eyeing the drawer. He looks at his feet sheepishly. "I just wanted to give you something...we use them a lot and I would just feel safer if you had one." He opens the drawer back up and pulls out a Walkie Talkie.
"That's sweet Dustin but I'm not a little girl. I can handle the terrors of Hawkins, Indiana" Violet chuckles.
"Well i would just feel better ok?" He says, a tone rising in his voice before he storms out the door, huffing as he went. Violet looked after him, but didn't call him back. Obviously he worried...best not to mess with him caring.
The weeks passed slowly, Violet not really spending time with anyone other than her mother and Dustin. She'd not eaten lunch in the cafeteria at all, instead opting for eating in the hallway alcoves or outside. She'd avoided Steve too, not that he actively sought her out. Although she'd never admit to it, she'd been seeking him out subconsciously. Feeling drawn to him. She'd go to school, go home, spend time with Dustin, repeat. Her routine stayed that way for some time, until Violet was walking home when a car pulled up to her on the street. She was within spitting distance of her house when the person within gained her attention.
"Hey! Henderson, still thinking about going to the party tonight?!" She whipped her head toward the car and saw Jason, a red head she could only assume was Chrissy, and another jock in the back. "I...I still don't know. I think I might have to babysit my little brother tonight" She lied easily, eying the house. Seeing her brother's bike already in the yard with his friends'.
"Oh come on! It'll be loads of fun!" The girl grins at her. Violet smiled back tentatively but doesn't get a chance to answer when she speaks again. "Is that your brother?" Violet looked to the front porch where Dustin had poked his nose out of the front door.
"Yeah that's Dustin." Violet bites her lip.
"Oh! Well surely he can handle one night without you. He looks old enough!" Chrissy got out of the passenger side door and walked up to the door of the house, Violet following incredulously. Chrissy walked right up to the door and pulled it the rest of the way open. "Hi! You don't care if I steal your sister away for some fun tonight right?"
Dustin looks absolutely stunned, finally he looks to Violet and says "I guess...how late?"
Violet opens her mouth to answer but Chrissy answers first "Oh don't worry, you're old enough to handle yourself for the night. She'll be back late." Chrissy turns to her with her same cheerful smile. "We can pick you up too if you'd like!"
"I don't know, I'm not much of a party person..." Violet mumbles
"Oh don't worry, we won't bite! Here, I'll even come help you get ready. I won't take no for an answer" She smiles
"I guess..." Violet sighs and Chrissy squeals. "Ok! I'll be back in like an hour to help you get ready! It's going to be so much fun!" She skips back to the car where the boys had been waiting and waves enthusiastically back at them.
Dustin looks at her oddly "So you go to parties now?"
"I didn't exactly agree Dustin"
"So you're not going?" He says shutting the door after she comes in.
"If I do that I'll get more crap than if I go and pretend to like it." Violet says running a hand through her hair.
"What if they're drinking?!" Dustin exclaims, following her up the stairs and gaining the attention of his friends in the living room.
"Then I'll drink water Dustin!"
"What if someone is doing drugs?!"
"Then I will politely say no and leave the room!"
"What if some guy wants to kiss you?!"
"DUSTIN" Violet turns to her very red brother. "I am not going to go do anything stupid at a party. And frankly, I am the older sibling. I can go to a party if I want to." Violet crosses her arms as though she were trying to prove a point.
He scowls at her "So what, you want to party with the cool kids?"
"Dustin...I don't know ok? This is all new to me." Violet closes her bedroom door to stop more of the questions from her little brother. She couldn't understand why he was being like this. Shouldn't he want her out of the house? Shouldn't he want her to go off and leave him alone with his friends?
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I was hoping Chrissy would come across as that well meaning extrovert when they're in the throws of adopting an introvert lol.