Here's chapter four, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things

Petal

She inches a little bit closer holding out her fingers gingerly "Hey there..." She could see now in the dim light that it was a very small black kitten. Its eyes were still wide as it stared at her. "Come here" She reaches back and although it tried to skitter away she managed to get her fingers around the scruff of its neck. She pulls it out from under the couch, looking dumbfounded that it had been caught. She sits criss cross on the floor to examine the kitten. It was fairly clean so it must have escaped someone's house. He was a boy, and he couldn't be more than 10 weeks old. It gave a little cry of annoyance as she began to pet it soothingly but soon purrs could be heard from the small creature. "Aren't you just the sweetest thing?" She whispers

She brings him into the kitchen with her where the kettle is now screaming on the stovetop. She pours the hot water into her mug and lets her tea steep while she looks for something to feed the little guy. She finally hunts down a can of tuna, setting it in a bowl for him on the counter. As he chows down she looks at him more closely. He's black but has little pink toe beans and a matching nose. He had a white patch of fur on the center of his forehead and on the very tip of his tail. He was finishing up when she heard the front door open. She looked down the hallway and spotted her aunt and uncle coming in. Her uncle Eugene took off his coat and came into the kitchen, seeming not to notice the small creature on the counter. "Petal, how was your evening?" he asks cordially

"I...it was nice. Quiet...until I found this little guy scratching at the back door." She gestures to the small kitten. He finally looks at the cat and frowns "Why'd you bring it in? It could have fleas"

"He doesn't, I checked" She smiled in what she hoped was a sweet way. "I was hoping he could stay until I find his owners?" Her uncle looks at the cat with a slight grimace "He has to stay in your bedroom..." She gave him a wide grin "Thank you!" She gave him a hug for good measure and had just picked up the kitten when her Aunt Bonnie walked into the kitchen, her heels clicking ominously. "What's that?"

"It's a kitten, he's lost" She says in a baby voice as she holds him up, hoping he'd put in some work to look cute for her.

"Oh...well...Eugene?"

"I said she could keep it till she finds the owner" He grunts, opening the fridge for a beer.

"And if it's a stray?" She nearly hisses

"If it's a stray...I'd like to keep it...it would help me cope with losing dad..." She says quietly, trying to look pathetic under their gaze. "You guys have been wonderful but...I'm still a little lonely..." She's laying it on thick...she just hoped not too thick. Aunt Bonnie sighs and shoots the cat a glare, "We'll think about it Petal...for now look for its home." Petal gives her the most syrupy sweet smile she can muster for the uptight woman. "Thank you!" She gives her a hug too, careful not to squish the cat. She takes her new little friend and her mug upstairs to her room before they can change their minds. She sets the kitten on her bed and watches as he makes himself comfortable, kneading on her pink bedspread. "You look like a Faramir to me" She says scratching behind his ears as he purred. "I think it suits you" She kicks off her shoes and changes into her pajamas as she secretly began hoping that he didn't have a home...it might be nice to have an ally in the house, albeit one that didn't talk. She laid down to sleep, feeling Faramir curling up at her feet and she couldn't help but smile...it had been a good day.

Saturday

Morning had come without forgiveness through her pale curtains to shine on her face. But the small insistent meowing also had its hand in waking her, she groaned and sat up, seeing Faramir on the floor and yelling at her. She giggled and picked him up "Good morning to you too" He meows petulantly in response

Petal tiptoes down the stairs slowly, hearing her Uncle and Aunt's snores as she passed their bedroom door. She went into the kitchen, fully expecting to find it empty. But there he stood, Jason looked like hell; heavy bags under his eyes stubble on his cheek, and a blossoming bruise on his left cheek that was just barely covered by the frozen bag of peas he held there. "God, what happened to you?"

"Got into a fight. Nothing special" He mutters, dropping the peas.

"Oh..." She sets Faramir on the counter and goes to get another can of tuna for his breakfast "What's that?"

"It's a cat." She sighs "I found him at the door last night and didn't want to leave him in the cold. His name is Faramir" She pulls out the can and dumps its contents into the bowl as Faramir cries insistently from the counter. She sets the bowl down and runs a hand over the fur on his back a few times as he starts to eat. "Isn't he cute?"

"He's a cat...are you keeping him?"

"Maybe, I'm going to go around the neighborhood today to see if he's just lost. But if he's not I'd like to keep him..." She looked down at Faramir as he devoured his tuna eagerly.

He grimaces at the cat but changes the subject "So Andy's been pissy."

"Has he?" She asks carefully, he's glaring at Faramir without really seeing him. "Yep, he says you were rude to him...why were you sitting with the freaks yesterday? Instead of Andy?" His voice is calm but low...close to a growl.

"I wanted to sit with Dustin, he's a sweet kid" She says softly, tapping her fingers nervously against her leg. Jason took a deep breath before finally looking into her eyes with his cold blue ones "They're a fucking satanic cult-"

"Oh they are not!" She says exasperatedly "Honestly why does it matter if I spend time with them? I won't invite them around you or your parents" Her mouth is erupting her words like an overdue volcano. His glare stops her in her tracks

"Because dad told me to make sure you run with the right crowd. He'll take the car if he finds out I'm not. So can't you just behave? Andy's a nice-" He sounds exhausted as he speaks

"Andy is handsy and won't take no for an answer. Can't you just lie to Uncle Eugene?" Her voice shifts to a lower tone so it wouldn't carry itself up the stairs very easily.

"Why would I lie for you?" He asks with a slight smirk

"Because otherwise I'll tell Uncle Eugene that you're letting me date Eddie Munson" She smirks right back at him as his own slides off of his face "Because he's taking me out tonight and I'll be sure to bring him over to meet the family...or I could say I'm tutoring Eddie as part of my dedication to school. I could just go to a friend's house when I'm 'Hanging out with you and your friends' instead of making them worry." Her smile turns sweet. "You get to keep your precious car and I get to have my own friends. Easy peasy" She smiles at him in that I win way as he processes her words.

"Fucking freaks...You don't breathe a fucking word about your freaks to them. As far as they're concerned your best friends are my friends."

"Fine. Quit telling them that I'm dating Andy." She retorts harshly, ignoring the insistent mews of Faramir wanting pets.

"Nope. If the freak gives you a hickey you need to have an excuse-"

"It will NOT be Andy. If you tell them I'm dating him he'll take that as license to come around here for me and I won't have it. I'll tell." Their eyes meet in a battle of wills, grey against blue.

"Who then? Henderson?" He sneers at her from across the counter waving off the still insistent kitten. She picks up Faramir and sets her jaw "I will figure that out myself. No need for your meddling" She says haughtily. "Done?"

He grunts an affirmative before shoving the peas back onto his swollen cheek. "That thing stays out of my room"

"He wouldn't want to be in there anyway" She leaves, petting the soft kitten's fur thoughtfully. She quickly dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a lilac sweater along with her white high tops. She picks up her purse along with Faramir and heads out to check the neighborhood for anyone missing their kitten. She walked around slowly, asking each house and each house giving her a no. She'd asked every house in town it felt like when she returned to the carter house and each and every one had said no to knowing little Faramir. Despite her tiredness she was increasingly excited. She bounded into the house with a smile on her face, she entered the living room to find her aunt and uncle sitting in front of the tv boredly. Uncle Eugene looked up and sighed "No takers?"

"No sir. He needs a home" She gave him her best pouty face as she snuggled the now sleepy kitten up to her cheek but Aunt Bonnie eyed it tiredly "We'll see how he behaves for a week. If he destroys a single curtain or uses the restroom on my floor he's out. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am." She went upstairs and as they day went on she managed to get most of the things Faramir would be needing but she soon found that he refused to use a litter box, instead preferring to go outside like a dog. She was slightly thankful for that though she found it odd for a kitten so young.

She'd avoided Jason and his parents for most of the day but 6 was rolling closer and closer. She had no clue what they'd be doing so she decided she'd rather be prepared for anything. She'd stayed in her clothes from that morning but put her hair up and put the movies she'd rented in her small backpack just in case he felt like watching a movie. She kept an eye on the window for Eddie's van, knowing Aunt Bonnie would have a fit if she saw him.

Eddie

He pulled up to the corner by her house and he couldn't deny he was nervous. He'd changed his clothes three times before getting into the van. Uncle Wayne had noticed and given him shit about it. "She's seen you already kid, she knows how you look" He'd laughed. Eddie was wearing the only pair of black jeans he owned that had no holes his signature Hellfire shirt, and his leather jacket. He eyed the bundle of pink roses that lay mocking him in the passenger seat. He sighed, looking up at the house again, wondering idly if he should go knock on the door when she came out of the door with a small pink backpack slung over her shoulder. He looked down at the roses and grimaced, second guessing himself and tossing them into the back of the van. A moment later she opened the door "Hey you!" She grins at him before sliding into the seat, her backpack ending up on her lap.

"Hey Princess" He smiles back, feeling his nerves settle only slightly.

She plugs in her seatbelt and looks at him expectantly "So what are we doing?"

"I uh, I thought we could go to the drive in" He looks at her out of the corner of his eye as he starts to drive off, but her excited smile relaxed him a little more.

"That sounds great! What are we seeing?"

"I was thinking we could go see Clue...I've heard it's pretty funny" she nods and after about 10 minutes of him driving she shyly reaches over and slips her fingers into his. "So something funny happened last night."

"Yeah" he glances down at their joined hands with a semi-goofy smile

"I found the cutest kitten on the back porch"

"You like cats?" He asks, never having given the creatures much thought. "I love them, and he's a sweet one. I think I'll be able to convince my Aunt and Uncle to let me keep Faramir"

Eddie turns to look at her briefly still trying to pay attention to the road "You named it what?"

She blushes "Faramir, he's from-"

"Lord of the Rings" He grins, looking at her with that goofy grin again "You've read Lord of the Rings?"

"Of course! It's one of my favorites. I've always loved Faramir and Éowyn's love story, it's really sweet." She blushes slightly "But that's probably not a part you're overly fond of."

"I always liked Aragorn and Arwen myself." he chuckles, what D&D player hadn't ever thought of themselves as the knight in shining armor for a fair maiden. "But I think I could be persuaded to like Faramir and Éowyn more." The sky is darkening now as they pulled up to the drive in. Eddie paid for their admission and backed into one of the middle back rows so that the back doors of the van were facing the screen. He connects the speaker to one of the door handles and as she gets out of the front seat he throws one of his spare hellfire shirts over the roses to hide them. "I'm going to go grab a candy, want anything?" She asks after a moment, pulling her sparkly wallet out of her backpack.

"Milk duds if they've got them, here-" He reaches for her own wallet but she shushes him "I don't mind getting it." She kisses his cheek "Be right back" She gets out of the van and he touches his cheek gingerly where she'd kissed him, feeling his face burn a little. She'd come back with a box of skittles and his milk duds along with a coke to share. They settle down on an old blanket he'd brought and she snuggles into his side "This ok?" She asks as she pops a skittle into her mouth.

"Yeah..." He throws an arm around her and they watch as the characters begin to make their way into the mansion. As the movie chugged along with it's murder mystery game he felt her fingers playing idly with his rings on the hand around her. "Like them princess?"

"Duh, they're how we met" She giggles softly, still twirling his skull and cross ring idly. He presses her lips to her hair briefly but returned to the movie, hardly touching the milk duds leaning against his leg. As the pairs of characters searched the house for people Petal let go of his fingers and shifted slightly. "You ok?"

"Something's just poking me" She mumbles reaching behind her and finding the t-shirt. She pulls it back to reveal the roses and she smirks slightly. "Did you get these for me?"

"No I uh...I-"

"So Eddie Munson got pink roses for himself?" She giggles, no longer paying the comedy on screen any mind.

"No...I just thought it might be too cheesy" He groans, he'd stopped looking at her.

"I think it's perfect." She pulls a rose from the bouquet and snaps its stem short before sticking it through a button hole of his denim vest. He looks at her strangely "Really?"

"I think it's cute..." She blushes and bites her lip "You don't have to wear it." She feels his arm wrap around her again and pull her close. She breathes in his scent of tobacco smoke and leather and feels her nerves drop. "I'll wear it for you princess, even if it's not metal."