Chapter Five: There's A First Time For Everything

A/N: This chapter contains explicit content. Though the content is still PG, I've put a warning before and after that specific scene for those that are not comfortable with it.

I woke up wrapped in what felt like a million blankets. The lights were dim, and I couldn't quite see what was going on, but I knew I wasn't in the woods anymore. I rolled over and rubbed my eyes, hoping to get a better look at my surroundings, which turned out to be very familiar once I could see them. I was laying on beige sheets with a plaid comforter around me that smelled exactly like my best friend, who was nowhere to be seen. I planted my arms on each side of me, sitting up and causing my head to spin as I felt a warm trickle coming from my nose. When I reached up to touch my face, I noticed blood on my fingertips. My nose was bleeding. I grabbed a tissue from the nightstand beside me and held it to my nose, expecting it to be soaked when I pulled away, but it looked like most of the blood had dried up already.

The door let out a soft creak as I wiped away the rest of the blood. I turned to see a familiar silhouette standing in the doorway. "How are you feeling," Jonathan asked.

I let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Never better," I scoffed, still upset about what he had said in the woods.

He didn't say anything, just shut the door behind him as softly as he could and tiptoed to the other side of the bed, his arms wrapping around me in a tight hug like I had just gotten off my deathbed or something. "I was so worried about you," he said, his words muffled as he pressed his face into the top of my head. "What happened?"

I pulled away from him enough to free my head from his grip, but his arms still stayed around my waist, as if he was afraid to let me go. "I don't know. I heard someone scream, and then I just passed out, and the next thing I knew, I was back in that same world. I saw—"

"Daisy," Jonathan interrupted. "You passed out again?"

"That's not the point," I replied. "I'm saying I saw—"

"Daisy," he interrupted again. "I believe you, but I think you should go to that doctor's appointment tomorrow, okay?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed him off of me. "You think I'm imagining all of this," I scoffed, crossing my arms to make sure he stayed away. "I'm not crazy, Jonathan. I know what I'm seeing, and if you don't want to listen to me, then don't, but I'm not going to let you treat me like I'm just making this up. If you don't believe me, then you don't have to be a part of it. I'll leave," I ranted, pushing myself up from the bed as quickly as I could. It proved to be a little bit of a bad idea when my vision dimmed a little, but it came back just as soon as I took my first step towards the door.

EXPLICIT

When I went to take another step, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist, pulling me back towards the bed and onto Jonathan's lap, his arms pulling me into him as he cut me off with a kiss. I wanted to turn away and leave the room, but I couldn't. It's like he had brought me into some kind of trance, and I was left wanting as much of him as I could get. "Don't leave," he whispered into my ear before peppering my neck with soft pecks. I gasped as he pulled my t-shirt down to reveal my collarbone, sucking on it as I ran my hands up and down his back. It was just a matter of minutes before we had pulled each other's shirts off and threw them onto the floor. My body was hungry for his.

Jonathan pulled away for just a second, his eyes travelling up and down my body. I suddenly felt embarrassed, wondering if he was realizing all the flaws it held. I wanted to make myself smaller and used my arms to cover up the exposed skin. "What," I asked awkwardly.

He seemed to notice my immediate mood change, because the look that spread across his face was just as warm and welcoming as he was. "What," he joked. "I can't look at you?" I shook my head, even though I didn't mean it. I felt him softly push my arms out of the way as he reached around me to undo the clasp of my bra. "I can stop whenever you tell me to," he said gingerly.

I looked deep into his eyes, searching for a reason to turn around, but all I could find was love and a deep, hungry lust. I shook my head, hoping he'd understand what I was meaning because I did not trust my voice right now. He nodded, finally undoing the clasp before pulling off the rest of my clothes. Whatever was happening, I didn't want it to stop, and it didn't seem like he wanted it to either as he pulled me even closer and planted another kiss on my lips. Each kiss got deeper and deeper until all of our clothing had disappeared. Jonathan grabbed me by the hips and laid me softly on his bed, asking me for the millionth time if I wanted him to stop. I said no.

The fact that I had my first kiss, my first heartache, and lost my virginity all in one day didn't sound real. I probably wouldn't have believed it was possible if I wasn't the one experiencing it. I was glad they were all with Jonathan though. Honestly, my first time wasn't as great as I had imagined it would be at first. Yeah, I loved him, but it was obvious my body still needed to get used to things. The first couple minutes hurt, and it felt tight and uncomfortable. I might've even bled a little bit. Jonathan kept asking me if I was okay, and I kept telling him I was until I actually was. Eventually, it felt good. We went on for a long time until the two of us finally hit our breaking points. It felt like my body had lit up. My back arched up as his fingers dug into my thighs, the lights in his room all conveniently flickering as my muscles started contracting. That night, we fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms.

EXPLICIT - END

I woke up to a tiny voice echoing through the walls. I looked around out of fear, thinking I woke up in the other world. I was relieved when I found Jonathan asleep next to me. I thought about what happened last night and wondered if I regretted it or not. Probably not. But I still felt a little bit awkward about it. I scooted over to him in hopes that he still felt the same as he had last night. To my surprise, I felt him roll over and wrap one arm around my waist, placing a kiss on my forehead to assure me he was awake and definitely still liked me. I smiled and closed my eyes, soaking up as much of the moment as I could. Just as the two of us were about to fall right back asleep, the voice started back up again, the tone frantic and begging. Jonathan started to stir.

"What is that," I mumbled into his shoulder.

Those words seemed to be the ones that shook him right out of his sleepy state, because he shot right up and grabbed his shirt from the floor. All I had time to do was blink my eyes, and he was basically running out of the room and down the hallway. I groaned at the sudden lack of body heat next to me and tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I kept hearing mumbling from down the hall, but I didn't think much of it. Looking at the alarm clock next to the bed, I saw that it was almost time for the two of us to leave for school and decided I should probably get up. I looked around for my clothes, but I was only able to find my pants and a t-shirt that had been thrown across the room. I shrugged the shirt on quickly and decided I'd look for the rest of my clothes once we came back from school.

When I headed out the door and towards the kitchen, I stopped when I suddenly heard Jonathan's voice coming from Will's room. "Mom, come on," I heard him say as I started to inch closer to the room.

"I know, I know," Joyce said back to him, and I was finally able to realize that she had been the voice echoing through the house the entire time. "Just watch," she pleaded just as I was close enough to see into the room.

When I finally saw what state Will's room was in, my jaw nearly dropped. I could see Joyce and Jonathan sitting on his bed as Joyce pointed frantically at the lamp sitting in front of her. As I started to look around, I noticed that the room was now full of lamps and various other lights. I thought back to what my uncle had said about Joyce losing it, and I started to wonder if maybe he was right. The look on her face was so raw that I could feel every ounce of pain she was holding in. Along with that look was hope, whether that hope was actually there or if she was just imagining it.

"Will," she said. I felt the air turn crisp at just the mention of his name. My attention was suddenly completely consumed by them. Jonathan's eye flickered to me for a split second, as if they were pleading. "Will, your brother's here. Can you show him what you showed me, baby?" Joyce's eyes were stained with tears as she looked from light to light. My heart stopped when I saw the lamp closest to her flicker for just a split second. Holy shit, I thought to myself. "Did you see that," she exclaimed, rising from her seat.

"Mom, it's the electricity," Jonathan said. "It's been acting up. It fried the phone."

"No it's not," she fired back. "Something is going on, Jonathan! Yesterday, the walls," she stammered, pointing right at the bedroom wall in front of her.

Jonathan followed her finger, but I could tell he was just concerned. He didn't actually believe her. "What about the wall?" His voice started to rise as Joyce continued to freak out.

"I—I don't know. I—"

He cut her off, speaking over her as if he'd be able to talk any sense into her. "Mom, first it's the lights, and now it's the wall?"

"Will is here," she continued.

Tears now started to well in his eyes as he shook his head "No, mom."

"Maybe if I get more lamps—"

"No, mom," he repeated, suddenly grabbing her face with both of his hands. "You don't need more lamps. You have got to stop this. Will is lost. Everyone's looking for him. They're going to find him."

She sat back down in defeat. "You're right," she admitted. "None of this is helping. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Can you do me a favor, mom? Can you try to get some sleep? Can you do that for me?"

Joyce nodded as the tears continued to fall down her face. My heart broke for her. "I will. I promise. I just need to sit here for a couple more minutes."

"Okay," he said, starting to get up. "I'll go start breakfast, okay?"

He locked eyes with me as he got back up. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on in his head, and I couldn't even imagine it. Between Joyce and her lamps and me and my nightmares, there's no doubt he felt like the only sane one around. I felt him put a hand on my lower back as he walked through the doorway, an obvious sign that he wanted me to leave his mom to herself, which I was okay with. Whether she was right about the lights or not, she needed to be alone for a couple minutes.

"Waffles or pancakes," Jonathan asked once we had made it to the kitchen.

"We're not going to talk about what just happened?"

He shook his head, his face looking as exhausted as ever. "I'd rather forget about my mom telling me she talks to my missing brother through a lamp," he replied bitterly.

The words stung a little bit, even if he hadn't meant for them to. I stood there for a second as we both looked at each other in silence. I wasn't going to probe him if he wasn't willing to tell me anything. "Waffles."

He nodded and started to reach for the waffle maker they kept in the cabinet "Okay, the—"

A loud pounding at the door cut the two of us off, making me jump as the knocks became more and more urgent. I looked at Jonathan, who shrugged. Nobody had been expecting anyone to show up. I tried looking through the window without being caught, but I couldn't see anything. The pounding continued as Jonathan stepped in front of me and started making his way towards the door.

When he opened it, my uncle rushed in like he was there to fight a fire. "Is Daisy here," he said urgently, answering his own question once he saw me standing in the kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief. "You can't just disappear like that," he started to lecture as he stomped towards me. "Do you know how worried I've been, Daisy Mae? You're lucky I came here before I called the cops on you."

"Called the cops? Uncle Jack, I'm fine."

"Oh, you're 'fine'," he scoffed. "And what if you ended up missing too? I told you to be home by nine o'clock. That doesn't mean you stay out all night when there's a town curfew."

"She was helping me study, and we fell asleep," Jonathan interjected. "She's been here all night."

Uncle Jack whipped right around, sticking a finger just a few inches away from Jonathan's face. "I don't want to hear it from you."

"What's going on here?" All three of us turned around to see Joyce standing at the edge of the hallway, fixated on the finger my uncle was shoving in her son's face.

Uncle Jack's expression softened at just the sight of her, her hair a mess and the bags under her eyes making it obvious that she hadn't slept in the past two days. "Joyce," he had said so softly that I'm not sure she had even heard it. "I was looking for Daisy."

"Well you found her."

"I—I wasn't—I—I'm sorry," he managed to get out.

Joyce never broke eye contact. If looks could kill, I'd be an orphan by now. "Daisy, I think it's time for you to go home."

I nodded, a little bit scared. I had never seen Joyce act like this towards my uncle, but on the other hand, I had also never seen my uncle get so mad before. He was always gentle and caring towards everyone, even when they did him wrong.

Jonathan brushed his hand against my hip as I walked past him. "I'll see you at school," he said as my uncle slammed the door right in his face.

Uncle Jack didn't say a single word as I followed him back home. I wasn't quite sure how to act either. I had never seen him get this angry before, and it seemed like there was something else bothering him. I had spent the night at the Byers house hundreds of times before, and he never cared. He would sometimes call and double check that I was there, but he had never shown up and started pointing fingers like that. To be honest, I was a little scared. I watched him take one stomp after another, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

I was afraid to say anything to him, and thankfully, he didn't press me to. When we got home, I basically ran to the bathroom as quickly as I could without trying to make it look like I was running to the bathroom as quickly as I could. When the door shut behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. I had somehow survived the walk home despite how dangerous it had felt. If my uncle was this angry that I had spent the night with Jonathan, there's no telling what he would do if he found out what had happened between us. Speaking about what had happened between us, the first thing I noticed when I looked in the mirror was a glimpse of a tiny, purple oval on the inside of my collarbone. Shit, I thought, pulling it down to see just how bad it really was. I started to panic as I took a look at it. It was as clear as day, a dark hickey right where the hem of my shirt rested. It was surprising that nobody had noticed it.

Before I could react, Uncle Jack opened the door without a single knock. "You have a doctor's appointment in thirty minutes," he said before meeting my eyes in the mirror. I quickly pulled the hem of my t-shirt back up, hoping that he hadn't seen it. It was too late though. "So that's what you were doing last night?" I didn't say anything, but I could feel all of the blood in my body start to rush towards my face. "How long has this been going on?"

My face was cherry red by now. I wanted to lie, and I wanted him to believe it, but I knew there was no talking myself out of this. I was, no pun intended, screwed. "It was the first time," I mumbled, unable to meet his eyes.

He looked me up and down, complete and utter disappointment shining through his aura. Neither of us spoke until I saw him cross his arms and shake his head at me. "This is ridiculous. I don't want you over there anymore."

"Uncle Jack—"

"Don't 'Uncle Jack' me," he cut me off. "You're grounded, and that's that. I am not raising someone else's kid all over again."

My heart dropped right into my stomach as he said those words. Was that how he felt about me? Like I was just some child that his brother dumped on him? I couldn't stop the tears that had started to fall from my eyes as soon as the words left his mouth. He started to say something, but I didn't care anymore. I pushed right past him to head straight to my room, the tears coming so hard that my head started to hurt.

"I don't mean it like that," he started to say, but I was already slamming my door right in his face.

"I hate you!"