Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or IT. I only own my OC.

*Edited 05/28/22*

"No, I am not bitter, I am not hateful, and I am not unforgiving. I just don't like you." ― C. JoyBell C.

Chapter 4: Issues

Gwen didn't want to look at him. Actually, it was more like she couldn't look at her cousin...Mike Wheeler.

It just hurt too much.

However, avoiding looking at him was proving to be a difficult task.

The curiosity she had over her cousin's resemblance to her brother was still there...no matter how much she didn't want it to be. Gwen quietly admitted to herself that trying not to look at her cousin was causing her the same amount of distress as wanting to look at him. Except the inner turmoil she had wasn't as difficult as it was when she said goodbye to Richie.

Saying goodbye to Richie was probably one of the most heartbreaking experiences Gwen had ever gone through. Leaving her younger brother caused her immense heartache. The pain she felt from that hurt as much when she ended having any chances with Stan. Though doing that had been a necessary thing to do. At least that's what Gwen kept telling herself. If she didn't keep reminding herself that it had been a necessary thing to do she'd be an emotional mess...way more than she already was.

Now despite feeling her cousin's eyes on her, Gwen did her best to avoid his gaze like the plague. She looked anywhere else but him. Which included looking at the floor, the walls, and the various decors that filled the Wheeler's living room. Decor that Gwen was starting to realize was similar to the one her mother had filled in their own home. Even with all these distractions, Gwen kept hearing the same question over and over again in her head.

Why did Mike look like Richie?

Gwen felt like that was such a major slap to her face. Here was her cousin, who she was finally meeting, and he was a constant reminder of her younger brother. Her younger brother who she left behind in Derry. The similarities between them though left Gwen feeling a lot of things besides sadness. Puzzlement being one of the other main feelings. Mike and Richie looked so much alike that they could be twins. Maybe they were...in some strange Twilight Zone kind of way. Gwen inwardly shook that thought away. That sounded crazy. However, it really wasn't that crazy when compared to the shit she had seen and gone through because of IT.

"Are you sure you're feeling better, sweetie?"

Gwen's gaze automatically went to where her Aunt Karen was sitting. She was sitting next to her Uncle Ted with baby Holly on her lap. It had been about thirty minutes or so since her fainting ordeal. Something Gwen wanted to seriously move on. She regained consciousness rather quickly much to everyone's relief. Once awake the Tozier girl had been bombarded with questions by her Aunt Karen. Questions like, "Are you okay?", "Do you want to go to the doctor?", "Do you want a glass of water?"

Gwen was honestly fine. Actually, physically she was fine. Emotionally? That was a whole other thing. Although she was weirded out for an obvious reason. Still, Gwen answered that she didn't need to see a doctor. To her surprise her Aunt Karen didn't pester her as much as Gwen thought she was going to. Concern questions were still asked but Gwen didn't feel any sort of negativity coming from her aunt. Unlike when Gwen would converse with her mother.

Talking to her mother Maggie had always been tiring. That was a harsh thought to have but Gwen really had no idea how her father Wentworth could handle her mother. Gwen knew deep down that her mother meant well, but Maggie was too controlling and judgmental...two qualities Gwen heavily disliked. Gwen knew that Maggie wanted her to be the perfect daughter. That entitled dressing up, wearing makeup, and talking about girl nonsense. Gwen though wasn't like that and because of that they never got along. Gwen in the past was able to handle her mother but she couldn't anymore. Not since the events with IT. Gwen was just glad she didn't feel that way when talking with her Aunt Karen. Not yet anyways.

Gwen nodded her head. "Yeah, I think all that traveling got to me."

The Tozier girl then made the grave mistake of looking at her cousin Mike. It had been a quick look but Gwen still saw the way her cousin was staring at her. Mike had a narrowed look and although it was not necessarily filled with hate, Gwen could tell there was some sort of attitude behind his gaze. This wasn't the first time he had been looking at her this way. Gwen unfortunately had seen that look when they were touring around the house. Or rather when she was shown where she was going to be staying until the guest room upstairs was ready.

Gwen initially had no issues with staying in the basement. Knowing she was going to be staying there didn't faze her in the slightest. After what she went through with IT, staying in a basement was smooth sailing. The basement wasn't at all scary looking anyways. Nor was it dirty in any way. It was actually in good condition. The bed and the furniture down there made it livable. Nothing in the basement affected her. If anything it was the look Mike had on when they were down in the basement that got to her. It was a sarcastic look mixed with heavy detest that said, "Thanks a lot." Because of that Gwen assumed the basement probably meant something special to Mike. Maybe it was some sort of hangout place for him and his friends. Whatever the reason, her dear cousin sure disliked her for taking momentary residence down there.

That just made things even more awkward for Gwen. It also didn't make it easier to be around Mike either considering how he must now hold some sort of grudge against her for taking the basement. And now here she was sitting down next to her cousin Nancy.

Little to no surprise Mike had taken a seat next to his parents across from Nancy and her. Despite sensing the distress between them, Gwen was really relieved when Mike had chosen not to sit down next to his parents. Mike sitting next to her would have been weird. However, as she now realizes, having him sit across from her wasn't much help either. She was staring forward, making eye contact with her Aunt Karen. Gwen tried her best to avoid Mike's gaze again. She did not want to see that narrowed look from before.

"That makes sense." Ted added to the conversation. Gwen carefully looked his way. "You know I once had a friend in college who walked a block and then fainted straight afterwards."

There was an awkward silent pause after that was said.

"Oh." Gwen murmured, bemused. She really had no clue on what to say to that. How in the world was that supposed to compare with what happened to her? Besides the fainting of course. Walking a block and traveling to different states didn't compare. She knew that her uncle was perhaps trying to create small talk with her, and as much as she appreciated that, Gwen hoped he would stop talking. However, her uncle wasn't quite done talking yet.

"From what I was told he now works at a gym."

Gwen wasn't going to respond but at the last second she changed her mind. Maybe engaging more in the conversation would create a more open atmosphere between her and the Wheeler family. She tried to make herself sound more interested and curious. "So...he's a trainer?"

Ted shrugged his shoulders and then shook his head. He appeared nonchalant with what he said next. "No, he's a janitor."

Gwen let out a low cough. That just added to the awkwardness.

From beside her husband, Karen let out a laugh. Gwen right away could tell it wasn't one hundred percent genuine. She knew this because it sounded like the laugh her mother would give her father after he told a really bad joke. It was just forceful. The Tozier girl was a bit relieved when she saw how none of the Wheeler children reacted in the same way their mother had. Not even Holly cracked a smile or let out a giggle. Apparently even young children like her already know what's funny and what's not.

Speaking of Holly, Gwen was once again bewildered when she saw how the young girl was trying to reach out to her. Holly shifted around Karen's lap before the older woman got her to calm down. "Oh, see I told you she likes you." Karen smiled at her niece.

Gwen forced herself to smile back but she knew it must have come out as a grimace. Nowadays it was hard to give a convincing smile. Thankfully no one commented on it. However, the next comment that was said didn't help with the awkwardness between Mike and Gwen.

"Holly likes anybody." Mike muttered.

That got Mike a somewhat warning look from his mother and a stern one from Nancy. His father of course had been oblivious to that interaction as he had been to Mike's comment. Gwen though didn't give any type of verbal response, letting Mike take that as if she hadn't heard him. Except she had and as much as she didn't want his comment to leave a sting it still did. Feeling uncomfortable, Gwen just stared down at her shoes.

"Say Nancy." Karen suddenly announced catching her daughter's attention. "I have an idea. Why don't you take Gwen out for a stroll? Show her around town."

Nancy didn't find any issues with that. "Sure." She answered, nodding her head. Nancy thought spending one on one time with Gwen would perhaps be beneficial in strengthening their cousin relationship.

Unlike Nancy, Gwen wasn't thinking the same way. The Tozier girl lifted her gaze to stare at her aunt. "Really, that can wait for later." She hurriedly protested. "I don't want to be a bother. Nancy probably already has plans anyways." She added the last part less rushed.

"I actually don't." Nancy smiled at her cousin.

"See, it's not a bother." Karen assured her niece. "Besides, you said you're feeling better, right?"

Gwen had a feeling that denying wouldn't help her at all. She reluctantly relented to the truth. "You're right. I did say that."

Karen accepted the response as a yes. "I think you're really going to like Hawkins." She merrily told her. "It's a small town but you're from a small town anyways. And as I always say, quality over quantity."

Mike resisted the urge to correct his mother. She had never said that before. He managed to control himself from letting his attitude take over again. The Wheeler boy saw a golden opportunity here with having Gwen out of the house. He wasn't about to let that go to waste. His lips went upwards, forming a bright smile. "I think it's a great idea." He interjected with an upbeat voice. "Nancy and Gwen should totally have some girl time."

Mike ignored the bemused expression Nancy was throwing him. He noticed for a moment there how even his father had given him a strange look before he returned to his usual nonchalant self. His mother though didn't seem to catch his motive. Which he was glad for. The fake smile he had on almost fell when he locked eye contact with Gwen...again.

Unlike last time, Gwen didn't back down with the staring. She sensed something was off with how Mike was behaving. This time it wasn't Mike who was narrowing his eyes but instead it was Gwen. The suspicious look she had on almost caused Mike to break his faux joyful demeanor he had going on. Thankfully that didn't end up happening because of his mother.

Karen smiled at her son. She was glad that he was finally behaving and not letting the negative attitude from before get to him. Not long after her gaze then shifted onto Gwen again.

Noticing the interaction between mother and son caused Gwen to falter her staring at Mike. Her suspicion from before went away once finally admitting defeat to the whole town outing. Gwen held in the exasperated sigh she wanted to desperately let out. Perhaps she had been somewhat wrong about her Aunt Karen. Gwen was starting to find out that her Aunt Karen could be as pushy as her mother. Which really shouldn't have been a shocking thing considering Maggie and Karen were sisters after all. With this thought in mind, Gwen instead smiled tightly. "Alright then." As a way to feel better (emotionally), Gwen told herself that perhaps leaving the house would be a good thing. It did give her time to distance herself from Mike, who she was yet getting used to the fact that he looked exactly like Richie.

"Great!" Karen exclaimed, causing Holly to let out a giggle. "Now you and Nancy have fun exploring the town. Just come back before dinner starts."

Nancy reassured her mother they would as she got up from the living room couch. Gwen took that as her cue to get up and follow her cousin. As they left none of the remaining Wheelers had noticed the disconsolate expression Gwen had on.

Karen was too busy trying to entertain Holly as she walked with her towards the kitchen. Ted's attention was on the newspaper he had grabbed once his daughter and niece walked out the living room. As for Mike...well, once Gwen left with Nancy, Mike wasted no time in calling his friends over.

That was of course after he quickly asked his mother for permission. And after that last nice comment he made, Karen sure enough told him it was alright.

It didn't take long for the remaining party to show up. Not that it ever really took long for the boys to show up at Mike's place. Whenever the Wheeler boy would contact them saying it was urgent they knew they had to hurry up. The first one to show up was Lucas since he lived the closest to Mike. The second was Dustin and lastly Will.

The three boys had made their way inside the Wheeler house until they were standing out the familiar basement door. Out of all of them it had been Will to ask the question they (besides Mike) they had been thinking.

"Mike, why are we standing outside your basement door?" Will asked, severely puzzled. Mike had told them to come over but he hadn't said the reason why. Although the Byers' boy had a guess as to why he wanted the whole group to meet up.

"We're doing an investigation." Mike whispered to his three friends. He made sure to be quiet in case his mother heard him. He wasn't so worried about his father hearing them. When he had answered the front door Mike noticed his father was heavily invested with the newspaper he was reading. Nothing out of the ordinary there. So he had no worries about his father figuring them out. His mother though...that's a different story. Mike took comfort that she was still in the kitchen preparing dinner for when Gwen came back. Regardless of that, Mike was still going to be cautious.

Will frowned. "On your cousin?" He inquired. "Why?"

Mike grew even more serious than before. "Because I have a feeling she's hiding something." He answered back. Later on Mike would realize how lame of a response this was but at the moment he didn't see it as one. Mike Wheeler was just trying to snoop around because he was unhappy with the changes his cousin Gwen had brought with her arrival.

"Hiding what? She just got here." Will pointed out. He found it ridiculous that Mike was going through all this trouble just to get some sort of dirt on his cousin because he was unhappy with the basement arrangements.

Mike didn't see any reasoning with what Will just said. "Exactly."

"Exactly what?" Will softly questioned.

"I don't care what your reason is." Dustin whispered back to Mike. His lisp was way more noticeable than usual this time as he spoke. "I'm always up for some detective work." He excitedly finished saying. He would be lying if he said he wasn't at all curious with what they could find in Gwen's belongings. Yes, it was an invasion of privacy but his detective mode was overpowering his conscience at the moment.

Lucas decided to add his own thoughts. He shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like we got anything else to do."

Two out of three approvals from his friends was enough for Mike to proceed with his plan. With him in the lead, Mike led his friends down to the familiar basement. He then walked over to where the bed was. Following behind him was a curious Lucas, excited Dustin, and a reluctant Will. The Byers' boy had been quiet when walking down the basement but he was able to find his voice again when he saw Mike reach for one of Gwen's bags next to the bed.

"We're really gonna go through her stuff?" Will asked in disbelief. Guilt had already started to form inside him from something that hasn't happened yet but was soon going to.

"It's just one of her travel bags." Mike assured him. "It's not like I'm going through her suitcase and looking at her clothes." He said, his face pinching with disgust. "Now that would be weird."

As if this wasn't weird enough, Will thought.

"Open that sucker up." Dustin prompted.

Not needing to be told twice, Mike did just that and dumped the belongings onto the bed. All four boys quickly took notice of the various things that had fallen out. There was a lot to look at but some of the things Mike noticed right away were cassette tapes, a few pens, two school notebooks, a Walkman, a Polaroid camera, and last but not least a carton of cigarettes.

Mike picked up the carton of cigarettes. It appeared that Gwen was a smoker. That certainly surprised him. His cousin didn't look like a smoker. Though judging by the feel of an almost empty carton of cigarettes, Gwen was quite the smoker. Mike knew this information wouldn't sit well with his parents, especially with his mother. So he made sure to save this information in case he ever needed to use it later on.

"She has good taste in music." Lucas suddenly said, gaining Mike's and the others attention. He tossed aside the carton of cigarettes and got closer to Lucas as did the others. They were now each examining the various cassette tapes Gwen had brought. She had a lot of different bands...and Mike hated to admit that his cousin had good taste in music. Though what did he expect? She had been wearing a t-shirt with The Clash on it.

Mike wasn't the only one who was admiring her music choices. Will smiled as he picked up a specific cassette tape. "She listens to The Clash."

Mike was about to respond but his attention was caught by something else. "Why does she have so many pill bottles?" He questioned with annoyance and uneasiness. Looking at the pill bottles caused frustration to build inside him. He did not recognize any of the names that were on them nor for what they were for.

"She just has two." Will shyly corrected him.

Mike, however, remained persistent. He pursed his lips. "Two bottles too many."

Will frowned, finding the statement ridiculous. Dustin's voice (a surprised one) caught his and the others' attention.

"Dude! Look at this!" Dustin all but threw the item he had found into Mike's hands.

The item that caused such a reaction out of Dustin was a photo. In the photo was a group of kids. Mike and the others assumed the kids in the photo were friends based on how cordially they appeared to be with one another. In that group of friends was Gwen. She was sitting on a bench between a curly haired boy and a darker skin boy. There was a smaller looking boy with a fanny pack sitting on the other side of the darker skinned boy, and a heavier set boy was sitting on the other side of the curly haired boy. A girl with short red hair was standing beside another boy with light brownish hair, and lastly there was a boy with glasses wearing a Hawaiian button-up shirt with a ridiculous smile on his face.

Mike Wheeler already knew who that last boy was. The boy in the photo practically screamed mischief.

"That must be her brother." Mike evenly told his friends. He was doing his best to keep in his shock. Just deny what you just saw. Mike thought. I look nothing like him. Just as how I look nothing like Gwen. No resemblance whatsoever.

"Your cousin Richie?" Will asked. He remembered the name because Mike had told him before.

Mike nodded his head, inwardly glad Will hadn't pointed out the obvious elephant in the room. The same one he was straight out denying. However, someone quickly did.

Dustin's eyes remained wide as he kept looking at the photo. "You look just like him!" He animatedly pointed at his cousin Richie." His facial features were twisting in bemusement territory. "Or he looks a lot like you. Whichever way you want to phrase it."

Mike immediately frowned. "No we do not." He protested. Annoyance began to grow within him again from hearing Dustin say that.

"What are you blind?" Dustin scoffed. "You two look alike. He just has slightly shorter hair than you and wears glasses, but other than that you guys could be twins."

"I have to agree with Dustin on this one." Lucas added studying the photo as well. It was beyond freaky how much Mike and his cousin Richie looked alike, as Dustin had pointed out. "It's hard to see past the similarities between you two."

Mike turned to look at Will. He had yet to say anything regarding the photograph. "What do you think?"

Will lowered his eyes, staying silent. That was enough for Mike to know exactly what he was thinking. The Wheeler boy let out an exasperated sigh. "We do not look―"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

All four boys froze out of fear. None of them had to turn around to know who that was. Despite Lucas, Dustin, and Will having never heard her voice before they knew it was her. They also knew what kind of expression was on her face. None of that took away their shocked demeanor when they finally saw her.

There stood Gwen Tozier a few feet away from them. Absolute fury was written all over her face. Mike gulped, inwardly yelling at himself for not having heard her come down the basement. He stared at his cousin, warily.

The older girl all but stomped her way towards them. Gwen swiftly grabbed the photo out of Mike's hold. A sort of soft look crossed over her face when she carefully tucked it inside her green military style jacket. All of the boys were then shocked when that soft look went away. The infuriated one from before was now in its place.

"Don't ever touch this photo." Gwen glared daggers at all of them. "If I ever find any of you going through my belongings again without my permission, your ass is grass. Do you understand?" She paused and quickly saw how the boys shakily nodded their heads. Despite not verbally answering her, Gwen took their responses. "Good. Now get out." When they remained frozen in shock, Gwen took action. Her dark brown eyes blazed with anger as she yelled the next part. "Get out!"

That made all four boys sprint up the stairs.

All four of them were able to regulate their breathing once at the top. The nervousness they'd felt when experiencing Gwen's anger was starting to melt away. Dustin and Will said nothing. Will's guilt didn't allow him to say anything. While Dustin now realized just how wrong it had been to look through her stuff. Lucas felt bad as well but he couldn't get the memory of Gwen yelling at them out of his head. Which is why he said what he said next.

"Dude, your cousin has issues." Lucas commented, freaked out by Gwen's outburst.

Mike glanced towards the basement. "Yeah..." He muttered. "She does."

A/N: Looks like things aren't off to a good start. Rest assured things do get better. Also, the photo that Gwen has and Mike and the others found was taken during the fourth of July. If you guys have read my IT story then you know what I mean. Just wanted to clear that up with you guys in case you were confused. I know in the original story I didn't mention a photo being taken but if possible that's something I want to add in a later flashback in IT: Chapter Two. Anyways, thanks to those who are still following this story! And a huge thanks for those who have left a review. You guys have no idea how much that means to me!