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

A/N: Just want to let you guys know that I have about two or three more chapters to write before we head into season one's story line. Enjoy the AU while it lasts! I graduated college in May with my Bachelor's in Anthropology. I have all this free time but it doesn't feel like it because I am stressing out with finding a damn job. I thought I had one but after thinking things through I decided not to pursue that job any further. Now I am once again trying to seek employment. My anxiety is through the roof at the moment. Ugh...anyways...don't let my stress rant ruin this chapter.

BTW, have you guys seen Godzilla: King of the Monsters? Cause I did and I loved it. I especially loved the soundtrack. You should all listen to it. Especially Mothra's theme. When I went to go see Godzilla the IT: Chapter Two trailer played during the previews and I just got all excited. I really can't wait until it comes out!

Gwen officially meets Steve in the next chapter. Look forward to that.

*Edited 05/28/22*

"Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely." ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Chapter 5: Almost getting into trouble

It occurred to Gwen not long after she yelled at her cousin and his friends that perhaps she overreacted.

Seeing the four of them looking through her belongings wasn't really the cause of her anger. It was annoying to have her stuff being looked through but her anger was actually directed onto the photo that Mike had been holding. That photo was the only one she had of her and the other Losers. It took place during the fourth of July. There was no other photo she owned that had all of them together...just that one. If the photo got lost or ruined in any way...Gwen didn't even want to think about that.

So, yeah, seeing her cousin holding that precious photo of hers caused that outburst.

Except now that she was alone (finally calming down) she felt regret for letting her anger get out of control.

Not to mention it was beyond awkward when dinner time came.

Her Aunt Karen ended up cooking a chicken dinner but Gwen couldn't enjoy it. Not with the way Mike kept warily glancing at her from across the table. Gwen didn't blame him though. If someone had yelled at her the same way she yelled at him she would be on guard too.

On the other hand her Aunt Karen, Nancy, and Holly seemed to enjoy dinner. Except not nearly as much as her Uncle Ted. From the way he chewed his food Gwen could tell he really enjoyed the meal. Good for her Aunt Karen, Gwen had thought. Whenever her mother made chicken her father always tried his best to act as if he loved the meal. Gwen knew better. Clearly she didn't get her acting skills from her father.

Following the next morning, Gwen was surprised when she woke up fine. She hadn't woken up in the middle of the night screaming. She thought for sure she was going to but she didn't. Gwen knew better than to think her nightmares were over for good. Those haunting nightmares would return soon enough.

Breakfast with the Wheelers was exactly how dinner had been the day before. Awkward when it came to Mike and pretty much alright with everyone else. Her Aunt Karen even remembered she wasn't a huge fan of waffles. A little fact that Gwen shared about herself during dinner. Her Aunt Karen was nice enough to make her pancakes and eggs. A kind gesture that Gwen appreciated.

As breakfast progressed, Gwen witnessed how Mike was rather humorous when it came to mornings. At least towards Nancy...and that was something the older teen did not appreciate. However, Gwen would have taken humor instead of the cold shoulder she was getting from him. After breakfast was over everyone went their own ways.

Now here she was exploring the town of Hawkins...again. Only this time she was alone.

Gwen didn't mind being alone. She actually preferred it.

She got the official tour yesterday thanks to Nancy. It was as much fun as it was informative. Nancy did invite her to hang out today again but Gwen politely declined. It wasn't like Gwen minded spending time with her cousin. Nancy was actually nice. And Gwen as of recently had been seriously lacking in the friend department. Especially when it came to friends who were girls.

As Gwen had come to learn, Nancy differed from Beverly and Francine.

Nancy was the complete opposite of Beverly. Gwen at the moment couldn't find any similarities between them. With Francine, however, the only thing Gwen could compare her to Nancy was that her blonde haired friend had girly tendencies (way more than Beverly) but she also had a tomboy side to her. Nancy, as Gwen noticed, didn't. Gwen was able to relate with Francine because of that tomboy side. Her cousin was all makeup products, dresses, and etc. Which wasn't a bad thing...Gwen just didn't feel close to her. Which sucked because she saw how hard Nancy was trying to include her into her life.

She really didn't deserve her kindness.

On a somewhat positive note, through Nancy, Gwen got to meet Barb. Barb was Nancy's best friend and from first impressions, Barb seemed nice. Plus the color of her hair reminded Gwen of Beverly. The hair color reminder was bittersweet.

Gwen's current movements halted when she saw the familiar store she had seen yesterday during her tour. It was the Melvald's General Store that was next to the RadioShack the town had. Gwen didn't get a chance to go inside yesterday and she was curious.

Being inside the store now reminded Gwen of Keene's Pharmacy. Despite the store being bigger, the decor was pretty much the same. However, Gwen figured all town stores might as well look the same. In fact, they were so alike that Gwen didn't have difficulty finding the candy section. As she walked to the candy section, Gwen got a good view of who was inside the store.

There were a few customers hanging around and two people working as cashiers. A man and a woman. Gwen though paid more attention to the woman. She had dark hair and looked to be in her late thirties or so. Way younger looking than her co-worker. Now the reason why Gwen's attention lingered on the woman was because of her hair. The woman had shoulder length hair. That was the hair length Gwen had been wanting for a while now.

Realizing she had been looking at the woman for too long, Gwen refocused her gaze. She looked at the various candies that were on display. It didn't take long for her to choose which one she wanted. She grabbed a chocolate bar and as discreetly as possible put it inside one of her back jean pockets.

Gwen had every intention of paying for the candy but after stepping inside the store she was reminded of the time Beverly shoplifted from Keene's Pharmacy. A happy memory despite the action being considered a crime. Although Gwen had shoplifted before, she wanted to experience the same thrill she got when she did it herself. However, the thrill wasn't there. Maybe it was because Beverly wasn't there but it wasn't as fun as it was before. Not that shoplifting was supposed to be fun. It was just a fun memory she shared with Beverly. One that built their friendship.

Disappointed that there wasn't any thrill (or a spark of nostalgia from the friendship she formed with Beverly), Gwen considered putting the candy back. Except...that didn't end up happening.

"You gonna pay for that?"

It was a male's voice, and it was one Gwen had never heard before. Despite being startled, Gwen managed to keep her composure as she turned to face said male voice. Gwen's composure almost fell apart once she saw the man.

He was fairly tall, had brown hair and dark blue eyes. Somewhat scruffy looking in Gwen's opinion. He also looked to be in his late thirties. However, none of that was what almost caused her composure to fall apart. The man was wearing a uniform. He was a cop. Actually, he was the Chief according to his badge and from the name tag that was also there his name was Hopper.

Freakin' great, Gwen thought to herself. Outside she seemed fine but on the inside she was panicking. From just one look alone the man seemed to be the type that didn't take shit from people. Gwen had no idea how she hadn't noticed him before. Inwardly, Gwen was scolding herself. It felt like forever before she found her voice.

"I already did." She flat out lied, managing to shrug her shoulders.

"I was hoping you wouldn't lie." The man (or Hopper as his name tag read) sternly told her. "I know you didn't pay for that."

Despite his serious appearance and her nervousness, Gwen kept her attitude. She scoffed. "What are you a stalker? Yikes."

Hopper wasn't falling for her humor. "Young lady I should have you arrested." He told her as a way to frighten her into telling the truth, and apologize for stealing. Sure it was something simple as candy but it was still stealing.

Gwen rose an eyebrow, uncaring. "For a chocolate bar? What can I say? It's that time of the month and I had a craving. Do you want me to apologize for being a girl?"

Hopper took a step back, thrown off by her remark. Who was this girl? From the first glance he got of her she put off this sort of innocent vibe. Sure her style could be taken in as tomboyish but her brown eyes and soft features told a different story. Now that he was interacting with her, Hopper knew she wasn't the type to be so innocent. Still he was confused as to how a girl who looks so innocent can have an uncaring attitude. Clearly in this case looks can be deceiving.

"What's your name?" Hopper asked, returning to his stern self.

Gwen sighed but withheld the eye-roll she wanted to let out. Gwen honestly didn't have the highest opinion when it came to the authorities. Henry's father, Oscar "Butch" Bowers was the blame for that. Now Gwen knew not all cops were as awful and lowlifes as Henry's father had been, but at the moment she couldn't get past her need to one up this Chief with attitude.

So that's why she went by the name of…

"Kate Bush."

Gwen smiled as innocently as possible. She hoped that he would fall for her lie on account on how funny that would have been. However, she should have known the famous singer's name of Kate Bush would have been recognized.

"Nice try." Hopper replied, bored. Clearly her answer did not amuse him. "Your real name."

Gwen dropped the act just a bit. "Gwen Tozier." She admitted, dryly.

The man narrowed his eyes. "You're not from around here." He knew from the moment he saw her that she wasn't a resident. Hopper had lived here for years and he just about knew everybody in Hawkins.

"That obvious, huh?" Gwen retorted.

Before he was able to answer, a new voice jumped into their conversation. This one was female.

"Is there a problem here?"

When Gwen turned to said voice she became aware that it belonged to the woman that had been working at the cashier. The same woman Gwen had been staring at when she first came in.

"Yes, Joyce, it appears that we have a shoplifter here." Hopper told her evenly. "By this Tozier kid."

The woman, who Gwen now knew was named Joyce, turned her attention onto her. Gwen expected to see a look of anger on her face but instead her eyes were wide with surprise. "Tozier? Your first name wouldn't be Gwen would it?" She asked, completely ignoring the shoplifting part that was mentioned.

Gwen stared at her with a muddled expression. "Uh, yeah. How do you know that?" Adding to her surprise, Joyce offered her a smile.

"Your Aunt Karen is a friend of mine." Joyce shared with her. "She told me her niece would be coming into town to stay with her. I didn't know you were already here though." She paused before offering her a hand. "I'm Joyce Byers, it's nice to meet you Gwen."

Gwen stared at her hand, blinking a few times. It was as if she had no idea what to do next. She couldn't remember the last time an adult (an adult who wasn't family) wanted to shake her hand. Nonetheless an adult who wasn't the least bit angry at the fact that she was caught shoplifting.

"Oh...it's nice to meet you." Gwen said, accepting her hand. If this woman really was a friend of her aunt's then she could very much inform her of this situation. Gwen inwardly sighed. This day just kept getting better and better. Well, this is what happens when you try shoplifting.

"Sorry to interrupt this little moment but this whole shoplifting thing hasn't been resolved." Hopper right away added once the handshake between the two of them was over. He didn't want either of them to lose track of what even started this whole encounter.

Joyce looked at Gwen before she turned to face Hopper. "There was no shoplifting." She simply told him.

Hopper frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, there was no shoplifting." Joyce repeated herself, sounding so sure. "I told her I'd pay for it. As a sort of welcome to Hawkins treat."

This made Gwen look at her oddly. She was lying for her...but why?

Hopper looked at Joyce suspiciously. "Since when?"

"Since now." Joyce answered, narrowing her eyes a bit. "Is that a problem?"

Hopper let out a sigh. "Joyce, you really shouldn't..."

"She just came into town." Joyce interrupted. She lowered her voice as she leaned in more towards him. "Cut her some slack, Hopper. It's just candy anyways."

When Joyce leaned back she saw how Hopper looked rather reluctant. The pause that filled the air seemed really long when in reality it was less than ten seconds. To her relief and to Gwen's shock he ended up agreeing with Joyce. "Fine, but just this once."

"Thank you.." Gwen rapidly said. It was pretty obvious that most of her thanks was being directed onto Joyce.

Joyce didn't say anything. She just smiled at her once more and then left towards the cashier again. Not having the older woman around was Gwen's cue to leave. Just as she was about to leave though Hopper spoke up. The tone of voice was just as stern as when he had first spoken to her.

"If I ever catch you stealing from here or anywhere else..." Hopper began saying.

"You won't." Gwen added artfully. "Catch me stealing...that is."

The way she said it made it seem as if she would be stealing and that didn't sit well with Hopper. His blue eyes were sharp as he looked at her. "Just so you know, I'll be keeping a close eye on you."

Gwen didn't let his sharp gaze get to her. She laughed. "Like that's not creepy or anything." Her gaze landed on the pack of cigarettes that were peaking out of his uniform pocket. "Marlboros, huh? I hear Camels are better." She told him with a grin and then quickly she left the store. Gwen didn't at all see the annoyed expression that was on his face.

With that interaction alone, Jim Hopper already knew that this Gwen Tozier girl was going to be a handful.

Gwen decided she'd best head back to her aunt and uncle's place after almost getting into trouble with the law. One run in with the authorities was enough for the day. She caught a break thanks to that Joyce lady and she wasn't about to push her luck.

Before entering the house, Gwen had seen three bikes laid on the front lawn. That meant Mike's friends from yesterday must have been there. So, the chances of running into one of them were high and that's exactly what ended up happening.

Right when Gwen was about to open the fridge someone came into the kitchen. It was the much scrawny looking one from Mike's group of friends. Immediately once he saw her his brown eyes filled with what Gwen could describe as alarm.

"Oh, sorry, I just wanted to grab a soda." He said in a rushed way. Clearly he was nervous from just being in the same room as here. Her outburst from yesterday really got to him too.

"Here." Gwen handed him a soda can.

"Thanks." He quietly said as he took the drink from her. He then stood there awkwardly, as if waiting for something. Or it could have been possible that he was just too afraid to move because of her.

Gwen didn't like that possibility but it was a fair one. She realized had to apologize to all of them eventually. She figured she'd start now by apologizing to him.

"Look about the last time I saw you..." Gwen started off saying. "I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I shouldn't have said that to you and the others."

"No, don't apologize." The boy quickly interjected much to Gwen's surprise. The alarm that had been there in his eyes was starting to disappear the more he spoke now. "We shouldn't have looked through your stuff. That was wrong and I feel terrible that it even happened in the first place."

Gwen let out a relieved sigh. "Well, horrible first impressions aside...my name's Gwen as you already know, and you are?"

The boy smiled. "Will Byers."

"Byers?" Gwen looked at him with familiarity now. "Is your mom Joyce?"

Will nodded his head. "Yeah...you met her?"

"Yeah today when I went to the store." Gwen told him. "She's cool." She casually added.

Will struggled with his reply. "Oh...yeah. I guess she is."

He was surprised by what Gwen told him. Most of the time when people described his mom (and by people he meant his friends and even Jonathan) they'd say she was nice. However, Will couldn't remember the last time someone said that his mom was cool. He wondered just what kind of first interaction they had in order for the teen girl to think that way about his mom. From the looks of it he figured it must have been a good one.

After his response, Gwen took a real good look at Will Byers. The longer she stared at him the more a feeling of recognition became too apparent to look pass. Now that she thought about it, Will actually reminded Gwen of Eddie. Just like how Barb reminded Gwen of Beverly. Will and Eddie had that fragile looking adorable thing going on. The similarities were nice as they were saddening. Gwen really did miss Eddie. Just as much as she missed the others.

"I really like your music collection." Will suddenly said, causing Gwen to falter in her thoughts. Not catching what he said, she looked at him, puzzled. Will became sheepish as he explained. "I noticed that you have a lot of cassette tapes of bands that my older brother Jonathan and I like."

Gwen's puzzled expression disappeared. A softer one replaced it. She wasn't bothered by the mention of the snooping now that he had apologized. "I'm a music lover. Preferably rock."

"Me too." Will brightly told her. "My favorite band is The Clash. What about you?"

Gwen whistled. "Gosh that's such a tough question. I love a lot of bands but if I had to pick one I'd say The Smiths."

"I heard their single, Hand in Glove. I liked it." Will said with further interest into the conversation. "What about your favorite singer?"

Gwen answered that easily. "David Bowie."

Will's eyes gleamed at her answer. "I love David Bowie."

"Isn't he just amazing?" Gwen exclaimed.

Will nodded his head. "He is. A lot of people don't seem to like his music or style but I do."

"Dude, his music and style is amazing." Gwen said with excitement. "And that's coming from someone who doesn't even like fashion." She laughed causing Will to laugh along. "I think people who say he's weird are just jealous of how talented and beautiful he is." She said in a more earnest voice. "People usually put down what they don't classify as normal, but really what is normal?" Gwen often thought a lot about that ever since the events with IT. Nothing was normal to her anymore.

Will didn't say anything, just nodded his head. He was happy to hear her say this. The only other person he talked music with was Jonathan. He once talked about it with his dad but that didn't go so well. It just made Will glad that he was no longer living under the same roof.

"Anyways, if you ever want to borrow one of my cassettes just ask." Gwen kindly told him.

Will looked at her in disbelief. "Really?"

Gwen nodded her head. "Yeah."

Just as Will was about to respond Mike's voice filled the air by him calling out his name. Will looked up towards the ceiling before looking at Gwen again. He now had a somewhat sheepish expression.

"I should go." He started telling her. "We're playing Dungeons & Dragons in Mike's room."

"You guys play that?" Gwen asked, intrigued. She never played the game but she had heard of it. Richie brought it up once or twice...though it was more out of a joking manner than actually wanting to play it.

"Yeah, we're really into it. We usually play in the basement but..." Will awkwardly dragged the sentence.

Gwen put two and two together. She let out a sigh. "I took the Dungeons & Dragons hangout spot from you guys. God, no wonder Mike's upset. Well that and because I went complete psycho."

"You were just upset." Will quietly said.

"Still..." Gwen softly said. "I'm gonna apologize to him and the others as well."

"Dustin and Lucas." Will informed her of his friends' names.

Gwen nodded her head. "Dustin and Lucas."

Mike's impatient voice filled the air again causing Will to finally start moving. "Well, I'm gonna go now." He smiled at her. "It was nice officially meeting you, Gwen."

"It was nice officially meeting you too, Will." Gwen responded, giving Will an honest smile.

The smaller boy used his free hand to wave goodbye as he left the kitchen. When she was alone again Gwen was left with her thoughts. That brief talk with Will almost felt as if she had been talking to one of the Losers.

Maybe she found someone she'd be able to connect with while in Hawkins.

A/N: Can I just say how excited I am for season 3 of Stranger Things. Seriously...counting the days now. Anyways, Hopper and Gwen met in this chapter. Future interactions between them are gonna be fun to write. Not to mention Gwen has started to be more friendly with Will. Out of all of Mike's friends Will is the one Gwen is going to be the closest to. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long considering Steve will finally be in it.