Hello friends!
I cannot believe over 20 people follow this little story of mine! You make me glad I did finally post it :)
I'm so excited, we are finally getting to the fun stuff. I've had so much fun writing these last two weeks and I really hope it shows. I've been listening to Hayley Kiyoko on repeat all week, Lesbian Jesus has given me all the FEELS! I've nearly finished and have already started the sequel! I'm getting way ahead of myself but I'm so ready to show you more of Allison and who she is. As always let me know what you think. Disclaimer in the opening.

We could be bigger and brighter than space
Ain't no running away

Need you to be sure.

What I need - Hayley Kiyoko feat. Kehlani

Friday

Allison was pissed.

It was Nancy who had begged Allison to meet her at her house and she wasn't even here. In fact, Allison hadn't seen Nancy or Jonathan all day. Maybe she should have been concerned but after how they left things yesterday she didn't really know where they all stood. Allison was curious, she was glad she wouldn't be spending her first Friday night in Hawkins alone though, and she could finally get some answers from Nancy.

But now here she stood, at the front door of the Wheeler house, with the door closed in her face from Mr Wheeler who had obviously never learned manners. Was this a game? Allison didn't think Nancy was the type of girl to trick her into some stupid joke. She thought that Nancy was her friend.

Red-faced and blinking away embarrassed tears, she turned away from the Wheeler house and spotted Steve rambling to himself as he walked toward her a dozen roses in hand, Allison stopped him half-way.

"Harrington?"

He looked up from the roses in his hand, a frown creasing his forehead. "Edwards, what are you doing here?" He asks, taking in her glassy eyes and red-tinged cheeks. He almost asks if she's okay, before closing his mouth.

Allison glances at the roses with her eyebrow cocked, hoping he doesn't notice the humiliation written all over her face, she doesn't meet his eyes. "Nancy's not here." Steve runs a hand through his annoyingly perfect hair in frustration and opens his mouth before he's cut off.

"Steve? Allison?" Allison turns to her left, seeing Dustin crossing the grass in a rush.

"Dustin?"

He has a headset on over his cap and a look of absolute determination on his face. "Those for Mr and Mrs Wheeler?" Dustin asks, Steve brings the flowers up in confusion.

"No." He replies with a frown.

Dustin snatches them from his hand and marches towards his car. "Good."

Steve turns after him a bewildered expression on his face. "Hey. What the Hell, Hey!" Dustin doesn't turn toward Steve, continuing toward the car.

"Nancy isn't here."

Allison frowns at how the kid could know that but moves up behind Steve who was watching the kid dejectedly. "Where is she?" He asks. My question exactly, Allison thinks.

"It doesn't matter, we have bigger problems than your love life." Dustin opens the door with his free hand and finally turns to Steve and by default Allison who had made her way to his side and was watching the whole interaction with an irritated frown on her face. "Do you still have that bat?" He asks, and Steve raises his hands in exasperation.

"Bat? What bat?" Dustin waves the flowers in his hand and sighs,

"The one with the nails."

Steve glances at Allison who whispers, "Uh, nails?" incredulously.

"Why?"

"I'll explain it on the way."

Dustin slides into the front seat of Steve's car. Steve hesitates for a second before rushing toward the car and the exasperated and frantic thirteen-year-old.

"Now?"

"Now!" Dustin exclaims.

Allison is still standing on the footpath, her mouth hanging open slightly when Dustin opens the door and shouts at her, "Allison, get in the car!" Steve glances at her frantically as she hurries into the back seat.

"What's going on, Dustin?" Dustin doesn't reply, only telling Steve to go to his house. Allison's eyes meet Steve's in the rear-view mirror, "Harrington? Can someone please tell me what's going on!" Steve glances at Dustin beside him, then turns his eyes back to the road.

Great, she thought. I've been kidnapped by a thirteen-year-old shit-head.

It's gotten dark by the time Dustin has finished telling his story and they had nearly made it to his house. The car was silent once again, Allison sat in the back, her mouth open in disbelief at the story she had just heard. Both boys in the front had practically forgotten her existence in the back. Allison tries to tell them to let her out the car when Steve talks over her. "Wait a sec, how big?" Steve asks, his eyes not leaving the road.

Dustin pulls his fingers apart about an inch, "It was this big, now it's this big." He uses his hands to measure about a foot.

"I swear to god man, it's just some little lizard."

Dustin huffs in annoyance before responding, "It's not a lizard!"

"How do you know?" Steve asks, his eyes glancing at Dustin quickly.

"How do I know it's not a lizard?" Dustin asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, how do you know it's not just a lizard!"

"Because its face opened up and it ate my cat!"

Steve huffs and shrugs his shoulder like the argument they had just made perfect sense.

"Stop the car right now."

Both boys jump slightly at the angry voice of the brunette in the back seat they had both forgotten about. Steve meets her eyes in the mirror and finds a feral animal on his back-seat; not that he'd ever say that out loud, comparing a female to an animal of any sort didn't seem like a smart plan. "No. Just, can you be quiet for a minute? We kinda have a crisis here." Steve winces at the kid's words, he doesn't need to look back to know Allison's ears just started steaming.

"You hijacked me, you little shit-head! So, if you aren't going to let me out of this car like right now, you better start talking. And if you could make it something other than the total nonsense you've been spouting for the entirety of this car trip, that would really benefit you!"

Allison can see Steve's shoulders climb higher until they touch his ears as she shouts, and Dustin turns back to look at her an exasperated look on his young face. "You wouldn't be able to comprehend the enormity of what we're discussing, Alli. Trust me when I say you're better thinking this is nonsense." Dustin says sagely earning an eye roll from the girl in the back seat.

"You're saying a lizard ate your cat, Dweeb. It's not the complexity of the phrase that's confusing me, a senior with a 4.3 GPA."

"It's not a lizard!" they shout in unison and Allison puts her hands up in surrender. "Okay, it's not a lizard. What is it?"

"Wait, you've been skimming my notes and you have a 4.3 GPA? How did I not know this?"

Allison rolls her eyes again, Dustin telling Steve that it wasn't pertinent to the current problem. They pull up to the Henderson house and neither of them has yet to answer a single question she'd asked. The boys glance at each other, both with anxious looks before exiting the car and heading toward the boot. Allison huffs her hands slapping her thighs in frustration before she exits the car.

"Why was I forced into the car if no one is going to tell me what's going on?" Steve swings a bat filled with nails out from the boot and Allison steps back with a yell. "Harrington, what the Hell, you dip-shit!"

He glares at her and she glares back, both nearing the end of their rope. "Why is she here, Henderson?" His question was answered when a blond boy jumped down the stairs of the house with familiar blue eyes.

"Daniel? What are you doing here? You told Mom you were staying at the Sinclair's house!" Allison yelled, pulling the boy to her side.

"I brought you with us because, of Daniel. Now you both need to leave." Dustin turned with Steve and they walked around to a cellar door. Leaving a stunned Allison and concerned Daniel behind.

"Daniel, what is going on?" Allison asks in frustration, squeezing her brothers shoulder.

"Lucas was being lame and just wanted to hang out with Max, so I biked back to his house to get my stuff when I heard Dustin on the walkie. He was screaming 'code red! code red!' I rushed over here, and he told me he found Dart and… Alli, he was like the size of a dog! Dart the tiny little lizard from yesterday!"

Allison remembered Daniel telling her all about the creature Dustin had brought to school yesterday and Daniel admitting he was glad it ran away, Will didn't like it and Daniel thought it was gross and slimy.

Around the corner of the house, Steve poked the cellar door with his bat, "I don't hear shit."

Dustin stood back slightly and gestured towards the door, "He's in there." Steve hit's the door again with the baseball bat then turns his flashlight on Dustin's face.

"Alright, listen, kid, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, your dead, alright."

Steve's face serious as Dustin promises it's not a prank. He pulls the light away from Dustin's face and into the eyes of Allison who stood just behind. "Jesus!" they exclaim at the same time, Allison shielding her eyes and trying to blink away the white spots.

"We told you to leave, Edwards."

Allison steps forward her expression hardening as she glares at the two idiots before her. "I'm not leaving until I get some answers, I don't care if you think I can't or won't understand. Daniel told me about Dart yesterday and I'd like to know why he grew to be the size of a dog, overnight, just like you guys would."

Steve sighs and throws an exasperated look Dustin's way. Dustin shrugs and Steve's gaze returns to Allison, spotting the blond hair of her brother hidden behind her. "I will explain everything to you in a minute but for now will you please stand back, I don't want any of you to get hurt." Allison softens and steps back, finding Daniel had followed her, she places a hand on his shoulder protectively.

"Got a key for this thing?"

Steve opens the cellar doors, bat in hand and steps down, Dustin announcing he would stay upstairs in case He tries to escape. Allison and Daniel join Dustin at the opening, it's been a few minutes and they still haven't heard anything. Allison doesn't know what Dart is but doesn't really like the idea of Steve going down there with nothing but his hair and a baseball bat full of nails.

"Harrington?" Allison asks hesitantly, He doesn't reply, and her heart starts to pound. "Steve?" She calls again. Suddenly light shines on their faces from underneath and they all jump back in surprise.

"Get down here," Steve calls, his voice as serious as Allison had ever heard it.

Allison instructs Daniel to stay above and she and Dustin make their way down, Allison pulling the younger boy behind her, just in case. Steve is standing in the middle of the room, his bat uplifted to display a yellow carcase of goo. Dustin pushes her out of the way slightly to get closer to the goo.

"Oh, shit."

He follows the end of the bat Steve had pointed toward the corner of the room. A giant hole had been tunnelled through the concrete and into the dirt.

"Oh, shit!"

Dustin squatted down with Steve as they tried to see where the tunnel led with the flashlight. "What in the Hell did that?" Allison whispered, both boys rising to glance at her.

"This is not good," Dustin muttered, staring at a concerned looking Steve.

"And it's called a Demogorgon, like from Paradise Lost?"

The four of them currently sat in the basement of the Edwards' house. Allison had told their mother that the boys were having a sleepover in the basement, which had now been converted into a den for Daniel and all his games and she would sleep down with them, so they didn't get too rowdy. Her mother agreed immediately and wandered off to the lounge telling them to let her know if they needed anything.

Allison and the boys had gone downstairs and under the cover of getting snacks, she had done something she had never in her life thought she'd do; Allison Edwards snuck a boy into her home. Granted it was only Steve Harrington and she thought he was a bit of a shit-head, but the cliché wasn't lost on her. She imagined what the kids at school would think of this, according to Melinda half the school thought she had something to do with 'The Breakup' that had spread through the school like wildfire. They both filled their arms with snacks and drinks and made their way downstairs.

"Yeah, I guess. The Dungeons and Dragons guide is the most accurate representation of it." Dustin said thoughtfully, spying Daniel's manual, and finding the correct page before handing to the older girl. Steve leaned over Allison to read as well, He admitted early in the recount of last year's events he knew little, just that he had hit a giant ugly thing with a bat a bunch of times.

"He doesn't have 2 heads, they got that part wrong. His head opens up like a flower." Dustin pauses with a hand in the air before continuing "Maybe not a flower, but an Octopus Stinkhorn or something." He gestures in a circle around his face, "Point is, teeth… everywhere."

Steve frowns and glances up at Dustin, "What's an Octopus Stinkhorn?"

Allison waves for him to be quiet while she reads, "It's a mushroom." She murmurs.

"How could either of you possibly know that?"

Allison glares at the boy next to her. "Most people call them books, dip-shit." Steve rolls his eyes and they both continue reading.

She finishes and turns to Steve whose face is much closer than she'd realised, her nose brushing his jaw by accident. She pulls away awkwardly before looking up and finding his eyes already on her.

"You fought this thing?"

He nods a few times and uses his left hand to take the book from her, his right supporting his weight behind them and leaving their shoulders barely touching. "Jesus Christ." She mutters running a hand through her now tangled hair.

"Jonathan and Nancy were there too, I was there that night for Jonathan. I was going to apologise for being such an asshole… It's a long story." He chuckles slightly and visibly swallows, Allison understands it's a painful memory and pats a hand on his raised knee in support. He smiles at her briefly before gently throwing the book into the pile of junk food.

"How did you beat it last time, maybe we can do the same thing?"

Daniel asks Dustin, pulling the older teens back to the conversation. "Eleven, she protected all of us. She's gone, she sacrificed herself to save us." Dustin spoke sadly, he pulled his cap off and ran a hand through his curls with a sigh.

"It's not like Hawkins Lab has any more experiments running around to save us from an entire world of monsters they won't tell anyone about either."

"Wait, Hawkins Lab?"

Dustin nods, his eyes focused on Allison with confusion. "Yeah, did I forget to mention them? Everything that happened was because of that Lab. They kept Eleven as a science experiment and she opened the gate to the Upside Down, they tried to cover up Will's and Nancy's friend Barb's disappearance. They practically tried to have us all killed to get Eleven back."

Allison and Daniel shared a look of horror, suddenly it made sense why Jonathan and Nancy had been acting weird yesterday. Allison swallowed turning her frightened gaze toward the teen beside her.

"What is it?" Steve asks glancing between the two of them.

"Our Dad, he works for Hawkins Lab, it's the reason we moved here," Daniel said quietly, staring at his sister in absolute shock.

"This can't be possible, Dad wouldn't hurt anyone! He couldn't have been a part of this." Allison tried to reassure her brother a deep furrow in her brow. "Yesterday Nancy and Jonathan had acted so strangely when they found out about my Dad, I thought they just bought into the whole 'Russian spy' thing like everyone else." They sat in silence, the Edwards' in disbelief, Steve in worry, and Dustin in contemplation.

Allison glanced over at Dustin whose frown had deepened considerably as he thought. "Tomorrow, I say we try and draw Dart out. We'll go and buy as much meat as we can and lead him to a place away from everything, it's how Daniel and I got him in the cellar." Daniel nods in agreement.

"Once we've set up to catch Dart, I think Alli and Daniel should go talk to Mr Edwards, maybe you can gain some information, or he might be able to help. Hopper and Mrs Byers have been taking Will to the Lab every week since he came back, he says they are the good guys since pretty much everyone died when they tried to get Eleven back last year."

"Yeah, that's a no."

Dustin rolls his eyes at Steve who glared at the curly haired kid like he's grown a second head. "You've done enough, kid. Tomorrow we go to the station and we tell Hopper everything."

"You think I'm here with you because you were my first choice? Steve, I spent the entire day trying to get a hold of anyone! Hopper, Mike, Will, Lucas, Mrs Byers, Hell, even Nancy and Jonathan are M.I.A. We are the only ones around left to deal with this." Steve huffs in frustration, running a hand through his hair.

"If you want to leave, you don't have to be a part of this, Steve."

Steve scoffs, "I'm not gonna leave you to deal with this alone, shit-head." He rises from his spot on the floor beside Allison and wipes his hands on his jeans. "You shit-heads better get some sleep then, we're gonna need to get to the butchers early with the amount of meat we'll need." He sweeps a hand through his hair muttering, "Jesus, how is this my life?"

Allison rose to her feet with him quickly, pulling her pale pink sweater down nervously as she went. "Where are you going?" She demanded in a shrill tone as Steve began to climb the stairs.

"Uh, home?"

Allison shakes her and crosses her arms stubbornly. "No way in hell are you going off on your own, with that thing out there. We should stick together until it's safe." Allison didn't see the logic in separating, and if she was being honest she really didn't want Steve to leave them.

Steve shakes his head with a frown. "I'll be fine, and so will the three of you. I'll be back in like four hours." Allison takes a step towards him, her crystal blue eyes wide and pleading.

"Exactly, Steve it's four hours. Stay, and that way we know that you're safe and we can tackle this together. Please."

Steve stares at the girl before him, she was the nicest person he'd ever met while somehow still being sassy and full of ire. Ever since the party when Nancy had told Allison Barb was dead, the thought of her finding out about last year had been rolling around his head making him sick. And now it was happening again, and she was looking at him with genuine fear in her pretty eyes, the last thing he ever wanted to see in them. He wished he had somehow managed to keep her away from this.

He didn't like seeing her as anything but strong and annoying, so he nods in concession squeezing her tensed shoulder and hoping it will ease his friend. Allison relaxes with a sigh, her dimple showing as she smiles at him thankfully. Together they set the younger boys up for bed.

The boys fall asleep within moments, but Allison can't seem to calm down. This whole night had been insane and time in her own head wasn't helping to make any of it clearer. She sat up in her sleeping bag with a frustrated sigh and wiggled back against the wall before lifting her knees and wrapping her arms around them.

A part of her wished she had never gotten in that car, another part of her wished she hadn't pushed to get herself involved in all this. All of her wished Daniel wasn't involved. Allison couldn't believe that she believed them, but somehow, she did. It was the most insane story she had ever heard but she couldn't doubt them, the horror in their eyes was real, what happened last year haunted them.

It explained so much about each of them and Allison almost couldn't believe she couldn't see the underlying trauma before. Mike was angry and standoffish all the time and it wasn't from the opening song of puberty. Will was reserved and shy, Dustin had said he had always been quiet but being in the Upside Down had made him more so. Dustin and Lucas had seen things no one in the world was equipped to deal with. Nancy had lost her best friend and with Jonathan had shared an experience that Allison couldn't even begin to comprehend, it was a story she would one day like to hear entirely from them both.

And Steve, Steve had been an asshole in the wrong place at the wrong time and had somehow become a hero in the story Dustin told. Steve had shaken his head at the title claiming to be nothing more than a guy with more luck than brains. But Allison thought he was a hero; he went back into that house and he saved both Nancy and Jonathan. She could see now the burden of that choice on his shoulders, moments when he wanted to be the coward but knowing he had no choice but to stand up and fight.

It bothered her that all these young people had been forced to endure something like this at the hands of a bunch of scientists. Which brought her to what had kept her mind racing, despite the insanity of the story it was her Father's role that bothered her most. What did her Father know about all this? Was he involved in the experiments on Eleven?

Richard had started taking business trips to Hawkins nearly a year ago, the date of his first trip was just a few weeks before Will's disappearance. It lined up perfectly and that bothered her, the man she thought she knew could very well be the reason Eleven and Barb were dead, and the reason Will's death had been faked.

Allison realised she hadn't actually seen her father since Sunday when they had gone to the lookout together. He had told her he would be busy with his new assignment, but she didn't realise that meant he would never be home. Allison never even thought to ask when he came home at night, she had just assumed he was coming home when she was asleep, and leaving before she woke, but what if he wasn't even coming home?

What did her mother really know? Mary had always told them since they were little that Richard was a hero, a special scientist who helped the government to keep them safe. Was she covering for him or did she really think he was a hero?

A rustling from across the rooms breaks her out of her reverie and instantly she tenses. Sitting forward she can hear a quiet swish, the whisper growing in volume as it moved steadily toward her. Allison is about to rise when a body slides down the wall next to hers.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Allison relaxes and lets out a shaky breath, admitting that he had frightened her. "I would say get used to it, but you never do. You forget for a while, but it always comes back." His hand found hers in the dark and clutches it in support, Allison squeezes lightly.

"What were you thinking about, Edwards?" Steve queries in a whisper, his mouth so close to her ear, in an effort not to wake the boys, Allison swears she can feel his words. Of all the terrible things that had happened, Allison decided she was glad it was Steve holding her hand in the dark. Somehow in the short time, they had known each other she had become comfortable in his presence, maybe it was seeing him at his most vulnerable or maybe it was knowing he had her back with Billy and the others, but he kept her steady and she thought she might need that tomorrow.

"I was thinking that out of everything I've learned tonight, the thing that bothers me most is that I have lived my entire life thinking my Father was a hero, but I truly have no idea who my Dad really is. Like what if he's involved in all this? Am I supposed to, I don't know, shrug it off and go for a run with him? What do I tell my Mom?"

Allison can feel her throat close and begs herself not to cry in front of Steve Harrington. "I'm sorry, Allison." He's silent for a moment before murmuring again "I can't tell you whether your Dad is good or not, but I can tell you that I'm sure he loves you and he's doing what he thinks is best." He states, soothing her as his thumb runs up and down the back of her hand. "And don't tell your Mom anything yet, let's see where your Dad fits into all this first."

Allison nods in agreement, desperate to think of anything other than her Father. Settling against the wall again she nudges her shoulder against Steve's. "I think I've only ever heard you call me 'Allison' once before, it's troubling." He chuckles, continuing to hold her hand gently between them.

"Why is it troubling?"

Allison bite's her bottom lip before responding, humour lining her voice, "because it means we're like officially friends." She pauses with a quiet laugh, listening to his hair shifting against the wall when he turns his head toward her.

"I'm glad we're friends, Wastoid."

He chuckles again and nudges her back. Allison rests her head against the wall a small smile playing on her face at his laugh, she didn't hear him laugh very often, she likes it. "I'm glad too."

A comfortable silence falls between them and Allison feels herself dozing off when Steve speaks again. "How come you were at Nancy's house today?" Allison shrugs, knowing now that Nancy hadn't stood her up didn't make her feel better about the situation.

"Nancy left a note in my locker on Thursday asking me to meet her at her house. I thought she had like set me up or something, especially after how weird she was when she found out about my Dad." Allison sighed with a shake of her head. "What if Nancy and Jonathan think I'm involved in all this? Maybe that's why she invited me over." Allison groaned, pushing her hands through her hair roughly. "God, every time I think about them I just see the horrified looks they gave me, I can't stand the thought of them thinking I knew about all this."

Steve sat forward running his hands through his hair with a sigh of his own. "I don't know what Nance was thinking, but there is no way she thought you were involved in all this. More likely she was gonna tell you about it. Which is a sure-fire way to get us all killed."

"What do you mean?"

"After everything last year, people at the Lab threatened us all. Told us if we ever tried to go public, they would kill us and our families before we could. Nancy has been wanting to tell Barb's parents for a while, but I didn't want to risk it." He paused, wincing slightly. "I sound like a dick." Steve finished with a huff.

Shaking her head, Allison tries to reassure the teen beside her. "You aren't a dick for wanting to protect yourself and Nancy. I'm sorry you've had to go through all this." She pauses a moment, patting his shoulder briefly before dropping her hand back into her lap. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about you and Nancy, Steve. I hope you can work it out."

"Yeah, me too."

"Get some sleep, Edwards, I'll stay with you." He replies leaning back and brushing her shoulder against his. Allison accepts she isn't going to get anything else from him tonight and pushes herself back down, adjusting her pillow under her head and pulling her knees up to her chest. Sleep overcomes her quickly while the boy beside her watches over the darkroom, too deep in his own thoughts to ever consider sleep.