Carmen flinched slightly as Jonathan tapped her on the shoulder. She looked at him with curious eyes. Her heart hurt a little, knowing she was withholding knowledge about his little brother from someone who was kind enough to take her in during a storm.

"Here you go," he told her. Her brows furrowed as she tried to understand what he meant. He held out a neatly-folded stack of clothes for her to grab. "These are clean - promise."

"I don't–"

"They're dry, I mean. I think we have the same size."

Carmen's mouth hung open. "Right, of course. Thank you."

Jonathan sized her up once more. He had never seen her in Hawkins before, that was for sure, and he knew pretty much everyone that lived in town by sight. She was shivering and her clothes were drenched from the rain. So was her dark hair, which now stuck to the sides of her face in drying curls.

"Uhm, bathroom?" she suddenly asked.

He blinked, startled out of his thoughts, then shook his head and chuckled nervously. "Of course," he said.

He walked over to his door, cracking it open slightly before poking his head out and checking either side of the hall. He waved Carmen over, who carefully weaved her way around him and into the hallway.

"Down the hall to your left, you can't miss it. Just make sure to be quiet."

Carmen nodded. "Got it. Thank you."

She tip-toed down the carpeted hallway, holding the dry clothes she had been given away from her wet ones.

Jonathan was incredibly kind to even let her in his house, but Carmen couldn't lie and say that the thought of leaving the house and running didn't cross her mind.

How was she supposed to know if Jonathan wouldn't call the cops while she was in the bathroom? He had no reason to let her stay. Surely his mind was on way more important things.

Like his little brother disappearing.

She shook off the image of the little boy rushing past her on his bike, how she hid behind a tree when that thing came running after him.

She could have - should have - helped.

Before Carmen could fall into another spiral of self-loathing, she quietly opened the door to the bathroom and slipped inside.

She turned on the light and began to peel off her wet clothing carefully.

They fell to the floor in a wet squelch - first the pants, then the oversized sweatshirt. Her underwear was soaked as well, so she took it off too.

Before Carmen grabbed the towel Jonathan had given her, she inspected herself in the mirror with a sigh, knowing she looked like a mess.

Her eyes were underlined with dark circles from the lack of sleep. There were still faint red marks on her wrists from her time at Pennhurst.

The memory of that place made her recoil.

She didn't want to keep thinking of it, so she grabbed the towel and started drying herself off.

She was starting to get warmer, there was a comforting chill running up and down her body.

Carmen hadn't been taken care of so well in over a year, maybe ever.

Her hair still clung to her face, and the feeling of it started annoying her.

She assembled her mess of wet curls and slipped them into the rubber band she'd swiped out of the drugstore a town over, along with some food she had desperately needed.

The clothes Jonathan had given her were well-worn, but fitting for the weather.

She stepped into the sweatpants and pulled them up, tightening the band to keep them from sagging.

Then she slipped on the flannel, tucking it into the band of the pants.

Before she snuck back out into the hallway and to Jonathan's room, Carmen gave herself another look-over.

She would give anything for a warm shower but knew she was already stretching Jonathan's altruism.

Carmen wrapped her wet clothes up in the towel before turning off the lights in the bathroom and quietly slipping from the room on her bare feet.

As she snuck back to Jonathan's room, her eyes wandered to the pictures on the wall, where two boys were proudly displayed, getting older in each passing picture frame. One was Jonathan, and the other one she assumed was his little brother.

She stopped in front of a picture of three people. Jonathan, his brother, and their mother.

A smile formed on her face as she found herself wishing to have had a family like this.

Suddenly, the news report flashed in her mind again. Her parents. They had escaped from prison.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath.

Carmen quickly slipped back into Jonathan's room. He looked up and smiled at her.

"They fit," he said, his voice a nervous mess. Carmen looked down at herself. "Well, kinda, I guess."

He was clearly nervous around girls. She was unsure if that was charming or pathetic.

She smiled. "Thank you again for the clothes…and for letting me stay here, of course."

He nodded, laughing under his breath. "I realize it's really crazy to do this. I mean, you must think I'm some idiot to let a stranger stay in my house."

"Or a serial killer," she threw in jokingly.

Jonathan shook his head, letting out another laugh. "No, I'm just…just dealing with a lot right now."

There was a sudden pang in her heart. She dropped her head, fully ashamed of keeping information from this boy. Information that could be useful.

But how could she tell him that she saw a monster in the woods? She didn't quite believe her own eyes, despite the things she herself could do.

"My brother, Will…he disappeared last night."

"I saw the cops looking for him in the woods."

Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, they're doing a search. I don't know how much that's going to do though."

"You think something bad happened to him?"

"I know he wouldn't just disappear without saying something. Not Will," he replied, dropping onto his bed. "It's all my fault anyways."

Carmen hesitantly sat down next to him, unsure if he was okay with that kind of intimacy. "Why do you say that?"

He sighed, biting down on his thumb before dropping his hand back down.

"I'm sorry, you don't even know me. I'm being nosey," Carmen told him, waving her hands around.

"No, it's fine," he said, looking up at her.

Their eyes met again. There was something so trustworthy in hers.

She smiled at him warmly.

If there was one thing Carmen didn't resent about her mother (the woman she believed to be her mother, anyway), it was how she instilled a sense of empathy in her. Ironically, it was something she herself seemed to lack completely.

"I was supposed to pick him up from his friend's place and watch over him. But…" he sighed again. "I just thought we could use some extra money, so I took an extra shift at work. I mean, Will isn't that little anymore. He knows his way around this town. I thought he would be fine getting home and putting himself to bed."

He rubbed over his thighs, shaking his head. Carmen could tell this was weighing heavily on him - understandably so. She needed to distract him somehow.

"That's a lovely picture," she told him, pointing at his bureau.

Jonathan looked over at the image of his mother and Will, cheesing into the camera in front of Castle Byers. They hadn't had a lot of happy moments in recent memory but Jonathan always tried to shield Will away from their family's woes.

"Thanks. I took that," he waved his hand around, trying to remember when exactly it was taken. "A couple of months back. It was during summer break."

"You took that?" Carmen asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Jonathan nodded. "I like photography. It's a passion of mine. Probably my main passion, if I'm honest."

"Well, you've clearly got the talent. I should have you take my yearbook photos in the future."

He laughed. Mission accomplished.

"I don't think it's your fault," she said after a beat of silence. He looked up at her. "There's nothing wrong with trying to make some extra money for your family. It's quite admirable, actually."

"Not when you're supposed to be looking after your little brother."

Carmen sighed. She figured there was nothing she could say to convince him that he wasn't at fault, no matter how much she believed that to be true.

"Just know I don't think it's your fault. And that I'm sure your brother will come home soon."

There was another beat of silence before both kids flinched, their heads snapping in the direction of the door to Jonathan's room.

Something shuffled around outside in the hallway and Jonathan was quick to gently push Carmen behind his bed.

Carmen crouched next to it, holding her breath as the footsteps in the hall approached the door. There was a soft knock, followed by silence as Jonathan contemplated responding. He could hardly explain the girl in his bedroom away.

"Jonathan?" Joyce asked softly. Another beat of silence. "Are you up?"

It hurt him to do it, but Jonathan stayed silent. He could talk to his mother in the morning when his guest had left.

Joyce sighed softly, and then the footsteps retreated until the door to the next room was opened and closed softly.

Carmen slowly came up, poking her head out from behind the bed.

"It's fine, you can come up," he whispered, holding back a laugh at the sight of the top of her head poking up behind his bed.

She pushed herself up on her palms and sat down next to him again. Shyly, she smiled at him. "How come you didn't answer?"

Jonathan gave her a look. "Because you're in my room and I don't know how to explain that away?"

Carmen laughed. "Right. Sorry."

"It's fine. I just need to collect my thoughts. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

She snuck a glance at his alarm. It was past midnight already. "We should probably go to sleep. Gotta continue my escape well-rested," she told him, only half joking.

"So what are you hiding from?"

Now Carmen fiddled with her thumbs. She didn't want to tell him about her past and didn't feel like she should have to. At the same time, he had laid his emotions out to her and it felt wrong to not show him that same courtesy.

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable."

"No, it's okay," she said. She looked up at him. "It's just…family issues," she added, waving her hands around. "My parents are not…nice people. And I would like to start over."

Jonathan simply nodded. "Got it. I won't ask anything else."

"Thanks," Carmen told him, a genuine smile forming on her face. It felt good to be heard and respected.

A moment of silence passes between them, their eyes meeting. His are warm but saddened by recent events. Hers are harder, but the softness that was once there is not entirely gone.

Finally, Carmen pushed herself off his bed once more and carefully lay down on the carpeted floor.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She shot him a puzzled look, one brow cocked. "Going to sleep?"

"You can have the bed. I'll take the floor."

"No way. I've used your kindness enough for tonight."

Jonathan shook his head, grabbing a pillow and throwing it on the floor. He then walked over to his closet and pulled out a blanket.

"Nonsense. You're not using me. I'd be a dick to just let you wander around outside."

As if on cue, another heavy rumble of thunder rang out, causing Carmen to flinch as Jonathan sat on the ground and pulled the blanket over his body.

"It's fine. This house is…sturdy enough."

Carmen chuckled, hesitating before sitting down on Jonathan's bed.

She truly felt awful, for using this boy's trust while keeping information about his brother's disappearance that he may be able to use to find him. But would he believe her if she did tell him the truth? She sounded crazy in her own head.

She tucked herself in, trying to get settled. She really would need sleep to have some more energy in the morning.

"Good night," she said softly.

"Night," Jonathan said.

The thoughts about Will and the monster kept her up for another hour, or maybe two (she stopped looking at the alarm eventually). Soon enough, the sound of Jonathan softly snoring next to her and the rain hitting the roof of the house lulled her into a dreamless sleep.