Chapter Thirty-Seven

Finally Eighteen

Veronica sat on her small bed and listened as footsteps walked past her room. Left to right, left to right. The lights out happened nearly an hour ago indicating that she, along with the rest of the children, was to be asleep. But Veronica couldn't even be willing to overtake her running mind. Instead, she was occupied listening as a new person walked past her door and the shadows danced across the room.

Today was one of her rougher days when it came to sessions with Papa and one of the technicians. Her head was still pounding from the extensive use of her powers. The only thing that brought a little solace today was playtime in the Rainbow room and being able to spend time with Eleven. Lately, the others were giving her more trouble, letting her be the new victim of their sad games. It broke her heart to see her sitting alone while the others laughed and joked at her expense.

Veronica knew that she couldn't do much with the cameras and Papa watching while they all day within the playroom. But she, deep down, knew that none of them were going to touch the young girl while she was around. It was when Veronica couldn't be there that she felt afraid for her. In the ten years that she'd been here, Veronica knew the game that Papa was playing with not intervening with the bullying toward Eleven. He wanted to see how far she could be pushed before breaking and how that would affect her powers. The same happened to her years ago, that was how it was discovered that, unlike the others, Veronica was able to teleport.

The sound of the door opening snapped Veronica out of her thoughts and back to the present. She sat up quickly and became more alert when she noticed that her room door was opening. Veronica moved up her bed and cowered slightly in the corner against the wall the bed was pressed against. But the moment the form standing in the doorway became more recognizable, Veronica relaxed slightly.

"Sorry, little one didn't mean to scare you," His voice spoke, stepping more into the room.

The light of the hallway shone in her room causing a glow to form around his tall and slender frame. Blonde hair somehow seemed whiter than usual.

"It's ok, Henry," She sighed softly and reached up to rub a hand over her tired eyes. "Just scared me for a little moment."

Henry nodded his head and checked the hallway once more, before speaking again. "I wanted to come and make sure that you were ok. Know it was a little harder today during some sessions earlier."

Veronica's shoulder sagged slightly as she stared up at him and nodded her head slowly. Henry was one of the technicians that worked closely with Papa, and the only one that was kind to her. Veronica felt a closeness to Henry, something of what she'd imagine a big brother would be like – or at least from what she knew from the books in the Rainbow Room. Henry sighed heavily, moved to kneel in front of her, and gently caressed the side of her face, seeing the bruising forming around her eye from when Papa hit her. Veronica winced slightly causing Henry to drop his hand quickly.

"Hate how rough he's been with you lately." Henry frowned slightly and dropped his hand down into his lap.

"Papa is just mad nothing is going as planned." Veronica spoke, her voice soft, "He's been weird ever since he made me go under a few months ago."

Henry nodded his head, "Doesn't mean that he needs to take his frustrations out on you. He's not doing it with any of the others."

"We all know that some of the others are more favorites than me at the moment."

Henry frowned and nodded his head, before reaching into his back pocket and handing something out to her. Veronica's brows pulled together in confusion before she noticed the all-familiar logo staring back up at her. Hersey's Chocolate Bar. The corners of her lips turned up as she stared down at the familiar chocolate bar. Her hand reached down and grabbed it before moving to slip it under her pillow, saving the sweet treat for later.

"Thank you,"

"Of course, it's not every day that you turn sixteen." Henry smiled up at her.

Veronica groaned slightly as she slowly started to wake up with the sounds of the birds outside the windows happily chirping. Her dark eyes opened and stared up toward the ceiling for a moment as the sleep started to fade away from her mind. But she lay there, Veronica wasn't able to figure out if her dreams were simple or a memory. One thing she was certain of, was that it was her birthday. Only this time it wasn't her sixteenth but her eighteenth. Though in the eyes of the world and law, Veronica was technically an adult. Able to go out and buy a packet of cigarettes and put a down payment on a car. But she still very much still felt like a child. Unable to figure out what she was to do or who she was.

She slowly moved out of bed and started to get ready for the day. Thankfully it was a Saturday meaning that she didn't have to be bothered with school. The last thing she was in the mood for was dealing with Tommy, Billy, and the rest of that group. She slipped on a pair of jeans with a fresh tshirt before heading out of her bedroom. Already the sound of the television being on in the living room welcomed her with the sweet smell of breakfast cooking. Walking out into the main part of the home, she saw Will sitting on the couch still in his pajamas from the night before.

"Hey, kiddo." Veronica smiled, moving past the back of the couch and ruffling the top of his head, messing up his brown hair.

"Hey!" He jumped slightly and looked up at her with a playful glare, swatting his hands up at her hands.

Veronica giggled slightly and continued walking toward the kitchen where she knew that either Jonathan or Joyce was cooking breakfast. And when she turned in through the small archway, she was greeted by a familiarly frantic Joyce. Dressed in her uniform for work as she danced around the kitchen. At the sound of Veronica's footsteps, her head popped up with a bright smile came across her face.

"Oh, sweetheart!" Joyce set down the mug, presumably filled with coffee, and rushed towards Veronica with open arms. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," Veronica smiled slightly, her arms wrapping around the older woman. She found comfort in the short embrace, before stepping back out of her arms. "Jonathan up yet?"

"No, he's already gone for the morning. Something about developing photos at school for the school paper." She shrugged "But I made pancakes!"

Veronica giggled slightly at her obvious excitement and moved to take a seat at the table. It was only moments later that Joyce set the place down in front of her. Stacked pancakes sat in front of her with a dollop of whipped cream on top. The sweet smell of the food in front of her caused her stomach to growl loudly.

"So, any big plans today?" Joyce asked, leaning against the counter and holding onto her mug, taking a small sip after asking her questions.

Veronica shrugged as she started cutting into the stacks, "Steve has a basketball game tonight, and Robin's playing in the band for the game...so planned on going there."

"Nothing planned afterward?"

Veronica shook her head slowly as she placed a large forkful of food into her mouth moaning softly as it seemed to melt in her mouth.

"You're turning eighteen! I feel like that's something to be so excited about. I remember all the trouble I used to get into with my friends, especially when I turned eighteen. We went out and bought our first legal packet of cigarettes, and headed out to a strip club in the city."

Veronica's eyebrows shot up, "What's a strip club?"

Joyce's eyes widened for a moment, stumbling for words. "A place that adults can go, once you're over eighteen. Guess that's something I really shouldn't be telling you, huh?"

Veronica shrugged "I don't really feel like an adult. I mean, I still have another year of high school and feel behind with everything compared to others at school. Jonathan's technically months younger than me, and he seems older."

"Oh, baby," Joyce frowned and shook her head, "That's nothing to be ashamed about. You've also been through more than most kids your age and more mature than any other teenager that I have come across."

Veronica blushed slightly as she took a few more bites from her plate. "Thanks, Joyce."

She nodded with a small smile before finishing her coffee and setting it down into the empty sink as Joyce walked by and bent down to press a gentle kiss to the top of Veronica's head. Veronica felt a flare of warmth moving through her body from the affection she always showed her.

"Will still going to Mike's today?" Joyce asked, Veronica was able to hear her moving around the living room as she gathered her things for work.

"Yeah," Will spoke up.

"Ok, please make sure to stick at the Wheeler's, and call me at work if you end up leaving or need anything alright?"

Veronica heard the younger boy muffle a response to her mother just before the sound of the front door opening and closing. Veronica finished her breakfast before cleaning up what was left in the kitchen. The sound of cartoons is the background noise for Saturday morning.

She didn't have much thought about what she wanted to do for her birthday, or exactly what she was expecting. Birthdays weren't something that was celebrated within the cold walls of Hawkins Lab. It wasn't long after Veronica had things cleaned up that Jonathan came walking through the front door. She could hear him talking with Will in the living room before the sounds of his footsteps leading toward the kitchen. She turned and faced the doorway just as he walked through. His face lit up into a smile that made his brown eyes warm up slightly. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes as he walked closer to her.

"Happy birthday, Ronnie," Jonathan spoke, before reaching through his backpack and pulling out a wrapped package.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Veronica blushed, a bit of excitement coming over her as Jonathan placed the small package in her hands.

"Are you kidding me? Of course, I do. Now go...open it." He spoke, his body language changing slightly as he became slightly nervous.

"Are you giving her the present?" a small voice spoke before Veronica could rip into the crinkled wrapping paper. Will came rushing into the small kitchen from the living room to stand beside her brother. "You gave it to her without me!"

"Sorry," Jonathan whispered slightly, his cheeks reddening from his little brother's scolding.

"It's from both of us Ronnie," Will smiled proudly.

The excitement in the room was enough to have Veronica feel like her entire body was buzzing with electricity. She bit down on her lower lip slightly before grabbing the edge of the package and ripping away at the paper. Within the paper was a small box, her brows pulled together slightly with confusion before opening it again. A small gasp left Veronica's lips as she stared down at the small picture framed in front of her.

Her dark eyes began to water slightly as she stared down at the smiling faces. Both Jonathan and Will looked at one another with confusion again mistaking her tears for her being upset. Instead of her body filling with the familiar and comforting feeling of warmth. The photo was of Joyce, Will, Veronica, and Jonathan from the Christmas before. It was Veronica's first official Christmas, that she could remember, and the Byers had gone all out. It was a dual frame, one that folded out into two. And in the other was a photo of Veronica sitting on the couch, from the same day, with her father.

"We couldn't find the one with El, but we thought you'd still like the photos," Jonathan spoke, causing her eyes to move from the photo and up to him. "You said that was the day you felt like you fully had a family, and thought you'd want a reminder."

A small whimper left her lips as she gently set the photos down on the table, before quickly moving toward the two boys standing in front of her. Veronica wrapped her arms around him tightly and pulled him in close as she let the emotions fully run through her.

"Thank you, thank you." Veronica sniffled as she tightened the hug she had on both of them. "Means so much to me."

"You're welcome, Ronnie." Will's small voice came from her side.

She stepped back slowly and reached up to wipe away the tears on her cheeks, a beaming smile looking back at both of the Byers brothers.

"Best brother's a girl could ask for, thank you," Veronica spoke.

Hearing her call them her brothers was something that Jonathan couldn't fully get used to. Each time it hit him in the chest in the best way. He still held onto a little guilt from months before becoming more immersed in what Nancy was going through, instead of being there for Veronica. Even if Veronica was technically a few months older than him, he couldn't help but feel that she was his little sister. And that he needed to protect her, love her, and be there for her no matter what.

"You still need me to give you a ride to the game tonight?" Jonathan asked

Veronica nodded her head quickly as she stared up at him, "Can you pick up Robin too? Her mom can't drop her off for band cause of work, we'd just have to go a little earlier than normal."

"No problem, I'm stuck on newspaper duty and have to take photos of the game, it'll just give me more time to set up," Jonathan spoke

Veronica hugged him again with a quick thank you before rushing toward the phone that sat against the wall in the kitchen. She dialed up Robin's home number and only heard it ring a few times before her friend's voice came through on the other side.

"Jonathan said he can get you, so we should be there in a couple of hours," Veronica spoke.

"Thank god, thought I was gonna have to ask Becky for a ride. And that girl scares me, how she passed her driving test, I'll never understand," Robin chuckled softly.

"You're still coming with me to Steve's right?" Veronica spoke with a little hesitance in her voice. "The after party for the team,"

"I will never understand how the teams throw party's knowing they're gonna lose." Robin sighed heavily "And you're really gonna make me hang out with those people? You do know most going are people that make fun of you right?"

"Steve isn't like that," Veronica defended quickly "He's excited to be able to host the party, think I should support him as my friend no?"

"You two are a little bit more than friends," Robin smirked, her words causing Veronica to blush. "Don't those people hate him now too? Gave Billy the crown as King of Hawkins."

"I'm sure it has more to do with Steve's parents being out of town and he can use his dad's money and swing over the town to get booze." Veronica sighed and paused for a moment. "So are you coming or not?"

Robin paused for a long moment, before finally answering "You owe me big, big time,"

"It's my birthday, doesn't whatever I want to go for the rest of the day?" Veronica giggled

"Don't push your luck, Ronnie."

AN: So, so sorry for the late update and kind of disappearing for a moment there. A lot going on with personal stuff and just not really finding time to write with everything that's going on recently. But I am hoping to find more time coming up since writing is my happy place. Please leave a comment, or anything really, about this update. Little intro of Henry there, and more of him to come before we dive deep into S3 & S4! I'm really excited to explore more about Steve and Veronica now that they've sort of started to become a little more than friends.