Chapter Sixteen

Keeping A Secret

Ronnie held tightly to the small radio that was in her grasp, her feet moving through the dead leaves that had fallen onto the forest floor. She was thankful for the Byers were living so close to the woods so it was easy for her to slip out and escape. There were times when Ronnie thought that she should give up. To stop searching for her. But there was a part of her that still felt that Eleven was out there, even if their connection was severed. The moment she passed by Castle Byers, she turned to the left and walked to the small opening where a fallen tree lay across the forest floor.

She quickly moved to straddle over the long and placed the worn-down radio on it in front of her. She switched through the channels till she came upon white noise. Quickly it drowned out the sound of small critters and birds around her. Veronica pulled out a bandanna that she'd stolen from Jonathan's room and tied it tightly around her eyes. She pulled her focus to the sound of the noise and let the vibrations of it move through her body. Soon enough she felt the familiar burning ice-cold feeling through her body. She cried out softly as her fingers grasped tightly on the material and pulled the bandanna from her eyes. When her dark eyes opened and looked around she saw nothing but darkness. A void that went on for ages and made a chill run through her body.

Veronica knew exactly where she was.

"El!?" You called out and could hear your voice echo out and slowly come back to you. "El? Please...can you hear me?"

She sat there for a moment waiting for her sister to call back to her. But like all the times before, there was nothing. No response or even a small sign of life. Ronnie felt her throat clog slightly as she felt her eyes fill with tears.

"El! Please!" She cried, her bottom lip quivering as the hot tears moved down her cheeks. "Please...I miss you! Can you hear me!"

But there was nothing, just the cold dark void surrounding her and making her feel more alone than she already was feeling. Veronica bowed her head and cupped her hand over her mouth as she began to cry softly to herself.

"Seven?!" a voice echoed back and made her head snap up, her eyes searched around her for a moment before it called back out again. "Seven?"

Then she felt it, it hit her right in the chest, strong enough to knock her back. Veronica's mind was pushed out of the void and back with her own body. She gasped loudly and pulled the bandanna off and expected to see El standing there in front of her. But there was nothing. Just the forest and the worn-down radio. She stumbled slightly as she rushed to stand from her seat and turned off the white noise.

"El?!" She called out and looked around again, but this time she didn't get a response. Instead, she heard footsteps. The sound of twigs snapping under the weight of something.

A spark of fear rushed through her as her head snapped toward the direction of the noise. Her body tensed for a moment as she readied herself into defense in case it was needed. But then she felt the familiar warmth reach out to her senses. She sagged slightly and relaxed her body.

"Jonathan?" She called out, just as the taller boy came through tall bushes that blocked her out from view.

"There you are" He sighed with relief, his hand reaching up and pushing his hair from his eyes. "You scared the hell out of me. I've been calling you for nearly fifteen minutes. Have you not heard me."

Ronnie's brows pulled tightly together as she shook her head, "N-No...I'm sorry."

Jonathan's eyes softened and looked around to see his old yellow travel radio sitting on the log behind her. His shoulders sagged understanding what she was doing out here. "Again?"

Ronnie hung her head slightly, fidgeting with the bandanna in her hands. "I-I have to keep trying."

"She's gone, Ronnie. As much as it hurts to say it, she's gone." Jonathan walked closer and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You heard what Mike and the rest of the kids said. Eleven sacrificed herself to save them from the Demogorgon. You're only hurting yourself more by doing this."

Ronnie reached up and wipe the stray tear that moved down her cheeks, "I can't give up on her. What if Will was still missing, would you give up on him?"

Jonathan shook his head, "No. I'd still fight and try to find him."

"Then how do you expect me to give up on, El?" Ronnie countered, staring up into his gaze.

"Ok, ok...I understand. I just hate seeing you all sad and disappointed when nothing comes out of it." Jonathan shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"I-I could've sworn I heard her this time...b-but...I don't know." Ronnie shook her head, pursing her lips slightly. "I could've just been my imagination. Wanting to hear her."

"I'm sorry," Jonathan whispered, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Come on let's get out of here, moms made dinner."

Veronica reached back and grabbed the radio from the log before walking side by side with Jonathan. The entire walk through the woods was in silence, the two of them walking into the house through the back door. Joyce was rushing around the kitchen getting the finishing touches of dinner done, with Bob setting the table. He smiled the moment he saw the two older kids come through the door.

"There you are! Thought we were gonna have to dine without you," Bob smiled, which caused Veronica to smile back.

She'd always liked Bob from the moment Joyce introduced him to them a few months ago. He gave her a warm and vibrant feeling that made her feel excited. It was hard to be in a bad mood around Bob. She knew that Jonathan was still a little apprehensive about him, but everyone could tell it was cause he was protective of his mother.

"Sorry, went for a little walk through the woods, needed to clear my mind." Ronnie quickly came up with an excuse.

"Everything ok?" Joyce whispered stepping up beside her, reaching a gentle hand to push away her curls and see Ronnie's face better.

"Yeah, yeah." Veronica forced a smile on her face, before stepping out of Joyce's reach and over to the table where Will was already sitting. "Hey, kiddo."

Will smiled up at her as she reached over and messed with his hair a little. Everyone gathered at the table and quickly started to fill their bowls and plates with the food that was placed in front of them. The more time that Veronica spent time and lived with the Byers the more she was falling in love with Joyce's cooking. Like tonight, spaghetti night was her favorite night. That sadness that she'd felt before quickly faded away as she talked and laughed with her family. Though El was always going to be her sister, the people sitting around with her now were making her feel like she was a part of them.

"You going to meet with Hopper this weekend again for your weekly lunches?" Joyce asked

"Yeah, I think so." Veronica shrugged her shoulders, "Kind of... hate going to the diner though. People won't stop staring at me. Would think after all this time it would be sort of...I don't know. Not as shocking."

"It's amazing that you're back. We lost Will and gained both of you kiddos back. I think it's sort of a miracle that you came back after twelve years." Bob explained, giving her a soft smile.

Ronnie nodded her head and sagged slightly.

"Do we believe that the story we came up with is believable? I was kidnapped and kept this entire time by a mysterious couple?" Ronnie asked as she sat with Jonathan in his bedroom, both their homework laid across his bed. Jonathan popped his head up at her

"This town isn't exactly filled with geniuses. I don't think that's too hard of a story to believe." He countered, shrugging his shoulders. "Why? You heard people questioning it?"

Ronnie shook her head, "No. But... can't help to think about it sometimes whenever I see people staring at me. I mean...I'm happy I don't know the truth alone, think that would really drive me insane."

"You know if you need to talk, I'm here for you. You don't have to keep it all in and suffer alone."

"I know...I know..." She quickly replied and shook her head, looking down at her books in front of her, before looking back up to Jonathan. Her heart squeezed when she saw the worried look on her face. "Weirdly...Steve's been there for me. Well, once."

"Steve? Steve Harrington?" Jonathan questioned.

"Yeah, he kind of caught me having a panic attack in the back of the library. I just...couldn't take it anymore and sort of crumbled in on myself. Felt like I was gonna freak and show my powers or something." Veronica shrugged her shoulders, "But Steve found me, kind of helped me out."

"Huh...that's good." Jonathan smiled slightly.

"You're good with him now right?" She paused and saw a confused look on his face, "I sort of heard about the stuff that happened last year, before everything."

"Steve's better now than he used to be. Wasn't exactly the nicest person last year, but...I think this all humbled him a little but I don't know. Also, think Nancy has something to do with it too."

"Ooo, Nancy." She smirked "We still pretending you don't have a massive crush on her?"

Jonathan scoffed and shook his head, "She helped with Will and everything, drawing that monster away so that he could be pulled out. I can't exactly go around ignoring her now."

"Hmm, that's true." Veronica shrugged her shoulders.

A frown slowly started to pull down on her lips as flashes of that night came back to her. How one second she was with Will and the next was back at the Byer's home feeling like her entire body was on fire. It sent a small shiver through her body slightly. A part of her wanted to tell Jonathan about her flashes back to the Upside Down. But she wasn't sure if it was her actually going back, or her mind playing tricks on her. Cause the reaction her body normally goes through when her teleportation doesn't happen whenever she snaps back to the Upside Down.

"Hey, you ok?" Jonathan's voice pulled her back from her thoughts, "Kind of zoned out there on me for a second."

"Uh...y-yeah, I'm good. Sorry." Veronica shook her head, "Let's uh...get back to this math homework, one week in and this class is already making my head hurt."

Jonathan laughed lightly and nodded his head, missing the worried look that came back across Ronnie's face as she looked down at him. The secret she was keeping slowly made her feel sick to her stomach.

AN: Thank you to those that are still reading/reviewing/liking this story. Seeing the little alerts motivate me more to keep making this story for you. But to the anon that pointed out that Ronnie used the term "Upside Down" I know it was Mike who coined that term, but it's a fanfic and I can do whatever I want this the materials given in front of me. So I had Ronnie call it the Upside Down too. And to the other comment you made, Lonnie is the Byers kids father's name. Not another nickname for Veronica/Seven. I also placed this story on my AO3 if you guys are on there as well. Moniker is: ever_writes. I also have a Eddie inster story being produced there as well!