Summary: Benjamin Rosales-Hopper never expected much from the small town of Hawkins. A small group of friends, persistent bullies, and former unrequited crushes were all the classic staples of what he believed would make up the rest of his high school life. However, when Will Byers disappears and strange dreams invade Ben's sleep one November night, he and his friends realize that something dark lays behind its tranquil exterior.
Pairing: Steve Harrington/Male OC
Changes to Character(s): N/A
Spoilers To: Stranger Things (S1-S4)
Type of Story: Chapter-Filled
Ben didn't sleep the entire night, too focused in trying to call the dagger to him to even bother to close his eyes for more than a second—afraid he would lose any progress if he stopped.
As he practiced using his abilities, he noticed it only worked if he focused on his emotions or memories, specifically ones with happier and hopeful tones. The only drawback that came with his powers were the painful seconds his hands would suffer to make his hand simply glow.
That and the constant nosebleeds.
After hours of concentration and determination, he could envelope his hand in a glowing light with a minimal amount of pain. On the other hand, he had zero luck in creating a dagger—no matter how hard he tried
Soon, he found himself staring out the window as the sun began to rise across the sky, his energy low from strenuous work.
He should've taken a nap at least.
Ben heard an alarm sounding from the room across the hall—followed by a series of groans from his demanding host—reminding him of where he was.
Looking down at his lap, he remembered the piles of bloody tissues he had used to clean himself during the night and rushed to gather them all before rushing to the bathroom to dump them in the little trash bin. He heard a knock coming from outside the room and walked over to it, trying to act like he didn't clean up a crime scene.
When he opened the door, he saw a tired Steve standing in front of him with a pile of clothes in his hands.
"Here's some clothes," Harrington uttered, his voice croaking tiredly. "You can leave the pjs on the bed, and I'll clean them later."
"Okay," Ben said, cautiously accepting the garments. He pointed at the tangled mess that was the other boy's hair. "I'm guessing Briar Rose didn't get her beauty sleep?"
The junior glared at him. "Haha, so funny. At least, I don't have bags under my eyes. Did you even sleep last night?"
"That is none of your business," he answered, looking behind him. "Where's Nancy? She's normally up at this time."
"She—Uh," Steve hesitated. "She left thirty minutes before I found you in the living room. She managed to catch a taxi before they closed for the night. She thought the two of you left already."
"Oh."
He must've missed her in his search for Barb, too busy looking around the woods to have seen her.
Ben nodded. "Thanks for the clothes."
He closed the door before Steve could say anything else. Quickly changing attire in the bathroom, he tried his best to control his hair before he went downstairs to find the junior. It didn't take him long to find the boy—spreading butter across some pieces of toast.
He had already changed. His hair was perfectly fixed into his famous pompadour. He wore a simple, white collared shirt with thin stripes running across it.
"All you need is a sweater around your neck, and you'd be the perfect prep boy," Ben said, stealing a slice from the other boy's plate. He ignored Steve's protest and took a bite. "I need a ride home to get my backpack."
"Not after you just ate my toast," he grumbled. "You could've at least asked. Plus, won't your dad see I'm dropping you off?"
"He'd be gone by now," the sophomore said, sadness lingering when he continued. "Ever since my sister died . . . cases involving kids feel more personal to him."
Steve only nodded.
Most of the town was aware of the circumstances surrounding the Hopper family. The town gossipers were quick to dig into their history and discovered a multitude of fresh wounds: cancer, Sara's death, the divorce—all leading to the surprising return to Hawkins.
It was overwhelming at first for Ben, used to New York's loud and uncaring atmosphere. The questions and stares he received from kids and adults alike were something he never expected once he stepped foot in the small town.
Ben shook the thought out of his head. "I doubt he even noticed I was gone."
"Yeah, I'll take you," Steve said after a moment. "Anything else, Your Highness?"
"I'll take another toast, thanks," Ben smirked, snatching the plate. "Amends and all that. Do you have hot chocolate?"
After cleaning up the kitchen, they gathered their stuff and got into the car and headed in the direction of Lover's Lake—closing his eyes in hopes of getting some rest. Once they arrived, Ben told the other boy to stay in the car while he went to get his stuff; a suspicious feeling nagging at the back of his mind.
It didn't take long for them to gather his backpack and other supplies from his house, the only signs indicating his dad was even there was a half-filled cup of coffee—still steaming on the kitchen table.
Hoping he didn't have to ride to school with Steve, he searched for his truck's keys, but they were missing from their spot.
Maybe he did notice I was gone.
He made his way to the car where the Hawkins King was singing along with the radio, his voice slightly raspy and soft-spoken.
He cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, my dad took my keys. I need a ride."
Steve nodded, patting the passenger seat. "Cute trailer, by the way."
They were silent as they made their way to school, letting the music speak for them. Ben was honestly surprised by the lack of conversation. The boy who relied on his charm and smooth talk to enamor others had nothing to say—an unusual feat for him that made Ben wary.
He waited, hoping to hear a single word or noise from him.
Nothing
He waited some more.
Nothing.
"Just spit it out, Harrington," Ben sighed, too tired to even sound annoyed. "I don't have the energy for all this."
He wasn't really a morning person, and his Walkman was at home, denying him the much needed mental recharge. How he would kill to hear some Stevie Nicks right now . . .
"Yet you have enough for your witty remarks," Steve rebutted, raising an eyebrow at him before looking back at the road. "I'm honored."
"You're avoiding the question," he said, seeing the slight tightening of the other boy's hands as he gripped the steering wheel. The car slowly came to a stop in the middle of the street, the school not even in sight. "Why did we stop?"
The popular boy bit his lip, appearing to already regret his decision. "I'm sorry, Benji . . . but you're going to have to walk the rest of the way."
Ben scoffed. "It's a couple of streets away."
"I know."
"Then, why can't you—"
Realization dawned on him, putting a bitter taste in his mouth. "You don't want anyone to see us together."
"Look," Harrington pleaded, a sad look in his eyes, "if Tommy and Carol find out we were hanging, just the two of us—"
"Of course," he interjected, grabbing his backpack from the car floor. Too angry to listen to anymore. "I'll just get out of your ridiculously tall hair."
He pushed the door open and marched his way down the sidewalk, ignoring the pleas coming from the BMW. Steve began to trail alongside him—causing a line of cars to form behind him—begging him to get back in the car and talk.
Not wanting to attract any more attention, Ben decided to take a short cut through the small stretch of woods—feeling a flickering pain in his palms.
I guess anger works too.
• - • - • - •
Ben decided to hide in the library until first period, knowing Steve would never step foot in this section of the building. He waited until the bell rang before making his way to class, seeing Nancy already sitting in her assigned seat.
He sat behind her and started to pull out his binder when the brunette turned around to face him. "Hey, do you know where Barb is? She hasn't shown up yet."
He turned to the seat next to him, seeing empty space. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since she left Harrington's house last night."
"You didn't leave with her?" Nancy asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"No, we stayed behind to wait for you," Ben explained, "but then she just vanished when I went to get her a first aid kit. I thought she must've gone home or to your place."
"What about when you left?" she continued. "Did you see her car?"
He shook his head, not wanting to mention he stayed the night and left with her boyfriend. "I was too tired to pay attention."
"Hmm," she said, tapping the edge of her seat. "I-I'll try and ask around to see if anyone knows where she's at."
Ben nervously glanced at her. "You don't think something bad happened to her, do you?"
"I don't know," Nancy muttered. "I mean, it's Barb. There's no chance—"
"Okay, class!" their English teacher Mr. Hauser announced, "Today, we are going to continue our discussion about the Lord of the Flies."
The brunette frowned. "We'll talk after class."
Once the bell rang, they began to ask some of their classmates in-between classes if they had seen Barb. However, they would receive the same answers every time, his frustration growing with every statement. No, I haven't seen her. Shouldn't you know? Isn't she your friend?
Ben even searched for an old middle school friend of Barb's, but she was quick to suggest that maybe she ran away—saying that the redhead once hated Hawkins and had made plans to escape town with her.
"I mean, do you really want to be stuck in this shitty town? She may have seen an opportunity and took it." Robin Buckley stated before putting her headphones on, repeating Spanish phrases as she walked down the hallway.
He eventually met up with Nancy at her locker where she was chewing her thumb as he told her the news. Their once optimistic spirits plummeted even lower.
"Tommy and Carol!" she exclaimed, gripping onto his hand and pulling him towards the cafeteria. "Maybe they saw her as they were leaving. I have lunch with them now. If you skip class, we can ask them together."
"They left much later than Barb," he told her, squeezing her hand. "I don't think they'd know anything."
"We have to make sure," Nancy insisted, stopping when they reached the lunchroom doors. "Come on, please."
Ben stared at her, her blue eyes shining with frightened tears. Dammit, Nance.
He nodded, sighing as they went through the doors.
They each grabbed a tray and made their way through the lunch line—the cafeteria ladies not even batting an eye at his unscheduled appearance. They walked towards a table where Steve and his two friends were casually eating, unaware of the panic flowing through the two newcomers.
Tommy's voice was the first one they heard as they approached them. "That's why science doesn't make any damn sense to me."
"No, I swear," Carol persisted, her foot placed in the middle of the table. She appeared concerned over a red rash around her ankle. "Look at this. It's totally frostbite."
"Oh, thanks, man." her boyfriend said, accepting a pudding cup from Steve before turning back to her. "It's a heated pool.
"Well, if it's not frostbite, then what is it?"
Steve looked disgusted, waving his spoon around. "Ugh, I don't care what it is, it's disgusting! Get it off the table. We're eating here. "
"Ew!" Carol shouted as Tommy neared her ankle with his spoon, making him laugh when she slapped his hand.
Steve raised an eyebrow at Ben as he pulled a chair from a neighboring table to sit next to Nancy, not wanting to be anywhere near him or Carol. "Don't you have second lunch today?"
"There's been a change of plans," Ben said, dismissing him with a wave. He was still bitter about this morning, and the fact that he had to hang out with them on one of the few days he didn't have to see them wasn't helping. "We have questions."
"Hey, Tommy," Nancy began, leaning forward. "When you left, did you see Barb?"
The dark-haired boy looked indifferent at her question. "What?"
"Barbara," she continued. "She's not here today."
"I seriously have no idea who you're talking about," Tommy H insisted, chuckling as if she told him a joke.
Steve, seeing the worried look on his girlfriend's face, decided to interject. "Come on, don't be an ass, man. Did you . . . you see her leave last night or not?"
"No, she was gone when we left."
"What about her car?" Ben asked, earning an annoyed glare from his bully. "It's a light blue Volkswagen Cabrio. It was parked around three blocks away from Steve's house."
Tommy rolled his eyes. "I don't know. We were . . . distracted when we left. She probably went home or something."
"Probably couldn't stand listening to all that moaning," Carol added, staring at Steve and Nancy. Tommy chuckled as his girlfriend began to mockingly moan, loudly reenacting the other couple's night. "Oh, Steve . . . Oh, Steve!"
Tommy began to join her: grunting, humping the air, and banging the table—attracting an embarrassing amount of attention from nearby students.
Steve looked amused as they prolonged their act. "Okay, chill."
"This isn't funny," Ben interrupted, making everyone go silent. "We're worried about her."
"Listen . . ." Harrington started, guilt shining in his eyes as he looked at him. He was unsure if it was because of their last interaction or from the seriousness in Ben's tone. "I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just . . . she's probably just, like, skipping or something."
"Yeah," Nancy said, looking down at her lap. "Yeah, probably."
Ben shook his head, looking around until he caught sight of Jonathon standing in outside hallways. He gave him a small way before the Byers boy escaped his view.
First, it was Will . . . Now, Barb.
"Hey, Steve," a girl called (He believed her name was Nicole?), standing next to him. She appeared to be upset. "Can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure," the popular boy answered, getting up before turning towards his girlfriend. "I'll be back."
For the rest of the day, time became a blur that only returned to normal when the final bell of the day rang. Seeing that they were finally free, the two friends made their way to the phone booth located in front of the school. There were only two other people who may know where Barb was and that was her parents.
Nancy was quick to dial the Holland household, her hands slightly shaking as she pressed the buttons. They held their breaths as they waited for someone to respond.
"Come on, come on, come on . . ." the brunette uttered, tapping her foot. "Hi. Hi, uh, Ms. Holland, it's Nancy . . . Good. I'm good. Um, I was just wondering, uh, is Barb there? . . . But she did come home, right? After the vigil? . . . Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up."
The girl appeared to panic at her response. "Do—Do you know what? I just remembered . . . she's at the library . . . Yeah. Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you."
She hung up the phone and shook her head.
Barb didn't make it home.
"I have to call my dad." Ben sighed, tiredly leaning against the wall. "This could be related to Will's disappearance, and if it is, there's a chance more people will go missing."
"No," the girl said, surprising him. "I mean, at least not yet."
"Nance, in cases like this, every minute counts. We've already waited long enough, and a lot can happen if we don't report it now."
She pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Just . . . Can we at least check Steve's house before we do?"
"I've already searched around there last night."
"Yeah, last night. You could've missed something in the dark. If we go now, there's a chance we might find something while there's still light out."
"I don't know," Ben said, shaking his head. "It's risky."
"Come on," Nancy begged, "I'll just ask Steve for his house keys, and we'll be quick."
It didn't take long for him to crumble. Ben cared too much for her and knew he would do anything to help her—even if it meant getting in trouble with the law (aka his dad). He was sure he was going to get a mouthful from a variety of people.
He crossed his arms and sighed. "Fine, you're lucky I love you. Let's find your stupid boyfriend before I change my mind."
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, hugging him in relief. "Steve should be in the parking lot. He said he needed to check something out before the game."
They made their way up the small hill towards the parking lot. However, the closer they got to the grounds, the more uneasy he felt.
At the top, an alarmed Jonathon was standing in front of his car where Steve and his friends (including the girl that approached them in the cafeteria) were leaning on his car. Steve and Carol were holding a stack of pictures in their hand—Carol looking grossed out while Steve kept a serious composure.
Whatever was going on . . . it was not good.
"What's going on?" Nancy asked the group, not sensing the tension in the air. He nearly asked to go back into the building, hoping to save her from what's to come.
Tommy looked amused. "Here's the starring lady."
"What?" the brunette said confusedly.
"This creep was spying on us last night," Carol said, taking a sheet from her hands and giving it to her. "He was probably gonna save this one for later."
Ben peered over the Wheeler girl's shoulder to a black and white picture of a window. He wouldn't have cared much for its content if it wasn't for the girl in the picture—her bare back exposed to the camera.
Nancy, he realized, shocking coursing through him. Jonathon must've taken it during Harrington's party.
Steve clicked tongue. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but . . . man, that's the thing about perverts . . . It's hardwired into 'em. You know, they just can't help themselves."
Tommy laughed, always one to enjoy humiliating others.
"So . . ." Steve continued, moving towards what he assumed was the eldest Byers's backpack, "we'll just have to take away his toy."
"Steve," Nancy begged, her vulnerability seeping into her voice. She was clearly embarrassed and didn't want to cause a bigger scene.
"No, please," Jon pleaded, surging forward to stop him, but he was pushed back by Tommy after a couple steps. "Not the camera."
"No, no, wait, wait," Steve spoke after ruffling through the bag, holding the camera in his hand. "Tommy, Tommy."
Tommy only chuckled, taking a step back.
"It's okay," Harrington carried on, stretching his arm towards Jonathon. "Here you go, man."
Ben immediately knew what was going to happen. He recognized the evil glint shining in Steve's eyes, similar to the one Tommy would get whenever he taunted him. Although he knew what Jonathon did was wrong, he also knew that the camera was one of the few luxuries the boy was able to have.
It was one of the last few things he had after Will.
Seeing the camera slip from Steve's grip, he tried to grasp the camera as it fell through the air—barely able to grab the strap before it shattered on the ground—hearing Tommy laugh at the sound.
"Come on, let's go," the Hawkins King commanded, turning back towards the school along with Nicole. "The game's about to start."
"Boo," the Hagan boy mocked, leaning down at Jonathon with an irritating smile before heading towards the building. Carol was quick to follow him, ripping the photos with a gasp before leaving the parking lot with a quick bye and a proud strut.
Nancy and Ben were the last ones.
The brunette looked down at the destroyed pictures and bent down to pick one up with a furrowed eyebrow. She didn't have a lot of time to inspect it when Steve called her, making her stuff the item into her bag—only giving Ben a glance before walking away.
The teen only shook his head, which he appeared to be doing a lot that day and decided to help his childhood friend to pick up the mess.
Once they had gathered the photos and the camera fragments, they both stood up from the cement floor to an awkward ambience.
"Thanks," Jonathon muttered, his head hanging low.
He gave the other boy a stern look. "I'm not going to lie. What you did was awful, but you don't deserve to have your stuff broken."
"I-I know. I'm sorry."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."
Ben felt a flash of pain hit his hand. He didn't know who he was angry at the moment—Jon, Steve, Tommy, the world—but he knew that he needed to leave before everyone saw the light pouring from his palm.
He left the boy without saying a word, clenching his hand as he searched for the nearest bathroom.
• - • - • - •
After a couple of deep breaths, he managed to control the light enough to dim it down to a sheen—preferring people think he had sweaty palms rather than supernatural abilities. He gave himself a final check in the bathroom mirror and wiped off the blood dripping from his nose before heading out in search of Nancy.
Ben eventually found her standing by the lockers near one of the school's displays. Steve was sitting down on the floor next to her feet while Tommy and Carol were across from them on a bench, too engrossed in their talk to notice Nancy's uncomfortable expression.
Once Wheeler saw him, she straightened up and walked towards him.
"Whoa, Nance, where you going?" her boyfriend asked, confused at her sudden departure.
"I totally forgot," Nancy stammered. "I told my mom I would, um . . . I would do something with her, and Ben needs a ride home."
"Well, what do you mean? The game's about to start."
"I'm sorry."
Nancy approached Ben, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the front door. Once they got outside, he followed her to her car and got inside—not saying anything as they both shut the doors. The girl turned on the car and exited the school campus, heading in the wrong direction.
"I'm guessing we aren't going home?" he said, not truly searching for an answer.
"No," she responded, stepping on the gas pedal, "but we are going to Steve's."
The drive towards the popular boy's house was quick and easy, traffic seeming to be nonexistent that day—fear still running rampant amongst the townsfolk as police officers struggled to find Will. They only stopped when they caught sight of Barb's car parked on the road, hauntingly staring back at them.
It was in the same spot in which they left it the night before.
The two of them stepped out of the car and went to investigate it. Since neither of them had the key, they could only gaze through the windows and tried to make note of any changes inside the car; the only odd thing being Nancy's discarded sweater.
Aside from that, there didn't seem to be anything out of place.
"Barb," the girl shouted, backing away from the glass to look at the area around them. "Barb!"
Ben gently clasped her shoulder. "We should start at the house. That was the last place we both saw her, and it may give us a clue to where she was headed."
She nodded.
Soon, they found themselves opening the door to the fenced off backyard—the place suddenly becoming dangerous and colder since their last visit. Ben glanced at the pool and studied the water, seeing dirt drift across the surface.
"This is where I saw her last," he told her, pointing at the area near the diving pool. "Then, I went to get the first aid kit, and she was gone."
"Did anything weird happen when you went inside?" Nance questioned. "A noise or something?"
"The bathroom lights were flickering," Ben half lied, hiding his hands in his pocket. "Besides that, nothing."
"Okay," his friend said, looking back at the open space. "Barb?"
A rustling noise caught their attention.
Nancy began to make her way towards it when he stopped her—holding onto her arm before she could do something stupid.
"What are you doing?" he nearly shouted. "We don't know what that may be!"
"It could be Barb," the teen asserted, proceeding towards the noise. "She could be hurt."
Not wanting to leave her unprotected, he decided to join her—pushing aside some plants as they traveled into the woods. They barely made it through the first few rows of trees when the brunette called out for Barb again.
They stopped to listen, hearing another noise coming from in front of them. In that same moment, a flash of something(whether it was a person or animal they couldn't tell), ran across the forest.
Scared, Nancy turned around, wanting to run back, but accidently bumped into him—causing the two of them to fall to the ground. Ben was quick to get himself, bending down to help get his friend up before the two of them rushed to her car.
As they sped away in the vehicle, he realized what it was.
It was the same monster from his dreams.
A monster he was sure had taken Barb.