Chapter Text
"Michael! They're in the van without you!" Says a stern voice from the bottom of the stairs. Mike recognizes his mother, Karen Wheeler's, voice instantly.
"Coming!" He shouts back. She knows she half lying. Most of the party had slept in his basement the night before, in preparation for the early morning in which Jonathan, Robin, Dustin and Steve were planning on parking the van in the drive way, ready to load it up, and Max and Lucas were still brushing their teeth so he wasn't the only one running behind.
"Sleep well Mike?" Lucas smirked at him followed by giggles from Max, Mike knew exactly what Lucas was referring to. Mike just rolled his eyes. "Late night for you?" Mike was about to speak up but as if on cue, El came trudging out of Mike's room, lugging her bag over her shoulder not even so much as giving Mike a glance. Again, Mike rolled his eyes.
"You guys let's go!" Mike's sister Nancy called again from the bottom of the stairs, followed by a honk from the van out front. Quickly, they all began to finish their tasks and rushed to grab their things.
Out front, Dustin was leaned over Jonathan, giving ferocious honks to the stragglers inside.
"I told them all six on the dot." He spat. "Not.." He checked his watch, "six fifteen!?" He threw his arms up in the air, falling back into his spot next to Steve and Will, who were both too, obviously annoyed. Nancy climbed in next to Will sharing in everyones disappointment.
"Maybe if we'd stayed over too we could've... awoken them early, or something." Robin sniffled, tired and without caffeine in her system which she surprisingly needed right now. She looked over at Jonathans signaling him to pass the cigarette he'd been blowing out of his open van door.
After a moment of silence, El, Lucas, Max and Mike climbed in the van taking places along the back two rows. Nancy slid the door shut, they all waved by to Karen and Jonathan pulled out from the driveway, switching on some music and throwing his cigarette in the street.
"Robin when did you pickup smoking?" Will asked curiously, he admired Robin a lot and watching her grow into something new despite her straight edge mentality all of high school was something Will desperately wanted to hear about.
"Oh you know, New York I guess." She brushed off gently, earning a small and relating chuckle from Jonathan. It was partly true at least for Robin. She'd not liked school, despite her longing passion for knowledge and the arts, college for it just seemed to taint her passion. She'd become depressed to say the least. From the shameful denials her professors would give her to the strangely cliquey nature of her all girls university she had lost the drive. So, in complete lack of true Robin nature, she gave up. Which really ended up being for the best honestly.
She gazed out of the passenger window, watching the 'Leaving Hawkins' sign fade away in the rearview mirror. She'd barely been home since she dropped out, and in the two days she spent camped at the Byers house, she felt the looming doom that the town cursed her with. And not the supernatural doom, the 'in-house' doom.
See, right after she'd decided to quit school and take up an interning position with a small radio program, that depression faded for a moment. She was around fellow artists, she'd been learning about producing music, and getting some amazing production master-classes with the best of the best that New York had to offer, she'd even briefly found love in the company of her very own instructor. An older woman, her near boss to be exact. And though it was a questionable decision for a freshly 22 year old to be smoking with, confiding in and even fucking a 35 year old, she found her confidence growing in her sexuality. Which is precisely why she decided to come out to her very unsupportive father.
She'd been disowned. And shortly after, she'd been dumped.
So why was she smoking? Horrible college experiences, a lack of self drive, a nymphomaniac older ex-girlfriend, a homophobic father, a shared apartment with Jonathan Byers, and oh yeah... a universe changing high school experience. But of course, nobody really wanted to hear that.
"What about you Byers? I thought you were all about the weed but no? Nicotine? True film major nature right there." Robin switched the conversation onto Jonathan who's takes were all over the place, and Robin already knew them. That's why he gave her the dirtiest look.
"Caught me!" Jonathan laughed, "All about the look you know. I just... happened to get a little addicted."
Jonathan had never handled anything well. From his dad leaving to the world almost ending in his hands, he'd barely kept it all together. With Nancy, things were easier. He shared that with someone close to him. Someone that could kiss his wounds and someone who he could lay his head on for comfort and warmth. Someone who'd encourage him to put the weed down and just sit and talk, or let him fall apart in her hands, in whatever way that he could undo himself. But when he moved to NYU and their connection was severed, things changed for him. He was alone now. And since Robin didn't move in with him till just a year ago, he had absolutely nobody to talk to about the things that had changed his life. Things that he could never imagine moving on from.
But weed was out of the picture for school. Alcohol just never appeased his appetite and while smoking could hold him over by the hours, there was only one thing Jonathan craved that allowed him to forget and gain back his sense of individuality and self.
Sex.
Jonathan did it on the daily. Girls from the bar, girls from class, girls from his short films. He could fuck anyone and he did. Nobody denied him, nobody suspected him. He did it so much he didn't even need his right hand. Nothing was stopping him from getting his high. Nobody was tying him down. And if he wasn't so cute, he'd be absolutely embarrassed of his behavior. He'd ask for ridiculous treatment in bed, he'd ask permission to give ridiculous and ludicrous behavior, he was a fantastic fuck... if you could look past occasional tears and spouts of random anger.
It wasn't until Robin moved in and questioned him on his habits that he really started to grasp the gravity of his problem. He was an addict, and since he'd been back in Hawkins, he'd been clean.
"Better clean up then there Byers." Steve called from directly behind his seat. Jonathan was pulled from his thoughts and looked confusingly at the rearview mirror to see Steve smiling, "I can't take the stench of cigarettes so if we're here you can't be doing it."
Jonathan looked over at Nancy opposite of Steve gazing out of her window. She was still as beautiful as ever. Not one person could ever compare to the beauty she radiated so prominently. Jonathan cursed himself and his life and everything he'd done to it. He'd bought this van, he'd had a long conversation with Robin and he knew they all needed to be closer together then they had been this last three years. Fuck, he thought, he hadn't seen Max or Lucas since he left three years ago. He knew a lot of them had similar experiences with eachother. How can they had gone through so much and grown so far apart.
This trip will change things.