August 1985

Hawkins, Indiana, the one place Y/N thought she would stay forever. Having been born and raised in the town, it was hard to imagine a life where she didn't live there. But then the events that had taken place during the summer of 1985 had occurred and the unimaginable suddenly became reality.

Fright was the main reason they were moving. Not that Y/N was scared or anything. It was her parents who were scared, scared that the unusual events that occurred in Hawkins would harm their family and ruin their lives.

After all, their daughter had barely been able to escape the forces of the Upside Down the previous couple of times, so when she came home with blood stained clothes and news of the death of Billy Hargrove, her parents were convinced that the only thing they could do was move away.

Y/N did not agree with her parents' decision in any way, shape, or form. Her life was in Hawkins. Her friends were in Hawkins.

Her family was in Hawkins.

However, her parents' minds were already made up and within two weeks their house was already sold and they were packing up their final things as they prepared for the journey to their new home in Derry, Maine.

The sky was filled with grey clouds on the day Y/N was supposed to leave Hawkins, a gloomy atmosphere falling over the town as if it could sense the girl was leaving and was genuinely upset about it. Y/N hardly noticed the weather seeing as her own gloominess was worse than that outside.

She almost didn't want to put the last of her things into the giant cardboard box that sat on the floor in front of her. Everything was already out of her room, leaving it so barren that she felt as if she were in a completely different place.

The only thing left had been her pictures that had decorated the walls with her memories throughout the years. It physically pained her when she had to take down the last picture—one of her with all of her friends where they were all laughing and looking at each other instead of the camera.

Now she held fast onto that picture, her hands shaking as she looked down at it with an almost longing expression on her face. Knowing it would only hurt more the longer she took, Y/N quickly looked away and set the picture in the box before closing it up. She only let out a shaky breath when the deed was done.

Y/N then picked up the box that held the last pieces of her life and began to make her way to her bedroom door. It was when she was about to grab onto the door handle that the door suddenly slammed shut, causing her to jump back in surprise. She hesitated for a second before going to open the door. However, it quickly slammed shut again before it was even half way opened.

This continued for a few more tries before Y/N let out a small sigh and turned to look behind her where her friends were all sitting on the floor looking upset. Her eyes flickered over the group that liked to call themselves 'The Party' and she stopped on Jane Hopper, otherwise known as Eleven, who had blood trickling from her nose.

The young girl wiped the blood away and stared at Y/N with wide eyes as she tried to act innocent. Y/N gave the girl a sad smile before looking around at her other friends who were all visibly upset. "I have to go," Y/N announced, the words earning a few head drops and shakes of heads.

Y/N kept her eyes on Eleven as she went to open the door again. "I have to go," she repeated as she began to pull the door open. However, Eleven wasn't having it and quickly shook her head and slammed the door shut again with her abilities.

Y/N let out a small sigh and dropped her head slightly. This was just as hard on her as it was on them. "El-" she began in a whisper, but before she could even get the words out, Eleven had jumped onto her feet and was throwing her arms around her.

The cardboard box fell from her grip and onto the floor and Y/N silently thanked herself for having only put pictures and posters in there. Her arms were quick to wrap around her friend while she dug her face into Eleven's shoulder, tears filling her eyes as she realized this was pretty much going to be their goodbye.

"Don't go," Eleven whimpered. "Please, don't go."

Y/N squeezed her eyes shut and tears rolled down her face as she hugged Eleven harder. Her body began to shake as she started to cry, but she hardly noticed it because Eleven had begun to cry as well. Arms began to wrap around the two and Y/N looked up slightly to see that her other friends—Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, and Max Mayfield— had all joined in on the hug.

Y/N closed her eyes again and leaned into her friends' embraces, trying to enjoy this moment where she was with them. She didn't know when she was going to be able to see them next, but she knew she would never lose them. They had been through too much to allow that to happen.

It took a minute, but Y/N eventually got them all to let go so that she could look at them. They didn't mean to, but they had ended up forming a small circle and Y/N looked around at each of her friends before letting out a shaky laugh.

"I love you all, you know that, right?" she whispered. The Party was quick to nod their heads and Y/N smiled softly. "Good. Never forget it."

There was a silence before Y/N said, "You all stick together and take care of each other, okay? And if you all are ever in any sort of trouble, you get Dustin on his radio and have him contact me, okay? Cause you can bet your ass I'll be back here in a heartbeat."

"We don't doubt it for a minute," Max replied, the others all nodding their heads in agreement.

"I know you're going to Maine, but if anything happens and you need us, just know the same thing applies. We've got your back," the young Wheeler boy said.

"Got it, Wheeler," Y/N said with a small smile as she sniffled and wiped away her tears.

"Y/N! It's time to go!"

A look of dread washed on each of the kids' faces and Y/N reached down to pick up the box she had dropped before saying, "That's my cue."

The group was silent, but when Y/N opened the door that time, no one stopped her. Together, the Party all walked out of the girl's bedroom and made their way outside where Y/N's parents were waiting by their car.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she saw someone talking to them, but her eyes instantly lit up once she recognized the person to be Steve Harrington. His parents and Y/N's parents had been close in college, so Steve and Y/N had practically grown up together despite the five year age gap between the two. He was like the older brother she never had and it was only in that moment that she realized saying goodbye to him was probably going to be the hardest goodbye she would have to face.

Trying not to dwell on the fact, Y/N smiled and called out, "Harrington, is that you?"

Steve instantly perked up at the sound of her voice and muttered something to her parents before looking over at the girl, taking his sunglasses off in the process. "Yeah, it's me. Don't cream your pants," Steve jokingly told her.

Y/N chuckled and walked over to where he stood by the car before quickly putting the box she was carrying in the back seat. She glanced over at her parents and gave them a sad smile before asking, "Can I have a moment to say goodbye?" Her parents nodded and began to get in the car, but not before her father nodded at Steve and her mother patted him on the shoulder.

Once the car doors had closed, Y/N hesitated for a moment before turning her head to look at Steve. He was already looking at her with an unreadable expression while his hands were placed on his hips. He stood there in silence before saying, "The day is finally here."

Y/N's smile disappeared and she looked down at her feet as she nodded. Steve titled his head slightly and watched her for a second before reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Listen, squirt. You're going to do great things, okay? Hawkins. . .all it's doing is holding you back," he told her.

"I'm moving to Maine," Y/N pointed out as she gave Steve a look that told him all he needed to know.

"You never know, maybe Maine is going to have just what you're looking for," Steve said as he gave her shoulder a light shake.

Y/N looked over her shoulder and at her friends who were all standing at the bottom of the staircase watching her with sad eyes. They gave her shaky smiles which she returned before looking back at Steve. She studied him in silence for a moment before lightly shaking her head as she stared at him fondly. "I don't think so," she told him, knowing that Maine would never be able to replace the people she loved so dearly.

Steve flinched slightly at her words and his face contorted in pain for a second as he looked as if he were about to cry. However, it quickly disappeared and he inhaled sharply as he tried to put on a brave face for the girl in front of him.

"Okay, L/N, serious talk right now, okay? I know this whole move is tough on you. Trust me when I say it's going to be tough on all of us. But you got to make the most of it, you hear? You go to Maine and you show those shit heads just who the hell moved to their town," Steve told her. He then reached out and poked her shoulder as he pointed at her. "Cause they have no idea how lucky they are to have you."

The tears that she had been trying to suppress since she walked outside began to fill her eyes and she couldn't stop herself from launching herself into Steve's arms as she started to cry. Her grip was tight and she balled her hand into fists around his shirt as she tucked her face into his neck.

Steve stumbled back slightly, but didn't hesitate to hug her back as he felt tears began to fill his eyes. He was going to miss her a hell of a lot more than he thought he would. She was practically his sister and one of his best friends. Age had never mattered to them, only the friendship they created had.

So the fact that he was going to have to go through a good chunk of his life without her? Yeah, it was going to be hell.

Y/N tucked Steve's shoulder under her chin as she hugged him and let her eyes flicker over to her friends who were all watching the two with tears in their eyes.

Max was leaning against Lucas who had an arm around her as both struggled to keep it together. Then there was Eleven who was holding hands with Wheeler as she hugged his arm with tears streaming down her face, Wheeler looking pretty much in the same state. Finally there was Dustin who had a hand on Will's shoulder as the two looked to each other for support seeing as the couples were busy comforting each other.

Steve eventually pulled away from the young girl, knowing that it would only be harder on both of them if they didn't end the hug now. He used his shirt to wipe his tears away before he gave Y/N a shaky smile and reached out to swiftly wipe her tears away with his thumbs.

"You'll be okay," Steve assured her. "You're going to be just fine."

Y/N gave the boy a smile, her lips quivering slightly as she forced herself to hold back a sob. "I love you, Harrington," she whispered as she stared at the boy in admiration.

Steve softened slightly at those words and leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "I love you too, squirt," he told her.

Then, before either of them could start crying, Y/N went over to the car door and opened it up. She hesitated and turned to look back at all of her friends, her eyes scanning over each of them. It was in that moment that she realized just how much she was going to miss them.

She was going to miss Lucas who had been her first friend back in elementary school and the one who had introduced her to the other members of the Party. She would miss Wheeler and the times they would spend in the record shop looking for the right music to play at the karaoke nights they hosted for the group.

She would miss Dustin and being able to talk science with him as they worked on creating their high-range radio from scratch. She would miss Will and playing D&D together when no one else would play.

She would miss Eleven and how the two would have sleepovers and stay up all night giggling before making Eggo waffles in the morning. She would miss Max and the girls days they would have at the mall as they tried every flavor possible at Scoops Ahoy.

And she would miss Steve and the moments she knew would never get to happen. She would miss the times when they would have contests to see who could eat the most ice cream without puking and when they would team up and pull pranks on the others.

She would miss the arcade trips, the late night adventures they would have, and the times they spent together. She would miss each of them. She would miss their friendships. She would miss her family.

Y/N knew they were all thinking the same thing just from the tears that were in their eyes. Steve was the first to raise a hand and wave goodbye, everyone else quickly following suit. She let out a breathy laugh before waving back.

Then, with a heavy heart, Y/N stepped into the car and closed the door. She had just buckled up when the car began to pull away and she was quick to look out the back window at her house and her friends who were all walking out into the middle of the road to watch her go.

Her father glanced back at her in the rear view mirror, but she didn't notice, her attention on her friends who were getting further and further away. As for her mother, she grabbed ahold of her father's hand and kissed it lovingly before saying in an almost excited and slightly saddened voice, "Goodbye Hawkins, Indiana. Hello Derry, Maine."

Y/N didn't look away until her friends' figures had disappeared in the distance.

- - -

"I'm bored," Richie Tozier announced for what had to be the tenth time in the last five minutes. He looked between his friends who were all obviously ignoring him as they ate their lunch and tried to talk about other things. He momentarily saw Beverly Marsh glance his way, but she looked away and turned her attention back to Ben.

Richie had been surprised when Beverly moved back to Derry with her aunt only a year after moving away. But what had surprised him even more was that Bill and Beverly had decided they were better off as friends and Beverly had since grown closer to Ben of all people.

Richie shook away his thoughts and let out a loud sigh before he turned to Eddie Kaspbrak who was sitting beside him. "Eds," Richie whispered. When Eddie didn't respond, the boy poked him not so lightly in the arm. "Pssst. Eds, I'm bored," Richie whispered.

Eddie clenched his jaw and gave the boy a sharp look. "I know. I've heard you the other twenty times you've said it. And don't call me Eds," he said.

"Fine, Eddie Spaghetti," Richie told him with a small smirk. "But it's not my fault I'm bored. It's this shitty town! There is literally nothing to do around here!"

"Weren't you just complaining the other day about how you felt like you never had time to just do nothing?" Stanley Uris asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at his friend.

"That was the other day, this is now!" Richie exclaimed. "And right now, I'm bored."

"S-s-shut up, Richie," Bill Denbrough muttered in annoyance as he stared blankly at the ham sandwich in his hands.

Richie rolled his eyes and let out a groan as he smacked his head against the table. "But I'm so-"

Before Richie could get that sentence out, the noise in the cafeteria virtually disappeared causing the boy to stop mid sentence. He furrowed his eyebrows and sat up before following everyone's gaze to where the cafeteria doors had just opened up. His mouth dropped open a little and the others all looked to their friend confused as to why he had actually shut up for once.

Seeing his shocked state, the group followed his gaze and their eyes landed on a girl around their age who had just walked into the cafeteria. Her eyes were wide due to the sudden attention and Bill could see the small blush creeping onto her cheeks as she nervously brushed a strand of h/c hair behind her ear.

Bill blinked in surprise as he stared at her, instantly stunned by her beauty just like all the other kids were. He could practically sense the jealously radiating off of all the girls except for Beverly and the boys were practically drooling at the sight of her.

The girl then began to walk forward and her shoes clicking against the ground seemed to echo throughout the whole cafeteria. It was only when she had taken a few steps that everyone seemed to snap out of their spell and go back to whatever they were doing. Well, everyone except for the Losers' Club.

"Who is that?" Ben Hanscom asked, none of the boys taking their eyes off of the girl while Beverly just shook her head and laughed quietly to herself.

"She must be that new girl I heard Jane Greenwood talking about in math class," Eddie suggested.

"You knew there was a new girl and didn't tell me?" Richie asked as he looked at his friend in shock. "Come on, man. I could've been working my Richie charm on her already."

"Yeah, you won't be doing that," Beverly Marsh told him as she rolled her eyes at the boy. "Let the poor girl have a chance to breathe before you annoy her to death."

Richie made a face at Beverly which Bill barely noticed for he was too busy watching Y/N who was trying to find a seat. He watched as she attempted to sit down at a few tables, but each one either had girls that were too jealous of her to let her sit there or guys that were too stuck up to allow a girl to sit with them. It was only when he saw her passing their table without even trying that Bill called out to her.

"You can s-s-sit with us."

The Losers' Club all froze and glanced over at Bill in surprise while the young girl paused in her tracks and turned to look at who had talked to her. Her eyes locked with Bill's and she gave him a breathtaking smile that had him blushing a little under her gaze.

"Thanks," she said as she walked over to the only empty seat that happened to be in between Bill and Richie. "Seriously, thank you. I was afraid I would have to sit by the trash cans. It's kind of hard trying to find a seat when you're new and know literally no one."

She was rambling a little, but Bill couldn't help but smile as she talked. "N-n-no problem. I-I-I'm Bill. B-B-Bill Denbrough," he introduced himself, stuttering a little more than usual due to the fact that a pretty girl was sitting next to him. He then gave the rest of the group looks that told them to introduce themselves as well.

"Beverly Marsh."

"Ben Hanscom."

"Eddie Kaspbrak."

"Stanley Uris, but people call me Stan."

"Richie Tozier, but you can call me the man of your dreams."

"Don't call him that," Beverly instantly said as she sent a small glare towards Richie. However, the girl had turned her gaze on Richie and was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Look guys. I'm so handsome she can't even speak," Richie smirked, but it disappeared when the girl poked his cheek and moved his face so she could look at him better.

"Incredible," she whispered. "You look exactly like one of my friends back home! You two could be twins!"

Richie frowned at that and muttered, "There is no one like me, but me!"

The girl just shook her head in amazement and stared at Richie for a moment longer before looking away with a blink of her eyes and looking to the rest of the group. "Sorry. I'm Y/N L/N," she introduced herself.

"Where did you move from?" Ben asked while Richie sat muttering something about he was unique and there was no one someone looked like him.

Y/N's smile made Bill's heart flutter a little and he mentally cursed himself for being affected by her smile when he had just met her. "Hawkins, Indiana," she replied.

"Hawkins?" Stan questioned as he scrunched up his nose. He then shrugged and looked down at his food before saying, "Never heard of it."

"Most people haven't," Y/N chuckled. "Which is probably a good thing now that I think about it."

"Why's t-t-that?" Bill asked, genuinely curious.

Y/N let out a nervous laugh as she almost seemed to be recalling some memory, "It can be a pretty weird place."

"Well you obviously haven't been in Derry long," Eddie muttered.

"Trust me. Nothing can be weirder than Hawkins," Y/N assured them. "It's like a shit show on steroids."

Richie rolled his eyes. "Trust me. Derry can and is," Richie argued.

Y/N raised an eyebrow as the corner of her lips turned up in a small smirk. "Want to bet?" she asked as if she knew something they didn't.

Richie glanced at his friends and Bill chuckled softly to himself knowing that nothing could beat what they had been through. It wouldn't be until after Y/N explained her whole story that he would realize he was wrong.

"You sure you want to do this, L/N?" Richie asked. "We wouldn't want to scare you away."

Y/N smirked and set her backpack on the ground and her lunchbox on the table.

"Try me, Tozier."

* * *

this is officially the beginning of my The In-Between series! I'm so excited to get this thing started and wanted to have a prologue so you could see how Y/N meets the Losers' Club and what her relationship with The Party is like.

reminder that this series will take place in 1987 where the kids are all 17. however, in this prologue, the year is 1985 which means they are all 15 and the events of Stranger Things season 3 just occurred (I switched some things up like I'm not having Hopper die that way Eleven and Will stay in Hawkins).

since the year is 1985, that means the events of It are going to have taken place the year before in 1984. to have Beverly in the group, I basically had her move back with her aunt in the earlier half of 1985 and her and Bill have decided to stay friends (this allows the Bill Denbrough x reader part of the series). anyways, I hope you all enjoy!