There had always been a strangeness to Lonsdale women; generally in the ones that lived in the modest white house with a red wooden door in Hawkins. The women that found comfort in that house never found it odd that no males lived alongside them. It had only ever been two generations of Lonsdale girls in that particular house. They liked it that way. Which was why there was some oddness when a boy suddenly joined them and everybody in town knew it too.

"Duncan leaves the toilet seat up."

"That's so gross."

"He's very sweet but have you noticed how he leaves hair from shaving his chin in the sink? It sticks to my makeup."

"Do you think he's happy here?"

Four Lonsdale women had been asking similar questions for about a year now. At first, the adjustment to living with their not so-dead-anymore cousin was easy. Everybody in the household was trying their best to regulate a normal family situation. A returning daughter and a long lost son. The quiet months after the return of Marigold and Duncan Downings were perfectly fine, everyone was just so pleased to have a full house again. But that change shifted when it became too familiar. "He's going away to college, right? Or maybe he could get a job." Daisy pointed out around the breakfast table one morning in October.

Molly Lonsdale sipped at her hot coffee, her lips pursed. "He's...sensitive, Daisy."

"Mum, he's been living on his own for years. He's almost twenty-one. Shouldn't he be allowed to breathe a little more? He barely leaves the house." Daisy went on further, keeping her voice down because the boy in question was upstairs still.

Ever since Duncan had returned to his family, he had been a little skittish. He was always looking over his shoulder, just waiting for bad men to come in the night and drag him back to that terrible place again. Marigold had to keep reminding him that he didn't have to run anymore, that Dr. Brenner and his men were all gone. She had to keep telling him there was nothing to fear any longer. "He's adjusting." Marigold said, dropping her toast to her plate and licking at her lips which were still sticky from strawberry jam.

Aunt Beatrice hummed in agreement.

"It's been a year though," Daisy replied. She knew all about the adjustment period her dear cousin needed, something her whole family needed. The months that had ticked by had almost become normal. But surely, he needed something more in life than just reading heavy novels and watching mind numbing infomercials late at night. "Maybe we could take him to see a movie or let him meet a few people? Dottie's recently gotten into rollerblading, maybe he'd enjoy doing that."

The women glanced around the table at each other. "I suppose that sounds quite alright."

"What's rollerblading?" Suddenly, a deep voice filled the kitchen. Duncan waited in the doorway, watching his family eat a meal without him. He didn't feel neglected that they had started without him, because he always liked watching them from a far. In his mind they were picture perfect and he was the odd one out, which in a sense, he truly was because he wasn't female.

Marigold smiled brightly at him. "You'll love it."

Duncan returned the gift of sunshine towards her, the only person in this very room who he felt truly comfortable with. Marigold had been the girl to find him, to bring him back to reality. She had saved him from a life on the run. They had spent the better half of year running away before landing themselves in Memphis for Daisy to come collect them. The boy dropped into the spare seat at the table while reaching for the orange juice. "Okay, let's do some rollerblading."

Daisy found herself smiling along but naturally, her gaze found the tiny inked number on the boy's arm. She had seen it countless times before and each and every time, it sent a shiver down her spine. 002. It was always a strange reminder that the Lonsdale family shared a darker past that they were all trying to move on from.

***

"Okay, next question. What's an atomic number?"

Daisy Lonsdale rolled her eyes across at the studious Nancy Wheeler, who was indeed still her chemistry tutor even though a year had almost passed in the town of Hawkins, Indiana. A lot had changed since last year; kids had come back from the dead and the monsters that had stalked the woods were gone. Things had somehow faded back to reality, and maybe the two girls studying together was one of the more normal things that stayed in place since that strange week in 1983.

"Come on, Nance. I'm already going to fail the exam. Why are we even bothering to try right now?" Daisy pouted playfully, reaching across the sticky cafeteria table to snag the flashcard from her friend's fingertips. "Hmm, let's see...oh look, an atomic number defines the element and number of protons in the said element. How fascinating!"

Nancy Wheeler grabbed for her flashcard. "Very clever. How do you expect to improve your grade when you don't take this seriously?" she questioned with serious eyes and it had the blonde sinking down in her chair further. "You clearly don't do the readings, which is why you're so far behind in class. So, help me out and just answer the questions. Okay?"

Daisy sighed. "Fine."

She went back to her flashcards. "Describe Stoichiometry."

The girl racked her brain. "Pass."

"Daisy!" Nancy retorted.

Somebody suddenly plopped down beside Daisy, a mane of curly blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. Marigold Lonsdale had weaved through the cafeteria looking for her kid sister without a second thought and had indeed heard the conversation. "Stoichiometry is the calculation of relative quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions." she explained with a quick flash of teeth. "You know that one, Daisy. Why do you pretend you don't?"

Pretending was something the youngest Lonsdale daughter had grown very good at lately. Although almost a full year had passed since Marigold had been welcomed back into their lives, dragging an older boy along for the ride, a cousin nobody really knew much about, things still felt somewhat different. Daisy had put that down to the circle of life. Too much time had passed when Marigold was away, too much unsaid moments that still felt cloudy. Daisy was more than thrilled about having her back in her life, more than happy to finally be keyed into what had actually happened, but things would never be the same again. The old days of sheer pointless nights and long days sitting by the pool were gone. Things in Hawkins really would never be the same and that wasn't just with the Lonsdale family either.

"Maybe I'm just not clever." Daisy mumbled out, fiddling with the sleeve of her leather jacket.

A new face plopped down at the table too. "That's not true. You're pretty handy at picking locks. I dare say you'd make a wonderful cat burglar." Steve Harrington grinned widely across at Daisy, making her cheeks flame with heat just a little bit. "That's always a satisfying career path."

Daisy shook her head. "That was a secret, Harrington."

The boy just winked before placing a quick kiss on his girlfriend's cheek, who mildly ignored such affection. Marigold's heavy gaze fell upon her sister naturally, watching as her smile dropped a fraction and her attention fell to the sketchbook in her lap while Steve kissed Nancy. Marigold always saw the little signs, but never said anything. "Alright you two, we're having a little thing tomorrow night. A little block party at our place. Dottie's baking up a storm and we're buying rollerblades and inviting everybody. It should be fun. Are you guys in?"

Nancy was curling her shorter hair behind her ear as she peered across at Marigold Lonsdale. The two girls never had gotten along in the past, too many differences, but she now found the older girl quite sweet, if not kinder than she expected. "That sounds nice. Sure."

Steve nodded. "Cool, count me in. Is Duncan attending this shindig?"

The Lonsdale girls exchanged glances, something unspoken passing through their eyes. The entire town of Hawkins had heard the news about a returning dead boy, much like Will Byers, but nobody had really seen him. Duncan liked to remain hidden from curious eyes, a little shy from his terrible childhood and the unexplainable things that occurred around him. Steve Harrington always asked about him, caring enough to ask how the undead older boy truly was after returning to a town that wasn't his home. "Yes, he'll be there." Daisy said quietly.

"Wonderful," Steve grinned and popped a fry into his mouth, quite pleased that his night wasn't going to be another boring time watching Nancy Wheeler study, or talk about Jonathan Byers the entire time. "Time for a party."