27 - BONNIE AND CLYDE

The air was stale with no wind in Hawkins; the night of trick-or-treating holding the promise of candy and partying. The younger children in town had gotten their parents to handcraft Halloween costumes that would have others talking all week, while the older teenagers had planned their party costumes to resemble movie characters or painfully original ninjas or wicked witches costumes. Halloween was going to be a night to remember for a few selected kids that were trying their best to forget the troubles of last year.


Daisy Lonsdale was fiddling with Jonathan Byers's car radio that night, trying to decide what to listen to while his little brother was giddy in the backseat. Since Daisy had convinced Jonathan to tag along to the party tonight, Will was able to spend time with his friends without the looming presence of his older brother. "Remember to stay in the neighbourhood and you've gotta' be back at Mike's place at nine o'clock." Jonathan was reminding little Will Byers.


Will was smiling brightly, all too pleased. "Right. Yeah."


"Promise me. I really don't need mum knowing that I let you go trick-or-treating without me." Jonathan went on, staring out the windscreen and spying his brothers' tiny group of friends that were all wearing matching Ghostbusters costumes. "She would have a heartache. Okay?"


The younger boy was nodding his head while grabbing Jonathan's heavy camera and pushing open the car door, a little too excited about the promise of candy and a little bit of freedom tonight, even though a strange and awful feeling formed in his stomach with his strange dreams lately. He pushed that fear away though, only wanting a good time tonight. "Okay."


Daisy twirled around in her seat to grin at Will Byers. "You hate candy corn, right? Wanna' save me some? Sadly, there's an age limit for begging for candy from strangers, who knew right?" Will laughed but agreed, throwing his pillow case which would be full of candy soon enough over his shoulder. "Alright, have fun, kid."


Will was tumbling out of the car with a wave at them both. "You too, Bonnie and Clyde."


The teenagers watched together as he rushed towards his friends into the dying sunlight. Daisy rested back in her chair, bringing her knees to her chest and humming lightly to the song that was drifting through the car now. Jonathan started the engine with a scowl, not quite sure he even wanted to attend Tina's Halloween Bash. While he steered away from the curb, he eyed the girl beside him and found himself smiling. "Do you think the matching costumes were too much? Maybe we should have done something else."


"Come on, Clyde, don't pussy out on me now." Daisy chimed out, adjusting her short blonde wig in the side mirror. Despite the realisation she would most likely spend the night sipping on watered down beer and detesting the idea of wasting her night being a stupid teenager, she was very glad she had a partner in crime tonight, even if he would sneak glances at Nancy Wheeler the entire time.


Jonathan finally nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."



***


The party was in full-swing when they arrived, kids chugging down beers and jumping messily to the heavy beat of the music that one could hear half way down the block. Daisy quite literally had to push her way through the front door where a pack of goons had decided to fill smoke into their lungs. Jonathan was almost regretting his decision completely, but wasn't about to leave Daisy Lonsdale high and dry. The matching duo circled the house for a little bit, nodding to a few familiar faces before finding the punch bowl. They found Dottie Fields hanging around the snack table, who was dressed up as a brain eating zombie, fake blood splashed down her front with heavy makeup circling her eyes.


"You guys look so awesome," she greeted them around a mouth full of brownie, which tasted a little odd on her tongue but she just assumed it was a different kind of recipe than her own. She had already eaten three brownies, her appetite growing with each passing second. "Why didn't I think of matching costumes? Ooh right, because I'm single and alone and forever will be, because my taste in girls is extremely out of my league." She hadn't noticed that her thoughts were growing a little hazy and she blurted out everything on her mind, which happened to be directed at a certain girl that didn't even know about her crush.


Daisy eyed the brownie in her friend's hand. "How many have you had of those, Dottie?"


She shrugged. "I dunno', a few. Here, try one."


Jonathan was holding back a laugh. "No, thanks."


With a flash of teeth, Dottie Fields went back to snacking, her head bopping to the music. Daisy snaked away with Jonathan, while already trying to spot her older sister in the crowd. She had spent most of the afternoon with Marigold planning her outfit, which had to be perfect for tonight. Duncan had helped too, although his opinion was quite limited since he didn't have half a clue which movies the girls referenced when picking the best icon to dress up as. "Should we tell her those are pot brownies?" Daisy questioned randomly, sipping on her punch which tasted like pure gasoline and burned her throat a little on the way down.


"Nah, she might freak out." Jonathan replied, eyes landing on a particular girl in the crowd, who looked rather too pretty in the flashing lights while her boyfriend danced beside her. He didn't even need to be close to Nancy Wheeler to see the odd sadness in her eyes tonight. "I'll keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't go confessing her love for Nancy or something."


Daisy smiled softly. "You knew?"


He nodded sadly, glancing away from the girl of his dreams while fiddling with his costume hat, feeling a little out of place without his trusty jacket. "The I love Nancy Wheeler club members like to stick together." Daisy almost felt bad for the boy. "Don't worry, I would never tell anybody about Dottie liking girls. Her secret is safe."


"Thanks," Daisy said. "Although, it's not really a secret. It's just nobody ever talks about it." In a very small town like Hawkins, the idea of loving another person with the same gender was uncommon and almost taboo. Daisy knew the struggle that usually touched Dottie's heart with the fact she liked girls and not boys. Add the colour of her skin to the mix, and she was quite literally a walking sign of being different in a world so driven for everyone to be normal. Sadly, times had not changed that drastically yet in America.


While the pair with matching hearts attempted to have a good time, outside in the backyard, Billy Hargrove was in the middle of a keg stand, which had nearly everyone cheering out his name. Marigold Lonsdale, who was dressed as Cleopatra, watched with mild curiosity, a little too intrigued by the town's new resident bad boy. Tonight her wild blonde curls were hidden under a black wig and her eyes were dusted with a lot of eyeshadow. Even in the shadows where she watched Billy, kids noticed her. Her status in school had once been so important to her, but now she just wanted the sense of adventure again. She craved something new and exciting to fill her bones and cause a fire in her stomach. She was quite positive this new kid could do that for her, all she had to do was play her cards right.


While teenagers screamed out his name, chanting that he was the new King of Hawkins High, something Steve Harrington used to be, Marigold found herself chewing on her bottom lip. Billy Hargrove grinned like a champion, roaring into the stiff night air. "That's how you do it, Hawkins."


Marigold suppressed a smile, eyes trailed to the boy's exposed chest. Already, a few kids were following him through the crowd, somebody placing a cigarette into his hand which he dragged longingly on, making it look so dangerous and cool. While he pushed through the crowd of drunk teenagers, his eyes lingered on the one girl that he had heard so much about already. Her famous curls were hidden but he knew her right away. Marigold Lonsdale. He paused in his wake to find Steve Harrington, to rub it in his nose that he was taking his place in the social grace of high school and stared at her. He knew the very look in her eyes which suggested she was just as much trouble as he was. Without offering a smile, or a simple greeting, Marigold was purposefully turning on her heels and blending back into the sea of dancing kids, leaving Billy Hargrove desperately wanting more.


"Ohmygosh, did you see that?" Dottie Fields was suddenly beside Marigold, who was very aware one boy was watching her among the party goers. "He was practically having sex you with in his mind. Like woah, is that even a thing? I'm pretty sure it's a thing. I've seen it. Well, if you can say that kind of thing out loud."


Marigold noticed the chocolate smeared around her friend's mouth, already guessing she had helped herself to one too many pot brownies. She smiled softly, ready to inform her friend that she was a little high right now, when somebody elbowed right pass her. Nancy Wheeler, who was drowning her sorrows in alcohol tonight, beelined for the punch bowl again. Steve Harrington was hurrying behind her."Shit, sorry, Mari," he blurted out before wrapping an arm around Nancy, trying his best to calm her down. "Nance, come on."


"Get off me." Nancy howled, her words slurred.


Steve Harrington frowned, knowing too many kids from school were witnessing this little scene. He glanced towards Marigold and Dottie, both girls deadly quiet now. "You've had enough, Nance." Steve tried, but Nancy was very persistent, the cup full of alcohol tightly in her grip. "Come on, put it down. Just stop, okay?"


Nancy shook her head. "No." Suddenly, the red solo cup in her hands was dipped backwards, a mixture of wine and beer and probably vodka was splashed against her white shirt. Nancy stared down at the mess, her eyes growing sour. A number of kids had turned to stare too. "What the hell." The Wheeler girl muttered before pushing by her boyfriend and hurrying towards the bathroom. Steve Harrington was left to follow her, trying to mend something that was badly broken and had been for a long while.


Across the living room Daisy Lonsdale was laughing at something Jonathan Byers had whispered into her ear, something about how tragic the love story of Barbie and Ken was going to end tonight, referring to the couple that were currently sucking face at the fireplace. The pair had spent most of the night mocking everyone around them while dancing to the music like nobody watched, which was indeed true. Nobody really noticed Bonnie or Clyde tonight. With the loud music and gross punch on her lips, Daisy's head was beginning to throb with a dull pain. With determination, Jonathan threaded his hand with her own and dragged her through the dancing teenagers to find her somewhere more quiet to sit down for a moment. They found their way towards the corridor that led off to different rooms and the bathroom.


"Shit, what's in that punch? My head feels like it might explode." Daisy mumbled, her fingertips yanking at her wig which felt too itchy now on her head.


Jonathan looked concerned. "I heard some guy say it was pure fuel."


Daisy cringed. "Wonderful."


While they waited outside the closed bathroom door, Jonathan Byers stepped closer to help her untangle the wig from her blonde hair. Daisy was letting out a frustrated sigh. "It's really stuck, huh? God, it's like Marigold used every single bobby pin in the house to make it stay."


The boy frowned. "It's very serious. We might need to cut all your hair off, Daisy."


A smile painted Daisy's lips. "Was that a joke, Jonathan Byers? Woah, look at you."


"It was a sad attempt," he admitted. "But I thought it might make you feel a little better."


While the pair stood close together in the tiny corridor, trying their best to untangle the wig, they laughed quietly about the current predicament. Daisy Lonsdale was actually having a decent time, even with a headache and her hair caught in the wig. She hadn't thought tonight would have been overly enjoyable but somehow with Jonathan, it had been. Before she could even thank him for coming with her, voices erupted from the bathroom. "Bullshit. It's all bullshit."


Daisy glanced up at Jonathan quickly, their good mood slipping with the realisation that behind the door was indeed the two people they both had been sneaking glances at the entire night. Suddenly, before the duo could even get far away from the train wreck that was going on inside the bathroom, the door was yanked open and Steve Harrington was stalking through it. Daisy watched him leave, her heart tugging in her chest just a little bit while Jonathan paused, no words forming on his lips.


In that very movement, both teenagers knew what would happen next. Jonathan Byers would head into the bathroom and save Nancy Wheeler from spending the night passed out at Tina's house with every other drunk kid, while Daisy Lonsdale would follow Steve Harrington into the dark night to make sure he was alright. Both teenagers knew the reality that circled around them, and they were fine with it. "I should really take Nancy home and—"


"Yeah, totally." Daisy agreed hastily. "I might go check on Steve."


With no bad blood between them and every desire to leave the party with somebody else, Bonnie and Clyde parted ways to be with another person tonight, which weirdly, happened to be the very place they needed to be on Halloween.

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