May 1988

Doodling in his notebook was the only thing keeping Bill awake one hot school day at the end of May. With the last day of school coming up in the next couple of weeks and that being the last day of high school for Bill forever, him and the rest of the seniors were all just trying to get by as they struggled with their major cases of senioritis.

Bill always swore he would never have senioritis when he was a senior, but senior year had proven that to be completely untrue. If anything, his senioritis may have been worse than at least half of the people in his grade.

The only person who didn't seem to have senioritis was Y/N and the Losers were still unsure how that was. None of them knew what she was feeling, how she was still trying to cope with the fact that they would all be going their separate ways in a couple of months once the summer had ended and how life was about to change for them.

That was the thing about Y/N. She cared so much for the people closest to her that she was scared of the change. Leaving Hawkins had been a huge change in her life and she wouldn't have survived that if she hadn't had the Losers Club, so what was she supposed to do now that the Losers Club and the Party were all going to be going their separate directions?

Bill was clueless to Y/N feelings when it came to graduation. She was too concerned with keeping the boy happy and not wanting to affect his college decision that she had been keeping it all in, only ever relaxing slightly when Bill announced he would be going to the same college as her.

Bill was just excited for the future, the idea of going to the same college as Y/N making him happier than words could describe. He knew he would keep in contact with the Losers so he wasn't necessarily worried, but if he knew what Y/N was feeling, his worry would have been for her rather than the prospect of losing his friends (which he knew would never happen).

However, even though the Losers weren't necessarily worried about their future, they still knew things would change and had devoted all of their time outside of school to making memories together.

They spent countless days at the quarry or arcade, laughing and just enjoying each other's company until the stars were twinkling in the sky. They were all constantly hanging out and the only time they didn't was on Tuesday nights which the couples used as their date nights. Bill wouldn't ever voice it out loud, but date nights with Y/N were always his favorite.

That's how Bill had ended up doodling in his notebook in class that day. It was a Tuesday and he was trying desperately to think of what to do that night, resorting to drawing the different options of a movie, a nice dinner, and roller skating in his book while his teacher went on and on about some poem that Bill knew he would never read.

It wasn't a surprise that Bill was trying to plan the date during class seeing as Y/N was always on his mind. Especially today since he had to retake a test that morning and hadn't seen the girl all day. He was just trying to get to lunch where he knew he would be able to see her, so the date planning was almost like a distraction for him which he was grateful for.

Bill let out a small sigh of relief as the bell finally rang, quickly closing his notebook, grabbing his stuff, and heading for his locker to change out his things before heading to lunch. He smiled softly to himself as he made it to his locker, but his smile faltered and his eyebrows furrowed for a split second once he noticed Y/N wasn't there waiting for him like usual.

The boy was quick to brush it aside, assuming that Y/N had probably been talking to one of the other Losers after class and absentmindedly walked to lunch without him. It had happened on occasion before, so Bill didn't think much of it as he put his textbook into his locker before grabbing his lunchbox which contained a sandwich for both him and Y/N.

Bill shut his locker and tightened his backpack straps before walking towards the cafeteria where the other kids in his grade were currently bustling around, their chatter so loud that the different conversations were indistinguishable.

It didn't take long for Bill to spot the Losers' normal table and he smiled at the sight of his friends before quickly hurrying over to sit down. His eyes flickered over each of his friends as he approached and he found himself walking a little slower once he realized Y/N was no where to be seen. Richie was the only other person beside Y/N missing, but Bill had noticed him in the lunch line and he seemed to be alone so Y/N obviously wasn't with him.

Frowning, Bill approached his seat and sat down next to Stan, instantly earning the attention of the other Losers. "W-W-Where's Y/N?" Bill questioned, confusion evident on his face.

"We were just about to ask you the same thing," Ben muttered causing the Losers to all share a look of confusion.

"You haven't seen her?" Eddie asked as he glanced over at Bill.

The boy quickly shook his head. "I h-h-had a test to make up this m-m-morning, so I didn't ride with her l-l-like usual. She didn't t-t-tell me that she wouldn't be coming to s-s-school, so I just assumed she had made it and th-th-that I would see her at lunch," Bill explained. "You g-g-guys haven't seen her?"

The Losers were quick to shake their heads right as Richie walked up. The boy slammed his tray of food onto the table beside Eddie who jumped before sending a glare at his friend.

"Hey, Bill, where's you're girlfriend, man?" Richie asked as he sat down in his seat, giving Eddie a look when the boy tried to push him away slightly because of how close he was.

Bill instantly blushed at those words, still not used to Y/N being his girlfriend even after almost eight months of dating. It was like a dream come true for Bill and he was afraid he would wake up at any moment to find that it wasn't real.

"I-I-I don't know," Bill repeated, not bothering to relay to Richie that they had just been talking about that.

As if sensing that they were talking about her, the cafeteria doors burst open with a loud bang to reveal Y/N standing there with a frazzled look in her face. The whole cafeteria went quiet as they looked to her, but she didn't seem to notice or care as she made a beeline towards the Losers.

Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, a sweatshirt lazily thrown over her body and falling down slightly on one shoulder while her leggings still had fuzz on it. It was obvious she hadn't thought much before leaving her house, but Bill couldn't stop himself from smiling at the sight of her, still thinking she was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on.

"Guys!" Y/N exclaimed as she sprinted the rest of the way to the table, a piece of paper in hand. "I have something important to tell you. I was on the radio with Dustin last night and we were talking when I suddenly got some news that-" However, the girl was talking so fast that the Losers weren't able to keep up.

Finally, Richie managed to stop the girl when he said, "First of all, we don't understand any of the shit you are saying cause you're talking so fucking fast, L/N. Second of all, I just thought you should know that you look like shit in case you haven't noticed."

Y/N glared at the boy and opened her mouth to reply, but Bill easily stopped her when he smiled softly at her and said, "I-I-I think you look beautiful, Y/N."

Y/N instantly blushed at the compliment and leaned down to kiss her boyfriend's cheek while Richie looked at Eddie and gagged. Eddie chuckled softly and Beverly was quick to reach across the table and whack Richie which made Stan and Ben laugh in response.

"Thanks, Bill," Y/N whispered to the boy before pulling away to look at the others with raised eyebrows. "Now are you guys going to let me tell you what I needed to tell you? I'll try and go a little slower this time around."

The Losers were hesitant due to the look in the girl's eyes, but nodded anyways, curious as to what had gotten her so frazzled. "Good," Y/N sighed in relief. "Now, what I was trying to say is that I was talking to Dustin last night for our normal radio talk, right? Well, when we were in the middle of talking, Dustin suddenly went quiet before Lucas' voice came through."

"Lucas? I thought he didn't like to walk so far out to the radio and preferred to talk over the phone," Stan pointed out.

"He does," Y/N confirmed. "Which is why I was confused at first, but then he said two words that made me freeze."

"I'm gay?" Richie suggested before snickering at his joke and going to high five Eddie who only rolled his eyes and ignored the boy.

Y/N ignored Richie and looked at her friends before whispering, "Code Red."

That was enough to make the whole table still, their eyes slowly flickering up from their food and to the girl who was looking at them with a hint of fright in her eyes. They knew exactly what Code Red meant, but it couldn't be. They thought it was over.

Y/N let her friends take the news in for a second longer before giving them the smallest of forced smiles and setting the paper into the table. She began to unroll it and it was then that the group registered that the paper was actual a map of a place they had yet to go to, but that Y/N knew quite a lot about.

Hawkins.

"I hope you all are good at bullshitting excuses," Y/N sighed as she looked up at her friends, "cause we're going on a trip."

"Holy shit," Stan muttered as he leaned back in his chair, the reality of the situation just beginning to kick in.

"Fuck," Richie whispered, knowing exactly what Y/N was about to suggest.

The girl let her eyes flicker over her friends before she hesitated on Bill who looked at her carefully before giving her a small nod, a sign to tell her that he would be by her side no matter what. This was enough to make Y/N smile softly as she leaned back and looked at the map in the table.

"It's time the Losers take on Hawkins."

T H E E N D