You should probably watch Riverdale. If you like small town murder, retro aesthetic and trashy teen drama, you should absolutely watch Riverdale. If you don’t have the same appreciation for that combination as I do though, you should still probably watch it. Soon, if you can. Not because it’s flawless (oh, it’s flawed) or because all the characters are complex and nuanced (oh boy are they not) or because the writing is always smart and deft (oh dear me), but because Riverdale has something television could use a lot more of. Style.
I’m not talking about the pseudo-lynchian vibe or the way the town itself feels stuck decades in the past despite a modern setting, though those are both part of it. I’ve heard the show described as both a Twin Peaks-like and a poor man’s Stranger Things, and while neither of those classifications are entirely wrong, I think they do Riverdale’s unique contributions to the medium a disservice. Where these other shows cemented themselves in sci-fi and cosmic horror, Riverdalefeels almost gothic. It never touches the level of John Carpenter nostalgia of the latter, nor the shiver-inducing surreal quality of the former. What it does do is look very, very pretty.
Riverdale’s spectacular use of color shows from frame one, when two red-headed teens in snow-white garb appear on screen and walk slowly towards a shimmering waterline. The whole scene jumps. Pulses. Vibrates. And it only gets better from there. From the neon-lit booths of Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe to the snowy maple woods of the Blossom family syrup empire, the entire show oozes style like sap from a vein. Even simple shots – a house, a car, a bedroom – blast out brilliantly, whites on reds on greens, subtle sepia tints, perfect architectural symmetry. It’s gorgeous.
And the style doesn’t stop at the colors. It reaches from the 80s synth underscoring and the dreamlike flashbacks to Cole Sprouse’s gloomy teenage narration. Riverdale could not have a more appropriate name, as the town itself quickly becomes the show’s most intriguing and dynamic character.
Now it doesn’t all work all the time. The slow motion football plays and cheer squad numbers feel like they fell out of alternate universe where Zach Snyder directs teenage romcoms, much of the dialogue falls painfully short of that beautiful, so-scripted-it’s-perfect high school zen that Buffy the Vampire Slayer played off so deftly, and it can be hard to distinguish when the drama is parody from when it’s just bad writing. Make no mistake, Riverdale does not succeed in all its ambitions. But damn if it ain’t something to look at.
Of course there are other shows that gain major props on behalf of their style, but they don’t quite hit the same marks. For all they’re comic book inspiration, Arrow, Supergirl andThe Flash just don’t leap and dance the way Riverdaledoes.Game of Thrones has incredible production values and a gloriously realized world. No one would argue that. But the goal of that world and that production is to make a fantastical place feel grounded. The same can be said of HBO’s Westworld. This is not a knock against them. I have a strong love for Westworld,and of course these shows have moments of incredible grandeur. But their main objective, at which they succeed, is realism in the midst of total unreality.
Riverdale’sgoal is the opposite. It takes the Archie Comics universe of girl-next-door Americana and makes it feel like some beautiful, wild fantasy world of biker gangs and shady businessmen. It’s ridiculous. Sometimes so much that you’ll laugh. But ultimately, the vision of the storytelling and the talent of the cast make it feel fresh and exciting. So please watch Riverdale. TV’s never looked this good.
A/N: I do not claim to, nor do I own Stranger Things; the concept, characters, plot, etc.
[ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ , ]
Exactly three months after the battle, Kate found herself at a strange and unusual event.
She was helping the Byers move out of their home.
She knew Joyce had been conducting a plan to get her family out of Hawkins, ever since the previous fall, when Will was possessed by the Mind Flayer, and when Bob had been tragically killed. Bad luck had struck the family one too many times, and Joyce had enough.
Kate had yet to fully wrap her head around what was actually happening. She had recently learned to take life one day at a time, that, and her mind had yet to fully recover from the incident in July.
She was still coming to terms with what happened that night; still coming to terms with her newly-acquired psionic abilities; and still coming to terms with the changing world around her.
She and Nancy were now seniors. The kids had started high school. They were freshman, just three years beneath them. Steve had started a new job. And now, some of her closest friends, her family, was moving away.
The Byers had started the packing-up process the previous day, Jonathan enlisted the help of all of the kids to come over and pack up the house.
Nobody had expected Kate to show up. They didn’t even know that she knew about it at all. Thanks to Max, telling her, she did.
They had all stopped their work, staring in complete shock at the sight of her Charger barreling up the driveway. “Kate?” Jonathan said, still shocked, as she got out of the car.
“What are you doing here?” Will asked, excitedly.
“I couldn’t not say goodbye.” She smiled softly at them.
“Hey, why’d everyone stop working-“ Joyce emerged from the house, her eyes immediately falling onto Kate. “Hi honey.” She smiled, walking down the steps to engulf her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Where do you want my help?” Kate asked, and she was put to work.
As the day progressed, more and more of the Byers’ home was put into the truck.
The sun was beginning to set outside, as Jonathan and Nancy carried Joyce’s mattress out the door.
Kate was sat on the floor of the kitchen, organizing things into boxes as Will brought them to her. The two of them were boxing up the last of Will’s things to donate to the GoodWill. In the next room, she could hear Lucas and Max making fun of Dustin, and Dustin fighting back.
Mike came into the kitchen, taping up another box.
Will sat down a pile of books, with his D&D manual on the top. “Whoa, dude, that’s the donation box.” Mike said, reaching over to hand him back the book. Kate ceased her actions, looking up at the boys.
“I know. I’ll just use your’s when I come back.” Will shrugged. “I mean, if we still wanna play.”
“Yeah, but what if you wanna join another party?” Mike asked.
“Not possible.” Will smiled, looking down at Kate, who smiled back. The three of them laughed, and then Will turned, heading back to his room.
Mike also disappeared down the hallway, and Kate stood, closing and taping up the donation box with the books inside. She picked up the marker on the table, writing DONATIONon the side of the box.
A few minutes later, Mike and Will both reappeared, joining the rest of their friends in the living room.
Kate walked down the hallway, finding El in the guest bedroom. “Hey.” Kate said quietly, making El turn away from the window she was staring out. “Any luck with your powers?”
El shook her head. “Any luck with him?” She gestured down the hall, meaning Mike.
“Kind of.” El smiled, holding a teddy bear. “We’re coming home for Christmas.”
“That doesn’t leave much time to miss you.” Kate laughed softly, stepping forward.
“I’m gonna miss you.” El replied, holding the teddy bear out to Kate.
She held her hand out, petting one of it’s ears gently. “I know.”
“Should we go find Mrs. Byers?” El asked, trying to not get worked up. Kate nodded, and followed El out the door, and down the hall.
In her room, Joyce was knelt on the floor, folding one of Hop’s old uniforms. Kate felt a knot in her stomach begin to form. A piece of paper, writing scribbled all over it, sat on the floor beside it.
“Donation box?” El asked about the bear in her hand, breaking Joyce from her trance.
Joyce nodded. “Uh, yeah, sure.” She fiddled with the note on the floor.
“What is that?” El asked.
Joyce looked down at the letter. “It’s the speech Hop wrote for you and Mike.”
“Speech?” El asked.
Kate couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Hopper had come to her on a few occasions, ranting and raving about his confusion for Mike and Eleven’s relationship. She hadn’t known he wrote a speech about it though.
“Yeah, you know, the heart-to-heart.”
El shook her head.
“He never talked to you, did he?”
She shook her head again.
Joyce laughed. “Can I read?” El asked, stepping further into the room.
Joyce nodded, standing up. She handed the note to El, who laid down on her stomach on the floor. “We’ll leave you alone.” She placed a hand on Kate’s shoulder.
El began to read. “Wait. Kate-.” El said shakily. “I don’t think I can read it.”
“Do you want me to read it to you?” Kate asked nervously.
El nodded, and Joyce gave the girls a reassuring smile, before leaving them alone. Kate reentered the room, sitting down cross-legged next to El. “Here.” She handed her the paper.
Kate took a deep breath, and then began.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you both about. I know this is a difficult conversation, but I care about you both very much. And I know that you care about each other very much. And that’s why it’s important that we set these boundaries moving forward, so we can build an environment where we all feel comfortable, trusted, and open to share our feelings.
Feelings. Feelings, Jesus.
The truth is, for so long I’d forgotten what those even were. I’ve been stuck in one place. A cave, you might say. A deep, dark cave. And then, I left some Eggos out in the woods, and you came into my life. And for the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But lately, I guess I’ve been feeling distant from you. Like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple-decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise and watching westerns together before we doze off. But I know you’re getting older. Growing. Changing. And I guess, if I’m really being honest, that’s what scares me.
I don’t want things to change.
So, I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to try to maybe stop that change. To turn back the clock. To make things go back to how they were. But I know that’s naive. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving. Always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes it’s surprising. Happy.
So, you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don’t let me stop you. Make mistakes, learn from them. And when life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you’re out of that cave.
But please, if you don’t mind. For the sake of your poor, old dad, keep the door open three inches.”
Kate sniffled, she was crying. Setting the letter down in her lap, she turned to look at El, who was also crying.
Throughout the paper, various lines had been crossed out and re-written, and notes were scribbled along the margins. Kate folded up the paper, handing it back to El, placed it into the pocket of her shirt.
El reached across the floor, her hand coming to hold Kate’s comfortingly.
The two girls sat, crying, in silence, until Joyce came back to the door. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” El wiped her eyes quickly. “Time to go?”
Joyce nodded. El got up, Kate following. She took her last walk through the Byers house, as it was their’s. There were so many memories, from her entire life here. Why did it have to end?
Outside, everyone stood, mumbling goodbyes through hugs and tears. Kate almost couldn’t bring herself to step off the porch.
She couldn’t keep saying goodbye.
First was Jonathan, who stood at the back of his car, while Nancy and Joyce spoke quietly to each other. Kate swiped the tears off of her cheeks. She had been uncontrollable recently. “Hey buddy.” She said, grabbing Jonathan’s attention.
He laughed, reaching out to embrace her. “Hey buddy.” He whispered into her shoulder.
Buddy, that was what they had called each other when they were younger. Neither of them had said it in so long, but it felt like it needed to happen, just one more time.
“Thanks for saving my brother’s ass all these years.” Jonathan mumbled into her sweater.
“Thanks for kicking my brother’s.” She replied, the two of them laughing.
Eventually they let go, and she turned to Joyce, and that’s when the real waterworks began.
“Oh, honey.” Kate all but practically fell into her arms, sobbing as quietly as possible into her shoulder. “Thank you for taking care of my boys. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”
Kate nodded, not quite being able to find the right words to say, until she did.
“Thank you for being my mom.” She managed to get out, in between cries.
Joyce squeaked, tears forming rapidly in her eyes. She nodded repeatedly, kissing the top of Kate’s head. Joyce had understood the kind of pain she was going through. Kate had lost the person she loved, just as Joyce did, as well as her father-figure, and now, more of her family.
“You’re one of the strongest people I have ever met, honey. You’ll come out on the other side, I promise. I promise, you just have to give it time.” Kate pulled away, nodding as Joyce pet her hair lovingly. “And you have our phone number, just in case. You can call me at any time. I love you, sweetie.”
One more hug, and Kate wiped her tears away again. She barely got one step away from Joyce, when Will, who was as tall as she was now, grabbed her so tight, she thought he’d never let go.
“I would’ve died without you.” He whispered.
“You can say the same to everyone here.” She replied, smiling softly.
“No, I mean I really would’ve died. You risk your life for me- for all of us, all the time. And you don’t even say anything. I could never thank you enough.”
“You don’t have to thank me Will. It’s just my job.”
The two of them laughed.
“You’re the best older sister I could’ve ever asked for… Even though I technically didn’t ask for you.”
“You’re the best little brother I could’ve asked for, and I didn’t need to ask for you.”
Will squeezed her one last time. “We’ll be okay.” He looked at her, posing it more as a question than a statement.
“I think so.” She sniffed, wiping away a tear.
He leaned in for one last hug, and then, squeezing her hand, he let go.
Will was no longer her worry.
Not that she ever considered him a worry, or a burden, or any of the kids for that matter. Worrying for their general well-being and safety had just become second-nature for Kate after all these years. They were growing older, as was she, and they didn’t need constant attention or protection. That was what was scary.
Finally came Eleven, who, in all honesty, was still a worry. Especially now, without Hopper. Kate, of course, had complete faith in Joyce in her ability to care for a child, and in Will, to keep an eye on her and keep her company, and in Jonathan to keep both of their asses out of danger. But she worried nonetheless.
El all but practically ran into Kate’s arms, holding her so tightly, she was immediately thrust back to the night in the mall parking lot.
She swept the memory away quickly, holding onto the girl. “I have too much to thank you for.” El said.
“You don’t have to thank me for anything.” Kate cried. “You’re worth everything I did, everything we did. You’re worth it.”
She could feel El nod against her. “I’m sorry.” She said, after a moment of silence.
Kate thought she felt her heart stop.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.” El sobbed, fisting Kate’s sweater into her palms. “I know you wanted to save him, and I couldn’t help you, and I’m sorry.”
Kate’s arms tightened around El’s shoulders. She opened her mouth, and at first nothing came out.
After a few tries, finally, “It wasn’t your fault.” The broken sentence was spoken into the air. “It wasn’t your fault. And it wasn’t his-“
“And it wasn’t your’s either.” El finished quietly.
Kate nodded, letting the sentence sink in.
Around them, the rest of the kids circled, enveloping the girls, and forming a group hug. El continued to hold onto Kate as she removed her arms from El’s shoulders and wrapped them around as many of the kids as she could.
And then they just stood there, enjoying their last few minutes as a family, until they finally had to leave.
They broke apart, watching solemnly as Jonathan and Will got into Jonathan’s car, and Joyce and El got into the U-Haul. They watched as they drove down the driveway, and out of sight.
Kate stood next to Nancy, fiddling with her thumbs, as she finally stalled her tears. She turned to look at Mike, then Dustin, and Max and Lucas. They were all she had left.
After a few minutes of silence, just to make sure the Byers weren’t turning around, just to make sure it wasn’t a prank, they began to leave.
Nancy got in her car, as she was going to drive around, just to be alone.
Mike, Dustin, and Lucas got on their bikes, as did Max, and they began to peddle down the driveway. Until, Max stopped, turned around, and came back to Kate.
“Do you wanna come over?”
“Max, I-“
“I know it’ll be hard. But there’s some of his stuff that we want you to have.”
Breathing in deeply, Kate nodded.
She walked to her car, opening her door, and then the back one, to shove Max’s bike inside.
The ride from Mirkwood to Cherry road was long and quiet. But they finally arrived. It was the first time Kate had been at the house, since the night Billy had kidnappedher.
“My mom and Neil aren’t home, so we can be as loud as we need to be… Come on.”
She got her bike out of the back seat, leaving it haphazardly on the front lawn.
Max left the car, and came around to Kate’s side, opening the door for her. Nervously, she followed Max’s lead, handing her the car keys, and following her up the walkway to the house.
Once inside, Max set Kate’s keys down on the mantle, and led her to Billy’s bedroom door. She opened it.
Kate gasped as the door swung open, she was hit with a wave of Billy’s cologne. Somehow, it still smelled like him.
The bed was still unmade, and the curtain was only half-drawn, letting a little bit of sunlight into the room. Max stepped inside, going over to the bed, where a box sat. From outside the door Kate could see every single thing was still in it’s place.
“You can come in.” Max said.
“I know- it’s just- I don’t know if I can.” Kate placed her hand on the door frame.
“Take your time. Just take your time.” Max peered into the box.
“I can. I can do it.” Kate lifted her foot, and stopped herself. Closing her eyes. “I can do it.”
She opened them, dragging her feet forward, and fully inside the room. She breathed in, and she felt at home. She was right, everything was still in it’s place, just the energy was wrong. It was dull. It was empty.
“Strangely, Neil didn’t touch anything. But he told me to go through his stuff, and take what I wanted. Which wasn’t much, but a few of his rings, and a sweatshirt. And a blanket that he had on his bed when we first moved into their house back home. I picked the rest of this stuff out for you.” Max motioned to the box on his bed.
Once again, Kate found the courage to walk, and she stepped slowly towards the bed, and sat down opposite of Max. Swallowing nervously, she pulled the box towards her, peering inside. There wasn’t much, but everything that was there was meaningful in some way.
A box of polaroids, from their adventures in the bedroom, and out in the world. “My mom found those.”
There were a few of his button-down shirts. “I figured you’d like to wear them.”
Two sweatshirts, both which Kate had stolen before, but they made their way back. “Those too.”
What was left of the bottle of his cologne. “You could spray it on your pillow. It might help you sleep better.”
A knitted blanket. “It was on his bed. Thought you might want it.”
A birthday card. “He had planned to give you that on your birthday, and I would’ve, but we hadn’t opened the door yet… You don’t have to open it here.”
But she did. It was a grey envelope, and the card had a star on the front. Inside it read, “Hope you’ve had a sparkling day.”
And a note, “I couldn’t find a card that had nothing in it, and I didn’t want to just give you a piece of paper, so this is what we have. Hope you had a good birthday, although unfortunately anything that we used to do for fun, could now get us both into serious trouble with the law, good thing you’re tight with the cops huh? I’ve been saving most of my paychecks to get you something nice, hope you don’t hate it. Love ya Kate, Billy.”
A polaroid of the two of them at the pool, from Memorial Day was stuck on the inside of the card. And at the bottom of the box, was a small velour jewelry box.
Kate set the card in her lap, and shakily reached down to get the box. She opened it, being greeted with another small note.
“I’m always gonna be right here, Hargrove”, and inside was a small ring, with B stamped onto it.
“What’s that?” Max asked.
“My birthday gift.” Kate sighed, taking it out of the box, and placing it on her finger, next to the ring that Nancy had gotten her two years before.
“That’s everything I thought you would want. But you can take anything else. You’re welcome to look.”
Kate shook her head, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “This is more than enough Max. More than enough.”
A few moments of silence passed before Max spoke again. “We buried him with a picture of you.” Kate looked up from her lap. “Neil found on in the visor of his car.”
Kate nodded, knowing exactly what Max was talking about.
The night of the day Kate had gotten her license, she offered to drive for a change. Billy was so proud of her, that he took a picture of her behind the wheel (at a stop-sign of course), and he kept it in the visor of his car.
“And we almost buried him with this.” Max turned to the shelf at the foot of his bed. “But I thought we should keep it. I couldn’t decide if I wanted it, but I think that it should be your’s.”
Max dropped Billy’s infamous gold necklace into her lap.
“Max, I can’t take this.”
“You have to.” Max wiped a tear from her cheek quickly. “His mom gave it to him, and I think he would want you to have it, not me.”
Kate held the necklace in her hand, examining it for a bit before she decided to put it on, slipping it over her head. It felt strange to wear it, but it was something she could eventually get used to.
Kate placed the letter back into the box, and moved it onto the floor. She sighed, looking around the room, and then she laid back onto the bed. Feeling tears creep up on her once more. The bed was still comfy, like it had been back in June, and the pillow she had laid her head on, which just so happened to be the one she used, still smelled like her perfume.
She reached over, and grabbed his pillow, holding it tightly to her face. It still smelled like him.
After a minute or so, Max laid down beside her, and they just laid there in silence, trying to forget everything bad.
Max and Kate laid in Billy’s bed, in silence, until Neil and Susan arrived home, long after dark.
Susan greeted the girls with a solemn face, and a hug for each, and silence. Kate decided to see herself out.
With one last hug for Max, she grabbed her box, leaving the two in Billy’s room. Grabbing her keys from the mantlepiece, she was at the door, her hand was on the knob, when a voice startled her.
“Did you find everything okay?” It was Neil.
She turned, watching him as he slowly walked from the kitchen, into the doorway. She nodded, blinking back her tears. “Yes, thank you sir.”
He nodded back, and just as she turned to leave, he spoke again. “Thank you for being with my son. Thank you for being there for him. I truly appreciate it.”
Kate couldn’t quite tell if Neil was being sincere or not, seeing as he didn’t have such a good track record with, honesty, kindness, or his son in general. “It was no trouble at all sir. Billy was a good guy.”
Her mouth felt sour saying his name. She hadn’t said it in forever.
Neil nodded once more. “Drive safely.”
She smiled gently, finally leaving the Hargrove house. She quietly walked to her car, placed the box in the passenger door, rounded the car, got in, and drove home.
It wasn’t until she reached the safety of her driveway, did she begin to cry.
[ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ , ]
Kate had sat in her car and cried until Steve got home from work, and practically dragged her into the house. He didn’t quite understand why she had all of the sudden reverted back to her terrible behavior from the summertime, until he went out to her car the next day and found a box of Billy’s things on the passenger seat, as well as a separate piece of paper, folded neatly on the seat under the box.
Kate was sitting on the couch, enjoying the quiet, and sipping tea from a mug, when Steve brought the box inside. “You want this in your room?”
She turned to see the box on the kitchen island. “Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
Steve nodded. “By the way, this was on your seat, under the box.” He walked into the living room, tossing the piece of paper at her.
“What?” She leaned to the end of the couch, grabbing it.
Steve took the box upstairs, and Kate unfolded the paper, which was actually two pieces of notebook paper, stapled together in the top left corner. THE SPEECH was written at the top.
“Holy shit.” Kate breathed. A ROUGH DRAFT below it, in smaller capital letters.
How, and why, on Earth, did Kate come to have a rough-draft copy of the speech Hopper had written for Eleven?
“Test-out as if you’re lecturing Kate on being stupid with the Hargrove kid”,he had written in the margin, beside the title.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kate laughed. Hopper had test-run his speech as if he was hypothetically ranting to Kate about her relationship with Billy.
The beginning of the letter started similar to Eleven’s, but it then took a completely different direction. As Hopper began to talk about the importance of enjoying your childhood, and then how he always seemed to be impressed with Kate.
“I know this is a difficult conversation. And I know that you care about each other very much. And that’s why it’s important that we set these boundaries moving forward, so we can build an environment where we are open to sharing our feelings.
Feelings.
Feelings.”
The seconds “feelings” was circled.
“The truth is, for so long I’d forgotten what those even were. I’ve been stuck in one place. A cave. A deep, dark cave. And then, a group of kids caused a whole bunch of shit, that I had to fix. But without you, I probably couldn’t have fixed the shit that needed fixed, because you kept those kids alive.
God knows we’d all be dead without you by now.
I don’t want things to change.
I sometimes think about how I wish that you could be around forever to guide those kids through everything in life. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, and everything else. But that’s foolish, naive, and wrong. And then I remember, who is there to guide you? Your parents are shit, let’s be real. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, or how much help I’ve been, but I’ll try my damn best. You’re a good kid, you deserve a good life, and I’ll help you when I can.
If you ever find yourself in a cave, like me, remember, you can find a way out. And when you get out, remember the cave, remember how it felt. Remember that life is constantly changing, people come and go, and it’s never easy. Life can hurt. Remember the hurt. The hurt can be good. The hurt can help you to appreciate the happy, the surprise, the peace.
Hold onto whatever you can, you never know when you’re going to need it.”
Inhaling deeply, Kate placed her mug onto the coffee table with shaky hands.
“What was the note?” Steve asked, walking into the living room. “Shit, are you alright?” He noticed his sister was crying.
“Yeah.” Kate nodded, wiping her tears away with her sleeves. “It was from Hopper. I don’t even know how it got on the seat but I’m glad it did.”
He sat down beside her, sighing. “You’re going to be okay. You know that, right?” Steve placed his hand, comfortingly on his sister’s hand.
“Yeah, I think so. It might just take awhile.” She swallowed, trying her best to stop the tears.
“Just checking, we need you in tip-top shape to save our asses again next time. Wouldn’t want anyone but you.”
The Harrington siblings shared a laugh. “Come here.” Steve opened his arms, his sister leaning into him.
Yes, she would be okay. Eventually. Kate had a lot to be thankful for, despite having lost of a lot. 
She had her brother, who was there to pick up the pieces any time she was hurting.
And her best friends, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, to cheer her up. Her other best friend Nancy, who was her guiding light.
The Byers, who were her safe-haven.
And Max and El, her sisters, her rocks, her partners-in-crime, who she knew she would be dead without.
And her friends on the other side, wherever they were. She hoped that Billy and Hop were close by, keeping an eye on everyone, keeping them safe. But most importantly, she hoped they were at peace.
Kate and Steve sat for awhile in the Sunday silence, before a knock at the door signaled the crew arriving for the newly-initiated Sunday dinner. Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max, Robin, Nancy, and Erica all came inside, making themselves right at home.
Kate embraced the familiar feeling of the warmth of family; the sound of Dustin, Lucas, and Mike arguing where to get pizza, Nancy rolling her eyes as she and Max began to set the table, and Robin and Erica placing bets on who would win the pizza debate.
The grief came in waves. Good days and bad. But Kate was skeptical that she’d ever climb out of the hole she had dug. With each day that passed it felt like the darkness was creeping closer.
And you know what they say? Evil is always closer than it appears.
