𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 couldn't hear.

Caroline got stuck in her head a lot more often, now, with nothing to distract her. Everything was muffled and quiet, and so goddamn lonely that it left her in tears sometimes.

She spent a lot of time laying in bed, curled underneath the covers. The radio would sit on her nightstand, playing songs she couldn't hear, for hours and hours until the time blended together.

Then Will would come sit next to her, pull her into his arms, and hold her as tears dripped over her nose.

At least with Will, they didn't really have to speak. He knew what she was thinking before even she did.

The bond between them was stronger than ever. That, at least, the Monster hadn't stolen from her.

Her Mom treated her like a porcelain doll, trying to help her do everything. Get dressed, walk around the yard when she needed to get out of the house- she even wanted to help her go to the bathroom once. When Caroline finally snapped and yelled at her- louder than she'd intended, because ha, she couldn't hear- Joyce had backed off and left her alone, tears in her eyes.

Jonathan started taking up extra shifts. He was barely home anymore, and when he was, he rarely looked at her. Like he couldn't handle the reality of it- like if he actually slowed down a minute to actually take her in, it would become real.

Olivia had started sleeping outside her and Will's bedroom door, as if she could protect them from the threat that wasn't even there anymore. She spent most of her time with El, who came over a lot now, with Hopper.

God, El.

When Caroline had woken up and Joyce had told her the news, she didn't believe it. She'd watched her die- there was no way.

And the fact that Hopper had been hiding her the whole time-

Caroline had been so overwhelmed that she'd only been able to cling to El and cry. She was so different now- more confident, a little bit taller- but still the El Caroline had loved so dearly. Having her back... Caroline couldn't explain her joy.

That joy disappeared into anxiety when Lucas came to see her the second she'd been given the all-clear by Joyce.

Caroline had locked him out of the room, her breath catching in her throat, because he couldn't see her like this. Not when she couldn't hear him anymore- not after finding out what he'd gone through in that lab to save her.

Lucas visited her every single day after school, sitting outside her bedroom and begging for her to come out. She watched his shadow outside the door, praying he'd leave, that he'd realize she was too much to handle.

But Lucas, being the saint he was, never gave up on her. For the next two weeks, he left a stick of beef jerky outside her bedroom door, sometimes slipping a small piece of paper underneath for her to read.

Come out, please, Callie.

I miss you.

The party isn't the same without you.

I'm still here.

It was Will who put his foot down.

After three days of Caroline not even getting out of bed, he called Lucas himself. Lucas had dropped everything and biked over immediately. He'd ignored Caroline's protests and tears and pulled her into his arms.

When they pulled apart, he'd taken Caroline's face into his hands and forced him to look at her, waiting until she was watching his lips before speaking.

"I'm not giving up on you," He insisted, speaking slow and steady so she couldn't miss it. "We're going to figure it out."

He'd held her hand as they spent that weekend at Dr. Owen's new practice, as the man worked tirelessly for an answer.

It hadn't been the one they'd wanted.

"Her eardrums are too damaged," he'd told a tearful Joyce. "My guess is that she'll never hear on her own again. I'm sorry."

Caroline had read his lips, feeling hollow as the words hit her.

A life in silence.

That's what she'd been subjected to.

After everything she'd been through, it was unfair, to say the least.

Couldn't she just get a break? Would that really be too hard to ask for?

Until Dr. Owens called in the middle of the night, frantic, and Joyce had screamed so loud that Caroline woke up from the jolt of panic that had ripped through Will.

A new line of hearing aids that hadn't been released to the public yet became their answer. It had had promising results on the subjects they'd tested them on, but the government offered the Byers a completely covered trial.

It's least they could do, they said, for all of the trauma their family had been through at their expense.

"Damn right, it is," Joyce had muttered. The government doctor standing next to her had the decency to look sheepish before hastily handing her the paperwork to monitor Caroline as she tested out the hearing aids.

Caroline clung to Will's hand as her brain suddenly plunged back into a world of stimulation.

She squinted her eyes shut, everything too much for a few moments after weeks of complete silence. It felt like radio static inside her mind- loud and tinny and distorted.

"Callie," Joyce held her daughter's face in her hands. "Callie, can you hear me?"

It took a few moments for Caroline to realize that it was her mom's voice, her brain so focused on filing away all of the remembered sounds back into place.

"Hi, honey," Joyce blubbered when the recognition registered in Caroline's face and her eyes snapped open. The sound was more beautiful; than anything Carolin had ever heard. "Hi, baby."

Caroline cried.

C.B//W.B

At the end of the month was the Snow Ball.

Admittedly, it wasn't something that she'd been thinking very much about. Mike had been looking forward to it for ages, and Lucas kept bringing it up before turning bright red and looking away- even Max knew about it.

But on the grand scale of things, it was kind of at the bottom of Caroline's list.

It was no surprise to anyone when it sort of snuck up on her- in fact, Joyce merely laughed when Caroline came to her in a frantic hurry, realizing it was the next day.

"I know, sweetheart," she said, running her hand over Caroline's hair. She felt herself relax at her mother's touch. "Take a deep breath. I've got it figured out."

"What do you mean?" Caroline blinked. "I haven't even-"

"I had a dress from when I was about your age that I patched up a bit," Joyce said, her eyes glinting happily. "You used to talk all about the Snow Ball before last year. I knew you were going to forget. The styles are different now, of course, but I think you're going to like it."

Caroline darted forward and pulling her into a hug. "You are the best mother in the world. Seriously, Mom, thank you-"

Joyce chuckled. "Of course. You deserve it, sweetheart. I want you to have fun."

"I am," Caroline said eagerly. "Mike's been looking forward to this forever. He wanted to take... El... oh my God!"

"What?"

"El!" Caroline gasped. "El would love the Snow Ball! Hold on, I'm going to call Hop, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that before-"

Ignoring Joyce's laughter behind her, she ran to the phone on the wall, dialing Hopper's number from memory. It only rang for a few moments before his gruff, sleepy answered. "Hello?"

"Hop!" Caroline said excitedly. "Oh my God-"

"Caroline?" He sound wide awake now, his voice serious. "Are you okay?"

Caroline winced. "Yeah. Sorry, shouldn't have shouted- I was just wondering... could you maybe get El cleared to go out tomorrow night?"

After hours of giggling- and confusion on El's part- Caroline and El now sat in the back seat of Hopper's car, looking at the school gymnasium.

The spinning lights flashed wildly, lighting up the entire parking lot in vivid color. The muffled sound of upbeat music almost outmatched the excited thumping of Caroline's heart. She looked at El eagerly, adjusting her hearing aid before laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You ready?" she asked.

El looked at her, looking extremely small. She chewed on her lip.

"You look really pretty," Caroline assured her.

It was true. Her hair was slicked back with some of Hopper's proper hair gel, and pink eyeshadow lined her eyes. She even wore some of the lip gloss Caroline had brought to the cabin for them to get ready together.

Although El keep licking lips so much that Caroline was pretty sure the gloss was mostly gone by now.

"Weird," EL had said, grinning, when Callie had put it on. "Feels... weird."

Her dress was gorgeous too; blue with mid-sleeves that buttoned down. Hopper didn't tell the girls where he got it, but Caroline had a feeling she knew. The way Hopper's face had melted adorably when El's eyes lit up... Caroline could see how much he loved her.

"Mike," El said quietly. Caroline had to read her lips to understand her. "Mike is... here."

Caroline's expression softened. "Yeah. He is. Does that make you excited?"

El thought for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. She looked at Caroline. "You are pretty. Does this..." she gestured to her outfit. "Am I pretty?"

Ah.

El wanted to know if Mike was going to be impressed.

"You are so pretty," Caroline said seriously. "But Mike liked you before you were wearing a fancy dress and makeup. You don't have to worry about it. Promise."

El nodded. Promises were gospel truth, after all.

Let's go see them," Caroline said. She opened the car door and held her hand out, waiting until El took it. She adjusted the back of El's dress, smoothing out the wrinkles, before clasping their hands together.

"Lucas will think you are pretty," El said out of the blue as they walked across the parking lot, towards the gymnasium doors. Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

Caroline gaped. "You're sneaky, you know that?"

El giggled, looking so happy that Caroline's heart hurt. She deserved this- they both did.

"By the way," she stopped El as they reached the doors, the music so loud Caroline had to lean in. "Mike is going to think you look beautiful."

El's smile lit a spark in Caroline's heart.

Together, hand in hand, the girls walked into the gymnasium, feeling somehow shy and excited all at once.

They saw the boys right away- Will was being dragged away by someone who had just asked him to dance, but he gave Caroline a thumbs-up the second he saw her. Dustin looked like he was fumbling to talk to Max, his face bright red, before she rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.

The second Mike's eyes laid on El, it was like his entire world fell away- like she was the only thing he saw.

He stood up slowly, mouth slightly agape, staring at El like he'd never seen anything so wonderful in his entire life. El stiffened beside Caroline, gripping her hand tighter, before her eyes lit up and her face glowed with admiration.

"Told you," Caroline whispered, reveling in the awed look on El's face. "Go talk to him."

El slowly moved away and Caroline watched as Mike gently took her hand. From here, she could read his lips-

You look beautiful.

God, they were so cute.

Caroline stood there for a moment, watching as El and Mike moved onto the dance floor next to Will, Max, and Dustin- before realizing someone was missing.

The real reason she'd wanted to come. The person she'd been waiting to see.

A gentle hand tapped her shoulder and she whirled around, nearly tripping over her heels before the person grabbed her shoulders, holding her steady.

Lucas's dark eyes were soft and serene, smiling widely. "Hi."

Caroline melted.

"Hi," She said, her heart thumping. A smile had spread across her own face before she realizing it, relaxing into Lucas's arms as they trailed down down to her elbows.

He just stared at her for a minute, but it wasn't awkward. It never was, with him. He blinked, like he'd been lost in thought just looking at her. "You look beautiful."

Caroline's hand drifted to her own dress- a pretty, pinkish-white. Her hair was waved, a small lei of flowers rested on the crown of her head.

"Thanks," Caroline breathed. "You too."

Lucas laughed, loud and unabashed, like he always did. God, Caroline loved that laugh. "Good to know."

She shoved him, blushing down to her toes. "Shut up."

Lucas rolled his eyes, grinning like the big goof he was. Then, in his usual dramatic fashion, he bowed deeply and stuck out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

"If you must," Caroline said, giggling. She took his hand- it was slightly sweaty, she noticed with a grin- and let him lead her into the middle of the gym floor.

The beat of the music was perfect as Lucas led her hands to his shoulders, putting his own around her waist.

Caroline couldn't hold back her grin when she glanced around at her friends. Max had her head rested on Dustin's shoulder as Dustin swayed back and forth, looking happier than Caroline had ever seen him. Mike was looking down at El with an expression of such pure adoration, his hands so gentle on her waist.

Will was awkwardly side-stepping with a cute girl in blue, but his eyes were looking somewhere else.

He kept glancing at Mike, looking bright red.

Caroline frowned.

"Hey," Lucas said, pulling her out of her thoughts. His eyes flickered between hers. "You okay?"

Caroline reached up to brush a stray eyelash off his cheek, feeling his skin warm beneath her touch.

"Better than I've been in a long time," she said honestly.

Lucas was getting closer, and Caroline found that she didn't have any complaints.

"Callie," Lucas breathed.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you?"

Caroline's heart thumped against her ribs. Before she could chicken out, she closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to his.

It wasn't perfect, by any means.

She stumbled a little bit, her hands falling from his shoulders down to his elbows. His grip on her hips tightened in surprise. Lucas's lips were just slightly chapped, and Caroline didn't know how what to do with her mouth.

When they finally pulled away a few seconds later, Lucas just stared at her in shock, his eyes bulging out of his head.

Caroline felt frozen, her face blushing furiously.

"Wow," Lucas said after a moment.

Caroline didn't know how to respond.

Lucas did, however.

Slower this time, more smoothly and more expected, he leaned in again, giving her a second to pull back if she wanted to.

She didn't.

He kissed her softly again, and Caroline felt herself melt.

This time, it was perfect.

A/N
... hi.

I know i've been gone forever. For several months, actually.

The reason? These books just weren't speaking to me as much as my Marvel ones. People didn't seem to like them as much, so they kind of went and sat on the back burner.

Not to mention, they're just not as well-written as I want them to be. I cringe looking back at them.

But... I adore them. I've missed this universe, and i'm back.

I've decided to re-vamp this series, with better writing and some major overall improvements. I hope you guys will stick with me through the ride.

Book three is going to be announced soon- as well as the sequel to Pulses, which should be updated soon.

I've missed you guys, even though there aren't many of you and i've been majorly slacking.

Thank you for being here. If you are reading this update, that means you stuck with Callie and her story and held out hope.

I love you all. Drink some water, and stay tuned for some major announcements. ❤️