Smoke -- Jim Hopper

4. I NEED YOUR HELP

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This chapter is extra long and also unedited.

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Natalie stood next to Johnathan and Joyce with her mouth dropped slightly. The three of them stared blankly at each other before a clap of thunder brought them out of their shock.

"I don't think it would be smart to drive home in this storm." Joyce muttered absently, "do you mind sleeping on the couch?"

Natalie nodded and swallowed thickly, "Uh, no problem at all, thank you, Joyce."

Joyce nodded and brought out another cigarette, "I'm gonna go to bed I think," she said quietly with a tip of her head and retreated to her room.

Johnathan and Natalie stared blankly at each other before Johnathan spoke up, "I can get you a t-shirt to wear?" he asked her.

Natalie smiled at him softly, "Its alright, my scrubs are pretty comfy." she said with a smile, "Do you have a bathroom I can use to wash my face?" she asked.

Johnathan pointed to the door near the right, "Yeah, you can use that one, and there's a blanket on the lazy boy that you can use." he told her and gave her a tight-lipped smile, "well, goodnight."

"Night Johnathan," she responded quietly and walked into the bathroom, and shut the door behind her. Natalie turned on the water and quickly washed her face and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The bathroom lights flickered slightly, making a tinkering noise before stoping. Natalie tilted her head in confusion, probably the storm. She turned off the lights and grabbed the blanket off the lazy boy and plopped onto the couch. She pulled the blanket up to her nose and shut her eyes and tried to go to sleep.

Hours seemed to have passed and she was wide awake, staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to overcome her, but it never did. All she could think about was Will, and how he just seemed to vanish.

Soon the soft rays of dawn poked through the blinds and she sat up and rubbed her eyes. A creak of a door could be heard and Johnathan walked out of his room with a yawn and his eyes landed on Natalie.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked with a crooked smile.

"Is it that obvious?" she smiled at him.

Johnathan shrugged," A bit, but if it makes you feel any better I don't think any of us slept," he admitted and grabbed the coffee pot from the sink.

She shrugged and checked her watch, "damn, I have to work." she groaned.

"Why don't you take today off?" Johnathan suggested while pouring the coffee grinds into the filter, "You can help me make copies of Will's missing poster." he suggested and then turned around to look at her with a grim face, "I, uh, I want to make sure mom is okay, you know?" his voice cracked slightly, "I don't want her to be alone." he admitted.

Natalie felt her heart break and sadness flood into her conscious, "okay. I'll take the day off." she told him and stood up, "But I gotta get things set in the clinic and ill come back, is that okay?" she asked him.

Johnathan nodded, "yeah." he returned to his coffee and poured her a mug, "for the road."

She smiled at him, "Thanks Johnathan, should I leave Bucky here?"

Johnathan glanced at her dog who was sprawled on the floor next to Chester, "yeah, I think mom still wants him around in case any new smells come up." he told her.