Over the next few days, Hawkins was in mourning, bringing the community closer than ever before.

The news broadcasted it as a fire that broke out inside the mall, leaving thirty people dead, including the brave Chief Hopper that died trying to save them. While the majority of Hawkins accepted this story, there were some who had their conspiracy theories, whether it was the government covering everything up or a satanic cult was arising. But of course, there was the number one theory that Jenna would stand by, one that she could prove was a fact: Hawkins was a cursed town.

Jenna found herself driving by what was left of the mall, seeing the memorials for the victims lined up at the entrance. She always stayed a little bit longer at the ones made for Hopper, Janet, and Billy (despite him being a shitty person). Her heart ached the more she thought about that night, crying herself to sleep, with Dorothy coming in her room to comfort her until she was able to fall into a slumber. Jenna and her mom had yet to talk about what they witnessed during the battle, though both of them knew they would have to at some point if they wanted to try and move past it (if that was even possible).

Funerals for most of the victims of the fire were being planned for the next two weeks (some families chose not to have one), and everyone in Hawkins knew it would be the longest two weeks they would have to endure. The ones involved with what really happened only attended a handful of funerals, as they could only hear so much about people they didn't know very well lose their lives in what wasn't actually a fire. It was when they started the funerals for the ones they did know that the emotions hit them hard.

Hopper's funeral was the first one, and it also had the largest attendance from the town. Jenna did her best to keep herself composed as her eyes went to Dorothy, Joyce, and Murray, then to Eleven, Dana, and Carter, knowing they were taking his death harder than anyone else. She wondered what was going to happen to the kids now that their guardian was gone.

The service for Heather Holloway and her parents left Jenna numb as she stood near the back with her friends. Next was Billy's funeral, though Jenna and the others mostly went in support of Max. Janet's was the final funeral, one that Jenna was dreading, as it meant that she'd have to say her final goodbye to her best friend.

One the day of Janet's funeral, Jenna took her time getting ready. By the time she put on her black dress and was looking at her reflection in front of the mirror, she could already feel the grief making its way back to her. Before she could start getting teary-eyed, she heard a knock at the door, turning her head to see her mother standing there.

"Ready to go?" Dorothy asked.

"Almost," Jenna replied, glancing back at the mirror and smoothing out her dress.

Dorothy stepped inside her bedroom, her expression filled with sympathy. "I know you haven't been looking forward to this day for the last couple of weeks. You wanna talk about it?"

Jenna let out a shaky breath, looking back over at her mom as she sat down on the bed. "The last thing I expected to do when coming back here was to say goodbye to my best friend this way. It doesn't seem real."

Her mom nodded. "None of this seems real," she said, sitting down next to Jenna while rubbing her back.

"I'm just ready to get this over with," Jenna admitted.

"Me, too, sweetie," Dorothy said. "But we'll get through it. We always do."

But what if I can't get through it this time? Jenna thought.

"Have you talked to Steve lately?" Dorothy questioned.

"No," Jenna answered, shaking her head. In fact, she hadn't spoken to him ever since he stayed at her house for just one night after the incident at Starcourt Mall. When his parents came home the next day, Jenna and Dorothy had gone over to his house and explained what happened. She saw him at some of the funerals, though he was quick to leave as soon as the service was finished, giving Jenna no time to go and talk to him. She was starting to regret not giving him a call these last couple of weeks, knowing he was hurting just as much as everyone else.

"Well, maybe try today, yeah? I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Okay." If he even wants to talk to anyone.

Her mom let out a sigh and stood up from the bed. "Finish getting ready. I'll meet you downstairs."

So Jenna put on some finishing touches on her makeup, putting on her brave face in the mirror before heading downstairs and leaving the house with her mom. She was quiet during the drive to the cemetery, looking out the window and seeing various painted signs either honoring the victims of the fire or warning the people of the curse that had fallen on the town. The cemetery was already crowded with people when Jenna and Dorothy arrived, where they were able to easily blend in with the others. Jenna briefly watched her mom go over to James Attaway before diverting her attention to the rest of the attendees, trying to spot any of her friends. However, the only familiar faces she recognized were the ones from high school that she didn't want to interact with. When Jenna finally saw Steve standing away from everyone else, she made her way through the crowd of people and approached him, where he lift his head at the sound of her footsteps. She could see the swelling was no longer on his face, along with the bruises getting more yellow and the dark circles under his eyes becoming noticeable.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied back.

"How you holding up?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Hanging in there. You?"

"Same."

Nodding his head, Steve glanced behind her at the crowd. "Have you talked to Janet's dad yet?"

She shook her head in response. "I don't think I can." The thought of having to go up to her father and tell her how sorry she was for the loss of his only daughter knowing what actually happened to her and she couldn't tell him almost made her sick to her stomach.

Before Steve could say anything else back, the crowd of people started to gather around the closed casket under the tent, and he and Jenna went to join them, finding spots in the middle of everyone, in which they were greeted with sad smiles from Nancy, Jonathan, Carter, Dana, Robin, and Carlie standing there. The pastor who would officiate the funeral stepped up to the podium, clearing his throat before leaning into the microphone and began speaking.

"Today, we are here to celebrate the life of Janet Elizabeth Attaway," he stated. "Janet was a caring and outgoing friend, always loyal to the ones she cared about the most. She was a loyal member to this community, never had a frown on her face. While she is no longer on this Earth with us, she lives on all throughout Hawkins and in our hearts."

And it was the last thing she wanted, Jenna thought.

The pastor paused for a moment before speaking up again. "Now, her father, James Attaway, would like to come up and say a few words." He turned to motion Mr. Attaway to come up to the stand, moving out of the way for the man to make his way front and center.

It was obvious that Mr. Attaway was in rough shape, the exhaustion showing on his sulking face as he dragged his feet to stand in front of everyone, using his shaky hands to put down a piece of paper in front of him and grip the podium in order to keep himself steady. Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth to start the eulogy for his only daughter.

"I've never been good with words, so bear with me, folks." He paused for a moment, attempting to keep himself composed before looking down at the paper and continuing on. "I'm no sentimental man, never have been. Unconditional love was something I could never wrap my head around. I always think that's why my marriage didn't work out." There was another break as his lips quivered. "I wished I could say that things changed after it was just me and Janet, but I wasn't exactly 'Father of the Year' when it came to her." The tears started to fall down his face. "Now that she's gone, I...I now know what unconditional love means. And it's too late to let my Janny know that."

Jenna swallowed hard at the lump now forming in her throat, letting James Attaway's words linger in the back of her mind as he continued on with telling stories about Janet, feeling the regret settling at the pit of her stomach, twisting in knots so tight that she thought she'd vomit right there in front of everyone. Once the waterworks began, there was no stopping them, and it only got worse as she stared at the picture of Janet next to the podium, knowing that the face she was looking at was one she'd never see in this lifetime again.

After Mr. Attaway was finished with his eulogy, the pastor led everyone in prayer, where Jenna did her best to keep her head down, but couldn't help and slightly lifted it up to see Janet's coffin being lowered into the ground. Her hand moved closer to Steve's, brushing against his fingers, waiting for him to grab a hold of it. Only he never did. Jenna looked over at him with his head still down, hoping that he would glance up at her and see that he wasn't alone in this. But his head remained facing the grass beneath him, and she accepted his reaction in defeat.

The ache that filled Jenna's heart weakened when the funeral was finally over, wiping the tears off her face as she looked over at her mom, who gave her a sad smile. But when she turned back around to talk to Steve, her face fell when she saw that he was no longer standing beside her, finding him already making his way out of the crowd and across the cemetery, too far for Jenna to go catch up to him. So all she could do was watch him get farther away from her until he was no longer in her sight, the twinge from before rising in her chest once again.

*******

It wasn't long after the funerals that Chief Powell--the new head of Hawkins Police Department--wanted to hold a candlelight vigil as a way for the community to come together and honor the victims of the Starcourt Mall fire. At first, Jenna had no interest in going, as she wasn't sure how much more grieving she could take. But it was after some convincing from her mother that she decided to attend, despite a part of her still dreading it.

"How much longer is this new chief gonna drag all of this out?" Jenna asked while on the way to the park for the vigil.

"I have no idea," Dorothy said. "But hopefully everyone will get the chance to move on after this. God knows we all need to."

When the two got to the park, the sun was almost gone for the day, and the entire town was already gathered there in a big crowd. Jenna and her mom walked around, accepting candles from one of the volunteers who was handing them out, then weaving through the mass of people as they tried to find anyone they knew. From across the park, Jenna spotted Wayne Munson standing by a tall tree, and instead of him making his way to them, he merely stayed in his spot and gave a small nod. Confused, Jenna looked over at her mom, who had a sad expression on her face.

"What was that all about?" Jenna inquired.

"I'll tell you later," Dorothy stated, scanning among the crowd. "I'm gonna go talk to Joyce. Meet me by the car after the vigil's over.

Jenna nodded, watching her mom approach Joyce and offer her a hug. As much as she wanted to press on about Wayne, she knew now was not the time, so she let it go and went back to looking around the park. Her eyes went to the swings, where she saw the familiar faces of Tommy Hagan and Reed Joyner, along with a few boys that Jenna didn't recognize, all of them shooting hard stares at her.

"Hey, Howard."

Jenna jumped at Carter's voice coming from behind, breaking her stare with the boys and turning around to face him. "Hey, Carter."

"How you doing after...you know...?" He trailed off, though Jenna knew where he was going with his question.

"Fine," was all she responded with. "What about you?"

Carter nodded. "Doing okay. Moving in with the Byers is still an adjustment."

"I bet," Jenna replied. "How are Dana and El handling it?"

He shrugged in response. "As best as they can. Dana ditched this to go hang out with Eddie, and El went somewhere with Will and the others." He paused for a moment, sighing. "Joyce thought it was best if the younger kids didn't come here tonight."

"Understandable," she said. "So why did you decide to come tonight?"

Carter's face fell. "I think you already know."

Jenna took a moment before replying, her heart sinking as she finally opened her mouth to speak. "I'm sorry about Hopper."

"I'm sorry about Janet."

Just as the two went silent after that, they saw Steve, Robin, and Carlie approaching them. Jenna was still getting used to seeing the girls wearing anything other than the work uniforms they no longer have use for.

"Hey, guys," Carlie said. "How's it going, given the circumstances?"

"Still going," Carter answered.

A moment later, Jonathan and Nancy joined the group, greeting them by nodding their heads, in which the others returned the gesture.

"Is it me or does it feel weird to be here with the entire town for this?" Robin spoke up. "I mean, none of them knew what really happened inside the mall."

"People still died, Robin," Nancy pointed out.

"And most of them probably lost someone they cared about," Steve added.

Jenna noticed the way he looked away, almost as if he was trying to hide the pain from what he said. Before she could say anything to him, she was interrupted by the sound of Chief Powell's voice booming all around the park.

"Good evening, everyone," he began, standing in front of the big crowd. "Thank you for coming to this candlelight vigil in honor of those we lost in the Starcourt Mall fire." He went over to his fellow officer and lit his candle, in which he went to the person next to him and did the same, with each candle being lit one by one. "The Fourth of July is normally a day filled with celebration. But tragedy struck that night, and we lost thirty beloved members of this wonderful community. Tonight, we gather to remember those that are no longer with us, honoring their memory by lighting a candle for them." He took a moment as he held up his candle. "We will never forget."

It was another couple of minutes before everyone's candles flooded the entire park with light from the flickering flames. Sobs escaped people's lips during the moment of silence, and Jenna was close to doing the same, the tears slowly falling down her face. She glanced over to see her friends with their heads down, then to the rest of the crowd, like they were all silently praying for the victims. While the majority of the town would never know what really happened inside that mall, there was some comfort knowing that the people of Hawkins still cared enough to come together and honor them.

Once the vigil was finished, the crowd began to disperse, expressing their deepest sympathies to family members of the victims, along with talking to neighbors and exchanging hugs. Jenna and her friends were about to get out of the large group when a voice behind made them stop in their tracks.

"Leaving already?" Tommy called out, making the others turn to face him. "I haven't offered my condolences yet."

"I'm surprised you know what 'condolences' means," Carter retorted.

"Shut the hell up, freak," Tommy snapped.

"Let's just go, guys," Jonathan muttered, attempting to pull Carter with him.

"How about you fuck off, Hagan," Carter spoke up once again, ignoring Jonathan. "Now's not the time to start shit. Have some fucking respect."

"Didn't I tell you to shut the hell up?" Tommy took a step towards Carter, his eyes filled with anger.

"Hey, back off, man," Steve intervened, getting in between the two. "Like he said, this isn't the time for one of your temper tantrums."

Tommy let out a scoff, shaking his head, then splitting his attention between Steve and Jenna. "You two have really set your standards low when it comes to friends, huh? What would Janet think?"

"Don't say her name," Jenna cut in, stepping up next to Steve, the heat rushing through her body as she clenched her fists.

"Or what, Howard? What are you gonna do?" Tommy got closer to Jenna's face. "You were with her inside the mall, weren't you?" When Jenna didn't say anything, he snickered. "Not much of a badass when you couldn't even save your best friend."

Before she could come up with a rebuttal, Steve shoved Tommy away from her and threw a punch square in the face, causing gasps and yelling to erupt all around. With a bloody nose, Tommy stood back up and charged at Steve, grabbing him by shirt, but didn't get far in retaliating when Jenna shot daggers his way and got his body temperature to shoot up, grunting in pain as he let go and turned away, giving the others time to leave before he could make another attempt to strike back long enough for the cops to show up. Jenna wiped the blood from her nose, giving herself time to calm down, then realized that Steve was storming away from the group, where she rushed to catch up to him, leaving the rest of the group behind.

"Steve!" she called out, but he didn't turn around. "Steve, what the hell was that back there?"

"I could ask you the same question," he retorted, still walking.

"Okay, I shouldn't have used my powers like that on him, but you throwing a punch wasn't very helpful, either," she pointed out. "Just because you won a fight against a Russian guard doesn't mean you can go beat up everyone that pisses you off."

"You don't know how I feel, Jenna."

"Then help me understand!"

Steve stopped in his place and spun to face her. "It's not that easy."

"You think I don't know that?" She paused, taking a moment to let her face soften, then continued. "Just talk to me."

He opened his mouth to reply, though there was hesitation before he said anything. "I don't wanna talk about it yet, okay? I just need some more time processing this on my own. I'll call you when I'm ready."

"Steve--"

"Just leave me alone, Jenna." With that, he spun back around and started walking off again, and this time, Jenna didn't even bother to try and stop him again, no matter how much she wanted to.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Here we are with another sad and angsty chapter (I'm sorry).

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-A