stevefromupsidedown

[stevefromupsidedown]

you know my best genre is apocalyptic chaos YOU KNOW I LOVE IT

Façade — Pt, six : Hawkins' Party • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: it's started, and there's nothing they can do but hope to make it out alive. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, SEVEN (6/28) | SERIES MASTERLIST | SERIES PLAYLIST

Dustin opened his eyes, and instantly took a breath in, he looked around him, his brain processing what just happened until pain in his already hurt leg forced him to try to look down at his legs, but he couldn’t.

His upper body was trapped under a heavy piece of beam, his arms could barely move, as for his legs, he could feel something heavy also blocking them, but he couldn’t know for sure, he wasn’t strong enough to get out of there on his own. 

A whispered cuss word left his lips and he looked around, he really looked and he actually realised what had happened, he remembered he was in their friend’s house when it happened, it seemed like the ground was slipping away from their feet violently, quite literally as they didn’t have any time to react nor realise. 

Her house was completely destroyed, there was nothing left except remnants of a house down on the ground, and it wasn’t just hers’, every house on the street was destroyed, the Wheelers', the entire neighbourhood.

Second thing he noticed was the atmosphere, it had thickened up, white particles or spores —he didn’t know what it was really, none of them did— were everywhere, it felt cold, and dark, there was a weird smell around and it wasn’t just because the night had set, no, the Upside Down had started bleeding into Hawkins. 

The atmosphere, the sky, everything seemed to lean towards Hawkins' invasion. 

His head turned to the side as soon as he heard some noise, as it was abnormally silent around him, his eyes widened, he tried to calm his breathing but not knowing who or what was around as it seemed she was right, Vecna had struck when they least expected it. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, his eyes trying to look in all the directions he could, but he couldn’t, he nearly had a heart attack when he made out Steve’s figure crouching down to his direction, approaching slowly.

He was whispering his name around, trying to be as silent as possible even if his feet kept cracking around on the remnants of the house, cautious as to not step on anyone as they couldn’t see shit. 

The moon or the stars were nowhere to be seen probably due to the thick dark clouds. 

“Steve!” He stopped in his tracks and followed the sound of Dustin’s whispered voice, he managed to find him by feeling around, with his help he removed the first piece of beam lying on his upper body, then proceeded to free his legs. 

By luck, his strained ankle had only worsened, he didn’t have any broken bones, though he could feel the scrapes, the raw skin on his face and on different parts of his body.

Warm blood running on the side of his face, next to his eyes, the arch of his eyebrows made him wince as he sat up, dizziness starting to blurry his vision, he was forced to slow down his movements. 

He couldn’t see much but Steve was eyeing in his direction, as best as he could, only perceiving the smallest bits of reflected light in his eyes, his brows furrowed as he heard Dustin’s breathing alter for just a second in pain. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve let out in a whisper, one of his hands trying to feel around for him until he found one of his knees (he hopes), his movements cautious, trying to sense an injury, blood, anything. 

“I can feel blood running along the side of my face but not that much, so it’s probably not that bad but my head is-”, he paused, realising Steve was whispering, he wasn’t. Why would he whisper?

“What? Dustin?” There again! More panicked, his voice cracking a bit but he whispered again. 

“Why are you whispering Steve?” 

Dustin heard the shallow breathing leave his lips, almost like his body was shaking, a goosebump took over his body, “I suppose I.. heard some familiar noises when I came back to my senses.. The Upside Down kind of familiar noises..” 

It had the effects of a cold shower on Dustin, his back straightening, his heart beating picking up faster against his ribcage, sweat beading down his temple, “What?” 

It wasn’t a what? kind of question, more like a way to verbalise his difficulty to acknowledge the truth, he couldn’t believe it, at all, not until they heard something cracking, their heads immediately jerked to the side, listening carefully. 

It sounded like multiple cracks, like footsteps, and it didn’t look like it came just from one person or creature, it came into their direction until it stopped suddenly, Steve’s heart was beating at an abnormal rate, his eyes just trying so hard to catch something, he began to wonder if the weird gurgling sound he heard were real or made up in his mind in terror. 

Seconds of silence felt like an eternity of apprehension, until it started again and directly towards them, then a voice, “Steve? Robin?” 

Nancy. 

Dustin and Steve let out a breath of relief, Steve’s hand on his chest as if to soothe his rapid breathing and heartbeat, “You fucking scared us arriving like that, goddamit, Nancy!”, Dustin’s voice almost shouted, in a controlled whisper-yell. 

She continued, crouching down to them, his voice guiding her, “I’m sorry, I just— I can’t— Are you guys okay?” 

Steve could kind of imagine where she was from her voice, “Mostly just scrapes, I don’t know for sure about Dustin, we can’t see shit. Are you—” 

“I don’t want to be unpleasant but my leg is stuck and I would very much like to be unstuck and not feel this horrible weight on my already weak ankle, please.” 

They both got into action, with one hand Steve lead hers’ to one side of the beam, him on the other side, they lifted it on the count of three, despite the weight they managed to rise it up enough for Dustin to crawl a bit forward, and put it down as silently as they could. 

It hurt, but it already felt better, he didn’t feel any blood so it probably was good, right ?

He hated so fucking much that Vecna / Henry / One had chosen nightime to invade Hawkins, he probably would have done the same to have the upper hand, but goddamit how unpractical was it?! 

“Are you okay, do you feel blood, or—or like it burns, or, I don’t know..”

Dustin shook his head as he whispered back to Nancy, “No, I don’t think so, I don’t feel my splint though, we might need to make a homemade one, that or—,” he paused, feeling around his ankle, no his splint was there, “—crutches. I do sense my splint now that my hands are on it, but I don’t think I can rest my weight on my leg, limping is a hard pass, so, crutches.” 

“Yeah, okay, but we can’t do that now, we can’t see shit, we need to find the others, regroup, you’re limping for now, we’ll help you, let’s just wait for the sun to rise, at least,” she answered back, her head turned to the side, trying to focus on the darkness, maybe shadows could help them navigate, the difference in the darkness precisely. 

It wasn’t that easy, Steve helped Dustin walk to the forest’s edge with Nancy leading the way, her voice a beacon for them to follow. 

They had nothing to do except wait, hope for the night to end, and for the day to finally rise, if it even did. 

They didn’t find anyone else yet, hoping they would hear the others, or some noise to alert them of someone’s or something’s presence, but the night was quiet, they took turns staying awake, barely able to relax enough to get some rest.

The light of day did manage to peek through the atmosphere, but it reflected the Upside Down's atmosphere, it wasn't bright like it usually was, it was semi dark like the end of a sunset.

They were hopeful in finding more survivors that just like them were just hiding, but they found bodies instead, the firsts of many. 

Neighbours at first, it wasn't a shocker, the magnitude of the earthquake, the gates opening further without any warning, the monsters of the Upside Down invading Hawkins.. It made sense that they would experience loss, close to them or not, then they saw it. It didn’t make sense anymore. 

Steve didn't know how to react, he was shocked. Staring into her battered body, his gaze focused on something completely different, far away from her, but the image was imprinted in his retinas. 

He felt a hand setting on his shoulder, but he completely ignored it, barely acknowledged it. 

The blue and red stripes from her blouse gave it away, and he couldn’t believe it, in a hurry he stepped closer and got rid of debris that fell on her, his eyes and eyebrows widened, goosebumps rising along his body as he faced a view he didn’t want to face, ever. 

Her eyes were just so… open and limpid, so lifeless. A greyish colour on the parts of her body he could recognize that surprisingly weren’t covered in dried blood, haematomas or dirt, her mouth slightly open, her lips cracked, dirtied by dried blood and dirt. 

Her eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, in her last moments it seemed her face held pause on her feelings, and based on it, she suffered, and he hated it. 

He hated everything about it. He couldn’t believe his best friend had endured such a terrible death. 

It seemed like it was weeks ago when it was only days ago that Robin had told him they wouldn't be as lucky as the years prior in their adventure to kill Vecna, the stakes were too high, it was too dangerous, too great of a bet.

A cold chill went through his body as a violent thought interrupted his mind, he began navigating the scene, trying to identify any sign of someone else's body. 

Two remained missing, and he didn't even dare whispering her name, as if saying it out loud would make it happen, like it would give credit to some sort of prophecy and he would find her dead and he would lose it. 

Robin is already hard enough, not her. It’s impossible. 

Steve and Nancy did their best to get her out of the debris, they couldn’t do much to properly give her a burial. 

They did as much as they could to pay their respect, her body resting in the edge of the forest, at the bottom of the neighbourhood, arms resting along her body, they tried to close her mouth and her eyes, but it wouldn't take, she was too rigid and cold. Her eyes would haunt him forever.

He never looked back at her, as  he walked away, it didn’t seem real, he would wake up soon. He’d have to. 

They took advantage of the following light hours to look around for people, both Eddie and her were missing, impossible to find in the debris. Nancy found her father, her sister.. And unfortunately, her mother too. Her reaction was similar to Steve’s, dazed. It was impossible to believe. 

Her brain knew it all too well and automatically started its defence mechanism: numbness. 

They did the same for her family, rested them like Robin, she was trying her hardest to not remember their faces like that, with all the blood and.. the terror on her mother’s face, the pain on her sister’s face. She didn’t want to remember that. 

Given they haven’t found anyone else alive, they decided on trying to walk around the neighbourhood, trying to look for anything that could be useful. Steve found some ducking tape, and improvised crutches for Dustin so he could follow them faster and maybe with less pain. They managed to find canned food, and surprisingly some water bottles, some were untouched, as if there never was an earthquake. 

Even if the day had set earlier, the daylight wasn’t as authentic as it used to be, it looked like a morose, cloudy day in November, the red lightning striking the sky, the sound of it echoed in the city, the clouds resembled more and more like the ones in the Upside Down. 

It seemed like daylight was a faded copy of itself, the creatures weren’t there, only the atmosphere and the chaos around them proved they weren’t in some collective nightmare. 

As it got darker they agreed on needing a place to hide, as they walked towards the city centre they observed their surroundings, saddened and astonished.  

Streets they’ve known all their life were completely unrecognisable, as they got closer to the town hall and the familiar shops they’ve grown to see since they were little, they’ve come into some that were still intact. 

They agreed on hiding in one of them as the day welcomed more darkness, it seemed the day was shorter, or, as they had no way of knowing what time of the day it was, they were a bit disoriented. They improvised mattresses with piles of knotted clothes, they attended to their wounds, cleaned with some water and soap they found in the restroom and used broken pieces of mirrors to see their faces. 

Scrapes, dried blood, bruises, small cuts, they seemed to be pretty lucky. 

They weren’t hungry but still ate, and both Nancy and Steve took turns staying awake and resting, with a piece of broken mirror taped to some wood, it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Steve took the first watch, he wasn’t sleepy at all. 

Thankfully, the shop had curtains, so they were able to hide behind them. He looked through them a few times, and he did see some bats and demodogs passing through, always remaining incredibly silent, staying vigilant for any sounds, any signs that danger was around the corner. 

He was so focused he hadn’t realised that hours passed and Nancy had awoken and gotten closer to him, telling him he could rest for a couple hours, but he couldn’t. 

He was lying under a thin duvet, staring at the wall as his mind kept spinning around, keeping him awake. 

Robin kept him awake, the uncertainty that lay in their future, how, in one single moment, their lives had completely changed, it kept him awake. 

She kept him awake. Was she alive? Safe? Had she partnered up with Eddie or was he also missing? Why were they missing? Has something happened? Questions like those kept circling around and around in his head, he couldn’t escape them, he couldn’t put them to sleep. 

Then, he replayed his last memory, how furious and hurt she looked before she stormed to her room, they had fought, and she was so right. He had dismissed her concern and her ideas for Nancy. His hand’s hold on the duvet tightened, guilt invading him. Shame crept up on him like claws digging in his flesh, running deep in his veins. He could feel it in his stomach, knots forming out of worry, tears of anger that he hadn’t even noticed ran across his nose and fell on the material under his head.

In a rampage, he pushed the tears away from his eyes, a cry of despair forming but blocked in his throat.

He refused to let his furry, sadness and disgust of himself be seen by others, especially Nancy, whom, unbeknownst to her, was in the centre of that fight, and as he suspected, was a cause for their relationship to be so difficult, her jealousy was.. So poisonous. 

Exhaustion got the upper hand, and he quietly fell asleep, still holding his duvet tightly, under Nancy’s very discreet gaze. 

Her body jolted awake, eyes wide open, taking a big breath in. Her body was stuck in hypervigilance, her brain already trying to process everything that happened. Her heartbeat spiking the more she realised what happened and where she was. 

A sense of urgency invaded her brain as goosebumps started to spread on her skin, feeling cold with the adrenaline, the shortness of breath quickly followed, a visceral intuition to panic invaded her bloodstream, made her stomach feel sick. It was too familiar, all too familiar. 

She found herself stuck alone in a nightmare once again.

She was tired of having to survive on her own, fight on her own, she began to question the worthiness of it, the necessity of it, it had to be… right? 

She struggled to realise where she stood, she was stuck from her chest to her legs, she could only move her head around, but there wasn’t anything to see, it was too dark, only the red lightning striking through the sky, she instantly knew she had been right, and that with more preparation maybe it wouldn’t have happened this way.. She decided on stopping on the what ifs, there were too many of them and it wouldn’t help her. 

She tried to look around, the slight movements in her body halted everything as she felt something digging deeper on the side of her abdomen, the same one that had been bitten off by bats days ago, she couldn’t contain the reflex to look down and only moved more, she let her head fall down on whatever it was, exhaling loudly as she tried to not let out any cry or scream. A strong intuition telling her she needed to be silent. 

Immobile, tried to control her breathing to make it hurt less, but the more she stayed in that position the more she felt its pressure, she was certain the wound had cracked open. Something had pierced through, she didn’t know how deep but she definitely felt it sting, the electric shot of pain coursing through her nerves at every breath she took. 

She could only hear her own muffles in the darkness and coldness surrounding her, very faint clouds of mist escaping her lips as each exhale she gave out, she quit on moving, completely relaxing her aching muscles. 

Her eyesight focused on the sky, its black and reddish colour whenever lightning struck.

It’s almost pretty. 

A faint and distant scream echoed through the silence, her head followed its direction and another wave of pain shot through her body, reminding her once again to not make any sudden moves. 

The scream happened only once, it was too far to really distinguish if it was made by a human or an animal, and if it were the latter —realisation felt like a cold shower. 

Her heartbeat started spiking, she began to feel it against her ribcage, goosebumps and this coldness in her limbs, she started sobbing uncontrollably, pinching her lips with her teeth, her eyes stuck in the direction the scream came from. 

Knuckles turning white from the tightness of her fists, giving everything she had not to succumb to terror. 

Don’t scream. Stop crying. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Don’t. Scream. 

Vagabond pearly tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks, she couldn’t contain the sobs that escaped her lips. 

“Steve?” It felt strange having to listen to herself so weak, so vulnerable, her voice so shaky. 

Another uncontrollable sob, an ugly cry accompanied by another fresh wave of cold tears, this time her voice could only whisper, “Steve.”

She was making up her mind to give up; the fight or flight response was suddenly surprisingly very quiet, she almost felt ready to give up, she felt so tired, so cold, it was so tempting. The adrenaline, the emotional tool of the situation, has completely exhausted her. She let it get the best of her, her eyes closed ever so slowly.. and everything got darker.

Steve bolted awake as someone was shaking him, he heard Dustin’s voice muffled pleas for him to wake, he was on high alert immediately, eyes and eyebrows widened, the teenager’s face wouldn’t help him realise what was happening so he turned to Nancy. 

She was taping tightly blades to a strong piece of wood, “The sun hasn’t risen yet, I’ve seen some shadows move around, they have torches. We need to get ready to move and fast.” 

“I don’t understand— it’s people, they could-” 

“I’ve been watching them, I heard screams, guns, they’re attracting the creatures our way, I don’t know how or who they are but they seem to know that they’re afraid of fire. Steve, get up. We need to move, as quickly as possible.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, he quickly gathered his stuff, grabbed his makeshift spear, and made sure to strap the backpack on his shoulders, they exited through the back door, Nancy opening the walk, Dustin in the middle with his crutches and Steve closing the walk.

Both young adults had spears in their hands, cautious on their way to leave, too aware that they couldn’t see much, they had to play their luck, use their unknown opponents’ torches like a compass, know where they are and avoid them. 

A thought came into Steve’s head when he made out the shadow of what seemed to be riffles, they were seriously under equipped, he had imagined that some people would probably survive, just like they have, but he certainly didn’t imagine that they would be so prepared, so easily and rapidly armed to the teeth. 

He wished they had better equipment and fighting gear to defend themselves, gosh, she was so right, but the harsh reality was that they didn’t, they had to survive with barely anything.. but what if—? No. 

He stopped himself before exploring further his train of thoughts.. he didn’t like where it led him, even if he wondered if and when he would cross the line he was so hesitant to cross. He knows he’ll do it if it comes to it, but has it really come to that? Have the remaining people simply just lost any common sense and were ready to turn against themselves? 

Killing those demobats and demodogs meant barely nothing compared to humans.. it really is the end of the World, isn’t it? 

They were too slow, Dustin had trouble manoeuvring his crutches in the dark, a single moment of inadvertence —blindness would be more adequate— with no moonlight, no streetlight, only that goddammit light of that torch was useful to them but also because he stepped on broken glass and the sound of crutches on glass wasn’t, at all, discreet. 

They tried to retreat quickly, Steve grabbed the crutches, with one hand around his waist, helped him walk faster, they rushed into the forest, Nancy could recognise someone she saw in The War Zone, someone who probably participated in the witch hunt against Eddie. 

And then it struck. 

Were they still hunting him? Venging Jason’s death? Did they have any idea of what was really happening or weren’t they just opportunists taking advantage of the situation? 

Gunshots fired in their way as the three young adults ran as fast as they could through the forest, hunters quick on their footsteps, they weren’t afraid of using their guns, bits of trees shot off, their aim wasn’t precise at all, but it worked perfectly to install fear in their system, Dustin couldn’t really feel his ankle hurting with the adrenaline. 

Soon enough, they heard demobats shrieks piercing through the night, and surely, the following scream was enough to make Nancy’s blood run cold.  

She could recognise that shriek anywhere since she heard it back in the Upside Down, the first time she went there looking for Barbara. 

Everyone’s footsteps halted abruptly, clearly unexpecting to hear such a strident sound. It was barely noticeable, everyone was so stunned, but Steve and Nancy shared a glance, a grave look plastered on her face. 

Eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes widened, her hands trembling. She felt the muscles in her body starting to tense, her body what it was, its response was almost automatic. 

As for the others, pure terror was setting in their bodies as seconds passed and the echo of the scream travelled through the woods. 

They were absolutely petrified on the spot. 

It seemed like Steve and Nancy understood each other with only a glance, they began running, hoping they would take some advance on their opponents, the thing is, some of them were so afraid, they hesitated on following them, they watched a few running away, trying to catch the young adults, Eddie’s followers, as they enjoyed shouting confidently. 

The others weren’t as.. audacious, glaring at each other uncomfortably, not exactly knowing if they could —or should— give in to panic, or follow them, was it worth it dying for ?

They received a reality check quickly as they heard hurried steps coming their way, and not from the same direction as the others, another scream, much closer than anticipated. They broke apart, gave in to fear, their flight response sent them away but the demogorgon was fast, it arrived on them like a bowling ball, getting its fun out of them in no time. 

Leaving them bleeding to death on the cold soil, with no hope, the awareness of dying a terrible and agonising death and not being able to do anything but feel their heartbeats spiking then lowering, the temperature dropping suddenly, their fingers and toes, then the pins and needles in their arms and legs. 

Fighting that tiredness, that adrenaline trying to numb them into nothingness. 

Until there was nothing they could do but get lured into the void. 

Nancy had a plan —okay, no, scratch that, the start of a plan, just that— with absolutely zero guarantee that it would work or that any of them would come out of it alive. Having some kind of advance on their opponents, she hoped to find some kind of crevasse or hidden spot to hide into, she felt the tiniest bit of hope once she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be the rocks near Lovers’ Lake. 

She grabbed Steve’s arm and made the three of them turn right to hide in a tall and tight crevasse near Skull Rock, Dustin was the one who got there first, then Steve and Nancy. 

“I have an idea,” she started, amid catching her breath, her eyes closed momentarily, all struggling to take big breaths.

“They were able to light torches, that means they have activation energy and combustibles. We could take it from them. Demogorgons are terrified of fire, it likes it cold, remember?” 

“How? They have guns, there’s more of them, based on that scenario we’re losing,” Dustin complained, taking his crutches from Steve, who replied back, “Not necessarily, we have the element of surprise,” holding the spear firmer in his hand, shooting a glance at Nancy.

Footsteps quickly alerted them that they weren’t the only one near Skull Rock, based on the noise and the number of feet, it wasn’t the demogorgon yet, so they still had time before it arrived, Steve and Nancy both were holding onto their spear, deep into the crevasse. 

They arrived, using only the lighter as a form of light which was an advantage because it illuminated less than the torch, there were less chances of being seen, they approached towards the entrance, and when two of them were closer, they rushed to them, wielding their spears at them. 

The lighter fell and they realised there were four of those men, Steve had managed to stab one of them in the stomach, twisting the ‘blade’, giving him a shove away with his shoulder, he dodged a bullet and charged him. 

Nancy’s petite figure didn’t allow her to shove him the way Steve did, but she stabbed him multiple times. 

Another scream, and there it was, they could hear the Demogorgon’s feet getting closer, Nancy rushed to grab the lighter and a piece of wood. She called for Steve as she ripped a piece of her shirt to tie it around the wood, and when she turned around she saw he was in trouble. The hurried footsteps were getting so close and next thing she knew, it was already there. 

Standing, a strident and paralysing scream left from its maw.

Steve’s opponent let go of him as the Demogorgon stood on its back legs and charged at the two men in front of it. In some kind of blurry rush, Nancy tried to get closer to Steve and gripped his arm toward their hiding spot. 

She recalls hearing the man screaming to his death, but the creature wasn’t done, they tried to rush into the crevasse, deep into it, but it grabbed Steve’s ankle on its way in. 

He lost balance, fell on his front and was pulled towards the creature as Nancy and Dustin were screaming his name. She was trying her hardest to pull on Steve’s shoulder but she couldn’t match its strength. 

She had to let go; she focused on the piece of wood and tried to light it on fire. She knew it wouldn’t last that much as there wasn’t any oil or fuel on it but making a fire was urgent. 

Fingers shaking she managed to light it and shoved the torch in front of the Demogorgon, it let go of Steve and at the same time as it took a step back from the fire, a massive shotgun pierced through the woods and the creature’s shoulder was a bit blown away by the recoil of the bullet hitting. 

They didn’t know if it could get madder and more violent, and they honestly didn’t want to know, but whoever was firing those bullets, aimed perfectly, each bullet forced the Demogorgon to back away, until a lighted spear shot travelled to it and caught fire. 

It stopped rapidly as it seemed to have vanished, just like that night in ‘83 where Jonathan, Steve and Nancy burned one alive. 

They knew it wasn’t dead as they heard its scream echo in the distance, a revengeful and menacing growl travelling in the woods, with a strong smell of blood and hot flesh, sending a gag through Steve as he was struggling to get back on his feet, painful pins and needles around the leg the creature had pulled so hard on. 

He felt warmth on his calf, and now that he could think of it, a bit lightheaded. 

The world around him was spinning, and before he could say or do something, everything turned black in a matter of seconds, it stopped hurting, spinning.

He couldn’t hear Nancy calling out for him to wake up, to not give up.

It felt so accessible, so easy, so… welcoming, what else could he do as he had lost all hope in his life? 

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, six : Hawkins' Party • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: it's started, and there's nothing they can do but hope to make it out alive. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, SEVEN (6/28) | SERIES MASTERLIST | SERIES PLAYLIST

Dustin opened his eyes, and instantly took a breath in, he looked around him, his brain processing what just happened until pain in his already hurt leg forced him to try to look down at his legs, but he couldn’t.

His upper body was trapped under a heavy piece of beam, his arms could barely move, as for his legs, he could feel something heavy also blocking them, but he couldn’t know for sure, he wasn’t strong enough to get out of there on his own. 

A whispered cuss word left his lips and he looked around, he really looked and he actually realised what had happened, he remembered he was in their friend’s house when it happened, it seemed like the ground was slipping away from their feet violently, quite literally as they didn’t have any time to react nor realise. 

Her house was completely destroyed, there was nothing left except remnants of a house down on the ground, and it wasn’t just hers’, every house on the street was destroyed, the Wheelers', the entire neighbourhood.

Second thing he noticed was the atmosphere, it had thickened up, white particles or spores —he didn’t know what it was really, none of them did— were everywhere, it felt cold, and dark, there was a weird smell around and it wasn’t just because the night had set, no, the Upside Down had started bleeding into Hawkins. 

The atmosphere, the sky, everything seemed to lean towards Hawkins' invasion. 

His head turned to the side as soon as he heard some noise, as it was abnormally silent around him, his eyes widened, he tried to calm his breathing but not knowing who or what was around as it seemed she was right, Vecna had struck when they least expected it. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, his eyes trying to look in all the directions he could, but he couldn’t, he nearly had a heart attack when he made out Steve’s figure crouching down to his direction, approaching slowly.

He was whispering his name around, trying to be as silent as possible even if his feet kept cracking around on the remnants of the house, cautious as to not step on anyone as they couldn’t see shit. 

The moon or the stars were nowhere to be seen probably due to the thick dark clouds. 

“Steve!” He stopped in his tracks and followed the sound of Dustin’s whispered voice, he managed to find him by feeling around, with his help he removed the first piece of beam lying on his upper body, then proceeded to free his legs. 

By luck, his strained ankle had only worsened, he didn’t have any broken bones, though he could feel the scrapes, the raw skin on his face and on different parts of his body.

Warm blood running on the side of his face, next to his eyes, the arch of his eyebrows made him wince as he sat up, dizziness starting to blurry his vision, he was forced to slow down his movements. 

He couldn’t see much but Steve was eyeing in his direction, as best as he could, only perceiving the smallest bits of reflected light in his eyes, his brows furrowed as he heard Dustin’s breathing alter for just a second in pain. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve let out in a whisper, one of his hands trying to feel around for him until he found one of his knees (he hopes), his movements cautious, trying to sense an injury, blood, anything. 

“I can feel blood running along the side of my face but not that much, so it’s probably not that bad but my head is-”, he paused, realising Steve was whispering, he wasn’t. Why would he whisper?

“What? Dustin?” There again! More panicked, his voice cracking a bit but he whispered again. 

“Why are you whispering Steve?” 

Dustin heard the shallow breathing leave his lips, almost like his body was shaking, a goosebump took over his body, “I suppose I.. heard some familiar noises when I came back to my senses.. The Upside Down kind of familiar noises..” 

It had the effects of a cold shower on Dustin, his back straightening, his heart beating picking up faster against his ribcage, sweat beading down his temple, “What?” 

It wasn’t a what? kind of question, more like a way to verbalise his difficulty to acknowledge the truth, he couldn’t believe it, at all, not until they heard something cracking, their heads immediately jerked to the side, listening carefully. 

It sounded like multiple cracks, like footsteps, and it didn’t look like it came just from one person or creature, it came into their direction until it stopped suddenly, Steve’s heart was beating at an abnormal rate, his eyes just trying so hard to catch something, he began to wonder if the weird gurgling sound he heard were real or made up in his mind in terror. 

Seconds of silence felt like an eternity of apprehension, until it started again and directly towards them, then a voice, “Steve? Robin?” 

Nancy. 

Dustin and Steve let out a breath of relief, Steve’s hand on his chest as if to soothe his rapid breathing and heartbeat, “You fucking scared us arriving like that, goddamit, Nancy!”, Dustin’s voice almost shouted, in a controlled whisper-yell. 

She continued, crouching down to them, his voice guiding her, “I’m sorry, I just— I can’t— Are you guys okay?” 

Steve could kind of imagine where she was from her voice, “Mostly just scrapes, I don’t know for sure about Dustin, we can’t see shit. Are you—” 

“I don’t want to be unpleasant but my leg is stuck and I would very much like to be unstuck and not feel this horrible weight on my already weak ankle, please.” 

They both got into action, with one hand Steve lead hers’ to one side of the beam, him on the other side, they lifted it on the count of three, despite the weight they managed to rise it up enough for Dustin to crawl a bit forward, and put it down as silently as they could. 

It hurt, but it already felt better, he didn’t feel any blood so it probably was good, right ?

He hated so fucking much that Vecna / Henry / One had chosen nightime to invade Hawkins, he probably would have done the same to have the upper hand, but goddamit how unpractical was it?! 

“Are you okay, do you feel blood, or—or like it burns, or, I don’t know..”

Dustin shook his head as he whispered back to Nancy, “No, I don’t think so, I don’t feel my splint though, we might need to make a homemade one, that or—,” he paused, feeling around his ankle, no his splint was there, “—crutches. I do sense my splint now that my hands are on it, but I don’t think I can rest my weight on my leg, limping is a hard pass, so, crutches.” 

“Yeah, okay, but we can’t do that now, we can’t see shit, we need to find the others, regroup, you’re limping for now, we’ll help you, let’s just wait for the sun to rise, at least,” she answered back, her head turned to the side, trying to focus on the darkness, maybe shadows could help them navigate, the difference in the darkness precisely. 

It wasn’t that easy, Steve helped Dustin walk to the forest’s edge with Nancy leading the way, her voice a beacon for them to follow. 

They had nothing to do except wait, hope for the night to end, and for the day to finally rise, if it even did. 

They didn’t find anyone else yet, hoping they would hear the others, or some noise to alert them of someone’s or something’s presence, but the night was quiet, they took turns staying awake, barely able to relax enough to get some rest.

The light of day did manage to peek through the atmosphere, but it reflected the Upside Down's atmosphere, it wasn't bright like it usually was, it was semi dark like the end of a sunset.

They were hopeful in finding more survivors that just like them were just hiding, but they found bodies instead, the firsts of many. 

Neighbours at first, it wasn't a shocker, the magnitude of the earthquake, the gates opening further without any warning, the monsters of the Upside Down invading Hawkins.. It made sense that they would experience loss, close to them or not, then they saw it. It didn’t make sense anymore. 

Steve didn't know how to react, he was shocked. Staring into her battered body, his gaze focused on something completely different, far away from her, but the image was imprinted in his retinas. 

He felt a hand setting on his shoulder, but he completely ignored it, barely acknowledged it. 

The blue and red stripes from her blouse gave it away, and he couldn’t believe it, in a hurry he stepped closer and got rid of debris that fell on her, his eyes and eyebrows widened, goosebumps rising along his body as he faced a view he didn’t want to face, ever. 

Her eyes were just so… open and limpid, so lifeless. A greyish colour on the parts of her body he could recognize that surprisingly weren’t covered in dried blood, haematomas or dirt, her mouth slightly open, her lips cracked, dirtied by dried blood and dirt. 

Her eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, in her last moments it seemed her face held pause on her feelings, and based on it, she suffered, and he hated it. 

He hated everything about it. He couldn’t believe his best friend had endured such a terrible death. 

It seemed like it was weeks ago when it was only days ago that Robin had told him they wouldn't be as lucky as the years prior in their adventure to kill Vecna, the stakes were too high, it was too dangerous, too great of a bet.

A cold chill went through his body as a violent thought interrupted his mind, he began navigating the scene, trying to identify any sign of someone else's body. 

Two remained missing, and he didn't even dare whispering her name, as if saying it out loud would make it happen, like it would give credit to some sort of prophecy and he would find her dead and he would lose it. 

Robin is already hard enough, not her. It’s impossible. 

Steve and Nancy did their best to get her out of the debris, they couldn’t do much to properly give her a burial. 

They did as much as they could to pay their respect, her body resting in the edge of the forest, at the bottom of the neighbourhood, arms resting along her body, they tried to close her mouth and her eyes, but it wouldn't take, she was too rigid and cold. Her eyes would haunt him forever.

He never looked back at her, as  he walked away, it didn’t seem real, he would wake up soon. He’d have to. 

They took advantage of the following light hours to look around for people, both Eddie and her were missing, impossible to find in the debris. Nancy found her father, her sister.. And unfortunately, her mother too. Her reaction was similar to Steve’s, dazed. It was impossible to believe. 

Her brain knew it all too well and automatically started its defence mechanism: numbness. 

They did the same for her family, rested them like Robin, she was trying her hardest to not remember their faces like that, with all the blood and.. the terror on her mother’s face, the pain on her sister’s face. She didn’t want to remember that. 

Given they haven’t found anyone else alive, they decided on trying to walk around the neighbourhood, trying to look for anything that could be useful. Steve found some ducking tape, and improvised crutches for Dustin so he could follow them faster and maybe with less pain. They managed to find canned food, and surprisingly some water bottles, some were untouched, as if there never was an earthquake. 

Even if the day had set earlier, the daylight wasn’t as authentic as it used to be, it looked like a morose, cloudy day in November, the red lightning striking the sky, the sound of it echoed in the city, the clouds resembled more and more like the ones in the Upside Down. 

It seemed like daylight was a faded copy of itself, the creatures weren’t there, only the atmosphere and the chaos around them proved they weren’t in some collective nightmare. 

As it got darker they agreed on needing a place to hide, as they walked towards the city centre they observed their surroundings, saddened and astonished.  

Streets they’ve known all their life were completely unrecognisable, as they got closer to the town hall and the familiar shops they’ve grown to see since they were little, they’ve come into some that were still intact. 

They agreed on hiding in one of them as the day welcomed more darkness, it seemed the day was shorter, or, as they had no way of knowing what time of the day it was, they were a bit disoriented. They improvised mattresses with piles of knotted clothes, they attended to their wounds, cleaned with some water and soap they found in the restroom and used broken pieces of mirrors to see their faces. 

Scrapes, dried blood, bruises, small cuts, they seemed to be pretty lucky. 

They weren’t hungry but still ate, and both Nancy and Steve took turns staying awake and resting, with a piece of broken mirror taped to some wood, it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Steve took the first watch, he wasn’t sleepy at all. 

Thankfully, the shop had curtains, so they were able to hide behind them. He looked through them a few times, and he did see some bats and demodogs passing through, always remaining incredibly silent, staying vigilant for any sounds, any signs that danger was around the corner. 

He was so focused he hadn’t realised that hours passed and Nancy had awoken and gotten closer to him, telling him he could rest for a couple hours, but he couldn’t. 

He was lying under a thin duvet, staring at the wall as his mind kept spinning around, keeping him awake. 

Robin kept him awake, the uncertainty that lay in their future, how, in one single moment, their lives had completely changed, it kept him awake. 

She kept him awake. Was she alive? Safe? Had she partnered up with Eddie or was he also missing? Why were they missing? Has something happened? Questions like those kept circling around and around in his head, he couldn’t escape them, he couldn’t put them to sleep. 

Then, he replayed his last memory, how furious and hurt she looked before she stormed to her room, they had fought, and she was so right. He had dismissed her concern and her ideas for Nancy. His hand’s hold on the duvet tightened, guilt invading him. Shame crept up on him like claws digging in his flesh, running deep in his veins. He could feel it in his stomach, knots forming out of worry, tears of anger that he hadn’t even noticed ran across his nose and fell on the material under his head.

In a rampage, he pushed the tears away from his eyes, a cry of despair forming but blocked in his throat.

He refused to let his furry, sadness and disgust of himself be seen by others, especially Nancy, whom, unbeknownst to her, was in the centre of that fight, and as he suspected, was a cause for their relationship to be so difficult, her jealousy was.. So poisonous. 

Exhaustion got the upper hand, and he quietly fell asleep, still holding his duvet tightly, under Nancy’s very discreet gaze. 

Her body jolted awake, eyes wide open, taking a big breath in. Her body was stuck in hypervigilance, her brain already trying to process everything that happened. Her heartbeat spiking the more she realised what happened and where she was. 

A sense of urgency invaded her brain as goosebumps started to spread on her skin, feeling cold with the adrenaline, the shortness of breath quickly followed, a visceral intuition to panic invaded her bloodstream, made her stomach feel sick. It was too familiar, all too familiar. 

She found herself stuck alone in a nightmare once again.

She was tired of having to survive on her own, fight on her own, she began to question the worthiness of it, the necessity of it, it had to be… right? 

She struggled to realise where she stood, she was stuck from her chest to her legs, she could only move her head around, but there wasn’t anything to see, it was too dark, only the red lightning striking through the sky, she instantly knew she had been right, and that with more preparation maybe it wouldn’t have happened this way.. She decided on stopping on the what ifs, there were too many of them and it wouldn’t help her. 

She tried to look around, the slight movements in her body halted everything as she felt something digging deeper on the side of her abdomen, the same one that had been bitten off by bats days ago, she couldn’t contain the reflex to look down and only moved more, she let her head fall down on whatever it was, exhaling loudly as she tried to not let out any cry or scream. A strong intuition telling her she needed to be silent. 

Immobile, tried to control her breathing to make it hurt less, but the more she stayed in that position the more she felt its pressure, she was certain the wound had cracked open. Something had pierced through, she didn’t know how deep but she definitely felt it sting, the electric shot of pain coursing through her nerves at every breath she took. 

She could only hear her own muffles in the darkness and coldness surrounding her, very faint clouds of mist escaping her lips as each exhale she gave out, she quit on moving, completely relaxing her aching muscles. 

Her eyesight focused on the sky, its black and reddish colour whenever lightning struck.

It’s almost pretty. 

A faint and distant scream echoed through the silence, her head followed its direction and another wave of pain shot through her body, reminding her once again to not make any sudden moves. 

The scream happened only once, it was too far to really distinguish if it was made by a human or an animal, and if it were the latter —realisation felt like a cold shower. 

Her heartbeat started spiking, she began to feel it against her ribcage, goosebumps and this coldness in her limbs, she started sobbing uncontrollably, pinching her lips with her teeth, her eyes stuck in the direction the scream came from. 

Knuckles turning white from the tightness of her fists, giving everything she had not to succumb to terror. 

Don’t scream. Stop crying. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Don’t. Scream. 

Vagabond pearly tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks, she couldn’t contain the sobs that escaped her lips. 

“Steve?” It felt strange having to listen to herself so weak, so vulnerable, her voice so shaky. 

Another uncontrollable sob, an ugly cry accompanied by another fresh wave of cold tears, this time her voice could only whisper, “Steve.”

She was making up her mind to give up; the fight or flight response was suddenly surprisingly very quiet, she almost felt ready to give up, she felt so tired, so cold, it was so tempting. The adrenaline, the emotional tool of the situation, has completely exhausted her. She let it get the best of her, her eyes closed ever so slowly.. and everything got darker.

Steve bolted awake as someone was shaking him, he heard Dustin’s voice muffled pleas for him to wake, he was on high alert immediately, eyes and eyebrows widened, the teenager’s face wouldn’t help him realise what was happening so he turned to Nancy. 

She was taping tightly blades to a strong piece of wood, “The sun hasn’t risen yet, I’ve seen some shadows move around, they have torches. We need to get ready to move and fast.” 

“I don’t understand— it’s people, they could-” 

“I’ve been watching them, I heard screams, guns, they’re attracting the creatures our way, I don’t know how or who they are but they seem to know that they’re afraid of fire. Steve, get up. We need to move, as quickly as possible.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, he quickly gathered his stuff, grabbed his makeshift spear, and made sure to strap the backpack on his shoulders, they exited through the back door, Nancy opening the walk, Dustin in the middle with his crutches and Steve closing the walk.

Both young adults had spears in their hands, cautious on their way to leave, too aware that they couldn’t see much, they had to play their luck, use their unknown opponents’ torches like a compass, know where they are and avoid them. 

A thought came into Steve’s head when he made out the shadow of what seemed to be riffles, they were seriously under equipped, he had imagined that some people would probably survive, just like they have, but he certainly didn’t imagine that they would be so prepared, so easily and rapidly armed to the teeth. 

He wished they had better equipment and fighting gear to defend themselves, gosh, she was so right, but the harsh reality was that they didn’t, they had to survive with barely anything.. but what if—? No. 

He stopped himself before exploring further his train of thoughts.. he didn’t like where it led him, even if he wondered if and when he would cross the line he was so hesitant to cross. He knows he’ll do it if it comes to it, but has it really come to that? Have the remaining people simply just lost any common sense and were ready to turn against themselves? 

Killing those demobats and demodogs meant barely nothing compared to humans.. it really is the end of the World, isn’t it? 

They were too slow, Dustin had trouble manoeuvring his crutches in the dark, a single moment of inadvertence —blindness would be more adequate— with no moonlight, no streetlight, only that goddammit light of that torch was useful to them but also because he stepped on broken glass and the sound of crutches on glass wasn’t, at all, discreet. 

They tried to retreat quickly, Steve grabbed the crutches, with one hand around his waist, helped him walk faster, they rushed into the forest, Nancy could recognise someone she saw in The War Zone, someone who probably participated in the witch hunt against Eddie. 

And then it struck. 

Were they still hunting him? Venging Jason’s death? Did they have any idea of what was really happening or weren’t they just opportunists taking advantage of the situation? 

Gunshots fired in their way as the three young adults ran as fast as they could through the forest, hunters quick on their footsteps, they weren’t afraid of using their guns, bits of trees shot off, their aim wasn’t precise at all, but it worked perfectly to install fear in their system, Dustin couldn’t really feel his ankle hurting with the adrenaline. 

Soon enough, they heard demobats shrieks piercing through the night, and surely, the following scream was enough to make Nancy’s blood run cold.  

She could recognise that shriek anywhere since she heard it back in the Upside Down, the first time she went there looking for Barbara. 

Everyone’s footsteps halted abruptly, clearly unexpecting to hear such a strident sound. It was barely noticeable, everyone was so stunned, but Steve and Nancy shared a glance, a grave look plastered on her face. 

Eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes widened, her hands trembling. She felt the muscles in her body starting to tense, her body what it was, its response was almost automatic. 

As for the others, pure terror was setting in their bodies as seconds passed and the echo of the scream travelled through the woods. 

They were absolutely petrified on the spot. 

It seemed like Steve and Nancy understood each other with only a glance, they began running, hoping they would take some advance on their opponents, the thing is, some of them were so afraid, they hesitated on following them, they watched a few running away, trying to catch the young adults, Eddie’s followers, as they enjoyed shouting confidently. 

The others weren’t as.. audacious, glaring at each other uncomfortably, not exactly knowing if they could —or should— give in to panic, or follow them, was it worth it dying for ?

They received a reality check quickly as they heard hurried steps coming their way, and not from the same direction as the others, another scream, much closer than anticipated. They broke apart, gave in to fear, their flight response sent them away but the demogorgon was fast, it arrived on them like a bowling ball, getting its fun out of them in no time. 

Leaving them bleeding to death on the cold soil, with no hope, the awareness of dying a terrible and agonising death and not being able to do anything but feel their heartbeats spiking then lowering, the temperature dropping suddenly, their fingers and toes, then the pins and needles in their arms and legs. 

Fighting that tiredness, that adrenaline trying to numb them into nothingness. 

Until there was nothing they could do but get lured into the void. 

Nancy had a plan —okay, no, scratch that, the start of a plan, just that— with absolutely zero guarantee that it would work or that any of them would come out of it alive. Having some kind of advance on their opponents, she hoped to find some kind of crevasse or hidden spot to hide into, she felt the tiniest bit of hope once she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be the rocks near Lovers’ Lake. 

She grabbed Steve’s arm and made the three of them turn right to hide in a tall and tight crevasse near Skull Rock, Dustin was the one who got there first, then Steve and Nancy. 

“I have an idea,” she started, amid catching her breath, her eyes closed momentarily, all struggling to take big breaths.

“They were able to light torches, that means they have activation energy and combustibles. We could take it from them. Demogorgons are terrified of fire, it likes it cold, remember?” 

“How? They have guns, there’s more of them, based on that scenario we’re losing,” Dustin complained, taking his crutches from Steve, who replied back, “Not necessarily, we have the element of surprise,” holding the spear firmer in his hand, shooting a glance at Nancy.

Footsteps quickly alerted them that they weren’t the only one near Skull Rock, based on the noise and the number of feet, it wasn’t the demogorgon yet, so they still had time before it arrived, Steve and Nancy both were holding onto their spear, deep into the crevasse. 

They arrived, using only the lighter as a form of light which was an advantage because it illuminated less than the torch, there were less chances of being seen, they approached towards the entrance, and when two of them were closer, they rushed to them, wielding their spears at them. 

The lighter fell and they realised there were four of those men, Steve had managed to stab one of them in the stomach, twisting the ‘blade’, giving him a shove away with his shoulder, he dodged a bullet and charged him. 

Nancy’s petite figure didn’t allow her to shove him the way Steve did, but she stabbed him multiple times. 

Another scream, and there it was, they could hear the Demogorgon’s feet getting closer, Nancy rushed to grab the lighter and a piece of wood. She called for Steve as she ripped a piece of her shirt to tie it around the wood, and when she turned around she saw he was in trouble. The hurried footsteps were getting so close and next thing she knew, it was already there. 

Standing, a strident and paralysing scream left from its maw.

Steve’s opponent let go of him as the Demogorgon stood on its back legs and charged at the two men in front of it. In some kind of blurry rush, Nancy tried to get closer to Steve and gripped his arm toward their hiding spot. 

She recalls hearing the man screaming to his death, but the creature wasn’t done, they tried to rush into the crevasse, deep into it, but it grabbed Steve’s ankle on its way in. 

He lost balance, fell on his front and was pulled towards the creature as Nancy and Dustin were screaming his name. She was trying her hardest to pull on Steve’s shoulder but she couldn’t match its strength. 

She had to let go; she focused on the piece of wood and tried to light it on fire. She knew it wouldn’t last that much as there wasn’t any oil or fuel on it but making a fire was urgent. 

Fingers shaking she managed to light it and shoved the torch in front of the Demogorgon, it let go of Steve and at the same time as it took a step back from the fire, a massive shotgun pierced through the woods and the creature’s shoulder was a bit blown away by the recoil of the bullet hitting. 

They didn’t know if it could get madder and more violent, and they honestly didn’t want to know, but whoever was firing those bullets, aimed perfectly, each bullet forced the Demogorgon to back away, until a lighted spear shot travelled to it and caught fire. 

It stopped rapidly as it seemed to have vanished, just like that night in ‘83 where Jonathan, Steve and Nancy burned one alive. 

They knew it wasn’t dead as they heard its scream echo in the distance, a revengeful and menacing growl travelling in the woods, with a strong smell of blood and hot flesh, sending a gag through Steve as he was struggling to get back on his feet, painful pins and needles around the leg the creature had pulled so hard on. 

He felt warmth on his calf, and now that he could think of it, a bit lightheaded. 

The world around him was spinning, and before he could say or do something, everything turned black in a matter of seconds, it stopped hurting, spinning.

He couldn’t hear Nancy calling out for him to wake up, to not give up.

It felt so accessible, so easy, so… welcoming, what else could he do as he had lost all hope in his life? 

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, six : Hawkins' Party • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: it's started, and there's nothing they can do but hope to make it out alive. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, SEVEN (june 28th) | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

Dustin opened his eyes, and instantly took a breath in, he looked around him, his brain processing what just happened until pain in his already hurt leg forced him to try to look down at his legs, but he couldn’t.

His upper body was trapped under a heavy piece of beam, his arms could barely move, as for his legs, he could feel something heavy also blocking them, but he couldn’t know for sure, he wasn’t strong enough to get out of there on his own. 

A whispered cuss word left his lips and he looked around, he really looked and he actually realised what had happened, he remembered he was in their friend’s house when it happened, it seemed like the ground was slipping away from their feet violently, quite literally as they didn’t have any time to react nor realise. 

Her house was completely destroyed, there was nothing left except remnants of a house down on the ground, and it wasn’t just hers’, every house on the street was destroyed, the Wheelers', the entire neighbourhood.

Second thing he noticed was the atmosphere, it had thickened up, white particles or spores —he didn’t know what it was really, none of them did— were everywhere, it felt cold, and dark, there was a weird smell around and it wasn’t just because the night had set, no, the Upside Down had started bleeding into Hawkins. 

The atmosphere, the sky, everything seemed to lean towards Hawkins' invasion. 

His head turned to the side as soon as he heard some noise, as it was abnormally silent around him, his eyes widened, he tried to calm his breathing but not knowing who or what was around as it seemed she was right, Vecna had struck when they least expected it. 

His heart was pounding in his chest, his eyes trying to look in all the directions he could, but he couldn’t, he nearly had a heart attack when he made out Steve’s figure crouching down to his direction, approaching slowly.

He was whispering his name around, trying to be as silent as possible even if his feet kept cracking around on the remnants of the house, cautious as to not step on anyone as they couldn’t see shit. 

The moon or the stars were nowhere to be seen probably due to the thick dark clouds. 

“Steve!” He stopped in his tracks and followed the sound of Dustin’s whispered voice, he managed to find him by feeling around, with his help he removed the first piece of beam lying on his upper body, then proceeded to free his legs. 

By luck, his strained ankle had only worsened, he didn’t have any broken bones, though he could feel the scrapes, the raw skin on his face and on different parts of his body.

Warm blood running on the side of his face, next to his eyes, the arch of his eyebrows made him wince as he sat up, dizziness starting to blurry his vision, he was forced to slow down his movements. 

He couldn’t see much but Steve was eyeing in his direction, as best as he could, only perceiving the smallest bits of reflected light in his eyes, his brows furrowed as he heard Dustin’s breathing alter for just a second in pain. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve let out in a whisper, one of his hands trying to feel around for him until he found one of his knees (he hopes), his movements cautious, trying to sense an injury, blood, anything. 

“I can feel blood running along the side of my face but not that much, so it’s probably not that bad but my head is-”, he paused, realising Steve was whispering, he wasn’t. Why would he whisper?

“What? Dustin?” There again! More panicked, his voice cracking a bit but he whispered again. 

“Why are you whispering Steve?” 

Dustin heard the shallow breathing leave his lips, almost like his body was shaking, a goosebump took over his body, “I suppose I.. heard some familiar noises when I came back to my senses.. The Upside Down kind of familiar noises..” 

It had the effects of a cold shower on Dustin, his back straightening, his heart beating picking up faster against his ribcage, sweat beading down his temple, “What?” 

It wasn’t a what? kind of question, more like a way to verbalise his difficulty to acknowledge the truth, he couldn’t believe it, at all, not until they heard something cracking, their heads immediately jerked to the side, listening carefully. 

It sounded like multiple cracks, like footsteps, and it didn’t look like it came just from one person or creature, it came into their direction until it stopped suddenly, Steve’s heart was beating at an abnormal rate, his eyes just trying so hard to catch something, he began to wonder if the weird gurgling sound he heard were real or made up in his mind in terror. 

Seconds of silence felt like an eternity of apprehension, until it started again and directly towards them, then a voice, “Steve? Robin?” 

Nancy. 

Dustin and Steve let out a breath of relief, Steve’s hand on his chest as if to soothe his rapid breathing and heartbeat, “You fucking scared us arriving like that, goddamit, Nancy!”, Dustin’s voice almost shouted, in a controlled whisper-yell. 

She continued, crouching down to them, his voice guiding her, “I’m sorry, I just— I can’t— Are you guys okay?” 

Steve could kind of imagine where she was from her voice, “Mostly just scrapes, I don’t know for sure about Dustin, we can’t see shit. Are you—” 

“I don’t want to be unpleasant but my leg is stuck and I would very much like to be unstuck and not feel this horrible weight on my already weak ankle, please.” 

They both got into action, with one hand Steve lead hers’ to one side of the beam, him on the other side, they lifted it on the count of three, despite the weight they managed to rise it up enough for Dustin to crawl a bit forward, and put it down as silently as they could. 

It hurt, but it already felt better, he didn’t feel any blood so it probably was good, right ?

He hated so fucking much that Vecna / Henry / One had chosen nightime to invade Hawkins, he probably would have done the same to have the upper hand, but goddamit how unpractical was it?! 

“Are you okay, do you feel blood, or—or like it burns, or, I don’t know..”

Dustin shook his head as he whispered back to Nancy, “No, I don’t think so, I don’t feel my splint though, we might need to make a homemade one, that or—,” he paused, feeling around his ankle, no his splint was there, “—crutches. I do sense my splint now that my hands are on it, but I don’t think I can rest my weight on my leg, limping is a hard pass, so, crutches.” 

“Yeah, okay, but we can’t do that now, we can’t see shit, we need to find the others, regroup, you’re limping for now, we’ll help you, let’s just wait for the sun to rise, at least,” she answered back, her head turned to the side, trying to focus on the darkness, maybe shadows could help them navigate, the difference in the darkness precisely. 

It wasn’t that easy, Steve helped Dustin walk to the forest’s edge with Nancy leading the way, her voice a beacon for them to follow. 

They had nothing to do except wait, hope for the night to end, and for the day to finally rise, if it even did. 

They didn’t find anyone else yet, hoping they would hear the others, or some noise to alert them of someone’s or something’s presence, but the night was quiet, they took turns staying awake, barely able to relax enough to get some rest.

The light of day did manage to peek through the atmosphere, but it reflected the Upside Down's atmosphere, it wasn't bright like it usually was, it was semi dark like the end of a sunset.

They were hopeful in finding more survivors that just like them were just hiding, but they found bodies instead, the firsts of many. 

Neighbours at first, it wasn't a shocker, the magnitude of the earthquake, the gates opening further without any warning, the monsters of the Upside Down invading Hawkins.. It made sense that they would experience loss, close to them or not, then they saw it. It didn’t make sense anymore. 

Steve didn't know how to react, he was shocked. Staring into her battered body, his gaze focused on something completely different, far away from her, but the image was imprinted in his retinas. 

He felt a hand setting on his shoulder, but he completely ignored it, barely acknowledged it. 

The blue and red stripes from her blouse gave it away, and he couldn’t believe it, in a hurry he stepped closer and got rid of debris that fell on her, his eyes and eyebrows widened, goosebumps rising along his body as he faced a view he didn’t want to face, ever. 

Her eyes were just so… open and limpid, so lifeless. A greyish colour on the parts of her body he could recognize that surprisingly weren’t covered in dried blood, haematomas or dirt, her mouth slightly open, her lips cracked, dirtied by dried blood and dirt. 

Her eyebrows were slightly scrunched up, in her last moments it seemed her face held pause on her feelings, and based on it, she suffered, and he hated it. 

He hated everything about it. He couldn’t believe his best friend had endured such a terrible death. 

It seemed like it was weeks ago when it was only days ago that Robin had told him they wouldn't be as lucky as the years prior in their adventure to kill Vecna, the stakes were too high, it was too dangerous, too great of a bet.

A cold chill went through his body as a violent thought interrupted his mind, he began navigating the scene, trying to identify any sign of someone else's body. 

Two remained missing, and he didn't even dare whispering her name, as if saying it out loud would make it happen, like it would give credit to some sort of prophecy and he would find her dead and he would lose it. 

Robin is already hard enough, not her. It’s impossible. 

Steve and Nancy did their best to get her out of the debris, they couldn’t do much to properly give her a burial. 

They did as much as they could to pay their respect, her body resting in the edge of the forest, at the bottom of the neighbourhood, arms resting along her body, they tried to close her mouth and her eyes, but it wouldn't take, she was too rigid and cold. Her eyes would haunt him forever.

He never looked back at her, as  he walked away, it didn’t seem real, he would wake up soon. He’d have to. 

They took advantage of the following light hours to look around for people, both Eddie and her were missing, impossible to find in the debris. Nancy found her father, her sister.. And unfortunately, her mother too. Her reaction was similar to Steve’s, dazed. It was impossible to believe. 

Her brain knew it all too well and automatically started its defence mechanism: numbness. 

They did the same for her family, rested them like Robin, she was trying her hardest to not remember their faces like that, with all the blood and.. the terror on her mother’s face, the pain on her sister’s face. She didn’t want to remember that. 

Given they haven’t found anyone else alive, they decided on trying to walk around the neighbourhood, trying to look for anything that could be useful. Steve found some ducking tape, and improvised crutches for Dustin so he could follow them faster and maybe with less pain. They managed to find canned food, and surprisingly some water bottles, some were untouched, as if there never was an earthquake. 

Even if the day had set earlier, the daylight wasn’t as authentic as it used to be, it looked like a morose, cloudy day in November, the red lightning striking the sky, the sound of it echoed in the city, the clouds resembled more and more like the ones in the Upside Down. 

It seemed like daylight was a faded copy of itself, the creatures weren’t there, only the atmosphere and the chaos around them proved they weren’t in some collective nightmare. 

As it got darker they agreed on needing a place to hide, as they walked towards the city centre they observed their surroundings, saddened and astonished.  

Streets they’ve known all their life were completely unrecognisable, as they got closer to the town hall and the familiar shops they’ve grown to see since they were little, they’ve come into some that were still intact. 

They agreed on hiding in one of them as the day welcomed more darkness, it seemed the day was shorter, or, as they had no way of knowing what time of the day it was, they were a bit disoriented. They improvised mattresses with piles of knotted clothes, they attended to their wounds, cleaned with some water and soap they found in the restroom and used broken pieces of mirrors to see their faces. 

Scrapes, dried blood, bruises, small cuts, they seemed to be pretty lucky. 

They weren’t hungry but still ate, and both Nancy and Steve took turns staying awake and resting, with a piece of broken mirror taped to some wood, it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Steve took the first watch, he wasn’t sleepy at all. 

Thankfully, the shop had curtains, so they were able to hide behind them. He looked through them a few times, and he did see some bats and demodogs passing through, always remaining incredibly silent, staying vigilant for any sounds, any signs that danger was around the corner. 

He was so focused he hadn’t realised that hours passed and Nancy had awoken and gotten closer to him, telling him he could rest for a couple hours, but he couldn’t. 

He was lying under a thin duvet, staring at the wall as his mind kept spinning around, keeping him awake. 

Robin kept him awake, the uncertainty that lay in their future, how, in one single moment, their lives had completely changed, it kept him awake. 

She kept him awake. Was she alive? Safe? Had she partnered up with Eddie or was he also missing? Why were they missing? Has something happened? Questions like those kept circling around and around in his head, he couldn’t escape them, he couldn’t put them to sleep. 

Then, he replayed his last memory, how furious and hurt she looked before she stormed to her room, they had fought, and she was so right. He had dismissed her concern and her ideas for Nancy. His hand’s hold on the duvet tightened, guilt invading him. Shame crept up on him like claws digging in his flesh, running deep in his veins. He could feel it in his stomach, knots forming out of worry, tears of anger that he hadn’t even noticed ran across his nose and fell on the material under his head.

In a rampage, he pushed the tears away from his eyes, a cry of despair forming but blocked in his throat.

He refused to let his furry, sadness and disgust of himself be seen by others, especially Nancy, whom, unbeknownst to her, was in the centre of that fight, and as he suspected, was a cause for their relationship to be so difficult, her jealousy was.. So poisonous. 

Exhaustion got the upper hand, and he quietly fell asleep, still holding his duvet tightly, under Nancy’s very discreet gaze. 

Her body jolted awake, eyes wide open, taking a big breath in. Her body was stuck in hypervigilance, her brain already trying to process everything that happened. Her heartbeat spiking the more she realised what happened and where she was. 

A sense of urgency invaded her brain as goosebumps started to spread on her skin, feeling cold with the adrenaline, the shortness of breath quickly followed, a visceral intuition to panic invaded her bloodstream, made her stomach feel sick. It was too familiar, all too familiar. 

She found herself stuck alone in a nightmare once again.

She was tired of having to survive on her own, fight on her own, she began to question the worthiness of it, the necessity of it, it had to be… right? 

She struggled to realise where she stood, she was stuck from her chest to her legs, she could only move her head around, but there wasn’t anything to see, it was too dark, only the red lightning striking through the sky, she instantly knew she had been right, and that with more preparation maybe it wouldn’t have happened this way.. She decided on stopping on the what ifs, there were too many of them and it wouldn’t help her. 

She tried to look around, the slight movements in her body halted everything as she felt something digging deeper on the side of her abdomen, the same one that had been bitten off by bats days ago, she couldn’t contain the reflex to look down and only moved more, she let her head fall down on whatever it was, exhaling loudly as she tried to not let out any cry or scream. A strong intuition telling her she needed to be silent. 

Immobile, tried to control her breathing to make it hurt less, but the more she stayed in that position the more she felt its pressure, she was certain the wound had cracked open. Something had pierced through, she didn’t know how deep but she definitely felt it sting, the electric shot of pain coursing through her nerves at every breath she took. 

She could only hear her own muffles in the darkness and coldness surrounding her, very faint clouds of mist escaping her lips as each exhale she gave out, she quit on moving, completely relaxing her aching muscles. 

Her eyesight focused on the sky, its black and reddish colour whenever lightning struck.

It’s almost pretty. 

A faint and distant scream echoed through the silence, her head followed its direction and another wave of pain shot through her body, reminding her once again to not make any sudden moves. 

The scream happened only once, it was too far to really distinguish if it was made by a human or an animal, and if it were the latter —realisation felt like a cold shower. 

Her heartbeat started spiking, she began to feel it against her ribcage, goosebumps and this coldness in her limbs, she started sobbing uncontrollably, pinching her lips with her teeth, her eyes stuck in the direction the scream came from. 

Knuckles turning white from the tightness of her fists, giving everything she had not to succumb to terror. 

Don’t scream. Stop crying. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. Don’t. Scream. 

Vagabond pearly tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks, she couldn’t contain the sobs that escaped her lips. 

“Steve?” It felt strange having to listen to herself so weak, so vulnerable, her voice so shaky. 

Another uncontrollable sob, an ugly cry accompanied by another fresh wave of cold tears, this time her voice could only whisper, “Steve.”

She was making up her mind to give up; the fight or flight response was suddenly surprisingly very quiet, she almost felt ready to give up, she felt so tired, so cold, it was so tempting. The adrenaline, the emotional tool of the situation, has completely exhausted her. She let it get the best of her, her eyes closed ever so slowly.. and everything got darker.

Steve bolted awake as someone was shaking him, he heard Dustin’s voice muffled pleas for him to wake, he was on high alert immediately, eyes and eyebrows widened, the teenager’s face wouldn’t help him realise what was happening so he turned to Nancy. 

She was taping tightly blades to a strong piece of wood, “The sun hasn’t risen yet, I’ve seen some shadows move around, they have torches. We need to get ready to move and fast.” 

“I don’t understand— it’s people, they could-” 

“I’ve been watching them, I heard screams, guns, they’re attracting the creatures our way, I don’t know how or who they are but they seem to know that they’re afraid of fire. Steve, get up. We need to move, as quickly as possible.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, he quickly gathered his stuff, grabbed his makeshift spear, and made sure to strap the backpack on his shoulders, they exited through the back door, Nancy opening the walk, Dustin in the middle with his crutches and Steve closing the walk.

Both young adults had spears in their hands, cautious on their way to leave, too aware that they couldn’t see much, they had to play their luck, use their unknown opponents’ torches like a compass, know where they are and avoid them. 

A thought came into Steve’s head when he made out the shadow of what seemed to be riffles, they were seriously under equipped, he had imagined that some people would probably survive, just like they have, but he certainly didn’t imagine that they would be so prepared, so easily and rapidly armed to the teeth. 

He wished they had better equipment and fighting gear to defend themselves, gosh, she was so right, but the harsh reality was that they didn’t, they had to survive with barely anything.. but what if—? No. 

He stopped himself before exploring further his train of thoughts.. he didn’t like where it led him, even if he wondered if and when he would cross the line he was so hesitant to cross. He knows he’ll do it if it comes to it, but has it really come to that? Have the remaining people simply just lost any common sense and were ready to turn against themselves? 

Killing those demobats and demodogs meant barely nothing compared to humans.. it really is the end of the World, isn’t it? 

They were too slow, Dustin had trouble manoeuvring his crutches in the dark, a single moment of inadvertence —blindness would be more adequate— with no moonlight, no streetlight, only that goddammit light of that torch was useful to them but also because he stepped on broken glass and the sound of crutches on glass wasn’t, at all, discreet. 

They tried to retreat quickly, Steve grabbed the crutches, with one hand around his waist, helped him walk faster, they rushed into the forest, Nancy could recognise someone she saw in The War Zone, someone who probably participated in the witch hunt against Eddie. 

And then it struck. 

Were they still hunting him? Venging Jason’s death? Did they have any idea of what was really happening or weren’t they just opportunists taking advantage of the situation? 

Gunshots fired in their way as the three young adults ran as fast as they could through the forest, hunters quick on their footsteps, they weren’t afraid of using their guns, bits of trees shot off, their aim wasn’t precise at all, but it worked perfectly to install fear in their system, Dustin couldn’t really feel his ankle hurting with the adrenaline. 

Soon enough, they heard demobats shrieks piercing through the night, and surely, the following scream was enough to make Nancy’s blood run cold.  

She could recognise that shriek anywhere since she heard it back in the Upside Down, the first time she went there looking for Barbara. 

Everyone’s footsteps halted abruptly, clearly unexpecting to hear such a strident sound. It was barely noticeable, everyone was so stunned, but Steve and Nancy shared a glance, a grave look plastered on her face. 

Eyebrows slightly furrowed, her eyes widened, her hands trembling. She felt the muscles in her body starting to tense, her body what it was, its response was almost automatic. 

As for the others, pure terror was setting in their bodies as seconds passed and the echo of the scream travelled through the woods. 

They were absolutely petrified on the spot. 

It seemed like Steve and Nancy understood each other with only a glance, they began running, hoping they would take some advance on their opponents, the thing is, some of them were so afraid, they hesitated on following them, they watched a few running away, trying to catch the young adults, Eddie’s followers, as they enjoyed shouting confidently. 

The others weren’t as.. audacious, glaring at each other uncomfortably, not exactly knowing if they could —or should— give in to panic, or follow them, was it worth it dying for ?

They received a reality check quickly as they heard hurried steps coming their way, and not from the same direction as the others, another scream, much closer than anticipated. They broke apart, gave in to fear, their flight response sent them away but the demogorgon was fast, it arrived on them like a bowling ball, getting its fun out of them in no time. 

Leaving them bleeding to death on the cold soil, with no hope, the awareness of dying a terrible and agonising death and not being able to do anything but feel their heartbeats spiking then lowering, the temperature dropping suddenly, their fingers and toes, then the pins and needles in their arms and legs. 

Fighting that tiredness, that adrenaline trying to numb them into nothingness. 

Until there was nothing they could do but get lured into the void. 

Nancy had a plan —okay, no, scratch that, the start of a plan, just that— with absolutely zero guarantee that it would work or that any of them would come out of it alive. Having some kind of advance on their opponents, she hoped to find some kind of crevasse or hidden spot to hide into, she felt the tiniest bit of hope once she caught a glimpse of what seemed to be the rocks near Lovers’ Lake. 

She grabbed Steve’s arm and made the three of them turn right to hide in a tall and tight crevasse near Skull Rock, Dustin was the one who got there first, then Steve and Nancy. 

“I have an idea,” she started, amid catching her breath, her eyes closed momentarily, all struggling to take big breaths.

“They were able to light torches, that means they have activation energy and combustibles. We could take it from them. Demogorgons are terrified of fire, it likes it cold, remember?” 

“How? They have guns, there’s more of them, based on that scenario we’re losing,” Dustin complained, taking his crutches from Steve, who replied back, “Not necessarily, we have the element of surprise,” holding the spear firmer in his hand, shooting a glance at Nancy.

Footsteps quickly alerted them that they weren’t the only one near Skull Rock, based on the noise and the number of feet, it wasn’t the demogorgon yet, so they still had time before it arrived, Steve and Nancy both were holding onto their spear, deep into the crevasse. 

They arrived, using only the lighter as a form of light which was an advantage because it illuminated less than the torch, there were less chances of being seen, they approached towards the entrance, and when two of them were closer, they rushed to them, wielding their spears at them. 

The lighter fell and they realised there were four of those men, Steve had managed to stab one of them in the stomach, twisting the ‘blade’, giving him a shove away with his shoulder, he dodged a bullet and charged him. 

Nancy’s petite figure didn’t allow her to shove him the way Steve did, but she stabbed him multiple times. 

Another scream, and there it was, they could hear the Demogorgon’s feet getting closer, Nancy rushed to grab the lighter and a piece of wood. She called for Steve as she ripped a piece of her shirt to tie it around the wood, and when she turned around she saw he was in trouble. The hurried footsteps were getting so close and next thing she knew, it was already there. 

Standing, a strident and paralysing scream left from its maw.

Steve’s opponent let go of him as the Demogorgon stood on its back legs and charged at the two men in front of it. In some kind of blurry rush, Nancy tried to get closer to Steve and gripped his arm toward their hiding spot. 

She recalls hearing the man screaming to his death, but the creature wasn’t done, they tried to rush into the crevasse, deep into it, but it grabbed Steve’s ankle on its way in. 

He lost balance, fell on his front and was pulled towards the creature as Nancy and Dustin were screaming his name. She was trying her hardest to pull on Steve’s shoulder but she couldn’t match its strength. 

She had to let go; she focused on the piece of wood and tried to light it on fire. She knew it wouldn’t last that much as there wasn’t any oil or fuel on it but making a fire was urgent. 

Fingers shaking she managed to light it and shoved the torch in front of the Demogorgon, it let go of Steve and at the same time as it took a step back from the fire, a massive shotgun pierced through the woods and the creature’s shoulder was a bit blown away by the recoil of the bullet hitting. 

They didn’t know if it could get madder and more violent, and they honestly didn’t want to know, but whoever was firing those bullets, aimed perfectly, each bullet forced the Demogorgon to back away, until a lighted spear shot travelled to it and caught fire. 

It stopped rapidly as it seemed to have vanished, just like that night in ‘83 where Jonathan, Steve and Nancy burned one alive. 

They knew it wasn’t dead as they heard its scream echo in the distance, a revengeful and menacing growl travelling in the woods, with a strong smell of blood and hot flesh, sending a gag through Steve as he was struggling to get back on his feet, painful pins and needles around the leg the creature had pulled so hard on. 

He felt warmth on his calf, and now that he could think of it, a bit lightheaded. 

The world around him was spinning, and before he could say or do something, everything turned black in a matter of seconds, it stopped hurting, spinning.

He couldn’t hear Nancy calling out for him to wake up, to not give up.

It felt so accessible, so easy, so… welcoming, what else could he do as he had lost all hope in his life? 

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, five : the morning after • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: It's imminent. They're lurking in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to invade Hawkins while Steve meets difficulties in his relationships. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, SIX | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

Opening up her eyes, blinking a few times as she woke up from a deep sleep, she immediately felt some weight on the side of her body, and when she tilted her head, she saw a hand resting on the outside of her right thigh.

Steve’s arm was sleepily laid across her thigh and she instantly felt this pressure creeping itself on her stomach as soon as she opened her eyes, turning her head and saw that his face was close to her shoulder, he was deep asleep, by the slow rhythm of his breath and his relaxed face, it brought a wave of melancholy through her body.

Strands of his hair resting against his angelic sleepy face, if things were different, completely different, she wouldn’t feel this deep sadness, she wouldn’t feel so heartbroken. 

She’s about to annihilate their hope of becoming something together. 

She feels so much shame, guilt, but all she can picture, from everything that happened to them in the last couple of days, seems to be Steve’s heart eyes for Nancy in the Upside Down as they were on their way to Victor Creel’s house, all she can picture is how they were in high-school, every interactions until they were together as a couple, every kiss in the corridors, at parties, and how perfect they were and looked.. and those heart eyes as they were marching along a suicide mission. 

She doesn’t acknowledge what happened the night before with Steve, no, scratch that, she doesn’t take it seriously. Even his words, talking about staying with her everyday of his life, made her wince in discomfort, he couldn’t make a promise like that, not when Vecna was still alive, the gates were out, Max was very badly injured, when he looked at Nancy like that and overall they had no idea what was next. 

The night before, in and of itself, was a mistake, it didn’t matter, nothing made any sense, nor did it matter with Vecna on the loose, ready to kill everyone and everything that ever existed. 

Even worse, and she was ashamed to think like that but what she had told him was true, she was triggered by them, by the memories of them in the corridors, she didn’t have any feelings for Steve then but the heart eyes they gave each other in the Upside Down, accompanied by a lot of mixed feelings led her to believe that she didn’t deserve Steve, that she wasn’t worthy of him. 

She will never be. She needs to rip the bandaid off and she needs to do it quickly.

Her eyes drifted from his face to the ceiling, she started to feel some nausea, the taste of bile in the back of her mouth, and gently, she pulled his arm away, and tried her hardest to not wake him up as she escaped to the main bathroom, upstairs, closed the room shut and let out the remnants of her stomach, followed by bile. 

The cold tiles against her legs gave her goosebumps, she started noticing her heart’s palpitations, she could physically feel it beat fast against her ribcage; then the shortness of breath came on. 

“No..” she whined, more like cried. 

Without even realising she was having a panic attack. Having completely laid down on the tiles, her forehead on the floor, hoping the difference of temperature would ‘shock’ her out of it, but it didn’t work, it just painfully passed, her fingers were pressing so tightly into the palm of her hands her nails had left bloody nail marks. 

Tears she had not noticed and could not control were rolling down, erratic breaths escaping her lips, her eyes screwed shut, frowned her eyebrows in discomfort, pain. 

And when it was finally over, she slowly laid her back against the bathtub wall, trying to steady her her breathing, everytime she closed her eyes she was back in the Upside Down, with its thick toxic atmosphere, its monsters lurking in the darkness, silently, this terror living in her stomach, feeling so disoriented and lost. 

The smallest bit of pain from her side reminded her of the violence she had to face in there, how the Upside Down’s not merciful.  She forced herself to open her eyes, facing the door, closed, drying out her tears, taking a deep breath, hunched up as much as she could. 

Closing her eyes one last time to force herself to take a deep breath, even if she relived her solo trip down there every time. 

Breathe in. . . out. . . in. . . out. . .

Dustin woke up with a start, cold sweat falling from his forehead, out of breath. 

He didn't know if he was dreaming or having nightmares and if he was, he couldn’t even remember what they were about.  

He had woken up with this weight on his shoulders and his chest, this darkness lurking in a corner. 

His heart was beating so fast he could feel it by resting a hand on his chest, trying to catch his breath.

It's like he was back there again. 

He was cold, freezing, he hadn’t even realised that his hands were slightly shaking, but holding onto Eddie so hard his knuckles turned white.

As if he were still there again, he could smell Eddie's blood, and all he could see was blood, cherry red, and it was everywhere. It felt cold on his fingers, the tears falling on his hands felt like red-hot water.

His last breath left his lips, his eyes still open. 

Glassy, the pupils were almost covered by a thin layer, clouding his honey brown irises. 

Then the guilt, the shame.

Even if he remembers that she managed to bring Eddie back, and that he's alive, he can't stop but blame it on himself, how he got hurt, died for minutes, sacrificed himself to stall some more time. 

He tried so hard to ground himself, trying to ease the panic, but it didn’t work the way he hoped. 

By pushing the anxiety away he only welcomed it back more. 

Soon, he was hyperventilating, his heart beating erratically, he could feel his thoughts spiralling, tying knots, betraying himself, silently crying to not alert his mother, who was worried enough for him. 

He was alone. 

Nancy and her mom had talked together about doing donations for the families in need, who had taken refuge in both the gymnasium of Hawkins High and Middle School. 

When she had asked if Steve and her wanted to participate she said yes, which led her to go through some of her old clothes and toys in her parents’ garage while Steve was driving to his own house. 

Eddie was better, he could stand and walk, even if it was still a bit painful, he could walk around the house, he still had to stay at hers’, his status of a fugitive wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of, even when —or if— they manage to stop Vecna at whatever he’s prepared for next. 

Steve immediately sensed the mood change with her, she was closed off, stuck in her thoughts a lot.

He had hoped so hard that they were on better terms, not because they had shared a moment together, he knew better, no. It was merely a distraction for him, but because she had started to open up, was less closed off to him, and he keeps wondering over and over again if he had said, or done anything to upset her.

He has no idea.  

And then, mindlessly parking next to his house as he was trying to go through the events of the night before, he remembers what she told him. The jealousy, the emptiness and the extreme uncertainty she feels… and he doesn’t know what to do, what to say to her without sounding like an asshole that doesn’t care, he doesn’t want to dismiss her feelings and her.

He sighs, leaves his car and goes inside his house, in search of clothes, food or anything that could be useful for helping the families in need while she does the same, rummaging through boxes in her garage under Eddie’s concerned eyes. 

He had also noticed how she was quiet, closed off, and couldn't understand her behaviour. And as she was hunting down for old clothes, teddy bears and bedclothes, he recognized her irritation. 

Weirder still, she was scavenging for things that, from what Eddie had imagined, would not be useful for donations of families in need, she now was rummaging through boxes and drawers for equipment and.. stuff?

“What are you doing?,” Eddie dared speak up, sceptical, his eyes furrowed. 

She let out a breath of frustration, he thought she would stop to explain herself but in a quarter of a second she was back to going through the drawers.

Her name fell on his lips in a firm whisper, and she forfeited, turning around slowly to face him, distress evident on her face.

“Tell me what’s bugging you, and please, as you do, tell me why you’re rejecting Steve when he threw himself at you last night,” he gave her a puzzled look, she had hoped so badly he wouldn’t have noticed anything but he’s smarter than he looks, “I heard you guys kissing last night, now I don’t want to know if more was involved.. But please do tell me when I'll be an uncle.”

She sighed again, rolled her eyes at his banter, stepped further so her back was against the wall, crossing her arms, “Steve and I doesn’t concern you, and as for..”

“Excuse me? ‘Doesn’t concern me’”, he quoted in the air, “After I keep playing Cupid both in an interdimensional version of Hell and here? Even now. Are you kidding?”

She completely ignored him, her tone came a little more harsher than she wanted, her eyes stuck on Eddie,  “And as for what I’m doing.. It’s him. He’s opened the four gates to the Upside Down, he leaves them open but he doesn’t attack? He’s literally done what he promised he would do. It’s weird. We need to use that time to get prepared, find whatever we can to.. I don’t know… make survival backpacks? In case of extreme emergency, we need to survive an apocalypse.”

“The apocalypse?” He had this grin coming on his lips, an amused expression on his face. 

“Yes, Eddie, the fucking apocalypse, Armageddon, or whatever the hell you wanna call it! He delivered us his plans on a silver platter, and it fucking happenned. He has to be preparing something, he can’t just give up. He didn’t get Max, but he did get Jason and it was perfect for him since he had turned completely psycho because of Chrissy’s death. But, he got Jason after we shot him to his near-death, then he ripped open four gates of Hell in Hawkins so he’s still around. Him, and those fucking monsters.”

Eddie’s smile fell quickly, she was right. He hadn’t really thought about it, but she was right. 

The threat was very much real and very much around, he started thinking about their little trip in the Upside Down and imagining how far it all could go, he was terrified, he suddenly began to feel cold, he couldn’t be more terrified.

“I’ll help you pack some things for the donations, I obviously can’t go but when you're done, we should call a meeting, plan our next moves, or try to… You’re right, I’m sorry.” 

She had scarred both him and herself, her head hung low, she wasn’t quite sure if it was desperation, frustration, sadness, fear, or all of the above but her eyes started to water. 

“This isn’t going to end well, Eddie, I can feel it.. It’s..,” with a finger on her chin he made her look up softly, their eyes met, and his mind went completely blank, there’s nothing he could say to comfort because he couldn’t believe it himself. 

Instead of words, he put both his arms around her shoulders and held onto her, tightly, like an unspoken promise, her hands scrunched his shirt on his back, she was also holding onto him, as she let her tears cascade down her cheeks, wetting his shirt. 

They were packing Steve’s car, in front of the Wheelers’ driveway, she had managed to sneak a word to Nancy about doing a group meeting after they went to the gymnasium.

With the help of her mother, Nancy was putting away more stuff so that they could donate it, both Dustin and her were quiet, long gone in their thoughts as they were putting away the boxes in Steve's trunk, who was busy getting the boxes from Nancy, Robin next to them.

Steve had also noticed how Dustin was quieter than usual too, but he didn’t say anything, and preferred to wait until they would all meet in her house to talk about what they would do to sneak a word to Dustin, he wasn’t quiet, he was a very loud and very sarcastic kid who had lost all of that, it worried him. 

Not knowing what to do or say to both her and Dustin frustrated him, he felt useless, he now stood next to the both of them, Nancy catching up with him when they heard an unfamiliar vehicle approaching. 

A van? A pizza van? 

Steve turned around fully, frowning, his shoulder involuntarily brushing on her’s, “What the—” he let out as the van parked right in front of the Wheelers’ driveway, she briefly looked at him then turned to the van.

To their surprises, Jonathan, his brother and Nancy's exited the van accompanied by a girl with shaved head and a very long haired late teenager left the van, Dustin gasped and started to hobble towards his friends, Nancy put her box in Robin’s arms without any warning and stepped toward Jonathan. 

The two embraced hurriedly, a rapid kiss on the lips as they held onto each other tightly, whispering things to one another, Steve looked away, trying to not be intrusive, his eyes fell on the one he wished he could be this close with, but she had stopped looking at them. Her head hung low. 

She felt his eyes on her, his shoulder was further into her, she hesitated but curiosity —and longing— got the best of her, and she looked up.  Some of his worry went away when she didn’t look away, but instead kept their eye contact. 

Feeling braver, Steve gently offered her his hand, she briefly looked at the motion, seemed to think it through, and suddenly he awaited her rejection.. But it never came, instead she laced their fingers together, tightly, her head looking up at him again. 

A weight had somehow been lifted off his shoulders, he felt relieved, maybe there was something he could save, maybe it wasn’t all over, he still held hope for them.

The parking lot was full, SUVs from the army were everywhere, along with firemen and paramedics, they had heard that Hawkins was receiving help from the neighbourhood states, many people were missing, some had lost their home and had nowhere to go.

There was something deeply unsettling about stepping in the gym, they all felt it differently, but they were on the same wavelength about one thing: they felt responsible for the people hurt, who had lost everything and they were the only ones to know how and why it happened the way it happened. 

It wasn't just an earthquake, and they would realise that way too quickly, and it would be so deadly. 

Steve had encouraged them to go on, as both Dustin and her had stopped by the doorways (left often to facilitate passage), they gave away the boxes, looking at one another they offered if they could be of any help.

Each had a spot in a different corner, Steve was sorting and giving clothes to the people in need, Dustin was offering water, Robin was making PB&Js’, and she was outside, with other volunteers, firemen and paramedics sorting out medical equipment donations that came from the neighbouring states. 

She was gathering some unnamed boxes from a truck when she caught a glimpse of Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, stepping in the gym, she stopped in her tracks, not knowing what to say or do, she obviously couldn’t tell him the truth, nor confirm that he was missing, she wouldn’t be able to lie to him, but he also couldn’t just not know where his nephew was. 

He would probably recognize her from the many nights she spent crashing at his trailer, but what exactly could she say to him. She was livid, rightfully so, she handed her box to another volunteer nearby and followed him inside. 

He was pinning Eddie’s missing poster —or replacing it as people had drawn horns on his head— on a board that was already so full, unconsciously, her hands started to fidget, her fingers picking on the skin around her nails, while her gaze was on Wayne. 

Dustin’s eyes fell on her as he was handing water, he followed her look and saw Wayne, he understood immediately her dilemma, he put down the platter and started hobbling towards her.. when they were all surprised with a thunderstorm. 

Everyone had stopped what they were doing, an unsettling silence taking place as a second thunderstorm shot through the sky.

Everyone rushed towards the windows or outside, where they all could see some black smoke or cloud, they weren't sure, the atmosphere started to thicken already but they couldn't feel it yet. 

The dark clouds —they appeared thicker than plain smoke— carried more red thunderstorms, the worse was the snow size particles —the same one from the Upside Down— falling from the dark clouds,  that's when they knew it was already happening.

She rushed inside, the only one to move through the crowd outside observing the scene, she looked for and met Steve, both with a very serious face as they looked for the others and hurried back to her house.

Back at her house they waited for the others to be back, Dustin sat on the couch, next to her, his good leg wouldn't stop moving up and down in apprehension.

Robin was the one pacing up and down, under the very stressed pair of eyes belonging to her and Steve, Eddie sat in the stairs watching the front door.

Apprehension, stress and fear radiated from all of them. They were experiencing similar thoughts, it was spiralling, their minds on neverending wheels. 

Stress and anxiety crippling in, watching Robin pace up and down in her living room was like torture, her brain was playing the events from before and the what ifs. So many what ifs. 

Her right leg had also started going up and down, her hands fidgeting involuntarily, from where she sat she could see the garage door open, where she had put some essentials in boxes with Eddie. 

After staring at that door for what felt like eternity she suddenly stood up and went straight to the laundry room where she was scavenging for backpacks, loudly, under Steve's confused eyes.

He dared asking her what she was doing —very fair question— to which she screamed she wouldn't do this again.

Another thunderstorm and her body went frigid, she turned around, backpacks under her arms.

“We need to pack essentials–backpacks!,” Steve had opened his mouth but she stopped him right there. “Listen, I want to be wrong so badly, but those dark clouds, the thunderstorms, the fucking spores coming from the sky, all of this comes from the Upside Down, which is fucking starting to spread.”

She stopped to catch her breath, her eyes softened, looking right at Steve, he sensed what she meant.

“I get you. I do. But we need to wait for the others, wait for them to–”

“What if they're not coming? What if we need to move quickly? I know I'm new at.. all of this, but Steve, I have a really bad feeling about this,” she ended up whispering the last bit, her concern evident on her face and in her voice. 

It was her eyes, they told him something else, but he couldn't put a finger on what exactly her eyes were asking of him. He felt her concern, but what else was there? 

“What if they are coming? Maybe it hasn't travelled to that part of the forest.. what I mean is.. we should wait for Nance,” her name fell on his lips like a resolution, like it was a finality. 

Like he took the decision for them.

It didn't sit right with her.

“So what, we're supposed to wait for them— for Nancy to make our plans when absolutely anything could happen? What if the gates opened further and waves of Demogorgons just invaded Hawkins? Are we still waiting for Nancy then?!”

Eddie stepped from the stairs and was stepping towards the living room where a corridor led to the laundry room.

His eyes met Dustin's, at this point she was talking very loudly, all of them could hear their argument.

“Are we also waiting for Nancy to save us when those bats will rummage through Hawkins? Biting, eating, strangling everyone to their imminent deaths?,” she paused, stepping closer to Steve, feeling rageful by the minute, completely lashing out at him.

“Or let's wait for that gigantic shadow monster to take control of everyone and they've all turned into an apocalyptic zombie movie? Let's wait when there's nothing we can do!”

”Let's wait for Nancy to save us, our Lord and saviour! We wouldn't be here without her would we? You know what, you're right, we're going to patiently wait for her and hope for the best!”

She aggressively pushed Steve out of her way, storming out into her room, pacing up and down as she was unable to contain her anger.

She tried sitting on her bed but she couldn't stay put. 

Downstairs, Steve was shocked, taken aback, lashing out like that wasn't like her. He was confused. 

His hand nervously travelled through his hair, a trembling breath escaping his lips. 

His feet slowly moved to the living room, where three pairs of eyes were expecting him, all questioning what had happened. 

He was about to open his mouth but he stopped himself, what would he say? what would he tell them that could, potentially, explain what happened?

Nothing, because he didn't know. 

He didn't understand what just happened.

He was about to dismiss what happened when they heard the sound of glass breaking upstairs, his brain moved faster than his muscles, he stopped himself in his tracks, she probably didn't want to see him right now if she was so mad at him.

He sent a knowing look at Eddie, who silently agreed to go upstairs, on his way up, a couple steps in they felt a slight movement in the house, an earthquake.

It lasted a couple minutes, small enough to feel it, to make the furniture vibrate but nothing much.

They all stopped, waiting for something else, something that never came, so he stepped further to her bedroom, while Robin had ran to the closest windows that showed the street.

Nothing had changed, there were more dark clouds, and the same amount of thunderstorms, same red colour, nothing had really changed and it had already gotten dark outside.

There were no evident signs that something was happening. Yet.

Eddie opened the door and found her sitting on her bed, a cloth around her hand, dotted in red colour. 

He looked around but found no evidence of broken glass, until he approached the bathroom, and found her broken mirror,  shards of it everywhere in the sink.

He turned around and finally met her gaze, a sigh left his lips as he sat next to her, his hands wrapped around her palm, and tried to uncover the cloth to see how bad it was. 

The cuts were still bleeding, he couldn't see much, but he covered it back and sighed, his eyes met hers' once again.

There's nothing he could say that would make her feel better, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, brought her closer to him, his lips ghosting over her hairline.

“We'll get through this,” he finally whispered, the top of his head resting against her's, his hand gently caressing her arm.

“We have to get through this. I promise I will do anything to protect us, I brought you back, I'm not wasting my efforts."

He trusted her, he knew he could trust her with his life, she had already proven that, he didn't know if he could promise it back, he would try though.

When the small earthquake shook Hawkins and everyone waited anxiously to see if anything would happen.. it should have been their signal to leave, plan something, seek shelter or even better leave Hawkins altogether. 

The portals had opened further, vines were the first thing that went through, their roots were already running deep in the soil and the asphalt, travelling further into the city, the sun setting earlier in the day was an omen for them, they were hiding in the obscurity of the night setting.

Oftentimes revealed by the red thunderstorms, went unnoticed as no one dared to leave their houses.

Another earthquake shook Hawkins then, much more intense than the first one when the four gates opened, the ground was completely ripped apart, more houses destroyed, demolished, most of the city was in shambles. 

Roads were destroyed, markets, pharmacies and shops were barely able to handle the shock. The hospital.. the south and east wings were in ruins, on fire, the north and west wings were still holding on but not for very much longer.

There were more fires spreading, more red thunderstorms, more spores. More blood and bodies already started to pile up.

A swarm of demobats entered first, silent as they were lurking in the darkness, small shrieks echoing in the sky were the evidence of their presence.

Then, the first of many Demogorgon passed through, letting out a strident shriek in the night.

It had started.

[stevefromupsidedown]

Casual | Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Summary: To you, what you and Steve had felt like coming home but to him? It was only just casual.

Warnings: 18+ MNDI, S1 King Steve (asshole), implied sex, descriptions of sex but not in detail, ANGST, Steve being a piece of shit, I think I gave Carol the wrong last name?

Notes: I love Chappel Roan’s “Casual”. Always have and always will. One day a few months ago when listening to the song I literally thought about this fic and just wrote crap on paper and forgot about it. Months later and here it is! I haven’t wrote for Steve in a long time so please bear with me if it’s rusty. This fic is inspired by a oc fic that I’m writing for a Canon Stranger Things store but Oc’s are always so hardddd to write compared to Reader. So there are some plot points used from that story to add in this story because it just felt right.

please enjoy! Not edited

(I know I know! This isn’t what you want for me to post! The Jesse fic IS being worked but very slowly due to my feelings with the S2 potrayal so bear with me on that!)

You and Steve have always been around each other—like a tether or an invisible string guiding you together. You live two houses down and one across from him, you’re in the same friend group. You’re a cheerleader and he’s on the basketball team. The both of you were causally and unintentionally tied to the hip.

So it only makes sense when the two of you fuck one night when Steve’s parents aren’t home.

Steve was bored—that’s what he told you over the phone a couple hours before. With a playful groan and a promise of a joint, you shove some sweats and sneakers and make the short walk to his house.

Another thing that the two of you so casually have in common—being an abandoned child.. Father kicked it years ago with the stupid and overused milk scene; Mother drowns herself in liquor that when she’s sober it’s scary. You should hate her, want her to show up more in your life but you’re not…not really.

When she slurs her speech with how much she loves the man who left her years ago and tries to find him again and again in old rich men—you can’t help but feel bad for her. You can’t help but hope and pray that you’ll never be like her: a shell of a woman constantly heartbroken from the one that got away.

Despite her absence and the (many) rich boyfriends in a suit that she drags to meet you—then cry her eyes out when it’s over, you have a roof over your head and money in your pocket. The last guy she dated was able to upgrade the television set in the living room. The guy two guys before that one fixed the pool that hadn’t been working for three years straight (you would use Steve’s anyways). That is what’s different between you and Steve.

Steve’s parents are rarely ever home. Business trips or vacations is what they call them but from what Steve told you, he knows it’s mostly his father having a business meeting or whatever and his mother tagging along be every time she didn’t, his father would go and cheat with a younger version of her. Despite Steve’s nonchalant attitude toward it whenever it’s brought up with Tommy and Carol, you know Steve better than that.

It was nights like these when Steve “bored” out of his mind and calling you to come to his or he’d go to yours—Steve would whisper out the feelings that were hidden inside of him. When the joint was down to its last hit or the beer too warm to drink anymore on a warm night. Or even if it was just a little too quiet and a little too comfortable. The two of you would bring out all of the skeletons you kept deep in the closet.

It was a mutual understanding between you both to keep it to yourself. Despite not being more than good friends, the weight of the conversations you shared meant more to you than just that.

Shaking your head, you scoff playfully as you see Steve already standing in the drive. His hands placed on his hip and his foot tapping on the cement. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought Steve was a disappointed mother rather than your cute friend.

Of course you think Steve is cute—who fucking wouldn’t? You still keep it to yourself though.

He taps his hands on his wrist, his eyebrows furrowed in disappoint, “Do you know what time it is young lady? For you to go out this late and come to a boys house of all things is just unacceptable.”

You roll your eyes as you walk toward him. “Sorry mom, it won’t happen again.”

“You bet your ass it won’t.” he says sternly, as you stop a foot or so in front of him, you can already see the playful and fond gleam in his eyes. Sometimes you wonder if he only saves that look for you.

Steve opens the door for you and once you step inside, it’s like you never left. You know Steve’s place like the back of your hand and you won’t be surprised if Steve knows yours just the same. Following him up the stairs to his bedroom, the two of you get into a routine that has honestly warmed your heart since it started.

Steve goes slides his desk to corner of the wall as you open the window that it was faced toward. You can hear the crickets chirping in the night and the faint sound of trees rustling from the night wind. The air warm from summer being just a blink away, so you unzip your jacket after pulling out the light you had shoved into it. Steve sits on the other side of window as he pulls out the joint that was promised. You chuck off your shoes with a groan an wiggle your sock covered toes as you hear the scrape of the lighter against Steve’s thumb.

He doesn’t take the first hit, he never does. Not with weed or even cigarettes—he simply lights it for you. You don’t remember when it started but you do remember the curt remark from Carol at a party once. Steve had got a couple beers, had opened one, handed it to you and pull one for him out of his pocket. Carol (drunk and little jealous) had asked “Who is she, your girlfriend Harrington?”

You and Steve had both shrugged off the comments, not really taking to heart the words that your friend had slurred out your mouth. But as Tommy dragged her away for some air, and you watched Steve light the cigarette just to give to you, the words were replaying in your mind for the rest of the night.

Months later and here you are, sharing the small joint with Steve. Fingers brushing against each other as you exchange it back and forth. You blow the smoke out the window with your arm rested on the windowsill. Your cheek squished against your arm, you look out at the night sky. You don’t know if your eyes are playing tricks on you but you can only see two stars in the sky. They stand in the blackness of the night parallel to you and Steve.

You’ve got to be super high already. You clear your throat and rub your eyes against your arm. “Mom’s got a new guy.”

“Oh yeah?” Steve asks as he hands the small joint to you.

You hum. “Yea he’s,” you inhale warm smoke, “He’s some guy up from Indianapolis. Works at a lawyer firm or accounting something.” You shrug your shoulders, you never really give a shit about the who and what of your mom’s new flavor of the month.

“Think this one’s gonna stick?” Steve accepts the last bit of the joint.

You shake your head and smush your cheek back on your arm. “They never do.”

Because from what your mom tells you whenever she drinks vodka—that all of them can never hold a candle to your father. She tells you that with tear in her eyes, mascara smudged and lips quivering. You always exchange her vodka out for whatever after a while when she’s not looking; Usually she’s too drunk to even notice the difference.

You snap out of your daydream at the touch of Steve’s warm hand against your waist. His skin on yours makes your breath hitch silent. Your shirt had ridden up with how you were leaned against the window sill, so you know it wasn’t his intention to place his hands on you like that but he doesn’t move it. Instead you feel his thumb softly move back and forth. Faint baby strokes against your skin that sends goosebumps up your spine.

You try your best to look casual as you direct your gaze to Steve. He’s smoking the last bit of it, the roach looking tiny in his big hands. You let out a whine, “You’re hogging it Harrington.”

Steve shrugs, “Not my fault you were lost in a daydream.”

You use your unoccupied hand to reach out for the roach but Steve takes the little thing and extends his arm out of your reach. Orangey red ember staring back at you as you squint and pout. “That shit probably only has one hit left. ‘S not fair, I was just enjoying my high.” You lie.

Steve debates it for a second, you see how his face changes from playful to thoughtful to fond in the bright moonlight.

Fuck, you really like the way he looks at you.

“Fine. How about this?”

Steve takes the last and final hit of the joint and you gasp in shock— slightly annoyed that he didn’t share it. But once Steve gets into your personal space, his hand still on sliding from your waist, up your back to softly cup your neck—you realize that Steve Harrington is actually fucking sharing it.

You lean to meet him as suck in the warm smoke that Steve blows into your mouth. His gaze low and heavy as he leans back a bit to watch you lick your chapped lips.

You can’t really tell who pulled in first but all you know is that night you and Steve had sex for the first time.

The morning after, when you woke up to the sun on your skin and the sound of birds chirping. The bed is empty when you turn around. Your naked underneath the sheets and you shove Steve’s shirt over your head and shrug on your sweats as you make your way out of his room.

You follow the sound of pots and pans and walk downstairs to see Steve in the kitchen. His back toward you as he places a pan on the stove. There’s a cup of coffee next to him and a mug empty right next to his.

“Hey.” you mumble out.

Steve turns to the sound of your voice and with the same fucking in his eyes that makes your heart jump—he smiles softly at you. “Morning. Coffee?”

Warmth and relief flutters inside of you as you let out a deep sigh, “Yeah that’s perfect actually.”

The two of you don’t talk about what happened last night. Neither of you ask the what are we question and it makes you happy and anxious at the same time. But as you laugh at some stupid story he’s telling, you remind yourself that it was only one time and it won’t ever happen again.

Until it happens a second time and then a third time. Then it turns into something so continuous that Tommy and Carol catch on.

“Are you guys fucking or something?” Tommy blurts out at your table in the cafeteria. You nearly choke on your Coke. Carol eyes you both as she blows the biggest bubble of gum she’s done so far. You keep the soda can up against your lips—an act of not speaking, blaming it on drinking soda.

“Don’t try to deny it either,” Carol states with a pop of her gum. “Those hickeys conveniently placed blow your neck is peaking out of your collar.” She tells you. Your mouth slightly gaped like a fish, you reach to adjust your shirt collar as Steve clears his throat.

“It’s nothing serious. We’re just hanging out.” Steve says like it’s whatever.

You ignore the pang in your chest when the words come out of his mouth. But, you’re in no mood to make a fool of yourself, so you do what you do best—push down those unwanted feelings and agree. “Yeah,” you shrug your shoulders. “We’re just-”

“Casual.” Steve finishes for you and like the stupid girl you are—you nod. You take the multiple blows he sent your way with the five letter word and the look on his face that’s nothing like how he looks at you in private.

With the ring of the school bell, you watch as Steve wipes his mouth with a napkin, toss it on his tray and leave the lunch table. Tommy follows after him like a lost puppy while leaving his girlfriend in the process.

You almost don’t see the small look of shock and disappointment in Carol’s eyes with how fast it leaves. She pops her gum and in a blink of an eye it’s gone. Her usual bored stare takes its place as she locks eyes with you.

“Bathroom?”

Going to the bathroom with Carol Jenkins means more than just going to the bathroom. No, it doesn’t mean making out in the stall—even though you did do that one time when the two of you both turned sixteen; Just to see how kissing girls felt. It meant what every other group of girls did when going to the bathroom at Hawkins High.

To Reapply lipgloss, smoke out the window and gossip.

The highschool bathroom window only opened three inches on every floor for safety reasons and to prevent kids from smoking. But all you had to do was stick your hand out and let the smoke trail out side.

So hear you stood by the window, cigarette in the hand extended outside. You take a puff and watch the track team do laps on the yard.

“You know, if what you and Steve have isn’t as casual as he thinks it is—you need to tell him like now.” Carol says out loud. You nearly break your neck with how quick you turn to the redhead who is reapplying her lipgloss for the second time since you lit the cig. She meet your eyes yet, giving you time to save face as she primos and fluffs her hair before finally turning to you.

You shrug, “He’s right. We’re just—having fun.”

She nonverbally asks for the cigarette and you hand it to her. Watching as she walks to the window and blows the smoke she just inhaled out the tiny open space. Carol’s a bit shorter than you, something you made fun of in a cute way whenever you’re too drunk. But now, for some reason, you’re the one that feels small. Almost as if she can read right through your bullshit lie and knows that what you want and what Steve wants are two different fucking things.

“Well,” she taps the ash of the on the window sill. You wipe it off in annoyance. “Make sure you remember that and have fun.”

The thing about Carol Jenkins—she wasn’t always a bitchy mean girl. No, before status and highschool popularity and even Tommy, she was a pretty good friend. As time went on, she changed and you did too. But probably not in the same direction though.

Carol doesn’t say anything to you about the matter ever again after that. And you continued on with the facade of being okay with being just causal with Steve.

Because the thing is, it wasn’t casual. Steve can go about and say that the two of you were just casual but it doesn’t feel casual and it never has.

Not when he kisses your hand when the two of you take long drives and especially not when you hold each other so close at night.

You know how many freckles Steve has on his back. You’ve counted them on one lazy Sunday morning. The wind blowing through the open window of your bedroom, curtains light and flowy with the sun peeking through. Steve, chest bare, sleeping on his stomach with hands underneath the pillow. You on top of him, cheek smushed against his back and your legs tangled together.

You had woken up before him. Eyes a bit blurry and mouth dry as you glide your fingers up and down his back. M Dancing around his spine as you count all the small dots that were scattered across his body. Twenty three of them.

He knows where all your birthmarks are. Could find them blindfolded with nothing but his wandering hands.

You’ve moaned his name against his mouth and he’s grunted out yours. In his room and yours. In the front seat of his car and the back seats. At Lover’s Lake when the sun is gone and the moon is bright. At Skull Rock, a place you both found after too many close calls getting caught by the cops at the lake. On his bathroom counter and underneath the warm shower water. At his parent’s beach house and at parties when you are able to ditch your friends.

None of that felt fucking casual to you.

You wished and prayed not to be like your mother. But here you are, drunk out of your mind in the corner of the room at Tina’s Halloween party. Black eyeliner smudged against your eyes and fake blood dried against your mouth. You can taste the nasty artificial taste of it as you lick your lips. “Pure Fuel” nearly finished in your stained and sticky solo cup; you watch as Steve and Nancy walk through the crowd of dressed up teens—in their own couple’s costume.

He’s wearing the same sunglasses he had at the beach house. The same ones you took off his face to see his pretty brown eyes and kiss his lips afterwards.

Drink in hand and eyes blurry with tears, you painfully watch the couple dance to the music.

What you and Steve had wasn’t casual. You knew that deep within your bones. But Steve doesn’t speak to you, not like he used to, not after that night and not since Nancy. Because he’ll see it tightly in his mind that what you had was causal when it was nothing of the sort.

So, as you watch Steve follow Nancy to what you assume is the bathroom to go fuck like you used to do with him, you follow in your mother’s footsteps. Hips swaying and mind fuzzy as you tangle your warm tongue with Billy Hargrove’s.

He’s a mistake. He isn’t Steve. But he’s just enough to make you forget how the boy you loved was never your boy begin with.

He made that very clear.

[stevefromupsidedown]

This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

S: From stolen glances, to stolen kisses, to getting stranded in the Upside Down with an unknown threat, what could be worse for her ? Everything in between. Steve, can your love be enough to save her, your relationship and everything in between? Let's see, at the fourth chime. W: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, no physical description and no Y/n, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY WC: 57k+ ON GOING (rewritten version '25) spotify playlist

PART I

PT, ONE : THE HEARTBREAK  | 3.4k PT, TWO : THE PORTAL ON THE HIGHWAY | 1k PT, THREE : THE UPSIDE DOWN | 7k PT, FOUR : THE FOUR CHIMES | 18k

PART II

PT, FIVE : THE MORNING AFTER | 4.5k (5/31) PT, SIX : HAWKINS’S PARTY | 5.1k (6/14) PT, SEVEN : THE SPY AND THE SPIED ON | 5.6k (6/28) PT, EIGHT : THE BATTLE OF HAWKINS | 8.9k (7/12) PT, NINE : THE THUNDER IN OUR HEARTS | 4k (7/26) PT, TEN EPILOGUE : “still loving you, i need your love” | WIP (8/9)

[This material falls under @takemetothelakes-poets’ property. I do not give permission for this material to be copied, modified, reproduced, displayed and used in AI without my written permission. The original characters belong to their original creators, are used in fair-use and are protected by International Copyright Law.]

*fonts here and here used in graphic header.

[stevefromupsidedown]

that guy ⊹ steve harrington

summary: After he's been to yet another failed date with yet another random pretty girl, Steve Harrington, your best friend, stops by at the diner your family owns for a late-night chat, same as he'd done a thousand times before. Steve is totally unaware of how much he's hurting you with his endless parade of dates, because after all — the two of you are only friends and nothing more, right? It's not like you have any secret feelings for him… | 2.6k words

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ──

The moment Steve steps through the glass doors of the diner, you wonder, for about the millionth time that month alone, what is it that you've done so wrong to deserve this kind of punishment.

It's Friday night, and on Friday nights, Steve Harrington goes on dates. It's just like clockwork, really: he meets a pretty girl, thinks she's the one, takes her out on a date, realizes quickly enough that she isn't quite what he was looking for, then comes here after having dropped her back home to sulk with you, in the diner that your family runs, still clad in the outfit he'd chosen especially for his failed date.

To be honest, he never looks sad, per se — more like disappointed. Frustrated, maybe.

You watch as he weaves around tables occupied by laughing friends, past booths filled with couples sharing desserts, then slides into a seat in front of you at the bar. Steve sits down with an exhausted sigh, ruffling up his hair before shooting you a tired smile.

"Hi."

You don't look up from where you're polishing the counter. "Bad date again?"

"Not even close. She talked about horses non-stop."

A quiet laugh slips past your lips despite yourself, and finally, you tear your gaze off the dark wooden surface of the counter to look up at him; he's got this pleased little smile on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly in the way they always do whenever he succeeds at making you laugh, even if just a little.

How are you supposed to keep acting like nothing's wrong when he looks at you like that?

You clear your throat awkwardly and make yourself busy stacking clean glasses next to the coffee machine.

"So...not the one, I take it?"

Steve leans forward against the counter and props his head up with his hand, sighing deeply.

"I'm starting to think she won't ever show up," he says quietly, running his other hand through his hair. You chance another glance at him and note how genuinely worried he looks. It breaks your heart almost as much as it annoys you. "What is it that's wrong with me, huh? I just don't get it."

"Nothing is wrong with you."

"You don't need to be nice to me. We've been friends since forever, remember?"

The word 'friends' makes you wince a little bit inside, but you hide the reaction behind a neutral frown. "Do you think there's something wrong with me? Because I haven't found the one yet either, you know."

Steve's expression softens as he looks at you, and once again you feel that horrible twinge in your stomach that you wish would just stop already.

"It's different. I mean—you're not actively trying to find someone." He reaches out to pull one of the half-melted mints out from the glass bowl on the counter and pops it into his mouth with a shrug. "I go out looking for her and she just doesn't come. If she even exists, that is."

"She does."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I wouldn't hold my breath. God, why am I such an idiot, y'know?" Steve slumps over the counter with a groan, burying his face into his crossed arms. "My love life is a trainwreck."

"At least you have one."

He glances up at you curiously and lifts an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Do you want some pie?"

You're not about to tell him what you've only admitted to yourself mere months ago — that you're actually hopelessly, madly, stupidly in love with him, and that you have been ever since the two of you were just dumb kids racing around your parents' diner.

What makes it even worse is that you had no idea your feelings went that deep until Steve started going on these dates of his again. Before then, everything was normal — you met up every weekend and binged on candy, watched bad movies on your couch, drove around town together blasting The Clash on his BMW's speakers...it was good.

Until it wasn't.

"Wait, c'mon, you can't just leave me hanging like that," Steve presses. He shifts a little on his stool to better face you, then gestures at you with his hands. "You've clearly got something you wanna say, so, like—hit me. Lay it on me."

"Nothing. I'm just saying...at least you're trying, you know," you say carefully, measuring each word before speaking them. "And at least you're the one doing the rejecting. Could be worse."

Steve's eyebrows rise high up on his forehead and he looks at you incredulously. "Whoa, wait—are you trying to tell me you've been rejected?"

You busy yourself by filling two tall glasses with soda, then slide one to his side of the counter and keep the other for yourself. "Uh...kind of, yeah. But it's fine."

"But who the hell would even do that?" he blurts out. There's anger in his voice all of a sudden, a defensive fire in his eyes that makes you feel as if someone has punched you in the gut. "To you? You're like, the nicest person on the planet, and super pretty to boot. That's just—that's crazy!"

Your heart gives a violent little jump in your chest. He thinks you're pretty. Steve Harrington thinks you're pretty.

Pretty as a friend, you correct yourself immediately, and sigh as you sip your drink. Of course, it's nothing more than that — just meaningless words spoken in a moment of unthinking kindness.

"Seriously, who?" he presses on. "Give me a name. I'll fight him."

"You mean like you fought Jonathan Byers?" you smile behind your glass, looking at him from over its rim.

Steve looks embarrassed at the memory and drops his gaze for a second or two before meeting your eyes again with a playful little smile of his own. "Different situation, okay, but that's not the point. So? Who's the guy?"

"You...don't know him," you hedge.

"It's Hawkins. I know the stray cats here by name."

"Fine, well, even if you did know him, it doesn't matter. He didn't reject me, exactly...not really."

Steve frowns a little. "Okay, you're gonna have to start making sense now. This is hurting my head."

The funny thing is, he actually looks confused, as if he can't possibly fathom the idea of someone rejecting you. It's sweet, really — way too sweet for your liking, especially when you know fully well he doesn't see you in the way you'd want him to.

You lower your gaze to avoid his and instead focus on drawing random shapes on the counter with your index finger, where tiny droplets of condensation from your glass have pooled up on the dark wood. "I mean, I never really told him how I felt. Not directly. It just…never happened."

"Oh. Well, then how do you even know if he feels the same way?" he asks you, looking rather doubtful.

You steal another glance at him and almost regret it instantly. His eyes are trained on your face, patient and attentive like you're the only thing worth watching in the world. It makes you feel horribly small and selfish and guilty, because after all, what right do you have to want him when he so clearly wants someone else?

You feel like you could cry. You might, if you don't distract yourself with something fast enough.

"I just know. Do you want some pie? I'll go get you some pie."

Without waiting for a response, you rush off to the kitchen even though there's plenty of pies sitting on the display counter at the bar, and you make a beeline straight for the back exit.

The alley behind the diner is blissfully empty as usual, just a lonely dumpster and a handful of sad-looking shrubs and weeds peeking out from under the concrete.

No, you aren't going to cry.

This is stupid.

You press your back against the rough brick wall of the diner and breathe in deep the warm night air, then exhale slowly as you count to ten in your head.

When the door opens behind you and the diner's familiar chatter and clatter of cutlery spill into the alley, you wince, mentally cursing yourself for being so goddamn weak. You should have known better.

You don't have to look up to know that it's him.

"Are you hiding from me?" Steve's voice comes, quiet and curious and maybe just a little bit hurt, even.

"I got...suddenly nauseous," you explain weakly, still refusing to look up and meet his eyes.

There's a long stretch of silence, and you feel Steve move closer to you until he's leaning against the wall by your side. You finally look up and find him smiling, this gentle, amused little thing that makes your traitorous heart skip a beat.

"You look just fine to me."

You stare up at the sky, head against the wall. "I thought I was gonna throw up."

He's still watching you, you can tell; you're keenly aware of his eyes on you, so much so that your skin prickles at the attention. "No, you didn't."

"No, I didn't," you admit with a sigh, and turn your head to finally look at him. He's got this little half-smile on his lips, the very same one you fell for years ago, and you curse yourself silently for never learning how to let him go. Really let him go.

"Hey. Listen. You don't have to tell me, okay?" Steve says gently, pushing himself off the wall to step closer to you. He brings his hand up to your face and tucks a loose lock of hair behind your ear, letting his fingertips linger on the edge of your jaw for the briefest of moments, just long enough for you to wonder whether he knows what he's doing to you.

You don't dare to move. You're afraid of breaking whatever spell has seemingly come over him.

"I should've never asked. That was selfish."

"Forget it," you say.

He's standing close now, close enough that you have to tilt your chin up to be able to look up at him properly. There's a strange kind of tension in his eyes, something dark and unsure and tentative, and his gaze darts down to your lips just the slightest bit.

You're fairly sure you're just seeing what you want to see, your foolish heart playing tricks on you. But you panic nonetheless, feeling a sudden, irrational fear that if he moves any closer, he'll realize the truth — that you're a liar and a coward, that you've been harboring these feelings of yours for him for years.

"I should—I should go. Back inside," you mutter, pointing vaguely at the door with your thumb. "In there."

"Sure, yeah. Okay. In there," he echoes, not making a single move to leave. "Not out here."

"Yup. Exactly. In there."

"So you said."

"Yep."

The wall of the diner is digging into your spine uncomfortably, and your mouth is dry, and your knees feel weak, and your stomach is doing somersaults, and the longer he stares at you with those eyes of his the more you feel like you're burning from the inside out and—

He's not moving. All he does is look at you, really look at you, as if it's the first time he's really looked, as if he's seeing something that wasn't there before.

"Okay, so—"

You try to push past him towards the door, but Steve grabs your arm, making you stop dead in your tracks. He lets go as soon as you look up at him, lifting his hand in front of him in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he says. He swallows hard and rubs his palm on the front of his jeans, a nervous little habit you think he's always had. He runs his hand through his hair, mussing up the carefully gelled strands, and it's probably the first time you've ever seen him look so flustered.

He laughs nervously and gestures at the ground with his hands as he speaks. "Look, this is just—this is just crazy, okay, but I think I, uh, maybe sort of realized something."

You blink at him, not quite certain you're hearing him correctly.

"Realized what?" you ask, the words barely more than a whisper.

Steve clears his throat and nods at you, seemingly pleased that you've finally spoken. "Yeah, well, this is stupid, but you know how you're always telling me to listen to my gut?"

"You're not making a whole lot of sense right now, Steve."

"Just bear with me for a sec, okay? This is like, totally new to me." He holds his palms up, and you notice his hands are shaking a little. "I just need a minute, alright?"

He breathes in deep and exhales slowly, then shoots you an apologetic look.

"Sorry, this is just...really weird," he confesses. "Weirdly real."

"You're freaking me out," you tell him, but Steve only smiles at you.

"Maybe I should just show you. Because, I mean, what if I'm wrong? That'd be terrible, obviously."

"Steve."

"Yeah, I know, but hear me out, okay?" he says quickly, and takes another step closer. You stand your ground this time, if only because you don't trust yourself to actually move without your legs giving out. "So, look. Here's the thing. You're, like—you're one of the most important people in my life. You've been there for me when nobody else was, and I...you mean a lot to me."

"Steve—"

"Shut up, you're ruining the moment."

He takes another step forward until he's crowding you against the wall, hand coming to rest next to your head on the brick. He's close, so close that you can smell the scent of his cologne and shampoo and laundry detergent, and if you were to lean in even the slightest bit, your faces would bump.

Steve is a little out of breath, his lips parted ever so slightly. And he's still looking at you with that strange, searching expression of his.

"Is this okay?" he whispers.

"I don't—what?"

Your voice catches in your throat. There's no room for doubt in his eyes now, not even the tiniest, slightest sliver of uncertainty left.

"This," Steve murmurs.

He tilts his head to the side a little and leans in until you're sure your noses are touching, and you feel your eyes slip closed in anticipation.

"Is this okay?" he repeats in a whisper. "Please tell me I'm not crazy."

"I think I am."

His lips brush yours. It feels like an accident, doesn't last long enough to be anything but a dream. You can still taste the faint, sweet trace of sugar and mint on your tongue when he pulls away, though.

"Just to be clear," Steve whispers, his fingers brushing lightly over the skin of your neck, tracing invisible lines that make you shiver, "am I the guy from earlier? The one you like?"

You don't have it in you to deny it anymore.

"Yes. It's you."

A wide grin breaks out across his face, and suddenly he's everywhere; he cups your face in his hands, pressing eager, fervent kisses along the line of your jaw, trailing hot and open-mouthed down the side of your neck.

You giggle helplessly, grabbing Steve by his collar to pull him away from you and up to your eye level. He's breathing just as heavily as you are, his hair messy and his eyes bright.

"How do you do this to me, huh?" he pants, kissing your forehead, the tip of your nose, the corner of your mouth. "You just—you just completely knock me out."

A pleasant little thrill rushes up your spine at that.

"Oh yeah?"

"Completely."

You kiss him this time.

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, four : the four chimes • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: it's time for.. what exactly? warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspeetive, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY, (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets' property

PT, FIVE (5/31) | SERIES MASTERLIST | SERIES PLAYLIST

“Steve, she’s not waking up!,” she screamed in panic as she shook Nancy, holding her arms in her hands, her voice trembling and her eyes widened in worry, she looked at Steve, desperate.

From Eddie’s living room in the Upside Down he stood under the gate, “We can’t leave her here, guys, hurry! We need some music quickly!” 

They heard quick movements, Erica, Eddie and Robin yelling, they exchanged places, Steve cupping Nancy cheeks in hopes to gently shake her awake, while she paced under the gate, hands almost scraping her scalp off.

“Nancy, c’mon come back to us, now!”

His hands moved from her cheeks from her shoulders, just like she had earlier, he tried to shake her, whispered her name so low only the three of them could hear.  In a minuscule moment she could see a single tear run down his cheek, his eyes met her rapidly as she paced impatiently.

“We need to think of something else, I don't think Eddie has anything she listens to.”

“Like what?” 

Steve put himself at Nancy’s level, his eyes staring at her rolled back white eyes, repeating her name in a shaky voice as his hands frantically shook her arms. She was pacing behind him, thinking, wheels spinning behind her eyes, rubbing her face in frustration. 

“Something’s wrong, it’s not like when Max was in there,” Steve whispered softly, his body retreating back a bit, a frown on his face, he was opening his mouth to continue but Nancy suddenly came back to reality in a gasp, big frightened eyes. She was out of breath, and lost balance in Steve’s arms. 

He whispered words of comfort as he laid her on the mattress delicately.  She closed her eyes and caught her breath, while she was in the back, her frightened eyes and the stiffness of her body was concerning to her. What could she possibly have seen that could be so terrible her body had a visceral reaction to fear? What happened? 

Nancy got up, she muttered something she didn’t get, and went for the rope, Steve helping her. 

When she landed on the mattress, Steve let out a shaky breath of relief, and turned to her but she cut him off, retreating back to let him go first.

He frowned, but obliged, he didn’t want to make a fuss, so he approached the rope and pulled himself up, grunting from the pain he felt from his bandaged sides. He was certain it would bleed again, but what other chance did he have?

He landed on the mattress in a swift motion, a small wince stuck in his closed mouth as Eddie helped him up.

When it was clear to go she gripped the rope in her hands, and with a loud exhale she pulled herself up, and gosh did it hurt.   

She hung onto the rope tightly, and pulled herself up, ignoring the pain, the soreness and aching of her muscles. She felt the gravity of the Upside Down pulling her down when she went through the gate. 

Hawkins’ gravity was also pulling her down but she was upside down, in the middle of it she literally felt torn between the two places’ gravity. Yeah, that shit could mess up with anyone’s head. She let go of the rope and let herself fall on the mattress.

“Shit,” she muttered as she fell on her ass in a swift motion, “that’s kinda fun.”

Eddie and Steve both got down, a smile on the metalhead’s lips as their hands enrolled under her armpits, and pulled her towards them.

Dustin hadn’t fully realised it, but once he acknowledged her in Eddie’s living room, with all of them involved in the Upside Down business, it’s like she had come from nowhere, he frowned, “Hang on a minute, what are you doing here? Coming from there?” 

“Huh, it's—complicated. I got myself stranded in the Upside Down for three days, then found them and.. well.. here I am,” she admitted as she let go of each of their hands, an unconscious thought made her hand move to her side that hurt as Dustin kept going.

“I’m sorry, what? How?”

“I went through one of the gates, on my way in Hawkins, um— where Fred was killed, and.. well, I found them when they got stranded too. It’s a really long story Dustin and I’m afraid we may not have time for that right now,” her eyes followed Nancy as she was leaning on the wall, a hand pressed around the side of her face in.. anxiety? Uneasiness? She was difficult to read.

“Nancy, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I just—… I need a minute,” Nancy whispered, a straight line appeared quickly on her lips as an attempt to smile, but it was replaced by a sombre frown. 

Dustin silently agreed on not commenting furthermore, everyone chose not to note that they knew each other before, it wasn’t that important, but, everyone did agree on leaving Eddie’s trailer for Max’s. 

The silence was getting thick, uncomfortable, only Nance spoke, explaining what she saw in her trance per Steve’s request. To put it quickly, the destruction of Hawkins, the literal End of the World, the original gates destroying the earth to form four branches of the gate, big enough to let monsters pass through easily, everywhere in the city. Families torn apart, dead. Fire, pain, so much blood. 

It almost gave her a new wave of nausea, all this chaos was like the Upside Down but multiplied. It was such a nightmare. A terrible, dreadful nightmare. 

And while Nancy was determined to end it all and go back, Steve and Eddie were protesting, Dustin was topping Nancy’s idea, to which, Robin added some more protests. Max, Lucas and Erica were listening to the arguments thrown at everyone’s faces. 

Soon enough the living room was full of voices trying to have the last word, she silently grew more tired of it, the headache brewing stronger from everything that's happened thus far when suddenly a new thought appeared wildly in her brain: was she really part of this group?  Would her opinion be listened to? 

Sat in between Lucas and the end of the couch, she let her back fall deeper into the back, her eyes met Max’s more than once and it appeared clear to her that the teenager wanted nothing more than to say something but wouldn't dare to. 

With the realisation that she wasn't the only one not daring to speak her mind, her eyes fell on Nancy and Steve arguing on going back to the Upside Down, she heard Nancy say something about needing to go back in a matter of hours sent goosebumps of terror to her body.

With her fingers rubbing the downfall of the events from her face away, she heard her own voice speak up, “Excuse me, Nancy, but no. There’s no way. We barely made it alive. It’s suicide! We did not just survive to tempt death once again. No!”

The young woman turned to face her, as she was about to counter, but she cut her off, “Actually, I survived there for three days. I got myself strangled, bitten off, hunted down and not to do it again. I haven’t add a proper shower, meal and sleep in almost four fucking days. So, marinate your idea, think it through, but we’re not doing that today.” 

“We all need some rest, and it’s the middle of the night, let’s shower, eat, sleep and tomorrow morning we’ll be in a better mindset to think it through. Meanwhile, Max, is it?— can keep holding onto Kate Bush for one more night, what do you think?,” She said as her eyes moved slightly towards the redhead, then Nancy, awaiting her response, clearly she wasn't thrilled but she knew she was right.

“Fine, but we’re not leaving anyone alone,” the two locked eye contact, she was unsure what to read in Nancy’s eyes, and Steve interrupted.

“Okay, how are we doing that? My car is at your place and your’s is alongside the forest to the lake! And whose house are we barging in?” Steve asked.

“Mine, my parents are not home, they rarely are plus it’s closer than your house, Steve.” 

And I don't want the memory of us in that house but she refrained from saying it out loud, and kept going through a tight throat, “My car’s not far. I can drive you to Nancy’s car to get the second group,” she thought aloud, Nancy nodded, they both left with Dustin, Steve and Eddie towards her car through the woods behind the trailer park. Where Fred had gone. 

Quickly they reached the car and she realised she lost the keys in the Upside Down, that is until Eddie showed one of his hidden talents, lock-picking and jump-started the car. 

They drove to where Nancy had left her car, she quickly left to retrieve her vehicle, Dustin had called shotgun to sit in the front seat and wasn't stopped by either young men who rolled their eyes at the teenager.

Both cars started and Nancy pulled away to follow the trailer park’s road while she drove away to her house, silence filled the vehicule.

Her eyes met Steve’s a few times in the rearview mirror, but she never said much. Once she was parked in front of her house she took the spare key from a hidden stone in the garden and opened the front door.

After washing their hands —the Upside Down was such a nasty place—, she asked Eddie and Dustin to look for spare sleeping bags in the garage and for Steve to follow her to the guests’ bedroom to grab extra pillows and blankets for the sleeping bags. 

Steve awkwardly stood beside her, taking whatever she was handing him without a word, even though he really wanted to say something, anything, but where to begin? So he stayed quiet, offered a tight lipped smile and followed her directives.

Nancy, Robin, Max, Lucas and Erica arrived as Eddie and Steve had left to shower quickly, spare clothes in hands.

Eddie had taken her parents' bathroom so Steve had taken the direction of her bedroom and the place was insanely familiar, nothing had changed, except all the polaroids she had taken of them— all gone.

He was taken back to all the moments they spent in her bedroom, and the last one to date had such strong mixed feelings, he almost felt.. unsafe ? 

He was unable to move at first, too taken back by his mistakes, his head hung low as his eyes were stuck on the bed they had shared, he could remember the giggles, the soft touches, the kisses, the moans, he felt himself gripping tighter the clothes in his hands, until all memories were evaporated by the sound of the door opening and her frame appeared.

Hand on the doorknob, she stopped dead in her tracks and their eyes met, unable to form a coherent sentence, he cleared his throat, his Adam apple throbbing. He left to her bathroom, teary eyed.

Fingers twitching the doorknob nervously, her eyes closed in shame. Steve’s presence in her room, given the nature of their past relationship, and whatever was left, gave her such a bittersweet taste in the back of her mouth, she was so shameful. 

The sound of the water running and the clutter of teenagers navigating in her house brought her back to reality, then Eddie’s voice followed. 

She reassured him that she was alright and quietly asked him to start on making food for everyone, he nodded and offered a tiny smile as he called for Robin to follow up in the bathroom.

She heard the movements in the kitchen and walked to her parents’ room to grab the emergency medical supplies his father had stacked there, only taking what she needed for both Steve and her. 

She retreats back to her bedroom, Steve's still in the shower, she puts away what she needs to make their dressings and lazily looks for oversized clothes.

As she tries to get her shirt off, she realises the task may be harder than expected, her wounds so stiff and tight on her skin she has no choice but to stretch the wounds.. and that hurts like a bitch.

She tries her hardest to be as quiet as possible, she merely forgets Steve’s in the bathroom until she hears the bathroom door open and he’s facing her bare back, riddled with bruises, scabs, dried blood.

Some bruises have a weird shape and shade to them, which makes Steve immediately feel guilty because this is exactly what he wanted to avoid.

She turns around, only in her bra, her shirt left in her arms as she was getting rid of it, the makeshift bandage around her stomach, him shirtless that's showing every cut, abrasions and biting he endured. It feels surreal.

The tearful look he gives her immediately hurts her, she sees in his eyes the sort of pity she profoundly hates, without a word she lets her shirt fall on the ground, trying her hardest to remain calm, she misunderstands his facial reactions and he can see that. 

Her shoulders fell, her eyebrows slightly scrunched together, she was trapped in her head in waves and waves of misunderstanding and hurt; he did something that surprised him at first, but after some thought, it only felt normal. 

He closed the distance between them and immediately took her in his arms, circling her shoulders, holding her softly to not make it worse for her. What surprised him more was that she had immediately circled his waist too, palms sprayed out in the less wounded parts of his back. 

No words were spoken, it was unnecessary, only their warmth spoke for themselves. His lips ghosting her forehead, he sensed she was crying softly by the droplets falling on his chest and the rhythm of her shaking body.

He let himself succumb to his emotions, tears falling freely and joining hers’, whispering in a low voice, only for her to hear, “I’m so sorry.” 

They stayed quiet, hadn't dared to leave eachother’s arms, until they heard Robin shouting for Nancy to shower, and they were suddenly made aware of their surroundings.

With one last teary eyed look she took her clothes and headed towards the bathroom, Steve sat down, trying to sort his thoughts, surrounded by all the souvenirs of them.

She didn’t waste a minute to get undressed, she could almost feel all the dirt stuck on her skin, and now that she was facing her naked body in the mirror, she could see everything.

The dirt, the bruises, small cuts, dried blood. The worst was the wound under the makeshift bandage, the skin was so tight she wouldn't be able to remove it unless it was soaking wet.

She watched the dirt wash down the drain, the foam running clearer, she decided to get rid of the bandage when it felt heavy, soaking wet, and the scab underneath, softer. 

She untied the knot and slowly peeled it off with some of the softened scab, she winced and let out a pained moan. She threw the bandage on the cold tiles, fresh blood running on her leg to the water. 

She cut the water and stepped out, hurried to grab a gauze she had prepared to stop the bleeding, she took slow and steady breath as she put pressure on it, her eyes accidentally drifted to the mirror, and she looked at what her body now looked like. 

She felt the bruises from the aching of her muscles, the soreness of her skin, small cuts almost everywhere, and the wound on her side. She was torn between pride and disgust. 

Pride because she had survived alone without any knowledge of the place, the creatures, and she made it, but she also felt disgusted by her reflection, so much so that she put a towel on the mirror to cover it, her fingers uneasy, partially bloody.

She removed the gauze once she had put on a comfortable bralette, letting the wound out in the open as she finished drying herself off and put on her clothes except for the shirt as she needed to do her dressing. Leaving her damp hair to dry off on its own. Brushing her teeth felt like heaven, finally being able to get rid of the disgusting taste in her mouth.

She left her bathroom and was met with Steve’s face looking her way as she stepped around her room, he was patiently waiting, he had taken the medical supplies needed and had brought them to her bed.

In some silent understanding, he lied down and she started on his wounds, cleaning it with saline and soap, wrapped them up in clean dressings and bandaged it all up across his waist, all in complete silence, or with gentle apologies whenever she hurt him.  Focus written on her face, he couldn’t stop staring at her, she was so precise and attentive. 

“Where did you learn all of this?” he whispered softly, as he watched her work around his waist. 

“I did tell you I was in Indianapolis for Community College, but what I left out is I’m in a paramedical course, I… hope to be a nurse. I went through the First Aid Advanced Training.”

“That's— I can see it. The caretaker side of you.”

Their eyes briefly met, but she didn't answer, she didn't know what to feel about this. She watched him rise from the bed to put on his shirt, his movements slowing to pass his head through, she watched his eyes shut tightly, his eyebrows scrunching for a few seconds at the pain.

She expected him to leave but he stayed closer, his eyes on her wound on the right side of her stomach, uneasiness growing deeper in the pit of her stomach, “You’re all good, you—..”  

 “Let me help you,” he interrupted her, she tried to ease her breathing, anxiety eating at her senses, feeling her ribcage getting tighter by his prolonged presence, “I can do it, it’s fine.” 

“I know you can. I want to help you—” he started as their eyes locked, sincere eyes just staring at her, “—just tell me what to do.” 

She nodded slowly, a bit struck by his demand, “Okay,” she murmured as he sat back down, she aligned her body to his, hesitantly stepping further until they were closer so that he was at an arm's distance from her.

She guided him step by step, wincing silently, her eyes closed and tightly shut when in pain, ignoring the way his eyes drifted towards her face here and there, her left hand would rest on his shoulder to help her standing still.

Just like her, he was attentive to her guidance, muttering soft apologies as he cleaned the wound. Wrapped up and bandaged; his fingertips tenderly longed on the bruises above her waist and the bandage, the pads of his fingers tickling her skin.

He took the shirt she had left on the bed and handed it to her, slowly she put it on, cursing mentally at the pain driving her senses crazy.

He watched the pain shut her eyes and jaw close, her breathing stopped momentarily, instinctively his fingers approached and fell on her knee, as if touching her would distract her or show his compassion.

She exhaled as she opened her eyes, and his fingers left to rub the sweatpants he had been given, his eyes looked up to her. In the most delicate voice, he said, “I mean it.. what I said earlier.. I am sorry.” 

She inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the conversation they're about to have, “I know you are, Steve.” 

He thought that this was it, there's nothing more he can say to make things better, because he cannot offer more explanations or excuses, he looked down at his hands on her skin, his eyebrows slightly scrunched together.

“I understand where you're coming from, and I understand your intentions were not to hurt me, but it did, and I don't know.. it’s all so.. it's all so much. I don't even feel like myself anymore.. I just..— I just don't know anything anymore.” 

He nodded slowly, at a loss for words he didn't know what to say, perhaps he was the one who could understand her the best, having been through it too, “I just hope you know you can count on me, I’m not— I’m choosing not to leave you behind so if you’ll allow it, I’ll be by your side, in whatever way you need me to be.” 

His eyes were so intense it sent her body to overdrive, seating next to him, their eyes never left each other's, her hand grabbed his and messily tightened her fingers over the back of his hand, “Thank you.” 

Their eyes spoke for themselves, both on the edge of crying as Steve's lips quivered, they were interrupted quite abruptly by Eddie’s voice screaming from the kitchen that they could come down to eat.

Their moment killed by the metalhead, they rose from the bed at the same time and with a final mutual understanding through their eyes and a tiny smile on their lips, they descended down and met everyone else already munching on some mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches they had made. 

While they ate Dustin had asked more details about her walkabouts in the Upside Down, so she told them what happened, but was pretty elusive with it overall, she had no desire to live those events all over again, and the looks on their faces was another motivation to omit some of it.

The sorry eyes she could see on Max’s face was something she profoundly hated, and the admirative energy in Dustin’s words was something she felt unworthy of, with no energy in her being she simply shrugged and managed to shift the conversation elsewhere. 

She was quiet and pretty absent for the remaining time before she left to her bedroom to sleep, being evidently exhausted, the others did the dishes and separated to rest as well.

Engulfed in her blankets she could hear the teenagers debating on who would take which corner of the room, but it all quickly stopped when Eddie interrupted them by reminding them they weren’t on fucking holidays to enjoy themselves like this being so noisy.

It made her smile before falling asleep quite shortly as she heard more noise coming upstairs and Steve peeked in her room to make sure she was alright before walking back downstairs and taking his blanket to lie on the couch, soon enough everyone was fast asleep.

 Windows covered in mist, the room was so warm she almost felt her own body melting in the hot water. The room was softly lit by the candles burning not far from them, the light smell of them created an amorous atmosphere. 

She could almost feel at peace, like she could sleep in his arms in this hot bath. 

That is until she felt one warm hand travelling on her stomach, a lingering pair of lips gently pecking on her neck. 

Goosebumps rose on her skin as his fingertips were travelling further down her body, his other hand pressing more on her waist to hold her down against his nude body.

It was the beginning of December, it was extremely cold outside, Steve’s parents were, as usual, absent, and his house had a giant master bathroom.  With a bathtub.

Her train of thoughts was disrupted when his fingertips started drawing slow patterns on the most sensitive nubble of nerves in between her legs, his other hand moved from her waist to her thigh, keeping her legs open for him.

She had closed her eyes, her head tilted back on his shoulder, her lips halfway open to let out a breath. 

His lips had the pleasure of attacking her neck, and her shoulder.  His eyes never left her face, observing very closely her lips, the frown on her eyebrows disappearing to become one of relief.   Her hands gripped at his arms, her nails digging slowly as the pleasure was building up in a tight knot in her abdomen.

Her left leg moved, almost blocking the way, his hand held her thigh from the inside and forcefully moved it a bit, widening her legs more for him,“You’re not there yet, I know it,” his raspy voice murmured to her ear.

It sent shivers to her core, breathing in deeply, when his hand pushed her thigh apart completely over his own leg, his hand meeting the soft nubble of nerves to pump a finger in her, slowly.

“Steve…,” her breath quickened, her nails digging deeper in his arms.  She was a quiet mess, and he wanted her so badly to be more loud but he didn’t want to pressure her.

The combination of his fingers pumping in and out of her and the fingertips playing with her sent her to her own cloud nine.  His rhythm was so slow, it was excruciating, but oh so good. 

Her head completely thrown back on his shoulder, she looked at him through orgasm drunk eyes. Her lips swollen at her persistence to keep the moans quiet by biting her lip. 

When the knot seemed to grow even more tighter, she felt it so close, that suddenly it was like an explosion in her lower abdomen. Her body was in complete disharmony as she started shaking, breathless, her eyes and thighs closed shut, his hands surrounded her thigh and her waist as she rode her high, engulfed in Steve’s neck.  

Her hands were holding onto him tightly, her breath hitting his skin in an erratic pattern, he held her tighter, pecking here and there at her warm skin, until his lips met hers in a kiss, he couldn’t stop kissing her, he would never be able to stop, the touch of her lips gave him such a craving to have more of her. 

She rose from the covers in a cold sweat, panting for breath, she felt her body getting hotter as the images lingered in her mind, embarrassed that she would think like this, dream like this.

Looking around her she struggled to recognise her surroundings given the obscurity around her but all the memories of the previous days resurfaced and she fell back in her bed, her gaze lost on the wall. She doesn't know how long she stared at that wall, but she drifted off to sleep a second time.

The morning came and the unanimous idea to get a bigger vehicule imposed itself, it was a false good idea, or a false bad idea, depending on the perspective.

Eddie left the house wearing a bandana to cover his face and sunglasses, accompanied by Nancy, Steve and her —Robin stayed to watch the kids— were going to the trailer park to get to Eddie’s idea, which he wouldn’t say what it was and then they would get the kids back.

Eddie kept on insisting on not telling his idea until the quartet found themselves in a stolen trailer anxiously driven by Steve. 

“Seriously Munson, I hate you so much sometimes,” she said, her eyes shooting up daggers in the metalhead direction seated in front of her, the brightest smile on his face at her, winking.

Rolling her eyes at him but with a contagious smile she got up to take the walkie talkie and warned the kids they were close.  When everyone was reunited in the caravan, Steve started driving off to the store, avoiding the roadways. 

Everyone was pretty focused on the road, retreated in the back, talking here and there. She, on the other hand, was deep in her thoughts about the events that would soon take place.

This Vecna guy had to know something was planning itself since he couldn’t get Max, and he hadn’t cursed another teen, he wanted her and he wasn’t letting her go… Not to forget Nancy’s vision.

She had a really bad feeling about it.

Eddie, Lucas, and Dustin were the one who had to stay in the caravan given their obvious connection with the Hellfire Club, in case Jason and his psychotic friends were there, they needed their trip to the War Zone to be as smooth as possible.

They separated, Nancy was looking for two rifles and ammunition, Steve and Robin kerosene to make Molotov cocktails, Max and her were seeking out knives and nails to make spikes, and whatever clothes they could find to create some sort of protection.

She didn't expect the errand in the store to be quiet but she certainly didn't expect Max to talk about the elephant in the room, “You’re the girl Steve was seeing last year, aren't you? Like, his ‘serious seeing girl’?”

“His what?”

Max shut her eyes quickly and seemed to curse herself, annoyed like she had let out a secret, she opened her eyes and directly faced her “Steve was seeing someone last year, around Halloween, he never told us her name, only that it was serious and.. that he really loved her.. it was you, wasn’t it? I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Um, yeah, we.. we weren’t official but we definitely were something.. Who chose that nickname?”

Max turned to the clothes, her hands going through the different sizes in leather jackets, “I did, Dustin doesn't like it, obviously, it’s not smart or sassy enough for him, but Steve wouldn't tell us your name so.. I.. I had to find something to stop calling you ‘her’ all the time.” 

Max was putting different types of vests in the cart, now observing the knives, she pulled one out of its sheath, staring at the blade under the light, she looked at her reflection through the blade.

“Why didn’t it work? If..—if you don’t mind me asking.”

As she thought of an answer, Max realised it grew quiet between the two, so she turned around, and realised she was deep in her thoughts before she looked back at her, “It’s complicated, and I’m not going to be that kind of person that tells you it’s a bigger person problem and dismiss it, because I don't even know how to make it sense to myself. We were something and I don't know what we are and what we could be, but I’m still attached to him. Max, is this about you and Lucas?” 

The redhead’s eyes widened, but she put a hand on her back and slowly patted in reassurance, “I’m not blind, I’ve seen the smiles and the stolen looks, I don't have any solid advice for you, but, if your situation isn't as complicated as mine, and if you have feelings for him, tell him, he deserves to know.” 

She smiled timidly, knowing her own advice could be applied to herself, but she decides on ignoring the voice that screams hypocrite! at her, and turned to the knives, “Let’s get the sharpest ones, shall we,” she murmured as she looked at the redhead, knife in hand. 

She looked around to see if the others had finished when her eyes stumbled to the front of the store where Nancy was handling a rifle, in what seemed like a tense and hostile conversation with Jason, leader of the basketball team and brat of the year.

He had grabbed the aim of the rifle Nancy held in her hands, she obviously couldn't hear but they were tense, her eyes met Steve's and they walked in sync to Nancy.

They arrived to their level as Jason was about to leave, Steve looked him up and down, the teenager opened his mouth to say something when Nancy armed her rifle and the sound it made alarmed him, ready to fire his ass out, “You guys are completely insane,” he muttered on his way out.

“We’re not the ones playing Inquisition, you ought to open a book or two, it should enlighten you,” she couldn't stop herself from biting back at him, he had momentarily stopped in his tracks, now looking like a deer caught by headlights, humiliated.

Him and his clowns left and they paid quite in a hurry to join the trailer and Steve drove them to an unoccupied field by the forest on their way to Hawkins. 

Everyone got in groups and got busy, Dustin and Eddie were making their shields spiked in nails for the bats, Erica and Lucas made the spears, Steve and Robin the Molotov cocktails, and Nancy, Max and her were arranging the rifles, sawing off the aim so they wouldn't be grabbed, its impact would be more lethal.

She had stayed quiet for the majority of the time since the ride back, not in annoyance or discomfort, just, letting herself rely on Nancy who knew what she was doing, having been through this before.

Her quiet presence next to Nancy’s had made the latter realise that she went through a lot in a much more condensed version of it, their friendship had completely exploded when Barbara disappeared and Nancy was close to a stranger to her then, dismissive and on edge at the same time.

Now that she understands what happened to Barbara, it’s like Steve, she doesn't know how to come back from it, all the insults she threw at Nancy’s face when they last talked, two years ago.

Nancy had finished sawing off the first rifle when she handed her the saw, sensing something was wrong by the look on her face, she whispered her name, catching her attention, “You’re okay?” 

She derailed from her train of thoughts and looked at Nancy, “Yeah, uh… —it’s… —I should have been there from the beginning. I knew Barb too, she was a friend, you were too, I… —I gave up on you so easily and you were fighting this off, and I…— I’m so sorry Nancy.” 

Consciously or not, her brain filled with all the reasons she could have given to Nancy on why she gave up so easily, but she wasn’t ready yet to admit she lets go first in fear of being given up.

It surprised Nancy in a good way, although she actually felt terrible for having her apologise when she was the one who lied, for good reason but still. It didn’t feel fair to Nancy to accept and offer simple excuses to a bigger problem, and it didn’t feel honest to her for not sharing the intricate reasons behind her reactions and choices.. the apologies were honest, but they were half-truths.

“I was never mad at you for it, you know, it made it easier, actually, I couldn’t bear lying to anyone who wasn’t involved.. Shutting yourself off from it..—it guaranteed your safety and it was an explanation or a lie I didn’t have to do. I preferred it that way… I still missed you though, and I am sorry too.”

She let out a shaky giggle out of nervousness, teary eyed as she stepped closer to Nancy, who continued “I’m glad you're there, I couldn’t hope for a better fighter by my side,” Nancy made the final step to embrace her old friend in her arms.

Max felt a bit out of place, until the two detangled themselves from one another, she offered a gentle smile to the redhead, and took the saw Max held her gun in place.

They talked lightly while Steve had his eyes on everyone, concerned, seeing Nancy and she had reconciled made him hope they could move forward in the future, minus all the traumatic events connected to the Upside Down, he had to have hope for them.

As individuals and eventually as more but it was capital for everyone else to have hope, the stakes felt too real for his liking. They've managed to survive through all of it, but he began to think that maybe they've used all their luck.

He was no genius but there was no way that the odds were in their favour every time, and now that the stakes felt too real and too big, it only meant to him that the consequences would be.. well, catastrophic. 

Despair and anxiety ate at him, he had felt responsible for everyone since he had been alongside Dustin, he didn’t want anyone to be hurt, or to die. He knows he can't save anyone, he’s less valuable than Dustin or Nancy who are much smarter than him, but he can't help but feel some responsibility for some of it. 

Robin could tell what was going in his head, the grim thoughts, and the deathly pessimism. The doubt written on his face, “We still have to try, don’t we?” she asked in a low voice, her hand automatically stopped pouring the kerosene in the bottles, Steve turned to face her, focused.

“Even if we have this gnawing feeling, we have to.. who’s going to anyway?” 

Their silence and demotivated eyes were speaking volumes to them, they didn't even believe in themselves but he was right, they had to.

“Even if we don’t come out alive.. so.. let’s cheer; to killing Vecna?” She asked her bottle in the air, Steve looked at her in the eyes, finding the same pessimism and despair, his can of kerosene met her bottle, “Slash One.” 

“Slash Henry.”

Their bottles clinked at the same time Max had finished sawing off the aim of the second rifle, blowing out the excess dust she turned to Max when she heard her voice, “Is that a felony?” 

She first looked at the redhead then her eyes met Nancy’s who seemed to have an answer already, “It probably is, and for the technical aspect of it we are guilty but we’re talking about the end of the world here, even if no one would believe us.. we still have to do this.” 

Everyone was equipped, dressed for the Upside Down and their task in the Creel house. The plan relied on three teams. Max, Erica and Lucas would be in the house, waiting to bait Vecna, using Max, which none of them were happy with, but they didn’t have any other choice.

Dustin and Eddie were to distract the bats to clear the house so that Nancy, Robin, her and Steve could get in without danger and do their best at killing Vecna. They all went through the phases of the plan multiple times, mostly to reassure themselves, until they drove to the house and let Max, Erica and Lucas go.

But not without a weapon.

She had given them the extra knives she had picked from the store, handed them both to Lucas and Max, “I think everyone can agree with me on this. You’re the bait Max, but you still need to be able to defend yourselves. Use it.” 

The pair looked at each other then at her, then at Steve behind her, nodding, “It’s just a precaution, but she’s right.” 

“Yeah, Jason and his friends are a threat, a very possible one, who knows, they could come around here, or not, just, don’t be afraid to defend yourselves, you’re as important as anyone else on this plan. Do you have a walkie, for when we’re done?” Nancy then added, appearing behind her. 

They didn’t have one so Nancy gave them one, made sure the frequency was the right one and that they had enough battery, “Be safe,” she said as she handed them the walkie. 

“You too,” Lucas responded as he took the walkie, he felt the weight on his shoulder and his chest heavier under the responsibility. Max and him felt the seriousness of the situation way too much, they wished they could live normal teenage lives, without the weight of saving the world on their chests every year. Each time being worse than the one before.

It’s a feeling they all experienced, and no matter what they could say, nothing would make it better because they couldn’t say anything, even the newcomers in the band, Eddie and her, could feel that shift in their lives. 

With a timid smile Max closed the door of the trailer and watched them leave. Even with Lucas and Erica by her side, she felt incredibly alone in front of the house, she felt so small, intimidated by it, like it carried an evil incarnate.

Breathing in, she stepped towards the front door, Lucas shared a glance with his sister, uneasy, but followed her closely. He felt like they were walking on a trap and he hated it.  He hated so much that he couldn’t take her place, he could only sit and watch, he hated that he was on the bench. He felt useless, and so lost. 

He knew he couldn’t afford to think like that, not when Max was baiting Vecna, Eddie and Dustin were also baiting the bats, and the four others were risking it all to kill Vecna, nothing could appease him. 

He had to wait and see. Watch out for the right time to pull her out of Vecna’s influence.

The Upside Down team arrived not far from where Fred had been taken, not far from the trailer park, they hid the trailer in the woods, and walked in the darkness towards Eddie’s trailer. 

Steve went through the gate first, everyone passed through with the equipment, Nancy followed and she really hopes she misreads the longing looks between Nancy and Steve as he helps her up. Eddie goes next and he's the one who helps her up, Dustin sends the last bit of equipment and Robin and him make their way down.

They rushed out of the trailer, and there it was again, the thick atmosphere, the particles floating around them, the darkness with the occasional flicker of red lightning. 

As they separated and were already walking away, Eddie’s voice broke through the air, only to realise that Steve hadn't joined them, it was inaudible for them until they walked back closer.

They heard the end of their conversation, Eddie asking Steve to make Vecna pay, then his eyes fell on Nancy and her, side by side.

“Ladies, may my sassiest regards flow through your deadly bullets,” Eddie exclaimed through his theatrical voice, a smile on the corner of his lips. 

“May the most metal concert ever be the best one yet in an alternate dimension,” she responded with a smile and they separated their ways.

Dustin and Eddie began to turn the trailer into a fortress, together they carried his amplifier to the roof, his guitar resting in its original place, like she stood on a podium. 

They were prepared for the most metal concert ever. 

As for the others —or the Suicide Squad as Eddie kept saying in the trailer as they made up their plan—, they were wandering through the woods, carefully avoiding the vines, flashlights in hands in a line, Robin first, then Nancy, Steve and to close the walk, her, rifle glued to her hands.

It was all silent, only their footsteps marching on the leaves were the only nearby sounds. Robin kept looking around her anxiously while Steve and Nancy were looking in front of them, focused on their conversation. She had no other choice but to ignore everything surrounding her, consumed by anxiety and fear, she couldn’t stop it from roaming freely in her brain, eating away at her.

Getting back in the Upside Down made her hypervigilant, she held onto hope that a creature wouldn’t find them, she didn’t want to relive her misadventures with the bats. Or worse, the four legged creature she stumbled upon once. Or nightmarish even, the gargantuan shadowy creature that seemed to lurk from a distance, she did not want to be close to it.

It made her extremely paranoid, and jumpy. Everyone stopped walking when Robin’s voice broke through the group, too loudly for their liking, sharing her thoughts that they were lost and immediately it made her on edge. Robin was openly anxious, dumping her anxieties on others whereas she was the strict opposite, it only fueled hers’. 

Even if Steve and Nancy told her they couldn’t be, she went off running, completely unwary of the vines. They continued walking, and she realised the red thunderbolts were flashing in the sky a lot more than when she was there alone the first time.

She stopped walking abruptly when a red thunderbolt struck through the sky, the shadow of the enormous monster revealed in the red light.  She gasped quite loudly, her flashlight dropping to the ground as the head turned to their direction, it was all shadow, but she felt a goosebump travelling her body, paralysed on the spot.

There were such mixed feelings with that creature, she felt terrified, watched so intently like it could read her mind, look through her cracks, it wasn't moving but to watch its head move towards their direction like it knew, like it were omniscient of the place, it horrified her.

It took her a few minutes to compose herself, and leaves cracking brought her back out of her trance. She kneeled down to grab her flashlight, getting up she stumbled upon another unpleasant sight.

Steve and Nancy were standing face to face, a longing-ish set of eyes looking at Nancy, a smile on his lips. A smile she knew so much, so contagious it used to make her grin, warming her body in a cozy and dreamy sort of way. 

It got her frowning, she didn’t want to fall under any fast conclusions but it was so easy, so close to reach, so already embedded in every fiber of her brain, responsible for her deepest insecurities and jealousies. She was on edge, hyper vigilant of any threat, so afraid of reliving her nightmares and here they were, flirting?! 

Was she just doomed to repeat it all, was she meant to be a rebound everytime? Why were her insecurities always used against her, causing so much harm? Was she not enough?

It made her blood boil of jealousy, anger, and fucking goddamnit. The delicate eyes she saw in Steve’s were enough to make her hold back on anything she hoped Steve could be.

Be by her side in whatever way she would allow him to be— what about a fucking trashcan, that would suit him well. 

She held onto her flashlight and her rifle a bit more tighter, and as Robin was retreating back she walked to where she came from, now opening the walk, shoulders tensed, the knuckles of her fingers almost turning white.

No one addressed her quietness and cold exterior, as they were mentally preparing for what they were about to do. They arrived by the house and hid in the small playground in front of it, where some red particles floated around, Erica was there. They signalled their arrival, and she warned Lucas to begin Max’s bait. 

They waited for Erica's signal on Eddie and Dustin’s distraction, in the distance they could hear Eddie’s amplifier playing the first notes, and she recognized Metallica’s newest ‘Master of Puppets’. She smiled a bit, remembering she had spent some time with the metalhead as he was attempting to learn it, the image burning vividly of his fingers roaming on the strings, her anger subsided.

In reality she didn’t know if it was Eddie or the stress setting in, and the realness of the situation clouding her brain, but they head towards the house her, and she feels herself retreating to concentration and her father’s words when he had taught her to use his hunting rifle.

Steve opened the door with a gasp, the sight of the vines crawling absolutely everywhere got her out of her anxious spiral, and on to another one, they barely had any space to walk, they would have to play fucking Twister in the Upside Down.

“This is the fucking worst, are you kidding me,” she muttered quietly, her eyes widened. 

“I second that, remember when I said I have poor movement coordination skills. This definitely applies,” Robin nervously added in a whisper. 

“It’s gonna be okay, just, pay attention and don’t rush, you’re gonna do great,” Nancy murmured back as she turned to look at Robin.

Steve went first, hopping on uncovered vine spots on the ground, Robin followed, then the two remaining, the sight was maddening, they looked like acrobats on a queue. Did anyone ask for Four clowns with a death wish?

They reached the stairs, still tip-toeing in any possible corner they could set foot onto, cautious as to where they put their hands on the handrail, also covered in crawling vines.  Finally on the top stairs, Steve reached for his axe in his backpack, and as they were going to step towards the attic, the earth started to shake, the four of them tried so hard to hold onto each other to not fall and let their presence be known. 

It was a massive failure because as soon as the earthquake stopped a vine crawled around Robin’s ankle, she flew to the wall, her arms already attached so she wouldn’t move, she tried to speak but her throat was already wrapped in a vine. 

They rushed to her side and tried to rid her of the vines, but it all happened so quickly, the three of them were also gripped by vines, tied to the walls, already suffocating, their weapons on the ground. 

Their struggled breathing was the only sound surrounding them. 

She felt her heart pulse through her ribcage, she could have sworn she could feel it along her temple and in her ears, her eyes locked on her rifle, laying on the wood floor, her hands are trying to untie the vines wrapped around her throat and a new set of living ropes capture her hands and force them down.

It finally dawns at her— her fate, their fate. She knew it, she knew they wouldn’t succeed and that it was all a giant mistake. The more they tried to move their arms and legs, the more the vine tightened up around their bodies.

She didn’t realise a tear escaped her eye at their upcoming deaths, her eyes fell upon Steve’s features, and she wished so much she hadn’t taken her car that day, that she hadn’t stopped next to one of those gates, and got caught up in all of this. 

Her vision started to blur and the edges darkened. She was starting to lose some sense of reality, she felt herself leave slowly because they weren’t killing them yet. They were suffocating but they still had one ounce of air in their lungs, gasping for more.

It felt like hours went when in reality it was minutes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they felt the vines loosening their hold on them, completely dropping them on the ground, gasping loudly, desperately trying to get more air.

They coughed, they could hear a whistle through their vocal cords but they didn’t give up, they rose on their feet, grabbing their guns and geers on the way.

Steve briefly looked at her, her red eyes, the bruise around her throat darkened, it hurt her throat to talk so she stayed quiet and charged the gun in sync with Nancy. 

“C'mon,” whispered the latter, rifle in hands, determined to make it all end once and for all.

She opened the door to the attic, and without a sound they all stepped inside.

Vecna laid there, above the ground, vines seemingly attached to his back. He seemed to be in some trance, just like Dustin had said.

The skin looked burned by fire and putrefaction. His features were undistinguishable, only the inhuman traits were left out. He looked like he was made out of a nightmare himself. It caused fear, a paralysing sort of terror, goosebumps rising along their skin. Nancy and her shared a look, raising their guns to make the bottom rest against their chest to have a comfortable aim. 

They walked silently each on a side, Nancy on Robin’s and her on Steve’s, giving them enough space to throw the Molotov cocktails but still would be able to walk towards Vecna when they would fire.

Meanwhile Robin put out her backpack on the ground, her and Steve both took a bottle, he shared a look with them, awaiting any reactions. In the anxious silence Steve lit up his bottle and threw it at him, aiming perfectly as they had to make a step back from the fire exploding on Vecna.

The vines attached to his back burned, retreated back from his body like they felt the pain. His eyes opened and the image of his face was burning in the back of her mind, his whole existence was the beginning of a lifetime horrific nightmare. 

He stepped forward, engulfed in fire, but it didn’t faze him, on the contrary it determined and enraged him to stop them. Robin threw another inflamed bottle at him, he screamed in rage, stepping forward. 

In sync, they both started their guns, firing at the same time, the bullets made him retreat, the impact hit at full force, they also felt the fire back on their chests but they continued. 

The eyes they met in front of them were full of hatred, rage, starving for vengeance and violence.

They stepped closer, and with each step they fired, completely in the moment, even forgetting the presence of each other, only Vecna mattered, he was in front of them and he didn’t have any time to do anything because they kept shooting at him. 

With the fire back of the guns he was propelled through the window, and out into the front of the house, still inflamed.  They let out a breath they didn’t know they had held back.

They looked at eachother then at Robin and Steve, they rushed to the front porch, where his body was nowhere to be found, a frown appeared on their faces as they took a step forward.  

The ground appeared to have some burning spot, as well as the shadow of his burning body on the ground, “You think he’s dead?” Robin murmured, her voice broke the silence and made the girls jump in surprise. 

“He’s gotta be, right? You two were mercilessly shooting at him, he has to be dead.” 

“But why is his body not there?” Nancy retorted at Steve, like everyone was so confused but it’s not like they could look around, their charger was empty and they only had one Molotov cocktail left, so the fight would be unfair. 

“We’re not gonna look around for him, are we? We don’t have any bullets left and that creature in the sky gives me the heebie-jeebies,” she whispered as she pointed at it, it hadn’t gone closer, but it seemed like it was observing them, watching their every move from afar.

They followed what her finger pointed at and she saw Nancy’s face turn livid, like she knew what it was, “Nancy, what is that?”

“It’s the Mind Flayer, right?” Steve murmured as he turned to Nancy, and she nodded, “Do you also have the feeling that it’s looking at us?,” he continued as he looked back at it, the four of them were completely in a trance for a couple seconds, until Nancy turned around. 

“C’mon, let’s go back to Eddie’s trailer. The quicker we leave, the better, the way he’s not moving but kind of looking at us makes me… umh.. like there’s something happening.” 

The quartet left and walked their way back through the woods, while they hoped that everything had gone to plan, they were also very conscious that it probably hadn’t, one thing was sure, Max hadn’t died, because if she did the four gates would have opened an enormous one through the town. 

They also were unsure of Vecna’s fate, if he really was dead or not, and something in the way the Mind Flayer was observing them made them thought he wasn’t dead, he had escaped, and the second round would be more difficult, harder than the first round, deadlier, scarier and they really didn’t looked forward to that. 

Lost in their thoughts, facing the morbid silence of the Upside Down they arrived quicker than they thought and immediately reality caught up with them, Dustin was on his knees on the ground, weeping, his face turned to them at the sounds of footsteps. 

Their feet moved on their own and when she realised Eddie was in Dustin’s arms, eyes opened, but not blinking, she realised he was.. dead, and she rushed towards them, “What happened?” 

“We—we were surrounded by bats and when we ran to leave, he cut the rope, he left, said he would get you some more time.., I..—I don’t know what to do, he just.. he just stopped breathing” Dustin talked in sobs, his hands shaking holding Eddie’s side, his chest moving in waves as he cried more. 

She got on the floor, and quickly asked Dustin to help her, he let go of Eddie’s side, he listened to her instructions carefully, freed his airways as she started to do CPR on him.

The heel of her hand on his sternum began a rhythm of one heartbeat per one to two seconds, counting under her breath until she reached thirty and she breathed two times in his mouth. 

Nancy got next to her, telling her she could take her place when she needed, mentally counting she asked Nancy to apply pressure on some wounds that could contribute to making him lose more blood than needed while she kept going. 

Steve and Robin were completely frozen in place as they observed the scene before their eyes, there was nothing they could do except keep their distance and remain quiet, and it seemed like hours went on when really it didn’t, she had done CPR on him for approximately five to seven minutes when Eddie took a breathe in, his eyes blinked. 

Everyone gasped in shock, “Are you okay, how are you feeling?,” she asked, his face turned to her and she tried to take away his blood on her mouth from mouth-to-mouth, smudged it all across her lips and cheeks. 

“Like somebody who played Master of Puppets for a really ungrateful crowd,” he replied, his voice breaking at the end.

She laughed a bit and smiled, he still had his sense of humour, that was a good sign, but she was also conscious that they had to move him fast, she really didn’t want to do CPR on him again. 

She rapidly explained to everyone what her idea was, and they all agreed, so they started moving. 

Dustin left with Robin and Nancy through the gate in Eddie’s trailer while Steve and she carried Eddie through the short part of the forest to get to the gate on the road. It would be easier to get him to Hawkins that way as they wouldn’t have to pull him up, the physics of it all was a blur to her but what other choice did they have?

The gate on the road was closer than they had expected, making sure no creatures were around. They carried Eddie to the ground, she made sure he stayed conscious by getting him to talk. 

Through the gate they heard the caravan rumbling, she went first, her legs dangling through the other side she crawled on the ground and lied upside down in the gate, grabbing under Eddie’s armpits to get him through, stopping mid way to actually sit on the ground and pull Eddie against her.

Steve quickly followed and with him and Robin they put him in the van on the banquette in the back, Dustin remained at his side kept him awake while he explained what happened to Max as he heard Erica yell code red when they were on their way out through Eddie’s trailer.

Nancy drove them to the Creel’s house quickly, where they found Erica almost running to the middle of the road. She looked frightened, but relieved that they were there.

Erica explained what happened, how Lucas had used the knives to make Jason leave, pretending to be in a psychotic sort of episode, using that to his advantage but it got him to miss the cues on Max’s trance. Fortunately, their attack on Vecna and Eleven’s assault in her mind slowed down so only her legs were broken. 

Final point being that they needed to get Max to the hospital. Her legs were completely broken, she was alive but in severe pain.  

They had to think quickly, there were no nearby phones and they couldn’t just abandon them and leave unsupervised for an unknown matter of time. Carrying Max was impossible because of the pain and the severely broken legs. They had to transport her differently, and that’s when she remembered. 

Her car was in Eddie’s trailer park, which was twenty-five to thirty minutes away from the Creel house on foot, the closest one with a drivers’ license was Steve so she pulled him in the side, “Near Eddie’s trailer park, find my car, come back. You can pull down the backseats for more space, you’ll take Max and Dustin to the hospital okay? And Eddie hijacked it so you don’t need the keys—I just it’s still there..” He nodded, ignored her last comment and sprinted off.

With the help of Dustin and Nancy they made a makeshift stretcher using sheets and broomsticks they hunted down. The sheet was tied tightly around the handle of the broomsticks, and boom, they had a stretcher, not hospital worthy, but still. 

Getting back in the attic they put the stretcher next to her, “Okay, Max, it’s going to be super painful, but Lucas and I will hold your legs, Robin and Nancy will support your upper body. We’ll get you to the hospital okay?”

She cried more in pain and nodded, on three they all supported her body to sit her on the stretcher, she helped using her arms.

Getting her down the stairs wasn’t as easy as she had hoped for, but they managed to get her down and into the entrance hallway, waiting for Steve.  

He arrived quickly, parked the car quite messily and he hurried to put down the seats in the back while they carried Max on her stretcher and transported her to the car. Lucas and Dustin sat next to her, and Erica was sitting on the front seat, next to Steve, he paused in front of the trailer and turned to her, “Is the walkie gonna work all the way to the hospital? I gotta tell you all about what the doctors say.” 

They turned to Dustin, who had turned the window down when he saw them talk, “I don’t know, the hospital is pretty far..”

“You still have my house number, right?”  

“Yeah, yeah I know it. I’ll call you there, I’ll let you know what’s going on, and when we’re able, we’ll go back to your house.”

The two vehicles left at the same time and parted ways quickly, arriving by her house, Nancy and her helped Eddie inside as Robin opened the doors, and thank God for the night sky because in broad daylight they would have so much lies to tell. 

She preferred walking Eddie upstairs, in her room, he could easily be hidden upstairs, Nancy was behind them supporting his back and she had her arms around him to guide his way up, he was very weak but he used his last strength to walk upstairs.

She asked Nancy and Robin to get rid of the clothes on him and keep him awake, while she ran to her parents’ room to get the box full of medical supplies, she thoroughly washed her hands in her bathroom.

Eddie was awake but felt weakier, she could see the intensity of his wounds, he was bitten on both his thighs, on each side of his abdomen, around his shoulder and around his throat. Some of his injuries were only superficial, but others were… worrying her. 

Especially his thighs and his left side, Nancy had done her best to compress the skin to stop the bleeding, but as soon as she took out the cloth, it started again. 

She used unused sponges and gauze pads to stop the bleeding on his thighs, and applied pressure on his left side. Her mind and body was working in an automatic mode, having done a few days in first aid, she knew what to do, up to a certain point of course. 

Robin’s voice broke her out of her focus, “Shouldn’t we get him to a hospital, this seems pretty serious and we’re not qualified, we need a doctor, or a nurse, I don’t know, but this–” 

“Robin, I can handle it. Look around the kitchen for bowls, fill them with water. In the main bathroom you’ll find washcloths, towels and unscented soap, please get those,” She interrupted, her hands tightly holding onto his side, feeling the thickness of the blood on her fingertips.

Robin stayed static for a couple more seconds, with Nancy’s eyes on her she rushed to the kitchen,

When Robin came back with what she needed, she asked Nancy to take her place on his side, to keep the pressure as strong as she could. She worked first around his throat, the wound was superficial, the bleeding had stopped on its own, she cleaned it up, applied a specific kind of dressing, covered it up and moved on to his abdomen.

She moved towards his right side, and as she took another bowl to clean the wound, she could see Robin pacing in the room, murmuring things that none of them could hear.

She watched her pacing up and down, her hands intertwined in her hair, it added stress to see her so agitated. With a quick glance towards her, she spoke, “Robin, can you stop, please? I understand it makes you uncomfortable and anxious, but getting him to the hospital is not possible, there’s a literal witch-hunt for him. I’ve managed to bring him back, I’m not sending him away to get killed by a bunch of maniacs who take the Second Amendment way too seriously,” She calmly told her, but continued, “Can you help us please?”

Robin was.. shocked, stunned actually, but her eyes were pleading, she radiated calmness and anticipation, like she answered well to stress around her, like nothing could phase her, which was wrong of course.

Robin stepped closer and asked what she could do, to which she responded she could change the waters in the bowl as she worked on his wounds, and instead of being silent and nourishing Robin’s anxiety, she explained everything she did, all the steps she did, what she used, under Nancy’s curious eyes.

The bleeding had stopped on Eddie’s thighs, the process was the same for them, but she finished with his side left, she took Nancy’s turn on applying pressure, talking a little bit with Eddie to maintain his consciousness.

Nancy had gone to empty a bowl and give her a new one, she slowly got rid of the bloody sponge, the bleeding had diminished, only the smaller vessels were bleeding out, which was something she could work with.

She let out a breath, a bit loudly, her hands wiped her forehead in frustration, one glance at Eddie, to see his eyes blinking, looking at his chest, she saw the very slow rise of his breaths.

She observed the bleeding slowly, thinking of what to do,  and as she took the bowl to clean the wound, she turned to Nancy in front of her, “Nancy, I’m gonna need some hemostatic gauze or dressings, can you look for those, please?”

She was already gone looking in the box, while she applied pressure with her bare hands, she had used all of the gauze with all of them. She hoped Nancy would find what she needed because she didn’t know what she would do without it.

She started to feel the adrenaline had run off, it’s like her entire body was working in autopilot in the emergency but it started fading. She sensed she reached her limit, but preferred to hide it away, behind a façade.

Nancy’s small scream of joy when she found it broke her out of her trance, she thanked her, and got to work, cleaned the wound, dried the skin around and applied quickly double the amount of hemostatic gauze as it bled through his side and covered with a larger dressing. 

She looked at Eddie, who turned his head towards her, and smiled, the wrinkles by his eyes, the shine in those whiskey brown eyes, it was more than enough to make her smile too.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Tired, so tired, I'm— I feel cold.”

Robin put the blankets over him, she told him he could rest, she would check on him periodically.

They headed downstairs, with everything they had used, threw some in the garbage and put the washcloths, towels and everything else in the washing machine. It’s only then she realised her hands, wrists and forearms were bloody, she felt stuck on her feet watching the blood, like her brain was stuck processing it.

It’s Nancy’s hand on her shoulder that surprised her, jumping and gasping as she turned around, “How do you feel?” 

She looked at Nancy first, then at her hands, her nose had picked up on the iron-y smell, the thickness of it slimming on her fingertips, “I don’t know.” 

Nancy’s hands fell on her arms, she turned her gently so she was facing her, “Sit down for a bit, I’ll tell Robin she can freshen up, I’ll make us something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, I'm—I’ll take a shower, we’ll eat after. Go freshen up first.” 

She frowned, but her eyes never faltered from her, “Are you sure?”

She nodded slowly, didn’t wait for Nancy’s approval to leave towards the front door to take the walkie from the trailer. She waited, hearing the two shower heads to activate it and call for Steve, in the darkness and coldness of the living room, “Steve?” 

Nothing but the night surrounding her, the quietness, the dark, anxious thoughts. 

“Steve?” her voice broke in the talkie, hoping so much she would hear him, she awaited his voice, its raspiness, but she only received the buzzing of the device. Maybe it didn’t reach the hospital.

She exhaled, grabbed the walkie and walked upstairs. She sat down on a chair near the end of her bed, watching Eddie sleep, she could see the small movements of his breathing rhythm.

She could only hear the droplets of water falling in the bathrooms, absorbed by the darkness of the night, she was lost in her thoughts, the events of the night playing in the back of her mind, thinking of what ifs. 

She didn’t realise how much time she spent lost in her thoughts, Nancy’s hand on her shoulder broke the chain of thoughts, jumping in surprise. Thanking the brunette when she told she could shower, too. 

She looked for comfortable and warm clothes, and before she vanished in the main bathroom, voluntarily choosing not to shower in her bathroom, directly linked to her bedroom, she turned to Nancy and told her to make herself at home. 

With the door locked she turned the water, undressed herself, her eyes avoiding the mirror as she undid the dressing around her side. 

She looked at the wound, then at its reflection, at the curves around her hips, she felt the soreness of her muscles and her skin, the dark and red tones of the bruises almost covered her body. 

She ignored her naked body, her eyes deviating around her features, but she couldn’t ignore her hands, arms, and her face. Dried blood on her forehead, cheeks, lips, chin, her hands, wrists and forearms covered in Eddie’s dry blood.

What she felt made it so complicated for her to comprehend what went through her head, the violence of the previous days was crawling its way in the back of her mind and she didn’t know who she was anymore, she felt uncomfortable in her skin and in her head. 

Hatred, towards herself, that she let herself be involved in this by stepping by that gate, that they couldn’t kill Vecna, that she let herself be so vulnerable in the Upside Down, the breakdowns, she felt shame. Nothing mattered anymore, everything prior to the events down there, it didn’t matter, the jealousy, sleeping around pretending to feel no insecurity and in control. 

She stopped looking at her reflection, instead she took a midsize towel and put it around the mirror, stuck by clothespins. 

In the shower she scrubbed ardently for the blood to be washed away down the drain, she stayed a few extra minutes under the water, letting the droplets of water run down her body. 

She let herself slide down the shower door, the water hitting her body as she rested in complete silence, numb, like the water would help her forget the previous night, like it would magically make her forget.

She hadn’t realised she had started crying, her tears felt colder than the water. Silently she let herself drown in her sorrow, her mind replaying everything that’s happened in the last couple of days, arms and knees pulled inwards, making herself as small as possible in the shower.

The tears stopped, she felt calmer, she turned the water down, and dried herself off, dressing in warm, comfortable clothes, she walked towards her room, put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  From what she could see, Eddie was asleep, deep breaths levelled up his abdomen. 

Silently she looked for a dressing and a bandage in the box of medical supplies, she went to her bathroom, turned on the light, she was met with her reflection, as the one who used her bathroom had removed the towel on her mirror.

She could see red, tired eyes. She avoided her eyes' reflection but she couldn’t  bare herself so she retrieved the towel and put it back, she only pulled one side up to show her her abdomen. Using the small available space she covered her wound with a dressing and bandaged it all up. All under Eddie’s discrete eyes, he wasn’t that deep asleep after all.

She exhaled and let the towel fall on the mirror’s length, Eddie closed his eyes and heard her turn the lights off, walking back to the room and off downstairs, where she met Nancy and Robin. They had prepared things to eat for everyone when the rest of the group would get back from the hospital. With a tired thank you she took two plates along with two water bottles and left towards the stairs, she stopped and turned to the girls.

“Sleep where you want, yeah? I’ll stay with Eddie, you can take my parents’ room or use the mattresses from last night, wake me up when Steve gets back or calls..” she smiled at them, an exhausted smile but she lowered her head, and walked in silence her way upstairs.

She put the plates on her bedside table, found some Tylenol for Eddie, and proceeded to kneel next to him on her bed. With a slow caress on his arm she woke him up, his eyes opened slowly, immediately falling on her, he smiled a little bit at her. 

“How’re you feeling?” 

“Exhausted, I feel like sleeping for six months.”

She giggled softly, kept her eyes at his level, “I have food, water and painkillers, are you feeling up to eating a little bit?” 

He nodded, she helped him sit down against the headset, by placing her arms under his armpits, and held him up, he winced in pain, she kept muttering apologies in the process. She sat by his side, legs crossed on the duvet, he took the painkillers, and quietly they ate together, slowly. 

When they were done he glided down on his own further into the bed, the painkillers had yet to start working, but lying down next to him, he looked up to her as she brought the pillow closest to him.

He intertwined their fingers together, their eyes stuck on one another’s, “You saved me. You saved my life, and I..—I don’t know how to thank you,” his raspy voice broke into his whisper. 

She offered him a timid smile, tightened their fingers for a second, “You don’t have to. You’re my best friend, it’s..—I had to help you, do everything that I could..—it’s..—You know when I saw you there, lying on the ground in Dustin’s arms, lifeless, my brain just entered automatic mode and I had one thing in mind: save you.” 

She paused, took a breath, her eyes derived for a second from him, his fingertips gently stroked her hand, “I had to try and get you back.  I mean, how could I not? If there was a single chance, ever, of course I would take it, and I would do it again, anytime. I can’t lose you,” her voice failed her as the emotion took over. 

The fear of losing him had started appearing then, her brain was so fogged on the technical aspect of the situation that she hadn’t had any time to process anything yet, it was hitting her in the face at full force that she could have lost him, she already imagined his funeral, wearing all black, seeing the coffin falling six feet under. 

She saw again all the blood, the way his body had stopped breathing, his eyes were just so.. glossy. 

“You were dead. You weren’t breathing, your heart had stopped. I couldn’t allow for it to happen and not try, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself,” she whispered, afraid her voice would betray her, but a couple of seconds after she broke into sobs.

The tears were of fear, exhaustion, she needed to let go, couldn’t let it weigh down on her shoulders. 

Through red eyes she saw Eddie’s hand had left her fingers to wipe away the pearly tears on her cheek, himself tearful, one second away from crying,  “If you cry, I’ll cry—and that won’t be fun for anyone,” 

“After the night we’ve spent, I think we’re allowed to let the tears go,” her voice broke through the sobs, she scooted closer to Eddie, her head on the pillow closest to him, her forehead made contact with his own, and with closed eyes they breathed to calm down. 

When she opened her eyes she retreated her head a bit, taking in his face, his eyes felt like it burned her skin, like only his eyes were enough to set her on fire.

He looked at her but it’s like he saw right through her, and what she was going to do, he leaned his face a little on the side, his nose a little closer to her’s. 

Looking down at his lips, so inviting, so tempting, their rosy plumpness, her eyes looked up to his’, and in a one swift move she put her hand on his cheek and leaned closer to him, until her lips met with his.

She discovered how it finally felt like to kiss him, so much time spent together, so many nights spent entangled in bed and she hadn’t kissed him, not once, because of a boundary she had set to protect her heart.

She realises now how stupid this boundary was, at least with him, because it’s Eddie, who gives the appearance of taking nothing seriously, and he does, but not as much as everyone thinks.

He’s taken for granted, always seen as a monster who preaches Satan, when in fact, he was a dork, a geek who played guitar in an amateur music band, and played a game of fantasy. He smoked because like everyone else he wasn’t perfect and he was fine with that. She was too.

She realised how silly she’s been with him as his lips pushed on her delicately. Her fingers travelled to the nape of his neck, she pulled lightly, earning a shy moan from him.

They both knew it would never get further than this again, he didn’t want to cross her boundaries and force a choice out of her out of pity or whatever. He got to kiss her, though, felt like a win in life. Their lips detached, they felt in their bones that it would be their last intimate moment, but that’s exactly why she kissed him. 

She had no idea where she stood with Steve, she didn’t want to even think about that now, so in that moment, she let all her guards down, and gave herself what she had wanted in those three months but was so afraid to take : a kiss from Eddie Munson.

His head fell back on the pillow, face still tilted toward her, a smile ghosting his lips, “Best friends?” he whispered as his fingers made their way back to hers’, he tightened their intertwined fingers.

Her eyes travelled from his lips to his eyes, diving into those soft, brown pupils, she couldn’t help but smile, “Of course, you’re not getting rid of me so easily, Munson.” 

Her head hit the pillow next to his shoulder, her body leaned towards him, the room fell in a quiet atmosphere, Eddie had fallen asleep rapidly, his soft breath was the only thing she could hear and slowly she let herself fall asleep to a calm sleep. 

Deep asleep, she didn’t realise right away the front door had been opened, the voices speaking downstairs, nor the steps of the stairs creaking by the weight of people walking up. 

She woke up violently when she realised there was some movement in the house, immediately thinking of Steve, and the teenagers. 

She slowly got up so she wouldn’t wake Eddie, and walked downstairs quietly, as she got down she heard muffled voices, whispers, and Steve in Nancy’s arms, she paused, trying to not let it go to her head.

They were friends. They’re friends and friends embrace each other, kiss each other, apparently, it would be petty and stupid to let this get under her skin and not appropriate because it’s not a priority. 

She closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly, then walked down the rest of the stairs.

The two detached as they heard movement, and she joined them in the living room, “What happened? What time is it?” 

“It’s a little past seven, Max has been hospitalised, for now they’re only sure about external injuries, severely broken legs, they need to do more tests on her, but her mother’s insurance won’t cover it and I have no idea what to do. Dustin has been looked over, he has a sprained ankle, he has a splint and brace. Their parents were called, the police were there, they wanted to question us and for the older ones in the group they wanted to summon us in,” he had talked so fast, rambling on that she could barely catch any of it, but she did. 

Instinctively she walked closer to him and put both her hands on his shoulders, “Breathe, Steve, breathe. We’ll.. find something, right? We’ll find something to say. We’ll hide Eddie in my house, it’s gonna be fine,” she really wanted to be reassured but she had trouble even convincing herself. 

His eyes were watery, his brow furrowed, he was short of breath, hands on his hips, she recognized he was in distress, just by the way he looked at her, it pulled at her heartstrings to see him like that, instinctively she brought him towards her, her arms circled his waist, her chin on his shoulder.

His hands shyly circled around her shoulders, he held her tightly, his fingertips shaking a little bit, “We’re going to find something, we’re not abandoning anyone okay, we need to stick together, close ranks.” 

Nancy behind her nodded, until her eyes fell on someone coming down the front door, they detached, but she took his hand and held it tightly, they saw Dustin walking with his brace, he looked so exhausted.

Her other hand instinctively went up on his back, he gave her a tired smile. 

She let Steve and Lucas freshen up in the main bathroom, Erica had been brought back to her and her brother’s house, Lucas didn’t want to be alone and leave Dustin.

Nancy went back to sleep with Robin in her parents’ room while she remade the beds on the floor, while Lucas, and Dustin were eating in the kitchen, she saw Steve coming down.

She handed the final plate to Steve as she leaned on the counter, he whispered a small thank you, and ate in silence as Dustin and Lucas seemed far in their thoughts, “You guys should sleep a little, we’ll think everything through after some rest, alright?” 

Absentmindedly, Lucas nodded, his head turned to Steve and her, “You really think we’ll find a way to help Max and Eddie without getting into some more problems? The stakes are.. so absurd right now.. it didn’t seem like an ‘end of the world’ type of threat when all of this began. We just wanted to find Will.” 

Even if she wasn’t around when all of this began, she could understand what he meant, and she had to admit he was right, the way everything happened every year seemed like it always got so worse.

“I know I’m new to this, we don’t know each other, but trust me on this, Lucas, we will do everything we can to sort this out. We’ll help Max, if we have to rob a bank we will, but we will find something. And as for Eddie.. We’ll hide him until everything feels safer, and we’ll talk to the police. We’ll handle this.” 

“What if we don’t?” 

“We’ll try our hardest, everything we can.” 

He nodded, but he wasn’t convinced. She couldn’t blame him, they had gone through hell multiple times, they found their way back before, but maybe this time was the point of no return. 

Lucas and Dustin went to the living room to lie down, Steve and her stood shoulder to shoulder doing the dishes, she cleaned and rinsed it as Steve dried it quietly. 

With a slight pull on his hand they left to sleep. The house was quiet as everyone was asleep. 

A couple hours later, everyone was up, and while they ate they all worked on their statements for the police, keeping the same version of the story, making sure nothing was left out. The teenagers all preferred to be with them in the police station, even if only the older ones were summoned. 

Eddie was staying in her house for now, he could barely get up, he was exhausted, but Nancy thought of getting him a walkie so they could stay in contact while he was alone in the house, leaving water and meds by his side. The four of them had made sure to hide the bruises around their throats with makeup, that one would be extremely difficult to explain without justifying it with some weird kinda games. They didn’t want to go there.

The day at the police station was excruciating, they went one by one, and delivered the same deposition, almost word for word, explaining that the murders weren’t Eddie’s doing, that he was known around for playing Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy game. 

Paranoids had taken him for an escape goat because he fit perfectly, on the outside only.

Max’s condition in the hospital resulted from an attack from Jason and she had been forced down the two levels of stairs from the attic, where they had planned to play D&D in Creel’s house, at night, that Eddie wasn’t there and she didn’t have any news from him since March twentieth.

The four versions were the same, only adapted to their occupations the night Chrissy died., and the sheriff let them go.  It was close to six in the afternoon, they drove back to the forest to get Nancy’s car, the two cars followed each other as they parked in front of her house.

They all agreed to share that same version to their parents, then Nancy left with everyone except her to her house where she knew Lucas’s parents and Dustin’s mom would be.  Steve retrieved his car and took Robin home, then drove back to his house. 

He felt uncomfortable in the quietness and emptiness of it, he felt dread, completely impulsively he took a Duffel bag and stuffed some clothes and toiletries in there. Enough for a week at least.

Nancy was calmly explaining the events of the previous days to their parents, staying true to what they had said at the police station. 

Even if their parents felt like they were irresponsible, they were glad everyone was safe, that’s when Lucas broke through and talked about Max. 

She wasn’t okay, the cost of her stay in the hospital would be crushing her mother who was struggling a lot. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, but they stayed quiet. 

She had checked on Eddie, who was fast asleep in her room, until he would get up she decided on cleaning up her house.

It was like a storm had gone through it, and she terribly needed the distraction.

Sorting out the camping mattresses and sleeping bags in her garage, she kept thinking of Max and how they could help her, of how she would be able to keep taking care of Eddie’s injuries, hers’ and God she forgot Steve’s, with little to no material.

Everything she used was on prescription, it’s not something she could buy like gauze and the rest of it. The ringing of the front door echoed in her house and made her jump in surprise, “Oh God, what is it now.”

She was stunned to find Steve on her front door, a Duffel bag in hand, for the first time she couldn’t decipher his face, she couldn’t tell what emotion rode his face, tension started to build up as he didn’t say anything. His eyes started to wander on the ground, and there she could see it: embarrassment. 

“Steve, are you okay?” 

His eyes closed for a second, and opened to look at her, as his mouth opened to say something they felt the earth move beneath their feet, it started off small but in a matter of seconds gained more force, it was even more violent than the earthquake in the Upside Down. 

They tried to maintain balance but they failed, stumbling forward, her face was going to hit the pavement but Steve prevented that by grabbing her sides while falling on his side on the grass and tightly holding onto one another’s as they felt the world tear itself violently under their bodies.

The sun had set only minutes ago, it began to be darker so all that could be seen was the reddish orange light reflecting the teared paths on the grounds, and the roads.  The path was clear, one look from the sky and anyone could see it took inspiration from the cardinal points, each path in one way.

It went from the outside of the Hawkins to its centre, with a final explosion when the paths met, and the earth calmed down. 

Four paths, four murders. It had to be Vecna. 

To Nancy it was crystal clear, as she tightly held Dustin and her mother’s arm, in her living room, where minutes ago she was still explaining to their parents what had happened in the last couple of days, and it was so limpid. 

“Are you okay?” Steve murmured once he felt stable, it had stopped, his hands detached on her arms, but his fingers lingered on her skin. 

She nodded, her arms moved and she sat up between Steve’s spread out legs, her hands flat next to his thighs for stability, her head turned to look at him, “Are you? Did you hit something?” 

“I’m fine,” he whispered as he sat back up too, her back against his chest.

They both thought the same thing, their memories of the day prior resurfaced, Vecna’s plan. 

They were right, he wasn’t dead, and when she turned back around with wide eyes, Steve grew the same worry; Max. Had he managed to get her? 

“We have to get to Nancy, we should head to the hospital.. Uh, okay, put your things inside, I’ll check on Eddie and we‘ll head to Nancy’s house, c’mon.” 

They got back on their feet and rushed inside the house, she warned Eddie about what was going on, he asked them to be careful and to stay in touch, she met Steve by her front door and together they walked towards Nancy’s house, a few houses from her’s. 

Nancy was outside, along with Dustin and Lucas walking to her car, they understood each other immediately, and they hopped in the car, driving to the hospital.

They observed the consequences through the windows, the road was split in half, with an entrance to the Upside Down right in the centre of it, along the road. They didn’t know yet how the city looked, downtown, that the public library had been destroyed because of the major explosion, where the paths had met.

They could see the vines in between the two parts of the road, it reflected some reddish pink light, they were right, Vecna’s plan had worked, the rift between the Upside Down and Hawkins is now open. 

When they got to the hospital the roads weren’t blocked by traffic yet, it was pretty smooth except for driving on the side of the road to avoid the gigantic rift. The hospital was a bit farther in town and wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake, that was a good sign. 

It also gave them the information that Max wasn’t the one murdered by Vecna, or the hospital would have been destroyed. Who was it, then? And where?

With two visitors only, Lucas and Dustin went to see her as Steve, Nancy and her waited in the waiting area on the floor, they were quiet, sat soundlessly, Steve’s leg started bouncing.

She had closed her eyes, her hands covering her eyes in frustration and anticipation, until she felt the vibrations of Steve’s leg, her eyes glared at his leg, then at him. She put her hand on his thigh, it made him stop his movements, his face turned to her and their eyes connected. He intertwined their fingers together, patiently waiting for Lucas and Dustin’s return.

Nancy talked to a doctor about Max’s condition, and even though they tried their hardest to listen, her and Steve couldn’t seem to focus on it.  There was a lot surrounding them, and the most dangerous of it all: Vecna wasn’t dead, he had survived, it seemed like their efforts were for nothing. Max’s sacrifice was for nothing, Eddie’s too.

Max’s mother arrived shortly after Lucas and Dustin left to get Nancy, Steve and her, not caring about the visitors’ rule, the lady at the desk wasn’t even there to worry about it, perhaps the aftermath of the gates breaking through was coming to the hospital.

As they walked towards her room, she felt uneasy, out of place, in front of the door, ajar, she pulled on Steve’s hand.

“Wait, it’s..—I’ll wait for you in the waiting area. I shouldn’t be here, I’m intruding, I don’t know her like you guys do, it doesn’t make sense for me to be there,” her uneasiness spoke for her, distress on her face.

“You deserve your place as much as we do. She will appreciate your presence,” he murmured to her as he made a few steps closer to her, she could feel his breath on her face.

She searched in his eyes, and all she found was assurance.  He pulled on her hand and together they entered her room.

Max’s legs were in casts, she had IVs running down, she was also attached to a monitor beeping along her heartbeat. 

She smiled faintly, tired, Lucas stood beside her alongside her mother. Dustin had sat down, his brace next to him.

She watched Max and her mom interact, and saw she cared for her daughter. The woman was exhausted by the two jobs she had but by the smile she offered her daughter she could see she was so relieved.

She hadn’t realised she had zoned out for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts, Max’s mother reminded her that she hadn’t seen her parents in a long time, and that she wished her parents would be more like her. 

Steve repeated her name, and with a pull on her hand, she was back with them, “Sorry, what?”

Steve’s head turned towards the adult, who was looking her way, “Max said you’re all to thank for saving her,, I don’t know how to tha—”

“Oh no no, please, of course, how could we not help her when we were able to?”

“That witch hunt on that Munson boy proves us otherwise. I want to thank you all, she wouldn’t be here without you,” Mrs Mayfield smiled, watery eyes, she couldn’t help but walk towards her and embrace her, her hands shaking on her shoulders. She was taken aback, at first but gently put her hand on her back. She kept murmuring thank yous as she embraced Lucas too.

They talked rapidly to Max, and gave her some time with her mother. While they left, Nancy suggested that they try to find the fourth path, they drove downtown and they saw how everything was destroyed, rampants were slowly crawling their way up to the buildings, around the gate on the road.

They followed one path, but got directed towards the trailer park, they reversed back downtown, they found a route that didn’t seem familiar to them, it led to Benny’s Burger old place, now squatted by the basketball team.

Lucas knew who it was, because it could only be one person, who had gone completely off the rails and was the perfect prey for Vecna: Jason. 

They didn’t need to exit the vehicle, the place was completely destroyed, Lucas explained what he believed. They felt partly relieved that he wouldn’t be after them again, but the dangerousness of the situation quickly surpassed the relief.

The real End of the World was coming. 

Eddie was asleep in her room, Steve was in her living room, lying on the couch, he couldn’t sleep.

The light of the moon shone through the patio door, he was lost in his thoughts, hand tucked under his head on the pillow.

He had quit thinking of Vecna and what they would do, he was clueless, he felt like he was always late at catching up, always so late to pick up on anything, always the last to understand anything. 

Like his father had always told him. He wasn’t there very often but when he was he always made sure to let his son know he was a failure. Without fail.

He turned on his side, grabbing the blanket to cover his neck, now facing the coffee table, the TV. His eyes travelled to the staircase, and his thoughts shifted to her; the three of them had eaten in her room quietly, Eddie managed to sit down on his own, they had explained in small sentences what had happened, but the two sounded and looked completely defeated.

Shortly after she changed the dressings on Eddie’s wounds, then Steve’s, and hers’, with the medical supplies Nancy and Steve had helped her steal in a half destroyed pharmacy after they had driven Lucas and Dustin home.

She had worked on their wounds in complete silence, deep in her thoughts, under Steve’s careful and curious eyes when she did Eddie’s, the two young men had shared a couple questioning eye contacts. Puzzled by her silence. And when she did Steve, he was as silent as her in the main bathroom, just looking at her, until she was finished and he hadn’t realised she was done. 

They had gone to sleep without a sound, Eddie was tired from sitting up on his own, he drifted off to sleep quickly. She stood next to him, couldn’t sleep either, staring into the night through the window. 

She heard Eddie’s slow breathing, but somehow couldn’t sleep. She turned on her back, facing the ceiling, she exhaled loudly.

She sat up, and quietly walked down the stairs, she tried to not make any sound, so as to not wake Steve.  She prepared a cup with honey, the tea bag as she waited for the water to boil in the kettle.

Steve had seen her walk down to the kitchen silently, he had an internal debate whether or not to join her. 

She poured the boiling water in her cup, her spoon stirred mindlessly the honey, Steve had an impression she was so deep in her thoughts she hadn’t realised he was there. His hand slowly approached her shoulder, and when his fingertips softly brushed over her skin her head turned to him.

He could see her tired eyes, like himself she was overthinking and couldn’t stop the train of thoughts in her head. He understood the feelings she had, because he felt the same, unsure, confused, numb of everything, not even trusting her own mind. 

She couldn’t tell what she felt, because she didn’t know anything. It wasn’t the first time she felt like she didn’t know or understood anything she felt, or knew, but this intense, she hadn’t experienced that before, like an amnesiac trying to remember.

Steve’s hands wrapped around her shoulders, her side against his, she turned herself in front of him, her forehead falling on his shoulder, his hands drifting to her waist, he intertwined his fingers on the low of her back as she softly pulled him towards her by his waist.

She knotted his shirt in her fists, in a desperate manoeuvre to never let him go. 

“I’m so tired.. so.. drained. I feel like I don’t know myself anymore, it’s been.. the last couple of days have completely changed me and I don’t know. I just.. I don’t know,” she started, turning the side of her face so her nose could hide in his neck.

“The reason I left you that night was.. because I anxiously grew worried to have you involved in all of this, not because I thought you wouldn’t be.. capable of handling this or anything like that, but because I know the weight the secrets of the Upside Down holds on you. It’s heavy on your conscience and the more you go through with this the more it damages everything. I didn’t want you to suffer like we are, like I am, but.. here you are,” He exhaled loudly, defeat evident in his voice.

She held onto him tighter, her fists almost pulling at the material in his back, “I understand. I know that what you’re saying are not lies, because I feel it too. I feel that in pending doom over our heads. It eats your brain slowly with anxiety, and now, when I remember the look on your face from then you..—Everything that triggered me then —still triggers me now— was partly because of the Upside Down and I’m— sorry.”

She paused, mainly to try and breath, shaky breaths left her lips as she tried to let out what she felt for him, it overwhelmed her, having so much to say, to apologise for, to admit. 

“You were a constant thing in my life and.. I need something similar back. I can’t believe I would be so sure that you’re still the same asshole from highschool. I’ve spent months sleeping around, believing it would stop the insecurities, fill whatever emptiness I feel, all because of something that’s from a Sci-fi movie. I’ve wasted so much unnecessary energy being jealous of Nancy, having sex with my best friend–” she kept rambling but Steve stopped listening.

One of his hands detached itself from her back to cup her chin, he leaned his head down and in one swift move, he shut her overwhelming talk with the plumpness of his lips. Not that he didn’t care, but he didn’t want them to run in circles about their mistakes and what they could’ve done differently, he wanted to be present in their present, their moment. The past and their lies and mistakes belonged there, not here, now.

She didn’t respond at first, letting her brain process the information that he was kissing her, until she realised he was kissing her!  She leaned closer, and pressed harder on his lips, one of her hands moving to his cheek softly, they quickly separated, foreheads touching.

“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up tomorrow,” she whispered before she put her lips back for a soft kiss.

“I’ll be here with you every day of my life, in the morning, the afternoon, the night.. As long as you allow me to be close to you,” he muttered through his breath as he tried to catch his breath.

“Just what I needed to hear,” she murmured against his lips, her hands were on both his cheeks as their lips attached, they had no desire for it to go further than kisses, but it was more than enough.

Her hands traveled to the nape of his neck and together they helped her up the kitchen corner, his body slotting perfectly between her thighs, his hands roaming around her sweatshirt to find its way under the material to feel her skin.

There was some kind of fire with Steve, a blooming fire, burning up so high it burned for the both of them, warming them. It felt ethereal what they felt for one another, to feel such lightness. 

His lips drew kisses along her cheeks, down to her jaw, earning some giggles from her as he neared her ticklish spot in her neck. He put a final kiss on her chin, their foreheads touching, eyes closed, with only their mingled breath reasoning in the kitchen.

He helped her down from the kitchen countertop and headed towards the living room and the pulled-out sofa, “C’mon, we should get some rest.”

Bodies tangled up under the covers, his warmth was burning but she felt so good in his embrace, like a cocoon.

If it wasn’t for the sword of Damocles on their heads.

If it wasn’t for Vecna and his army, the life ending threat, it would be perfect.

It would be so perfect, not heartbreaking at all that they couldn't be together.

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, four : the four chimes • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: it's time for.. what exactly? warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspeetive, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY, (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk, don't make it my problem) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets' property

PT, FIVE | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

“Steve, she’s not waking up!,” she screamed in panic as she shook Nancy, holding her arms in her hands, her voice trembling and her eyes widened in worry, she looked at Steve, desperate.

From Eddie’s living room in the Upside Down he stood under the gate, “We can’t leave her here, guys, hurry! We need some music quickly!” 

They heard quick movements, Erica, Eddie and Robin yelling, they exchanged places, Steve cupping Nancy cheeks in hopes to gently shake her awake, while she paced under the gate, hands almost scraping her scalp off.

“Nancy, c’mon come back to us, now!”

His hands moved from her cheeks from her shoulders, just like she had earlier, he tried to shake her, whispered her name so low only the three of them could hear.  In a minuscule moment she could see a single tear run down his cheek, his eyes met her rapidly as she paced impatiently.

“We need to think of something else, I don't think Eddie has anything she listens to.”

“Like what?” 

Steve put himself at Nancy’s level, his eyes staring at her rolled back white eyes, repeating her name in a shaky voice as his hands frantically shook her arms. She was pacing behind him, thinking, wheels spinning behind her eyes, rubbing her face in frustration. 

“Something’s wrong, it’s not like when Max was in there,” Steve whispered softly, his body retreating back a bit, a frown on his face, he was opening his mouth to continue but Nancy suddenly came back to reality in a gasp, big frightened eyes. She was out of breath, and lost balance in Steve’s arms. 

He whispered words of comfort as he laid her on the mattress delicately.  She closed her eyes and caught her breath, while she was in the back, her frightened eyes and the stiffness of her body was concerning to her. What could she possibly have seen that could be so terrible her body had a visceral reaction to fear? What happened? 

Nancy got up, she muttered something she didn’t get, and went for the rope, Steve helping her. 

When she landed on the mattress, Steve let out a shaky breath of relief, and turned to her but she cut him off, retreating back to let him go first.

He frowned, but obliged, he didn’t want to make a fuss, so he approached the rope and pulled himself up, grunting from the pain he felt from his bandaged sides. He was certain it would bleed again, but what other chance did he have?

He landed on the mattress in a swift motion, a small wince stuck in his closed mouth as Eddie helped him up.

When it was clear to go she gripped the rope in her hands, and with a loud exhale she pulled herself up, and gosh did it hurt.   

She hung onto the rope tightly, and pulled herself up, ignoring the pain, the soreness and aching of her muscles. She felt the gravity of the Upside Down pulling her down when she went through the gate. 

Hawkins’ gravity was also pulling her down but she was upside down, in the middle of it she literally felt torn between the two places’ gravity. Yeah, that shit could mess up with anyone’s head. She let go of the rope and let herself fall on the mattress.

“Shit,” she muttered as she fell on her ass in a swift motion, “that’s kinda fun.”

Eddie and Steve both got down, a smile on the metalhead’s lips as their hands enrolled under her armpits, and pulled her towards them.

Dustin hadn’t fully realised it, but once he acknowledged her in Eddie’s living room, with all of them involved in the Upside Down business, it’s like she had come from nowhere, he frowned, “Hang on a minute, what are you doing here? Coming from there?” 

“Huh, it's—complicated. I got myself stranded in the Upside Down for three days, then found them and.. well.. here I am,” she admitted as she let go of each of their hands, an unconscious thought made her hand move to her side that hurt as Dustin kept going.

“I’m sorry, what? How?”

“I went through one of the gates, on my way in Hawkins, um— where Fred was killed, and.. well, I found them when they got stranded too. It’s a really long story Dustin and I’m afraid we may not have time for that right now,” her eyes followed Nancy as she was leaning on the wall, a hand pressed around the side of her face in.. anxiety? Uneasiness? She was difficult to read.

“Nancy, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I just—… I need a minute,” Nancy whispered, a straight line appeared quickly on her lips as an attempt to smile, but it was replaced by a sombre frown. 

Dustin silently agreed on not commenting furthermore, everyone chose not to note that they knew each other before, it wasn’t that important, but, everyone did agree on leaving Eddie’s trailer for Max’s. 

The silence was getting thick, uncomfortable, only Nance spoke, explaining what she saw in her trance per Steve’s request. To put it quickly, the destruction of Hawkins, the literal End of the World, the original gates destroying the earth to form four branches of the gate, big enough to let monsters pass through easily, everywhere in the city. Families torn apart, dead. Fire, pain, so much blood. 

It almost gave her a new wave of nausea, all this chaos was like the Upside Down but multiplied. It was such a nightmare. A terrible, dreadful nightmare. 

And while Nancy was determined to end it all and go back, Steve and Eddie were protesting, Dustin was topping Nancy’s idea, to which, Robin added some more protests. Max, Lucas and Erica were listening to the arguments thrown at everyone’s faces. 

Soon enough the living room was full of voices trying to have the last word, she silently grew more tired of it, the headache brewing stronger from everything that's happened thus far when suddenly a new thought appeared wildly in her brain: was she really part of this group?  Would her opinion be listened to? 

Sat in between Lucas and the end of the couch, she let her back fall deeper into the back, her eyes met Max’s more than once and it appeared clear to her that the teenager wanted nothing more than to say something but wouldn't dare to. 

With the realisation that she wasn't the only one not daring to speak her mind, her eyes fell on Nancy and Steve arguing on going back to the Upside Down, she heard Nancy say something about needing to go back in a matter of hours sent goosebumps of terror to her body.

With her fingers rubbing the downfall of the events from her face away, she heard her own voice speak up, “Excuse me, Nancy, but no. There’s no way. We barely made it alive. It’s suicide! We did not just survive to tempt death once again. No!”

The young woman turned to face her, as she was about to counter, but she cut her off, “Actually, I survived there for three days. I got myself strangled, bitten off, hunted down and not to do it again. I haven’t add a proper shower, meal and sleep in almost four fucking days. So, marinate your idea, think it through, but we’re not doing that today.” 

“We all need some rest, and it’s the middle of the night, let’s shower, eat, sleep and tomorrow morning we’ll be in a better mindset to think it through. Meanwhile, Max, is it?— can keep holding onto Kate Bush for one more night, what do you think?,” She said as her eyes moved slightly towards the redhead, then Nancy, awaiting her response, clearly she wasn't thrilled but she knew she was right.

“Fine, but we’re not leaving anyone alone,” the two locked eye contact, she was unsure what to read in Nancy’s eyes, and Steve interrupted.

“Okay, how are we doing that? My car is at your place and your’s is alongside the forest to the lake! And whose house are we barging in?” Steve asked.

“Mine, my parents are not home, they rarely are plus it’s closer than your house, Steve.” 

And I don't want the memory of us in that house but she refrained from saying it out loud, and kept going through a tight throat, “My car’s not far. I can drive you to Nancy’s car to get the second group,” she thought aloud, Nancy nodded, they both left with Dustin, Steve and Eddie towards her car through the woods behind the trailer park. Where Fred had gone. 

Quickly they reached the car and she realised she lost the keys in the Upside Down, that is until Eddie showed one of his hidden talents, lock-picking and jump-started the car. 

They drove to where Nancy had left her car, she quickly left to retrieve her vehicle, Dustin had called shotgun to sit in the front seat and wasn't stopped by either young men who rolled their eyes at the teenager.

Both cars started and Nancy pulled away to follow the trailer park’s road while she drove away to her house, silence filled the vehicule.

Her eyes met Steve’s a few times in the rearview mirror, but she never said much. Once she was parked in front of her house she took the spare key from a hidden stone in the garden and opened the front door.

After washing their hands —the Upside Down was such a nasty place—, she asked Eddie and Dustin to look for spare sleeping bags in the garage and for Steve to follow her to the guests’ bedroom to grab extra pillows and blankets for the sleeping bags. 

Steve awkwardly stood beside her, taking whatever she was handing him without a word, even though he really wanted to say something, anything, but where to begin? So he stayed quiet, offered a tight lipped smile and followed her directives.

Nancy, Robin, Max, Lucas and Erica arrived as Eddie and Steve had left to shower quickly, spare clothes in hands.

Eddie had taken her parents' bathroom so Steve had taken the direction of her bedroom and the place was insanely familiar, nothing had changed, except all the polaroids she had taken of them— all gone.

He was taken back to all the moments they spent in her bedroom, and the last one to date had such strong mixed feelings, he almost felt.. unsafe ? 

He was unable to move at first, too taken back by his mistakes, his head hung low as his eyes were stuck on the bed they had shared, he could remember the giggles, the soft touches, the kisses, the moans, he felt himself gripping tighter the clothes in his hands, until all memories were evaporated by the sound of the door opening and her frame appeared.

Hand on the doorknob, she stopped dead in her tracks and their eyes met, unable to form a coherent sentence, he cleared his throat, his Adam apple throbbing. He left to her bathroom, teary eyed.

Fingers twitching the doorknob nervously, her eyes closed in shame. Steve’s presence in her room, given the nature of their past relationship, and whatever was left, gave her such a bittersweet taste in the back of her mouth, she was so shameful. 

The sound of the water running and the clutter of teenagers navigating in her house brought her back to reality, then Eddie’s voice followed. 

She reassured him that she was alright and quietly asked him to start on making food for everyone, he nodded and offered a tiny smile as he called for Robin to follow up in the bathroom.

She heard the movements in the kitchen and walked to her parents’ room to grab the emergency medical supplies his father had stacked there, only taking what she needed for both Steve and her. 

She retreats back to her bedroom, Steve's still in the shower, she puts away what she needs to make their dressings and lazily looks for oversized clothes.

As she tries to get her shirt off, she realises the task may be harder than expected, her wounds so stiff and tight on her skin she has no choice but to stretch the wounds.. and that hurts like a bitch.

She tries her hardest to be as quiet as possible, she merely forgets Steve’s in the bathroom until she hears the bathroom door open and he’s facing her bare back, riddled with bruises, scabs, dried blood.

Some bruises have a weird shape and shade to them, which makes Steve immediately feel guilty because this is exactly what he wanted to avoid.

She turns around, only in her bra, her shirt left in her arms as she was getting rid of it, the makeshift bandage around her stomach, him shirtless that's showing every cut, abrasions and biting he endured. It feels surreal.

The tearful look he gives her immediately hurts her, she sees in his eyes the sort of pity she profoundly hates, without a word she lets her shirt fall on the ground, trying her hardest to remain calm, she misunderstands his facial reactions and he can see that. 

Her shoulders fell, her eyebrows slightly scrunched together, she was trapped in her head in waves and waves of misunderstanding and hurt; he did something that surprised him at first, but after some thought, it only felt normal. 

He closed the distance between them and immediately took her in his arms, circling her shoulders, holding her softly to not make it worse for her. What surprised him more was that she had immediately circled his waist too, palms sprayed out in the less wounded parts of his back. 

No words were spoken, it was unnecessary, only their warmth spoke for themselves. His lips ghosting her forehead, he sensed she was crying softly by the droplets falling on his chest and the rhythm of her shaking body.

He let himself succumb to his emotions, tears falling freely and joining hers’, whispering in a low voice, only for her to hear, “I’m so sorry.” 

They stayed quiet, hadn't dared to leave eachother’s arms, until they heard Robin shouting for Nancy to shower, and they were suddenly made aware of their surroundings.

With one last teary eyed look she took her clothes and headed towards the bathroom, Steve sat down, trying to sort his thoughts, surrounded by all the souvenirs of them.

She didn’t waste a minute to get undressed, she could almost feel all the dirt stuck on her skin, and now that she was facing her naked body in the mirror, she could see everything.

The dirt, the bruises, small cuts, dried blood. The worst was the wound under the makeshift bandage, the skin was so tight she wouldn't be able to remove it unless it was soaking wet.

She watched the dirt wash down the drain, the foam running clearer, she decided to get rid of the bandage when it felt heavy, soaking wet, and the scab underneath, softer. 

She untied the knot and slowly peeled it off with some of the softened scab, she winced and let out a pained moan. She threw the bandage on the cold tiles, fresh blood running on her leg to the water. 

She cut the water and stepped out, hurried to grab a gauze she had prepared to stop the bleeding, she took slow and steady breath as she put pressure on it, her eyes accidentally drifted to the mirror, and she looked at what her body now looked like. 

She felt the bruises from the aching of her muscles, the soreness of her skin, small cuts almost everywhere, and the wound on her side. She was torn between pride and disgust. 

Pride because she had survived alone without any knowledge of the place, the creatures, and she made it, but she also felt disgusted by her reflection, so much so that she put a towel on the mirror to cover it, her fingers uneasy, partially bloody.

She removed the gauze once she had put on a comfortable bralette, letting the wound out in the open as she finished drying herself off and put on her clothes except for the shirt as she needed to do her dressing. Leaving her damp hair to dry off on its own. Brushing her teeth felt like heaven, finally being able to get rid of the disgusting taste in her mouth.

She left her bathroom and was met with Steve’s face looking her way as she stepped around her room, he was patiently waiting, he had taken the medical supplies needed and had brought them to her bed.

In some silent understanding, he lied down and she started on his wounds, cleaning it with saline and soap, wrapped them up in clean dressings and bandaged it all up across his waist, all in complete silence, or with gentle apologies whenever she hurt him.  Focus written on her face, he couldn’t stop staring at her, she was so precise and attentive. 

“Where did you learn all of this?” he whispered softly, as he watched her work around his waist. 

“I did tell you I was in Indianapolis for Community College, but what I left out is I’m in a paramedical course, I… hope to be a nurse. I went through the First Aid Advanced Training.”

“That's— I can see it. The caretaker side of you.”

Their eyes briefly met, but she didn't answer, she didn't know what to feel about this. She watched him rise from the bed to put on his shirt, his movements slowing to pass his head through, she watched his eyes shut tightly, his eyebrows scrunching for a few seconds at the pain.

She expected him to leave but he stayed closer, his eyes on her wound on the right side of her stomach, uneasiness growing deeper in the pit of her stomach, “You’re all good, you—..”  

 “Let me help you,” he interrupted her, she tried to ease her breathing, anxiety eating at her senses, feeling her ribcage getting tighter by his prolonged presence, “I can do it, it’s fine.” 

“I know you can. I want to help you—” he started as their eyes locked, sincere eyes just staring at her, “—just tell me what to do.” 

She nodded slowly, a bit struck by his demand, “Okay,” she murmured as he sat back down, she aligned her body to his, hesitantly stepping further until they were closer so that he was at an arm's distance from her.

She guided him step by step, wincing silently, her eyes closed and tightly shut when in pain, ignoring the way his eyes drifted towards her face here and there, her left hand would rest on his shoulder to help her standing still.

Just like her, he was attentive to her guidance, muttering soft apologies as he cleaned the wound. Wrapped up and bandaged; his fingertips tenderly longed on the bruises above her waist and the bandage, the pads of his fingers tickling her skin.

He took the shirt she had left on the bed and handed it to her, slowly she put it on, cursing mentally at the pain driving her senses crazy.

He watched the pain shut her eyes and jaw close, her breathing stopped momentarily, instinctively his fingers approached and fell on her knee, as if touching her would distract her or show his compassion.

She exhaled as she opened her eyes, and his fingers left to rub the sweatpants he had been given, his eyes looked up to her. In the most delicate voice, he said, “I mean it.. what I said earlier.. I am sorry.” 

She inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the conversation they're about to have, “I know you are, Steve.” 

He thought that this was it, there's nothing more he can say to make things better, because he cannot offer more explanations or excuses, he looked down at his hands on her skin, his eyebrows slightly scrunched together.

“I understand where you're coming from, and I understand your intentions were not to hurt me, but it did, and I don't know.. it’s all so.. it's all so much. I don't even feel like myself anymore.. I just..— I just don't know anything anymore.” 

He nodded slowly, at a loss for words he didn't know what to say, perhaps he was the one who could understand her the best, having been through it too, “I just hope you know you can count on me, I’m not— I’m choosing not to leave you behind so if you’ll allow it, I’ll be by your side, in whatever way you need me to be.” 

His eyes were so intense it sent her body to overdrive, seating next to him, their eyes never left each other's, her hand grabbed his and messily tightened her fingers over the back of his hand, “Thank you.” 

Their eyes spoke for themselves, both on the edge of crying as Steve's lips quivered, they were interrupted quite abruptly by Eddie’s voice screaming from the kitchen that they could come down to eat.

Their moment killed by the metalhead, they rose from the bed at the same time and with a final mutual understanding through their eyes and a tiny smile on their lips, they descended down and met everyone else already munching on some mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches they had made. 

While they ate Dustin had asked more details about her walkabouts in the Upside Down, so she told them what happened, but was pretty elusive with it overall, she had no desire to live those events all over again, and the looks on their faces was another motivation to omit some of it.

The sorry eyes she could see on Max’s face was something she profoundly hated, and the admirative energy in Dustin’s words was something she felt unworthy of, with no energy in her being she simply shrugged and managed to shift the conversation elsewhere. 

She was quiet and pretty absent for the remaining time before she left to her bedroom to sleep, being evidently exhausted, the others did the dishes and separated to rest as well.

Engulfed in her blankets she could hear the teenagers debating on who would take which corner of the room, but it all quickly stopped when Eddie interrupted them by reminding them they weren’t on fucking holidays to enjoy themselves like this being so noisy.

It made her smile before falling asleep quite shortly as she heard more noise coming upstairs and Steve peeked in her room to make sure she was alright before walking back downstairs and taking his blanket to lie on the couch, soon enough everyone was fast asleep.

 Windows covered in mist, the room was so warm she almost felt her own body melting in the hot water. The room was softly lit by the candles burning not far from them, the light smell of them created an amorous atmosphere. 

She could almost feel at peace, like she could sleep in his arms in this hot bath. 

That is until she felt one warm hand travelling on her stomach, a lingering pair of lips gently pecking on her neck. 

Goosebumps rose on her skin as his fingertips were travelling further down her body, his other hand pressing more on her waist to hold her down against his nude body.

It was the beginning of December, it was extremely cold outside, Steve’s parents were, as usual, absent, and his house had a giant master bathroom.  With a bathtub.

Her train of thoughts was disrupted when his fingertips started drawing slow patterns on the most sensitive nubble of nerves in between her legs, his other hand moved from her waist to her thigh, keeping her legs open for him.

She had closed her eyes, her head tilted back on his shoulder, her lips halfway open to let out a breath. 

His lips had the pleasure of attacking her neck, and her shoulder.  His eyes never left her face, observing very closely her lips, the frown on her eyebrows disappearing to become one of relief.   Her hands gripped at his arms, her nails digging slowly as the pleasure was building up in a tight knot in her abdomen.

Her left leg moved, almost blocking the way, his hand held her thigh from the inside and forcefully moved it a bit, widening her legs more for him,“You’re not there yet, I know it,” his raspy voice murmured to her ear.

It sent shivers to her core, breathing in deeply, when his hand pushed her thigh apart completely over his own leg, his hand meeting the soft nubble of nerves to pump a finger in her, slowly.

“Steve…,” her breath quickened, her nails digging deeper in his arms.  She was a quiet mess, and he wanted her so badly to be more loud but he didn’t want to pressure her.

The combination of his fingers pumping in and out of her and the fingertips playing with her sent her to her own cloud nine.  His rhythm was so slow, it was excruciating, but oh so good. 

Her head completely thrown back on his shoulder, she looked at him through orgasm drunk eyes. Her lips swollen at her persistence to keep the moans quiet by biting her lip. 

When the knot seemed to grow even more tighter, she felt it so close, that suddenly it was like an explosion in her lower abdomen. Her body was in complete disharmony as she started shaking, breathless, her eyes and thighs closed shut, his hands surrounded her thigh and her waist as she rode her high, engulfed in Steve’s neck.  

Her hands were holding onto him tightly, her breath hitting his skin in an erratic pattern, he held her tighter, pecking here and there at her warm skin, until his lips met hers in a kiss, he couldn’t stop kissing her, he would never be able to stop, the touch of her lips gave him such a craving to have more of her. 

She rose from the covers in a cold sweat, panting for breath, she felt her body getting hotter as the images lingered in her mind, embarrassed that she would think like this, dream like this.

Looking around her she struggled to recognise her surroundings given the obscurity around her but all the memories of the previous days resurfaced and she fell back in her bed, her gaze lost on the wall. She doesn't know how long she stared at that wall, but she drifted off to sleep a second time.

The morning came and the unanimous idea to get a bigger vehicule imposed itself, it was a false good idea, or a false bad idea, depending on the perspective.

Eddie left the house wearing a bandana to cover his face and sunglasses, accompanied by Nancy, Steve and her —Robin stayed to watch the kids— were going to the trailer park to get to Eddie’s idea, which he wouldn’t say what it was and then they would get the kids back.

Eddie kept on insisting on not telling his idea until the quartet found themselves in a stolen trailer anxiously driven by Steve. 

“Seriously Munson, I hate you so much sometimes,” she said, her eyes shooting up daggers in the metalhead direction seated in front of her, the brightest smile on his face at her, winking.

Rolling her eyes at him but with a contagious smile she got up to take the walkie talkie and warned the kids they were close.  When everyone was reunited in the caravan, Steve started driving off to the store, avoiding the roadways. 

Everyone was pretty focused on the road, retreated in the back, talking here and there. She, on the other hand, was deep in her thoughts about the events that would soon take place.

This Vecna guy had to know something was planning itself since he couldn’t get Max, and he hadn’t cursed another teen, he wanted her and he wasn’t letting her go… Not to forget Nancy’s vision.

She had a really bad feeling about it.

Eddie, Lucas, and Dustin were the one who had to stay in the caravan given their obvious connection with the Hellfire Club, in case Jason and his psychotic friends were there, they needed their trip to the War Zone to be as smooth as possible.

They separated, Nancy was looking for two rifles and ammunition, Steve and Robin kerosene to make Molotov cocktails, Max and her were seeking out knives and nails to make spikes, and whatever clothes they could find to create some sort of protection.

She didn't expect the errand in the store to be quiet but she certainly didn't expect Max to talk about the elephant in the room, “You’re the girl Steve was seeing last year, aren't you? Like, his ‘serious seeing girl’?”

“His what?”

Max shut her eyes quickly and seemed to curse herself, annoyed like she had let out a secret, she opened her eyes and directly faced her “Steve was seeing someone last year, around Halloween, he never told us her name, only that it was serious and.. that he really loved her.. it was you, wasn’t it? I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Um, yeah, we.. we weren’t official but we definitely were something.. Who chose that nickname?”

Max turned to the clothes, her hands going through the different sizes in leather jackets, “I did, Dustin doesn't like it, obviously, it’s not smart or sassy enough for him, but Steve wouldn't tell us your name so.. I.. I had to find something to stop calling you ‘her’ all the time.” 

Max was putting different types of vests in the cart, now observing the knives, she pulled one out of its sheath, staring at the blade under the light, she looked at her reflection through the blade.

“Why didn’t it work? If..—if you don’t mind me asking.”

As she thought of an answer, Max realised it grew quiet between the two, so she turned around, and realised she was deep in her thoughts before she looked back at her, “It’s complicated, and I’m not going to be that kind of person that tells you it’s a bigger person problem and dismiss it, because I don't even know how to make it sense to myself. We were something and I don't know what we are and what we could be, but I’m still attached to him. Max, is this about you and Lucas?” 

The redhead’s eyes widened, but she put a hand on her back and slowly patted in reassurance, “I’m not blind, I’ve seen the smiles and the stolen looks, I don't have any solid advice for you, but, if your situation isn't as complicated as mine, and if you have feelings for him, tell him, he deserves to know.” 

She smiled timidly, knowing her own advice could be applied to herself, but she decides on ignoring the voice that screams hypocrite! at her, and turned to the knives, “Let’s get the sharpest ones, shall we,” she murmured as she looked at the redhead, knife in hand. 

She looked around to see if the others had finished when her eyes stumbled to the front of the store where Nancy was handling a rifle, in what seemed like a tense and hostile conversation with Jason, leader of the basketball team and brat of the year.

He had grabbed the aim of the rifle Nancy held in her hands, she obviously couldn't hear but they were tense, her eyes met Steve's and they walked in sync to Nancy.

They arrived to their level as Jason was about to leave, Steve looked him up and down, the teenager opened his mouth to say something when Nancy armed her rifle and the sound it made alarmed him, ready to fire his ass out, “You guys are completely insane,” he muttered on his way out.

“We’re not the ones playing Inquisition, you ought to open a book or two, it should enlighten you,” she couldn't stop herself from biting back at him, he had momentarily stopped in his tracks, now looking like a deer caught by headlights, humiliated.

Him and his clowns left and they paid quite in a hurry to join the trailer and Steve drove them to an unoccupied field by the forest on their way to Hawkins. 

Everyone got in groups and got busy, Dustin and Eddie were making their shields spiked in nails for the bats, Erica and Lucas made the spears, Steve and Robin the Molotov cocktails, and Nancy, Max and her were arranging the rifles, sawing off the aim so they wouldn't be grabbed, its impact would be more lethal.

She had stayed quiet for the majority of the time since the ride back, not in annoyance or discomfort, just, letting herself rely on Nancy who knew what she was doing, having been through this before.

Her quiet presence next to Nancy’s had made the latter realise that she went through a lot in a much more condensed version of it, their friendship had completely exploded when Barbara disappeared and Nancy was close to a stranger to her then, dismissive and on edge at the same time.

Now that she understands what happened to Barbara, it’s like Steve, she doesn't know how to come back from it, all the insults she threw at Nancy’s face when they last talked, two years ago.

Nancy had finished sawing off the first rifle when she handed her the saw, sensing something was wrong by the look on her face, she whispered her name, catching her attention, “You’re okay?” 

She derailed from her train of thoughts and looked at Nancy, “Yeah, uh… —it’s… —I should have been there from the beginning. I knew Barb too, she was a friend, you were too, I… —I gave up on you so easily and you were fighting this off, and I…— I’m so sorry Nancy.” 

Consciously or not, her brain filled with all the reasons she could have given to Nancy on why she gave up so easily, but she wasn’t ready yet to admit she lets go first in fear of being given up.

It surprised Nancy in a good way, although she actually felt terrible for having her apologise when she was the one who lied, for good reason but still. It didn’t feel fair to Nancy to accept and offer simple excuses to a bigger problem, and it didn’t feel honest to her for not sharing the intricate reasons behind her reactions and choices.. the apologies were honest, but they were half-truths.

“I was never mad at you for it, you know, it made it easier, actually, I couldn’t bear lying to anyone who wasn’t involved.. Shutting yourself off from it..—it guaranteed your safety and it was an explanation or a lie I didn’t have to do. I preferred it that way… I still missed you though, and I am sorry too.”

She let out a shaky giggle out of nervousness, teary eyed as she stepped closer to Nancy, who continued “I’m glad you're there, I couldn’t hope for a better fighter by my side,” Nancy made the final step to embrace her old friend in her arms.

Max felt a bit out of place, until the two detangled themselves from one another, she offered a gentle smile to the redhead, and took the saw Max held her gun in place.

They talked lightly while Steve had his eyes on everyone, concerned, seeing Nancy and she had reconciled made him hope they could move forward in the future, minus all the traumatic events connected to the Upside Down, he had to have hope for them.

As individuals and eventually as more but it was capital for everyone else to have hope, the stakes felt too real for his liking. They've managed to survive through all of it, but he began to think that maybe they've used all their luck.

He was no genius but there was no way that the odds were in their favour every time, and now that the stakes felt too real and too big, it only meant to him that the consequences would be.. well, catastrophic. 

Despair and anxiety ate at him, he had felt responsible for everyone since he had been alongside Dustin, he didn’t want anyone to be hurt, or to die. He knows he can't save anyone, he’s less valuable than Dustin or Nancy who are much smarter than him, but he can't help but feel some responsibility for some of it. 

Robin could tell what was going in his head, the grim thoughts, and the deathly pessimism. The doubt written on his face, “We still have to try, don’t we?” she asked in a low voice, her hand automatically stopped pouring the kerosene in the bottles, Steve turned to face her, focused.

“Even if we have this gnawing feeling, we have to.. who’s going to anyway?” 

Their silence and demotivated eyes were speaking volumes to them, they didn't even believe in themselves but he was right, they had to.

“Even if we don’t come out alive.. so.. let’s cheer; to killing Vecna?” She asked her bottle in the air, Steve looked at her in the eyes, finding the same pessimism and despair, his can of kerosene met her bottle, “Slash One.” 

“Slash Henry.”

Their bottles clinked at the same time Max had finished sawing off the aim of the second rifle, blowing out the excess dust she turned to Max when she heard her voice, “Is that a felony?” 

She first looked at the redhead then her eyes met Nancy’s who seemed to have an answer already, “It probably is, and for the technical aspect of it we are guilty but we’re talking about the end of the world here, even if no one would believe us.. we still have to do this.” 

Everyone was equipped, dressed for the Upside Down and their task in the Creel house. The plan relied on three teams. Max, Erica and Lucas would be in the house, waiting to bait Vecna, using Max, which none of them were happy with, but they didn’t have any other choice.

Dustin and Eddie were to distract the bats to clear the house so that Nancy, Robin, her and Steve could get in without danger and do their best at killing Vecna. They all went through the phases of the plan multiple times, mostly to reassure themselves, until they drove to the house and let Max, Erica and Lucas go.

But not without a weapon.

She had given them the extra knives she had picked from the store, handed them both to Lucas and Max, “I think everyone can agree with me on this. You’re the bait Max, but you still need to be able to defend yourselves. Use it.” 

The pair looked at each other then at her, then at Steve behind her, nodding, “It’s just a precaution, but she’s right.” 

“Yeah, Jason and his friends are a threat, a very possible one, who knows, they could come around here, or not, just, don’t be afraid to defend yourselves, you’re as important as anyone else on this plan. Do you have a walkie, for when we’re done?” Nancy then added, appearing behind her. 

They didn’t have one so Nancy gave them one, made sure the frequency was the right one and that they had enough battery, “Be safe,” she said as she handed them the walkie. 

“You too,” Lucas responded as he took the walkie, he felt the weight on his shoulder and his chest heavier under the responsibility. Max and him felt the seriousness of the situation way too much, they wished they could live normal teenage lives, without the weight of saving the world on their chests every year. Each time being worse than the one before.

It’s a feeling they all experienced, and no matter what they could say, nothing would make it better because they couldn’t say anything, even the newcomers in the band, Eddie and her, could feel that shift in their lives. 

With a timid smile Max closed the door of the trailer and watched them leave. Even with Lucas and Erica by her side, she felt incredibly alone in front of the house, she felt so small, intimidated by it, like it carried an evil incarnate.

Breathing in, she stepped towards the front door, Lucas shared a glance with his sister, uneasy, but followed her closely. He felt like they were walking on a trap and he hated it.  He hated so much that he couldn’t take her place, he could only sit and watch, he hated that he was on the bench. He felt useless, and so lost. 

He knew he couldn’t afford to think like that, not when Max was baiting Vecna, Eddie and Dustin were also baiting the bats, and the four others were risking it all to kill Vecna, nothing could appease him. 

He had to wait and see. Watch out for the right time to pull her out of Vecna’s influence.

The Upside Down team arrived not far from where Fred had been taken, not far from the trailer park, they hid the trailer in the woods, and walked in the darkness towards Eddie’s trailer. 

Steve went through the gate first, everyone passed through with the equipment, Nancy followed and she really hopes she misreads the longing looks between Nancy and Steve as he helps her up. Eddie goes next and he's the one who helps her up, Dustin sends the last bit of equipment and Robin and him make their way down.

They rushed out of the trailer, and there it was again, the thick atmosphere, the particles floating around them, the darkness with the occasional flicker of red lightning. 

As they separated and were already walking away, Eddie’s voice broke through the air, only to realise that Steve hadn't joined them, it was inaudible for them until they walked back closer.

They heard the end of their conversation, Eddie asking Steve to make Vecna pay, then his eyes fell on Nancy and her, side by side.

“Ladies, may my sassiest regards flow through your deadly bullets,” Eddie exclaimed through his theatrical voice, a smile on the corner of his lips. 

“May the most metal concert ever be the best one yet in an alternate dimension,” she responded with a smile and they separated their ways.

Dustin and Eddie began to turn the trailer into a fortress, together they carried his amplifier to the roof, his guitar resting in its original place, like she stood on a podium. 

They were prepared for the most metal concert ever. 

As for the others —or the Suicide Squad as Eddie kept saying in the trailer as they made up their plan—, they were wandering through the woods, carefully avoiding the vines, flashlights in hands in a line, Robin first, then Nancy, Steve and to close the walk, her, rifle glued to her hands.

It was all silent, only their footsteps marching on the leaves were the only nearby sounds. Robin kept looking around her anxiously while Steve and Nancy were looking in front of them, focused on their conversation. She had no other choice but to ignore everything surrounding her, consumed by anxiety and fear, she couldn’t stop it from roaming freely in her brain, eating away at her.

Getting back in the Upside Down made her hypervigilant, she held onto hope that a creature wouldn’t find them, she didn’t want to relive her misadventures with the bats. Or worse, the four legged creature she stumbled upon once. Or nightmarish even, the gargantuan shadowy creature that seemed to lurk from a distance, she did not want to be close to it.

It made her extremely paranoid, and jumpy. Everyone stopped walking when Robin’s voice broke through the group, too loudly for their liking, sharing her thoughts that they were lost and immediately it made her on edge. Robin was openly anxious, dumping her anxieties on others whereas she was the strict opposite, it only fueled hers’. 

Even if Steve and Nancy told her they couldn’t be, she went off running, completely unwary of the vines. They continued walking, and she realised the red thunderbolts were flashing in the sky a lot more than when she was there alone the first time.

She stopped walking abruptly when a red thunderbolt struck through the sky, the shadow of the enormous monster revealed in the red light.  She gasped quite loudly, her flashlight dropping to the ground as the head turned to their direction, it was all shadow, but she felt a goosebump travelling her body, paralysed on the spot.

There were such mixed feelings with that creature, she felt terrified, watched so intently like it could read her mind, look through her cracks, it wasn't moving but to watch its head move towards their direction like it knew, like it were omniscient of the place, it horrified her.

It took her a few minutes to compose herself, and leaves cracking brought her back out of her trance. She kneeled down to grab her flashlight, getting up she stumbled upon another unpleasant sight.

Steve and Nancy were standing face to face, a longing-ish set of eyes looking at Nancy, a smile on his lips. A smile she knew so much, so contagious it used to make her grin, warming her body in a cozy and dreamy sort of way. 

It got her frowning, she didn’t want to fall under any fast conclusions but it was so easy, so close to reach, so already embedded in every fiber of her brain, responsible for her deepest insecurities and jealousies. She was on edge, hyper vigilant of any threat, so afraid of reliving her nightmares and here they were, flirting?! 

Was she just doomed to repeat it all, was she meant to be a rebound everytime? Why were her insecurities always used against her, causing so much harm? Was she not enough?

It made her blood boil of jealousy, anger, and fucking goddamnit. The delicate eyes she saw in Steve’s were enough to make her hold back on anything she hoped Steve could be.

Be by her side in whatever way she would allow him to be— what about a fucking trashcan, that would suit him well. 

She held onto her flashlight and her rifle a bit more tighter, and as Robin was retreating back she walked to where she came from, now opening the walk, shoulders tensed, the knuckles of her fingers almost turning white.

No one addressed her quietness and cold exterior, as they were mentally preparing for what they were about to do. They arrived by the house and hid in the small playground in front of it, where some red particles floated around, Erica was there. They signalled their arrival, and she warned Lucas to begin Max’s bait. 

They waited for Erica's signal on Eddie and Dustin’s distraction, in the distance they could hear Eddie’s amplifier playing the first notes, and she recognized Metallica’s newest ‘Master of Puppets’. She smiled a bit, remembering she had spent some time with the metalhead as he was attempting to learn it, the image burning vividly of his fingers roaming on the strings, her anger subsided.

In reality she didn’t know if it was Eddie or the stress setting in, and the realness of the situation clouding her brain, but they head towards the house her, and she feels herself retreating to concentration and her father’s words when he had taught her to use his hunting rifle.

Steve opened the door with a gasp, the sight of the vines crawling absolutely everywhere got her out of her anxious spiral, and on to another one, they barely had any space to walk, they would have to play fucking Twister in the Upside Down.

“This is the fucking worst, are you kidding me,” she muttered quietly, her eyes widened. 

“I second that, remember when I said I have poor movement coordination skills. This definitely applies,” Robin nervously added in a whisper. 

“It’s gonna be okay, just, pay attention and don’t rush, you’re gonna do great,” Nancy murmured back as she turned to look at Robin.

Steve went first, hopping on uncovered vine spots on the ground, Robin followed, then the two remaining, the sight was maddening, they looked like acrobats on a queue. Did anyone ask for Four clowns with a death wish?

They reached the stairs, still tip-toeing in any possible corner they could set foot onto, cautious as to where they put their hands on the handrail, also covered in crawling vines.  Finally on the top stairs, Steve reached for his axe in his backpack, and as they were going to step towards the attic, the earth started to shake, the four of them tried so hard to hold onto each other to not fall and let their presence be known. 

It was a massive failure because as soon as the earthquake stopped a vine crawled around Robin’s ankle, she flew to the wall, her arms already attached so she wouldn’t move, she tried to speak but her throat was already wrapped in a vine. 

They rushed to her side and tried to rid her of the vines, but it all happened so quickly, the three of them were also gripped by vines, tied to the walls, already suffocating, their weapons on the ground. 

Their struggled breathing was the only sound surrounding them. 

She felt her heart pulse through her ribcage, she could have sworn she could feel it along her temple and in her ears, her eyes locked on her rifle, laying on the wood floor, her hands are trying to untie the vines wrapped around her throat and a new set of living ropes capture her hands and force them down.

It finally dawns at her— her fate, their fate. She knew it, she knew they wouldn’t succeed and that it was all a giant mistake. The more they tried to move their arms and legs, the more the vine tightened up around their bodies.

She didn’t realise a tear escaped her eye at their upcoming deaths, her eyes fell upon Steve’s features, and she wished so much she hadn’t taken her car that day, that she hadn’t stopped next to one of those gates, and got caught up in all of this. 

Her vision started to blur and the edges darkened. She was starting to lose some sense of reality, she felt herself leave slowly because they weren’t killing them yet. They were suffocating but they still had one ounce of air in their lungs, gasping for more.

It felt like hours went when in reality it was minutes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they felt the vines loosening their hold on them, completely dropping them on the ground, gasping loudly, desperately trying to get more air.

They coughed, they could hear a whistle through their vocal cords but they didn’t give up, they rose on their feet, grabbing their guns and geers on the way.

Steve briefly looked at her, her red eyes, the bruise around her throat darkened, it hurt her throat to talk so she stayed quiet and charged the gun in sync with Nancy. 

“C'mon,” whispered the latter, rifle in hands, determined to make it all end once and for all.

She opened the door to the attic, and without a sound they all stepped inside.

Vecna laid there, above the ground, vines seemingly attached to his back. He seemed to be in some trance, just like Dustin had said.

The skin looked burned by fire and putrefaction. His features were undistinguishable, only the inhuman traits were left out. He looked like he was made out of a nightmare himself. It caused fear, a paralysing sort of terror, goosebumps rising along their skin. Nancy and her shared a look, raising their guns to make the bottom rest against their chest to have a comfortable aim. 

They walked silently each on a side, Nancy on Robin’s and her on Steve’s, giving them enough space to throw the Molotov cocktails but still would be able to walk towards Vecna when they would fire.

Meanwhile Robin put out her backpack on the ground, her and Steve both took a bottle, he shared a look with them, awaiting any reactions. In the anxious silence Steve lit up his bottle and threw it at him, aiming perfectly as they had to make a step back from the fire exploding on Vecna.

The vines attached to his back burned, retreated back from his body like they felt the pain. His eyes opened and the image of his face was burning in the back of her mind, his whole existence was the beginning of a lifetime horrific nightmare. 

He stepped forward, engulfed in fire, but it didn’t faze him, on the contrary it determined and enraged him to stop them. Robin threw another inflamed bottle at him, he screamed in rage, stepping forward. 

In sync, they both started their guns, firing at the same time, the bullets made him retreat, the impact hit at full force, they also felt the fire back on their chests but they continued. 

The eyes they met in front of them were full of hatred, rage, starving for vengeance and violence.

They stepped closer, and with each step they fired, completely in the moment, even forgetting the presence of each other, only Vecna mattered, he was in front of them and he didn’t have any time to do anything because they kept shooting at him. 

With the fire back of the guns he was propelled through the window, and out into the front of the house, still inflamed.  They let out a breath they didn’t know they had held back.

They looked at eachother then at Robin and Steve, they rushed to the front porch, where his body was nowhere to be found, a frown appeared on their faces as they took a step forward.  

The ground appeared to have some burning spot, as well as the shadow of his burning body on the ground, “You think he’s dead?” Robin murmured, her voice broke the silence and made the girls jump in surprise. 

“He’s gotta be, right? You two were mercilessly shooting at him, he has to be dead.” 

“But why is his body not there?” Nancy retorted at Steve, like everyone was so confused but it’s not like they could look around, their charger was empty and they only had one Molotov cocktail left, so the fight would be unfair. 

“We’re not gonna look around for him, are we? We don’t have any bullets left and that creature in the sky gives me the heebie-jeebies,” she whispered as she pointed at it, it hadn’t gone closer, but it seemed like it was observing them, watching their every move from afar.

They followed what her finger pointed at and she saw Nancy’s face turn livid, like she knew what it was, “Nancy, what is that?”

“It’s the Mind Flayer, right?” Steve murmured as he turned to Nancy, and she nodded, “Do you also have the feeling that it’s looking at us?,” he continued as he looked back at it, the four of them were completely in a trance for a couple seconds, until Nancy turned around. 

“C’mon, let’s go back to Eddie’s trailer. The quicker we leave, the better, the way he’s not moving but kind of looking at us makes me… umh.. like there’s something happening.” 

The quartet left and walked their way back through the woods, while they hoped that everything had gone to plan, they were also very conscious that it probably hadn’t, one thing was sure, Max hadn’t died, because if she did the four gates would have opened an enormous one through the town. 

They also were unsure of Vecna’s fate, if he really was dead or not, and something in the way the Mind Flayer was observing them made them thought he wasn’t dead, he had escaped, and the second round would be more difficult, harder than the first round, deadlier, scarier and they really didn’t looked forward to that. 

Lost in their thoughts, facing the morbid silence of the Upside Down they arrived quicker than they thought and immediately reality caught up with them, Dustin was on his knees on the ground, weeping, his face turned to them at the sounds of footsteps. 

Their feet moved on their own and when she realised Eddie was in Dustin’s arms, eyes opened, but not blinking, she realised he was.. dead, and she rushed towards them, “What happened?” 

“We—we were surrounded by bats and when we ran to leave, he cut the rope, he left, said he would get you some more time.., I..—I don’t know what to do, he just.. he just stopped breathing” Dustin talked in sobs, his hands shaking holding Eddie’s side, his chest moving in waves as he cried more. 

She got on the floor, and quickly asked Dustin to help her, he let go of Eddie’s side, he listened to her instructions carefully, freed his airways as she started to do CPR on him.

The heel of her hand on his sternum began a rhythm of one heartbeat per one to two seconds, counting under her breath until she reached thirty and she breathed two times in his mouth. 

Nancy got next to her, telling her she could take her place when she needed, mentally counting she asked Nancy to apply pressure on some wounds that could contribute to making him lose more blood than needed while she kept going. 

Steve and Robin were completely frozen in place as they observed the scene before their eyes, there was nothing they could do except keep their distance and remain quiet, and it seemed like hours went on when really it didn’t, she had done CPR on him for approximately five to seven minutes when Eddie took a breathe in, his eyes blinked. 

Everyone gasped in shock, “Are you okay, how are you feeling?,” she asked, his face turned to her and she tried to take away his blood on her mouth from mouth-to-mouth, smudged it all across her lips and cheeks. 

“Like somebody who played Master of Puppets for a really ungrateful crowd,” he replied, his voice breaking at the end.

She laughed a bit and smiled, he still had his sense of humour, that was a good sign, but she was also conscious that they had to move him fast, she really didn’t want to do CPR on him again. 

She rapidly explained to everyone what her idea was, and they all agreed, so they started moving. 

Dustin left with Robin and Nancy through the gate in Eddie’s trailer while Steve and she carried Eddie through the short part of the forest to get to the gate on the road. It would be easier to get him to Hawkins that way as they wouldn’t have to pull him up, the physics of it all was a blur to her but what other choice did they have?

The gate on the road was closer than they had expected, making sure no creatures were around. They carried Eddie to the ground, she made sure he stayed conscious by getting him to talk. 

Through the gate they heard the caravan rumbling, she went first, her legs dangling through the other side she crawled on the ground and lied upside down in the gate, grabbing under Eddie’s armpits to get him through, stopping mid way to actually sit on the ground and pull Eddie against her.

Steve quickly followed and with him and Robin they put him in the van on the banquette in the back, Dustin remained at his side kept him awake while he explained what happened to Max as he heard Erica yell code red when they were on their way out through Eddie’s trailer.

Nancy drove them to the Creel’s house quickly, where they found Erica almost running to the middle of the road. She looked frightened, but relieved that they were there.

Erica explained what happened, how Lucas had used the knives to make Jason leave, pretending to be in a psychotic sort of episode, using that to his advantage but it got him to miss the cues on Max’s trance. Fortunately, their attack on Vecna and Eleven’s assault in her mind slowed down so only her legs were broken. 

Final point being that they needed to get Max to the hospital. Her legs were completely broken, she was alive but in severe pain.  

They had to think quickly, there were no nearby phones and they couldn’t just abandon them and leave unsupervised for an unknown matter of time. Carrying Max was impossible because of the pain and the severely broken legs. They had to transport her differently, and that’s when she remembered. 

Her car was in Eddie’s trailer park, which was twenty-five to thirty minutes away from the Creel house on foot, the closest one with a drivers’ license was Steve so she pulled him in the side, “Near Eddie’s trailer park, find my car, come back. You can pull down the backseats for more space, you’ll take Max and Dustin to the hospital okay? And Eddie hijacked it so you don’t need the keys—I just it’s still there..” He nodded, ignored her last comment and sprinted off.

With the help of Dustin and Nancy they made a makeshift stretcher using sheets and broomsticks they hunted down. The sheet was tied tightly around the handle of the broomsticks, and boom, they had a stretcher, not hospital worthy, but still. 

Getting back in the attic they put the stretcher next to her, “Okay, Max, it’s going to be super painful, but Lucas and I will hold your legs, Robin and Nancy will support your upper body. We’ll get you to the hospital okay?”

She cried more in pain and nodded, on three they all supported her body to sit her on the stretcher, she helped using her arms.

Getting her down the stairs wasn’t as easy as she had hoped for, but they managed to get her down and into the entrance hallway, waiting for Steve.  

He arrived quickly, parked the car quite messily and he hurried to put down the seats in the back while they carried Max on her stretcher and transported her to the car. Lucas and Dustin sat next to her, and Erica was sitting on the front seat, next to Steve, he paused in front of the trailer and turned to her, “Is the walkie gonna work all the way to the hospital? I gotta tell you all about what the doctors say.” 

They turned to Dustin, who had turned the window down when he saw them talk, “I don’t know, the hospital is pretty far..”

“You still have my house number, right?”  

“Yeah, yeah I know it. I’ll call you there, I’ll let you know what’s going on, and when we’re able, we’ll go back to your house.”

The two vehicles left at the same time and parted ways quickly, arriving by her house, Nancy and her helped Eddie inside as Robin opened the doors, and thank God for the night sky because in broad daylight they would have so much lies to tell. 

She preferred walking Eddie upstairs, in her room, he could easily be hidden upstairs, Nancy was behind them supporting his back and she had her arms around him to guide his way up, he was very weak but he used his last strength to walk upstairs.

She asked Nancy and Robin to get rid of the clothes on him and keep him awake, while she ran to her parents’ room to get the box full of medical supplies, she thoroughly washed her hands in her bathroom.

Eddie was awake but felt weakier, she could see the intensity of his wounds, he was bitten on both his thighs, on each side of his abdomen, around his shoulder and around his throat. Some of his injuries were only superficial, but others were… worrying her. 

Especially his thighs and his left side, Nancy had done her best to compress the skin to stop the bleeding, but as soon as she took out the cloth, it started again. 

She used unused sponges and gauze pads to stop the bleeding on his thighs, and applied pressure on his left side. Her mind and body was working in an automatic mode, having done a few days in first aid, she knew what to do, up to a certain point of course. 

Robin’s voice broke her out of her focus, “Shouldn’t we get him to a hospital, this seems pretty serious and we’re not qualified, we need a doctor, or a nurse, I don’t know, but this–” 

“Robin, I can handle it. Look around the kitchen for bowls, fill them with water. In the main bathroom you’ll find washcloths, towels and unscented soap, please get those,” She interrupted, her hands tightly holding onto his side, feeling the thickness of the blood on her fingertips.

Robin stayed static for a couple more seconds, with Nancy’s eyes on her she rushed to the kitchen,

When Robin came back with what she needed, she asked Nancy to take her place on his side, to keep the pressure as strong as she could. She worked first around his throat, the wound was superficial, the bleeding had stopped on its own, she cleaned it up, applied a specific kind of dressing, covered it up and moved on to his abdomen.

She moved towards his right side, and as she took another bowl to clean the wound, she could see Robin pacing in the room, murmuring things that none of them could hear.

She watched her pacing up and down, her hands intertwined in her hair, it added stress to see her so agitated. With a quick glance towards her, she spoke, “Robin, can you stop, please? I understand it makes you uncomfortable and anxious, but getting him to the hospital is not possible, there’s a literal witch-hunt for him. I’ve managed to bring him back, I’m not sending him away to get killed by a bunch of maniacs who take the Second Amendment way too seriously,” She calmly told her, but continued, “Can you help us please?”

Robin was.. shocked, stunned actually, but her eyes were pleading, she radiated calmness and anticipation, like she answered well to stress around her, like nothing could phase her, which was wrong of course.

Robin stepped closer and asked what she could do, to which she responded she could change the waters in the bowl as she worked on his wounds, and instead of being silent and nourishing Robin’s anxiety, she explained everything she did, all the steps she did, what she used, under Nancy’s curious eyes.

The bleeding had stopped on Eddie’s thighs, the process was the same for them, but she finished with his side left, she took Nancy’s turn on applying pressure, talking a little bit with Eddie to maintain his consciousness.

Nancy had gone to empty a bowl and give her a new one, she slowly got rid of the bloody sponge, the bleeding had diminished, only the smaller vessels were bleeding out, which was something she could work with.

She let out a breath, a bit loudly, her hands wiped her forehead in frustration, one glance at Eddie, to see his eyes blinking, looking at his chest, she saw the very slow rise of his breaths.

She observed the bleeding slowly, thinking of what to do,  and as she took the bowl to clean the wound, she turned to Nancy in front of her, “Nancy, I’m gonna need some hemostatic gauze or dressings, can you look for those, please?”

She was already gone looking in the box, while she applied pressure with her bare hands, she had used all of the gauze with all of them. She hoped Nancy would find what she needed because she didn’t know what she would do without it.

She started to feel the adrenaline had run off, it’s like her entire body was working in autopilot in the emergency but it started fading. She sensed she reached her limit, but preferred to hide it away, behind a façade.

Nancy’s small scream of joy when she found it broke her out of her trance, she thanked her, and got to work, cleaned the wound, dried the skin around and applied quickly double the amount of hemostatic gauze as it bled through his side and covered with a larger dressing. 

She looked at Eddie, who turned his head towards her, and smiled, the wrinkles by his eyes, the shine in those whiskey brown eyes, it was more than enough to make her smile too.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Tired, so tired, I'm— I feel cold.”

Robin put the blankets over him, she told him he could rest, she would check on him periodically.

They headed downstairs, with everything they had used, threw some in the garbage and put the washcloths, towels and everything else in the washing machine. It’s only then she realised her hands, wrists and forearms were bloody, she felt stuck on her feet watching the blood, like her brain was stuck processing it.

It’s Nancy’s hand on her shoulder that surprised her, jumping and gasping as she turned around, “How do you feel?” 

She looked at Nancy first, then at her hands, her nose had picked up on the iron-y smell, the thickness of it slimming on her fingertips, “I don’t know.” 

Nancy’s hands fell on her arms, she turned her gently so she was facing her, “Sit down for a bit, I’ll tell Robin she can freshen up, I’ll make us something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry, I'm—I’ll take a shower, we’ll eat after. Go freshen up first.” 

She frowned, but her eyes never faltered from her, “Are you sure?”

She nodded slowly, didn’t wait for Nancy’s approval to leave towards the front door to take the walkie from the trailer. She waited, hearing the two shower heads to activate it and call for Steve, in the darkness and coldness of the living room, “Steve?” 

Nothing but the night surrounding her, the quietness, the dark, anxious thoughts. 

“Steve?” her voice broke in the talkie, hoping so much she would hear him, she awaited his voice, its raspiness, but she only received the buzzing of the device. Maybe it didn’t reach the hospital.

She exhaled, grabbed the walkie and walked upstairs. She sat down on a chair near the end of her bed, watching Eddie sleep, she could see the small movements of his breathing rhythm.

She could only hear the droplets of water falling in the bathrooms, absorbed by the darkness of the night, she was lost in her thoughts, the events of the night playing in the back of her mind, thinking of what ifs. 

She didn’t realise how much time she spent lost in her thoughts, Nancy’s hand on her shoulder broke the chain of thoughts, jumping in surprise. Thanking the brunette when she told she could shower, too. 

She looked for comfortable and warm clothes, and before she vanished in the main bathroom, voluntarily choosing not to shower in her bathroom, directly linked to her bedroom, she turned to Nancy and told her to make herself at home. 

With the door locked she turned the water, undressed herself, her eyes avoiding the mirror as she undid the dressing around her side. 

She looked at the wound, then at its reflection, at the curves around her hips, she felt the soreness of her muscles and her skin, the dark and red tones of the bruises almost covered her body. 

She ignored her naked body, her eyes deviating around her features, but she couldn’t ignore her hands, arms, and her face. Dried blood on her forehead, cheeks, lips, chin, her hands, wrists and forearms covered in Eddie’s dry blood.

What she felt made it so complicated for her to comprehend what went through her head, the violence of the previous days was crawling its way in the back of her mind and she didn’t know who she was anymore, she felt uncomfortable in her skin and in her head. 

Hatred, towards herself, that she let herself be involved in this by stepping by that gate, that they couldn’t kill Vecna, that she let herself be so vulnerable in the Upside Down, the breakdowns, she felt shame. Nothing mattered anymore, everything prior to the events down there, it didn’t matter, the jealousy, sleeping around pretending to feel no insecurity and in control. 

She stopped looking at her reflection, instead she took a midsize towel and put it around the mirror, stuck by clothespins. 

In the shower she scrubbed ardently for the blood to be washed away down the drain, she stayed a few extra minutes under the water, letting the droplets of water run down her body. 

She let herself slide down the shower door, the water hitting her body as she rested in complete silence, numb, like the water would help her forget the previous night, like it would magically make her forget.

She hadn’t realised she had started crying, her tears felt colder than the water. Silently she let herself drown in her sorrow, her mind replaying everything that’s happened in the last couple of days, arms and knees pulled inwards, making herself as small as possible in the shower.

The tears stopped, she felt calmer, she turned the water down, and dried herself off, dressing in warm, comfortable clothes, she walked towards her room, put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  From what she could see, Eddie was asleep, deep breaths levelled up his abdomen. 

Silently she looked for a dressing and a bandage in the box of medical supplies, she went to her bathroom, turned on the light, she was met with her reflection, as the one who used her bathroom had removed the towel on her mirror.

She could see red, tired eyes. She avoided her eyes' reflection but she couldn’t  bare herself so she retrieved the towel and put it back, she only pulled one side up to show her her abdomen. Using the small available space she covered her wound with a dressing and bandaged it all up. All under Eddie’s discrete eyes, he wasn’t that deep asleep after all.

She exhaled and let the towel fall on the mirror’s length, Eddie closed his eyes and heard her turn the lights off, walking back to the room and off downstairs, where she met Nancy and Robin. They had prepared things to eat for everyone when the rest of the group would get back from the hospital. With a tired thank you she took two plates along with two water bottles and left towards the stairs, she stopped and turned to the girls.

“Sleep where you want, yeah? I’ll stay with Eddie, you can take my parents’ room or use the mattresses from last night, wake me up when Steve gets back or calls..” she smiled at them, an exhausted smile but she lowered her head, and walked in silence her way upstairs.

She put the plates on her bedside table, found some Tylenol for Eddie, and proceeded to kneel next to him on her bed. With a slow caress on his arm she woke him up, his eyes opened slowly, immediately falling on her, he smiled a little bit at her. 

“How’re you feeling?” 

“Exhausted, I feel like sleeping for six months.”

She giggled softly, kept her eyes at his level, “I have food, water and painkillers, are you feeling up to eating a little bit?” 

He nodded, she helped him sit down against the headset, by placing her arms under his armpits, and held him up, he winced in pain, she kept muttering apologies in the process. She sat by his side, legs crossed on the duvet, he took the painkillers, and quietly they ate together, slowly. 

When they were done he glided down on his own further into the bed, the painkillers had yet to start working, but lying down next to him, he looked up to her as she brought the pillow closest to him.

He intertwined their fingers together, their eyes stuck on one another’s, “You saved me. You saved my life, and I..—I don’t know how to thank you,” his raspy voice broke into his whisper. 

She offered him a timid smile, tightened their fingers for a second, “You don’t have to. You’re my best friend, it’s..—I had to help you, do everything that I could..—it’s..—You know when I saw you there, lying on the ground in Dustin’s arms, lifeless, my brain just entered automatic mode and I had one thing in mind: save you.” 

She paused, took a breath, her eyes derived for a second from him, his fingertips gently stroked her hand, “I had to try and get you back.  I mean, how could I not? If there was a single chance, ever, of course I would take it, and I would do it again, anytime. I can’t lose you,” her voice failed her as the emotion took over. 

The fear of losing him had started appearing then, her brain was so fogged on the technical aspect of the situation that she hadn’t had any time to process anything yet, it was hitting her in the face at full force that she could have lost him, she already imagined his funeral, wearing all black, seeing the coffin falling six feet under. 

She saw again all the blood, the way his body had stopped breathing, his eyes were just so.. glossy. 

“You were dead. You weren’t breathing, your heart had stopped. I couldn’t allow for it to happen and not try, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself,” she whispered, afraid her voice would betray her, but a couple of seconds after she broke into sobs.

The tears were of fear, exhaustion, she needed to let go, couldn’t let it weigh down on her shoulders. 

Through red eyes she saw Eddie’s hand had left her fingers to wipe away the pearly tears on her cheek, himself tearful, one second away from crying,  “If you cry, I’ll cry—and that won’t be fun for anyone,” 

“After the night we’ve spent, I think we’re allowed to let the tears go,” her voice broke through the sobs, she scooted closer to Eddie, her head on the pillow closest to him, her forehead made contact with his own, and with closed eyes they breathed to calm down. 

When she opened her eyes she retreated her head a bit, taking in his face, his eyes felt like it burned her skin, like only his eyes were enough to set her on fire.

He looked at her but it’s like he saw right through her, and what she was going to do, he leaned his face a little on the side, his nose a little closer to her’s. 

Looking down at his lips, so inviting, so tempting, their rosy plumpness, her eyes looked up to his’, and in a one swift move she put her hand on his cheek and leaned closer to him, until her lips met with his.

She discovered how it finally felt like to kiss him, so much time spent together, so many nights spent entangled in bed and she hadn’t kissed him, not once, because of a boundary she had set to protect her heart.

She realises now how stupid this boundary was, at least with him, because it’s Eddie, who gives the appearance of taking nothing seriously, and he does, but not as much as everyone thinks.

He’s taken for granted, always seen as a monster who preaches Satan, when in fact, he was a dork, a geek who played guitar in an amateur music band, and played a game of fantasy. He smoked because like everyone else he wasn’t perfect and he was fine with that. She was too.

She realised how silly she’s been with him as his lips pushed on her delicately. Her fingers travelled to the nape of his neck, she pulled lightly, earning a shy moan from him.

They both knew it would never get further than this again, he didn’t want to cross her boundaries and force a choice out of her out of pity or whatever. He got to kiss her, though, felt like a win in life. Their lips detached, they felt in their bones that it would be their last intimate moment, but that’s exactly why she kissed him. 

She had no idea where she stood with Steve, she didn’t want to even think about that now, so in that moment, she let all her guards down, and gave herself what she had wanted in those three months but was so afraid to take : a kiss from Eddie Munson.

His head fell back on the pillow, face still tilted toward her, a smile ghosting his lips, “Best friends?” he whispered as his fingers made their way back to hers’, he tightened their intertwined fingers.

Her eyes travelled from his lips to his eyes, diving into those soft, brown pupils, she couldn’t help but smile, “Of course, you’re not getting rid of me so easily, Munson.” 

Her head hit the pillow next to his shoulder, her body leaned towards him, the room fell in a quiet atmosphere, Eddie had fallen asleep rapidly, his soft breath was the only thing she could hear and slowly she let herself fall asleep to a calm sleep. 

Deep asleep, she didn’t realise right away the front door had been opened, the voices speaking downstairs, nor the steps of the stairs creaking by the weight of people walking up. 

She woke up violently when she realised there was some movement in the house, immediately thinking of Steve, and the teenagers. 

She slowly got up so she wouldn’t wake Eddie, and walked downstairs quietly, as she got down she heard muffled voices, whispers, and Steve in Nancy’s arms, she paused, trying to not let it go to her head.

They were friends. They’re friends and friends embrace each other, kiss each other, apparently, it would be petty and stupid to let this get under her skin and not appropriate because it’s not a priority. 

She closed her eyes, and breathed in slowly, then walked down the rest of the stairs.

The two detached as they heard movement, and she joined them in the living room, “What happened? What time is it?” 

“It’s a little past seven, Max has been hospitalised, for now they’re only sure about external injuries, severely broken legs, they need to do more tests on her, but her mother’s insurance won’t cover it and I have no idea what to do. Dustin has been looked over, he has a sprained ankle, he has a splint and brace. Their parents were called, the police were there, they wanted to question us and for the older ones in the group they wanted to summon us in,” he had talked so fast, rambling on that she could barely catch any of it, but she did. 

Instinctively she walked closer to him and put both her hands on his shoulders, “Breathe, Steve, breathe. We’ll.. find something, right? We’ll find something to say. We’ll hide Eddie in my house, it’s gonna be fine,” she really wanted to be reassured but she had trouble even convincing herself. 

His eyes were watery, his brow furrowed, he was short of breath, hands on his hips, she recognized he was in distress, just by the way he looked at her, it pulled at her heartstrings to see him like that, instinctively she brought him towards her, her arms circled his waist, her chin on his shoulder.

His hands shyly circled around her shoulders, he held her tightly, his fingertips shaking a little bit, “We’re going to find something, we’re not abandoning anyone okay, we need to stick together, close ranks.” 

Nancy behind her nodded, until her eyes fell on someone coming down the front door, they detached, but she took his hand and held it tightly, they saw Dustin walking with his brace, he looked so exhausted.

Her other hand instinctively went up on his back, he gave her a tired smile. 

She let Steve and Lucas freshen up in the main bathroom, Erica had been brought back to her and her brother’s house, Lucas didn’t want to be alone and leave Dustin.

Nancy went back to sleep with Robin in her parents’ room while she remade the beds on the floor, while Lucas, and Dustin were eating in the kitchen, she saw Steve coming down.

She handed the final plate to Steve as she leaned on the counter, he whispered a small thank you, and ate in silence as Dustin and Lucas seemed far in their thoughts, “You guys should sleep a little, we’ll think everything through after some rest, alright?” 

Absentmindedly, Lucas nodded, his head turned to Steve and her, “You really think we’ll find a way to help Max and Eddie without getting into some more problems? The stakes are.. so absurd right now.. it didn’t seem like an ‘end of the world’ type of threat when all of this began. We just wanted to find Will.” 

Even if she wasn’t around when all of this began, she could understand what he meant, and she had to admit he was right, the way everything happened every year seemed like it always got so worse.

“I know I’m new to this, we don’t know each other, but trust me on this, Lucas, we will do everything we can to sort this out. We’ll help Max, if we have to rob a bank we will, but we will find something. And as for Eddie.. We’ll hide him until everything feels safer, and we’ll talk to the police. We’ll handle this.” 

“What if we don’t?” 

“We’ll try our hardest, everything we can.” 

He nodded, but he wasn’t convinced. She couldn’t blame him, they had gone through hell multiple times, they found their way back before, but maybe this time was the point of no return. 

Lucas and Dustin went to the living room to lie down, Steve and her stood shoulder to shoulder doing the dishes, she cleaned and rinsed it as Steve dried it quietly. 

With a slight pull on his hand they left to sleep. The house was quiet as everyone was asleep. 

A couple hours later, everyone was up, and while they ate they all worked on their statements for the police, keeping the same version of the story, making sure nothing was left out. The teenagers all preferred to be with them in the police station, even if only the older ones were summoned. 

Eddie was staying in her house for now, he could barely get up, he was exhausted, but Nancy thought of getting him a walkie so they could stay in contact while he was alone in the house, leaving water and meds by his side. The four of them had made sure to hide the bruises around their throats with makeup, that one would be extremely difficult to explain without justifying it with some weird kinda games. They didn’t want to go there.

The day at the police station was excruciating, they went one by one, and delivered the same deposition, almost word for word, explaining that the murders weren’t Eddie’s doing, that he was known around for playing Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy game. 

Paranoids had taken him for an escape goat because he fit perfectly, on the outside only.

Max’s condition in the hospital resulted from an attack from Jason and she had been forced down the two levels of stairs from the attic, where they had planned to play D&D in Creel’s house, at night, that Eddie wasn’t there and she didn’t have any news from him since March twentieth.

The four versions were the same, only adapted to their occupations the night Chrissy died., and the sheriff let them go.  It was close to six in the afternoon, they drove back to the forest to get Nancy’s car, the two cars followed each other as they parked in front of her house.

They all agreed to share that same version to their parents, then Nancy left with everyone except her to her house where she knew Lucas’s parents and Dustin’s mom would be.  Steve retrieved his car and took Robin home, then drove back to his house. 

He felt uncomfortable in the quietness and emptiness of it, he felt dread, completely impulsively he took a Duffel bag and stuffed some clothes and toiletries in there. Enough for a week at least.

Nancy was calmly explaining the events of the previous days to their parents, staying true to what they had said at the police station. 

Even if their parents felt like they were irresponsible, they were glad everyone was safe, that’s when Lucas broke through and talked about Max. 

She wasn’t okay, the cost of her stay in the hospital would be crushing her mother who was struggling a lot. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, but they stayed quiet. 

She had checked on Eddie, who was fast asleep in her room, until he would get up she decided on cleaning up her house.

It was like a storm had gone through it, and she terribly needed the distraction.

Sorting out the camping mattresses and sleeping bags in her garage, she kept thinking of Max and how they could help her, of how she would be able to keep taking care of Eddie’s injuries, hers’ and God she forgot Steve’s, with little to no material.

Everything she used was on prescription, it’s not something she could buy like gauze and the rest of it. The ringing of the front door echoed in her house and made her jump in surprise, “Oh God, what is it now.”

She was stunned to find Steve on her front door, a Duffel bag in hand, for the first time she couldn’t decipher his face, she couldn’t tell what emotion rode his face, tension started to build up as he didn’t say anything. His eyes started to wander on the ground, and there she could see it: embarrassment. 

“Steve, are you okay?” 

His eyes closed for a second, and opened to look at her, as his mouth opened to say something they felt the earth move beneath their feet, it started off small but in a matter of seconds gained more force, it was even more violent than the earthquake in the Upside Down. 

They tried to maintain balance but they failed, stumbling forward, her face was going to hit the pavement but Steve prevented that by grabbing her sides while falling on his side on the grass and tightly holding onto one another’s as they felt the world tear itself violently under their bodies.

The sun had set only minutes ago, it began to be darker so all that could be seen was the reddish orange light reflecting the teared paths on the grounds, and the roads.  The path was clear, one look from the sky and anyone could see it took inspiration from the cardinal points, each path in one way.

It went from the outside of the Hawkins to its centre, with a final explosion when the paths met, and the earth calmed down. 

Four paths, four murders. It had to be Vecna. 

To Nancy it was crystal clear, as she tightly held Dustin and her mother’s arm, in her living room, where minutes ago she was still explaining to their parents what had happened in the last couple of days, and it was so limpid. 

“Are you okay?” Steve murmured once he felt stable, it had stopped, his hands detached on her arms, but his fingers lingered on her skin. 

She nodded, her arms moved and she sat up between Steve’s spread out legs, her hands flat next to his thighs for stability, her head turned to look at him, “Are you? Did you hit something?” 

“I’m fine,” he whispered as he sat back up too, her back against his chest.

They both thought the same thing, their memories of the day prior resurfaced, Vecna’s plan. 

They were right, he wasn’t dead, and when she turned back around with wide eyes, Steve grew the same worry; Max. Had he managed to get her? 

“We have to get to Nancy, we should head to the hospital.. Uh, okay, put your things inside, I’ll check on Eddie and we‘ll head to Nancy’s house, c’mon.” 

They got back on their feet and rushed inside the house, she warned Eddie about what was going on, he asked them to be careful and to stay in touch, she met Steve by her front door and together they walked towards Nancy’s house, a few houses from her’s. 

Nancy was outside, along with Dustin and Lucas walking to her car, they understood each other immediately, and they hopped in the car, driving to the hospital.

They observed the consequences through the windows, the road was split in half, with an entrance to the Upside Down right in the centre of it, along the road. They didn’t know yet how the city looked, downtown, that the public library had been destroyed because of the major explosion, where the paths had met.

They could see the vines in between the two parts of the road, it reflected some reddish pink light, they were right, Vecna’s plan had worked, the rift between the Upside Down and Hawkins is now open. 

When they got to the hospital the roads weren’t blocked by traffic yet, it was pretty smooth except for driving on the side of the road to avoid the gigantic rift. The hospital was a bit farther in town and wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake, that was a good sign. 

It also gave them the information that Max wasn’t the one murdered by Vecna, or the hospital would have been destroyed. Who was it, then? And where?

With two visitors only, Lucas and Dustin went to see her as Steve, Nancy and her waited in the waiting area on the floor, they were quiet, sat soundlessly, Steve’s leg started bouncing.

She had closed her eyes, her hands covering her eyes in frustration and anticipation, until she felt the vibrations of Steve’s leg, her eyes glared at his leg, then at him. She put her hand on his thigh, it made him stop his movements, his face turned to her and their eyes connected. He intertwined their fingers together, patiently waiting for Lucas and Dustin’s return.

Nancy talked to a doctor about Max’s condition, and even though they tried their hardest to listen, her and Steve couldn’t seem to focus on it.  There was a lot surrounding them, and the most dangerous of it all: Vecna wasn’t dead, he had survived, it seemed like their efforts were for nothing. Max’s sacrifice was for nothing, Eddie’s too.

Max’s mother arrived shortly after Lucas and Dustin left to get Nancy, Steve and her, not caring about the visitors’ rule, the lady at the desk wasn’t even there to worry about it, perhaps the aftermath of the gates breaking through was coming to the hospital.

As they walked towards her room, she felt uneasy, out of place, in front of the door, ajar, she pulled on Steve’s hand.

“Wait, it’s..—I’ll wait for you in the waiting area. I shouldn’t be here, I’m intruding, I don’t know her like you guys do, it doesn’t make sense for me to be there,” her uneasiness spoke for her, distress on her face.

“You deserve your place as much as we do. She will appreciate your presence,” he murmured to her as he made a few steps closer to her, she could feel his breath on her face.

She searched in his eyes, and all she found was assurance.  He pulled on her hand and together they entered her room.

Max’s legs were in casts, she had IVs running down, she was also attached to a monitor beeping along her heartbeat. 

She smiled faintly, tired, Lucas stood beside her alongside her mother. Dustin had sat down, his brace next to him.

She watched Max and her mom interact, and saw she cared for her daughter. The woman was exhausted by the two jobs she had but by the smile she offered her daughter she could see she was so relieved.

She hadn’t realised she had zoned out for a few minutes, lost in her thoughts, Max’s mother reminded her that she hadn’t seen her parents in a long time, and that she wished her parents would be more like her. 

Steve repeated her name, and with a pull on her hand, she was back with them, “Sorry, what?”

Steve’s head turned towards the adult, who was looking her way, “Max said you’re all to thank for saving her,, I don’t know how to tha—”

“Oh no no, please, of course, how could we not help her when we were able to?”

“That witch hunt on that Munson boy proves us otherwise. I want to thank you all, she wouldn’t be here without you,” Mrs Mayfield smiled, watery eyes, she couldn’t help but walk towards her and embrace her, her hands shaking on her shoulders. She was taken aback, at first but gently put her hand on her back. She kept murmuring thank yous as she embraced Lucas too.

They talked rapidly to Max, and gave her some time with her mother. While they left, Nancy suggested that they try to find the fourth path, they drove downtown and they saw how everything was destroyed, rampants were slowly crawling their way up to the buildings, around the gate on the road.

They followed one path, but got directed towards the trailer park, they reversed back downtown, they found a route that didn’t seem familiar to them, it led to Benny’s Burger old place, now squatted by the basketball team.

Lucas knew who it was, because it could only be one person, who had gone completely off the rails and was the perfect prey for Vecna: Jason. 

They didn’t need to exit the vehicle, the place was completely destroyed, Lucas explained what he believed. They felt partly relieved that he wouldn’t be after them again, but the dangerousness of the situation quickly surpassed the relief.

The real End of the World was coming. 

Eddie was asleep in her room, Steve was in her living room, lying on the couch, he couldn’t sleep.

The light of the moon shone through the patio door, he was lost in his thoughts, hand tucked under his head on the pillow.

He had quit thinking of Vecna and what they would do, he was clueless, he felt like he was always late at catching up, always so late to pick up on anything, always the last to understand anything. 

Like his father had always told him. He wasn’t there very often but when he was he always made sure to let his son know he was a failure. Without fail.

He turned on his side, grabbing the blanket to cover his neck, now facing the coffee table, the TV. His eyes travelled to the staircase, and his thoughts shifted to her; the three of them had eaten in her room quietly, Eddie managed to sit down on his own, they had explained in small sentences what had happened, but the two sounded and looked completely defeated.

Shortly after she changed the dressings on Eddie’s wounds, then Steve’s, and hers’, with the medical supplies Nancy and Steve had helped her steal in a half destroyed pharmacy after they had driven Lucas and Dustin home.

She had worked on their wounds in complete silence, deep in her thoughts, under Steve’s careful and curious eyes when she did Eddie’s, the two young men had shared a couple questioning eye contacts. Puzzled by her silence. And when she did Steve, he was as silent as her in the main bathroom, just looking at her, until she was finished and he hadn’t realised she was done. 

They had gone to sleep without a sound, Eddie was tired from sitting up on his own, he drifted off to sleep quickly. She stood next to him, couldn’t sleep either, staring into the night through the window. 

She heard Eddie’s slow breathing, but somehow couldn’t sleep. She turned on her back, facing the ceiling, she exhaled loudly.

She sat up, and quietly walked down the stairs, she tried to not make any sound, so as to not wake Steve.  She prepared a cup with honey, the tea bag as she waited for the water to boil in the kettle.

Steve had seen her walk down to the kitchen silently, he had an internal debate whether or not to join her. 

She poured the boiling water in her cup, her spoon stirred mindlessly the honey, Steve had an impression she was so deep in her thoughts she hadn’t realised he was there. His hand slowly approached her shoulder, and when his fingertips softly brushed over her skin her head turned to him.

He could see her tired eyes, like himself she was overthinking and couldn’t stop the train of thoughts in her head. He understood the feelings she had, because he felt the same, unsure, confused, numb of everything, not even trusting her own mind. 

She couldn’t tell what she felt, because she didn’t know anything. It wasn’t the first time she felt like she didn’t know or understood anything she felt, or knew, but this intense, she hadn’t experienced that before, like an amnesiac trying to remember.

Steve’s hands wrapped around her shoulders, her side against his, she turned herself in front of him, her forehead falling on his shoulder, his hands drifting to her waist, he intertwined his fingers on the low of her back as she softly pulled him towards her by his waist.

She knotted his shirt in her fists, in a desperate manoeuvre to never let him go. 

“I’m so tired.. so.. drained. I feel like I don’t know myself anymore, it’s been.. the last couple of days have completely changed me and I don’t know. I just.. I don’t know,” she started, turning the side of her face so her nose could hide in his neck.

“The reason I left you that night was.. because I anxiously grew worried to have you involved in all of this, not because I thought you wouldn’t be.. capable of handling this or anything like that, but because I know the weight the secrets of the Upside Down holds on you. It’s heavy on your conscience and the more you go through with this the more it damages everything. I didn’t want you to suffer like we are, like I am, but.. here you are,” He exhaled loudly, defeat evident in his voice.

She held onto him tighter, her fists almost pulling at the material in his back, “I understand. I know that what you’re saying are not lies, because I feel it too. I feel that in pending doom over our heads. It eats your brain slowly with anxiety, and now, when I remember the look on your face from then you..—Everything that triggered me then —still triggers me now— was partly because of the Upside Down and I’m— sorry.”

She paused, mainly to try and breath, shaky breaths left her lips as she tried to let out what she felt for him, it overwhelmed her, having so much to say, to apologise for, to admit. 

“You were a constant thing in my life and.. I need something similar back. I can’t believe I would be so sure that you’re still the same asshole from highschool. I’ve spent months sleeping around, believing it would stop the insecurities, fill whatever emptiness I feel, all because of something that’s from a Sci-fi movie. I’ve wasted so much unnecessary energy being jealous of Nancy, having sex with my best friend–” she kept rambling but Steve stopped listening.

One of his hands detached itself from her back to cup her chin, he leaned his head down and in one swift move, he shut her overwhelming talk with the plumpness of his lips. Not that he didn’t care, but he didn’t want them to run in circles about their mistakes and what they could’ve done differently, he wanted to be present in their present, their moment. The past and their lies and mistakes belonged there, not here, now.

She didn’t respond at first, letting her brain process the information that he was kissing her, until she realised he was kissing her!  She leaned closer, and pressed harder on his lips, one of her hands moving to his cheek softly, they quickly separated, foreheads touching.

“Promise me you’ll still be here when I wake up tomorrow,” she whispered before she put her lips back for a soft kiss.

“I’ll be here with you every day of my life, in the morning, the afternoon, the night.. As long as you allow me to be close to you,” he muttered through his breath as he tried to catch his breath.

“Just what I needed to hear,” she murmured against his lips, her hands were on both his cheeks as their lips attached, they had no desire for it to go further than kisses, but it was more than enough.

Her hands traveled to the nape of his neck and together they helped her up the kitchen corner, his body slotting perfectly between her thighs, his hands roaming around her sweatshirt to find its way under the material to feel her skin.

There was some kind of fire with Steve, a blooming fire, burning up so high it burned for the both of them, warming them. It felt ethereal what they felt for one another, to feel such lightness. 

His lips drew kisses along her cheeks, down to her jaw, earning some giggles from her as he neared her ticklish spot in her neck. He put a final kiss on her chin, their foreheads touching, eyes closed, with only their mingled breath reasoning in the kitchen.

He helped her down from the kitchen countertop and headed towards the living room and the pulled-out sofa, “C’mon, we should get some rest.”

Bodies tangled up under the covers, his warmth was burning but she felt so good in his embrace, like a cocoon.

If it wasn’t for the sword of Damocles on their heads.

If it wasn’t for Vecna and his army, the life ending threat, it would be perfect.

It would be so perfect, not heartbreaking at all that they couldn't be together.

[stevefromupsidedown]

something, somehow, someday || steve harrington

steve has been in love with you for longer than he hasn't. he'll be there whether you're happy in love with someone else or heartbroken over a bad date. will you ever get there?

PAIRING:  modern au bestfriend+roommate!steve harrington x reader

WARNINGS: none!

WORD COUNT: 3.6k words

A/N: i've been plagued by steve harrington for years but finally had the courage and motivation to write something<3 it's probably not as good as it could be but i hope you enjoy it anyway<3

thank you, my baby aysel for proof reading and giving me feedback and also shoutout to @wishing-on-a-staranise and @takemetothelakes-poets for encouraging me to keep writing and for the steve brainrot in our groupchat<3

"Tonight's the night, Steve, I feel it!" you say, tightening your dangly earrings that made you look oh, so pretty. Steve's brows crinkle, not understanding what you meant. You catch onto his confusion and clarify," The date..... I think he's going to ask me to be his girlfriend tonight. I can feel it." You grin.

Steve's face falls for a split second but you don't notice, too busy deciding on your perfume for the night. Steve clears his throat lightly,"...And do you want to be fully official as well?" He holds his breath.

You pause in your step for a moment, shrugging the question away and Steve knows not to push you further. He watches you ditch your trusted sneakers for a pair of uncomfortable looking heels that he knows you hate wearing.

As much as Steve wants to stop your date and sabotage it somehow, he has to watch it happen.

You and Jack had been on and off for almost a year now and Steve had to watch the daft fool play around with your feelings constantly, treating you like an afterthought, being late for dates, forgetting plans, ditching you for friends, and so on.

Steve doesn't know what you see in him but he has to be supportive for your sake. And be there when things go sideways, as they often did with Jack. Why couldn't you see that Jack was so wrong for you? He bites his tongue.

He follows you out into the living room of your shared loft with Robin and Eddie. “You got any plans?” you ask him, glancing at the clock to see how long you had left.

He tucks a stray strand of your hair behind your ear, shaking his head. “Probably gonna watch a movie with Robin. Eddie’s out for practice.”

“Do not watch Ferris Bueller without me,” you warn and he throws you a two finger salute paired with a smirk that has you clearing your throat.

Robin walks out of her room, in some old sweats and a jacket that belonged to Steve at some point. “Oooooooh, hot date?” she asks, nodding at you approvingly as you make a show of twirling in your new dress.

“She thinks it’s the date,” Steve answers for you, exchanging a hard to decipher look with Robin. You swear they had a whole language of their own.

“Oh?” One of Robin’s brows quirk up as she looks from Steve to you, and back to Steve. You nod lightly, before grabbing your little bag.

“I’ll get going, then,” you took a deep breath, walking toward the door. 

Steve gives you a semi-hug, squeezing you lightly,” You got this, babe.”

“Call us if you need anything,” Robin instructs and you smile, waving at your friends as you leave with a fluttering stomach and a pounding heart.

Steve watches you leave with a sad smile on his face and spends the next hour pacing, unable to calm himself down. Robin doesn’t say anything, offering him a hug as she watches him torture himself with the thoughts of your night out.

Eddie walks in, not longer after and Robin fills him in via inaudible mumbles. Eddie offers him an empathetic smile and Steve shrugs it off, “Stop looking at me like that! I’m fine! As long as she’s happy, y’know.”

The metalhead ruffles his hair affectionately, and is met with protests immediately. “Could you not? The hair is off limits, Munson. You know this.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll take a quick shower then.” He retreats to his room in slow steps.

“Don’t drown in there,” Steve mumbles sarcastically.

“I heard that!” 

“You were supposed to,” Steve grins, though Eddie can’t see him. 

He spends the rest of the evening alternating between mindless scrolling on his phone (his gallery specifically, for the candids of you) and begrudgingly reading that book you recommended him to read with a red headed teenage protagonist called Anne. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone just how invested he was in poor Anne’s tragically romantic life.

He checks the wall clock for the time. Almost 9 o’clock. Maybe he should call it a night. He puts the book down, wiping his hands on his thighs over the denim pants he had on. There’s a thud at the door and Steve whips his head to it immediately. The key turns from the outside and the door is pushed open slowly. 

“Honey?” Steve asks, looking at your shaking hands and sad eyes, getting up immediately. 

“Mhmm, it’s me,” you mumble, eyes darting on the floor, not daring to meet his.

“You’re back?” Robin enters the room. You don’t respond, closing the door behind you. “Are you…okay?” She asks, although it is evident you are not.

“‘M fine,” your voice is clipped, a little hoarse, beelining for your room.

Steve reaches for you, hand outstretched, “Honey…” You ignore him, breathing in slowly. “What happened-?”

“Toots! How was the big date? I thought it’d be a full night thing, no nightcap?” Eddie walks in cheerfully, drying his messy curls with a towel, blissfully unaware of the room and its energy.

That seemed to do it.

You burst out, “Since you’re all so curious, he basically said I’m unloveable and hard to even put up with an aggressive and combative and dramatic and that no one could or would ever love me. Are you satisfied now?” 

Silence. You take this silence as a chance to stalk towards your room and slam the door shut as soon as you’re inside.

Eddie is the first one out of the stupor,” What the fuck?”

Steve feels himself burn up with rage. Fucking Jack. He better fucking sleep with one eye fucking open or Steve was going to mess him stupid face up so-

Robin nudges his shoulder. “Murder later. Now go after her, doofus.”

She was right. He rushes to your door and knocks on it "Honey? Can I please come in?" He’s met with silence.

“Baby?" he tries again.

"Go away." A sniffly sentence that makes him pout at your closed door.

"I will stay out here all night if you don't let me in. Give me two minutes of your time, please?"

The door unlocks. Steve lets himself in, heart tightening at the sight in front of him. you in your lovely floral dress you'd brought out just for this date. For that dick. And your beautiful eyes filled with tears and your mascara smudged. There's a pinch between your brows he'd find adorable in a different situation.

He opens his arms and looks at you, and just as he’d known you jump into his embrace, koala-like in your posture, clinging onto him. 

He hugs back with just as much feeling, making sure to be gentle.

He's not sure how long you stood there together, his legs ached a little bit but he waited for you to move.

"Do you want to sit?" he asked. He felt a nod of your head, still buried in his chest. "Alright..." he moved you both carefully, seating himself at the edge of the bed with you next to him.

The new position gave him the opportunity to look at your face. "Hi honey" he says, raising a hand to your face, wiping a stray tear away.

You lean into the touch, humming.

"That asshole doesn't deserve you, you know that right?"

You shrug at this. He doesn't like the response one bit. "Surely you can't believe anything he said" Steve scoffs. "He's literally called Jack. you can't trust a j name!"

That makes you smile a little, but it goes down very quickly. "What if I am, Stevie?"

"Are what?" his eyebrows crinkle.

"Unloveable. what if nobody ever-"

He doesn't let you finish. "Let me stop you right there. You're not unloveable. Or anything he said. You're fucking sunshine, baby. You make sure everyone around you’s happy and are so caring and loving and that prick can only dream of having half the love you have in this little finger of yours." he says, eyes looking at yours while he entwined his pinky with yours.

"You really think so?" Your voice is so soft that Steve could cry.

"I know so, honey." he brings your palm to his lips, leaving a quick peck there. 

It’s been weeks since the night Jack broke your heart, and you seemed to be feeling better. Finally.

Steve was done watching you pine after an idiot that didn’t know what he had. If it were him, he’d treat you the way you deserved to be treated. 

He’d dote on you with hugs and kisses, and wake you up to pretty flowers and breakfast in bed…and maybe some other things in bed. His cheeks flush as he’s pulled out of his daydreams by a smirking Robin.

“Are you done fantasizing about Y/N? Or do you need some more tim-?” 

Steve shoves her away, hushing her loudly as he watches you look up from your book on the couch. When you smile at him, he sighs audibly. Thank god you hadn’t heard Robin’s big mouth.

“Could you just shhh, she’s right here!” he’s exasperated and Robin just snorts, shrugging as if to say that’s why she does it.

He sticks out his tongue at her and she shoves at him which he gladly returns. “Children, children, children,” Eddie pipes up, looking up from his absentminded strumming of his beloved guitar,” Daddy’s working.”

“Shut up, Eddie,” they say simultaneously and you giggle at their antics.

Your eyes catch Steve’s warm ones and you feel a smile break out as he wiggles his eyebrows at you. “Movie?” you mouth at him and he shrugs a yes, knowing full well you were going to pick Pretty Woman yet again. Even if you’d both watched it so many times that you could quote it verbatim.

He gestured to the others in the room, asking if you wanted them to accompany you. You shook your head. You know it was a little mean, but selfishly you wanted him all to yourself. 

The way it was when it was just the two of you, holding hands and intertwining fingers, before teenage angst ruined it all. Before King Steve ever made an appearance. When you could be close without having to have feelings for one another.

That’s not to say you didn’t though. You had the biggest crush on him when you were both thirteen. And maybe for a couple years after that. You tell yourself that it was just a childish feeling, nothing worth remembering. Nothing worth losing sleep over.

So, you shrug it off everytime the feeling gnaws at your heart threatening to bubble over the surface when he smiles at you with that perfect mouth, his whole face lighting up as he calls you those lovely nicknames that you didn’t deserve.

You yawn loudly, shutting your book with a snap. Robin looks at you,” Tired already?”

“Mhmm,” you nod as convincingly as you could, “I think I'll go to bed now.” You walk out of the living room, calling behind you as you go. “Steve? Could you help me with something please?”

Steve thought it was so cute, if not a little overkill. You didn't want your friends to feel bad about your and Steve’s little movie night so you put up this little act. It never fooled anyone.

Eddie smirks at Steve as he gets up to follow you. “Help with something… Is that what the kids are calling it now?” Robin snickers along with him and Steve rolls his eyes, flipping them off before skipping to your room.

Shutting the door behind himself, he sees you already in bed, laptop on your lap as you set it up.

“Hi,” you smile at him, eyes warm and inviting. He feels his stomach flip a little. 

“Hi babe,” he grins back, taking his place next to you, an arm behind your back as you settle into his chest a little better. “Pretty Woman?”

“You know me so well,” you teased, hand coming to pinch his cheek. He leans into the touch, sighing.

Your palm rests on his cheek for a second too long and his breathing stops. Are you leaning in or is this wishful thinking?

Your breathing grows heavy as you observe the same face you've seen a thousand times. The twin moles on his neck look so inviting. Your thumb moves back and forth on his cheek as you get impossibly closer, almost a hair's breadth away.

Your phone lets out an ill-timed, “BEEP! BEEP!”

You startle. Laptop falling off your lap onto the mattress clumsily. You clear your throat and reach for your phone, avoiding Steve's eyes.

Steve, on the other hand, is still reeling and dazed, blinking at you as you check your phone, swiping the notifications away as you avoid his eyeline.

You clear your throat, “Should I start the movie?”

He nods quickly, settling back into your usual position, making sure to leave some space as he tries to focus on the screen.

He steals glances at your face as you watch the screen blankly. He wonders if you're thinking about what could have happened if your phone hadn't interrupted.

Would you have closed the gap between the two of you?

The movie continues playing as you slowly doze off, your head coming to rest on Steve's shoulder and he feels himself smile.

He wants to stay here forever.

The next morning, you woke out of your room, rubbing the last of the sleep in your eyes, hair wild and mouth open in a yawn when you find Steve sipping on his coffee on the counter.

He jumps down when he sees you approach, “Good morning, honey. Sleep well?” He gives you a one armed hug that you return gladly.

“Mhmm, I don't even remember falling asleep,” you get to making your own coffee.

“Ah, yeah. You dozed off pretty quick into the movie. Was cute,” he taps on your nose as you catch sight of his twin moles again.

You breathe in sharply as the moment from the night before flashes in your mind. You shake it away and take a step back. It was way too early for this.

You lift your chin to look at him just to find him already turned to you, an easy smile on his face, eyes crinkled in that sunshiney way of his. You feel your heart skip a beat and you feel it hit you like a thousand bricks. 

It’s Steve. Always has been.

Your quest for love and a dream guy to sweep you off your feet has always been pointless because there has always been Steve.

From sleepless nights and impromptu baking sessions together, to crying on his shoulder whenever you needed it. From your high school graduation to your first heartache, from getting your favourite plush for you at the arcade to cozy nights in, talking about everything and nothing for hours on end. It was always him.

How had you been so blind to what was right in front of you? 

You carry on with your day on autopilot, your mind filling through years of interactions, of cheesy nicknames and lingering touches- filling you with a giddiness only rivaled by Robin when she wins at monopoly.

You are almost entirely sure Steve loves you. But the tiny off chance that you’re making this up fills you with anxiety and you can’t decide how to go about this.

Your brand new revelation makes it so much harder to interact with Steve over the next couple of weeks. Sweet, sweet Steve with his pet names, and short sleeved tees that make you grind your teeth together.

You quickly realise how drawn to him you are in any room, no matter how crowded. You’re a moth to his flame. He seems just as drawn though, arms coming around you in friendly squeezes and forehead kisses that make your friends wiggle their brows at you. Had you been so oblivious all along?

Just last Tuesday, he maneuvered across your body to get to the counter in the kitchen, hand squeezing at your waist momentarily and you dropped the spoon in your hand. You can swear you saw Robin snort into her cereal as she watches you fumble like a middle schooler across what would have been a normal interaction two months before. 

At the party you’d gone to the weekend prior, he’s shown up in a zipped up jacket and jeans. You damn near lost your mind when he took the jacket off, revealing a snug black t-shirt. So basic yet so… good. You stuttered through your compliment to him, but he just smirked, “Drunk already, are we?” You’d played along, pretending to be drunker than you were so you’d have an excuse for the stuttering and the clinging to him and the giddiness that made you feel pretty drunk- so maybe you weren’t really lying.

So yeah, it has been an uphill battle and you feel like Tantalus, craving for something you want so, so bad. It’s right in front of you, but just out of reach by bare millimeters.

You could have probably put more effort into being subtle because it appears your friends suspect something, or at least you think they do. They’ve been dropping remarks and out of context statements to try and coax out a confession from you till it works.

Last night, she mentioned setting up Steve with one of her book club acquaintances in passing, insisting that they would work really well together when he rejected her proposal. You held your breath through the whole conversation, your mindless strumming on Eddie’s spare guitar pausing.

When Steve said he’d think about it and left for his room, Robin turned her eyes on you with a badly suppressed grin. “Everything okay, Y/n?”

You held back the urge to roll your eyes, nodding stiffly as Eddie laughed. “Leave the poor girl alone, Buckley. She’s only just getting there.”

“Getting where?” you played dumb.

Robin raised a singular brow at you, eyes darting towards Steve’s door and back at you and you spilled,” Fine! I’m getting there. In fact, I got here months ago and I feel like I’m in hell. I don’t know what to do with all these, these feelings now!”

She smiled like she’d won the lottery. “Just tell him! He’s so gone for you it’s insane. If I have to hear him sigh because you left the room one more time, I’ll kill myself in front of you. Eddie, tell her!”

“Are you completely sure?” you posed, a smile growing as the little doubt in you left you.

“Uh, is a T-rex physically stronger than a level 20 Barbarian?” he asked, excitement barely in check.

“...Yes?” you hazarded a guess, your smile blooming even wider in tandem with your roommates’. “But how do I even tell him or do I even tell him? Do I wait for him to-”

“Worry not, fair maiden, for I have a plan worthy of your everlasting love for the golden haired paladin down the hallwa-” 

“How many times have I told you not to talk in your weird dungeon master voice in normal situations. It freaks me out and is so unnecessary-” Robin interjects.

“Fine! Just say you hate metal and whimsy but whatever.” He turns to you,” I have a plan.”

And that’s exactly how you reached where you are right now, exactly two days later, in your best pair of jeans and the cute button up black top you got at the mall last august. You’re standing outside the cafe Steve is sitting at, waiting for his supposed blind date setup by Robin. You hope this wasn’t all a misread after misread of the situation. You hope you never lose him, especially not because of a can of worms you decided to open.

You peek in and catch sight of his nervous hands fiddling with the bracelet you’d got him last Christmas and somehow that was enough to convince you to finally walk in. You approach his table in slow and steady strides, and watch as his gaze rises up from your shoes and upward.

His face glowed with recognition, before settling on confusion. “Honey? What are you doing here?”

“Why? You want me to leave?” you feigned disappointment, pouting at him in a way that made his eyes linger on your glossy lips. You held in a sly smile as you smacked your lips together with a subtle pop, making him gulp.

“Wha- Of course not, I always want you around. S’ just, I’m supposed to be on a date…” he trails off, embarrassed,” But, I think I’m being stood up so seat’s all yours.” 

“You’re not being stood up, Steve,” you say, pulling your chair out to sit across from him.

” Well she’s not here, so.” He smiles dejectedly.

“She is,” you smile at him and he’s all confused puppy eyes, scrunched up eyebrows and adorably tilted head. All you want to do is kiss that pout off his mouth. 

He’s still looking at you puzzled when you give him a meaningful smile, reaching across the table to grab his hand with a gentle but firm squeeze. His face lights up like never before, pure sunshine as he breaks into the most cheesy smile you’d ever seen. “Robin did me a favour,” you shrugged as if it were nothing.

“Do you mean it? Really?” he questions, honey brown eyes earnest and pleading, giddy laugh almost spilling out.

You kiss his knuckles across the tabletop. “Why don’t you let me be your date for the evening and find out?” 

[stevefromupsidedown]

Well, fuckity fucking fuck.

Developments | Steve Harrington x reader

stranger things masterlist / inbox

summary: Steve keeps finding Polaroids of you in… compromising positions. Each one burns hotter than the last, until his ‘just friends’ act is ashes. tags / content warnings: pining, explicit language and insinuations, pure smut too, Steve is a disaster really, hurt, comfort and whole nine yards of my ramblings, au where mario kart existed in the 80's word count: 5.7k

a/n: Had an anxiety attack while abroad in Germany. Slept for 14 hours. Debated deleting my blog. Wrote this.

The first time it happens, Steve is three beers deep at The Hideout, loose-limbed and laughing at something Robin just said—something crude, probably, given the way Eddie’s wheezing into his whisky, shoulders shaking. Steve’s still grinning when he reaches into his jacket pocket for his lighter, fingers searching for the familiar shape.

Instead, they brush against something stiff.

What the hell?

He pulls it out under the dim, beer-stained lights of the bar, and—

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

It’s you.

Not just you—your bare skin glowing in the grainy tint of a Polaroid, the flash catching every curve, every shadow. One knee is drawn up, giving way to the perfect view, and your arm is thrown across your face like you couldn’t bear to be seen. But your mouth—Christ, your mouth is open in silent ecstasy, lips swollen and parted, and your fingers—

Jesus Christ.

Your fingers are buried in your cunt, working deep like you’re trying to feed an insatiable ache, the wet shine unmistakable even in the cheap film. His throat goes dry. His pulse kicks so hard he can feel it in his fucking teeth. Eddie says something then, some smartass remark that has Robin snorting into her drink, but Steve doesn’t hear it. Doesn’t care. All he can think about is how you’re sitting right across from him, legs crossed, sipping your drink and quipping back like it’s the most normal evening in the world. He slaps the photo face down against his thigh, grip so tight the edges crumple.

How the hell did this get in here?

He doesn’t remember you giving it to him. Doesn’t remember touching it, period. But now that he’s seen it, he can’t unsee it—the curve of your hip, the desperate arch of your back, the way your brows were scrunched together like you were right on the edge—

Stop.

He shoves it back into his pocket, but it’s too late. The image is seared into his skull—it’s just a stupid Polaroid, but now it’s all he can think about. His pulse thrums under his skin, restless and too warm. He shouldn’t be this affected. He shouldn’t. But his traitorous mind keeps circling back to it— how easy it would be to move closer, to let his hands settle where they’ve been itching to go, to see if your breath would catch the way he imagines it would. All he can think about is how badly he wants to tiptoe that thin line between friendship and sex, but it’s a dangerous game. One he’s played before and lost spectacularly. He knows the rules—knows how quickly almost turns into too much, how just friends becomes we shouldn’t have done that in the space of a single reckless moment.

But god, the temptation is killing him.

The way your knee brushes against his under the table like it’s an accident, but he knows it’s not. The way you lick salt off the rim of your margarita, eyes locked on his, like you’re waiting for him to break first. The way you shift just slightly, just enough for him to catch the ghost of a smirk—like you know exactly what he’s picturing.

It’s a slippery slope he’s sworn off.

Or at least, he tried to. But then you catch his eye, lips quirking like you can read every filthy thought racing through his head, and—Fuck. He’s too far gone already.

The following four days, Steve lives in a special kind of hell. The photo should’ve been forgettable. Just some stray Polaroid lost in the chaos of his life—another piece of clutter tossed onto the pile of things he doesn’t have the energy to deal with.

But it’s not. It’s you, branded into his brain with the precision of a lit match pressed to skin. No amount of pretending—no amount of jerking off in the shower with his forehead braced against the tile, teeth gritted around your name—dulls the ache. If anything, it makes it worse. Every time he closes his eyes, there you are.

The worst part?  Nothing’s changed. You still sling your legs over his lap like it’s nothing, like you hadn’t ruined him with a single fucking square of film. No sly glances, no secretive smirks. Just normal, like you haven’t been haunting his dreams with your fingers between—

God. He’s losing his goddamn mind.

The next one hits him like a slap to the face. He’s rummaging through the disaster zone of his coffee table—shoving aside empty beer cans, a half-eaten bag of chips, a crumpled pack of cigarettes—when his fingers brush against something that isn’t his keys. Cold dread slithers down his spine even before he pulls it free.

Another fucking picture.

It steals the air from his lungs.

You.

On your back, sheets a mess beneath you, your hair fanned out like some kind of halo. The angle is intimate, almost reverent—the curve of your bare hip, the dip of your waist, the way your fingers dig into your own thighs, holding yourself open.

Wet.

Exposed.

Your head is tipped back, lips parted around a moan he can almost hear, eyes half-lidded, lost in it. The flush on your chest, the way your body arches—like you’re caught in the thick of pleasure, like you’re drowning in it. Steve’s not sure if he’s surprised or jealous or just furious that he wasn’t the one to pull that expression from you.

He knew you were beautiful—that wasn't news. Everyone with working eyes and half a brain could see that. But this? The way golden light caressed the sweat-slick curve of your throat, the way your pleasure wasn't performative but private, intimate, real—

Christ.

It wasn't just erotic. It was sacred.

The Polaroid nearly slips from his trembling fingers before he catches it, the glossy surface warping slightly under his desperate grip. He forces himself to relax, to breathe, but the damage is done—the image already tattooed behind his eyelids.

Are you leaving these on purpose?

The question claws its way up his throat like a living thing.

It can't be.

But God help him, he needs it to be

His thumb traces the edge of the photograph as he drinks in the details: Your lips—swollen, glistening, the faint indentation of teeth where you'd bitten down to silence yourself. Your eyes—black as spilt ink, heavy-lidded yet startlingly aware, staring through the lens like you were seeing him, like you wanted him to witness this unravelling. A voice whispers through the static of his thoughts: You're missing something, and the realisation hits like a sucker punch—he's been here before, trapped in this limbo between wanting and having, between friends and something else. He remembers the exact moment he first knew you held his heart: The air in family video had been thick with the scent of stale popcorn and the hum of the ancient AC unit fighting a losing battle against the summer heat. You'd laughed at something he had said—and the sound had punched through him like a bullet. Your tongue darted out to catch a drop of Cherry Coke from your lower lip, and suddenly his hands were sweating, his collar too tight, his entire body electric with the need to move, to touch, to— "Steve?" You'd caught him staring, your head tilting in that way that made his ribs ache. "You okay?"

Now. Say it now.

But his tongue had turned to lead. Three words lodged in his throat: I want you. Then the bell chimed, Robin bursting in with arms full of candy, grinning as she spoke, “Okay, who wants to bet Eddie eats all the Red Vines before the movie even starts?” and the moment shattered like dropped glass.

Now, staring at this damning photograph, the same fear coils in his gut—what if he's wrong? What if these Polaroids aren’t for him?

What if they’re just—

Lost.

Left behind.

Not meant for his insatiable eyes.

The thought sends acid flooding through his veins. Because the alternative—that you planted these for him to find, that you wanted him to see you like this—that wasn't just hope. It was arson. And he was already burning; the way you look at him sometimes, like you’re waiting for him to figure it out; the way your fingers linger when you pass him a drink; the way you smile when he stumbles over his words, like you like that he’s flustered.

And now—

The Polaroids. Left where only he would find them.

Taunting him.

Testing him.

Tempting him.

The third Polaroid nearly fucking kills him. By the time your group crowds into the diner booth, Steve's almost convinced himself he imagined it all. Almost. But then, after about an hour of comfortable familiarity, his fingers brushing the edge of his milkshake glass, the coaster shifts –

There.

Tucked beneath it, glossy and damning. He chokes so hard Eddie has to thump him on the back. "Jesus, Harrington, are you allergic to strawberries now?" Eddie's voice is all amusement, but Steve barely hears it over the blood roaring in his ears. He doesn't answer. He's too busy slipping the picture under the table, pulse hammering in his throat as he glances at you across the booth. You're stirring your drink absently, the neon diner lights catching in your hair. And then he risks a look at the Polaroid.

Fuck.

This one's... worse. Or better. He doesn't fucking know anymore. It's a close-up. Your face, tilted up toward the camera, tears streaking through smudged mascara, pupils blown wide. And Christ— there's cum dripping off your chin, your lips parted like you're showing off. The flash had caught every detail: the wet shine on your bottom lip, the way your eyelashes stick together, the way you look up with a glint in your eyes like you were looking at him, like you wanted him to see – His jeans grow uncomfortably tight. He shifts in the booth, pressing his thighs together as heat floods his face. It turns his brain to static.

Obscene. Perfect.

No.

Across the table, you tilt your head, voice dripping with sweet concern. "Steve? You okay?"

That's what really drives the stake in. The way you sound normal, like you're not the same person in the photo — wrecked and wanting. Like you haven't been systematically dismantling his self-control. He forces a smile, fingers twitching against the sticky diner table. "Peachy." His voice comes out strangled. Robin kicks him under the table, her eyes sharp with knowing.

He spends the rest of the evening in quiet agony, debating whether to bring it up, tearing himself apart for an answer that won't come. Every time you laugh at something Eddie says, your throat bobbing, he remembers how it looked in the photo – stretched taut as you tilted your head back. Every time you lick ice cream off your spoon, he thinks about your lips, shiny and parted. His mind drifts back to the first time he met you — Robin's bright smile as she introduced you, her "You two will get along so well!" ringing in his ears like a prophecy. Then, the first flicker of something more – that slow, dawning realisation as you sat there, a giggling mess from the joint he'd rolled, clumsily teaching him pat-a-cake like it was the most crucial lesson in the world. Your fingers had brushed against his palms, warm and sure, and something in his chest had clenched tight. Every moment since has been hidden torment. Every glance across the Family Video counter when you'd come to visit Robin, your eyes lingering just a second too long. Every laugh you'd smothered behind your hand when he'd fumbled his words. Every time he'd caught himself staring at the curve of your neck, wondering how you'd sound if he pressed his mouth there. Every time he caught himself wondering if you felt that same invisible pull.

And now?

Now he's stuck with this.

What the hell is he even supposed to say? "Hey, so, funny story—I found a Polaroid of you fucking yourself the other day. Any reason that might be lying around?"

Yeah. That’d go over real fucking well.

But who else would be leaving these? He knows it has to be you. Because no one else looks at him like that. No one else smirks like that when he stumbles over his words. And God help him—he loves it. But he's Steve Harrington, and Steve Harrington doesn't ruin good things. Doesn't risk friendships for fleeting moments of pleasure, no matter how badly his hands itch to touch. So he tucks the Polaroid into his pocket, lets Eddie tease him about spacing out, lets Robin shoot him looks that promise future interrogation, and pretends his heart isn't pounding loud enough for the whole diner to hear. And when you brush your foot against his under the table, he doesn't pull away; he wonders.—

How much longer can he keep pretending before he snaps and does something stupid? Like pin you against the nearest flat surface and find out if you taste as good as you look in those photos. The thought sends another wave of heat through him. He takes a too-big gulp of his milkshake to hide the way his breath hitches. You smile at him over the rim of your glass, all innocence and sharp edges, and Steve realises with dawning horror that he’s already in too deep to climb back out.

The fourth photo is the last straw. He finds it in his glove compartment that same night, the edge jutting out like a taunt as he sits there, engine off, the silence of the parking lot pressing in around him. For a second, he just stares.

Jesus.

A mirror shot—the kind that feels private.

Except now it’s in his hands.

And fuck, it’s— You’re on your knees, but you’re not facing the glass. No. Your face is tilted up, lips stretched obscenely around your own fingers, glistening with spit, your tongue pressing against the pads like you’re imagining them as something else—someone else. Your lashes flutter, heavy with the kind of pleasure that borders on pain, like the strain is its own sweet torment. And shit, your ass—arched high, round and perfect, the curve of it taunting him, the dimples at the base of your spine begging for his thumbs to press into them. The way your hips tilt just slightly, like you’re already waiting, already needing the sharp bite of a handprint blooming across your skin. He can almost hear the sound it would make—the sharp crack of his palm meeting your flesh and the punched-out whimper you’d choke on right after. Your other hand claws at your own tits, fingers digging in, squeezing hard enough to make your breath hitch. The fabric of your shirt is rucked up, your bra shoved aside, and the sight of your nipple pebbled tight under your own touch—

Christ.

His hands shake. The photo nearly slips from his grip, and he has to white-knuckle the steering wheel just to steady himself. His throat is too tight. His jeans are too fucking tight; he shifts, grinding his hips down against the seat just to relieve the pressure, but it’s worse—so much worse—because now he can feel the rough drag of fabric, the heat of his own desperation, and God, he’s dripping, already slick with the image of you burnt into his skull. This isn’t—

This isn’t fair. He’s imagined it a hundred times. Fantasised about the way your mouth would look wrapped around him, the sounds you’d make when he finally got his hands on you. But never like this. Never with the cruel twist of being nothing more than a spectator to his own undoing.

Fuck.

His head thuds back against the seat, eyes squeezing shut like he can erase the image burnt into the backs of his eyelids. But it doesn’t help. The photo is branded into his soul.

He should stop looking.

He should.

But he can’t.

Because this isn’t just some fantasy anymore. This is proof. Proof that you think about this. Proof that you want this. Proof that you might—

Might—

Want him.

And that’s what terrifies him. Because if he’s wrong— If he misreads this—He’ll ruin everything.

But God, the way your back curves in the photo. The way your lips glisten. The way your fingers dig into your own skin like you’re aching for someone else’s touch. His fingers twitch against his thigh. He could—

He could find you.

Right now. Pull you into the backseat. Make that look in the photo a reality. But what if he’s just—

Projecting. Hopeful. Pathetic. His jaw clenches. He can’t risk it. He won’t. The photo goes back into the glove compartment. His keys twist in the ignition. The engine roars to life. But he doesn’t drive away. Not yet. Because one thought won’t leave him alone—

What if she wants you to come find her?

So he plans to ask you about the Polaroids—if he can ever figure out how the hell to bring it up without sounding like a complete creep.

His apartment is spotless, scrubbed down in a frenzy of nervous energy. Just a regular movie night, he tells himself. You’d had dozens. Nothing to panic about. And for a while, it is normal. You steal his fries, mock his shitty taste in films, and press your ice-cold hands against his thigh just to hear him yelp. It’s easy. It’s you.

But then—

Halfway through, as he gathers empty food containers, something flutters to the floor. Upside down. He knows what it is before he even turns it over. His heart stops. You’re still on the couch, laughing at something on screen—but he can’t help himself. He picks it up. And—

Fuck.

It’s you—sinking down onto a toy like you need it, like you’d die without it. Your eyes are closed, lips parted in relief. One hand braces against the bed, the other at your throat, fingers pressing in like you’re chasing more, like you want to feel it everywhere. The angle is obscene, the slick shine of your arousal glistening where you’re spread open for the camera. Steve swears he can feel it—the phantom roll of your hips, the way you’d clench around him if it was his cock instead— "Something wrong?"

Your voice is too soft, too normal, and it guts him. The photo sticks to his sweat-damp palm as his brain short-circuits between this you—wanting, wrecked, fucking yourself like it’s your only salvation—and the you standing in front of him now, all wide-eyed concern and bitten-pink lips. Ask her. The thought burns through him. Just fucking ask her. But what comes out is, "Nah, just—uh—dropped a napkin." God fucking damnit. You tilt your head, and for one heart-stopping second, he thinks you know. That you’ll smirk, step closer, and whisper, "Like what you see, Harrington?" But you don’t. You just hum, "You’ve been weird all night."

Weird. Yeah. That’s one word for it.

He shoves the Polaroid into his back pocket like it’s evidence of a crime. His crime. Because, Christ, he shouldn’t have looked. Shouldn’t be hard right now, straining against his sweatpants as you blink up at him, all wide-eyed innocence. Like you don’t know exactly what you’re doing to him. He forces himself to step around you, putting the couch between you like it’ll save him. "Just tired," he mumbles, grabbing his half-finished beer. The bottle is slick with condensation, and he clings to that—the cold—instead of the sliver of skin exposed when you stretch, the curve of your waist he knows by heart. Intimately. He’s catalogued every dip and slope of you—the way your hip fits perfectly under his palm when he guides you through a crowded room, the way your waist nips in just enough for his fingers to span it. He’s thought about it. Too much.

You don’t push. Just flop back onto the couch, tucking your legs under you. "Well, hurry up. This movie’s shit, but I want to see how it ends." Steve exhales through his nose. Right. The movie. Except all he can focus on is the weight of the photo in his pocket. The way you’d looked—fuck—like you were made to take cock, like you’d beg for it, like you’d whimper his name if he just—

That’s the problem, isn’t it? He knows you. Knows the way your nose scrunches when you laugh. Knows how you cling to your coffee mug in the morning, both hands wrapped around it like it’s the only thing keeping you upright. Knows the way you’d held his hand that one time he got too high and swore the ceiling was breathing, your thumb brushing over his knuckles like you were anchoring him. But this?

This is a version of you he isn't allowed to have, isn’t allowed to need.

One he is desperate for.

The movie drones on, some cheap horror flick with terrible effects, but Steve’s pulse hasn’t slowed since he found the damn photo. You’re curled into the corner of the couch, knees drawn up, fingers idly tracing the rim of your soda can. Innocent. Bored.

Too innocent.

Because he’s seen the way your gaze lingers on him when you think he’s not looking. The way you bite your lip when he rolls his sleeves up. The way you lean in just a little too close when you laugh. Steve exhales, rough, dragging a hand down his face.

Fuck.

He should say something. Should’ve done something. But the truth is, he’s fucking scared. Terrified of being wrong. Terrified of ruining this—whatever this is—with his stupid, greedy hands. Because what if the Polaroids aren’t for him? What if the way you look at him, all slow smiles and heavy-lidded glances, is just him, reading into things? What if he reaches for you, and you pull away?  Every time you shift, his gaze flicks to your thighs. Every time you laugh, he imagines the way your breath would hitch if he dragged his teeth over your pulse. Every time you look at him, he wonders—

Is this a game to you?

Are you waiting for me to break?

Because he’s close. So fucking close.

When you leave, you linger in the doorway—just a second too long. Your fingers toy with the hem of his shirt, the fabric slipping between them like a secret. It’s innocent. It’s not. The way your knuckles brush against his hip, featherlight, makes his breath catch.

You’re tempting fate.

You’re torturing him.

"Night, Steve," you murmur, lips quirking in that way that drives him insane—like you know exactly what you’re doing to him. And for a wild, reckless moment, he considers it: Pinning you against the door. Trapping you with his body. Letting his mouth finally, finally ask the question that’s been clawing at his ribs for weeks—

Are you doing this on purpose?

But then you’re gone. The door clicks shut. And all he’s left with is the ghost of your perfume—something sweet and sharp, clinging to his clothes like a promise—and the Polaroid in his pocket, burning a hole straight through to his skin.

The get-together on Friday is a grand fucking disaster from minute one. Steve's apartment swims in a haze of cigarette smoke and the stale tang of spilt beer, the kind of party atmosphere that usually feels like second nature but tonight just makes his skin itch. The laughter rings too loud in his ears—Eddie's wheezing cackle from the couch, Robin's snort-giggle as she loses at poker again. Normally, he'd be right there with them, tossing out stupid jokes and soaking up the chaos. But tonight, every word sticks in his throat like gum, and every forced smile makes his jaw ache. And you.

Fucking hell, you.

You're everywhere. Perched on the arm of Eddie's chair, your knee brushing his. Leaning over Robin's shoulder to peek at her cards, your hair falling in a curtain that smells like vanilla when it grazes Steve's arm. Laughing at some stupid story Nancy's telling, your head thrown back, the column of your throat working as you swallow your drink. Every glimpse is a fresh punch to the gut. He's two beers deep and still wound tighter than a spring when it happens. You turn just as he steps forward, and his drink sloshes over the rim, drenching the front of your shirt in cold amber liquid. "Shit—fuck, I'm sorry—" Steve stammers, already grabbing for napkins he knows won’t help.

You look down at the mess, then back up at him with an expression he can't quite read. "Real smooth, Harrington," you deadpan, but there's no real heat in it. Just that same unreadable something that's been in your eyes all night. The fabric clings to your skin as you peel it away, and Steve's mouth goes dry. He forces his gaze up to your face, but it's too late—he's already seen the way the wet cotton moulds to the curve of your breast, the shadow of your nipple through the thin material. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" you ask, and your voice is so normal, so casual, like you didn’t just notice him staring. Like you're not standing there half-drenched because of him.

Steve swallows hard. "Yeah, no, I mean—go ahead." He gestures vaguely down the hall, his face burning. "Towels are under the sink if you... you know." You nod, sliding past him so close the heat of your body sears through his shirt, your arm brushing his in a way that sends sparks skittering down his spine. The party's dying embers surround you—empty cups littering sticky tables as the four of you remain in the hollowed-out quiet of the now-empty apartment, and when you disappear into the bathroom, Steve exhales like he's been holding his breath for hours.

Robin materialises at his elbow like the world's smuggest ghost. Her grin vibrates with barely contained glee, fingers digging into his bicep hard enough to leave crescent moons in his skin. "Dude," she stage-whispers, her breath scalding his ear, "you're a walking fucking disaster." Steve doesn't deny it. He's been digging his own grave for weeks – every aborted reach across the Beemer's console, every confession drowned in stale beer, every time he's nearly had you pinned against the Family Video horror section only to choke at the last second. "Christ, Buckley," he hisses through gritted teeth, "not now—" The bathroom door creaks open. You. Polaroid pinched between your fingers like an executioner's blade, edges worn soft from how often he's traced them. Steve's stomach plummets through the scuffed floor.

Oh, fuck.

Oh fuck, oh fuck—

The drawer. He'd forgotten about the goddamn bathroom drawer he left the Polaroids in.

Your approach is lethal. Purposeful. The sharp staccato of your boots on hardwood echoes like a firing squad cocking their rifles. The air between you curdles – thick with tension and something darker, something that makes Steve's pulse stutter in his throat. When you speak, your voice drops to that register—the one that turns his bones to liquid, something that makes the fine hairs on the back of Steve's neck stand at attention.

"Where did you get these?" Not a question. A goddamn death sentence.

Robin's nails bite deeper. "Holy shit," she breathes, eyes darting between you like she's watching the best tennis match of her life. "This is better than my parents' divorce." Steve's heartbeat riots against his ribs as you stop just beyond reach—close enough that your perfume coils around him. The Polaroid dangles from your fingers, the image facing him like an indictment: your lips swollen, lashes fluttering against tear-stained cheeks, fingers twisted in sheets that should be his. The lights hum overhead as you tilt your head, catching the sharp challenge in your gaze. "Where did you get these?" you repeat, each word dripping with deliberate intent. Steve's throat seals shut. Every lie he'd prepared withers under your burning stare, under Robin's vibrating presence at his side, and under the way his body betrays him with every inch you close between you.

"I—" His voice cracks like dry kindling. "My jacket. And—fuck."

You step closer. The brush of your knee against his sends electric currents through the denim. "And?"

"My glove compartment." The admission tears from him like flesh from a wound.

Robin makes a sound between a wheeze and a dying air horn. Your smirk could strip paint from walls. "Interesting."  Another step forward, and now your chest nearly grazes his with each breath. He can't tell if you're moving in for a kiss or a kill shot.

"And what were you planning to do with them, Steve?" His mouth floods. A dozen filthy images flash through his mind—his teeth marking your thigh, your back arching against the employee break room wall, that broken moan you'd make when—

You lean in. Your lips ghost over the shell of his ear as you whisper, hot and deliberate: Steve's vision tunnels to pinpricks. "You—you've been—" Your grin cuts deep. "Leaving them for you?  Yeah." The world tilts on its axis. Steve stares at you, caught between outrage and a hunger so deep it terrifies him. "You've been messing with me this whole time—"

A careless shrug as you step closer—so close your thighs slot between his, your skirt riding up just enough to make his hands twitch with the need to touch. "Maybe I wanted to see if you'd crack."

"Why?" It's barely more than a breath. Your expression turns sweet, soft. "Because I like how you look at me when you think I'm not watching." A heartbeat of silence stretches between you, thick and charged.

"Did you like them?"

The question hangs suspended, heavier than the humid air between your bodies. Steve's control shatters. “I hated those photos,” he grits out, voice shredded.  “Not because—fuck, not because I didn’t want you. But because every time I looked at them—”  His jaw clenches so tight it aches. “All I could think was it should’ve been me making you look like that.”

Your lips part, just slightly, and you step closer. Just one more step. But it’s enough to make his pulse riot. “Prove it,” you murmur, your lips brushing his with provocation.

His hands find your waist.

Your breath hitches.

The space between you collapses. And when he kisses you, it’s not sweet. It’s desperate. It’s what I’ve wanted forever. It’s why the hell did we wait so long? You gasp against his mouth, fingers twisting in his shirt, pulling him closer, every desperate inch of his body imprinting itself on yours like he’s trying to melt into your skin. Then his mouth crashes down—hot, demanding, lips moving with a possessive hunger that rewrites your pulse into something wild. You whimper into the kiss, fingers scrambling at his shoulders as Steve licks into your mouth like a man starved. There's nothing gentle about it – he kisses like he's determined to rewrite your DNA with teeth and tongue and the relentless press of his hips until every cell in your body sings his name. It's everything he's fantasised about and so much more – the heat of you pressed flush against him, the crescent moons your nails carve into his shoulders, and the broken little whimper you make when he nips at your bottom lip. When he finally tears away, you're both panting, foreheads pressed together, his ragged breaths scalding your swollen mouth.

"Took you long enough," you murmur, voice wrecked. Steve huffs a laugh, thumb swiping across your kiss-slick lips with a reverence that belittles the hunger in his eyes. "Yeah, well. You could've just told me."

You grin, all teeth. "Where's the fun in—" "Hell no," Eddie's voice cuts in, strangled. "I am not witnessing Harrington's sexual awakening live and in colour—" Robin's already dragging him backwards by his collar. "We're leaving! Enjoy your— Jesus Christ, Steve, just— use protection—!"

The door slams. Steve's on you before the latch clicks – no hesitation, no space between. He pins you against the wall hard enough to knock the air from your lungs, his body a furnace against yours. One hand fists in your hair while the other slides up your thigh with deliberate roughness, calloused fingers branding your skin through the fabric. "Should've done this years ago," he growls against your throat, thumb circling your nipple with just enough pressure to make you arch into him. "Why the hell didn't we?"

His forehead drops to yours. The warmth of his breath ghosts across your lips as he confesses, "Because you're Robin's best friend. Because Eddie would've never shut up about it." His hips grind forward, the hard line of his erection leaving no room for doubt. "Mostly because I was fucking terrified of losing you."

"You?"

"Thought you'd get bored of me," you admit, the wall biting into your shoulder blades as he presses closer. "Worried I'd just be... another conquest." Steve goes utterly still. When he meets your eyes, the raw intensity in his gaze makes your stomach flip. "You were never just anything." His whisper is rough, like the words were clawed from his chest. "I've been in love with you since you beat me at Mario Kart drunk off your ass in '86." A surprised laugh punches out of you. "That was like our fifth hangout."

"Yeah." His grin is all boyish charm, obscenely at odds with the filthy drag of his fingers on your inner thigh. "Fucking devastating." Then his mouth is at your ear, teeth scraping that sensitive spot that makes your knees weak. "Gonna spend the rest of the night proving it to you," he promises, voice dark with want. Something feral flashes in his eyes. In one fluid motion, he hauls you up — arm hooked under your thighs — and carries you toward the bedroom, your laughter dissolving into a moan as his mouth finds yours again. The last coherent thought you have before he drops you onto the mattress is that you should've let him find those Polaroids much, much sooner.

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, three : the Upside Down • steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: surviving in the upside down alone until she falls upon Steve, Eddie, Nancy and Robin, she questions her sanity. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, FOUR | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

The side of her skull hit the concrete with a thud as she passed through the opening.  

Her arm was tightly pulled above her head as she was being pulled on her side, feeling her skin get warmer, pain struck her along the side of her head, her arm and the side of her back dragged along the asphalt.

The thing wrapped around her arm detached itself after pulling her for less than half a mile, she was left on the concrete, breathing irregularly as she felt soreness in most parts of her body. She took a quick look around her, and god, on a scale of living a normal and boring life in a small town to how crazy is it being dragged into whatever this is through tentacles, she was on the edge of losing her mind.

As she looked around she saw small, white particles, almost like snow, but it didn't melt. It was surrounding her and falling down at a very slow pace, the air was also thick, she realised it as she started coughing, the atmosphere hurting her throat. 

She was completely taken aback by something grabbing her throat, coiling around it, in one second she was strangled, feeling the vine type thing tighten. Her upper body was pressed against the ground with such force it forced the air out of her lungs, her shoulder blades and the base of her head hit the asphalt with a sound she didn’t like but didn’t have time to worry about.

She tried to reach out for something, anything, and out of nowhere she felt like slim daggers were going through her flesh, on her side, a stridulating scream escaped from her mouth.

Looking at it she saw something similar to a bat, but with larger wings, a tail long enough to envelop one's throat, and a pointy set of teeth that hurt like a bitch.

With a newfound strength, and some adrenaline pumping through her veins, she reached her arm forward, on the tail strangling her throat and firmly held it in her palm, she tried to ignore another wave of pain as the bat on her side was biting, munching his little teeth onto her side, digging through her flesh, like she was an all you can eat buffet.

That thought sent a sense of urgency, and when she felt warm blood running on her skin, soaking the material of her clothes, the pain felt like needles were deeply poked at her side, going deeper at each inhale she managed to take, it felt fucking urgent to get this thing off. 

Pulling firmly the tail of the bat towards her she screamed as the animal tried to tighten its hold on her throat, with more force she was able to pull it as much as she could inwards her body and untie its hold around her throat, then getting on her feet she projected it at full force against the concrete. 

The bat who served its own meal on her side was above her head, trying to get her throat, but running a few feet from where she stood she picked the remnants of a road sign, grabbed its tail and released it at the right moment to hit it full force, sending it away like a tennis ball.

She let out a shaky breath, and automatically looked at her surroundings. She had to get out, now. She walked towards where she was pulled in, when she arrived close enough to see it, she also saw the bats waiting for her around the.. gate? She didn't know what to call it.

"Fuck. I'm so screwed," she muttered to herself, she heard a set of wings fly above her head and looked up, the creature screeched, showing off its pointy teeth. Looking back at the gate, she saw there were multiple of those creatures guarding the thing, ready to come at her if she did any step forward, taunting her with their screech. 

Alone she wouldn't have any chance fighting the handful of them and win, no.

She looked back at the road, there were also a handful of bats flying not far from her, so she had to avoid any road, anywhere where they could see her, so, looking towards the woods, she decided to go off track, and prayed so hard she would be able to manage to orient herself, and find another way back. 

She first started to wander through the woods, silently, she wanted to be alert for any suspicious sound.  If weird bats were around, she was sure some other deadlier and more dangerous creature was around. 

She needed to find a refuge, water, and some food, she knew she would never find it. She wanted to be an optimist but she couldn’t be anything other than a pessimist given the situation.

She wandered around the woods for a long time, she felt exhausted, in pain from walking for hours in dark woods, she started to feel dizzy when she approached what she assumed was Skull Rock, given the rumours she had heard about it in highschool. She let herself lie against the hard surface, wincing at her side. 

Breathing in and out rapidly she lifted up her sweater and shirt underneath to reveal the bites, she had blood pouring out of her wounds, steadily, in small quantity but she knew that if she didn’t try to stop the bleeding, she would lose all hopes to leave whatever this place was to get back to Hawkins alive. 

Under her sweatshirt, she ripped apart her shirt on its length and created a large piece of cloth to tie around her abdomen, flinching as she tightened it to stop the bleeding. Taking a deep breath to try and endure the pain as she knotted the piece of fabric in place.

She felt a new wave of exhaustion washing over her, her eyes felt so heavy, she had trouble keeping her eyes open, she probably shouldn’t have, but she fell asleep into the darkness of Skull Rock, hidden. 

She woke up in a cold sweat, hoping she had dreamed the night before, but no, she was still in the same strange space, it was still dark, the air still felt so thick and nasty. The side of her head didn’t hurt as much, it was more like a pressure building, pushing. Taking a look at her makeshift bandage, she felt an ounce of hope. It had stopped bleeding, maybe she had a chance to attempt to survive. 

Getting up slowly she gathered her courage, and started walking back to the town, avoiding any branch, leaf or anything that could announce her presence, she also tried to be aware of her surroundings and the sounds around her. As she walked, she realised she was diving into more woods than she wanted. 

She walked the length of Lover’s Lake, she knew she was getting farther then, but the lake was completely parched, like, no water, no fish, no aquatic plants, nothing but bats flying around its surface. 

She paced for hours, trying to spot any sign of the town; she had no idea how much time she spent walking in the sea of trees, there was no sunrise nor sunset, there was no sun at all. Time was a vague concept down there, she was afraid she would lose herself to it, having no way to get back to her town. 

She stopped abruptly when she couldn’t take it anymore, with no compass, no map, no signs, and a poor sense of orientation; she was lost, she didn’t want to admit it at first, but hours later, she couldn’t deny it, she was lost. 

She let herself fall back against a tree, the pressure in the side of her head started to hurt, like her head would burst, her legs could barely keep going on, it hurt, she was lost, alone, somewhere she didn’t know, with no food, no water, no protection or weapons. 

It was a lot. Too much in so little time. 

She broke down, suffocating on her own tears, her breathing became erratic as she went on a full mental breakdown, hands buried in her hair, her fingertips almost gripping at the scalp, until she heard a branch break not far from her. She got up fast, and tried to see what it was; she heard a weird growl, paralysed, she hoped that if she didn't move the creature wouldn’t attack her or see her. The loud sound of a thunderstrike shot through the woods, with red lighting illuminating the sky, that’s when she saw it. Electrical poles. 

If there were electrical poles, there were houses, shops, places to hide. She looked back behind her, where she heard the creature screeching.  It was still there, closer, but from the back so it couldn’t see her. The red lighting helped her see the details of this creature and she had goosebumps; it was the size of a dog, on four feet, when the creature moved and showed its profile, she saw it had no face at all, just its maw, and like bats, pointy teeth, lots of it, it seemed to open up like flowers. She held her breath in fear, she didn't know what to do, but she certainly couldn’t stay there, waiting. 

What if this creature had similar friends coming ? 

Breathing out slowly through her nose, she looked toward the electrical poles, hoping a house or a shop wouldn’t be far if she needed to run, she tried to inspect the ground, but it was so dark she couldn’t see anything. She had to try to escape this hell. 

She stepped into the direction of the electrical poles, trying so hard to not make any sound; a few steps in and a dead leaf cracked under her shoe. 

Her eyes widened at such a rookie mistake, “Fuck,” she looked up, the creature was on its front, towards her, “Oh shit”, she muttered, and as the creature made a step forward.. Time to run. 

She ran as fast as she could, trying to avoid any branch or climbing plants —again, what the fuck?— as to not fall and be doomed, she could hear the creature running after her, not looking back she arrived by the train track entrance of the city, on the south.

Her house was on the north, so way too far, but the town hall wasn’t that far, two blocks away maximum. She tried to lose the creature going through back alleys, she felt so out of breath, her muscles were so sore, she was giving in so much, that when she stumbled upon the first shop she could find she ran into it, instantly hiding into the back of it, leaving bloody prints on her way inside.

She hid in the break room slash storehouse, between empty racks, trying to be silent as she tried to catch her breath, her muscles convulsing at the effort. 

She let herself fall against the rack, hearing the creature inside the shop trying to find her, rummaging through stuff, silent tears of pain, exhaustion and despair fell on her cheeks. She tried not letting herself succumb to it just yet, but she couldn’t. 

She remained on the floor, silently sobbing on the cold, dusty floor. She muffled herself as to not make any sound, the cold tears running along her cheeks and her nose in pain, exhaustion. It lasted a while; her eyes focused on the same level, stoic, on the cold tiles, she felt goosebumps at the coldness, numbness in her fingers and legs as she lay paralysed by fear, her irises empty, slowly blinking in the darkness, waiting. 

There was not a sound in the anxious silence, she couldn’t get anything, she had to go see if it was still there, she attempted to get up, but her limbs were painful, it was so hard, and with shaky legs she stood tall and opened the door from the back of the store and took a quick look around her. 

There was nothing she could hear nor see, and so she decided on looking to find something that could hydrate and nourish her, she had no hopes for it, but she found water in plastic bottles, opening the bottle she tried smelling it, it seemed fine; she hesitated, literally looking at nothing around her to approve of her only choices.. but, she quickly came to the realisation that she didn’t know how long she would be stranded, and if she would find an escape, so she took the risk, the water didn’t have any peculiar taste, so, it was a good sign, she hoped. 

For the food, she was extremely hesitant, the water was sealed so she supposed it would be safe, but the food, she had doubts, the wrapping in plastic was thin, the atmosphere was one she hadn’t seen before, she didn’t know if it would mess up with the food or not; but again, not knowing for how long she would be here, she gave it a try. 

Opening the packaging of her favourite cookies, she tried smelling them too, there was nothing weird, no strange smell nor looks, so, why not try? 

She hadn’t realised how hungry she was, the feeling of something in her stomach was such a relief. She managed to stick as many bottles of water under her armpit as she could, and soundlessly —she hoped— she took some packaged food. 

She looked through the glass wall near the entrance of the shop, there were no bats, creatures or anything.. except this giant shadow overlooking Hawkins; it was enormous, like, way off from the ground, like just one of its arms —she guessed?— was the size of a building, it wasn’t moving, it stayed static, and it was very far away. She really hoped she wouldn’t come across it. 

She didn't know what it was but she felt goosebumps along her body, a new wave of tremendous fear in the pit of her stomach. 

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she left the store, and furtively walked to not make any sound, even breathing, she tried to be as stealthy as she could, she went through the streets towards the centre of the town to try and find a house, she wanted to be as close as possible from the store and the road where the gate was. 

When she found one she just collapsed on a dirty and dusty mattress out of exhaustion, soreness, and pain. 

She woke up two times, the first time she couldn’t even get up, she felt dizzy, sore, sitting on the mattress was enough to make her nauseous. 

The earth shook under her, she tried to stay steady but she lost steadiness and crawled in the room to vomit the only meal she had. Dizzier than ever she was forced back to sleep, head buried in the mattress.

The second time she woke up, she felt dizzy, sore as hell but her head hurt less, the pressure in the side of her skull had diminished, even though it was still present.

When she got up she felt the skin on her side tug on the handmade bandage, the scab had attached itself to the cloth, and when she moved it pulled, it hurt like a knife piercing through her flesh.

With big breaths in and out she managed to get up, taking a water bottle she gargled to try and get rid of the taste of acidity in the back of her mouth.

She finished her water bottle, tried eating a few things as she kept thinking about what she could do now, but the nausea caught up with her. Giving up on food, she decided on leaving, unsteady breath escaping her lips as she exited through the glassdoor. She walked the blocks around up to the train tracks at the entrance of the city. 

She had been very careful as to not make too much noise, she knew she couldn’t walk along the roads as bats would probably cover those areas. The woods were her only chance at leaving, even if she hoped she wouldn't get lost again, and hoped to God she would be better at orientation.

She was not. She wandered a lot, trees looked the same, it was always so dark. The thick atmosphere also made it difficult for her to breathe normally and silently. Every now and then some red lightning strikes shot up in the sky, feeding her panic and urgency. 

She became frustrated, deciding on taking a break, sitting down on a big rock she gulped down her last water bottle, catching her breath, she was almost on the way to cry once again at her doomed future. 

That is unless she heard some movement. She looked the way it came from, her body paralysed at what if it was another one of those four legged creatures? It was so different though, the movement was lighter, cautious, maybe it was trying to hunt her down? 

She decided on going that way but from the side to maybe steal a glance at whatever it was first. It was stupid, but she was stuck in a weird place with inhuman creatures, alone, hurt, what could possibly go wrong? Everything? She couldn't possibly be more unlucky, so.. 

She walked towards the movement, and soon she arrived near Skull Rock, she heard voices. Oh yeah, she was going insane, definitely.  Hiding behind a tree she soon heard a voice and— could somebody explain to her why the fuck was she hearing Eddie Munson? 

Completely stunned she walked towards the voices, and fell upon not only Eddie, but Nancy, Robin and a shirtless, bandaged Steve. 

“Eddie? … Steve?” Surprised and confused, her eyes wide open, she couldn't hide it in her voice, she was concerned. Was she going mad ?

At this point she’s not even sure if she heard herself mutter her concern, but she did feel like she was going crazier by the minute, seeing her ex lover? Her friend with benefits? Old classmate and acquaintance?

Nope. 

No. 

  Couldn't be real. 

Three voices belonging to her.. friends all said dumbfounded, her name, all taking a step closer, except for Eddie who stood on a giant rock. 

“I'm going insane, aren't I?” She muttered, her hands travelled from the side of her body to her hair, nearly scratching her scalp off her head, she was on the edge of tears.

How could they be there? How could she be seeing the ex she still loved? The old friend she stopped talking to all these years ago? And her current one who got high and had sex with her? 

She heard Steve say her name, so delicately it could melt her heart, she turned her head towards him, her hands now grabbing the hem of her sweatshirt as he stepped towards her.

His hands stopped themselves before he could gently hold her cheeks, the pads of his thumbs tingling at the sudden need to comfort her and get rid of her tears dancing around her waterline, in an instant it’s like they had forgotten all the hurt they endured together, he murmured for only her to hear, “You're not going crazy, we’re trapped here too.” 

“And undeniably stuck, just like you,” Eddie added, still standing tall on his rock.

Her eyes left Steve's brown irises to see Eddie, Nancy and Robin, Steve's coworker, “What are you doing here? And how did you get here?” She asked as she forcefully pulled herself away from him. 

“It's a question for you too, how did you know about the Upside Down? And how did you get in?” Robin’s voice struck her like a needle, “The what, now?” 

Eddie was on his way to come back down, until Nancy stopped him, “You need to watch your step, the vines.. it's all a hive mind.”

“What?” Eddie’s voice echoed with her.

“The creepy crawlies.. if you're stepping on one, you're stepping on the Mind Flayer, the bats, Vecna..” Steve breathed out as he walked a few steps back, his hands on his hips as he turned his back towards her, his eyes fixated on their surroundings.

Eddie softly muttered something unintelligible before carefully coming back down, a few steps from her, her eyebrows furrowed, confusion plastered all over her face, she turned her head towards her four interlocutors,“Who?” 

“We can’t explain everything to you right now and right here, but, we could find weapons at the police station, blow those things up that are guarding the gate and boom, we’re home?” Robin said, her body turned towards Nancy, hope written all over her face, her hands up in the air as she spoke quite fast.

“Don’t blow those things up, the bats and the creatures will hear you. We’ll be disposable meat for them. I did not survive here for I don’t how long to die so stupidly,” she coldly said, until she realised what Robin had said, “And fuck, I think I deserve some explanations about this place and the creatures living in it since one nearly choked me to death, bit me as if I was a full course meal on display, and hunt me down like some deer, Goddamn it!” 

Her voice was shaky, on the verge of cracking under the emotion, and with their eyes piercing through her, she suddenly felt out of place. 

She was about to apologise when the earth shook under their feet, another earthquake, more important than the one before. 

Steve being closer to Nancy, he got her before she fell and hooked his arm across her torso to hold her down against Skull Rock, and Eddie being closer to Robin held onto her as they fell, she didn’t have so much luck, she fell on her side, her arms trying to get to the ground so she wouldn’t hit her head, it cushioned her fall.

“Everyone okay?” Steve asked as they all could get on their feet, she had caught a glimpse of the two and how he held Nancy in his arms as she got back on her feet, the side of her head wobbling a bit. She ignored the question, the answer didn’t matter. 

“Okay, but to get back at this idea, we don’t have to go all the way to the police station, I have guns in my bedroom,” Nancy said as she got closer to Eddie, Robin, and her old friend. 

“My house is close to your’s, my dad has a gun too, I can take it.” 

Nancy nodded at her as Eddie looked at the two women, astonished, “You have guns —plural— in your houses?,” he looked at the two, shocked by that revelation. 

“Why are you shocked Munson, you came by my house multiple times?” 

“Yeah, to get high and fuck, not gunned down,” Eddie’s eyes were severe but held a playful shine to it, earning a small smile. Taking a quick look at Steve he saw he was widening his eyes, but he ignored it, took out his denim jacket and threw it at Harrington’s face, “For your modesty, dude.”

“Okay, let’s get those guns, careful on the vines,” Steve initiated as he took the flashlight from Eddie’s jacket, before he turned around, his eyes directed towards the newest member of the group, slowly saying her name with a hint of.. What is melancholia? “You can tell us how you got here along the way, we’ll explain everything to you.” 

They locked eye contact, and they swore it felt like all those months ago, when they were somewhat boyfriend–girlfriend without saying it, his warm brown irises were enough to get her back to the months of tenderness, giggles and laughs, short pecks on the lips, soft promises of love and she felt warmth towards him, to the cold side of her bed when she had finally granted him a night by her side, the betrayal, the doubts about herself and her body, the anger and humiliation she felt that night, and she felt coldness towards him. 

He noticed the changes in her eyes, the warmth then the coldness, he felt it all over again, but he couldn’t indulge in his own emotions, not here. So he cleared his throat and turned around, flashed his light and led the way. 

She explained how she got in the Upside Down, what happened, and how she survived. She learned she spent three days there before she found them; they proceeded to explain everything to her since Will’s disappearance in 83’. 

When all questions were answered she needed to process everything, a silence fell between them all and divided down in groups, Nancy and Robin leading the way, she in the middle processing what she had been told, and Steve and Eddie closing the walk, a bit far away from the girls. 

Steve couldn’t help but think about what Eddie had said earlier, he needed to understand, so he scooted a bit closer to the metalhead and whispered his name.

“Hey man, what did you—, what did you mean by that?” 

Eddie laughed, he kind of guessed what he was talking about, given the shock that appeared on his face earlier, “Why do you care, Harrington?” 

“I don’t— I just… I…” 

“You can lie to yourself or to anyone all you want.. I literally meant what I said, she and I, we.. get high sometimes, or when she needs a booty call.” 

“What? Since when?” 

“Well, we knew each other before but.. since she got dumped by some guy playing with her.. she didn’t want to tell me more but..”, the look on Steve’s face got him exactly what he needed, he winced, now understanding, “It was you, she was with you, wasn't she?” 

Steve nodded absentmindedly, his eyebrows turned in a frown, “Wait, she told you I was playing with her?” 

“Left her right after you guys fucked? Yeah, real douche move dude. You know she sets this one rule now because of you and that other guy?” 

At Steve’s dumbfoundedness Eddie carried on, “No kiss rule. She’s not kissing you, ever, while on a date, or while having sex, never ever. You pretty much screwed her up, she’s masking it as having fun, or that independence bullshit.. but it’s a coping mechanism, a very poor one at that..” 

“I didn’t mean to, it wasn’t a deliberate choice, I wanted to protect her from the Upside Down, I couldn’t tell her anything, I wanted to protect her from all of this...” 

“Why don’t you give her a try now, she survived three days alone without knowing anything, she seems pretty capable to me, capable of surviving without you, us.. It’s not your choice to make dude, but her’s.” 

He knew he was right, but at the time it wasn’t possible, the stakes were too high, and, at the same time, he wonders what would have happened if he had told her, it would be different, probably, but how? He already knew he had screwed up because he had broken their hearts in the process. He was back on that regret spiral. 

“I know..”

“You better do something about it, as much as I enjoy our time together, she's hurting and hiding it, and she won't let me in, call it fear or whatever, she reciprocates with you, so...”

Steve nodded slowly, looking at her back, with such sad, longing eyes. Desperate for her. He didn't even know where to begin, already sure she hated him too much to accept his apologies.

He was about to walk up to her when the earth shook once again under their feet. 

Steve’s feet stumbled to a tree, while she and Robin both fell on their arms, their heads taking a little hit, clearly surprised by the earthquake, their hands planted on the ground. Nancy had managed to stay stable on her feet, as Eddie held on to a rock.

With the nausea she felt, the vibrations of the earthquake, she felt her stomach giving her up, and when the earth started to be more stable she emptied the remaining of her stomach, a tired sob left her lips. She clearly was concussed, she knew it.

She spat on the ground, getting rid of whatever was left in her mouth, she felt so disgusting it was outrageous. Palms on the cold ground she found herself in the same position that hurt her side like hell, like pikes engulfed themselves inside her wound.

She shed more tears as her stomach did one more spasm, trying to empty all of its contents, she coughed, the forced contractions in her stomach by her body were worsening every ounce of pain and discomfort, she tried her hardest to steady her breathing as she felt her body trembling, her eyes closed shut. 

She felt a hand on her back, her eyes opened and met Steve next to her, concern written on his face, his eyes fixated on her, she could read an “Are you okay?” with the way his eyes were stuck on her.

“I can't get up.. It hurts so much,” she mouthed back to him so slowly he could barely hear it, her voice breaking down at the end of her sentence.

He grabbed her hand, and with his other hand he grabbed her side, his fingers applied more pressure into her side, and when he tried to pull both of them up, she couldn’t move, it hurt too much. She held her breath and cried out in pain, her body stiffening. 

“Don't— don't pull so hard, it's worse," her hand gripped tightly at the denim jacket, he breathed out, apologies muffled under his breath. 

One of his hands gripped her hips instead, a place he had already touched before in a more intimate way, but he forbade himself from even thinking of that, while the other was attached to her hand to guide her, letting her lean on him.

He helped her up, under the attentive eyes of their friends, ignoring them they were like in a bubble, she moved her hands gripping the jacket to instead intertwine their fingers as they got on their feet, tightening her hold.

Their eyes locked, and he was brought back to the first time he leaned in to kiss her, intimidated, suddenly unsure of his own ability to kiss. He was so close she could feel his breath hitting her face, her eyes looked down one second to his lips, and up his eyes.

They were caught up in some longing spiral, their touch started burning each other's skins, “Thank you,” she mouthed under her breath, hesitantly pulling away from him, he tried letting her know through his squeeze around her hips that she could lean on him, but she left, feeling the goosebumps and the warmth of her skin missing, demanding for more of each other than just lingering touches, begging for forgiveness.

Steve cleared his throat, his arms instinctively going back at his sides as he turned towards Robin and Nancy, he shed a tear away with his thumb that he hoped no one saw, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. 

She felt the walls she had built around her heart break off a little, those eyes were so full of emotions, she then let herself see that maybe, there was something behind the way he acted that night. 

Perhaps he hadn't played her. 

Perhaps he did love her, and all he wanted, was to keep her safe. 

The quintet then left towards Nancy's house, they were definitely better at orientation, which was hard on her, Nancy very easily found her way through the woods, and soon enough, they were walking across Hawkins.

Arriving around their neighbourhood, they separated through teams, Nancy with Steve and Robin, and her and Eddie, they weren't exactly neighbours, but their houses were not that far from each others'. 

Separately they walked towards their houses, as Nancy ran to her bedroom, she walked towards her garage, where her father kept his tools and his hunting gun.

Both couldn't find the guns.

“I don't understand, you said you had your father's gun,” Eddie said to her in a low voice, confused at her own confusion.

“I did because he bought one! In 84' after—” she paused abruptly, as it hit her in the face, the only reason for the gun to not be there— is because it didn't exist, yet. 

“After Barbara was found dead.. he said he wanted to keep us safe, even taught me how to use it since he leaves long periods of time for work..” she muttered under her breath, an idea popped in her head.

She often moved her furniture around, so it wasn't any useful to be sure of her idea, except the wallpaper,  Eddie was close behind asking her for clarifications as she moved through the house towards her room. Explanations she didn't offer until the door opened violently and there it was. 

“Goddamn it,” she muttered once again as she leaned against her desk, Eddie walked to her side, his hand softly pushed her arm to see her.

“I'm terribly lost.”

“This wallpaper is old, I changed it last summer, after the fire at Starcourt. This room is in the past. We're in the past.”

His eyes widened, his breath almost hitched in his throat, he redirected his brown irises towards her's. She found herself caught in those beautiful doe eyes, only it lasted a second too long.

“Don't look at me like that,” Eddie whispered under his breath, already regretting having commented on it, because it meant it happened, she had looked at him like there could be more and if she looked at him like that maybe she could reciprocate his feelings? Fucking Goddammit Eddie. It fucked with his brain and his feelings.

“Like what?”

“Like you could.. Like I’m Steve Harrington. I know he was the ex you saw before we started doing more than hanging out." 

She exhaled loudly, defeated, "Don't play Cupid between us please, I realise he probably wasn't playing me like I thought he was, but the disgust I felt that night.. like.. it’s like I'm just an object to use and get rid of. I see and I know that there’s more than just that now, but being taken advantage of once was already fucking me up, but twice..”, she came to a halt, but Eddie recognised she was stuck deep in her head, with a final sigh, she continued, eyes timidly searching for his, “I loved him.. it’s eating me alive. I'm sorry I used you, you deserve more than that." 

A small smile appeared on his lips, even though he could feel his heart break in pieces, he put both hands on her arms, softly his hands went up and down in a comforting way, “Listen, you don't even need to explain yourself to me, we were both agreeing on doing this with no expectations, and as much as I'm going to miss the freaky sexy times together, we're still friends. Please, talk to Steve.”

“I'll try. Thank you Eddie,” he smiled sympathetically at her, the shine is in his eyes giving her hope. 

Eddie muttered something about getting back to Nancy's house, in a comfortable silence they left, until on the way there, she saw what Steve had called a Demodog, walking nearby.

She gripped Eddie's arm, making him stop abruptly, she shushed him when he opened his mouth to protest, and pointed towards the creature. His face was livid, clearly afraid, he looked back at her and she pointed towards the road, where Nancy’s house stood around the corner, still silent, she instructed him to follow her, hands linked. 

Without a sound they walked, keeping an eye on the creature, Eddie leaned towards her to make it alive, very cautious at every movement they made, the Demodog lazily walked back towards the beginning of the cul-de-sac, they exhaled a bit in relief, quietly and raced faster to the house.

They shut the door on their way in, trying to catch their breath, relief so palpable on their features, Eddie shared a relieved, adrenaline driven laugh, “Fuck that was so close. You’re rocking the survivalist mode of life!” 

She giggled, but didn’t answer as Nancy and Robin were running down the stairs, they hadn't realised Steve was there, holding his flashlight towards their sudden entrance, clearly taken aback by their sudden arrival.

“You couldn't find the gun, could you?,” Nancy spoke first, ignoring Steve’s panicked face.

“No. My bedroom is the same way I used to have it back in 83’.” 

“Same, the last entry in my journal is from the day Will disappeared, we’re in the past, this Hawkins lives in the past!” 

“Told you,” she told the metalhead as she turned around.

“Okay but what are we doing now?” The long haired brunette walked up to them, following their thoughts, Nancy turned to Steve, her index pointing at him, “Before they stumbled, you were calling—”

“For Dustin, yeah, I heard him. He was in the walls or something, he... —I swear I heard him,” he cut her off, afraid to sound crazy. Robin was about to protest but they all halted, they heard voices from afar, distorted by the distance. Nancy widened her eyes, “Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights.”

“Steve and Nancy were looking for a switch, Robin, Eddie and her had caught something else. 

They knew painting a lightbulb could change the colour but this wasn't that. It was luminescent like fireflies, but red, on the ceiling, where the chandelier was.

“Nancy?” absentmindedly, she whispered as she walked to the chandelier, curious they put their hands up, trying to touch it, but that's the thing, there was nothing to touch, it was a tickle feeling. Her eyes fell upon Nancy's then Steve's, holding his gaze until he leveled with her.

“Come check this,” she whispered softly, “It's soft, it.. it's like—”

“It tickles,” he answered back, just as softly as her, tender brown eyes getting lost in her, their hands almost touched, and he could almost feel her warmth.

“Does anybody know morse code?” Nancy asked as everyone's hope subsided significantly because none of them knew it. Unless.. Eddie knew how to say SOS, and thank God for him, because they had no idea how to communicate otherwise, they probably would have made some incongruous message through the lights, not guaranteeing their way out.

In a frenzy coming from nowhere Nancy ran towards her little sister's room and grabbed the Lite Brite, the fifth of them sat in her room, observing Nancy interact with the kids in Hawkins through the toy.

She was completely amazed at this, how it worked so well to communicate, and soon enough they were on bikes, on their way to Eddie's trailer. Strangely, no creatures were seen or heard, surprisingly, they were alone on their bikes. When they reached what she learned to be Henry Creel's house, they saw rows and rows of bats encircling the house, guarding it.

Arriving at Eddie's trailer, the gate looked exactly like the one she had been pulled into, only bigger. 

She had a goosebump travelling along her back as she saw something trying to poke through it. 

It looked exactly like placenta, and it was absolutely disgusting, the gate revealed itself and their way out when they saw the kids on the roof, but they were.. upside down? Oh yeah, no doubt, she hated this place.

Dustin, whom she remembered from babysitting him when he was little and seeing here and there as he became friends with Eddie, had instructed his friends to get Eddie's mattress, to make a somewhat comfortable landing mat, watching the kids make a rope with sheets was a sight to see, their way out resolved around a gate, a makeshift rope and a dirty ass mattress.

Dustin threw the rope through the gate and true to his theories, the two sides answered to the law of gravity from both their own ends, it was absolutely insane to witness.

“This is so trippy,” Robin whispered as she looked at the teens through the gate. 

The fifth of them looked at each other, silently wondering who would be first, until Robin stepped up, “Guess I'm the guinea pig.” She held onto the rope, with her strength she pulled herself up until she reached the gate and she felt the gravity pulling her down.

“That's insane,” she muttered, completely in awe to witness Robin now upside down.

Eddie went second, and it kept amazing her to see how the physics worked, so surreal but fun.

Nancy was up next, both Steve and her were crouched down to offer some headway for Nancy, her smile subsided when she saw Steve's worried look on Nancy, she was stoic, and when she turned her gaze towards her face, she saw her eyes were rolled back. 

“Nancy ?,” they echoed each other, “Nancy, wake up, c'mon!” Steve as she strengthened her hold around Nancy’s back, and Steve followed her initiative to get her down on the mattress. 

“Guys, we need music, right now!” He shouted through the gate, her hands grabbing her shoulders, trying to shake her more vigorously. 

“Nancy! C'mon, come back to us!”

Nothing. They shared a worried look, any animosity forgotten as Nancy started trembling, 

“Nancy!”

[stevefromupsidedown]

Damn that's hot. I love it.

show-time

request: i cannot stop thinking about asking steve if he ever got himself off to you before you got together. he’d be so blushy and sheepish about it but man it’d be fun to watch him squirm 🤤

2.1k words, established relationship, masturbation (steve), gn!reader, MDNI this entire blog is 18+

It’s a universally awkward experience to have a sex-scene come on in a movie. Unless one’s watching it alone, of course.

You are not. Cuddled in behind you, cushioning you against his chest, Steve lounges, his eyes fixed on the screen.

Sure, in terms of awkwardness-rankings, watching this with your boyfriend who you also have sex with isn’t as bad as, like, watching with parents.

But still. You kinda can’t tell if you should be watching or averting your eyes — and you don’t want to peek over your shoulder to figure out what Steve’s doing.

The man in the film grunts, his hand in his pants jerking furiously, his eyes fixed on a polaroid of the film’s love interest.

You squint—surely this is stretching the truth a bit?

Yeah, yeah, guys jerk off, you know that - this isn’t your first day on earth.

You just didn’t think it would be like, romantic style. People in movies kiss in the rain and run through airports, so they’re hardly known for being grounded in reality.

The man in the film groans lewdly and you feel Steve shift slightly behind you, his fingers looped around your middle twitching.

Did he-? When you-? You suppose you’ve never really thought about it.

You’re asking before you can second guess yourself.

“Did you do this?”

Steve’s attention switches idly from the screen to you as you crane your neck to look back at him. His brows pinch together.

“Did I do what?” He asks, doting brown eyes searching your face.

You fluster a bit. This is certainly moving you up through the awkwardness rankings. But now it’s in your head —now you’ve said it — you can’t turn back.

The thought of it blazes hotly through your mind.

Steve, all those months ago, still just crushing on you, but never quite making a move. He’d told you, whispered his secret, when you’d finally gotten the nerve to ask him to be your boyfriend officially, that he’d been sweet on you far longer than you knew.

But the image of it is what has you interested. You imagine Steve, his fist stuffed into his tight jeans, working himself over and biting his fist to hide his moans, at the mere thought of you.

You’d had plenty of long, late night conversations on the phone before officially getting together.

The thought of if he’d ever touched himself while you talked, none the wiser on the other end, wanders into your mind — and your stomach clenches hotly at the thought.

Clearing your throat, you tip your head towards the screen.

“Like, before we got together?”

It takes Steve another glance at the screen to realise what you’re asking. A simmering, pink colour crawls up his neck and in a moment, you go from feeling awkward to feeling downright devious.

Steve clears his throat, his eyes darting rapidly back and forth from the screen to your face. “Uh, I- I mean, why do you ask?”

A coy smile curls at your mouth. “I wanna know how accurate it is.”

Steve stares down at you, the pink now creeping up his cheeks and to the tips of his ears. God, he looks delectable like this.

Is this how he looked when he did it too? Blushy and embarrassed to commit such a filthy act thinking of someone that wasn’t his? A hot buzz drizzles through your core, fringed with endearment.

Steve licks his lips nervously. His hands on your stomach stiffen and then relax. The film plays on in the background. His expression shifts towards something sheepish.

“It’s — I, uh, well, yes.” He stammers. “It’s accurate, yes.”

“How many times?”

Steve’s eyes narrow, but his face gets redder. “What is this, an interrogation now?”

You giggle, drinking in his evidently embarrassed state. The confirmation of him doing it solidifies the perfect image of him in your mind, your own film-scene imagining Steve in the same position as the character on screen. In real life, Steve moves his hand to tug at the collar of his shirt.

“I’m just… enjoying the idea of it.” You muse.

“Uh huh,” Steve says, tongue jammed into the side of his cheek. “Not just—” He fumbles for his words. “Just enjoying seeing me, I don’t know, like—”

His words trail off and his head tips back with a groan, exposing the delicious expanse of his throat. It begs you for kisses and love bites. He moves both hands up to cover his face.

You wait til he pulls them away to nod. “Absolutely, baby. Watching you squirm is far more interesting than this film.”

In the background, the man on screen gives a pornographic shout as he finishes in his pants. Steve manages to turn redder, even if he keeps his eyes fixed on you.

“But I’m just,” You huff and pout. “Put out, I guess. You did all that for me and I didn’t even get to see it.”

At the exact same time, you watch as Steve’s pupils dilate, blowing out in obvious lust, and something pressed against your back thickens up.

Steve, to his credit, only makes one strained noise which he immediately smothers with a cough. You feel his hips twitch beneath you and make a quick decision, confidence built on the sweltering heat of Steve’s face.

You push forward and up, then quickly turn, slotting your knees across either side of Steve’s thighs, perching atop them nicely.

You’re not outright in his lap—there’s room between the two of you for what you hope will happen.

It takes Steve another long moment to catch your drift.

“Wait, you want-?” He inhales sharply. You can see the twitch of his cock through his loose sweatpants. “To see?”

“To watch,” You clarify, smiling almost mischievously. “Yeah.”

Then just to check, “Is that okay?”

Steve’s breath shudders out of him but he’s nodding before the question is completely out of your mouth.

“H-Here?” He checks. You nod, resting your hands atop your thighs to show you don’t plan on using them. Steve’s hungry eyes scan you up and down, the tent in his pants pitching up in arousal.

“Just show me how you did it,” You murmur, words on the side of sultry. Your own excitement, that faint thrum of pleasure, has already started to pool low in your gut.

“Yeah, but I normally don’t have an audience for it,” Steve mumbles, his left-hand reaching for the drawstrings of his sweats.

They come undone with a simple tug. Steve stretches the elastic out a bit and then slips his hand in.

You know the moment his large hand settles around his cock from the flutter of his lashes, the soft groan that curls out his throat, rough and sweet all at once.

This… This is new. You usually don’t get such a focused look at Steve’s pleasure, at the little shifts in his expression, too wrapped up in your own pleasure to pay proper attention. Getting this much detail sends a delicious throb between your thighs. You hardly want to blink.

Steve’s hand moves slow to begin with, slow, gentle strokes to get himself properly warmed up.

After a moment, he draws his hand back and some part of you worries he’s too weirded out now. But he only brings it up, to his mouth, and you realise what he’s doing.

Quickly stealing his hand, Steve’s eyes widen as you let spit drop from your lips and pool in his palm. Another soft, jagged noise drags from his throat.

“Jesus Christ,” He murmurs, more to himself. “This is not what it’s like when it’s just me, this is, like, ten fucking times hotter.”

His hand sneaks back into his sweatpants but this time when he grips his cock, the reaction this time is immediate.

Steve moans, louder this time, his eyes crushing closed and his hand starts moving faster. With the help of your spit, it doesn’t take long before you can hear it, the slick sounds of him fucking his cock desperately.

His head tips back against the couch and a piece of hair flops over, into his eyes.

You reach out and brush it to the side and Steve’s eyes crease open at the same time a whine threads through his moans.

“Fuck,” He grunts. He sinks in teeth into his bottom lip, his eyes desperately roaming your face. “Fuck, baby, you’re so pretty.”

“That what you thought bout?”

You’re impressed with yourself for the cool, calm demeanour you’re portraying. Steve nods, the motion a little wild, his hand still making those lewd, wet noises.

“Uh huh,” His voice shakes a little. “Just, fuck, dunno, like, your face and-uh-what y-you’d sound like.”

Your eyes glitter with interest, ego raring at the devotion your boyfriend is spilling out.

“What I’d sound like?”

“Y-Yeah,” Steve stammers, his breathing heavy. “Like, doing this.”

Now that’s a picture; Steve jerking off to the thought of you, hot and bothered with your hand between your thighs. You give a breathy gasp without meaning to.

Steve hears it, groaning louder as he quickens his pace. You sort of want to reach forward and ruck up his shirt, so you can see the glorious clench of his stomach as he rolls his hips up into his warm hand.

“Can I see more?” You ask tentatively. “Please?”

This time, it’s more like a whimper that creeps out of Steve’s throat.

“Oh my god,” Steve mumbles through a stilted moan. “Jesus Christ. Yeah, yeah, of course.”

He swallows heavily, his free hand reaching down to push at his waistband. You help, lifting up to help tug the fabric out of the way.

Obstructions removed, your mouth salivates. Steve’s cock is pretty — and it looks that much more enticing when it’s worked up, pink and the tip of it leaking all over his hand.

Steve’s a fucking vision. His head still lolled back, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows. His throat, dotted with moles, crawling with pinkness. His big, veiny hand wrapped around his cock, pumping it steadily.

You think about how much you’d like the lick the trail of hair on his tummy, down, down, down.

“You seem close,” You say and it earns you a reedy whimper in response. “Is it- does it normally happen this fast?”

“Are you kidding me?” Steve whispers back. His eyes are closed and after a moment, you realise he’s trying to keep himself from cumming too quickly, even as his hand doesn’t slow. “I—ngh— n-normally don’t have such good, ah, material. My imagination is— is not this good.”

You’re equal parts flattered and flustered, heat twinging in your gut.

“Can— can I?” Steve whimpers out suddenly.

The question nearly throws you. You almost say Can you what? when the meaning of it douses you in fire.

He’s asking permission.

Oh, that does something to you.

“Yeah, Stevie,” You say, voice lilting closer to a coo. “I wanna see it, please.”

Something shifts in his motions, changing gear as Steve’s hand suddenly starts moving in smaller, tighter strokes, just over the head of his cock. His head tucks forward, his eyes scrunched closed, and he’s whimpers out, “thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It only takes a few seconds, the whine in Steve’s voice pitching higher and higher, until something gives.

His hips take over, something desperate and primal shoving them up, his thrusts rapid and frantic. His hand doesn’t stop moving, not even as his cock starts to leak out ropes of cum, shooting out enough to cover the back of his knuckles. It joins your spit to rub slick against his cock.

He keens pitifully. For one long minute, you listen to Steve’s breathy whines get softer and softer, watch his desperate thrusts abate til an overstimulated shiver wracks through his body. Then, and only then, does he collapse back, sinking into the couch.

He’s a bit ruined, truthfully.

And you’ve soaked through your panties.

“You’re welcome,” You croak, throat dry. His hair is back in his eyes and lean forward, tenderly brushing it out of the way. You leave your hand there, cupping the side of his face, and Steve leans into it, still panting.

“What?” He asks.

“You were thanking me,” You point out cheekily.

Steve’s face plunges back to that scarlet colour you’re beginning to adore most ardently. He turns his face further to hide away in the palm of your hands.

“Shut up,” He mumbles.

“So you don’t wanna do that again?” You tease.

Steve pulls back and eyes you. “Now, hang on, I didn’t say that…”

[stevefromupsidedown]

THEMEEEEEEEE

your theme is way better, i didn't put any effort into it !!

[stevefromupsidedown]

also why did the short sentence "harrington's got her" make me so feral just now..........

BECAUUUUUUUSE

STEVE'S GOT USSSSSSS

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, two : the portal on the highway ● steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: Uh Oh. warnings: fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, THREE | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

"We're in the Southeast of Roane County, where another Hawkins High student's body has been discovered this morning on the highway. We do not have details on the circumstances, nor the names of the victims. The police are not sharing any information on this investigation. But this puts in question the competence of the new sheriff in town, Calvin Powell, as this is the second murder in less than twenty four hours since Forest Hills trailer park's murder yesterday. Even though they're actively investigating the murders, the community of Hawkins has yet another tragedy to overcome on this once-peaceful town.  Stay here on channel nine and we'll keep you informed over the progression of the investigation. This is Beverly Moss." 

She stayed paralysed in front of the TV, not believing yet another tragedy in Hawkins since the Sheriff had died in the fire of Starcourt Mall, she recalls her conversation with Eddie last summer when it was announced. Year after year there has to be something, doesn’t it?

A voice broke her train of thoughts, tilting her head from the TV, she sees her friend with benefits getting close to her, she recalls she accepted on staying a few days at his house for Spring Break, in Indianapolis instead of being alone in Hawkins.

She redirected her head away as she saw him advance for a kiss, “I’ve told you, no strings attached, so no kiss.” 

She heard him grumble something but she didn’t pay any mind to it, and actually, with one final glance towards him and no explanation whatsoever, she took everything that belonged to her —which wasn’t a lot— and left his house, ignited her car and started driving to Hawkins.

Nothing kept her in Indianapolis, but in Hawkins, she had Eddie, and the thought that he could be one of those killed, she hated it. Eddie.. 

Eddie wasn’t her only thought, but she refused, no, she condemned any thoughts that led towards Steve Harrington. 

He had used her, stripped her of any confidence she had left in her, he had proved to her he was like she imagined him to be and not this image of him Dustin had given her, an image she had blindly trusted like a fool. What an idiot she was. The fact that it happened twice was the absolute worst, those two occurrences made her believe she could be and do like them. 

She could take and never give, she would never give or very little. The pain wasn’t worth it for her. 

Give someone the power to destroy her life once again? Absolutely not. 

So she took —nameless friend with benefits and Eddie— and never offered, or very little —only Eddie.

She refused any act of intimacy that could make her want more, the kisses were the boundary. The line to never cross, and she respected that rule like her life depended on it. 

Eddie was the only that respected that rule, maybe because he knew her before, he wasn’t a stranger to her, they had known eachother since he had buzz cut hair and made his first trials with his band. 

He was her main worry, and seeing the Welcome sign at the entry highway of Hawkins was a relief, slowing down as she came across the unlit portion of the road, she felt uneasiness growing in her, she stumbled upon a road blocked sign on the roadway, but only one portion of the road was closed.

She decided on driving under ten miles per hour, and looked to her left and saw something she didn't understand. Doing a double take, she couldn’t believe whatever was on the road.

Confused, she parked her car along the roadside. She took a small branch on the edge of the forest while exiting her vehicle, closing the car and leaving towards the road sign.

She stepped into the crime scene ribbon, she carefully walked towards the thing, the more she was closer the more she realised it looked like it vibrated, or like, reproduced some kind of vibrations, slow, steady. 

The center was red, it reflected some light, its surrounding was like a crown of black leaves and vines, it was.., it was very weird.  She didn’t understand. 

A shadow moved on the other side, it was.. it looked like something was trying to come out of it. Stringy, black, ropes or something were around it, almost, crawling? Was that a thing? 

Her shaky hand brought the branch closer, and with it she tried to poke the thing, it pierced it, like a soft boiled egg, the white was very soft, and the yellow had to be pierced to eat the egg, well, the yellow of the egg looked exactly like the red-pink thing with the shadow, it was disgusting. 

Through the hole she poked, a small stringy living rope crawled its way towards the branch and her arm. 

She didn't react in time, the thing wrapped around her arm so fast she couldn’t process what was happening, nonetheless, it crawled around her arm and when she tried to pull it away from her it tightened its hold. A few seconds later she was pulled into the thing, her arm violently dragged through it, her upper body going through it first. 

Only a sickening, high-pitched scream left her lips.

[stevefromupsidedown]

Façade — Pt, one : the heartbreak ● steve harrington x fem!reader

synopsis: First kisses are magical, right? warnings: english's not my first language, fem!reader with she/her pronouns, deaths, blood, gore and violence, references to mental health issues and low self esteem, very heavy on the angst, very little comfort, basically reader's the worst pessimist, very introspective, references to sexual themes, 18+ ONLY (overall warnings for the series, read at your own risk) This material is @takemetothelakes-poets’ property.

PT, TWO | SERIES MASTERLIST | CHAPTER PLAYLIST

Summer ‘85. Starcourt burned down and Sheriff Hopper was announced dead on the city’s televised news, smoke blowing through her vision and blurs the screen for a few seconds before it dissipates. 

She looks to where it comes from, deep brown curls fall past his shoulders, she can see his tattoos peeking through his white tight vest top. 

Eyes go from the tv to her’s, his eyebrows widen slightly as he hands her the cigarette he rolled, a look in his eyes she can’t decipher yet, she takes a puff out of it and hands it back to him, “There’s something really weird about this town,” her voice is hoarse as the smoke leaves her lips and Eddie can’t seem to stop staring at her, losing himself in all the unthinkable thoughts he’s not supposed to have about her.

He breaks out of his haze as he takes it back and finishes the cigarette, “What do you mean?” 

“Byers’ kid, Barbara, the Sheriff ?,” she leans her knees against his leg as she sits cross-legged on his sofa, “And don’t tell me it’s a coincidence, nothing ever happens and suddenly a kid goes missing, is found dead, buried then out of nowhere is found alive? Same week, Barbara goes missing, and a year later her death is explained? Eight months later, Hopper’s dead in a burning mall that’s been there for what, barely four months? That’s coincidental?” 

“Damn, Sherlock Holmes. You’re so smart.” 

“Stop mocking me, you’re so fucking high.” 

“Yeeeah, it’s starting to hit,” he started to laugh, that high pitch voice with that contagious smile of his, his head fell against her arm, his dark curls falling on her lap, she couldn’t help but join him and laugh too, and damn, did he love that sound, but he wouldn’t act on it, as he knows she wasn’t in a good place to reciprocate anything, but God, he would die a satisfied man just to be able to taste her lips once, just once, would that be so much to ask for?

Maybe so. 

A few months later, a new school year has started and Eddie’s back in highschool and with her help, he might actually get his diploma, Steve managed to get this job at Family Video, thanks to Robin, he goes to dates almost every day with the week, sometimes with the same young women, until eventually he was disappointed because it’s not quite what he expected, since Nancy broke up with him, Steve's lovelife and self confidence was basically nonexistent. 

He hadn’t realised it at first, because he hated being too introspective, but he was bored and lost, purposeless, at the dawn of his twenty-first birthday, he felt like he didn’t know who he was, who was he really under the façade he hid under from all the wrong influences in his life ? 

His father and his primal instinct to be a shark and possess and control everything in his life in the name of pride and masculinity. Being successful meant money, a good car, good house, good wife, good and successful son. Did he really want that life? 

He had wanted it once, with Nancy, but what would their life look like? Copy and paste his father’s life? No. This, he was sure, he didn’t want to hide in the conformity he was supposed to fall under, he refused to resemble the shadow of himself he once hid under with the nickname “King Steve”. 

Unsure of what his purpose could be, but, he knew he wanted, needed to make meaningful connections, something that makes him vibrate, something that lets him know for sure that he’s surrounded with the right persons. 

He’s found himself on dates, searching for those meaningful connections, excited to branch out, lost in both amusement then frustration of not feeling something and not finding someone. Sometimes it led to his bedroom in the gargantuan house he had trouble consider his home. He had nice moments, but he longed for something more than sex, he longed for someone new in his life, someone freshening up his views on people and life.

The chime in the shop’s entry wakes him up from the quick checkup of his life he was doing in his head, not that glorious he thought, before he forced himself on the task he had started, which was to register the tapes back in stock in the software and control the tapes before he could put them back.

A voice came from the back, one he knew was familiar, but struggled to put a name on until she arrived, accompanied with one voice he knew and would recognise even in the Upside Down, Dustin arrives, greets him and makes a run for the Sci-Fi section, “Don't run, Dustin, something falls you’re cleaning up, I warn you!” 

He hears him say something but he doesn’t listen, instead his eyes focus on the young woman that walked in with the teenager. 

He remembers her, not that vividly because it brought back memories of his past self and immediately he feels ashamed of himself, of who he used to be. He remembers her from highschool, the same grade as him, she was more or less friends with Nancy and Barbara, they had spoken on very little occasions. He remembered she was usually in her own little bubble, not really caring about the etiquettes of a highschooler, even if at that time, he was very attached to that. She knew she was titled as an outcast, having very few friends, being called mean names, essentially by Tommy and Carol and him of course. 

He may have been called King Steve, he was a follower, a sheep. 

He also remembers that Will and Barbara’s disappearing were the turning point in Nancy’s and her friendship, it broke everything, his ex-girlfriend’s guilt and shame being the main culprit, he saw her in the hallways and in some of his classes. She always looked passive, disinterested in any highschool activities. 

With a timid smile, he stood up, her name on his lips, “Were you looking for something?” 

She seems confused at first, because he remembers her name, so what Dustin had told him was true? Steve had changed, and he was in his highest esteem, “No, um— actually I came in with Dustin, I’m paying for the movie.” 

He didn’t have time to say anything else, or apologise, Dustin came back with the movie Alien, excited and handed the tape to Steve, who registered it to her name and their first meeting stopped there, and Steve felt disappointed he couldn’t say anything more but she had to come back to give the tape back, right? Or would that be Dustin? He felt a flash of hope that quickly went away. 

He was right, though. She came back later that week to give the tape back, he thought he would never find the courage to talk to her besides doing customer small talk, but as she was leaving, her hand on the door ready to push, and goddammit she’s about to get away!— “Wait!” 

She stops dead in her tracks, their eyes lock; it starts there. 

Platonic coffee dates turned into seeing movies at the cinema, turned into sharing a plate of fries after a screening of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, at a diner, hiding in a booth in a corner, loud laughs and giggles coming from them. 

Steve didn't realise it immediately but there was a deep connection between them, with more and more time spent with her, and none spent with the other girls, he realised, this might be it. She might be it. 

He let himself dive into the newness of their relationship, and how fresh and good it felt. 

It’s after a few days of staring down at her lips, whenever she talked, bit her lip or wetted her lips with her tongue that he felt captured by them. 

Then her smile grew on him, it was so contagious he couldn’t help but smile whenever she did, but the worst of it all, that made him understand he was down bad, was that his imagination was betraying him, actually it was worse, both his imagination and free will were working against him as he longed for any kind of opportunity to get up close to her, it was driving him crazy. 

She was driving him crazy with her full, inviting lips that looked chapped from all the time she bit down on them out of habit from nervousness, but none of it mattered because he needed to taste them. He would die a happy man just to be able to taste her lips once.

One time, at the drive-in, he had been brave during the movie to rest his hand on her thigh, her head spun to meet his eyes, their gaze locked in, she smiled at him as she intertwined their fingers, with the lights reflecting on her face, he knew, but he didn’t act on it, yet. 

Driving her back to her house, his hand lingered on her thigh and didn’t move unless he really needed it, he parked and hand in hand they walked to the front door, she turned on the fairy lights on her porch, her back completely leaning on the front door, their hands tangled. 

The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips as she looked at their hands, her head looked up to meet his eyes and her smile widened and shined so bright he mirrored her smile.

He felt it was the right moment, but he was timid, almost as frightened as for his first ever kiss. 

One of his hands travelled to her face gently, his fingertips touching delicately her cheek, his touch glided down the left side of her jaw, he cupped her chin in his fingers, his eyes traveled her face to memorise every softness and curve, the shine and the hope in her eyes, their eyes connected and never left one another's gaze, both so into their moment, their little bubble.

“Can I—”, he started but his voice broke, his fear was sincere, she was sure of that, he was so vulnerable with her. He didn't want to misread, mess up everything they had together, a fond smile formed on her lips and she leaned closer until their noses touched, their eyes closed to the proximity.

“You can always kiss me, Steve,” she murmured against his lips then she lightly pushed her lips on his, it was hesitant on both sides, a very tender peck on the lips, they disconnected quickly, foreheads touching as they took their time to process that they were kissing and they both wanted it as bad as the other. 

His other hand left hers’ and brought her face closer to his, palms along her jaw, and their lips met a second time as they moved in sync, his lips pulled harder on hers’, he grew more confident, comfortable and greedy, he knew, right there and then, that he would never get tired of kissing her. He didn't know if it was love, he didn’t have a clue how to describe it because how the hell does one know if it’s love, but he knew for sure he felt the connection he's been yearning for. 

That night, he left her with a kiss on her lips and her forehead as he wanted nothing more than to hold her close to him. 

And, fuck, he should have seen it coming then. 

Steve started feeling the doubt coming in, it had nothing to do with trust, or the lack of it, but because of the Upside Down, and the lies he would have to make up if —or when— he would have to protect the kids again. He couldn't tell her about that place, about the nightmares he gets sometimes, about why he needs their relationship to be super slow, because if he explains about him and Nancy, he needs to explain about Barbara, Will, and El, and he can't. He fucking can’t.

He cannot invite her in that insanity, he cannot risk her life just for the sake of having her. It starts to weigh on him, shifting between enjoying the laughs, the giggles, the kisses with her and the guilt, the inevitable hurt he's going to force on them.

He feels himself slowing down even furthermore, conflicted. He feels selfish for wanting love and warmth that she provides with such ease. Kisses and caring touches that she gives away so.. easily, feeling so comfortable around him, like she might have found someone who loved her for her, and not for the prize of having seduced her.

She was okay with the slow pace, in fact she was on board with it as she needed it after the last relationship she had, or the lack of it, the result of investing herself in someone who only had the intention of getting in her pants, pain and lack of confidence were the prize she hadn’t asked for but had been delivered to because of this stupid boy.

She truly believed Steve was different, he had matured, he proved it to her every time they spent time together, always so patient, because he didn't set the pace according to her but to them, only explained he didn't want to go fast, he wanted to enjoy the little moments they could have.  Flirtatious moments transformed into make out sessions, lust and longing made it difficult to walk back from it if they were to cross the line.

What Steve didn’t know yet is that she had talked to Dustin, the day they came in together at Family Video was totally by luck —or was it fate?—, it had been raining cats and dogs and she saw the teenager waiting for it to pass with his bicycle. She had proposed to help him out, in honor of old time’s sake, being his babysitter when he was smaller, he remembers he looked up to her and was actually happy to see her. 

Dustin knew Eddie, being a member of the Hellfire’s club, it was full circle, and helping him out that day meant going to Family Video so he could rewatch Alien with Eddie in honor of the sequel arriving soon. 

In the car they had talked, mainly about Eddie, but on their way back, Dustin couldn’t stop about Steve being so much better than he was. She trusted Dustin’s judgment, so she gave him a chance, just to see what could come out. It turned out.. it was going well, right?

Steve didn't want to hurt her and was torn between stopping everything before they spent the night together and keep going because he felt so good around her, he loved being with her, seeing her smile, hearing her laugh. 

He hadn't planned to fall so hard for her, he was so distraught, he felt like he was paralysed, he knew he had to stop it all, but the lust, the longing, the feelings he had for her got him spiralling into an amazing night with her. Remorse ran deep and almost immediately.

He didn't know if he could spend a day without hearing her moan his name so slowly, in a whisper, it drove him crazy. And beyond that, even if he loved the intimacy they had together, he loved her warmth, the goosebumps when he kissed her skin, the horror he experienced with the Upside Down quickly caught up on him. Shallow breaths left his lips as he caught his heartbeat rumble vividly in his chest.

While she was in her bathroom cleaning up, he felt anxiety creep up on him like a shadow crawling on his skin, sharpened claws clawing his chest, goosebumps rising in his body in fear. He caught the shortening of breath and the tightening in his chest as it happened. Flight or fight. 

Flight?

Fight?

Fl—fuck.

He dressed up in a hurry, he grabbed his keys from her desk, messily fixing his hair with his hand when he heard the bathroom's door open, he closed his eyes, cursing himself. 

Flight.

They observed each other in silence, keys in hand, her fingers gripping so tightly the towel she had around her shoulder to provide her some warmth, her body tensed, and she felt like she had just taken an ice cold shower. The glow and the softness in her heart from the aftercare and all the delicate kisses and touches broke away like glass shattering. Her body started shaking from the cold in her house and the shock. 

"You—,” her voice broke, she cleared her throat, but it came out broken, voice coarse, in a murmur she tried again, “You're leaving?" 

The way it came out, it sounded like it destroyed her as she spoke, it’s like saying it had made it real, their chest felt heavier by the second, the tears watering her eyes.

Fuck, he hated himself.

He had trouble finding his voice again, he had to try again too, his voice holding the weight of his actions, "I remembered— I…” 

Nothing came out. He couldn’t lie, nor could he tell the truth. 

“I'm sorry." 

He could hear their heartbreaks, feeling his own sink in his ribcage, he swallowed the lump in his throat, "I can’t do this," he whispered again and held back the tears as he escaped her eyes, walking away from her, from them.

He could hear her call his name as he walked, running down the stairs after him, his long legs got him to his car in a matter of a few seconds, he started it and drove away to his house, his vision blurry with tears as he saw her in the rearview mirror of his car, the image of her, barefoot on the entryway, in the middle of a November night, in only her shorts and tank top.

He saw her tears falling, her hands cupping her face as she sobbed. 

It’s not how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to be happy, tangled bodies wrapped in her blanket, discussing until dawn.

She went back to her room, walking, she was the shadow of herself, her eyes met the mirror she had stuck to the back door of her room, she hated what she saw. 

Instinctively she put on the sweatshirt that’s been sitting on her desk, she hadn't seen it was Steve's, until she realised it smelled like him, she held a fist of material, unsure of what had happened, and how it happened. She was confused at first, dumbfounded by the situation, until she realised she had been taken advantage of, again. 

She hated herself for it, she screamed into her pillow, thankful that the house was empty, no one could hear the cries of despair and rage. She ripped apart the Polaroids she had of them together, getting rid of everything on her desk out of rage, yells coming from betrayal, she ended up sitting on the floor, sobbing, suffocating. 

She felt stupid, such an idiot to think that Steve Harrington could love her, that anyone could love her, that he could have been the one, and that people seemed to only want her for the prize of it, for the pleasure they could get out of it. Like she was some prey for the others to take.

Parked in front of his empty house, Steve couldn't leave his car, he felt so terrible for making her go through this again, even while he loved her so much, he couldn't be with her, and he hated himself so much for it. Shaky breaths left his lips, in one moment of rage the side of his hand hit the steering wheel, yelling. 

Then he started crying, feeling so much shame, so much guilt, like an idiot. The anxiety crept once more on him as he felt difficulty breathing. Another panic attack. That night they both fell asleep in exhaustion, crying themselves to sleep. 

A week after, while Steve was sorting out the gifts he had bought for the teenagers and Robin and Nancy for Christmas, when he fell upon hers’,  he decided to hide it in his dresser, knowing full well he wouldn't give it to her, because they no longer were on speaking terms. 

It had started out so good but had stopped so abruptly.