#i want ppl to love Dusty as much as I do. please | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

emma-writes-stuff · 7 years

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Hi I’m that same gurl who can’t read finally it still won’t load and I’m not okay so if there is any other way you could send it to me omg plz messages me ppl are talking about how it’s so good an ughhhh thanks sm for understanding😊😂❤️

Hi, thank you so much for wanting to read my story! I hope it works that I just attached it here, if it still doesn’t load I can try again with sending it in smaller increments. I hope you like it!

https://www.polyvore.com/15476/set?id=225036405

You had been out at the localdiner, sitting by the window with a pile of essay papers in front of you and adrink in your hand that you were swirling with your finger. A strand of hairfell in front of your eye and you delicately reached up and placed it backbehind your ear, your French-manicured fingertips resting on your cheek, stillintact from your last “girl’s night in” with your friends at your house. Youwere almost always busy with practices for something, always helping otherpeople or working your butt off at whatever you were doing, so it was nice toget a little time to yourself amongst all the crazy. You had actually been outfor lunch with a few other people, but when they had finished their meals andleft, you had decided to stay back and work on your latest AP Lit essay.

It wasalmost odd how you had adjusted back into regular life after all the UpsideDown insanity. One moment you had been worried about whether you would be ableto fit in going to the big “party of the year” with all your other friends betweenbeing the lead in the musical, maintaining your straight A’s, writing your nextarticle as president of the school newspaper, cheerleading practice, volunteeringat the animal shelter, tutoring, and helping your brother Dustin and hisfriends with their AV Club, and the next minute Will Byers was missing and youhad to drop everything and fight to save not only yourself and your brother’slives, but the whole world.

Now, hereyou were again, only a little while after it seemed, and for the most part, youwere okay. Still a straight A student, still almost guaranteed to be acceptedinto an Ivy League college, still the most loved and one of the most popularpeople in school. You had a personality that drew people into you, you werekind, you laughed a lot, you were happy.After all that had happened, you were still happy.

You still had nightmares, ofcourse. Sometimes those horrible flashbacks of the Upside Down would come backto you and you’d wake up in a cold sweat, sobbing and screaming your head off.But, you always knew when you woke up that no matter how real it seemed, nomatter how petrified you were, all you needed to do was pick up the phone onyour nightstand and call Steve and he’d be there immediately. You loved yourbrother and his friends with all your heart, but no matter how many awkward, comfortinghugs Dustin gave you, it never made you feel as safe as Steve did, just holdingyou in his arms and letting you cry into his chest. So, with shaking hands, youalways picked up the phone and dialed the number you knew by heart, and inminutes he would be at your windowsill, arms wide open for you to run into.

Steve hadbeen your rock through this whole thing. You two had never been close before,only friends that occasionally talked as they passed each other in the hallway.But after you had both almost died protecting each other, it had pushed the twoof you together. Now, he was easily your best friend in the world. No one atschool really knew what had happened, one day you two had been acquaintancesand the next you were inseparable, but everyone could tell how much you caredfor each other and were happy for you.

You had toadmit that over the last few weeks you had fallen for Steve, much more than youever intended. He had been with Nancy, up until a few days ago, and it wasn’tright for you to feel the way you did about him. But, you couldn’t help thatevery time he walked into a room and saw you, his eyes would light up and agrin would stretch across his face, sending your heart pounding a million timesan hour. You fell more for him every day, and you knew you had already passedthe point of turning back.

So now asyou sat in your oversized NYU sweatshirt, your hair falling in waves framingyour face, you stared out the window and thought of Steve Harrington. You heardyour finger clicking your pen in a steady rhythm, which was mostly covered upby the thick fabric of your sweatshirt enveloping your hand. You should havebeen writing about the “critical role Atticus played in ‘To Kill aMockingbird’”, but all you could think about was Steve’s arms wrapped aroundyou and his eyes looking into yours, crinkling at the corners as he smiled downat you. It was a look that you knew too well, one that sent butterfliesexploding in your stomach every time.

Somehow inyour daydreaming, you hadn’t noticed that Steve himself’s truck had flown intothe parking lot of the diner—at least not until Dustin leapt out of thepassenger seat, came running into the diner, whipped his head around until hesaw you, ran towards your table, and started grabbing all your papers as fastas he could.

“Dustin? Dustin, what the hell are youdoing? What are you doing with my stuff—why are you here in Steve’s truck?” youcried out, to no answer. “Dustin Henderson, I swear to God, if you don’t tellme what’s going on right now—”

“Y/N, I’mreally sorry, there’s no time to explain, but I need you to get in the truck right now.”

You staredat him for a second, and then you saw the look in his eyes and nodded. “Okay,Dusty, I’m coming.” You pulled a five dollar bill out of your pocket, set itdown on the table, grabbed your papers from Dustin’s arms, shoved them in yourbag, and ran out the door after him.

https://www.polyvore.com/14675/set?id=231453571

You werecrouched inside the dingy bus in the junkyard, Steve and Dustin next to you,with Lucas and your brother’s new friend Max up on top. Dustin was sitting in aseat across from you, his head in his hands as he isolated himself fromeveryone else. You were sitting on the floor about a foot from Steve, andalthough your heart was racing at being in such close proximity to him, yourconcern for your little brother overruled all your other emotions. You lookedover at Steve with worried eyes, only for him to smile at you, lift your handwith both of his, and hold it between his palms. He mouthed the words, “he’sokay” to you, and you instantly relaxed, smiling at him.

After asecond, Steve seemed to realize what he was doing, and awkwardly looked down,gently placing your hand back on your lap and nervously trying to play off whathe had naturally done. You hadn’t noticed his heart begin to pound as your skinhad come in contact with his own.

With asmile, you scooched closer to him until you were against him and laid your headon his shoulder, wrapping your soft sleeves around his arm. Looking up at him,you saw that he was grinning down at you with adoration. You gazed into hiseyes for a minute, studying their warm, chocolate-like hue, as he gazed backinto yours, both of you holding an intense stare. It seemed like it should havebeen awkward, but it didn’t feel awkward at all. It just felt…right. His mouthfell slightly open as he looked down at you, just enough that it made yourealize that the gap between your faces was much smaller than you realized,your noses almost touching.

Youself-consciously averted your eyes to the floor, breaking the connectionbetween you. You felt both yourself and him let out a breath that neither ofyou knew you were holding, before you felt his warm fingertips against yourcheek, gently directing your face so you were looking at him again.

“Y/N…” wasall he breathed out, his voice slightly shaky.

Your headwas tilted up right at him, both your hearts pounding out of your chests, whena loud sound like a roar echoed through the air, and the two of you, startled,jumped apart and rushed to the barred-in window, along with Dustin.

“You seehim?” your brother whispered, looking up towards Steve.

“No,” wasthe reply, almost inaudible, as Steve’s eyes scanned over the area.

Dustin whippedaround, directing his voice to where he knew Lucas and Max were on top of thebus.

“Lucas,what’s going on?”

“Hold on!”you heard Lucas yell back after a few seconds. “I’ve got eyes! 10 o’clock! 10o’clock!”

Through thefog, you saw a large, dark shape, and heard a small growl. Looking up, youwhispered as quietly as you could, “Steve—Steve, I see it.”

Steve lookeddown at you, and although most people wouldn’t even notice it, you saw fear inhis eyes. Unconsciously, you reached out and laced your fingers with his own,squeezing his hand in reassurance.

“What’s hedoing?” you heard Dustin say from the other side of the tall, brown-haired boy,who only shook his head subtly and whispered that he didn’t know.

A fewseconds passed, and you heard Steve’s voice rush out the words, “He’s nottaking the bait—Y/N, why isn’t he taking the bait?”

Your brotherpiped up quietly again, “Maybe he’s not hungry.”

At thatmoment, the realization hit both you and Steve at the same time, and you lookedup into his slowly widening eyes. “Maybe he’s sick of cow,” he said.

He backedaway from the window, dropping your hand, and standing by the ladder for a merefew seconds, before turning around and picking up his baseball bat and thelighter.

“Steve—Steve,what are you doing? Steve?” you whispered, every word gaining speed as yourealized what he was going to do.

“Just…beready,” he said, throwing the lighter into Dustin as he stared at Steve withwide eyes.

He turnedaround and stood in front of the door. You felt tears start to gather in youreyes, tears of fear for the boy you knew you were in love with. “Steve,please…” you said, trying to cover your mouth with your hand.

His eyesconnected with yours for a second, and you saw a million different emotions inhis eyes before he turned around, and slowly pushed open the door.

His bat wasraised behind his head like he was ready to take a swing, and you saw him flipit around for a second in front of him before returning it to its position.

After aminute, he whistled a few times, and you heard his voice saying the words,“Come on, buddy,” before whistling again.

At thatmoment, Max came scrambling down the ladder, asking Dustin what Steve wasdoing, but you tuned out his response, focusing all your energy on praying thathe was going to be okay.

“C’mon, it’sdinnertime. Human tastes better than cat, I promise,” you heard Steve say froma few yards away from Dart.

You lookedto your left to see Max whisper through the chainmail, “He’s insane”, only tohave a massive grin stretch across Dustin’s face as he replied, “He’s awesome.”

You felt aninvoluntary smile grow across your own face before whispering to yourself,“Yeah, he is.” You didn’t notice Dustin and Max’s small smiles as they lookedover at you, staring out the window through the rusty chainmail at him withcomplete adoration in your eyes.

Until thefog cleared, and you could see a ripple go through Dart’s body as he inchedcloser to Steve.

You couldphysically feel Steve’s fear, see his wide eyes and the terror seize his bodyeven though you could only see his back. You knew because he had stoppedswinging his bat.

“Steve,watch out!” you heard Lucas shriek through the bus.

“I’m alittle busy here!” Steve’s voice had yelled back.

And then yousaw them. Both the demo-dogs sneaking up behind Steve, flanking him on threesides.

“STEVE!” youcried automatically, screaming your lungs out to make sure he heard you. Thesecond he heard your voice, he whipped around, his eyes completely vulnerable.“STEVE, THERE’S TWO MORE! BEHIND YOU!”

Just likethat, he was swinging to protect his life, the things pouncing at him as hetried to knock them away.

“STEVE!”Dustin screamed, running out of the bus. “Steve, abort, abort!”

He rolledover a car, knocking away a demo-dog just in time as all the kids started toscream for him to run, waving their hands for him to get to the door.

“He’s notgoing to make it,” you whispered to yourself. “Not on his own.”

You rippedoff your sweatshirt and threw it to the ground, leaving you in a gray tank top,before you picked a heavy metal crowbar off the ground, spinning it in yourhand before pushing your way through the kids, all yelling your name, and runningout to Steve.

“Y/N!” he screamed, turningaround and locking his terrified eyes with yours for only a second before ademo-dog ran up to his right and he hit it away.

He didn’t see Dart leapingtowards him from his left, not until too late, as he whipped around and saw thecreature in the air, about to rip him apart. You ran up to him with all thespeed you possibly had, swinging your crowbar in a perfect arc with so muchforce that the thing was thrown through the air and collapsed against the sideof a car with a thwack, leaving amassive dent in the door.

Steve was staring at you withhis mouth agape, and you heard Dustin yell the words, “THAT’S MY SISTER!” fromthe bus. That was when Dart and the others started to move again, and yougrabbed Steve’s hand, sprinting and pulling him along behind you as fast as youpossibly could, dodging the creatures flying at you from all directions, bothof you diving into the bus with all the might you had and throwing yourselvesagainst the metal floor, just as the demo-dogs all jumped at the door together.Dustin, Lucas, and Max immediately slammed the bus door shut as you and Stevecovered it with scrap metal, Steve protectively wrapping his arm around you andholding the sheet there with his legs.

The kids were all yelling overeach other in chaos, but the only thing you could fully understand was Lucasyelling, “THEY CAN’T GET IN, THEY CAN’T!”

Just as hesaid it the scrap metal went flying back and the kids went running away fromthe door, Steve pushing you behind him and jumping in front of you, hittingaway the demo-dog with his bat as Dustin frantically called for help over hisheadset. You rushed over to Dustin, Lucas, and Max, as dents appeared in themetal next to them as the demo-dogs threw themselves at every possibleentrance, lifting up your crowbar to protect them.

The kidswere yelling their heads off, and you heard loud stomping on the roof as dentsappeared there, too, before Max screamed at the top of her lungs from beneaththe ladder, where a demo-dog was reaching its head in through the openemergency exit.

Steve wasthere in an instant, screaming your name and pushing all the kids and youbehind him. You wrapped your arms around them, even though they were all fairlyclose to your size, holding them to you and protecting them. Steve wasscreaming at the thing, his bat raised above his head, about to swing, when theroaring stopped. The demo-dog lifted its head, let a screech out into the nightair, and just like that, it took off, sprinting away with all the others. Thebus shook back and forth under the weight of the things, but after a minute,Steve’s bat cautiously lowered, and he turned around.

He walkedacross the bus and out the door again with it lifted behind his shouldercarefully, scanning the junkyard to make sure they were really gone.

“What. Happened,”Lucas said, walking towards the door.

“I…I don’tknow,” was Max’s reply.

“Stevescared them off,” Dustin whispered in awe from the doorway.

Steve turnedaround, finally lowering his bat for real. “No. No way.” He paused, looking atthe kids. “They’re going somewhere.”

The kidsstarted talking to each other nervously, as Steve’s bat dropped from his handand hit the ground. You could see how drained he was, see the remnants of theadrenaline that had been pushing him through his fear disappearing.

And just like that, you letgo. You walked past the kids, all sitting in front of the door, and wentstraight to Steve’s arms. Your fingers clutched at his jacket, holding him astight as you could, as if at any second the world would be torn apart and youcould be separated. You felt his warm arms wrap around you, too, pulling youagainst him as much as he could, leaning down and burying his face in yourhair. You heard a small noise come from Steve, and it only took you a second torealize that he had let out a small sob.

This was your Steve. Most ofthe world looked and saw him as “King Steve”, the handsome athlete that wasclearly always so tough and strong, never subjecting himself to emotions oranything worth anything. But, this was the side of Steve that he only ever showedto you, the side no one else had ever seen of him. This vulnerable, innocentboy that just needed someone to hold him and tell him that everything was goingto be okay.

Even when he was with Nancy,he never went to her for anything like this. It was always you. That was how hehad known that he was in love with you. He had been with Nancy for only alittle while when he had realized it. But, you were too good for him. No matterhow much he loved you, you’d never go for him, so he never did anything aboutit. He just stayed with Nancy, even though it hurt him every day to even thinkabout you with other people, or anyone other than him.

You wrapped your arms aroundhim even tighter, reassuring him that you were there, that it was okay, that hehad saved you and the kids and that he was safe with you. He started shaking,wracked with sobs just out of shock for what had happened. You knew if youhadn’t been here, he would have just held it in, stayed strong for yourbrother, Max, and Lucas.

And then you started to crywith him: because of the pain you felt from head to toe, the surely developingbruises and scratches you had sustained, because only two hours ago you wereeating with friends and now you had almost watched the love of your life diewithout him even knowing how you felt, because if not for your stupid impulsethat you hadn’t even thought about before doing, Steve, your brother, Max,Lucas, and you all would have died, because that horrible thing out there had eaten the cat you’d had and loved for eightyears and slept next to every night, then almost killed everyone here, andbecause everything seemed to be crashing down on you and you didn’t know whatto do.

So, there you were: two peopleunwittingly, completely in love with each other, clutching onto each other likeyour lives depended on it, you crying into his shirt as he sobbed into yourhair, all as three kids you loved with all your heart sat and watched the twoof you solemnly, feeling every emotion the two of you felt and seeing theobvious one neither of you knew the other carried.

“Is thisreally necessary?” Steve groaned, holding the dead demo-dog’s body in his armswith a disgusted look on his face.

“Seriously,Dusty, I love you and all, but this is—this is absolutely disgusting,” yousaid, standing between the two boys next to the fridge, looking back and forthbetween the pile of Joyce Byers’ food and shelving on the floor and thecreature in Steve’s arms.

“Yes, it is,okay? This is a groundbreaking scientificdiscovery, we can’t just bury it like a common mammal, okay, it’s not a dog!”Your brother sped through his words, which you weren’t sure were directed atyou or Steve.

Stevestepped forward towards the fridge, only muttering, “Fine, but you’re explainingthis to Ms. Byers, alright?”

He tried toawkwardly shove the thing in the fridge, making you cringe as the disgustingslime spread all over, continuously hitting into everything and knocking thefew remaining food products around. “Dustin, door, door, door, door, door,” heyelled, not turning around as Dustin ran up and closed the door, creating adisgusting squelch sound as the thingwas successfully pushed in.

“Okay,”Steve breathed out, affectionately moving Dustin’s hat around on his head beforewalking into the next room, leaving you smiling at your two favorite boys.

You took aminute to put the remnants of the Byers’ food back on their table, making sureeverything salvageable was there so they could find it before you walked backinto the room where everyone else was.

“Right, somy point is—” you walked in to see all the kids staring expectantly at Steveand you leaned against the doorway, smiling at him. “Yeah, we’re on the bench,so there’s nothing we can do.”

After apause, you heard your brother’s voice. “That’s not entirely true.” Everyone,including you and Steve looked at him. “The demo-dogs, they have a hive mind.When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

The kids allstarted talking over each other with different tidbits of information andthings that you could do before Steve interrupted them, throwing his hands upin the air. “Yeah, and then we all die.”

“That’s onepoint of view,” your brother said.

“What? No,that’s not a point of view, that’s a fact!” Steve cried.

Mike turnedand started walking through the house, pointing out the main location of thehive mind and where the demo-dogs would be called to, as Dustin, Max, Lucas,and him all started yelling over each other. All you could make out wereclippings of words like the Mind-Flayer and the gate, before Steve yelled overthem all, clapping his hands.

“Hey! Hey!Hey! This is not happening. No, no, no, no, no, no buts. I promised to keep youshitheads safe and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here, onthe bench, and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Okay, doeseverybody understand that?”

“This isn’ta stupid sports game!” Mike yelled.

“I said,does everybody understand that? I need a yes.”

The roomwent quiet for a minute before Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike all turned to lookat you.

“What—whatare you guys all looking at me for?”

“What do yousay, Y/N?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, yourword holds just as much power as Steve’s,” Max said.

“Well, duh,she’s the only one the dipshit’ll listen to,” your brother mumbled, earning asmack on the back of the head from a blushing Steve, which, luckily, you hadn’tnoticed.

“Guys, I…”you paused, realizing how intensely they were all staring at you, Steve’s eyespleading. “Steve’s right. It’s—it’s too dangerous.” All the kids looked down atthe ground, and a heavy, dead silence filled the room for only a few secondsbefore you spoke again. “But…” Their heads shot up. “We…we’ve all alreadyfought off this many deadly monsters tonight. I mean, we do have a deadDemogorgon shoved in the freaking fridge over there. And…if we have a chance,right here, right now, to save our friends, to save our families, to save thewhole damn world—I say we take it. It’s not smart, in fact, it’s stupid andballsy as hell, Steve’s right about that, but…after all I’ve seen and all youguys have seen, I’m willing to grab my crowbar and go save our friends. I’mready to kill those sons of bitches once and for all.”

There wassilence for only a second before your brother erupted in applause. “Hear,hear!”

Steve lookedat you for a second before looking down at the ground, smiling and shaking hishead. “O-okay.” The kids all whipped around, gaping at him. “I still hate this plan, don’t get me wrong, andI’d do anything to stop you all from doing it, but I know for a fact that onceY/N’s set on something, there’s no backing her down. So, I’m with youshitheads.” Your eyes locked and you smiled at him, mouthing a silent thank you.

A noise likean engine came from outside, and you saw Max turn around and run to the window,fear written across her face.

“It’s mybrother. He can’t know I’m here, he’ll kill me.” She turned to Lucas. “He’llkill us.”

“Max…” yousaid quietly. “Your brother, is he—”

“BillyHargrove.”

You looked up at Steve to seethat he was already looking down at you. Without thinking about it, he quicklykissed you on the forehead and walked out the front door, leaving you staringafter him.

You watched them through thefront door peephole, as Steve slowly approached Billy and they talked. Stevewas loyal to a fault, you had no doubt he was out there sarcastically defendingyou and the kids, doing everything he could to keep Billy’s attention on himand not on who could be inside the house.

You hated Billy Hargrove witha passion. Every day he would grab your ass, or catcall you in the hallways, oroffer you certain “extracurricular activities” you continuously told him youweren’t interested in. And in all honesty, if not for Steve, you’d be afraid ofhim. He wasn’t just some stupid guy hitting on you. He was smart, andcalculating, and evil, and you knew he had no problem with taking whatever hewanted. But, for all the hate you carried for Billy, Steve had quadruple it,and you knew you were fine with him around.

You saw Billy blow a puff ofcigarette smoke into Steve’s face, and you turned to see the kids, only torealize that they were looking through the window in almost unmissable view.

Panicked, you whisper-shouted,“No! Guys, get down!”, but it was too late. Billy had seen them. Both he andSteve turned to face the window, Steve’s mouth clearly saying the words “ohshit”, before he turned around and Billy’s fist connected with his jaw,knocking him to the ground.

You whipped around. “Guys, Ineed you to back up right now, get behind me and go hide—” You were cut off bythe sound of the door being thrown open behind you.

You turned around, eyes wide.

“Damn, L/N, is that you?” hesmirked. “I don’t know what you’re doing here with Harrington and mystepsister, but let me tell you, this skin-tight tank top, hot, action movielook is really working for you.” He stepped closer to you until he was loomingover you, his face only an inch from yours.

You opened your mouth to saysomething when Billy saw Lucas behind you and stepped away from you.

“I thought I told you to stayaway from him,” he said to Max, gesturing to Lucas.

“Billy—”

“You disobeyed me. And youknow what happens when you disobey me. I break stuff.”

Just like that, he picked upLucas, lifted him up, and slammed him against the cabinet as hard as he could.All the kids started screaming over each other as you yelled, “Billy, no!”

Without even thinking aboutit, you turned and picked up the first thing you saw, a frying pan, lifted itbehind your right shoulder, and swung it as hard as you could, right intoBilly’s head.

Disoriented, he dropped Lucasto the ground, before turning around and focusing on you. You were happy to seethat there was blood dripping down his forehead.

He lifted you up by the waistimmediately, forcing your legs around his waist as he shoved you against thewall, holding your wrists so you couldn’t move. He was pressed up against you,you tightly wrapped around him with your tank top riding up and exposing your stomach,against your will, his face right in front of yours as you shrieked for thekids to run.

“DUSTIN, GET THEM OUT OF HERE!GET STEVE AND GO, PLEASE!”

With a smirk, Billy kissedyour neck as you screamed, before harshly pushing his lips against yours, silencingyou.

You heard Dustin start toyell, “LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!” before he was cut off by your hero coming tosave the day.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MYGIRLFRIEND!” Steve yelled, angrier than you had ever heard anyone in your life,before he ripped Billy off of you, punching him in the face as hard as he couldand knocking him to the ground.

Girlfriend?Was that what he just said?

You slid down the wall,hitting the floor, but not before Billy turned around and grinned wickedly atyou one more time, picking a plate up off the ground and smashing it on top ofyour head quicker than Steve had a chance to stop it.

Steve’s cry of “Y/N!” and aloud crunch as Billy’s fist connected with his face again was the last thingyou heard before everything went black.

Steve’s eyes opened slowly,everything a blurry mess. His face felt worse than anything he had felt before,it was like he had been run over by a bulldozer a million times over again. Hewas breathing heavily through his mouth—his nose was too bloody, and everybreath seemed to make his head pound even more. His eyes were both half closed,bruised shut, but he still tried his best to look around and figure out wherehe was.

“Y/N?” he muttered, looking tohis left to see that it was not, in fact, Y/N, but Mike, who was giving him themost confused look he had ever seen a kid wear.

Steve groaned, reaching up totouch his face, only to have Dustin’s hand pull his away, speaking in a softvoice. “Hey, hey, don’t touch, okay?” The words echoed through Steve’s ringingears, making it seem like a hallucination. He looked over to see what he wassure was Dustin’s blurry face. “Hey, buddy. Shhh...shhh…” Steve closed his eyesfor a moment. “You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you put up agood fight, buddy, okay, you’re okay.”

“Y/N…Dustin, where’s Y/N…”Steve groaned, trying to make sense of everything.

“God, you’re out of it,”Dustin laughed quietly. “And whipped for my sister. She’s okay, buddy, yousaved her, okay? She’s just unconscious. Trust me when I say she’s in way better shape than you are right now.Like, if she was out of your league before, now—”

“Dustin…where…” Steve tried toget out the words, but mostly just mumbled incoherently.

“Dude, you’re literally layingon top of her right now.”

With all the effort he had,Steve moved his head to look up, realizing that his head was resting on your lap.Your eyes were shut, your mouth slightly open, only a little bit of dried bloodcircling your forehead. But otherwise, you were okay. You were fine. Steve letout a sigh of relief, which sounded more like a desperate gasp for air. Herealized that there was a blood stain across your stomach, staining the grayfabric, and only panicked for a second before realizing it came from himself.

Suddenly, you coughed for air,your eyes slowly fluttering open. You were a little dizzy and everything wasstill sort of spinning, but otherwise everything was okay. You heard yourbrother’s voice from beside you make some joke about being glad Sleeping Beautycould join us, before you looked down and saw Steve’s head in your lap.

For a second, you were justoverjoyed that he was there, that he was okay, but then you saw the shape hewas in and gasped, covering your mouth with your hand.

“Steve…”

He groaned and you winced,knowing the immense pain he must have been in. “...Hen…der…son?” he coughed,choking on his own blood. You had to use every bit of nerve you had in you notto cry. “You…you o-okay?” He winced at the ringing in his own ears, looking upat you with pained eyes.

You nodded at him and smiledsweetly, gently running your fingers through his hair without thinking.“Yeah…I’m okay, Harrington. Thanks to my knight in shining armor.” You paused.“You know, even covered in rainbow band-aids, you have no idea how happy I amto see that pretty face of yours.”

He tried to smile, but endedup groaning at the pain it put his face in. “You…think I’m…pretty?”

You grinned at him, shakingyour head. “Of course that’s what you got from that.” All of a sudden your headstarted pounding and you grimaced, lifting your hand to your forehead. Stevewas still looking at you with groggy concern until he realized that- if youweren’t driving and he wasn’t, someone else was.

He heard Lucas’ voice ringingthrough his head from the passenger seat, giving driving instructions, and withmore alertness than he had had this whole time, he looked forward to see asmall redheaded girl at the wheel.

“Whas…whas going ong…” hisvoice came out. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

“Steve, what—” you looked up,your eyes getting wide. “Oh my god. Oh mygod.”

“Hey guys, relax, she candrive,” Dustin said.

“Yeah, in a parking lot!” Mikeyelled.

“That counts!” Lucas chimedin.

“Oh my god,” Steve criedagain, clearly panicking, his words slurring together more and more by thesecond. You were gripping onto him, trying not to panic yourself.

“Look, Y/N’s got a really badconcussion, and Steve’s pretty self-explanatory, so what were our options?”your brother cried, waving his hands in the air.

“No. Oh my god. Nooo,” Steveslurred faster, everything sounding like a garbled mess.

“Hey, look, they all wanted toleave you behind and just bring Y/N, but I said you’d be cool.”

“Noooo!” Steve moaned,freaking out.

“Max, what’s going on?” youcried as she slammed on the gas, accelerating the car forward faster than you’dever seen, other than when Billy drove. “Max, what are you doing?”

“Oh my- whoaaaa, stop the car.Slow down,” Steve yelled, sounding slightly more like his regular voice thanbefore. You could see his eyes getting a little sharper.

“I told you he’d freak out!”Mike yelled.

“STOP THE CAR!” he screamed,gripping onto your hand like his life depended on it.

“MAX, PLEASE!” you pleaded,your pounding head stopping you from thinking straight. “Max, stop!”

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP!” sheyelled as the car hit 90 mph. “I’M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!”

“THAT’S MT. SINAI, MAKE ALEFT!” Lucas yelled.

“WHAT?”

“MAKE A LEFT!”

Max swerved to the left,throwing everyone in the car forward, including you. You were thrown onto thefloor, laying right on top of Steve, your noses almost touching as the carrocketed in the other direction, hitting a sign that went flying over the car,denting the roof, as the car somehow sped up more, whizzing around the corner.

It was chaos: everyone screamingover each other, Lucas’ high and loud enough to break glass as Steve yelledunderneath you, his voice going in and out like crazy. While you screamed hisname, his arms instinctively wrapped around you like a seatbelt, your faceburying itself in the crook of his neck. The car kept flying forward until itcame to an abrupt stop, causing your brother and Mike to collapse to the flooron either sides of you as Steve frantically clutched at the seats, threw hishead back, and yelled something that sounded like an “AHHH HELLOOOOOOO”. Ittook you a minute to realize after the car stopped that they were all lookingat you and Steve, you on top of him as he held you tight against him, your haira mess as you clutched onto him like a life preserver. You blushed, awkwardly tryingto hide your face from Dustin.

“Y/N…” Steve coughed, hisvoice returned to normal, if not a little stuffy from his clogged nose. “Y/N,are you okay?”

“Yeah, Steve, I’m fine. We’refine.”

Everyone quickly piled out ofthe car, and you walked in front of it to see where Max had stopped whileeveryone else walked to the back and started searching through the trunk forsupplies. You were in the middle of one of the disgusting rotten pumpkinfields, only a few feet from a massive hole in the ground. Just looking at itmade your legs feel like lead, a sinking feeling of fear and dread filling youimmediately as the floating particles calmly passed by beneath you.

This was your worst nightmare,the thought of going back there again, the thought of being trapped by thishorrible place that you had no power against. This was the nightmare that wokeyou up almost every night, the nightmare that left you paralyzed until you hadenough courage to pick up the phone and call Steve. He had always promised thatit was over, that you’d never have to see it again, and that one day it wouldjust be a distant memory. Well, here you were, voluntarily walking straightback into it with him by your side.

Steve walked up behind you,your supplies in his hands, ready to pass over to you, when he saw you standingthere completely frozen, staring into the ground like it had some hold on you.You looked paralyzed, your eyes glazed over as you stared into it. Even on yourworst nights, he had never seen you like this. The supplies dropped to theground immediately as he walked up behind you, wrapping his arms around you andturning you around to face him, holding you to him. “We’re gonna be okay,” hewhispered in your ear, and you nodded.

The kids started walking pastyou with full cans of gasoline, but neither of you paid any attention. You juststood there, hugging each other, until your brother’s voice forced you to stepapart.

“Steve,” Dustin said frombehind you. “Look, man, I know you’re still upset about this, and before youyell and scream and throw things or do anything you possibly can to keep usfrom going into that hellhole again, just listen to me. When a party member isin danger, it’s our duty to protect that party member. Now, you promised tokeep us safe. So—” he said, holding the nailed baseball bat forward for Steveto grab. “Keep us safe.”

Steve looked at you and thenback at Dustin before nodding, reaching forward, and taking the bat, givingyour brother a clap on the back.

Before you knew it, all thesupplies were on, and Steve was going down the hole, landing on the ground witha soft thud. You were next, a crowbar in one hand, a gun on your belt, alighter in your pocket, and your face shielded by goggles and a handkerchief.Steve turned around, opening his arms to catch you when you got to the bottomof the rope, knowing you had almost an extra foot more than him to fall becauseof your height. You slid down the rope almost expertly, falling through the airand hitting the ground by yourself gracefully on both feet, swinging thecrowbar around and sticking it on your belt, smirking at Steve’s slightlyshocked expression. Despite your landing, his arms had still naturally ended uparound your waist, and the two of your faces were only an inch apart.

“Well, looks like someone cantake care of herself,” he chuckled through the handkerchief, his voice a littlemuffled.

“Don’t worry, I can still findtime to take care of you, too,” you laughed.

“You know, I’m hurt, Y/N.After all we’ve been through together—” he joked, mockingly covering his heartwith one of his hands, leaving the other on your waist.

You looked down at his handand smiled. “Now, I’m starting to think you’re trying to seduce me here,Harrington,” you joked, gesturing to him holding you. Even in the darkness, youcould see his light blush as he awkwardly stepped away, mumbling an apology.“Steve, hey, I’m just kidding,” you said, reaching a hand up to cup one side ofhis face. Even though his mouth was covered, you saw his eyes crinkle in a grinas he brought both his hands up to your face, pulling you closer, too.

“Hey, lovebirds, a little helpgetting me down here?” your brother’s voice cut through the air, making youjump apart.

“I…I got it,” Steve said,walking over to the rope, looking down.

Soon enough, everyone was downthe hole and you were walking through the tunnels next to your brother, who wascarrying three different cans of gasoline and looking like a lunatic.

You had only been walking fora little while, but it had felt like forever. You didn’t know if it was the waytime worked down here or if it was just your anxiety about what was to comethat seemed like it was dragging everything out. You had taken Max and Dustinunder your wing, while Steve was with Lucas and Mike, walking ahead.

“Why don’t you just ask herout?” Mike had asked nonchalantly, looking up at Steve.

“What?”

“Y/N. Why don’t you just askher out? Look, dude, I’m not upset about it just because you and my sister justbroke up. She’s happier than ever, no offense. You were both obviously wrongfor each other, she’s been in love with Jonathan forever, and everyone knowshow long you’ve been in love with Y/N. Hell, I’m pretty sure Nancy even knewwhen she asked you out. So I don’t know why you don’t just ask out Y/N.”

“Look, it’s—it’s not thatsimple, okay? Yeah, I’ve been in love with Y/N forever, but…I’m not just goingto ask her out and throw away my best friend in the world when I don’t have achance in hell at her saying yes.”

“You’re kidding me, right?Please tell me you’re joking,” Lucas said.

“What do you mean, tell youI’m joking? That’s the truth!”

“How do you not know?”

“Not know what, dipshit?”

“How can’t you tell she’s inlove with you, too?”

“Because she’s not!”

“Of course she is! Everybodyin the world knows it!” Mike chimed in.

“No, she’s not!”

“Dude, I guarantee you thateveryone thinks you’re a couple, tells you that you should be a couple, or issad for you guys that you’re not a couple yet. Dustin’s probably told you amillion times, and he’s her brother, he’d know—”

“Lucas, she doesn’t love me!I’m her best friend, and that’s it, okay?!”

“Why the hell are you so surethat she’s not in love with you?” Lucas yelled.

“Because if a girl I was withfor a year couldn’t learn to love me and could lie to me about it so easily,how the hell am I supposed to think anyone could love me, let alone the mostperfect human being on the planet?”

There was silence for a momentbefore Mike spoke. “Steve, that’s not—"

“She’s perfect, guys. She’s the smartest, kindest, most talented,beautiful person I know—”

“Also badass,” Lucas cut in.

“Also badass—and she can haveany guy she wants! She’s the only person in this whole damn world that really caresabout me, who’s ever cared about me, and I- I love her so much, I don’t knowwhat I’d do if I lost her just because I’m a fucking idiot that ruinedeverything for a chance to tell her how I feel!”

It was quiet for a minute, andthen Lucas’ voice cut through the silence.

“Steve, that’s literally thestupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.”

“Well, you know what, it’s notlike you two can talk! You and that Max chick, and you pining after Eleven fora year and not doing anything about it when she comes back—forgive me if I’mnot about to take relationship advice from two little kids that don’t knowanything!”

“You know, Steve, you’re upsetright now, but it’s not our fault if you’re so stubborn and self-deprecatingthat you’re ruining your own life. And hers,” Mike said quietly.

Meanwhile, about twenty feetbehind the boys, you were walking along with a silent Max and Dustin, trying tothink about anything other than Steve. Looking down, you shook your head,kicking yourself for being so stupid. You hadn’t realized that Dustin hadnoticed.

When Steve was far enoughahead with Lucas and Mike that he wouldn’t hear you, Dustin turned to you.

“He’s in love with you, youknow.”

You turned to face him.“What?”

“Steve is head over heels,idiotically, completely and utterly in love with you.”

“Dustin—no, bud. I don’t knowwhat could possibly have given you that idea—”

“He told me.”

“Wait, what?” You stopped.

“He told me. It wasn’t like wedidn’t all already know, all he does is talk about you like you built thefriggin sky and stare at you when you’re not looking and do anything he can tomake you happy. I don’t know how you didn’t figure it out months ago. Iguarantee you anyone who’s ever even seen you two within twenty feet of eachother could tell you that.”

“Dustin, he—not like that.Even if he said he loved me, I’m sure he meant in just a friendly way, we’rebest friends, Dusty, it’s—”

“Y/N, I love you with all myheart, but you’re so blind. I’m literally telling you that the boy you’re inlove with has been in love with you for a year. He only started dating Nancy totry to get his mind off you because he didn’t think he had a chance, but itdidn’t take him long to realize that he couldn’t just fall out of love withyou! He doesn’t even know why he stayed with her for as long as he did, becauseboth of them were miserable the whole time, with her pining after Jonathan andhim freaking head over heels for you. I don’t know why you’re trying to fightit—”

Finally, you had hit yourbreaking point. “Because I’m scared, Dustin! I’m terrified because I’m so damnin love with him I’d do anything for him, and I’m scared that if maybe he doesfeel the same way as me, but it’s just because right now he misses Nancy and ina few weeks when he gets over her he’ll leave me and I’ll just be left asthis—this broken mess of a human being! And I don’t know if I’d be able to pickmyself back up. Not—not again, Dusty.” You took a breath. “Not that he feelsthe same way as me, anyway. Just…hypothetically, obviously.”

Dustin was quiet. He knew whatyou were saying was completely wrong, that Steve loved you way too much to everdo that to you, but he said nothing. You didn’t want to talk about it, and hewouldn’t push you. He just hoped somehow Steve had heard you and knew you feltthe same way.

You walked in silence for aminute or two. About a minute in, Max had reached over and grabbed your hand,and now you were just looking around, staring at the floating particlessurrounding you and willing yourself to believe that you could get all the kidsout of this okay.

“HELP! HELP!” you heard Mike’svoice screaming up ahead. On instinct, you started sprinting forward, alreadypulling your gun out of your pocket just in case.

Up ahead, you saw him. He wason the ground, one of those tentacle-like tendrils wrapping its way around hisleg. “Y/N! Steve!” he yelled.

Both you and Steve ran in fromseparate tunnels, sprinting over to Mike. Steve started hitting the tendril ashard as he could with his baseball bat, but it would only split for a secondbefore joining back together.

“Steve, stop,” you told him,looking up into his scared eyes. “Back up a second.”

You pulled the gun out of yourpocket and aimed it directly at Mike’s leg.

“Y/N, what are you—”

“Mike, don’t move.” And withthat instruction, you pulled the trigger, blowing the tentacle off his leg inan instant.

All the kids were staring atyou, their mouths agape. “How did you—”

“I have no idea. I’ve neverused one of these things before.”

You thought Steve’s mouth hadhit the floor. “Well, hot damn, princess.”

Suddenly, you heard a loudroar, and you rushed in front of the kids, blocking them immediately.

Standing only a few feet infront of you was a demo-dog, snarling ferociously. Dustin pushed you aside,stepping in front of you.

“Dustin? Dustin, what areyou—”

“Y/N, it’s Dart.”

You stepped back cautiously asDustin marched up to the thing, immediately grabbing Steve’s hand. He lookedover at you with shining eyes, squeezing your hand to reassure you Dustin wasgoing to be okay.

“Hey, Dart,” Dustin saidsoftly, kneeling down in front of it. “It’s me, it’s me, it’s Dustin.”

You gripped Steve’s handharder, stepping closer to him as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders.

“Hey, it’s Dust—” he was cutoff as Dart’s face opened up and the demo-dog let out a ferocious screech,making you jump back in shock and fear as Steve’s grip naturally tightened onyou, steadying you as your hand flew to your mouth.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m sorryabout the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do.” Dart steppedaway, almost as if he could understand him.

“You hungry? Yeah,” yourbrother laughed, slipping off his backpack. “I’ve got our favorite. Nougat.” Helifted a Three Musketeers bar to show the creature.

Dustin started to unwrap it,laying a chunk of the chocolate bar down in front of Dart with one hand whilewaving with the other for the rest of you to walk by. Automatically, you pushedLucas, Max, and Mike in front of you, Steve and you following behind quicklybut cautiously. After a moment, Dustin stood up, adjusted his goggles, andfollowed the rest of you, leaving his once-pet to finish off the candy. Thesecond you were out of the way, you whipped around, throwing your arms aroundyour little (almost taller than you) brother, whispering “don’t ever scare melike that again” in his ear before letting him go.

When the two of you looked up,you realized what the others already had—you were standing at one of theentrances of the “hive”. Steve was already sealing the walls and ceiling, whilethe others were grabbing their gasoline canisters and getting ready to startdumping. You nodded at Dustin, who grabbed his gasoline can and joined thekids, while you walked over to Steve and stood beside him.

“Are you okay?” you askedquietly, so he knew he didn’t have to worry about the others hearing.

“I’m fine—” he said instantly,his voice wavering before he paused and shook his head. “I’m terrified, Y/N.”

“Terrified?”

“Of letting you all down. Thatcoming down here really was a death trap and I’m about to get you and all theseincredible kids killed and it’ll be all my fault. Or that this is all fornothing and we’re all going to die anyway. I’m scared out of my mind, Y/N.”

“Steve…no matter what, Ijust…I want you to know that I—”

“Steve, Y/N, we’re ready togo!” Dustin yelled, cutting you off mid-sentence.

Steve took a deep breath.“Okay. Okay. Everybody get to the entrance of that tunnel over there. I’m gonnalight this fucker and the second that lighter goes in the air we’re going torun like hell. And no matter what, just getto the exit. Keep running until you’re out of here.” You couldn’t help butnotice him looking right at you at the last part.

Everyone followed Steve’sinstructions, bunching up next to the entrance and preparing to go. Sensing hisfear, you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him down towards you in a hug.“Steve, it’s okay. They’re going to be fine. They’re tough kids, this isn’ttheir first time down here. They’re gonna be okay.”

He pulled away so he couldlook you in the eyes, and you felt every defense you had put up to shieldyourself from your own fear collapse inward. “What about you?”

“Me?” you almost whispered.

“What if something happens toyou? What if I can’t get you out of here and it’s my fault?”

“Steve…we are going to make it out of this together. Both of us are going to go home tonight, and so are all four ofthese kids. We’re going to be fine.”

“Okay,” he took a deep breath.“Okay guys, everybody get ready. I’m gonna count down from five, and then Ineed you guys to turn around and run like your asses depend on it. Ready? 5…4…3…2…1!”

The lighter hit the ground,and just like that, Steve’s hand was in yours, the room had burst into a fieryinferno, and you were running faster than you ever had before. Everything was ablur, only running and fear, until you and the kids saw the exit.

“Alright, guys,” you said.“I’m going to give each of you a boost and you’re going to climb out of here,okay?”

“Why not Steve? Isn’t hetaller and’ll get more leverage?” Dustin asked.

“Who’s the cheerleader here,Dusty? Alright, you first, come here. 1…2…3!” You pushed him up with all yourmight, getting him close enough to grab the ledge and pull himself through thehole. “Good job, bud. Okay, Mike…”

After all the kids were up,you turned to Steve. “So how are we going to do thi—”

You were cut off by somethingthat sounded like the roar of thunder, multiplied by three thousand. Shrill noisesfilled the air, and the second you heard it, you turned to Steve with wideeyes. “Steve, those are—”

And before you could evencomplete what you were saying, hundreds of demo-dogs burst into your view. “Ohmy god. Oh my god.” You felt panicked tears gathering in your eyes. “Steve,what do we do? What do we do, we can’t get up, there’s so many, I don’t know—”They were rapidly growing closer, only a few yards away at this point. A fewseconds to your death.

You looked up at him with wideeyes and whispered, “Steve, I—”

Before you could finish, hisarms flung around you, pressing you against him, and his lips crashed ontoyours.

And in that moment, there werehundreds of demo-dogs racing around you, brushing your legs and shrieking asyou were trapped in the deadly, otherworldly tunnels with seemingly no chanceof survival—but all you knew was your heartbeat beating so quickly alongsidehis.

Your arms wrapped around hisneck, your fingers tangling in his hair as your lips moved against his. And allthere was in the world was you and Steve and the feeling like you were flying.It wasn’t until all the demo-dogs had run past that you slowly separated, bothof you breathing heavily and staring into each other’s eyes in a mix of shockand adoration.

You looked at him inanticipation, waiting to hear the words that you had been hoping to come out ofhis mouth for a year. But all he said was, “I-I’m sorry,” before turning away,leaving your heart to sink to the floor.

That night after everythingwas over and the world had been saved, Steve drove you and Dustin home,watching through the mirror as you curled up and slept on a wide-awake Dustin’sshoulder. Your hair was a mess, you were covered in dirt, blood, and slime,there was a gun connected to your belt, and you had been through literal helland back that night—but there you were, passing out on your brother’s shoulderand looking as beautiful as ever. After about five minutes, Dustin finallywhispered, “Why are you doing this to yourself and to Y/N?”

“What do you mean, Dustin?” hesaid, sounding completely drained.

“You keep pushing her away,thinking you’re not good enough for her to love you or some complete bullshitlike that, that you’re saving yourself the hurt. But, all you’re doing ishurting both of you in the process.”

The rest of the ride wassilent aside from your deep breaths.

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It had been a few weeks fromthat night, and nothing had changed. Other than the fact that Eleven was back,Max was officially “part of the group”, Billy hit on you slightly less thanusual, and your nightmares were worse than ever before. But this time youdidn’t have Steve to get you through them.

You and Steve were still bestfriends, nothing had changed there. You were still inseparable. He was alwaysat your house, at your locker, driving you home, etc. But you just couldn’tbring yourself to pick up that phone and call him anymore after he had kissedyou. At school was fine, but at night, when you were alone in your bed, youcouldn’t bear to have him hold you and whisper in your ear and fall asleep nextto you, knowing that nothing would ever happen between the two of you becausehe was so appalled by kissing you he would apologize for doing it. And youdefinitely didn’t have the will to tell him that most of the time yournightmares were about losing him.

So, you told him thenightmares had stopped. And whenever he asked why you had black rings underyour eyes or hadn’t slept the night before, you lied.

That day was the middle schooldance, which you were volunteering at for your brother. Hence, you needed aquick ride home, and Steve was the man for the job.

As you climbed in the car, yousmiled at him, throwing your backpack to the floor. “Hey, beautiful,” he saidwith a smile.

“Hey, Mediocrity At Its Best,”you grinned. “You bringing my brother and I to the dance tonight?”

“You know it.”

“Great,” you smiled at him. Itwas just a small smile, but he lit up inside, knowing that that flash of whiteteeth and the happiness on your face had been caused by him. God, he was introuble.

You yawned, only thenrealizing the full extent of your exhaustion and the toll that going three dayswithout any sleep was taking on you. “Hey, Steve, do you mind if I nap the wayhome? I’m so tired.”

“Yeah, go for it. Get in asmuch rest as you can. You know Dustin and the rest of them’ll be so hyper afterthe dance neither of us are gonna get to sleep tonight.”

You laughed a little. “Yeah,you’re right. Alright, ‘night Steve.”

He laughed, too. “Night, Y/N.”

As you closed your eyes, youalmost immediately sunk into a deep sleep. And, with deep sleep, came thehorrible nightmares you had been avoiding for days.

You hadn’t realized it, butafter only a few minutes, you had started thrashing around, whimpering andcrying out in your sleep. Steve was trying to push through, to not mess withyou and to just let you sleep and get you home, but when you screamed out hisname in terror he pulled the car to the side of the road as quickly as possibleand grabbed your hand.

“Y/N! Y/N, please, please,wake up,” he said, emotion filling his voice.

Your eyes flew open and youpanted heavily, the tears racing down your face quickly and without control.You wiped at them frantically, your breaths getting heavier and more ragged bythe second.

“Hey, hey,” Steve saidquietly, reaching his arms around you in an embrace. “It’s okay.” He strokedyour hair as you cried into his shoulder for a moment, only letting go of youwhen you suddenly pulled away and wiped at your tears quickly.

“I thought the nightmares wentaway. What—what happened?”

Suddenly, you were angry. Youwere angry about these nightmares that haunted you everywhere you went, angryat the world for shoving you in this mess, angry at Steve for making you fallin love with him. You were frustrated, and finally you were ready to snap.

“I had the same nightmarethat’s kept me up the last month, Steve. The same one that leaves me screaming my head off and sobbing myself tosleep every night. Well, every night that I actually go to sleep, anyway,I’ve been mostly trying to avoid sleep lately, it hurts too much to go to bedevery night and know that I’m going to watch you die in a million ways rightbefore my eyes. Most of the time it goes a little something like you and me inthe Upside Down, I’m hugging you and then out of nowhere Dustin’s voice screamsthat I have to choose to save you or let you die, and I never know what thatmeans, and then Dart leaps out of the wall and shreds you to pieces right infront of me, but somehow I can never move because I’m trapped, and you laythere screaming and bawling my name, yelling at me and telling me that I couldhave saved you, that I’m doing this to you, that I’m killing you, and thenDustin starts yelling the same thing, then Mike, then Lucas, then Max, untilI’m screaming my lungs out over it all begging it to stop, begging for me tojust die and let it all be over, until I’m not trapped anymore and I collapseto the ground and crawl over to you, and you just grab my hand and say—say thatyou had loved me and then I killed you. And then you just die on the spot, butI can’t wake up. No, I just sit there with your blood spreading all over mewhether I’m touching you or not, and then I finally die and ‘wake up’ again insome new hell where you die again. And it happens over and over and over againuntil I wake up. And then the next night it happens again. And again. Andagain.”

He stared at you as tears randown your face and you angrily yelled all that you had been going through thelast month, and he felt genuine pain gather in himself and tears begin to prickat his own eyes. And when you had finished, his eyes looked right into yours ashe whispered, his voice filled with hurt, “Why did you lie? Why didn’t you tellme about this, or call me, or anything—”

“Why do you think, Steve?” yousnapped, your tears finally ceasing as you grabbed your backpack off the floorand pushed open the door.

“Thanks for the ride, but Ithink I’m just going to walk the rest of the way home,” you whispered, pain inyour voice. “See you at 6.” And with that, you slammed the door shut with aloud bang.

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You stood in front of yourmirror in your room, smoothing out your dress and nervously re-adjusting youralready perfect hair. It wasn’t that you wanted or needed to look goodchaperoning for a middle school dance, it was just that you were so nervousabout seeing Steve after snapping at him today you felt a compulsive need to keepfidgeting with your hands. You felt awful about what you said, yet somehowrelieved. He hadn’t deserved for you to yell at him like that for something sofar out of his control, but he knew now. And with fear of him knowing camealmost a relief that you didn’t have to hide your nightmares from him anymore.You didn’t have to layer on concealer under your baggy eyes or drink ungodlyamounts of disgusting black coffee in the morning to convince him you werefine. But, you would have to eventually explain to him why the kiss had hurtyou so much—and that was what scared you the most.

Even though you were sure thetwo of you would be able to work it out tomorrow, you didn’t think you couldbear to see him tonight after only a few hours had passed between yourbreakdown. So, you had arranged a ride with Nancy and Jonathan, who werechaperoning with you, and you were hoping to sneak out before Steve even gotthere to pick up Dustin.

Unfortunately, fate was not onyour side tonight, because the doorbell rang that second, and your mother’sever-cheerful voice chimed through the house, “Steve’s here!”

You sighed, leaning your headagainst the wall. You weren’t only going to see him tonight, you were going tosee him in the tightest, most form-fitting, sexiestdress you had ever worn, heels, and more makeup than you would ever usuallywear. The dress wasn’t even that promiscuous by most standards, but themedium-sleeved blue lace top hugged your curves tightly, showing off your body,and the dress flared out just below the waist, making your boobs look bigger,your stomach flatter, and your waist smaller. You couldn’t believe your mom hadpicked it up on a whim that night for $5 while looking for a tie for Dustin.You looked and felt more beautiful than you ever had before. Your hair cascadedin perfectly done curls around your shoulders, and your silver make-up madeyour eyes shine, a glittery dusting of silver making you look magical as thelight rested on your collarbone.

“Y/N! Come on, Dustin’salready down here and I want pictures!”

You took a deep breath andstepped out into the hallway, not noticing Steve’s sharp intake of air when he caughta glimpse of you at the top of the steps.

With each step you took, Steve’sheart was racing faster and faster, his mouth dropping more and more. You wereabsolutely stunning.

Your mom clutched at her heart,exclaiming how beautiful her daughter was, but all Dustin noticed was the lookon Steve’s face and the blush on yours as you tried to avoid his gaze.

“Hey, Dusty!” you said with agrin. “Don’t you look handsome?” You adjusted his tie proudly. “All those girls’heads are gonna turn when they see you walk in. Especially with that hair, itadds an extra foot.” He smacked your arm, and both you and Steve laughed. “Wasthe hair his idea?” you laughed, pointing your thumb over at Steve, temporarilyforgetting all of the afternoon’s events.

“Yeah,” Dustin blushed.

“Well, you look way betterthan he does with it,” you said teasingly, to Steve’s dismay.

After a few pictures with youand Dustin, you, Dustin, and Steve, just you, just Dustin, and one very awkwardone with just you and Steve, a car honked outside.

“Sorry, Mom, that’s Nancy and Jonathan,”you said.

“Alright, honey, see you afterwards,”your mom said with a smile.

Steve looked over at you, surpriseand hurt in his eyes, his smile falling. “Wait, you’re not coming with Dustinand I?”

“I—I’m sorry, I just…” youtook a deep breath. “I gotta go, Steve. I’ll—I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And before he could sayanything else, you ran out the front door and jumped in the backseat of Nancy’scar, as Steve stood inside and watched it speed off.

After a minute of silence,Dustin looked up. “If we leave now, you can still get to the dance before Nancyand Jonathan. We have the shortcut back road they don’t know about.”

“Why would that matter,Dustin?”

“Because you need to get to mysister before she gets into the dance and win her over, damn it!”

Steve’s car pulled into themiddle school parking lot and he turned to Dustin, who had a nervous look inhis eye as he looked in the doors at everyone dancing.

“Alright, so…we’re here. Justremember, when you get in there—”

“Pretend like I don’t care.”

“You don’t care.”

“I don’t care!”

“There you go, you’relearning, my friend.”

As Dustin reached up to pulldown the mirror, Steve turned to him.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“You look great, okay? Youlook great. You look great.”

“Great?”

“Great! Now, you’re gonna goin there—”

“Yeah!”

“Look like a million bucks—”

“Yeah!”

“And you’re gonna slay them.”

“Like a lion.” Your brotherlooked over at Steve with a sly look and attempted a cross between a tongueroll and a growl, making Steve shake his head.

“Yeah, uh, don’t do that,okay?”

“Alright,” Dustin noddedsolemnly.

Steve raised his hand andclasped it with Dustin’s before nodding. “Good luck.”

“You too.” At the look onSteve’s face, Dustin said, “It looks like Y/N just got here. Don’t screw up.”

And before Steve could sayanything else, Dustin hopped out of the car and walked over to his sister.Steve smiled as he saw Dustin’s mouth say something that looked like a “youlook great”. Those were the people he loved most in the world right there, you smilingthat beautiful smile of yours and Dustin grinning up at you, excited to go intohis first middle school dance. Before he knew it, the two of you began to walk,and while Dustin walked right in, being one of the last ones to arrive, youpaused at the bottom of the steps. You said something to Nancy and she gave youa sad smile and a comforting pat on the shoulder before she and Jonathan walkedin, leaving you standing on the bottom step alone.

Before his head even knew whathe was doing, Steve’s legs had pushed him out of the car, his arms slammed thedoor, and his beating heart was walking you over to the beautiful girl sittingdown on the steps of the middle school, staring at the sky and looking like shewas carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Y/N?” he said softly.

Your eyes immediatelybrightened at the sound of his voice. You loved his voice, something you toldhim frequently. Nothing about it in particular, you just loved the way itsounded. Sometimes, you made him talk just so you could listen more intently totry to figure out what it was that you loved about his voice so specifically.But, you never found it. All you knew was that when he laughed or smiled while hespoke it was your favorite sound in the whole world.

“Steve? What are you doing here—”

“Y/N, I’ve never been more terrifiedof anything in my life than saying what I’m about to say, but I’ve held it infor a year and now I’m afraid I’ll never get another chance to say it again, soI’m just going to blurt it out now—I’m in love with you.” He didn’t notice yourwide eyes, or the tears gathering in them as you stood up and moved closer tohim. “I’m in love with your smile, your laugh, your voice, your personality,your eyes, and the way you make me feel when I’m around you. And even though Iknow, I know, that I could never doanything to make me deserve you, I just want you to know that—”

He was cut off by your lipsgently connecting with his, your hands intertwining in his hair as his arms instinctivelywrapped around your waist to pull you closer. The kiss was short, but as you pulledaway, the look in his eyes said it all.

“I’ve been head over heels foryou since you first picked up that stupid baseball bat a year ago and jumped infront of me to hit a Demogorgon into Ms. Byer’s dining table.”

“You…you really—”

The childlike grin spreadingacross his face was contagious as you buried your face in his sweater, gigglingagainst his chest. You felt his warm hand make its way to your face, his fingergently guiding your chin up so you were looking into his eyes that looked likethey had been melted into a soft, gooey chocolate. “I don’t think I’ve everbeen this happy in my life,” he whispered, the words making your heartdissolve.

You raised up onto yourtiptoes, pressing your lips against his again, but this time, when you parted,you rested your head on his chest, swaying back and forth to the music inside.

“You know, I should really goin there. Mr. Clarke’s gonna come out looking for me if we stay out here anylonger,” you said with a grin.

“I’d like to see him try.” Bothyou and Steve laughed, your voices filling the air.

“Do you want to come in withme? We were missing a chaperone, anyway. Then both of us can keep an eye onthose little shits in there.”

He grinned at you, his eyesfilled with adoration. “Sounds good to me.”

As you grabbed his hand and startedto pull him up the steps, you turned around and smiled at him, making his heartflutter. Everything he had wanted for the last year was finally right in front ofhim, and it was better than he ever thought it could be.

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