Or the reader nearly dies instead cuz that hasn't been mentioned as much as steve nearly dying. Reader could nearly die the same like on the tower or is the bait instead
I made it kinda long, hope you like it! I literally wrote this at 3am with Master of None playing in the background, whole vibe.
Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my native language!!!!
I won't let you go, please don't ask me to.
pairing: Steve Harrington x readerfem
she's his everything, and he was an idiot to make her feel otherwise. Nearly losing each other forces them to confront what really matters.
Warnings for angst with a happy ending, near death experience, emotional hurt/comfort, arguments/jealousy, and canon-typical violence. Features "I can't lose you," saving each other, love confession under pressure, "let me go"/"never," and second chance romance tropes.
After an absurd argument between Steve and Jonathan about who should go up with Nancy, I ended up trapped in the middle of another equally pointless confrontation (though not entirely) between Dustin and Steve, this time over Eddie, proclaiming himself a hero without anyone asking him to. I tried to calm things down, raising my hands in a gesture of peace, but my words crashed against a wall of pride and anger.
In the end, I gave up. I let out a sigh heavy with frustration and pulled away from them, walking down the hallway in search of air, space, anything that would take me away from that suffocating tension.
I hadn't taken more than a few steps when a brutal crash exploded behind me, coming from the room I'd just left.
My mind filled with a thousand possible scenarios and I took off running back down the hallway toward the source of the noise. As I got closer, the familiar shouts and curses, mixed with the dry sound of objects hitting the floor, made my pulse race until it thundered violently in my ears.
Rounding the corner, I stumbled into the room, panting. My gaze immediately fixed on Steve, who was getting up with difficulty, letting out a groan of pain.
"You know what? I'm so done," he growled, with a raw anger I'd rarely heard from him.
He got to his feet slowly, completely ignoring my worried expression, as if I didn't exist.
"Screw this!" he shouted, and as he passed me in the doorway he gave me a shove on the shoulder that made me stagger for a second.
My eyes jumped from Dustin, lying on the floor with a mixture of shock and pain, to Steve, with a fresh bruise marking his cheek and his chest rising and falling irregularly.
Putting the pieces together, I reacted immediately and pulled Steve back, grabbing his jacket with both hands.
"What the hell just happened?" I raised my voice, following close behind as he tried to break free, struggling with the fabric of his jacket.
"It's none of your damn business," he responded with a broken voice, avoiding even looking in Dustin's direction, while his shout echoed through the hallway and he kept moving forward, dragging me with him. "Little shit, faker!"
"None of my business?" I repeated in disbelief, feeling how disbelief mixed with anger in my chest. "We're supposed to be looking out for him! What the hell is wrong with you, Steve?"
He finally managed to break free from my grip with a sharp tug that almost made me lose my balance. He turned toward me with a speed that made me instinctively step back. His eyes, normally warm and full of that sparkle he used to reserve just for me, now burned with a coldness that cut through me like a knife.
"You know what? Not everything has to matter to you," he spat the words like they were poison, each syllable loaded with resentment. He took a step toward me, invading my personal space in a threatening way he'd never done before. "Not everything revolves around you. You don't have to butt into every damn thing I do."
"Steve, this isn't about me, it's about you just hitting—"
"I should've gone with Nancy!" he muttered through his teeth, but loud enough for me to hear perfectly. He ran a violent hand through his hair, looking away toward the empty hallway as if he couldn't bear to see me. "None of this would've happened if I'd gone with her instead of staying here."
His words hit me like a punch straight to the stomach. I felt all the air leave my lungs at once, how my heart stopped for one eternal second before beating painfully fast. My eyes opened wide, disbelief quickly giving way to something much darker, much more painful.
"What... what did you just say?" my voice came out barely as a broken whisper, but full of venom. I took a step toward him, feeling how every muscle in my body tensed. "Did you just say you'd rather be with Nancy?"
Steve finally looked at me, and what I saw in his eyes destroyed me. There was no regret, no guilt. There was only anger and something worse: truth. His lips pressed into a thin line while his chest rose and fell rapidly.
"Don't put words in my mouth," he growled, but his voice lacked conviction.
"I don't have to!" I screamed, and I felt the tears start to burn in my eyes, but I absolutely refused to let them fall. Not in front of him. Not now. "You said it yourself! After everything that happened at that damn radio tower, after I called you out on that stupid competition you have with Jonathan over her!"
"Oh, right!" Steve laughed, but there was no humor in that sound. It was cruel, cutting, designed specifically to hurt. "Back to that! I knew you weren't gonna let it go. That you were gonna throw it in my face every chance you got."
I felt my face contort with pain. My hands trembled at my sides, clenching into fists so tight that my nails dug into my palms.
"I'm not throwing it in your face, Steve. I'm telling you the truth. Something clearly nobody else has the guts to tell you."
"The truth?" he scoffed, taking another step toward me. Now we were so close I could see every detail of the bruise forming on his cheek, the way his jaw tensed. "You wanna know the truth? The truth is I'm tired. I'm tired of you telling me what to do, of you constantly judging me, of you acting like you're better than me."
"I never said I'm better than you!" my voice broke, but I kept it steady. "I just want you to stop acting like a jealous idiot every time Nancy's around!"
"Maybe I have a right to be jealous!" Steve shouted, and his eyes shone with unshed tears. "Maybe I have a right to feel what I feel without my own girlfriend making me feel like shit about it!"
"Then maybe you should be with someone who doesn't make you feel that way!" I spat, and I saw his eyes widen slightly in surprise. "Because clearly I'm not enough for you!"
"You didn't have to!" the tears finally started rolling down my cheeks, hot and treacherous. "It's in every look you give her, in every word you say when she's around. I'm sick of competing with a ghost, Steve! I don't wanna keep competing for my boyfriend's attention!"
Steve ran both hands through his hair, pulling at it in frustration. His breathing was erratic, his chest rising and falling violently.
"You know what? Maybe if you weren't so insecure you wouldn't have to feel this way!" he spat, and those words went through me like a bullet.
I stepped back as if he'd physically slapped me. My lips trembled as I looked at him, as I watched this boy I thought I knew transform into someone cruel and unfamiliar before my eyes.
"Insecure?" I repeated, my voice barely a broken whisper. "You're calling me insecure because I'm asking for the bare minimum of respect in a relationship?"
"I'm saying you're making a big deal out of nothing!" he shouted, his arms gesturing violently. "Nancy and I are friends! That's it! But you can't accept that!"
"Because it's not true!" I screamed back, feeling how something inside me broke definitively. "And you know it! That's why you just said you should've gone with her! That's why you act like a complete idiot every time Jonathan's near her!"
Steve opened his mouth to respond, but stopped. I saw how his jaw clenched, how his hands closed into fists at his sides. There was something in his expression, something that made me want to scream and cry at the same time.
"At least with Nancy things were simple," he finally muttered, and although his voice was low, every word resonated in my ears like thunder. "At least with her I didn't have to constantly defend myself."
I froze. Completely froze. I felt my heart shatter inside my chest, how each fragment painfully dug into my ribs. Tears fell freely now, but I didn't even try to stop them anymore.
"Look..." Steve began, running a hand over his face in frustration. His voice had lost some of its edge, but the damage was already done. "This thing between us... it's not working."
"You've said enough," I cut him off abruptly, raising my trembling hand to stop him. My voice sounded dead, empty, as if all emotions had been drained from me. "Don't say anything else."
I saw him blink in confusion, as if he didn't expect me to be the one ending the conversation. He opened his mouth, probably to continue with whatever he was going to say, but I shook my head violently.
"No," I said firmly, though my voice trembled. "You're done. You already said everything you needed to say."
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand roughly, leaving wet streaks on my cheeks. I breathed deeply, trying to piece together the broken fragments of my dignity.
"I'm gonna check on Dustin," I announced with a flat voice, starting to turn. "Someone has to make sure he's okay after this."
"No, Steve," I interrupted him again, without looking at him. I couldn't look at him. If I did, I'd completely break down. "Go to Nancy. Go where you clearly wanna be. I'll take care of what matters here."
"Fair?" I let out a bitter laugh that sounded horrible even to me. I finally turned to look at him one last time, and the expression on my face must have been devastating because I saw him step back. "Nothing about this is fair, Steve. But at least now we both know where we stand."
I looked at him steadily, memorizing every detail of his face. The bruise on his cheek, his red and swollen eyes, the way his mouth opened and closed without knowing what to say. This was the boy I'd loved. The boy who had just destroyed me.
"Just let it go, Steve," I finally whispered.
And before he could respond, before he could say something that would make me change my mind or break me even more, I turned around and walked back toward the room where Dustin was still on the floor.
Every step felt like walking on broken glass, every breath was a painful effort. But I didn't stop. I didn't look back.
Behind me, I heard a choked sound that could have been my name, but I ignored it. I kept walking until I reached the room's doorway.
Dustin looked up when I entered, his eyes still wet. He saw me and something in my expression must have told him everything he needed to know.
"Are you okay?" he asked in a small voice, getting to his feet slowly.
I nodded, though we both knew it was a lie. I knelt next to him, checking his face with trembling hands.
"That's what I should be asking you," I said with a hoarse voice. "Are you okay?"
Dustin shook his head, but I could see the pain in his eyes. And it wasn't just physical pain.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to cause problems between you guys."
"Hey, no," I said firmly, putting my hands on his shoulders. "None of this is your fault. You hear me? None of it."
He nodded, but his eyes kept drifting toward the hallway where I'd left Steve.
"Are you guys gonna be okay?"
The question went through me like a knife. I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a smile that probably looked as broken as I felt.
"Don't worry about that right now," I whispered, though I knew the answer was no. We weren't going to be okay. Maybe we never would be. "Come on, let's get some ice on that cheek."
As I helped Dustin up, I heard footsteps walking away in the hallway. Heavy, slow, defeated.
And though every fiber of my being wanted to run after them, staying there with Dustin was the easiest and hardest decision I'd made in my life.
We'd already gotten out of the Upside Down. The fresh air of the real world should've been a relief, but it felt heavy, suffocating, loaded with everything that had been left unsaid between Steve and me.
The entire way to Squawk, I kept my eyes fixed on anything that wasn't him. Anything to not have to face the reality of what had happened.
Steve didn't try either. Not a word. Not a look. Nothing.
It was like we'd become strangers in a matter of minutes, and that hurt more than any cruel word we'd said to each other.
When we finally arrived at Squawk, I saw Max and something inside me relaxed momentarily. I forgot, just for a second, about everything that had happened. I ran to her, checking that she was okay, listening to her talk about what she'd experienced.
Nancy noticed the tension. Our gazes crossed briefly, and I could see the question in her eyes. The way Steve and I kept ourselves on opposite sides of the group. But I simply shook my head almost imperceptibly and forced a smile.
"It's fine," I told her with a calm voice, though we both knew it was a lie.
Nancy nodded slowly, without insisting, and walked away to talk to Jonathan.
Dustin approached me, his eyes full of worry and guilt. Before he could say anything, I raised my hand and made a "don't say anything" gesture with my fingers, accompanied by a smile I hoped looked more convincing than it felt.
He frowned but nodded, respecting my silence.
I stayed with them while everyone entered the building. I stood there while Lucas started catching Max up on everything she'd missed, his excited voice filling the space. While Dustin ranted to Hopper about all his theories of the Upside Down, gesturing wildly with his hands like he always did when he was excited.
I was there when Steve shared his brilliant plan about how they could finally put an end to all this from the WSQK radio tower. His voice sounded professional, controlled, as if he hadn't just destroyed us both just a few hours ago. He spoke confidently, laying out the plan with precision, and everyone listened attentively.
I listened too, but from the other side of the room. I'd strategically sat in the opposite part from where he was, keeping as much distance as possible between us. Every time he moved to one side, I moved to the other. It was a silent dance of avoidance, and everyone noticed it though nobody said anything.
When he finished explaining the plan, there was a murmur of agreement. It was risky, but it was the best we had.
One moment to the next, I found myself finishing putting on my jacket, adjusting the straps and mentally preparing myself for what was coming. My hands trembled slightly as I closed the last button, and I took a deep breath to calm myself.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. I knew those steps, the weight of each footfall, the familiar rhythm I'd memorized without even realizing it.
I stayed motionless, my hands frozen on the last button of my jacket. My back was rigid, my jaw clenched. I didn't turn to look at him. I couldn't. If I did, if I saw his face now, I'd break down, and I couldn't allow myself that. Not now. Not when we were about to risk our lives.
The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. I could feel his presence behind me, so close but so infinitely far.
"If something happens to us..." Steve began, his voice low and hoarse, loaded with emotions I didn't dare name. "To either of us..."
He stopped, and I heard him breathe deeply, as if gathering the courage to continue.
"I love you," he finally whispered, and those two words went through me like a red-hot knife. "I know things are bad between us right now, I know I said horrible things I can't take back. But I need you to know that. I need you to know it before we go in there."
My eyes filled with tears instantly, but I blinked them furiously, refusing to let them fall. My fingers gripped the fabric of my jacket so tight my knuckles turned white.
"Steve..." my voice came out barely as a broken whisper.
"You don't have to say anything," he interrupted quickly. "I don't expect you to forgive me, I don't even expect you to answer me. I just... needed to say it. Just in case."
Those words floated in the air between us, loaded with the weight of everything that could go wrong, of everything we could lose.
I closed my eyes tightly, feeling how a traitorous tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. My throat was closed, my chest tight. I wanted to turn around, I wanted to look at him, tell him that I loved him too despite everything. That despite the pain and the cruel words, my heart still beat for him.
Because if I did, if I allowed myself to feel all that now, I wouldn't be able to do what we had to do.
"Take care out there," I managed to say finally, my voice barely audible. "Please."
I heard Steve inhale sharply, as if my words had physically hit him.
"You too," he responded after a moment. "Please, take care."
There was another moment of loaded silence, and then I heard his footsteps walking away. Slow, hesitant, as if each step cost him as much as it cost me to hear them.
Only when I was sure he was gone did I let my shoulders sink. I let the tear I'd been holding back fall freely, followed by another, and another.
I brought a trembling hand to my mouth, containing the sob that threatened to escape.
"I love you too," I thought silently, the words I couldn't say out loud.
"You ready?" Nancy's voice startled me. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her eyes compassionate but not asking questions.
I quickly dried my tears and nodded, forcing myself to straighten my back, to recompose my expression.
"Yeah," I said with a firm voice, though inside I was shattered. "I'm ready."
As I followed Nancy toward where the rest of the group was preparing, I allowed myself one last look toward where Steve was talking to Dustin. As if he'd felt my gaze, he looked up and our eyes met for the first time since our fight.
In that brief moment, I saw everything reflected in his gaze: pain, regret, fear, love. Everything I was feeling too.
But then I broke eye contact, turning my head abruptly.
I was standing at the edge of the tower, my eyes fixed on the horizon where the rift moved slowly, a dark and unnatural mass that defied all logic. The wind whipped my hair, and for a moment, I allowed myself to disconnect from everything: from the mission, from the danger, from the fight I'd had with Steve.
Even now, I could feel his presence meters away. I hadn't looked at him directly since we climbed the tower, but I was aware of every movement he made, of every breath. It was as if my body was tuned to his, even when my mind tried to maintain distance.
I closed my eyes for a second, letting the cold air fill my lungs. I had to focus. We had a job to do. Emotions would have to wait.
But then I heard Lucas's voice, and my whole body went rigid.
"No, no, no," he said, panicking. "It's not aligned!"
My eyes snapped open and I turned sharply toward where Lucas was looking at the instruments with an expression of horror.
Steve straightened up instantly and came to my side. I could feel the warmth of his presence, so close after hours of deliberate distance.
"What do you mean it's not aligned?" he asked with a tense voice.
"The tower's needle isn't aligned with the rift," Lucas explained, his voice rising in pitch with each word.
Panic seized everyone at the top. I felt my stomach sink, how my hands started trembling involuntarily.
"Shit," Steve muttered beside me, and I could hear the barely contained fear in his voice.
Will's voice was calm, almost reverent with fear.
"If the rift hits the needle..."
"This tower's coming down," Mike concluded, his face pale as wax.
Dustin immediately turned on his walkie-talkie, his fingers clumsy with panic as he tried to communicate with Hopper.
"Hey, chief, we're gonna need El to stop this planet. Watch out for the others, please!"
A few eternal seconds passed, each one feeling like an hour. Finally, Hopper's voice came through the walkie, distorted but clear.
Dustin looked at all of us, his eyes wide behind his glasses, swallowing audibly.
Thirty seconds. Thirty damn seconds for Eleven to stop a moving planet or we'd all die.
More than thirty seconds had passed since Dustin's interaction with Hopper and there was no way to stop the rift. Slowly, inexorably, it approached the top of the radio tower. I could see it from where I was standing, a dark and pulsating mass that grew bigger with each passing second.
Then, suddenly, the air changed.
A low, rhythmic sound resonated in the ground, vibrating through my legs and chest. I felt it in my bones, in my teeth, in every cell of my body. Somewhere below us, something huge moved.
Terror slowly seized everyone as the rift got closer and closer with each passing second. My eyes flew to Steve instinctively, breaking hours of deliberate avoidance, and I found his already fixed on me. In that moment, everything else disappeared: the fight, the cruel words, the pain. Only the raw fear of losing each other remained.
A deep, rhythmic pulse ran through the ground, cutting off my path. The concrete vibrated violently under my feet, making me stumble to one side.
"That's not normal," I whispered, my voice barely audible over the growing roar filling the air.
"And we're also about to be crushed by a moving planet!" Dustin shouted, his voice breaking with panic. "So give the signal again!"
The rhythm got louder, faster, more insistent. Boom. Boom. Boom. Like a giant heart beating beneath us.
Then the ground shook violently.
"Holy shit!" Dustin shouted, falling to his knees as the walkie-talkie slipped from his hands.
"Watch out! Watch out!" Mike's voice echoed as we all tried to maintain balance on the ground that moved as if it were alive.
The rift finally hit the tower with a deafening impact. A metallic groan that shook my bones resonated through the entire structure as the concrete beneath me literally opened like a hungry mouth. Cracks expanded like spiderwebs in all directions, the ground giving way under our weight.
Steve's hand reached toward me at the same moment I tried to reach him, our fingers barely brushing, so close but not enough.
"Hey!" I screamed, but my voice was lost in the chaos of twisting metal and breaking concrete.
The floor collapsed completely, preventing Steve and me from coming together. An entire section of concrete simply disappeared between us, creating a chasm that separated us.
I slid toward the edge, my fingers uselessly scraping the dust and broken stone as gravity pushed me forward mercilessly. I felt my feet lose contact with the ground, how my body started falling toward the endless darkness.
"NO!" Steve's scream tore through the air, raw and desperate.
Everyone was screaming my name, the loudest voices were Steve's and Robin's, desperate, terrified, full of a fear I'd never heard from them before.
My fingers found a piece of twisted metal in the last possible second. I grabbed it with one hand, my fingers wrapped around the sharp edge that cut my skin mercilessly. I could feel the warm blood sliding down my palm, making the grip even more precarious.
My fingers were slowly sliding one by one, unable to hold my weight. Tears sprang from my eyes as I struggled to hold on, to not fall into the endless void below me.
"Hold on!" I heard Steve's voice, closer now. "Hold on, please!"
My pinky let go. Then my ring finger. The metal was slippery with my blood, making it impossible to maintain a firm grip.
"I can't!" I screamed, my voice broken by terror and effort. "Steve, I can't!"
When my middle finger started to slide, when my last finger finally started to let go, when I felt gravity finally winning, a scream came from my chest, raw and desperate, full of all the fear I'd been holding back.
And suddenly, pain exploded in my arm.
His knees hit the ground with brutal force, and I could hear his groan of pain. His boots slipped dangerously on the edge as he slammed one arm against a bent metal beam to anchor himself, and closed the other hand around my wrist. His grip was like iron, desperate, painful but perfect, absolutely perfect.
"I got you!" he screamed with a broken voice, his wild and bright eyes fixed on mine. "I got you! Don't let go!"
But I could see how his arms trembled, how his body slowly slid toward the edge. The metal he was clinging to groaned under the pressure of holding both our weights. He couldn't hold me for long. Not like this. Not alone.
"Steve..." my voice came out choked by the tears rolling freely down my cheeks. "Steve, let me go."
"What? No!" his eyes widened, incredulous, terrified. "You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you go!"
"You're gonna fall with me," I said, and the certainty in my voice made something in his expression completely break. "If you don't let me go, we're both gonna die."
"I don't care!" he screamed, and tears started rolling down his cheeks, leaving clean tracks on his dust-covered face. "I'm not letting you fall! Never!"
His body slid a few more inches toward the edge. I could hear the terrified screams of the others behind him, but Steve didn't hear them. He only looked at me.
"Steve, please," I begged, my own voice breaking into sobs. "Please, you have to let me go."
"No!" his grip tightened even more, so tight I could feel my bones creaking under the pressure. "I love you! You hear me? I love you too much to let you go!"
A violent sob escaped my throat.
"I love you too," I finally admitted, the words I'd been holding back since we separated pouring out in a torrent. "That's why I need you to let me go. That's why I need you to survive."
"Not without you," Steve whimpered, his voice completely broken, destroyed. "I can't do it without you. I don't wanna do it without you."
His body slid more, his grip on the beam dangerously loosening. The knuckles of his hand were white, his entire arm trembling violently from the effort of holding me.
"Please," I whispered, looking into his eyes, trying to memorize every detail of his face. "Please, Steve. Let me go."
"No!" he screamed again, desperate, almost hysterical. "I'm gonna pull you up, just hold on! Just hold on a little longer!"
He tried to pull me, putting all his weight into the attempt, but his body simply slid more toward the edge. The metal beam groaned ominously, the sound making my heart stop.
"I love you so much!" the words poured from him in a desperate, uncontrollable torrent. "I'm sorry for everything I said! I'm sorry for being an idiot! I'm sorry for hurting you! But you can't ask me this! You can't ask me to let you go!"
"No! Listen to me!" his voice broke completely, reducing to broken sobs. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me! You're the bravest, strongest, most amazing person I know! And I know I screwed up, I know I said horrible things, but I can be better! I can change! Just... just don't leave me! Please, don't leave me!"
Tears fell freely from my eyes, mixing with the sweat and dirt on my face.
"You're not leaving me," I said softly, my voice trembling. "You never left me. I was always the one who..."
"Shut up!" he screamed, his voice hoarse and destroyed. "Shut up and hold on! I'm getting you out of here! I promise!"
But his body slid even more. Now his chest was against the edge of the broken concrete, his torso dangerously hanging over the void. A few more inches and he'd fall too.
"Steve, for God's sake!" Robin's voice resonated behind him, terrified and on the verge of hysteria. "You're gonna fall!"
"I don't care!" Steve roared without taking his eyes off mine for a second. "I'm not letting her go!"
"I love you," I said again, needing him to know, needing him to understand. "I've always loved you. Even when I was angry, even when it hurt. It was always you."
"Then hold on," he begged, his voice reducing to a broken whisper full of desperation. "Please, babe. Hold on for me."
His body slid more, his legs now hanging over the edge.
"Steve!" I screamed, feeling pure panic flood every cell of my body. "You're gonna fall!"
"Then we'll fall together!" he screamed back, and there was a fierce determination in his eyes, an absolute and unbreakable promise. "If you fall, I fall with you! Always!"
"Yes!" his fingers dug into my wrist even tighter, leaving marks I knew would last days. "You and me! Together! Always together!"
The beam groaned again, the metal starting to bend dangerously under the combined pressure of our weight.
"Steve, listen to me," I tried to keep my voice calm though my heart was beating frantically. "You need to live. You need to take care of Dustin, Robin, everyone. They need you. They need you."
"I need you!" he sobbed. "Only you!"
"And I need you to be alive!" I screamed back, my voice breaking. "Even if it's not with me! I need to know you're out there, alive, being the hero you've always been!"
"I'm not a hero without you!" his voice broke into a heartbreaking sob. "I'm nothing without you!"
"That's not true," I whispered, feeling my own strength starting to fail. "You're Steve Harrington. The guy who protects everyone. The guy who always does the right thing even when it's hard. The guy I fell in love with."
"Please," he whimpered, and I'd never heard him sound so completely broken. "Please, don't make me do this. Don't make me let you go."
"You don't have to do it," I said softly, preparing myself mentally. "I will."
His eyes widened with absolute horror.
"I love you, Steve Harrington," I said, engraving his face in my memory one last time. "I always will."
"NO!" his scream was heartbreaking, primal.
But before I could let go of my grip, before I could do what I knew I had to do, a hand crashed against Steve's arm, grabbing him with force.
"I got you!" Jonathan's voice resonated, strong and firm.
Jonathan had thrown himself on the ground next to Steve, his hands gripping Steve's arm with all his strength, helping him anchor himself.
"Nancy, help!" Jonathan shouted, his voice tense from the effort.
Nancy appeared a second later, grabbing Steve's legs to prevent him from sliding more toward the abyss.
"Everyone, now!" Nancy shouted with authority. "We need more help!"
Mike, Lucas, and Dustin lunged forward without hesitation, all grabbing different parts of Steve, forming a desperate human chain.
"Pull!" Jonathan ordered. "On three! One, two, three!"
Everyone pulled at the same time with a coordinated grunt. I felt my body rise slightly, Steve's grip never loosening for a second.
"Again!" Jonathan shouted. "One, two, three!"
They pulled again, harder this time, putting all their weight into it. My body rose more, my other hand desperately reaching the edge of the broken concrete.
"Almost there!" Robin shouted, who had now also joined the chain, grabbing Mike. "One more! Come on!"
With one last coordinated and desperate pull, my body was dragged over the edge. I fell heavily on Steve, both of us collapsing on the ground as everyone else fell backward from the momentum of the final pull.
For a moment, nobody moved. Only the sound of heavy breathing and gasps filled the air.
Then Steve wrapped me in his arms, pressing me against his chest so tight I could barely breathe, but I didn't care. His body trembled violently, sobs shaking him as he buried his face in my neck.
"Don't ever do that again," he whimpered against my skin, his voice muffled. "Never, never do that again."
My own arms wrapped around him, clinging to him like he was my lifeline. Because he was. He always had been.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, my tears soaking his shirt. "I'm so sorry."
"I love you," he said again, his lips moving against my neck. "I love you so much. Don't ever ask me to let you go again. I can't. I couldn't even if I wanted to."
"I love you," I responded, my voice choked with emotions. "I'm sorry for everything. For the fight, for the horrible things I said, for—"
"No," he interrupted me, pulling back enough to look into my eyes. His hands framed my face with a tenderness that contrasted with the desperation of seconds ago, his thumbs wiping away my tears. "I'm sorry. Everything I said was a lie. You're enough. You've always been more than enough. You're everything."
"No," he repeated firmly. "Let me say it. Nancy... she was important to me, but you... you're my future. You're my present. You're the only thing I want, the only thing I need. And I was a complete idiot for making you feel otherwise."
A sob escaped my throat and I pulled him to me, pressing my lips against his in a desperate kiss, salty from both our tears. He responded immediately, his arms squeezing me against him as if he feared I'd disappear if he let go.
When we finally separated, we were both panting. Steve rested his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his wet lashes.
"I thought I was losing you," he whispered. "For a moment, I really thought I was losing you."
"I'm here," I said softly, my hands caressing his face. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."
"You better not," he murmured, pressing a tender kiss on my forehead. "Because I'm not letting you go ever again."
"Guys," Dustin's voice interrupted our moment, uncomfortable but urgent. "I hate to ruin this, seriously, but... can we get off this tower that's collapsing now?"
I looked around and realized everyone was watching us with expressions ranging from relieved to uncomfortable, some smiling through their own tears.
Steve laughed, the sound wet but genuine, and helped me to my feet. But he didn't let go of my hand.
"Yeah," he said, looking at everyone with a sheepish smile. "Let's finish this."
I nodded, standing straighter, feeling his warmth beside me.
Because now, after everything we'd been through, after almost losing each other in the worst possible way, we were stronger. Together.
And we weren't going to let anything—not Vecna, not the Upside Down, not our own stupid pride—tear us apart again.
Steve looked at me one more time, his eyes full of determination and love.
"Together," I confirmed, squeezing his hand back.
And as we prepared to face whatever came next, I knew with absolute certainty that we'd make it through.
Because we had each other.
And that was all we needed.
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