Ch.18 Comin’ home baby
Chapter 18 of Strange
A/N- I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS GOING TO BE THE LAST CHAPTER FOR A WHILE!!! I do plan on adding other scenes that didn’t make it in the chapters! Thank you to everyone for all the love!! ILY
Warning- ANGST!!!!, swearing, FLUFF!!!, talks of death and Injury, LONG CHAPTER.
Pairing- Steve Harrington x Hopper!fem-reader
Episode- 4x09
(Let me know if you wanna be tagged)
————
To, Y/N,
This letter might be a little strange, mostly because you’re not expecting it. But I needed to write one for you too because there’s things you need to know, and it’s hard for me to really say what I feel when it comes to expressing myself in an emotional way. So, you get this.
Now, I know we aren’t best friends or anything, but I appreciate you, y/n. Truth is you and Eleven are like the sisters I never had—
A shaky breath leaves past your lips and tears sting your eyes. You swallow thickly to try and get rid of the lump formed in your throat, and avert your eyes from Max’s letter to avoid crying and staining the paper with your tears.
“Hey,” Steve interjects from his seat. “I thought you weren’t allowed to read that.”
You sigh deeply and look back at the letter to respond to Steve. “Well, it seems fit—”
“But she’s not gone,” he interrupts you.
Max’s survival still baffles you; sure it’s been only a few minutes since you left her in an ambulance with Lucas and Erica so Steve and you could find the others in Jason’s car, but the how behind her survival is all you can think about it—You are glad she’s alive; she might’ve not woken up after her heart began to beat again, but you’re happy that she came back to life.
“No,” you mutter. “But I couldn’t wait, okay? I had it with me so I had to read it. Besides, reading it distracts me from my worry. The anxiety is making me nauseous.”
Steve sighs and nods. “I get what you mean, but I’m sure Eddie and Dustin are okay. I mean…they got to be.”
You lose yourself in a blank space in the letter to think of Dustin and Eddie. More so, that vision that Vecna showed you—it didn’t look good at all, sure there’s a possibility it might not be real, but you found Steve and the other two in the same way Vecna showed you in that vision, so there's some truth behind Eddie’s vision, and that scares you.
No matter if your friendship only just started, this adventure connected you. It connected all of you. Knowing that any of the people you’re fighting alongside with are in danger, or on the brink of death is just as upsetting.
“Are you sure you’re okay driving?” You ask Steve so you can distract yourself away from the letter and your current concern. “I can drive the rest of the way there.” You look over at him and he shakes his head and briefly meets your gaze since he has to keep his eyes on the road.
“Nah, we’re close, besides you must be tired, I’m okay. You can finish the letter.”
You sigh and drop your eyes back on the letter. “It’s actually very hard reading it, since she’s there unconscious and I’m here.”
“In a car?” Steve tries to be lighthearted.
You sigh and find no amusement behind his comment. “Conscious.” You deadpan.
Steve’s eyes flicker over to you and when he sees how sad you truly are, he sighs and reaches to grab your hand. “Come here,” he mumbles. And without needing an explanation you drag yourself as close as you could be to him so you can let him wrap his arm around your shoulders, and you could rest your head on his shoulder.
“She’s going to wake up okay? Her mind was probably just exhausted.” He presses a kiss on the top of your head and focuses back on the road to continue comforting you. “I’m sure by tomorrow morning she’s going to be awake and mean mugging us.”
You scoff in amusement and even if you were full of doubt, you nod since he could be right. You want him to be right anyway. “Yeah, you’re right.” You say and look over at him to smile. “Do you think I can spend the night at your place today? Or should I get my things and have a girls night with my girl?”
Steve's eyes narrow and he immediately turns that down. “No, you can stay with me. You’re staying with me. I don’t have a lot of time with you anymore, I’m not letting you go any time soon.”
You smile and snuggle your head on his shoulder and yawn. “I am pretty tired.”
“We’ll go home soon, okay?” He says “I mean…if my house is still standing that is….” He pauses and his hand stiffens. “You think my parents are okay?”
You look up at him and want to assure him that they are, but you didn’t know that answer to that. The earthquake that happened as the gate opened most likely left the town in chaos. You haven’t seen most of anything since the Creel house is close to the mobile home park and surrounded by woods, but all that you have seen while on your way to the Creel house is ambulances and police cars. It’s not hard to gather why they’re so panicked and busy all of a sudden.
“I hope so,” you try to assure him the best way you can. “I don’t think the gate cut through where you live.”
Steve exhales deeply and nods. “I hope so.” He swallows thickly and leaves the car silent for a little while before he finds himself breaking that short silence. “Are you going to finish reading that letter? I mean you already started it so you might as well finish the thing.”
You scoff and lift the letter in front of you again. “I won’t read it out loud,” you add. “It’s a personal letter.”
“Then I won’t show you mine.”
You shift your head and narrow your eyes on him. “What?” You scoff. “Come on,” you whine.
“Read me yours and I’ll read you mine.” He puts out with smugness. “I know you’re curious.”
You clench your jaw and huff out before you drop your head back on his shoulder and begin reading the rest of the letter out loud.
“…It felt nice having a big sister. A older sibling in general who actually taught me things, who had patience and did stupid bonding stuff with me, instead of yelling at me and avoiding me. So thanks.
And if you have to know, sometimes I did wish Billy and you would somehow get back together. I know he was an asshole, but it would’ve been an excuse to actually see you. To have someone decent around and not have some ditz hanging around him. At least then he would’ve been tolerable.
But I’m glad you didn’t end up lasting long. You deserved a lot better, so maybe Steve and you aren’t that gross together. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t disgusted by you guys being all lovey dovey all the time.
And if Steve ever does hurt you just punch him in the face, I’m sure you can beat him in a fight too.”
You scoff in amusement and can’t help but let your tears run down your cheeks while your smile widens.
“With that said. Thank you for checking up on me after you left, y/n. I might’ve not sounded like I appreciated it, but I did, so thank you.
By the way, I think you’re cool. Your taste in music isn’t bad. Your skating could use help, but you’re cool. If I somehow end up living, maybe you can teach me how to ride a motorcycle!
From, Max.”
You lower the letter and pull away from Steve to wipe the tears off your face.
Max is alive, but reading her letter and knowing how she was , made that guilt grow tenfold. Now, there was a small part of you that wishes that you would’ve stayed behind to be the bait instead of Max.
“I should’ve waited,” you mutter to try and be lighthearted.
“Told ya so,” Steve quips.
You exhale deeply and fold the letter to put it back in one of the pockets in your vest, to then look out the front window and watch the road and the passing cars in a comfortable yet tense anxious silence. When you drift your eyes up the window you notice that the stars were covered by clouds of smoke that made the night here even darker. You try not to, but when you look out at the woods you were driving by, you can’t help but feel that chill again. That same cold chill you felt in The Upside Down that made you think something bad lurked in every corner.
The gates were closed now and this wasn’t the Upside Down, but that fear still clung onto you and made you tense, and has you traumatized. So much so that when Steve suddenly hit the brakes you let out a yelp and dug your nails in his hand while you clung your other hand into the armrest beside you.
“Ow,” he murmurs, but doesn’t focus long on what you did since he quickly parks on the side of the road to point back. “The RV, that was the RV!”
You let go of Steve’s arm and look back to see just that making a U-turn to park behind you.
As soon as it stops, you unbuckle yourself and throw the door open to climb out of the car and race towards the RV. Steve quickly gets ahead of you, and only picks up his pace more when he sees Dustin climb out of the RV.
“Henderson!” Steve exclaims.
Yet, Dustin doesn’t return the same energy, he offers Steve a smile, but it’s faint; he doesn’t even meet Steve halfway like you thought he would, he leaves Steve hanging. He actually looked upset, but you can’t tell why he was so gloomy right away. You know that even if he was tired he would’ve reacted the same way as soon as he saw Steve, but not this time.
And when you got closer to him, when you noticed how red and puffy his eyes were, and when failed to see his partner following him, you began to piece together why he looked so glum.
You hoped that you were just panicking, that the guilt and your fear were just getting the best of you—he was probably still inside, he wouldn’t run out to greet Steve and you. But when you reached Dustin, when he looked at Steve and you with tears gleaming his eyes, and a trembling frown, that hope, that delusion quickly began to crack.
It wasn’t until Robin walked out to the last step of the RV with a familiar look in her eyes, that all that hope you tried to hold onto completely broke away. After all, you knew that look, that heartbroken, pained, guilty, and knowing look. It was the same look Joyce gave you after Hopper didn’t walk out of the mall with her, the look that spoke the truth words couldn’t. Perhaps this time, you didn’t feel that same pain as that day, but it wasn’t easy this time around either.
Eddie was a friend. New, perhaps, mysterious due to the fact that you barely got to know him, but he was still a friend due to the circumstances you faced together. Knowing that he didn’t make it was a punch to the gut. Now the guilt you held intensified and punctured your heart, making that heartache much more insufferable.
“Eddie,” Dustin’s voice quivers even though you saw how he was trying to remain strong. “He tried to help me. H-he didn’t run and…got swarmed by bats…” he pauses and swallows thickly. “He…he didn’t…make it.”
Steve and you look at each other as you process the news you piece together, and because you saw how much Eddie meant to Dustin, is why it made it hard to come up with something comforting to say. Truthfully there was nothing you could really say that would make his pain hurt less. All you could offer him was an embrace in hopes that the gesture was enough to let him know you were both here for him.
Which, matter of fact, right as Steve and you secured Dustin in your arms, that strength he tried so hard to project crumbled and he broke down into a sob as he held onto Steve and you. It made you hug onto him tighter while you pressed your cheek against his head as a form of comfort. You didn’t want to but you had to cry with him.
After a while passed, you were the first one to let go while Steve stayed with him for a longer time. He only let go when Dustin was ready and grew too tired of standing on his feet.
When Dustin did break away is when he shared that he had hurt his leg, and that they couldn’t pull Eddie’s body out from the Upside Down so he had to leave him behind. Besides that, Dustin didn’t share much of anything else anymore, either from exhaustion or just grief and sadness, but he stayed quiet. Everyone did.
After that there was nothing else to do but go home.
The further you drove into the town though, the more destruction you saw; some houses were split in half, some were broken in different ways, streets were cracked, some telephone lines were down, the electricity flickered and the ambulance, police and firefighters all swarmed around every street. Their cars' cries sang for hours on end, the clamoring from people even traveled inside Steve’s house when you got home.
Besides what you were dealing with already, all the chaos that was happening outside made it hard to fall asleep, and only came when your body and mind couldn’t stand being awake a moment longer and knocked you out instead.
Or so you thought.
“I forgive you, you know that dad,” you swallow thickly and muster a wobbly smile. “I was scared I’d never see either of you again today, I can’t go on not telling you. I’m sorry for being so mean, I’m sorry for being such a bad daughter.” You cry and he quickly hugs you tightly.
“Don’t cry,” he says softly by your ear and tightens his embrace. “It’s okay.” He rubs your back and moves one of his arms behind your neck and keeps tightening his hold until it gets hard to breathe.
“Dad,” you groan and pat his back. “Daddy, I can’t…I can’t breathe.”
“I left you because I never truly loved you,” he begins to reveal bluntly. “It was a lot easier without you here. Eleven and I were happier.”
You begin to squirm around in his hold and begin to hit his back while you try to catch at least a small amount of air.
“You are the curse that broke my family apart. Your mother and I were doing fine until you came along. You ruined everything.”
He never said this. This isn’t true. He’d never say any of it. This is…this is fake, it’s all fake. Just a bad dream.
“First Sara, your mother, and me…”
No. No.
“Now Max and Eddie.”
With the strength you can muster you knee his groin and manage to make him loosen his hold enough to be able to push him away. But the moment you’re away from him and gasping for air, you glance up and instantly feel your breath hitch as you see that half of his body is burnt and the other half is covered in bruises and blood; he looks exactly the same he did in that vision Vecna showed you of his dead body.
“You did this to me!” He shouts. Only it’s not his voice, but Vecna’s. “You! You’re pathetic. You’re just a stupid accident that was never meant to be born! Your mother should’ve never had you.”
He begins to storm over to you and you quickly begin to back away. Yet, before you can get far, a slimy vine wraps around your throat. You try to scream, but it tightens its hold and cuts off the breath you were going to take and yanks you back to the ground.
Except, instead of hitting the gravel, the parking lot scenery suddenly disappears and you’re transported into a dark abyss the moment you hit the ground.
The vine around your throat then proceeds to unravel and slithers away, letting you push yourself to your feet and search for any sign of your father who is now suddenly gone.
“It’s just a nightmare. It’s just a nightmare,” you mutter to yourself and hold your head whilst you shut your eyes. “It’s just a nightmare. Wake up, wake up.”
“Y/N?”
Eleven?
No. It’s just a nightmare, she’s not here.
“Y/N? Please, I need help.”
No.
You begin hitting your head and keep your eyes shut.
“Help me! Y/N!” Eleven keeps crying out. “Help me!”
You shake your head and keep telling yourself to wake up.
“OPEN YOUR EYES!” Vecna bellows.
And from one second to the next your eyes are forced open and you’re forced to see Eleven in front of you with a vine around her throat.
“This isn’t real,” you keep insisting.
“Isn’t it?” Vecna rebuttals. “How do you know what’s real and what’s not? For all you know, all that you have lived through since I pulled you away from the Creel House, has been fake.”
You shake your head in denial and try not to cry and give into what he wants. You can’t fear him anymore.
“You really thought you could escape me?”
“No,” you sneer. “This is all fake!”
“Is it!” He counters loudly and then pulls Eleven away from you to tie her to a pillar. “Aren’t you going to save her? Are you going to let Eleven die?”
Eleven reaches out for you as she groans and squirms. And even if this was a nightmare, you instinctively begin to run towards her while your surroundings begin to turn red and the debris of the Creel house begins to appear around you; as if you were back in Vecna’s mind lair.
“Just hold on!” You yell out to Eleven. “I’m coming!”
Albeit, just before you can reach her, the sound of Steve’s voice stops you.
“Y/N? What’s going on?”
You blink, and hold your breath whilst you slowly turn around, noticing that your surroundings begin to change once again. Only this time you’re brought back to Steve’s room, this time he’s in the same pajama pants he wore before you went to bed. This time you’re in bed.
“Are you okay?”
It takes you a second to warm up to him, but he’s such a relief to see that you quickly throw yourself on him and cry into his shoulder. “It was just a nightmare,” you whisper.
Steve hums and holds you tight.
A few minutes pass before you’re good enough to pull away from him. “I’m okay,” you whisper.
Steve offers you a tired smile and pulls back to lay back down. But as he’s trying, a vine suddenly wraps around his throat and begins to choke him before he gets yanked away from you.
“Steve!” You cry out and reach out for him as he reaches out for you.
Once again your surroundings change and you’re returned to Vecna’s lair. This time though, you see both Eleven and Steve tied to pillars by the same vines that captured you.
“Choose one to save,” Vecna suddenly whispers by your ear, causing you to tense up and feel goosebumps as his breath unfurls by your ear. “You can only choose one. Your sister or the man you love.”
You shake your head and take a step back. “No,” you mumble under your breath. “This..this is all fake.” You turn around to face Vecna, but the moment you do, he’s not there, there’s nothing in front of you but darkness and the same fog that had filled the upside down.
The emptiness leaves you breathing in heavily and causes you to turn back around. However, just as you catch a glimpse of Eleven and Steve, your feet are suddenly restrained by vines that quickly pull you to the ground and drag you back, ripping you away from your sister and boyfriend, and making you scream.
When the vines let you go, the only thing you see is more darkness and fog. You suspect Vecna to show up, but there's nothing. Absolutely nothing but yourself and darkness, so you push yourself to your feet.
Nevertheless, that turns out to be a mistake since the moment you’re standing on your feet, large shards of glass begin to fall around you to cage you in and just reflect you.
For a while you waited for Vecna to show up and stare straight at you, but he doesn’t come nor does his voice break the silence, all you actually see are reflections of yourself. It leaves you confused and more terrified. Every step and movement you make, your reflection mirrors. Nothing sinister hid behind the reflections.
Their lips however, that’s the only thing that moved even if you yourself didn’t open your mouth.
“It’s your fault. It’s your fault,” they begin to taunt quietly at first, but gradually begin to get louder and louder until they’re screaming at you. “It’s your fault! Your fault! Your fault!”
You step back and shake your head to deny them, but they keep throwing accusations until suddenly they break into a sprint and charge at you. You want to run away, but you stay trapped within the mirror cage and instead end up falling to your knees to hold your head and crumble towards the ground.
Their screams get louder so you begin to cry out of fear and panic. “Stop! Stop! STOP!”
You squeeze your eyes shut and the moment you do, you feel arms wrap around you and pull you back while you even begin to hear your name being uttered.
“Y/N. Y/N—”
“Let me go,” you plead. “Let me go! Let me go!” You try to squirm, but their hold tightens and their voice sounds quieter and a lot more soother, instead of loud and rough.
“Y/N, it’s me. It’s me. It’s Steve. Open your eyes. You’re okay. It’s just a nightmare.”
You shut your mouth, but don’t open your eyes or let your body go from that tense hold.
“Y/N, baby you’re okay,” he keeps comforting you as he keeps his arms around you. “He’s gone. He can’t get you anymore.”
Your breaths are labored and your cheeks are dry even if tears threaten to fall.
“You’re home.”
Very slowly and cautiously you pull your eyes open and see Steve’s room lit by a light beside his side of the bed. It takes you a moment to really come to terms that what you’re seeing and living through is actually real. You actually wait to be pulled away or for everything to change around you again.
“I’m real,” he whispers. “I’m right here. I got you. This is all real. I’m here, I got you.” He presses a kiss on the side of your head and holds you closer.
“Steve,” you croak out and lift your hands to grab his arms secured around your neck.
“I know,” he interjects softly. “I know, baby. I’m here. I’m here.”
——
*THE NEXT DAY*
“…and at the last moment the oldest sister jumped, hopped and ran in front of the evil wizard's spell to save her youngest sister from the cruel fate. And in doing so, due to the sister's bravery, the wizard’s hand froze, his entire body than began to slowly freeze too until all that moved was the beating of his heart. Thump. Thump. And then, nothing.”
You sigh and turn the page of the book.
“The Wizard had suddenly succumbed to a fate of death. His reign came to an end and brought the land safety and joy once more. The dark cloud that loomed over the kingdom began to fade and brought the beaming and warm sun. But what’s meant to be a moment to rejoice and celebrate was far from it due to the fact that the sister's heart had also stopped the moment the spell hit her.”
Once again you stop to turn the page and continue reading to Max.
“But how, the other sister cried, how could she have died. Why did she save me? Why can’t I go too? She cried and her heart broke. Maybe, the prince proposed. Maybe there is one thing. A true love's kiss. For our love was grande. He didn’t fret to fall beside her body and didn’t hesitate to press a single kiss on her lips. Yet, her heart didn’t beat again, her breathing didn’t start and her eyes didn’t open to reveal their life and light. Such a cruel outcome made the sister pick her sister's body up in her arms to press her against her and cradle her sister once more.”
You flip the page and draw in a deep breath to slowly exhale as you continue to read the last page.
“She wept and cried for her sister. The tears she released, ran a trail down her cheek, they slipped down her jaw and hit the sister's cheek. And due to such unintentional actions, life restarted the sisters heart and breath once again began to circulate in her lungs, making her gasp, and alarming the sister of her presence. Sister, the waking sister spoke with a smile. For it wasn’t the prince's love that they needed, but the pure and deep love of sisters that was the salvation. The end.”
You close the book and smile at your hands as you begin to speak to Max. “It was corny, I know, but it was Sara’s favorite book.” You huff and slowly drift your eyes up to see that Max lay in her exact same position, she gave no reaction, her eyes remained closed. She almost looked dead.
If it wasn’t for the machine next to her telling you the opposite, you’d think she was dead.
Morning passed and she hasn’t waken up, the doctors mended her broken arms and her broken leg. They gave a solution for that, but they gave no solution for when she’d wake up again. They did say she was healthy, but…her brain was just…considered to be dead. They say it’s because her heart stopped beating for too long, but it isn’t true.
Of course you knew the truth, you all did, but they couldn’t know and there’s no way to explain that this monster from this other dimension cursed her and left her, so you had to leave it at that and hope she’d wake up soon.
“Maybe tomorrow I’ll start reading you Little Women,” you continue to say with a faint smile. “Or I’ll just bore you with my life story. It’s very exciting. Or maybe I’ll teach you Russian. That way we can talk shit and no one will know what we’re talking about,” you scoff and let your eyes linger on her as ou expect her to react or say something snarky back, but nothing happens, that makes your smile fall and makes you drop your eyes to let out a deep and shaky breath.
“I’ll put on some music now,” you mutter and push yourself off the seat beside her bed to walk over and turn on the boombox to start the song that had been playing previously.
“Maybe next time we can read something more entertaining,” Dustin remarks as you sit between Steve and Robin.
“Like?” You ask.
“Lord of the rings,” he suggests.
Steve scoffs. “You really think Max would want to hear that? What a snooze fest.”
“Like children books are any better,” Dustin rebuttals, making you scoff and snap back.
“It was just this one book!” You shoot him a glare and continue. “Why don’t you try reading something next time then!”
“I will.”
You roll your eyes and cross your arms over your chest before you rest your head back on the hard couch and slowly let your head fall on Robin’s shoulder.
“Who will save me from this masculinity if not you,” she says and rests her head on yours. “I really wish you didn’t have to go so soon.”
You sigh. “You and I both. But I have to go home. I have to graduate or my mothers ghost will come and haunt me.” You then begin to smile. “But hey, you have Nancy now.” You snicker. “I’m sure she’ll keep you company.”
Robin scoffs and pushes you away, only making you laugh until the door opens and Lucas walks in with Erica.
“Sorry,” he breaks the sudden silence. “It’s hard to get here with all the chaos happening around town.”
“Don’t worry,” Dustin assures him. “We don’t mind keeping her company. Besides, y/n was reading her a very fun book,” he adds with sarcasm.
You shoot Dustin a glare and just roll your eyes and keep quiet.
“Well,” Lucas sighs and sits beside Max. “You guys can go now. Thank you.”
“It’s okay,” Steve interjects. “We’ll stay a bit longer. We have nothing to do anyway.”
“Besides,” Dustin adds. “We should discuss…” he pauses and lets out a deep breath. “When we’ll have Eddie’s funeral. His body might not be with us, but I still want to have one for him.”
You grow uneasy and feel your jaw clench as the atmosphere only feels heavier.
“As we all know y/n’s leaving soon, so maybe tomorrow?” He asks and looks at Steve and you. “Unless you guys have something to do?”
You swallow thickly and let your hands fall to your lap as you give him an answer. “Well, considering the town is currently in shambles, there isn’t much to do, so no, we don’t have plans anymore.”
“Yeah,” Steve scoffs. “We’re free tomorrow. Robin?”
“Yeah,” she answers right away. “No, I’m free, I mean we don’t have any shifts at work so yes, I’m free.”
“Okay,” Dustin nods. “Good. I talked to Nancy already, she’s onboard. Tomorrow evening it is.”
You let your eyes fall to your lap and let a deep sigh escape out of your nose.
So much for a good spring break.
*LATER*
The only good thing about this spring break was confessing to Steve. It might’ve been under shitty circumstances, but that’s the only thing that came out of this spring break. The rest…well the rest has been full of pain, more grief and guilt beyond what you can handle.
Eddie…
And Max…
Eddie might’ve died from the blood loss due to the fucking bats, and Max went to a coma because of Vecna, but there’s something in you, some cruel and pestering voice that keeps telling you that you’re somehow responsible for their outcomes.
You’re the curse…
“If…” whisper to yourself as you pull your knees to your chest and lift your arms out of the bath water to gather soap bubbles in your palms. “I was faster…” You trail off and sigh as you pull your hands apart to let the bubbles go. “I’m sorry.”
You slouch and press your forehead against your knees. You don’t cry, or turn on the music that sat beside you, you don’t don’t say anything else, you just sit in the silence that covers the bathroom. It’s lonely; Steve said he was going to prepare some sandwiches since there wasn’t anywhere you could go out to, besides you wanted time to yourself…you didn’t like it, but it gave you a minute to just wallow.
It was dangerous really. Your mind just spun and spun crazy different things, but it’s only when you’re alone when you can think of how it all felt like you were the one to blame, like maybe it should’ve been you instead of Max and Eddie.
Maybe.
“Y/N?” Steve’s voice breaks that silence before he knocks on the door.
You sigh and lift your head to wipe your face and muster a smile before you answer. “Come in.”
The knob turns and slowly the door pushes open before Steve pokes his head inside to share what he needed to say. “Someone’s on the phone for you. Can you talk now, or do you want to do it later?”
You perk up and slip a hand on the bathtub to lean forward and wave him inside—“is it Joyce?” You ask with hope.
Steve shakes his head and steps inside to close the door behind him before walking in to hand you the phone. “It’s someone else. A…friend,” he says with a little disdain while he sets down a plate on the counter beside the tub
You narrow your eyes and hesitantly take the phone to slowly press it by your ear and cautiously speak. “Hello?”
“Y/N?” A familiar boyish voice you haven’t heard in a while spoke. “Oh my gosh! Oh my fucking god!”
You narrow your gaze further and furrow your eyebrows to ask, “Dylan?”
“We saw what happened in Hawkins! We’ve been fucking worried!” He kept speaking. “A-are you okay? We haven’t been able to get a hold of you! We tried California but no one answers the phone! Nita then said to try your friend, the girl! That girl! Uh, your friend! Rosin. Ro…well, whatever! But she didn’t answer so we called your aunt and…”
How…how does he know you’re here?
“Dylan,” you cut him sharply. “I’m fine. I’m…okay.” You look up at Steve as you see him undressing. “How did you get my boyfriend's number? Actually how did you know I was here?”
The other line goes silent for a few seconds before he answers a bit cautiously. “Well…your aunt,” he coughs and laughs nervously. “She had this number. And well…she might’ve known where you’ve been because of…well—okay! Don’t say I told you, okay?! Nita will kill me, but she said that your aunt and the woman you stay with talk to keep your aunt updated about you since you don’t call anymore! So that lady told your aunt, your aunt told Nita, and Nita told Aylen, and Aylen told me.” He exhales and waits for you to respond next.
However, you’re a bit distracted by Steve naked beside you to respond right away.
“Y/N? You still with me?” Dylan cuts in, causing you to part your lips to try and speak, but you stay distracted by Steve until he practically jumps in the water and causes a wave of water and bubbles to splash out of the tub and also hit you.
“Oh, amazing,” you mutter and cover your face a bit too late.
“Huh?”
You clear your throat and focus back on the phone. “Uh, well that’s great you know, Dylan, I love that little chain you guys have going on.”
Thanks Joyce.
“Well,” Dylan continues slowly. “You don’t call so this is the only way we can reach you now. Which it isn’t your fault, your dad died, we get that, but you know we’re here. Your friends. Just ‘cause you have a boyfriend and you live somewhere else doesn’t mean that you don’t have us.” He sighs and his voice softens. “We’ve been worried.”
A deep sigh escapes your lips and as you drop your head, Steve leans forward to try and listen in, but you cover his face with your hand and push him away with your foot.
“Yeah…I’m sorry. It’s..it’s been…” you hesitate to actually give him an answer. But you decide that you need to. “…tough, an even tougher week. I’m trying to do better.” You share quietly and begin to smile softly. “Are you guys okay? I..I’ve missed you guys.”
“School is kicking our asses, but we’re hanging in there—Wait! You know who’s been asking about you?” You can practically see his smirk from where you are.
“Who?” You sigh whilst Steve grabs your foot and pulls you towards him, making you yelp.
“You okay?” Dylan interjects.
“Yes!” You exclaim and splash water to Steve, but he just blocks the water with his hand and snickers.
“Oh, well it’s Danny! You remember him right?”
Oh. Nice.
“He came back to visit! And he asked about you! Did you know he’s in the Military now! He’s a pilot.”
You raise your eyebrows and spare a glance at Steve who keeps trying to listen in. This time he actually caught the sound of the name Dylan uttered. Because of course he did.
“Well, that’s nice,” you say with a bit of spite. “But I do have a boyfriend. Did you tell him that?”
“No, it slipped my mind. But it’s not like you’re going to see Danny, now are you?”
“No.” You deadpan.
“Then? Nothing to worry about.”
You roll your eyes and catch Steve’s gaze as he reaches for your arm now to pull you closer to him.
“True…” you hesitate and want to end that conversation there, but there was one piece of information that was bugging you. “So, do you know if Danny is still with that slut Arianna?” You sit up and wait in anticipation.
“No actually they broke up before he entered Boot Camp.”
You slap your hand against the tub and squeal. “Haha! That’s what that bitch gets!” You grin but when you remember Steve’s with you, you clear your throat and slouch again.
“Look Dylan, thank you for reaching out. You shouldn’t have, but thank you. I’m glad you did.” You share sweetly and begin fiddling with Steve’s hand. “I’m okay. I…came out of that…earthquake unscathed.” You swallow thickly and begin to frown and grow upset again. “I’ve really missed you guys, and I promise to start calling again, okay?”
“Or I’ll call you again.” He says, making you scoff softly.
You nod and mutter, “sounds good. I’ll leave you for now, I don’t have much time left with Steve so I’m trying to enjoy the time I have. I’ll call the girls soon though. Bye.”
“Bye, y/n. Bye Steve!” He shouts out loud enough that you have to pull the phone away from your ear, while Steve grows still with surprise. “Bye.”
“Bye,” you say one last time before you hang up the phone and leave the line in silence, something that lets you put the phone on a dry spot on the ground to then focus on Steve.
He averts his gaze though and holds this tightlipped half smile. “So Danny huh?” He rolls out slowly with a slow nod.
You roll your eyes and shake your head to assure him. “Don’t worry about him, okay? He's a thing of the past, Dylan just doesn’t know when to shut up.” You proceed to grab his other hand while you rest your chin on your knees to offer him a sweet smile. “I love you.”
Steve rolls his eyes and huffs. “Don’t sweet talk me, Hopper.”
Your smile widens, making your eyes squint together. “I love you,” you say again.
Steve rolls his head to the side and drifts his eyes back to you whilst he tries to hold back his smile. “I….love you,” he groans.
You beam at him and scoot yourself closer to him to have both of your legs secured beside each other’s sides.
“How are you feeling?” He asks and miraculously drops the other subject. “Better? Refreshed?”
You part your lips and slowly lower your gaze to nod. “I’m refreshed.” You pull your hands away from his and begin playing with the bubbles. “I’m okay.”
Steve huffs and leans his face closer to you to talk softer. “What’s up? I mean it’s weird that you wanted to take a bath alone. And I saw your face as I came in. You have me worried.”
You hesitate. You don’t want to bring the mood down. You don’t want to just keep dumping everything on him.
But you also can’t keep things from him when he wants to know. It’s so easy to do that and just store everything inside.
But you can’t keep doing that unless you want to lose him. And that…it’s a fate worse than death.
“I…” you mutter. “I can’t stop thinking about Max. About what happened.” You shake your head and stop playing with the bubbles to hold your knees instead. “And Eddie…” you pause and swallow thickly as a lump begins to form in your throat, and tears begin to sting your eyes against your will. “Especially Max, I mean she…hasn’t woken up, and seeing her today…I don’t know.” You look up at Steve and catch his own frown; it’s a lot more faint, but it’s there, as is his own sadness.
“If I had been faster trying to get out of the trance maybe I could’ve helped her,” you continue in a shaky voice as you point to yourself. “Or maybe if I was with her, I could’ve stopped it.” You lower your gaze to focus on the floating bubbles formed on the body of water. “I could’ve saved her,” you cry. “Or maybe it could’ve been me. Not her.”
Tears escape past your eyes and roll down your cheeks.
“But now,” you croak. “I feel like it’s on me.”
“Why though?” Steve rebuttals quietly but with no quiver in his voice. “You weren’t the one that cursed her. You didn’t break her bones or put her in that coma—”
“But I couldn’t save her,” you cut him off. “He showed me what everyone was going through when I got stuck in my trance and I still couldn’t save her. I—”
“We,” Steve interjects sharply, pulling your eyes to him. “We didn’t save her. You aren’t the only one to blame in this situation either. We were the ones that were supposed to stop him before he could do anything, but we didn’t. I’m supposed to be the babysitter and I couldn’t help her so it’s not just your fault.”
“Or yours,” you quickly defend him. “You were tangled by those vines, you fought for her and everyone else. Don’t blame yourself please.” You grab his cheeks and caress his warm skin. “You tried your best, going to confront Vecna, was you being the babysitter. You threw the first Molotov, you. You helped in the best way you could, you took care of them, you always do.” You exhale and notice that a few tears escape out of his eyes as you provide him with comfort he didn’t want to admit he needed so he could be strong for you. “You were the hero. So please don’t blame yourself. It was me, I—”
“Stop,” he interrupts you again. “Just stop. We’re just going to go in circles here. It wasn’t anyone's fault but Vecna’s. He hurt her. Not us. We tried our best. We stuck to the plan. It was him, okay? You don't have powers like your sister did so don’t blame yourself. We all tried our best, that’s what counts, you know that’s what she’d tell you.”
You draw in a deep shaky breath and slowly lower your hands and avert his gaze as you offer him a small nod and slowly exhale.
Albeit, Steve wasn’t at all convinced by your response so he continues to stress his comment. “Do you understand me, y/n? It’s not your fault. Max and Eddie wouldn’t blame you. You tried your best, we all did, we all knew the consequences. None of it is your fault, so please stop beating yourself up, understand?” He grabs your cheeks with his hands to lift your face. “Look at me and tell me you understand. None of it was your fault. It isn’t your fault. Do you understand?”
You frown deepens and tears keep gleaming your eyes. You want to argue against him, tell him it is, but you had to recognize there is some truth behind his statement. Even if it’s hard not to keep blaming yourself, you knew he was right.
To some degree.
“I understand,” you mumble.
“Huh?”
You roll your eyes and sigh before repeating yourself louder. “I said, I understand.”
Steve sighs and drops his hands from your cheeks to push your knees down and pull you closer to his chest to continue the conversation. “Believe me it’s hard seeing Max like that, but the best thing we can do is try to be…I don’t know, positive. For them. For the kids. They need it.”
You snuggle your head against his chest and let him stroke your shoulder with his hand, whilst he let the other hand lazily hang off the tub.
“Yeah,” you agree. “You’re right.” You sigh and look up at him. “You'll visit her for me, yeah? I would love to keep her company, but I need to go home. Eleven needs me too.”
Steve nods without hesitance. “Of course. I’ll try to go before work. And on my days off.”
You nod in agreement and stay quiet after that.
Steve proceeds to press a kiss on the top of your head, causing you to tilt your head back so he could press another on your lips.
“I love you,” you murmur against his lips.
Steve smiles and lifts his hand to stroke your cheek. “I love you too,” he repeats softly. “So much…It may sound selfish, but I’m happy you survived.”
You smile at him and slide your hand up to his jaw to share your truth. “I’m selfish too then because I’m glad you made it out too.” You lean in and share a more passionate kiss before you break away and lower your head to continue sadly. “I’m going to miss you. I hate leaving,” you groan and feel his hand stiffen before he begins to pull away.
“About leaving,” he rolls out slowly and a bit awkwardly. “I have something for you.” He pulls away from you so he can climb out of the tub and make his way to the door, leaving behind a slippery trail, but making you smirk.
“Nice ass, Harrington,” you throw at him as you watch him leave the bathroom.
Steve looks back and shoots you a smirk before he disappears into his room. He doesn't take long at all though, but he does return a few seconds later with a wooden shelf from his drawer. “This is for you.”
You straighten up and watch him climb back in the tub to then comment on said object. “Ah. A drawer? Well, I hate to say it but that won’t fit in my luggage sweetie.”
Steve shoots you a glare before he brushes his hair back with his fingers and turns the drawer to explain himself. “This will stay here, but it’s special. You know why? Because it’s yours. For you.”
You bite the inside of your cheek and just blink in confusion, causing Steve to sigh deeply and become impatient. “What I’m asking since you don’t seem to understand is if you want to move in with me? Hence the drawer. It’s for your clothes.”
“Hence?” You chuckle nervously even if you were really, truly dying on the inside. “Ha.”
“What?” He rebuttals. “Are we moving too fast? Because if we are, all that shit I said about the six nuggets was because I thought I was going to die. We don’t have to have them. We—”
You cut Steve off by covering his mouth so you can assure him. “No. That’s fine, I’m,” you giggle. “I’m just surprised you know? I didn’t expect it.” You lower your hand and begin to frown as you share your only concern. “What about Eleven though? I can’t leave her.”
“She can move in with us, I’m saving up money to buy a place of my own so we don’t have to live with my parents, and so Eleven has a room of her own. I’m not asking you to leave her behind, I wouldn't ask that, ever. Unless I want your dad to come haunt me forever.”
You snort and giggle. “That’d be bad,” you mutter nervously since butterflies were fluttering like crazy in your stomach and your heart beat at a speed you thought impossible.
“Of course it’d be after you graduate,” he continues to explain. “You could, I don't know, go to college close by. Or start your police academy in the city since it’s something you want to do. I’m going to get a better job that pays more. Eleven could start school with Mike, Dustin and Lucas.” He shrugs. “But it’s up to you. If it’s easier being in California, that’s okay too. I just wanted to ask, and well…I almost lost you once, I don’t want to risk that again.”
A deep breath furls in through your nose and you hold that in your chest while you progress his words.
It’s not that you didn’t want to, all he said sounded perfect. He just took you by surprise, that's all.
“I,” you stammer and slowly meet his gaze. “I do want to.” You grin and nod. “Yes. That sounds good! I mean I’d have to talk to my sister, so I’ll have to give you a definite answer then, but I’m sure she’d be okay with it.” You hold his gaze for a second before you throw your arms around him to hug him tightly. “I don’t think we’re moving too fast. I mean, I feel like it’s all good! Perfect!”
Steve drops the drawer and returns your embrace to press a kiss on your forehead and smile down at you with this soft loving look in his eyes. “Yeah, exactly!”
You squeal and hug him tighter. “I love you,” you share happily. “I do, I love you.”
Steve chuckles and lifts your head to press a kiss on your lips. “I’m in love with you.”
You beam at him and scoff. “I’m in love with you.”
“Yeah, I’ll never get tired of hearing that,” he says honestly.
“Good, I’ll never stop saying it,” you retort and rest your head back on his arm while you keep grinning at him.
Steve then tilts his head and smirks. “I thought of a name,” he begins to change the subject as he reaches over for the plate with two sandwiches. “First name, Tony. Middle name, Montana. Tony Montana Harrington.” He bounces his eyebrows and hands you your sandwich. “Cool, right?”
You feign a smile and nod to make him believe it was a good name. But he saw straight through you and immediately rebutted against it. “You chose Leia and Luke. I get this.”
He’s right….of course.
You groan and give in. “Fine. Fine, but one thing,” you clear your throat and pull your hand off him to make a finger gun. “Who you think you fucking with?” You quote in the character's accent. “I’m Tony Montana! You fuck with me you fucking with the best.”
Steve’s smile falls, but slowly he breaks into a teasing laugh. “You’re a dork,” he teases you in between laughs. “You’re lucky I love you.” He hugs you tighter and leans down to press kisses on your face, making you break into a genuine and hearty laugh.
Thanks to him the trouble you rested on your shoulders lifted, and for a while, just for a little while you were carefree and happy.
*THE NEXT DAY*
“…So wherever you might be I hope you see Sara and give her a hug for me, tell her how much I miss her and that I’ll never forget her, like I’ll never forget you.
Love, your Little Valentine.” You sigh and fold your letter to then sit in silence.
Birds fly by, the sound of Steve’s engine sounds nearby, and the whisperings of Dustin, Steve and Robin echoe quietly.
“I’ll take care of Eleven. You know I will,” you speak to the grave beside you. “I know that she’s been MIA lately, and I’m sorry for that, but I try my best. I hope you understand.” You turn your head to look at your fathers grave. “I also hope you’re not mad that I might be moving too fast with Steve. I just…I love him and I can’t see myself with anyone else. He makes me happy.” You press your hand on the cold stone and smile.
“I miss you every time I wake up,” you continue. “I always will.” You swallow thickly and lean forward to press your forehead against the grave. “I love you dad. I’ll try to be better.” You close your eyes and exhale deeply.
Silence lingers for a little while as you keep your forehead pressed against the stone. You expected to cry for your visit, but surprisingly you weren’t in tears, you weren’t happy either though, but little by little you’re actually beginning to grieve for him now. It's sad not having him anymore, but you’re feeling a bit better about his death.
“I’ll visit again,” you say as you pull away to stand back on your feet and return to the car.
“Okay,” you direct at your friends with a faint smile. “I’m done, we can go.”
Robin steps forward and offers you a sweet smile. “All better?”
You smile at her and exhale deeply. “A bit.”
Once you’re close to the car, Steve grabs your shoulder to rub it as a form of consolation. You offer him a sweet smile and let his hand slide off your shoulder while you walk to the passenger side since you couldn’t linger outside the car because you already agreed to help Nancy donate some things to those currently in need.
However, right before you could reach your door, Dustin runs past you to reach the passenger door first.
“Shotgun!” He yells, causing Steve to stop as he was going to open his door, and causing Robin and you to also stop in your tracks to look over at your child friend. “I call shotgun!”
“No!” Steve quickly counters. “No. Children ride in the back.”
“I’m not a child Steve,” Dustin rebuttals in a serious voice. “I’m sure you can survive without having your girlfriend riding beside you for one drive.”
Steve’s eyes narrow, whilst Robin and you actually find amusement in this little banter—“Rules are rules. When y/n is here, her seat is the passenger seat.”
“Unless I drive,” you interject with a smile. But they ignore you.
“Well,” Dustin scoffs. “If someone calls shotgun that actually comes before stupid girlfriend rules.”
“Hey,” you exclaim as you throw your hands out.
Steve props his arm on the car’s hood and keeps arguing. “My car, my rules. Go. Back.”
Robin and you share an annoyed look now, but this time instead of interjecting you step back and turn to skip once and then run to snatch Steve’s keys from his hand. “Mommy’s driving now, children. And Robin’s riding shotgun.”
Robin grins and strolls over to the passenger door whilst Steve tries to argue with you now. Albeit, you just gently push him aside and climb into the seat to quickly close the door in his face and shoot him a smile.
Steve then tries to open the door, but you quickly slam the lock down and smile wider.
“Y/N,” Steve protests as he keeps pulling the handle. “You’re not driving.”
You hold his gaze and struggle to put the key in the hole, but once you do, you start the car and smirk.
“I’ll go slow,” you assure him and bat your eyelashes. “Promise.”
Steve challenges you for a few more seconds, but ultimately decides to give in and sit in the back. Dustin on the other hand struggled for a few seconds, he wants to keep arguing, but he gives up this time and just shows his annoyance by groaning and climbing in the back too.
“Can I be in charge of the music?” Robin asks after she puts on her seatbelt.
You look over at her and nod. “Of course sweetheart.” You then put on your sunglasses and look back at Dustin to tell him one last thing. “Tighten your seatbelt, we don’t have a booster seat for you.” You smirk and he glares at you before he flips you off. His reaction just makes you snicker while you turn away to change the gear and begin driving out of the cemetery.
“Maybe we can check out your rock cassettes?” Robin teases you while she flips through the music you had in the stereo.
You scoff. “Yeah, I kind of destroyed those a long time ago.” You sigh deeply and keep your eyes on the road.
“Too hardcore?”
You shake your head. “Just…” You clear your throat and whisper. “Ex reasons.”
Robin looks over at you and grins. “You dated a rockstar, Hopper?” She says loudly.
“No,” you retort. “He was not a rock star, he liked rock but he was no rockstar.”
Robin looks over her shoulder and shoots Steve a smirk before looking back at you. “Wow. Who would’ve thought you were into bad boys. You would’ve loved The Hair Harrington over there in his prime years in high school then.”
“Prime years?” Steve remarks.
You scoff and shake your head in disapproval. “Please, from what you and Jonathan have told me, I would’ve hated Steve in his, “prime years”,” you say as you air quote with your fingers. “No offense or anything, Steve.”
“I wouldn't blame you,” Steve quickly replies.
“Anyway!” You exclaim. “Danny wasn’t a bad boy. The only bad boy I dated was Billy, but that was mostly to get back at my dad.”
“So it is Danny!” Steve interjects.
You ignore Steve and reach for your bag to rummage through the cassettes you carry. “We can listen to uh, I don’t know, Come And Get Your Love, since you can’t pick a song.”
Robin huffs and lolls her head to the side in annoyance. “You’re only suggesting that song ‘cause you’re in love.”
“What?” You chuckle. “It’s a good song!”
Robin leans over and changes the songs until she gets to the one you want. “I hate failed romances.”
“Don’t give up, they’ll be better people out there, if not just have fun. Mess around.” You glance back at her and offer her a smile. “You’re young, smart, beautiful and cool.”
Robin exhales deeply and just slouches in her seat. “If that’s what you say,” she grumbles.
You steal one last glance at her and smirk as an idea pops into your mind.
Once you’re out of the cemetery and turn to the big street, you smirk deeper and press on the gas, and don’t keep your promise to Steve.
And of course he begins to freak out. “Hey! Hey! Slow down!”
You grin and ignore him while Robin begins to giggle since Steve is freaking out. You actually end up ignoring Steve for a few miles until your fun is forced to a stop since you do face traffic.
At least it was a nice distraction for a while.
“You’re not driving my car ever again,” Steve throws at you once you arrive at Nancy’s house.
You shut the door and smile as you skip towards him to wrap your arms around his waist and whisper. “Admit it, you had fun. I’m a cool driver.”
“Hardly,” he rebuttals and stays with you as Robin goes to let Nancy know you’re here. “This isn’t another one of your dirt bikes, you know that.”
You hum in agreement. “Can I drive for the rest of the day?” You disregard his comment.
Steve draws in a deep breath and looks back at you to meet your gaze. “Yeah, fine,” he breathes out. “Just this once.”
You grin and press a kiss on his back. “I love you,” you share.
A faint smile tugs on his lips, but he plays cool by sighing. “I love you.”
You pull away and stay by the trunk to wait for the girl you’re here to help. And once Nancy does walk out of her house, you all begin to help her load boxes of stuff inside the car right away.
“By the way before I leave I think it’s important that we girls have a talk.”
Robin pulls her head back to look at you. “About?” She probes.
You set the book down in the box and smile. “Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” Steve queries.
Robin and you look at him and you shoot him a pointed glare. “Girl stuff,” you clarify as you cross your arms over your chest. “Sorry no boys allowed.”
“Really?” Nancy asks.
You scoff. “Yeah, I mean I can’t tell my boyfriend everything. Besides…” you lean towards her and whisper. “I'm going to talk about him. Something he said.”
“No,” she huffs. “I mean are you sure you want to talk to me?”
You look at her puzzled and nod. “Why not? Unless you don’t want to. Which is fine.”
Sure, trusting her completely is going to take time, but well, after what you’ve faced together, after spending time with her you actually want to keep her as a friend. Not just because she and Jonathan are dating and it’d be awkward, but because you really want to now. She’s cool.
Nancy smiles at the thing in her hand and nods. “No I do. I just wasn’t sure. Thank you.”
You offer her a smile and continue to look through her things and change the subject. “Hopefully you’re not donating your Tom Cruise poster,” you smile while Steve hands you stuff so you can pass it to Dustin. “Because if you are, I can find it a home.”
Nancy looks up at you and scoffs in amusement, whilst Steve just shakes his head in disapproval. She was actually going to add something, but just before she can, her mom cuts her off. “Hey, Nance! I found some more of your old stuff in the attic.”
Nancy turns away to walk to her mom, letting you continue to just look through her stuff.
“You don’t need a Tom Cruise poster,” Steve adds. “You have me. You can look at me all the time when we move in together.”
Robin begins to chuckle and adds a remark to his comment. “Excuse me, what?”
You lean forward and shoot her a dismissive whisper. “We’ll talk later.”
“Oh…Oh!”
You snicker softly and finally address Steve’s comment. “It’s for Eleven. Maybe if she stares at it long enough, her taste in guys will change. She’ll move on from you know, and lay her eyes on someone…well someone else.”
“Hey!” Dustin is quick to defend Mike.
“That’s not fair,” Robin interjects. “She could say the same about you.”
“Hey, what?” Steve interjects sharply while he fixes the boxes inside the trunk. “Eleven loves me, okay?”
You catch Nancy coming over and just leave the subject alone for now—you didn’t hate Mike, he’s okay, he’s good with your sister, but well let’s just say your annoyance towards him hasn't really disappeared.
“Here’s another one,” Nancy adds as she walks over to hand you the box.
You take it and hand it to Steve, whilst you ignore the tire screeches happening in the street to keep focusing on what you’re doing.
However, Mrs. Wheeler does end up distracting you and everyone else. “Did someone order a pizza?”
“Pizza?” Dustin asks and looks back while you and others do the same the moment a horn blares.
And once you do look back, you immediately recognize the pizza van and know right away who it belongs to before you actually spot the familiar faces.
“Oh,” you gasp breathlessly.
For once, Argyle was actually a sight for sore eyes.
“It's them,” you mutter with a growing smile.
When the van stops in the driveway and the doors open, the first people to walk out are Argyle and Jonathan. Mike and Will follow to walk out from the back, and behind them all though, is the one person who brings you tears, joy and relief to see.
Eleven.
She was okay. She…she looked different, but she was safe and okay. She was there. She was okay.
Furthermore, the moment Eleven's eyes fall on you, her smile begins to tremble and she doesn’t hesitate even for a second to break into a sprint towards you.
Without hesitation of your own, you break into your own sprint and meet her halfway to throw your arms around each other.
“You’re okay,” she instantly says. “You’re okay.”
Happy tears break out of your eyes and you nod eagerly. “I’m okay. I’m here. You,” cry and pull away to cup her cheeks so you can look at her shaved head. “What happened?” You slide your hand up and stroke the side of her head. “What happened?”
“Papa,” she shares. “He happened. But it’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. Okay?”
You frown and sniffle. “I’m sorry,” you say. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I tried calling, but no one answered. I’m sorry.”
Eleven shakes her head and lifts her eyes away from the scars around your throat that the bats left, to assure you sweetly. “But you did help with One. That’s what matters. You helped me and the others.” Her smile falters and her voice proceeds to break. “I was scared I lost you,” she begins to cry. “He showed me you in a trance. He said you…died….he showed me…” she pauses since she can’t even finish her sentence.
“But I’m here,” you comfort her. “I escaped. Once thanks to Steve and the others, and the second time because he was busy with Max, and you I assume. But I’m here.” You wipe the tears off her face and whisper. “I’m here.”
Eleven nods and then hugs you again.
“I love you Eleven,” you finally share. “I was scared I was going to lose you. I’m glad I didn’t. I love you, sis.”
Eleven’s hands clutch onto you and she giggles. “I love you too.”
You grin and pull away, letting her continue to speak. “You’ll tell me what happened later? Because I have something to tell you too.”
“Yeah,” you nod. “We can talk later because…” you pause and smile a bit shyly. “I need to tell you something too.”
“Okay,” she agrees and looks beside you as she catches Steve walking over.
“Hey. You’re okay,” he tells her.
You step away to let her step towards him. “Yeah,” she says with a smile. “You are too. Good.”
Steve scoffs and nods. “Yeah, I’ll say.”
Eleven giggles and walks over to Steve to hug him. It takes him by complete surprise but he hugs her back.
“Thank you,” you hear her say. “For taking care of my sister. For saving her too. I’m happy she has you.”
“It was all her,” he replies with a soft smile. “She saved me actually.”
Your smile widens into a grin as you can’t help but feel your heart skipping with joy as you see your favorite people interact.
“Thank you, anyway,” she says anyway before she pulls away to then walk over to Dustin.
You turn as well to look for Jonathan and Will. And they’re not so hard to spot since they were both busy talking with someone else. But when they do notice you’re finally free they both walk over to you at the same time.
“Hey, guys,” you greet happily and meet them halfway to take them in for an embrace. “You guys are okay,” you whisper with relief
“So are you,” Will says.
“Are you?” Jonathan asks.
You nod and feel your heart at ease now. “Yeah, I’m okay. I am now.” You all pull away but stay in front of each other. “You guys look like shit,” you giggle.
Jonathan scoffs and nods. “We’ve been through hell for the past couple of days.”
“Yeah,” you scoff. “Me too. One of those reasons is because you guys wouldn’t answer or call. I’ve been worried to say the least.”
“Sorry,” Will interjects as he scratches the back of his neck. “We haven’t been able to call. When we did try, our calls wouldn’t go in.”
You exhale and assure them. “It’s okay. You’re here now that’s what matters….I’ve missed you guys.”
Jonathan smiles at the ground and Will is the one that answers. “We’ve missed you too. We needed you actually.”
“Really?” You query with a growing grin. “Nice,” you huff and lick your lips to continue more seriously. “Anyway. We need to have a family meeting as soon as possible. I heard from a little bird that something happened that neither of you bothered to share.”
Jonathan and Will look at each other to share a quick concerned look before they nod in agreement and then quickly break away to return to the people they had been talking with before to avoid your anger, letting Argyle walk up to you now. “Y/N!”
You look over at him and smile. “Argyle. You know,” you sigh. “I don’t want to ask how you got mixed into all this. I’m glad you’re okay though.”
“Don’t ask,” he chuckles. “You won’t believe it. I hardly do.” He looks past you and his smile widens. “Steve! Hey my man!”
Said man walks over and offers Argyle a tightlipped smile and a stiff nod. “Hey.”
You bite the inside of your cheek and huff in amusement. Argyle then wants to add something else, but the sound of Eleven's voice cuts him off. “Y/N.”
You turn around to face her, Dustin, Will and Mike. “Yes?” You ask.
“We’re going to go visit Max, is that okay?”
You nod but begin to frown. “Of course. I’m going to go with Steve to drop some things off, we can meet you there after.”
“No,” Mike quickly interjects, pulling your eyes to him. “We can’t. She can’t.”
You narrow your eyes on him and quirk a brow to question him without the need to actually ask.
“I have my powers back,” Eleven continues for Mike. “But bad men are looking for me.”
Now your eyebrows begin to furrow and you quickly deadpan. “Explain. Now.”
“Later,” Will says. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“Just don’t pack,” Dustin adds with a teasing smirk.
No one laughs or smiles, Steve just gets confused and Eleven ignores him to add something else. “For now just meet at home after you are done. I will be there.”
You sigh deeply and just nod since all you can do is agree even if you have a lot to ask. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the cabin then.”
The boys and Argyle begin to leave towards Nancy and Jonathan, but Eleven stays to ask one more thing. “Can I have some money? I want to buy Max something.”
Without hesitance, you agree. “Yeah, you can,” you nod and then try to walk back to Steve’s car to get your purse, but he actually catches you by surprise first.
“How much do you want?” He asks her, causing your jaw to drop.
“Steve,” you try to stop him with a whisper. “It’s okay. I have money.”
Steve ignores you and takes out his wallet, while Eleven is a bit off guard too. She actually first looks over at you to check in.
“Just here,” Steve continues and pulls out a twenty. “You can keep the change.”
“Steve,” you whisper with an awestruck look now painted on your features.
He looks over at you and offers you a sweet smile. “It’s okay,” he adds. “I got her.”
Your heart begins to race and an admiring and loving smile grows on your features. “Thank you,” you mumble.
His smile widens and turns softer as he holds your gaze. “You’re my girl. I got you. I got the both of you.”
God. He needs to be kissed right now.
“Well,” Eleven interrupts your moment. “Thank you, Steve.” Her eyes drift to you and she offers you a teasing smile before she begins to walk back. “I’ll see you later.”
You nod quickly and wave at her. Once she turns away you clear your throat and address Steve. “Again,” you say as you turn to walk back to Steve’s car. “Thank you, I’ll pay you back.”
“Don’t,” he quickly rebuttals. “It’s okay, really. I told you I want you in my life. She’s important to you so she’s important to me too. That means I’m looking out for her too.” He throws his arm around your shoulder and smirks. “Besides, I like the cool points.”
You roll your eyes and scoff as you counter back. “If she loves you already, how come you need cool points then?”
“Don’t be jealous. You’re still my favorite girl.”
“Okay,” you scoff. “But I’m not jealous.”
——
*LATER*
“Oh god,” you mutter in disbelief as all you see as you walk in the high school is all the displaced people due to the gates ripping apart the town.
It’s so sad seeing the town you still consider home be so torn apart because of something they didn’t even know happened. Seeing all the missing people posters lost to the gates opening is just so depressing, especially because you could see the desperation of all the people waiting for an answer.
What got you the most though was Eddie’s poster. One, because jackasses vandalized it, two, because his uncle is still hopeful he’s around. Even after all the lies that have come out, he’s still hopeful. He’s still looking for Eddie; a man no one will know died a hero to help this town that hated him.
And that knowledge, and the anger that boiled within you is what makes you storm over to the missing persons board to rip Eddie’s vandalized poster off to crumble it up, and throw it in the trash.
“Good riddance,” the cop quickly commented after he caught you.
You snap your head towards him and shoot him a nasty glare. “Watch your mouth,” you snap.
“Excuse me?” He sneers as he looks at you up and down and then focuses on your face with a scowl.
You huff and tilt your head since you don’t back down. “You heard me. Watch your mouth and have some respect.”
The cop parts his lips to argue back immediately, but something seems to go off that makes him step back and dismiss you. “Move along.”
Now you look at him up and down to shoot him one more glare before you turn on your heels and rejoin your group and ignore Steve and Robin’s impressed faces.
“Thank you,” Dustin whispers as you continue towards the donation table.
You look over at him and smile softly. “Of course,” you comfort him.
“Hi,” you hear Robin greet the volunteer girl.
When you stop between her and Dustin you set your box down and catch the girl's reply. “Hi.”
“Uh, so these are blankets and sheets,” Robin shares while she points to the boxes you all brought in. “And some…some clothes and…and some kid’ toys.”
“Wow. It’s already so organized.” The girl huffs and smiles. “We appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?”
Robin, Steve and you share a confused look that gives Robin the answer to say. “Uh, no. I don’t think that we need one. Thank you, though.”
“But,” you interject and lean in towards the table. “Is there anything else that we can do to help?”
The girl puts her pen down on the clipboard and looks at the four of you with a relieved smile before she sends Steve and you off to the clothing section, while Robin gets sent to the cafeteria, and Dustin gets sent to help the people.
“We take from these piles of clothes and then we sort by age. We got infants, girls, boys, men, women,” the volunteer lady lets you know as she points to the different sections. “Oh, if anything is in too bad shape we really don’t want that.”
“Okay,” you say as you follow her with a pile of clothes she had already given you. “Sounds easy.”
The lady suddenly turns around, causing you to take a big step back. “Thank you so much, we appreciate the help.”
You offer her a smile and a nod. “Of course.”
She mirrors the smile before she walks away to let you work.
“This is easy,” you whisper to yourself and put down the pile of clothes to begin sorting them in their right places.
It isn’t hard at all.
But, when you do get to your last piece of clothing you couldn’t help but pout out of awe. “Oh my god!” You exclaim and lift the little dress up and beam at it.
“What? What?” Steve asks in concern.
You turn and face him to show off the little clothes. “Look! Look how tiny it is. Isn’t it so cute?”
Steve ignores the worried glances you got and exhales. “Yeah. Well it is baby clothes, so.”
“How a person can fit in this is beyond me,” you giggle and lower your hands, but keep admiring the little yellow sundress. “It’s so adorable.” You look over at him and smile. “Imagine, little Sara, or little Leia in this. Aw.” You turn away to place the dress where it needs to go, but in doing so you miss the soft smile tugged on his lips and the love struck look in his eyes.
You actually don’t look over at him for a while since you’re concentrating on your task. It isn’t until he returns to your side and nudges your arm that you pay attention to him again. “What?”
“Look. Robin, six o’clock.”
You look back and he quickly snaps back. “No other way!”
“You said six,” you complain and follow his line of gaze only to spot Robin and the girl Vickie smiling, giggling, and talking with each other.
You’d say you’re proud and happy, but after what happened the other day you’re more bothered than happy—no, you’re happy Robin can talk to her crush, but well, she can do a lot better.
The green flags are just not waving for you.
“Meh,” you add and focus back on your task in hand.
Steve blinks and rips his eyes away from your mutual friend to comment on your response. “Meh?”
You shrug and place a piece of clothes down. “She can do better.”
“Better than the girl she likes?” He adds and follows you.
You nod. “Yes.” You glance over at Robin and Vickie and see the girl rambling while Robin seems to also add into that. “It’s just the green flags aren’t waving. She can do better.”
Steve scoffs and rebuttals. “She’s the girl we’ve been pushing her with. Fast times girl?”
“So?” You retort. “Look, Vickie is pretty, sure. She’s into girls, obviously, but I don’t know…they’re too alike.”
“You haven’t met her.”
“So? Look Steve, it’s just—”
“You’re jealous?” He cuts you off, causing you to stop what you’re doing. “You’re scared Vickie is going to take your friend away.” He shoots you a cocky smirk, but you huff and deny his claims.
“No….I am not. Why should I not want the happiness of my friend? Why would I not want her love life to succeed?” You press and continue to work alongside him.
“Because,” Steve continues to explain as he grabs the clothes you hand him to fold it. “Robin has been attached to you ever since you met her, you don’t want her to have another girl friend. You don’t want to be replaced.”
He’s…he’s only partially true. Partially.
“It’s not that,” you keep stubbornly insisting. “I’m just looking out for my friend. I don’t want her to get hurt. Okay? That’s all.” You drift your eyes to the side and catch his gaze on you already, so you just shrug and hand him the last piece of clothes in your hand. “Anyway! I need to go check on Eleven, she should be at the cabin already. Can you take me?”
Steve puts the shirt down in the right place and nods. “Yeah, but I won’t be able to stay, I’m going to need to come back for these two.”
“That’s fine,” you assure him as you both walk away from the table.
“Hey,” Steve interjects as he grabs your hand to stop you in your path towards Robin. “You aren’t going to stay in that broken down cabin are you?”
You shrug. “I’ll tell Jonathan to help me patch up the holes. Our furniture is still dusty but it'll work after I clean it.”
“What about food?”
“I’ll buy some,” you give him an immediate solution. “After all, from what they said, I think my stay here is going to be permanent now, so we’ll need it. At least until we can talk to Joyce to figure things out.”
Steve begins to scratch the back of his head and looks away for a second before he clears his throat to continue. “Why don’t Eleven and you stay with me? I know we said later on, but you can just come stay with me for a while. There’s spare rooms. Jonathan and Will can stay with the Wheeler’s. Because I mean, if the bad men are after your sister, then they’re probably after them and you too. You’ll be safe with me, my parents won’t snitch. At least until Joyce comes, or at least until the cabin is fixed a bit better.”
A smile slowly tugs on your lips and you don’t need time to decide for yourself, but now that Eleven’s here you do need to talk to her first. “I’d love to stay with you, but I’ll need to ask Eleven first. Okay? I’ll talk to her when I get there. And I’ll also ask her about the other moving in thing. Promise.”
Steve sighs in relief and nods before he puts his hand on your back to turn you to head back towards Robin.
The moment you do reach her, both her and Vickie look over at you.
“Robin, I’m going to drop y/n off at her cabin,” Steve explains. “I’ll come back for Dustin and you.”
Robin nods eagerly and then glances at Vickie before dropping her butter knife and pointing at her. “Guys, this is Vickie. Vickie, these are my best friends, y/n and Steve.”
Vickie grins at the both of you and stretches out her hand to greet you, but she then quickly pulls it back and giggles nervously. “Sorry, gloves. I can’t get them dirty. I mean they’re going to get dirty, but I mean germ dirty.” She scoff and shakes her head to continue. “But hi! I’m Vickie. I knew you guys from school, ha. Chief’s princess,” she points at you and then looks at Steve. “And you know, The Hair Harrington,” she exhales. “Oh god, I’m sorry it’s just nicknames from school. You know—I’m sorry.”
Steve and you share a look, and you want to tell him you told him so and just laugh really, but you hold yourself back and smile sweetly. “Well, Vickie, it's nice meeting you.” You look over at Robin and shoot her a smirk. “Take care of Robin, yeah?” You step back and turn to walk away.
Once Steve catches up to you and you’re outside of the school you both burst out laughing.
“I told you!” You exclaim and clap. “Alike!”
“Yeah, no you’re right. Wow.” He looks over at you to point at you. “So? Green flags?”
You shrug with a small smile. “I’ll see.”
*A FEW MINUTES LATER*
“I’ll be back in about two hours,” Steve informs you when he parked the car a bit away from the cabin.
You lean in to kiss him, but when you grasp what he said you pull back to comment on it. “Two hours? We agreed in three hours.”
Steve shrugs. “So? I’m going to miss you.”
The smile on your lips slowly begins to widen but you instead counter against his comment. “Well, it seems that I’m coming back so you’ll have enough of me. You’ll get tired of me.”
Steve smiles and shakes his head. “Impossible.” He leans in and presses a tender kiss on your lips before pulling back to continue quieter. “I’ll be back in an hour with food. I’ll miss you.”
He just keeps changing it. Good.
“It’ll just be one hour.” You mutter and glance at his lips.
“Tell me about it,” he whispers and shows off a charming half grin before he grabs your face and pulls you in for a deeper kiss that you immediately return.
The kiss was so fervent and desperate, yet passionate and tender at the same time. He made time become irrelevant, and provided a fire to your heart that made it race but weakened you at the same time. It was even hard to breathe normally, the both of you were practically hyperventilating since neither of you could pull away from the taste of each other’s lips.
“Steve,” you groan to try and say something, but he just pulls you in and this time he slips his tongue to swipe on your bottom lip. The feeling makes you melt and feel all tingly, while you could feel your stomach twist with desperation and desire.
For that moment you let him take complete control, you forgot where you were and why you came exactly. All you could focus on was on Steve, on how smooth his skin was as you slowly slid your hands up his face to tug on his hair. When he did this deep throaty groan all you felt was your own need for him now more than ever.
But you couldn’t. You can’t now.
But he’s making it so hard to leave.
“Steve,” you mumble as you manage to pull away. “I need to go.” You pant and wipe his bottom lip with your thumb. “I’ll see you in thirty minutes.”
Steve's eyes bounce from your lips to your eyes and he nods and whispers. “Thirty. Got it. Thirty.”
You smile and press another kiss on his lips. “I love you.”
Steve smirks and grabs you by the back of your neck to pull you in for a deep kiss again.
“Steve, baby,” you say between the kiss. “You’re making it hard to go.”
“Then don’t. Let’s go home,” he suggests between the kiss. “We’ll come back in three hours.”
You pull away and keep your hands on his chest. “Later. Promise. When we have time. People are expecting us.”
Steve sighs and nods with discontent. “Yeah, yeah, okay. It’s not fair though.”
You grin at him as he averts his gaze and assure him as you drag yourself back to open the door. “Thirty minutes.”
Steve lifts a little off his seat and just as you were going to fully exit the car he basically throws himself over to you to grab your wrist to stop you.
“Steve,” you protest. “I really need to go. Eleven’s waiting for me.”
“Look,” he mutters and points forward.
You shift your eyes to where he points to and search in between the woods to find what he pointed out, but for a few seconds all you saw was just trees.
“The car,” he points out and pulls you in so you can finally spot it parked near the cabin. “It has dark windows. You recognize it?”
You squint your eyes and lean forward to gasp. “No. I don’t.”
Without question Steve lets you go to unbuckle himself and open his car door to climb out of the car and begin to carefully trudge forward. You quickly follow after him and keep your guard up, you don’t keep your mind open to the possibility that it might be someone you knew, you expect the worst due to all that’s happened and the fact that Eleven is currently wanted by bad men.
You’re basically ready to fight if the occasion arose. How? And with what weapons? Well you didn’t know, but you were ready the moment you reached the mysterious car.
Even if you could see nothing inside because of the tinted windows.
“I can't see shit,” Steve whispers and crouches to try and look harder. “Maybe they’re in your house.”
You move past him to go walk inside, but you come to a quick and hard stop when you spot Joyce hugging Will and Jonathan.
After that your concern just flew past your head.
“Joyce,” you call with emotions already building up.
Said woman looks over at you and a warmer smile decorates her features, she pulls away from her sons and takes one step forward so you could run to her and greet her with a hug.
“Hi, sweetie,” she greets sweetly.
You exhale deeply out of relief and just hold onto her tighter, because seeing her, feeling her arms around you felt the same way as when you had Hopper; safe.
“You’re okay,” you croak. “You’re okay.”
“I am,” she assures you. “I am. I’m sorry I couldn’t call. I’m sorry I wouldn't answer calls.”
You shake your head and pull away to face her and let her cup your face to wipe your tears away. “You were busy, I understand. It’s just…things happened here and I was just worried about you. That’s all.”
Joyce huffs and nods while she seems to grow rather weird. “I was busy,” she says and meets your gaze, and doesn’t drop her smile. “But I’m okay. Are you okay?”
You nod and assure her. “I’m okay.”
“Your surprise is inside,” she reveals and points to the cabin.
You scoff with amusement and glance at the front door before returning your eyes to hers. “Really? I thought it was a joke. What is it?”
“I can't say,” she says with a shrug and pulls away to dig her hands in her pants pockets. “You’ll have to go inside and see.”
You grin at her now and squeal. “I’m excited!”
“You should be!”
You giggle and step back to grab Steve’s hand and pull him inside with you.
“Careful,” Steve comments when you’re running on the wooden front porch. “I wouldn’t want you to fall in through the porch.”
“Ha, so funny,” you retort and let go of his hand when you’re inside. “Eleven? I’m here.” You walk in further and search the house for your surprise, but all you see is just dust and old furniture.
Eleven walks out of the room slowly and right away you notice how her eyes are gleaming, and that her cheeks have tear marks on them.
“Hey,” you begin to query. “What’s—”
However, you end up cutting yourself and gasping when you see…your father walking out of the room too.
“Oh, shit,” Steve gasps.
This. This had to be some dream. This can’t be real. He’s dead.
“No,” you whisper and shake your head as you stumble back, but keep your eyes on him; on his rather thin face and body, on his shaved head. “This…” you trail off and turn to Steve with a trembling frown and tear clouded eyes. “He’s here. Real or not real?” You ask for reassurance.
Steve turns to you and spares a glance at the man cautiously waiting with Eleven in front of the room—“real,” Steve assures you. “It’s real I swear.”
You draw in a deep breath and look back at Hopper to let your eyes search his face one more time thoroughly.
It’s not that you didn’t want him to not be here, but you can’t help but fear that this is some cruel vision, an even crueler nightmare.
He didn’t look like he did in the visions or your dreams, but this could still be a trick.
“It’s Hop,” Eleven says to try and comfort you, making you release a shaky breath.
Yet the only person you can look at for a clarification is Steve; he notices right away the look in your eyes, the need for an answer, and he doesn’t hesitate to assure you. “It’s real. It’s all real.” He cups your cheek and nods. “He’s here.”
“Y/N,” you hear Hopper say.
Tears roll down your cheeks and you slowly turn your head at the sound of his voice.
Hopper slowly steps forward, making you pull away from Steve and take only one step towards your father.
“It’s me. I’m here.”
More tears cloud your eyes and you slowly begin to walk towards him to meet halfway just a few inches in front him.
He doesn’t move or try anything, he lets you take your time to make sure that he wasn’t a dream, he watches you quietly as you lift your hand to slowly cup his cheek to feel his warm flesh for yourself.
“Dad,” you say breathlessly and carefully begin to caress his cheek.
Hopper smiles and cups your hand as tears of his own trial down his cheeks.
“Hi, baby,” his says in a quivering voice.
You sniffle and use your hand to cup his other cheek since he did feel real, his face did feel warm to the touch. He felt real. He looked it too.
“Dad,” you cry and try to smile, but your bottom lip trembles too much to let that actually show.
With his other hand he cups your cheek to gently begin caressing it, making you lean into his touch and smile before you pull each other into an embrace.
Now all you could do was ball the fabric of his shirt in your hands so he wouldn’t vanish like last time. You closed your eyes and dug your head into the crook of his neck to take in his small; he didn’t smell great, but you didn’t care, he smelled real, he felt real. He was real and with you, that’s all you cared about.
“My baby girl,” he whispers and presses a kiss on your head and hugs you tighter. “I missed you so much,” he whispers while he rubs your back and caresses the back of your head as he cries quietly. “There was never a moment that I didn’t think of you and your sister.”
“I missed you too,” your voice sounds muffled. “So so much. Dad,” you pause and pull away, but keep your hands on his face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Hopper sighs and cups your face to quickly rebuttal against your apology. “What are you sorry for?”
“Everything.”
He huffs and shakes his head, “you did nothing wrong,” he corrects you. “Nothing.”
You swallow thickly and huff out to smile at him and try to whisper what you haven’t told him. “I forgave you. A long time ago, I wanted to tell you, but you…you didn’t come back.” You sniffle and grin. “I love you dad.”
Your father scoffs and shows off his grin before he pulls Eleven and you into an embrace. “My little Valentine’s,” he whispers and presses a kiss on the top of your heads.
You exhale shaily and hold onto them tightly.
Now.
Now your heart was really at ease and content.
You proceed to pull away again to look up at his head and then back at his face to tease him. “You stole her look.”
Hopper and Eleven chuckle before he answers. “That’s what I said.”
“It looks good,” you compliment him and then go a bit serious though. “But how did you make it out?”
“It was the Russian’s,” he scoffs. “But it’s a long story. I’ll tell it later okay?”
You nod and let out another breathless chuckle before you clear your throat and glance over at Steve wandering the living room, and then focus back on your dad to continue speaking. Albeit this time in Russian. “<How terrible was prison?>”
Hopper blinks and parts his lips from surprise and bafflement, while Eleven giggles and Steve just rolls his eyes from where he stood.
You on the other hand notice your fathers confusion and scoff in amusement before continuing. “<Can’t say I blame you, but you don’t understand me do you?>”
Your father sighs and chuckles. “What? When the hell did you learn Russian?”
You scoff and don’t hesitate to show off. “I said how terrible was prison and I asked if you understood. And well it’s been eight months, I was bored most of the time in California so I just said why not.”
“And because you wanted to be a show off,” Steve interjects.
You scoff but smile. “I am fluent now. Almost.”
Hopper huffs out but can’t help his proud smile, before he comments on the man standing in the far end of the room. “So Harrington, are you just going to awkwardly stand over there?”
You all look over at your boyfriend while he slowly turns around to face the three of you with a nervous look. “Just given you guys time.” He swallows thickly and meets your gaze before he makes his way towards you to greet your father. “It’s nice to have you back, Chief.”
Your fathers eyes narrow and his hands slip off yours and Eleven’s shoulders. “I’m not a Chief anymore.” He scoffs and goes serious. “Joyce told me about you and my daughter.”
Steve goes stiff and nods. “Yeah, yeah, me and y/n are together,” he reveals, making you smile.
“So you grew the balls to ask,” your father chuckles, snapping your eyes up to him and making Steve stammer.
“Wh-what?”
Hopper steps away from Eleven and you, to step toward Steve and offer him his hand.
Steve looks at you and then at your fathers hand before he meets his gaze and shakes it.
“Thank you,” your father says and leaves you stunned. “Joyce told me a lot. Thank you for looking out for my girls.”
Steve scoffs and they both pull their hands away. “Of course. I love y/n,” he says without fear. “She’s important to me. She needed me, I was there. Always.”
You walk over to Steve’s side to just look at your father’s face. And you’re surprised to see him smiling.
“Well, thank you,” your father says again.
Steve sighs with relief and nods, letting Hopper share one last scoff before he grabs Eleven by the shoulders and walks her outside, whilst you face Steve and can’t help but show off your growing smile.
“You won’t be able to stay over anymore will you?” Steve asks and sighs.
You shake your head. “I don’t think so, but,” you swallow thickly. “If you still want, once I graduate, we can still move in together. Sound good? I’ll talk to my dad after all these emotions of him being alive pass.”
Steve smiles and nods in agreement. “Yeah. That sounds good. Now let’s get outside, he likes me, I don't want to get on his bad side already.”
“Maybe I get to be the ninja now,” you laugh while you walk out. “Hmm?”
Steve rolls his eyes but he doesn’t turn down your suggestion. “Okay. I’ll pick you up.”
“Sounds good. Twelve thirty?” You ask discreetly.
“Yep.” He whispers and nods.
Steve and you walk out of the cabin, and you instantly head towards your father when he pulls away from his embrace with Mike.
“I should thank Joyce for going on her business trip,” you say as you watch Eleven and Joyce talking.
Your father nods and draws in a deep breath. “About her,” he exhales and looks over at you. “We need to talk.”
You look over at him and nod slowly. “Okay. Well there’s a lot we need to talk about actually.”
“Yeah,” he agrees and then goes serious when he catches the scars around your neck. “What happened?”
You draw in and deep breath and part your lips to add something, but all you let out is your breath of air since the sound of thunder rumbling in the sky cuts you off.
You wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but then some white particles begin to fall from the sky. When you reach your hand out to catch one, you notice that it doesn’t melt in your hand.
“What,” you mouth and then look up at the sky to see that the dark clouds that suddenly began to invade the sky seemed to be coming from somewhere.
Everyone noticed that and without saying anything, you all walked out of the forest that surrounded the cabin to walk out to the grass hills.
And that’s when you saw it, the black clouds, and black smoke that rose from the ground and brought red lightning. You saw glowing red gates in the distance that cracked the ground, and the dead grass and flowers that lay beyond you.
But…it’s supposed to be gone. Max is alive, this can’t be happening again.
How is it happening again?
You let out a shaky breath and share a concerned look with Steve, as you slowly interlace your fingers together to grab ahold of each other’s hands for comfort from the tragedy brewing before you.
“I told you,” a familiar evil voice suddenly sounds in your head. “Y/N. You can’t run away from me.”
.
.
.
.
A/N- BAHHH!!! I can’t believe we have to wait again!!! Thank you though! Thanks to everyone who kept up with this series! Thank you and I love all of you! The next season is still a long ways away but I hope, I really do hope I get to finish this series! Thank you again, bye for now! ❤️❤️
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