my girl, forever and always || steve harrington

the gate

part two

"steve!" she exclaimed. lydia lunged forward to try and help him but her friend held a hand up to tell her that he was fine. he wanted to do this. he had to do this.

"looks like you have some fire in you after all, huh? i've been waiting to meet this king steve that everybody's been telling me so much about." billy was refusing to back down and it was clear that he did not intend to leave the house without his sister.

"get. out." steve's voice was stern and unwavering but there was not chance in hell that billy was going to go easy on him. steve ducked and dodged a swing from his opponent and proceeded to hit him again, the blond leaning on the sink in pain. but it was short lived when a plate crashed into steve's head, causing him to lose balance.

"steve!" she wasn't just standing back now. her best friend was on the ground after being thrown across the floor, but before he could land another punch she grabbed a nearby frying pan and hit the blond over the side of the head with it, giving her friend a second to recover. unfortunately, she didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out, so he held his head in pain as she stood in front of steve wielding the pan like a sword.

"you shouldn't have done that girly, you're a pretty girl and you shouldn't be hanging out with a loser like harrington. but you're gonna fucking pay for that one." he lunged for her and with a swift kick to the face she knocked him out. it was quiet for a second, the only sound in the room was the heavy breathing of the brunette as she took in her surroundings.

"fuck dude." dustin said as lydia stood in between the two unconscious teens. crouching down, lydia checked steve's pulse first and then billy's to ensure that they weren't completely lifeless.

"they're okay, just knocked out. can someone get me a couple wet towels and some ice for them?" there was a pounding in her ears and her heart felt like it was trying to escape from her chest. but no one was able to move after what they just witnessed. max was torn between going to help her brother but staying away in fear that he would wake up and see her.

"guys, towels and ice. please." the older girl repeated herself and mike and dustin rushed to the kitchen to get the requested items. the redhead slowly made her way over to lydia and crouched next to her as she moved hair out of steve's face.

"are you okay?" she asked the teen.

"yeah, i'm okay. just a little out of it."

"he really loves you, huh?" dustin returned with some wet towels and she proceeded to gently wipe the blood off his face and ice certain areas that were starting to swell. she did the same for billy but max's statement really made her think. all this time that she had known steve there was always this feeling she couldn't place. it was so comfortable and warm and sometimes it felt like she was on fire and other times it felt like sunshine on a spring day. and now she knew, it was love. not the friendship love that she had for nancy and jonathan. the love that she felt for steve was all encompassing and it made her want to be with him until the sun died out. in every lifetime she would ever had, she was sure she would never find someone she loves as much as she loves steve harrington.

~

"that's mount sinai take a left!" lucas and max yelled at lydia as she made a hard left, barely making it. with a jolt, steve woke up.

"where am i? where's lydia?" he tried to sit up but dustin gently brought him back to a laying position.

"we're in billy's car. lydia's driving us to the tunnels so we can destroy the hub." the younger henderson talked in a slow quiet voice to keep him at ease and it worked. kinda.

when they arrived at the spot, they all got out of the car and started putting gear on except lydia. she rushed over to her friend who was attempting to get out of the car and prevent the others from going down with no avail.

"steve, hey, hey. it's gonna be okay. i'm gonna go down with them, just stay here. you're really banged up and i-" she was cut off by her friend pulling her into a tight hug.

"you're not going anywhere without me. i'm not leaving you, ever. if you're going down there, i'm coming too. i'm not losing you." lydia was stunned. part of her thought that he was saying these things because there was a good chance he got head trauma from his fight, but another part of her was so relieved to hear those words. grabbing some spare gear from the trunk, she handed some to her friend and gave his hand a squeeze.

"okay, let's go."

~

the tunnel was dim and had the same particles that floated throughout the air in the upside down. it was like another world. the eerie feel of the underground made lydia's skin crawl as she remembered the time in the forest. her calf ached at the mere memory. she was close behind steve, the familiar silhouette of her friend giving her the slightest bit of relief in the dark unknown they were venturing into.
the further they went in the harder lydia found it to breathe. whether it was her anxiety or the thickness of the air, it was becoming increasingly difficult to catch a breath and she was starting to panic. she pulled down the bandana that was wrapped around her face and was about to say something when a scream emerged from behind the group. dustin's scream.

"dustin!" her body was moving instinctively and fear was coursing through her veins. he was flailing around on the ground spitting and shrieking.

"it's in my mouth! some got on my mouth! shit!" she was on her knees checking him for any signs of harm and frantically checking his face. but after a second he looked up at her and the rest of the group and merely stated, i'm fine. rolling her eyes she smacked him in the shoulder and scolded him for scaring her.

after a couple more minutes of walking, they stood in a large chamber with tunnels exuding from all around them. steve pointed the flashlight at a large mound in the center covered in slime and goo.

"okay wheeler, i think we found your hub."

A/N: hey! season 4 is coming out in a couple days so i'm hoping to finish this book up before then but not sure how well that's going to work because i'm going to be in italy and greece for the next two weeks but i'll try my best :)) i hope you guys enjoy this chapter and please keep commenting on my chapters because they keep me entertained