SWEET CREATURE//steve harrington

FOURTEEN

MIKE WAS THE FIRST TO MOVE, STUMBLING FORWARD TOWARD THE GIRL. "El?" he said, sounding too hopeful to believe what he was seeing. "Mike," the girl breathed in confirmation, wrapping her arms around him and sinking into a hug. Max turned to Lucas. "Is that-?" Lucas nodded, shocked into silence. 

So it had been real. The monsters, the Upside Down, the superpowers. The living proof was standing in front of her. 

Mike held El out at arm's length, taking in the sight of her. "I never gave up on you," he said tearfully. "I called you every night. Every night for--" "353 days," El choked, nodding. Mike stared at her in disbelief. "I heard," she said. "Why didn't you tell me that you were there?" Mike asked, confused. "That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper said, stepping forward. Mike turned and frowned, misunderstanding written all over his face. "The hell is this?" Hopper continued, and Vivian realized he was talking to El. "Where have you been?" he asked. "Where have you been?" the girl retorted, but he didn't respond, only pulling her into a tight hug. 

"You've been hiding her," Mike said, his voice angry. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" He pushed Hopper's back roughly, causing the man to turn around and grab a fistful of Mike's shirt. "Hey!" he said. "Let's. Talk. Alone."  He led Mike away unceremoniously, out of the living room. 

El stood there, shivering, blood dripping down her chin. "El," Dustin said, smiling at her. "I thought we were never gonna see you again." He wrapped his arms around her in relief, Lucas joining him. "We missed you," Lucas added. "I miss you too," she replied. "We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin told her. As they separated, El eyed Steve and Vivian warily. Vivian lowered her knife immediately. That probably wasn't the quickest way to make a good first impression. 

"Hey," Lucas said, trying to comfort El. "These are our friends. Steve and Vivian. But we call her Sweets." The pair waved respectively, trying to give a friendly smile. "We can trust them," Dustin promised. "They're the good guys." Vivian looked at Steve and smiled. He was still holding her hand. 

Max strode forward confidently. "Eleven?" she asked, holding out her hand. "Hey. I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you." Eleven stared at Max's hand, and then pushed past her wordlessly, embracing Mrs. Byers. Max stood there, shocked. Vivian put a hand on her shoulder. "She'll come around," she whispered. 

"Hey!" Hopper barked. "Huddle up." Everyone scrambled to the table, eager to hear what they were going to do next. "What's going on?" Vivian asked. "We need to close the gate," he said. "It's the link between the other dimension and ours. But it's gonna take a hell of a lot of power." "Can we even do that?" Steve asked. "Like, is it even possible?"

"It's not like it was before," Hopper sighed. "It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs." "Demo-dogs," Dustin corrected. "I'm sorry, what?" Hopper said, exasperated. "I said, uh, Demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass--" Hopper sighed, frowning. "How is this important right now?" he interrupted. "It's not," Dustin rushed. "Sorry."

"I can do it," El said, making the rest of the group turn to look at her. "You're not hearing me," Hopper argued. "I'm hearing you. I can do it," she repeated. "Even if El can, there's still another problem," Mike said. "If the brain dies, the body dies." "I thought that was the whole point," Max said. "It is, but if we're really right about this, I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." "Will's a part of that army," Vivian finished for him, nodding with understanding. "Closing the gate will kill him," Mike confirmed. 

Vivian glanced at Mrs. Byers, who was clearly concentrating. "He likes it cold," she muttered. "That's what Will kept saying to me. We keep giving it what it wants." "If this is a virus, and Will's the host, then--" Nancy started. "Then we need to make the host uninhabitable," Johnathan said. "So if he likes it cold..." she said. Mrs. Byers nodded.

"We need to burn it out of him." 

꧁♡꧂

"Take Denfield, then you'll see a large oak tree," Hopper said, holding Will, Johnathan and Mrs. Byers rushing out to the car. "You're gonna swing a right. That road is gonna dead-end. And it's about a five minute walk from there." Johnathan nodded, muttering the directions to himself. "Channel ten right?" he asked. "Yes, channel ten. And listen," Hopper said. "You let me know when that thing is out of him. Johnathan nodded and slipped into the driver's seat. 

The rest of them stood on the porch, watching, waiting. Steve, Nancy, and Vivian lumbered down to the pile of items that were in the shed, looking for anything that might help. Nancy's gaze kept darting back to Johnathan, worried, as they dug through the pile. "You should go with him," Steve said, making Vivian look at him in disbelief. "What?" Nancy said, frowning. 

"With Johnathan," Steve clarified. "No," Nancy scoffed. "I'm not just gonna leave Mike." "We'll be here," Vivian spoke up. "I'll watch out for him." "Yeah, no one's leaving anyone," Steve agreed. "I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend." He helped Nancy tug a space heater free from the junk. "But it turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter." 

He nudged the heater into her hands. Nancy looked at him, confused. "Steve--" "It's okay, Nance." He shook his head at her protests. "It's okay." He walked back over to Vivian's side without another word, shining his flashlight on the ground. 

Nancy stood there silently, looking anxiously at the house. Vivian walked to her. "Nancy, Mike is okay," she urged. "I know, but--" Vivian put a hand on Nancy's shoulder. "I promise I'll protect him. Really, you should go. Be with Johnathan," she said. Nancy bit her lip. "Okay, I'll go." Taking herself by surprise, Vivian leaned forward and hugged her tightly. 

"Good luck," Vivian whispered. "And be careful." Nancy hugged her back, and nodded. Then she took one last look at the house and got into the car with Johnathan. 

Vivian and Steve both watched her depart silently. "I'm proud of you," Vivian told him, patting his shoulder. "I know that wasn't easy." He shrugged. "Well, I never wanna hold somebody back, y'know?" He sighed. "If she wants to be with him, then she should. And I'm not gonna stand in the way." "Right," Vivian nodded. 

"We should get back in there," Steve said, gesturing to the porch where the kids stood. They walked side-by-side. "You're right, you know," Vivian told him as they started up the front steps. "Huh?" "You are a pretty damn good babysitter." He chuckled, shaking his head. 

Mike stood with El, hugging her tightly. "Just be careful, okay?" he said. "I can't lose you again." "You won't lose me," she promised, shaking her head. "Do you promise?" Mike asked. "Promise," she said. "El," Hopper called. "Come on, let's go. It's time."

Vivian's heart jumped at the sight of all of them getting in their respective cars and leaving. She hadn't really realized the responsibility of protecting all these kids' lives until right now, when all the real adults left. She looked at Steve, who grasped her hand reassuringly. "We're gonna be fine," he whispered. 

They stood on the porch and watched as the two cars peeled out of the driveway. Vivian stepped forward and hugged Mike. "She's gonna be okay, Wheeler," she whispered. The words felt cheap and flimsy, but it was all she had to offer him as he blinked away tears. 

Steve started to usher the kids inside. "It's safer inside, come on," he said. "What are we gonna do?" Max asked. "We're gonna sit and wait for them to figure this out," Steve answered, shutting the front door and locking it. "So we're just gonna sit here," Lucas complained. "There's nothing else to do, Sinclair," Steve pointed out. "Might as well get comfy."

this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but after the last few were pretty long, i didn't wanna stretch this out too much

enjoy!