It was over. It was DEFINITELY over. Did that stop me from doing it anyway? Nope. I grabbed the roses from my passenger seat and started walking towards the Wheeler house, mumbling to myself.

"I love you, I'm sorry. Sorry? What the hell am I sorry for?" 

I was vaguely aware of an annoying kid with curly hair yelling obscenities and pacing on the lawn. 

"Steve! STEVE!" The child was talking to me.

"What?!" I yelled back.

"Are those flowers for Mr or Mrs Wheeler?" He asked.

"What? No! Why?" 

"You're wasting your time and I need your help. Still got that bat?" He asked, walking toward my car.

"What bat?"

"The one with the nails in it dipshit." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah,"

"Well we're going to need it, hurry up."

"Oh, right now?" I asked, scrambling back towards the car. 

"Yes, right now. Come on!"

As Dustin told me everything, my mind started to fully comprehend what we had to do. Then we got to his house, stopping at the storm cellar. I went down, armed with only my nail studded baseball bat. 

Then… I saw the horrific truth, the slimy shell of what used to be "Dart", and a gigantic opening in the corner. An opening that led to a hole big enough for me to fit through. 

"Shit. Henderson! Get down here." I said, shining the flashlight beam in his face.

He had the exact same reaction I did.

Twenty minutes later we found ourselves walking down the train tracks, dropping little chunks of meat to create a trail for this demogorgan thing. With the nail bat in my backpack, walking to some junkyard, trying to lure a monster with a freaked out 13 year old was not what I thought I'd be doing today. What surprised me even more, I liked this kid. Despite his obvious annoyance at my lack of situational comprehension, he seemed to like me too. Wow Harrington, you used to be king of Hawkins High, now your only friend is a thirteen year old with no front teeth. Real nice, Steve. 

Once we were at the junkyard, Lucas Sinclair showed up on his bike, a flaming redhead holding on to his waist. While he and Henderson argued behind a junked out car, me and the redhead introduced ourselves. 

"I'm Steve Harrington." I offered my hand.

"Max Mayfield," She shook it.

"You new in Hawkins?" I asked, chucking sheets of metal towards the bus we were armoring.

"Yeah, my mom and step-dad dragged me and my asshole of a step-brother here but I guess it's not too bad so far." She replied, putting the sheets of metal just inside of the bus. 

"I take it you and your brother don't get along? Do I know him? Do you need me to beat his ass?" I asked, genuinely starting to like this kid.

"Not getting along is an understatement. His name is Billy, Billy Hargrove. And no, but I'll keep that offer in mind, thanks Steve." She smiled a little.

"Oh I know him. He's the one constantly fouling me in basketball and being a huge ass about it." I rolled my eyes. 

"Sounds like him. Sorry about that. You seem cool and you don't deserve that." Max said, putting the last sheet down, then walking away to grab more.

I walked over to where Lucas and Dustin were squatting, deep in an argument.

"Hey, dickheads, why is the only one helping me this random girl? Come on!" I said, snapping them out of the argument. 

Before long, it was dark. Dustin, Max, and I were sitting in the bus, Lucas was perched on top, looking through binoculars. Before long, Max climbed up to talk to Lucas, leaving Dustin and I, accidentally eavesdropping on them. Max was talking about California and divorced parents. What she didn't know, I could relate. While my parents weren't divorced, they constantly fought, and because my dad, being a total asshole, but still having morals, didn't hit her. Instead, he hits me. A lot. I'm glad he doesn't hit her. And she doesn't know about the abuse. She is often on business trips, as is he. They both have cheated on each other countless times, but the Harrington name had to be preserved. So they stayed together, and I stayed, getting beating after beating. For what? To preserve some century old name, a staple to Hawkins culture. I vowed that if I ever got married, had kids, that I would just love them. No irrational expectations of what it meant to be a Harrington, no beatings, no fighting, just love and support, like a good parent. Maybe these kids could be a good, new experience for me. A taste of how to love and support, and be supported. 

"Earth to Harrington. STEVE!" Dustin called, getting my attention. 

I snapped my head towards him.

"You okay Steve?" He asked, eyeing me curiously.

"Yeah." I realized I was staring sourly at the flame that emitted from my lighter. 

I suppose I looked pretty scary absent-mindedly staring at fire, gripping a bat with nails in the end of it.

Suddenly we heard a roar, followed by Lucas whisper-yelling "GUYS THEY'RE HERE!!!" 

I put out the flame and jumped to my feet. I grabbed my bat and decided right then and there that if anyone would die tonight, it would be me. I would put myself in front of any of these shitheads. They were like my sons and daughter already, I had known them for three or four hours. 

"Why is it stopped?" Dustin asked.

"Maybe it's sick of cow." I muttered.

That's it. I'm going to die for these shits. I opened up the bus door and stepped out, closing it behind me.

"STEVE! What are you doing?! Steve you're going to die! Get back here Steve!" Dustin shouted desperately.

I swung my bat around and started shouting out random obscenities trying to piss off Dart. 

"STEVE!!! THREE O'CLOCK!" Lucas shouted from the top of the bus.

Three o'clock? He was right in front of me! Which meant… holy shit there was more than one! I was so screwed. I quickly made my way back to the bus. Sprinting, I batted away the demo-dogs, reaching the bus with one latched onto my ankle. Holy shit that hurts. I rolled into the bus, still beating the shit out of the one attached to my leg. It finally unlatched, leaving huge gashes, bleeding pretty bad. I closed the door of the bus. The kids were screaming, Max's eyes flickered down to my ankle and I gave her a slight shake of my head. She looked concerned but kept her mouth shut. Lucas was now inside the bus, staring, terrified, at the roof. There was a faint bang bang bang. Max was standing under the roof hole, face to face (or what should've been a face), with a demo-dog. 

"Get out of the way!!!" I screamed, pushing them all back, wielding my bat.

I whacked it backwards.

I heard Dustin and Lucas muttering behind me.

"Steve is so…" Lucas started to say.

"Courageously stupid?" Max suggested.

"Cool." Lucas and Dustin said in unison.

I smirked slightly, hearing these kids behind me. As I turned around, facing the kids, I felt something behind me. 

"STEVE WATCH OUT!" Max shouted.

I wheeled around, swinging my bat blindly. I hit it right in the face and it flew backwards. I turned again, keeping the roof window in the corner of my vision. I saw Max and Lucas, tightly squeezing the other's hand. They both turned red, but didn't let go. 

“It sounds like they’re… retreating.” Dustin said, “Maybe being called back to something.”

“Where the hell are Mike and Will?” Lucas muttered.