𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝟐𝟔𝐓𝐇, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟔

Y/n turned on her flashlight mid jump. She swam as fast as she could, in search of the gate. The gate looked like molten lava. She didn't hesitate to swim through it. She fell down on the hard ground of the upside down. Poor Steve was being attacked by bats. He was struggling to get them off of him. Y/n ran to where Steve laid. She punched one of the bats in the face and kicked another one. She extended her arm to help Steve up before the bats attacked again.

She saw Nancy, Robin, and Eddie dropping from the gate. Steve but the remaining bat that still attacked him. Soon, a swarm of bats attacked the five of them. Y/n knew she had to do something quickly. Something that she never did before.

"Duck!" She yelled at everyone.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Just duck!" She yelled louder.

She focused her mind on everything. She could feel her body start to leave the ground. She lifted up her arms and slammed them back down. She could hear the others shouting. Her body slammed to the floor. A few minutes later, Y/n opened her eyes and she was up against the wall of a cave. Her head was pounding and her ears were ringing. Steve's hand was on her cheek and he was pleading with her to wake up. He breathed a sigh of relief and so did the others. "We thought you were dead," Robin said. "Nope, just sore" Y/n responded. She could feel something being pressed to her head. She winced in pain.

"What happened?" Y/n asked.

"Well first, you jumped in to help Steve, then you were fighting the bats, then-" Robin said.

"Rob, I mean right before I woke up" Y/n said.

"Oh! You were like levitating and then a blue cloud just killed all the bats" Robin explained.

"Woah. That's cool, but my head hurts and we probably have a long way to Hawkins" Y/n said.

Steve was using a towel to clean the scar on the side of Y/n's head. He carried it along with him just in case. Robin, Nancy, and Eddie stepped away to talk about a plan. Y/n winced again, instinctively grabbing Steve's arm.

"Sorry," Steve said with pity.

"It's fine," Y/n sighed.

"Why would you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?" She asked, confused.

"Do that whole thing with your powers?" He asked.

"Those bats were gonna kill us. It was the only thing I could think of," She said.

"You could've seriously got injured," He said.

"You're worried about me, but what about the wounds on your stomach?" Y/n asked.

"Don't worry about me right now," He said.

"Your injuries are worse than mine," Y/n said.

Steve looked down at his injuries and looked back up at Y/n.

"I'll deal with them later," He said.

Y/n nodded as Steve helped her up and over to the rest of the group.

"We have a plan," Robin said with a smile.

"We're gonna go to my house, get my guns, and shoot the remaining bats," Nancy explained.

Y/n and Steve looked at each other and followed them.
"Wait, Steve. You're losing blood" Nancy said as she stopped him from walking. She began tearing her shirt to bandage him up. Y/n stared for a moment.

"Hey, Sinclair?" Y/n turned her attention towards Eddie, as he walked up to her.

"I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, Wheeler has a boyfriend," Eddie continued.

After Steve was bandaged up, they continued the walk. Just then, the upside down began to shake like an earthquake. Steve grabbed hold of Y/n and Nancy.

"Holy shit," Y/n said.

"Don't worry, I got you" Steve said, making her heart flutter.

When the shaking stopped, relief washed over the group.

"Is everybody okay?" Steve asked. The group nodded in response.

"Are you okay?," He quietly asked Y/n.

"Yeah, and you?" She asked.

Steve nodded and Y/n walked up next to Robin to continue the walk. Before they resumed, Eddie threw his vest over to Steve. "It's for your own modesty man," He said. After about half an hour of walking, it seemed like they were getting nowhere.

"Couldn't we have tried a road or something? Just slightly less creepy?" Robin asked Nancy.

"I think we're getting close. We're almost out of here, don't worry," Nancy responded.

"I didn't know you had guns," Y/n said.

Nancy chuckled. "Yeah, I see why it could be a surprise," Nancy said.

"Eddie! Eddie, hey man," Steve said.

Eddie turned his head towards Steve.

"Uh.. Listen I just wanted to uh. I just wanted to say thanks to you guys for saving my ass back there" Steve stammered out.

"Shit, you saved your own ass, man. I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there," Eddie said.

"Ozzy?" Steve said, confused.

"When you took a bite out of that bat," Eddie said.

Steve still had the same confused look on his face.

"Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? He bit a bat's head off onstage," Eddie continued.

"I don't-," Steve began.

"You know? It doesn't matter," Eddie said.

"No," Steve said.

"It's very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying," Eddie said.

"Thanks," Steve responded.

"Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact," Eddie said.

"Wait, Henderson said that?" Steve asked.

"Oh yeah, shit. Kid worships you. Like you have no idea. It's kind of annoying, to be honest,"Eddie said.

Steve laughed a little.

"I don't even know why I care what the little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I gotta a little jealous, Steve" Eddie said.

Steve went silent for a moment.

"I guess I couldn't accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude," Eddie said as he looked Steve up and down slightly.

"Rich parents, popular, chicks love him, Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That's like flies in the face of all the laws in the universe, and my personal Munson doctrine," Eddie said.

"Still super jealous as hell, by the way" He continued. They both laughed.

"Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh.. normal circumstances" Eddie said.

A sudden growling came from the tree branches. They both stopped for a moment.

"Nope! Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that's what I learned about myself this week" Eddie said.

"Give yourself a break, man" Steve said as he patted Eddie's shoulder.

"See? The only reason I came in here was because of those ladies," Eddie said, pointing to Y/n, Nancy, and Robin.

"Those ladies came in straight after you. Now I was too ashamed to be the one to stay behind. But Sinclair right there, she didn't waste a second, not one second. She just dove right in and put herself in harm's way," Eddie continued.

Steve looked at Y/n walking.

"Now, I don't know what's happening or happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get with her. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen" Eddie continued.

It hit Steve like a ton of bricks. It wasn't Hiedi, Linda, Kelly, or Nancy that he was in love with. He never had this feeling with them that he had with Y/n. The feeling of euphoria, so strong it could explode. He was in love, but he was unsure if Y/n loved him like that or not. But the one thing he knew for certain was that he was Head over heels. Before he could dwell on his thoughts, another earthquake.

"God dammit," Steve said.

"Here we go again," Eddie said.

Word Count- 1317