Chapter Text
When y/n wakes up the next morning Robin is gone. She looks around the basement and does a quick head count. Max? Check. Dustin? Check. Lucas? Check. Steve? Check. All there all still safe.
As soon as she’s checked that everyone is still there she makes her way up the stairs to the main level of the Wheelers home, where she finds Robin and Nancy in the kitchen.
“Morning.” She greets as she walks towards them.
“You sleep okay?” Nancy asks softly pouring some coffee into a mug and handing it to y/n
“So-so.” y/n responds, taking the mug gratefully.
“So, do you want to hear about our brilliant plan?” Robin asks excitedly and y/n nods.
“Well as you know we have a lot more to learn about Creel, so we’re going to go to Pennhurst.” Nancy tells her.
“How are you going to get in?” y/n asks.
“We’re going to pretend to be college kids doing a report!” Robin said excitedly.
“Robin’s going to pretend to be a college kid?” y/n asks, turning to Nancy who smiles and nods.
“And so are you.” Nancy says with conviction.
“No, I’m not.” y/n refuses.
“You have to come.” Robin whines.
“I’m a terrible liar! You don’t want me there.” y/n shakes her head.
“Oh, no she’s right.” Robin says like she just remembered. “She is a really bad liar. One time we tried to skip school and when she tried to tell her mom she was sick she just told her the truth.”
“Okay, just Robin and I then.” Nancy sighs. Robin and y/n look at each other and shrug.
The girls make their way back to the basement to rejoin the others. They tell them the plan, showing them the files Nancy made for herself and Robin.
“Wait a minute, where's mine?” Steve asks, and just like that Nancy and Steve are off, Robin on their heels gesturing for y/n to follow her. y/n shakes her head, opting to stay with the younger teens. She seats herself on the chair next to the couch.
“You think they’ll get back together?” Dustin asks y/n, who looks over to where Lucas is standing beside Max at the desk she’s been sitting at all morning.
“Lucas and Max?” y/n questions.
“No, Steve and Nancy.” Dustin clarifies.
y/n can feel her heart start to race and her face burn red. It was something she had considered sure but she always felt protected by the shield that was Nancy’s relationship with Jonathan.
“I-” She starts but before she can finish Steve comes bounding back down the stairs.
“You’re going to love this.” He says to y/n, dropping down onto the couch next to Dustin. Robin and Nancy follow a few minutes late, Robin is dressed in Nancy’s clothes and y/n can’t help but laugh.
“Do I look like an academic scholar?” Robin asks.
“Yeah,” y/n chuckles, “You definitely do.”
Robin and Nancy leave shortly after. The rest of the group agrees to stay in the basement to better keep an eye on Max, who hasn’t left the desk she sits at in what seems like hours. An uncomfortable silence falls over the basement as she scribbles away on paper. y/n entertains herself with a choose your own adventure book that she found on the bookshelf.
y/n's two chapters into her book when Max finally speaks up. “I know you guys are staring.”
y/n looks up to see the boys quickly start to busy themselves to seem like they hadn’t in fact been staring. She smiles to herself and shakes her head.
“How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don’t know.” Max says as she stands from the desk. A pile of envelopes in hand.
The boys continue to pretend to be busy as Max approaches and she gives them permission to look at her. y/n laughs.
Max hands each of them an envelope, y/n included, then hands Lucas three more for their friends in California. She explains that the letters are fail-safe incase things don’t work out. A fail safe for what y/n is unsure of. To protect them from guilt and becoming Vecna's next victim or from the police?
“If we go to east Hawkins, will this thing reach Pennhurst?” Max asks to pick up a walkie talkie. Dustin tells her it will.
“Why are we going to East Hawkins?” Steve asks as the kids look at him. “No, no, no!”
Max walks out of the door as Steve protests and everyone gets up to follow her. They argue all the way to the car.
“So either take me where I need to go or you’re gonna have to tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day Steve, I swear to god, I will prosecute.” Max threatens as they reach the car.
“I’ll drive you, we just have to go get my car.” y/n offers and Steve turns to her with a glare which y/n returns.
“No, you won’t.” Steve asserts.
“Well you don’t want to take her.” y/n said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Because I think the Wheelers basement is the best place for the walkie and the safest place for both of you.” Steve explains.
“You didn’t really seem to care much about our safety when you were trying to run off with Nancy.” y/n countered.
“I-” Steve starts but he’s cut off by Max.
“I know a good lawyer.” Max asserts.
Steve scoffs, pulling out his keys. They all pile into his car and make their way to east Hawkins. “That super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.” He says pointing across the car at Dustin.
They stop at the trailer park first so Max can drop off a letter for her mom. The boys chat while y/n waits anxiously in the car. She tries to ignore the way Steve keeps looking back at her through the windshield.
Max comes out 10 minutes later looking disturbed. Steve tries to ask her what’s wrong but she just tells him to drive and he does. They drive in relative silence to the cemetery, the only sounds being the radio and the sound of their breathing. As they get closer to the cemetery y/n reaches over and grabs Max’s hand squeezing it reassuringly. Max, who had been so stiff the entire ride, eases for just a moment.
As they pull into the cemetery Steve catches y/n's eye in the rearview mirror. She can see the worry in them. Steve loved Max. One weekend, while Robin had been out of town with her parents, y/n and Steve took a trip into Indianapolis to go to the three story tall record and book store there. While they were there they had gotten to talking about the younger kids. Steve had gone on and on about how cool he thought Max was. He adored everything about her. He called her the little sister he never had.
Steve parks the car at the bottom of the hill where Max’s step brother is buried and the younger three quickly pop out of the car. As y/n starts to slide out Steve stops here. “How’s she doing?”
“Not great. I don’t think she’s relaxed for more than a minute since we left the school last night.” y/n says climbing between the front seats to sit in the passenger seat so he doesn’t have to turn in his seat to talk to her.
“And you?” Steve asks as he reaches over to place a hand on her knee.
“oh just terrified.” y/n says dryly.
“Ditto.” Steve nods and the conversation halts for a minute. “Hey, are you mad at me?”
“I-” y/n starts panicking. She knew she wasn’t exactly keeping it a secret but she hadn’t expected him to say anything.
“Because if it’s what I think you’re mad about it’s not like that at all. I just always get stuck watching the kids and I want to be in on the action.” Steve explains.
“Based on what you and Robin told me you’ve seen plenty of action.” y/n snarks back.
“I mean-” Steve starts but y/n cuts him off by removing the hand he has placed on her knee.
“Steve, you don’t owe me an explanation about why you wanted to spend time with your ex. We’re just friends, remember.” y/n says, opening the door and stepping out to join Dustin and Lucas, Steve following her lead.
Dustin and Lucas are discussing strategies on how to defeat Vecna. y/n listens intently, wanting to focus on anything they can do to help Max. There’s just so little a group of normal teenagers with no magic can do. Then a small lightbulb goes off in y/n's head.
“How far do you think this Vecna creep's powers can reach?” y/n asks when there’s enough of a pause in the conversation that y/n can get a word in.
“I don’t know,” Dustin says, turning his attention to y/n. “Why, what are you thinking?”
“What if we just drove her out of Hawkins? I mean Forty-eight hours and we’re halfway across the country. We could head to California and find Mike and your friend with the powers.” y/n says excitedly.
“It’s not a bad idea, but there’s no way we’d make it out of Hawkins without Vecna knowing.” Lucas says softly, his tone kind, clearly not wanting to hurt y/n’s feelings by rejecting her idea.
“And if we do that, we can’t clear Eddie’s name and Vecna could just go after someone else.” Dustin adds.
“So we’re just going to use Max as a sacrificial lamb?” y/n retorts.
“No, she’s bait.” Dustin corrects.
y/n scoffs and turns her attention to Steve for support but he’s not listening to them. He’s watching Max intently. Leaning against the car, arms crossed, she can’t help but admire him for just a moment. But the moment ends as Steve pushes himself off the car.
“That’s long enough.” He says as he makes his way up the hill to Max. Lucas tries to stop him but Steve insists.
He’s shouting for them almost as soon as he reaches her, panic in his voice. It’s happening, they’re about to lose her and they have no way of stopping it. They haven’t even had time to figure out a solution. No leads to who Vecna is or what he wants.
y/n runs up the hill with Lucas and Dustin. Everyone is shouting but she can’t hear it over the sound of her heart racing. She doesn’t even notice Dustin is gone until he’s dumping out Max’s backpack next to her. Lucas grabs Max’s Walkman and loads the Kate Bush tape Max has been listening to nonstop since she got it and places the headphone over her ears.
Then she’s floating in the air and her eyes start to bleed, just like Eddie said they would. Before she can even think to stop herself y/n is grabbing onto Max’s legs and trying to bring her back down, tears streaming down her face.
“Max!” She screams her grip tightening on her ankles trying to use her entire body weight to pull her back down.
Finally after what feels like an eternity Max’s body starts to fall. The boys are surrounding them immediately.
“I’m still here” Max assures as Lucas holds her. “I’m still.”
Steve gets everyone into the car quickly. Wanting to put as much space between them and the cemetery as possible. They drive straight to the Wheeler’s house, no stops. When they get there they’re met by Nancy and Robin who fill them in on what they learned at Pennhurst, in turn Dustin fills them in on what happened at the cemetery. They decided that for her safety Max has to be wearing her headphones at all times. y/n suggests maybe they should all grab a tape they like to keep on hand just in case but Nancy shoots the idea down, insisting that it’s not so much the person's preferred music but the effect music has on the brain.
They all decide it’s best for them to stay in Nancy’s basement again. Before they fall asleep y/n goes upstairs to call her mom.
“Hey mom.” y/n says into the receiver.
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!” y/n’s mom practically shouts on the other end.
“I’m with Robin and Steve at Nancy Wheeler’s house. We’re safe I promise.” y/n explains meekly as her mother sighs.
“I want to talk to Nancy’s mother.” Her mother demands and y/n agrees locking eyes with Nancy’s mother from across the kitchen. “Oh, sweetheart Chrissy’s mom called to let us know that the funeral is tomorrow at noon.”
“I’ll be there I promise.” y/n says and she means it. She wouldn’t miss Chrissy’s funeral for the world.
y/n hands the phone to Mrs. Wheeler and makes her way back down to the basement to rejoin the others.
“What’d your mom say?” Robin asks as y/n sits down next to her.
Nancy is on the other side of Robin, y/n figures the two must have bonded on their solo adventure. Steve sits on the end of the couch just within hearing distance of the girls.
“Chrissy’s funeral is the day after tomorrow at noon. So I’m going to have to bail early.” y/n says sadly.
“Do you want me to take you home in the morning?” Steve asks, moving from the couch and sitting next to y/n wrapping an arm around her waist.
“If you don’t mind.” She says while she leans her head onto his shoulder.
“Anything for you.” Steve says, it’s almost a whisper, meant just for her.
The next morning Steve and y/n wake up before everyone else and Steve takes y/n home.
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Steve asks softly, his hand reaching to caress her cheek rubbing his thumb along it. He’d been asking her since they woke up to come along.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea. There’s a chance Jason has connected you and Dustin. I don’t want him to follow you and find him.” y/n says
“Would he have connected you to me?” Steve asks.
“Yeah but I doubt he thinks I also hang out with Dustin or that I’d side with the people helping hide who he thinks is Chrissy’s murderer. And besides everybody else needs you too.” y/n says with a shrug.
After a bit more convincing Steve agrees to let y/n go alone. Well not alone, her mom is going.
y/n gets ready pulling out her black dress, she had only ever worn it once to her great uncles funeral. She didn’t expect to have to wear it again so soon. Chrissy had loved it, saying it made y/n look sophisticated like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It was Chrissy’s favorite movie. She was so sure she was going to go to New York and live a fabulous life just like Holly Golightly. Just without the prostitution.
y/n takes all morning to get ready. Taking breaks to cry or go through her photo book of polaroid's of her and Chrissy. She’s surprised when she’s actually ready on time to leave. Her mom calls her down the stairs just as she’s finishing putting on her mascara.
y/n checks herself in the mirror one last time, before she joins her mom down the stairs. She convinces her mom to let her drive by herself so she can rejoin Steve and everyone else after the service.
When she arrives at the funeral y/n’s immediately greeted by Chrissy’s mother. Who pulls her into a tight hug. Her chest heaving as she does.
“Chrissy loved you so much.” She says as she pulls away giving y/n a once over. “Honey go in the bathroom and fix your make up, you look like a mess.”
Classic Melanie. She always had to find a flaw in your appearance. She was relentless with Chrissy. Critical of everything from her weight to her nail beds. Chrissy would call y/n crying about whatever new insult her mom had come up with that week. y/n would always remind her how beautiful she was.
y/n makes her way to the bathroom and sees a very minimal amount of mascara on her cheeks. It really had not been enough to comment on but she wipes it off anyways. She uses some water to slick back the flyways in her bun and makes her way out to the chapel.
Her breath catches in her throat when she sees the casket adorned with white flowers. Chrissy had always said when she went she wanted pink roses. y/n made a note to put some on her grave when she got the chance.
Her vision is blocked as a body steps in front of her and two arms wrap around her. The smell of too strong cologne fills her nostrils making them burn.
“Chrissy would have been so glad you’re here.” Jason’s voice came from the body.
“I’m so sorry Jason.” y/n sobs out her arms wrapping around the boy.
“We’re going to get him. I promise we will.” Jason says, pulling away his hand on her shoulders.
“Jason, you know Chrissy wouldn’t want you to hurt him! You know that right?” y/n asks, her voice pleading.
“We’re not going to hurt him. We’re just going to get him and take him in to the police” Jason assures but all it does is make y/n’s stomach turn.
“Just let the police handle it!” y/n begs. “What, what if one of you gets hurt.”
“We won't, it's five of us against him. We’ll be fine.” Jason seems so sure. So ready to be the hero, to avenge Chrissy. If only he knew the truth. Knew about the monster living just below us who actually did this. He wouldn’t be so confident at all.
Jason asks y/n to come sit with him and the rest of the team but she declines. Reminding him she’s there with her mother.
The rest of the service is a blur y/n is more than thankful when it’s over. She says her goodbyes to her mom and the Cunningham's and makes her way out the parking lot. As she reaches her car she see’s Jason's car speeding off in the direction of lovers lake.
y/n gets in quickly breathing a sigh of relief when she sees a walkie-talkie sitting on her passenger seat. The gang must have dropped it off while she was in the service.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” She calls into the walkie with no response. “Guys please, if you can hear me I think Jason and his friends might know where Eddie is!”
There’s no response. y/n makes the rash decision to follow Jason. Pulling out of the parking lot and driving towards the lake. Her heart beating so fast she can feel it in her throat. She had no idea what she would do when she got there.
When y/n makes it to the Reefer Ricks house Jason and his friends, Patrick and Andy, are just starting to jump out of his car. They’re carrying Baseball bats and tire irons. She quickly jumps out of her car and runs after them.
“Jason! Stop right now!” She shouts after them.
They all stop and turn to look at her. Surprise in their eyes
“y/n what are you doing here?” He asks, walking up to her.
“I followed you! Jason, please just leave it alone! Let the police handle it!” y/n begs. “You’re about to break into a drug dealer's house! You don’t know what’s in there! Who’s in there! What if it’s someone or something way worse than Eddie Munson!”
“We’ll be fine. Go home y/n.” Jason demands before turning to investigate the not so vacant home.
y/n looks back at her car and contemplates trying the walkie again but decides against it, fearing that Jason might hear her on Eddie’s walkie. She also thinks about going straight to the boat house and warning Eddie but fear that one of the boys in the house might catch her stops her.
“God dammit! Fuck!” She says stomping her foot and following the boys into the house slamming the door behind her.
She hopes that by making as much noise as possible she can warn Eddie that they’re there. The place is dusty and smells of mildew. It almost makes y/n regret her decision.
“y/n, I told you to go the fuck home!” Jason barks at her as she enters the kitchen. “It’s not safe for you here.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?” y/n retorts.
“Because I've seen you throw a punch.” Jason says in a sarcastic tone. He grabs her by the arm and pulls her towards the door roughly.
“You’re hurting me!” she growls as she does. “Let go!”
Jason ignores her, throwing her out the door and locking it so she couldn’t get back in.
y/n whines and marches back to her car, contemplating letting the air out of Jason’s tires. She didn’t know what else to do. Any other move she made would alert Jason to the fact that she was siding with and knew where Eddie was.
y/n sits in her car for what feels like hours before there’s finally movement. Eddie Munson sprinting out of the boat house and into a boat at the shore. He manages to get the boat a ways out into the lake but it doesn’t matter. Jason and his boys find him almost immediately. y/n gets out of her car quickly and follows them to the edge of the water.
“Jason, just call the cops please!” She begs as she runs after them.
She shouts for them to turn around. To let him go and call the cops but it falls on deaf ears. Before she knows it Patrick is floating in the air, his eyes pulled into his head, his limbs snapping and contorting into unnatural shapes. She can’t help the scream that tears through her.
Patrick's body falls and an eerie silence falls over the lake. y/n watches as Eddie swims away and Jason drags Patrick's lifeless body to shore.
When he arrives at the shore he cradles Patrick in his arms. y/n slowly approaches them.
“Jason I-” She starts but Jason cuts her off with an icy stare.
“I told you to go home.” He says firmly.
“Let me help.” y/n pleads.
“GET OUT OF HERE!” Jason yells tears streaming down his cheeks.
All y/n can do is nod. She doesn’t leave. Knowing she’ll have to talk to the cops once they arrive. She sits in her car and lets herself cry until they do.
The cops question Jason and then her. They look at her like she’s crazy and she can’t blame them. Who could possibly believe that someone was lifted into the air and mutilated.
When they’re done talking to the cop y/n climbs into the backseat of her car and falls asleep. She told the officer who offered her a ride home that she didn’t want to frighten her mother and could drive herself. But as soon as she reached her car she realized she was much too shaken to drive.
y/n wakes up to the sounds of new reporters setting up the next morning. She watches them as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. Then she climbs into the front seat and pulls down her visor so she can use the mirror. She grimaces at her appearance. Her cheeks are stained with mascara and her hair messy. She sighs and tries to fix it to the best of her ability.
When she’s done she gets out and joins the forming crowd. She watches as the Chief of Police begins his press conference. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Nancy’s car pull up and her friends spill out of it and pass the news van.
y/n runs to her car and grabs the walkie talkie out of it before following them. When she reaches them she grabs Dustin by the shoulder so he’s facing her and shove the walking into his chest.
“What is the point of giving me this stupid thing if no one’s going to answer it!” y/n whispers angrily.
“y/n, are you okay? Where have you been?!” Steve asks also in a whisper. “You were supposed to meet us back at Nancy’s.”
“Yeah I know but I thought I’d get some fishing in.” y/n responds sarcastically. “I was here trying to stop Jason! I tried to call for backup but no one answered!”
“The batteries are dead.” Dustin responds like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“And who’s fault is that?” y/n replies shortly.
Before anyone can say anything else the chief is wrapping up his speech and Eddie is calling over the walkie talkie in Dustin's backpack. He tells them he’s at skull rock and they quickly make their way back to Nancy’s car.
y/n sits in the back of Nancy’s car with Steve and Dustin. There’s not enough room for the three of them so y/n sits in Steve’s lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Did you see it happen?” Steve asks as he rubs her back. y/n nods a tear slipping from her eye.
“It was like something out of a horror movie.” y/n whispers. The memory of it flooding back to her.
Steve’s arms tighten around her and he whispers sorries into her hair. Sorry the batteries in the walkie-talkie died. Sorry he wasn’t there. Sorry he didn’t come find her.
y/n almost forgets that they’re not alone in the car until she hears Dustin clear his throat. She jumps and turns to look at him, wiping the tears from her face.
“y/n, anything you can tell us about what happened to Patrick could help.” Dustin says gently.
“It happened the same way Eddie said it happened to Chrissy. The same way it started to happen to Max. Except, Patrick was pulled into the lake first.” She begins before going into the details of what happened next.
“How well did you know Patrick?” Dustin asks.
“Not well. Lucas probably knew him better.” y/n responds. “Why?”
“Workin' on a theory.” Dustin says.
The gang gets to the trail that leads to skull rock quickly and starts their hike up. Dustin and Steve lead the way, arguing about which way to go. y/n trails behind, if she had known she’d be going on a hike she wouldn’t have worn heels. She sees Max and Lucas stop ahead of her. They're talking about Patrick.
“It’s like everyone Vecna targets,” Lucas starts.
“Has something going on in their lives.” Max finishes for him. y/n doesn’t want to eavesdrop so she quickly walks past the two. But what they said makes her think.
That must be the connection. Everyone who’s been targeted has a secret. Something they don’t feel they can share with anyone else. For Chrissy it’s her bulimia, Patrick someone was hurting him. She wasn’t sure about Fred but it must have been something awful. But why them, because they’re vulnerable?
With such specific criteria for who he kills, y/n wasn’t so sure Vecna was another worldly being. A creature from another world would have just killed anyone. This had to be a person. Someone who understood people.
y/n is brought out of her thoughts when she overhears another conversation. One she’s positive she’s meant to overhear this time. Robin and Nancy. Robin is telling Nancy about wanting to see old flames rekindled. y/n just rolls her eyes.
“You think I’m not happy?” Nancy defends her relationship, fairly unconvincingly.
y/n thinks Robin's manipulation must be working on Nancy. Which admittedly pisses her off. Nancy had her chance and she blew it as far as y/n was concerned.
y/n quickens her pace again and brushes past Robin and Nancy. Not wanting to hear anymore.
They make it to skull rock 20 minutes later. y/n sits almost immediately taking off her shoes so her feet could have a break from the pain they had caused.
They all relay what they know so far as Dustin paces. Finally he has a revelation: his compass wasn’t broken like he and Steve had thought but there was a “gate” somewhere nearby that could lead them to Vecna and free Max. He insists they make they’re way towards said gate. Steve, of course rejects this idea. Reminding Dustin that Eddie is still wanted.
“What say you Eddie the Banished?” Dustin asks Eddie
“The Shire is burning, so Mordor it is.” Eddie replies and so off they go towards the gate.
y/n returns to her thoughts about Vecna as they continue on their hike through the woods. How he must be human. If he is, who is he? What’s his motive? What’s his goal?
“Hey Nancy?” y/n asks, catching up to the brunette. “When you talked to Victor did he mention any enemies he may have had?”
Nancy shakes her head no “No, just a demon. Why?”
“Just based on everything we know I think it’s pretty clear this must be a person. I mean I never would have thought it before but Steve reminded me of your friend El, with the superpowers.” y/n explains. “Do you know if there were others like her?”
“She mentioned once that there were others but, what happened with Victor was so long ago and El was in the lab just a couple of years ago.” Nancy says, trying to put together the pieces herself.
“What if this wasn’t the lab's first attempt?” y/n asks. “You said his son was in a coma and then died right? What if..” She cut off by Dustin running ahead of the rest of them
When they make it through the brush they’re met with the Lover Lake. The gate they conclude must be in the lake. Steve and Eddie quickly find a boat and get it into the water. Robin climbs in first, followed by Eddie and Nancy. Dustin tries to follow but Eddie stops him stating there’s only room for three on the boat.
“It’s my goddamn theory!” He protests when Nancy tells him to stay and look out for trouble.
“Listen to Nance.” Robin says.
“Who put her in charge?” Dustin whines to which Robin replies that she put Nancy in charge.
y/n looks at Steve and then back at Robin on the boat before she jumps on.
“You said three!” Dustin whines some more.
“I’m like five-two, I basically don’t count.” y/n shrugs.
Steve throws the bag he’s holding at Dustin pushes the boat off and then jumps on himself as Dustin shouts after them.
There really wasn’t enough room for all of them but y/n sits on the floor and it works out fine. They row out to the middle of the lake where Nancy stops them. The compass Dustin gave them goes crazy.
Steve starts to take off his shoes and socks and y/n looks up at him with panicked eyes. What is he thinking
“What are you doing?” y/n and Robin say in unison.
“Someone's gotta go down there and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being Hawkins High swim co-captain and certified lifeguard three years in a row, then it’s gotta be me. No complaints alright.” Steve says looking directly at her as her eyebrows knit together.
Steve turns from her and strips off his shirt. She can’t help but admire the muscles in her back when he does. y/n can see Nancy’s looking at him too out of the corner of her eye. She tries to keep her annoyance about it off her face but knows she hasn’t succeeded when she hears Robin scoff.
Eddie wraps a flashlight in a plastic shopping bag and hands it to Steve, wishing him good luck and Nancy tells him to be careful.
y/n grabs his free and to pull his attention to her. “If you die I’ll be so mad at you.”
“I promise, I won’t” Steve says, squeezing her hand tightly. Then he’s gone the only thing visible in the inky black water is the light from the flashlight and soon that’s gone too.
The older teens sit anxiously in the boat as they wait for Steve to come back. y/n thinks they should have tied a rope to Steve to pull him back.
He pops back out of the water two minutes later. He fills them in on the size of the gate. Smaller than the other gate at Hawkins lab but still pretty big. As he talks something tugs him before pulling him under completely.
“STEVE.” They all shout after him.
y/n is on her feet and immediately starts to try to jump over the boat after him but Eddie grabs her. She struggles against him as Nancy readies herself to dive over the side of the boat.
“You’re not going in there are you?” Eddie asks Nancy.
“Just stay here!” Nancy commands as she dives in.
“Let me go!” y/n shouts, throwing an elbow into Eddie’s side before throwing herself into the water too.
She swims hard, her lungs burn and her ears hurt from the pressure. She doesn’t care, all she cares about is getting Steve back. She couldn’t do anything to save Chrissy or Patrick but she would die trying to save Steve. It feels like forever before she finally sees the glowing red light emanating for the crack in the bottom of the lake. She pushes herself until she’s made it all the way to the gate pushing herself past it into the dark, cold upside down.