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After the ladder falls, everything goes silent. Dustin continues to cry and Steve isn’t bothered in the slightest. He’s just happy his friend is talking to him again. He pulls away from the hug the slightest bit.
“Hey,” Steve says gently, “I won’t do anything else stupid, but we really should locate the others. Ok?”
Dustin wipes off his face.“A-ah-alright,” he manages to stammer out.
He then takes a couple of deep breaths and turns to Steve.
“You were right Steve.”
“What do you mean Henderson?” Steve has not the sweetest clue what he is talking about.
“Back in the lab room, you said I was late to the crawl because I was looking for a fight. You were right.”
Steve is puzzled but also is really concerned. He only made that comment because he had all this pent-up anger over his best friend changing suddenly. He wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Why did you want a fight, man?” Steve asks. “Those guys are tough as hell! Were you looking to die ?”
“KIND OF, YEAH!” Dustin yells. “Sorry. This has just been hard. I know I only knew Eddie for like half a year but, he felt like another father figure. I didn’t have one growing up and yes you also became one too, but Eddie was one who got who I was. He and I were alike. So, losing him felt I was losing my dad all over again.”
Steve put his hand on Dustin’s shoulder.
“Have you tried to um, end it all?” Steve asks in the quietest tone he has ever used.
Dustin face goes really pale. He tries to form words but can’t get anything out. Steve gets to his eye level.
“Henderson,” Steve states, “Please give me an answer”.
Dustin pulls away and gazes down towards his arm. Steve notices. Dustin grabs the sleeve of his right arm and slowly pulls it up. Underneath that sleeve, is a mess of blood and cuts arranging in many different sizes. In Steve’s eyes, it looks like Frankenstein. It is all mangled and distressing. Steve feels angry at Henderson for doing this himself but also concern for his friend.
“Jesus, Henderson. What did you do?” Steve asks in a really concerned fatherly tone.
“To answer your question,” Dustin states. “No, I never tried to off myself. This helps takes away part of the pain I feel.” He says pointing to his arm.
Steve takes a step back and starts to pace in a circle. He doesn’t know how to respond to this. He always saw Dustin as the happiest little boy. He always had a smile on his face. Unless they were in some kind of danger of course. Dustin brought the light to room. Steve couldn’t believe that his best friend was suffering this bad and he didn’t realize.
“Why didn’t you just come talk to me man?” Steve asks. “I’m always here to listen and help you with anything and I mean anything. It could be gross or horny.”
Dustin lets out a chuckle.
“I-I’m always gonna be there for you.” Steve tells Dustin has he himself begins to tear up.
“Thanks Steve” Dustin says as he starts to cry again. “ I-I-I-I just didn’t know how to say it. We were all busy trying to find Vecna and taking care of max, I didn’t want to add onto everyone’s stress.”
“ You wouldn’t add onto mine Henderson. I’m always gonna be here for you.”
Dustin starts to cry harder and gives Steve a massive hug.
As they stand there in that hug, Steve also begins to cry. He can’t believe he missed the struggle his best friend has been facing.
“Hey Henderson?” Steve asks as he starts wiping away his tears. “If you ever feel like you want to do that to yourself again, could you come and talk to me or other people about it?”
Dustin lets out a sniff. He isn’t quite sure how to respond to this. He never thought he could ever open up to people about this issue let alone to Steve.
“Please man” Steve starts to sound like he is begging.
Dustin lets out a sigh but knows it is the right thing to do.
“ Alright father Steve,” Dustin jokes. “I promise and I do mean it. I promise to come talk to you. I trust you the most.”
“Thanks man.” Steve says within a sigh of relief. “Now, I am glad we had this conversation, but we really should go try to find Johnathon and Nancy.”
Dustin jolts back.
“SHIT!” he yells. “WE NEED TO GET GOING!”
He turns around and starts running to find a way upwards.
“WAIT FOR ME HENDERSON!”