Chapter Text
The world was ending. Again. And somehow, I was screaming at Steve Harrington like a lunatic. My chest burned, my hands shook, and every word I spat felt like it might tear something inside me apart.
“How about chasing after somebody else’s girlfriend while the world is ending?” I shouted, my voice cracking.
Steve ran a hand through his hair, that familiar, helpless gesture he always did. “Nancy is a friend. She’s a friend. Okay. You remember what that’s like? Having friends?”
Yeah, I remembered. I remembered Eddie. Someone who actually believed in me when nobody else did. Who didn’t just tolerate my quirks, but celebrated them. Who made me feel like I mattered. And now he was gone. And all I had left was anger. And grief.
“Yeah, I do. I remember what it was like to have a good friend. A real friend who actually believed in me and who was actually kind to me.”
Steve’s eyes flicked toward me. “What?”
“Aha,” he said, smugly.
“What?” I snapped.
“There we go. That’s what this has all been about really—Eddie. All your pushing everyone away. It’s because no one could ever be as perfect as he was.”
“Perfect?” I barked, my hands clenching into fists. “He wasn’t perfect, but at least he knew that. Unlike you. He was never fake. He didn’t care what other people thought about him. He was just himself. And you know what? He was the smartest, kindest person I’ve ever met. And he would have solved this in thirty seconds flat.”
Steve flinched, but his voice stayed steady. “Well, if I’m such a goddamn idiot, how come I’m the one still standing here?”
My stomach dropped. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“That night, I told you not to be heroes. I told both of you. What did Eddie do?”
“He charged into a swarm of killer bats…”
“To save my life,” I finished.
“No. He saved no one,” Steve said, his tone low, almost mournful.
“Yes, he did!” I yelled. “He saved everyone!”
“You can keep telling yourself that, Henderson,” he said, eyes narrowing, “but deep down the reason you’re so goddamn pissed is because you know the truth. Eddie wanted to play hero, and he made a dumb call, and he got himself killed.”
I didn’t even think. My hands found the Rubik’s cube in my pocket, and I threw it at his face. It hit with a satisfying thunk. Steve raised his hands. I attacked. Anything I could grab—a chessboard, pens, books—I threw them all. I didn’t care anymore.
“What the hell, man? What are you doing, man? Stop it. Stop it,” Steve shouted.
“You’re going to hurt yourself!” he pleaded, trying to grab me, trying to calm me down. But my grief was too sharp, too loud. I wasn’t just fighting Steve; I was fighting my own heartbreak.
Finally, he managed to wrap his arms around me, holding me in a hug. I lashed out anyway, tears burning my eyes, rage and sorrow twisting me up.
“Enough! ENOUGH!” I screamed.
“I wish… Eddie was here instead of you,” I yelled, the words tearing out of me.
Steve’s face went stricken, eyes widening as if I had punched him in the gut.
Somewhere unseen—inside Dr. Brenner’s office—a small object began to glow an ominous red, casting eerie reflections against the glass. It pulsed slowly, deliberately, like it had been waiting.
The fury in me started to burn out, leaving only a hollow ache.
We collapsed onto the floor. I could feel his arms loosen, and I didn’t resist anymore. For the first time, I just sat there, crying. Not just for Eddie, but for everything we’d lost, for everything we were still fighting for.
Steve got up first. Pain was etched across his face—the same kind I felt. “You know what, man? I’m done. I’m done.”
I wiped my nose, my voice trembling. “All right. Yeah… just go and crawl back to N.”
“You dumb fake,” I muttered, but I wasn’t even mad anymore. Just tired. Broken.
The door slammed behind Steve, echoing far too loudly.
I stayed on the floor, chest heaving, hands shaking so badly I had to press them flat against the cold tiles to steady myself. My face burned—from crying, from yelling, from everything I hadn’t said out loud since Eddie died.
“I didn’t mean it,” I whispered to the empty room.
But Steve was gone.
The red glow behind Brenner’s old desk pulsed once. Then again.
I didn’t notice at first. I scrubbed my sleeve across my face, smearing tears and dust, staring at the place where Steve had been standing like I could rewind time if I just looked hard enough.
“I just wanted you to stop acting like he didn’t matter,” I muttered. “Like he was just—just some mistake.”
I stayed on the floor a long moment, just breathing, letting the emptiness settle in like dust. Slowly, I forced myself up. My legs felt like lead, my hands still shook, but I knew I couldn’t stay. Not while something… weird was happening.
I moved toward Dr. Brenner’s office. The door was slightly ajar. Papers and files were scattered everywhere. Brenner’s notes—scientific, clinical, cryptic—lay in neat stacks on the desk. I picked one up and started reading, trying to make sense of the scribbles and diagrams. Experiments, formulas, timelines… everything hinted at something bigger than even the Upside Down.
Before I could fully understand, a red light pulsed in the corner. I turned to find its source, but before I could react, it exploded in a blinding flash.
The world went white.
I felt myself thrown backward. Air rushed out of me. My ears rang. And then… nothing.