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Jonathan walked through his old home. Discarded Christmas lights were tangling around his ankles everytime he took a step and the harsh winds blasted through the hole in the livingroom wall. Scrunched up drawings of the tunnels that Will drew were piled up in the corners, blood spatters over them.
He heard someone yelling his name, his little brother.
Jonathan turned back around, towards Will's room. He had to shove his entire weight onto the door to open it since it was jammed. Inside, the air was blistering cold, burning his eyes and the walls and floors were covered in upside down vines, mixed in with bones and blood.
Will sobbed in the corner, vines over his limbs that trapped him in place. Jonathan instantly ran over to him, attempting to pull the vines apart but they wouldn't budge.
Will's eyes were on something across the room. Jonathan glanced around and spotted what he was staring at. Jane, who they called their younger sister, was sitting against the wall, blood running down her face from her nose and eyes. From where he sat, he couldn't see any movement from her. He couldn't stand looking at her anymore, the tears in his eyes were making it hard to see anyways, so he focused back on freeing his brother.
Behind them, a low growl sounded, Jonathan tried to turn around to look but his body was frozen in place. His hands were stiff, as if they were glued to the vines he was trying to pull apart from Will. He could see a shape on the wall from the corner of his eyes.
The shadow on the wall grew bigger and bigger, showing the large Demogorgan body coming closer. The mouth opened as it let out a shriek but it slowly formed into a man yelling.
Lonnie.
The Demogorgan closed its mouth, now the shape of a tall, broad man. A hand gripped Jonathan's shoulder, which would've definitely left a bruise. Finally, he was able to turn and he was met with the cold gaze of his father.
He saw the man raise his hand and he turned back to Will, covering him with his body but his little brother was gone. As if he was never there in the first place.
Jonathan sprung away to the side, running away from Lonnie's dangerous glare and rapidly made his way to the door. He fought with the doorknob, Lonnie getting slowly closer and closer as he tried to pull the door open.
When Lonnie was a meter away, the door magically came away and he slipped past the small gap he opened so the other man wouldn't follow and then slammed it shut.
A strong force forced him to fall backwards, hitting his back against something. He looked around and found himself on the tower in the upside down. Nobody was around him. No Will, no Joyce, no Nancy. It was just him.
Until he heard a yell.
He looked forwards to where the door previously was and saw Steve, his boyfriend, standing in front of him. The tower gave another jerk as the sky came crashing down and Steve slipped backwards. Jonathan shot forwards, onto his knees to grab Steve right before he fell.
He was too late.
He watched the boy fall and fall, their eyes not leaving each other's for a second.
Jonathan was about to jump down with him, unable to bear losing the love of his life.
---
Jonathan woke up instantly as someone shook his shoulder. He sat up, breathing heavily and blinking rapidly to get the tears out of his eyes.
He was in bed, one week after the upside down collapsed.
He was safe.
"Hey, it's okay." Steve whispered beside him, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer to his own body. Jonathan's head was against Steve's chest, so that he could hear his steady heartbeat. Steve was alive, he was okay, Jonathan saved him from falling.
Steve had let the Byers stay at his house after everything since the Wheeler home was getting renovated and they didn't want to be a nuisance. Steve's parents were out of the state for a while now so it was basically his house. Jonathan stayed with Steve in his room, since they'd been dating for a few years, whereas Will and his mother took guest rooms. He was pretty sure Mike was staying over with Will down the Hall anyways.
A couple of minutes passed with them hugging and Steve murmuring reassurance to him. There was barely any light in the room, except for where the moon shone through the gap in the side of the curtains. Jonathan's heartbeat had slowed again to it's original pace and his breathing matched Steve's. Although, his cheeks and eyes were still wet with tears as he remembered the nightmare.
"You wanna talk about it?" Steve asked, his thumb rubbing comforting circles on Jonathan shoulder. "You don't have to." He added, placing a soft kiss on the top of Jonathan's head.
"Just a nightmare." He replied, his throat sore as if he really had been running in his old house.
"I know, I know." His boyfriend murmured, slowly laying them both back down again and bringing Jon closer against him.
"Sorry, they keep happening." He mumbled, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. It's been exactly a week since everything ended and every day since then, his sleep had been plagued with nightmares. So had Steve's, but the other boy wasn't as affected by them, or at least he pretended not to be.
That had also meant exactly a week since his sister had died. He knew they werent actually related and she only really lived with them for a bit In California and he wasn't fully present during the time, but it still hurt massively. He knew Will and his mother were more closer with her, so he felt guilty for feeling so hurt about it, but every second of the day he had her final look she gave everyone in his mind. He couldn't escape it.
"Hey, dont apologize, it's not your fault. We've all been through hell and back." Steve interrupted his thoughts, placing another kiss, this time on his tear-stained cheek. "You're safe, I'm always here with you. Will and everyone else is safe as well."
Jonathan nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. His eyes burnt and he had even bigger eyebags than usual underneath them from the lack of sleep. The only thing keeping him sane and not resorting back to his addiction from California was Steve.
"Can I call Will in the morning? Just to make sure him and mum are okay." He asked, his voice small. He knew he didn't have to ask, he's been doing that every day since he's been staying at Steve's house.
"Of course. We can even go see them if you'd like." Steve knew how Jonathan felt, well not exactly, he didn't lose a sister and almost lose his brother multiple times. But every day he popped down to Dustin's then to Robin's, making sure they were still there and safe. Nobody had fully healed from the past few years, and no one really knew if they would, but at least they all had each other and were tied together by their joint near death experiences.
"It's not just about the upside down or Jane." Jonathan mumbled, shifting to lay on his side and faced Steve. He could slightly see the shape of his face through the dark. "Lonnie is always there in my dreams."
Steve had guessed that, he knew how much that bastard scarred Jonathan. He wanted to find that man so bad and punch him. He remained calm for Jonathan and hugged him tightly instead.
"I know, but he can't hurt you now, you're safe." Steve cupped Jonathan's face. "I won't let anyone hurt you again."
They rested their foreheads together, cuddling with their limbs and bodies tangled. They still had a couple of hours until it was morning, so they let themselves rest even though they knew they weren't going to fall back asleep.
"I love you, Steve." Jonathan mumbled, listening to the sound of the wind outside and Jonathan's breathing.
Steve hummed in response, kissing Jonathan for a few moments. "I love you too, Jon."