𓆩♡𓆪

   PAIN. TEARS. FAST BREATH. Everything Brooke is experiencing as she gasps loudly, hand to her chest when she practically jumps from under Steve's sheets.

Her head swirls with the now fading memory of the nightmare. It was of herself, bones breaking as everyone watched her die and land into the pool. Scared faces of friends gasp for air as they watch Brooke die a brutal death.

The harsh motions wake Steve immediately, it's not like he was sleeping very well anyway. He had just barely fallen asleep with his eyes glued on Brooke who fell asleep due to the exhaustion her body was in.

"Brooke?" Steve panics and gently holds her head in his hands. Trying to find the words, Brooke scratches at her throat but Steve quickly moves her hands away from the area. Resting her hands on Steve's shaky ones, Brooke finally finds the words, "I had a nightmare."

"Yeah, you wanna talk about it?" Steve asks. He has to blink a few times because his brain begins to play tricks on him. The whites of her eyes had been shown to him; he knows it's just his fear that hasn't gone away. Brooke sighs loudly and slams her body against the mattress, "No. I'm tired of talking about that." She's hoping the emphasis on the last part gives him enough of a hint but she'd be the first to admit her boyfriend can be a bit of an airhead. Thankfully, Steve's eyes soften even more as he catches on. His elbow digs into the sheets as he hovers over Brooke, "That's fair. Is it okay to say I'm tired of this shit too?"

Suddenly, the sound of chaos erupts behind Steve's bedroom door. Multiple footsteps are heard and then incoherent shouting from a group of people. They can make out the voices but not full words. Brooke gasps, "Am I naked?" She looks down at herself in her sleepy state, "No. I mean. I practically am with how big this damn hoodie is on me."

"You asked me to buy that big so I could wear it and give it to you," Steve smirks. Brooke brings the covers up to her face to dramatically hide her embarrassment. Staring at Steve's big brown eyes and blown out pupils, her heart does flips. "I know, it's almost like I love you or something," Brooke laughs. Steve's face freezes. Brooke blinks a few times, reciting in her head what just happened.

    Oh—OH.

Brooke's eyes widen as she recalls the words that just left her mouth. Both of them have not said the three words to each other on their own accord. Fear of past relationships, family or partners make the three words ten times harder for them to say.

"You love me—" Steve's bedroom door flies open and he protectively pulls the blankets over both their bodies despite them both being clothed. The kids nearly scream in response, thinking the worst at the quickness Steve covered them. "I told you not to barge in!" Max yells, walking up behind the group of scared teen boys. Danny has his eyes covered, "Oh my God. I'm gonna kill myself."

"Daniel, we are not naked!" Brooke yells and kicks the blanket off of them. Danny peeks through a slit in his fingers, "Oh."

"Don't yell at us! Nancy and Paisley told us to wake you up," Lucas tries to defend their actions. Steve grabs a pillow and tosses it right in Dustin's face, "Great. We're awake."

"Hurry up. We need to get Eddie food!" Dustin snaps his fingers and walks away with a scoff. Both the boys follow after him but Max stands there. "Maxine," Brooke pulls out the government name. Max deadpans, "Alright, next time I'll include stripping you of your sheets." Brooke narrows her eyes as Max walks away. She can hear the girls downstairs trying to get their shit together.

Steve moves the pillow from his face, "Brooke?"

"Hm?" She hums.

"I love you too," Steve says, sitting up and pulling Brooke in for a passionate kiss. One that Brooke hopes tattoos itself onto her lips.

SOMEHOW, THE WHEELER'S FAMILY car fits everyone. That doesn't mean they're all seated comfortably but, they all are in. Brooke is sitting in the trunk between Steve's legs, in front of Dustin as the three of them chew into Eddie's chip supply.

New food and new information will be delivered to Eddie except one of them is good. "Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car?" Robin pleads from the front seat, "This is gonna totally and royally suck!"

"It'll be fine," Nancy tries to reassure the worrisome blonde. Paisley scoots forward between the front seats, "I think Eddie has a small grasp that this isn't gonna just be fixed like that. He knows it'll be a process—I hope." Never in a million years did Paisley and Brooke think they'd be spending the week trying to get their resident drug dealer friend out of the grips of the Upside Down.

Robin's eyes swell with pity for the Munson boy, "I can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again. I really, really can't." Paisley adores the empathy Robin has for those she barely knows. Sure, she knows Eddie from parties but then again, Paisley and Brooke dragged her to those parties. "Robin, it's okay. He will just eat to cover the pain!" Brooke shouts, chip crumbs falling from her mouth. "And at least he can drink himself into feeling better," Steve says between chip bites, holding up the case of beer.

Brooke's eyes light up, "Wait, give me one."

"Brooke, those are for Eddie," Dustin reminds her. She deadpans at the boy, "I almost died, Dustin! I'm having a beer," Brooke scoffs, getting the cap off the beer by hitting the back of the seat. Foam fizzes up but Brooke puts it to her lips before a mess can be made. "Oh, my mom does the same thing," Max says at the mention of alcohol. Pity looks are given to the girl, including Brooke considering her own experience with alcoholic parents. The cold beer in her hands suddenly feels like she's holding a bottle of guilt.

"We could like, ease him into it," Stella suggests. "Yeah like, 'Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin approved junk food and that six pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Bad news is that he's in another, darker, much scarier dimension, and the gate is closed, so we have no way of getting to him! Like, he's entirely shut off to us so basically you're screwed. And, I know, you were already screwed, but now you're doubly, triply screwed!" Robin rants till she's out of breath.

Everyone just sits back and grits their teeth at Robin's words. "Wait. Maybe don't put it like that," Lucas says. "I mean, she's not wrong but I don't think Eddie would appreciate it like that. Might cause the boy a heart attack. Stella, has he done cocaine?" Penelope asks. Stella blinks a few times but then thinks about it, "Probably."

"Yes," Brooke speaks up. Everyone turns to her for an explanation but she just drinks more of the beer. "We're one step closer to finding Vecna. That's what we say. That's what's important," Nancy says after the chaos slightly calms down. "See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference," Steve says. Both Paisley and Robin turn to glare at him. "Steve, shut up!" Paisley yells.

"Oh shit," Nancy curses. Everyone diverts their attention to the cop cars outside of Eddie's hideaway. "Oh my God, no. Are we too late?" Stella panics, pulling on the door handle to leave the car but fortunately it's locked. News reporters and civilians stand in the driveway. Exiting the car, they avoid the eyes of the crowd.

"Come on, this way," Nancy leads them in a secluded spot to hear the statement Powell is making. "......Reporting a homicide out here on the lake. Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene....." Powell continues on, "......it was there we found an 18 year old senior from Hawkins High. Patrick McKinney."

The name makes Brooke stand up straight. The image of Patrick's hollowed out body burned into brain makes her rub at her eyes. Everyone else's eyes are on Lucas. This was his friend, his teammate that was taken by the hands of Vecna. Powell goes into the explanation of how Patrick was found.

"We also have identified a person of interest—Eddie Munson," Powell holds up a photo of Eddie.

"Bullshit!" Stella tries her best to whisper, anger and worry boiling within her. "This is not good. Really not good," Steve says. "No shit. If Eddie isn't here though, where the hell could he be?" Danny crosses his arms. Eventually, Powell closes up his statement and reporters begin to try and flood the police with questions.

Brooke is stuck in thought. That means Vecna had tried to kill two people last night—a drastic change from his usual one person a day.

Static crackles in from the Cerebro and Eddie's voice sounds, "Dustin, can you hear me?" Quickly, Dustin lowers the volume and scrambles to respond back, "Eddie. Holy shit. Are you okay?"

"Nah, man. Pretty goddamn far from okay," Eddie admits. Stella takes the object from Dustin, "Ed, where are you?" Dustin doesn't try to fight for the object back though, he just watches Stella with sympathy, knowing how she feels right now.

"Skull Rock. You know it?" Eddie asks.

Brooke snorts at his location, Steve rolling his eyes at her. "That's near Cornwallis and—"

Steve cuts Dustin off, "Garrett, yeah. I know where that is," And he sets off running, grabbing Brooke's hand. "I am not a lost puppy, Steve," Brooke tries to wiggle playfully out of his grip. "If I hold you down tight enough nothing can happen. It makes sense to me," Steve shrugs, still dragging her through the shrubbery.

The group is all walking at about the same pace now, eyes on where Steve and Brooke go because they seem to know how to get them there.

Paisley and Robin walk next to each other so close that Paisley swears Robin is purposely brushing her fingers against hers. Robin looks around, eyeballing how close their friends are in earshot of them. Noticing no one is too close to them, Robin nudges Paisley with her shoulder. "Huh?" Paisley says, turning to look at Robin.

"After this—if we make it out alive, I mean, you probably will. Anyway, do you think we'll have a chance to talk?" Robin nervously spits out. Paisley almost stops her movement. This is where it ends—where Robin realizes that they can't carry this secret anymore. Paisley puts on a poker face though, "Talk about what?"

Robin gnaws on the inside of her lip, "Um, can I say us? I've never done this before."

Paisley stares down at the ground now, her poker face feels like it has begun to fail her as fear becomes bigger. It's an emotion herself and the others have felt one too many times nowadays but this time somehow makes her stomach drop as deep as it did when they found out the girls are cursed. "Robin, if you don't wanna do this anymore—I understand. I mean, whatever this is," Paisley forces a smile at Robin and tries to walk ahead but Robin jumps in front of her. "No!" Robin shouts, walking backwards and catching the attention of their friends, "I mean....no. I thought you wanted to end it."

"What? Why?!" Paisley is offended. Has she not given Robin the time and affection she thought she wanted or needed? "You're the one that's hot and cold with me," Paisley whispers. Robin's hands fly to her head in frustration, "Paisley, I have no idea what I'm doing! You, Brooke and Steve are the first people I've found in this shithole town that accept me. You think I know how to navigate the signals of a....a.....relationship—dare I say?"

Paisley tries to hide the smile at the mention of this being a relationship, "And you're the first girl I've ever kissed Robin. Kissing you that night at my house was the best night of my life. I—I thought you were gonna find someone better and I was just your starting point or something. I'm not making sense."

Robin steps to the side to walk with Paisley side by side again, "Paisley, I want you to be my starting point and ending point. I just have no idea how to ask you to be my girlfriend." Blood rushes to Robin's cheeks as she looks away from Paisley. A big, goofy smile is displayed on the Slora girl's face, "How about when we both make it out of this, we both ask the other. Deal?"

Robin snaps her head back at Paisley, holding out her pinky as a desperate attempt to feel Paisley around their unsuspecting friends, "You're quite the optimist."

Paisley wraps her pinky around Robin's, "The stakes are even higher now. How can I not be?" The two girls linger, neither wanting to pull away just yet.

"Harrington, I'm tired of walking!" Penelope shouts, making them break their linked pinkies apart. "Suck it up, Penny!" Steve shouts back, earning a gasp from Brooke when he uses the black listed nickname. Penelope's eyes flash with anger as she stomps up to Steve, "I should kill you!"

"Penelope!" Nancy shouts, somehow calming down the explosive blonde, "Don't let him get under your skin." Brooke mouths I'm sorry before continuing to walk hand and hand with Steve.

"He can't afford to touch my skin much less get under it," Penelope scoffs, picking leaves off her leather jacket. Nancy giggles. "What?" Penelope questions. "Hm? Nothing. Everyone just hates Steve at first. Brooke and him hated each other," Nancy explains. "God, I pity whatever happened to change that within her," Penelope rolls her eyes.

   THE FOREST NOW SURROUNDS them for what feels like miles, and probably is miles. "Steve, are you sure we're not lost?" Dustin groans for the millionth time. Everything looks the same to their young friend but Brooke and Steve recognize the pathway. Leaves that seem to still know the shoe prints of the couple. Memories of the lake swirl in Brooke's mind. Could they barely see their whole feet in the murky waters?

Yeah—but, neither teen seemed to care. It's not like they haven't been in worse substances.

"We're not lost, Dustin!" Brooke rolls her eyes, moving branches out of the way. "Isn't this place like....a hookup spot?" Danny asks, scrunching his nose up at the sky. Brooke and Steve glance at each other, the boy giggling while Brooke looks mortified. "Yes, take that look as a yes, Danny," Dustin sighs.

Steve gasps, catching a glimpse of the tall, skull shaped rock above the branches and shrubbery, "Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, boys. Skull Rock!" He holds back the branches so Brooke isn't harmed as she ducks under his arms but he lets it go once she's through, hitting the boys in the face. "Told you, guys. Told you!" Brooke shouts, spinning around the dirt. The familiar air comforts her. The cool breeze from the lake intertwines with spring air, making Brooke have a small smile. "In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face," Steve teases Dustin.

Stella is the next to come through the bushes, "Eddie?" She immediately shouts. She's never been to Skull Rock, she honestly feels kind of left out. Half the school has been here it seems like, at least in her grade. Eddie and her hookup, why didn't he take her here?

"It doesn't make sense," Dustin says. "Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can't admit it. Can't admit you're wrong, you buttheads," Steve teases the boys again. Brooke leans against the rock, "Munson?" She calls out. "I concur," Eddie emerges from somewhere in the trees, giving Brooke a small heart attack when he hits the ground. "You, Dustin Henderson and Danny Martel, are......total buttheads," Eddie continues. Relief surges through them. Brooke's smile even widens seeing her friend in good physical health, doubtful on the psychological.

"Jesus, we thought you were a goner," Dustin says, hugging Eddie who hesitated at the affectionate action, taking a look at Brooke and Steve before accepting it. "Yeah, me too, man," Eddie says, eyes softening when he looks towards Stella. Dustin and him separate from the hug and Stella has to stop herself from running towards him and tackling him to the ground.

Her arms wrap around him, her hands twirling the ends of his long hair. Eddie takes less time to hesitate when he hugs back Stella, slightly lifting her from off the ground. Quiet sniffles come from Stella and Eddie pulls back to look at her. "Hey, don't cry, please. I mean that, I don't know what you want me to do," Eddie tries his best, moving hair from her face. She wipes the tears, "Sorry—"

"Well, don't apologize. I should apologize. But, I'm here!" Eddie puts on his brave face and smiles at Stella who weakly returns it. Slightly forgetting her friends were behind them, Stella awkwardly turns around. "Cute," Brooke says, nodding. She is genuinely happy that Stella is with someone else, or not, she's just happy that she's happy basically, she knows Casey thinks the same.

  She wonders if ghosts or spirits are real and if they are, if Casey is standing between her and Steve right now, smiling ear to ear. It brings her comfort and for a second, Brooke swears the wind brings the scent of weed and vanilla, the same way Casey smelt.

Eventually the rest of the group catch up to them. "Ed!" Paisley excitedly shouts, running towards him. Eddie smiles and giggles, "Hello, Slora," They do some handshake that no one even realized they had together and then pat each other on the back.

"Munson," Penelope tilts her head, somewhat familiar with the accused murderer thanks to other drug dealers in the area. "Oh! Your food and shit!" Danny remembers, roughly opening Dustin's bag while it's still on him. "Dan—Danny!" Dustin shouts but Danny still just grabs the stuff and hands it to Eddie who thanks him.

For a few minutes, Eddie explains his story from last night. Jason and his crew had showed up to the house, chased Eddie into the lake where Patrick had become another one of Vecna's victims. Brooke bit her lip the whole story, knowing she'll have to tell him that her and Max almost died the same way.

Eddie takes a swing from the water canteen, "When I got to shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh.......my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing I do now apparently. I ran," Eddie sarcastically chuckles, disappointment evident in his big eyes.

"Do you know what time this was? The attack?" Nancy asks. "Yeah, no, I know exactly what time it was," Eddie says, fiddling with his watch, "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked," He says, tossing it to Nancy. Penelope leans over Nancy's shoulder, "9:27," She reads out. "Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin figures out. "Which means what exactly?" Steve asks. "That surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy responds. Brooke winces, pulling her thumb away from her mouth. She had been unknowingly destroying her fingers nervously. Everyone's eyes go to her.

"Brooke?" Lucas questions, concerned.

She sighs, "It's just.....I saw Patrick when I was nearly Vecna'ed last night—"

"What?" Eddie shouts, abruptly standing up from his spot, "You're cursed too?"

"And me," Max quietly says but he still hears it. Eddie stands with his mouth agape, "Jesus Christ!"

"Anyway! I said nearly, I'm still here. But, why'd Vecna try to kill two people in one night? That's not his routine," Brooke says but everyone stares blankly without an answer. They all have almost defeated looks, even Nancy. Brooke's shoulders drop, she didn't think they'd have an answer right away but still.

"We are......one step closer," Paisley claps. "Yeah, we know how he attacks," Robin adds on.

"And where he attacks from," Lucas also adds.

Brooke had begun to watch Dustin as a distraction from the hole in her chest. He's been pacing, staring at his little compass.

"So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max says.

"If he has a heart," Robin comments, making Paisley giggle. Steve looks like he's thinking real hard but he doesn't even contemplate his next question, "Stake? Is he like......is he a vampire?"

Everyone deadpans him. It even breaks Brooke from her fixation on Dustin. "Steve.....," Paisley trails off, holding her head in her hands at his stupidity. "It was a metaphor!" Max shouts. "I can't believe you were popular," Stella says. Steve's jaw drops, clearly offended, "Machado, we should expect anything, okay? It was a valid question!"

"To you—because you're stupid!" Stella retorts. Steve looks towards Brooke for some defense. "Babe...." Is all she says before Steve then fully realizes how dumb the question was.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie asks.

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas suggests. "Explode the whole Upside Down!" Danny says like it's his best idea yet. "I say all of the above, maybe except Danny's idea. But we can't do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down," Nancy explains. "We need El to get her powers back," Max remarks. Everyone collectively nods their heads in agreement. "Do you think she knows what's going on?" Brooke blurts out.

"I tried to call Jonathan last night but there was so answer," Paisley says. Brooke turns, "Why didn't you tell me...or anyone?"

"Didn't think it was relevant considering it was right before you almost DIED," Paisley shouts in Brooke's face. The girl just mocks her best friend and shuts her mouth. "I would love to say I think I can open this...portal but even my ego can be denied sometimes," Penelope says, showing a bit of her humbleness but it goes down the drain when she flips her hair dramatically.

"Everything was way easier. We had this girl—basically Brooke's sister. She had superpowers—"

"Superpowers, yeah," Eddie cuts Steve off, "You mentioned her but not Penelope having powers," Eddie points to the blonde. Steve sighs loudly, "Yeah, she has some too."

Brooke notices Penelope's fingers dancing at her waist. She fully turns to look at her, expecting for Steve to cry out in pain before she can stop Penelope but Eddie winces instead.

"Oh—OH! Ow! Jesus Christ!" Eddie says, holding his wrist. "I could explode you from the inside out," Penelope releases her fingers, Eddie immediately sighing in relief, "I won't though. Maybe." Eddie sends her a look of fear but directs his attention to Dustin, "Hey, uh, Henderson's not, uh, cursed, is he?"

"I've been wondering the same. Dustin, what's up?" Brooke takes a step closer to the pacing boy. "Cursed? No, no. He's fine. Mental? Absolutely," Steve insults his younger friend, earning a light smack on the bicep from Paisley.

"BOOM!" Dustin shouts, frightening everyone, "Bada....bada...boom," He continues, pointing at Steve the whole time, "I was right! Skull Rock was north!" Unlike Steve, Brooke is actually starting to believe Dustin. Usually, the kid is right, admittedly. "Seriously? You're serious?" Steve asks. "Mhm," Dustin hums. Steve throws his hands up, gesturing at the rock behind them, "This is Skull Rock! Okay? You're totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now." The group sighs in annoyance as the argument starts up, Steve's voice echoing throughout the trees.

"Yes! And.....no," Dustin says.

"Oh my God," Steve says, throwing his hands to his head. "Go on," Brooke waves her hand at Dustin. He holds up his compass, "This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers'. It was correct when we got in the car on Curly. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it's way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn't wrong. The compass was."

There's barely a millisecond break before Steve starts up again, "So you're using faulty equipment. You're still wrong."

"Except it isn't faulty. Lucas, remember what can affect a compass?" Dustin looks towards him. Lucas thinks about it before it dawns on him, "An electromagnetic field!" This drawn out explanation is killing Brooke. She settles herself against the rock, closing her eyes but still listening. "Sorry, I must've skipped that class," Robin comments. "In the presence of a strong electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there's a super big magnet around here, or—"

"There is a damn gate!" Danny shouts, proud of himself for figuring it out.

Paisley taps her lips, "Okay, but, we're nowhere near the lab. Does that mean there's another gate?"

"Exactly. A gate we don't know about. It has to be smaller. Way less powerful," Dustin explains. Brooke opens one eye, feeling like this conversation is almost over. Her body is still tired from nearly dying and she just now figured this out because the adrenaline that has been pushing her is dying out the more everyone talks. "Snack sized gate!" Robin comments.

"But....why?" Stella asks. "No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we've seen anything like it, it was a gate," Dustin says, "And I hope it is because then we have a way to Vecna."

"Halle—fucking—lujah!" Penelope shouts. "Also means a way to get Max and Brooke out of this curse," Nancy adds. Dustin sets off with a nod of his head. "Where are you going?" Steve shouts but Dustin just continues on, "Hey, hey, hey!"

"Dustin!" Brooke now shouts which makes him finally turn, "Eddie is still being hunted!"

"We can't just go hiking in the woods with him!" Steve comments. "This little steel capsule might be the key to saving them. What say you, Eddie the Banished?" Dustin dramatically asks. Everyone slowly turns their head towards Eddie the Banished. His big, brown eyes glance around but focus on Stella, a nervous hand scratching at his neck. The concerned scowl on Stella's face makes him sigh. "I say you're asking me to follow you in Mordor, which, if I'm totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire......the Shire is burning," Eddie references D&D.

The sounds of dirt and a thumping gets louder as Dustin jumps up and down in excitement. Stella softly smiles and walks over to Eddie, putting out a hand, "You ready?" Eddie takes her hand, pulling her closer in the process as he gets up, "Don't have a choice, do I?"

"No, I'd make you. We're getting you out of this," Stella reassures him. Eddie steps to the side, their hands still intertwined, "So Mordor it is."

Eddie and Stella start walking and then everyone except Brooke and Steve follow. Steve tilts his head, "What is Mordor?"

Brooke scratches at her head, "I want to say Lord Of The Rings. I didn't read them yet," She shrugs and tugs Steve to catch up with the Hawkins Crew.

————

i so badly wanna start putting the outfits i imagined the ocs wearing now but it's so late in the book fuck

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