If she wasn't pacing the room, she was pacing the entire hospital.

Max wasn't okay, but her heart beat was still there. Or, it came back. Lucas told her everything, because by the time Clove arrived, Max was already being taken to the hospital. The insane amount of guilt weighed on her, flooding every vein in her entire body. She really thought she had Vecna, she would have bet her life on it.

Yet, she failed, and now her girlfriend was paying the consequences for it.

El, Mike, and Will arrived at the hospital when she was in the process of coming back from her stroll around the parking lot. Seeing them took a lot of stress off her shoulders for a moment, relived they were okay and still alive. She held onto Mike and Will for what felt like forever, kissing them both on the forehead before they went in. El stayed with her a moment, the pair sitting on the bench outside of the hospital and really talked, just the two of them, like they use to.

"I really thought I did it, El." she admitted, sighing sadly. "I thought I had him."

"You did, he is strong." El crossed her legs and hid under her hoodie. "And mean."

"So mean." she gave a sad laugh as her eyes filled up. "He was gonna come for me."

El frowned as she took her hand. "He didn't."

"Because of Max." she met her eye, sadness dancing all around the dark brown shades. "She saved me from him, and I couldn't even save her."

"Clove." El grabbed her shoulders and shook her head. "You did so much. Henry is-he's like a disease. Hard to beat. But, Max is still alive. She didn't die."

"Yeah." the blonde looked down again. "I just wish I could talk to her again, I didn't even realize how much I missed talking to her until we couldn't."

"Me too." El frowned, pulling her into a hug. "Can I see her?"

Clove nodded, standing up. They kept their arms around each other the entire ride up the elevator and into the hospital room, coming across Lucas hugging Mike and Will. He let them go and hugged El as well, she squeezed him in guilt. "I'm sorry."

Mike put an arm around Clove to pull her into his side, she did the same with Will so they were all smooshed together next to Max's bed. Mikes eyes flickered to the many, many, many mixtapes and a bunch of books. Many that he'd seen in Cloves room. He then remembered. "Buttercup is at my house."

"What?" she looked up at him.

"El tried to spy, to find you, and she said Buttercup was the only one at your house. We went and got him before we went to my house." he said in return.

Clove felt immediate guilt, praying her poor dog didn't feel scared during Vecna's attack on Hawkins. She pressed her head against him more. "Thank you."

Will laid his head on her shoulder as her arms tightened around his waist. El looked down at Max. "Do they know...when she will wake?"

"No." Lucas sighed.

"They said she might not." Clove felt sick each time she had to say it.

"Her heart stopped. Over a minute." Lucas explained the trauma he faced, taking care of Max while Clove thought she'd been saving her. If the Reyes girl knew the out come, she would have been there, at least there to comfort her during such a horrible experience. "She died. Then..she came back. The doctors say it's a miracle."

El sat down next to Max and held her fingers. "I'm here, Max."

Clove watched the two, feeling emptiness in her heart and soul. Her stomach too, reminding herself of how hungry she was, but all foods made her sick right now. Will looked to Clove. "We were going to work on the cabin. Will you come ?"

"I don't know." Clove looked at Max again.

"You should go with them, take a shower." Lucas hugged her tightly. "I'll wait with her until you come back, hopefully smelling a bit better."

Clove laughed. "That bad?"

"Like a really old person." he said back, holding her face as they pulled back. "And I love you."

Clove wanted to cry the second he said it, because I love you's were so important now. She nodded her head, keeping it together. "I love you too."

They all moved so she could go to Max, sitting next to her and placing her hand on her cast. She inhaled, taking her time, but they gave it to her. She leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I won't be gone long, I promise. When I get back, I'll bore you with my favorite conspiracy theories. Okay?"

She knew she wasn't gonna answer, but apart of her had hope. Clove frowned but gave her a tiny smile, because Max would want her to smile. "I love you."

She didn't say it back, but everyone in the room knew she loved her too.

Clove was beyond thankful Mike let her wear his jacket and El had some shorts in her bag. Her hair was wet, staring in the foggy mirror. She couldn't see herself yet, bringing her hand forward and wiping across the glass, revealing a smudged version of herself. She thought she'd gotten her makeup off after how hard she scribbled in the shower, but water proof mascara clearly lived up to its name, trapped under her eyes and against her terribly pale skin. She'd paled more then usual from her lack of nutritious and sleep.

She couldn't bring herself to care right now though, especially not infront of her friends, her family.

"Hey." Mike looked up, him and Will coming to an end of their conversation when the door opened. "You okay?"

"Yeah." she walked over and sat between them. Like the hospital, she held Will and Mike held her. "Hungry."

"I can feel your stomach." Will gave a little giggle from his hand on Cloves stomach.

"Someone say hungry?" a voice rung, making her look to the doorway. Nothing would make this situation better aside Max waking up and Eddie coming back, but if there was someone who would uplift her the most, it was Leven Reyes.

"Dad." she was up in no time, running into his arms as he hugged her tightly. "Take it you weren't helping with yard work?"

"I was living out my D&D fantasies." he lifted her off the ground slightly, use to hang her by her feet as a little kid but couldn't do that anymore. "You should have seen it, Clove. Hop and I were like two smooth criminals."

Mike and Will shared a comical look. Neither of them had good dads, Leven knew that ever since Clove brought them home at such a young age. He was their father figure, always has been. Clove laughed as she held onto him a moment longer. "I don't doubt- did you say Hop?"

"Like, Hopper?" Will stood up.

"Oops." he put a hand over his mouth. "Did I spoil the surprise?"

"Always." Stella walked in, her red hair shorter then it was when she left. "Hello, my plant baby!"

A nickname she had since birth, Clove always hated it until now. Now, she just stayed in her Moms arms and soaked up the small amount of comfort she had been granted. Leven hugged the boys and made comments about how tall Mike was and how Wills voice was getting deeper. Clove peaked her head out and waved to Hopper, he gave her a little grin and waved back. "Hey there."

"Hey, Hop." she smiled to him, still holding onto her Mom. "Glad you aren't a goner."

He smiled down at her. "Me too. She here?"

"She's in there." Clove pointed down the hallway for Hopper to go find El, Mike hid from him just slightly. Clove hid a laugh.

"Where's Max?" Stella looked around for her fellow red head. The mood fell then, Cloves heart falling back into her stomach and the constant sickening feeling lingering in her stomach.

Leven saw the look all three of the teens had. "Oh, n-"

"She's alive, she's just really, really hurt." Clove explained, glad she reached the stage of feeling numb rather then wanting to burst into tears every time she spoke. "But, it's only been two days."

"Yeah, she'll wake up." Mike agreed. "She will."

"Yeah." Will nodded.

"Course she will." Stella smiled, Clove hated that they were all only saying it for her sake. "She's got the redhead genes. We are very powerful."

"You should have seen her with those russians." Leven gapped at their only child, plus the pair they'd consider theirs if they could. "I love my wife!"

It brought a smile to the trios face, making their way outside where they greeted Joyce and Cloves uncle. He hugged her as she hugged him, only for Murray to start his gossiping about all the drama her parents had done. El and Hopper joined them soon after, reuniting her with Joyce. Clove smiled, touching her collar bones and wishing Max was here. She wanted to leave soon, get back to her so she could talk her ear off and hope for some type of reaction. Leven was planning to go get Steve before they headed home, another one he had a strong bond with after being apart of Scoop Troupes last year.

Clove saw Will in the corner of her eye, turning as he held the back of his neck and looked up at the trees. Clove followed his gaze, a large and dark cloud forming above them. It caught everyone's attention as Leven and Stella huddled on either side of their daughter.

"El?" Clove frowned her eyebrows as, what appeared to be snow, started to slowly fall from the sky.

"I know." El agreed, by her side as they looked up. Jim lead them through the forest, she caught up with him as they all followed. Making it to the large field, Clove stood in the flowers as she stared at the other side of the field, completely grey and seemingly getting closer and closer. In the distance, many and many explosions blew smoke into the air, fire flooding close behind. She felt something on her nose.

Clove rose her hand to her left nostril, pulling her hand back and staring at bright, scarlet red blood.

•

kylie speaks

ohhh my babies! i had such
a good time reuniting with
all of you and being able to
talk and have fun together
again. i will miss our conversations in the comments
but i am so grateful i got to
deliver yet another season
for all of you, one more to
come, you know i'll be back
for it! i love and appreciate all
of you so much, for the support,
for the understanding, and the
love. making clove this season was such a personal thing for
me because, as someone who
recently was diagnosed with
depression, i felt for a while like
i didn't have the ability to do a
lot of stuff in fear of a bad episode coming. obviously, that is bullshit and i wanted to make clove to show people that, yes she has depression and is on medication for it, but the fear of it hasn't stopped her from doing all the things she loves and going that extra mile! i hope, if you have felt like i have, that she is the perfect wake up call to show you that you can do whatever you want, your mental health is so important, but it can not scare you into a corner! i love you all, i'll see you
in, i'm assuming, a year and a half! OH! AND! i am planning
go do a prolgue book that features clove in season one,
leven in scoop troupes, stella
with hop and joyce and alexi,
and then hot milf and dilf in
russia together! not sure when
it'll be available but i'll come
back to let you guys know when
each of them are!