♥

LOVE HAD NEVER BEEN A possibility for Ruby. Though, at fifteen, Ruby had first discovered her feelings for her best friend, finding it just as frightening as it was magical.

They had been at a party, playing a ridiculous game of spin the bottle, where Steve had been dared to kiss Melanie. Of course, seeing Steve kiss another girl had ignited a pit of jealousy inside Ruby, wishing that Steve would kiss her instead.

But love would ruin their friendship and Ruby was terrified to lose her best friend. So, Ruby kept the feelings to herself — only her father had caught on. 

That night in 1983, two best friends had broken a sacred, unspoken rule of overstepping that line. Downstairs, the leaver's party had continued, completely oblivious to the two. Yet, in their shared moment, Ruby had thought that maybe love could be a possibility.

And Steve Harrington had sparked that hope inside Ruby.

Afterwards, Ruby had laid with her head in the crook of Steve's neck with his fingers dancing delicately on her back. There was a smile on Ruby's face, believing that nothing could break the moment.

"So, that happened," said Steve.

Ruby felt her heart quicken as her head tilted upwards, looking at him. "You don't regret it, do you?"

"No, not at all," Steve reassured her, where Ruby caught a sudden flare of panic. "Why, do you?"

"No," answered Ruby, happily. "But I'm still leaving tomorrow..."

Steve's joy evaporated, remembering the hundreds of miles that would come between them. His hand rose, fingers gently brushing her cheekbone. "We've already agreed to call each other," Steve reminded her. "And I'll be there for Christmas."

"This doesn't change anything?" Ruby asked, afraid.

Now, that she had fallen into the trap of her heart, Ruby was worried that Steve would end up leaving her.

"Everything's changed, Ru," Steve told her. "You are naked in my bed, after all."

Ruby felt her hands reaching for the covers to pull them up, but Steve had rolled, hovering over her with a smirk on his face. The curled strands of his hair fell forward with Ruby smiling, raising her eyebrows upwards to question what he was doing.

"We still have a party going on downstairs," Ruby reminded him.

"I don't care," Steve decided.

Then, his arm was wrapped around her waist, somehow pulling her closer to him.

"What do you care about?" Ruby asked.

"You," Steve answered. "Always you, Ru."

Ruby's heart skipped a beat.

And foolishly, Ruby had believed it.

♥

"So, we haven't spooked you?" Robin questioned the following morning.

Again, the five of them had driven to Eddie's hideout. For Ruby, this had been the third car ride since yesterday and it was not getting any easier. Ruby's heart was stuck in her throat, which had fortunately prevented her from being sick.

"Oh, I'm spooked," Ruby replied, standing outside the metal shed on shaky legs. "I think you are all batshit crazy."

Dustin opened the door of the metal shed, where Eddie had jumped. They headed inside with Ruby's eyes falling on him, spotting the jiggered bottle that was in his hand again.

"Delivery service," Dustin said in greeting.

Eddie sighed, relieved to see that it was them.

Sitting in his boat, Eddie was eating the cereal from the box. Ruby stood opposite him with her hands shoved in her denim jacket, sticking close to Robin. 

"So, we got, uh, some good news and some bad news," Dustin told Eddie, sitting on a stool. "How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first," Eddie decided. "Always."

"All right, bad news," Dustin started. "We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're, uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like, 100% kind of convinced," Max added.

"And Ruby?" Eddie questioned, eyes falling on her, wide with fear.

"That's the good news," Robin said. "If your uncle spoke to the police, then he hasn't mentioned Ruby at all. Your name hasn't gone public yet, either. But, if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too."

"Plus, I saw Ruby a couple of times heading into your trailer, so someone else could have noticed," said Max.

"No one should know who I am, hopefully," Ruby said. "Maybe I'll get mistaken for Chrissy. We're both blondes, after all."

"Once word gets out about you, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you," Robin warned Eddie.

"Hunt the freak, right?" Eddie realised.

Ruby frowned at that.

"Exactly."

"Shit."

"So, before that happens," said Dustin. "We find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence."

"That's all, Dustin?" Eddie questioned. "That's all?"

"Yeah, no that's pretty much it."

Ruby laughed, finding it ridiculous. A young girl was dead, and Eddie was on the run, but their plan was to hunt a dark wizard from a game.

"Listen, Eddie, Ruby," said Robin. "I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a—a few times, and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we got this."

"Yes, see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers," Steve added. "But, uh, those went bye-bye, so..."

"So, were technically in more of the—"

"Kinda..." Steve tried.

"Brainstorming phase," Max finished.

"Brainstorming," Steve agreed, clicking his fingers.

Dustin agreed. "There... There's nothing to worry about."

Steve scoffed in response.

Both Ruby and Eddie exchanged a long look. Even in the early hours of the morning, Ruby had laughed as Steve told her about the Upside Down and about some telepathic kid.

"This is brilliant," Ruby commented. "Or, instead of searching for the make-believe, why don't we actually figure out who killed Chrissy."

"Vecna," Dustin answered, adamant.

"You are all crazy," Ruby whispered.

"If you don't believe us, then why are you here?" Dustin asked.

"For Eddie's sake," Ruby answered. "As well as my own."

But, deep down, maybe a part of Ruby did believe — they were not on drugs, nor could she think of any alternative for Chrissy ending up dad. Maybe Ruby was in denial, but she needed to see it with her own eyes to believe it.

Outside, sirens started to wail with the group panicking, quick to hide Eddie. Then, the rest of them rushed to the windows, spotting multiple cop cars and an ambulance rushing past them.

Before leaving, Eddie had caught Ruby's hand.

"Little red, I... thank you," Eddie told her. "The things you've done for me. If you don't believe this, then I don't blame you, but I didn't think you would come back."

"I wouldn't leave you like that," Ruby told him. "I'll figure this out, Eddie."

Eddie smiled at that. "I don't deserve you."

Ruby, though, tried not to flinch at the words.

♥

The first thing the group did: check to see where the sirens had headed. As the car pulled up, the majority climbed out of the vehicle with Ruby remaining stuck in her seat. Ruby spotted Nancy Wheeler standing with the police, where the teenager had looked towards them, face deflating as if seeing them promised trouble.

Ruby had her hoodie under her denim jacket over her head as they found themselves back at Eddie's trailer park. Crime scene tape lingered by the murder scene as Ruby's eyes were stuck on the trailer from where she sat at the picnic table next to Steve.

"Is any of your stuff in there?" Steve asked.

"No," answered Ruby. "I pack it all up every day just in case. I don't know if they could find other traces of me, though."

With her head turning back to the table, Ruby met Nancy's quizzical gaze with a smile. Of course, Ruby knew all about Nancy Wheeler, who was the girl after Ruby. Nancy smiled back, eyes briefly falling to Steve before her attention fell on Dustin again, who explained everything.

"So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy is from the Upside Down?" Nancy questioned, looking toward Ruby again, who was now new to their craziness.

Though, Nancy being involved had really thrown Ruby off.

"If the shoe fits," Steve replied.

"Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse," Dustin explained with Ruby's eyebrows raising, but she remained silent. "Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know."

"All we know is this is something different," Max said. "Something new."

"Doesn't make sense," Nancy said.

"Thank you, Nancy," Ruby responded.

"It's only a theory," Dustin reminded Nancy, ignoring Ruby.

"No," said Nancy. "Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?"

"Maybe they were just in the wrong place," Dustin guessed. "Were both at the game."

"And near the trailer park," Max added.

"We're at the trailer park," Steve pointed out. "Uh, should we maybe not be here?"

They looked around themselves as if expecting something to jump out from the woods around them.

"There is something about this place," said Nancy. "Fred started acting weird the second we got here."

"Acting weird as in?" Robin questioned.

"Scared, on edge," Nancy listed. "Upset."

"Max said Chrissy was upset too," Dustin remembered.

"Yeah, but not here," Max corrected. "She was crying in the bathroom at school."

"Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?" Robin said. "So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman—"

"Vecna," Dustin corrected.

"Dunno bout you, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone," Steve said.

"Maybe they did," Max suggested. "I saw Chrissy leaving Ms Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you... you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you. But you might go to your—"

"Your shrink," Robin finished.

Max nodded in agreement, giving them a potential lead. They were getting ready to head off again as they headed back towards Steve's car. Ruby wrapped her arms around herself, not quite looking at the vehicle, but her expression was hidden by the hood of her hoodie underneath her denim jacket.

Nancy, however, had other plans away from theirs.

"Whoa, whoa," said Steve, spotting her walking away from them. "Nance. Nance!" Then, hearing her name, the brunette turned, looking at her ex-boyfriend. "Nance, where you going?"

"Oh, there's just something I wanna check out first," Nancy told them.

"Something you maybe wanna share with the rest of us?" Dustin questioned.

"I don't want to waste your time," Nancy replied. "It's a real shot in the dark."

"Less believable than a dark wizard?" Ruby questioned.

"Maybe," Nancy replied. "I'm not sure yet, but it might be something too."

At school, Nancy had always been incredibly smart. Maybe she had lost a few brain cells with the delusions of the Upside Down, but Ruby had faith that Nancy could solve the case.

"I'm going with you," Ruby decided.

"What?" Steve questioned, turning to her with a frown. "You can't go, Ru. If someone sees you... or with Vecna on the loose...it's too dangerous."

"I don't remember asking for your permission," Ruby snapped at him.

"Here," said Steve, throwing the keys towards Robin behind them. "I'll stick with Ru and Nance. Take the car, check out the shrink."

Ruby scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't remember you being invited."

"Neither were you," Steve replied.

Nancy sighed at the two.

"Anyway, I don't think you want me driving your car," Robin stated.

"Why?" Steve questioned.

"I don't have a licence," Robin confessed.

"Why don't you have a licence?"

"I'm poor."

"I can drive," Max offered.

"No, no, never again," Steve exclaimed far too quickly with his finger pointed at the young teenager. "Please. Anybody but you." Then, Dustin pulled a face, suggesting himself. "No chance."

"Come on," Dustin replied.

"No," Steve told him.

Ruby grinned at Steve. "Looks like you'll be staying."

"All right, okay," Robin decided, reaching to snatch a radio from Dustin's backpack before she gave Steve back his keys. "This is stupid. I'm certain Nancy and Ruby would have been perfectly capable by themselves, but us ladies will stick together."

Robin stood with the two girls, looking back at the rest of the group.

"Unless you think we need you to protect us?" Robin challenged.

Steve pulled a face at Robin before his eyes fell on Ruby. "Are you gonna be okay, Ru?"

"Funnily enough," said Ruby. "I trust Nancy's driving more than yours."

Then, with that, Ruby turned as she walked towards Nancy's car with the two. Though, Ruby's heart thundered with the thought of practically a stranger driving her. Maybe Ruby did trust Steve's driving more.

"Be careful," Steve shouted after them.

Both Robin and Ruby turned, flipping Steve their middle finger before the two new friends exchanged a smile. Of course, Steve's eyes were stuck on Ruby.

♥

In the car, Ruby thought she was starting to cope a little better. While Nancy was clueless, she had picked up on Ruby's fear, so drove to the limits with her seatbelt on.

But Ruby's head had started to throb again, causing Ruby's eyes to crease shut. Blood dripped from her nose as she was quick to catch it.

"Shit," muttered Ruby.

Nancy became distracted for a moment. "Ruby, are you okay back there?"

Robin turned from the passenger seat, wide eyes falling on Ruby. "Oh, shit," said Robin. "Nancy, do you have any tissues?"

"The glove compartment," said Nancy.

A tissue from a packet was handed back to Ruby as she pressed it against her nose. There was a frown on her face, but Ruby couldn't look at either of them from embarrassment.

"So, how long have you been back?" Nancy asked, trying to make conversation.

"Not long," Ruby answered. "Maybe two weeks."

"You and Steve friends again?"

Ruby laughed at that, keeping the tissue pressed to her nose. "No, we haven't been friends for years now."

In the rear-view mirror, Nancy's eyes fell on Ruby briefly with a small smile. "Steve's always had your best interests at heart."

"Yeah, well, apparently he's lost the plot along with all of you."

They ended up at Hawkins library with Ruby taking her hair down from her ponytail, hoping it was enough to keep her hidden. While being spotted in a library was not a crime, Ruby did not want to bump into anyone else she knew.

Above them, the bell tolled.

Nancy had briefly told them what she had found out with Ruby relieved, finding it a more realistic lead than chasing any dark wizard.

"Okay, help me get this straight," said Robin. "Eddie's uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped Pennhurst Asylum and then he's the one running around committing these murders?"

"Pretty much," Nancy confirmed.

"I mean, it makes more sense to me," Ruby said.

"But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the '50s," Robin said.

"Well, '59," Nancy corrected, opening the library door.

Ruby followed behind, looking back at Robin. "Still more believable than your wizard theory."

"So, that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down," continued Robin, following behind the two. "By about thirty years?"

"Yeah," Nancy answered, reaching the librarian's counter.

"Which makes spooky Victor Creel like seventy years old," Robin pointed out.

"Yep."

Then, Nancy pressed the bell on the counter, alerting their presence.

"So, he's a grandpa murderer," Robin clarified, resting her head in her hand as her elbow fell onto the counter. "Who can turn invisible and lift people into the air."

"It doesn't make sense," Nancy agreed. "I know. That's why I said it was a shot in the dark."

"I know," said Robin. "I just thought that by 'shot in the dark', you were being modest or hiding something solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later. But this is, really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who've been spun around fifty times."

Getting agitated, Nancy kept ringing the bell.

"Coming!"

"Hi, sorry, we're in a bit of a rush," Nancy greeted the woman. "Could we get the keys to the basement archives?"

"Of course," the librarian replied. "Give me one sec."

Robin was quick to turn to Nancy as the woman disappeared. "Did I come off mean or condescending?"

"No," Nancy answered.

"Right," there was silence as Ruby's eyes fell briefly to Robin. "Sorry. It's just, you seem annoyed. You don't know me very well. I don't really have a filter or a strong grasp of social clues. Ruby's gotten kind of used to me, but you..."

"Okay," Nancy replied.

"So, if I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it's a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily."

"Got it," said Nancy.

Robin looked to Ruby, but the blonde simply gave her a thumbs up.

"All right, ladies," the woman returned, holding up the keys. "Have fun."

"Yep. We'll try."

The three of them ended up in the archives with Ruby struggling to concentrate on the screen with her headache. Ruby was next to Robin, who was not as focused as Nancy was opposite them.

"Ruby, you okay?" Robin whispered.

"Super," Ruby replied. "I can't find anything, though."

"Neither," Robing agreed quietly and then her voice rose: "anything...juicy over there?"

The machine whirled, filling the silence again.

"Nothing new," Nancy told them.

"Yep, same here."

"Not much for someone who had killed his family."

"Victor seemed like a normal guy," Robin agreed. "Dead family, missing eyes. Took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst. Blah, blah, blah, blah."

Robin leaned to the side, earning a small smile from Ruby.

"What are we looking for exactly?"

Again, the question was met with silence.

"Nance?"

Robin knocked on the metal casing of the screens between them and Nancy.

"Any mention of dark wizards or alternate dimensions? Things in that vein?"

"I don't know, okay?" Nancy responded, agitated. "It's starting to seem like this was just a big waste of time." Then, she stood with Ruby pushing her wheely chair outwards so she could spot the brunette. "You're both obviously bored. Why don't you just call Steve? I'm sure he'll come pick you up. And I mean, I'm not really in danger here, so..."

Then, Nancy walked away, leaving the two staring after her.

"Does she think Steve and I are together...?"

"I mean, I did wonder it at first," Ruby confessed.

Robin laughed at that. "Steve and I are, like, not a thing."

"Yeah, I figured."

"Good," said Robin. "Because we are platonic with a capital P."

"Oh, I know," Ruby reassured. "And I don't care what you and Steve are, Robin. Come on, let's help Nancy."

Ruby started towards the stairs, knowing that Robin would be following behind. Even if this was a dead-end, it was still something. If it failed, then Ruby hoped the others had found something.

"What about you and Eddie?" Robin continued.

"What about us?" Ruby questioned with a frown as they headed down the stairs with Ruby spotting the back of Nancy's head, where she was looking through another archive.

"Are the two of you..."

Intrigued, Nancy looked over at them. "You and Eddie Munson?"

"No, we are not together," Ruby made it clear to them both. "It's just..."

But it wasn't just sex — not anymore at least. Ruby was not sure what it was between them, but it had happened before. The last time they had tumbled down this path, they had crossed the line with feelings, but Eddie had never taken that step. Now, though, Ruby was not sure what to think, but Ruby was stubborn enough to keep it just sex.

"Something."

Neither said anything to that with Ruby quick to turn to the archives herself, searching for something to try reading next. It was not mentioned again as they focused on the research.

"Holy shit," said Robin, causing the two to look over to see her holding up the archives for the old tabloids. "The Weekly Watcher. I can't believe they have this."

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

"Don't they write about, like, Bigfoot and UFOs?" Nancy questioned.

"First, UFOs, are absolutely real," Robin clarified. "Bigfoot, I'm still on the fence about."

"Oh, but an alternative dimension called the Upside Down and a dark wizard killing teenagers is believable?" Ruby questioned, trying not to laugh.

"Exactly," said Robin. "We are looking for information on dark wizards. If someone's gonna write about that, it's gonna be these weirdos."

Nancy was silent at that, thinking that maybe Robin was onto something.

So, the three ended up at another screen, searching through the archives for the impossible.

"Ah," said Nancy. "Elvis cloned by aliens."

Robin looked over at her. "You never know."

Already giving up on the tabloids, Nancy moved away, seeing it as nothing but nonsense. Ruby remained, intrigued by the nonsense more than anything.

But, one article, caused her mouth to part in surprise.

"Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed family," read Robin, adding the creepy tone. "The murder that shocked a small community."

"Holy shit," whispered Ruby.

"Ha, ha," Nancy replied. "That's very funny."

"I'm not kidding," Robin told her. "Get over here."

Nancy returned close to Ruby's side again, peering down at the article.

"According to several insiders, Victor believed his house was haunted by an ancient demon. Victor allegedly hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home," then Robin turned to look towards the two. "Pretty novel for the '50s. Exorcist wasn't even out yet."

"Keep... keep going," Nancy encouraged.

"Okay, so Victor claimed this exorcism failed," continued Robin as she scrolled down the article. "But it angered this demon, which then murdered his family, removing their eyes. Victor believed he was spared as a punishment."

"That's pretty convenient for Victor," Nancy said.

"Yeah, or super inconvenient," Robin argued. "Victor was declared legally insane by the court, right? What if this is why? I mean it sounds pretty insane. It just didn't go public because—"

"The plea bargain," Nancy realised. "The records were sealed."

"What if a demon did invade Victor's home?" Robin questioned. "It's just, this demon wasn't any old demon."

"It was Vecna," Nancy stated.

Ruby sighed. "So, we're back to it being the dark wizard again?"

♥

Steve and Eddie protecting Ruby in the upcoming chapters is honestly so adorable! I'm also debating a Robin x Eddie's sister story now as I love Robin.