♥

THE TEAM WERE GETTING battle ready while hidden in a meadow from Jason's hunting party. Behind Ruby, the majority were focused on building their weapons and defences while Ruby had formed the plan.

After all, it was what she did best (though, the majority of the time they failed, this one would work). For Ruby, the plan kept her mind focused, giving her something to do with everything going on.

Though, between Robin and Steve, they were making explosives with Robin pouring the petrol into the empty bottles.

"It just doesn't make sense," Steve said.

"What doesn't make sense?" Robin questioned.

"That was Dan Shelter," Steve answered. "He graduated, like, two years ago."

"So?" Robin replied.

"So he's in college," said Steve. "Which means he was visiting on spring break. Fast Times was returned, like, I don't know, a week ago? Right? Unless she's got some horndog brother we don't know about, which is possible. Or she's just really into Judge Reinhold."

Robin had rolled her eyes, suppressing a sigh.

"Steve," Robin caught his attention.

"What?"

"I don't care," Robin insisted. "And I don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on. Honestly, this feels like the perfect time for that little pull of the rug because, in the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low."

"Yeah," Steve agreed, eyes falling low. "I get you there, but I still have hope."

Steve handed the bottle to Robin once it was complete with the cloth in place.

"Not everything has a happy ending," Robin told him.

"Yeah, yeah, believe me, I know," Steve insisted.

With the words, Steve's eyes had fallen on Ruby, where they lingered. Catching him, Robin let out a small chuckle.

"I'm not talking about failed romance," Robin said, starting the next makeshift explosion. "I just...I have this terrible gnawing feeling that it might not work out for us this time."

Steve met Robin's gaze. "You think we shouldn't be doing this?"

"I think we're mad fools, the lot of us, but..." Robin continued to pour the petrol, trying to concentrate, and then her eyes scanned around the group of them. "But, if we don't stop it, who will? We have to try, right?"

"Yeah," Steve agreed, prompting a small, petrified smile from Robin before he held up the bottle of petrol. "To killing Vecna."

Robin held up a bottle too. "Slash Henry."

"Slash One," said Steve as they clinked the bottles.

"And now," said Robin after. "Go talk to Ruby."

"You just called it a failed romance," Steve pointed out. "And that the stakes are too high to even worry about love."

"There's a difference between me having a crush on someone and you being in love," Robin insisted. "You might have failed once, but don't risk your life without telling Ruby how you feel."

"Knowing Ruby, she probably still hates me," Steve replied, frowning.

"You don't believe that," Robin shook her head at him, sighing. "Steve, you are honestly so dumb sometimes. Actually, blind. Maybe Ruby did hate you, but it's because you broke her heart."

"I'm not that blind," Steve argued as his eyes fell on Eddie, remembering how the two had been about to kiss in the trailer not too long ago. "You've seen them together too, Robin. I screwed up my chances the moment I let Ruby go."

"Maybe Ruby will come back to you," Robin offered. "I'm just saying, from what I've observed, Ruby seems pretty torn about how she feels. Christ, she even wrote letters for you both in case she didn't make it."

"Ruby, did what?" Steve questioned, shocked.

Robin's lips parted, realising her mistake.

Though, for Ruby, she had sat quietly in thought while the Billy Joel tape was on. This tape did not have Vienna on, but Ruby was still thinking about her dad, wondering how he would react to the trouble Ruby was getting up to now.

"Slow down, you crazy child," John Baker had always told Ruby, repeating the lyrics from the song.

And now, they were going head first into battle against what should be impossible.

But Ruby had survived once, so she could do it again.

Then, Ruby found herself startled as Steve's shadow blocked the limited sun.

"Sorry," said Steve, choosing to sit down on the grass next to Ruby as she removed a headphone from her ear to hear him. "I tried making it obvious that I was coming over, but you looked... distracted. You doing okay, Ru?"

"I'll be okay once Vecna is dead," Ruby replied.

"How's the plan?" Steve asked, seeing the open map with little crosses and a notebook with the step-by-step phases. "Sorry War Zone didn't have any coloured pens."

"Don't tease, Steve," Ruby told him. "You loved my coloured notes."

"They were more fun to read," Steve replied before his face became tense as if he had something serious to talk about. "Uh, Ru, I need to talk to you about something."

Ruby frowned at him. "That sounds serious."

"I just..." Steve's eyes darted away from Ruby, hand cupping the back of his neck as his fingers knotted in his long strands of hair. Ruby's eyes were glued to him, heart pounding as she did not know what would come next. "I wanted to make sure that the plan was set on you staying with Eddie and Dustin."

Ruby sighed, ignoring the slight crack in her heart. "Steve, I've already told you: Eddie, Dustin, and I will be the distractions," she tried to smile, knocking her elbow into his side. "I'll save all the glory for you."

As much as Ruby wanted to be the one to kill Vecna, she understood the risks that would come with that. While still cursed, it was not the best idea to be close to the wizard that wanted to kill her to destroy the world.

But Ruby would put on a hell of a distraction.

Steve, though, was silent as there was a hint of a smile, which seemed strained.

♥

The sun was setting, leaving a chill in the caravan as if their doom was pending. Ruby felt strange in her clothes; there was a camouflage jacket that was too big, worn over her dirt-covered white top, and then Ruby had her hair in a ponytail, but a bandanna too.

Over her ears, the headphones remained as Ruby kept her attention on the outside world, trying to distract her mind from the descending chaos.

They dropped off the first three: Max, Lucas, and Erica. Leaving them at the Creel household did not feel right, but it was essential for the plan to work.

For the rest of the group, their moment awaited in the Upside Down. First, though, as the darkness descended, Ruby wanted to remind them of the plan.

"Right," said Ruby. "One more time."

"I get what you mean now," Robin said quietly to Steve. "About Ruby and her plans."

"One more time means at least another three," Steve insisted. "Ruby likes a plan."

A plan that never works out.

Just like how Ruby had planned to prove that she was not like her mom.

Or, the plan to get to college (and stay).

Or, the plan that Steve Harrington would fall in love with his best friend.

Then there had been the life plan (dreams based on Steve).

And then, the ultimate plan to get Chase back.

Yet, there had also been the plans in-between with her first day of high school or for big changes like moving. With a plan, Ruby had always felt in control.

Now, this was a plan to save the world, so Ruby needed to be certain it would not fail this time.

"Phase one?" Ruby repeated herself, cutting off their chatter.

"We meet Erica at the playground," Robin said.

"She'll signal Max and Lucas when we're ready," Nancy added.

"Phase two?" Ruby questioned.

"Max baits Vecna," Steve answered. "He'll go after her, which'll put him in his trance."

"Phase three?"

"Me, Eddie, and Ruby draw the bats away," Dustin said.

"Four?"

"We head into Vecna's hopefully newly bat-free lair, and..." Robin shook the makeshift firebombs as the liquid sloshed. "Flambé."

"Nobody moves on to the next phase until we've all copied," Nancy instructed, taking charge again. "Nobody deviates from the plan, no matter what."

"If anyone deviates from the plan, I will honestly kill you myself," Ruby told them. "Understood?"

"Understood," the words echoed back.

"Are we supposed to be scared of Ruby?" Eddie questioned to Steve.

"It's Ruby," Steve reminded him. "Trust me, you don't want to be on her bad side."

"Noted," Eddie murmured.

"I can hear you both," Ruby told them, glaring at the two.

"See," Steve insisted. "Ruby's terrifying."

Ruby left the caravan with a smile on her face. In her hands, Ruby had a trashcan lid with spikes of nails and a spear, looking like she was about to head into combat —well, she literally was.

They cut through the woods to the trailer park, heading to the abandoned crime scene of Eddie's trailer where the gateway was. Even just seeing the trailer now caused Ruby to tense, remembering what had happened the last time.

In her ears, Uptown Girl had been playing as Steve switched the lights on inside the trailer, revealing the gate between the worlds. Ruby's breathing hitched, flashes of the trauma that Vecna had awakened replaying in her mind as she stepped backwards, where Eddie was closing the door.

Eddie's hands steadied her with a tiny smile. "Hey, you're okay, Ruby."

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ruby insisted, knowing all eyes were on her.

But they did not have any time to waste.

"Be careful," Dustin warned Steve.

"Thanks, Buddy," Steve patted him on the back before he gripped onto the rope of sheets. "Here goes nothing."

Ruby stepped closer as her eyes followed Steve as he climbed. Passing through, Steve ended up upside down as he braced himself before doing a flip, where he landed on two feet. Looking up, he shrugged with a smug look as if it had been easy.

"What a show-off," Ruby muttered.

Robin made a sarcastic reaction. "What does he want us to do, applaud?"

In the Upside Down version of the trailer, Steve had moved the mattress into position to break their fall. Even just the thought of what came next left Ruby sick to her stomach, but she could not chicken out now.

"All right," Steve called up. "Let's go."

"I'm going first," Ruby decided before Nancy was about ready to go.

No one stopped Ruby as she stepped forward, looking up to where Steve was waiting. In her ears, the song looped, surprisingly keeping Ruby grounded. Trembling hands gripped the white sheets, terrified that Vecna would steal her away again.

But there was a difference this time: the previous time, Ruby had wanted to die; this time she was not waiting for Vecna to come — Ruby wanted to live.

So, with that thought process, Ruby gritted her teeth together as she forced herself to climb upwards. This time, no one invaded her mind as her body passed through to the Upside Down with the gravity shifting. Then, with a grunt, Ruby fell as her body hit the mattress.

Opening her eyes, Ruby's soft brown irises met Steve's as he offered her his hand.

"Gotcha," said Steve

Accepting it, Steve helped Ruby stand with the two becoming close. As their eyes bored into each other, Ruby let out a long breath, not being the one to let go of Steve Harrington's hand. Though, as Steve forced himself to, he did not step back.

Steve's hand rose to Ruby's face, adjusting the headphones back onto her ears before there was a crooked, shy smile on his face.

Following Ruby, the rest of the group joined with the two quick to help everyone, as well as to grab the supplies as they were thrown through. Now that they were back in the gloomy, dusty world of the Upside Down, everything started to feel real.

And Ruby felt her heart pound as they left the trailer, where her eyes were stuck on Steve's back, hating the thought of the two being separated. If Steve did not return...

"Hey, guys," Steve turned to the three with the flashlight in his hand bright as Ruby adjusted her headphones so she could hear. "Listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep 'em busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just—"

"Decoys," Dustin finished, frustrated. "Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve."

"Absolutely," Eddie agreed. "I mean, look at us. We're not heroes."

Ruby was silent in her fear. Everything felt ominous as her eyes never left Steve, watching as his irises flickered to her own, where the two did not possibly know what to say. A single second felt like an eternity, but it was a second they didn't have to waste.

"Please be safe," Steve told her.

And then Steve's body turned away, walking towards the woods with Nancy and Robin as Ruby felt her heart churn. When everyone left, they never said goodbye, and Ruby feared the past repeating itself.

So Ruby chased after Steve, calling out his name. Hearing it, Steve was quick to turn.

Yet, now, staring at him again, Ruby was speechless.

"Steve..."

"If I had not let you go, do you think we would have figured things out?" Steve asked, where the question had startled Ruby. It was abrupt, but Ruby knew that Steve was nervous like she was. "Was... I, uh, ever part of the plan?"

"Steve, you were more a dream than a plan," Ruby confessed, offering a small smile. "Even if we hadn't worked out, you still would have been there. Losing my best friend was worse than losing what could have been."

"Remember that dream I told you about?" Steve questioned, taking a step closer to her. "About the winnebago? About seeing the country with my six lil' nuggets?

Ruby smiled at that, relieved to know that someone else had dreams that were more far-fetched than her own.

"It's all true," Steve confessed, eyes becoming gooey which caused Ruby to step closer to him. "Every last word. But I left one part out. It's the most important part. You're there."

"Your dream was with me?" Ruby whispered in disbelief. "What about..." Nancy. Robin.

Honestly, Ruby wasn't sure who she meant. There had always been someone else, where Steve had always been blind to how Ruby had looked at him.

"There's no one else," Steve told her, meaning every word; each word prompted his confidence, causing his fingers to rise as the back of Steve's knuckles brushed her cheek. "It's always been you, Ru. Even when I was blind and afraid, or when I was seeing other girls, I always ended up comparing them to you. And the truth is, no one could possibly be you. Christ, I've not seen you for years, and I still love you."

Ruby was certain that if Steve Harrington spoke another word, then her heart would truly explode. The younger teenager in herself wanted to scream. And yet, with everything happening, Ruby probably did the best and worst thing: Ruby kissed Steve.

It happened so quickly; one moment, the two had been silent, lost in the moment, and then, Ruby's fingers were tangling in the long strands of Steve's hair, pulling his head down towards her. In the heat of the moment, Ruby let the cage around her heart open.

And Steve melted at the moment with his hands underneath Ruby's jacket, touching her lower back as he pulled her closer. After, the two were breathless as Steve's head remained low, pressing his forehead against Ruby's with a smile on his face.

"Come back to me, Steve," Ruby told him.

"Hold on for me," Steve replied, pulling back from Ruby.

Ruby nodded at that. "As long as you make Vecna pay."

Steve's head nodded once at that before he was pulling away from her. Behind Steve, Robin was grinning brightly, most likely eager to tease Steve already.

But as Steve left, and Ruby turned back to her small team, her eyes fell on Eddie with the crack appearing between her heart again. Whether Eddie had seen, Ruby was not sure as the oldest amongst them had already started the prep for their phase of the plan.

Even with Ruby's heart torn, it was the end of the world, so they had to survive before she could even think about her own selfish needs.

With nothing to say, and time being limited, the three got straight to work. There were three drills to assist them as they created a fort from Eddie's Upside Down trailer. Metal was nailed into the trailer with the fence for the trailer park creating a protective cage around them from the bats.

Once it was finished, the three stepped back, staring at their quick work with pride. Above them, the thunder boomed with a crackle of red lightning.

"Not bad," Eddie commented.

"Not bad at all," Dustin agreed.

Ruby grinned. "Aren't we a team!"

Eddie chuckled at that. "Now for the fun part."

They entered the trailer, heading to where Eddie's small bedroom was. While things seemed similar from almost three years back, the place was eerily creepy too with the Upside Down vines and particles that floated.

"Jesus Christ," Eddie murmured.

His eyes had fallen on the electric guitar in complete awe. Ruby shook her head at him with a grin, knowing Eddie only had one love in his life, and that was his guitar.

"It's like," said Eddie, stepping towards his guitar. "She was destined for an alternate dimension. What do you say?" Then, Eddie picked up the guitar. "Are you ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" Dustin questioned.

"Can I play instead?" Ruby asked, smirking at the look Eddie gave her.

Clearly, he was not impressed.

"Little Red, you have a few more lessons to go first."

With that, Eddie used the strap to keep the guitar strapped to his back, finding a flare of confidence now that he had the musical instrument. "Let's do it."

On top of the trailer, the three had prepared themselves for the musical concert to distract the bats. While Dustin was communicating with the others on the radio about the plan with it heading into phase two (Max baiting Vecna), Ruby had stayed with Eddie as he had set up.

"Do you need this?" Ruby asked, holding up the guitar pick from her pocket.

Eddie spotted it, freezing for a moment. "You still have that?"

"You gave it to me," Ruby reminded him. "Why wouldn't I have it?"

Eddie fell speechless as if he was shocked.

"If you're keeping it, then you need a chain like mine," Eddie then told her, fingers holding his to show Ruby, but her eyes had lingered on his tattoos more.

"Matching necklaces," said Ruby, grinning. "When did we become that cringe?"

"Well, I did want my nose pierced until I saw your nose ring," Eddie confessed. "I suppose, just this once, we could have matching necklaces as long as it's not one of those ridiculous friendship things."

Ruby's smile only widened. "Eddie, I thought we were friends?"

"I'm not sure what we are," Eddie admitted.

That caused Ruby's smile to fall with the tension flaring for a moment. But, to their relief, the radio had cut through the moment with Robin announcing that they were moving onto phase three.

"Copy that," Dustin replied. "Initiating phase three."

Hearing that, Ruby reached for the wires as she connected the electricity with the sound sizzling. The amp whined, ready to go.

"Let's hope they hear this," said Dustin.

As Ruby looked at Eddie, he shot a wink at her. "This is real music, baby."

Ruby rolled her eyes, amused more than anything. Then, she was putting her headphones back on before Vecna crashed their concert, though she kept one ear free for Eddie. Close to the amp, Dustin turned it on.

"Chrissy," said Eddie, preparing himself. "This is for you."

And then, Eddie turned, strumming the first few keys to the heavy metal song.

♥

Ruby's literally got 2 men wrapped around her finger lol but it's honestly an impossible decision! The kiss wasn't actually planned but I'm adding a little extra drama cause I love it and them! I'm honestly not ready for the next chapter so shall we end the story here😭 unfortunately, I'm now away until Monday so it'll be a little wait to prepare yourselves!