⚠️: mentions of anxiety but no attack. as usual, flashbacks - bookmarked by this symbol 《•••》 and italicized - will feature scenes from the sauna test fight which include violence against the reader and some asphyxiation.

📝: friendly reminder will and yall, while in a loving and dedicated relationship, still consider each other one your best friends, so either term works. im never intentionally trying to "friendzone" anyone when i refer to one as the other's friend, yall are just that close 🥺💞

❓: what's your favorite platonic cosmic ship and what are your favorite moments of theirs? Also thank you for answering these questions, they make me bonkers happy as well as help me understand what works with you guys as an audience so here's a cool rock I found as a thank you 🪨

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"I mean, you have to admit, it's a feat of engineering alone,"

The tunnel had been going for miles, with no turns in sight since they began the trek. All sense of time was still lost to them underground. But Dustin was determined to keep himself and the others distracted.

"this is impressive."

"What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "It's a total fire hazard. There's no stairs, there's no exit, there's just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell."

"They're commies," Erica said, earning a funny look of surprise from Steve. "You don't pay people, they cut corners."

"To be fair to our Russian comrades," Robin cut in. "I don't think this tunnel was designed for walking. I mean, think about it, they developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo."

Dustin nodded. "It all comes into the mall like any old delivery."

"And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody's the wiser."

"Do you think they built this whole mall just so they could transport that green poison?" Steve wondered.

"I very seriously doubt it's something as boring as poison." Countered Dustin. "It's gotta be much more valuable like promethium or something."

"What the hell's promethium?"

"It's what Victor Stone's dad used to make Cyborg's bionic and cybernetic components."

Erica suddenly made a face as she grasped at her stomach. "You're all so nerdy it's making me physically ill."

"No, no, no," Steve shook his head. "No, don't lump me in with them. I'm not a nerd, alright?"

"Why so sensitive, Harrington?" Robin smirked. "Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old child?"

"No, I'm just saying I don't know jack-shit about Prometheus,"

"Promethium," Dustin corrected. "Prometheus is a Greek, mythological figure, but whatever. All I'm saying is, it's probably being used to make something,"

Robin quirked a brow. "Or power something,"

"Like a nuclear weapon?"

"Totally,"

Steve held in a sigh. "Walking towards a nuclear weapon. That's great. That'd be great."

"But if they're building something," Robin wondered, unable to shake the question from her mind. A question that stopped Steve and Dustin in their tracks behind them. "why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously? Of all places? At the very best, we're a toilet stop on the on your way to Disneyland,"

Erica and Robin kept walking, not yet aware of the gut-sinking realization the boys were experiencing.

"You think the Russians know?" Steve asked, double checking they weren't heard by the two still walking.

"About the--"

Dustin's stomach turned a second time at the thought of them knowing about either Y/n or El. Let alone, the more likely knowledge of an inter-dimensional portal that was... far underground.

"They could,"

"So it's connected?"

"Maybe,"

"How?"

Dustin shook his head, willing his heart rate not to grow faster if he could. "I don't know, but it's... possible."

"I'm sorry, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

The two friends turned to see Robin and Erica several feet down the tunnel, waiting impatiently for them. Both Dustin and Steve looked to one another hoping they had an answer. Neither of them did, but luck was on their side.

Erica's backpack came to life with a crackle and hiss. More specifically, what lay inside--

-"Walkie," They gasp, running to catch up and join them on the floor as Erica rifles through her bag.

Passing the Russian-speaking walkie over, Robin unsheathed its antenna and leaned in close.

The voice was clearer than ever. And Robin had no trouble recognizing the translated message as it came.

"A trip to China sounds nice, if you tread lightly. It's the code."

"Wherever that broadcast is coming from--"

Robin nodded at Dustin.

"--It's close. And if there's one thing we know about that signal..."

"It can reach the surface,"

A smirk took over her lips and she jumped to her feet.

"Let's go."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Y/n never planned on finding herself on the Holloways doorstep a second time. The same bright red door looming in her path seemed to her somehow darker in the daylight in contrast to the single porch spotlight it sat in on that stormy night. It seemed like ages ago - a whole disaster ago.

Unlike just two nights prior, the sun hung in the sky, not a cloud in sight. The rays of light touched everything from the singing birds in the neighbor's lawn to the dew sparkling on the grass from last night's flash storm.

As the group had hiked the Holloway lawn and climbed the porch steps, Y/n stood centered among the pack and silently repeating to herself the very fact that was quickly becoming a mantra over the past few days; she wasn't alone. Not only was she quite literally surrounded by her friends - her Will - they now had the level-headed, ever calming presence of Jonathan. And the unstoppable force of Nancy.

Reassurance crashed over her hard and fast like the tide on the rocks, arching up to impossible heights, untouchable --

Nancy rang the doorbell.

--and then it came crashing back down, returning to the sea and soaking over the rocks in scattered droplets.

Y/n felt the doubt seeping into her bones, and as they waited for a response that would never come, she shared a look with Max and El and knew they were feeling it too. Already their worst fears had been realized; the Mind Flayer was back and now inhabiting Billy Hargrove. And it was precisely who they found dining with the Holloways and enjoying a bottle of wine and the musical stylings of Don McLean.

And despite the urge, they couldn't find it within themselves to back out.

The unease built itself higher and higher until... nothing happened. All was silent from what anyone could tell.

El shared a curious look with all her friends and Nancy rang a second time.

Nothing.

El already knows what she is to do moments before Jonathan and Nancy find themselves looking back at her with questioning eyes. The front door popped open in sync with the jerk of her chin and all reluctantly stepped inside.

"Tom?" Came Nancy's weary voice. "Heather?"

Again - and not to anyone's surprise - there was no answer. In fact, there was a total absence of life that included the sharp chill in the air that crawled up everyone's spine. Max shuddered from beside Y/n and clutched at her arms in a weak attempt at keeping herself warm.

"Jesus, it's freezing."

"Here," Y/n muttered, already clenching her fists at her sides as they walked.

Max nearly melted into Y/n's side in relief as a steady warmth now practically pulsed off of her friend. Her shoulders snapped to Y/n's like a magnet without even thinking. Luckily for Max, Y/n had control over the gentle warmth already spreading out into the air around them. And unlike the unfortunate mishap bights prior, it felt to her more like hugging a heated blanket.

"Thank god we made friends with a human space heater," she quipped, shooting a grateful smile her way. Even Lucas had crept closer and stuck his freezing hands out like there was a roaring fire.

Y/n rolled her eyes in amusement. "So I've been told," she says, for a moment her eyes wandering over her shoulder to Will. But all amusement fell away from everyone when they landed eyes on the sight before them in the kitchen. "Holy shit,"

A pungent, overwhelming smell burned their noses and stung their throats as they stumbled onto the scene. Everyone winced, holding back coughs and gasps as they crept forward into the kitchen. The refrigerator lay in the center of the floor, ripped right off the wall and the steel back was torn back like paper. But scattering every surface including the new 'makeshift table' were just about every bottle of bleach, baking powder, and liquid cleaner available in the house. It was a miracle none of the spilled puddles had mingled with one another.

"More chemicals," Nancy breathed.

Jonathan grabbed a can of drain cleaner off the counter with weary. "You think they're guzzling this shit?"

"Yeah, either that, or they went on a hell of a cleaning spree."

"But last year, Will didn't eat chemicals," said Max. "Did you?"

"No," He shook his head. "This is something new,"

"Mr. Clarke," Mike said suddenly. "Fifth grade. Posit. What happens when you mix chemicals together?"

"You create a new substance," answered, Lucas, Y/n, and Will.

"What if they're making something?"

"In themselves?" Max asked. "I mean, come on, if you drink this crap, it'll kill you."

"Yeah," Lucas counters. "if you're human,"

Nancy cautions a glance over her shoulder; her instincts pulling her into the dining room. Her footsteps are cautious and quiet as if one loud step will secure more danger and arouse more trouble. The others follow in her wake, their stomachs twisting as they lay their eyes upon the wine spill in the abandoned dinner table. The food on their plate remained, now spoiled and drying despite the chill they had they had been left in. It was as if they all got up in the middle of their meal and walked out after the spill.

But the living room told a different story.

Nancy was the first to see it; the wine bottle empty and tipped over on the carpet feet away. Even more disturbing, the dark red stain still drying in the fabrics of the rug.

"Blood," she whispers, kneeling to the ground. Jonathan joins her, waiting curiously as she loses herself in thought. "Yesterday... Tom had a bandage on his forehead."

She grabs the wine bottle for inspection as she rises to her feet. Her eyes are unable to unfix themselves from the blood painted on the corner of the bottle. In horror, she turns to the others and confirms what they are thinking.

"He was attacked."

《•••》

"Janet!" He turns to his approaching daughter. "Call 911! Call 91-"

Heather had struck him in the head with the wine bottle before he could finish.

《•••》

Dread sinks into their bones as everyone's eye follows Nancy's to the disturbed hall rug crumpled and trailing around the corner.

Will feels a singeing but bearable hand grasp his own like a lifeline as if begging to be secured to reality. Y/n's face was blank and hard to read, but he had known her long enough to recognize the muted fear laced in her gaze locked on the hall corner. He didn't have to know about her most recent nightmare to recognize being here brought her unpleasant memories. She could practically feel the grip on her stinging throat as she remembered him dragging her down this very hall in her dream.

To her disdain, she realizes with a sinking heart that's likely what had transpired for Tom and Janet Holloway. More or less.

She could picture it so clearly. They all could.

《•••》

The flash of lightning thundering across the sky is bright enough to light up the entire house. Its blinding, ivory light flashes over Billy's lifeless face as he started off down the hall, Tom's unconscious body still in his grip. It was dragging along the floor, riding the hall carpet as it coasted the wooden floors, limp and slack. But the hall just kept getting longer.

《•••》

As they traveled the hall, the first thing they note is the rug stopping at the carpet. Whoever had been hauled - whoever had been the one hauling - didn't get very far. Billy didn't get very far.

The second thing they noticed was the door ajar, and more importantly, the smear of blood trailing under it.

Pulling back the door with a beating heart, Nancy and the others only found another hallway. More specifically, the garage door where the blood trail ended.

It was somehow warmer in the garage than any part of the house. The one-room untouched by the air conditioning. It felt like summer, but in no way pleasant. It was the hot, sticky kind of summer that makes you dread crawling into your sheets at the end of the day.

It was a feeling that blended so well with the fear seeping into their pores as they discovered the bloodied and discarded coil of rope that lay in the empty garage.

"They must have tied them," said Jonathan.

《•••》

The rope coiling around their wrists and ankles tightened like a noose sealing their ends. Had they still been conscious, Tom and Janet would have noted the scratchy sensation of the braided rope on their skin turning to a burn of friction as Billy and Heather tightened the knot and secured the gags in their mouths.

《•••》

"They must have taken them somewhere," he concludes, returning to his feet.

《•••》

The shell of Heather Holloway gazed upon her unconscious mother packed into the back seat of Billy's Camero as she slammed the door shut. Not in guilt or with strain, but a blank, lifeless expression of boredom. One that matched Billy's as he packed away Tom's limp form into the space of his trunk and slammed the door shut.

《•••》

Nancy's face lit up again in realization as fast as the thought struck her. "Mrs. Driscoll. She kept saying, 'I have to go back'. What if the flaying is taking place somewhere else. There must be a place where this all started, right? A source."

"Somewhere he didn't want me to see," El agreed.

《•••》

El's lungs felt like they were flooding. Her legs turned to lead, slowly bringing her to a stop just a few steps behind Billy. Tears had crept into her eyes by the time he rose to his feet, his broad shoulders meeting her eye level.

Her instincts were screaming inside her like an alarm; bright, violent flashes of fear growing more rapid by the second until-

You.

El flinched as he whipped around to face her, sunken, darkened eyes widening as they pierced her own. He had not uttered a word to her but she still heard it. A force so strong and revolted - so concentrated - she could feel the thought in her bones.

You.

He could see her.

《•••》

"If we find the source, then maybe we can stop him," Nancy wagers. "Or at least stop it from spreading or doing whatever the hell he's doing with those chemicals."

"How do we find it?" Asked El.

"Mrs. Driscoll,"

Everyone's eyes turned to Will.

"If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

It had taken longer than they preferred, but the unlikely quartet had finally reached a fork in the underground tunnels. They had only moments to dive into hiding in the shelter of equipment before they were spotted. To their dismay, this particular wing of the tunnel system was more populated. Russian officers were strutting to and fro, many supply carts like the one they had encountered were spotted every few minutes from where they lurked.

Finally, Steve had determined this moment was as safe as any to emerge from the shadows wedged in between the equipment and the wall. With great caution, he throws his whispered voice over his shoulder.

"Okay, clear," three more heads emerge from the corner to peek at their surroundings. But Steve was already making his way down the hall in light footsteps. "Clear, come on, let's go."

"Okay, that was close," Robin huffed.

"Too close," said Dustin, right on her heels, Erica on his.

"Relax, alright? Relax. Nobody saw--"

Everyone was halted in their hastened steps as they turned the corner to behold the sight before them, and Steve's words had caught right in his mouth.

The outlet they now found themselves standing in was funneling out into the heart of the entire underground network. Dozens upon dozens of Russian officers and scientists were at work, not yet aware of the four children gawking at its entrance. One guard paced the balcony, rifle in hand as he made his patrol, snapping the four out of their stupor.

"Shit!" Steve hissed. The four of them dove behind a nearby crate with gasping breaths. "Jesus."

"Red Dawn," Gasped Dustin under his breath.

"I saw it," Erica whispered, urgency in her voice. "First floor, northwest "

"Saw what?"

"The comms room!"

"You saw the comms room?" He asked, bewildered.

"Correct!"

"Are you sure?" Dustin asked.

"Positive. The door was open for a second and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there."

"That could be a hundred different things,"

Robin nodded. "I'll take those odds,"

Steve gaped at Robin with a sinking stomach. Everything inside him was against this, but where could they go? How could they leave? They had been looking for comms room after all and as hard as it was for him to admit, he trusted their judgment to do what was best for all of them.

He takes a plunging breath and shakes his head. Together, they peer out one by one like something out of a cartoon to get one last look before falling back in line.

"Alright," Steve whispers. "We're gonna move fast, we're gonna stay low. Okay?"

"Okay."

And one by one they follow his lead. The first journey was quick and terrifying, and it was only a few hunched steps to the nearest crates. When he was positive - or at least as positive as he could be - that no one was looking, they ran again, hopping the small gap in between grates. Hearing the squeak of sneakers behind him, Steve hissed over his shoulder and waved the others in a fury.

"Shh! Move it!"

He refocused his attention ahead. And sure enough, just as Erica had said, was an opening door to a comms room. He could see the control panels from the window now within their view. He hid himself away further behind the crate, his eyes still set on the door, as the man in the labcoat exited, nose in his clipboard. There was no time to waste.

Steve waved a hand over his shoulders and jetted for the door. "Let's go!"

Just as the hiss of the closing door reached his ears, Steve threw his arm in and caught it before it could shut. With great haste, he scurried inside and saw the others made it in safely. "Sh sh. Come on,"

As Dustin - the last in line - had crossed the threshold he breathed a small sigh of relief and quietly closed the door. He barely got a glance over his shoulder before he froze like the others upon seeing the startled officer standing up at them in surprise. The man looked at the kids in shock, particularly the young man in an odd-looking sailor's uniform, hand gripping the door and still in a hunch, his rear end pointed at him.

His hand maneuvered for his holster and the young woman cried out.

"Tread lightly!" His hand froze on his bolster. "Tread lightly."

"Who are you?" He cried.

She pointed to herself and then the three others behind her. "Silver cat... Silver cat."

He shook his head. "I don't understand."

She shared a glance with the young man and stepped forward, extinguishing what was left of his patience. "China?"

He reached for his gun and Steve roared out in a mixture of fear and adrenaline. He charged for the man and tackled him into the panels. The man was stunned but shook it off quickly, using his strength on Steve and hurling him off and into an adjacent panel. He charged forward before the boy could retaliate and threw his right fist at his face. Before it could connect with his nose, Steve flung himself back.

He felt his neck jerk forward as the man yanked him by his collar and threw him face-first onto a nearby panel He grabbed a fistful of the back of Steve's shirt, ready to yank him to his feet and deliver another punch. But Steve was quicker. He threw his elbow back into the man's groin, stunning him long enough to grab the speaker off the tabletop and tossing it into his good hand and going in for the swing.

Everyone watched astonished, no more so than Dustin Henderson, as the speaker connected with the man's skull. The blow threw him off balance and tumbling into the corner of the ledge, knocking him out cold.

Panting to make up for lost breath and dangerous speeds his heart was racing, Steve looked down at his work and raked a hand through his straying hair. His attention was quickly pulled to the gleaming boy across the room.

"Dude!" Dustin was grinning ear to ear. "You did it! You won a fight!"

Steve looked back at the unconscious man and Dustin's words sunk in. And despite their circumstances, he smiled and chuckled in relief. Son of a bitch, he had won a fight. Against a Russian officer of all people. That had to count for something.

Dustin hurried forward and reached at something dangling from the man's belt.

"What are you doing?" Erica asked.

"Getting us our ticket out of here," he says, securing the man's key card.

"You want us to walk all the way back?" She challenged.

"Oh, well, we can hang out for a little bit," said Dustin, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "relax, have a picnic maybe."

"Have a picnic? We came here for the radio" Erica cried, her among the others unaware of Robin wandering up a glowing blue stairwell in curiosity.

Sitting most ominously at the top, was yet another door. But what drew her curiosity was the small, square window that radiated azure blue light like a flashlight. She was cautious when approaching, and luckily for her, no one was in the adjoining room from what she could see. But there was something beyond. Something just out of sight that she was beginning to feel was very, very, important.

She jogged back down the stairs to the still bickering children. "Guys," They all stopped and looked at her, Steve included. "There's something up there."

Exercising more caution than they had the first time, they assured themselves the room was clear before entering. Robin beckoned them all inside, herding them in and staying low before joining them at the set of double doors.

Their jaws went slack in awe as they packed in against the windows. Their horror-struck faces were illuminated in a flickering, deep violet light. All four of them stand frozen in stunned silence, and Dustin's troubled but whisper rings out. "Holy shit,"

Before them, was what they assumed to be the main control room, filled with even more scientists and officers. But that's not what struck their fear; what struck their fear was the gargantuan, man-made contraption they were observing. Dozens of men in hazmat suits were at its side, feeding the monstrous machine the mysterious green vials. But the horror - the true horror - was what the device was meant for.

Its rapidly spinning mechanisms we're churning out electricity that foamed out its sides as it concentrated all its man-made energy into one focused beam. The beam was so loud, so powerful they could hear it as surely as if they were standing right next to it even behind two sheets of tempered glass. It was a device unlike anything Dustin or Steve had ever seen, but they knew with churning stomachs what it was doing. It was a device that brought about their worst nightmare.

It was a device that was reopening the gate. The gate to the Upside Down.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The ride to the hospital took longer than most of us thought. The sun had already set by the time we pulled into the parking lot. I guess this was the nearest hospital located by this Mrs. Driscoll, which was practically on the other side of town.

The three of us had gotten used to the back seat where we were packed in like sardines for so long. At least, we thought we had. The others were waiting for us in the lot as Mike got the door open, and Will and I tumbled outside after him. The three of us groaned at our unstretched legs that were stuck in the folded position.

I slammed the trunk door closed behind me, and hobbled across the pavement with Mike and Will haunched over like I was. Despite the situation, we could of course count on Max and Lucas to take several jabs at us. They weren't trying very hard not to laugh as they walked alongside us. They had to slow down to match our pace.

"You guys okay there?" Max laughed.

"Yeah, guys, you holding up?" Lucas joined in, feigning concern as he shared looks with Max. "You guys are walking like a bunch of Disney witches,"

"No, no, I'm great," I was able to straighten just a little at a time. But enough to pick up my pace with a threatening glare and speed walk after Lucas. "In fact, come here. No, come here, Lucas"

He laughed and sped up a few paces, walking backward and inching behind El for protection.

"You think she's gonna help you? Come on, come here,"

"Guys," Jonathan called to us. "Come on, we're here."

I sent Lucas a small glare before straightening out as much as I could. Mike and Will did the same just as we approached the entrance. Following Jonathan and Nancy's lead, we all stepped inside and into check-in. I was bombarded with the smell of rubbing alcohol and fresh linen the moment we stepped through the automatic doors. We could hear the nurse at the reception desk talking with someone she knew on the phone.

"That is honest. She won't find out." I side glance the front desk in curiosity when we just keep walking. "See, you're the only one who gon' tell-- Woah, woah, woah! Excuse me!"

We all stopped, and she stood up from the desk. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Oh! Um," Nancy turned back to her with a polite smile, seeming more chipper than any of us were feeling. Lucas peered over his shoulder at me and we shared a curious look. "I was just going to visit my grandma again. And-- and this..."

She turned and gestured to all of us, but even she didn't even sound like she believed the lie. "This is my family."

The woman peered over in my and Lucas's direction and he threw on a cheesy smirk. "Extended."

"I don't care who they are. You know the rules," she told Nancy. "two visitors at a time."

Nancy winced. "Yeah, but--"

She stopped her. "Two!" She said. The woman sighed, putting the phone back to her ear and resuming her conversation as she sat back down. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

With the nurse's attention back on her conversation, we all huddled in with hushed voices. Jonathan and Nancy, so it would seem, had already made up their minds.

"You guys wait out here, we'll go up,"

My instincts were telling me to go, to offer my help given my strengths and the low-risk factor of Mrs. Driscoll. But the Mind Flayer was still involved. And if he was involved...

I could see my past encounters encounter with him blur together in flashes.

《•••》

The snap reached my ears only moments before Will's fist came flying free from its restraint and colliding into my face, knocking me off balance. With a yelp, I stumbled back and met the second flare of pain in my skull before all went dark.

•••

My grunts died in my throat when Billy's hand encircled my neck, cutting off all my air. What strength he possessed as Billy Hargrove had doubled with the Mind Flayer and lifted me above his head with ease.

《•••》

I could still feel the searing pain along my back as much as the lingering scratchy sensation in my throat.

《•••》

Through the strobing lights and my fading consciousness, I'm able to make out the animalistic look on Billy's face as he towered over me. Spit was dribbling from his lips as he clenched his teeth in anger and his firsts were wrung so tightly in my collar it was cutting into the back of my neck. All I could make out before he delivered the final blow and all went dark were the horrified screams of my friends.

《•••》

But I couldn't bring myself to. I was too scared - too shaken from last night's events. I looked down at my feet in shame as the moment passed us by, hugging my arms close to my chest.

Jonathan and Nancy began speaking at once.

"Just stay here-"

"-stay out of trouble--"

"--stay alert--"

"--and stay safe."

We gave them our word and they nodded, taking off down the hall and disappearing into the elevator. We all turned away, slinking off back to the waiting room around the corner.

"Think they rehearsed that?" Lucas quipped, sounding tired but trying to make the best of the situation.

I smiled a little, but couldn't shake the all too familiar feeling settling into my gut. I drew in a long deep breath as I headed for the chairs, all of us broke apart and spread ourselves among the waiting room. Mike and Lucas wandered over to the vending machine to window shop and El and Max spotted some magazines.

I was currently far too anxious to snack, nor did I have a particular interest in going over the latest celebrity gossip so I plopped myself down in the second to last chair on the end and placed my head in the heel of my hands. I let out another deep, billowing breath as I felt someone sit themselves beside me.

"Hey," Will said gently. I felt a delicate hand come to rest on my bouncing knee. It had to have been going fifty miles an hour. I slowed my knee, only slightly, and turned to him.

"Hi,"

"How bad is it?" He asks, already knowing my anxiety had returned.

I think about it for a moment. "About a four and climbing," I smile weakly.

"Anything I can do?"

Again, I smile, thankful for his caring and understanding nature. I lean back into the chair, grabbing his right hand with my left and resting my head on his shoulder.

"You're already doing plenty,"

I rub my thumb against the back of his hand affectionately before I feel a pair of lips on the top of my head. My shoulders sag as my mind reflects not only on today, or even this week - but the mess that was our lives since that one November in 1983.

"How'd we get here, Will?"

With his head resting on top of mine, I feel him sigh.

"A very long and cramped car ride?"

I roll my eyes and smirk, nudging him with my elbow. "I'm serious. How does everything keep falling apart?"

There's a moment of silence between us that seems to last a thousand lifetimes. The thousand lifetimes we've both managed to live in the past two years.

"I'm not sure," he answers honestly. He picks his head back off of mine and brings my interlaced hand to his lips, planting a kiss on the back of my hand. I look up at him fondly, his own gaze looking into my own as he traces the back of my hand with his thumb. "But there's no one I'd rather be with when it does fall apart,"

A completely different, wonderful fluttering feeling retuns to my stomach, overpowering the dark sludge. The flutter in my heart is played like the strings on a guitar, humming out into my chest. I can't fight the smile worming its way onto my face as I bring my other hand to cup his face, bringing him in for another kiss.

"Cornball," I mutter through my smirk, pulling away and returning my head to his shoulder.

With ease we both fell back into the comfortable silence we've shared for years. I noted the humming of the fluorescent lights above us, pouring out over the white walls and tile floors that gave me an all too familiar feeling. But as always, the warm presence beside me was tethering me down to earth - to reality - before my mind could wander the cosmos. I felt safe despite the itch it left in the back of my mind and that was enough for now.

He was more than enough.

Eventually, my eyes wander to the two figures standing by the magazine stand. Hair was falling into their eyes despite their scrunchies and their eyes were lost in the glossy pages. Something, or better yet, someone must have caught her eye. The expression on her face was similar to the one she wore when she discovered Ralph Macchio. I watched with a fond smile as El held the magazine out to Max, who gave it a look. A knowing smile came to her face and I swore I heard the words, "That's Diana Ross. Do you like her?"

"Really pretty," El nodded, her cheeks tinting a rosy pink as she smiled.

Max caught my gaze as El returned to the magazine and we shared knowing smirks. My eyebrows jumped up and down, making her chuckle. But soon enough, they were both back to reading.

"Oh, come on, you piece of shit!"

I look over at the vending machine where Will had already been staring. Mike and Lucas were frowning at the glass, and Mike gave a frustrated smack to the side of the machine. His candy must have gotten stuck.

Lucas joined in and the two boys began smacking the machine hoping to jostle things loose. I nearly got up to do something out of pity when a sudden quake shook the glass and all the candy flew forward. Both Will and I looked over at El who was sharing her gaze with her ex as she subtly wiped her nose.

"Thanks," he said.

El nodded and returned to her magazine and I looked back down at my lap. Will looked down at his. I gave his hand a quick squeeze and buried the thoughts in my head.

"Well, I don't know about you but I'm gonna take advantage of all the free candy,"

He chuckled under his breath as I jumped up from my seat and made my way over to the vending machine. Unknowingly, missing the lingering, curious look Will gave between me and my other best friends.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center:

"Providing national leadership to end violence against American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty."

[link in comments]

Redhawk Native American Arts Council:

"Redhawk Native American Arts Council is a Not-for-profit 501C3 Indigenous arts and cultural organization, founded and maintained by Native American artists and educators. We are dedicated to educating the public and breaking stereotypes by presenting the traditions and culture of Native People from across North, South, Central America, the Caribbean and the Polynesian Islands."

[link in comments]

Native American Heritage Association:

"NAHA, with the help of our generous donors, is committed to fighting hunger with emergency food supplies and basic life necessities. NAHA's trucks leave our office every day with loads of nutritious food that will be delivered to Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River and Rosebud Reservations."

[link in donations]