"Dart." Dustin muttered, looking down at the creature in front of them. The growling grew quieter as if the monster found peace in Dustin's voice. Olivia watched with wide eyes as she held Steve's bicep tightly, Dustin slowly approaching Dart.

As everyone began telling Dustin to get back as his steps grew closer to the Demo-dog, the curly-haired boy quickly shushed them. "Shh. Stop. Trust me please." Olivia scoffed, although the boy ignored her.

"Hey. It's me, it's me." Dustin warned Dart, pulling his bandana and goggles off. "It's just your friend, it's Dustin." The group exchanged glares of worry as he knelt down by the monster with a wide smile. "It's Dustin, all right? You remember me? Will you let us pass?"

The monster quickly opened up it's face and snarled at Dustin Olivia's eyes widening was she tried reaching for Dustin, Steve quickly pulling her back. She knew she had to let Dustin handle it since he could've befriended every other monster if he wanted to, but she still couldn't help but think Dart would stab him on the back... With it's teeth.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?" Dustin questioned to creature, reaching for his bag over his shoulder.

"He's insane." Lucas muttered with a head shake.

"Don't." Mike muttered, not wanting to scare Dart. Steve quickly shushed the group up before turning back to Dustin, the tallest boy holding his bat out in preparation.

"I've got our favorite. See? Nougat." Dustin smiled, holding out a Three Musketeers candy bar. He quickly opened the package as Dart grumbled, breaking it in half and slowly putting in on the floor out in front of Dart. "Look at that. Yummy. Here, all right? Eat up, buddy. Come on. Come on."

Dustin waved at the group to pass through while the Demo-dog was distracted, the group quickly walking past the animal and Dustin. The curly-haired boy out more of the candy in front of him before slowly stepping up. As he walked over to the group, Olivia saw his saddened expression on his face, her heart slightly hurting, but also beating fast.

"Goodbye, buddy." Dustin muttered sadly as he watched Dart take the last bite before turning around and pulling his gear back on.

"Let's go!" Olivia muttered loudly but also with a whisper as the group made their way back to the exit. Steve yelled for the group as Olivia ran behind the kids, all of them stopping as the ground rumbled underneath them, the kids and teens falling down. Olivia held Max's back up before they all slowly regained their balance to hear screeching in the distance.

"What was that?" The red head questioned.

They heard roaring before all spinning around, all of their eyes widened and their hearts surely beating in terror. "They're coming." Mike muttered, Olivia and Steve standing in the front.

"Run! Run!" Mike shouted, Olivia and Steve taking the lead as everyone shouted. Steve and Olivia both got ready to lift the kids up, grabbing the first kid, which happened to be Max. Steve grabbed her waist as he pushed her up, Olivia putting her hands around Max's ankles and pushing her feet up so she could quickly get her footing over ground.

"Come on! Come on!" Olivia shouted, the two teens then lifting Lucas up, followed by Mike. As Olivia and Steve prepared for Dustin, they all turned at the sound of monsters screeching. Olivia looked over at the taller boy, the two staring in one another's eyes as they knew what was happening.

"Oh, shit." Steve mumbled, shaking his head. Steve held the bat up in front of him as Olivia grabbed Dustin's arm, pulling him torwards her so he was pressed up against her. She held Steve's arm as they all stood pressed up to each other. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that if they did attack them, she wouldn't have to see it.

Olivia never put much thought to dying, by now, with the person she loved most and one of the funniest, lovable kids she's ever known, it felt right. She didn't know if it would be her last breath, but if it was, she would be with some of her favorite people.

As the kids at the top called out for the three, Olivia could hear the Demogorgons running torwards them, her breathing difficult. She gasped as she suddenly felt something brushing past her leg, the repeatedly, over and over. The girl slowly opened her eyes, seeing that instead of the monsters eating at Steve and Dustin, they were running past the trio, almost as if they could care less that they were there.

Steve had grabbed onto Olivia and Dustin by the waists so they didn't get pummeled over.

"Eleven." Mike muttered from above ground as the path had finally cleared, Olivia wasting no time to grab Dustin and lift him to the string, Steve and Olivia pushing him up whole Max, Lucas and Mike pulled him up.

Steve grabbed Olivia's waist, lifting her up to get her ready as she began pulling herself the rest of the way, Mike, Lucas and Max all grabbing her arms and pulling her up. She winced, the pain of her stomach finally coming back, along with her cheek. She panted before standing up, the kids unexpectedly hugging her, including Max who she had just met. She sighed, smiling before pulling away and pulling her best friend up the rest of the way. She smiled up at him as he put his hand on the side of her face, the two almost dying together. They suddenly all turned their heads as the lights or Billy's Camaro suddenly flashing at their faces, the light brighter than they had ever seen. They covered their faces, the light practically blinding.

The lights then suddenly died down to a slight dim, all of them un-shielding their faces. Olivia sighed, the relief of it all being over for the second time washing over her. It was finally over.

One Month Later

Over the course of the month, Olivia's nightmares began slowly fading, but they were still there. She always had a feeling that the horrors of reliving her trauma over and over would never fully go away. Although she felt somewhat better, she still couldn't bring herself to tell anyone, not wanting to feel ashamed or embarrassed. The bruise on her stomach had faded to a small yellow splotch, and there were two small scars lining her cheek bone. Her scratched on her legs had disappeared.

The lab had closed due to how damaged it had become, and the lack of control since Barbara's death, and Bob's had all been pinned on it. She had secretly been relieved, needless to say there weren't many good memories to make there.

A few weeks ago, Nancy had asked Olivia and Steve to go to Barbara's funeral, which they gladly accepted since Olivia had felt sorry for how quick the girl's life was ended, and Steve having understood his best friend.

Over the past month, Olivia had been checking on Will, knowing that what he went through to be free of the mind flayer was hell, and had just wanted to make sure he was settling back to normal okay.

Olivia was wearing a red sweater and jeans, her hair curled slightly while walking down into the kitchen, her mother no where in sight the one time she was going to speak to her about being picked up by Steve, who was taking Dustin to the Snow Ball. She looked around in confusion, turning her head with a slight flinch as the phone rang loudly, the girl sighing as she shook her head. She told herself she was overreacting before walking over to the phone and picking it up.

"Hello?" She muttered as she pressed it to the side of her face. She frowned as the voice hadn't seemed one bit familiar, and seeming that the voice on the other end hadn't recognized her.

"Hey, Merry Christmas, Patty." The woman spoke softly, Olivia grimacing as she heard the woman say her mother's name. Olivia hadn't known who this person was, and hadn't ever heard of her mother talking to this said person. "I was wondering how she's doing. I haven't checked up on her in a while."

The girl drew her brows together not knowing what to do. "Um-"

"Hey, hon." She turned to see her mother walking torwards her with a smile, a cup of coffee in her left hand and a closed magazine in her right. "Who's on the phone?"

Olivia shrugged, her mouth open in confusion. "I..." She whispered, although not finishing when the woman on the other end began talking.

"Hey, Patty. Is this you? Its Susan. I'm calling to check on Olivia." Olivia's face immediately fell as she heard the name of Max's mother, her heart beating fast. She looked over to her mother slowly before lowering her arm with the phone in hand.

"Why is Susan Hargrove calling you asking about me?" She questioned, looking between the phone and her mother. She was clueless and didn't understand any of this.

"I... I'm not sure." Party walked over to Olivia reluctantly. "Uh, she's probably just checking on all of the kids." Her mother stated nervously, Olivia watching as her mother grabbed the phone and looked away from her daughter awkwardly.

"Bullshit." Olivia muttered, Party giving her a warning glance. "Mom! Why is she calling you?"

"Liv, hon. I don't know." She pressed the phone to her ear, setting the coffee cup down on the counter along with the closed magazine.

"Mom. Don't lie to me." She urged, watching as Party nodded against the phone, then slowly hung up. It was enough that Olivia was seeing her dad for the last time before he moved away, and now she was being lied to by her mother regarding Max's mother, which wasn't at all familiar with the girl. "Mom."

"Liv! Stop it." Party snapped at her, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the living room. "There's something I need to tell you, but I don't want you yelling at me or anything. Please."

Olivia frowned, looking at her mother's facial features in confusion. "What's going on? Why are you acting so weird? Has she- has she always called you like that?"

When Party nodded, Olivia's confused face fell, not knowing what to think. "Wh... Why?"

"Honey..." Patty muttered, tears in the blonde woman's eyes. "She calls me every week to check on you... Because..."

She couldn't seem to find the words to explain the situation to Olivia, who was just as confused as anyone else would be. She frowned, looking over at her mother's down turned lips, furrowed brows and teary eyes.

"Mom..."

"She's your... She's your mom, baby." Patty muttered, Olivia immediately freezing. What? She froze under her mother's touch, shaking her head in confusion before slowly standing up. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't say anything. She was lost for words as her throat became dry and her breathing turned heavy. Tears formed at her eyes, thinking of Max and what she was going to tell her or how the red-haired girl would react after almost dying with the girl and her friends. Olivia looked over at her mother for the first time after finding this out, tears in both of their eyes as Olivia looked at her with betrayal.

"What?..." She finally managed to speak, except it wasn't much she could say. She hadn't even noticed the tears falling down her cheeks and her hands tightly balled up at her sides.

"I'm so sorry, Liv." Patty cooed, shaking her head before taking a step over to her daughter, who quickly stepped back in anger.

"What else have you lied to me about?" She questioned, looking at her mother as if she didn't know who she was. Yes, she had just discovered that she wasn't truly her mother, but being raised by the woman her whole 18 years of her life, she would always see her as her mother, even if she really wasn't.

"Nothing! Nothing, honey, I swear." Patty tried reasoning with her daughter, but Olivia couldn't trust the one woman she always had. She looked at her mother with disbelief, staring in her green eyes.

"Who's my dad?" Olivia muttered, not even knowing how she could ask something like that after just having found out about this.

"The same dad you've had since you were born. Susan and your dad were together six years before Susan had Max. I'm sorry honey, this isn't how I wanted you to find out. I was going to-"

"You were going to tell me? You kept this from me all of my life, what, because they weren't living in Hawkins until this year?" Olivia questioned with tears streaming down her face. She turned around at the sound of a car honking in her front yard. She drew her brows together as she walked over to the door, looking out of the window to see Steve's car parked outside, Dustin in the passenger seat. Without another word, Olivia grabbed her jacket from the couch and began opening the door. "I have to go."

Despite her mother's yells for her to come back, Olivia slammed the door shut, wiping her tears off of her cheeks before Steve or Dustin could notice that she had been crying.

She got to the car, putting a smile on her face as she got into the back seat, leaning into the front. "You ready for this Snow Ball?" Olivia's eye immediatly widened as she saw Dustin's hair, the boy quickly getting nervous.

"Do- Do I look bad? Why are you looking at me like that?" Dustin questioned frantically, quickly shaking his head.

"No, no, Dustin! It looks great!" She smiled, laughing at how his smile immediatly grew. He sighed in relief as she smiled, still looking up at his curly-hair. Olivia looked over at Steve, noticing him wearing the same red sweater. "Hey! We're matching." She snickered, patting his cheek before his smile fell. "What?"

"Uh... Didn't you have that thing with your dad? Isn't he leaving today?" Steve questioned, Olivia's smile slowly falling as she looked down.

"Um, yeah." When the two boys noticed her open her mouth to speak, they both turned in their seats, knowing that she was hiding something. Dustin and Steve both grew concerned as they looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing." She muttered, shaking her head.

"Liv, talk to us." Steve muttered, reaching for her hand in the backseat while Dustin's brows formed in worry.

"It's stupid." She shook her head quickly.

"No it's not." Steve muttered, watching as she looked up at them with tears in her eyes, clearly embarrassed to talk about whatever it was.

"Uh... I'm... Adopted." They both quickly froze, not expecting that in the slightest. Steve and Dustin shared looks before she continued speaking, the two of them completely baffled. "And it's not just anyone. It's Max's mom..."

Dustin and Steve's mouth both immediatly fell open, their words stuck in their throat. Steve watched as Olivia began crying, the boy turning around all of the way and pulling him torwards her, for whatever she could reach. Dustin joined the hug, neither of them knowing what to say as tears fell down her cheeks, the news also completely shocking to them.

***

Once the three had gotten to the school and Olivia had stopped crying, Steve parked on the road, looking out at the school building. Olivia hadn't forgotten about anything she just learned, but she tried to stay positive for Dustin.

"All right, buddy, here we are." Steve muttered. "So, remember, once you get in there..."

Olivia and Steve watched as Dustin began breathing heavily, his heart for sure beating as he looked over at everyone walking into the gym. "Pretend like I don't care."

"You don't care." Steve muttered.

"I don't care." Dustin repeated.

"There you go. You're learning, my friend. You're learning." Steve nodded, Olivia rolling her eyes with a smile. When Dustin pulled the review mirror in his direction, Steve and Olivia both frowned.

"Hey." Steve muttered softly, Olivia smiling.

"What?"

"Come on. You look great, okay? You look... You look great." Steve reassured him as he pulled the mirror back torwards him, watching as Dustin smiled slightly. "Okay? Now you're gonna go in there...

"Yeah."

"Look like a amillion bucks." Steve encouraged, Olivia smiling from the back seat as he watched how caring the boy could be torwards kids, especially Dustin. She looked over at Steve's eyes, seeing the genuine affection he felt torwards Dustin.

"Yeah." Dustin nodded once more.

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead." Steve nodded, squinting his eyes in seriousness.

"Like a lion." Dustin muttered. Dustin suddenly purred, Olivia flinching slightly before she snorted a laugh, smiling brightly as Dustin.

Steve tilted his head as he gritted his teeth awkwardly, shaking his head slightly. "Don't do that, okay?"

"Okay."

Steve held out his hand, which Dustin quickly grabbed onto with a smile. "Good luck." Steve muttered, Olivia patting Dustin's shoulder.

"Have fun." Olivia encourage, Dustin thanking the two of them before stepping out of the car, Steve and Olivia smirking as they watched him walk into the school, his hands balled up at his sides nervously. Olivia climbed over to the front of the car, Steve wincing as he watched her.

"There's... a door." He grimaced, but quickly smiling as she plopped down next to him, turning to face him. "Okay, that works too." She snickered, the boy turning to face her as well.

"So, what are we gonna do for the next two hours?" She questioned, looking up at him in the eyes as she listened to Every Breath you Take by Police playing on the radio.

Without any words, Steve reached into his glove compartment in the middle of the seats, pulling out two letters, one saying 'Open me when... you want to be my girlfriend', and the other saying, 'Open me when... you just need someone to talk to'.

Olivia felt tears forming at her eyes as she looked up at  Steve, him already smiling down at her. His mouth curved up at he watched her carefully tear open the one saying, 'Open me when... you want to be my girlfriend.'

The both sat in silence, smiling while she read the letter.

Dear Olivia,
Where do I even start? You have always been my number one since the day I met you, and if I'm being honest, I didn't think we'd make it this far. You are always there for me when I need you. You were there for me when my parents got into arguments, you were there when I went through my first ever heartbreak. I love everything about you and who you are. How you pinch the bridge of your nose when you are upset or frustrated. How you always can laugh when something good happens. How your eyes look almost golden in the sunlight. How you defend the people you care about. Everything. Everything about you is what I love. You are the strongest and most beautiful girl I will ever know, and I adore you so much. Everytime I thought about my future or changes in my life, you were always there and you always will be. I know that you have always wished to have the sappy love stories in the movies, and if I'm honest, maybe it won't be like that. But, Olivia Reese, being with you would be the happiest moments of my life and I will give you the best version of me. I will always be there for you when you need me the most. Ever since we went through near death experiences together, I realized that I shouldn't have been hiding what I felt because we don't have all of the time in the world like we think. So, will you spend the rest of the time we have with me? Will you be my girlfriend?

Olivia looked up from her spot as tears streamed down her cheeks, Steve'e eyes also watery. She smile before nodding. "Yes." She quickly hugged him, her face buried in his neck as he held her waist tightly. As the two pulled away, they both began laughing until Steve jumped out of his seat and getting on the top of his car. "Olivia Reese is my girlfriend!" He shouted as loud as he could before cheering.

Little did they know, everyone in the middle school could hear them, including Dustin, El, Max, Mike, Lucas and Will, the kids all smiling at each other widely.

She laughed loudly as she got out of the car, watching him jump down and walk over to her. They both looked at each other longingly before he grabbed her waist and pulled her over to him. "What am I?" He questioned with raised brows and a smirk, Olivia quickly shrugging.

"I don't know." She joked, Steve giving her a fake warning glance.

"You're my boyfriend." She muttered.

"And?" He smiled, Olivia shaking her head as she softly said,

"My hero."

"Oh, yeah?" He muttered, to which Olivia scoffed, grabbing the side of his face as she shushed him, then quickly pressed her lips to his.

AUTHORS NOTE:
Okay!! So that is the end of season 2!!! I am really excited to be writing season three. Thank each and every one of you for showing me love and support.