【 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 x 𝘧𝘦𝘮!𝘰𝘤 】
𝙄𝙉 𝙒𝙃𝙄𝘾𝙃, Aven Hargrove was only seen and known as his twin, until a heartbroken boy pulled over on the side of the road and recognised her for who she truly was.
【 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡...
"What's wrong?" Aven asked the girl as she approached the people around Steve's car, the three boys staring at her as she sprang out of the vehicle.
"Nothing. Can we just leave," Max's eyes landed on Aven, "please?"
"Let's go," the older girl muttered before falling back into the car, the others following after her. They soon drove off, quickly speeding out of the trailer park and following Max's next set of directions. When they started getting further and further away, the group knew where she wanted to go.
"Turn here," she said after they got even further down the road, pointing to the corner a few metres in front of them.
"Here?" Dustin asked from beside her, being crammed into the middle seat.
"Isn't this the cemetery?" Aven asked with confusion, turning to look back from the passenger seat just to watch Max merely nod.
When they pulled up, Steve instantly pulled on Aven's hand before she could reach forward and open the door.
"Maybe we should just stay here?" Steve offered after Lucas had left the vehicle and caught up with Max, sending Dustin a look through the middle mirror once again whilst motioning his head towards the rows of gravestones. The teen caught on and nodded with wide eyes before dramatically clearing his throat.
"Yes, I agree. Stay here, in the car." After a long time, Lucas having returned to his seat on the back left, Steve got out of the car.
"All right, it's been long enough," he grumbled before leaving the trio alone in the car, which didn't last very long. As soon as Steve's car door had slammed shut, Aven was out of the vehicle and following after him, ignoring the shouts of the two in the back.
"Max, time to giddy up, yeah?" Was the last thing Aven heard Steve mutter as they approached the girl and the two side-by-side graves, the boy not yet noticing the other girl's presence behind him. However, Max was stuck in a trance, and yet, Aven didn't notice. She was too busy staring at her own grave.
Of course, she knew that the town of Hawkins would have presumed death upon Aven whilst she was stuck in the Upside-Down, trying her best to survive alone in the alternate dimension. However, never did she think that she would be alive to see her own grave, alongside her twin brother's, in the middle of the Hawkins' cemetery.
She wanted to cry - to crumble up into a ball and scream. Not just because she had missed eight whole months of her life, as well as everyone else's, but because her other half was dead. She had left the younger teens alone in their times of need, as well as Steve and Robin and Atlanta; one of which she still hadn't seen. She had missed her brother's funeral, one that shouldn't have even happened in the first place. He had died a hero, and yet nobody could know that except the people who'd witnessed it. He didn't deserve to die that young.
"Max. Max!" Aven heard Steve shout, bringing her out of her endless spiral of grief and sadness and overwhelming guilt. Survivor's guilt. She had survivor's guilt.
Steve was on the grassy floor, one knee tucked beneath him and one protruding out, as he shook Max's shoulders with trembling hands. Aven instantly fell to the floor on the other side of her, Steve yelling out to the two boys by his car whilst Aven resumed his frequent shaking. She needed to wake up - she just had to.
As soon as the boys reached the top, Steve sent Dustin back down to the car to alert Nancy and Robin, who thankfully picked up. The curly-haired boy ran back up the cemetery with a handful of tapes, dumping them onto the ground as Aven continued to shout out the girl's name.
"What's her favourite song?" Dustin asked the group, eyes darting around the three people as they looked at the pile of tapes dumbfoundedly.
"Why?" Lucas asked with furrowed brows, hands out to portray his confusion and anger.
"Robin said if she listens to- It's too much to explain right now. What's her favourite song?" He questioned again, his voice loud as his patience ticked lower and lower.
After sorting through the tapes, Lucas pulled one out with a thankful shout. Aven stared at it with tears in her eyes as they set up Max's Walkman and placed the headphones on her ears. Blasting through the speakers and into the peaceful girl's ears was Kate Bush's Running up that Hill.
Suddenly, Max started to slowly lift up. She kept going - further up into the sky until her feet weren't even touching the floor. She was flying with her head tilted up to the sky, chin pointing out as her four friends stared up in disbelief at her levitating body. Thankfully, after a few waiting beats, she dropped to the ground, ripping the headphones off her head as she fell into Lucas' arms.
Max was okay. She was alive. She was breathing.
She had beaten Vecna's curse.
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