I KNOW THE END | steve harrington

eighteen; when everything's made to be broken

He squinted. "What?"

"You have teeth." She stated.

Dustin shared a lighthearted giggle with Lucas, understanding what she meant. Pride overwhelmed him whenever someone noticed. "Oh, you like these pearls?" The boy purred, making Eleven flinch. Lucas' laughter faded, lightly shaking his head in embarrassment. 

"Eleven?" Max released Sophie's hand, edging forward. She put on a friendly smile, and for the first time, Max didn't put on a defensive exterior, wanting to get to know her. "Hey. Um, I'm Max." She extended a hand, though Eleven seemed to look straight through her. "I've heard a lot about you."

Eleven barely spent a second with her, hardly acknowledging her presence. She glimpsed past her, soon walking through the gap between Max and Lucas. The only other girl her age lost her kind smile, her confidence dissipating. In silence, she hoped Eleven wasn't threatened by her presence; she wanted them to be friends.

She hugged Joyce, breaking into a sob. Eleven recalled the short-lived comfort the woman had given her the year before, and after her ordeal, she needed the love of a mother. "Hey. Hey, sweetheart."

Steve put his bat aside, assuming it wasn't required anymore, and wandered over to Sophie as he eyed Eleven. He leaned close, murmuring. "Not gonna lie, I didn't think she was real."

Her brows squished together. "So, you fought an interdimensional monster," she tilted her head, "and you thought a telekinetic kid was unrealistic?"

They faced one another, Steve's forehead wrinkling. "Stealing Dustin's vocabulary, are we?"

"Makes me sound smarter." Sophie's lips curved upwards, smiling. "You should try it sometime."

Eleven broke away from Joyce, asking. "Can I see him?"

The older woman nodded, putting an arm around her shoulder and ushering her into the hallway. As they left, the others turned their attention towards the Demodog, lying dead on the Byers' living room floor.

"So..." Steve began, sweeping his left arm towards the slain creature, "... she just threw that through a window."

"Yep." Dustin released a spontaneous chuckle, his grin wide. "She's awesome."

He rubbed at an eyelid, turning his body towards the kids. "Are we just gonna leave it here?"

Dustin shrugged. "Not much else we can do."

Joyce and Eleven returned from Will's bedroom, the women entering the kitchen. She showed the young girl the message Will had given them. "You opened this gate before, right?"

"Yes." The others followed their voices, soon joining the pair.

"Do you think if we got you back there," started Joyce, "that you could close it?"

The girl gently cocked her head towards Joyce, a look of determination taking hold. Then, she stared straight ahead and softly uttered. "Yes."

***

Another gathering in the kitchen took place, a sigh escaping Hopper's parted lips. "It's not like it was before. It's grown -- a lot." After his experience in the tunnels and the fact that the Upside Down has grown more active since Will's possession, Hopper knew they were in deep trouble. "And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demodogs," Dustin interjected.

Hopper glowered at the young boy, already sick of this kid's spew of verbal bullshit. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, uh, Demodogs." Sometimes, it was pretty hard for Dustin to stop talking. "Like, Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass-"