Emma || Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove

023. Scared

*Steve's POV*

They knew too, El had pinpointed exactly where she was. They told us that she was sent to my house and now all we needed to do was break back into the upside down and get her. I felt kind of bad for Billy, he was in the dark at that point and I didn't know how he'd react when he found out that our best friend was trapped in another dimension that was filled with dangerous creatures that could kill her.

"Steve," Hopper called out, "Did you hear any of that?" I shook my head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "El is going to open the gate again," he began, "You and your friend will go in and get Emma while the rest of us deal with whatever crawls out and tries to attack Hawkins. You guys have to be quick, we don't know how long we can off hold anything the monster sends our way." I nodded.

"Yeah, we'll do it. Can we figure out where exactly in my house she'll be?" I questioned.

"The pantry," El said, "She'll be in the pantry. She's scared, we have to hurry." I nodded again.

"Let's go," I said, "I can take two more aside from Billy Dustin and myself."

"Maxine, you're with us," Billy said, taking us all by surprise, "What? I have to look out for her, for some weird reason Emma likes her and I don't think she'd be too happy if she found out I let her do all this crazy stuff on her own." I rolled my eyes. Of course, the dude would never do anything for anyone else if it didn't directly benefit him.

"Alright I guess we can take one more person," I said. Lucas ended up coming along with us.

The kids were all in the backseat talking and discussing things and strategies for if the demogorgon or the demodogs came back.

"Okay, Harrington, start explaining all this shit," Billy said, "I need to know what I'm getting myself into."

"This is all going to sound crazy, and I know you probably won't believe it, but it's the truth," I began. He rolled his eyes and nodded. I told him everything. Two years ago, last year, El, the monsters, everything. He stayed quiet and he didn't interrupt me through any of it. The kids helped fill in the gaps of the things I wasn't too sure about, and as I was hearing them talk, I just realized how insane everything sounded. I started getting scared that he would believe none of it and that he would back out of trying to help us bring Emma back.

"Maxine," he said, "You see any of this shit?"

"Yeah," she answered, "The monsters and everything. It was after I knocked you out last year when you beat Steve. It's true."

"God," he muttered, "Did Emma know about all this?"

"Yeah, she found out a while ago," Steve said, "but none of us knew it would come back or that she'd get taken."

"Well, we need to get her back, so just tell me what we need to do when we get there," he said, surprising me, not so much the kids though. It was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. "You really care about her, don't you?" he questioned.

"Yeah," I said, a smile breaking out onto my face, "She's really special to me. You do too though," I sighed, "I don't think you'd do something like this for anyone else, would you?" I asked.

'"Yeah," he smiled too, "and I know that she cares for us both too, but she might just feel a little more for you." I felt my heart flutter.

"I wish," I chuckled, "You've been her number one since you guys were little. It's you all the way."

"No, I've seen the way she looks at you and she talks about you all the time," he sighed, "If she picks you, treat her well, Harrington. I'll beat your ass again if you don't."

"Same goes for you," I told him, "she deserves the best." We reached my house in no time, which was empty since my parents were out on business.

"So, where are we opening this gate?" I questioned as the people in my car approached the people that had come with Hopper. "Can we do it right by the pantry so she can just crawl out and we won't have to deal with anything the mindflayer sends our way?"

"No," Hopper answered, "It has to be out here. Opening a gate inside your house would probably destroy it. It's close enough that we'll be able to get her quickly without too much trouble or running the risk of another one of us getting lost." Billy and I stood next to each other waiting for El to open up the gate for us to go get Emma.

El started opening up the gate, and once it was big enough for us to get inside, we entered the upside down. It was just like the last time I'd been there. It was dark and cold and just had an unwelcoming vibe. I looked back at Billy and motioned for him to follow me. We heard a loud scream coming from inside my house and we both sprinted to the back door and entered the house. Emma was in the living room beating a demodog looking creature with what looked like an old rusted pipe. Billy was about to intervene, but I held him back and waited a bit. She gave it one last blow to the head and the thing fell to the ground.

"Emma," I called out. She looked up at us and a relieved smile made its way to her face. I smiled back at her as she ran to us. The three of us stood there in happiness for a moment before the ground rumbled. Emma's eyes went wide.

"Where did you guys come from?" she asked, "We have to go. Now!" I nodded and the three of us started running back towards the woods were the gate was open. Billy and I helped Emma quickly climb through before doing so ourselves. People started rushing to hug her, but she pushed them off and went straight to El. "You have to close the gate, right now!" she exclaimed, "The big one is coming."

"The big one?" we all asked.

"Yes! The big monster, we need to keep it there, so please close the portal thing!" she looked like she was scared for her life, which I could understand. None of us knew what she'd seen or experienced while she was trapped down there. El ended up being able to patch up the gate, and let me just tell you it was crazy. I can't even begin to explain what it was like, but she did it and we were all grateful. Emma was standing behind us all just watching nervously. Once it was all done, everyone rushed to El to make sure she was okay, but Em just stood there, frozen.