𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨

THERE'S SOMETHING
I SHOULD TELL YOU !

☀︎

AFTER THE EVENT WITH THE DEMOGORGON, THE GROUP HAD HEADED BACK TO HAWKINS MIDDLE SCHOOL. They had expected to find the boys broken in to the schools kitchen, most likely devouring the pudding. To their misfortune, they had arrived to a different kind of mess.

Surrounding Hawkins Middle School had been police cars and ambulances with their lights shining through the night. Alex had been the first out of the car before it could even be put into park to find her brother. Moving her way through the crowd that had started to form, she called out her brothers name, along with the others that had been left at the school. As soon as Dustin Henderson had came into view, her only focus had been on him.

Pushing her way past the police, she eventually fell to her knees before him, cupping his face in her hands as she looked him over. "Holy shit! What happened? Is everyone okay?"

Dustin remained quiet as his eyes had been elsewhere. Following his gaze that looked right over her shoulder, she had seen Steve awkwardly making his way over to the two. "He knows," she whispered. "He sort of saved us or whatever."

"Gross," Dustin whispered back in response. "Hawkins Lab came for Eleven but... demogorgon."

"What?" Her surprise had caused her to drop her hands down from his face. Seeing that she needed more reassurance he had been okay, Dustin reached out, holding her arms tight in his hands. "It's okay! She killed it."

Alex's eyes had looked all around Dustin, waiting for Eleven to be making her way through the crowd. All she had expected was to once more see her in her now tattered pink dress, knee high socks and the jacket that Alex had given her the night they had met. That moment never did come like she had hoped.

"She's gone," Dustin said, his voice the quietest that it has ever been. She met her brothers eyes once more, really seeing the pain that had been hiding behind them. He hadn't been upset to face the people of Hawkins Lab or stand toe-to-toe with a demogorgon. In fact, he had seen those as adventurers that he had only ever dreamed of being a part of. This pain was for the loss of a friend.

Grabbing him roughly, Alex forced Dustin into her arms. Not only had this been for his comfort, but she had wanted to hide her own pain for knowing they had lost her. "It'll be okay. I'm here now. I shouldn't have left you," she whispered.

"Where did you go?" He mumbled this question until he pulled away from her arms. He didn't want to think of the loss they experienced today anymore. Taking his finger, he gave a quick swipe to the corner of her mouth where a small bit of blood had trickled out of. "You look like shit."

"Monster hunting."

"Did it hurt you?"

"No, uh, your favorite person kinda... you know, beat the hell out of it," she looked over at Steve who gave a small wave to Dustin.

"He looks like shit too," Dustin commented.

"When doesn't he?" Alex laughed. If there was anyone in this world she looked up to, it was her little brother. Even in the toughest situations, he was by far the most optimistic.

『••☀︎••』

THE AFTERMATH OF EVERYONE'S ADVENTURES HAD LED THEM TO THE HOSPITAL. Everyone had sat quietly, waiting for something they never expected to be doing— waiting for Will Byers to wake up. Some had been fast asleep on one another, some lost in thought, and some that were completely unaware of what had happened this night in Hawkins.

Alex had laid her head on Steve's shoulder as he wrap his arm around her. For all they knew, this could very well be a long night and everyone there had decided that there was no option to leave until Will had woken up. The two had prepared, just as everyone else, to spend the night if they had to.

"Look at your brother," Steve whispered, nodding his head in the direction of Dustin. He had his whole body leaning completely against Lucas, both fast asleep, unaware that Dustin was snuggled up on him. Alex let out a small laugh, just glad that all the boys were okay now.

Steve leaned his head down, allowing for his nose to graze against her hair as she watched her brother with another laugh. Her laugh had caused Steve to frown for a brief moment. Her laughter had brought an instant warmth to him that felt wrong. He felt that he was only allowed to feel that way for Nancy Wheeler— a girl he swore was a perfect fit for him.

"Can we go on a walk for a second... to talk?" he whispered down to her. She nodded her head, lifting herself off him and making her way out the waiting room.

The two were silent as they walked down the hallway. Alex had patiently waited for him to speak what was on his mind. There were plenty of questions that he still had from this night that he wasn't sure how to ask, so she waited.

"I don't want you pissed at me anymore," Steve said finally.

Alex let out a single laugh as she shoved him gently. "Not sure I can be pissed at someone that actually came back to the shitshow we put ourselves in."

"I'm serious. I believed Tommy over you. He just kept getting in my head and..." Steve swallowed hard as he grabbed her arm and gently put her to a stop. "There's something I should tell you and I gotta tell you before I let a moron like Tommy get in my head again."

"Okay, what is it?" She looked up to him with a smile which had given him the last bit of confidence that he needed to tell her how he had truly felt about her. Reaching his hand towards the back of his neck, he cleared his throat in preparation to either be completely humiliated or completely surprised. Either way, a part of him was never ready.

The sound of footsteps rushing down the hall had distracted the two from each others eyes. Hopper pulled off his hat as he began to slow to a steady walk. "Hey, Henderson! He's awake!"

Instantly, her mind had fallen completely on Will Byers. Alex's hand had flung her to mouth as she was filled with a mix of excitement and shock. There was no telling what Will Byers would wake up remembering, but she had wanted to be there to listen to the rest of the boys reenacting the entire story of their adventure. "Are you serious? Can I go see him?"

"You said you wanted me to tell you when. I keep my word, kid, so, go." Hopper jerked his thumb over his shoulder back in the direction of Will's room. Without a word to either of the two, she took off in a run to go see Will.

As she had sprinted off down the hall, Hoppers face scrunched up into annoyance as he looked over to Steve with his eyes following her and a look of disappointment stuck to his face. "What's wrong with you?"

"I think you just saved me from a life time of embarrassment," Steve sighed. To him, Hopper stopping him before he could tell Alex felt like a sign that something like them being together would never work.

"What the hell does that mean?" Hopper grunted. He was sure that whatever had been on his mind was no good-- or at least no good for Alex Henderson.

Pulling his eyes up from the floor, Steve managed a brief, tight-lipped smile to the cop in front of him, "Nothing, I guess." Steve had shaken his head as he headed back towards the direction of Will's room. After all, seeing a kid that had lived a nightmare was more important to him than a confession that could end up being meaningless in the long run.