my girl || steve harrington

the bathtub

she gripped lydia's hand tighter, trying to force the thought out of her head. but this only made the brunette's nausea worse. she gripped the arm of the chair as her stomach contracted. she ripped her hand out of her friend's and ran to the bathroom, collapsing in front of the toilet. she held the bowl as she emptied her stomach contents. the door creaked open while she was in the midst of projectile vomiting, and nancy and jonathan held her hair up and rubbed her back. she ralphed a few more times before flushing the toilet and leaning against the wall.

"yeah, i'm good now."

~

after an eternity of cleaning herself off in the byers bathroom, lydia made her way to the table with the others. they watched eleven with anticipation. they hoped that the girl would be able to contact their friend's in the upside down, letting the party know that they were at least alive.

the lights flickered as el sat with her eyes closed, trying her best to find the two unfortunate souls. however, she couldn't do it. she locked eyes with joyce, disappointment welling up within herself.

"i'm sorry." she murmured.

"what? w-what's wrong, what happened?" mrs. byers asked frantically, not wanting to believe that the one chance of contacting her son didn't work. tears welled up in el's eyes, knowing how much faith everyone put in her.

"i can't find them." her voice cracked. she had failed them. a couple tears escaped her eyes and she went to the bathroom to regroup. but before she got there, lydia grabbed her hand. not a rough grip, just a comforting one.

"it's okay, el. you tried. we don't blame you." the little girl nodded and gave her a hug before letting go and making her way to try and clean herself up.

~

before she knew it, the older henderson was at hawkins middle school, helping her brother and lucas put up a kiddie pool so they could build a make-shift sensory deprivation tank. apparently, it was much harder than ms. byers made it seem. it had been 7-minutes of struggling against the plastic pool, but somehow it felt like it had been an eternity.

"okay, okay, okay, just- lucas! pull that side! yes, that one. now, dust, hold that one. yes! great!" it almost stood up, until it didn't. "shit!" they all cursed. 

"maybe if we fill it up with water while we hold it, the pool will stand." lucas suggested. the henderson siblings agreed. the three came to the conclusion, that in order to make the walls stand, one of them would have to be in the pool while it was being filled. unfortunately for the older girl, she drew the short straw and found herself ankle deep in warm water while silently cursing out the younger boys. she murmured swear words but did her best to suppress her anger and reminded herself, this was for barb and will.

soon after, they were pouring bags of deicing salt into the kiddie pool, using the buoyancy of an egg to measure if the water was suitable for el. eventually, after many, many more bags, it was just right. once everything was set up, it was time. time for them to contact their friends. time to save them from the upside down and put this nightmare to an end.

~

el took off her socks and the watch, prepping herself to go into their makeshift sensory deprivation tank. before she put on the goggles, she shared a look with lydia. the older girl grasped her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and reminding her that she would be right there by her side.

"i won't let anything bad happen to you, i promise." el nodded in response, and put the goggles on.

as she stepped into the pool, the warm water took her back to when she was at the labs. the sinking in her gut she felt whenever she was forced to go into the tank returned. the difference is that this time she had the comfort of her friends, so her determination to find will and barb was stronger than ever.

focusing on the static of the radio, she was suddenly there. that place. everywhere she turned was just emptiness that seemed to go on forever. she looked for barb first, saying her name and hearing it echo throughout the space. she turned, and a little ways from her was heap of something. slowly walking towards it, el's breath was shaky with fear and she was not prepared for the sight that she would see.

barb, decomposed. slimy webs covering her dead body, her eyes were gone and replaced with empty pits of nothingness that stared back. el was taken aback, the sight chilled her to her core. in that place she screamed 'gone' at the top of her lungs, but to the others it came out as more of a whimper.

when the two teen girls heard her say gone, their hearts shattered. their friend was dead. nancy's hand shot up to her mouth as she stifled a sob as lydia's breath got caught in her throat, the concept of breathing lost to her at this moment. she took nancy's free hand in her's and intertwined their fingers, trying to comfort her friend. after a second of silence, el whispered will's name, inciting a sense of hope and fear to the group. then, after joyce spoke to the girl, a weak voice came from over the walkie-talkie. it was quiet but it was unmistakably will, and he only said one thing.

"hurry."