wires, steve harrington

eleven.

meadow moved up to stand next to him. "always the gentleman." she replied sarcastically, shining her flashlight in his face before moving further into the tunnels.

"hey!" steve yelled, moving to be in front of her. "the adult's first."

the girl rolled her eyes. "steve, you realize we're the same age, right?" steve ignored her and began to lead the way, moving through the dark tunnels.

the sound of dustin screaming made meadow turn, pushing her way through the kids to get to her brother. "shit! shit! shit!" he screamed, falling to the ground.

"dustin, what happened, are you hurt?" meadow asked, kneeling on the floor next to him.

dustin continued screaming. "it's in my mouth! some got in my mouth! shit!" he lowered his bandana, coughing. steve moved next to meadow, worry clouding his eyes. after coughing for a minute, dustin looked up. "i'm okay." he said, looking up at them. the whole group turned to walk away.

"you serious?"

"very funny, man."

"nice. very nice."

"jesus, what an idiot."

meadow held out a hand to help him up, deciding to stay near the back to be with him, letting steve take the lead. "alright, wheeler." steve said. "i think we found your hub." meadow moved to the front, looking around her at the endless amounts of tunnels that spread from their current position.

"let's drench this thing." meadow said, grabbing her gasoline and beginning to pour it. the kids joined her, spreading gasoline at every tunnel opening and every surface, including the ceiling.

once they'd finished, they all stood by the tunnel they'd come from. "light her up." dustin said to steve.

steve held up his lighter, panting. "i am in such deep shit." he opened it, dropping the flame into the center of the expanse. meadow held a hand up to shield her face from the sudden explosion, motioning for the kids to go. they all began to run as the tunnel caught fire faster than they had expected.

"help!" mike yelled as a vine reached out for him. steve hit the vine repeatedly with his bat until it finally left him alone. before the group could continue their escape, a demodog screeched, catching the everyone's attention as meadow helped mike stand up.

"dart." dustin said as he turned to face it. he screeched, looking up at him.

meadow pulled on his arm. "dustin, get back!" she whispered, scared.

"trust me!" he held up a hand. dart moved closer. "hey," dustin lowered his bandana and removed his goggles. "it's me, it's your friend. it's dustin, alright?" dart moved even closer. "will you let us pass?" dart's face opened up, meadow cursing in fear, steve holding her back. "okay, okay, i'm sorry. i'm sorry about the storm cellar." dustin said. "that was a pretty douchey thing to do. you hungry?" dustin reached into his bag, pulling out a 3 musketeers. "i've got our favorite." dustin said. "see? nougat!" he held it out for dart to inspect. the creature grunted as dustin opened it. he ate it up, dustin motioning for the group to move.

meadow waited for her brother, following steve as soon as dustin was with them in the tunnel. more demogorgons screeched, and the group all turned at the sound. "they're coming." meadow said, looking to the others. "quick, run!"

they all ran, finally seeing the rope in the distance. steve held out his hand as a foot rest while meadow helped the kids climb up the rope, max getting out first. they had just helped dustin out when a screech sounded, undeniably closer than the others. the demodogs were just around the corner, and steve and meadow were going to die.

everything around her stopped as meadow looked up. she was going to die. it was almost funny, she thought, that this would be the way she died. she looked to steve, and it dawned on her. she was going to die. she was going to die, and all she could think about was steve. he had become the most important person in her life in the matter of a week, but she wondered if he had always been important to her. if her hatred towards him all those years had merely been a fragment of her imagination; a trick of denial to convince her against what she'd known all along.

they were going to die, and meadow couldn't even think straight. but in those split seconds, there was one thing that was for certain.

steve moved to protect himself with his bat, stopping when meadow pulled on his arm. "steve!" she exclaimed. "steve, i need to tell you something!" he turned, confused, lifting his goggles as she did the same. "i love you, too."

meadow pulled him down by the front of his shirt, pulling down both of their masks before pressing her lips to his. she could feel fireworks going off inside of her, as if she had finally been complete. steve smiled against her lips, pulling her closer by her waist while her fingers moved to run though his hair.

they could have stayed like that forever if they hadn't felt the demodogs running past them. "eleven." meadow mumbled, looking up at steve.