Y/n's pov
I sighed and Dustin raised his arms in the air, giving Erica a 'What the hell' look.
I sat back down next to Cerebro, patting the ground next to me, signalling Dustin to sit down.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I leaned my head on Dustin's shoulder. He did the same and we both stared out into the night in complete and utter silence.
Erica fiddled with the spare radio behind us and rolled her eyes at our show of affection.
I chuckled. "Did you want to get in on this?" I asked sarcastically with a grin.
"I'll pass." She sassed, earning a laugh from both Dustin and I.
Silence took over once again and Dustin placed his head on top of mine, wrapping his arms around me.
"This week's been pretty hectic, huh?" He said.
"Yeah. Some good things came out of it, though." I replied, glancing at his face with a soft smile.
"I can't believe we're in love, it's crazy." He grinned.
"I know, right? It feels like just yesterday you were 'working your magic' with Nancy at the Wheeler's." I giggled.
Dustin gave me an offended look. "Hey!" He said, trying to suppress his smile.
I chuckled, resting my head back down.
All of a sudden, thundering noises resonated in the distance, from the direction of Starcourt.
Dustin, Erica and I stood up simultaneously and raced to the edge of the hill, looking down at Hawkins.
Red, green and almost every other colour sparks were erupting from the windows and the sounds were strangely familiar.
Fireworks.
"Is that...?" Dustin started.
"Fireworks." I stated. "Must've been Lucas's idea." I nodded to myself, thinking if it was anyone from the party, it had to have been Lucas.
"Why are they back in the mall? I thought that's where they were trying to get away from." Erica asked in an unimpressed and worried tone.
"I don't know, but I hope whatever strange tactic your brother came up with works." I said.
The booms started to die down until the last firework went off.
"Dustin! We're out of time!" Steve's voice crackled through the static of the supercom.
Dustin began screaming into Cerebro to Joyce and Hopper to close the gate.
——
Sirens blasted in my ears as firefighters, FBI agents, cops and doctors ran around the parking lot, trying desperately to clean the mess we'd made.
Once the Mind Flayer was killed, Robin and Steve had came and got Dustin, Erica and I from weather top and brought us back to Starcourt.
I currently sat in the back of an ambulance with my legs dangling out of it as a doctor pressed and ice pack to one of my bruised ribs. Another one took my temperature and wrapped a bandage around my arm where I had cut it and my ankle while a third asked me questions to make sure I was drug-free.
"And you're sure you threw it all up?" He asked, marking something down on his clipboard.
"Pretty sure, yeah." I said taking the thermometer out of my mouth with a grimace. "I mean, do I seem drugged to you?"
"Well, your vitals are perfect and your blood sample showed nothing out of the ordinary." He explained, flipping through some pages of paper.
"Alright." I winced as the ice pack was taken away and replaced with a bandage. "Can I go now?"
"Well, you should probably-" The doctor started.
"Great, thanks." I said, hopping out of the truck and pushing away the other doctors. "I'm gonna take this." I said, grabbing a thin fleece blanket that sat, folded, where I had been.
Before they could say anything else, I had draped the blanket over my shoulders and walked away, slightly limping.
"Y/n!" Dustin called, jogging over to me. "All good?"
"Cracked rib and a sprained ankle, but other than that, I'm all good." I gestured to my stomach with the bandage and my ankle with the brace.
"Good. I'm glad." He embraced me carefully and kissed my cheek. "I'm just gonna go check on Steve."
I nodded as he walked away.
Walking around aimlessly, I spotted a sobbing Eleven, pulling away from a tearful Joyce.
Joyce said something to El, before going over to Murray.
I quickly walked up to El and before she could say anything, I enveloped her in a tight hug, ignoring the ache in my rib cage as she sobbed into my shoulder.
"It's okay, El. It's okay. I'll always be here for you, it's okay." I shushed her softly as she took deep breaths and let more and more tears flow down her face.
At that moment I knew. He was gone. Hopper.
I pulled away a bit and lifted my hand up to her face, softly brushing the tears away with a sympathetic smile.
I stood there, hugging her tightly for the next three minutes until she calmed down and went to get checked up by the doctors.
I saw Max's red hair and walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder.
She turned around from talking to a medic and when she realized it was me, launched herself at me in a hug, her eyes filling with tears.
"He's gone." She cried between sobs. "Billy. He's dead."
"It's okay." I soothed. "I'm here. I'm here for you."
She pulled away slightly and looked right at me with tear stained cheeks.
"Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me from the start." She sniffed.
"Always. What are best friends for?" I smiled, wiping her tears away like I had done for El.
She started to cry again and quickly engulfed me in a hug once more, burying her face into the blanket on my shoulders.
I hugged her back tightly, comforting her as best as I could until she was okay enough to get herself checked by the doctors.
I went around, hugging everyone, and I mean everyone. Dustin, Steve, Robin, El, Max, Lucas Will, Mike, Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce. I think I must've hugged Dustin at least ten times. I congratulated Lucas on his fireworks plan and he laughed at Dustin's song. I hugged Murray, earning an awkward pat on the back from him. I even coaxed a hug out of Erica, despite her calling me a nerd.
With the dark night sky and the flashing red and blue lights all around me, I realized that these people weren't just my friends. They were my family. And I would do anything to protect them.
Word count: 1193
(Hello, my lovely people. I regret to inform you all that there's only one more chapter of season three left for me to write. Of course, I'll be doing season four once it comes out but still!! It makes me sad to think that it's already over. Look how far you've come!! You've read 93 chapters! I'm proud of you all and thank you all so much for taking the time to read my book. It makes me so happy to see all you lovely human being's comments and votes. Love you lots!!) Xoxo, Maia Jane <3