︎ VOL THREE. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
❝︎ there are moments that the
words don't reach. ❞︎
Jack's head was leaning against Steve's shoulder while Nancy discussed their plan. He could feel the tenseness in Steve's body while he was closer to the man, and he could hear the way Steve's heart pumped at a faster beat. Jack quickly slid his hand down, and connected it with Steve's, hoping it would bring the man some sense of tranquility.
There were four phases that they were all involved in and planned to follow. Once Nancy finished discussing the plans, they all walked out of the RV and moved stealthily into the trailer park so they could reach Eddie's trailer. Jack kept his hand locked with Steve's, running at the same pace as the man.
Steve opened the trailer door, allowing the rest of them to enter, while Jack turned on the lights. Steve looked up at the hole ripped in Eddie's ceiling, pulsing and bright red. He adjusted his sweater, slipped his hands out of Jack, and pressed a light kiss to the corner of Jack's mouth.
"Be careful," Dustin lectured the man.
"Thanks, buddy," He inhaled, reaching for the rope. "Here goes nothing,"
Steve crawled up the rope, and Jack watched until his entire frame had vanished into the Upside Down. He disappeared for around a minute before returning with a mattress gripped between his grimy hands.
'Alright, let's do it. Let's go," Steve yelled.
Robin got down on her knee, hoisting Nancy up, allowing the girl to climb into the Upside Down. Jack helped throw the rest of the weapons into the Upside Down, and lifted Robin and Dustin up the rope. After he threw the last weapon, he climbed up the rope himself, taking one last glance around the trailer, and entering the darkened universe.
His head hit the mattress and Steve lifted him by the arm, pulling him up. The door of the trailer was opened by Nancy, and thunder could be heard all throughout the Upside Down, booming in the red skies. They walked out of the trailer, one by one, all with a series of weapons in tow.
Steve turned around to face Dustin and Eddie, stopping Jack in his tracks. "Hey, guys, listen. If things here start to go south, I mean, at all, you abort. Okay? Draw attention to the bats. Keep em' busy for a minute or two. We'll take care of Vecna. Don't try to be cute or be a hero or something. Okay? You guys are just–"
"Decoys," Dustin finished. "Don't worry. You can be the hero, Steve."
"Absolutely," Eddie said. "I mean, look at us. We are not heroes."
Steve nodded, and Jack smiled softly at the two men, winking at Eddie before nearing Robin and Nancy.
"Hey, Steve?" Eddie called. "Make him pay,"
Steve nodded, then turned around, walking closer to Jack, and soon enough the six of them split into two and four.
They walked through the Upside Down, creatures chittering around them, but unseen while the thunder continued to boom. They had walked until Jack's feet ached, heavily trailing after Nancy, farther away from the trailer park and closer to Vecna– Henry– One. Whatever the hell his name was. Jack's flashlight was focused on the sight in front of him, too scared to place it on the trees or beneath himself.
"Uh... I don't mean to freak anyone out," Robin said, her voice hoarse. "But I swear we've seen this tree before."
Nancy shook her head. "That's impossible."
"That would suck, Right?" Robin asked. "If Vecna destroyed the world because... cause' we got lost in the woods."
"We're not lost, Robin,"
Robin chuckled and ran off and Nancy called her name, chasing after the girl. Jack and Steve quietly walked through the wooded area, and even with all of the boisterous background sound, Jack could still hear Steve's heart beating.
"Hey," Jack nudged the man, "Everything good in Harrington land?"
Steve nodded, "All good in here, just a bit um– we're all just a bit scared."
"Don't worry," Jack shrugged. "Jack's land is terrified. Petrified,"
Steve chuckled humorlessly, "Jack?"
"Steve?"
"If I– If I somehow don't y'know... make it, I want you to move on, fall in love again, all that bullshit. Don't hold yourself back."
"Steve, don't say that shit. You're acting like me, have I really rubbed off on you that much?" Jack scoffed. "But seriously, don't say that shit. We'll be fine, I'll be fine, You'll be fine. Once Vecna's gone, everything will– everything will be okay. Here, I promise you this, when this is all over, the first thing we can do is go apartment hunting, how does that sound? You and I can start to find somewhere where we can start our lives."
"That's– that's good, Jack. This is- this is– I've actually been meaning to tell you..."
"What?"
"There's a place," Steve stated, "A small city twenty minutes out of Chicago. And it's... it's perfect. I was going to tell you after all of this... but right now, I just had to. And Jack, it has everything. Everything,"
Jack stopped walking, turning to face Steve, as a grin slowly plastered on his face. "Are you joking?"
"Uh," Steve looked at Jack, worried. "No?"
Without delay, Jack kissed Steve for the first time since they got back together with passion. Steve responded as soon as Jack's lips met his, his tongue swimming through Jack's mouth, and his hands reaching for the man's face.
"Hey, guys!" Robin's voice forced them to separate. "You guys! Awesome news! Looks like we weren't going the wrong way after all. Come on!"
Nancy looked between the two, raising an eyebrow, and smirking, while Robin stayed oblivious. Jack and Steve sighed in unison, following the girl and heading closer to Vecna.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
Victor Creel's house was even more unearthly in the Upside Down than it had been in Hawkins. Lightning cracked right over the dilapidated house, crackling behind the structure while the colored clouds swarmed above. Jack stood between Robin and Steve, gulping at the sight while his mind tried to distract itself, thinking of what color he and Steve's couch would be.
Maybe a lovely velvet, or a sage green to match the rug in Jack's dorm room. It had to be a loveseat. A seat where both he and Steve could lie across, their legs intertwined while Steve forces Jack to watch some shitty action film. He thought of rainy Sunday afternoons when Jack would sit on that couch, strumming his guitar in just his boxers while Steve fucked around with the remote just inches away. He so deeply desired it. How could a potential couch have so much depth?
The four of them made their way into the house, entering it just as they had only days ago. Jack's grip on Steve's hand grew so strong he could feel Steve's pulse radiating through his hand. Inside, the walls were covered in vines, forcing them to step over the feature to reach the stairs. Jack gagged as his favorite converse stepped in the goo adorning the vines, and his nails dug into Steve's skin. They walked up the stairs, the vines still lying on each step, giving each teen a harder time trying to reach the top floor. Jack let go of Steve's hand, stepping over each vine carefully, ignoring the way his shoes made a squelching noise on the rickety stairs. When they reached the floor, Steve immediately reconnected his hand with Jack's. Clingy Motherfucker.
Jack could hear the thunder rumbling outside, louder than the thunder he'd hide under his bed from when he was six. He helped pull Nancy and Robin up, glancing at their feet to make sure they didn't touch anything of disturbance. Steve threw nancy her gun, and they all slowly approached the door.
But then, the entire house began to rumble, and Jack stumbled backward only to be caught by Robin who hoisted both him and Nancy off the ground. He went to Steve's side, burying his head in the man's shoulder and sighing when suddenly a vine wrapped around Robin's ankle.
The three of them rushed toward the girl, pulling their weapons and attempting to tear the vine from Robin's body as it placed her against the wall. Steve stabbed his ax into the slithering vine, but he was pulled from the other wall, slamming into the wood.
"Steve!" Jack shouted, running toward the man.
Jack tripped over a vine, and before he knew it, his torso had a tentacle wrapped around it and he was launched across the room. He watched helplessly while the same actions were lied upon Nancy, a vine now slithering up her leg. Jack let out a cry as the vine curled itself around his neck, shortening his breath.
Minutes passed, hours maybe. Jack felt each moment passing quicker, his vision blurring and his lungs tired. He felt a hand slowly approach his and took it straight away. The grip was warm and familiar. Steve.
He thought of Steve and his smile and his eyes and his stupid hair and the way he winked at Jack, and how he grinned at Jack in a way he didn't grin at anyone else. He thought of Steve and their couch and their stupid fantasy life that seemed to drift farther away as the tentacle tightened. But he never let go of Steve's hand. Not once.
His mind withered away and everything flashed through his brain. Being five years old and humming to the song his mother was playing in the car. Being eight years old and letting tears fall from his eyes as his father pulled him past the record shop, scoffing. Being twelve years old and strumming his guitar for the first time. Being fourteen years old and arguing with Steve at the homecoming dance while The Beatles played in the background. Being seventeen years old and kissing Steve so breathlessly in the back of the other boy's car while the radio drowned out their groans. Being eighteen years old and touching Steve for the last time in months, wiping his tears, and placing his guitar in the back of his mother's care. And being nineteen and watching the world slip from his vision.
Steve was here though. Steve. Steve. Steve. He wanted to run his fingers through the man's hair. Steve, the piece of him that's always been there. Steve. Steve, the love of his life. Steve, who he'd never stop loving. Not once, not even in the hands of death.
Then, the grip around his neck loosened, and he departed to the ground. He let out a gasp, resting on his hands and knees while his mind and body tried to readjust to the fresh air. The vines began to slither away and Jack smiled in relief, rubbing the slime off his clothes.
"I don't believe in a higher power or divine intervention. But that was a miracle." Robin said as Jack began to stand on his wobbly feet.
Nancy looked toward the door, holding her gun. "Then we better not waste it,"
Jack looked at Steve running his arms down the man's body. "Oh my god, you're alive. Holy shit, you're okay– are you okay? Fuck, are you hurt?"
Steve shook his head. "No, no, I'm... I'm good. Are you okay?"
"I'm just– glad to be fucking alive and not in hell,"
Nancy cocked her gun, and Steve took another deep breath. "Phase four,"
"Flambe," Robin said.
When Jack thought of these next few moments, he wants to say he remembers what happened. But it was all a blur.
He knows that they entered the room, and chucked the inflamed bottles at Vecna. Jack knows that the man bellowed in pain, as the fire spread across his body. Jack knows that nancy shot Vecna several times, the bullets throwing Vecna back several feet and through the window. He knows that they left the haunted place, returning to Eddie's trailer. He knows that Steve carried him the entire way, somehow. Jack knows all of this. But he doesn't remember.
Because after Nancy's first bullet, Jack collapsed.
AN
omg. one more chapter after this.
it will most likely be the end of steve
and jack's story because by the time
s5 comes out i'll have things like
college aps and bigger writing
projects to focus on. 💗