𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥
❝ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴋɴᴏᴡ, ɪ'ᴍ ᴀ ɢɪʀʟ!❞
𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐃𝐔𝐄 to dustin convincing him. he had seen arlo's bruised and beaten face, which made him angry, but he kept his cool since he knew that he needed to be calm. everybody took their turns on going down the rope to enter the tunnels, max helping arlo down since she knew that the girl's body had been hurting. everyone except arlo had a flashlight, the harrington girl having the ability to see in the dark, thanks to her powers. everyone had pulled their goggles over their eyes, the bandanas over their noses and mouths, and had gloves over their hands.
"yeah, i'm pretty sure it's this way." mike announced as he looked at the map he had made of the tunnels using will's drawing.
"you're pretty sure, or you're certain?" dustin questioned.
"i'm 100% sure. just follow me and you'll know." mike answered, turning around to face everyone before he turned back around to start walking.
"whoa, whoa, whoa. hey, hey, hey, hey, i don't think so." steve stopped him as he walked to the freckled boy. "any of you little shits die down here, i'm getting the blame. got it, dipshit?" he said as he snatched the map out of mike's hand. "from here on out, i'm leading the way. come on, let's go." he said before he started walking through the tunnels.
"sir, yes, sir!" apollo saluted as he started to follow steve, the both of them leading the group of kids. max had helped arlo walk through the tunnels, keeping a firm grip around her waist as they moved.
the harrington girl ignored how clammy she had gotten from being in such close proximity of the taller girl, butterflies fluttering in her stomach the whole time. silence had fallen over the group, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the squishing noises that would come from their feet. little white particles floated through the air, making arlo happy that they had covered up their faces the way that they did. apollo had started to hum a song from beside steve, it probably being a rock or metal song that he was obsessed. this made steve look at him, and although apollo couldn't see his face, he knew that steve was giving a "really?" look.
"god." lucas exclaimed when the group had gotten to a cluster.
"what is this place?" max questioned.
"guys, come on. keep moving." steve instructed as he looked down at the map, walking into another tunnel. the group followed him without another word, silence falling over them once again. but the somewhat peaceful moment was interrupted by the sound of familiar screams and curses. the group quickly ran back to where they came from, worriedly calling for dustin as the boy screamed bloody murder. arlo was on alert, looking around to se if there was anything that looked like it would attack, but she hadn't seen anything. "what happened?! what happened?!" steve yelled in a panic, moving past all of the kids to get to dustin.
"it's in my mouth! some got on my mouth! shit!" dustin practically screeched before he started cough. he quickly pulled his bandana down so that he could breathe, which only made arlo grimace. he's definitely gonna get some particles in his mouth. the curly haired boy then looked up at the group, a beat of silence going by. "i'm okay."
"you serious?" max asked, pointing her flashlight at the henderson boy.
"very funny, man." steve mumbled sarcastically. "nice, very nice." he quickly added as everyone turned back around and started walking again.
"jesus, what an idiot." max commented, tightening her grip on arlo's waist.
"hang on. wait, wait." dustin called, quickly getting up from the vine covered ground before he followed.
the group continued to walk, arlo looking back to make sure that dustin had caught up. the taller boy noticed her looking back, sending her nod to tell her that he was okay. she nodded back, turning back around to face forward. a few minutes went by, the group still walking through the tunnels. and then, when steve stopped, everyone looked around to see why.
"all right, wheeler. i think we found your hub." steve announced, looking around the big space. tunnels were leading into almost every direction, probably under almost every spot in hawkins.
"let's drench it." mike said.
the group didn't waste anytime to do what mike had said, using the multiple cans of gasoline to do it. although she was more hurt than steve and apollo -- thanks to billy, arlo had insisted that she helped, hating not doing anything. as she poured the gasoline around her, she felt this feeling creep into her stomach. she thought back to the pain she had felt the night her and steve had tried to help dustin with dart, how she had collapsed in pain. she later found out that it had happened because the workers from the lab had set a tunnel on fire, causing the mind flayer pain, which caused his hive mind pain. she was apart of this hive mind. she knew that when the group would set the hub on fire, it wouldn't be too good for her. she was gonna be in an excruciating amount of pain. but she wanted to endure it so that they could save will. so she swallowed the rock that had appeared in her throat as she stepped back, her can being empty. everyone joined her once they were done, the overwhelming smell of gasoline wafting through the air.
"all right, you guys ready?" steve asked, earning nods from everyone.
"yeah."
"ready."
"ready"
"oh, god." arlo mumbled.
"apollo." dustin called, making the tattooed covered boy turn to him with raised eyebrows. "light her up." apollo nodded at that, a smile pulling at his lips as he held up his middle finger. no one asked questioned, watching as a small flame appeared.
"i am in such deep shit." steve mumbled as he watched apollo.
the williams boy flicked his finger forward, making the flame bounce from his finger and towards the hub. "fight fire with fire." he quoted, reference a metallica song.
arlo felt as if her heart was about to burst out her chest. immediately after the hub went up in flames, an agonizing scream left arlo's lips. it felt like she had been the one to catch on fire, everyone fiber of her body burning. steve was quick to grab his sister, screaming at everyone to start moving. he picked her up bridal style, feeling her body start to spasm in his arms. he held her closer in an attempt to stop her body from spasming, not knowing what else to do. a war was going on inside of arlo, almost like her abilities were trying their best to fight off the small part that was mind flayer, to push him out so that arlo wasn't in pain anymore. but it didn't work. if anything, it made the small amount of mind flayer grow stronger. he was angry because he had just lost will. he needed to keep arlo. he needed to.
her throat was raw from the screaming she had been doing, her muscles tight from the spasming.
the screaming had subsided, not being replaced by quiet whimpers. steve looked down at arlo, hearing her go quiet, only making him worry more. "come on. stay with me, lo. stay with me."
"help! help! help!" mike screamed, making the group quickly turn around. apollo didn't waste anytime to step forward, heating his hand up as he wrapped it around the vine that had grabbed onto mike. it was almost like the vine squealed as it let go of mike, apollo pulling the wheeler boy back to his feet.
the group started making their back to where they had entered, wanting to get out of there. max would look back at steve and arlo every now and then, checking to see if the youngest out of the two siblings were okay. but she wasn't and she was only losing consciousness with each passing second. her spasming stopped, the girl now laying limp in steve's arms. her breathing was shallow, steve feeling his heart drop. they needed to get the hell out of there so that he could save his sister. as he followed the group, a whole bunch of scenarios ran through his head. besides a few bruises and cuts from billy, arlo was physically okay. but what about internally? what if the mind flayer had fucker her up? what if she was internally bleeding? or what if the mind flayer made her brain dead?
"steve!" apollo's voice called, snapping the harrington boy out of his thoughts. he looked around before he looked up, realizing that they had arrived at the whole that led into the tunnels. "hand arlo up! you gotta climb, dude! and hurry! we have fucking company!"
on cue, steve heard the growls and screeches of demo-dogs, the sounds getting closer and closer. he quickly but carefully handed arlo up to apollo, the williams boy going to grab her. steve had thought that apollo had a hold on her, making her take his hands away. but both boys cursed when the unconscious girl dropped to the ground, landing on her arm. steve cursed, glaring up at apollo as he quickly picked his sister up. this time, apollo did grab her, making sure to be gentle. he handed her over to max, who had been worrying about her for the last five minutes. lucas, percy, and mike had joined her, seeing that arlo was completely limp and wasn't responding to nothing that was going on around her.
"cherry. hey, cherry. it's me. it's berry." max whispered, feeling tears well in her eyes as she looked down at the girl she had quickly gained feelings for. "you gotta wake up, okay? you gotta wake up for us. for steve. for me. wake up."
once the demo-dogs had passed right by him and dustin, steve didn't waste anytime on picking dustin up and putting him on the rope. dustin was pulled up by apollo, the both of them falling back onto the dirt. steve was quick to climb up, doing it with ease since he was the jock he was. he immediately pulled his goggles and bandana off, running over to his sister. he dropped down to his knees, moving the boys and max away.
"arlo!" he called, gently slapping her cheeks. "arlo! come on, wake up! you can't leave! you can't! you gotta wake up for me, lo. wake up!" he picked her up from the ground, holding her close as tears started to sting his eyes. "please, don't leave me."
suddenly, arlo sucked in a deep breath, making steve pull her back. her eyes were now open and her chest was rising and falling. a breath of relief escaped his mouth, the same going for everyone else.
"i thought i lost you." he mumbled, a wave of deja vu washing over him as he thought back to last year.
"takes a lot more than that to kill me." arlo mumbled, a small smile on her face.
𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑
𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓 of steve's car, dustin being in the back. steve had just pulled up outside of the middle school gymnasium, where the snow ball was currently being held. dustin was dressed in a blue plaid blazer, a turquoise button up shirt, some black slacks, and his usual white sneakers. his hair was slicked back at the sides, two curly strands framing his face. he had a black bowtie around his collar, arlo thinking that the henderson boy looked handsome. steve put the car in park as he looked through the doors of the gym. his eyes then landed on his sister, who was wearing one of his nike sweaters and a pair of light washed jeans with dirty converse. her left arm was wrapped in a navy blue cast, it being held up by a sling that was wrapped around her neck. when apollo had dropped her in the tunnels a month ago, she had landed on her arm in a horrible way, causing it to snap into two.
"all right, here we are." steve mumbled as he turned around to face dustin. "so, remember, once you get in there. . ."
"pretend like i don't care." dustin finished, nodding his head.
"that's literally the most dumbest piece of advice you had ever given anyone, steve." arlo chimed in, turning around to face the curly haired boy. "do not listen to him, okay? girls like to know that you care, they like it when you listen, and they love when you show your soft side, dust. i would know, i'm a girl!"
"and yet, you still haven't made any moves on the girl that you have feelings for." steve remarked, earning a scoff from arlo and a chuckle from dustin. arlo had told all of the boys that she liked girls. . . well, it was more like mike, will, dustin, and percy got ahold of her diary, and read that she had a crush on max.
"do you really wanna talk about that? cause i can bring up apollo, if -" arlo started, sending her brother a playful glare. she knew that the older boy had gained some feelings for the williams boy, his hostile and passive aggressive attitude towards him going out the window.
"no! don't bring that up!" steve quickly interrupted, a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he turned back towards dustin. the henderson boy had an amused look on his face, gaining a love for watching the two siblings argue. he then started to check himself out in the rearview mirror, steve picking up on this. "hey."
"what?" dustin asked.
"come on. you look great, okay? you look. . . you look great." steve assured him as he brought his hand up to block the mirror. "okay?now you're gonna go in there."
"yeah." dustin nodded.
"look like a million bucks."
"yeah."
"and you're gonna slay 'em dead."
"like a lion." dustin nodded before he started to purr like a cat again.
"okay, don't do that. seriously, that's probably the one thing that girls will not like." arlo quickly stopped him, using her right arm to pinch his lips together. dustin nodded, making arlo let go of his lips. "good luck, dust." with that, dustin got out of the car, sending the two harrington siblings a nod. they watched as he went inside the gym, a proud smile being on arlo's face. she wished she could've seen how the other boys looked, but she knew she would since their mothers all took pictures of them.
"you sure you don't wanna go inside, lo?" steve questioned, making the girl in question turn towards him.
"i don't exactly have a dress, steve." she pointed out. "plus, i don't feel like spending the entire night avoiding people that ask me how i broke my arm. i've been dealing with them for the past month. and. . . i don't want to watch max dance with a boy. save myself the hurt and rejection, you know?"
steve nodded, looking at his sister with sad eyes. he didn't say anything else, putting the car into drive before he pulled off. him and everyone around them could see that arlo and max had feelings for each other, but arlo was the only person that could see that. max on the other hand, saw it and she was hoping that arlo had came to the dance so that she could do something about it. safe to say she was disappointed when she realized arlo wasn't coming.
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𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌, music blasting from her record player. she had just gotten out of the shower, walking around her room in nothing but a cropped pajama top and pajama pants. her casted arm was no longer in a sling, letting her move around a lot more. the smiths was softly playing from the record player, steve having getting her the vinyl as an early christmas present. let's just say that it's been on repeat since she had opened it up. she mumbled the lyrics to this night has opened my eyes as she sat on her bed, going to pick up a comic book lucas had let her burrow. just as she was about open the comic up, she heard a faint knock on her door. she furrowed her eyebrows as she placed the comic back down on her nightstand, getting up from the bed and walking over to the door. her eyebrows shot up her forehead when she had seen max standing there. she was wearing a black sweater that had colorful lines going through it with pink jeans. the front of her hair had been braided and clipped back to keep it out of her face.
"i - i. . . um." arlo stuttered, her mind rebooting as she looked at the beautiful girl that was max mayfield. the strawberry blonde had looked beautiful.
"hi." max breathed out, a smile pulling at her lips when she had seen arlo. "you weren't at the dance."
"i - yeah. um, i didn't feel like getting stared at and getting asked to dance by some sweaty 13 year old." arlo reasoned, glad that her brain had finally started working properly again. "did you really leave in the middle of the dance?"
"yeah, i wanted to come check on you." max shrugged, smiling when she had heard you've got everything now start to play. "i forgot how obsess you are with the smiths."
"can you blame me?" arlo questioned, walking away from the door so max could enter the room.
"no, but you're like, overly obsessed with them." max answered, earning an eye roll from arlo. that made max chuckle, watching as the shorter girl started to walk towards the record player. her eyes then dropped down to arlo's side, part of her scars peaking through. she had never actually seen them before. "did. . . did that hurt?"
arlo looked at her with raised eyebrows, wondering what she was talking about. max then gestured to her side, making arlo look down to see that her scars were on display. "oh, yeah. the demogorgan did that. i, uh, bled out and, um. . . i - i died. but they brought me back. i don't know how, but they did it." arlo explained, letting her fingers graze over the three scars. "the healing process hurt more though."
"do they still hurt?"
"sometimes. if i have a nightmare or when it rains." arlo nodded, earning a confused look from max. "it has something to do with the change in pressure. it's all too. . . science-y to explain and i don't really want to do it."
max nodded, looking around arlo's room. she had the luxury of being in it over the course of the past month, but she always looks around in awe. "me and lucas danced to a slow song." she then announced, making arlo's face drop. the harrington girl felt her chest ache at those words.
"was it nice? out of all the boys, he's the only one who doesn't have two left feet." she asked, quickly hiding the hurt that had appeared on her face. max picked up on it, biting back a smile.
"yeah, it was. we actually talked about you the whole time." max informed, taking arlo by surprise. "how we both wished you were there so that you could finally have a fun and relaxing night. and then he told me that i should come and see you. i mean, i was going to after the dance. but he said i should do it now, so i did."
"oh?" arlo let out, it coming out as a question.
"the thing is. . . he wasn't the one that i wanted to dance with tonight." the mayfield girl admitted, turning her head so that she could meet arlo's gaze.
the umbra-kinetic girl raised her eyebrows, "who did you want to dance with?"
"you." max answered. "i had been working up the courage to ask all week long, and you had the audacity to not show up."
arlo chuckled at that, an idea popping into her head. "we could dance now. i could pick another vinyl, a slow song, and we could dance."
max smiled, "i'd like that."
arlo didn't waste any time stopping the record that was still playing, back to the old house cutting off. she quickly but gently placed the record back into its cover, putting it on the shelf with the rest of her records. she then skimmed the records for one in particular, smiling when she had found it. she gently slid it out from the shelf before she took the record out. she then place it on the turntable, picking the needle up before pushing it a little closer to the center. she let the needle drop onto the spinning record, a feeling of contentment washing over her as time after time by cyndi lauper started to play. max watched from where she stood, a look of admiration on her face as arlo started walking to her. max immediately wrapped her hands around arlo's waist, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as the shorter girl wrapped her arms around her neck. the two started to sway to the song, arlo feeling electricity appear where max's hands were on her waist.
"if you're lost, you can look, and you'll find me. . . time after time." arlo sung quietly once the song got to the chorus. "if you fall, i will catch you, i'll be waiting. time after time."
max smiled as she heard arlo sing, pulling her closer unconsciously. "i have something to tell you." this stopped arlo from singing, looking up at the strawberry blonde with curious eyes. "i really like you, arlo. like. . . a lot. i have since my first day. and i wanted to dance with you tonight so that i could tell you that."
"you like me?" arlo questioned, a smile ghosting over her lips.
"yeah, i do. i mean, you're incredibly smart, the smartest person i know, actually. and you're in comics and games. and you don't take any shit from anyone, which i admire so much. and you're literally the most beautiful girl in the world." max rambled, making arlo's cheeks beat up. "i know that it isn't okay for me to like another girl, but it's literally been eating me alive. if - if you don't want to be my friend anymore, i totally -"
"maxine." arlo interrupted, making the taller girl stop rambling and look down at her. "i really like you too. more than you know. more than words can describe."
"really?" max asked.
"yeah." arlo nodded. her heart did a flip when she felt max's hands squeeze at her waist. her eyes flickered down to max's lips, wanting to lean up and kiss her so bad.
"can i kiss you?" max asked, almost as if she had heard arlo's thoughts. the harrington girl simply nodded, not trusting herself to form words. max didn't waste any time leaning down, arlo going on her tip-toes so that she could meet her. and when their lips had finally met, everything around them disappeared as fireworks went off. their lips molded together softly, scared that if they had kissed too hard they would wake up from a dream.
the two pulled apart from each other, smiles immediately taking up their faces as they looked at one another. arlo then leaned closer into max, placing her head onto the taller girl's shoulder. max felt her heart skip a beat at this, tightening her grip. the pad of her thumb on her right hand gently ran along the scars that were on arlo's side. the harrington girl didn't complain, only pulling max closer.
"do you. . . would you like the be my girlfriend, cherry?" max questioned reluctantly, gently placing her head onto arlo's.
the shorter girl smiled into max's shoulder. "there's nothing in the world that would make me happier, berry."
the two continued to sway to the song, time after time being replaced with all through the night. steve had walked past the two, quietly running to his room to get a camera before he ran back. he snapped a few pictures of the two, a proud smile on his face as he thought about the bet that he made with apollo. the williams boy owed him twenty dollars now and he couldn't wait to tease him about that, apollo making his way over to the harrington mansion as max and arlo danced.
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daij speaks!
this is the last chapter for this book and i'm SCREAMING. my babies finally got together, omg. max being two inches taller than arlo warms my heart because i just know that max's wardrobe is somehow gonna appear in arlo's closet. but ugh, i love this chapter. or at least the second half of it. this was originally supposed to be in two chapters, but i didn't feel like splitting and adding sad scenes.
but i hope u guys enjoyed 🫶🏼