"Are you sure you want to come with me instead?" you say. "Won't the others need your help with Vecna?"
"You should see Max with a baseball bat," Steve says. "If she's up for it, she can take my place."
"Thank you." You squeeze Steve's hands. "I really appreciate you wanting to be by my side."
You lean up and kiss him, suddenly realizing that if this plan goes awry, you won't be able to do that anymore.
When he parks the Winnebago by the Creel House, Nancy takes the driver's seat and wishes you well. Erica and Lucas share a long hug before she follows you and Steve out of the RV and up the front porch steps.
"You ready to end this?" Steve asks quietly.
"Yeah," you lie. "Let's do this."
***
Once you've figured out where Vecna is hiding, you remove your headphones and begin speaking to him. You're trying to goad him into putting you in a trance so the next phase of the plan can commence: Max, Nancy, and Robin killing him in the Upside Down.
You tell Vecna all about the guilt you feel for arguing with your father the day he died. About the times you wished you'd spent time with him instead of going out with friends or staying up in your room alone. You lament about last summer, about how scary it was facing the forces of the Upside Down, and how you sometimes wish you'd never come to Hawkins.
Steve begins taunting and berating you, cluing you into the fact that you are now in Vecna's trance. You escape and run through the house, focusing on happy memories to keep Vecna at bay as much as you can.
When it finally seems like he's got you cornered and you're done for, somehow Eleven shows up to fight him.
But when Vecna gets the upper hand and has you pinned up, you keep expecting to hear "Better Things." You're waiting for your metaphorical, musical getaway car to the real world, and it doesn't come.
You feel your arm break. You cry out in pain, but before anything else happens, you hear "Better Things." But it's not the recorded version from your cassette — someone is singing a capella.
"Here's hoping all the days ahead won't be as bitter as the ones behind you," the slightly familiar voice warbles. It starts to sound clearer and you realize it's Steve singing. "Be an optimist instead and somehow happiness will find you ... "
The portal to your world opens, and you try to pull one of Vecna's tentacles. He dodges you, but Eleven swoops in just in the nick of time. She and Vecna continue to fight while you run toward the portal, getting closer and closer to Steve as he continues his song:
"I know tomorrow you'll find better things!"
Just as he finishes the chorus, you wake up, sailing to the ground. Steve swoops to kneel next to you. You notice he has a black eye.
"Are you okay?" he asks frantically. He notices your arm bent funny and says, "Shit, that's a dumb question."
"I'm fine," you say, a little breathless as you sit up. You grimace at the pain shooting through your wrist and elbow. "Well, my arm hurts. And I'm still kind of afraid Vecna will come for me again. But I'm here. Eleven showed up, somehow. And I heard you singing."
The apples of Steve's cheeks flush pink, but he smiles.
"I learned every line for you, babe," he says. "And thank God I did. Jason broke your Walkman."
You look over and see Jason Carver knocked unconscious. That explains the black eye.
"I'm so glad you were here, Steve," you say, voice shaking. "Vecna had me. He was about to kill me..."
"But he didn't," Steve says, accidentally squeezing your bad shoulder. You wince and he pulls his hand away. "Shit. I'm an idiot."
"No, you aren't," you say. "But let's get out of here, please. Hopefully the others killed Vecna and finally ended this."
Steve helps you to your feet and the two of you meet Erica outside the Creel House, hopefully leaving the horrible place for the last time.
GO TO PAGE 60 FOR THE "A HAPPY-ISH END" ENDING