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EIGHT. NOVEMBER 3RD, 1984
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

Jude can't remember the last time she was in a bad mood like this.

Actually—that's not true, it was literally only one day earlier, first in the Hawkins High parking lot and again in the foyer of her home. She supposes the better way of putting it is she can't remember the last time before this week that she was in a bad mood like this.

She's cold, for starters. Maybe she should have turned on the TV and checked the weather before leaving the house, because then she would have known it was going to get chilly, and maybe she would have brought more layers than just the flannel and camisole she wears beneath it. Now that the sun has set, the temperature has declined quickly, and now the material of the flannel is doing nothing to protect her from the cool air.

Then, there's the worry. She has no idea where Quinton is, still. Dustin and Lucas keep occasionally trying to radio Mike, Will or Quinton, but so far, there's been nothing. Right now, all she can do is hope they're in some Halloween candy induced coma somewhere and left their walkies in another room. Though, after everything she's learned about what happened last year, she has a horrible feeling in her stomach that they're stuck in the epicenter of this all—Hawkins Laboratory.

And she is also angry. Very, very angry. Since they started trekking towards the lab, she's been carefully avoiding Steve. Every time she looks at him, all she can think about is the way he threw himself to the wolves—or in this case, a bunch of baby Demogorgons—and she's mad all over again. Mad at him for endangering himself, mad at the kids for thinking it was some kind of heroic act, mad at herself for caring so much...

"Hey, you cold?" As if he can read her mind, Steve appears next to her, gazing down at her as she rubs her arms for warmth.

Jude's hands drop to her side, and she shakes her head. "No... Just... nervous, I guess..." She replies—which is sort of true.

Steve clicks his tongue. "Alright, well, if you do get cold, just tell me and I'll give you my jacket."

Caring so much...

Jude shoots him a side-eyed glance, and just nods.

"Cool. Hey, um, I'm sure Quinton's alright." Steve suddenly tells her, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "He's a smart kid. And if they're with the Byers, I think Joyce would do anything to keep those kids safe."

"It's true!" Dustin butts in. "They've dealt with all this shit before, they've got it under control."

"Yeah, sure..." Jude bites the inside of her cheek, and then she's reminded of her dad's phone call.

I'd rather we not have a repeat of last time.

She leans in closer to Steve. "Can I talk to you really quick?" She asks him in a quiet voice.

Honestly, she's not one hundred percent confident that she can trust Steve yet. But she's dying to get this off of her chest, and she can't tell the kids because she doesn't want to worry them, so she'll have to settle for telling Steve.

He glances down at her, then at the kids, and nods. "Hey shitheads, we'll be right behind you, so don't wander too far, alright?" He orders them, and Dustin looks ready to ask why?, but Steve gives him a look that shuts him up.

They slow a bit, letting the kids walk forward enough to be out of earshot, but not too far that they lose sight of them. Jude folds her arms tightly across her stomach.

"What's going on? Did that thing bite you or something?" Without warning he grabs Jude's wrist, and starts to roll up her sleeve to look for any marks.

"No!" Her eyes widen and she jerks her hand away from him, the possibility of him seeing the other marks on her skin... "No, nothing like that. It's just... I got home last night, and I passed my dad's office, and... He was talking on the phone..."

Her gaze drifts forward, making sure none of the kids were paying any attention. "He was saying something about a boy in the lab, and how he doesn't want a repeat of last time..." And when she looks at Steve out of the corner of her eye, he looks like he's seen a ghost.

Panic rises in her chest. So it is bad.

He must be able to pick up on her nerves, as he quickly starts shaking his head and grabs her shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey... I'm sure it's fine, alright, Jude?" He tells her in a weirdly gentle voice. "Your dad's not a bad guy... There's no way he's involved in all this crap. I'm sure it was just, like, a coincidence or something." He starts to rub her shoulder, and she's happy to say it does offer her a bit of comfort.

Okay... Maybe she's not totally convinced that her dad isn't involved in this, but Steve's reassurance has her feeling a little bit better. And besides, right now, it doesn't matter if he's involved. Right now, what matters is finding her little brother and getting him home safe.

"Thanks, Steve," she tells him, looking up at him with a tight-lipped smile.

He stops rubbing her shoulder, then gives it a pat before retracting his hand. "Yeah, no problem. No prob. No prob, Bob." He laughs, then stuffs his hands into his pockets.

He starts to pick up his pace, but Jude clears her throat and stops him. "Hey, um... I'm still mad at you, though," she tells him.

As he turns back to look at her, he looks confused. "What? Why? What did I do? Is it because of the flirting thing? Because I was just trying to get Henderson off our backs—"

"It's because you flung yourself into danger without thinking first." Jude cuts him off.

"Oh," he looks a bit relieved. She's not sure why he thought that the flirting would make her mad, but she has no time to dwell on that detail. "Sorry... I guess I just wasn't really thinking, you know? I kind of just, like, was overcome with adrenaline, and knew I had to do something..."

He pauses for a moment, looks down at her, and the corner of his lip twitches. "Wait, were you worried about me, Jude Monroe?"

Jude rolls her eyes, and looks away from him. "Well, obviously... You're kind of my friend now, and we also had those kids with us, and I was worried about them..."

"Relax, I'm teasing you," he nudges her with his shoulder, though the smirk remains on his lips. "Alright, I'm sorry. You're right, I probably should think before I just act... Next time, I'll try to be less reckless, okay?"

Then, Jude feels her own lips twitch. "Thank you. For the record, though, there's not going to be a next time." She points a finger at him, scrunching up her nose.

He holds up his hands in surrender. "Alright, I don't know if I can guarantee that, but sure," he laughs, and when Jude continues to glare at him, he sighs. "Okay. Fine. I'll guarantee it..."

Satisfied, they catch back up to the kids, who don't seem like they missed their presence all that much. Jude walks next to Max, while Steve makes his way back up to the front. Always gotta be the one in charge.

"Wait, so you're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asks Dustin.

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin replies, sounding a bit tired. Jude imagines they've been hung up on this topic the whole time she and Steve hung back.

"He was tiny two days ago," Max says, her eyebrows furrowed together as she looks at the back of Dustin's head.

"Well, he's molted three times already."

"Malted?"

"Molted," Dustin corrects her, sounding a bit annoyed. "Shed his skin to make room for new growth, like hornworms."

Max nods, though she still looks a bit confused. "So, when's he gonna molt again?"

"It's gotta be soon," Dustin shrugs. "When he does, he'll be fully grown—or close to it, at least. And so will all of his friends."

Steve huffs. "Yeah, then he's gonna be eating a lot more than cats."

Suddenly, Lucas steps in front of Dustin, whipping around to face him. "Woah, hold on, he ate a cat? Dart ate a cat?!"

Dustin stumbles back, a bit stunned. "No, what? No!" He scoffs, like it's the most absurd statement he's ever heard.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews," Steve says, and Dustin shoots him over a glare.

"Mews? Who's Mews?" Max asks.

"It's Dustin's cat—"

"Steve!" Dustin cuts him off.

"I knew it! I knew you kept him!" Lucas shouts, grabbing onto Dustin's jacket to shake him.

"No!"

"No?"

"No! I... I, he... He missed me, he wanted to come home..."

Jude sighs.

"Bullshit!"

"I didn't know he was a Demogorgon, okay?"

"Oh, so now you admit it?"

Max lets out a frustrated moan. "Guys, who cares?! We've gotta go!"

Her attempts at playing mediator fall flat. "I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!" Lucas shouts at Dustin.

Jude looks over at Steve, who's looking right back at her and shrugs.

"So did you!"

"Huh?"

"You told a stranger—" Dustin suddenly lifts the flashlight to shine it directly in Max's eyes, "—the truth!"

Max blinks in an attempt to regain her vision, and scoffs. "A stranger?"

"You told someone, too!" Now Lucas shines his flashlight directly into Jude's vision, blinding her temporarily.

"That's not the same! She's Quin's sister!"

"Yeah, who he specifically asked us to keep out of this!"

Once Jude's vision makes a return, she looks over to where Steve is—or Steve was. Her green eyes dart around in the darkness of the night, then she finds him wandering away from the group. Curious, she walks after him, and she quickly realizes what's caught his focus. Screeches can be heard in the distance—the same kinds of screeches that Dart was making.

"Guys?" Steve calls out to the kids, then flinches when he sees Jude is standing right next to him.

The kids are too caught up in their arguing to hear him.

"Guys!" Jude shouts at them, which finally garners their attention. They go quiet, and when there's another scream, they understand what it is that's so important.

Whatever they were arguing about before is forgotten, and the five of them are hurtling through the trees towards the source of the noise. When they finally break through the treeline and into a small clearing, they see the lab—well, actually, they don't see the lab. The power must have been cut, because it's gone completely dark.

Jude looks back at the kids, then over at Steve, who's unsurprisingly looking right back at her.

They need to hurry.

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

Jude really cannot imagine being in a situation more awkward than this one.

"Steve?"

"Jonathan?"

"Jude?"

"Nancy?"

They've finally hiked their way to the lab, and for a second, Jude thought they were goners. There's a car parked near the gate, the headlights visible through the thick wall of trees, and she can hear two voices. From everything that Dustin has told her, her first thought was that it was some government agents that were going to shoot them on sight.

Thankfully, it's not.

Though, maybe that would have been better than this. Okay, that's being a bit dramatic, but Jude can't emphasize enough how uncomfortable this is.

The two voices belong to none other than Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, and Nancy kind of looks like she was thinking the same thing as Jude.

"What are you doing here?" Nancy's eyes flicker between Jude and Steve, lingering a bit longer on Jude.

"What are you doing here?" Steve counters.

"We're looking for Mike and Will," Nancy explains.

"We're looking for Quinton," Jude says. "I'm pretty sure he's with them. They're not in there, are they?" Her voice is a bit strained as she gazes behind them at the dark lab.

"We're not sure..." Nancy glances over at Jonathan, and he mirrors that same panicked look that Jude wears.

"Why?"

As if on cue, a screech tears through the air.

Everyone's attention is drawn to the building, which is definitely the source of all the shrieking.

"Shit," Jonathan murmurs, then he turns and puts a hand on Jude's shoulder. "Will's always with your brother, have you heard anything?"

The sudden contact causes Jude to flinch away from his touch. Steve must notice, as he takes a step forward so he's between Jude and Jonathan.

"She hasn't heard from him for a couple of days, alright?" Steve answers for her.

Jonathan's eyes flicker between Steve and Jude, squinted slightly as if he's trying to put together a puzzle. Jude's attention is elsewhere, though.

Out of the corner of her eye, she catches sight of lights flickering. Nancy must be seeing it, too, and the both of them start walking towards the building. "Power's back on!" They shout in unison, then exchange a look.

The group runs back to the gate, because surely it will open now.

Jonathan goes inside of the booth and Jude can hear him rapidly pushing the button. Nothing happens. Her shoulders deflate.

"Let me try, Jonathan!" Dustin snaps as he forces his way inside the booth to give it a try. Still, nothing happens.

Jude, in a moment of frustration, and hits the gate a few times.

"Alright, Judy, I don't think that's gonna help," Steve says with a chuckle. He gently puts a hand on her shoulder, guiding her away from the gate. "Just hold on, we'll get it open soon," he reassures her, and miraculously, she relaxes beneath his touch.

Someone coughs, and Jude looks over to see Nancy staring ahead with a clenched jaw. She's not really sure what that is all about.

Just as Nancy's lips part like she's going to say something, though, the gate opens.

"Jonathan, let's go!" Nancy shouts, as she turns back to the car. Jonathan comes out of the box and Jude watches as he hops in the driver seat. She's still a second, her mind running a mile a second.

"I'm coming with you!" She suddenly yells, and before anyone has any time to protest, she flings open the back door and climbs inside of Jonathan's car. The last thing she sees before they peel away is Steve staring at the car with his hands held up, in a sort of what the hell? gesture.

The ride to the lab entrance is quick—especially considering Jonathan is hauling ass. But it's good, because when they pull up, it looks like everyone would be screwed if they were just a second later getting there.

And finally—finally—Jude sees her little brother. He's with Mike, carrying what looks like an unconscious Will Byers. And behind them she sees an older guy—she's pretty sure that's the chief of police?—dragging Joyce Byers away from the doors.

Before Jonathan even comes to a complete stop, Jude swings the door open and jumps out, barely catching herself before she trips. She runs the fastest she's ever run in her life to her brother.

"Jude?!" He squints, like he's trying to make sure it's really her, when he sees her rapidly approaching.

She doesn't say anything, just envelopes him in a bone-crushing hug. Her fingers weave their way into his dark hair while her other hand drops to his back, where she can feel the swift beat of his heart through his shirt. All of the worry and fear that had been building up is finally lifted off of her shoulders, and she allows herself to focus on this moment—her little brother, safe in her arms.

Well, safe for now.

There's a bang, and her attention snaps towards the glass doors where several of the little creatures are trying to break their way through. Then, she looks over to Jonathan's car, to see it's already full. The chief is in his truck, and he starts to furiously honk at them to get their attention. Without another word, Jude drags Quinton by his wrist over to the truck, throwing open the passenger door and helping him inside.

Her blood is pumping so wildly from adrenaline, and Jude barely processes anything that's happening. Except for Quinton sitting next to her, his small hand gripping her own. She barely notices when the truck makes a brief stop near the gate to pick up Steve, Dustin, Max and Lucas.

Once they're far enough away to be sure they're safe for the time being, Jude is being yelled at.

"What are you doing here?!" Quinton shouts, grabbing onto her arm. Then, he scrunches up his nose. "Are you wearing Mom's clothes?!"

"She's been helping us," Dustin leans forward from the back seat to add in.

Quinton glares at him. "What the hell?! I thought I told you to leave her out of this!"

Dustin cowers into his seat.

"Quinn, it's not his fault," Jude tries to reassure her brother. "I was out looking for you, found Dustin and Steve trying to kill Dart, and I made them tell me what's going on."

"Yes! Yes, she made us tell her! I didn't do anything willingly!" Dustin sits forward to add in, and Steve swats his arm.

Quinton gives Dustin a weird look.

"Why didn't you tell me before, Quinn?" Jude asks him in a quieter voice, leaning close to him. "I could have helped."

He returns his focus to her, though his gaze drops to their laps. "I just... You already had so much going on, and you just barely got home... I didn't want to stress you out more."

Yeah. Just like she suspected. He thought she was too fragile. But how could she be upset about that? It was her own doing that led him to that conclusion.

She just pulls him in for a hug again, squeezing him tightly. "Okay... From now on, no more hiding things from me? Okay?" She pulls away from the embrace and grips his shoulders as she stares into his eyes to show that she's serious.

He blinks at her, then begins to fervently nod. "Yeah. Yeah, no more secrets." He agrees.

"God fucking damn it," a new voice grumbles, and Jude looks to the man driving the truck. Oh! Jim Hopper! That's his name, right? "How'd I end up with two of you shits in my truck?"

Jude furrows her eyebrows, glancing down at Quinton. She quickly figures out what he means, though. Two Monroe kids.

It's really not the time to be laughing, she knows that, but she can't help but giggle anyway. She wraps an arm around Quinton, rubbing his shoulder as she pulls him close.

Her gaze drifts to the backseat, and she meets Steve's dark eyes. His eyebrows jump up, and though he doesn't speak, Jude knows what he's trying to say:

I told you so.

quinju reunion 😍❤️ idk if i like that duo name actually. idk girl we will see. Jucy meet up. love it. i have nothing else to say.