LET HIM DOWN EASY !

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EVERYONE PACED AROUND INSIDE THE BYERS HOUSE, TRYING TO CONNECT EVERYONES SIDE OF THE STORY THE BEST THEY COULD. Even with everyones information, no one had a clue what was actually going on or what the monster in the sky had wanted with innocent kids. It just seemed like one big mess that they weren't going to be able to get themselves out of.

Alex eventually grew tired of walking from one room to the other and found herself make her way into the kitchen where Steve and the rest of the kids sat quietly. She leaned up against the counter next to Steve, handing him back his jacket.

"Joyce let me borrow her clothes," she said quietly. The last thing she had wanted was to stir up any more drama between him and Nancy all because she had worn his jacket. After the comments Nancy had made before about Steve and Alex's close relationship, she was always cautious not to step on her toes. Tonight didn't change that.

He gave her a soft smile, slipping his jacket back on. Neither knew why now out of this whole adventure why they felt so distant from one another. Alex stood there hoping he'd say something but everything remained silent between the two. Unable to take the awkward silence, Alex had pushed herself off the counter with a soft sigh before heading back to the living room.

Nancy had been sitting on the couch by herself now with her head buried in her hands. Alex had taken a seat next to her, causing her to lift up her head with a forced smile. "Hey," she whispered. "I'm really sorry Jonathan and I didn't tell you where we were going. I-I wanted to but you seemed so out of it lately and I didn't want to drag you back into the mess."

Alex gave a small nod of understanding, yet it still hurt her. "Messes always find us," she said with a small laugh. "You know, a monster in your head sort of makes you seem out of it."

"Alex," she began gently, but Alex had shook her head to stop her from talking.

"Seriously, Nance, I'm not mad. No one could've guessed it and I was too scared to tell anyone. It took a lot to even tell Steve and Dustin."

"Well, you two seemed to handle the kids well," she said softly. "You two really do make a good team."

"I don't want you to think theres anything going on with us..." Alex said nervously. The last thing she wanted was for Nancy to be mad that she spent all this time with Steve. Alex wasn't even entirely sure they were broken up yet and it seemed like Steve didn't know either.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I think it's for the best anyways. You two have always been perfect with each other and Jonathan and I..." her voice had trailed off as she looked to Alex. "Maybe I just didn't see it at first. I always assumed you two liked each other, but then Jonathan kissed me and..."

"He did?"

Nancy turned her head away and buried her head back into her hands. "I don't even know if Steve and I officially broke up yet."

"Just talk to Steve," she suggested. It was the only logical thing to do and yet neither of them had seemed to understand that. It was all guessing for them rather than doing what they knew was right.

"I don't want you to think I'm trying to hurt him." Nancy had wanted to explain herself further, but Alex had pulled her into her arms. After everything, it's all she had wanted from everyone around her because just earlier today, she thought she would lose them all to the Shadow Monster. Nancy was surprised at first, but it showed her that this was all she needed too. There was a fight coming and having a friend to hold onto was the comfort they needed to get by.

Rushing into the living room, Mike had ruined the moment as he waved Alex over. "Come on, Alex! We need you!" With that, he had disappeared back into the kitchen.

Alex had went to get up to follow along, but Nancy had stopped her by grabbing onto her hand. "Maybe don't tell Mike you like Steve. He should be let down easier." Pausing, she dropped her hand down. "But maybe you should tell Steve how you feel about him."

She shook her head with a laugh at Nancy's playful attitude. Not telling Mike was one thing, but telling Steve had felt like an entirely different story. He was quiet and distant at the Byer's house and already it felt that things were changing between the two.

Heading into the kitchen, she was bombarded with questions as Mike guided her to her seat before forcing her into it. "The Shadow Monster, his army, if we can stop him, could we stop them too?"

Her eyes had shifted nervously across the room at all the eyes on her. She had wanted to end things with the Shadow Monster and anything to do with the Upside Down, but there was always going to be that lingering fear that he could hear her and he would kill her for wanting to stop him.

Dustin had proceeded to slam his hand down onto the table to get her attention. "Alex, come on! Life or death here!"

"I... I really don't know. I guess? It hurt him when we got hurt..."

Mike started to grow more excited which only covered up the fact that Alex felt like she was drowning in fear from having to have this talk with them. She wanted to forget all about him and now they had her sitting front and center for answers that she wasn't entirely sure she had. Mike ran over to a stack of papers, grabbing the top one and setting it down on the table for everyone to see. The drawing Will did of the Shadow Monster stared back at them.

Alex shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to avoid looking at the picture as her stomach did flips and a lump started to form in her throat.

"It's like a virus, it infected them. But Alex..." Mike's words trailed off as he processed his thoughts.

"I guess she was cured," Dustin said quietly, looking down at the picture in wonder. It had seemed too convenient to him and even if he wanted to believe it was true, he knew their luck was never that great. There was always something coming next.

"And so this virus, it's connecting him to the tunnels?" Max asked.

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything, right, Alex?" Mike said eagerly.

"Uh, I think so? I visited the tunnels... the Upside Down. I knew about the monsters...." her voice started to grow quieter but no one seemed to notice or care. Mike was onto something and they needed this solved.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down," Steve instructed, walking over to the table. Taking the picture into his own hand, he had looked it over in confusion. This had been the thing that had been talking to Alex— the thing that wanted them dead. Now he was supposed to trust that a group of kids had managed to figure out how to move forward from this point.

"So, the Shadow Monster is connected to everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will, so did Alex. It's like a hive mind like Mr. Clarke taught us. A collective consciousness. It's a super organism. And this is the thing that controls everything. It's the brain," Mike reexplained. To him and the rest of his friends, it was quite clear and obvious.

Alex closed her eyes, trying to push back the memories of what he did to her. This Shadow Monster had used this hive-mind to manipulate her and see exactly what he had wanted. It made her sick inside to listen to everyone discuss how it had used her. She felt used and disgusted. Even if he was completely gone and out of her system, that didn't mean she completely forgot about all the pain and battling she felt with him inside her brain.

No one seemed to take notice as they gave this monster a proper name. "Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin said in awe.

"The what?" Max and Steve asked at the same time but the boys had it figured out. They just had to explain it to the ones who didn't know.

Dustin ran to grab a book while Mike ran to Hopper, Jonathan, and Nancy to explain the whole situation to them too. Everyone began to gather around the table and Alex had moved away to make room for those that were interested. As she had taken a seat further away from the table, she had kept her head down as she fiddled with her fingers.

Max had taken instant notice to her and gave a sharp smack to Steve Harrington. "Go check on her," she instructed.

Rubbing his arm from where she had hit him, he looked over to Alex. Without a glance to Max, he maneuvered his way through the group before taking a stand beside her chair. Crouching down to her level, he reached out and placed his hand over hers. "Hey, are you sure you can handle all this? You really don't have to be here if you don't want to."

Alex looked over to him with a sad smile. The corners of her lips had barely turned up, but she had tried and she knew she had to for him and everyone else. "It's a lot," she whispered. "But I can't leave. They all need me..."

"You can sit this one out," he offered up gently. "Those kids are smart and they seemed to get an idea of whats actually going on. Dustin and I heard your side of the story, we know what happened so we can talk for you." He paused as he noticed her starting to look back down again in shame. She hated more than anything to back out and leave it to everyone else. "Look at me," Steve reached out, moving her face to look at him, "You've done more than enough. I'm gonna kick whosever ass I have to kick for doing this to you."

She smiled at him, resting her forehead on his, finally letting herself feel at ease. Without Steve and Dustin, she wouldn't have made it this far. And even after all the mess that followed her around, Steve had been there at her side.

The conversation at the table had started to die down as a plan had formed. Everyone else had started to head out to begin the fight against the Mind Flayer. Walking passed the two, Dustin had shoved Steve's shoulder back. "Come on, guys! Let's go!" As he had spoken, he had made sure to clap to every word as he spoke, to be sure they had known the urgency.

"Shut the hell up, man," Steve said as he shoved Dustin's hands away. As Dustin walked off in annoyance, Steve groaned as he stood back up. Leaning down, he had kissed Alex gently on the forehead before he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him back.

Standing over him had been Jim Hopper with his hand squeeze his shoulder in warning as he flashed him a dangerous smile. "Move along, kid," he instructed as he released his grip. Stumbling back, Steve had hurried to find anything else to do.

Hopper had stood before Alex, looking down at her, wishing he could do something to help. But he knew she wasn't interested in talking about what had been happening. He heard everything already and didn't want to put her through it all over again. Instead, he had pointed down to her in warning. "I swear, I see another boy hung up on you..."

"No boys," she interrupted. "I already know that, dad." Her words were playful and mocking, but it had warmed his heart. He knew Alex did not have a dad around to watch over her and the least he wanted for her was to know, in a way, she always did have one in him.