A HAPPY ENDING

☀︎

THE SETTING SUN BEGAN TO RETREAT FROM ITS HIGHEST POINT IN THE SKY, SENDING OFF A WARM GOODBYE TO THE HEROES THAT PREPARED FOR THE BATTLE AHEAD. Grouped off from one another, they didn't realize it yet, but some were sharing their last moments with those they loved. From the Winnebago, Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley were a pair that would see each other once the dust finally settled.

Preparing their molotovs, Steve couldn't wrap his mind around what he witnessed back at The Warzone. "It just doesn't make sense," he mumbled. He could replay the moments of Vickie and Dan but none could connect to what he envisioned for Robin and Vickie.

Robin kept her eyes down as she continued her work. "What doesn't make sense?" Time at the Warzone felt like another life— it felt surreal. Enough that none of it made sense to her. In just a short time she had experienced her hopes risen to new heights by her best friends only to be heartbroken moments later. She felt insignificant in such a large world, one that fought against her and the things she loved.

She couldn't believe for a second that Steve could be contemplating her small world over in his mind. For him to worry about her was unreasonable— it was irrelevant to what they faced tonight. So Robin kept her eyes down as she gave the only reasonable topic for Steve to worry about. "Jason? It doesn't make sense to me either. I hate to say it, but he's sticking his neck out for the wrong person."

Steve turned his eyes up to her for a moment. There was no ill intent with her words, he understood. Jason reached out with good intentions for all the wrong reasons. Shaking his head, he focused back on his work. "That was Dan Shelter. He graduated, like, two years ago," he mumbled. "He's in college. Which means he was visiting on spring break. Fast Times was returned, like, I don't know, a week ago? Right? Unless she's got some horndog brother that we don't know about. Which is possible. Or she's just really into Judge Reinhold?"

She tensed at his words. "Steve," Robin interrupted loudly. Already beaten down enough, she couldn't stand to listen to him try and reason why Vickie could still like her. To Robin, it just wasn't plausible and nothing would change her mind. "I don't care. And I don't understand why you do either with everything that's going on. You and Alex are just... so optimistic about bleak things right now and... and I can't wrap my head around it. Honestly, this feels like a perfect time for that little pull of the rug because... in the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low."

Frowning, Steve felt that optimism she claimed he had been ripped right from him. He was desperately trying to convince himself everything was okay when he truly felt it no longer was. Hanging his head, he tried to hide that moment of break. "Yeah. I mean, I get you there, but I still have hope." Hope was all he felt he could hold onto at this moment. He believed if he could convince himself that everything would be okay, and normal, that maybe things could turn that way.

Robin wished to hold onto the optimism. To live with the idea of a happy ending in mind was all she wished for herself. Yet today her heart was shredded to pieces and she learned she was all on her own for now. "Not everything has a happy ending," she explained. Once she got that idea in her head, it was easier for Robin to let go of things and move on.

Hearing those words from Robin play over in his head, Steve had grown quick to realize that his hope was a shameful cover for how he truly felt. A happy ending in their scenario was nothing more than a hopeless, embarrassing thought. "Yeah, yeah, believe me, I know," Steve mumbled.

To see his pain, Robin opened her mouth to share her own thoughts on the matter but soon came to a pause as she watched Steve lose focus on their work in front of them. Slacking her shoulders, she followed his line of sight, watching as Alex wrapped her arms around Max, lifting her off her feet by just a few inches as the two shared a laugh. Right there, the smiles, the laughs, and this moment— it was that glimmer of hope that maybe this was what they wished for all this time. Perhaps this moment to be with one another was that happy ending they craved. Everything was golden.

Robin felt the corners of her mouth twitch up as she watched Alex drop Max to her feet with a laugh that had each of them reach for one other. Their hands stayed wrapped around the other for support as they fell against one another's chests. It caused a warmth inside her that Robin craved to feel far more often than she had these past few days. Looking back at Steve, that smile faded and the coldness settled back in. He didn't see this as their chance as a beautiful goodbye, he saw this as a moment he'd never get the chance to see again. Steve couldn't bother to think of viewing this as a happy ending because he had far more planned ahead. To end this way was the darkest, coldest ending he could have asked for.

"I'm not talking about failed romance," Robin whispered, wishing to gain his attention yet his eyes remained on Alex. "Is that what you're worried about?" she questioned curiously.

Steve cleared his throat as he gave her the attention she needed. Worried was about understatement. Attempting a smile, he knew she could see right through it, but he was unwilling to show how hurt he truly was. "In the face of the world ending, the stakes of my love life feel spectacularly low," he said softly. A repeat of her words was all he could manage. It was for her to see that even in completely different scenarios regarding their love lives, they were still very much in the same boat—utterly hopeless.

"I think that our love lives are vastly different," she said gently. "The person I want to be with wants to make out with a moron like Dan Shelter, yours is consistently facing life-ending scenarios."

"Like you said, Robin, not everything has a happy ending." Sighing softly, he set aside the bottle she filled with gasoline and shook his head. Robin Buckley was his best friend, someone he knew he could tell everything to and feel safe. Whatever he said he knew would stay between the two. "I'm sorta starting to have doubts. Maybe... maybe this time she doesn't make it out of this. I don't know, sort of starting to feel like end times to me."

"Not to her," Robin whispered carefully. She tried for a glimpse into his eyes, hoping one quick look and she'd see it all and understand every bit of pain he felt. It would be effortless. Yet his eyes stayed down, ashamed of his feelings he could no longer hide. "You know, I always thought you two were just too perfect and me... maybe I'd be a thought down the line or maybe you two would forget and I'd still be alone. No Alex to my Steve, none of that. Alone. And I can guarantee you she feels and has felt incredibly alone going through this. But Alex, by some bizarre chance, is the one telling me I was never alone because I have you two. It's always us three. She can't imagine a future without us, and as much as it terrifies me to think it could all end tonight... I can't imagine a future without either of you."

There was a quick glance toward Robin before Steve gave a scoff that told her he wasn't willing to budge on that matter. "And who's to say that her saying all that isn't setting the two of us up to be that creep's next victim? Forget Max if he thinks we stand in his way."

Robin wished she had the heart to be angry with him. Nothing more, she wished to question how he could think that way, that every good thing with Alex was all a setup for the worst to be their doom. However, her heart ached far more than the anger that settled in her gut. "You think we're going to die?"

His lips dipped into a frown for a split second before he gave a small shrug. "I think that Alex has some sick twisted psycho in her head that, uh, doesn't like her to feel anything that isn't part of his plans. And I'm pretty sure us two at her side isn't really in his cards."

"You can't blame her," Robin said gently.

"I don't," he stated, almost offended by Robin's accusation. Picking himself up, he held his head high as he met her eyes, unwilling to break apart. "I blame him. Because... because I'm starting to think that maybe we don't get out of this. I think one of us is gonna pay the price. And I can't let it be you two, you're my best friend, Robin."

Robin swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched Steve and how much he punished himself with his own thoughts. Resting the gasoline tank in her lap, she looked at him with pity. "You're my best friend too, dingus," she whispered playfully. "I think we're mad fools, the lot of us, but... if we don't stop him who will? We let him tell us this is our ending? I don't think so. I say we give it a shot. Let us make our own rules for a change."

Diverting his eyes away from her, he smiled as he watched Alex blocking the lowering sun from her eyes as she watched the two stationed at the Winnebago. Raising his hand in the air, he watched her happily return the wave before Eddie and Dustin raced at her. Lowering himself down, Eddie Munson didn't listen to Nancy's demands to be easy and extended his arms out as he grabbed hold of Alex's waist and tackled her to the ground. Following behind with a large grin and a single step behind, Dustin's laughter rang through the air as he threw himself down on top of the two. Lowering his hand, Steve shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus Christ, at this rate they'll all kill each other before Vecna even gets a shot at it."

A quick breath of air escaped out of Robin's nose in amusement. Lowering her head, Robin's eyes watched the ground before them, her smile fading as she thought over how this all led back to one man. Their lives would have changed had it not been for Henry Creel and somehow a life where they were banded together as a family felt easier than one without one another.

Licking his lips, Steve felt the need to share his doubts. Even though her laughter, Max never stood back to watch the chaos unfold at her feet between the three. Rather she was the one that worked to pry them apart and save Alex from the two boys. Steve wished he could be the one to lift Max to her feet because more than anything, she needed that hand at this moment. She was drowning in pain and managed to mask it all for all of them to survive. Before he could stop himself, Steve questioned his own thoughts aloud. "You think Max is gonna make it out of this?"

Lifting her eyes up, Robin watched across the field. What once was supposed to be her final happy ending, friends made family all banded together with nothing but smiles had faded back into the dark hold Vecna always intended. "I sorta have to hold onto that sliver of hope she will, right? If she doesn't... this isn't going to be worth it."

Sucking in a deep breath of air, he held it there as he thought it through. It wasn't until he spoke that he allowed himself to breathe once more and refill his lungs with new air and new doubts. "Maybe someone else should do this, right? Max, she's like..." he paused for a moment as he wrung his hands, "she's a kid," he whispered. "I remember when I first met her, you know, totally clueless to all this shit. Sorta wished it stayed that way, like things would be different. And I-I keep trying to... to talk to her and she keeps shutting me out. I get it, I'm not her friend or... or anything, really. I'm some asshole that fought with her brother and shut down all their ideas... the goddamn babysitter..."

"I don't understand where this is all coming from," Robin whispered in interruption. For him to continue on would further himself to take whatever guilt and blame he felt for what was happening. Whatever it has been that was bothering him, Robin wouldn't stand to let it continue.

Swallowing his guilt and regret, Steve shook his head, playing off his uncertainty the best he could. "I just don't want anything to happen to her, okay?" Keeping his eyes on the ground, the corners of his lips twitched, threatening to turn into the deepest frown. When he gained control over his emotions, he lifted his head with a forced smile, unable to hide the pain in his eyes. "Can we keep this between us? Don't wanna lose cool points to a kid."

Robin could see how he began to build up his walls once more and nodded her head with a small smile. "Of course, yeah. I mean, I think you lost all your cool points a long time ago, but sure. Whatever you say."

Sitting up straighter, Steve grinned at Robin, knowing full well he could count on her for anything. They were an odd pairing, one he never would have seen coming, and yet somehow they clicked. She was far greater than any of his old friends because she actually understood him.

Picking up her gasoline container, Robin smirked as she extended another bottle his way. "Heads up, Harrington, but I'm pretty sure Henderson is hobbling her way over. Try not to be so miserable, 'kay?"

"All right, shut up," he mumbled, taking the bottle from her hands. He gave her one more glance, a silent thank you extended her way before he turned his attention over to Alex as she began to approach. "Hey, Henderson, didn't we just buy you those pants?"

Looking down, Alex realized the hole that formed at the knee. Staying optimistic, she took a seat along the grass before them and propped herself back onto her hands. "Hey, at least the grass stains are totally camouflaged," she joked.

"Ah, hilarious," Steve remarked sarcastically. "Mind telling Munson not to murder you before we do this?"

"Telling him not to do something only encourages him to want to do it even more," she laughed. "So, what about you guys? Almost done here or are we stalling to soak in one more moment for us."

Steve had held his bottle between him and Robin, but her idea of stalling felt compelling. Before Robin's fingers could brush against the sides of the bottle, Steve brought it back towards him. Leaning down, he placed the bottle between his feet as he gave a small shrug and glance to Robin. "We could stall a little, right, Robin?"

Each pair of eyes turned to Robin but it didn't take much convincing otherwise. "Yeah," she sighed. "Sorta been silently wishing for this to happen."

Pulling herself up to sit criss-cross, Alex clapped her hands together once as she smiled at the two. "Okay, where do we start? We thinking the I love you guys or maybe the are we sure we should be doing this?"

Robin considered the two options. She could go on with her rambling on either topic, they were compelling. Only she wished she had the strength to discuss either. Her love for her two friends would result in tears and heartache where she'd then dive into the next topic, wondering why they would do this when it meant risking the ones she loved. So instead she raised a finger in question. "Do you two remember when, uh, we all crashed at Hendersons? It was... it was after Starcourt and, uh, we all didn't want to be alone..."

Smile beginning to fade, Alex looked down at her hands as she anxiously pulled at her fingers. "Yeah, I remember that. That was, um, it was actually a lot of fun. Trying to be quiet was sorta the hard part but best night, hands down."

"What if we did that again?" Steve questioned as he sat up straighter. "As soon as we chop off this dude's head or cook him up or whatever, we just hang out all night. Celebrate."

In the back of Robin's mind, she couldn't erase the what-ifs. What if this hadn't worked out the way they planned, what if someone got hurt, or what if one of them didn't make it back out alive? She couldn't share her fears out loud. Staying optimistic was what she needed herself, as well as the others. "I think that sounds... great," she whispered.

Steve and Robin looked to Alex next, waiting for her response. Picking her head up, Alex allowed herself to stop fidgeting as she gave a small nod. "Yeah, actually I don't think I'll want to be alone after this anyways." The thought of being alone terrified Alex after being alone for so long. She finally had them back and to ever think of the after where she lay in bed with nothing but the silence as a companion was the darkest of nightmares. It was a pain that only Vecna could enjoy.

"Just think, Henderson, a full night's worth of sleep," Steve said with a hopeful grin. "Just one step closer." Raising his bottle into the air, he held it out between the three, "To killing Vecna."

Immediately amused and on board, Robin scooped up a bottle they had filled and held it between the three. "Slash One."

Picking up a bottle from around Steve's feet, Alex was hesitant as she held it in her hands. Looking down at it, she was certain she wanted it all to be over. The only thing holding her back was him— Henry. Doubts swirled in her mind that killing him was her going against everything he did for her— or claimed that he did. With her eyes shifting from the bottle to Steve and Robin, she knew he wasn't the only one out there that looked out for her. Sitting before her were two people she counted on for everything. Raising her bottle, she felt herself giving in and grinned as she looked at them. "To killing Henry," she said gently.

As their bottles clinked against one another and laughter rang out in the air between the three, an unsettling pit formed in Alex's stomach. Perhaps it was guilt, or perhaps a part of Henry Creel lurched and screamed in agony to feel that betrayal. It had only hurt him further as she ignored that twist and instead, set her bottle to the ground and forced Steve and Robin into a group hug, yanking them closer to her as she gripped onto their love— something he could never give her.

『••☀︎••』

NIGHTTIME WAS FALLING UPON HAWKINS AS MAX MAYFIELD LOOKED UP AT THE HOUSE BEFORE HER. Just days ago she hoped this place would bring her the answers she needed to understand why her world was crumbling apart. Now the Creel House was home to a monster— one that wished to not only use her to end Hawkins, but also the world.

Turning her back to the Creel house, Max found herself face to face with all those willing to end this all with her. Her favorite song played in her ears, drowning out the world around her until she took it upon herself to allow it all flood back in. Headphones rested on her shoulders, the song faded to the background as Lucas Sinclair placed a hand on her shoulder. Their eyes stayed locked on one another until his hand slipped off her. Words were unspoken, unable to admit how they longed for each other once again.

Taking a breath, Lucas accepted that they would remain unspoken for now as he gave a simple nod and turned back to the group to finish goodbyes and good lucks. Max watched as he held onto Dustin, patting his back and giving him all the reassurance he needed to face this battle head on.

Taking a step down, Max wished her sacrifice for the greater good was never even a thought— wishing she wasn't as selfless as she grew to become. That was until she watched those around her share their quick goodbyes and the certainty they all held onto-- that they would return together once more. There was always hope and it was all from her and her belief in all of them to protect her as she took on the heaviest weight against her shoulders.

She allowed others to wish her well, to ensure her they'd see her after everything ended. They were promises she believed them all to hold on to their hearts. One that mattered the most was one given by Alex Henderson.

Holding Max in her arms, each of their eyes remained squeezed tight as their arms held on even stronger to the other. "I'll never leave your side after this," Alex whispered. The tenseness in Max faded as she felt comforted by those words. The thought alone of having her back in her life for eternity was what she needed to hear. It could easily be a dream of the present, but she was determined to see the future all the same with her and the others.

Hearing Alex's determination to never leave her behind had Max hold tighter, savoring what she could of these last moments. What she felt was an unbreakable connection between the two, one that surpassed every moment before this journey began. Had it been them, or had it been Vecna, the two were just as unbreakable as Henry Creel longed to be with Alex Henderson.

Pulling free from the others arms, the glow of the setting sun over the tops of the trees broke across the two. This was the lightness that Max felt she was searching for to help her make it through the night. And just as Lucas Sinclair stepped beside her once more, offering her a hand against her arm to guide her away, Max felt weightless from his touch. It was a stretch, but for this moment Max felt that belief in Lucas' ideas of the two being an undeniable hero and sidekick that would drag her free from this hell.

Placing a smile on her face, that darkness that surrounded her slipped away as she backed away from the group. It was a place where Vecna could no longer grab hold— no music, no favorite memory to bring her back to the light, just her and the family she found in the small town of Hawkins.