𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍; steve harrington

ᶠ ᵒ ᵘ ʳ ᵗ ʸ ⁻ ᵒ ⁿ ᵉ

July 18th, 1985

EVERYONE FELT THE GRIEF. IT had been two weeks since the tragic battle of Starcourt, which was covered up by an incidental mall fire. Not one of the witnesses to the horrific death of the Hargrove siblings and the police chief could bring them justice. Not one of the witnesses could tell the citizens how the trio truly died. Not one of the witnesses could do anything but stand to the side as the government carried on lying to the scared town.

No one had gotten over the death of Aven and Hopper - most being able to brush over the fact that the school jerk Billy Hargrove had unfortunately passed away on that fateful night as well. 

Neil Hargrove had already moved away from the haunted town of Hawkins, Indiana. He left Susan alone with her depressed daughter and a few pennies, even selling the house without letting her know. He didn't take into account her feelings, the mother saddened herself over the death of the twins, he just cared about the money. The morning after their death got announced, he packed his few bags and took off to his hometown of California.

Max was struggling to overcome the death of her two step-siblings. To her and a few others, two weeks wasn't enough time to get over the passing of someone as close to her as they were. She locked herself in the room of her tiny house, having relocated to a rundown trailer park after being forced out of their home, and blasted music into her ears as she cried over her sister and brother. She just wanted them to come back.

Mike wasn't much different. When out with his friends, he was just like his normal self - his new normal self. He tried to ignore the tugging of his heart when he went out with his friends. He tried to ignore the nagging memories he'd made with Aven whilst she was still alive. He tried to ignore the constant flash of regret for standing to the side and watching as his friend was taken right in front of his eyes. But, in the end, he couldn't, so he gave in. Every night, after everyone else had gone to bed, he would sit and cry into his pillow. Sometimes he even punched the wall.

Steve was the worst of them all. He hadn't left the house, or his room, or his bed. His lights kept flickering above him whenever Robin would visit, but he couldn't care less. He didn't care about the light problem in his bedroom, he cared about her. But she wasn't there anymore, so he had no care in the world.

The first time he actually bothered to turn around from his uncomfortable position facing the wall, his cheek laying against the tear-stained pillow, was when Robin literally dragged him out of his bed and into the bathroom. It was the day of their funeral - her funeral.

He didn't want to go, because he was a mess - and he knew he'd only get worse as soon as he would step out of the car and onto the grassy field where one of their bodies would lie. Only one of their bodies, and it wasn't even hers.

The only argument Robin made that he actually listened to was when she mentioned her. Aven would have wanted him to go, and so he went.

When he got there, purposely avoiding eye-contact with her gravestone, he saw Atlanta. The girl ran up to the pair and instantly wrapped her arms around them, but not with the usual smile she always adorned whenever she saw the co-workers in Scoops Ahoy. She adorned a frown, and it didn't suit her.

Steve found himself to be tearing up as soon as the girl pulled away, locking eyes with her own water-filled irises. She immediately pulled him back into her for the second time that afternoon, rubbing his back comfortingly as she muttered apologies in his ear. It was all too much for him to bear.

He saw the teens there, the small group of children huddled up together away from the adults. Whilst Robin was talking to Atlanta, he approached them all, not having time to even mutter a greeting before all their hands were locked around his waist. He looked down with confusion, his arms in the air as he processed the fact that Max, Dustin, Mike and Lucas were all giving him a hug. They were giving him a hug. They were giving him a hug.

When it started, everyone crowded around the two side-by-side graves. It was a shared funeral for both Billy and Aven, although there was only one body. Nobody could even bring themselves to look at the gravestones. There was barely anyone there, only close family and friends, of which there weren't many for one of them. It wasn't a very happy sight.

Everyone was crying, some more than others, some for both. It was a slow, agonising memorial for all the people around the two headstones, most of them wanting nothing more than to go home to the safety of their own privacy and scream. The Hargrove twins didn't deserve to die, no matter what they thought their cause of death was.

The people placed flowers down around their graves, wanting to show how much they adored the twins. The teens - mainly Steve, Max and Mike - thought it was stupid. Simple plants couldn't show how much love you once carried for a certain person, that was, from the eyes of said teenagers.

Their anger and sadness dropped, however, as soon as everyone moved away from the two grey stones. One was almost empty, surrounded by nothing but the clean air and grass on the ground of the cemetery. On the contrary, the other was like a forest. Aven's was like a forest.

Nobody cared that Billy's looked dead whilst Aven's was blooming - except Max. Steve wouldn't focus on that, however. He was too focused on the fact he was smiling. He knew Aven would want him to fix it, place flowers on Billy's grave instead of hers, so he did. He halved them, walking up to the two graves after everyone had left before splitting up the colourful flowers and gently placing them on the grave. 

He imagined her smile, her dimples, her eyes. Her deep, fascinating eyes. 

But before he could imagine any further, he got up and left. He could feel the salty liquid already descending down his flushed cheeks. He thought it was stupid - why did it have to be her and not him? That was all he thought about as he travelled home, walked up to his room and fell back into the same position he'd been in for the past two weeks. He couldn't even imagine what Aven would think if she ever found out how he was acting, how he was dealing with her passing. But that was the thing . . .

They thought she was dead.

1206 words