falling for him<3 //steddie//

chapter 55: the freak(s)

⚠️ TW ⚠️ mentions of cancer, blood, graphic descriptions, and physical violence.
Steve ~
I start driving to the woods, where the gate is. The only thing you can hear is the wind blowing through the open window. Eddie looks nervous. I can't comfort him, because I don't know how to. I'm scared. I park and get out of the van. "So, how are we doing this?" Dustin asks. "Okay. We need to find El. Um, how many lighters do you have, Eddie?" I ask.

"Hang on." He replies, running back to the van. He holds another lighter up and tosses it to me. "Henderson, Sinclair, you're with me. We're gonna look for El. The rest of you are with Eddie. You're gonna light-" "No." Eddie says, crossing his arms. "Eddie-" "We aren't splitting up. This is already a bad idea." Eddie responds. "You're gonna light the vines on fire. Eddie, come here." I reply, walking away from the kids.

He follows me. "I'm not doing this, Steve." Eddie says. "If you don't go with them, they will die. Okay? Do you want the kids to die? Is that what you want?" I ask. "Really? You think I want them to die? WE SHOULDN'T SPLIT UP!" Eddie yells. "IF WE DON'T SPLIT UP, NOTHING WILL GET DONE. WE WON'T COVER MORE GROUND. WE NEED TO FIND EL, AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THAT-" "Can you two stop arguing? Let's go." Max says, turning around and walking away.

Eddie gives me a glare then pulls me into a tight hug. "Don't you dare die on me, Harrington. I am not raising two kittens on my own." Eddie jokes. "I won't. You better not die either, Munson." I reply. "We should go on more dates. You know, not hand to hand combat, but dinner, and movies. We never go anymore." Eddie says, pulling away. "When we get out of here, I will personally make sure that we go see a movie. Okay?" I ask.

"Okay." He replies, gently kissing me on the cheek. We help each of the kids into the gate and climb in after. "Listen to what Eddie says. Keep your walkie on, and at full volume. Don't do anything stupid." I exclaim, walking in the other direction. Lucas and Dustin follow. "El!" Lucas calls out. "Don't scream, Sinclair. Are you trying to get us killed?" I reply. "No." He responds. "Just... Look around. And, stay close." I say. "What if we can't find her?" Dustin asks.

"We will. We just have to look." I reply. "Steve? You alive?" Eddie asks over the walkie. "Yeah. Are you guys okay?" I reply. "We're okay. Almost done covering these things in gas. Max? What's-" He cuts out. "Eddie? What's going on? Hello?" I yell into the walkie. Dustin grabs it from me. "They probably just lost signal. They'll be fine, Steve." Dustin assures me.

He's right. They are fine. Eddie was just talking to me. I start walking again, scanning the area for any sign of El. "Steve!" Dustin yells. "What?" I ask, running over to him. He picks a shoe up. "It's hers." Lucas says, staring at it. "Shit." I mumble. I look around still, searching for El. "Steve-" "Come on, we need to keep looking for her." I say, continuing to walk. They both sigh, walking behind me.

"El!" I yell. "So, now you can yell?" Lucas asks. "Shut up, Sinclair." I reply. "It's no use. She's not going to respond if Vecna has her. We're just attracting more attention to ourselves." Dustin explains. I hear something shuffling around next to us. I look over to see a demogorgon with it's back faced to us. "STEVE!? ARE YOU THERE?" Eddie yells over the walkie. The demogorgon turns to look at us, and starts charging towards me.

"RUN!" I yell, grabbing their wrists and running the way we just came from. It feels like we've been running for miles. My legs are sore. I glance behind us and see that the demogorgon is gone. I keep running, because there's still a chance it could be behind us.

Eventually, I see Eddie, Max, Will and Mike. We run over to see El, standing in front of us. Her eyes are pale blue. "Get back." I say. "No, just... Let me try something." Max replies. "Max-" "Shut up. El, I know you're in there. It's me. It's Max." Max says, getting closer to El.