Beautiful Death.

Three.

The next morning, Antionette awoke to the sun on her face as it broke through the curtains. She let out a groan, burying her face into the pillows. However, when a scent that wasn't hers hit her nose, her eyes shot open. And it was then she noticed she wasn't at home. She pushed herself up, her eyes scanning the room as she desperately attempted to figure out where she'd ended up. Luckily, a picture beside the bed caught her eye. A picture of Steve and his parents.

"Harrington." She breathed, dragging a hand down her face. "What the fuck am I doing?" She asked herself, pushing off the covers, and making her way down the steps. After a few minutes of aimless wondering, she eventually came across Steve in the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning." He said casually.

"Uh, yeh... Why did I wake up in your bed?" She asked, and he looked to her.

"You think I was gonna make you sleep on the floor?"

"No, I mean... I don't remember how I got there."

"You were freaking out. Like really freaking out. Kept saying how you thought Barb was dead in the pool."

"Yeah... no, I think I remember that." She muttered.

"So, Antionette-"

"Ew, don't say that."

"What?"

"Don't call me Antionette, that... doesn't sound right. Makes me sound... old." He breathed a slight laugh.

"Okay, Henderson... how are you feeling this morning? Better?"

"Honestly... no." She shrugged. "I had a... nightmare..., I've been having it for a few days now but it's... it's different every time."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm walking around in my bedroom but it's- it's not my bedroom. And last night... it was yours... and there's these thick vines on all the walls and it's dark and there's dust everywhere, in the air, and it's cold. Thing is, it... it doesn't feel like a dream anymore because I can go where I want, so I, I go out into the street and I'm just walking around Hawkins and sometimes I find Will. He hugs me, he tells me that he needs my help, that he wants to come home... but I never find him in the same place. And every night his pleads get worse and he cries and he's getting more dirty and tatty every night and I'm not so sure it ever was just a dream and I'm... I'm scared, I'm so scared to go to sleep, but then I'm terrified to wake up and leave him alone, because Will and I, we're not... we're not alone. There's something else, it's watching us, and he seems to think it won't attack as long as he's with me so I don't know what to do anymore."

"Alright, I'm gonna propose something to you, and I need you to hear me out."

"M'kay."

"I wanna help you... if you'll let me that is, but for that to happen, we're gonna have to come to some sort of agreement."

"Why do you wanna help me?"

"I don't know. Maybe because last night you just looked so... lost... and I don't want you to feel like that ever. I think there's still something between us worth salvaging."

"Is that why you cut me off?"

"Hey, you're the one that disappeared on me, remember?! You vanished, what did you want me to do? I tried, I swear to god, I tried, but nothing I did was ever good enough because you just never came back!"

"I was sick, Steve... I lost almost two years of my life, half of that I don't even remember, and I needed you. I needed my best friend, and you abandoned me!"