𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗬 [steve harrington]

chapter 51

running up that hill
🎶 running up that hill - kate bush

Izzie and Steve ran with Dustin to Billy's grave, where Lucas and Victorie were already kneeling over Max. Izzie went forward, trying to get a good look at her face. When she did, her jaw dropped. Max's eyes were reddened and rolled back into her head. Izzie knelt in front of her, snapping her fingers. "Mayfield! Snap out of it!" She fussed.

"We tried, Izz." Victorie said. "We can't get her out."

"Max you gotta get out of there!" Steve yelled. "Can you hear me?!"

Izzie turned to Torie and Dustin. "Go! Go call Robin and Nancy! Now! Go!"

"Please Max!" Lucas said, shaking her arm.

Torie and Dustin ran to the car. "Shit, shit, shit, shit." Dustin cursed as he grabbed the walkie. He was never good under pressure.

Victorie turned to the back seat. "Blair!" She fussed.

"What." Blair said, not looking up but staying eerily focused on picking at the rip in her jeans.

"It's Max. Somethings wrong." Victorie explained.

"Are you hurt?" Blair asked dryly.

"No." Torie shook her head. "Look, this isn't about me. This is about Max."

"I'm not going." Blair replied. "I'm not going near him. I can't." She couldn't face the idea of explaining to Victorie that she would probably die, and she refused to tell the others that he was in her head. All she could think to do was avoid all signs of Billy, anything that could trigger her trauma.

Victorie looked over to Dustin, who had jumped onto the hood of the car looking for any chance to reach Nancy and Robin.

"Seriously Blair?" Victorie said. "This isn't about you either! This is about Max, she is in danger. This makes you look really bad, you know, just sitting here while everyone else is trying to save Max."

"I don't care!" Blair scolded. "I care about me, and I care about you. That's it. I care about our safety. The safest place for me is far away from him. Got it?"

Dustin began violently tapping on Victorie's arm. "What? Dust!" She yelled.

"Music." He panted. "Music, grab her music."

Victorie reached into the car, pulling out Max's walkman and making a mad dash back to the others.

"What is this?" Lucas questioned.

They threw the music on the ground. "What's her favorite song!" Dustin frantically yelled.

"Why? Why?" He continued.

"Robin said if you, if you listen— it's too much to explain right now!" He huffed. "What's her favorite song?!"

Lucas frantically went through all the tapes, praying it would come to him. "Come on Sinclair!" Izzie fussed. "I know you know this!"

"I got it! This one!" He said, quickly pulling it out the case and handing it to Victorie, who was holding the Walkman.

"Hurry!" Izzie rushed.

Dustin put the headphones in her head, turning to Victorie. "Now!" He urged.

She pressed play, and they all stood, waiting to see if it would work. "Max!" Dustin said. "Max wake up!"

"Please Max!" Victorie begged. "Dammit wake up!"

Suddenly, she began to float. "Max?" Izzie gasped.

They all stood up. "Max!" They yelled. "Max!"

Izzie swore she had lost her voice from the amount of times she yelled. It felt like forever, standing there, looking up at her and screaming. Eventually, she just dropped. She fell to the ground, landing in the middle of them.

She looked panicked, breathing quickly and feeling the ground around her, as if she needed to make sure it was really there. She fell back onto Lucas. "I thought we lost you." He said, his voice cracking.

"I'm still here." She said through heavy breaths. "I'm still here."

Izzie dropped her head onto Steve's shoulder, finally catching her breath. "If you ever scare me like that again Mayfield, I'll kick your ass."

She cracked a smile. "Sorry, Izz."

-

Izzie was in the bathroom at Nancy's house, really just staring in the mirror. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Hey Izz, can I come in?"

Steve.

She opened the door. "Hey." She sighed.

He didn't answer, just shut the door behind him and wrapped his arms around her. Instantly, she started crying. "It's okay." He comforted, rubbing her back.

"I don't want to do this anymore." She cried. "I can barely sleep at night. I can't bring myself to leave them, but I can't live like this."

"I know." He said, pulling back so that he could see her face. "I'm sorry that this is what you had to come back to." He wiped a tear from her face. "But hey, nothings better couples bonding than near death experiences am I right?" He joked.

Izzie laughed. "I think we've had enough." She fell back into his chest. "I just, in case anything happens, you know I love you."

"Of course." He replied. "Always."

Izzie leaned over, washing her face off and looking back up at him. "Let's go back down to the shitheads."

He threw his head back and groaned. "I miss privacy."

"Me too." She sighed as she opened the door.

They went back down stairs and Dustin looked up that them from the bottom of the stairs like a mother would her child. "Where have you two been?"

"None of your business, shit head." Izzie quipped.

"Hey, Romeo and Juliet. Keep it PG. There's kids in the house." He scolded.

"Ew Henderson!" Steve replied. "Get your head out the gutter, please."

"Whatever." He scoffed. "You two are sharing the recliner, keep your hands to yourselves."

Izzie and Steve sat down on what would be their 'bed' for the night. "Keep going and we'll go home. To my actual bed." Izzie sassed.

"Please don't." Dustin replied.

"Exactly." She retorted, laying back on the recliner.

-

look at me actually writing for this book🤭 so proud of myself.