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MAX HAD SURVIVED.
She had survived but she wasn't safe, for even if Running Up That Hill had unlocked a doorway in her mind back to the real world it was the only thing keeping her there. She was still marked, and there was a very real possibility that her Walkman could die or break, or listening to her favorite song on repeat would cause her to get sick of it. There were so many things that could go wrong while Vecna was still alive. Max had been inches from death, and there was a chance she wouldn't be so lucky the next time.
Even though Max was safely tucked away in Nancy's room with the group taking turns watching over her for the night Shaelynn was frozen in time, surrendered to her knees as she levitated in midair as though bound to an invisible cross. She had sworn that Max's bones would contort themselves and her eyes would burst on their own accord, but she had freed herself from Vecna's hold and reunited her mind with her body. She was alive so long as the melody of Kate Bush echoed in her eardrums, but Chrissy wasn't. All because Shaelynn hadn't gotten to her fast enough.
Lucas had volunteered to watch Max first but Shaelynn couldn't bring it in herself to sleep. She had migrated to the hallway and was pored over her notebook, sketching a lithe body suspended above ground. It was clothed in a cheerleading uniform with a face framed by bangs and a ponytail, her best guess of what Chrissy had looked like as Vecna snatched her life away, only she didn't have a song to guide her back to reality. Eddie had tried to wake her but his voice hadn't reached the parts of her brain her favorite song did. Hell, Shaelynn knew Chrissy's favorite song, if it hadn't changed in the months since she'd drifted away.
She panicked upon catching sight of someone leaving Nancy's room but relaxed once she saw it was Robin, finding amusement in the fact that she'd immediately changed out of her borrowed clothes once she and the others had returned, unable to wear anything that wasn't her longer than necessary. Though she hadn't had a chance to relay it, she really appreciated Robin for taking the time to clue her in on everything when everyone else was rightfully occupied with defeating Vecna to bring her up to speed, because even though Robin had known the truth for years through Amara she had only recently been directly involved. She understood what it was like to be the outsider.
"I'm sorry, am I bothering you?" Robin stammered, not expecting to encounter Shaelynn on her way to the bathroom. In hindsight, she'd rather face Vecna empty-handed than make a fool of herself in front of the girl she liked. "I can just slide by if you'd like. It'll be like it wasn't even here."
"Who said I didn't want you here?" Shaelynn mused, gesturing for Robin to sit beside her. "It's like you said yesterday. If you say or do anything out of hand, which you definitely haven't, I'll be sure to let you know."
"That's... good to know," Robin exhaled in relief, slumping against the wall beside Shaelynn. She left a body's worth of space in between them, though. "What are you drawing – oh... " she fell short once she saw what Shaelynn had portrayed in her workbook.
