SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

someone else

ROBIN BUCKLEY GAVE THE BEST HUGS. The band girl wasn't necessarily good at comforting people; her ability to give great hugs was a natural thing.

A Robin hug was exactly what Ginny needed, when she, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Steve met Robin and Nancy at the Wheeler's house after the events that took place in the graveyard.

Lucas, Steve, and Dustin ordered Max to blast her Kate Bush song, and the redhead hastily complied. Ginny insisted on her sitting in the front on the ride back, where they could all keep an eye on her.

After they explained to Robin and Nancy what happened, and how their discovery saved Max's life, no one really knew what to do next— until Max removed one headphone and told Dustin he smelled bad.

So they took turns using the Wheeler's shower upstairs, careful not to wake Nancy's parents. Nancy told them they were to go in pairs, in case Vecna cursed someone else; they could watch out for each other, talk to each other through the shower curtain.

So, Dustin and Lucas went first, allowing Ginny to silently spend some time in Robin's arms, as she hugged her and stroked her hair, telling her everything was going to be okay. The younger boys returned, clean and exhausted, so Robin and Nancy volunteered next—

Which left Steve and Ginny to creep up the stairs together, towards the bathroom.Looking back, that might have been Robin and Nancy's plan all along.

"I can stand outside," he told her, once they set foot in the steamy bathroom. He started to turn away to the door, but she grabbed his wrist.

"Don't be stupid, Harrington. Please, just..." She closed the door. "Just stay, please."

Steve blinked at her. It was the first real words she'd said to anyone since they'd gotten to the Wheeler's. "Okay..." he said softly, watching as she pulled a hairband from around her wrist and piled her curly hair on top of her head. She kicked off her shoes and socks while she did so, giving him a short glance before stepping into the shower.

Steve held his breath as he heard her shuffle on the other side. A moment later, Ginny's hand appeared from behind the curtain, with her jeans and sweatervest balled in her fingers. He watched as the clothes dropped to the floor just outside the tub, and he leaned against the sink.

The trickling of the showerhead provided comforting white noise to them both. Ginny stepped beneath the warm spray and expected her muscles to relax, but they stayed tense, aching. She sighed, running her wet hands over her tired face.

An image of Max's bones snapping flashed across her eyelids. She wrenched them open, no matter how much she wished to keep them closed and succumb to sleep.

They had saved Max, and knew how to protect her— but Max wasn't safe.

What if Vecna got her when the batteries ran out, or while the tape rewinded? What if the tape broke or Max found a different favorite song?

She could never be safe, not as long as Vecna was alive.

None of them were.

And what if they found Vecna— but couldn't defeat him?

Ginny knew that better than anyone, how exactly unsafe everyone she loved was.

What if the reason Vecna chose Max... was because of Ginny?

"You okay?"

Steve's voice dragged her from her thoughts. She glanced at the shower curtain, imagining how he looked on the other side. His hair had gotten lighter over the last few months. She had realized it after spending time with him in the sunlight the day before.