end zone | STEVE HARRINGTON

forty-five

C H A P T E R F O R T Y - F I V E

season 4 episode 7 continued

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ANASTASIA WASN'T SURE ON HOW LONG THEY HAD BEEN WALKING FOR. But her legs were beginning to hurt and her ankles were starting to bleed again. Delilah and her were walking ahead as Steve and Eddie stayed back, the younger girl was helping Anna walk as she was struggling to do so herself. Steve called Eddie back, "Eddie. Hey, man. Uh...Listen. I just, uh...I just want to say thanks. For saving my ass back there."

Eddie scoffed. "Shit. You saved your own ass, man. I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there."

"Ozzy?" Steve questioned.

"When you took a bite out of that bat." Eddie explained, but Steve was still confused. "Ozzy Osbourne? Black Sabbath? He bit a bat's head off onstage. You know? Doesn't matter. It's very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying."

"Thanks." Steve replied in a whisper.

"Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact." Eddie announced, there was no denying that Dustin was best friends with Steve - who was starting to become jealous of his relationship with Eddie.

"Henderson said that?" Steve asked in shock.

Eddie nodded, "Oh, yeah. Shit. Kip worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It's kinda annoying, to be honest. You know, I don't even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve." That walked in silence until Eddie continued, "I guess I couldn't believe the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine. Still super jealous as hell, by the way."

Steve laughed, pushing Eddie away from him as the boy continued. "Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Not under any, uh...normal circumstances." A branch snapped, and the sound of something growling in the distance made them stop walking. "Nope. Outside of D&D, I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that's what I've learned about myself this week."

"Give yourself a break, man." Steve told him.

"See?" Eddie turned to Steve, pointing down to the girls. "The only reason I came in here was 'cause those ladies came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. But Wheeler right there, she didn't waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in. Now, I don't know what happened between you two or what's going on with you and Anna, but if I were you, I make it clear to Nancy that you're with Anna...no beating around the bush. Because Anna, she looks at you with love that no one can compare too."

Eddie finished speaking just as The Upside Down started rumbling again, Delilah and Anna held onto one another just as they noticed Nancy was running away from them all. They caught up to her, and she spotted her house in the distance, Delilah's home was beside it but the girl didn't bother looking at it. "Come on."

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They walked into Nancy's home, vines covered the walls and dust particles filled the air around them. Robin decided to lighten the mood with her comment, "Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler."

Nancy ignored her, she headed up the stairs to her bedroom while Anna noticed that Steve was the only one who didn't follow her, "Come on. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to."