the familiar, grimy, mouth of the demogorgan was once again on top of lydia. the saliva dripped from it's monstrous, toothy mouth and onto her face and her heart raced as she screamed while she frantically patted the ground for her gun.

"go to hell you son of a bitch!" nancy yelled as she fired several shots at the monster. the demogorgan stood up and slowly advanced toward her, keeping a steady pace despite the bullets that consistently hit their target.

quickly snapping out of her trance, lydia found her gun and shot off 3 bullets. however, the action had no effect, so she grabbed a lamp and launched it. it knocked the demogorgan over, but with one swift motion it stood up and went straight for her. she gasped before ducking and rolling, hearing the sound of it run into the wall. she tried to stand up but tripped and found herself underneath the monster once more. the click of nancy's empty gun made lydia feel hopeless. like this was the end.

that is, until she heard the door swing open and hollering ensued. the demogorgan let out a roar before following steve, who led it right into the bear trap. jonathan threw his lighter on the ground and they all watched as flames engulfed the thrashing creature. it cried and thrashed in the trap before the older byers used the fire extinguisher, yelling at his friends to get back. steve grabbed lydia and held her close to him, making sure she was no longer in harms way.

nancy was taken aback by this action. she didn't think it would affect her as much but all was forgotten when jonathan put his hand on her shoulder. she rested her injured hand on top of his and gave it a quick squeeze before turning her attention to him, trying to ignore the scene behind her. She was about to open her mouth when the flickering of lights caught everyone's attention.

"hey, look." jonathan called out to the two friends who released each other with uncertainty. but once they looked at the spectacle in front of them, the group followed the lights outside to the porch where the streetlamp began to blink uncontrollably.

"where is it going?" nancy questioned with anxiety bubbling inside her. she was thankful that the creature had disappeared but she feared for what was to come. however, jonathan had a different idea.

"i dont think that's the monster."

~

before anyone truly knew what was happening, the entire party found themselves in the hospital waiting room. the dull chatter of nurses and patients from within the building coupled with the rhythmic beats of the medical equipment made the silence bearable. lydia was at the vending machine, looking at the bags of chips with an empty stare. steve sat on the opposite side of the room next to mr. wheeler and the two had their arms crossed and their eyes were fixated on a spot on the floor. dustin and lucas had fallen asleep on one another which was quite the sight to the older henderson upon her return.

although a large majority of the waiting room was either asleep or zoned out, mike wheeler was anxiously awaiting the news of his best friend while simultaneously coping with the loss he had experienced at the school. his elbows rested on his knee which was bouncing up and down at an alarming rate. lydia sat down next to the boy and put her hand on his knee gently. he looked up at the older girl with big sad eyes and she pulled him in for a hug. letting out a sigh, mike let a few tears drop in the presence of lydia but refused to breakdown.

the sound of the door opening alerted mike and he sat up from lydia's embrace. jonathan stood at the door with a small smile. the younger wheeler's mood took a turn for the better and he shook the two resting boys awake. they all ran to the door to greet will, and everyone in the vicinity sighed in relief.

will was okay, and so were they.

~

it was time for joy and cheer and hawkins. the boys were celebrating will's return with yet another d&d campaign and jonathan and lydia were on pick up duty for dustin, lucas, and will. they arrived at the same time, the elder byers parked in front of the brunette.

"damn, how do you manage to beat me everytime byers?" lydia teased.

"i dunno lyds, maybe you just gotta drive faster." the two arrived at the door and were let in by nancy who shared a glance with jonathan, but greeted her favorite henderson with a hug. lydia talked with nance while jonathan collected the boys from the basement.

"so how did you do on that test?" nance inquired.

"well, i thought i bombed it but i got a 96 so that was my christmas miracle." lydia joked. the two laughed and made small talk until steve entered.

"what's all the laughter about?" he questioned as he and lydia did their signature handshake. the two immediately fell into their familiar rapport which was not unusual. nancy felt like she should be jealous of the two, but she simply wasn't. although steve and lydia were in relationships, their bond transcended those boundaries. they were connected on another level, that much was obvious. and nancy felt like she was supposed to be envious of them and was supposed to hate the idea of them hanging out, but she didn't.

"i call shotgun!" lucas yelled as he turned the corner.

"that's not fair she's my sister!" dustin argued. the boys looked to the older girl for guidance. she simply shrugged and pulled lucas into her side.

"i gotta respect the rules of shotgun, dust." this caused lucas and dustin to argue their way out the door and into the car. but before lydia could follow, a hand gripped her wrist. she looked back at steve who pulled her aside.

"i didn't want to give you this in front of nance because she might feel awkward, but, merry christmas." he handed her a small red velvet box and she took it with hesitation. she opened it to see a fine chain gold bracelet with a small crescent moon and star. lydia's mouth was in complete awe of the thoughtful gift.

"i love it so much, thank you. it also makes me feel less awkward about giving you this." she pulled out a medium grey box. steve gave her a look of surprise before seeing his present. upon opening the gift, he saw the dark brown leather watch. "look on the back." rocking on the balls of her feet, lydia held her hands behind her back in excitement. steve flipped it over and read the inscription.

thanks for sticking around when the world gets turned upside down

love,

your girl

looking up at his best friend, steve felt his love for the girl intensify. because he knew he would be around for her when the world was turned upside down, inside out, whatever happened. because he would never let anything happen to his girl.

"come here." he opened his arms for a hug and rested his chin on top of lydia's head. "thank you, for everything." he whispered into her hair. from underneath him, she chuckled.

"anything for you, steve."

and she meant it.