"jonathan!" nancy screamed before repeating his name a few more times. she ran through the forest looking for the tree that they crawled through, but everything looked the same. she couldn't distinguish one tree from the next. they were trying to find a needle in a haystack except if they couldn't find the needle, it meant certain death.

the sound of rapid footsteps made her turn her head. before she could process what was happening, she was knocked off her feet. she screamed repeatedly before a hand was clamped over her mouth. her eyes focused and lydia hovered over her, a finger pressed to her lips. pulling the girl up, they hid behind a tree with their backs pressed against rotting wood. they held their breath as the monster skulked past and growled, searching for the two.

looking to their left they saw the hole from which they entered. nancy grabbed her friend's arm and rushed over to the trunk. she crawled through first and lydia waited for her friend to go through all the way before starting to crawl in herself. but before she got through, a hand clamped around her leg and pulled her back. she screamed at the top of her lungs as she was slowly pulled away from her one chance at escaping. her free hand tried to grasp anything that would stop her but nothing worked. she turned so she was on her back and looked down at the appendage that was currently clutching her ankle.

in a moment of clarity, she gripped the hockey stick in both hands before slamming it down on the limb of the monster. she screamed as she brought it down with all her strength over and over again. once it's grip was loose enough she pulled her leg out and stumbled towards the tree trunk. she threw herself in and felt two pairs of hands grip her arm before pulling her out completely. she lay on top of both her friends and started to sob. she felt jonathan's arms wrap around her while the other girl wriggled out from underneath. the boy sat her up and held her face in his hands.

"lydia, hey, hey, it's me. it's jonathan. you're okay now, you are with me and nancy. you're okay. just try and calm down and breathe." he shushed the girl softly as she cried. "oh my god." the older wheeler whispered. she stood up, gathering all their things. holding the hockey stick in one hand and the bat in the other, she gave the boy a look of concern and urgency.

"jonathan, we have to go. now." she demanded. he looked at her in confusion before pointing down at the sobbing girl's leg. it was bleeding profusely. there were several lesions on her calf that caused blood to drip down onto her white sneakers. his eyes widened at the gashes and he scooped up the weeping girl in his arms.

"okay, uh, let's take her to, uh, your house." he struggled as he carried his friend. although the crying had been suppressed to whimpers, lydia was beginning to feel lightheaded due to the loss of blood and water. she clutched her friend's jacket and laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. in the moment, it was the most comforting sound. "lydia, lydia stay with me." he begged. her eyelids were so heavy and her entire body felt like it was begging her to go to sleep. her last memory was the sound of her car sputtering to life and a bright light, before she succumbed to darkness.

~

"hey, how are you feeling?" jonathan asked the girl as she regained consciousness. she laid on nancy's bedroom floor with gauze wrapped around her ankle. her leg was throbbing and her head was pounding. sitting up, she watched the room spin for a second before settling. her eyes focused on her concerned friends who sat on the bed.

"i mean as good as anyone will feel after being dragged through an alternate dimension by a faceless monster." she chuckled as she tried to lighten the mood. she didn't want them worrying about her, they had enough on their plate as is. she stood up slowly, grabbing the bed frame for support. both teens rushed to her side. "woah, woah, woah, slow down there. you're still hurt." nancy supported the girl and helped her to sit down on the bed. lydia shook her head fervently.

"it's alright, nance. i think i just need to go home." before her friend could disagree she stood up. "i'm okay. i swear. don't have a cow, wheeler." laughing lightly, she said her goodbyes before walking to her car. she tried her best to ignore the pain that stemmed from her leg and went home.

but as lydia drove away, steve pulled up to the curb. wanting to check in on his girlfriend, he jumped up to her window. he was about to knock when he saw them. jonathan byers with his girlfriend. sitting on her bed. together. his heart hurt at the thought of the girl that he loved cheating on him with none other than that psycho pervert. he tried his best to suppress his emotions and simply snapped at tommy and carol when they tried to ask him what happened. he drove them home without saying a word before going to back to his house. once he was parked in the driveway he let a few tears roll down his cheeks. he felt so, betrayed. he slammed his hands down on the steering wheel before wiping away his tears and walking into his big, quiet house.

~

back at the henderson's, lydia laid on her bed covered in slime, sweat, tears, dirt, and blood. she stared up at the ceiling, trying to rid her mind of the events that had occurred. every time she closed her eyes she saw the creature's mouth opening up like it was about to swallow her whole. she sat up and brought herself to the edge of her bed, tangling her hands in her hair. it wouldn't leave her mind. she couldn't bring herself to think of anything else except that goddamn monster.

standing up abruptly, she grabbed some clothes and headed into the shower. she tried focusing on the sound of the water running or the feeling of it hitting her skin but even then the only sensation she could feel were the gashes left on her leg. she didn't know exactly when she started crying again, but she couldn't distinguish tears from water. she sat down in the tub and stared at the tiled wall. there was sudden realization that she didn't want to be alone, not tonight. she didn't want to wake dustin or her mom, and steph was most definitely passed out on her couch at this time. she settled on calling her best friend, hoping he hadn't gone to bed yet.

~

with every ring that passed, the girl got more and more anxious. what if he didn't answer? what if he wasn't home? what if he was sleeping? what if his dad picked up? all these 'what if's' ran through her mind, making the urge to slam the phone down even stronger. but right as she was about to put it down, a voice came through on the other line.

"hello?" he sounded distressed but she chalked it up to the fact that it was 11pm.

"steve?" although she thought she was able to keep her composure, her voice cracked. something was wrong, he could tell.

"lydi? what's happening are you okay?" she choked down a sob and tried her best to keep her voice steady. taking a deep breath, she spoke again. "can you come over?" her voice was reduced to a whisper so she wouldn't burst into tears.

"i'll be over in 5." and with that he hung up. she placed the phone back on her nightstand and lay back against her headboard. she looked out the window next to her bed and stared at the moon and stars. the way they glimmered against the midnight sky and illuminated everything below. there was no moon in the other place. there were no stars, just a cold empty sky. seeing the celestial bodies in the sky gave her some relief cause it reminded her that she was in the real world. her thoughts were interrupted as she watched her best friend's car pull up to the curb. she opened her window and stuck her head through, smiling weakly at the boy. he jogged over and climbed through, landing on her bed. he immediately pulled her into a hug.

"hey, how's my girl?" he rubbed her back and held her tight. lydia sighed deeply, trying her best not to break down in front of him. "i'm okay now." she whispered into his shoulder. she took a deep inhale, taking in his familiar scent. even if it was just for a second, she felt safe. she felt like nothing could ever hurt her if she stayed wrapped up in his arms.

"do you wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly as they pulled apart. she shook her head before lying down. steve kicked off his shoes before lying down with her. they faced each other, their faces inches apart.

"can you talk to me?" she requested.

"about what?"

"anything." the boy wanted to tell his best friend about the pain that he felt and how his heart hurt when he saw jonathan and nancy together, but now wasn't the time. his girl was clearly very upset about something so he needed to be there for her and comfort her. not confide in her. that was for another time. so, instead, he talked about things like mcdonald's and magnum p.i. and queen and basically anything to distract them for the time being.

as the two friends lay in lydia's bed, nothing else seemed to matter. no cheating girlfriend's, no scary monsters, just stevie and lyds against the world. it all melted away when they were together. neither of them wanted the moment to end. so they talked and laughed until they both fell asleep in each other's embrace.