she hadn't even noticed that he'd walked in until she woke up and saw him laying by her bed. she had stood and put a blanket on top of him, hoping it would make him more comfortable.

truthfully, what had happened hadn't felt real. at all. everything else that happened with the upside down felt like a fever dream, too, but this was just.. on a different level.

people were evacuating hawkins like the plague after the "earthquake". meadow knew that reporters always had to come up with some sort of excuse, some logical explanation for what happened in hawkins. but this was really rich.

"this is only the latest tragedy to befall this once-safe town." a reporter had commented. "most recently, a string of high school students were killed in a series of ritualistic murders, which have been linked to a local satanic cult known as 'hellfire'. eddie munson, the leader of this cult and prime suspect in the murders, has been missing since the earthquake and is presumed dead."

meadow, who had been watching the news, clenched her hand into a fist. "that's bullshit." she said to steve, who had come over to check on her and dustin. "eddie didn't do shit."

steve nodded. "people are going to believe what they want. it isn't like they can hear about the actual truth and believe it."

the gate had sort of exploded, causing what could be seen as the earthquake. the people of hawkins had panicked, and there were hundreds of cars lined up to leave hawkins immediately. honestly, if meadow didn't know how much more work needed to be done to save the stupid ass town, she would've joined them.

claudia henderson was extremely anxious about all of this, and kept clutching her cat to her chest. "oh, it's just horrible." she had said, looking between her children. she was relieved to hear that meadow and dustin had been hanging out with steve at family video during the earthquake, and that he'd taken them behind the counter where they'd been safe. if only she knew what her kids had actually been doing.

dustin hadn't gotten better. slowly, he had peeled himself away from his room, but he refused to talk to anyone that wasn't meadow. she'd explained to their mother that eddie was missing, and it was taking a toll on dustin. claudia had accepted that answer, though, and let her kids grieve by themselves.

meadow couldn't stop thinking about it. about how eddie had, even if jokingly, confessed to having feelings for her somewhere along the line. how he'd made plans to go to a concert with her, how he'd shredded his guitar with only down strums, and how he'd died right in front of her.

she hadn't known eddie for very long, and she felt guilty for mourning him as much as she was. it wasn't like she had had the connection to him that her brother had. however, she mourned what could've been. the friendship that she could've had with the only person she'd ever met who liked heavy metal as much as she did.

she had his guitar, now, (at least, his guitar from the upside down) and had fixed the broken strings. it played easily, and meadow would be lying if she said she'd never wanted to learn how to play guitar.

however, she could hardly bare to pick it up most of the time. it reminded her too much of eddie, eddie who hadn't deserved any of the shit that had been thrown at him. eddie who had died a hero, yet might never be remembered as one.

what was worse, almost, than losing eddie was what had happened to max. meadow adored and loved dustin, but she'd always wondered growing up what it would be like to have a little sister. someone who she could talk to about boys, who she could give her clothes and hand me downs to.

and max had been a sister to her. and now she was in a coma, with no functioning limbs.

max had been in meadow's protection, she felt, when she died. she felt so guilty. she shouldn't have let her go into that stupid house, and she shouldn't have let eddie cut that stupid rope. there were so many things that she wanted to change, that she wanted to do over. so many things that went wrong that she wished she could alter.

and steve, of course, understood meadow's feelings and grief completely. he had been at the henderson house for most of the time the two days that followed the "earthquake", wanting nothing more than to avoid his parents, who wanted to know every single detail of his whereabouts.

he'd sat silently with meadow in her room, just holding her body close to his and running his fingers up and down her arm. she didn't cry, she'd cried so much that she didn't think she ever could again. she just laid there in his arms, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

"if you want to talk about anything," he'd said after they'd laid there for some time, "at all, i.. i'm always here."

she nodded. "i know." she shifted around so she could look at him. "i guess i just.. i always assumed we'd lose, you know? eventually we'd.. we'd get our empire strikes back. but this.. this still felt like we had a chance. like we had a plan. and now.." she shook her head. "max was just a kid."

"is." steve corrected. "she is just a kid."

meadow shook her head. "she loves riding her skateboard, steve. how's she going to ride her skateboard? how is she.." she started crying again, and steve put a hand behind her head and pulled her close to him.

it was some time later, of them sitting in silence, before steve spoke. "i still have his vest." his voice shook. "i still have eddie's goddamn vest."

they then laid there, both holding onto each other tightly without saying another word. there wasn't anything to say.

dustin wasn't even talking to steve at this point, and only silently hugged him before he left. steve had pressed multiple nervous kisses to meadow's forehead before he left, making her promise to call him if she needed anything.

that night, dustin showed up in meadow's doorway, making her look up from her book. "hey, bud. what's up?" she asked, sitting up taller in bed.

he looked embarrassed, as if he was too old to be asking what he was about to ask of her. "i.. i can't sleep. and i don't really.. i don't really want to be alone."

meadow had instantly gotten to her feet, following her brother into his room. dustin's ankle was still in significant pain, despite the small brace that the doctors had given him. he lightly hobbled as he walked, and it made meadow's heart ache. it was a reminder that what had happened hadn't been in her head, and that they were still facing the aftermath.

she tucked him into bed, moving to sit on top of the sheets. he rolled onto his side before moving to lay on his back, wanting to see her to make sure she was really there. he closed his eyes, clearly attempting to sleep now that he felt safer.

"i love you." dustin said after a moment, interrupting the silence. his eyes were still closed, and meadow thought for a moment that he was dreaming before they opened. even in the darkness, she could see his eyes gloss over. "i miss him."

meadow wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and listening to his saddened whimpers until he fully fell asleep in her arms. she helped settle him back down, tucking the sheets around his body the way their mother had always done. "i love you, too." she whispered as she brushed the hair away from his eyes.

dustin, the next day, was feeling better, and had agreed to join meadow, nancy, steve, and robin in donating various items to anyone who was displaced or in need due to the hurricane. he'd chosen not to wear his hat, though, which surprised his sister.

"someone order a pizza?" nancy's mother asked as a pizza delivery truck rolled into their driveway.

"pizza?" dustin asked, turning around and eyeing the vehicle. this was the first time meadow had seen her brother truly smile in the past two days, but the last thing that any of them expected was for will, mike, eleven, jonathan, and some random guy to walk out of it.

meadow immediately moved over to eleven, giving her and will hugs. "we've been trying to call you guys." she said, watching as eleven nodded.

"i know. i saw." she replied.

"yeah, i'm sure you've seen a lot of what's been going on."

eleven nodded again. "max.."

meadow shook her head. "yeah, i know."

eleven moved into the older girl's arms again, hugging her tightly as dustin and will caught each other up next to them.

"where's lucas?" will asked.

the group all went to the hospital to visit lucas and max, and it was the second time meadow had been there to check in on the girl. lucas was, once again, sitting and reading stephen king books to max, knowing how much she loved them because of how frequently she talked to meadow about them.

lucas stopped reading when the door opened, and he jumped up at the sight of his friends. "we've been calling you guys like crazy."

"i know." mike said, both he and will wrapping their arms around him. "we came as soon as we heard."

lucas looked between them to see eleven, who he also hugged. "i'm sorry." she whispered, finally looking over to see max.

she was in the same condition she'd been in the last time meadow had visited. her arms and legs were completely wrapped in casts, as well as her neck. lucas had told meadow that, when max had fallen, she said she couldn't see anything. she was lucky to be alive, even if she was in a coma.

"do they know when she will wake?" eleven asked, looking over at lucas.

he shook his head. "no. they say she might not. her heart stopped for over a minute. she died. i.. i mean, clinically, but.. then she came back. the doctors don't know how. they say it's a miracle."

it didn't feel like a miracle, though. nothing, to meadow, felt miraculous about looking down at the girl she loved, seeing her breathe but knowing that she might not ever open her eyes again, or give a witty comeback.

steve put a hand on her back, and she jumped in surprise before turning to see him. his eyes were full of understanding as he looked down at her, rubbing his hand in circles in an attempt to calm her. "are you ready to go? robin wants to get the donations done early."

meadow nodded. "yeah." she said goodbye to everyone, including max, before following steve into his car.

once they arrived at hawkins high school, steve, dustin, meadow, and robin each grabbed a box from the trunk, carrying them inside. dustin was still hobbling on one of his legs, insistent against getting crutches.

meadow looked around the high school gym, noticing a board of missing posters, as well as stations where people were receiving help, or getting their blood drawn. she followed robin to the donation desk, watching as she put on a smile. "hi. uh, so, these are blankets and sheets. and some.. some clothes and.. and some kids' toys." she explained, gesturing to all of the boxes.

the volunteer woman smiled. "wow, it's already so organized. we appreciate that." she leaned down. "do you want a tax receipt for it?"

robin shook her head. "um, no, i don't think that we need one. thank you, though." she looked around the gym. "but is there anything else that we can do to help?"

the woman helped to direct each of them to stations that they could volunteer at, and meadow joined steve in folding clothes as robin moved to make pb&js. "this is nice, right?" steve asked, folding a boy's shirt and adding it to one of the organized piles.

"yeah." meadow nodded. "yeah. i just.. i want to help as many people as we can, you know?"

he nodded his agreement. "yeah. um, is dustin doing better?"

"i think so." she replied, looking up from the pants she was folding. "he seems to be coping, at least. i mean, he's upset but.. who isn't, you know? he's.. today he seems to be much more.. himself."

steve smiled at this. "hey, that's great." his eyes then wandered over to robin, who was deep in conversation with vickie. the two were laughing together, and steve smirked as he watched them.

"how much do you want to bet that dan has some competition?" meadow asked, joining steve in looking at the two girls. she held out a hand that steve high fived, both of them excited for robin.

"hey," steve said, putting a hand on her belt loop to pull her closer to him, "i know this is a horrible time with everything that's.. that's happening right now. but i was wondering if you wanted to try to hang out tomorrow? we can, uh, see what streets aren't closed and figure out which stores have been sawed in half."

meadow chuckled. "yeah, yeah. i'd love to try to go somewhere tomorrow. you know, given the fact that half the town is closed down."

he thought about this for a moment. "on second thought, maybe i should just come to your place."

"good idea." she smiled, looking up at him. his eyes flickered between hers and her lips, and she furrowed her brows in confusion. "you gonna kiss me or what, harrington?"

steve smiled as he leaned down, pressing an innocent yet loving kiss to her lips. "i love you." he said when he pulled away.

she smiled. "i love you more."

"that's not true, and you know it." he argued, making her laugh.

meadow's gaze then shifted over to dustin, who was looking at the wall of missing posters. she frowned, walking over to join him. eddie's had been drawn all over by some asshole kids, and eddie's uncle was quickly replacing it with a fresh poster.

"mr. munson?" dustin called, and meadow looked between the two of them. "i'm dustin henderson. can we talk?"

"i can't imagine we got anything to talk about." the man replied, sporting a heavy accent. "my nephew is innocent. he's still missing. i'll put up as many posters as i need until he's found. good day to you." he picked up his bag, moving to leave.

"i was with him." dustin said, watching as eddie's uncle halted. "i was with him when the earthquake hit."

his uncle turned to look at him. "and.. where is eddie now?"

dustin, his eyes filling with tears, reached into his pocket to take out eddie's guitar pick necklace. meadow hadn't even seen him take it off of eddie's body, but she knew he'd been keeping it with him at all times. she'd seen him clutching it in his sleep. "i'm.. i'm so sorry."

the older man silently took the necklace, letting out a wavering breath before sitting down at one of the cots. dustin moved to sit next to him, looking over at his sister, who gave him an encouraging nod.

"i wish everyone had gotten to know him." dustin said. "really know him. because they would've loved him, mr. munson. they would've loved him. even in the end, he never stopped being eddie. despite everything. i never even saw him get mad. he could've run. he could've saved himself. but he fought. he fought and died to protect this town. this town that.. hated him. he isn't just innocent.. mr. munson, he's.. he's a hero."

his uncle was weeping now, and dustin silently sat with him for a moment before standing with his sister. "i'm so sorry, mr. munson." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. he wordlessly held it for a moment, giving it a squeeze before letting go.

the henderson siblings turned to walk away, and meadow put a hand on dustin's back. "i had to tell him." dustin said. "he deserved to know."

meadow nodded. "i love you so much." she told her brother. "you're growing up so fast, and maturing so much, and i just.. i love you."

he shook his head, running a hand through his exposed hair. "i'm only maturing cause i've learned from you."

she ruffled his hair, making him let out an annoyed groan.

"meadow!" he complained, moving to chase her around.

she led him over to where steve and robin were, and the siblings were still laughing and play chasing each other when they noticed all of the other volunteers moving to the windows. meadow followed them, standing between dustin and steve. "what the.."

some of the volunteers around her were confused by the "snow" that was falling from the sky, but meadow just looked to steve, who was already looking at her. hawkins and the upside down were already blending into one, which meant they didn't have much time.

they had finally lost, and this time, there were no limits to what the cost of that loss could be.