EPILOGUE
ALL IS GOOD

        There's a soft rain that pours down as they're wrapped in blankets and checked over by the paramedics. Isla's head rests on Abby's shoulder as they stare at the commotion around them. Sirens blare and voices shout as smoke rises from the mall. Despite the victory that they had reveled in, there was still so much death, so much blood, so much hurt. The people who had been molded into the Mind Flayer's puppets never emerged, Billy's bloody and broken body had been lifted out of the ruins sometime before. Alex and Steve now sport matching black eyes along with an assortment of other bruises and bloodied lips inflicted by Billy, Max too, has a bruise forming just under her eye from the hands of Billy.

There isn't much to be said in the silence that sits between Abby and Isla. Too much has happened, this is the closest thing to peace that they've gotten in a long while. They're both still consumed in their own plaguing thoughts. They don't know if their families are safe, for all either of them know, their families had been a part of the melted mass of a monster.

Isla lets out a sudden gasp and lifts her head off of Abby's shoulder. Abby frowns slightly, instantly noticing the absence of her friend's comfort before her eyes land on Isla's parents flanked by her father. They tear across the parking lot with wild eyes before they land on the girls on the back of the ambulance. Abby lets out a small relieved laugh because there stands James Foster, unscathed and alive. She sheds the blanket around her shoulders and charges for her dad, meeting him halfway and throwing her arms around him, sinking into his embrace.

"Dad, thank god," she whispers into his shoulder.

They stay like that for a few moments, rocking back forth. Tears of relief spill from Abby's eyes as she breathes in the familiar scent of their laundry detergent that still clings to her father's shirt. She can feel him grasp the fabric of her own shirt as if he were making sure that she was really there. It doesn't occur to her yet that there was still one person missing from their clan, not until she finally pulls away from her father.

"Dad ..." she whispers with a tremble in her voice. "Wh—where's mom? Is she—" Abby's voice catches, she can't finish the sentence because something about that would make the situation all more real.

James shakes his head. "Your mom's fine. She just needs rest, that's all."

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Abby asks, heart still pounding. She wonders if it was possible to be flayed and not join the rest of the body, what if the Mind Flayer still had an unsevered connection and her mother was that connection?

"We just found out a few days ago," James replies. "We wanted to tell you, but you never came home." There's a wide smile on her dad's face as he gazes at her and Abby knows that her dad does not bear news of a tragedy. "You're going to be a big sister, Abby."

"Oh my god," Abby murmurs with a laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah," he answers with a nod.

"Oh my god," Abby repeats.

She sinks back into her father's arms with a smile on her face. She feels him press a kiss to the crown of her head and she only pulls her father closer. And everything seems good in the world.

✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.☆.*｡･ﾟ✫*

THREE MONTHS LATER

September comes, and all is good in the world.  Well, not entirely.  September comes as an escape from the tragedy and loss that had befallen the town of Hawkins, at least for Abby.  Too soon, too early, Abby had donned the same outfit she had worn to Will's funeral two years before as they committed Hopper's empty casket six feet under the ground.  They hadn't found a body amidst the wreckage of the Russian base, it gives Abby some sort of fickle hope that maybe Hopper isn't truly dead.  She doesn't see much of Joyce after the funeral, she doesn't see much of Max either.  They're both dealing with their own ghosts and guilt.

Everybody is dealing with their own ghosts in one way or another these days.  The town seems to become quieter in the passing weeks as families slowly recover from the losses they had suffered from that Fourth of July.  It seems now that all hope is devoid, so many things had come crashing down in a matter of days. Starcourt Mall, which had once stood tall compared to the rest of Hawkins had come crumbling down, reduced into nothing but a pile of ash, families that had once stood strong were torn apart at the foundations by the sudden losses of their family members, several homes were left abandoned in the wake of their owners' downfall.  Obituaries covered the newspapers for months, memorials were erected on the corners of streets decorated with the smiling faces of those who were gone before their time. 

But with the death of so many, there's still the chance for more life.  Abby has preoccupied herself with the preparations for the arrival of her younger sibling to distract her from the haunting image of the monster of rot.  The designated nursery down the hall sits empty, cleared out of the clutter and walls painted, she and her father have already started to purge the house of anything detrimental to a baby, and she's even helped to think up names for the baby.  She's always put in a place of giddy excitement whenever she thinks about the sibling that's on their way.  A light in the darkness, per se.

By the time September sweeps in, Abby decides with a firm finality to attend Purdue University.   Abby feels some sort of guilt for departing Hawkins at a time where everything seems so delicate and breakable still, but she knows that it's her time to leave.  She's been waiting for this moment for so long, to finally be able to say that she's leaving.  She's the first of her family to leave for college, this should be a momentous day, but it doesn't feel like it.  Not when the weight of everything that had happened that summer still weighs heavily on her shoulders.

"Hey, I get that everything about you basically stems from ambition, but you have to admit that even that's a little too ambitious."

Abby peers around the teetering stack of boxes in her arms to see Steve standing in her bedroom doorway with a small smile on his face.  The bruises and cuts that had marred his face have healed over in the two months that had passed since the battle of Starcourt.

"I think I'm doing okay," Abby responds.

"Let me take some of those," Steve offers.

Before Abby can protest, he's lifting the top two boxes off of the stack and taking them in his own arms.  Abby still isn't sure where they stand on the line between friendship and something more, they haven't talked about what they are yet.  There seems to be some sort of silent agreement that they might be something a little more than just best friends, but neither of them has yet gathered up the courage to establish anything between them. 

"So," Steve says, placing the boxes down on the end of Abby's bed.  "College."

"Yeah," Abby nods with a small laugh.  "College.  Crazy, right?"

"Hey, I believed in you, all the way," Steve replies with a smile.

"As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, Steve, I highly doubt you knew my name before last year," Abby answers with a small laugh. 

"Hey, I'll have you know that Alex and I did hire you to shovel snow that one time to help your cause."

"Well, then I stand corrected."

The boxes have been packed for weeks now, but the room seems so much barer now; some of the pictures have been removed from the walls and tucked away into the boxes, her favorite books are missing from the shelf, the lamp that had sat on her nightstand for so many years is somewhere in the trunk of her car, the closet is almost empty, too.  She turns to take one last look at her almost bare room before she departs.  She knows that this isn't a goodbye for good, she'll be back in Hawkins before she knows it for Thanksgiving, but all the same, she allows the wave of nostalgia to wash over her.  She'd spent a long time in this bedroom dreaming about the day she would depart Hawkins, and finally, that day has come.

There's a bittersweet smile on her face as she steps out into the hallway followed by Steve.  She doesn't know what awaits her at Purdue, she still has several unformulated ideas of what she wants to study.

"Are those the last of them?" James calls from the driver's seat of their truck as Abby and Steve emerge into the afternoon sunlight.

"Yeah," Abby answers. "These should fit in the trunk though."

She smiles softly as she gazes around at the exterior of her home.  There's the tree that she had watched grow since it had been planted there, there's the place where Isla had broken her arm in seventh grade, there's the porch where she had sipped lemonade from a tall glass during the sweltering summer days, and so much more.  Despite the knowledge that this certainly won't be the last time that she'll step foot before her home, she can't help but let a few tears prick her eyes.

Isla stands leaning against the side of Abby's car with her hands shoved in her pockets.  There's a bittersweet smile on her friend's face, but it manages to reach her eyes.  Abby is seeing fewer smiles from Isla these days.  She's still just as haunted as Abby by the events of the summer, but she's glad to see some semblance of a smile on her best friend's face.  Abby's mom stands beside her, teary-eyed as Abby approaches with the stack of boxes in her arms and places them in the trunk of the car.

She turns to her mom and Isla lined up against the car and first goes to Isla, wrapping her best friend in a bone-crushing hug.  She's been there for Abby since the beginning, no matter how ambitious her dreams were, no matter how high she tried to reach for the stars, Isla had always been there.  She knows already that everything is going to be different without her best friend by her side.  They've already promised to call each other as often as possible, but Abby knows that it won't be enough.  It'll only make reunions sweeter.

"Oh, no, don't cry," Isla begs.  "You promised you wouldn't, and if you cry, then I cry, and then you only cry even harder."

"Well, gee, I'm sorry," Abby responds, her voice muffled in the fabric of Isla's sweater.  "I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'm gonna miss you too," Isla tells her.  "You go kick some ass for me, at college okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything else," Abby answers with a small laugh.

She moves onto her teary-eyed mother next.  The tears and the sobs, of course, are expected from the three-month pregnant Lauren, but Abby doesn't particularly mind.  She's learned to embrace all the sides of the family, the good and the embarrassing because she doesn't know how much longer she'll be able to have it. 

"I'm so proud of you," Lauren whispers.  Abby only lets out a soft, happy laugh and hugs her mother tighter.

Steve is next, the person who's a little more than just a friend.  She doesn't know what to say to him.  She knows that things can change, they too have made promises to call and write to each other, but their relationship is unpredictable.  She knows now that there's something that she sees in him, but she still doesn't know if he, too sees her in the same way.  Abby remembers what Robin had told her all those months ago in the backroom of Scoops Ahoy, something inside of her tells her to act upon the advice, but instead, she only pulls him into a hug.

"Say hi to Anna Jacobi for me," Steve jokes.

"Please, you never stood a chance," Abby says with a small laugh.

"Ouch," Steve pulls away and places a hand over his heart.  "Try not to forget me while you're off doing great things, yeah?"

"Like I could ever forget you, Steve Harrington."

There's a moment there, or at least something that Abby thinks is a moment between them where Steve opens his mouth to say something, but then chooses to stay silent.  There's a moment where Abby is tempted to just reach out and see what happens, but she doesn't.  Instead, they give each other their signature half-smiles before Abby turns and climbs into her car.  Her dad's already started to pull out of the driveway and onto the winding street. 

As usual, the engine stalls when Abby turns the key in the ignition.  She glances back at her home in the rearview mirror, Isla has started to lead her mom back into the house, but Steve remains where he stands in the driveway, watching with a forlorn look on his face as Abby pulls out of the driveway.  She closes her eyes for a moment and lets out a breath.

"Fuck this," she mutters.

Leaving the keys in the ignition, Abby pushes the car door open and steps out onto the driveway.  Steve still stands there, watching curiously as Abby stalks toward him.  It's now or never.  If this ends with the sting of rejection, Abby knows that she can hide away from him, miles away in the sanctuary of Purdue. 

"You know what, screw this," she says as she stops right in front of Steve.  Her arms are crossed over her chest as she stares him down.  "You know, Robin said that I would have to make the first move if I wanted a chance at something.  And I thought hey, I'll just wait a bit and see what happens because he probably doesn't like me like that, but you know what, I'm tired of waiting.  So yeah, this is me.  I'm making the first move.  I'm—"

"Hey," Steve interrupts, "I really want to kiss you right now.  Is that okay?"

Steve leans forward and hesitantly, Abby leans forward too, taking up the rest of the distance.  It's a bit messy at first, their foreheads knock together a little painfully, their teeth collide, and Abby isn't entirely sure what to do with her hands as she feels Steve's hands find the sides of her face.  Eventually, she finds a place on his shoulders.  There's a giddy excitement that builds in her chest, the kind that you get the night before a long-awaited field trip, and she smiles against Steve's lips.

There's a soft laugh that escapes from Abby as they pull apart.  They only stare at each other for a few moments in the silence that follows the kiss.  The car still stands behind Abby, the motor running, but they pay no mind to it. 

"Was that your first kiss?" Steve jokes, finally breaking the delicate silence.

"Shut up," Abby responds with a laugh as she lightly punches him on the shoulder.

"Wait, no, I was joking!" Steve exclaims.  "Are you serious?"

Abby only lets out another laugh.  "Try not to miss me too much, Harrington."

She sends him one last smile before she turns and clambers back into her car, the wide smile has returned to her face as she glances into the rearview mirror once more to watch Steve.  He raises a hand in farewell as she pulls out of the driveway.

And all is good.

author's note: GUYS.  HOLY SHIT. 

okay, first of all, the first half was supposed to be at the end of chapter twenty-seven, but i really didn't like the way it flowed so i made it the first half of the epilogue instead.  but yeah, i really wanted some good things to come out of this for abby, and honestly writing her as an older sister would be really fucking amazing.

second!!  it took twenty-eight long chapters, but steve and abby have finally admitted their feelings for each other kinda (consent is hot, you guys) but god, the second-hand embarrassment i get from writing romance.  it's a bittersweet kind of ending, but i'm actually really in love with it, and have had it in mind for a long time now.

and finally, holy fucking shit, i can't believe that this is already over for now!!  i wrote this whole thing in about three weeks with lots of lag time between updates, which is something of a shock to me.  i've had this fic up on my account for the better part of two years now, and i finally took the time this year to finish it, and i'm so glad that i did. 

i obviously am planning on expanding into season four because it would be stupid just to end it here and not see steve and abby's relationship develop.  i don't know yet if i'll be able to squeeze abby into the season four plot since she's off in college, but i'm hoping to be able to find a way.  if not, then i will just do a post-season three au where i can explore abby and steve's relationship more.  but season four will be in a different book because the theme of this book is different from the next if that makes sense?  in season two/three she's still working toward her goal and she's still a part-time babysitter and a teenager, but in season four she's got her goal and is discovering the outside world and is an adult.

i'd still really like to express my appreciation and love for everyone for showing unwavering support for this story, i've enjoyed every single one of your comments and your support always means so much to me.  and of course, again, a big special thanks to mrstarkwewon for allowing me to write this plot in the first place.

and until i am able to continue this fic, i'd like to bid you all adieu, and see you next time!