Bradley watched Peter in worry. He could hear Lucas walking around upstairs, wanting to do the same but resulted in tapping his foot. The more seconds that passed, the higher his anxiety went. Right when he didn't think it could get worse, it did.

A creak from outside of the door.

Bradley shifted his gaze. "Lucas?"

Nothing.

"Erica?" he asked, knowing it wasn't Max. Nothing. Bradley looked away, but it creaked again. He swallowed in fear, standing up and checking on Peter before walking to the door. "Lucas, did you-"

He yelled out when he was hit across the face with a crow bar, hitting the ground. Bradley held his face in pain with a wince, looking over quickly to see who it was that had attacked him.

Shane Clarke.

Peter ran across the gym floor after El yanked Vecna away, the redhead hitting the ground. "Max."

She winced, looking up as he kneeled beside her and held her. They both looked over, watching El levitate Vecna in the air as her nose bleed. His body turned to face her as she slowly moved her wrist, breathing deeply against her power with a growl. "You."

"Hi." El whispered, throwing her hand and chunking him through the bleachers.

"Yeah!" Peter laughed with a bright smile, holding his arm out as El ran to them, the trio hugging each other tightly.

"Are you okay?" El held the back of Max's head as they pulled back.

"Are you real?" Max stared at El in disbelief, pinching her face and feeling her head, looking at Peter. "Weren't we suppose to go together?"

"Think he had a little change of plans." Peter exhaled.

"So, you're real but is-" Max scanned El over again. "Did I make you?"

El took her hand, the hand that was already holding Peters as the trio squeezed. "I'm real."

"How?" Max breathed out.

"I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer." El said casually.

Peter pursed just lips. "Yeah, she did."

He pulled the two into a hug again, finally feeling whole again with the both of them. That's where it started, just the three of them. That day at the mall, the best day of his life, it was just the three of them. If it had been just the three of them, no matter how much he loved all how friends, it would have been more then enough.

The rustling clatter made them pull apart, turning back to where El tossed Vecna moments before. Pushing through the streamers, they all watched as he emerged from the hole he made, growling lowly and cracking his neck. El stood infront of the two. "Stay back."

Peter took Max's hand as El let his go, walking forward as her and Vecna met in the middle. El exhaled. "If you touch them again, I will kill you again."

"Is that what you did?" Vecna growled back at her, his voice just as terrifying no matter how many times Peter heard it. "Did you kill me? I am so glad you are here, Eleven. This is going to be beautiful."

He rose his hands as parts of the broken wood rose. "So beautiful. And it's all thanks to you."

He threw the sharp wood in their direct, Peter moved forward slightly, but El was good enough to throw each piece to the side before it got to any of them. Vecna waved his hand, lifting El's body and throwing her back into the table.

"El!" Peter called out in fear for her. Vecna had her again, throwing her across the room. Peter and Max dropped hands, he hurried toward the tables, getting a hand full of glitter. He ran behind Vecna, the sound of his feet getting his attention. Peter threw the glitter, blinding him a moment for Max to run at him with one of the broken wood pieces.

But, Vecna was quicker, using his hands to throw both of them. It was close, it was so close. Peter hit the side of the bleachers, when he did, he was no longer at the snow ball. He was no longer in Max's mind, El hadn't been able to carry him with her anymore.

"El!" Peter yelled, in the middle of the soccer field again. "Max!"

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He was alone, Vecna was busy with El. He was completely and utterly alone. Somehow, that was more terrifying then when Vecna haunted him. Peter held the sides of his face with a deep inhale. "El!"

Bradley needed to get the headphones back on his head, that's how he'd get back. But, Peter wasn't aware that Bradley was very busy right now.

"I knew it was gonna come one of these days." Shane spoke as he stood above Bradley, looking over at Peter as in his trance. "I knew, eventually, one of the boys would get themselves involved with whatever was haunting Hawkins. I just didn't think it would come so soon."

Bradley didn't know what he could do, Shane had a knife, he had nothing. But, Shane didn't want to hurt him, it didn't seem that way with how he spoke. "Peter will never feel the way I did as a kid. He have friends and people don't make fun of him... I hate him so much for that. Boys like you, like my son, they didn't get it."

"Shane." Bradley whispered as he stared at him in fear. "It was you."

Shane held his head up. Bradley gapped. "You're Vecna's spy."

"Henry." Shane corrected with a harsh glare. "His name is Henry, Bradley."

Shane looked to Peter again. "I've waited so long for him to reach out again. It's been so long, last we'd spoken was when we were just little boys, crying behind the bleachers together because of boys like you and Peter."

Bradley breathed heavy. It was perfect, it all made sense. Shane hated Peter because of boys that bullied him when he was a child, when his only friend was Henry Crill, the only other boy who was just as odd as he was. He's all Shane had, so when he needed him to be his outside spy, Shane did it.

"I'm sorry kids were mean to you, and i'm sorry they were mean to...Henry." Bradley stared up at him. "But we're not like that, Mr.Clarke. Peter and I...we don't pick on kids, we just play soccer."

"You can tell yourselves that all you want to, but you and I both know it's not true." Shane breathed heavy as he stared. "And I married the biggest bully of all of them, Bradley. Darcy doesn't even remember how she was to me when we were kids, she just saw my money and forgot about all the names she called me. I married her so she would understand."

"You married her so you could hit her." Bradley snapped, Shane lunged across the floor and gripped his face. Bradley tried to move, but he was pinned with the wall.

"We had our first child." Shane stared. "I hated him from the day he was born. I didn't want children, not with Darcy. They'd end up just like her, just smaller. I was right. Wesley is just like his mother. You said all Peter does is play soccer...but what about the ones that don't? They were just as bad."

Bradley wanted away from this entire situation so badly. He no longer felt confident that Shane didn't want to hurt him. "Henry is the only person that loves me, Bradley."

"Mr.Clarke." he whispered. "Your boys aren't bad people. I know them, they aren't like those kids. No matter what crowd they come from, they aren't the same. Vec-Henry is asking you to kill your son. Shane...he's your son."

Shane stared. "Yeah."

He smiled, but he was crying at the same time. "Every time I look at him, all I can think of is the pain I went through as a kid."

He lunged for Peter after that, Bradley spun onto his stomach and latched onto hie feet, making him trip. Shane fell, the knife flew across the floor. "No!"

"You piece of shit!" Bradley tried to climb onto of him. "You're not gonna touch him!"

Shane elbowed him in the jaw, but Bradley wasn't letting up. "Peter! Peter, wake up!"

Music, he needed music.

Bradley saw the walkman in the corner, where he'd left it. But, by the time he got there, it would have given Shane the time to get the knife and stab either him or Peter. Two things that he could not risk happening right now. His hands tightened on Shane's arms, bracing himself before locking his arms down.

Bradley did a forward role over his shoulder, Shane taken so off guard he missed the repetitive kick to the face he got. When Bradley knew he'd hit him enough times, he lunged for the walkman and tossed it around Peters head. But, Shane was quicker, body slamming Bradley into the ground. His nose bleed all over the older boy as he tried to pin him down, hands around his neck.

Bradley struggled to breath, non the less not being strong enough to fight him off now. He pushed against his hands, but his weakening state was overpowering him as the ability to breath was taken from him. His entire body felt like it was on fire, gasping for a breath that simply wasn't there. It was the worst feeling, he'd never felt anything like that before.

Shane fell off of him after getting hit in the back of the head with the same crowbar he hit Bradley with.

Bradley gasped, coughing. He looked up and stared at Peter, his headphones around his ears with the crowbar in hand. Shane laid on the ground next to Bradley, unconscious. Peter dropped the bar and fell on his knees next to Bradley, rubbing his back as he coughed. "Breath!"

He was talking loud due to his headphones, Bradley couldn't help but laugh through his coughs.

"What!" Peter yelled without realizing it.

"You're-" he started.

"What!" he yelled again.

Bradley reached up and put the headphones around his neck. "You're talking loud."

"Oh." he gave a small giggle, leaning down to hug him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." he hugged him back, hand pressing into the back of his head. "Are you?"

"Think so." Peter admitted with an exhale. "El piggybacked me from my head to Max's."

"Right." Bradley nodded, not having a clue what it meant. "Nice girlfriend you've got."

"Yeah." Peter smiled, finally pulling away from the hug. "But, then Vecna threw me into the bleachers-"

"Peter!" it was Lucas, yelling for him from upstairs. He was crying, it was finally quiet enough downstairs to hear his yells for them. "Peter!"

"Lucas." Peter took off, Bradley close behind him. "Lucas!"

"Peter, help!" Lucas sobbed, Peter hurrying, nearly tripping over the final step before pushing the door open.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

"Max." Peter gapped, his heart sinking. "Oh my god, Max!"

He immediately fell next to Lucas as he held the lifeless girl. Peter took her face in his hands, feeling for a pulse that just wasn't there. "Max. Max, oh my god. Hey, hey, wake up. Wake up."

Lucas sobbed as he dropped his head into his shoulder, Peter cried too as he leaned onto Max. He thought, maybe, with his head against her chest, he'd hear his best friends heartbeat. Maybe it would be faint, but maybe it would be there. He was wrong, completely wrong. Peter cried as he held her face again, his hands shaky between his own sobs and the way Lucas was crying on his shoulder. He started to shake her harshly. "Max!"

This was it, the final break. He could survive Vecna, he could deal with his own trauma being used against him. But his best friend dying? Max Mayfield, the first real friend he'd ever had, someone who protect him when he didn't even need it, someone who loved him even when she didn't want to love anyone, dead in his arms? That was the end. There was no coming back from that, nothing would ever fix or mend that form of pain.

Not even when the ground shook, cutting a large crack right down all of Hawkins, taking Jason and his father. Bradley moved the trio out of the way, sitting with them as they grieved in silence and awaited the ambulance. He had no clue his own best friend was dead in those moments, he had no idea that Eddie had asked Dustin to tell Bradley that he had always been, even when he started kicking balls into laundry baskets, the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Only difference was, Peters best friends heart slowly started up again.

•

kylie speaks

yes, it might have ended
sad, but i'm LIVING for the
elmaxer reunion. my favorite
trio ever