FIFTEEN: SHARED NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE

THE CAR WAS SILENT. Heather and Daniel sat in the back while Dustin sat next to Steve up front, no one knows what to do or say. After the boy explained the situation, everyone was pretty much stunned. Daniel couldn't believe what had come of Dart. He wanted to tell Mike, but he had no idea where his boyfriend was. Last he heard, he was at the Byers' house.

Finally, Steve broke the silence by asking, "Wait a sec. How big?"

Dustin held his fingers a couple inches apart, "First it was like that." He moved his hands so his fingers were about a foot or so apart, "Now it's like this."

Steve sighed, "I swear to God, man, it's just some lizard, okay?"

"I don't think lizards sprout legs and have glowing stomachs," Daniel added, leaning around Dustin's seat so his head popped into the front seat. "I, for one, am so glad I never let that thing come near me."

"He wasn't always a giant lizard!" Dustin argued, looking back at Daniel with a sad look.

"Maybe so, but he was very, very slimy."

"Wait, you've seen this thing, too?" Steve asked, slight bewilderment filling his voice. "I swear, it's a lizard."

"It's not a lizard!"

"How do you know?"

"How do I if it's not?" Heather and Daniel just watched, snickering as the two argued.

Steve continued, "How do you know it's not just a lizard?"

"Because his face opened up and he ate my cat!" Dustin exclaimed, shocking both of the teens in the backseat.

"Mews is dead?" Heather asked sadly, "I loved that little guy! Even if I was allergic..."

Dustin sighed, leaning back against the seat, "Yeah, Mews is dead."

Steve hesitated for a moment before he shrugged and nodded, mumbling, "Okay, not a lizard."

"Didn't the Demogorgon's face open up?" Heather inquired, popping her head into the front seat as well, "I think I remember that happening during our shared near-death experience last year."

"To be fair, a lot happened during that shared near-death experience last year," Steve sighed, looking back and making eye contact with Heather for a moment before his eyes returned to the road.

"Am I missing something?" Dustin asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

Daniel nodded, "Oh, yeah, there's a lot to unpack between these two."

"Daniel!" Both of the older teens yelled at the same time. Steve scoffed and continued, "There is not a lot to "unpack," we already unpacked. We moved in. Story's over. Does our talk earlier mean nothing, Daniel?"

"Wait, what talk? Did you guys talk about me?" Heather asked. Dustin and Daniel shared a mutual look of "yikes!"

Steve coughed, clearly realizing his mistake, "There's a carnivorous not-lizard to deal with, can we talk about this later?"

"What do you mean "can we talk about this later?" I thought the story was over," Heather questioned, squinting her eyes at the boy driving.

"Oh look! We're here!" Dustin said as Steve pulled up to his house. Steve seemed thankful for the break, parking the car, turning it off and getting out. He opened up his truck, followed by the other three and pulled out his bat.

"Yet another memory from the great near-death experience," Heather mumbled, putting her fingers near her temples as if she had a headache, "I can't believe I really thought this was over. I just wanna go back to that stupid party at your house before I knew about all of this shit."

Steve looked down at the ground as Daniel and Dustin began walking away (and they totally weren't waiting to hear what Steve was going to say. They always walk that slow). "Yeah, me too. You know, I almost kissed you at that party. I wanted to, but..."

"But Nancy," Heather sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, a lot's changed. For one, I'm not even gonna try throwing myself at you anymore, Harrington."

Dustin and Daniel who had supposedly turned the corner, but were actually just watching from behind it, watched as Heather went to walk away. They also watched as Steve grabbed her by the wrist, turned to have her face him and kissed her. Daniel cheered silently, giving himself credit for this whole situation.

Heather, on the other hand, was pretty sure she had gone into shock. That wasn't going to stop her from kissing back, though. The last time they kissed, he was tipsy and heartbroken, so this was a nice change. He cupped her face gently with one hand (the other one still holding the bat, of course) while her arms found their way around his neck. Kissing Steve Harrington when he wasn't tipsy and heartbroken was something she could get used to.

The moment, however, was ruined when a cough got their attention. Dustin pointed towards his backyard, "Hey, lovebirds, giant cat-killing, not-lizard to deal with."

Heather and Steve stepped away from each other as if they had both just developed cooties. Dustin led them to an exterior door to either a basement or a hurricane shelter.

"It's in there," Dustin said.

Steve, ever the hero, pushed Daniel and Heather behind him and hit the door softly with the edge of the bat. After no reaction, he shined his flashlight on Dustin's face and said, "All right, listen kid. I swear if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you're dead.

"It's not," Dustin said, raising his arms in a surrender motion.

"I swear he's telling the truth," the curly-haired boy defended his friend, "I've seen the not-lizard. Is that really what we're calling it now?"

Dustin shook his head as a look of disgust overcame his face, "Nah, I'll think of something better. Steve, would you please just..." he motioned towards the doors with an exasperated sigh.

Steve hesitated, moving his flashlight off of Dustin's face with a skeptical look. "You got a key for this thing?"

The curly-haired boy fished one out of his pocket and unlocked the doors. Daniel jumped back, clinging to his sister despite nothing coming out once the doors opened. Steve shined the flashlight down the steps, but there was nothing.

The boy shrugged, "Must be further down there."

"Maybe he killed himself," Daniel suggested with a cruel hopefulness in his voice, earned a glare from Dustin to which he just shrugged and offered a half-smile.

"I'll stay up here in case he tried to escape," Dustin offered, Steve glaring, clearly not liking the suggestion. The teen sighed before getting up and beginning to walk down the stairs. Daniel bit his lip in anticipation. After a few moments of silence, Dustin looked in. "Steve? Steve, what's going on in there?"

"I can't watch," Daniel looked away, letting Heather pull him into her arms. She was always there to protect him, no matter what. He held onto her tightly, pressing his face into the nook where her neck met her shoulder. He had to lean down since he was much taller than her, but despite her short stature he still felt safe and protected.

Steve shined the flashlight back up, causing Heather to let out a sigh of relief. The relief didn't last when he said, "Get down here."

The group (which included a very reluctant Daniel) followed him down the stairs, everyone's eyes following the beam of light from the flashlight. No one liked what the light was revealing. That being a layer of skin, like when a snake sheds except much bigger. Not only that, but the beam of light moved and fell onto a hole in the cement. Cement that only one creature could have torn through.

Dustin sighed. "Oh, shit."

( note! )

look! i know how to write straight people! also, please god get this to 100k before it's over that would make my entire life lmao