018 | the gate


Sunday, November 4th, 1984


MIKE AND ELEVEN HUGGED EVERYONE watching the emotional moment. Both of them were crying and he pulled away.


"I never gave up on you, I called you every night for-" he said and she cut him off.


"353 days, I heard," she finished and his smile faded.


"Why didn't you let me know you were OK?" He asked and Hopper sighed, knowing what he had to do.


"Because I wouldnt let her," he said and Mike turned around before Hopper and El hugged, both asking where they had been.


The penny finally dropped and Mike stared at the two.


"You've been hiding her," he said and then Hopper and Mike left to talk alone.


They could hear the yells coming from the other room and then sobs. Dustin and Lucas hugged El and then Bea rushed over.


"I've missed you so much El," Bea said as she hugged her and Eleven hugged her back.


"Me too, I missed girls," she said and Bea laughed before pulling away to stand next to her brother.


"Eleven?" Max asked as she walked over but there was an angry look on Elevens face.


"Hey, I'm Max," she said nervously.


Eleven walked straight past her to Joyce before the two walked over to see Will.


"Its ok Max, shes just not used to other people," Bea said and Max gave her a half-hearted smile.


Thats when they walked over to hear Joyce asking if El could close the gate.


"Yes," El said and thats when they devised a plan. They all crowded around the table, Steve holding Bea's hand as she started to panic.


"I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayers army," Mike started and Lucas sighed.


"Wills the part of that army," he finished and Mike nodded his head.


They all walked to Will's room and Joyce stared at the open window.


"He likes it cold," she said and Hopper looked at her confused.


"Its what Will kept saying to me, he likes it cold," she said and Bea caught on to the idea.


"If this is a virus and Wills the host-" Bea said Jonathan nodded his head, looking at his best friend.


"-We need to make the host inhabitable," Jonathan finished off.


Thats when Jonathan got in the car with Will, ready to drive off.


"You should go with him," Steve said to Nancy and Bea felt very awkward being there.


"I'm not just gonna leave Mike," she said and Steve shook his head.


"No, I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but turns out I'm actually a pretty damn good babysitter," he said and Bea smiled at him.


"Plus Bea is here," he said and Nancy just stared at him for a second. "It's okay Nance, it's OK," Steve said when Nancy tried to say something about their relationship.


Steve just walked off, leaving Nancy frozen in the spot.


El and Hopper drove off to the gate whilst Jonathan, Joyce and Nancy drove off another direction with Will to burn it out of him.


Bea noticed Mike crying and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Then he started crying again he turned around and hugged her.


Bea didn't even hesitate to wrap her arms around him as he cried into her shoulder, she knew that he needed it right now.


"Come on Kiddo, lets go inside," she said and he nodded, wiping the tears away. Bea wrapped her arms around his shoulders again and walked him in the house, the others following.


Bea walked into the kitchen to see Steve trying to shove a demo-dog into the Byers fridge.


"Hold up," she said and they slammed the door on it.


"Hey Bear," Steve said and she had her arms folded across her chest as she watched them.


"What are you two doing?" She asked and they looked at each other.


"Nothing," Dustin said Bea shook her head.


"You are explaining this to Joyce," she said before walking away.


Steve tried to make a sports analogy but the room full of geeks did not understand.


"These demo-dogs have a hive mind, when they ran away from the bus they were called away," Dustin explained and Lucas caught on.


"If we get their attention, maybe we can draw them away from the lab,"he said and Bea smiled, thinking about how this could work.


"Yeah, and then we all die," Steve said, more emphasis on the word die as he looked at Bea.


Mike rushed to Will's room, looking at one of the drawings on the wall.


"This is where the chief dug his hole, this is our way into the tunnel," Mike said, he sounded excited as he plotted what to do. "Maybe if we set this on fire," Mike said, running back to the living room and pointing at the big circle.


"That's a big no," Steve said and Bea ignored him.


"The mind flayer would call away his army," she said and the boys nodded their heads.


Steve started clapping, getting everyone's attention as they planned what to do.


Bea turned to him and he looked right at her, as if nobody else was in the room.


"Hey, hey, hey! This is not happening," Steve said and Bea tried to protest but Steve interrupted her.


"No, we promised that we would keep these shitheads safe and thats exactly what I plan to do," he explained and Bea sighed, folding her arms across her chest.


"Does everybody understand that?" Steve asked and Bea didnt say anything. Steve pulled the towel off his shoulder, staring right at Bea. "I said does everybody understand that?" He asked and Bea clenched her fists.


"You. Me. Bedroom. Now," she said violently, stalking off and Steve reluctantly followed.


He slammed the door behind him to see an angry Bea standing next to the bed.


"We have to do this," she said and he sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration.


"What if someone else dies? Huh. Have you even thought about that?" He asked and Bea let out a very frustrated sigh as she started pacing.


"We'll be fine, nobody is getting hurt," she said and Steve looked like he was going to say something but stopped before he could.


"Tell me the truth. Why don't you want us going?" Bea asked, knowing there was more behind it.


Steve turned to her, a scared look on his face.


"I can't let you get hurt," he said and Bea let out a sarcastic chuckle.


"Really, what am I to you?" She asked and he didn't move, "I don't want to push you, I know I'm being selfish and I know you just broke up with Nancy but I can't deal with this if that kiss keeps playing in my head," Bea said, tears pooling up in her eyes.


"Neither can I, you've been like this disease I couldn't get rid of since we were kids," he said and she looked taken aback.


"You were always there. Thats why I did it. That's why I kissed you at the snow Ball in 7th grade. I wanted to get rid of you," he yelled out and Bea started to back up, "Because I loved you then and I shouldn't have," he said and Bea noticed the tears welling up in his eyes.


"And every girl since then has been a distraction," he said, calming down slightly as he ran his hands through his hair. "Even Nancy, I loved her, but never in the same way I loved you," he said and Bea's lip was trembling at that point.


"I love you Beatrice Henderson," he said and she walked up to him, placing her hands against his chest.


"I love you too Steve Harrington," she said and he smirked, leaning down and placing his hand on the back of her neck.


His eyes burned into her as if he was silently asking for permission and she just kissed him, pulling him into her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.


The two forgot about everything else going on as they backed up towards the bed but before anything could go further the door opened and the boys all fell down.


Bea turned to look at them and Steve turned to them as well.


"You're a cute couple," Mike added and just as Bea was about to scold them they head an engine rev from outside.


Bea and Steve looked at each other panicked as Max ran to the living room window, everyone following.


"Its my brother," Max said and Bea swore.


"That dick," Bea said annoyed and exasperated.


"He can't know I'm here. He will kill me. He'll kill us," Max said in a panicked voice and Bea walked over, putting her hand on her shoulder,


"It's gonna be fine," she said before Steve walked out.


"I have a plan," he said and Bea watched them from the inside as Billy pulled up.


"Yeah, its me, don't cream your pants," Steve said and Billy pulled his jacket off as Steve walked towards him.


"What are you going here amigo?" Billy asked, a cigarette inbetween his teeth.


"I could ask you the same thing," he retorted and Bea wished she could have been there. As the two walked away the noises became more muffled, only certain words clear enough for them to hear.


Suddenly they turned to Bea and Max at the window and they ducked.


"Shit," Bea yelled as she dove for the ground.


Then Billy stormed in and Bea ran to grab her bat.


Bea walked back in and saw Billy waking towards the kids, she walked inbetween his path, holding the bat.


"Get out of the way Morticia," he said and she sighed.


"Fuck off, get out of the house," she retorted and then he looked at Lucas.


"Now you're disobeying me, and Max knows what happens when you do that, I break things," he said, pushing past Bea and grabbing Lucas.


That's when Lucas kicked him where the sun don't shine and Billy fell to the ground.


"You are so dead Sinclair, you're dead!" Billy yelled and Bea turned to see Steve rush in.


"No, you are," Steve yelled as he punched Billy in the face.


Billy laughed, getting back up and looked at Steve.


"Looks like you got some fire in you after all, I've been waiting to meet this king Steve everybody's been telling me so much about. But the reign of Harrington is drawing near" Billy explained, ignoring the blood on his face.


"Get out," Steve said and Billy tried to punch him but Steve ducked, knocking Billy back into the dining room table.


He kept punching and punching Billy back until Billy grabbed one of the plates, smacking Steve on the head with it.


"Steve!" Bea yelled out and Billy turned to her for a second whilst Steve was in a daze.


"Maybe I'll just have to hurt you're little girlfriend huh Steve," Billy said and at that action Steve went to punch Billy again by the latter was too fast.


He punched Steve twice before knocking him into the living room and grabbing his shirt.


"Nobody tells me what to do,' Billy spat in his face, Steve was just stuck. Billy pushed Steve to the ground, knocking punches into him constantly and Steve started to give up when he saw Bea walk away from the scene.


She grabbed the tranquilliser, jamming it into Billys neck and knocking him out.


"The hell is this," Billy said before he fell to the ground laughing hysterically.


Max grabbed Bea's bat from the table, aiming it at Billy who wasn't 100% out of it yet.


"From not on you leave me and my friends alone, do you understand?" She said and when he didn't answer she swung the bat inbetween his legs, "Say you understand. Say it!" Max screamed and before Billy passed out he muttered that he understood.


Everyone watched in awe and Bea rushed to Steve's side, placing his head in her lap whilst she heard the boys congratulating Max.


Max grabbed Billy's car keys and decided that they should get out of there.


Bea hoisted Steve up with the help of Dustin before dragging him to the car.
She lay him across the front seat, placing his head on her lap as she jumped into the drivers seat.


"You know, if you can't drive I could," Max suggested and Bea laughed.


"No, I think I can drive, anyway how do you know?" She asked and Max shrugged her shoulders.


"I play a lot of Mario Kart," she said.


As they were driving Bea heard someone say her name so she turned around and smiled at Steve who was reaching for his face.


"Don't touch that Steve," she said before focusing on the road and allowing Dustin to fix him up.


"You're gonna head straight for half a mile and then make a left on Mount Sinai," Mike read out from the map and Steve asked what was going on.


She pulled up outside Merrill's farm and all the kids rushed to the trunk whilst Bea went to the back.


"Hey Steve, you ok?" She asked and he looked at her, still dazed out. His bloody hand reached up and touched her cheek but she just laughed at it.


"You put up a good fight," she said, helping him out of the car.


"What are they doing?" Steve asked and Bea sighed.


"The plan," she said and he looked at her angry and confused.


"No, no, no Bear, we are not going down there. I made myself clear," he said, yelling at them before Bea tried to shush him.


She placed the ice bag on his forhead, trying to keep him calm, ish.


"Shh, we are going down there whether you like it or not, so keep them safe." She said and she looked at the conflict on his face.


"At least keep them safe for me," Bea said and he gave in, grabbing his bat as they all went down.


Cloths covered their mouths and they all had goggles on as they followed Mike down.


"No, any of you little shits die down here. I'm getting the blame. Get it. From here on out in leading the way," Steve said and Bea tried to protest but he just stormed off. She walked alongside Dustin as they followed Steve.


"I don't know what you see in him," Dustin said and Bea smiled at Steve who was yelling at the kids, "I know he's not perfect," she said.


Suddenly they made it to the place they wanted to be and it was giant. Tunel led to eveywhere and then they covered the whole place in gasoline.


It was everywhere and the hub smelt terrible as Bea just kept pouring of layers and layers of it everywhere.


"You guys ready?" Steve asked as he gathered everyone around away from the gasoline. Everyone voiced that they were OK before Steve reached for his lighter. He threw it and the whole place lit up in flames.


"Lets go!" Bea yelled as they ran away, trying to make it out of the tunnels as fast as they could.


They heard screeches and everyone followed Steve out.


Suddenly a vine grabbed Mike and it seemed that only Bea saw. She ran over, reaching for her bat before she realised that Steve had it in his backpack.


"Steve!" Bea yelled out and he ran over, slicing the vines as Bea held onto Mike, helping him up.


"We got to go!" Dustin yelled before he saw Dart and he tried to approach it. "Trust me, please," Dustin said as he had a conversation with it.


Bea grabbed her bat, missing it already. She listened and watched as Dustin grabbed a three musketeers and gave it to Dart, who ate it.


They all snuck past whilst dart was distracted before Dustin walked off.


"Bye buddy," he said before the group all rushed off to the exit.


Suddenly, the floor started rumbling and they heard the screeches of the monsters. They saw the rope and Steve helped all the kids out until it was just her and Steve left.


They braced themselves, looking at each other knowing that this could be one of their last moments together as they tightened their grips on the bat.


If they were going out. They were going out fighting.


Bea gasped when the demo-dogs ran past her and Steve and just walked to the other end of the tunnel.


He was holding her waist with one hand and his bat with the other so that they wouldn't get swept up in the rampage.


β˜†β˜†β˜†


Monday, December 5th, 1984


"SON OF A BITCH!" DUSTIN YELLED ASΒ Β  he walked out to the living room where Bea and their mum was sitting with the new cat - Tews.


"That's your ride Dusty, I finally get to meet your boyfriend Bea," their mum said, getting up and Bea beat her to the door opening it.


"Hey," he said, handing her a bouquet of blue and red flowers.


"Steve, you didn't have to" she said and he smiled, kissing her on the forhead.


"Well it's a dance so you need a gift," he said and she hit him lightly on the arm.


"You don't need to work to please me, I love you enough already," Bea said and she was about to say something else when her mum cut her off.


"Bea, is that Steve?" She asked and suddenly she looked behind her.


Luckily Dustin turned up and she didn't have to have the awkward talk with her mum about Steve.


"See you later mum," Bea yelled out as they left. Dustin called shotgun so Bea had to sit in the back, leaning over the side to talk to Steve and Dustin still. Once they got there Dustin looked nervous already so Steve gave him a little pep talk.


"All right, here we are. Remember, pretend like you don't care. That's how I bagged your sister," Steve said and Bea looked at him annoyed.


"Be a nice person, that's how I bagged this asshole," Bea said and Steve laughed.


"You two are gross," Dustin said and Bea just laughed.


"You're gonna go in there, look like a million bucks and slay em dead," Steve said and then Dustin purred, "Dont do that though," Steve said and Bea laughed at him.


"Now go have fun Dustin," Bea said as he got out, sliding into the passengers seat from the back.


"You two dont have too much fun though," Dustin said and Bea snorted, about to retort when Dustin ran off.


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