Chapter One Hundred-One: Brother-In-Laws

The others sat down, scattered around the hospital room, and I told them all everything thing that had happened in Max's mind in even more detail than I had even told Steve. My hands were shaking by the time I was done, and I was half expecting all of them to decide that they hated me for putting them all in danger so many times.

But instead, as soon as I finished talking, Nancy stepped forward and crushed me into a hug.

"This is not your fault," She said, "There's no way you could've realized something like that, its completely insane." 

"Not to mention the fact that I guarantee you've saved more lives than we've lost." Lucas pointed out. "I mean, that doesn't discount their deaths or anything, but you've done way more good on purpose than bad on accident."

"That's what I told her!" Steve pointed out. I nodded, wrapping my arms around myself.

"And I appreciate that, I really do," I told them, "And I'm working on giving myself a little more grace, but its just...its gonna be a process."

"Well, then we'll just have to be with you every step of the way, reminding you how incredible you are." Nancy said. I smiled, glancing over at Max.

"You may want to wait and see if she wakes up to make up your mind about that." 

The door to the hospital room opened, and we all turned around to see Dustin entering the room. When he saw Steve and I, he made a beeline for us.

"How is Eddie?" He asked. I nodded.

"He's fine. Fine enough to raid our cabinets, at the very least." I replied, turning my gaze back to Max. He followed my eyes, turning to look at her.

"And...how is she?"

"Uncertain." Lucas said. He nodded. 

"I wish we could stay longer," Nancy spoke up, "But our parents are freaking out. I think they all want us home, given everything that's happened."

"Yeah," I agreed, "You guys go. We'll keep an eye on Max."

"I'll head on over to your apartment, check up on Eddie." Dustin suggested. I nodded and they all filed out of the room, leaving just Steve and I alone with Max. I blew out a breath, sitting in the chair beside her Bed and looking over at her. 

"I should've been there," I said, "I have no idea why I ended up with Eddie but...I mean, who knows? If I had been with Max, maybe she'd be awake right now."

"And Eddie would be dead." He pointed out, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. "Its a win-lose situation no matter what you would've done." I shook my head.

"I don't know," I replied, "I don't know what I could have prevented anymore."

"And there's no point in worrying about it, because it's not going to change anything." 

"I know, you've mentioned that," I said, glancing back at Max, "But its not that simple. Just because everyone tells me that it wasn't my fault and I couldn't have known, or done anything to stop it, none of that matters. It doesn't change how I feel. I just...I don't know. I can't help thinking that my Dad would know just what to say to make all of my guilt go away."

"You say that, but I guarantee if he was here, you'd be having this same argument with him." I smiled.

"Maybe...but gosh I'd give anything for that." He nodded.

"I know...me too."

~~~

Nancy and Robin returned to relieve us later in the evening. 

"Hey, do you think you guys could come back to my house tomorrow or possibly the day after?" Nancy questioned once she got there.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" Steve questioned.

"I guess they're having a supply drive down at the school," Robin explained, "They're just getting anything that they might need for the people who lost their homes to the gates. They're setting up cots in the gym and collecting spare clothes and toys and canned food, stuff like that. We figured we'd gather stuff up and kind of use the Wheeler's place as a command center so we can just take all of our stuff to the school together."

"Uh, yeah, that sounds good." I agreed. "We'll take a look around back at our place, see what we've got to donate."

"That is if we have anything left to donate, with Eddie crashing at our place," Steve threw in, "I swear he's gonna eat us out of house and home." I shrugged.

"He nearly died trying to save the world. I think we can spare some Wheaties." I pointed out. "We'll probably run Dustin back to his place too, see if he has anything he wants to donate."

"Perfect," Nancy said, "I just kind of figured...however we can help, right?"

"Exactly." I agreed. "However we can help."

~~~

The entire following day was spent driving all over town to all of our friends' houses trying to gather donations. Steve and I kind of ended up being the transportation crew, taking people and boxes of donations all over town.

Basically, we spent most of the day driving between everyone else's houses and the Wheelers. We'd take them home, help them gather donations, and then we'd bring them back to the Wheelers for organization. We were also running back and forth from the hospital and our apartment taking people in shifts to stay with Max and Eddie.

We even ended up spending the night there so that we could have a sort of 'organization party'. Mrs. Wheeler made us a ton of food, and she and Holly even helped us get everything sorted so that the volunteers working at the school would have less to do. Once that was done, all we really had left to do was transport everything down to the school the following morning.

"It feels weird, sleeping down here again," I said, as we all settled down for bed that night, "I mean, I know it was just a few days ago but...everything feels so different now." 

"We went from try to save Hawkins to trying to repair the damage as much as we can." Robin said. "Its like a whole different chapter of the apocalypse."

"You should've seen the line that was driving out of town today," Steve spoke up from beside me, "I mean, I swear, probably a good 60-70% of people are shipping out for good."

"As if that's going to save them." Nancy stated. "At least...if Vecna gets his way."

"He won't," Dustin said, "Because we're going to stop him permanently the next time."

"We're ready for him now," I agreed, staring at the dark ceiling above me, "He may have caught us by surprise this time but...not again. Never again."

"Agreed." Lucas spoke up.

"We aren't gonna do anything if you kunckleheads don't shut up and go to sleep." Erica said drowsily. I smiled, shaking my head.

"She's probably right." Nancy agreed. "We've got a long day tomorrow. 

"I know I am."

I sighed, closing my eyes and pressing myself closer to Steve.

"Goodnight guys." Dustin called.

"Night."

"Goodnight, Henderson."

"Goodnight."

The basement settled, and the sounds of everyone's breathing slowed, with some turning into snoring. Even Steve was slumbering away beside me and yet, I laid awake, staring up at the dark ceiling, my mind racing with everything we'd just discussed.

I still don't know how I feel about everything...if its my fault. But one thing I am sure of is that I am not going to be a piece in Vecna's game anymore. If he thought I was fighting back before, he has no clue what's coming to him...

Not. One.

~~~

"Its been less than 48 hours since a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocked the quaint town of Hawkins, 80 miles outside of Indianapolis, in an event that seismologists are calling 'A natural disaster of near-unprecedented scale'. The death toll now stands at twenty-two, but with hundreds more filling Roane County hospitals and many more still missing. Officials expect those numbers to rise. This is only the latest tragedy to befall this once-safe town. 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. But this offers little comfort to the people of Hawkins, who are scared, angry, and searching for answers. Why their town? What have they done to deserve so much suffering? A growing chorus believes the two recent tragedies are linked, claiming the Munson murders opened a doorway between worlds, a doorway they say, into Hell itself."

I mean...they're not totally wrong.

"Are you hearing this?" Ted Wheeler clicked the TV off, turning around to look at me as I stood behind him with my arms crossed over my chest, "They're now calling it a doorway into Hell."

"Great. More Hysteria. Just what we need." Mrs. Wheeler called from the kitchen.

"Well, its the news," He stated, "Now indistinguishable from the tabloids."

"Tell me about it, Ted." I said, slapping his shoulder and tapping Holly on the top of her head before crossing into the kitchen, helping Mrs. Wheeler rifle through the box she had on the counter.

"So Riley," she said, "Nancy tells me that you and Steve are pregnant. Is that right?" I nodded.

"Yes ma'am. I mean, its still early and everything but that's what the test said." She smiled.

"Oh! Congratulations!" She pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you." She moved back, putting her hands on my arms.

"I know that this is a scary time, especially now," She said, "and I know...you don't really have any parental figures to help you out."

I swallowed, nodding uncomfortably.

"I just want you to know, you can come to me for anything you need, talk about your fears, Mom advice, old baby things, whatever it is, you just let me know, ok?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler. I really appreciate that." I told her.

"You're going to be a terrific Mom, Riley!" Ted called from the living room. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at such a compliment coming from the seemingly unfeeling man. "The way you run around corralling all these kids, yours is gonna turn out just fine."

"Thank you, for saying that." I said honestly. He nodded, picking up the newspaper and hiding behind it. I glanced back at Mrs. Wheeler, who also raised her eyebrows in surprise before picking up the box and leading the way towards the side door. I followed her, opening the door for her.

"Hey Nance!" She called, making her way over to my truck, "I found some more of your old stuff in the attic."

Nancy walked over, looking into the box. She gasped, pulling a stuffed rabbit out of it.

"Mr. Rabbit." She said.

"Its ok if you wanna save him, you know?" Nancy looked over at me.

"Riley? For the baby?" She wiggled it in front of my face. I chuckled, taking the rabbit out of her hand and looking down at it.

"I would be honored," I said, combing its ears down with my free hand, "I'll get to tell him or her all about Aunt Nancy gifting them this toy."

"Aw." Nancy took the box, carrying it back to the truck, leaving me with Mrs. Wheeler.

"I meant what i said, about coming to me, Riley. You know that, don't you?" She repeated. I nodded, grabbing her hand.

"I know...and really, you have no idea how much that means to me." She smiled, nodding and glancing at Steve over my shoulder.

"Someone order a pizza?" She asked suddenly.

"Pizza?" Dustin asked, turning around. I followed her gaze, spinning around to see a yellow pizza van with the words 'Surfer Boy Pizza' written in red on the side. It let out a cheerful honk, coming to a stop at the end of the driveway.

The first person I saw was a guy with super long hair getting out of the front seat, and I certainly didn't recognize him.

It wasn't until the side door slid open and Mike Wheeler climbed out of it that I truly grasped what was happening. 

Jonathan and Will climbed out too, but my eyes were glued on the short-haired girl climbing out behind them. I let out a small laugh, tears in my eyes as I took off running down the driveway. 

Eleven pushed through the boy, running towards me and we collided in the middle, wrarpping our arms around each other and bursting into tears as I put a hand on the back of her head. 

"Oh, look how tall you are!" I sobbed, pulling away and putting my hands on her face. She smiled. "I don't know how I didn't notice before how tall you were."

"I'm real now." She clarified with a giggle.

"Oh, you're so beautiful, look at you!" I kissed the top of her head before pulling her into a hug again.

Jonathan ran past me, lifting Nancy off of the ground as he enveloped her in a hug, and Mike ran to his mother.

"You are never going on vacation again, you hear me?" She asked. "In fact, you can forget about college, you are staying right here."

I pulled back from Eleven again to see Will standing beside me.

"Speaking of tall, holy crap kid!" I hugged him too. "You're actually taller than me now, what the heck?!"

"I missed you." He said, pulling away from me.

"I missed you too!" I exclaimed. He rushed over to hug Dustin and I wrapped an arm around Eleven's shoulders, leading her over to Steve.

"Hey, kid." He greeted. She beamed at him, moving away from me and wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her back, smiling at me as he leaned his cheek against her head. 

She pulled away, looking at him.

"You're engaged," She pointed out, looking between us, "So does that mean you're my brother now?"

"Brother-in-law." I explained. She nodded, smiling at the idea of this. 

"Riley." I turned around to see Mike standing behind me now. 

"Speaking of brother-in-laws." I grabbed his arm, wrapping my arms around his shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of her. I have no doubt that you did."

"Of course. Always," He agreed, pulling away from me, "Not that she needs me to."

"Oh, of course not." I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her again.

"From what I hear, you don't need to be looked after anymore either." He stated. "I guess superpowers are a family thing?"

"Apparently." I said dryly, holding up my hands before looking at the long haired guy, who was standing awkwardly behind the others. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, that's Argyle." Eleven told me.

"So this is Argyle?" I asked. I waved him over. "Come on over, dude! Join the party!"

"She sounds like my kind a chick, man." He said, coming over to join us. " 'Sup, I'm Argyle."

"Riley." I said, shaking his hand. "This is Steve."

"What's up, man." Steve greeted, doing the same.

"Its bodacious to meet you, bros." I smiled at this.

"Yeah...bodacious to meet you too." Steve repeated. 

"Where's Lucas?" Will asked as he and Dustin joined our little circle.

"He's at the hospital." Dustin replied.

"Is he hurt?" Eleven asked.

"No, no, he's..." Dustin trailed off. "Oh gosh...you don't know."