Author's Notes:

Takes place right about at the beginning of season 4

Mostly canon, except for Dustin's sister, who knows about the Upside Down from going into the woods with Nancy and Jonathan in the events of season 1 and has been with the older kids in battle ever since. She worked at Scoops Ahoy with Steve and Robin and is pretty good friends with both ever since. She has been dating Eddie since season 2, but his role stays canon.

I will try to upload a new chapter every 1-2 days, but that might change depending on my schedule.

Chapter 1

"Dusty hurry up! We're going to be late!" Kate sighed as she knocked on her little brother's door. "Come on, let's go!" A car horn honked from outside.

"LET ME PUT A GODDAMN SHIRT ON!" Dustin shouted from his room. Kate tapped her foot as the horn honked again from outside. Steve really wouldn't shut up, would he? Impatient asshole. Dustin ran out of his room, decked out in his Hellfire shirt and thinking cap baseball hat. Same shit, new day. The two of them sprinted out of the house with a quick "Bye Mom!" and jumped into Steve, her and her brother's shared best friends' car.

"Is it so hard to get up to go to school?" Steve asked. "Seriously, I've been sitting in your driveway for like ten minutes!"

"Don't put this on me. It's not my fault someone slept through his alarm." They both glared at Dustin.

"So sorry that I couldn't find my Hellfire shirt!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Speaking of, Steve, you're picking Dusty up tonight right?"

"Yeah, I've got it." Steve replied as they pulled up to the high school.

"Bye Steve," said Kate as they hopped out of the car.

"See you tonight!" Dustin called as the siblings walked towards the school.

"Bye dipshits!" yelled Steve as he peeled out of the parking lot.

Kate noticed Dustin seemed quiet as they walked through the hallways. "What's up?" She asked him, seeing his head hung low. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, buddy talk to me,"

He stopped in his tracks. "I just miss the way things used to be. When Will and El were around, when Lucas wasn't on the basketball team, when Max wasn't stuck in a depression. It just feels like Steve. Mike, and Eddie are my only good friends left. I miss our party. The old party," A single tear slid down his cheek. Kate suddenly realized what had been going on with her brother the past few weeks. Why he seemed sadder, and less talkative as usual. He was losing everyone.

There it was. That "i'm a bad sister" feeling. How could she have not noticed this sooner? She reached out and wrapped her little brother in a tight embrace. "It'll be ok. Look at you! You've got the entire Hellfire club by your side! And me! I'll always be here for you, ok? No matter what." She rubbed his back and more tears came.

"I'm gonna miss you when you leave for college in August, Katie,"

"I'm gonna miss you too Dusty,"

"You don't have to call me that anymore, I'm not a little kid,"

"You may be in high school now, but you're still a little squirt to me," The hopes of getting to class on time were long gone, as the bell had rang almost ten minutes ago. But Kate had a better idea. "Let's get out of here," she said as she ran, half dragging Dustin toward the payphone outside the gym.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just wait and see, and gimme a quarter," She dialed the Family Video number and Keith picked up.

"Family Video, what can I do for you?" he asked in a bored voice.

"Hi Keith, it's Kate, I-" She was stopped mid sentence.

"Harrington, it's for you,"

"Hey Katie, what's wrong?"

"I know you're sitting behind that counter trying to get a girlfriend, but Dustin's not feeling good, so we're skipping. Get your ass in that driver's seat and out here in front of the high school asap,"

"On my way," was the last thing she heard before Steve hung up.

"Katie, what are you doing?" Dustin sighed.

"Making your day just a bit better. Don't worry, We'll have you back before lunch and Hellfire." She shook his head playfully. Kate then thought about how she wanted to be at Hellfire too. To see him. Eddie Munson. Her boyfriend of 2 years. He had been a senior both of those years, and was closing in on his third time as a Hawkins High senior. They hadn't talked since last night's phone call discussing why dogs are better than cats. They just talked about random shit for hours on end. She missed him even now. She sighed and sat down on the curb to wait for Steve

"What's going on kid?" Steve asked Dustin when he got in the backseat. "Fever? Nausea?" No answer. Dustin just laid his head against the window and watched the bright green landscape fly past them. Steve looked at Kate as if to ask what's going on? She gave him a glance that said I'll tell you later. "Alright, so where do you guys want to go?" Steve asked, mainly looking through his mirror back at Dustin.

"Let's go to your house and we can watch a movie," Kate responded before Dustin could even open his mouth.

"Sounds good to me. Harrington house it is!"

"Alright spill. What is all this about?" Kate and Steve were in Steve's room while Dustin watched Ghostbusters.

"Have you been seeing what's up with him lately?" She asked him as she paced the room.

"Do you mean the silence, sadness, and the fact that he barely even laughs at my jokes anymore? Yeah, I noticed it, unless there's something else I'm not picking up on?"

"Nope, you're right on point. Well, I asked him about it this morning, and he told me how he's losing everyone and he feels like you, Eddie, and Mike are his only good friends left." Kate sat on the bed and put her head in her hands.

"Hey, he'll be ok. They'll come around. And Lucas will realize who the douchebags who call themselves "basketball players" really are," Steve sat next to her.

"I just want him to be happy. He's already had to deal with a lot of bullshit, starting with when Will went missing. On top of normal kid shit like bullying. He's fourteen years old, and he's fought monsters from, watched people die, and gotten attacked by Russians. GODDAMN RUSSIANS STEVE! Nobody should have to deal with that! Nobody! Especially not a fourteen year old kid who just wanted to play D&D!"

Kate put her head on Steve's shoulder. "You shouldn't either. You somehow got thrown into all of this and now you have to deal with it too."

He looked her right in the eye. "Katie, listen to me. It's ok. I don't mind that i got thrown into all this. I just want to save these kids. Without this upside down shit, I never would've met them!"

"They tortured you! And I just sat there with Robin all tied up and just watched!" She bawled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tried his best to comfort his best friend. When Steve looked up, he saw Dustin standing in the doorway.

"How much of that did you hear?" a curious Steve asked.

"I heard enough," whispered Dustin as he sat down on the other side of Kate who had cried herself to sleep. He was about to wake Kate up, but Steve intervened.

"Let her sleep while I take you back to school buddy. She's had a long day."

Kate awoke to Steve gently shaking her shoulders. "What-" She asked groggily. "Where's Dusty?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"Shhh, he's ok, I took him back to school a couple hours ago. Do you want me to take you back, or do you want to go home?"

"I'll go back, I'm coming to Hellfire with him and Eddie tonight," Kate stood up and began to walk downstairs and grab her bag.

"Katie…you know Dustin heard our talk right?"

"He did?"

"It's good he did. He heard just how much you care about him."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get out of here," Kate hopped down the stairs and jumped in the passenger seat of Steve's car as he started it up and they headed back towards the school.

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