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It wasn’t uncommon, for the Party to have sleepovers such as these.
Sometimes they were at Mike’s house, annoying Holly and bothering Nancy and chasing each other throughout the house until Mrs Wheeler yelled at them to stop. Then they played D&D and board games and all piled on top of each other on one huge mattress in the basement, where they slept better than they had in weeks.
Sometimes they were at Dustin’s house, mattresses pulled out into his living room after Mrs Henderson fed them pasta and chips and called to them to ‘not stay up too late’ before ignoring them the rest of the night, leaving them to giggle quietly and exchange kisses and play stupid games and feel like kids again.
Sometimes they were at Will’s house, when Joyce accommodated them like they were all her children, where she fed them and let them watch movies late into the night, and Jonathon let them borrow his camera to film every stupid thing that happened.
Sometimes they were at Lucas’s, where Erica greeted them with an eyeroll at the door, and they were all squeezed into Lucas’s bedroom, sneaking out the window to ride their bikes through the night or to play Spotlight wth their torches until Mr Sinclair asked them to come inside, or until one of them got too scared. They didn't play Spotlight often anymore. That game was always risky, when it came to panic attacks. But the others always helped.
Sometimes they were at Max’s, rocking the Mayfield trailer as they chased each other in a space that was really too small to play tag in, and they ran into the woods in the afternoons to splash in the creek or fight each other with sticks, which of course El always won at, with the others shouting gleefully that using her powers was cheating.
Sometimes they were at El’s, where Hopper greeted them gruffly, ushering the six of them inside quickly even though El didn't need to hide anymore. He told them to ‘keep the door open three inches’ and pretended to be annoyed when they got a little too close to his daughter (he was really just happy that she was happy. It was too pointless to try and stop them, after everything), and they played Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle in her room until they fell asleep on each other.
Tonight they were at Mike's. The basement had always been their home base, their safe haven, and the place they’d made plans and played games in. It was messy and homey and perfect. This particular night, Hopper had dropped both Max and El off early, like usual, grumbling that they better not get up to anything. Dustin had biked from his house with no pyjamas, knowing he could just borrow some of Max's, and Will and Lucas had come home with Mike after school, Jonathon driving them so he could go visit Nancy (cue Mike and Will pretending to gag).
It was perfect. 8pm at night, the sun just setting over the horizon - not that they could see it, having been cozied up in the basement for the past three hours - with a stupid amount of candy (courtesy of Max, who had smuggled some in with her clothes).
El was on the beaten down couch, with Dustin holding her hand from the floor. Lucas’s feet rested in Mike's lap, and he held Max’s hand. Will had been dozing on Mike’s shoulder for half an hour, and Mike played with Max's hair as Max painted El’s nails on her unoccupied hand.
They were happy.
Happy and being absolutely beaten up by a troll, that was.
“Roll to hit.” Mike told Lucas. They’d given up on sitting at the table, but not on the d&d game.
Lucas winced and tossed the dice. A twelve. “Shit.” He muttered. “Does it hit?”
Mike shook his head, careful not to jostle Will, who was draped over his back. “Your arrow flies past the troll’s head, missing by a few inches and hitting the tree behind it. It slowly turns towards the sound, looking confused. You distracted it. Max, your turn.”
Max groaned. “Uh. Can I… throw a rock at it?”
Dustin laughed good-naturedly. “Really? A rock? You don’t have anything better?” He earned himself a glare from the redhead, who flipped him off.
“Like you have anything better.” She retorted, and he blew a cheeky kiss at her.
“Roll to hit.” Mike said, shaking his head affectionately at the two.
Max put down the nail polish and rolled the d20. She pumped her fist when it showed a seventeen.
“That hits.” Mike confirmed, and Max shot Dustin a smug look. “Roll for damage.”
El smiled, leaning down to kiss Max’s head. Max tilted her head up at Eleven and smiled, then turned back to the game. “Uhhh, do I use a d6?” Max asked. When Mike nodded, she stole one of Lucas’s blue dice and rolled it.
“Hey!” Lucas laughed, flicking her arm. She swatted him and looked at what the die said.
“Four. Is it dead?”
The whole group held their breath. Will’s character had already passed out, much like he was close to doing in real life, and El’s character was on 3 hit points. They needed to kill it.
Mike checked the manual beside him and grinned. “Yup!”
Dustin whooped. “Yes!”
“Your rock hits the troll right in the face. It’s a fatal blow, sending the enormous beast to the ground with a colossal thump. The party rejoices at their victory, and advances to loot the corpse.” Mike narrates. “Lucas, you find a heavy club. El, you find some curious berries in a small pouch and a bundle of weird leaves. Dustin, you find a map written in Trollish."
"Don't I find anything?" Max demands.
"No." Mike grins cheekily.
"Oh, you ass." Max glares. "Is this because I killed James Jameson the Third?"
"He was an integral NPC to the plot!" Mike said indignantly.
"He was annoying." Max crossed her arms.
"Yknow what? I don't love you anymore." Mike huffs and looks away, moving Will gently from lying over his back to lying in his lap.
"You don't mean that." Max laughs.
"I can't hear you!" Mike says loudly, hand over his ears. "Will, you'll back me up here, right?"
"Hmm?" Will murmured sleepily. "Sure."
"See, Will agrees. He's a much better boyfriend than you." Mike crossed his arms.
"I wasn't your boyfriend in the first place!"
"Girlfriend. Whatever."
"As entertaining as this little lovers quarrel is, are we going to keep playing?" Lucas interrupted.
They all paused for a moment. El yawned.
"I think we should go to bed." Mike sighed. "I mean, you defeated the troll. Take a Long Rest, we can keep playing tomorrow."
They all agreed and marked their character sheets, regaining their health and mana.
Ten minutes later the campaign had been packed up, board and character sheets gently placed in a corner, and the coffee table moved to the side to make room for a huge mattress, which Will was already fast asleep on. El stretched and turned off the overhead light, leaving the lamp on.
None of them liked the dark, not anymore. But it was easier when they slept all together, rather than alone. Their parents seemed to realise that, and let them sleep over every couple of days.
Dustin padded back downstairs in an old pair of Max's pyjamas, followed closely by Lucas and Mike, who were holding hands as they descended. The girls were already ready for bed. El was wearing one of Max's shirts and a pair of loose pants that she'd taken last week. Max was wearing one of Mike's band shirts and Lucas's shorts. They were sitting crosslegged on the mattress in the soft, low light, Max braiding El's hair with delicate fingers.
Dustin leant down and kissed the top of El's head. Max swatted him away with a smile. "Save it for after I finish her hair."
Mike grabbed Lucas's hand and kissed it with a little bow.
"What a gentleman." Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Shut up." Mike smiled, leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to Lucas's lips this time, actively silencing any response from the other boy.
"Gross." El called from the mattress on the floor. "Come do that to me."
"As the lady wishes." Mike bowed again and kissed El.
"Oi, what did I say about kisses after the hair's done." Max scolded. "Also you're talking stupid."
"What I'm hearing is 'I want a kiss too, El'." El turned around and grinned.
Max narrowed her eyes at her fondly. "Thats not what I said."
Dustin popped up from the other side of the stairs. "Who's getting kisses?"
"Not Max, apparently." El shrugged.
"Oh well, more for us." Dustin smiled.
"Hey, I never said I didn't want a kiss. I said to wait until after I finish braiding your hair." Max said quickly. El laughed, a sound bright and clear and unheard for years previously until everything had ended. El laughed so much more now. They all did. They savoured every laugh they could get out of the others, because being free to laugh meant safety, meant peace, meant that everything was finally over.
Some people would have thought their relationship was weird. Six teens, boundaries lowered, bonded over trauma that should never have happened, dating in a weird haphazard way. Trying to get back on their feet.
It didn't matter that Will only liked boys, because Max and El were like sisters to him. He didn't need to love them romantically to be able to love them.
It didn't matter that Dustin only liked girls, because the party was family and he could love them no matter their gender.
It didn't matter that other people would shame them for it, not if they had each other. Not if when El woke up from a nightmare about Vecna, or about the Lab, they were there to comfort her. Not if they could help Will through a panic attack, or Dustin when his disorder made everything ache (cleidocranial dysplasia, or 'weird bone thing' as dubbed affectionately by Mike and Max). As long as they were there when Lucas felt like he couldn't breathe, or when Mike refused to eat, or when Max needed her wheelchair because she couldn't walk sometimes. They all had their own troubles. And not all of them were because of the Upside Down, or Vecna, but most of them were, and they all knew what it was like to be haunted by memories.
The best they could do was so survive. And if that meant Max dating Lucas and El and Mike and Dustin, or if it meant Will dating Mike and Lucas and loving El and Max and Dustin like family, then so be it.
None of them knew what 'polyamorous' meant, but that was okay. They didn't need to label whatever it was that they had.
They all loved each other, and that was all that mattered.
It showed when Dustin gently took the bag of candy from Mike at midnight and insisted he go to bed.
It showed when Max tucked Will in because he was too tired to do it himself.
It showed when Will woke up at 3am, shaking like a leaf, and Lucas, Mike and El comforted him until he went back to sleep.
It showed when they went to sleep that night curled into each other with small kisses on cheeks and happy sighs as they drifted off, feeling safe like they never did by themselves.
They weren't healed from what Vecna did, and they would always be, in some ways, broken. But having each other meant it was easier to breathe, easier to sleep, easier to be broken and still live.