The entire crew stood before the ruined house in the heart of the Upside Down. Once, it had been Henry Creel’s — the place that birthed Vecna — but now it was nothing more than splintered beams and drifting ash, a rotting echo of the world above.

And there was Eleven. Eleven, and her sister Eight… Will Byers. And somehow — somehow — Max Mayfield.

It had taken all four of them to bring Vecna down for good. Truly down. And as you stood there, the weight of it hit you all at once. Relief. Disbelief. The kind of shaking, breathless release that only comes after surviving something you were never meant to survive.

The monster was gone.

When the children Vecna had stolen staggered from the wreckage, choking on shadows he’d tried to plant inside them, you nearly buckled. You wanted to collapse — to sob until your chest split open — but you didn’t. You’d been through too much to fall apart now. Not with Hopper and Joyce holding the line. Not with the younger kids watching.

The portal shimmered as Eleven and Eight strained to hold it open. One by one, the rescued kids scrambled through — Holly Wheeler among them — terrified the darkness would grab their ankles and drag them back.

That was when Will went still.

“Wait,” he whispered. “There’s… someone else. A life force.”

The air froze.

Another monster?

“It’s human,” Eleven breathed.

And then he stepped out of the wreckage.

Billy Hargrove.

Your heart didn’t just drop — it shattered.

You didn’t even feel your knees hit the ground. Hopper tried to catch you, but you were already there, palms scraping against the gritty floor of the Upside Down as sobs tore out of you. You had watched him die. Watched the Mind Flayer impale him in front of you at Starcourt Mall. Watched the light leave his eyes.

“Where… where am I?” Billy rasped, voice rough, confused — until he saw you.

And everything changed in his expression.

He remembered.

Billy had been trapped in the void for a year — not dead, not alive. Suspended. Vecna had kept him in a coma-like darkness, buried deep in the Upside Down, planning to use him again. A weapon. A distraction. A ghost to haunt Max. To haunt you.

But they had found him first.

“No time!” Eleven strained.

You didn’t hesitate. You lunged forward, grabbing Billy’s hand — warm. Solid. Real. His fingers curled around yours instantly, reflexive, protective even now — and you pulled him toward the gate.

The second your feet hit pavement back in Hawkins, the Upside Down began collapsing in on itself.

Max reached him first.

She froze a foot away, staring like she was afraid he’d vanish if she blinked. “Billy?” Her voice cracked in a way you’d never heard before.

Billy looked at her — really looked at her — and something in him softened. “Hey, kid,” he breathed.

She threw herself into him.

And Billy — stubborn, angry, reckless Billy — held her like he’d never let go again.

You hung back. Overwhelmed. You had mourned him. You had carried the guilt like a stone in your chest, replaying Starcourt over and over — the things you never said, the way you never told him you loved him because you thought you had more time.

You didn’t.

Until now.

After Max finally stepped away, Billy’s eyes found yours. The noise of the others faded. It was just you and him, standing in the ruins of a town that had taken everything from you both.

He stepped closer, slower this time. Careful. Like you were something fragile.

“Hey,” Billy said, after the tidal wave of hugs. The others were still behind him, buzzing with the tremor of victory — but Billy’s eyes were on you. On you, the only flicker of warmth he had dreamt of, faintly, in the darkness of Vecna’s coma sometimes. “You… you okay?”

The man who had nearly died, who had been held prisoner for an entire year — even unconscious — , traumatized, was worried about your wellbeing.