•••

DESPERATE PLEAS FILLED THE TENSE AIR as they looked at the ground with wide teary eyes, staring at the body that was about to hit the hard and cold ground.

The boy stumbled over, catching the person before they hit the ground. He sobbed, feeling his heart shatter as he held the person in his arms, watching the blood fall from their mouth and the life slowly drain from their eyes.

"It's okay..." their raspy voice echoed in his ears as tears ran down his face, and he screamed out and the group behind him watched with teary eyes not believing what was happening.

"You're okay! Stay with me! Please!"

A few days earlier...

Levi sat on his bed, back against the wall, knees arched as his sketchbook sat on his legs and the pencil in his hand quickly moved across the paper gracefully.

Every once in a while the boy would glance over his sketchbook to gaze towards Five who sat on his own bed reading two books at the same time, one about math and the other about science; and not the ones Levi learned from Nancy, no those equations were easy, the ones Five was reading about were more difficult and Levi didn't understand any of it.

So he just focused back on his drawing, not really knowing what was on the paper anymore, he wasn't really paying attention. He really couldn't when he heard the music blasting from El's room and her and Mike's laughing.

It made him slightly down when he heard Mike and El's giggling since he couldn't see Dustin because the boy was away at science camp.

Even if Dustin still called as much as he could which was one call a week, it made Levi sad that he couldn't see the boy, even when he loved listening to Dustin ramble about science things Levi didn't understand, or how Dustin met one of his new best friends named Suzie, who Levi liked by how Dustin described her.

Even with those Levi still missed Dustin, a lot, which was why he wasn't bothered as much with the giggling coming from the other side of the thin walls because Dustin was coming home tomorrow and with that thought his heart started beating quicker.

Levi snapped his head up as he heard the red phone on the table between the two beds ringed loudly, he knew it could be one of three people, he and Five glanced at each other before Levi through his drawing stuff to the side and flung himself to get the phone first while lying on his stomach.

"Hello!" Twelve squeaked into the phone as Five jumped and landed on Levi's back, straddling it as Levi tried to glance back to look at his friend.

"Whatcha doin?" A familiar voice rang out causing Levi's face to light up.

"Richie!"

After the whole upside-down thing, things had become somewhat normal. Max and Lucas had an on-again-off-again relationship, Mike and El got together, Dustin and Levi didn't put a label on it but knew they were together too, which surprised Hopper.

Almost everyone wasn't surprised when Levi and Dustin became an unofficial-official thing, the only one who was surprised was Hopper but he didn't have a problem with the two boys being together after Levi sat down with him and told the man how he found out and how he felt when he found out he liked a boy.

That conversation led to how Five and Levi met Richie and Eddie which also led to Levi calling them and Hopper giving the two men a talk before Hopper finally let Five and Levi talk to the two grown men whenever they call.

Richie and Eddie started calling a few times a week, and Hopper slowly was able to see how laid back and happy both of the boys were when they talked to the two men, which led to Hopper trusting the men and would sometimes talk to them when they called.

"How are you doing, kid? How's Felix? He there?" Richie asked.

Levi smiled, "Good, and he's right here."

"Get off." Twelve grumbled, shaking his body like a worm trying to wiggle Five off, the older boy chuckled and hopped off the boys back snatching the phone out of Levi's hands to start speaking to Richie.

Another thing, Five was closer to Richie while Levi was closer to Eddie, not that the other's didn't get along. Six claimed it was because Five and Richie were sometimes snarky and sarcastic while Levi and Eddie were innocent beans, whatever that meant, Levi didn't know.

"Hello? Hello?"

Levi looked at Five confused as he called out into the phone, "The line went dead." Five mumbled confusedly.

All of a sudden all the power went out causing Levi to let out a muffled whimper.

"It's okay, T. It's just a power outage, it'll be back soon." Five tried to manoeuver closer to Levi in the dark, taking the boys hand in his when he finally found it, frowning when he could feel goosebumps littering Levi's hand. "Are you okay?"

Levi swallowed, looking into the darkness, and brushing off the sinking feeling in his stomach. "Yes."

•••

"Is it good enough?" Levi asked again, looking at the welcome home poster he made for Dustin.

He went all out using all his best paints, that dried in little specks that littered his hands in all the colors of the rainbow, and working on it for hours, no matter how tired he was making it last night after the power outage.

Lucas said it could just say 'welcome home' in Levi's sloppy handwriting and Dustin would still love it anyway, but that didn't work for the artsy boy; he only wanted the best for Dustin, and that meant purple bags under his eyes and rainbow stained hands but Twelve didn't mind one bit.

Max rolled her eyes, smiling at the boy. "Yes. It's perfect, Lee, Dustin is going to love it. Okay? Stop asking."

Levi bit his lip, nodding at the redhead, picking at the dried paint on his palm.

The group snapped their heads to the window as they hear the car rolling up, knowing Mrs. Henderson just got back from picking up Dustin. Everyone hid in their hiding places, just as Dustin entered the house, going to his room and throwing his bag down on his bed with a sigh.

Placing his head in his hands before glancing at his turtle, "At least you're happy I'm home."

Levi frowned hearing those words, Max pulled him back as he was about to walk towards Dustin's room. Levi could hear Dustin's toys as Eleven used her powers to move them leading Dustin to them.

Dustin grabbed the can of hairspray sitting on his dresser, slowly following the toys, not knowing what was happening, feeling fear rise in his chest.

"It's just a dream. You're dreaming." Dustin kept mumbling.

"Now!" Mike whispered towards El.

Eleven opened her eyes causing the toys to power down and stop, Dustin grew confused as he looked down at the toys on the ground, mumbling curses to himself.

The group slowly and quietly snuck up behind Dustin who was still grumbling, Lucas was holding the sign Levi made so that Dustin could see it when he turned around. All of them had a party horn in their mouth as Max held her hand up counting down.

3..2..1

All of them blew on their horns, scaring the crap out of Dustin causing him to scream loudly, turning quickly he sprayed Lucas in the eyes with the hairspray making Lucas scream in pain, dropping the sign on the ground to cover his eyes.

Max cursed and rushed Lucas to the kitchen where Lucas started washing out his eyes out with water, trying to relieve himself of the burning sensation as everyone else shared a glance.

Dustin finally calmed down from his racing heart, looking towards Levi with a big toothless grin, rushing forwards and crashing into Levi's open and awaiting arms.

Levi squeezed Dustin closer to him, sighing in content that Dustin was here with him again.

"I missed you," Levi mumbled shyly, pulling back from the embrace.

Dustin looked at the boy confused, "We just talked the other day?"

Levi blushed, "I know. I'm sorry."

Mike, El, Will, and Five glanced at each other with soft smiles before walking away, wanting to give the two privacy.

Just kidding, Mike gave them privacy, rolling his eyes as the other three peaked around the corner with smiles, watching the scene.

Dustin shook his head, pulling Levi back into his tight embrace, leaning back a little to peck Twelve's lips gently, "You don't need to apologize. I missed you too."

•••

"I call it...the Forever Clock." Dustin smiled, turning around with what Levi thought looked like a mini windmill in his hands. "All right? Powered by wind. Very useful in the apocalypse." he continued, handing it to Will who looked down at it in curiosity.

Dustin grabbed something else from his bag with an even wider grin. "I give you...the Slammer." He laughed as he turned on the button causing the hammer to aggressively vibrate in his hand. "Pretty neat. Huh?"

Levi looked amazed by the creations as Will, Mike, and El looked slightly bored and Five looked intrigued.

"Now this...is my masterpiece," Dustin grunted lifting a big duffle bag off his bed and placing it on the floor in front of the group.

The six teens crouched down on the floor as Dustin opened the bag, looking up at his friends for a reaction. "I would like you to meet. Cerebro."

Mike looked down at the multiple chunks of metal, furrowing his brows at his friend. "What exactly are we looking at?"

"It looks like a radio." Five mumbled, but shrugged, he could be wrong.

Dustin nodded and grinned. "An unassembled one-of-a-kind battery-powered radio tower."

Levi bit his lip, suppressing a smile, loving how excited Dustin was getting, turning towards Will when he talked.

"So, it's a...a ham radio."

"The Cadillac of ham radios. This baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast distances. I'm talking North Pole to South. Me and Levi could talk to Suzie whenever and wherever we choose."

"Suzie!?" Will, Mike, and El shouted in confusion.

Five crossed his arms, looking at Levi who was smiling so hard, excited to finally talk to the Suzie girl. Five thought it was funny that he was the only one other than Levi who knew about Suzie.

"Who's Suzie?" Will asked, watching as Dustin gathered the stuff he needs to assemble the radio.

"Suzie with a z. She lives in Utah." Dustin tried to explain, handing Mike and Will stuff to carry.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Mike questioned, glaring at Dustin, softening his gaze towards Levi.

Dustin's eyes widened as they started walking out his room, quickly turning around. "She's not my girlfriend! She's my best friend. And I like Levi, I wouldn't hurt him like that."

El relaxed her tense posture at the boy's words, cursing herself for even thinking Dustin would hurt Twelve.

"Wait! I thought I was your best friend!?" Five frowned, squinting towards the boy.

Levi looked at him weirdly, pouting. "You're mine."

"Yeah, you're his," Dustin mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm Dustin's best friend." Will and Mike said simultaneously, playfully glaring at each other.

"I can have more than one best friend! Jesus!" Dustin exclaimed as they walked past the kitchen.

"Where are you guys going?" Max looked at the group confused as she and Lucas stop at the entrance in the kitchen.

"To talk to Dustin's girlfriend." Five smirked when Max and Lucas gave a disapproving look towards Dustin as they glanced at Levi, Max glared at Dustin, feeling protective over Levi.

"Girlfriend!?"

"Oh my God!" Dustin shouted, glaring at Five who playfully glared back. "I'm teasing, Dustin."

Levi chuckled at the frustrated Dustin, kissing his forehead, "It's okay, Dusty."

•••

"Aren't we high enough?" Lucas panted as they all walked up a large hill of grass, carrying the equipment Dustin needed.

"Cerebro works best at a hundred meters," Dustin stated, leading the group up higher, ignoring the sighs behind him.

"You know, I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones," Max grumbled.

"Yeah, but Suzie's Mormon," Dustin explained.

"Oh, shit. She doesn't have electricity?" Lucas exclaimed.

"That's the Amish, you moron." Five rolled his eyes.

"What are Mormons?" Will asked.

"Super r-religious white people. Right?" Levi glanced between Five and Dustin for confirmation.

"Yeah, they have electricity and cars and stuff but...since I'm not Mormon, her parents wouldn't approve of our friendship or some bullshit, plus her parents are just strict about boys in general, but what could I do about it?"

"Hey, guys!" Mike exclaimed causing the group to turn, not even noticing that Mike and El were way behind them. "This is fun and all, but, uh..."

"I have to go home." El excused.

Levi and Five shared a look of amusement, knowing the two just want to suck each other's face-off.

"Curfew," Mike stated, grabbing a giggling El's hand and they started walking back down the hill.

"Curfew at 4?" Dustin shook his head, checking his watch with a scoff.

"They're lying."

Five rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Obviously or me and T would have to leave too. They're just horny."

"Horny?" Levi asked, looking at the group innocently.

The rest of the group glanced at each other, not explaining the meaning and just started walking again leaving Twelve confused.

Levi noticed Will staying behind causing him to turn, suddenly he felt a chill go up his body before going back to normal. Deciding to just ignore it, Levi shouted at Will.

"You coming?"

Will snapped his head up to the boy, nodding before slowly following behind.

•••

Dustin grinned as they finally made it to the top of the hill, "We did it."

"Yeah, it only took five hours." Max groaned, sighing in exhaustion.

"Why couldn't we just play d&d?" Will asked, setting down the bag he was carrying the others following.

"I'm so thirsty." Lucas breathed out, opening the bottle in his hands and started chugging the water, loving the way the cold liquid went down his throat as Max watched him unamused with her hands on her hips.

"Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?" Max glared.

Lucas looked at the girl in panic, spitting the water still in his mouth back into the bottle and holding it out to her trying to give her an innocent smile.

Max rolled her eyes, shaking her head and walked away.

Levi dug in the backpack he was using pulling out the still cold water bottle and handing it to Max with a soft smile.

Max smiled, huffing out a laugh and grabbed the water, "Thanks, Lee."

After everyone had a break of walking they all started working on the radio tower they needed to assemble.

Levi sat on the ground on top of a blanket so the grass wouldn't make his legs itchy, he watched the group finish the tower.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Dustin grinned, looking up at his creation, the tower was super tall and they all had to crane their necks and squint since the sun was beating in their eyes.

"Yeah," Will said.

"Ready to meet Suze?"

Levi nodded enthusiastically as the others mumbled in agreement. Dustin drops to the ground next to Levi switching the radio on and picking up the little mic, speaking into it eagerly.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

The radio static hissed as they all waited in silence, Levi scooted closer to the boy lying his head on Dustin's shoulder and closing his eyes to block them from the sun that was setting.

Dustin looked up at his friends as they watched him with raised brows and doubt. "One sec. She's probably...She's still there. Suzie. This is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Will, Max, and Lucas glared at the boy, starting to believe they came here for nothing and that Suzie didn't exist.

"I'm sure she's there," Dustin mumbled softly, squinting up at the group.

"Yeah?" Lucas nodded, smiling at the boy sarcastically.

"You know, maybe she's busy. You know it's around dinnertime--" Five defended as Lucas doubted the boy.

"--here." Dustin finished.

They spent hours like that, the group got comfortable on the grass, lying down as Dustin still tried to contact Suzie.

It was dark and the moon was out, Levi was lying down, his head on Dustin's lap, looking at the stars since it was a perfect view, he could hear small conversations between Max and Lucas and sometimes Five and Will as he listened to Dustin speak into the radio while running his fingers absentmindedly through Levi's hair.

It was getting really late though and even Dustin knew he couldn't let Levi and Five stay out late so when Five told him they needed to head off Dustin wasn't mad like he was with Mike and El, he just pecked the sad Levi on the lips and watched as they teleported off.

When the two arrived home at the cabin they didn't expect Hopper to be storming into El's room, then they heard the giggles and talking and they understood why Hopper had that crazed look in his eyes.

The two slowly peaked through the doorway watching as Hopper pulled the chair from Eleven's desk and sitting on it looking between Mike and El uncomfortably as a song on the radio played loudly behind him.

Levi bit his lip as Hopper turned off the stereo before looking back at the two on the bed who were watching him in amusement.

Five sighed shaking his head, he whispered, chanting the man on. " Come on, Chief."

The awkward silence was unbearable and Levi and Five felt so bad for Hop when Mike and Eleven started laughing and joking about the man, leading Hopper to snap.

When Hopper started talking to Mike, El looked towards the two boys peaking causing them to hurry to their room with a laugh.

Levi fell back onto his head with a sigh, looking up at the plain ceiling as he hears Hopper's car engine spur to life when suddenly a nervous feeling erupted in his stomach.

The boy turned on his side, facing Five who did the same frowning when he saw the look on Levi's face. "What's wrong, T?"

"Something's coming," Levi said, furrowing his brows, curling into a ball at the feeling invading his chest, clutching onto his shirt as if to ground himself.

"What do you mean?" Five asked, slowly sitting up from his bed, looking at the boy with confusion etched on his face.

Five got concerned when he heard whimpering coming from Levi, he hurriedly got off his bed and ran over to Twelve's bedside, crouching down beside it. "What, T?"

Five didn't get an answer that night all he got was a sobbing Levi as he mumbled over and over.

"Bad, bad, bad."

•••

A/N) I'm back, baby!! I'm really excited to finally be able to post more content for you guys but also slightly sad that this is going to be the last of Levi & Dustin since unfortunately, I won't be writing season 4 :( but good news I might be writing bonus chapters, taking place after s3 of course, because you guys deserve it!! Anyway, done with my rambling, I hope you guys like this season, hehe ;) <3