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harringtonstilinski · 23 days

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Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-Three: E Pluribus Unum

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 1,757 (short chapter this week) Warnings: angsty Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We get a lot of Dustin and Erica in this chapter <3 Also, no Steve gif this chapter! We're getting a Dustin one 'cause of this iconic line!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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Dustin looked up at me - well, past me to look at Steve, both of them saying, “The gate.”

I backed up from between them making my way back down the steps. “Ya’know, Dustin, I really hate being doubted.”

“I don’t understand,” Robin said. “You’ve seen this before?”

“Not exactly,” Steve said.

“Then what, exactly?”

“Trust me when I say it’s really bad,” I said.

“It’s really bad,” Steve added.

“Just said that, babe.”

“Like end-of-the-human-race-as-we-know-it kind of bad,” Dustin said.

“And you know about this how?” Robin asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

“Uhm, Steve,” Erica said. “Where’s your Russian friend?”

I turned around to look at the ground behind me, seeing that the guy was indeed gone. “Sweet shit.”

Next noise to hit our ears was the alarm blaring, Steve rushing to the door to open it and look out into the hub space we sneaked through moments earlier. I heard “Halt! Halt!” before Steve closed the door, saying, “Shit!”

We ran through a couple of doors that led us straight to the control room, all of our feet stopping when the men turned to face us. Looking to my left, I saw another flight of stairs, running towards them.

“Come on!” I yelled, hearing Steve’s voice repeating the word go. I ran down a walkway, screaming as I pushed one of the hazmat suit guys out of the way, stopping once I reached the end, almost falling to my untimely demise.

I felt Dustin’s arms around me, pulling me back, both of us repeating, “Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!”

I breathed in deep before I screamed out, “Holy shit!”

“Guards! Go!” Erica said.

I turned around to face the rest of the group, my arm being tugged by Dustin as Steve yelled, “This way!” and led us down another set of stairs, pushing a guy out of the way before pushing a set of barrels towards some more guards.

I rushed towards him, running past him and to another door, leaving it open for the rest of our group to run through. Hearing it close, I turned back around, seeing Steve and Robin leaning against it to keep some weight on it.

Dustin and Erica went to a vent cover, opening it, Erica yelling out for us to come on. I looked between my brother and boyfriend, wanting to protect both of them, but knowing I’d have to leave one.

“Liv, go with Dustin!” Steve yelled.

“I– I–” I stammered.

“I’ll find you,” he said. “Go!”

“Steve–”

“Go, get out of here! Go get some help!”

I wanted to rush to him, to plant my lips upon his, but knowing I couldn’t against his struggle on the door. Feeling myself being pulled up the stairs, I kept my eyes locked on Steve before I had to look away, almost falling into the vent shaft. Looking back at Steve, I yelled, “I love you!”

“I love you!” Steve replied before I ducked into the shaft, closing the cover as I heard Robin yelling out, guns being cocked.

“He better not die,” I muttered, following after Dustin and Erica down this vent shaft.

~~~

Sitting in front of a giant fan, Dustin explained to Erica what happened that first year when Will went missing and then explained what happened a few months ago with Dart and the demodogs.

“And now, for some insane reason, these Russian assholes want to reopen it, for God knows what reason,” I said, using my hand to fan myself… even though we were by that giant ass fan. “Destroys everything we’ve risked our lives for.”

“By we, you’re including Lucas?” Erica said.

“Yes. Even Lucas was there. Matter of fact, everyone was there, aside from our mom, your parents and Mike’s parents.”

“So, all that shit he told me, Lucas was there?” Erica asked.

“Yes, Erica, he was there.”

“My brother, Lucas Charles Sinclair?”

“Yes!” Dustin and I exclaimed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” I said, sitting up a little and facing the young girl. “You mean to tell me that you believe everything about El and the gate and Dart, but you don’t believe the fact that Lucas was there helping us protect Hawkins?”

“That’s correct.” She looked from me to Dustin before she asked, “You need help with that?”

“No,” Dustin replied.

“Well, I mean, it’s taking a while, so–”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.”

“Dustin Wade!” I exclaimed.

“Alright,” Erica said. “So, if we don’t find a more efficient method to stop these fans, we’re never gonna find help, and your ice cream buddies, slash boyfriend and best friend, are screwed.”

“Yeah, with that attitude, they are,” Dustin and I said.

“Jee-zus,” Dustin added.

“I’m just being realistic,” Erica said. Looking at her watch, she said, “I mean, we’ve made it about point-three miles in nine hours. Then we had to walk three hours down that tunnel, so I’d estimate ten miles back to the elevator, which should take us approximately twelve-and-a-half days.”

I looked at her with a stunned expression as she did all that math that quickly. “Holy shit. You just did all that… in your head?”

“I’m good with numbers,” she deadpanned.

“Holy shit,” Dustin said.

“You’re a nerd!” we exclaimed.

“Come again?” Erica scoffed.

“You,” Dustin said.

“Are.” Me.

“A.” Dustin.

“Nerd,” we both ended.

Pointing her finger between the both of us, Erica said, “Okay, you better take that back, nerds.”

“Can’t put that truth back in the box,” I smiled.

“But it’s not the truth.”

“Okay, let’s examine the facts,” I said, scooting a little closer, holding my fingers out while I counted the facts. “Fact One: You’re apparently a math whiz.”

“Pretty straightforward equation.”

“Fact Two: you’re a 10 year old political junkie.”

“Just because I don’t agree with Communism as an ideology–”

“Fact Three: you love My Little Pony,” I said, grabbing her backpack and turning it to face her.

“And what does My Little Pony have to do with this?” she asked.

“Ah, let’s recall the ponies’ latest adventure, shall we?” Dustin said, which caused a confused look to come from me. “The evil centaur team and Tirek turns Applejack into a dragon at Midnight Castle, and then Megan and the other ponies have to use Moochick’s magic to defeat his rainbow of darkness, saving them from a lifetime of enslavement. All the pink in the world can’t disguise the irrefutable fact that centaurs and castles and dragons and magic are all standard nerd tropes. Ergo, My Little Pony is nerdy. Ergo, you, Erica, are a nerd.”

“Bro, what the fuck?” I murmured.

“And how do you know so much about My Little Pony?” Erica asked.

“Because I’m… a nerd,” Dustin said, taking the panel off the wall that he unscrewed during his little rant. He pulled the wires from their slots, the fan next to us powering down. “Let’s go… nerds.”

~~~

After we crawled through the blades of the fan, we made our way down the vent shaft. Whenever I spotted holes above us, I started feeling around for a loose square. Once I found it, I pushed it up and out of the way, climbing out of the shaft and onto the floor that we were crawling beneath, seeing a whole bunch of that green stuff they were putting into, what I’m calling, a gate drill.

“Jackpot,” I said, helping Erica and Dustin out of the shaft.

Spotting what seemed like a golf cart, I smiled and made my way towards it. “Hell yes!” “Do you even know how to drive?” Erica asked.

“Of course,” I said. “I’ve been driving on my own for a year. Damn it. There’s no keys.”

“You seriously thought they’d just leave keys in there?”

“There’s always a spare,” I said, more to myself. I started looking around, hearing Dustin’s rustles as he helped me look.

“Hey, Hendersons,” Erica said.

“Yeah,” Dustin and I said, getting out of the golf cart to look around more.

“How big did you say that Demogorgon was?”

“Huge,” I said.

“Nine feet or so,” Dustin said.

“Why?” we both asked.

Dustin moved to another panel box, using his screwdriver to open it, grabbing a key to the vehicle inside. “Found ‘em.”

“Dustin,” I said. “Look.”

What I was looking at was a crate, big enough for a Demogorgon.

“Ah, shit,” I said.

“Erica?” Dustin and I said, jumping at the sound of a loud zapping noise.

“What the fuck?” I breathed, holding my hand to my chest.

“What the hell is that?!” Dustin yelled.

“A deadly weapon,” Erica said, almost like she was in love with it. “Could be useful.” She zapped it again, Dustin and I jumping once more.

“For what?”

“What do you think? Taking down Commies, saving your friends.”

“Thought you were more realistic than that, nerd?”

I took the keys from him, not wanting to hear anymore of their banter for the moment. As I got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, I said, “We don’t even know where they are, and even if we did, there’s a million guards up there with way deadlier weapons. The best thing we can do is get out of here and find help.”

“Easy with that,” Dustin said. “Our chance of surviving, and theirs, rises substantially. Just trust us on this. Please?”

~~~

Stopping at a certain point, I got out of the cart and looked in the back, seeing boxes of that green goop sitting in it. Grabbing a couple of them, I walked a few feet in front of the cart, taking a deep breath. “Steve… this is for you.” Slamming the glass containers on the ground, I watched as they shattered, the green stuff once again eating away at the floor.

I quickly made my way back behind the wheel, trying my best to speed off. Stopping a few feet from a door, I told Dustin to charge in with that laser thing, to which he immediately did.

I charged in after Erica, standing in between her and Dustin and watching as an evil looking doctor fell to the ground. I turned to face Steve, seeing his eye bruised and swollen.

“Hey! Henderson!” Steve said, excitedly. “That’s… crazy, I was just talking about you.”

Sighing, I undid the bonds that were around his arms, hands and legs before putting my hand on his cheek. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, my god,” Robin said.

“Get ready to run!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2: hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note: i absolutely love it when gaten screams shit. it's the best thing ever, lol

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on April 2, 2024

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harringtonstilinski · 3 months

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Always The Babysitter - Chapter Fourteen: The Spy

Author: @harringtonstilinski Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 4,943 Warnings: lil' bit of fluff, canon angst, demodog fight, a kiss 👀, maybe some confessions?? 👀 Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! 😁😁😁 <- That's all I'm saying. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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“Wait a sec,” Steve said. “How big?”

It had turned to night as Steve was driving us home. I was in the backseat, chilling, while listening to the radio. Dustin started explaining everything about Dart, which in turn made me mad because he didn’t include me in the Adventures of Dart.

“First, he was like this,” Dustin said, thumb and forefinger about two inches apart. “Now he’s like this,” he added, holding his hands about two feet apart.

“I swear to god, man, it’s just some little lizard, okay?” Steve said.

I looked at the side of his face incredulously. “It’s not a lizard.”

“How do you know?”

“How do we know if it’s not a lizard?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah, how do you know it’s not just a lizard?” Steve exclaimed.

I leaned forward in between the seats as Dustin and I said, “Because his face opened up and he ate our cat.”

Silence sounded as I leaned back into my seat, turning my head to look out the window. When we made it back to mine and Dustin’s home, I sighed, getting out of the car and going to the trunk, the boys meeting me there.

I crossed my arms as Steve unlocked and opened the trunk, tossing Dustin his keys before grabbing the nail bat and closing the trunk. We walked Steve to the cellar, flashlight in his hand.

He leaned forward a little, turning his head to listen for Dart. “I don’t hear shit.”

Raising a brow, I was on alert after he said that. “Well, he’s in there.”

Steve looked back at me for a moment before looking back at the cellar door, tapping it with the top of the bat. Dustin and I jumped when Steve hit the doors with nails on the bat.

“Sweet shit,” I whispered.

Turning to face Dustin and I, Steve shined the flashlight in our faces as he said, “Alright, listen, Hendersons, I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, you’re both dead.”

“It’s not,” Dustin said.

“Alright?”

“It’s not a prank.”

“Get that out of our faces,” I said. I walked up to him after he did what I asked. “Next time you wanna threaten me, remember what happened last time.”

He smiled a bit before he said, “You got a key to this thing?”

Dustin went inside and got the key to the cellar and came back outside as quickly as he could, unlocking the cellar before Steve knelt and opened the doors.

Shining a shaky flashlight down the cellar stairs, Dustin walked up to Steve’s side before the older teen took the light source from the younger teen, shining a steady stream of light down the cellar.

I stood on Steve’s other side as Dustin said, “He must be further down there. I’ll stay up here in case he tries to… escape.”

Steve and I both looked at Dustin, incredulously. As Dustin looked back at us, Steve turned his head back towards the cellar, sighing. He stood up and I placed a hand on his arm, causing him to look at me.

“Be careful,” I said, softly.

He nodded before beginning his descent into the cellar.

My eyes were locked on the stairs, but I could feel Dustin’s eyes on me. I turned my head to look at him, raising my eyebrows. “What?” Dustin smiled at me, knowingly. “You like him.”

I stayed quiet for a moment before saying, “No, I don’t.”

“Mhmm, sure,” he replied, looking back towards the cellar. “I still stand by what I said at Christmas last year.”

This little shit ended up being right, but I couldn't focus on that at the moment because I started to get worried after a couple minutes of Steve being down in the cellar. Dustin decided to speak up, saying, “Steve?”

“Steve, what’s going on down there?” I asked.

Dustin and I jumped once again, holding onto each other as Steve shined his light up at us. “Get down here.” We both did as we were asked, walking down the steps to the cellar.

“Oh, sweet shit,” I said, looking at what was shedded skin on the end of his bat. “What is that?”

“Oh, shit,” Dustin said.

Steve pointed the flashlight to a big ass gaping hole in the brick wall.

“Oh, shit.”

“How the hell did he eat through the wall?” I asked, walking towards the hole and squatting down.

“No way. No way.”

There was a tunnel with vines behind our cellar, and most likely under our house, as well as the rest of Hawkins.

This town just couldn’t catch a break.

~~~

I offered for Steve to stay the night at the house since it was already so late, but he refused and went back home to get some sleep. When Mom left on her search for Mews again, may that cat rest in peace, I called Steve and went over the plan Dustin had told me when I woke up.

Steve came and got Dustin and I, all of us going to the meat market to buy pounds of chopped meat and a couple of buckets for said meat. We then went to the parking lot by the train tracks, all of us getting out to put our gloves on and take the buckets of meat out of Steve’s trunk.

Dustin’s radio went off, Lucas’ voice coming through, saying Dustin’s name.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” Dustin said.

“Sorry, man,” Lucas said. “My stupid sister turned it off.”

I was helping Steve - well, trying to help Steve - with the buckets of meat for Dart as Dustin explained, “Well, while you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I’m pretty sure he’s a baby Demogorgon.”

“Wait. What?”

“I’ll explain later. Just meet me, Steve and Liv at the old junkyard,” Dustin said as Steve was putting his nail bat in his backpack before zipping it.

“Steve?” Lucas asked.

“And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket,” Dustin said.

“Steve Harrington?”

Closing the trunk, Steve said, “Alright. Let’s go.”

Picking up his bucket of meat, Dustin said, “Just be there, stat. Over and out.”

We made our way through the woods and to the tracks, where Dustin and Steve started dropping pieces of raw meat every few feet. Since I didn’t have a bucket because Steve absolutely refused for me to carry one, I decided to practice my balance on the track behind Dustin.

“Alright, so, let me get this straight,” Steve said. “You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who… who you just met?”

“Alright, that’s grossly oversimplifying things,” Dustin replied.

“I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?”

“An interdimensional slug? Because it’s awesome.” I could hear the smile behind his words.

“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t, I… I just…” Steve said, trying to come up with a cool response. “I don’t know, I just feel like you’re trying way too hard.”

“That’s what I said!” I exclaimed.

Dustin sighed and said, “Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?”

“It’s not about the hair, man,” Steve said. “The key with girls is just… just acting like you don’t care.”

I laughed out loud. “I’ve got to hear this!” I jumped off the track to walk in the middle with Steve and Dustin, waiting for Steve’s amazing advice on girls.

“Even if you do?” Dustin asked, turning to look at Steve for a second. He and I locked eyes for a moment, mine wide and telling him to knock it off.

“Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts,” Steve answered.

“Mmmmmm,” I hummed, “I beg to differ.”

“Then what?” Dustin wondered.

“You just wait until, uh…” Steve said. “ ‘Til you feel it.”

“Feel what?” Dustin and I asked, my tone more humorous.

“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, ya’know. You can’t see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh…” Steve looked at me, facial expression reading help me.

I sighed, trying not to laugh. “He’s talking about electricity, like feeling chemistry with someone.”

“Like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere–” Dustin said, only to be interrupted by Steve saying, “No, no, no, no, no, like a… like a sexual electricity. You feel that, and then you make your move.”

Putting my hand on Steve’s arm to pull him back a little, I said, “You’re not giving my brother sex advice, Harrington. He’s 13.”

“So, that’s when you kiss her?” Dustin asked.

“No, whoa, whoa, slow down, Romeo,” Steve said. “Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. Ya’know, strong, hot and heavy, like a… I don’t know, like a lion.”

I scoffed, not believing a word he was saying, unlike my little brother, who was believing every single word the older male was saying.

“But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a… like a ninja.”

“What type is Nancy?” Dustin asked.

I couldn’t help but feel a pang of upset or jealousy at the mention of her name.

“Nancy’s different,” Steve answered. “She’s different than the other girls.”

Feeling eyes on me, I looked up from where I had looked down at the tracks, locking eyes with my brother. I shook my head no, already knowing what he was about to ask.

“What about Olivia?” Dustin asked.

Watching as Steve turned his head in my direction, I felt my cheeks heat up the slightest bit. He turned back around to answer, “She’s way different. She’s special.”

“Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess.”

“You’re talking about–” I said, being interrupted by Steve saying, “Yeah. Yeah, she is.”

“But this girl’s special, too, ya’know,” Dustin said. “It’s just, like, something about her.”

Stepping in between the two boys, I put my hands on my brother’s shoulders, stopping his movements by turning him towards me. “Whoa, whoa, back this train up. You’re not falling in love with her, are you?”

Shaking his head, my brother said, “No, no.”

“Okay,” I said, putting my arms down. “Good. Don’t.” I started walking ahead of them as I said, “She’s only gonna break your heart and you’re way too young for that shit.” I crossed my arms and looked down at the wooden planks along the tracks.

“Faberge,” Steve said after a moment.

“What?” Dustin asked.

I turned my head over my shoulder, watching Steve point to his hair and say, “It’s Faberge Organics.”

“Oh, my god, I use that brand!” I exclaimed.

“Use the shampoo and the conditioner, and when your hair is damp, not wet, okay? When it’s damp… you do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”

“Farrah Fawcett spray?” Dustin and I chuckled.

“Yeah, Farrah Fawcett,” Steve said, stopping his steps. I walked to Dustin, facing Steve, putting my arm on Dustin’s shoulder. “You tell anyone I just told you that… and your asses are grass, your dead, Henderson’s, do you both understand?”

I tried not to laugh as I said, “Yup.”

Steve scoffed before saying, “Okay,” and dropping a piece of meat on the ground. He started to walk, Dustin and I following him.

“Farrah Fawcett, really?” Dustin asked.

“I mean, she’s hot,” Steve said. Since he was in front of me, he turned his head over his shoulder, winking.

If winks could kill… if winks could kill.

~~~

It was still sunny as hell when we came up to the old junkyard. I was standing between Steve and Dustin, holding my hand up to my face, shielding my eyes from the sun as Steve said, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do.” I watched him take off his sunglasses then put them right back on as he walked away and said, “This’ll do just fine. Good call, dude.”

I looked at my brother as he smiled at Steve, looking at the younger teen like what the fuck just happened. Sighing, I followed Steve to the middle of the junkyard, where him and Dustin dumped the rest of the raw meat into a pile.

“I said medium-well!”

Quickly looking at where the voice was coming from, I saw Lucas on his bike, a red-headed girl standing with him.

“Who’s that?” Steve and I asked.

At Dustin’s non-response, I looked at him, then back at the girl. My jaw dropped as I put the pieces together. “Oh! That’s–��

“Lucas!” Dustin said. “Meeting. Now.”

I had asked Steve if there was anything I could do to help him with his internal plan, but he just told me to sit tight until he could think of something for me to do. As I tried to protest, he put his hand on my shoulder, repeating his words to me with more care in his tone.

Nodding, I laid on the hood of the red car we were standing beside, which also happened to be the same car that Lucas and Dustin were hiding behind, talking just loud enough to where I could hear their conversation.

“You told her?” Dustin asked.

“So what?” Lucas responded.

“So what?” Dustin chuckled.

“You wanted to tell her, too.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t, alright? We all agreed not to tell her and to look for Dart.”

“Who you conveniently found.”

“Oooooh, buuuuuurn,” I said, eyes closed to not burn them from the sun.

“Shut up, Liv,” Dustin said. “Lucas, are you suggesting that I’m lying.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I sighed, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

“I’m saying you have a creepy little bond with him,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, that was before he turned into a Demogorgon,” Dustin and I said.

“And you haven’t heard from Mike?” Lucas asked Dustin, who responded, “No.”

“Or Will?”

“No.”

“Hopper?”

“No!” Dustin exclaimed.

“No one’s around,” I said, moving again to get comfortable.

“Why do you think I’m with my sister and Steve Harrington?” Dustin said.

Sitting up and facing the boys, I exclaimed, “Hey!”

“Something’s–”

“Wrong,” Lucas said. “I agree. Which is why we need as much help as we can get.”

I heard the red-headed girl grunt as she was moving some stuff around. Looking at her, I smiled a little bit, feeling the chemistry with her and… Lucas. I actually felt it the moment I saw them together a few minutes ago.

“She didn’t believe me anyway.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Lucas sighed before saying, “I told everything that happened last year because she was feeling left out.”

Smiling, I said, “I think you did the right thing. But she’ll come around. I can feel it.”

“You probably didn’t tell it right,” Dustin said. I could hear the smirk on his face.

“That must be it,” Lucas said. “So, we good?”

Before Dustin could give his response, something hitting the car made me jump out of my skin.

“What the shit?” I exclaimed, turning around to look what made that noise.

“Hey, dickheads!” Steve said. “How come the only one helping me out is this random girl? We lose light in 40 minutes, let's go. Let’s go, I said.”

Getting off of the car, I walked next to him, hitting him in the arm. “Don’t fucking do that again, Harrington.”

He put his arm around me and said his apologizes, which made me playfully push him off while chuckling, calling him an asshole.

Everyone got to work, rolling barrels to where they needed to be, putting sheets of metal along the bus that we were going to be hiding in, pouring gasoline on the ground by the bus to the pile of raw meat, putting a ladder in the bus as well as some more sheets of metal. We piled up on the bus as the sun started to set, my anxiety reaching a ten.

I don’t know how long I was pacing for, it could’ve been minutes or hours, I couldn’t tell. I had my left arm over my stomach, right elbow resting against my left hand with my right knuckles against my mouth.

I was too busy quietly freaking out that I didn’t notice a figure standing in front of me when I turned back around to pace toward the front of the bus, almost crashing into said figure. Looking up at the figure, I looked into Steve’s eyes, seeing nothing but worry. I’m pretty sure fear was lacing mine.

He put his hands on my shoulders, asking, “This might be a stupid question, but are you okay?” My vision started to blur as I slowly shook my head. “No. I’m scared.”

I’m guessing he didn’t know what to say because he just moved one hand to the back of my head, pulling me into him gently. Letting a few tears leak onto my cheeks, as well as his shirt, I wrapped my arms around his middle, feeling more safe in his arms than I ever have.

Feeling him rest his cheek against the top of my head, I sighed, hearing him say, “It’s all going to be okay. All this will be done after tonight.”

Unintentionally letting out a sob, his grip on me felt tighter. I felt his lips where his cheek was, hearing him whisper, “I got you.”

“Don’t let me go,” I whispered. I didn’t wanna let go, but had to when I felt his hands back on my shoulders.

He looked me in the eyes, and I swear I saw a flash of realization right before he whispered, “Never.” Tilting his head towards my right, he said, “Come on. Let’s sit.”

When we sat down, I put my head on his shoulder while wrapping my arm around his, letting my hand fall onto his left forearm while he played with a lighter with his right, his head leaning against mine.

Dustin picked up my pacing as I let my eyes close, feeling myself drift off. I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep for, but I woke up to Max’s voice asking, “So, you both really fought one of these things before?” I finally figured out her name when I introduced myself to her while we were working.

I took a deep breath, releasing it as I said, “Steve did,” as I felt him nod his head before I picked my head up, my eyes opened and staring at his left hand, wanting to place my fingers between his.

“And you’re both, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?” she wondered.

“Shit, don’t be an idiot, okay? It wasn’t a bear,” Dustin said, my eyes shooting to look at him in shock. “Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.”

Max stood while saying, “Sheesh. Someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?” She climbed the ladder to the top of the bus where Lucas was, going completely out of sight and out of my range to hear them.

“That’s good,” Steve said. “Just show her you don’t care.”

“Steve,” I whispered, looking at said teenager.

“I don’t,” Dustin said. Steve winked at him before Dustin said, “Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

Steve flicked on the lighter once more before popping it shut. He looked down at me, eyes asking me what?.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” I said. Looking at Dustin, I said, “You want some real advice about girls? Show them that you care. Be nice. Or better yet… just be yourself. Ask her what she likes, what she doesn’t like. Ask about her interests and hobbies, what she likes to do in her freetime. That’s what girls want.”

Feeling Steve shift beside me, I could tell he knew I was right… because that’s how he got me to start falling for him.

I looked at our hands, feeling his fingers lace in between mine. I looked at him, just as he looked at me.

He brought our hands up, pressing his forehead against mine as he whispered, “That’s how I got you.”

A screeching sound brought us out of our trance, the both of us turning to look out of the window, Dustin coming up on my right side, placing me in between him and Steve once again.

“You see him?” Dustin asked.

“No,” Steve replied.

“Well, where the hell is he?” I asked.

“Lucas,” Dustin said, voice loud. “What’s going on?”

Lucas came back with, “Hold on!” I guess he was looking through his binoculars because he went quiet for a moment before squeaking, “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock! T-ten o’clock!”

Pointing to where Dart was, Steve said, “There,” before putting his hand on my back.

“What’s he doing?” Dustin asked.

“I don’t know.”

Dart just stood there for a second before I said, “He’s not taking the bait. Why’s he not taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Dustin said.

“Maybe he’s sick of cow,” Steve suggested.

I looked at him, watching him contemplate his next move before he took a step back and stood straight up.

“Steve, no,” I said.

He looked at me before moving towards the front of the bus, ignoring my protests.

“Steve, no. Steve! You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

He had his bat in his hand when he turned around, holding the lighter up. “Just get ready.”

“No.”

Sighing, he walked towards me, putting the lighter in my hand. “Please, Liv. I have to do this.”

Shaking my head with tears lining my waterline, I said, “No. Let me go out there.”

“No,” was all he said before turning back around to walk out of the bus.

Before he could open the bus door, I made the decision to act… impulsively. “Steve!” He turned at the sound of his name as I walked up to him. Since he had a good 8 inches on me, I put my hand on his neck to guide his face towards mine, where I trapped his bottom lip in between my own. He kissed me back after a second before we pulled away, foreheads resting on each other.

“What was that for?” he whispered.

“Reassurance,” I said, picking my head up to look at him. “To come back to me.”

He sighed and nodded, placing a long kiss to my forehead before officially getting off the bus.

“Shut it,” Dustin whispered.

I grabbed the handle and closed the door before running back to Dustin, watching Steve through the window.

“That was gross, ya’know,” he said.

“Don’t care, deal with it,” I rushed, watching Steve as he whistled to Dart.

“Come on, buddy,” Steve said, whistling again as he swung his bat to move the fog around.

Max came down the ladder. I only knew this because she asked, “What’s he doing?”

“Expanding the menu,” Dustin and I said.

“Come on, buddy,” Steve continued. “Come on, buddy. Come on. Dinner time.” He was at the pile of raw meat at this point, my anxiety at a ten again as he added, “Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”

“He’s insane,” Max said.

“He’s awesome,” Dustin smiled.

Even through my nerves at Steve offering himself up as dinner for Dart, I said, “He’s hot.”

I felt eyes on me, so I looked at the two younger teens, saying, “What? He is.” I looked back at Steve, just watching him swing his bat again to move the fog, Dart coming into clear view.

“Dustin,” I said, voice shaking. “He’s even bigger.”

“Steve, watch out!” Lucas yelled.

“Little busy here,” he yelled back.

“Three o’clock! Three o’clock!”

He looked behind him before I made the decision to dart to the door of the bus, yelling, “Steve!” as I opened it, almost hanging out as I yelled his name again, the older teen looking at me, “Abort! Abort!”

Dart growled, causing Steve to turn and face him again before the creature growled again and opened his face. Dart jumped at him, another one behind Steve to his left. Steve moved out of Dart’s way, moving to the car I was laying on earlier, rolling across the hood before hitting a baby Demogorgon with his bat.

The kids were now standing behind me, all of us yelling at Steve to run back to the bus and to hurry back. He got back on his feet after hitting the creature, running as fast as he could towards the bus.

I told the kids to move out of the way to give him room to jump back in, closing the door when he did.

I was behind Steve, while Dustin was behind me, holding onto my shoulders, crying out, “Holy shit!” before Steve moved a metal sheet in front of the door, trying to hold the creatures back.

“Are they rabid or something?” Max asked.

“No, they’re fucking deadly!” I exclaimed.

“They can’t get in,” Lucas said. “They can’t!”

All the creatures growled before trying even harder to push their way in, Max and I screaming out. Steve turned around for a second before one of the creatures reached its arm through the metal sheet, every single one of us crying out.

Steve grabbed his bat, whacking at the arm as Dustin cried out, “Shit!”

The three younger teens and I ran to the back of the bus, as Steve was still whacking at the creature. Dustin got on his radio, saying, “Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!”

A creature on top of the bus scared us all shitless, Dustin and I crying out, “Shiiiiit!”

I grabbed his walkie and said into the mouthpiece, “We’re at the old junkyard, and we’re going to die!”

I looked towards the door, making sure Steve was okay as I heard more banging. I felt a hand on my arm, so I looked to see it was Max. Thuds on top of the bus made me look back at it, following the sound until a baby Demogorgon looked down at us through the emergency exit. It growled, which made me and Max scream out.

An arm shoved us back before its owner, Steve, came into the picture, yelling, “Out of the way! Out of the way!” He held his bat, looking up at the creature and yelling, “You want some? Come get this!”

The face of the creature opened up, screeching at us for a moment before stopping. It looked off, growling before jumping off the bus, Steve’s arm coming out in front of me, my own in front of my brother, as well as Lucas and Max.

I looked back at all three of them, asking, “You guys okay?”

None of them answered me as a hand came to rest on my shoulder. I looked at Steve, his hand gently cupping the side of my neck as he asked, “Are you okay?”

I nodded, putting my hand on his wrist, taking his hand off my neck. He laced our fingers, moving us to the front of the bus before he moved the remaining pieces of metal, slowly opening the door and putting his bat out first before moving the rest of his body.

I jumped as the door finished opening with a loud bang, Steve saying, “Jeez,” when it did, fully getting off the bus. I stuck my head out, my breaths coming out quickly as I watched the last creature run off in the fog.

“What… happened?” Lucas asked.

“I don’t know,” Max said.

“Steve scared ‘em off?” Dustin suggested.

“No, no way,” Steve said. He had put his bat on his shoulder when he turned to face us, saying, “They’re going somewhere.”

Steve and the kids went back on the bus to get their belongings while I stood against the bus, tears coming back to my eyes. Upon hearing footsteps on the steps of the bus, I turned my head to see who it was, seeing Steve’s shoes before I saw the rest of him.

I turned my face over my right shoulder, as I sniffled, not wanting to break down and cry.

“Hey,” Steve said, gently. I felt him in front of me as he said, “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

Turning my head to look up at him, I felt a couple tears slide down my cheeks as I whispered, “I thought I was going to lose you.”

Placing his hands on my upper arms, he said, “No. No, no, no. No, you’re never going to lose me.”

Wrapping my arms around his middle, his own arms went around my shoulders, holding me to him. “I swear to god, Harrington, if you die tonight… I’ll never forgive myself.” Looking up at him, I whisper-cried, “Please don’t die.”

He rested his forehead against mine, whispered, “I don’t plan on dying tonight, baby.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” He put a finger under my chin, lifting my head to look into my eyes for a moment before he placed his lips on mine.

Thinking about what was brewing between us, I pulled away, saying, “Wait. We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“What about Nancy?”

“What about her? She’s not here. We’re not together anymore.”

“But you guys just broke up. People’ll say–”

“Don’t worry about other people,” Steve said. “What’s happening between us has been a long time coming… okay?” I nodded, leaning up to kiss him again. I had full intentions of going back in for another kiss, but a voice stopped me.

“You mind not making out with my sister?” Dustin asked.

I looked at him and rolled my eyes before walking around Steve to make my way behind Dart and his buddies.

Feeling fingers lacing between mine, I looked at Steve, and smiled, happy that things between us were finally happening… even if it’s during a time in our lives where we might die.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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A/N 2: hi, friends! please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

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Posted on February 5, 2024

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