COURAGE FLICKER, BURN AND FADE
SHRAPNEL BOULEVARD: Chapter Ten
Steve Harrington x Hargrove OC / Wordcount: 7.5k ➞ (series) Masterlist
Summary: Steve's POV! Steve is ever the reluctant babysitter. Kids commit arson. Chapter ends with trauma dumping in a 24-h gas station.
═══════════════════
The first thing Steve notices is that the car won't stop moving. Or maybe it's the voices.
Too many of them. All talking over each other. Somebody's shouting. Somebody else is trying to shush them. Something cold presses against the side of his head.
Ow.
His face pinches before he's even fully awake. His eyelids feel glued together. Heavy. Like opening them is somehow the hardest thing he's ever done.
When they finally cooperate, the world swims.
The roof of the Camaro drifts in and out of focus above him. The engine vibrates beneath his back. The whole car lurches over another bump, making pain bloom behind his eyes.
Okay. Car. Good.
He isn't dead. That's... probably a good sign.
He reaches a hand to rub his eyes. someone slaps it away quickly.
Dustin’s voice is hazy in his ears. “No, don't touch it.”
Steve looks over sluggishly. The words echo in his ears. “Hey buddy.. Shhhh…shhh… it's okay, you put up a good fight…! He kicked your ass but you put up a good fight…!”
A quiet sloshing noise catches his attention. His eyes drag sideways. Dustin sits practically on top of him, clutching a dripping bag of ice against Steve's temple with surprising determination.
"Shhh," Dustin says immediately. "Don't move. It's okay. Just stay still."
Steve blinks at him. Past him, someone hugs a bright red gas can against his chest. It rocks every time the Camaro hits another pothole.
Slosh.
Slosh.
Slosh.
Steve isn't an idiot. He's spent more time than he wants to admit staring at Nancy's face. Even in his state he can recognise wheeler bone structure.
“Nancy?”
Instead, Mike's face comes into view as his vision swims.
Steve squints. "...Oh."
Of course. Because apparently he is hallucinating his ex-girlfriend's family now. Which is stupid, because Nancy Wheeler is not waiting for him anymore. Steve’s not sure she ever was.
He looks back at the gas can. The question finally catches up with him. "...W-why do we have gasoline?"
Nobody answers. Actually, nobody even looks surprised he'd asked. His brain struggles to catch up. Gasoline. Ice. Car. Something warm beneath his cheek.
Warm? Steve freezes. His head isn't resting against the seat. It's resting on– He blinks upward.
Darcy. His head is in Darcy's lap.
Oh.
Oh.
His brain stalls for a second. She notices him looking.
"You with us?" she asks quietly.
He tries to answer. Instead, what comes out is, "...Hi."
One corner of her mouth twitches. "Hey."
There's something strangely grounding about hearing her voice. Like, okay. Darcy's here. Which probably means whatever happened isn't completely hopeless.
Although.. His eyes flick between Dustin. Mike. The gas can. Back to Darcy. Maybe "hopeless" was optimistic. Only now does he realize he's stretched awkwardly across the entire backseat.
His legs are somewhere near Dustin. His shoulders are half on Darcy. His neck already hurts. Fantastic.
Up front, Lucas is practically yelling. "Keep going straight another half mile! Then left on Mount Sinai!"
Steve frowns. "...Who's driving?"
Nobody answers quickly enough. Then a familiar head of bright red hair comes into view through the gap between the seats.
Steve's stomach drops.
No.
No. Absolutely not. Every muscle in his body tenses at once.
"What—" His voice cracks. "What is happening?"
"Dude, relax," Dustin says immediately.
"Relax?"
"She's driven before."
Mike doesn't even look up. "In a parking lot."
Steve's entire body goes cold. "...What?"
"That counts," Dustin mutters.
"It absolutely does not count."
Steve jerks upright on instinct. Or, he tries to. Pain explodes across his skull. A hand plants firmly against the middle of his chest.
"Whoa." Darcy. "Easy, Harrington."
She's stronger than she looks. Or maybe he's just weaker than usual. Probably both. Dustin reaches over too, trying to push him back down. "They wanted to leave you behind."
Steve stares at him. "...What?"
"But I promised you'd be cool."
"...Cool?" Steve looks toward the windshield again. Max's knuckles are white around the steering wheel. She's sitting on a phone book.
There's– Is that a block of wood tied to the gas pedal?
"Oh my God."
The Camaro surges forward. Steve grabs the nearest thing, which unfortunately happens to be Darcy's arm. "Oh my God."
She doesn't even comment on it. Just steadies him automatically. "It's fine."
"It is not fine."
"I told you he'd freak out!" Mike shouts.
"Steve, please don't freak out!" Dustin says at exactly the same time.
"How am I supposed to not freak out?!" He looks at Darcy. She's supposed to be the reasonable one. "You agreed to this?"
She winces. "...In hindsight?"
"Darcy."
"It seemed less insane five minutes ago."
"It seemed–"
"WOULD EVERYBODY SHUT UP?" Max yells. "I'M TRYING TO DRIVE!"
Lucas suddenly points. "That's Mount Sinai!"
"What?"
"LEFT!"
"What?!"
"Oh, shit," Darcy mutters.
Max yanks the wheel. Everything happens at once. The Camaro screeches. Steve's stomach disappears. His shoulder slams into Dustin. His head narrowly misses the window. Someone screams.
He's... pretty sure it's him.
The mailbox explodes into splinters. His stomach lurches when the car bounces over something large. Another violent bump.
Another.
The Camaro skids to a stop, leaving the gas running to balance out the silence.
Steve doesn't move. He just lies there for a second, staring blankly at the ceiling. "...I'm never making fun of old people for driving slowly again."
Dustin is the first one to speak. "Whoa."
Lucas stares down into the crater. "That was..."
He doesn't even finish. Mike does it for him. "Incredible."
Steve blinks. Mike Wheeler. The same kid who has spent the last however long looking at Max like she personally offended him by existing.
Now he's impressed? Steve isn't really sure why Mike hated her so much in the first place. Then again, Mike's always been a little shit.
Max looks extremely pleased with herself.
"Told you." She throws a glance around the group. "Zoomer."
Steve frowns. He has no idea what that means. But honestly? At this point, he's not sure he knows what anything means. So that's not exactly new.
Darcy claps her hands once. "Right. Enough of that. Let's get moving."
There it is. That voice. The one that somehow makes everyone listen. Steve notices that. He doesn't know why he notices that. He just does.
Before he can process what's going on, the Camaro doors fly open. Everyone jumps out. Everyone except Steve. Because apparently standing upright is currently an advanced skill. He stumbles out last, catching himself against the side of the car until the world stops spinning.
Great.
Fantastic.
Definitely not concussed.
He makes his way around to the trunk, where Dustin is already pulling out supplies. And Steve stops. Slowly, very slowly.
He watches as each kid receives: One pair of goggles. One bandana. One pair of gloves. One flashlight.
And, because apparently his life is a joke, a gas can. Of course. Steve stares.
The kids immediately start putting everything on. Goggles over their eyes. Bandanas over their mouths. They look like tiny post-apocalyptic bandits. Or a very aggressive camping trip.
Steve just watches. "...No."
Nobody reacts. "Guys."
Nothing.
"Guys." Mike ties a rope around the front of the Camaro.
Steve's eye twitches. "HELLO?"
Still nothing. The kids continue preparing.
"You think you're going down there?" He gestures wildly toward the giant, horrifying hole. "You think you're actually going down there?"
Nobody looks up.
"You're wrong." He points. "This ends right now."
The kids continue. Are they serious? They are completely serious.
Darcy approaches him. Probably because she is the only person here who has some sense. Or at least more sense than the children. Steve waves a hand in front of her face. She immediately ducks underneath it.
"Okay." She grabs his wrist before he can do it again. "Just... calm down."
Steve stares at her.
"Don't tell me to calm down." He gestures toward the crater. "I cannot believe you allowed this." His voice raises. "What the hell, Hargrove?"
Dustin appears beside them. "Listen, Steve. I understand you're upset."
Steve looks at him. "Do you?"
"Yes."
"No, you don't!"
Dustin ignores him. "But the bottom line is, a party member requires our assistance."
He says it like he's explaining something completely reasonable. "And it is our duty to provide that assistance."
Steve opens his mouth. Nothing comes out. Because somehow that made sense. Which was the worst part.
Mike grabs the rope and starts moving toward the hole. Then he disappears over the edge. Max follows. Then Lucas. Steve watches them go. No hesitation. No fear. Just determination.
Darcy places a hand on his shoulder. "Listen."
He looks at her.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to."
Steve almost laughs. Because she knows. She knows he's going to.
Dustin looks up from where he's gathering the remaining supplies. " I know you promised Nancy you'd keep us safe, so..."
He holds out the stack. The goggles. The bandana. The gloves. And his bat. Steve stares at it.
His bat. They brought his bat..for him?
Realization hits him all at once. They aren't asking. They aren't waiting for permission. They're going into that tunnel whether he likes it or not.
His eyes land on Darcy. She doesn't look excited. She doesn't look reckless. If anything, she looks worried. Really worried.
She's checking everyone's masks. Tightening the cap on a gas can. Quietly counting supplies under her breath like she's trying to convince herself they've thought of everything.
She catches him looking. "What?"
"You knew they weren't gonna listen." A tiny sigh.
"They stopped listening about..." She glances toward Dustin. "...an hour and a half ago."
"So why are you helping them?"
She gives him a look. "The same reason you are."
Neither of them actually wanted the kids down there. But if the idiots were determined to go anyway… Somebody had to make sure they came back.
He'd thought he was the only one who understood that. Apparently not. Something in his chest eases. Just a little.
Darcy reaches out without thinking and straightens the strap of his goggles where it's twisted against his ear.
"There." Her hand disappears as quickly as it came. "You look ridiculous."
Steve snorts. "So do you."
"Fair."
For the first time since waking up, she smiles. Only for a second. Then it's gone. "Ready?"
Steve looks toward the tunnel. Absolutely not.
"...Yeah."
…
A shower of dirt rains down as Steve drops into the tunnel after them. His boots hit the soft earth with a heavy thud. The air is damp. Thick. Wrong.
Even through the bandana covering his mouth, he can smell it. Rot. Wet earth. Something sour beneath it. His goggles fog for a second before clearing.
"...Holy shit."
The tunnel stretches farther than his flashlight can reach. Veins of dark, pulsing vines creep over every wall and ceiling, disappearing into the darkness ahead. It doesn't look dug out.It looks.. Grown. His stomach turns.
The kids are already spreading out. Lucas sweeps his flashlight over the walls while Max pokes suspiciously at one of the vines with the toe of her shoe. Mike unfolds Will's hand-drawn map with far more confidence than he deserves to possess.
"Alright," Mike says. "We don't have much time. Everybody, stay close to me."
Steve watches him march forward like he owns the place. Darcy moves to follow. Steve gets there first. He catches Mike by the shoulder before the kid makes it three steps. "Hold it."
Mike turns, confused. Steve plucks the map from his hands.
"Any one of you little shits dies down here..." He looks around at all of them. "...I'm getting blamed."
Nobody argues.
"...From here on?" He folds the map once and tucks it beneath his arm. "I lead."
His flashlight snaps on. For a second, nobody moves. Steve starts walking. “Come on! Hustle!”
Behind him, he hears Dustin whisper, "Dad Steve's back."
Mike groans. Lucas snorts.
Steve doesn't bother looking around. "Damn right."
The kids fall in behind him. Darcy hangs back for a second before falling into step beside him instead of disappearing into the middle of the group.
"How's your head?" she asks quietly.
Steve adjusts the goggles digging into his temples. "Fantastic."
She looks at the blood that's dried along the side of his face. "...Liar."
He shrugs. Despite everything, she lets out a quiet laugh. It lasts all of two seconds. Then they're swallowed by another stretch of tunnel. Steve keeps the flashlight moving.
Left wall. Right wall. Ceiling. Behind them. Again.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Which somehow feels worse. The tunnel bends sharply. Then opens into – The room steals the breath from his lungs.
"...Jesus." Fog hangs thick enough to hide the ceiling. Tiny white spores drift lazily through the beam of his flashlight like snow. Except snow doesn't pulse.
Snow doesn't grow.
Bulbous growths swell from the walls in clusters the size of basketballs, disappearing beneath curtains of vines that seem almost… Alive.
Lucas stares. "...God..."
"What is this place?" Max whispers.
Steve doesn't have an answer. And honestly? He doesn't want one.
"Keep moving," he says. Nobody argues. The faster they get through this ‘room’, the better. Steve pushes ahead.
One by one, everyone follows, Except Dustin. Steve doesn't notice immediately. He's too busy checking the tunnel ahead.
A scream floods the tunnel. "DUSTIN?"
Steve spins around. Dustin staggers toward them, ripping his bandana away from his face.
"Oh my God–oh my God–"
"What happened?" Steve demands.
"I think some got in my mouth!"
"What?"
"I THINK SOME GOT IN MY MOUTH!"
Dustin doubles over, spitting frantically onto the dirt floor. Everyone freezes. Steve's grip tightens around the bat. Seconds pass.
Nothing. No screaming. No melting. No monsters bursting out of Dustin's chest. Just his shallow breathing. "...Blegh."
Darcy crouches beside him. "You okay?"
Dustin spits one last time before looking up. "...I think so."
Steve lets out a slow exhale. "Great."
Everyone looks at him.
"New rule." He points the flashlight directly at Dustin. "No eating the evil cave."
"I didn't eat it!"
"You put your face under the giant fungus thing."
"I didn't know it was gonna sneeze!"
Steve rubs a hand over his goggles. "I cannot believe you were stupid enough to do that. Get your head in the game, Henderson."
A tiny laugh escapes Darcy before she catches herself. Steve glances over.
She's already serious again, but he definitely heard it. Good. At least somebody still thinks he's funny.
"Come on," he mutters, turning back toward the map.
"Let's find this damn hub before something else decides to spit at us."
Steve stands before his... children.
God. If anyone had told him a year ago he'd be standing in a giant underground monster tunnel about to commit arson with six middle-schoolers, he'd have laughed in their face.
Instead, He's holding a lighter. The kids stare at him expectantly. Waiting.
Actually waiting. When had that happened?
Steve swallows. "...You guys ready?"
five muffled voices answer through their bandanas. "Ready."
Steve nods automatically. His eyes flick across the group one last time. They land on Darcy almost instinctively. He's not really sure why.
She's already looking at him.
Not nervously or impatient. Impatiently. Just waiting. Like she's trusting him to make the call. For some reason, that settles something in his chest.
She gives the smallest nod. Go.
Dustin's voice cuts through the silence. "Light 'er up."
Steve lets out a slow breath. "...I am in such deep shit."
The lighter sparks once.
Twice.
On the third strike, Flame.
He doesn't hesitate. The lighter leaves his hand. Time slows. The tiny orange flame tumbles through the air before disappearing into the sea of gasoline.
Heat slams into them like a wall. The chamber erupts. Fire races across the floor, climbing the vines in every direction as if the whole place had been waiting to burn.
The tunnels shriek. The sound is alive. Steve's stomach twists. "RUN!"
Nobody argues. Boots pound against packed earth. Steve keeps glancing over his shoulder. Not at the fire. At the kids. One. Two. Three. Four.
Darcy. She's bringing up the rear, flashlight bouncing wildly as she makes sure nobody falls behind.
Good. Steve turns forward again. Don't lose anyone. Not now.
They burst into another chamber. Everywhere. Steve forces himself not to look too closely. The map shakes slightly in his hand.
Concussion. Right. Focus.
"There–" He points toward the opening on the right. "This way!"
Everyone pivots. Mike disappears. Steve hears the thud before he sees it.
"Mike?"
The kid's on the ground. Something black coils around his ankle. "What the—" The vine tightens. Mike screams.
"HELP!"
Steve doesn't think. "EVERYBODY BACK!"
The others stumble away. All except Darcy. She grabs the back of Max's jacket and physically hauls her backwards before Max can rush forward.
Smart.
Steve raises the bat. The spikes bite into the vine. It hisses.
WHACK! Again and again, black blood sprays across the dirt. The vine finally snaps. Mike scrambles backwards so fast he nearly crashes into Lucas.
Steve barely has time to breathe. A growl echoes through the chamber. Low. Hungry. Every hair on the back of Steve's neck stands up. He turns.
"...Shit." A Demodog blocks the only exit. Steve's grip tightens around the bat. Something about it… Yellow. That stupid yellow marking. His eyes narrow.
No. No way.
Dustin lets out a defeated sigh. "...Dart."
Of course. Of fucking course. Steve had spent hours listening to Dustin ramble about his weird little lizard. How it was different. Friendly. Special. Apparently he'd left out the part where it turned into a nightmare.
Everyone backs away except Dustin. Steve's stomach drops.
"...Dustin." The kid keeps walking. "Dustin."
Nothing. "DUSTIN!"
Steve shoots a quick glance behind him. The kids are frozen. Max looks ready to bolt. Mike's limping. Lucas is gripping his flashlight like it's somehow going to help.
Darcy edges closer to Steve without saying anything. Not hiding, ready. If this goes wrong, she's already decided she's helping him.
The realization flashes through his head so quickly he barely notices it. Idiots. Both of them.
Dustin stops a few feet from Dart. "...Hey, Dart."
Steve tightens his grip on the bat. Every instinct he has is screaming at him to drag Dustin backwards by the collar. Instead, he waits. Because if he runs now, the thing might chase.
"...It's me," Dustin says softly.
"Your friend."
The Demodog breathes heavily. Doesn't move. Nobody else does either.
Steve becomes painfully aware of every sound. The fire somewhere behind them. The thing breathing. His own heartbeat.
Dustin slowly opens his backpack. Steve almost tells him to stop. Then he sees the candy bar.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
"Nougat," Dustin whispers.
"Your favorite." He tosses it forward. The candy lands between them. The Demodog lowers its head. Sniffs. Steve doesn't breathe.
Seriously. He forgets how.
The Demodog starts eating. Steve blinks. "...You've got to be kidding me."
"Good boy," Dustin whispers. "Good boy..."
Dustin glances back and waves them forward. Go.
Steve doesn't need telling twice. He motions everyone ahead.
"Slowly," he whispers. "No sudden movements."
He catches Darcy's eye as she passes. "You first."
She opens her mouth like she's about to argue. Steve gives her a look. One that says don't. She rolls her eyes.
"...Bossy." She slips past Dart. Steve waits until every single one of them is through before he follows, bat still raised.
Only then does he let himself breathe again. Dustin hesitates at the tunnel entrance. He looks back once. Dart is still happily chewing on the Three Musketeers.
"...Bye, buddy."
Then he turns and runs. Steve doesn't know whether to laugh or question every life choice that's brought him here.
Probably both.
The tunnels swallow them again. Nobody talks. Nobody breathes louder than they have to.
He doesnt really expect it. The ground bucks beneath Steve's feet. Dust rains from the ceiling.
"What was—" Max never finishes. A chorus of growls echoes through the tunnels behind them. Not one. Dozens.
Steve doesn't have to look. He already knows. Mike does anyway. His face drains of colour.
"...Run." Then louder– "RUN!"
Nobody needs telling twice. The tunnel becomes chaos. Boots hammer against packed earth. Steve keeps one hand on the map and the other wrapped around his bat.
He counts without thinking. Mike. Lucas. Max. Dustin. Darcy. Good.
The growling gets louder. Too loud. Much too close. Lucas suddenly points. "There!"
Steve sees it. Moonlight. The exit. Relief crashes through him so hard his knees almost give out.
"GO!" He grabs Max under the arms and practically throws her toward the rope. "Up!"
She catches it. Starts climbing. Lucas is next. Mike follows close behind. Steve barely notices. He's already turned around. The tunnel behind them is dark.
Until it isn't.
Yellow eyes. Too many of them. "...Shit."
The Demodogs round the corner all at once. An entire pack. Charging. Steve moves before he thinks. His arm shoots out across Darcy's chest, guiding her backwards behind him.
"Back."
She stumbles one step. Looks like she's about to argue. Steve's already planted himself between her, Dustin, and the tunnel.
The bat feels reassuringly heavy in his hands. He's got maybe… One swing. Two, if he's lucky. Dustin presses himself against Darcy's shoulder.
Mike's voice echoes from above. "DUSTIN!"
Steve almost laughs. Really? Just Dustin? He tightens his grip on the bat.
Well. Guess this is it. He squares his shoulders. Raises the bat. Waits.
The Demodogs reach them. they don't stop. They stream around Steve like water around a rock. One. Two. Five. Ten. They're gone almost as quickly as they arrived.
Steve blinks. "...What?"
The pack disappears deeper into the tunnels. Toward something else. He doesn't waste time wondering what.
"Dustin!" Darcy's already moving. She crouches in front of him.
"C'mon." She laces her fingers together. "Foot here."
Dustin doesn't hesitate. Steve watches her steady him with both hands while he scrambles for the rope.
"It's okay," she says, keeping one hand on his ankle until he's got his balance. "I've got you."
Dustin nods once. Keeps climbing. Steve waits. Darcy turns toward the rope.
"You." She points at him.
Steve blinks. "...Me?"
"Concussion."
"So?"
"So if you fall halfway up, I'd rather be underneath you than the other way around."
He snorts despite himself. "...That's almost sweet."
"It's practical."
"Right." Steve climbs. Halfway up he hears her mutter, "Don't make me regret this."
He smiles before he can stop himself. Then hauls himself over the edge.
Fresh air hits him like a freight train. Cold. Wonderful. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed breathing. He does another headcount without thinking about it.
His heart rate hasn't started slowing down yet.
As he's looking around, the Camaro's headlights start to flare. Every flashlight around them suddenly burns white-hot.
Steve throws up a hand to shield his eyes. "What the hell?"
The light washes over everyone. For a second it turns the world silver.
Darcy's already looking toward the lab. Understanding flickers across her face. Steve notices. Of course she knows what's happening. Everyone always seems one step ahead of him.
She catches him staring. "The psychic girl."
Steve frowns. "What?"
"Hopper succeeded in closing the gate thing, I think."
Realization finally catches up. "...Oh."
The lights slowly fade. Silence settles over the field. Steve lets out a long breath. He swears to himself that for as long as he lives, he will never do that again.
…
The Camaro feels different when Steve is driving. Safer, definitely.
His hands are back where they belong. One on the wheel. One resting near the gear shift. His eyes are on the road instead of watching a thirteen-year-old with a phone book under her ass try to operate a death machine.
This is familiar. This makes sense. He knows how to do this. The engine hums beneath him. The headlights cut through the dark road ahead. The world is finally, blessedly, staying still.
For the first time in what feels like hours, Steve lets himself breathe.
Then he notices the cigarette packet. It’s shoved into the little compartment beside the gear shift. Steve frowns. He doesn't remember leaving those there.
Actually… He doesn’t remember a lot of things.
He reaches over at a red light and picks it up. Not his brand. Not that he’s been smoking lately. He’s not. But he knows these aren’t his.
He forgets this isn't his car.
The Camaro smells different too. A little like smoke. A little like cheap cologne. A lot like someone trying very hard to pretend they’re older and cooler than they are.
Billy. Right.
Steve stares at the packet for a second before putting it back. Of course. Of course Hargrove would leave this crap in here.
He glances at the rearview mirror. Four kids are crammed into the backseat like someone threw a bunch of angry cats into a laundry basket.
Max is pressed against the window, Lucas is practically sitting on top of Mike, Dustin has somehow claimed the middle despite being the biggest, and somehow everyone is still arguing about something Steve can't be bothered to try to understand.
"I am telling you," Mike says, "that was the plan."
"No, it wasn't," Lucas immediately replies. "You literally made it up five seconds before we did it."
"That's called improvising."
"That's called being stupid."
"Guys," Dustin says. "Can we please not fight after almost dying?"
A pause. Everyone considers this.
"No," Mike says.Steve almost smiles.
Darcy is beside him, quieter than the rest. She’s looking out the window, watching Hawkins disappear behind them.
For a second, Steve thinks about how insane this is. An hour ago he was getting beaten half to death in a parking lot. Now he’s driving around in Billy Hargrove’s Camaro with four children and Darcy, who somehow makes this entire nightmare bearable.
He turns down another road. A few seconds pass. He suddenly realises he doesn't know where he's going. They all just got in the car. There wasn't a direction given to him.
"...Where are we going?"
Silence. Steve blinks. He looks at the mirror. "...Guys?"
Dustin slowly looks up. "What?"
Steve stares. "What do you mean what? Where are we going?" he looks between them.
Lucas sighs. "We could go home."
"No."
Everyone looks at Steve. He shakes his head. "No. Absolutely not."
Mike frowns. "Why?"
"Because it's the middle of the night, you're all covered in dirt, your clothes smell like a swamp, and you just disappeared for hours." He gestures vaguely. "What exactly are you planning to say? 'Hey, Mom, sorry we're late, we were just underground fighting monsters?'"
Nobody says anything. Because unfortunately, he has a point.
Max crosses her arms. "Okay. So not home."
"Correct."
"Then where?"
Steve opens his mouth. Nothing comes out.
Great. Because apparently he has become the person responsible for everyone, but nobody gave him the manual. He glances at Darcy helplessly.
Dustin suddenly sits up. "Will."
Everyone looks at him.
"What about Will?" Lucas asks.
"He's at Hopper's cabin."
Mike immediately nods. "That's perfect."
Steve looks between them. "No."
Four heads turn."No?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I am not driving you to another weird monster-related location."
"It's not monster-related."
"Mini Byers is literally the reason we just went into the monster tunnels."
Mike opens his mouth. Steve points at him. "Don't."
Mike closes it. Darcy covers a laugh with her hand. Steve looks at her. "What?"
"Nothing."
"No, what?"
"Nothing." She definitely looks amused. Traitor.
Dustin leans forward between the seats.
"Steve."
"No."
"Listen."
"No."
"Please."
Steve sighs. The worst part? He knows they're right.
Will had spent the last year being dragged through nightmares nobody believed him about.If anyone deserved to see everyone came back, it was him. There wasn't anywhere else to take them, either.
Steve rubs a hand over his face. "Fine."
…
The road to Hopper's cabin is worse than he imagined. Mostly because he has no idea where he's going.
"This way," Mike says.
Steve turns. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You said that last time."
"I was right eventually."
"That is not comforting."
They weave through trees for what feels like forever, headlights cutting through the darkness. Eventually, the kids start shouting directions over each other.
"Left!"
"No, right!"
"I said left!"
"You said right!"
"I changed my mind!"
Steve grips the wheel. "Everyone shut up."
Instant silence. He blinks.
"...Wow." Darcy looks over. "You're scary when you're stressed."
"I'm aware."
"No, I don't think you are."
He ignores that. Finally, through the trees, a faint light. The cabin. It's off road, this is the furthest the car can go.
The Camaro rolls to a stop. Before Steve can even put it fully in park, the doors are flying open.
The kids explode out of the car. Steve watches as they run. Not away. Toward.
The cabin door opens.
Jonathan appears. Dustin almost crashes into him. "Is Will okay?"
Jonathan laughs, surprised, as the others pile in. Mike grabs his shoulder. Lucas shoves him. Max smiles.
Everyone is talking at once. Everyone is alive.
Steve stays by the Camaro. He watches from a distance. Because that's what he does, apparently. He lets everyone else have their moment.
Darcy is still beside him. "You okay?"
Steve looks at the cabin. At the kids. At the ridiculous group of people who somehow became his responsibility.
He thinks about the bat. The tunnel. The fire. The fact that he would do it again. Probably.
"...Yeah." Steve leans back against the Camaro. The night is quiet, for once.
…
The cabin disappeared behind them in the rearview mirror.
Steve waited until the last of the kids had disappeared inside before pulling the Camaro back onto the dirt track.
Neither of them spoke. The engine filled the silence instead, settling into its familiar low rumble as the trees slipped past in the darkness.
It felt strange. The car had been deafening twenty minutes ago. Dustin yelling. Mike arguing. Lucas giving directions. Max insisting she knew what she was doing.
Now it was just quiet. Steve didn't realise how much he appreciated quiet until now.
He shifted into fourth. "...You want me to take you home?"
Darcy laughed. Not loudly. Just one short, disbelieving scoff.
"Oh." She folded her arms against the door. "how the turns table, Harrington."
Steve glanced across at her. "...What?"
"You know."
"I really don't?"
"When I took you home. After Tina's." She pointed at him dramatically. "I mean, not that you had a choice."
Steve snorted. "I was drunk."
"Technicality."
"It feels like an important one."
She smiled to herself, looking back out of the window. The smile didn't stay long.
"uh...Seriously." Steve kept his eyes on the road. "Where do you want to go?"
A long pause. "I don't know."
Another.
"...Just..." She shrugged. "I don't really want to go home."
Steve tightened his grip on the steering wheel. The sensible thing would be to drive her home. Make sure she got inside safely. Then go home. Sleep for about fourteen hours.
Except the idea of dropping her off in her house like that felt.. Wrong. Really wrong. Huh.He didn't know why Billy was like that, but there had to be an explanation in the walls she lived in.
Steve frowned slightly. "...Billy?"
Her jaw tightened.
"...Yeah." The word came out quietly. “I don't know where he is. He's probably still passed out at the Byers, I don't know."
Steve didn't answer. There wasn't really anything to say. The road stretched ahead of them, empty except for the occasional pool of orange streetlights.
After another minute she spoke again.
"I knew he had a temper." She was staring at the dashboard now. "Everybody knows he has a temper."
Steve frowned. Temper. That wasn't the word he'd use.
Temper was yelling. Punching lockers. Breaking a plate.
Billy hadn't lost his temper. Billy had looked Steve in the eye after almost knocking him out, and kept hitting him. There was a difference.
He wasn't sure Darcy knew that yet. Her fingers traced absent circles over the cracked vinyl.
"I just..." She laughed once. It wasn't amused. "I didn't know he could be like that."
Steve glanced over. She sounded genuinely surprised. Which didn't make sense.
Billy had practically introduced himself by trying to start fights. Steve remembered Billy's fists. The ring catching the light. The sound his own head had made against the floor.
The guy walked around Hawkins like everyone owed him money.
Then again, Steve had spent months pretending his parents weren't absent. Funny how much your brain could explain away when you wanted it to.
"Well, I think..." She hesitated. "...I think part of me did."
Steve looked over briefly. She hadn't moved.
"I just kept telling myself he wasn't that bad." Another shrug. "I don't know."
She hadn't looked at him once since she'd said Billy's name. Just the dashboard. The window. The glove compartment. Anywhere else.
Like if she didn't actually look at another person… Maybe none of it counted as saying it out loud.
"I guess I thought if I ignored it..." She swallowed. "...Then maybe it wasn't real?"
Steve understood that feeling more than he wanted to. Nancy. His parents. Tommy. Carol.
Nope. Don't do that. Don't turn this into Nancy. Or your parents. Or Tommy. This isn't about you. Just… Listen.
The truth was, people were really good at pretending things were fine until they couldn't anymore.
"It doesn't make you stupid or anything." Steve winced internally.
...Really? That's what you came up with? Nice one. Real smooth, Harrington.
She looked at him. "I feel stupid."
Yep. Walked right into that one.
Steve could still picture Billy's face. Calm. Smiling, almost. Like beating somebody unconscious was just.. Tuesday.
Steve had known plenty of assholes. Tommy. Carol. Himself, once. Billy wasn't that.
Billy scared him.
"I know."
"...That's not helping."
"It wasn't supposed to."
That earned the tiniest smile. "At least you're back, though."
"What?"
"You're funny again."
Steve blinked. "...Was I gone?"
"For a while. Too caught up in what the kids were doing I guess. King Steve reigns on."
"Huh." He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
The silence settled again. Comfortably this time. Darcy rested her forehead against the cool window. "...I'm kinda hungry."
Steve looked over. "What?"
"I didn't eat dinner."
"...Seriously?"
She nodded. "I was supposed to."
A beat.
"Then everything got..." She gestured vaguely. "Uh, like....Upside Down."
Steve sighed through his nose. "...There's a twenty-four-hour gas station on the other side of town."
She perked up slightly. "Really?"
"It's pretty much midnight." He glanced at the empty streets. "Nothing else is gonna be open."
She deflated almost immediately. "...I don't have any money."
Steve shrugged. "Its fine, I'll—"
"Wait." She leaned forward suddenly. "Emergency money."
Steve frowned. "...Emergency money?"
"The glove box."
She reached across him without waiting for permission. Steve instinctively leaned back as she wrestled the latch open.
A pile of cassettes spilled into her lap.
She blinked. "...Wow."
Billy apparently owned exactly three albums. Two AC/DC tapes. One Mötley Crüe.
"Shocking," Steve muttered.
She kept digging. A lighter. A pocketknife. Loose change. Three receipts. Half a packet of gum. A pair of sunglasses.
"...Who keeps sunglasses in the glove box?"
"Billy."
Her fingers disappeared deeper.
"Aha!" She held up a folded fifty-dollar bill like she'd discovered buried treasure.
Steve laughed. "No way."
"Told you." She unfolded it triumphantly. "'Emergency cash.'"
She looked at him. "I feel like surviving an interdimensional hell tunnel counts as an emergency."
Steve considered it. "...Yeah, I think so too."
She carefully shut the glove box with her knee.
"So?" She waved the bill. "You buying?"
Steve looked over. "...You have fifty dollars."
" I found it."
He shook his head, smiling despite himself. "You are unbelievable."
Steve flicked on the indicator and turned onto the highway leading across Hawkins. He wasn't really sure why he was smiling. Maybe because for the first time all night, nobody was in immediate danger. Maybe because Darcy was still somehow making jokes after everything.
He glanced sideways. She was humming quietly to herself now, staring out at the passing lights, Billy's emergency fifty folded carefully between two fingers like she'd won the lottery.
She was easy to be around. That surprised him. Not because he disliked her. Quite the opposite. He'd spent weeks assuming she was just another one of the cheerleading crowd. Another person that roamed the halls.
But somewhere between the tunnels, and her straightening his goggles, and making sure Dustin climbed first… She'd quietly become something else. Someone he trusted. Steve wasn't really sure when that happened.
Only that it had.
…
The gas station looked almost unreal against the empty highway. A lone rectangle of fluorescent light surrounded by darkness.
Its faded sign buzzed softly overhead, one corner flickering every few seconds like it couldn't quite decide whether to stay alive.
Three dusty pumps stood out front. A battered pickup truck occupied one of them. Beside it sat a motorcycle Steve didn't recognise. "Huh."
Darcy looked up from unbuckling her seatbelt. "What?"
"We're not the only idiots awake."
She followed his gaze. "...Guess not."
Steve killed the engine. The sudden silence rang in his ears. Together they climbed out. The summer air was cool now, carrying the smell of gasoline and hot asphalt.
The automatic doors slid open with a tired whine. Inside, everything was aggressively bright, it almost made his headache worse.
Rows of chips stretched down one aisle. Candy bars filled another. A humming freezer held glass bottles of Coke, orange soda and milk. Near the counter, the Slush Puppie machine churned lazily, bright blue and red syrup turning in slow circles beneath scratched plastic lids.
An ancient radio somewhere behind the register played quietly enough that Steve couldn't make out the song.
Darcy stopped dead. "Wow. This is just beautiful."
Steve looked around. "It smells like hot dogs."
"Hotdogs i would very much like to eat."
He laughed. "You have low standards."
"I have no standards." She immediately wandered toward the sweets, picking up a packet of Reese's Pieces.
Steve watched her for a second before drifting toward the drinks.
"...You getting one?" she called.
"A what?"
She pointed dramatically at the slushie machine. Steve looked at it. Then back at her.
"...It's midnight."
"So?"
"So? I'm seventeen."
"And?" She raised an eyebrow. "You can still want a slushie."
He sighed theatrically. "...Fine."
She grinned. "I'll get blue."
"Blue isn't a flavour."
"It kinda is. Like blue raspberry is a flavor, right?"
"I guess."
She grabbed two cups.
…
Outside, the world was almost completely still.
The highway had emptied hours ago, leaving only the occasional set of headlights drifting past before disappearing into the darkness again.
Steve sat on the concrete curb beside the Camaro, one foot stretched out into the parking lot. Darcy had claimed the patch of curb next to him, her trainers resting on the faded yellow line. Between them sat an assortment of questionable late-night decisions.
An open bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Two melting slushies. A couple of chocolate bars. Some gummy worms. A suspiciously stale-looking hot dog neither of them had admitted to buying.
Steve unwrapped a Snickers. "I don't think I've ever been this hungry."
Darcy looked sideways at him. "God, me neither."
He took a bite. "I still feel like I earned this."
"Being a teen dad must be hard."
For a while, they just ate. The slushie machine inside hummed through the glass. Somewhere in the distance, a cricket chirped.
Steve realised he couldn't remember the last time he'd sat still. Actually… That wasn't true. Billy had made sure of that.
Fuck. Nope. Not thinking about that.
Darcy nudged the Doritos toward him. "You can have the last ones."
"I'm not falling for that."
"What?"
"There's always one that's basically dust."
She gasped dramatically. "You've discovered my evil plan."
"I know your tricks."
She laughed quietly. "You really don't."
Another comfortable silence settled between them. Steve watched condensation roll down the side of his cup.
"...You know." Steve frowned into the blue slushie. It had started melting five minutes ago. Now it just looked sad. Kind of fitting, really. "I really thought..."
Why was he about to say this?
He could still not say this.
Literally nobody was making him say this.
"...I thought I was gonna marry Nancy."
Well. There it was. Great. Nice one, Harrington.
Darcy didn't look at him. She just listened.
"I know that's..." He shrugged awkwardly. "...Stupid."
"It isn't."
"It kind of is."
She took another sip of her slushie. "So?"
Steve smiled faintly.
"So." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know. I just..."
He searched for the words.
"When everything happened last year… The Byers, the Demogorgon." He looked down at his trainers. "I figured… If we got through that, then we'd get through anything. Right? "
Darcy nodded once. "Yeah."
"But we didn't." Steve sighed. "I kept thinking..."
He frowned. God. This sounded pathetic out loud.
"...if I said the right thing, "or did the right thing, or..." He shrugged. "...I don't know, fixed whatever I broke."
Silence. Steve picked at the wrapper around his chocolate bar.
"...Turns out that's not really how it works." He laughed quietly. "Who knew."
Darcy didn't interrupt. Didn't rush to tell him Nancy sucked. Didn't tell him he'd be fine. She just let him finish.
Huh. That was... nice. Steve stared out at the empty road.
"...I think maybe..." He rolled the sentence around for a second. "...maybe we just weren't supposed to."
He expected that to hurt more. Instead… It mostly just made him tired. "I don't think either of us was happy by the end."
Darcy looked over then. "...Probably not."
Steve nodded slowly. "I still care about her, I probably always will. But..." He let out a breath. "I think that's different."
The words surprised him. He hadn't known he believed them until he'd said them.
Darcy smiled gently. "I think it is too."
Silence again. She picked at the paper around her straw. "...I don't really know what's gonna happen with Billy."
Steve's eyes shifted to her. "I mean, I can't exactly pretend tonight didn't happen."
Her thumb worried the edge of the cup.
"I don't know if he'll apologise, I don't know if he'll pretend it never happened, I don't know if he'll..."
She stopped herself. Steve noticed. "...If he'll what?"
She shrugged. "...Get worse. I dunno. I'm never on the receiving end of it."
The words hung between them. Steve looked down at the parking lot. At the cracks running through the asphalt.
Steve's eyes flicked to the back seat of the Camaro instinctively. Empty. Right. The kids weren't there anymore.
Max had lived with him for months. Jesus. He looked back at the asphalt.
"Does he..." The question caught. "...Has he ever..."
He didn't finish it. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.
Darcy simply shakes her head. "No."
Steve doesn't fully believe her. Not because he thinks she's lying. Because she's already admitted she'd spent years convincing herself Billy "wasn't that bad."
"...Maybe." He chose his next words carefully. "...Maybe he’ll get better."
Steve didn't actually believe that. Not really. But he didn't know what else to say.
She swallowed.
"I don't really have anyone to..." She gestured vaguely. "...Talk to about it. Max needs me more than I need her, and my friends think he's just..." She waved a hand. "...A jerk."
Steve nodded. He understood that. People saw Billy being an asshole. Steve had seen Billy trying to cave his skull in.
Different things.
He reached into his jacket pocket. His fingers brushed against something plastic. The pen.
Right. He'd absentmindedly stolen it from the counter while signing the receipt. A shoplifting habit he’d picked up from hanging out with Carol and Tommy too much.
"...Hang on."
Darcy frowned. "What?"
Instead of answering, Steve took her slushie cup.
"Hey—"
He uncapped the pen with his teeth.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm ruining your cup."
"Steve."
He turned the cup sideways and scribbled across the blank white section near the bottom. His handwriting slanted all over the place. Not pretty. Readable.
He handed it back. Darcy blinked. Written in blue ink beside a smiley face was a phone number.
She looked up. Steve shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.
"If..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "If he ever..."
God. Why was this harder than fighting monsters?
"If you ever need somewhere to go. or..." He looked away. "...Someone to call, call me."
She stared at the number for a long second. "You sure?"
"I mean..." He smiled. "I'd rather you wake me up at three in the morning than deal with something like that by yourself."
She looked back down at the cup. Her thumb traced over the ink carefully, making sure it didn't smudge.
"...Okay." Quietly. "...Thank you."
Steve nodded once. "No problem."
She took his slushie cup and did the same. “If you ever need someone to call too.”
Steve looked down at the cup. Her handwriting was annoyingly neat. Tiny. Every number lined up perfectly.
Show-off.
He turned the cup slightly in his hands. He'd probably throw it away soon. Or maybe not. He can keep it until he gets home in case the ink rubbed off.
Yeah.
That was the reason.
Neither of them said anything else. They didn't need to. Cars hissed past on the distant highway. Their slushies continued melting between them, forgotten for a little while as the night settled.
(series) Masterlist
taglist: @strangegirl26sff @kurtsw7rld96 @mhayes777
A/N: Aaah! sorry if you got tagged and already saw this! I'm literally such an idiot and I keep on forgetting. LMK if u wanna get tagged!
