𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃.
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃.
****
"I destroy everything around me. I care too much about you to let you get hurt."
"Well, I'm not letting you p...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
THE SOUND OF SCREECHING TIRES IS WHAT FINALLY MADE OLIVIA WAKE UP.
She moaned painfully, every part of her body on fire. Her shoulder was white-hot, but her arm had gone completely numb. The venom must have finally taken its toll.
Her arm was dying.
Her eyelids peeled themselves open, her vision blurry. She whimpered, her head pounding, her limbs curled up strangely as though she had been stuffed in a small space.
The was a gurgling, muffled voice a couple feet away from her. "Liv?'
Olivia recognized that voice. Her heart immediately started beating faster, giving her the energy to try to sit up. "Steve?"
A small, thin hand pushed her back down onto their lap, and Olivia groaned in pain, staring up at the person in an attempt to make sense of what was happening. A pale Mike Wheeler looked down at her, his curls lit up by passing street lights. "No, no, don't sit up yet."
Olivia was getting worried now. "Mike? Steve?"
"Liv?" Steve's voice sounded like his mouth was full of cotton. Olivia craned her neck and felt someone's hand brush her thigh. "R'...okay?"
"I think so," she groaned. "You...okay? Whah happen..."
Dustin's eyes went wide. His arms rested against Steve's chest, holding him on his lap as the four of them tried to fit in the back seat. "Guys, she can't remember what happened. That's not good."
"Relax," Mike said irritably. "She's not really awake yet."
Someone's voice spoke from in front of them. "Okay, you're gonna keep straight for a half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai."
Olivia blinked hard and stared at the figure speaking, a small boy with dark skin holding a massive paper map. Lucas.
A little red haired girl nodded from right next to him, her eyes trained in front of her.
The revving engine beneath them made Olivia's eyes widen. Her hand found Steve's as she lifted her head, suddenly realizing they were in a car.
"Who's driving?!" she panicked. "Mike?"
Steve let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a whimper and a shout. "What's going on?" He turned to see Max behind the wheel and started yelling. "Oh, my God!"
"Just relax," Dustin said in what he obviously thought was a soothing voice. "She's driven before."
"Yeah," Mike scoffed as he moved a strand of Olivia's hair off of the bandaids stuff to her temple. "In a parking lot."
Lucas turned around, frowning at his friends. "That counts."
Any other time, Olivia would have smiled at him, at his growth, at how much he cared for Caroline; so much so that he set aside his own interests to stand up for her best friend.
