Always Be There For You ~ Dustin Henderson x Reader

Chapter 7: The Bathtub

After the incident with Troy, I went straight home. I just needed some time alone. I couldn't stop thinking about that moment, the looks in all of their eyes, the feeling of the wind rushing through my hair as I plummeted down the cliff, the warmth of Dustin's arms- I just needed to stop thinking about it.

    I was the only one home, so I sat on the couch and flicked through TV channels. I wrapped up in a blanket, I pulled it as tightly against my body as I could. I found a good show, Bob Ross.

    After a few minutes of watching Bob Ross calmly paint some happy little trees, I heard the front door slam and saw Steve enter. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, he looked like he had gotten the shit beat out of him. Normally, I would've given him some sort of snarky comment, but I didn't feel up to it today. Steve noticed.

    "What's wrong?" He asked. I stayed quiet.

    "Did something happen?" I kept quiet, "Whose ass do I need to kick? Is it that Troy kid again?" I winced at the sound of his name. Tears began to well up in my eyes. Steve sat down next to me and looked me in the eyes.

    "If you tell me what happened to you, I'll tell you what happened to me," He bargained, gesturing towards the cuts on his face. I nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from my eyes.

    "Mike, Dustin, and I were wandering around on our bikes, doing normal kid things. Then, Troy and James found us near the quarry. He was super mad at me because I threatened him after he said some shit about Will and I made him piss his pants out of fear in front of the whole school-"

    "That's awesome!" Steve cheered. I sighed and nodded.

    "Those idiots chased us down and put knives to Dustin and Mike's throats. A-and then-" A lump formed in my throat, I took a deep breath, and continued, "He told me to strip or they would cut up Dustin and Mike's faces. I didn't want them to get hurt, if I stripped it would just be a little bruised ego for me and no pain for them, right?" Steve's eyes widened and he got a look that was 30% sympathetic and 70% fury.

    "Then Troy told me to jump in the quarry. I almost did, I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. All of a sudden this super cool girl showed up and beat the shit out of Troy. They ran off and we all survived." I finished the story, and Steve wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big hug. Steve always gave amazing hugs.

    "Your turn," I ordered as we broke away from the hug.

    "Tommy and Carol spray painted some really mean shit about Nancy Wheeler on the sign of a movie theater. I thought she was cheating on me with Jonathan Byers-"

    "Really?" I interrupted, "Jonathan is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and Nancy isn't the type of person to go sleeping around."

    "Well, yeah, I guess you're right..." Steve conceded, "But, once Jonathan and Nancy saw what Tommy wrote, they were pissed. I said some things I'm not proud of, and Jonathan went apeshit. He beat the shit out of me and I managed to get away before the cops could arrest me."

    "Steve, you gotta make amends," I told him.

    "How?"

    "Is that graffiti still up on the movie theater's sign?"

    "Yeah, I think so..."

    "You can start by removing that. Then you can go over to Jonathan and Nancy's homes and apologize." Steve nodded in agreement.

    "So go, go apologize!" I shouted. Steve quickly got up from the couch and headed for the door.

    "Wait!" He stopped, "Take me with you, drop me off at Mike's on the way to the theater."