𝗧𝗘𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗬 [steve harrington]

chapter 46

brainstorming
🎶 nothing new - taylor swift ft. phoebe bridgers

Izzie and Steve went home that night and Izzie was silent. Songs played on the radio and Izzie didn't sing, they drove past dogs and she didn't say 'aww', the moon was full and Izzie didn't make notice and smile. All the little habits that Steve knew were uniquely Izzie were gone from her, except for one. She sat biting her nails. He knew that this was a nervous habit, and never meant anything good. Without even asking, he passed up her house and drove straight to his.

"I'm hungry." Izzie said quietly as they walked into the kitchen. "Do you want to make grilled cheese?"

Steve let out a soft laugh. "Go shower, I'll make them for us." Izzie nodded with a grateful smile, leaning in for a hug before she went upstairs. Steve sighed, placing a kiss on her forehead. He knew this was probably tearing her up inside, even if she would never admit it. "I love you, you know that?"

The blonde smiled before heading upstairs. "I love you too."

Izzie turned the shower on, and she spent awhile staring at the wall. A thousand questions and thoughts and fears bounced around frantically, she still somehow felt like she was in slow motion. Would she and Steve make it out alive this time? Will they be the newest tragedy to strike Hawkins? Will her parents have to bury another eighteen year old child? How ironic. 18, off to Berkeley, bright future, and bam. It's all over.

The circle of life or whatever. It's all just bullshit.

In the kitchen you would find a desperate Steve Harrington, trying his hardest to make a happy memory for them. He turned on the radio and he made Izzie's grilled cheese exactly how she liked it. He didn't even pretend to be annoyed when Izzie walked in wearing one of his shirts. Besides, Izzie knew he was never really annoyed.

When the blonde saw his sloppy smile and the way he stood proudly over a golden-brown sandwich she couldn't help but crack a smile. "Come on, you know no one makes a grilled cheese better than me." Steve smiled.

"I make a better grilled cheese than you." Izzie scoffed.

"Never." Steve replied.

Izzie laughed, walking over to embrace him. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Always."

-

The next day, Dustin had insisted on going to the store and buying for for Eddie while he was in hiding, with Izzie and Steve's money of course. Today, Blair had tagged along. Victorie explained to her that night what was happening, and Blair refused to loose her sister to this too. So, here she was. She told herself she was protecting her sister, but really, what ability did she have to protect her from this?

The group walked into the boat shed with grocery bags as Eddie once again held up that damn glass. "Delivery service." Dustin smiled.

"Courtesy of a broke college kids already struggling credit card." The blonde sassed.

Eddie calmed down and walked over to sit down in the boat as Izzie threw a box of cereal at him. "Thanks blondie." He smiled.

Steve and Izzie stood behind Dustin as he talked to Eddie. "So we have some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?"

"Bad news first, always." He answered with a mouth full of food, making Izzie gag just a little.

"Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our cerebro and they're definitely looking for you. Also they're pretty convinced you killed Chrissy."

"Like 100% kind of convinced." Max added.

"And the good news?" He asked.

"You name hasn't been made public yet." Izzie answered.

"But if we found out about you it's only a matter of time before others do." Robin added. "Once that gets out everyone and their shallow minded mother is gonna be out for you."

"Hunt the freak. Right?" He replied. It was true, Hawkins was far from accepting.

"Exactly." Robin nodded.

"Shit." Eddie muttered.

"Before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence." Dustin explained.

"That plan has so many ways it could go wrong." Izzie huffed.

"That's all, Dustin?" Eddie said sarcastically. "That's all."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." He nodded.

"Listen Eddie. I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a few times and I have once. Mine was more human flesh based and there's was more smoke related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel like we've got this." Robin rambled, trying to explain what the last few years of their lives had looked like.

Steve nodded. "Yes we usually have um, we have this girl with superpowers, but uh, those went bye-bye. So uh-"

"So we're technically in more of uh-" Robin tried to explain.

"Brainstorming phase." Max said.

Steve snapped his fingers as Max put his thoughts into words. "Brainstorming." He nodded.

"Is this true, blondie?" Eddie asked.

"Unfortunately I've been dealing with this shit since junior year." She nodded.

"Yeah, but there's nothing to worry about." Dustin assured.

Blair audibly laughed. When faced with glares from the rest of the group she frowned. "What? There's a lot to worry about! Literally killer inter dimensional monsters."

As the group exchanged awkward glares, sirens could be heard in the distance. "Shit." Steve muttered.

"Tarp." Robin gestured to Eddie. The long haired boy hid in the boat as the rest of the teens rushed over to the window.

Izzie peered out, watching as police, fire, and EMT drove past. "That can't be good."

"You think it has something to do with this?" Blair asked.

"Only one way to find out." Steve said.