𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE FIVE. bickering and ricks

"have you talked to anyone else?" dustin asked as he stood up, he had to tell someone.

"no. i can't find lucas or nancy and mike's in-" max replied as she followed after dustin, making sure piper was trailing behind.

"california. shit. shit. shit." he soat as he ran for the front door. slamming it open and pushing max out into the street.

"dusty where are you going?" hismother asked, standing up, cradling a kitty in her arms that almost made piper awe. she wanted pets. maybe a dog.

"to see a friend." is all he said.

"you heard the news. it's not safe."

"i'll look after him ms henderson." piper smiled as she patted the boys head. pushing him out the door. the elder woman gave the cheerleader a small smile as she let them go. at least dustin had his older friends.

"love you bye." dustin shouted to his mum as the door shut, the three running to piper's car. she was aimlessly driving, following dustin's shouts from the back. left. right. it was kinda annoying. and it pissed her off. but what pissed her off more was where they stopped. the family video store.

"no." is all piper said as he two kids jumped out, rushing inside as she was forced to follow. slamming the door open.

"fill us in on what?" robin asked and the group turned to look at her. and she never felt so small. standing in the doorway facing her ex boyfriend as she wore his top.

"piper?" steve questioned. immediately running his hands through his hair trying to sort it out. she looked like shit, was it his fault?

"eddie's gone. chrissy's dead." and it was gone, eddie. was she friends with him or something? but he didn't ask, he just watched. watched her watch dustin and max call friends of eddie. they were trying to find him. she was shaking, as if it were cold. before he had to serve customers, flirting with as many ladies as he could. it was like he was trying to prove something, but she still seemed unintrested. arms wrapped around her as her legs swung back and forward on the counter.

"i might have a lead."max butted in, and the three looked up at the girl as she turned to them. putting the phone down.

"apparently eddie gets drugs from some guy named reefer rick. and sometimes he crashes there." max added.

"sounds promising where does reefer rick live?" robin asked, rushing over to the group, leaving the stack of movies on the side for steve.

"see that's the thing, no one knows. he's more of a legend then someone that people actually know."

"what about a last name?"

"i don't know that either."

"bet the cops know the last name. i mean listen, if this reefer rick is actually a drug dealer. i guarantee you he's been busted at some point." steve added as he joined the conversation, leaning on the counter where piper also sat.

"yeah. yeah. no! what the fuck is wrong with you? the cops! are you insane!" she spat looking down at him, his face falling. it had been a while since he talked to her, nevermind their interactions being arguments.

"i think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on." he spoke, trying to make the group reason with him. trying to make him look like he was right, in true steve harrington fashion.

"and what do you know harrington? tell me one thing you know that someone didn't have to spell out for you." she laughed as she spun on the counter, their faces closer than they should be.

"whoa, piper. chill." dustin cried, going to pull the two away but max reached out. knowing better to just let them get on with it, even it hurt her to watch them. she knew piper had every right to act this way. it was only fair. but clearly robin or dustin knew why the two broke up.

"i know that eddie is a freak, he does drugs. and drug mess with peoples minds." he added, face going slightly red as she argued with him. guilt, guilt was spread across his face.

"you think eddie's guilty, don't you?" dustin questioned, hoping to pull the two away from their conversation.

"so you basically know nothing." she laughed, it made him feel small.

"why are you mad at me?" he cried, pushing her back slightly. watching her eyes flicker to sad before it disappeared.

"take a wild fucking guess prick."

"can you two please stop." max cried, ignoring the sting of tears in her eyes, piper looking over her shoulder to the girl and she instantly calmed. stepping back to take her in her arms. max shivering at the cold touch. piper mumbling a sorry as steve and dustin returned to their conversation.

"and anyways, i believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. i just don't think we can rule it out."

"that precisely what we're trying to do here steve."

"and maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girl to replace piper. when you know it's impossible. and more time trying to find eddie."

"dunno, nancy seems like a good bet." the girl spat and the two who didn't know the truth looked confused. what did she mean by that.

"well somebody has to attend to the customers."

"especially if they're babes right?" robin smiled, winking as steve merely shrugged.

"hey. not fair. okay? i attend to all customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. we've got a very big selection here. it can be super overwhelming for people." yet he didn't bother to turn and face the customer as he spotted the punk in the reflection of the mirror wall. not a babe, no need to help. basically contradicting himself.

"yeah it can be." robin replied as if a light bulb flickered on as she pushed dustin out of the way. scrambling to the computer.

"what are you doing?"

"maybe we don't need a last name."

"twelve ricks have accounts here." robin spoke as she logged onto the accounts site. a line of ricks showing on the screen. all the ricks in hawkins.

"lot of ricks."

"so let's narrow it down." and robin start typing away, flicking through the names before finding the one that's most likely to be reefer rick. who they figured lived at lover's lake. how fitting.