Break and Mend | "Lost and Found" Sequel

Chapter Twelve: Rug Bug

A/N: No worries, next chapter has plenty of Doc ❤️

Warnings: death/dying, implications of abuse, mentions of murder

Word Count: 5149

The winter brought snow, the spring brought rain, and the summer brought bright, photosynthesizing flowers. Once again, to complete and start the cycle again, autumn brought leaves to the train tracks. Only in this cycle, it wasn't walked by the Party who were in search of a gate portaling to another dimension entrapping their friend.

This year, they were walked by Dustin Henderson and Steve Harrington, the two wearing yellow rubber gloves on their hands that threw the cubed meat they shoveled from the buckets they carried. Following them was the trail along the tracks they had created with the meat.

"Alright, so let me get this straight," Steve spoke a few paces behind Dustin. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?"

Dustin threw some meat onto the tracks as he answered, "Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things."

"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?"

"An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome." He smiled proudly.

"Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I... I just..." Steve silently sighed. "I don't know. I just feel like you're trying too hard."

"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?"

"It's not about the hair, man," He shrugged. "The key with girls is just... just acting like you don't care."

The young boy glanced over at his teen companion who had now fallen into step beside him. "Even if you do?"

"Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts."

"Then what?"

"You just wait until, uh..." Steve turned to throw some meat behind him and then turned back to Dustin. "...until you feel it." He nudged him.

"Feel what?"

"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh..." He hummed in thought. "...electricity, you know?"

Dustin nodded in what he thought was understanding. "Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-"

"No, no, no, no, no. Like a... Like a sexual electricity."

He tilted his head up in a half-nod. "Oh."

"You feel that and then you make your move."

There was a pause of thought before Dustin asked, "So, that's when you kiss her?"

Steve waved his arm out as if to stop him. "No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo."

"Sorry..."

"Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a... I don't know, like a lion."

Dustin hummed in understanding.

"But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a... like a ninja."

"What type is Nancy?"

A small smile graced Steve's face as he thought of the girl he had fallen for. "Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls."

"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess," Dustin sighed, his mind moving back to a time when his heart had pounded a little faster for a certain sweet, selfless, sarcastic, roller-skating genius. "It's probably a Wheeler thing. Doc's like that, too."