Billy's gone.
Ruby Buckley's world ended with him.
But Hawkins isn't done with her yet.
When strange deaths begin again, Ruby is pulled into the heart of the storm. Between shadowy nightmares, the town's newest outcast, and someone she was never s...
( songs for the chapter ) take my breath away // berlin dancing in the dark // bruce springsteen
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For a second, no one moved.
Steve's eyes flicked from Dustin to Ruby, and stayed there.
She was standing in the middle of the driveway, barefoot, hair a tangled mess, wearing nothing but her bra and underwear, halfway through tugging Eddie's Hellfire shirt over her head.
The light caught on the bruises that lined her collarbone, hickeys, teeth marks. His stomach flipped.
Jesus Christ.
Dustin blinked. "Why do you look like you got attacked by a vampire?"
"God, Dustin, you're so innocent it hurts," Max said flatly, leaning against the car door.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he shot back, eyes narrowing as his brain tried to connect dots it clearly didn't want to connect.
And then Eddie came barreling out of the house, still barefoot, hair wild, jeans half-zipped, shirtless. He nearly crashed into Ruby.
"Oh, shit," he muttered, freezing mid-step.
"Yup," Ruby said, popping the 'p.'
Eddie glanced at her, then at the horrified group. "Guess we missed our window for subtlety, huh, princess?" he murmured, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Ruby bit back a laugh. "Just a bit."
Dustin's eyes went wide. "Wait- ew. No. No, no, no. Did you two-? Eddie! Dude! What the hell, man?"
"Jesus, Henderson," Eddie groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Do we really have to do this right now?"
"Oh my god," Dustin gagged, clutching his head like it hurt to think about. "You couldn't, like, not for one day? One apocalypse?"
"Dustin," Ruby snapped, voice sharp but not cruel. "This is absolutely none of your business." She tugged the shirt down over her stomach, sighing. "And if we're done humiliating me in the driveway, we should probably get inside before someone sees Eddie and calls the damn cops."
Steve still hadn't said a word.
He'd already put it together, the shirt, the way they looked at each other, the faint pink blush still coloring her skin. His stomach twisted. He knew he had no right to feel anything about it, not really, but that didn't stop the quiet sting in his chest.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah. She's right." His voice came out tighter than he intended. "We've got bigger things to deal with."
He closed the car door and shrugged off his jacket, stepping closer. Without saying anything, he placed it gently over Ruby's shoulders.
