In The Stars / Steve Harrington 3

Chapter 12

We all jump as we hear something in the hallway. Steve and I break away, and Steve looks at all of us. "Stay here." He says as he walks towards the door. Before he leaves, he grabs a lamp beside Ms. Kelly's door and walks out into the hallway. I quickly round the desk and follow after him.

"I told you to stay put." He wispers to me. "When do I ever listen to you, Harrington?" I ask sarcastically. He sighs, and I see a small smile grace his lips. The others shortly follow out after us, and Steve and I sigh.

We hear another noise, and we all slightly jump. We hear footsteps running towards us, and Steve pushes me behind him and gets ready to swing his lamp. We all scream as Lucas comes running around the corner. "It's me! It's me!" Lucas says out of breath. "Lucas?" Max and Corey ask in unison.

"What's wrong with you, Sinclair!?" Steve yells at Lucas. "I'm sorry." Lucas says. "I could have taken you out with this lamp!" Steve continues to yell at him. "Sorry, guys." Lucas says as he tries to catch his breath. Steve throws his hands up and turns around to look at me.

"I was biking for eight miles. Give me one second." Lucas says as he tries to get his breathing under control. "Shit. We've got a code red." Lucas says as he finally somewhat catches his breath. "What?" Steve asks, confused. "Dustin, I've been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they've gone like totally off the rails. They're trying to capture Eddie, and they think you know where he is. You're in terrible danger." Lucas explains to Dustin. "Alright, yeah, that definitely sucks but we've got bigger problems than Jason right now." Dustin says, and everyone turns to look at me.

"Alright, let's regroup at the Wheeler's and try to come up with a plan." Corey suggests. We all nod and walk towards the exit. Steve and I walk beside each other, and our hands brush together. I look up at him to see him already looking down at me. I smile and quickly look back down to hide the blush spreading across my face. We leave the school, and Corey, Robin, Nancy, and Lucas all go to the Wheeler's car while Max, Dustin, Steve, and I go to Steve's car. I get in the passenger seat and grab my Walkman. I start listening to 'Fade To Black' by Metallica while Steve cranks his car and drives us to the Wheeler's.

By the time we get to the Wheeler's, it's already morning. Steve and Nancy park their cars, and we all get out and go into the Wheeler's basement. "Hey Nancy, do you have some paper and envelopes?" I ask. "Yeah, let me go get them." She says, and I nod and sit down at the small table in the corner of the basement. Nancy returns with the paper and envelopes, and I grab a pen off the table. I sigh and start writing letters to Lucas, Dustin, Robin, Corey, Mike, El, Joyce, Will, Eddie, Max, my family, and Steve.

I turn around as Nancy, Corey, and Robin come downstairs. Corey offers me a small smile, and I smile in return. I go back to writing, and I turn around again as Nancy, Robin, and Corey go upstairs. I start writing my letter to Billy, and I start to cry silently while writing the letter. I get finished with all the letters and I place them in their respective envelopes.

"I know you guys are staring at me." I say to the boys and Max as I slightly turn my hear to the side. They all try to come up with excuses, and I shake my head. "Why do you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna? I don't know." I say as I gather all of the envelopes and stand up. I walk towards them and sigh as they don't look at me. "You can look at me now." I say, and they all apologize.

"For you." I say as I hand Dustin the envelope with his letter in it. He takes it and gives me a confused look. "For you." I say as I hand Lucas his envelope. "For you." I say as I hand Max her letter. "And for you." I say as I give Steve his letter. "Oh, and give these to Mike, El, Will, Joyce, Corey, Eddie, and Robin." I say as I hand Steve seven more envelopes. He takes them and gives me a questioning look. "Don't open it now." I say quickly as I see Dustin start to open his envelope. "Okay." He says and closes his envelope.

"I'm sorry, what is this?" Max asks, confused. "It's um, it's a failsafe. For after, if things- if they don't work out." I explain. "Wait, woah, Bells, things are gonna work out." Steve says. "No! No, I don't need you to reassure me right now and tell me that it's all gonna work out because people have been telling me that my entire life, and it's almost never true. It's never true. Well, I mean, of course, this asshole curses me. I should've seen that one coming." I say as tears stream down my face.

I sigh and look over at the table in the center of the Wheeler's basement. I see Dustin's walkie-talkie, and I walk over and grab it. "If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?" I ask Dustin. "Of course, yeah." Dustin says. "Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?" Steve asks, confused. I stare at him, and his eyes widen in realization. "No, no, no!" Steve says, and I roll my eyes. I walk out of the Wheeler's basement and towards Steve's car as the boys and Max follow behind me.

"Bells, Bells, seriously, seriously, I'm not joking, okay? I'm not driving you anywhere." Steve says, and I groan in annoyance. "Steve if you think that I'm going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike and Nancy Wheeler's basement then you're out of your mind so either take me where I need to go or you're gonna have to tie me down which is technically kidnapping and if I live to see another day Steve I swear to god I will prosecute." I say as I finally reach Steve's car. I try to open the door, but it's locked, and I send a glare to Steve. "Open the door." I say as I put my hand on my hip. "Uh, no." Steve says with a shake of his head. "I know a good lawyer, Steven." I say with a glare. "Did you just?" He asks, and I continue to glare at him. He sighs and takes his keys out of his pocket.

"Henderson, that super walkie of yours, it better reach Pennhurst." Steve says, and I smile as he unlocks the door. I open the passenger side door as the kids get in the back seat, and Steve gets in the driver's seat. I turn around as I hear the clock. It chimes four times, and my eyes widen each time it chimes. "Bells, let's go!" Steve says, and I get in his car. He starts his car and we drive to the trailer park.