𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 ★ steve harrington²

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 : boyfriends

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 : 5.6k

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𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐍'𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 plodded back up the train tracks. The path in front of them was illuminated only by the light from the boys' flashlights and the moon overhead. The sounds of the demogorgons had faded a while ago, finally giving the group some semblance of safety as they walked through the dark. The kids had even begun to bicker amongst themselves again, verbally processing everything that they had just witnessed.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas double-checked.

"Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt," Dustin insisted. Owen wasn't sure when he had the time to analyze something like that during their experience at the junkyard. She felt like she had been in survival mode from the moment the sun set; the monsters' specific coloring was the last thing on her mind. The memory caused Owen to absent-mindedly tighten her palm around the pipe that was still in her grasp.

"He was tiny two days ago," Max pointed out.

"Well, he's molted three times already," Dustin informed her, his face strangely stoic when Owen peeked over at him. However, she also noticed the confused dip of Steve's brow in her periphery.

"Malted?" Steve asked.

"Molted," Dustin repeated. "Shed his skin to make room for more growth — like hornworms."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Oh, like hornworms," he muttered, sarcastically. His comment was just loud enough to make Owen snort.

"Well, when's he gonna molt again?" Max pressed.

"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown or close to it. And so will his friends," Dustin sighed. Owen definitely didn't like the sound of that. Fighting one full-grown demogorgon was hard enough — the idea of taking on a whole army of them made her heart plummet into her stomach.

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats," Steve grumbled, shining his flashlight into the shadowy woods beside them.

"Wait, a cat?" Lucas echoed, stopping in his tracks. He grabbed hold of Dustin's hoodie, pulling him to a halt as well. "Dart ate a cat?" Owen's wide-eyed stare ping-ponged between the two boys, unsure what the problem was. She assumed that they had resolved everything back at the junkyard.

"No, what? No," Dustin lied, shifting his weight back and forth between his feet.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews," Steve innocently reported. Max's gaze turned towards the older boy. "Mews? Who's Mews?" she questioned. "It's Dustin's cat," he replied, simply.

"Steve!" Dustin cried out, exasperatedly. But the cat was already out of the bag — no pun intended.

"I knew it! You kept him!" Lucas shouted, shoving Dustin out of frustration.

"No! No. No, I... No, I..." Dustin stammered, trying to come up with an excuse. But he swiftly fell short under the scrutiny in Lucas's eyes. "He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Lucas scoffed.

This accusation just sent the three kids into another wave of squabbles, some related to the issue at hand and some not. Whatever the case, Owen and Steve began to zone out, both of them tired of refereeing every conversation the kids had that night.

A tingle at the base of Owen's skull brought her eyes towards the depths of the surrounding forest. She stepped past the arguing kids, doing her best to listen for any signs of danger. Her sudden, unexplained proximity had Steve peering down at her before a distant screech echoed through the trees, drawing his attention elsewhere.