Into Every Stranger Generation

Chapter 23

 Becca ran. She ran until she felt like her lungs would explode and her heart would burst from the strain. She ran until her muscles felt like they were on fire. She ran until her legs felt like they were going to give out from underneath her. She ran as if she could outrun his words, outrun that moment. She ran as if her very life depended on it.

Her body rebelled against her and she collapsed to the ground, her knees hitting hard, but she barely registered the pain. Her stomach rolled and she lurched, losing all of the pizza she had eaten earlier that night. Sitting back, she gasped, the devastation ripping her heart in two as tears began streaming down her face.

This was ridiculous. She had known him for a mere breath of time. Him rejecting her should not have her incapable of functioning. She needed to get off her ass and walk to the motel. She didn't want to interrupt Robin and Ivy's night together, but she knew they would understand. She would try to get some sleep and then they would all go over there tomorrow and sort out their plan. Then they could storm into the Upside Down, slaughter these fucked up fiends and she could head back to Toledo. She could go back to her normal life, maybe finally ask Sam out for a date, and never think about Eddie Munson again.

Even as she thought it, she knew she was kidding herself. Eddie would be imprinted on her like a tattoo on her skin, a memory that would never fade from her brain, a handprint left on her very soul for the rest of her life. He would haunt her for the rest of her days. That man had ruined her for any other man that might be out there.

Shit! There was no point in this. He didn't want her. He had just been horny, left too long without getting his rocks off. She had provided him carnal relief and that was it. He'd said it himself. She could have been anyone with boobs and a vagina walking through that door. Becca wasn't anything special to him, just a means to an end.

"Becca? What the hell are you doing?"

She had been so lost in her pathetic thoughts that she had missed the sound of a car approaching. It was unlike her to be caught unaware. She fought to focus her eyes through the haze of despair she was battling.

"Becca! Jesus, are you okay?"

Two arms slid under her own, lifting her up from the ground. She staggered on her feet and those same arms slid around her waist, holding her up. Becca melted against the warmth, desperate for comfort.

"It's alright, I got you," the voice assured her soothingly. "Come on."

She slid into the passenger seat of the car, the familiar scent of amber with just a bit of citrus hit her nose and she knew who her rescuer was. Becca almost laughed, but she couldn't find it inside her. Of course Steve found her. He was the reason that all of this had happened to begin with. Wouldn't Eddie be so amused to see Steve carrying her to his car, the two of them driving off?

Steve slid into the driver's seat, starting the car and the sound of Corey Hart singing about sunglasses at night filled the space. He pulled away, taking her further away from Eddie with every rotation of the tires. Becca felt like she could breathe a little easier the more space there was between them.

"So, where am I taking you?" Steve asked. "Are you going back to Eddie's?"

Becca shook her head, sinking down in the seat. She pressed her forehead against the window, watching as the trees whizzed past, the streetlights illuminating everything before vanishing again.

"Okay..." he said, "the motel?"

"No," she finally answered. "Robin and Ivy are having a night together. I don't want to ruin it."

Steve puffed up his cheeks with air before slowly releasing it as he tried to think of what to do.

"Right, okay, I guess you're staying at my place then," he stated.