FREAK ; steve harrington

2.9

Rose sipped on the tea Jean had made for her. She could stop barely speak above a raspy whisper. Steve sat beside her on the couch while Jean and Hopper sitting in the chairs.

"We have to tell the lab." Jim sighed rubbing his beard. Roses eyes widened as did Steve's.

"What?" She rasped out. She leaned forward setting her mug on the coffee table.

"It was apart of the deal, Will does the same thing. He goes and gets checked out, he was only there for 2 weeks. You were there for a year. Sam - the doctor - he's a good man. He's nothing like Brenner. They can try and help to-" Rose stood up from the couch, her face clear of anger.

"No. You can not seriously be considering this?" She exclaimed staring at the man, her eyes narrowed. She didnt want to believe he'd do that to her. Jean sighed looking back at the cheif.

"Hop, I don't think that's a good idea..." Jim studies the girl, clenching his hat in his hands.

"No lab. I got out. I'm not going back in just because I'm getting visions. I've always got them. I always get out."

"But what if you don't, Rose. You were in there for eight minutes. It could be twenty next time. Will is in there for ten seconds and he's terrified. He's not happy about going to the lab but he does it, he talks to them, let's them run them tests. They cant take you back, they have no interest in doing so. All they are doing is keeping the gate under control. You and Will and just...loosends." Her face falls, she begins to smile then laugh manically.

"Loosends?" She laughs, but Steve could see it was just a front to cover up what was beneath. "You can go tell them, to go to hell. And leave me out of whatever they are doing. If they want to study Upside Down, that's fine. But I'm done being a lab rat." She storms off into her room slamming the door.

Jim sighs leaning forward and pulling at his hair. Jean lays a hand on his back.

"You could have done that nicer Hop." She whispers to him. Jim chews on his lip leaning back into the chair, Jeans hand falling.

"Sam needs to see her. He's been asking about her since he took over. He has theories about her, if I tell him about this he'll only want to take a look at her more." Sam has been pressuring Hopper to bring in Rose for months. Sam is worried about the connection Rose may have to the Upside Down.

"I should go." Steve stands up, wipping his hands on his sweat pants. Jean smiles and thanks him for the help. He walks to the girls room door knocking on it.

"I've died, come back later." He smiles opening the door and walking into the room.

He sees the small stack of books, the small amount of clothes strewn about the floor. Drawings, and paintings hung on the wall, ones Rose probably did. A desk is in the corner with a white candle on it. Her bed has a bed side table on it that she put her Walkman and a book. Her closet is slightly open, the band posters hung crooked on the wood.

Rose is drawing on her bed. Her hair pulled is braided, falling down her back. She looks up, noticing its him then looking back at her dark drawing. Steve sits on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly behind her to see the drawing.

Its a house, with two dark shaded objects blocking two sections of the house. The shades things do up into the sky before they show the creature that they are connected to.

"Is this what you saw?" He asks quietly. She continues to draw the head that goes into a point. He takes her silence as an answer. "Have you seen it before?"

"Twice. Both times it was just-watching. But tonight it-it tried to do something to me. I held it at bay but, I don't know if it'll work again. There's somebting different about it though...." She trails off, continuing to sketch, ignoring the warmth radiating off Steve hitting her back.

"What different?" Hs asks, looking at her side profile. He sees the lights bags under her eyes, and the freckles that are so light you can only see them when you are this close.

"The power. Its strong, but I-I dunno..." She shakes her head dismissing it. She over around Steve to the clock on her nightstand. "You should go, its late. Nancy is probably wondering where you are." Steve clears his throat sitting back up and off the bed. He stands beside the door, his hand on the knob.

"I know my opinion won't change your mind but, you should go see the doctor. He can help, if not he can just tell you that you're crazy and get you locked up where you belong." She smiled, while staring down at the paper.

"Bye Harrington." She sang, lifting her eyes to watch him leave.

"Bye Red." He shuts the door and she can hear the front door squeak close. She sighs, licking her lips and looking back down at her drawing.

The dark figure seems to stare at her through the page.

She shuts her book putting it on her nightstand. She shuts off the light laying on her back as she stares at the ceiling. She's met with silence.

That silence quickly ends when someone knocks on her door.

"Come in." She sighs out. She looks over seeing Jim walk in. There's a little light coming in from the window.

"Do you want me to tell her about this?"

"No, it'll only make her worry. How is she?" Jim smiles as he thinks about the young girl.

"Bored, she wants you to come over more."

"I'll come over tomorrow." Jim pats her knee standing up and going back toward the door.

"I'll go." She states, he pauses unsure of what she's talking about. "To the lab, just once. And I want to go with Will." He nods, patting his hand on the wall as a goodbye before shutting her door softly.

Rose rolls onto her side. She shuts her eyes and feels her exhaustion take her over.

---

Steve walks back into his house. He shuts the door as quietly as he can. The house is dark so when he switches on the light his eyes widen. Nancy is there waiting, a glare evident on her face.

"What happened?" She asks. Steve set his keys in the bowl beside the door walking over to the island other side of Nancy.

"Rose just needed to talk. We lost track of time." He lied, he didn't think Rose would appreciate him telling Nancy what happened without her telling him it was okay. Nancy tilts her head raising a brow.

"Talk?" Steve notices her hesitancy and walks to the other side standing beside her. He takes her face gently in his hands. Her warm skin hitting his cold ones. He leans down connecting their lips.

"Shes a friend, you are my girlfriend." He says when he pulls away. Nancy feels her anger leave her as soon as they kissed. She trusts him. She smiles and lets him take her hand and lead her upstairs.