IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU

𝟣.𝟦

Beverly and Robin sat off to the side, sharing comforting whispers between one another, while the remainder of the group began plotting a way to put an end to the entity that was wreaking havoc on the small girl and the small town. When the group split up and began scavenging around the bodies that were cascaded around the mall, scoping out any weapons they could use, the employees of Scoops, Ahoy! gathered in a small powwow on the edge of the food court. Beverly held Steve's bloodied face in her hands, inspecting the damage, while he took turns with Robin explaining what they had been doing on evening shift, and why they had not shown up to work that day.

The group reconvened once again to go over the plan. Steve would take Dustin, Erica, and Robin to the radio point across town, the adults would go under to complete the mission, and the remainder would make an escape to a safehouse just over the state line. Before Beverly could argue, Steve pulled her aside, away from prying eyes, and talked her out of any thoughts she may have had about joining them.

"Listen," He whispered, placing his sweaty palms on either side of Beverly's jaw. "You're going to get out of here, okay? I don't want you near this, it could get bad." As she shook her head and grabbed his wrists, Steve's thumb stroked the soft skin of her cheek.

"What about Robin?" Beverly asked, her blue eyes flickering over to her best friend, who was watching them closely from across the room.

"She can help us. I'll take care of her, don't worry. I just want you to get away from here. Take the kids, they need you." Steve said calmly, pulling the girl's eyes back to him. "Nance doesn't have a maternal bone in her body, and Jonathan's too worried about Will. You're the best thing for them right now, you can handle the panic, you can keep them sane. I know you can." As he spoke, Beverly nodded slowly, accepting his words. "And when this is all over, we're gonna go out, okay? Somewhere nice, or not nice. Whatever you want, we'll do it."

"Okay." Beverly whispered, nodding once more. "Okay. Be safe."  She continued to whisper. "Keep an eye on her."

"I will." Steve smiled, then slowly pulled away from Beverly, making quick work of collecting his teammates and the car keys provided by the sheriff.

While the man in the white tank top explained his abundance of keys to Jonathan and Nancy, Beverly gathered all of the younger teenagers up, looking over them for any injuries, save for the obvious ones the El had endured. The remaining two adults gathered their respective child and pulled them aside, leaving Beverly with three angsty teenager who seemed to be divided.

"Is everyone okay?" Beverly asked, finding a spot next to Max, whom she had met before, in her relationship with her step-brother. Her hand reached out to pull one of the two braids over the girl's shoulder, giving the girl a better view of Max's face.

"Yeah," Max whispered, letting out a huff and crossing her arms. "It's after El."

"We're gonna get her far away from here, no one is gonna get hurt." Beverly promised, nudging the girl with her shoulder. "No one is gonna hurt any of you, okay? We're gonna be okay."

"I wish you would stop saying that." Mike grumbled. "When we're obviously not okay."

"She's trying to make us feel better, Mike, shut up." Max snapped. The boy huffed and turned around, moving to collect his girlfriend from the sheriff.

Beverly sighed and followed, walking closely behind the two bickering kids as they supported El. She kept a hand on the girl's back, letting her know that if she needed to fall, someone would catch her. They began piling into Nancy's car, neither of the older teenagers acknowledging her presence aside from the initial question at their reunion, but Beverly preferred it that way. From the backseat, Beverly could make out the clicking sound of a stalling engine, which set the girl into a new state of panic, one that was being fed by the obvious questions from the kids beside her and Nancy's shrieks for answers. As the two in the front slid out of the car, Beverly began looking around, making eye contact with each of the kids in the station wagon. Headlights across the parking lot drew all of their attention to the revving car across from them, and the single word from Max's lips sent chills down Beverly's spine.