𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

69

𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐀 𝐏𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇, sheridan settled into the convertible's passenger seat, steve at the wheel. the wind swept her orange, matted hair from her face. feeling the cold air wash over her was downright cathartic; she couldn't help but purse her lips into a quaint smile.

"jesus, how far is this place, man?!" steve quizzed the henderson boy loudly.

"relax! we're almost there," dustin answered. his frustration with steve's lack of patience was evident—and dani knew that feeling all too well. she smiled again, at the bickering boys this time, glancing off to the side in case they were to notice.

"suzie must be pretty special, huh?" robin mentioned. she was sandwiched between dustin and erica, forced to take the backseat both literally and metaphorically. "i mean, if you built this thing and lugged it all the way out to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?" she eyed down the young boy next to her, desperately waiting for a response; she wanted to know everything about this girl, and how dustin could've possibly found her, his supposed soulmate. dani and steve both, of course, felt the same.

"i mean, nobody's scientifically perfect, but suzie's about as close to perfect as any human could possibly be," dustin gushed. both robin and dustin's lips curled into endearing smiles.

"she sounds made up to me!" erica accused. "she sound made up to you two?" the sinclair girl asked as she popped her head between sheridan and steve's respective seats. her eyes flitted between the two as she, as well as dustin and robin, awaited their responses. 

dani knew how she felt: much like erica, she also wasn't entirely convinced this girl was real, or as drop dead gorgeous as dustin made her out to be. she wasn't sure either of them truly knew what love was, but when she thought hard enough about it, her true feelings for steve harrington were realized right around the time she was dustin's age, if not younger. each relationship was individualized; who was sheridan to judge?

steve peeked at dustin in the rearview before focusing his attention back on the road. he sported a look of skepticism while trying to strategically calculate his response. sherrie's eyes landed on steve, her brows raised as she, too, wanted to see what he had to say. "dani? steve?" dustin questioned, before slamming his hands on either of their seats; erica slumped herself back in bewilderment. "why are you hesitating?!"

"i-i-i'm not!" steve protested with an unconvincing stutter. "i'm not! i think she sounds real, y'know; totally, absolutely real." 

"if it were possible for your nose to get any bigger-" dani began to tease, insinuating his untruthfulness, before being cut off by dustin.

"left, turn left," he commanded. sheridan peered out at the road ahead, and in the direction in which dustin instructed them to go. her brows dipped as she noticed the wooden fence lining the asphalt.

"there's not a road here!" steve exclaimed.

"turn left now!" dustin shrieked. 

"jesus," steve sighed hastily as he adjusted his grip on the wheel, "hang on!" he hollered. as he began to crank the steering wheel with his left hand, steve firmly gripped dani's exposed thigh with his right, almost as if he could hold her in place. sherrie curled her arm under steve's, her hand finding a resting spot around his bicep as her other braced against the door. her eyes widened as she watched steve plow the toddfather directly through the rotting wood, narrowly missing an oversized shrub. erica let out a scream as she watched it whizz past her.