Black Beauty- Steve HarringtonxOC

Chapter 14

"Let's go."

Steve doesn't dawdle when Hopper waves them in. Filly writhes with each wail that escapes her. The party swarms into the truckbed, so he hops in the passenger's seat and guides Filly into his lap just in time before the Bronco takes off.

The ride is quiet save for heavy breathing and gentle sobs which he rubs her back through.

"Shhhhh," he soothes, not knowing if she hears him. He can only provide comfort for now, rubbing the space between her shoulder blades in the hope of easing her pain. None of them knew what she saw, but when she pushed off from the wire gate, Steve caught her before she could fall to the pavement. The screams she let out were raw, as though torn from her throat. Her reaction had startled him into action, pulling Filly and the others out of the way when John's car sped by. She presses her face to his neck where he can feel her screwed-shut eyes leak warm droplets onto his skin. "It'll be okay."

Fortunately, her sobs had stopped, but only because she had nodded off. He couldn't blame her for it. The stress of the day was enough to weigh on all of them, but whatever she saw was something worse than that.

This is exactly why he doesn't wake her when the truck stops in front of the Byers' home. That's when Hopper tells them what happened in Hawkins Lab, what Filly witnessed. "It got Bob."

"Hey." Steve looks over to find Nancy genuinely talking to him. That's surprising to him these days. It had been a while since she even looked at him. "What you did, um, helping the kids and Filly. That was really cool."

He switches his eyes between her and the dark cloth he's hanging in the shed. "Yeah. Those little shits are real trouble, you know?" Steve climbs up the ladder and uses the staple gun to secure the cloth.

"Believe me, I know," Nancy says, laughing and looking down. She expects him to stop there, but he doesn't.

"But, that girl..." Steve shakes his head, not able to pin her down. He can't keep the warm smile off his face. There are stars in his eyes and his cheeks are flush. "She's something else. Filly helped us out more than anything."

Nancy is quietly pensive. She is losing him, they both know it. Does she even care? Steve isn't sure if he does anymore.

They'd figured out what Will was saying. The Morse code he's tapping says "Close Gate," but in the process of learning this, they exposed themselves. The phone rang inside the house and Will heard it even from out in the shed. He knew where they were. The adults filed in with Will wrapped up in a blanket, Jonathan and Mike following them.

Doors slam. Windows rattle. "Hey. Hey, get away from the windows," Hopper orders Max, Lucas, and Mike who stare out of them. "Do you know how to use this?" He asks, holding a rifle out to Johnathan. Steve thinks it's the things they fought in the junkyard, he's not sure how but he knows it's something big. He has to go get Filly. There is strength in numbers after all, and she'll be the most vulnerable by herself.

He snatches his baseball bat before going to grab her off of Joyce's bed. Opening the door, he takes a mental snapshot of her curves under the white sheets. Her hair is splayed out around her. He's a seventeen-year-old boy, how can he not add that picture to his spank bank? He runs up to her, shaking off the image for now as well as shaking her shoulder. "Come on. Wake up, Fil."

Pools of blood litter the hallway, coating the off-white linoleum. It sticks to her feet, leaving marks in her wake. Every door leads to the same room.

"Help! Please! Steve" Filly yells again, bare feet coming to a stop as she tries another door. It bears the same four walls to her, six stripes of color running the width of each one. She can't find a way out this time. Somewhere, her brain recognizes this as a dream. She didn't know Steve when she was held captive. Nevertheless, she calls again for her friends. "Steve! Dustin!"