𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 - 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

36. the crawl

HAWKINS, INDIANA
NOVEMBER 3, 1987

Aubrey and Steve's alarm went off at 6 AM, every day. For almost the last year it had been this way. Most of the time, Aubrey was up and at 'em, ready to go. Not today.

Steve had already showered and shaved while Aubrey was still sawing logs.

He sighed when he stepped back into his room and saw her still wrapped up underneath the sheets, exactly how he left her. It's not that he didn't completely adore the sight, of course he did. But they were gonna be late and Robin was gonna murder them. He climbed back in the bed, snuggling up right behind her, "Hey." Steve wrapped his arms around her, "We gotta go." he lightly shook her.

She slowly blinked her eyes open, squinting at the brightness of the room, she covered her eyes. "Mornin'." Steve snickered, she groaned.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, rolling over to face him.

"Time to go." he told her, kissing her cheek, she scrunched her face, letting out a loud sigh. She rubbed her eyes, sitting up as he let go of her. "Robin's gonna kill us."

"I know, I know." she began to get up, Steve grabbed her hand. She looked back at him, a little confused.

"I'm sure we could spare like... five more minutes?" he smiled up at her.

"Steve, we have to go." she snickered.

"Five more minutes." he begged.

She gave in, climbing back into bed. "Five more minutes." she smiled, kissing him softly, "And when Robin screams at us, you're taking the blame."

"Deal." he chuckled, kissing her again.

WSQK, "THE SQUAWK"

"Good morning, Hawkins! This is WSQK The Squawk!" Robin began her morning monologue after scolding Aubrey and Steve for about fifteen minutes while they set up the broadcast.

Steve hit the rubber chicken, causing it to make a squawking noise. It was more of a harsh squeak. Aubrey covered her mouth, resisting the urge to laugh. "It's looking like a pretty regular day in Hawkins. Take it away for me, Aubrey?"

Aubrey nodded, sharply setting down her cup of coffee, "Fifty-five degrees with a low chance of rain," she spoke into her microphone.

"Along with medium chance of arrest, high chance of helicopters." Robin joked then, "But general banality aside, it's an exciting day for me, your friend, entertainer, and DJ, Robin Buckley... Nice to meet you!" she introduced herself, "AKA, Rockin' Robin." she hit play on a background beat, "And as per usual, I'm joined by my lovely co-host and best friend, Aubrey Hopper." she introduced Aubrey then,

"Hey!" Aubrey smiled.

"And why is it a big day for me, you ask?" Robin looked over at Aubrey softly.

"Do tell, Robin." she replied to her.

"Well, it's our five-hundredth broadcast!" she announced, Aubrey whooping as Robin held up a piece of paper that read "APPLAUSE" to Steve. He switched the applause into the radio, "Yeah, you heard that right, folks. Five-double-O!" she spoke into the microphone as the applause played in the background.

"Which means it's been even longer since you've heard the sultry voice of Jimmy "Fast Hands" Lee," Robin mentions the previous WSQK host. This is where Aubrey sits back and lets Robin's rambles take over. "But while Jimmy was fleeing Hawkins even faster than he moves those hands, yours truly was watching slack-jawed as the earth split open beneath her feet and coughed up that tsunami of mysterious dandruff," she tells.