Complicated - Steve Harrington

Eight

It had been just a few minutes since Jonathan and Nancy left the other five. Lucas, Dustin, and Max stood in the center of the road, discussing something to do with Will and Mike. Steve and Mia leaned against the yellow, caution poles, not speaking much.

Mia could see the look on Steve's face when he spotted Jonathan and Nancy. She could see the hurt wash over him. She had thought she knew that he was still in love with Nancy. She had convinced herself that his kissing her and their brief holding of hands was nothing more than Steve being confused and mistaking his feelings for his best friend for one of a potential girlfriend's. But there she was. She was hurting because for the millionth time, Steve wasn't in love with her. After years and years of being Steve's best friend, she finally realized she never quite got used to not being the one Steve chose. And it hurt. It hurt like bitch because she had been so close.

Steve was about to start a conversation with Mia. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't decide if he should keep it light or apologize or confess to his feelings for the past five or so years or make a plan.
He ended up not having to make a choice. Instead, two cars began barreling down the road. Mia and Steve grabbed the kids, pulling them out of the way, just as Nancy and Jonathan zipped past them. Then came the chief of police, Hopper. He came to a screeching halt. He yelled at the five to get in the car. Steve threw open the door and usher Dustin, Lucas, and Max inside the car first, then Mia. They piled into the back while Steve and Mia squeezed into the front with Hopper. The chief floored it and they drove off, all arguing and screaming.

Hopper drove until they reached the Byer's house. Nancy and Jonathan had already made it inside with Will and Mike when they arrived. Jonathan sat over an unconscious, sickly Will while Nancy tried to comfort him. Hopper was immediately on the phone, contacting anyone he could for backup. Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Mike sat around the kitchen table, nervously listening to Hopper's aggressive phone call. Steve paced back and forth in the kitchen, doing anything he could to avoid the living room where Nancy and Jonathan sat. Mia looked through the miles and miles of drawn out maps of the tunnels that the demagorgans had created. The map was plastered all around the dimly lit house, making it hard to follow.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" Lucas asked as Hopper hung up the telephone.

"We'll see," Hopper sighed.

"'We'll see?' We can't just wait here and do nothing!" Mike yelled. "Those things are out there!"

"We stay here and we wait for help," Hopper insisted, walking away.

They sat in silence, tapping their fingers on the wooden table. Mia leaned against the counter top next to Steve, feeling helpless. She wanted to help in some way, but she wasn't even sure she knew the full extent of what was going on. Steve didn't seem anymore prepared to come up with a plan, which gave little, but some comfort to the brunette.

"We can't let anyone die in vain," Mike said. "I won't let them. We have to stop these things." No one spoke or backed Mike up, the thirteen year old searches for someone to support him. Mia but her lip.

"What do you want to do?" She asked, bringing to the confidence back to Mike's pale face.

"There's no way we can stop those dema-dogs on our own," Dustin sighed. "If it was just Dart, maybe, but..."

"He has an army now," Luca agreed.

"Precisely," Dustin said.

"His army..." Mia mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked.

"His army," Mike smiled and nodded at Mia. He ran to the table in the living room, picking up a drawing. "We stop him, we can stop his army too."