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rolling up the sleeves of nancy's coat, i handed billy his jacket back.
i then tied my hair up in a tight ponytail, securing the scrunchy in place.
"what happens when we find dart?" i asked, weary of what the reply would be.
"we do what we have to do," mike said, making dustin wince. i had a feeling dart wasn't some monster to dustin.
locking eyes with him, i gave him the warmest smile i could muster. he gave a small smile back before continuing with the serious conversation.
"i thought nothing happened in small towns," i thought aloud, making everyone in the car look at me. even billy caught my eyes in his rearview mirror.
and that's when the whole story was told to me. about eleven, will, the upside down, the demogorgon, dart, everything. by the end, i was leaning on my knees, trying to keep deep breathing.
"how do you guys handle it?" i asked, unshed tears clouding my vision.
"we stick together," mike said, looking at each of his friends. "and we make it through."
nodding, i took one last deep breath before sitting back up in my seat. if those kids could handle it, so could i.
billy pulled up to the woods and turned off the car. then we just sat in silence. it didn't look so bad in daylight but i knew what was in there— what was lurking. thinking about what i had seen and what i had been told, my breathing started picking up again.
seriously, how did those kids handle it all?
walking into the forest, i knew that i had to handle all of this. that was what came with hawkins; it was a package deal. sure, not the best package deal but a package deal nonetheless.
we hiked for hours, walking up and walking down the terrain. yet, none of us complained. we were focused on finding dart and dustin.
finally, we reached a high plane in the woods which seemed to be used as a trash dump. metal scraps laid around along with an entire school bus.
walking up the hill to the bus, my foot slipped, causing me to fall backwards.
"shit, betty," i heard someone say behind me as they caught me by my waist. i could feel my face heat up because i knew it was billy.
his arms wrapped around me, holding me up like a rag doll. he picked me up and planted me on my feet, only to turn me to face him.
i let out a breath of anxiousness and didn't dare look into his eyes. i kept my gaze on his steel toed boots, like the first time i had met him. back when i was just a wandering ghost.
i felt his breath on my ear as he leaned closer to me. i could smell the smoke of the cigarettes, the cologne, him.
"if anything happens, you take max and run. don't you dare try to be the hero," he whispered in my ear, his lips grazing slightly. billy's hands were still on my waist which i think is the only reason i hadn't fallen down yet with my weakened knees.
nodding, i looked up to meet his eyes.
"i promise," i said, "and same goes for you, billy hargrove."
he smirked before leading us the rest of the way to the bus.
that's when i saw pretty hair.
"steve?" billy and i asked in unison.
steve whipped around, his gaze settling on billy.
i had a feeling maybe they weren't the best of friends. but the punch steve threw definitely confirmed that.
———————
steve is so attractive. like can i get an amen?
i just went to take a shower and there was a grasshopper in the bathroom. i think i'm going to sue mother nature.
