within reach | back to you sequel

iii; ice cream & boardgames

THREE

"what the hell was that?" steve spat, desperately trying to wrap his head around why cops were rushing towards them as he looked between the girl in the passengers seat and the road. "what the hell was that?"

"bad men" eleven replied simply, looking down at her lap.

"bad men? cops aren't bad men, now the hell were they coming after you?"

eleven shrugged, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"i can't, I'm--" steve paused, trying to think of a coherent sentence. "i don't think i can just take you to my house, my mom will flip her shit if she found out in let some kid in, especially if shit starts going missing."

eleven fiddled with her fingers, steve's  words muffled as she thought back to seeing mike, whom she had been so close too. he was right there, just a few measly feet away.

"are you listening?"

"No" eleven replied truthfully, looking up at him.

steve sighed, parking the car into his driveway despite his conscious telling him otherwise.

and that cold night, steve led eleven to the bathroom, turned on the water, handed her a clean towel, and waited for her to get clean while he heated up some food for her.

and when she said she wasn't sure what to do in the shower, steve replied with a 'figure it out'. but eventually she stood in the shower, eyes shut as the water ran down her skin.

any other night she would've loved the endless warmth of the water and especially the cherry scent of soap, but after seeing mike, it just wasn't the same.

eleven exited the bathroom, wearing clothes that nancy had left at steve's, who was more than willing to let eleven borrow it.

"you're out, good."

eleven pursed her lips, glancing around the dining room. steve cleared his throat, setting a plate down on the dining table and gesturing for her to take a seat. eleven glanced between him and the plate as the both of them sat down. eleven spared one more look of suspicion at the older boy before beginning to eat hungrily. the meal had been the first decent meal she'd had in days, which to steve was only leftover casserole from the previous night.

steve watched as the girl ate, his arms crossed as he contemplated of how to handle his current situation.

hearing the sound of the telephone ringing, steve stood up and grabbed the phone, bringing it to his ear. "harrington residence"

"what the actual hell, Steve?"

steve winced, "i'm sorry, new number, who is this?"

"don't play dumb with me,"

"no seriously, got a new number--"

"steve"

steve sighed, scratching his neck as he tried to be quick to think of some sort of excuse.