To Catch a Falling Star (Steve Harrington)

(1.8) Hopper

Steve wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, and his calmness made me calm, so it was actually a pleasant meal. He talked at me about the people around us, and I asked (as best as I could) about the place we were in and the 'school' that he talked about. Steve made me feel comfortable with everything he did. I didn't feel odd or out of place, I just felt like me, which was the best feeling. I never wanted to stop being me. I never wanted to stop being me with him.

After we ate our food, Steve order something else, called a 'milk-shaky.' I didn't know what that was, but he said the word 'Chocolate' in front of it, which meant that I would like it. And I was right, I did. It was like the Ice Cream, but not as much as a solid. I'm not really sure what went next, but someone walked up to the table and said something to Steve, and Steve handed them paper, and then stood up to leave.

I was confused to say the least, but I didn't question it when Steve grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the food place. I didn't know what the paper was, I didn't know why Steve gave them some, I didn't know a lot, and I didn't really feel like asking. We got back into his car and just as he pulled away something hit me, well not actually, but it felt like it.

I saw a boy, in a silver room, he was laying there, I think he was suppose to be dead, but that was never alive. It was the same boy from the Inbetween, and I didn't feel him fade so I knew he wasn't dead, but someone was going through a lot of trouble to make it look like he was dead. A man stood over the body in the silver room, a knife poised over the body, he struggle to, but in the end still did stab the body. He cried as he did, and I did not know why, but when he pulled cotton out of the boy he looked satisfied and left the room in a hurry. I was thrown back into me, with Steve calling my name and shaking my shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" Steve's voice cracked as he spoke, and his eyes went from between me and the road many times. "Are you okay Zero?"

I nodded, rubbing my eyes with the palm of my left hand, a dull ache echoed through my body my shoulder wasn't appreciating the constant movement of the car and I was beginning to feel it. I didn't know what to do, my body was so tired, and my mind was falling asleep. The sleep in the trees did nothing to help, and now I could barely keep my eyes open as Steve drove.

"Whoa, whoa, hey don't fall asleep on me." He shook my shoulder, which startled me just enough to wake up. "You can't fall asleep because you were just asleep, and if you fall asleep now, it could be bad. So don't fall asleep."

He kept a steady pat on my arm which kept me awake throughout the drive, the tires screeched to a stop outside of his house and Steve was quick to get out of the car. His door slamming startled me, and I tipped over when he opened my car door. Steve caught me easily, wrapping his arms under my shoulder and knees and carrying me into the house. My head rolled around o the side, my vision blurry as I tried to concentrate on what was around me.

Steve shoved stuff off the counter top, and laid me down on top of it, propping my head up with his jacket. His hands worked quickly as he removed the jacket I was wearing, a hiss left my mouth when his hand pressed onto my shoulder. When he pulled it away it came off red.

"Shit shit shit shit shit." He tried to lift the shirt off of me, but it was too difficult with me laying down and nearly passed out. He grabbed scissors, and cut the shirt off looking terrified as he did. "Shit!"

He moved quickly, grabbing a towel from a drawer and pressing it into my shoulder, my wings dug into the counter top but that was the least of my concern. It hurt, but it didn't hurt any worse than my shoulder.

"I can't do this alone Zero, I need to get help." His voice was shaking as he spoke, or maybe I just heard it as shaking, I couldn't really think about his words everything was so tired. I held out my hand to him, and tried to tell him about the man in my dream. I drew a circle in the air and put touched his head. "A hat?" I nodded.

"A man in a hat?" He sounded like he didn't believe me, so I kept going, pointing my pointer finger at him and putting my thumb up. I put it to my side, and did that a couple of times. "A gun?"

He thought about it for a minute before making a noise of understanding. He ran away from me, and I could hear him talking to someone, but everything was going in and out, the only constant thing was the constant pain from my shoulder. When he came back it was like everything he said was put on silence, I could see him moving his mouth, and I know that he was talking to me, but I couldn't hear it anymore.

Steve kept pressure on the top of my arm, leaving multiple times only to return empty handed. I think I fell asleep, or something because when I opened my eyes again there was someone else in the room. It was a large man, and in my haze I panicked I tried to pull away from him and nearly fell off the counter top. Steve's face appeared and I calmed.

"This is Hopper, is this the one you were talking about?" Steve's voice was quiet as he spoke, and I slowly turned my head the other way looking at the man. He was the same from my vision, and I nodded, relaxing on the table. "Great. Hopper, this is Zero. I'll explain everything later, but right now he needs your help."

The man called Hopper started to say something, but Steve acted fast, pulling up the towel and exposing my shoulder to the man. He look disgusted, and like he was going to vomit, but stopped himself. His eyes flit to my wings, and I became aware of the fact that they weren't normal, but he didn't comment on them, so I didn't worry.

"Jesus Christ kid," He leaned forward looking closely at the bite mark before looking up at Steve. "You got a first aid kit?"