𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ twelve.

VALORIE'S LEG SHOOK impatiently as she sat on the chair in Will's hospital room at the Hawkins Lab. She knew that Will was sick, but she didn't know he was that sick. Valorie told Joyce that she would be tagging along with her to the lab when she brought Will and she said that she 'wasn't taking no for an answer' which inevitably made Joyce allow the young, stubborn girl to tag along.

          Mike walked over to Valorie and sat down on a chair beside her, holding out two candy bars in his hand. "Hungry?" He asked and smiled at the visibly upset girl.

          Valorie lifted her head and met Mike's eyes, smiling back at him and nodding. Her eyes drifted down to the candy bars in his hand and she narrowed her eyes as she tried to pick one. She smiled brightly and took the snickers bar from Mike's hand. "Thanks," she said softly and looked back up into his eyes again.

          "No problem," Mike said and settled comfortably in his chair as he looked at Will who was sleeping on the hospital bed. He glanced at Valorie quickly who was quietly eating her candy bar and staring at Will with sad eyes. "I'm glad you're here, Val," he said, causing the blonde girl to look toward him and smile slightly. "I know we haven't always been the nicest to each other, but you're one of my best friends and I'm glad I don't have to do this alone."

          Valorie rested her hand on Mike's arm and nodded. "You're one of my best friends too, Mike," she said and leaned her head on the boy's shoulder. As she watched Will sleep on the bed, she couldn't stop thinking about what her sister had told her about this morning before leaving the house to go with Steve and Dustin. Andrea had said that the three of them were "dealing with Dart once and for all" and quickly explained that he had eaten Mews and molted a couple more times so he was much bigger than the last time Valorie had seen him. The thought of Dart being bigger and stronger made Valorie worried and she hoped that her sister would be okay.

* * * *

Andrea's group had one mission and one mission only: kill Dart and pretend like he didn't even exist. She knew she had been right about killing Dart as soon as her sister and Dustin found it and now she was annoyed that they hadn't listened to her. Andrea also knew that she was the only one in her small group of three who had their head screwed on the right way.

          The two boys were walking behind Andrea holding a bucket of meat each which they tossed on the ground every few feet when they thought they needed more. Andrea has a backpack on her back filled with supplies that Dustin was making her carry and she held her bat in her hand, twirling it around whenever she got bored.

          "Alright, so let me get this straight," Steve began, wanting to break the comfortable silence that had formed between the three. "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?"

          "Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin said, using his hand to gesture out each word he said to add more effect.

          "Just met? You weren't trying to impress Valorie?" Andrea questioned and turned to face the boys, stopping in her tracks as she folded her arms over her chest. "I thought you two had like, a thing?" Dustin shook his head. "Wow."

          "I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve asked, still completely unable to wrap his head around exactly why Dustin had the slug.

          "An inter-dimensional slug? Because it's awesome," Dustin said and smiled as he tossed a few more chunks of meat on the ground.