𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ nineteen.

ANDREA DROPPED HER bat down into the hole and huffed out a sigh - she couldn't believe she was actually doing this. She turned her back to the hole and knelt down, planting her hands securely on the dirt as she lowered her legs down into the hole. "Steve? You're gonna have to grab me before I-" was all she could get out before her hands slipped and she fell back into the hole. She squeezed her eyes shut and winced as she fell into Steve's arms. Andrea opened up her eyes and looked into Steve's wrinkling her nose at his ugly yellow goggles. "Those goggles aren't doing you any favours," she joked and hopped down out of Steve's arms as she adjusted her bandana and goggles.

          "And you think those," he pointed to the goggles on Andrea's face, "are doing you any favours?"

          Andrea rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away. She crouched down and picked up her bat, tapping it against the boy's leg. "Let's get moving," she said and looked at the others. "We need to get this shit done and then get the hell out of these tunnels," she looked around and shivered. "They're starting to freak me out."

          "Yeah, and how disgusting you and Steve are being is starting to freak me out," Dustin said and shivered at the thought of the two kissing again.

          "I'm pretty sure it's this way," Mike called out to the others as he looked at a makeshift map in his hands with the flashlight.

          "You're pretty sure or you're certain?" Dustin asked and glanced at Valorie who was pointing her flashlight around quickly, her eyes darting around with the beam. Dustin slipped his gloved hand into hers and gave it a tight squeeze.

          Valorie turned her head and looked at Dustin, smiling at him underneath her bandana. She knew that Dustin was interested in Max now, but having him close made her feel a thousand times better.

          "I'm one hundred percent sure! Just follow me and you'll know," Mike yelled back at his friend.

          "Woah, woah, woah," Steve said, causing Mike to stop in his tracks and turn to face him. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, I don't think so," he said and stepped over the vines on the ground.

          "What?" Mike asked and furrowed his eyebrows at Steve.

          "Any of you little shits die down here, me and Andrea get the blame. Got it, dipshit?" He asked and snatched the map from Mike's hands. "From here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go." He called out and pointed the flashlight around at everyone standing behind him.

          Andrea gestured for all the kids to go ahead of her and patted their backs as they passed, counting their heads to make sure all of the kids were between her and Steve and no one was left behind. Once Dustin and Valorie trudged past her hand in hand, she followed them closely with her flashlight beam sweeping the tunnels to make sure nothing moved. Her heart was in her throat and her stomach was left above ground. She knew about the things that travelled through these tunnels and besides spiders, clowns and deep water, the monsters from another dimension were her biggest fear as she walked further and further down the tunnels into territory she was nowhere near familiar with.

* * * *

The more time the group spent walking through the tunnels, the more nervous everyone got. No one said anything because they were afraid it would wake up something they couldn't see in the tunnels so they kept their feelings to themselves. Steve was worrying the most about Andrea who was walking in the back of their group. He wanted her to be upfront with him but he understood why she was hanging back. After their kiss and agreement, he prayed that they would make it out of there alive so he could spend as long as he possibly could with her. He would never break her heart, he swore to himself that he wouldn't, and the only way they would ever break up is if it was her choice - Steve Harrington was too in love to ever lose her because of his own stupidity.