Delirium

Chapter two: The Explanation

"I'm freaking out."

Liv paced the small space of Dustin's living room. Her loose converse nearly wore a trail in the shag carpet as she moved from one edge of the room to the other. Her index and middle finger tapped on her bottom lip as she tried to wrap her head around everything they had just told her.

Demogorgons.

Telepathic girls who were experimented on.

The Upside Down.

Evil scientists.

Liv stopped pacing to look over at Dustin. "How the hell did you go through all of this and not tell me?"

Dustin raised his shoulders. He and Steve sat on the couch as they watched her warily. Liv was infamous for her freak out. Dustin knew that. But Steve had no idea how she would react.

"I thought it was cool."

"Cool?" She laughed at the thought. "No. No. No, Dusty, this is totally not cool. You fought off interdimensional creatures, nearly lost one of your friends to the Upside-down, and then actually did lose a new friend to the upside-down..." she shook her head. "That's not cool. That is probably the opposite of cool." She took to pacing again. This time she muttered to herself as she tapped on her bottom lip. She stopped in the middle of the living room. Her fingers paused their tapping as she held her bottom lip. "And Will?" She looked to Dustin as she asked. "How is he? He was trapped in the-the-" she couldn't say it. She knew the words. But the thought of saying "Will" and "upside-down" together was too much. "How is he?

Again, Dustin shrugged. "Weird. He's kind of normal, but sometimes he zones out and it's like he's somewhere else."

Liv frowned at the thought. She dropped her hand from her mouth and turned to face him straight on. "He must have been so terrified."

Steve stood from his spot. "Okay. Cool. You explained everything to her. She's all caught up." He looked from Dustin to Liv. "Now can we worry about the huge ass Demogorgon that Dustin let loose?"

Liv's head cocked to the side.

"I didn't let him loose!" Dustin stood to defend himself.

"Well," Liv argued. "You did sort of abandon him in the basement and leave to fetch Steve. You should have been more cautious."

Dustin gawked at her. "Would you want me to have you help me with Dart on your own?" He scoffed at his own makeshift plan. "Then we'd both be dead."

She frowned. "You have such little faith in me?"

"Hello?" Steve waved his hands. "We have bigger things to worry about."

Liv shut her mouth as she looked at him. "Alright, what do you suppose we do?"

He opened his mouth to respond, then froze. Shortly after, he closed his mouth. She nodded and looked at Dustin expectantly.

"Wait," Steve lifted a pointed finger. "I might have an idea."

"Okay?" She waited. "And?"

"Food."

She furrowed her brows. "Food?"

He nodded and turned to Dustin. "Does your mom have meat? Any kind of red meat?"

Her eyes widened as she understood his question. "No-" She stepped between them and the kitchen. "You are not going to raid Mrs. Henderson's fridge of all its meat to track down Dart." She looked wildly between them. "What am I going to tell her when her fridge and freezer are practically empty?"