Delirium

Chapter seven: The After

When they arrived back at the Byers house, Jonathan's car was parked outside.

"They're back!"

Liv barely had time to put the car in park before the others hoped out, leaving only her and Steve.

"Hey!" She shouted as she turned off Billy's car. "You could have gotten hurt!" The kids didn't even look back as they ran into the house. She sighed and leaned back into her seat. "We got them here," she told Steve. "They're alive and breathing." She looked over at him. "I think Ultimate Babysitters club is a success."

He showed her a pained, exhausted smile. "We did good."

"We did great," she corrected him. "Those little shits made it hard, but we did it." She let her eyes close for a brief moment. She could have fallen asleep easily in their silence.

"Do you think we can go home now?"

She hummed as she tried to fight off sleep. "I need to take Dustin home. His mom won't be home until the morning."

"I need to get back to my car."

She opened her eyes to look at him. "I could drive you."

His bruised eyebrows rose. "Really?"

She shrugged. "After everything we've done, I think I can manage driving you to your car."

"It's gonna be weird," He told her in the sancity of the car. "To go back to my house and pretend like everything's okay."

"You said this happened before. There was a whole secret contract."

"Yeah."

"This time is different?"

He looked ahead of her toward the house. She followed his lead to see the light through the front window. Shadows moved as people hugged and stood around talking. She didn't have the want or strength to join them.

"Last time I had Nancy. We kind of helped each other. Or, I thought we were helping each other. Turns out, she had Jonathan helping her."

Her heart sank as she realized why this time was different. She licked her lips and looked over at him again. "If you don't have Nancy, I'll be here for you."

He turned his head to meet her eyes. The green of his irises shined with the house lights. "Yeah?"

She shrugged. "I may live in the next town over, and I'm not girlfriend material like Nancy, but... I don't know-" she sighed and looked away from him. "I think we all need someone who knows what shit we have going on in our head. So... if you need someone to talk too, I'm your gal." She finished lamely and instantly regretted her wording.

Steve, however, chuckled. "Now I know why Dustin is so awkward. He takes after you."

She winced at the accuracy. "Yeah..."

"But... thank you."

She swallowed again and chanced him a look. He was looking at her, a soft smile spreading over his lips. As their eyes locked she saw the beginning of the sunrise reflected in his gaze. There were hues or deep purples and pinks that complimented the green. She almost lost herself in his eyes. "No problem, Pretty Boy."