funeral grey ➤ steve harrington (slow updates)

004

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"Okay, so, you just found her?" Knox asked, looking at the strange girl they'd brought to her doorstep. The poor thing hadn't said a single word the whole time, despite the boys going on and on about how Knox would help her.

"Yes! And we think bad people are after her." Mike explained, looking at the stranger sadly.

Knox was no stranger to the boys and their subtle mischief, but this was entirely new for them, and for her. One time, Dustin had asked her to temporarily house a stray dog he'd found for three weeks while he tried to convince his mother to let him bring it home. Mrs. Henderson said no, and came and took the dog to the shelter.

But this was nothing like that.

This was a human, a child.

Knox sighed and turned to the girl, "Are you in any sort of trouble? Do you have a family?"

"She won't talk," Mike sighed.

"Well then what do you want me to do?" Knox asked the boys, hoping for at least a little bit of clarity.

"Just let her stay, like, feed her and stuff. Don't let anyone find her until we figure all of this stuff out." Mike told her, as though it was the obvious answer.

"Keep her here? As in hide someone that's probably also a missing person?"

The boys nodded.

"You weren't even supposed to be out tonight." She reminded them.

"We know, that's why we came to you." Dustin said quickly, hoping Knox wouldn't be upset with them.

She knew better. Boy, did she know better. Sometimes she wondered why she took on the task of being so present in the boys' lives, but she often reminded herself that she needed them just as much as they needed her. They kept her on her toes, though not usually this much. They couldn't even tell her where this girl came from.

She knew that hiding this kid could get her and everyone else involved in a lot of trouble, but she was scared and the poor girl obviously didn't have anyone. Knox didn't have many people to go to herself, so she understood. She couldn't imagine how lonely and scared this poor girl must be, especially in this unfamiliar room full of strangers.

"I have a ton of clothes that don't fit me from middle school so maybe they'll fit her. I'll get up early tomorrow and get her breakfast before school, I'll make sure she's got plenty of food. She can have the spare bed in the basement. I can't give her, like, twenty-four hour supervision or anything but she can be safe and comfortable here while still being hidden. Is that what you guys think she needs?"

Why am I doing this? She asked herself, hoping that at any point this would all make sense. But it didn't.

The boys nodded.

"We'll come check on her any chance we get. Don't worry, Knox. I was gonna make room for her at my house, anyway. I just don't have time tonight without getting caught," Mike said reassuringly, as if that made the entire situation less weird.

She shook her head in disbelief as she assessed her current situation. She was, in fact, now harboring a runaway kid. Where this kid ran from, they didn't know. But she definitely ran from somewhere. And when one runs away, people often come looking.