fast car | STEVE HARRINGTON [2]

29. children of divorce

"RINGO, COME ON," Steve rolled his eyes, his body lightly swaying from side to side from the lack of support sitting in the trunk of his car, "you cannot seriously be annoyed."

Ringo Wheeler, who was also stuffed into the trunk of Steve's car, was very much annoyed by the current seating arrangements of the vehicle. It wasn't that she had to resort to sitting in the very back along with Steve, or the fact her legs were cramping from being tucked up against her chest, it was the fact that after several years of pleading to drive his car it was her cousin Nancy that was granted permission.

"I have asked, nay, begged to be able to drive this car for years and this is how you repay me? By handing my cousin the keys?" Her eyes narrowed as she spoke, arms wrapped around her knees while she fixated the Harrington boy with the harshest glare she could possibly muster.

"In my defence," Steve began, before cutting himself off to shovel a handful of Doritos into his mouth, "I did let you drive once before and you went straight into a ditch."

"That was before I got my license!" She defended adamantly. The group were currently on their way to hand an abundance of snacks and food to Eddie, who had apparently cleaned Ben's house dry of supplies in the time since they had last saw him.

"So?" Steve scoffed, voice muffled as he chewed while talking. "I've seen the dents in your car, that license of yours is hanging on by a thread."

"This is the worst betrayal I've ever had to live through," she over-dramatically sighed, leaning her head back against the back of the rear seats, "this is like the time Nancy made me cry at that Halloween party."

"Hey!" Nancy cried out from the front seat. "I said I was sorry for that!"

"Do you mind if I stay in the car when we do arrive?" Robin cut in, anxiously fidgeting from her own position in the passenger seat. "This is gonna seriously suck. I can't stand to see those dull eyes of Eddie's break again when we fill him in."

"At least he has a six pack to feel better," Steve pointed out, holding up a box of beers by the handle only to pause when he noticed that one side of the box had been opened, and it felt decidedly lighter. Immediately his eyes shifted to Ringo when he realised that two of the beers had been missing as the girl shrank guiltily down. "Or... a four pack I guess."

"Ringo," Dustin complained, not wanting to disappoint his friend who would likely already be down in the dumps.

"I've had a pretty shit couple of days! I don't see anyone buying me beer!" She defended, reaching out to shuffle another bottle out of the box only to have her hand playfully slapped away by Steve.

"Beer is the last thing you need, how are you going to fight off Vecna when you're hammered? A choreographed dance routine?" Steve sarcastically remarked.

"Maybe I will," she hummed, "do you think Vecna would be able to resist boogying along to Greased Lightning? I don't thiiiiiink so!"

Robin continued to ramble in the front about her concerns for Eddie's reaction, fearing the man wouldn't necessarily take kindly to the fact that the real perpetrator of the crimes he was being accused of was in an alternate dimension and completely sealed off from access. Ringo hadn't known Eddie all too well, but she imagined even the most heavenly of souls wouldn't react to kindly to that revelation.

"I gotta say it does suck to be accused of a crime, I would know," Ringo admitted with a nod of her head, stealing a handful of Steve's tortilla chips as the rest of the car shot her an incredulous look.

"See the difference is you actually committed those crimes, Ringo," Nancy vocalised, her eyes giving the blonde a pointed stare in the rear view mirror  and eliciting several snickers from the teenagers. Ringo herself gasped again dramatically, her hand flayed over her chest as if she had been shot in the heart. "We're going to tell him that we're one step closer to finding Vecna, that's what's important here."