ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴀꜱᴛꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ ☆ ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ ʜᴀʀʀɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ

034.

[1984]
034. works out in the end

After arriving to the Byers house, Joyce, Jonathan and Hopper was quick to rush Will into the house. Joyce had been forced to take a minute to herself to grieve the death of Bob Newby.

The kids were sitting around while Annabelle leant against the wall opposite the kitchen and Steve leaning against the kitchen wall. The Harrington boy walked over to Annie, concern written all over his features as he looked to the Lewis girl who was pale, eyes shut. She looked sick.

"You didn't get hurt, right?" He voiced.

Annie didn't look up to him, shaking her head back to him. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the wall, careful not to stumble, and walk to the dinning table, taking her jacket off. In doing so, however, releveled her shirt that was visible to the Harrington boy. There were a slash through her t-shirt.

"Shit! Annie, you're bleeding." He rushed to her side. Steve pulled her t-shirt up slightly up to see the red stained skin. A cut was across her side, not deep for immediate concern.

Annie shook her head and waved him off. "I'm fine." Her eyes fluttered close for a second, holding onto the chair in front of her to keep her from stumbling.

Steve huffed, grabbing the blonde's wrist, dragging her with him to the bathroom.

Locking the door behind him, he searched through the cabinets for a first aid kit. kneeling down by the cabinet, he looked back to Annie who was looking around awkwardly. "Sit," He gestured to the edge of the bath.

Annie sighed, sitting down while Steve went back to look for it, finally finding the bright red box and reaching for it.

He turned back to Annie, kneeling in front of her and placed the first aid kit on the floor beside him.

Steve opened the box and glanced back to the Lewis girl. He coughed awkwardly, looking anywhere but her. "...I'm, uh. . . I'm gonna need you to move the shirt." Annabelle was far too in pain to really pay any attention to the boy.

The blonde reached for the bottom of her t-shirt, lifting over her head, leaving her in her bra and jeans. She passed the shirt to Steve and he swallowed back the lump in his throat, turning to place the bloodied tee in the sink. He was going to clean it off after, making a mental note to ask Jonathan for a shirt for her now.

The two sat in an awkward silence as Steve rummaged through the box for the materials. Annie seemed to be in her own head. Steve sighed to himself, pouring peroxide on an gauze. He held his left hand to her bare waist, the two ignoring the electric buzz. "Sorry." He mumbled and grimaced at the wound.

The Harrington looked up to Annie with those big brown eyes, a hint of sadness behind them. "This might hurt." He warned, the blonde's eyes seemed distance. Just as he wiped over the cut, she hissed, flinching at the pain. "Sorry." He mumbled an apology.

Annie gripped the edge of the bath as he disinfected the cut, trying to ignore the pain. It didn't quite work as she moved to grip Steve's wrist. The boy froze and look up to her. "You okay?" She nodded, eyes shut close.

Steve moved his left hand to intertwin with hers, letting her squeeze his hand to ease her pain. Steve used his free hand to grab a bandage, placing it round her waist. He had something he wanted to say, it wasn't the best of time, but she needed a distraction.

"What you said back there. . . on the bus..." His gaze set on fixing her up. "Did you mean it?"

Annabelle sighed, keeping a tight grip on his hand. ". . . That we were kids. . . We were in love?"

"Hm. . . yeah."

Annie let out a deep breath, opening her eyes at look at him, "We were friends, Steve. Of course we loved each other."

"But your not in love with me now. Are you?" He stated, shaking his head slightly. Annabelle groaned, using her left hand to run her fingers through her hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to by Steve. "It's 'cause your with Hargrove, right?"

Annie rolled her eyes at him, "I spoke to him at the party once. He's an asshole." The two was then left in silence.

"So," Steve looked up to her, both pausing for a moment as there eyes locked. They couldn't even admit how in love with each other they were, they didn't even know themselves. "you just talked?" She hummed, nodding. The Harrington boy nodded too, looking back down.

". . . okay." He stated, putting the rest of the bandage's away. He pulled his hand away to tape the bandage, but was tugged back by her hand. "Annie. . ."

"Sorry." She blushed, letting go and looking away. When Steve finished, he turned back to place the kit away. The boy stood up, dusting off his jeans. "Just give me a sec," He washed his hands before leaning out the doorway.

"Jonathan!" He called out to the Byers boy who stood up, sniffling as he wiped the tears under his eyes and pocked his head past the wall to the older boy. "Can I, uh. I need to borrow a shirt. For Annie." Jonathan furrowed his brows.

He let out a breath, aggressively wiping a stray tear away. Jonathan walked past to this room and came out a moment later with a clean shirt, handing it out to him. "She oaky?"

Steve sighed, glancing back to the blonde inside, who was still sat on the edge of the bath, fiddling with the necklaces around her neck. ". . . yeah. She will be." Steve turned back to the oldest Byers boy. "Annie got scratched by the demo-things, I think."

"Oh. . ." Jonathan's face dropped.

Steve saw the concern and quickly reassured him. "She'll be okay. Just focus on Will, I'll look after her." Jonathan nodded to him, shoving his hands into his pockets after Steve took the t-shirt. He held it up, gesturing to it, "Thanks. . . for, yeah." Jonathan half smiled, walking back to the main room to his brother.

Steve took a breath, looking down. He need to take a second to himself. He was stressing about everything. First was the fight with Annie, then Nancy breaking up with him, the demo-dogs. It was all to much, and now Annie was hurt. The one person who he cared for more then anything. Steve was really felling like bullshit now.

Exhaling, he put on a confident smile and walked back into the bathroom. "Okay, I've got a clean shirt for- hey, what happened?" Steve rushed to the blonde, kneeling back down in front on her and put his hands on her knees.

Annabelle was silently crying, swiping away the tears off her cheek. "Just. . . It's all to much." She sighed, "I'm just so, so tired, Steve." Steve reached up to wipe a stray tear away. "I've lost people, we all have. I've been stuck in that hell and now we have to deal with it all again."

"We can figure it out. It'll be okay." He reassured.

Annie shook her head. "It won't. We barely got it last time, just one vs four teens. Now we have more of them and kids. It's not fair on them. Not fair on Will. Mike has been so upset over El and I can't help him. It wasn't fair on her."

Steve expressed, "It's not your responsibility, An-"

"It is." Annie declared.

"We didn't know first time. We were unprepared." Harrington voiced.

Annabelle sighed, "It's just. . . We try. Last year, now. It feels like this is just the beginning. I really think this isn't the end, Steve. And I don't know if we're all gonna survive this." Annie bit her lip, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Annie," Steve started, intertwining his hands with hers. "Nothing is going to happen. Okay? I promise you, I'll protect you and the kids and everyone else. I won't let them be hurt." Steve had a sad smile on his lips. "I may be a shitty friend, or boyfriend, or human being sometimes, but I'm a pretty damn good babysitter."

Annie chuckled back slightly. "Yeah." She wiped under her eye. "Best babysitter, who gives shitty advice to kids and tease demo-dogs by saying, 'humans taste better then cat.' " She repeated.

Steve chuckled, standing up and holding out the shirt to the girl. "Yeah, make fun of the babysitter with a bat." He smiled. "Get change."

"Sure, Bat-boy."