Secrets // Steve Harrington

Chapter Eighteen - Chase

Word Count: 3,294 words. 

Warnings: None. 

It was uncomfortable on my back. The gun that I had wedged between my jeans. I knew that the safety was on and that there was no way of it going off by accident, blowing a hole in my back, and yet it made me nervous. I had never used a gun before, at least not on anything but old cans and bottles.

I didn't exactly think that I would need to use it. If Brenner was going to grab me, it would have been before now. And yet, I could still sense that fear. The fear of him. Of going back there. The memories of the lab were slowly returning to me, but I didn't need to know the truth to know that I would do anything to stay away from that place.

I wasn't entirely sure where I was driving to. I knew that the best place to go was the Wheeler's - that was where Eleven had been hiding out up to now - but for some reason I felt as though that was the last place I should go.

I wouldn't have noticed the group gathered if I hadn't been actively looking, which I happened to be. "What the fuck?" I asked, eyes flicking to the spray paint above the cinema. I couldn't read most of it, due to the horrendous handwriting – Tommy – but I made out the words that were important. Wheeler and slut.

Pulling my car in, I quickly jumped out of the front seat and ran towards them. When I spotted Steve with a deadly look on his face, I knew that it was going to be bad.

"What is wrong with you?" Nancy asked her boyfriend.

"What wrong with me?" he mocked sarcastically. "What's wrong with you? I was worried about you."

"What the fuck is going on in here?" I posed, approaching Nancy's side. I turned to Steve. "Did you paint that out there?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes. I shoved him in the side, causing the boy to stumble. "What happened to trusting people, huh?"

For a moment, I thought that I could see remorse on his face, but it faded as quickly as it came. He looked at Nancy, hands in his pockets. "I can't believe that I was actually worried about you."

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asked, shaking her head back and forth.

"I wouldn't lie if I were you," Carol began, taking a step towards her. "You don't want to be know as the lying slut now, do you?"

I moved myself in front of Nancy, glaring at Carol. "Call her a slut again and I'll rip your hair out," I warned.

She moved closer to me. "Thought you and princess here weren't on good terms."

I only matched her enthusiasm. "Doesn't mean you get to call my best friend a slut."

"That's funny," she commented, letting out a short laugh, "coming from a slut who's been with most of the basketball team."

Tommy let out a loud laugh at his girlfriend, stepping down from the stairs he had been on.

"At least I can land anyone I want," I told her. "You'd have to cover that face in a hundred layers of shit before anyone would look at you twice."

She gritted her teeth. "You've never had a relationship that's lasted more than a night," she tried.

I had no trouble fighting back. "You've been with dumbass over here since 5th grade."

"Lia," Nancy tried, placing her hand on my arm to pull me back. I turned to her. "Don't start a fight."

Biting my tongue, I gave Carol a piercing smile before stepping back beside Nancy. We may not be on the best of terms right now, but if any of them thought that I was going to let them talk shit about my Nancy Wheeler, they needed to wake the fuck up.