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Dustin laughed along with Mike and Lucas as they threw down their bikes on the Henderson front lawn. They were coming back from Hellfire and were still finding amusement in Eddie's displeasure in Gareth's one off character. The boy went to say something else when Mike's face twisted and he turned Dustin to face the house. On the doorstep was a very upset looking Liza, black tear stains on her cheeks and her hair a mess while she stared ahead looking haunted. He had only ever seen her like this when Will had disappeared and he immediately felt his stomach drop. Without wasting another second, he ran over and sat beside his sister.
"Liz, what happened?" Dustin asked, his voice filled with worry. "Do you need me to call Robin or Steve?"
Confusion now mixed with his worry as at the mention of their friends Liza let out a broken sob. Was the reason his sister was so upset because of Robin and Steve? Did something happen to them? Did the Upside Down get them? No, that couldn't be it because Liza would have come and got them instead of crying. He watched with furrowed brows as Mike and Lucas tried to get the girl to talk.
"He dumped me, Lucas." Liza sobbed. "He dumped me in front of everybody."
Dustin's worry faded away to pure anger, his face dropping into what could only be described as murderous. Wordlessly, he stood and stormed into the house. He went straight to his sister's room and into her closet, moving her clothes and a few boxes away to find what he needed. Once his hand had wrapped around the tire iron, he pulled it out with the intent on using it as soon as he found Steve.
Dustin had given Steve one rule when he saw the budding relationship between him and Liza, one simple rule that was so easy even a toddler could have followed it; Don't hurt Liza. He had told the teen that no one would find his body and now he had to make good on that promise. Steve may have been his friend but Liza, his sister, always came first. He was more than willing to bury their friendship right beside what would be the battered corpse of Steve Harrington; he'd mourn both later.
Stomping out of the house, Dustin made his way towards his bike. He wasn't sure where Steve would be at this moment but that didn't matter to him. He would happily go all over Hawkins until he found the teen. He was already mapping out every place he knew Steve would frequent; Family Video, the Harrington house, the Buckley house, Skull Rock. He wondered if Steve would beg for his life or if he would accept his fate. A small part of Dustin hoped he would beg.
"Dustin!" Mike and Lucas' voices broke through his haze of anger.
"What?" Dustin snapped as he whipped around. He watched as Liza approached him, her broken expression only fueling his anger. Once she was in front of him, she pulled his fingers from around the iron. "Oh, you wanna do it? Yeah, come on."
Liza shook her head and tossed the tire iron off to the side. Dustin furrowed his brows as he tried to come up with a logical explanation as to why she wasn't taking the weapon. He didn't even want to consider the possibility that she was trying to spare Steve but that was exactly what she was doing. Dustin stared at his sister like she was crazy as she told him that he couldn't throw away his hero and that they just had to live with Steve's decision. He found it almost laughable that even when she was the one upset and in pain, she was still putting the emotions of others in front of her own needs.
