Alone, No More (Harringrove)

Chapter 9//My Hero

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so so much for your continued support for my silly little story! With the new season of Stranger Things that just came out, I know there will be a difference in the way our stories go, but I'm just going to tell it the way I was going to in the first place. Hopefully you still will like my story. Endless gratitude for you all<3 

Chapter 9

Steve sucked in a breath when he saw his usual lunch table out on the school's yard full with the kids and even Nancy and Jonathan. He knew Nancy would be upset by his disappearance for two whole days, especially after the monster fighting thing, but gathered all of his courage and walked up the table; attempting to maintain normalcy.

No one noticed him, as they were all deep in conversation, so he awkwardly stood off the side, missing their presence. He felt alone, even while being close to those he loved most. 

The he heard a gasp, and then all eyes were on him. 

"Steve, you frigging idiot!" said Nancy as she launched herself at him. He chuckled and pulled her in for a tight hug. She pulled back and glared at him. "Where have you been?!"

He looked past her to his little group of friends, noticing how each person looked at him like he was a ghost. 

"I, uh...just felt sick," he lied through his teeth. Nancy's glare intensified, she didn't believe him one bit, not that she'd say in front of the kids. 

"Well, why the hell didn't you call us back?" Dustin yipped from the table, a frown playing at his plump, childlike, lips. He knew Dustin would feel some sort of betrayal.

"Sorry dude, parents disconnected the phone 'cuz we don't use it enough," Steve lied again, shrugging. It wasn't completely unbelievable, though, they were never home, and he never used the phone anyway. Nancy had returned to Jonathan's lap, still speculating him like he was a child. 

Somehow the group shimmied enough that Steve could sit, conveniently beside Mike, who patted his back like an old friend. A conversation sparked back up between Dustin, Will, and Luke, and Nancy had busied herself by bringing her attention back to Jonathan; so Steve nudged Mike's shoulder. 

"Hey, anything new?" he asked vaguely enough that, even if someone was listening in, they wouldn't suspect anything. 

Mike looked at him through a cautious gaze and shook his head; his dark mop of hair swinging to and fro.

"What?" Steve acted surprised, as though he had no new clues. Mike shrugged. "He didn't even leave a note or anything?"

"No," Mike said in a a hushed tone, looking around to see his friends still paying them no mind. He met Steve's gaze, then. "El went back to the cabin, and nothing is out of the ordinary. I seriously have no idea where to go from here".

Damn, Steve thought to himself, feeling defeated. In the two days he had poked around he had found more than the freaky chick with the powers, yet somehow he felt as though there was a point to that. 

He wondered if the clues he'd stumbled across had been not-so-coincidentally placed just for his eyes. Understanding the need to protect the kids, he could relate to Hopper, if he had actually planned to keep just Steve in the loop. He knew Hopper wouldn't want his adopted daughter or civilian children to be involved if they didn't have to. And Steve was almost an adult, the chief had most likely chosen him to help. 

Steve gulped thickly, while integrating himself in the kid's conversation about D&D, almost considering including El and Mike in his findings. He felt nervous doing this alone, regardless the fact that he knew it had to be done,  and itched to blurt it out.